The Philly They Don’t Know
No one is happier than me when the national media spotlight falls on the Philadelphia food scene. I was ecstatic last year when food editor April White lured Dana Cowin of Food & Wine magazine to town, resulting in a multi-page editorial about the pros and cons of dining out in our city.
But Ms. Cowin and company had local insiders leading the way. So often it seems out-of-towners make some commentary about the Philadelphia food scene that’s wildly off the mark. Just last week, The Washington Post announced to the world that Philadelphia has “subs” other than the cheesesteak. The Post writer dissed John’s Roast Pork, the holy grail of Philly street food. Maybe his dissatisfaction stemmed from choosing the wrong size, small, which comes on a lackluster round roll.
Last year, Esquire magazine chose the Friendly Lounge as one of America’s best bars. Are they kidding? The Friendly Lounge isn’t even the best bar off the Italian Market. Who doesn’t prefer 12 Steps Down, which is similarly dive-y, but with respectable beers on draft and decent bar grub? But the most clueless of all clueless picks had to be when Today crowned Vesuvio’s cheesesteak best sandwich in America. The sliced filet on that sandwich is more like the tragic mistranslations of the cheesesteak you see elsewhere around the country than the genuine article found on every other corner in the area. And while these strange claims to fame do get under my skin, it is nice to think that our best bars and sandwich shops might remain hideaways just for us. The New Yorkers are invading fast enough as it is.
Image, Gee Whiz, Cheesesteak Isn’t Philly’s Best Sub [Washington Post]