Best of Philly 2008

[philadining]

I managed to wangle an invite to the Best of Philly party this year, which was held at the Kimmel Center. The massive lobby was jammed, even more than it appears in this photo. I keep forgetting that there are a LOT of categories, and for some reason they don't all have to do with food.

I figured it would be fun to run into folks I recognized and offer congratulations, but I actually saw almost nobody familiar. I mostly just wandered around, got pounded by loud music, nibbled at some OK food and drinks, and had a few nice conversations, yelled over the hubbub.

Of course every year the Best of Philly list starts plenty of arguments, and I'll bet the magzine would be disappointed if it didn't. As always, there were a few choices that left me scratching my head, but there were also lots that I could agree fully with.

They don't have the list up on the website yet, I assume they're hoping to sell some magazines...

But here are a few that jumped out at me:

I wouldn't argue with either of those...

I did run into the crew from Chick's, looking pretty happy about "Best Inventive Cocktails." They also were mentioned in the "Best Bar Trend: Mixologists" (or something like that... ) category. Congrats to them, and especially bartendrix Katie Loeb.

I also was thrilled to see Southwark win for Best Traditional Cocktails although i suppose that's not a huge surprise to anybody!

Totally agree with: Best new BYOB – Cochon!

Also, wouldn't argue with "Best BYOB - Suburbs" – Gilmore’s

I don't have the issue right in front of me right now, I'll try to double-check the actual phrasing of the awards, I might have the exact wording wrong, but a few more that I liked were something like:

Best Gourmet Pizza - Osteria

Best Everyday Pizza - Marra's

Best Entreee – Ansill (I think it's the Lamb from the Pif-night menu)

Best Chocolates – Eclat

What did everybody think about the list this year?

[Vadouvan]

Best of Philly is mostly irrelevant Phil, people have their favorite places and one list does not change anybody's mind.

It is good to see Katie recognized though especially with full blown Apothecary madness in town.

Blog's looking great Phil, nice work.

Now take one for the team and go try brunch at Tinto will you ?

[philadining]

Hey V, you're probably right that foodies already have their favorites, and won't not pay much attention to lists like these. But I suspect that it might spur some folks to try a place they might not have otherwise.

Katie - noticed any difference?

The list definitely piqued my curiosity about a few things. It reminded me that it's been way too long since I've been to Ansill. And to brunch at Lacroix. The best "Food you don't know" is a crazy dessert lassi-ish thing with all kinds of stuff in it, from the Palace at the Ben. I feel like I have to check that out. There are more.

But Vadouvan raises an interesting question: to folks that read eGullet, is the Best of Philly list relevant at all? Are you interested, vaguely curious?

[percyn]

...

But Vadouvan raises an interesting question: to folks that read eGullet, is the Best of Philly list relevant at all?  Are you interested, vaguely curious?

While I don't refer to the "Best of Philly" list (or any list for that matter) as a definitive/authoritative source, it does help provide that extra little push towards places you have been wanting to try anyway. Plus, it is always fun to see a little previously unknown place in the burbs be recognized

[Holly Moore]

I find the Best of Philly list valid to the degree that it agrees with my opinions.

[KatieLoeb]

Katie - noticed any difference?

This falls into the "be careful what you wish for" category. We were quite busy last night and many customers (both regulars and new folks) commented that they'd seen the magazine and the list. Aside from oodles of congratulations, liquor (not including beer and wine) was close to 30% of sales Friday night. I made LOTS of cocktails, that's for sure.

As far as the list goes, I'm honestly happier about the mention of my name, my good friend Stephen over at Amada and the staff at Apothecary being singled out as "Best Bar Trend - Mixology". After jumping up and down and shouting (seemingly to no one and to no avail) for the past several years about how there really really is a cocktail culture in Philly, even if we are a bit behind the curve of other cities, it's nice to see the regional press catching on and writing about it. Now if only the national and international press would follow suit, my work would be done...

[gfweb]

So which one of the four in the photo are you?

[percyn]

So which one of the four in the photo are you?

Clue: Not the 2nd from right

Edited August 4, 2008 by percyn (log)

[KatieLoeb]

I'm the girl in black & white on the far right. Our friendly proprietress Nella Genovese is on the left, pastry chef Kristin Weber is second from the left and Chef Jim Piano is the other fellow in the pic.

It was pretty busy Saturday night too. To my delight, at one point every single seat at the bar was taken up by my friends Mr. and Mrs. Tarte Tatin, Capaneus, mattohara and S.O., philadining, mummer, and Mr. and Mrs. attesac. An eGullet crew to be reckoned with...

[TarteTatin]

It was magnificent!

Wahoo!

Congrats!

[mattohara]

i agree phil. it's less about changing somebody's mind than pointing things out that deserve recognition. i know it drastically affected my friends lindsey and carrie when they got BoP Urban Dogwalkers (or something like that) for their just-launched Monster Minders business.

there are lots of people out there that don't spend hours browsing foodie websites or comparison shopping for dogwalkers. when they see a list, especially a well-known and widely publicized list, it makes things easy. i'm sure all of the businesses in the list are experiencing at least some kind of bump.

that said i haven't seen the list myself yet.