I wanted to label Le Cochon Noir as a diamond in the rough. The Philadelphia Business and Technology Center is not just an unassuming location, it’s practically out of the city limits (okay, maybe not, but how often do you find yourself at 50th and Parkside?). Inside, the space has a warehouse feel: exposed pipes, a completely open kitchen, and a floor that has paint stains from the last few incarnations of the building.
The website for Tweed proclaims that the new restaurant is “much like it’s name.” To restaurateur Edward Bianchini’s credit, the experience is, as the website’s predicted manifestation of the fabric, one of “leisure and sophistication.” But consider what the unofficial uniform of British landed gentry is not: tweed is not sexy, sensual, exotic, avant garde, or particularly memorable.