Ed Sheeran came to Philly and learned how to make a cheesesteak
And once again the British superstar left his fans in giddy adoration. Perhaps none more than brothers Joseph and Philip Baldino, owners of Philips Steaks in South Philadelphia.
Ed Sheeran wowed a packed house at the Met Philly on Friday night for two and a half hours, where he raved about “the beautiful theater” on North Broad Street and exuded enthusiasm about being back in the city of “so many great experiences.”
On Saturday afternoon, he added another to his Philly firsts: He learned how to make a cheesesteak.
And once again the British superstar left his fans in giddy adoration. Perhaps none more than brothers Joseph and Philip Baldino, owners of Philips Steaks in South Philadelphia.
There, shortly before 3 p.m., Sheeran, in T-shirt and shorts, his red hair matching the decor of the little sandwich hut on West Passyunk Avenue (or actually closer in color to the Cheez Whiz), was introduced to this other Philly “process,” all captured by Sheeran’s team and posted on Instagram.
“In Philly, it’s slabs, slabs of ribeye,” Joe tells him with the authority of a griddle master.
“This is Whiz cheese,” Philip says pointing to a vat of the gooey stuff, as the steaks sizzled on the griddle.
Philip then leans in between the grill and the out-of-towner more comfortable with a guitar to give a quick assembly primer: Open roll, slather with Whiz, top with meat, wrap in paper.
“You make the next one,” he encourages his 32-year-old apprentice who started writing songs when he was 11.
The crowd that was gathered outside the serving window, cell phones aloft to capture this very South Philly moment, didn’t seem to shake Sheeran.
He cradled a roll in one steady, black latex-gloved hand, gave it a swipe of Whiz, deftly used a spatula to stuff it with steak, wrapped it in paper, and with tattooed arms handed it out the service window to a gleeful woman.
“Tell me what you think,” Philips’ new crew member urged her.
“It’s perfect,” she crooned, even adding an enthusiastic thumbs-up.
Joe gave two thumbs-up, not for the sandwich but for the extraordinary turn of events on a gloomy Saturday afternoon with patrons chowing down outside, compliments of Sheeran, who before his arrival had posted on Instagram that he was headed to Philips Steaks and that cheesesteaks are “on me today.”
“This is beyond unbelievable,” Joe said to the camera.
It seemed to work for Sheeran, too.
“That was really fun,” he said once back in his SUV.
Though it’s not clear he ever tasted what he had learned to make.
Then again, in just a few hours after leaving Philips, he was due at Lincoln Financial Field to perform a 20-plus-song set to an even bigger crowd than Friday’s. Who could blame him if, when it came to eating a filling, carb-laden cheesesteak prior to a concert he opted to go ... “witout.”
Staff writer Michael Klein contributed to this article.