CURRENTLY SERVING:

More information is starting to trickle out reagarding The Franklin Mortgage & Investment Co., the new little bespoke cocktail opening up in Rittenhouse Square at the old Bar Noir space by proprietor Chris Doggett. (Google doesn’t tell us a lot about Doggett, other than that he might have been on this episode of HGTV’s House Hunters.) Here’s one interesting tidbit: The Franklin is not a property of NYC’s Death & Co., as previously reported elsewhere. (They’re merely consulting on the design, says Franklin’s manager of PR, Jennifer Sherlock.) Here’s another: The original Franklin Mortgage & Investment Co. was a front in the lat 1920s for legendary Philly gangster Max “Boo Boo” Hoff, who made a fortune during prohibition as a bootlegger, only to die penniless in West Philly at the beginning of the 1940s. All of which should provide a great subtext for a new bespoke cocktail joint opening up in these harsh times: Drink up, it’s later than you think! The Franklin Mortgage & Investment Co., at 112 S 18th Street, soft-opens Thursday June 18.