37
FEBRUARY 1 2008
AMERICANWAY
JOHNGONZALEZ
is a staffwriter for
Boston
magazine. He can’twait to take apicturewith thePhilliePhanatic.
“Obviously, the Phanatic loves Phillies baseball at
Citizens Bank
Park
. If you’re there, visit the
PhanaticAttic
. It’s a spot dedicat-
ed solely tohim. There’s ahuge statueof thePhanatic there—he
hasa
big
ego.Whata lotofpeopledon’t realize, though, is that the
Phanatic is a rare species of bird from the Galápagos Islands. So
he loves to unwind at the
Schuylkill Center for Environmental
Education
, 340acres of privatelyheld land that butts upagainst
the Schuylkill River. You can go on naturewalks and see all sorts
ofwildlife [there].”
“For aglassofwine, aplace that’s sort of been forgottenbecause
it’s been open so long is
Ristorante Panorama
. Philadelphians
take it for granteda littlebit. I just love it. It’s tuckedawaydown
this street, and it has this air of exclusivity to it— like you’d only
knowwhere tofind it if someone told youabout it first. Thewine
program is exceptional. They have more than 150wines by the
glass. You can taste it, have half a glass, a full glass—whatever
youwant. … For beer lovers,
Monk’s Café
would be the equiva-
lent. It isn’t just one of the best beer bars inPhilly; it’s one of the
best in thecountry. It’sanepicBelgianbeerbar, and it hasamaz-
ing food too. It has a library selection of the world’s specialty
beers. It reallypushes theenvelope, and it draggedPhilly into the
international beer scene.”
“My favorite thing todo inPhilly is togo toStephenStarr’s chichi
steakhouse,
BarclayPrime
.But insteadofhitting thehigh-priced
dining room, I head to the bar, where I order a couple (ormore)
drinks and the following reasonably priced items: Kobe beef slid-
ers, tater tots, andNueskebacon,whichhasa strongmaple-syrup
flavor. I sit there and … luxuriate in actually feeling my arteries
harden as I chew.”
“For any foodie, or for anyone into home design, really, youmust
stop inand shopat
Foster’sHomeware
inOldCity. Theyhavean
absolutelyamazing selectionof cookwareandhousewares.And if
you justwant to see part of the city, head over to the
Japanese
HouseandGarden
inFairmount Park. It’s oneof themost beau-
tiful settings inPhiladelphia.”
EllenYin
Owner of Fork restau-
rant and author of the
cookbook
Forklore:
Recipes andTales from
anAmericanBistro
LarryPlatt
Editor of
Philadelphia
magazine
TomBurgoyne
(self-describedas “the
Phanatic’s best friend”)
PhilliePhanatic, official
mascot of thePhiladelphia
PhilliesMajor League
Baseball team
MarnieOld
Assistant deanofwine
studies atManhattan’s
FrenchCulinary Institute
(she commutes) and
“Philly’s highest-profile
sommelier,” according to
Philadelphia
magazine
For contact information for all theplacesmentioned, please visit
Global traveler that you are, you surely have favorite places in all the cities you visit.Why not
share themwith others?Send us an e-mail with your picks at
favorites@americanwaymag
.com
, or go to
and join in the discussion.
JapaneseHouse andGarden
Crispy-skin
stripedbass
atMercato
Citizens
BankPark
