Silk City Diner

Who will save the great Philadelphia diner?

We've watched our classics wither over the last few years as, one by one, the Mayfair, Country Club, and Melrose were gobbled up like old croquettes into the maw of mediocrity that is the Michael's Diner chain.

So what would become of Silk City in Northern Liberties? It was sold in the spring of 2006 to Mark Bee, the plumber-turned-gastropublican owner of one of my personal favorites, N. 3rd. So already there was hope. But, of course, Silk City has always been a different kind of diner from those other time-capsule chestnuts. In its heyday, in the mid-'90s, it was the great neo-diner update, a funky spot that combined homemade comfort food with a hipster aesthetic, and a dance lounge on the side that was once the nexus of Philly's DJ scene.

But Silk City had visibly declined over the last half-decade, with spotty cooking, occasionally surly service, and a layer of filth that, according to Bee, had preserved the diner's disco ball and quilted metal walls beneath a solid lacquer of grease.

With a lot of cleaning, some edgy new mosaic murals, and plenty of Day-Glo-painted black velvet, Bee has once again given Silk City a pulse. Although it only still beats at dinner (forsaking a true diner's breakfast-lunch DNA), the pink-and-gray-tiled diner car radiates a warm red glow through its stainless steel-framed windows. And the energy swells into the night, when the lower-level nightclub rolls to the beats of legendary MCs like King Britt with Back 2 Basics. I can only imagine the merriment if Bee opens his planned backyard beer garden here next spring.

As for the food, well, Silk City's revolving-door kitchen may only just be starting to find its groove. "What's old is new again" reads the illuminated chalkboard beside the pink Formica counter. Nice sentiment, except this kitchen seems to be "new again" every few weeks.

It got off to a solid start in June under Peter Dunmire, who essentially extended the New American comforts he'd mastered over at N. 3rd, with some killer wings-by-the-pound, a hot roast beef sandwich, and addictive chocolate-banana bread pudding. But when Dunmire returned in September to restabilize a wobbling N. 3rd, his Silk City successor, David Katz, set off an insurgency in the dining room and kitchen.