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Gastronaut

Foobooz

Gastronaut: Hey, Santa …

Dear Santa, Hey, big guy. It’s me again. Over the years I’ve made a habit of coming to you every December and selflessly burning up […]

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The Great Philly Restaurant Die-Off of 2015

I remember doing the numbers for an essay a while back and counting something in the neighborhood of 80 notable restaurant openings during 2014. This […]

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Gastronaut: Down on the Shore

The Shore is what it is—a region with its own peculiar DNA made up primarily of watery sangria, sand fleas, cotton candy and flip-flop sweat. […]

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Gastronaut: The Case for Crawling

When we were young cooks, none of us could ever stand still. Work — 12 or 14 or 16 hours. White jackets and checked pants; […]

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Gastronaut: Summer in the City

Philadelphia is a city of neighborhoods? Whatever. People have been spouting that trite crap since the notion of the neighborhood was invented, about any municipal […]

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The Gastronaut: I Love the ’80s

I am, for better or for worse, a child of the 1980s. Born in 1973, I spent my youth in a haze of Transformers (the […]

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The Gastronaut: It Gets Better

I was at Aldine for dinner on opening night, and it was awful. Of all the dishes set before me, I only found two of […]

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The Gastronaut: Hey Santa …

Dear Santa, First things first, I have to thank you for being so good to Philadelphia since the last time I wrote you. I asked […]

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The Gastronaut: Notes of Honey, Pine Needles and Regret

Sure, sure. The holidays are a time for togetherness. For family. For stuffing yourself full of food and then passing out on the couch. But […]

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Gastronaut: We Like to Watch

When Serpico first opened on South Street, one of the main draws was the big, open kitchen and the man himself — Peter Serpico, late […]

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Gastronaut: Arts and Crafts

I saw this coming years ago. Not because I’m clever or prescient or some kind of unappreciated soothsayer of cuisine, but simply because I was […]

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Gastronaut: The Meat of the Matter

First off, let me say this: I’m as guilty as anyone when it comes to portraying Philly as a mecca for twig-and-berry eaters. Like just […]

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Gastronaut: Best of the Best (of the Best)

I have absolutely no reason to eat at Dandelion anymore. I mean, I have plenty of reasons: I like it there, there’s always a seat […]

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The Gastronaut: Philly vs. Manhattan

For an ex-lawyer, Mike Traud makes a pretty good cook. Good enough to open Osteria for Marc Vetri and work the line at Zeppoli with […]

Michelin guide for Philadelphia restaurants
Foobooz

The Gastronaut: In Search of the Michelin Man

In the beginning, there was France—just this dumpy two-bit European country where everyone grubbed around in the mud, ate rocks for dinner, caught cholera and […]