Lulu surveyed Chestnut Street
on a particularly warm afternoon last week. She was out for a late lunch, awaiting
her pita at a table outside of Hey Hummus. When a red tray was set in front of
her, she swiveled her head to eye the brisket piled in the center of a bowl of
hummus.
Just as she was likely
considering her first bite, a passerby approached the table. “Can I take a picture?”
the woman asked, raising her IPhone. Lulu let her dining companion, Anthony,
answer for her.
“Yeah, go ahead,” he said,
smiling. The woman stood back and captured the brilliant parrot perched atop a
metal chair, poised over a pita pocket.
Lulu didn’t seem to notice.
“She’s been cooped up all winter,” Anthony
said. On the last day of February, it was 70 degrees outside; he’d stopped home
to pick up the bird and bring her out to lunch. He eats out almost everyday, at
places like Di Bruno Brother’s and Jane G’s. He looks for healthy dishes –
“Something with more protein, less carbs,” he said.
He and Lulu had ended up at
Hey Hummus, the new middle eastern spot that opened in mid-February. Chef/owner
Victor Fellus, who moved to Philadelphia from Israel, makes the thick hummus fresh
everyday. It’s served with toppings like chicken shawarma, mushrooms with
turmeric, or brisket that’s slow-cooked for 18 hours.
We were interrupted as a
lanky high school kid walking by noticed Lulu. “Dude!” He looped back, away
from his clique. “Yo,” he stopped,
looking from Lulu to Anthony in disbelief. “Can I touch it?”
“No, but you can come
closer and appreciated it’s beauty,” Anthony said, swiping a piece of brisket through
the hummus. “She has kissed people and she has bitten people,” he said – he’s
never quite sure which way it’ll go.
The Harlequin Macaw was
locked to the chair with a tiny chain clipped to her left talon. As the boy
walked back to join his friends, she let out high squawk. A few seconds later,
the same squawk sounded from Anthony’s phone on the table.
“Anthony’s skincare lounge
can I help you?”
...
“Tomorrow? What time? I’m
pretty booked,”
…
“12:30? I’ll need to check
the books – can I call you back at this number?”
Anthony owns a skin care lounge in the Jason Matthew Salon a few blocks east on Chestnut street. It had
been a busy morning – before lunch, he’d done three facials and a couple of
Brazilians. “Just $30 for a Brazilian,” he said. “We won best of Philly.”
The aesthetician opened the
business 10 years ago - his smooth, tan skin and dark, impeccable brows are a
give-away. But before he went to beauty school, he wanted to be a chef.
“I went to cooking school
20 years ago,” he said. After getting his associate degree at the Restaurant School
at Walnut Hill, he worked in French restaurants in Chester County, before he
realized a cook’s life wasn’t for him. “It’s a little hectic,” he said. “When
there are three or four of you in the kitchen and you’ve got ten things
cooking,” he shook his head, “It’s a lot of responsibility!”
He ripped off a piece of
pita for Lulu, who clamped it in her beak. These days, he’s content to feed the
bird. 