What the Heck Is Going on at HipCityVeg?

Well, this is just confusing. Nutshell: Our fave vegan lunch spot, HipCityVeg, may or may not be coming to 13th Street for a new project that may or may not include bar service and which may (or may not) be overseen by Vedge’s Rich Landau in conjunction with HipCity owner Nicole Marquis. Let’s take a peek at a handy timeline, shall we?

• April 2nd: Our friends over at Foobooz reported (well, questioned, really) whether HipCity might be opening a new location in Midtown Village. They found a liquor license for a space at 131 South 13th Street bearing the name Allan Domb, Marquis’ landlord at the HipCity space. Philly.com’s Michael Klein connected the license to Marquis, but no one knew if it would be a new HipCity with a bar or a whole new concept all together. Intrigue!

• April 5th: Foobooz followed up its earlier report with an update which said that Domb’s name was nixed and Marquis’s added to the liquor license in question. Still, no word on what the new project would be.

• April 8th: Klein posted a story saying Marquis landed Vedge’s Rich Landau as corporate chef. He would be tasked with “would be refining HipCityVeg’s menu and overseeing quality.” No word on what—if anything—Landau may be doing at the Top Secret 13th Street Project. But is it a coincidence? I think no.

And that’s all she wrote—for now. I, for one, would love to see a HipCityVeg expansion, but opening a new outpost of the same cafe five blocks away might verge on over-saturation. I’m sure Be Wellers in the ‘burbs, for example, would love to see a HipCity in Suburban Square or Media. But! A whole new concept on 13th Street with Marquis’s magic vegan touch? I dig it. If only she would tell us what it is!

Who wants to lobby a guess?