50 Years of Best of Philly: Chefs & Restaurants
In honor of the upcoming 50th anniversary of Best of Philly this August, we’re taking a monthly look back. This month: our beloved restaurant scene.
Michael Solomonov, our Best New Chef back in 2006, when he was at Marigold Kitchen. / Photograph by Brett Thomas
In honor of the upcoming 50th anniversary of Best of Philly this August, for every month of 2024, we’re taking a look back at some major categories and standout winners. This month: our beloved restaurant scene.
In 1974, on the inaugural Best of Philly list, Le Bec-Fin — Georges Perrier’s towering paean to French cuisine — snagged the magazine’s award for Best Meal Over $25. It was an obvious choice, both at the time and in retrospect. Le Bec was, in our words, “the head of the class.” In 1975, it was awarded Best Restaurant Dessert, for the Floating Island, “a mixture of caramel, custard and paradise.”
It won Best of Philly in 1976. And 1977, and [checks my notes] ah, yes, there it is: 1978. Le Bec-Fin was, in fact, honored 17 of the first 19 years of Best of Philly. In 1980, magazine staffers created the Best of Philly Hall of Fame, retiring frequent winners. A year later, they must have regretted the decision, since Le Bec took home three awards. By 1989, we’d run out of things to say and simply wrote: “The legend continues.”
Of course, the ’70s and ’80s were a much different era in Philadelphia dining — one just as defined by its time as the city’s restaurant scene is today. Eventually, Perrier made room for the Susanna Foos and Michael Solomonovs and Jose Garceses, and Le Bec-Fin receded as Fork and Audrey Claire and Buddakan elbowed their way to the table. Our options expanded — imagine encountering even one Uzbek or Cambodian restaurant in Philly in 1974, never mind whole neighborhoods of them. But one thing has never changed: No matter who’s cooking, we love a good meal.
BOP50 Timeline
Notable wins and winners
Like father, like son. Chefs Jesse and Masaharu Ito / Photograph courtesy of Jesse Ito
1983
We named Fuji, the Cinnaminson sushi stalwart owned by Masaharu Ito, “Best Reason to Stop on Route 130 North.” Thirty-four years later, Ito’s son, Jesse, was awarded Best Splurge Sushi for his now-James Beard Award-nominated Royal Sushi and Izakaya.
1986
Best Waitresses: “The intelligent, sassy women who work at Saloon wait with verve, demonic efficiency and elegance. This is service with style. (There are no waiters.)”
The Saloon waitresses / Photograph by Jim Graham
1988
Best Restaurant in Manayunk: “Who’da thunk this would ever be a category? But yes, old Manayunk is turning into the culinary capital of … well, the Manayunk area. Really, almost every new place that opened on once-deserted Main Street is good, but the winner here is Jake’s.”
2006
Best New Chef: Michael Solomonov. “Our Rising Star Detector went off the minute we tasted his savory chicken truffle amuse rolled in smoked paprika at West Philly’s Marigold Kitchen.”
By the Numbers
By the late ’70s and early ’80s, the editorial tone of Best of Philly had shifted from pithy blurbs to more expansive coverage, and nowhere is this more evident than in the restaurant picks. Indian, Japanese and Korean options appeared for the first time in 1979, and an astounding nine Chinese restaurants won awards in 1980. Want to try the best non-green Chinese vegetable? Get in a time machine and order the sautéed eggplant with garlic, ginger and soy sauce at Rittenhouse’s Hunan.
From Le Bec-Fin in the ’80s to Chanterelles in the ’90s to Vetri today, this three-story Midtown Village rowhome has housed Best of Philly winners since the very first installment in 1974.
Published as “BOP 50: Chefs & Restaurants!” in the April 2024 issue of Philadelphia magazine.
