Meet Marc! The Philly born and raised chef behind Flannel.
Bio
Meet Marc! Marc is a Philly dude through and through. He grew up in Center City & South Jersey. He started working in kitchens when he was getting his masters at Penn in Psych. Turns out he loved the restaurant biz as it was a bit more compelling to Marc than the human psyche. He opened Mezzaluna “way back in the day” and received rave reviews from the restaurant critic Elaine Tait, his guests, and others. He was hooked.
Marc tried leaving Philly. He ran restaurants all over from Hawaii, to Chicago, to Turks & Caicos. But that Philly blood runs deep. Besides for the fact that his whole family is here, Marc’s love-hate relationship with his Philly sports teams pulled him back to the city of brotherly love.
Origin Story
Marc’s inspirations for Flannel happened when he was visiting close friends in Nashville and Charleston. He fell in love with southern food and history of the food. In Marc’s opinion, “It is the truest form of American cuisine and I am honored to cook my version of it.”
Marc opened Flannel in 2019 just a few months before the shutdowns. East Passyunk was where he wanted to be and when he saw the property (although he changed every inch of it) it called out to him. “I saw it then as I see it now”.
Roses and Thorns
Like many owners, Marc loves the community he’s built. He loves how they have built a following of loyal regulars. One of the things he prides himself on when a review not only mentions how good the food is, but also how nice their server was. “We are here to be a comfort. Comfort food in a comfortable setting. ‘Southern Comfortable.’”
Having been in the business for as long as Marc he can comfortably say one of the biggest issues is the way the restaurant industry is viewed and treated by the government. “I hate how the city, state, and federal government have no clue what running a business means and have no clue that restaurants are passion projects, not money makers. Covid has obviously highlighted these issues, especially with how they view the streeteries as something separate then the restaurants.”
Marc has traveled the world cooking, but Philly is sure happy he decided to come back home.
1819 E Passyunk Ave, Philadelphia, PA 19148
(215) 465-1000
https://www.flannelrestaurant.com/
@eatflannel
