…and it ain’t over yet. When I got the 30-year-old chef of Stateside on the phone this afternoon, I was pulling him away from his prep for this weekend’s sold out Brewery Ommegang Hop Chef national competition–which is only the next thing he has going for him in a month that has already seen him get engaged, win the Philly Hop Chef competition against some seriously heavyweight talent (Scott Schroeder, Nick Elmi, Jason Cichonski and Joe Cicala), get named Best Chef in the city in our 2012 Best of Philly issue and get to visit (albeit briefly) with Anthony Bourdain when he rolled through town last week filming for his show, The Layover. Sabatino was in low-grade panic-mode when I called, worrying about the contest coming up, whether or not the masses of supplies he and his sous chef had already laid in would be enough (halfway through the conversation he would decide that no, it wasn’t nearly enough) and about leaving his kitchen and his crew alone on a weekend for the first time…well, ever.
“The thought of leaving the restaurant…” he said. “Yeah, I might have an aneurysm before I hit 31 tomorrow.”
Oh, and did I forget to mention that his birthday is coming up, too?
Still, he took a few minutes to talk with me about everything from his worst gig ever to what he has planned next. Check out the interview after the jump.
Remember a couple week’s ago when we celebrated Potato Week here at Foobooz World HQ? Yeah, that truly was a week just chock full of starchy awesomeness.
But now that is no longer a concern. The Best of Philly issue is on the stands. Everyone knows who has the best pho and the best burgers and the best chicken livers in the city. And now we can finally complete our list of the best french fries in Philadelphia. And the winner was…
Chef Ben Puchowitz from Matyson is known for his weekly tasting menus. As a matter of fact, he’s so known for them (and because the menus themselves are so awesome), that he took home a Best of Philly award this year for “Best Tasting Menu.”
He, obviously, was pretty excited about the win because according to this snap just posted to Twitter, it looks like he’s putting together a very cool Best of Philly edition of his tasting menu for next week. He tweetered the photo to Stateside‘s George Sabatino (who won this year for Best Chef and is the inspiration for the first course) and to us, and we’re just checking our schedules right now to see when we can make it in for dinner.
For our biggest issue of the year, we decided early on that we also wanted to run a review big enough to match it. And what is a bigger deal in Philly right now than the re-opening of Le Bec Fin under the command of Nicolas Fanucci?
It was a wild (and expensive) proposition, but totally worth it as Trey Popp got to see Le Bec 2.0 from its earliest moments–watching it shake off the cobwebs of 40-plus years of history, find its footing in the brave new world of fine dining and fight for its place in Philadelphia’s restaurant scene. Here’s just a taste of how things shook out.
We’ve been tweeting the Best of Philly winners over the last couple of days and will continue to do so today and beyond. Follow @Foobooz on Twitter to get your sneak peek or head to the newsstand and pick up a copy of the magazine. There’s also the first review of Le Bec Fin 2.0 within.
Today we’re tweeting the Best of Philly Readers’ Choice winners in food and drink. Check Twitter to see who has won for Best Bar, Best Brunch, Best New Restaurant and more.
The scene at our last Best of Philly free public tasting: Picking the best pork sandwich
Yeah, you read that right. Today is the last of our Best Of Philly free public tastings and we’re going out with a bang by offering free water ice from four of the best shops in town to all who show up willing to vote for their favorite. The details are simple.
Best of Philly Free Water Ice Tasting
When: Today at 12:30
Where: The Market at Comcast Center
Why: To let you, the water ice-loving public, decide who has the best in town
As you can see in the video above, our last event (pork sandwiches at Liberty Place) drew down a crowd of hundreds. And before that, our cupcake tasting at King Of Prussia Mall had lines that went on forever. So if you want a little advice I’d say show up early, be patient, enjoy the freebies.
Want to see Peter McAndrews (of Paesano’s, Modo Mio, Popolino and Monsu) talk dirty to a big chunk of pork? Then watch the video above.
Want to see him (or some of his minions) do it live? Then come out today at noon to the Shops At Liberty Place where we’ll be holding another Best Of Philly public tasting–this time of roast pork sandwiches. We’ll have crews coming in from the aforementioned Paesano’s, from DiBruno Bros., from McCrossen’s Tavern and Jake’s Sandwich Board. You’ll get to eat some sandwiches then vote for which one gets crowned as the Best Roast Pork Sandwich in this year’s Best Of Philly issue (coming in August).
So the details again: Free sandwiches, noon, today, Shops at Liberty Place. Got it? And don’t be late because something tells me that these suckers are going to go fast…
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