New York Times picks its 25 favorite Philly restaurants. It’s heavy on South Philly.
Most of the NYT writers' favorites are located south of South Street.
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The New York Times is out with its list of favorite restaurants in Philadelphia, as part of its “Where to Eat: 25 Best” series.
As the Times is writing for an international — or at least New York — audience, there are few surprises to those who follow the Philadelphia restaurant scene. Philadelphia readers may insist that their favorites have been overlooked as the Times writers have included a breadth of cuisines and price points. Such lists are conversation-starters, anyway, and are purely subjective.
Fourteen of the Times’ top 25 are in South Philadelphia. As one Times reader commented: “Seems to heavily favor the hip South Philly scene without exploring the whole city. … But I’m glad it focuses on just this crowded area with no parking, keeping tourists in one part of town.” For that matter, only four restaurants are located in the rapidly growing Fishtown-Kensington area, while six are in Center City.
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The list includes a few sleepers, such as Ambra (the $300-a-head Italian boîte in Queen Village from Southwark’s Chris D’Ambro and Marina de Oliveira) and Illata, Aaron Randi’s yearling BYOB in Grays Ferry (“hosting a dinner party five nights a week”).
Fiorella, Marc Vetri and Jeff Benjamin’s cozy pasta bar in a former South Philadelphia butcher shop, is included, but not their much-honored flagship, Vetri Cucina.
Kalaya, chef Chutatip “Nok” Suntaranon’s Thai hit, is on there, as is the nearby Middle Eastern destination Suraya — both operated by Defined Hospitality. Mike Solomonov and Steve Cook’s Zahav and Laser Wolf were included. Vernick Fish, Greg Vernick’s seafood restaurant at the Comcast Technology Center and Four Seasons Hotel, is on there but not his flagship, Vernick Food + Drink. There’s My Loup, Amanda Shulman and Alex Kemp’s French newcomer near Rittenhouse Square but not Shulman’s Her Place Supper Club.
As Mason said to Dixon, “You have to draw the line somewhere.”
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On the more casual side are Danny DiGiampietro’s Angelo’s in Bella Vista (the lone nod to the city’s famous Italian sandwich and pizza scene) and Matthew Cahn’s Middle Child in Washington Square West.
Absent are populist and popular restaurants by other larger operators such as Starr Restaurant and the Schulson Collective.
Friday Saturday Sunday near Rittenhouse Square — honored this year as the James Beard’s outstanding restaurant — made the list, though the blurb says restaurateurs Chad and Hanna Williams have “managed a feat that few others have: maintaining a beloved neighborhood haunt while finding national renown.” In fact, FriSatSun is another restaurant entirely from the version that Weaver Lilley and friends created in 1973. The Williamses redid it from top to bottom, soup to nuts, maintaining only the name and bricks.