In Kensington, Helm an unexpected BYOB delight : Craig LaBan, Inquirer Restaurant Critic

In Kensington, Helm an unexpected BYOB delight : Craig LaBan, Inquirer Restaurant Critic

There has been plenty of chatter, lately, that Philadelphia's unique love and talent for BYOBs is starting to wane.

And there's no doubt some of our best - Bibou, Laurel, Talula's Table, Lolita, the Farm & Fisherman, Noord, and Kanella, to name a few - could go only so long in their successful life cycle before they needed to grow by adding a sibling restaurant, a tasting menu, a liquor license, or some combination of them all.

But just when you think the craft-beer pub or wood-fired pizzeria has become the new neighborhood restaurant concept of choice, along comes an unexpected delight like Helm.

It may be tucked between a vacant, weed-grown lot and a rusted-out former factory on the southern fringe of Kensington, but with every gorgeous plate of house-pulled burrata stuffed with charred ramps and mustard greens, every coffee-crusted leg of lamb dressed with urban-farmed turnips, and every giant monkfish tail for two emerging from the kitchen into this pleasant, airy little dining room, we are reminded of a beautiful Philadelphia truth.

Helm proves once again that genuine talent can overcome a lack of big-money backing to find an audience here, unlike other East Coast cities, where rents and liquor licenses boost the point of entry. When the chefs behind the stove are cooking with the fluid seasonality and contemporary ease of co-chefs and owners Kevin D'Egidio and Mike Griffiths, the 34-seat horsepower of a simple BYO - and a willingness to be a neighborhood pioneer - is all that's needed to focus on the food and shine.

And here's the evidence: $10,000.

That's the grand sum D'Egidio and Griffiths had in savings between them when the two decided to dive into this project, after years of honing their skills in top kitchens such as Fork, Lacroix at the Rittenhouse, Stateside, Will BYOB, Rittenhouse Tavern, and Tangerine.

"It was not a sensible idea," concedes D'Egidio.

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