I’d like to steal a line from bad boy food guru
Anthony Bordain and attest that “I am such an
egg slut.” I love em in any preparation and live
for breakfast on the weekends. So for me, there is
no place in town with creative breakfast specials
like Market Street Grill in West Chester.
Q and A with Chef Darla Riccetti of
MARKET STREET GRILL
6 West Market Street
West Chester, PA
Q- OKAY, SO HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN
COOKING?
A- Professionally, I’ve been cooking for ten years.
But I’ve been around food my whole life.
Q- DO TELL.
A- Well, my Dad has owned a hoagie shop for 30
years in Delaware County, where I grew up, I
worked there for ?ve years after I graduated high
school. But my grandmother worked in another
hoagie shop and when I was little, before school,
we would go with her and help make the bacon
in the mornings. I’d smell like bacon when I went
to school. My whole life I’ve smelled like food.
Q- SO YOUR DAD AND YOUR GRANDMOTHER
ARE TO CREDIT FOR YOUR AWESOMENESS
IN THE KITCHEN?
A- There are lots of people that have in?uenced
my cooking but my grandmother (My Nonna) is
Italian and makes everything from scratch; pasta,
gnocchi, you name in she’s no joke. But I started
dabbling in Breakfast when I worked at my dad’s
hoagie shop. They never had actual breakfast so
I started making things like hash browns and egg
sandwiches and everyone loved it.
Q- AND THAT’S WHEN YOU WENT THE
BREAKFAST ROUTE?
A- I think I’m just in love with breakfast. I went to
school at the Philadephia Restaurant School
(now Walnut Hill College) cause I wanted to
know how to cook but when I graduated I decided
to move to Chester County to be near family. I love
Cajun food and had the honor of working at a lot
of local Cajun-inspired restaurants and worked
with some amazing people like Dan Funk and Kevin
Graham. Then I got a job at Market Street Grill.
Q- HOW DID YOU INFLUENCE
THE MENU THERE?
A- I was excited that it was a breakfast and lunch
spot and I was able to revamp the menu and
experiment with things like anduoille sausage
gravy and cream chipped beef and other creative
breakfast specials.
Q- WHAT WAS THE FIRST UNIQUE SPECIAL
THAT YOU CAME UP WITH?
A- That would be the Bruno Burrito which is
?lled with hash browns, anduiolle sausage gravy,
cheddar cheese, two fried eggs in a wrap.
Q- WHAT’S THE BEST PART ABOUT
WORKING THERE?
A- The best part of the restaurant is that it’s so
small that I know what most people want as
soon as they walk in the door because it’s only a
70 seater. I’m a people pleaser. So I want to make
sure that everyone likes what they’re eating.
That makes me happy.
Q- HOW OFTEN DO YOU DO SPECIALS?
A- Every weekend. We have our weekend specials
on our chalkboard.
Q- I HEARD YOU HAVE BIG NEWS.
CAN YOU SHARE?
A- Yes! We are opening up for breakfast on April
1st. It’s April Fools day but this isn’t a joke, dinner
is going to be from 5-9pm Wed – Saturday. BYO and
we’ll be serving salads, sandwiches, a few special
entrees and breakfast specials.
Q- SO YOU’RE BRINGING CHESTER
COUNTY “BRINNER.” (BREAKFAST
MIXED WITH DINNER)
A- Yup, (she laughs) “Brinner” will always be on
the menu. Breakfast is good anytime of day!
FUN STUFF ALWAYS ON THE MENU:
Cornbread Avocado Eggs Benedict, Stuffed French
Toast with Cream Cheese and Caramelized Straw-
berries, Bananas, and Walnuts, Breakfast Quesadilla
– with ?ank steak, eggs, refried beans, pepper jack
and house-made salsa and sour cream.
RECENT CHALKBOARD SPECIALS:
Short Rib Benny (easily one of the best things
you’ll ever eat), house made donuts with mascapone
cheese and caramelized raspberries or pork belly
over sweet potato hash and poached eggs with an
apple pork au jus or salmon bread pudding with
bacon, mushrooms and two poached eggs covered
with hollandaise.
DARLA’S BREAKFAST FACTS:
• We crack every egg by hand and whip them to
order. You can hear me whipping the eggs in
the front of the restaurant.
• We go through 120 dozen eggs a weekend
(1,500 eggs)
• I come in at 5:30am to make the bacon.
• I always support local food business owners.
DON’T WANNA WAIT?
Sometimes there’s a line out the door but so the
advice from Darla is to come earlier in the morning
(between 8-10 a.m.) or between 1 and 2 p.m. but
they close at 2:30 on Saturday and 2:00 p.m. or of
course you can come for dinner starting in April.
