El Vez

The stage of the Trocadero on Friday was a holy place, an altar from which El Vez enlightened a worshipful throng in all things spiritual and sexual, sacred and profane. When it comes to high-concept entertainment, El Vez is King. Born Robert Lopez in Southern California, the "Mexican Elvis" is a former curator of a folk-art gallery who uses a Latinized Presley persona - slick pompadour, pencil-thin mustache, a lot of costume changes - to mine pop music and leftist Latino political history for campy ends.

Call it one of those weird Elvisian coincidences, another of the curious convergences that so often seem to occur within the celestial circle of the King. Or call it really clever marketing. But whatever you call it, be there for the show: El Vez live at, well, El Vez. On Saturday, South of the Border meets South 13th Street when El Vez - the original El Vez, the sideburned singer extraordinaire known as the Mexican Elvis - rocks restaurateur Stephen Starr's Center City eatery of the same name.

Azure tacos Fans of El Vez' signature mahimahi tacos won't be disappointed by the change-ups that chef Julio Rivera, an El Vez alum, has made at Azure. He has switched to warm, rustic, handmade corn tortillas (instead of the original flour). The meaty mahimahi is lightened up, not crusted, but dusted with achiote powder. Stuffed with a shred of iceberg lettuce, red cabbage, and tomato over smoky chipotle mayo, then ignited with a fresh spritz of lime, they've become an overnight Northern Liberties cult favorite.

'Elvis looked like my uncles," says Robert Lopez, a.k.a. El Vez, recalling his first memories of the King. "The black hair in a pompadour, the slacks. . . . I didn't think: 'He's white, I'm Latino.' He was one of us. " And the idea that Elvis is all things to all people has never been embodied in as deliciously subversive an entertainment concept as it is in the being of El Vez, the Mexican Elvis, who performs at the Trocadero on Monday. Lopez, 35, grew up an Anglicized Latino in Chula Vista, Calif.

There are two characters cagily circling the plates of spice and wonder at Distrito, West Philly's hot new taco and tequila palace. And I'm not talking about the Mexican wrestlers in sparkly masks who smack flesh in the lucha libre movies continuously projected over this loco pink-and-green dining room. Jose Garces is grappling with the ghost of his first big success. These days, of course, he's become the Latin cruiserweight champ of Philly chefs, an Iron Chef-slayer extraordinaire, our Spanish tapas king.

Pittsburgh label Get Hip, best known for releasing the roots and branches of garage (Gories, Headcoats, Woggles) comes to town as part of the Philly Freakout with new releases from the Cynics, as well as our own Mondo Topless, plus Montreal's the Chains, and the Minks, who bridge the gap between the New York Dolls and the Shangri-Las (9:30 p.m. tomorrow, the Balcony, 10th and Arch streets, 215-922-LIVE, $8). Tomorrow at the TLA, a bill where the men are gorgeously geeky and the women are goddesses: Sean Tillman of Sea Na Na dons his R&B alter-ego Har Mar Superstar with both sexy and silly results.

LEAVE IT to Jose Garces to capture the crazy, wonderful, delicious world of Mexico City's cuisine under one roof. He's done exactly that at Distrito, the energetic two-story space he recently opened at 3945 Chestnut St. in West Philadelphia. "What I love about Mexico City is how it can be so urban, with street food everywhere, and so sophisticated at the same time. There's two different spectrums in terms of food," said Garces, who, along with his culinary and design team, spent eight days chowing his way through the city in February.

Chef Arthur Cavaliere, a vet of El Vez and Amada whose last gig here was as executive chef at Parc, has landed in East Falls with In Riva (4116 Ridge Ave., 215-438-4848, www.in-riva.com ), a Southern Italian specializing in wood-fired pizzas and antipasti. In Riva - as in "by the river," playing off its location off Kelly Drive and the Schuylkill - is a partnership with developer Mark Sherman. Interior designer Shannon Willis has done a smashing job with the first floor, which has a high ceiling, cinderblock walls, and a concrete floor.

Author Daniel Brook takes a seat inside Center City's glitzy El Vez restaurant to survey a population he's been studying for years: scores of young professionals who have turned out for happy hour. Fresh from the idealistic college years and wearing fancy clothes, they're enjoying $3 sangrias and free hors d'oeuvres, laughing like they've got it made. Brook begs to differ. In his new book, The Trap: Selling Out to Stay Afloat in Winner-Take-All-America (Times Books), Brook argues that while small luxuries from sangria to Ikea may come cheap these days, the ballooning costs of education, housing and health care are likely to drive talented twentysomethings into a Faustian bargain with corporate America.

At most clubs with DJs, you can hear just about every new form of dance music and all its electronic sub-genres, from hip-hop to trip-hop to drum 'n' bass to whatever you feel like calling it this week. Sometimes, though, it would be nice to hear its pre-disco roots in full unsampled, unfettered form. But if you want to listen to Booker T. or Sly and the Family Stone or even R&B-inspired garage rock like the Yardbirds, you'll have to turn to your own record collection or somebody else's.

Chef Arthur Cavaliere, a vet of El Vez and Amada whose last gig here was as executive chef at Parc, has landed in East Falls with In Riva (4116 Ridge Ave., 215-438-4848, www.in-riva.com ), a Southern Italian specializing in wood-fired pizzas and antipasti. In Riva - as in "by the river," playing off its location off Kelly Drive and the Schuylkill - is a partnership with developer Mark Sherman. Interior designer Shannon Willis has done a smashing job with the first floor, which has a high ceiling, cinderblock walls, and a concrete floor.

The wait is over. It's time to introduce the men and women who have the honor of being named this year's Daily News' Sexy Singles. We're especially proud of the 2011 Sexy Singles, who include a professional football player/business owner with aspirations of making it to the big screen; a deejay to the hottest R&B and hip-hop performers in the world; the reigning Miss Pennsylvania USA; and a TV reality show chef. But most of the people who make the list are just hardworking folks who are smoking.

* Summertime and the living is delicious at Le Bec-Fin (1523 Walnut St., 215-567-1000). On Tuesday, join Sommelier Cristine Bruno for a wine tasting with Chapoutier, one of the major wineries in the Rhone Valley. Tasting begins 6:30 p.m.; $35, includes hors d'oeuvres. On Aug. 26, executive chef Nicholas Elmi hosts a Summer Truffle Dinner starting at 5:30 p.m. $95. The regular menu will be served. * Local tomatoes are ripening, cause for "Tomato Mania" at Courtney Rozsas's Lotus Farm to Table BYO (112 W. State St., 610-565-5554)

Reader: I went to Chew Man Chu for brunch this past weekend, and wasn't overly impressed. I was surprised though when I read your review. I agree with the overly simplified American versions of Asian classics, but no bells? I didn't expect that. CLB: I hardly expected this place to land so low on my scale, either, but it just seemed to get worse every time I ate there. Didn't like the concept, but some of the food was aggressively bad. Reader: After reading your no-bell review of Chew Man Chu, I remembered an old review of Trust, a restaurant I loved (Now El Vez)

Friday's "?Viva Christmas!" affair at World Cafe Live was a fine concert - but praising its musical proficiency only reveals the tip of this stimulating, wildly satisfying iceberg of a show. Yes, Los Straitjackets of Nashville, the surf-rock quartet that famously performs in colorful Mexican lucha libre ("free fight") wrestling masks, played flawlessly. The musicians delivered souped-up, twanged-out standards off the two Noel-oriented albums of their 20-year career: 2002's 'Tis the Season for Los Straitjackets!

There are two characters cagily circling the plates of spice and wonder at Distrito, West Philly's hot new taco and tequila palace. And I'm not talking about the Mexican wrestlers in sparkly masks who smack flesh in the lucha libre movies continuously projected over this loco pink-and-green dining room. Jose Garces is grappling with the ghost of his first big success. These days, of course, he's become the Latin cruiserweight champ of Philly chefs, an Iron Chef-slayer extraordinaire, our Spanish tapas king.

LEAVE IT to Jose Garces to capture the crazy, wonderful, delicious world of Mexico City's cuisine under one roof. He's done exactly that at Distrito, the energetic two-story space he recently opened at 3945 Chestnut St. in West Philadelphia. "What I love about Mexico City is how it can be so urban, with street food everywhere, and so sophisticated at the same time. There's two different spectrums in terms of food," said Garces, who, along with his culinary and design team, spent eight days chowing his way through the city in February.

Azure tacos Fans of El Vez' signature mahimahi tacos won't be disappointed by the change-ups that chef Julio Rivera, an El Vez alum, has made at Azure. He has switched to warm, rustic, handmade corn tortillas (instead of the original flour). The meaty mahimahi is lightened up, not crusted, but dusted with achiote powder. Stuffed with a shred of iceberg lettuce, red cabbage, and tomato over smoky chipotle mayo, then ignited with a fresh spritz of lime, they've become an overnight Northern Liberties cult favorite.

While life in the city and suburbs slacks off in the summer, workers get busy pounding out new restaurants to open before the holiday rush. This year's crop is emerging - an assortment of concepts as familiar as Italian and new American, and as novel as upscale kosher, Mexican and Scandinavian. A couple of chains. And pubs - by the yard-full. And of course, Stephen Starr. He has some new tricks. He even may be spoiling for a new rivalry with Jose Garces, the guy he brought to town at El Vez and Alma de Cuba, but who is building an empire of his own (Amada, Tinto, and more on the way)

Author Daniel Brook takes a seat inside Center City's glitzy El Vez restaurant to survey a population he's been studying for years: scores of young professionals who have turned out for happy hour. Fresh from the idealistic college years and wearing fancy clothes, they're enjoying $3 sangrias and free hors d'oeuvres, laughing like they've got it made. Brook begs to differ. In his new book, The Trap: Selling Out to Stay Afloat in Winner-Take-All-America (Times Books), Brook argues that while small luxuries from sangria to Ikea may come cheap these days, the ballooning costs of education, housing and health care are likely to drive talented twentysomethings into a Faustian bargain with corporate America.