Lisa Ling on why Asian food in Los Angeles matters.
A black cod goes from the Pacific to Shibumi.
Keeping cool when the kitchen gets hot.
One restaurant’s many pandemic pivots.
Two different takes on Indian food.
Every day’s a hustle at Woon.
From Asian farms to Los Angeles restaurants.
Why in L.A. they’re not boring.
Three restaurants breaking boundaries.
Mastering values at Yang’s Kitchen.
Two chefs go behind the blade.
Omakase and ramen join the neighborhood.
The coronation of soju and makgeolli.
Three women open the bar they want to walk into.
Indonesian community through cuisine.
On working with Mom and Dad at Anajak Thai.
Los Angeles before sushi.
Inside the staff ritual of eating together.
Three Vietnamese restaurants expand the city’s palate.
One chef has some thoughts.
Waking up Los Angeles to Burmese cuisine.
The couple behind Shiku goes with the flow.
An ode to those who keep them going.
Michelle Bernstein embraces the competition.
One restaurant’s epic journey from debt to success.
The couple behind Boia De and Walrus Rodeo play by their own rules.
Vermouth gets a bar of its own.
On the business of BBQ in Miami.
Recipes for navigating an uncertain economy.
The secret to never getting old in a town obsessed with what’s new.
How two pioneers of omakase introduced Miami to a new way of dining out.
Chasing a childhood memory one arepa at a time.
Why Miami’s mainstays of Middle Eastern food aren’t phased by the influx of glossy newcomers.
David Foulquier on his shapeshifting ambitions.
The Black chefs behind a vegan movement in Miami.
Two Cuban sandwich masters talk shop.
A new generation’s take on the classic Jewish deli.
Miami’s mavericks of sustainable growing and dining.
An intimate glimpse inside restaurants after the last customer leaves.
Creating a culture where employees stick around.
A new kind of bottle service takes root in Miami.
The art of staying put in a changing city.
The city’s ventanitas created a culture all their own.
Philadelphia Magazine’s food critic on the irrepressible attitude that is the key ingredient of the city’s restaurants.
How one restaurant gave birth to many.
The cheesesteak may be the global mascot of Philly. But a contingent of pioneering chefs and restaurateurs have made the city a hub of vegetarian innovation.
The city’s Eritrean-Ethiopian restaurants serve up more—way more—than delicious food.
How Juan Carlos Aparicio baked his way to running a restaurant (that isn’t a bakery).
How Alex Tewfik went from being a food editor in Philly to owning one of the best restaurants in town.
Two restaurants that share a belief in how cooking can be force for change.
How Chutatip Suntaranon channeled her upbringing in Thailand—and life spent flying around the world—into one of Philly’s most singular restaurants.
Stopping by the warehouses in Kensington where artisan upstarts are breathing new life into the city’s food scene.
The Ongoing Evolution of Philly’s Classic Sandwiches.
Chloé Grigri, Amanda Shulman, and Ellen Yin on upending the rules of the game.
Mike Solomonov takes stock of his journey.
When a customer becomes a friend.
Ange Branca was forced to close her beloved restaurant in 2020. That was just the beginning.
How do you build a restaurant in a space that was never meant for a restaurant? In Philly, a city of Revolutionary Warera buildings and colonial row houses and ancient warehouses, it can be a bit like playing Tetris with Benjamin Franklin.
Three Philly couples get frank and intimate in sharing their recipes for romance.
Inside the world of homespun pop-ups and unexpected collaborations that have made Philly’s dining scene like nowhere else.
The classics are easy enough to master by anyone with fine liquor and a recipe.
The city has long been a vibrant hub of Vietnamese food. Today, a new generation is striking a balance all their own—between creativity and tradition, innovation and memory.
An ode to the unsung heroes of restaurant kitchens from a comedy writer who couldn’t take the heat.
A cell phone has been invented that allows you to send one text message to your younger self. What do you write?
*How one restaurant gave birth to many.
Back in 1998, when Marc Vetri opened his eponymous Northern Italian restaurant, Vetri Cucina, Philadelphia’s food scene was sleepy. Today, it’s wide awake, with the city’s culinary flair fawned over nationally and its restaurants cleaning up at last year’s James Beard Awards—a tidal shift that can be credited to Vetri in more ways than one.
In addition to consistently cooking some of the city’s most beloved food, and winning his own James Beard along the way, Marc has operated Vetri Cucina as an incubator of sorts over the past 25 years—the place where a number of Philly’s preeminent talents cut their teeth. Before Michael Solomonov opened Zahav, the foundation of his multi-dimensional restaurant universe, he worked in the kitchen at Vetri.
As did Dionicio Jimenez (Cantina la Martina). And Amanda Shulman (Her Place, My Loup) and Joey Baldino (Zeppoli, Palizzi Social Club). The list goes on. No wonder why so many past employees, who can often be found talking shop with Marc on Vetri’s front stoop, say that working at the restaurant is like double majoring in cooking and business.
When you opened Vetri just over 25 years ago, Philly’s restaurant scene wasn’t really a scene. That’s changed.
When I opened, it was just the Striped Bass and Le Bec Fin. Fork had just opened up. It’s steadily been flourishing. It’s nice to be one of the pioneers.
What would it look like if you’d never opened Vetri?
I don’t know that it would look any different. I’m just one of the many threads in the whole fabric of this city. Maybe I gave solace to folks who saw us being successful, so they gave it a shot. The rents here are a lot less than in New York City. It’s a no-brainer to open up in Philly.
Do you have any sense of whether it was easier or harder to open a restaurant in Philly when you started compared to today?
That’s hard to say. It was definitely easier to turn a profit, but it was harder to get people’s attention because you had no social media, hardly any internet. You had to rely on articles. Social media is definitely a good thing for marketing and promoting the restaurants, if used correctly.
“I’m just one of the many threads in the whole fabric of this city.”
Some of Philly’s most talented chefs got their start at Vetri. When someone like Michael Solomonov or Amanda Shulman starts working for you, do you know right away that they’re destined for greatness?
They have this mindset, this curiosity. But not only that: this work ethic and effort. They want to learn, to practice, to ask questions. They show up early, they leave late. You can be super talented, but talent is overrated and effort is overshadowed. People like Amanda, Jim Burke (the chef of James, who died in 2022), Dionicio Jimenez, and Jeff Michaud (owner of Osteria), they had a little something extra.
It’s got to be sad, knowing you’ll lose them.
I’m so happy for them! We know we’re going to lose them. No one stays forever. I know that they’re going to head out into industry and do amazing things, and I’m happy that I’m a stepping stone for them.
Do you now think of their restaurants as your competition?
Not at all. They add to the restaurant landscape. You go into different restaurants for different things.
How do you feel seeing them be the boss?
It’s an amazing feeling. When I first ate at Her Place, it was just amazing to watch Amanda. Watching Michael and Dionicio and Baldino are some of the highlights of my life. They found their own niche. They’re still some of my best friends. I speak to Michael three times a week. That’s the most fulfilling thing.
Do your former employees come to you for help?
Oh my god, we have lots of coffee talks, lots of crying. It’s not only them, but a lot of restaurateurs. If you name one, they’ve probably asked me or Jeff to sit down with them for a stoop talk.
So Vetri’s front stoop is kind of like a therapist’s office.
When it’s nice out. There’s always an espresso or cappuccino. I end up having like seven espressos before noon! It’s really what it’s all about. The cooking is also fun, but this is more important and more satisfying.
You must go home over-caffeinated!
I’m immune at this point. I have like 15 a day. I don’t know if it’s healthy.
What’s a common problem people come to you to unravel?
The main thing I talk to restaurant owners and chefs about is what to do after their first restaurant. What’s next? How do they get there? What’s the right move? What to look for in a contract? How do they grow and make an impact with possibly a bigger space because the one restaurant just isn’t enough to live off, start a family, and save money?
My advice these days is simply this: Your first restaurant is your business card. It’s a marketing tool. Pour everything into it because that first restaurant is what sets you up for future success. I couldn’t have opened a successful pizzeria or other restaurants without spending nine years making my name at Vetri. That set me up with the offers for other restaurants, management deals, books and whatever else.
That’s a lot to juggle! How do you balance it all?
I have one bucket that I fill. A lot of folks have their work life and their home life, but I have a bucket and it’s the bucket of life, and it’s just like work/play/restaurant. I could be hiking on a mountain and if one of my chefs calls me, I know they need something so I answer it. I’m on a mountaintop with my wife… she’s, like, ‘Yes, obviously, answer it.’ That doesn’t work for everybody.
“You can be super talented, but talent is overrated and effort is overshadowed.”
How often are you in the kitchen these days?
I’m usually in the restaurants Monday to Friday. Most nights, I’m at Vetri, and stop into Pizzeria Salvy and Fiorella. I’m in Vegas a bit and sometimes in Asia, but when I’m in Philly, I’m in the restaurants. I love being here.
Do you want to brag about anyone currently working for you who you expect to see in the headlines—for their cooking, of course!—down the road?
Jacob Rozenberg, my chef at Vetri, has been with me for 12 years. Matt Rodrigue over at Fiorella has been with me for nine years. There’s lots of opportunity here within our organization, but if either of them want to open up their own thing, I imagine they will at some point.
Zach Kelberman was a line cook at Vetri. He got started with me right after high school and helped me open up a restaurant in Kyoto. Now, he’s working in Kyoto for chef Yoshihiro Imai at monk (featured on Netflix’s Chef’s Table: Pizza). I’m sure one day he’s going to open up something here that’s mind blowing. I’ll stick all my money on him. He’s 25. He was born one month after I opened Vetri.
Can you pick a favorite restaurant among the Vetri alum?
Zero chance. I love all of my children equally.
“One day I was working pasta and Marc walked in from the dining room, stood over my pasta tank and asked me if my water was seasoned correctly, because it looked salty. I remember being totally panicked, questioning whether a person could see dissolved salt in rapidly boiling water. I said a confident “It’s perfect” and he shrugged and walked away. He just wanted a confident answer! Confidence was everything.”
— Amanda Shulman
Dish influenced by Vetri:
Ricotta spinach gnocchi in brown butter, sage, and Sicilian cheeses at Zeppoli. (Joey Baldino)
“I will be forever honored to have the mentorship of Marc Vetri. His approach to cooking and leadership is brilliant. I’ve learned from him that simple food, executed perfectly, evokes an emotional response from guests—something we’ve always tried to do at CookNSolo. He and I are also both super fortunate to have many chefs work in our restaurants who have embraced that mentality on the way to building their own place.”
— Michael Solomonov
Dish influenced by Vetri:
Branzino a la Sal at Cantina La Martina (Dionicio Jimenez)
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