The Philly / New York Divide, Seen From The Other Side



Photo courtesy Grub Street

We spend a lot of time, both here and the magazine, talking about all the chefs and restaurants we’ve been “borrowing” from New York lately. But today, Grub Street posted a long piece looking at it from the other side–asking why already successful New York chefs would want to abandon the Big Apple for Philly.

Everybody has that friend who’s departed New York for more spacious, cheaper environs — the same friend who looks very happy in their Facebook updates from Portland or Chicago or Austin or wherever. Chefs are no different, often on the hunt for restaurant locations that afford plenty of space for less money and less hassle than what’s available in New York. There are substantial trade-offs for people who open restaurants outside of Manhattan or Brooklyn, of course (things like fewer customers and decreased media exposure), but a small group of chefs has found what they say is a best-of-both-worlds situation 90 miles away from New York, in Philadelphia.

Peter Serpico, Eli Kulp, Fette Sau and other recent transplants are discussed and talked to. Rents are compared. Comparisons to the Lower East Side are made. It’s an interesting look at the East Coast migration which you should totally check out by clicking on the link below.

Always Sunny: How Big-Name New York Chefs Found a New Platform for Success in Philly [Grub Street]