South Philly Review

Share this Story:

Maria Chiavatti, owner/chef of Mamma Maria, 1637 E. Passyunk Ave., has participated in Flavors of the Avenue since its inaugural year in 2006.

“It’s good for the avenue,” Chiavatti, whose restaurant has been on East Passyunk for 18 years, said. “It’s something extra. … See we have to work always to make people come because we’re not in the location of Center City.

East Passyunk Avenue Business Improvement District’s Main Street Manager Renee Gilinger hopes the event will attract about 500 to the avenue for Flavors, which will run noon to 5 p.m. April 24 along East Passyunk from Dickinson to Morris streets with the participating vendors offering tastes from their restaurants that may include pasta dishes, sushi, stromboli, pizza, hummus, salad, desserts and more.

Tickets are $25 for adults at the door or $20 in advance. Kids under age 12 are $10 while age 2 and under are free. Last year’s tickets were priced at $35, which would have included a $10 gift certificate to the avenue, but Gilinger opted to keep things affordable.

“I wanted to make sure the event got back on its feet and got reestablished,” Gilinger said. “That’s what I wanted to keep the price low.”

Those purchasing tickets in advance will also be entered in a drawing to win a “Dine Around East Passyunk Avenue” prize pack of $10 to $20 gift certificates from most of the participating restaurants totaling to a $200 prize to be drawn April 23. 

There also will be sights and sounds of the avenue on hand with 12th-and-Wharton-street resident Willie Williams performing with his band, Chad & Willie in addition to fashion shows at 1 and 3 p.m. featuring avenue trends from about 10 shops including Aci Nae, 1928 E. Passyunk Ave.; Metro Men’s Clothing, 1615 E. Passyunk Ave.; and Sweet Jane Vintage and Records, 1742 E. Passyunk Ave.

A craft show from Crafty Balboa will return with more than 30 vendors set up around the fountain, organizer Amy Blasco said.

“It’s amazing how many people just local to this area are in the show,” the resident of Jessup and Morris streets said.

Blasco, who seeks out crafters from across the city, organized Crafty Balboa’s first show for last year’s doo-wop event on the avenue. With a variety of items including jewelry, clothing and art prints, crafters were flooded with positive responses from neighbors.

“I hope we get that same reaction,” she said of the upcoming show

Following an abrupt cancellation in its fourth year, the district was determined to bring it back.

“We had a lot of financial issues last year, but this event is really super important to everyone down here,” Gilinger said.

Last year, there was an increase of $1,100 a month in the street cleaning budget due to Citizens’ Alliance for Better Neighborhood halting services forced the district to reevaluate its finances. The nonprofit typically took care of picking up trash and hanging signs for events. The void forced the district to cancel the event weeks before it was scheduled catching some businesses off guard.

“Obviously last year was a disappointment,” Gilinger said. “Because we skipped a year, everyone is more excited about it this year.”

With that extra enthusiasm, organizers found sponsors to pitch in and vendors to step up and make Flavors bigger than ever.

With 20 local restaurants taking part — more than the estimated dozen that have participated in the past  — the avenue is buzzing with excitement.

Isabella Pizza, was expecting to be one of the vendors last year before the cancellation, Michal Martorano, co-owner of the establishment at 1824 E. Passyunk Ave. with ex-husband Steven Martorano, said. She plans to have stromboli on hand including a favorite —  shrimp pesto.