Meet the Chef/Owner of Pescatore, a Bala Village Restaurant Coming Soon

Years ago I went to go work for a famous Philadelphia chef in a highly regarded restaurant. When he found out that I had cooked all over the country but decided to settle back in Philly he looked at me and said, "Local girl done good."

Well, Thomas Anastasi is a "local guy done good."

A native of South Philly, Anastasi grew up working in restaurants and the Main Line should be delighted that he is opening Pescatore in our neck of the woods.

I had a fun time chatting with this restaurant vet and discussing the ins and outs of buying the best seafood. (Look for a clear eyeball in whole fish; cloudy eyeballs indicate the fish is old.) Anastasi's parents own Anastasi Seafood, so it's no surprise that Pescatore will have wonderful seafood dishes on the menu.

Pescatore is slated to open the first week of August. The produce will be local, the menu will be seasonal and all dishes will be made to order. The pasta will be made in-house and delicious; Anastasi was cooking with his grandmother even at a young age. Read below to find out more.

• Name: Thomas Anastasi
• Age: 33
• Years in the industry: 15
• Hometown: South Philly
• Home now: South Philly
• Favorite thing about the community: The people. Everyone is so friendly.
• Earliest cooking memory: I was 6 or 7 and I was cooking meatballs and gravy with my grandmother.
• First job in the industry: I was a dishwasher at Joseph's on Passyunk.
• What brought you to the industry? My cousin opened Joseph's and I started working there one day as a dishwasher. I fell in love with restaurants. I loved the action.
• Advice for home cooks: Keep it simple. Use simple ingredients. Don't get too creative. Use what you have on hand.
• Favorite thing to cook: Fish—any seafood
• Favorite menu item: Our signature dish is flatbread Caesar. It's flatbread with Caesar salad on top with colossal crabmeat, jumbo shrimp and a warm Caesar dressing with shaved parmesan. It's huge and visually stunning. People always want to order it when they see it.
• Healthiest menu item: Grilled Branzino with olive oil, fresh lemon and Italian herbs or the seafood grill with broiled lobster, shrimp, scallops over baby arugula with roasted peppers and kalamata olives.
• Favorite local restaurant: Dante & Luigi's at 9th and Catherine, Philadelphia
• Favorite restaurant in the world: Sparks Steakhouse in NYC
• Guilty pleasure (food or drink): Scotch
• Last meal on earth: Steak and potatoes with a glass of Cabernet. For dessert I'd have a warm apple tart with ice cream.
• Have you cooked for any celebrities? Dr. J (Julius Erving), Ukee Washington, Reggie Jackson, Bobby Taylor
• Favorite food shows: Iron Chef, I like the way they talk about the food.
• Biggest kitchen disaster: The pipes broke and we had no running water. Of course, it was a Friday night. There were 65 people in the dining room and it was opening night. We got a bunch of bottled water for cooking and we just stacked up the dirty dishes for the next day when we had running water again. Somehow, we made it work.