CityPaper – Former Slate chef Eric Paraskevas set to debut terra
Chef Eric Paraskevas, whose food at Slate (102 S. 21st St.) impressed pubgoers and critics alike (see Trey Popp’s March ‘09 writeup), will be cooking again as early as next Thursday when he opens terra, a 40-seat liquor-licensed sit-down in the space below Tavern on Camac (243 S. Camac St., between Spruce and Locust and 12th and 13th). “Me and the owner of Slate [Laurentiu Muras] had different ideas of how to move the business forward, that’s what it came down to,” says Paraskevas of his decision to leave the Rittenhouse-area bar. “He wanted to go one direction, I didn’t want to go that way.”
This new below-the-street space, which most recently housed a restaurant called The Underground (ever eat there? us neither), is owned by Tavern’s Stephen Carlino, who’s got the entire building. The interior’s dressed in earth tones (hence the name), and can accommodate about 34, not including a 10-seat bar.
Paraskevas’ food will be New American — “simple, good food … definitely not gastropub.” The chef’s still tweaking the menu, which’ll feature nine starters, around 10 entrées and five desserts; he teases items like a slider trio, burger and braised lamb dishes, housemade pastas and seared black cod served with an rosemary/almond purée. Paraskevas won’t have much say with the wine list, but he’s keen on building a reputable bottled beer selection, with local choices along the lines of Weyerbacher Blithering Idiot and Legacy Hedonism Ale.
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