A Thousand Dollar Dinner At Osteria?

The rivalry between New York and Philadelphia as food cities has persisted for more than 150 years. Back in 1851, a bunch of New York foodies, thinking to dazzle their provincial cousins, invited a prestigious group of our local eaters to Manhattan for a dinner at Delmonico’s–the best restaurant the city had to offer. They told Lorenzo Delmonico to “astonish our Quaker City friends with the sumptuousness of our feast,” and that they didn’t care what it cost.

Unsurprisingly, the dinner was impressive, the Philadelphians were duly impressed, and the New Yorkers thought they’d won what would become America’s first cooking contest.

Until the Philadelphians invited the New Yorkers to come to THEIR house.

Chef James W. Parkinson went on to cook what became known as the “Thousand Dollar Dinner”–a historic, 17-course feast paired with rare wines and liquors. Halfway through it, the New Yorkers cried uncle, admitted that our dinner was the best thing ever, and declared Philly the winner.

And now, the crew at Osteria is setting out to replicate (at least in pieces) that winning meal. On Tuesday, April 5, they’re hosting a limited-seating, six-course dinner inspired by Parkinson’s menu. And it’s not just Osteria’s cook’s putting this together, either. Along with Marc Vetri, Jeff Michaud, and Brad Daniels from the Vetri family, they’re bringing in some big guns to help out. Namely, Jean-Marie LaCroix, Pierre Calmels from Bibou, Robert Bennett from Classic Cake and Greg Vernick.

Tickets for the dinner (which are available now, in limited quantity, and are likely to sell out fast) are running $175, with an additional $70 tacked on for a French wine pairing. What’s more, each guest will receive a signed copy of Becky Libourel Diamond’s 2015 book, “The Thousand Dollar Dinner: America’s First Great Cookery Challenge, which details the entire dinner, course by course.

You can make your reservations by calling Osteria at 215-763-0920.

Osteria [f8b8z]