Another coffeeshop for 9th St.? Nope, it’s a film fakeout

A freshly painted facade next to Connie’s Ric Rac at 1132 S 9th St. in the Italian Market got us all atwitter last week thinking that a new coffeeshop would be opening there. It’s actually a temporary set-up, but it’s still is pretty interesting.

Ron Bauman, co-owner of Connie’s, says that the storefront is posing as a coffeeshop for a movie being filmed by Dustin Dellinger, who runs the online Gashouse Radio station.

“The movie is called ‘Cafe Artist’ (find the film website here) and the script was written by South Philly native Dave Pitone,” Bauman told us in an email. But a pretend cafe might be good practice for Bauman, who is still working on the Connie’s Ric Rac kitchen that we told you about back in February.

“We have been approved for the electrical permit, but we still need two more approvals (for the exhaust system and plumbing),” he said.

They are hoping to open that part of the operation, which is supposed to include gourmet french fries with an extensive topping menu, in the fall.