Letter From the Editors

Okay, we’ll admit it: There was a time when Philadelphia did not immediately pop into our minds when we thought about America’s most compelling restaurant scenes. Which is to say that, like so many, we had Philly all sorts of wrong.

The City of Brotherly Love has long had a flavor all its own, its restaurants an extension of the town’s tight-knit neighborhoods, its fiercely loyal residents, its staggering diversity and beguiling history as the birthplace of the United States. But Philly, a town defined by its BYO restaurant culture, has in recent years been bringing its own in ways that dazzle, the city’s community of chefs and restaurant owners harnessing an underdog spirit into the rich and singular culinary landscape we explore in this issue.

Dinner parties held in apartment living rooms that morph into revered brick-and-mortar restaurants. Vietnamese classics being remixed by a new generation. Renegade artisans turning post-industrial neighborhoods into hubs of innovative cheese production and winemaking. Pioneers of communal Mediterranean and rustic Italian and Southern Thai and plant-based wizardry. In hearing these stories—among so many more—we hope that you come away inspired, continuing to take risks and break rules in all the delicious ways Philly does like nowhere else.

Thanks for the great time and great food!
Find us in the next city!

Editors
David Amsden & Erin Ruffin

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