Do food critics wear disguises? And other questions from The Inquirer food team’s Reddit AMA

It’s not easy finding the best brunch spots to impress out-of-towners or tracking down the latest food trends, but someone’s gotta do it. Luckily, The Inquirer’s food team takes on this burden wholeheartedly and dishes out a Dining Guide each year to report on their culinary adventures throughout the Philly region.

“The dining guide has always been a good opportunity to break from our weekly focus on what’s new to take in the big picture,” writes The Inquirer’s restaurant critic, Craig LaBan.

The 2023 Dining Guide sings the praises of decades-old Philly restaurants that are overdue for a spotlight and welcomes a new fleet of chefs and restauranters beginning their dreams in this East Coast powerhouse of flavor. To dig deeper into their findings, LaBan and The Inquirer’s food & dining reporter, Mike Klein, sat down to answer Reddit’s burning questions and give their best takes on this year’s food scene.

Read The Inquirer’s 2023 Dining Guide online or buy it in print for the coffee table. To stay updated on the latest food and dining news in the city, sign up for the Let’s Eat, Philly! newsletter.

Mike Klein: When the bill comes, I just whip out my Inquirer Amex — a very nice thing to have. I’m sure being recognized helps the experience (especially when I’m not-so-secretly photographing the food on the table), but remember: I am not a critic. I’m just trying to report on and chronicle as much of a VERY broad scene as possible. I like to say that my job is like standing at Niagara Falls with a cup.

Craig LaBan: I used to wear disguises when the occasion demanded it. For the most part, disguises don’t work. Fake beards don’t adhere long enough to last through a tasting menu, and it’s worse to be found-out in a bad disguise, which can draw a lot more attention than one ever intended.

I prefer to go low-key. I never make reservations in my own name, if I make them at all (often my guests will do this), so the visits are at least always unannounced even if I’m eventually recognized at a table. Staff must respond spontaneously, and the quality of the food and service is pretty hard to fake — even if I’m well aware some kitchens make multiple versions of a dish before sending one out to my table. Also, it should be noted: The Inquirer always pays for my meals. I accept no free food — unlike pretty much every Instagram/TikTok influencer out there. The Inquirer still invests big in our food coverage because the integrity of our process, I believe, still sets us apart.

Mike Klein: It’s not new, or “chichi,” but the Baller Classic from Middle Child. What a perfect turkey hoagie, with the chopped-up pickles, raw onion, arugula and enough mayo to lube a small SUV.

Craig LaBan: You know it’s pretty much impossible for me to name a single best bite, right?

That said, you really need to look no farther than the cover and inside page of this year’s dining guide to get my answer: the coal-grilled river prawns for the goong phao platter at Kalaya is my dish of the year. These are as big as mini-lobsters but sweeter, stripped tableside of their tail meat and tossed into jasmine rice with fried shallots, garlic, peanuts, neem bitter greens and nam pla waan Thai seafood sauce (sour, spicy, herbal, funky), along with all the creamy orange molten fat pooling in the head. It’s got 10 different flavors and textures going on, and has taken a dish I that ate alongside chef Nok at an open-air restaurant in Thailand, and actually improved it. Spectacular. This is more than a great dish. It’s a personal history served in all its flavorful glory on a platter, with no compromises, for Philadelphians to taste.

Mike Klein: I really enjoy La Calaca Feliz (20th & Fairmount) and the new Buena Vista (17th & Green). For whatever reason, Fairmount has not experienced much new-restaurant activity recently, though I spoke with Rabbi Hirshi Sputz of Chabad of Fairmount. He and his wife, Shevy Sputz, are converting the former Rembrandt’s on Aspen Street — once the largest restaurant in the area — into a school, synagogue, and community center, as well as Stephen’s Restaurant. The light menu will include the line of kosher baked goods from Shevy’s Babka Paradise, now offered Thursdays at Fairmount Farmer’s Market. Stephen’s opening is targeted for January.

Craig LaBan: In Brewerytown, gotta love Spot Burger. And I’m due for a revisit for a Rodeo or Ponderosa. But I’m also really looking forward to the new Baby’s Kusina and Market, set to bring some Filipino flavors there soon, too. Curious to try Otto’s Taproom, but have yet to get there. One often overlooked neighborhood favorite in Fairmount is Zorba’s Tavern, which serves good renditions of traditional Greek fare — perhaps the last saganaki flamed tableside in Philly? Also, don’t miss the lamb shank in avgolemono sauce.

Mike Klein: I mean, if you want to blow them away with atmosphere, you got JG Skyhigh and a view from the 60th floor. We have so many great hometown bruncheries. I’m a fan of Cafe La Maude in Northern Liberties.

Craig LaBan: For brunch? Try one of the favorites from my Top 10 list in El Chingon! This is such a beautiful, updated rendition of Mexican South Philly and all the baking is done in house, from the cemitas to the conchas. But there’s also knock-out chilaquiles, and a hearty Taco Placero breakfast platter. Get the Marzapano cappuccino infused with crumbled Mexican peanut candies. On a totally different tortilla wavelength, I’m now craving the Texas-style breakfast tacos wrapped in fresh made flour tortillas at Taco Heart, also in South Philly. Or you can do a “French AF” brunch with foie gras French onion soup at Forsythia, kale-Comté crepes and matsutake omelettes.