PHILADELPHIA RESTAURANTS COOK UP PRIZE-WINNING FARE IN 2002
Awards Abound for Local Chefs And Their Eateries

PHILADELPHIA, December 11, 2002 – "As someone who eats out for a living in at least 25 U.S. cities each year, I can attest that Philadelphia has for a long time been one of the best dining-out towns in America,” says Esquire critic John Mariani. Apparently, Mariani is not the only one who’s noticed. This year, Philadelphia collected handfuls of national and local honors for its vibrant and creative restaurant scene. Below are just a few examples of local winners:

Unless otherwise noted, all restaurants are located in Philadelphia. 

• The Four Seasons Philadelphia’s Fountain Restaurant racked up huge honors this year including Best Restaurant in Philadelphia, according to the most recent Zagat Survey. The Fountain also received the 2003 AAA Five Diamond Award, a Four Bell review from the Philadelphia Inquirer and was the only restaurant in Pennsylvania in Food and Wine’s list of the top 50 hotel restaurants in the U.S. One Logan Square, (215) 963-1500, www.fourseasons.com/philadelphia/dining
   
• French legend Le Bec-Fin, after a year of renovation and reconfiguration in response to a Four Stars rating in 2000, reclaimed the elite Five Stars from the Mobile Travel Guide. And the media agreed: Georges Perrier’s Restaurant Row gem was also named Best Business Restaurant by both Forbes.com and Gourmet magazine’s “Guide to America’s Best Restaurants.” 1523 Walnut Street, (215) 567-1000, www.lebecfin.com
   
• Stephen Starr’s neo-Latin Alma de Cuba and creative Japanese Morimoto each made the selective list of Gourmet’s Best Restaurants in America. The dynamic duo got more celebratory ink in Conde Nast’s Traveler magazine, which named both establishments among its 50 Hot Tables in America. Alma de Cuba, 1623 Walnut Street, (215) 988-1799, www.almadecubarestaurant.com; Morimoto, 723 Chestnut Street, (215) 413-9070, www.morimotorestaurant.com
   
• Since its inception, elegant Latin restaurant ¡Pasión! has been serving up empanadas and garnering national media attention. This year Chef Guillermo Pernot won the prestigious James Beard Award for Best Mid-Atlantic Chef. 211 S. 15^th Street, (215) 875-9895, www.pasionrestaurant.com
   
• Gourmet’s annual guide, citing more Philadelphia restaurants than ever before, named intimate Italian trailblazer Vetri as a Personal Favorite. Other winners included Neighborhood Gems like Northern Liberties pub Standard Tap, South Philly’s sandwich king Tony Luke’s and creative American BYOB Django. Django, 526 S. 4^th Street, (215) 922-7151; Standard Tap, 901 2^nd Street, (215) 238-0630, www.standardtap.com; Tony Luke's, 39 E. Oregon Avenue, (215) 551-5725; Vetri, 1312 Spruce Street, (215) 732-3478, www.vetriristorante.com
   
• Walnut Street’s swank nightlife staple Circa, which promotes nouveau eating amid Gothic architecture, received the DiRona (Distinguished Restaurants of North America) award for the fifth year running. 1518 Walnut Street, (215) 545-6800, www.circarestaurant.com
   
• Chef Walter Staib of haute-colonial City Tavern racked up the accolades in 2002. Staib won the Guy Przybycien Award for Top Star Chef and the Five Star Diamond Award from the American Academy of Hospitality Sciences. Staib was also named a Great Chef of Philadelphia by the Canandaigua Wine Company. 138 S. 2^nd Street, (215) 413-1443, www.citytavern.com
   
• The Prime Rib, Center City’s most-loved bastion of beef, was awarded the coveted Best of Philly title for its steak from Philadelphia magazine, an honor participants in the Zagat Guide-Philadelphia seconded. 1701 Locust Street, (215) 772-1701, www.theprimerib.com  
   
• French restaurant La Terrasse serves up delectable sweets on a regular basis and Pastry Chef Kelly McGrath baked the Most Delectable Chocolate Cake at 2002’s NARAL-PA's Pro-Choice Pro-Chocolate Celebration. 3432 Sansom Street,  (215) 386-5000, www.laterrasse.com  
   
• Mayor Street named October 16 Oyster Day in Philadelphia, a coup for Carey Neff and his stalwart seafooder Sansom Street Oyster House. The citywide holiday, which began this year, is part of an October-long celebration of Oyster Month. 1516 Sansom Street, (215) 567-7683, www.sansomoysters.com
   
• Iron Hill Brewery, won big for the sixth year running at the Great American Beer Festival, the oldest and largest celebration of suds in the country. The restaurant and brewery, which has locations in West Chester, Media and Newark, DE, won medals for its Pig Iron Porter and Triple Belgian ale, and also snagged a bronze medal for its Old Ale at the World Beer Cup. 30 E. State Street, (610) 627-9000; 3 Gay Street, West Chester, (610) 738-9600; 147 E. Main Street, Newark, DE, (302) 266-9000, www.ironhillbrewery.com

The Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corporation is a non-profit organization dedicated to generating awareness of and visitation to Philadelphia, Bucks, Chester, Delaware and Montgomery Counties. For more information about travel to Philadelphia, visit www.gophila.com or call the new Independence Visitor Center, located in Independence National Historical Park, at (800) 537-7676.

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Note to Editors: For story angles and photographic images of Philadelphia and its surrounding countryside, visit www.gophila.com/pressroom.  

December 2002

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