Food & Wine Article - On Philadelphia

[matthewj]

WOW...Leafing through my new Food and Wine magazine I stumbled across an article on you guessed it Philadelphia dinning scene, and "Foodability." Many things I agree with, but many things I do not agree with, but a very positive article. Any comments.. Good or bad.

[philadining]

Here's the article>>

[matthewj]

Thank you Philladining

[Holly Moore]

Pardon my predictable point of view. An essential criteria missing from Ms. Cowin's elitist grading system is "Soul." Not necessarily soul as in soul food, but soul as in the gritty, everyday traditional peasant fare of a city's natives. Philadelphia's cheesesteaks, hoagies, and pork sandwiches. Chicago's hot dogs, Italian beef and pizza. Five star dining/eating at one dollar sign prices.

Some cities have far more soul than others. Without soul, no matter how sophisticated its cocktails nor how experimental its chefs, a city can not be a "Great Food City / Culinary Destination."

Breaths there a gourmet with soul so dead who never to herself has said, "Wiz with."

Edited May 11, 2007 by Holly Moore (log)

[philadining]

Well said, Holly. I think that soul is a strong point of Philly dining, from "low" to "high." There's a certain folky funkiness in much of the best food here, no matter how buffed.

I thought it was an interesting outsider's perspective on the city. It felt a little random, putting rather a lot of weight on the opinions of people she happened to sit next to, but it's hard to say whether that's more of a literary device than a literal account.

But it's nice to have a sophisticated diner leave happy and intrigued for a change, not just traumatized by the addytood at our cheesesteak counters.

[MarketStEl]

Not to put too fine a point on it, but excellence in everyday fare, or excellent fare you can afford to eat every day, is not the stock in trade of the high-end food magazines like Food & Wine or Gourmet, or at least not something that I think their editors consider their readers would be interested in.

Given that Utz potato chip bags sported that 1991 Food & Wine top rating for a decade, maybe I'm not quite being fair to these magazines here, but my impression from flipping through these mags is that street food and budget-minded dining are at best subjects they deal with infrequently.

Agreed with you, Holly, that the common fare tells you a lot more about a city's soul than the stuff that gets conoisseurs' tongues wagging, though. Don't forget barbecue in this category.

Edited to add: Nonetheless, that Ms. Cowin concludes by saying there are now more places she wants to check out here than in New York is saying something about our fine dining scene. Clearly the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.

Edited May 11, 2007 by MarketStEl (log)

[philadining]

...and I might argue with a few points.

7. Maverick Chefs

The first thing everyone agreed upon: There are no maverick chefs in Philadelphia. No one is using lab equipment or chemicals like sodium alginate to create sci-fi-inspired foods. So I crossed that off immediately and began at the first point on my list.

This seems to have been more of a consensus reached by her local consultants, rather than a conclusion reached in her travels. While Philly doesn't have an Alinea, WD-50 or El Bulli, much has been made of the weird science happening at LaCroix these days, and it's hard to miss the influence of that experimental scene at snackbar. Even the chicken skin bound to sweetbreads out at Marigold Kitchen is an extension of the "meat glue" transglutimase experiments Dufresne's been doing at WD-50 in NY.

Do we have anyone out on the bleeding edges of experimental cuisine? maybe not, but last time I checked, Chicago was the only place where those chefs seem to thrive in any number, and with the exception of Achatz at Alinea, it's debatable whether any of them play a significant role in making a "Great Food City."

re markets: DiBruno's Center City is referenced as

"It has to be everything to all people. It’s all we’ve got"

by a local, no less. Hey, I like DiBrunos, but it's far from all we've got, in fact I almost never shop in there. Downtown Cheese, Claudios, much of Reading Terminal Market, not to mention the numerous seasonal farmers' markets we're chatting about here, all provide viable alternatives/compliments to DiBruno's.

re wine: as Capaneus is likely to mention, there's a weird upside to the "Stalinist system" of the PLCB. The frequent bargains at State Stores and ubiquity of BYOB culture has enriched my drinking life. And thanks to the Moore Brothers, referenced in the article, and some energetic sommeliers working within the PA system, we're privy to a fair amount of excitement in the wine world, I don't feel all that deprived. Often broke after ordering wine in restaurants, yes, but not bored...

re Artisans: good calls to highlight Capogiro and La Colombe, but what about Dave and Kira's chocolates (or Eclat if you want to widen the zone,) Artisan Boulangerie, the pastas and salumi at Osteria, Hendricks Farms cheeses... that's just off the top of my head.

It's great that she ends up with a positive spin on "destination restaurants" even refining her definition of what those might be, but even that conclusion seemed to be reached a little too casually, from a bite here, a quick stop at the bar there.

Still, it's nice to see that she was receptive to the charms of Philly's dining scene, which are indeed not the same as the attractions of many other cities. I give her a lot of credit for being willing to abandon her rules, and see that sometimes it makes sense to just park in the middle of the street, and eat things whiz-wit. Holly's right that she missed some of the best food in town: the simple sandwiches and casual fare, but hey, next time she's down...

[matthewj]

Honestly, I was thrilled that no mention of the "pheasant food of Philadelphia" was uttered. As an "elitist",myself, one may think of Food and wine, Bonn appetit, Gourmet such are just fodder for the masses. To shine a culinary light on a city without the mention of grease, cheese wit, and pork sandwiches and garlic is quite refreshing.

When an article is done about NY, no one is screaming about how the beloved pizza was left out, or no one in San Francisco is throwing sourdough rolls.

As a collective food forum we should be happy that we just received some credibility that costs more than 1 dollar.

[matthewj]

I agree that she was remiss about the markets. Living in a lot of cities myself Philadelphia offers one of the best China Towns, Reading Terminal is very good market. If she is referring to the lack of green markets. that has to do with the consumer. Take Penssylvania out of the green market in New York it would become very very very small. The crux is that most of the Pennsylvania farmers and agriculturalist that attend the Greenmarket New York have no market in Philadelphia

[KatieLoeb]

Yeah maybe. But I also think she didn't really look that hard if she only found one cocktail bar, thought DiBruno's was all there was in terms of gourmet markets and sadly, did leave out the city's sandwich culture, which is what we have in spades over everyone else. And no mention of great beer bars and gastropubs makes me think she's still stuck back in the 90's in terms of what Philly has to offer. BYOB's are a thriving dining option here, but so are the gastropubs, smaller restaurants with liquor licenses and interesting wine lists (with or without a full time "sommelier" on the floor) and other options that simply don't exist in other places.

Did she forget to Google eGullet and read the PA forum before she got here? Looks that way to me. <shrug> But since there's no such thing as bad publicity (except for your mug shot and the word "alleged" in fornt of your name) I suppose we should be happy.

I hope she comes back and digs a little deeper. She could dig with a teaspoon and unearth some treasures that aren't really that hidden.

[skulky]

this article was a big yawn, filler crap, terrible research, what i could surmise vetri invented cooking in philadelphia, i can't believe laban's james reiview came out the same week, the fountain isn't a "destination" restaurant, and apparently matt levin's pr people don't have food and wine in their back pocket.

other than that go philly.

[matthewj]

one needs to look at the article from an outsiders perspective. Realizing that this is not Philadelphia magazine, but a widely read publication that is distributed around the country if not the world. Having an article more than a small blurb in the restaurant cities section is a big deal. Whether or not one thinks the article is poorly written or does not cover enough of the cheese steak underworld, is moot. Given the fact that many times we pine about not having enough press about the city, hating the comparison to NYC. Philadelphia finally receives a nice article, and the people that pooh, pooh it are the very one that should be happy it was written. As an outsider you already know about Tony Lukes and Cheesesteaks. Now the average reader that is not from Philadelphia and surrounding area will now know to come to Philadelphia to eat. She also made a good couple of points. Extending the idea that she found a lot of restaurants that she could put against many restaurant towns. Contrary to popular belief people will travel for a great meal.

If one is miffed about not seeing enough sloppy Joe's, or little pete's lust remember almost every article about Philadelphia has a bobble head nodding in your direction.

As for not including the Fountain Room as a destination restuarant, I was a little suprised, but sometimes writer tend to focus on the independent restuarant before the hotel restuarant.

[philadining]

I think you make a good point Matthew, it is indeed nice to have a national publication not dismiss Philly as a quaint second-rate town, where the only notable food is some odd thing called a cheesesteak.

My "parking in the middle of the street" comment was meant metaphorically: I like the fact that she embraced Philly for its Phillyness, not how it stood up to NY on a NY-centric scale.

But in a more literal sense, simple street food is indeed part of a city's dining scene, and that food can be just as exciting and attractive to visitors, even Food and Wine readers. I've never thought of that magazine as especially snooty.

The Chicago Hot Dog is part of that city's dining scene, a Mission burrito part of San Francisco's, a pastrami sandwich part of NY's. Heck, one of our local eG crowd has flown to Montreal just for a smoked meat sandwich...

It's great that there's lots more she wants to try in Philly, and I hope that when she comes back that will include upscale "destination restaurants" but also Sarcone's for a hoagie, DiNic's or Tony Luke's for a Roast Pork, maybe a taqueria or two, or Rangoon, or some of the other little places that contribute just as much to making Philly an exciting dining destination as the glittery expensive places do.

[Holly Moore]

I am mainly taking issue with Ms. Cowin's criteria for a great dining destination and/or a great food city. The "soul" I describe in my earlier post not only is key to defining a great dining destination, be it Philadelphia or Paris, but also in savoring the differences between great dining destinations.

From city to city there is a degree of sameness to young chefs' ideas, food artesians, wine scenes, chic cocktail lounges and such. Cheesesteaks, papaya doggeries, taco's, Italian beef, barbecued brisket, half smokes, brats, chowders, muffalettas, coffee milk, chili-mac, hot browns are the delicacies that help distinguish one great dining destination from another.

Charleston is a wonderful dining destination. But if you don't pack a pair of jeans and a throw-away shirt for downing shovelfuls of roast oysters at Bowen's Island, you'll head home perhaps well fed but only half-informed as to what makes Charleston such a great food city.

Edited May 11, 2007 by Holly Moore (log)

[Rich Pawlak]

I found the article superficial and weirdly assumptive. Ms Cowin's exclusion/ignorance of Reading Terminal Market alone indicates to me that she was led around by the folks at Philly Mag, and some trendy publicists. That being said, she barley skimmed the surfaced of the city and, as Holly correctly stated, she made no effort to find the city's food soul. It as good as we can expect from a national magazine, I suppose. But with the budget and editorial time to do a thorough job, it's a disappointing article.

[KatieLoeb]

Ms Cowin's exclusion/ignorance of Reading Terminal Market alone...

This and no mention of the farmer's markets we DO have, the Fair Food stand within the RTM and some of the other artisinal cheese vendors was what I was talking about. Even if Ms. Cowin was led around by the nose by the Philly mag folks or some other cadre of local PR folks, surely they knew about the other options. What's up with that?

[townsend]

Any food writer that did an article on Philly and proclaimed, "Wow, they have cheesesteaks there, AND THEY'RE REALLY GOOD! They made with meat and cheese and come on these rolls...." would probably not be writing for a national publication. The sandwich culture in Philly is a rightfully proud tradition, but an obvious one that is old news for our beloved Roast Pork and Cheesesteak.

Good point Matthewj on markets; everyone knows the Greenmarket in NYC, but is RTM really comparable? Are the stalls full of farmers and producers of unique artisnal products? Having an outlet like the RTM, and our location to Lancaster, Bucks, and Berks Counties should give us the kind of produce/products that makes others envious. We live next to the 'Breadbasket of the East' that has some of the best farmland in the country, but the food dollars and market organization available in NY makes Philly a second choice for many farmers. There are many chefs in Philly that go out of their way to get great local sources, but to make it economically feasible to pay the farmer for top quality one has to charge a premium, so looking for Five Star food at One Star prices is not very likely. One usually doesn't get Five Star food without the accompanying Five Star experience and price (do they make sauce spoons in plastic?).

Our rich tradition (remember when Le Bus and Metropolitan were mind-blowing for the white bread set?) of making honest, soulful food as well as the haute cuisine of Le Bec and the Fountain at their best should be celebrated by us. That the author is an outsider being guided around by local writers, which she clearly states, obviously influences the writing. If you look at who she was with and where they went, it would give someone who is local a sense of deja vu. We've already read this material. But others haven't. And if scratching the surface of the Philadelphia dining scene is worth noting in a national publication like Food and Wine, then we might be richer than we think.

[serpentine]

Weird. I would've thought that the editor-in-chief of Food & Wine would be able to afford to do a little research.

And seriously, Craig LaBan weighed in? I'd be surprised if he didn't bring RTM, Farm-to-City, and the new crop of gourmet markets in the vein of Fork, etc. to her attention, not to mention roast pork Italian and the rest of our awesome lowbrow. Oh wait, she doesn't think that street food is an important part of being a great food city.

[Alcibiades]

The article is cursory and uninformative to anyone living and dining in Philadelphia. It's been my experience that just about all food/wine publications are little more than PR-driven plugs for whichever market/restaurant/individual the editors choose to hone-in on.

On the other hand, an encyclopedic overview of an entire city's dining scene is a bit unrealistic for a periodical. Hopefully the article is useful to those living elsewhere.

[Holly Moore]

Any food writer that did an article on Philly and proclaimed, "Wow, they have cheesesteaks there, AND THEY'RE REALLY GOOD! They made with meat and cheese and come on these rolls...."  would probably not be writing for a national publication.  The sandwich culture in Philly is a rightfully proud tradition, but an obvious one that is old news for our beloved Roast Pork and Cheesesteak. 

←

I'd agree if the stated purpose of the article was "what is new in Philadelphia dining." But it is not. It is 1.) how does one identify a "great food city" and 2) is Philadelphia a great food city. That the article is in "Food & Wine" and not "Popular Grease" does not justify a writer for a national publication painting just half the picture.

Also a food writer who proclaimed, "Wow, they have cheesesteaks there, AND THEY'RE REALLY GOOD! They made with meat and cheese and come on these rolls...." should not even be writing for a local publication.

Edited May 11, 2007 by Holly Moore (log)

[mandabear]

right on toddy

Any press for the city's dining scene is great, and wil hopefully inspire more articles that address the topics yáll mentioned in previous posts. An influx of diners and labeling Philadelphia as a "food destination" will only help things along. We all have our own topics that we wish were included in the article, I mean I know personally some of the mad science Lacroix was doing last year, but the point here is, great article, great exposure for the city.

[Tim Dolan]

It's always good to see the city get some positive national pub, but this is what I don't understand. Ms. Cowin formulated a checklist that all cities must have in order to be a great food city. Fortunatley by the end of the article she realized that her checklist was flawed because of what it omits. Philadelphia is obviously a city that is greater than the sum of its parts. We might not measure up to other cities in certain aspects, but is that the goal? Should we be striving to replicate what's already been done in other cities, or should we keep doing our own thing?

My main point is this; Chicago is important because of what their chefs are doing with "molecular gastronomy". To me, that is their claim to fame. Should we be trying to rip a page out of their book? The same can be said of New York and its cocktail culture. Sure, it's great, but it's THEIR identity. Don't get me wrong, it wouldn't hurt to have a few simliar places, I'm just saying we shouldn't be striving to follow in other cities' footsteps. It seems like she realized that in the end. I liked that she pointed out that Philly is more suited to be able to go out every night and have a great meal at a neighborhood place. It makes sense as Philly is often described as a "city of neighborhoods".

So yeah, we might not have a great cocktail culture, but isn't that because we have such a strong beer culture? That's just what more people here are interested in. I'm not sure how or why things turned out that way, but isn't that part of OUR identity? It's the same with the BYOB situation. So we're handicapped by an old-school, state-run system. With all the BYO's, we're simply doing our best with the hand we're dealt. Don't you get the sense that if, say, Seattle had the BYO culture that we do then it would be all "ohmygosh Seattle is the best place ever!!!", but because it's Philly, it's sometimes looked at as an unwanted stepchild. "Oh Philadelphia? It's over-run by mom and pop BYOB's..."

In the end I'm glad that she realized that sometimes a city has to be judged on its own strengths, not the strengths of other cities.

[philadining]

Good points Tim.

I'm not really so bothered by Ms Cowan, more mystified by what her local sources were telling her! She did a logical thing for a journalist to do: she contacted local journalists. So it's just kind of weird to see the gaps that resulted. The folks she mentions surely know Philly's strong-points, perhaps they were trying to stay true to her list before she'd given up on it.

We may not have anything quite like the Pegu Club, even we Philly boosters complain about that, but what other cities do? Even NY didn't have anything like the Pegu Club until recently...

Even so, she did make it to Southwark, which mixes some excellent drinks, albeit classics. If she'd looked at the cocktail lists at a few of the places she did visit she could have found quite interesting nouveau libations at Xochitl, and James. A quick stop at the Cantina los Caballitos, or M, to mention some places that are well-known to the local media, would have unveiled some creative concoctions, none of which involve Tang on the rims. So it's kind of strange to just abandon any expectation of decent drinks.

But as Katie and Tim pointed out, the more appropriate response to any cocktail disappointment is to say - wait, but check out our craft beer scene. And around that scene has grown a rather sophisticated gastro-pub presence. It's hard to imagine that none of the local contacts pointed that out.

Maybe Ms Cowan just ran out of time, and places like the Standard Tap are among those places she wants to try on her next visit. Hope so... And some more of our stellar BYOBs... and...

[Rich Pawlak]

this article was a big yawn, filler crap, terrible research, what i could surmise vetri invented cooking in philadelphia, i can't believe laban's james reiview came out the same week, the fountain isn't a "destination" restaurant, and apparently matt levin's pr people don't have food and wine in their back pocket.

other than that go philly.

←

What skulky said. Hilarious take, but sadly true.

[matthewj]

Well put.

Living away from Philly, makes me miss PHiladelphia a lot. In the past 3 1/2 years I have traveled a lot. What make me miss Philadelphia is not that it collectivly wants to be New york.

Philadelphia has a chance to turn a corner. In everyway possible. Does Philadelphia have a great food culture? To an extent yes.

I for one am glad that an article was written in our city rather than another city such as Cinncnati, or delouth Michigan. . I am not even impling the food culture needs to venture toward the molecular gastronomy. But the "soul" of a cities food culture does need to base its entire wieght with street food.

Someone mentioned Charleston. I have spent some time in Charleston with a great many chefs. From the Charleston grill, to F.I.G.(FOOD IS GOOD) that city as small as it is oozzes Food culture. Not just Hotdogs, and oysters. But everywhere I ate there is a culture of great food and great hospitality. Philadelphia is laking a lot of quirky artisinal places. But it is starting to take root. Take Jonny Mac. Snack bar, a quirky little place. A lot of restuarants start out to be something, but fall to the pressure of trying to either compete with a BYO, or stephen star.

I remember when National Geographics did a story on Phialedelphia And had a notable chef take them around. Instead of focusing on the reading terminal and the food he could cook. They had him cook his version of a cheesesteak. He was not happy. All that food history, came down to a cheesesteak.

The things I miss away from Philadelphia in order. La colombe, Vietnam, Cookbook stall, Jack Morgan, Tria, Samson street oyster house, capa giro that is just half of my day.