Hot Chef: Bridget Foy is prepping for South Street Headhouse Spring Fest

Credit: Courtney Apple

While she’s not a chef per se, Bridget Foy has enough restaurant experience and street cred to hold her own in any kitchen. It’s her name, after all, on the restaurant sign at Second and South streets. As operations manager for Bridget Foy’s, Foy has her hands full with menu planning and tweaking, as well as prepping for events like this Saturday’s South Street Headhouse Spring Festival, which gets all the neighbors out on the street for food and music.

What are you guys making for the Spring Fest?
We’ll have a booth set up outside the restaurant where we’ll be grilling sliders. And we’re going to have a barbecue short rib taco, and churros with salted caramel. Drinks, too. We’ll have margaritas and sangria.

How do you decide on your menu for events like this?
We wanted to highlight some signature items, but we also wanted things that will work well in a festival environment — things that people can eat standing up or on the run. That’s why we went for slider-size burgers, for that street food feel.

Bridget Foy’s is well known for the brunch menu. How do you keep it fresh?
We always have the staples that people look for in breakfast food, like eggs benedict and omelets. But we’re always looking for new inspiration. Like right now we’re making blueberry ricotta pancakes and a short rib hash.

How about when you’re not working – which is rare. Where can we find you?
Going out to eat with two kids can be interesting. We like to go to ethnic places in our neighborhood. Anything that has a quick serve and is tasty.

Obviously you have a long-standing connection with South Street and Queen Village. How have you seen the area evolve as a food destination?
We’ve been here for 36 years and have seen a lot of places come and go. It seems that right now a lot of great things are popping up, like Society Hill Society, which just opened. And we have some really good spots at Headhouse, like Twisted Tail. I think it’s a great time for all of us now. There is new construction and condos coming in and it seems like everything is evolving in a good direction.