Recipe Philly is a new restaurant concept on Arch Street that sourced its menu from home cooks in the area.

Wendy Stahler, 82, is one of those home cooks. She’s a longtime member of Old York Road Temple-Beth Am, known for making challah on Friday nights for onegs.

She submitted her challah to Recipe Philly’s open competition, but it wasn’t the Jewish bread that ultimately swayed the elite panel of culinary judges — chef Jennifer Carroll, a former “Top Chef” contestant on Bravo; chef Clara Park, a former Food Network “Chopped” champion; and Josh Moore, a popular local food influencer known for his persona Josh Eats Philly.

It was her other Jewish staple: brisket. Stahler’s brisket sandwich, affectionately labeled Bubbe’s Brisket Sandwich, is part of Recipe Philly’s lunch and dinner menu, and her brisket sliders are available on the restaurant’s happy hour menu.

Recipe Philly opened in August.

“I took a chance,” Stahler said.

Stahler’s journey to the menu of a buzzy new restaurant began on Dec. 31, 2024. That night, she had seen a movie with two friends — Vicki Richman and Bobbi Lustig — when they decided to drive over to Phil’s Tavern in Blue Bell for dinner.

There were no parking spots available in the lot outside the restaurant, so the women drove across the street. They had to walk back across the road to get to Phil’s. The road was clear, so they started walking.

The women held on to Lustig, who was “a little more frail” and “starting with dementia,” Stahler said. They were walking steadily but not too fast. Then, Stahler looked up.

“I said, ‘Brace yourself. We’re going to get hit,’” she recalled.

A truck knocked them to the ground. Lustig died on the spot. Richman later died at Jefferson Abington Hospital.

Stahler landed on the ground and remembers a man coming up to her and asking her questions. She was pounding her chest.

“He said, ‘You’re going to be fine.’ I said, ‘How are my friends?’ He said, ‘They’re fine,’” she recalled.

Stahler was transported to Abington Hospital, where she spent the next 10 days. She had nine broken ribs, a broken sternum and a broken right ankle.

“But I’m alive. I have a second chance. I found out the next day both of my girlfriends were killed,” she said.

But there’s not a day that goes by when she doesn’t think about it. Richman’s three children, whom Stahler knows well, visited her in the hospital. She apologized profusely, but they told her it wasn’t her fault.

“They wanted to know what happened when we were crossing the street,” Stahler said.

Last September, almost a year on from the tragedy, Stahler was given a flyer by Randy Leib, the wife of Rabbi Robert Leib at Old York Road Temple-Beth Am. It was for the Recipe Philly competition.

Home cooks had to submit a recipe and a personal story. Stahler was among 250 people selected from 1,000, according to Rory Balkin, Recipe Philly’s marketing director. Later, the restaurant narrowed the field to 60 home cooks for the competition with the judges.

“I thought, ‘What the heck?’” Stahler recalled. “And the woman called me back.”

“The tragedy with her friends was covered in the news prior to this competition,” Balkin said. “She definitely has one of the most heartwarming, emotional stories of all the home cooks.”

Stahler’s challah recipe was also part of the initial attraction, according to Balkin. But during the competition with the judges, they realized that it wouldn’t quite fit with the rest of the menu.

“We have to think, ‘How does it taste? Can it be replicated in the kitchen? And will that recipe make sense next to the other recipes?’” Balkin explained.

There was one wild-card spot available, though, according to the marketing director. Stahler got the first crack at it with her brisket, which was a hit with the judges.

“We have a somewhat separate happy hour menu, which uses some of the dishes from the lunch-dinner menu that would appeal to a happy hour crowd,” said Balkin. “And just from an appeal standpoint, a lot of people like brisket sliders.”

Through a production company called Homebred Hospitality, Recipe Philly filmed the competition and included the personal stories of the home cooks. Homebred Hospitality and Recipe Philly are in the process of trying to distribute the documentary through a streaming service.

Either way, Stahler is now a permanent fixture on the menu of a Center City restaurant.

“You don’t just get prize money and glory. You actually get featured on a real restaurant’s menu,” Balkin said.

Stahler said her friends are still with her.

“In my heart they’re with me,” she said.

“We were best friends,” she said of Richman in particular. “When I lost my husband, she stayed. She stayed around the corner and came in. When she lost her husband, I stayed. I taught her how to make challah with the ladies from Temple-Beth Am.”

jsaffren@midatlanticmedia.com