South Philly/Election Day 2006

Yesterday Blue was off for Election Day, so we ventured into South Philly for the day. I feel like a traitor to NY (my birthplace) but, I have to admit, Philadelphia is by far my favorite city. The architecture here is amazing and we are always captivated by the rich history, melting pot of cultures, and all of the flavors this city has to offer. One thing is for sure, they do not call Philadelphia the restaurant city for nothing. The food here is incredible no matter where you go! Don’t even consider coming here on a diet…

South Philly is known for its Italian Market district and no trip would be complete for us with out a stop here. We love walking the strip and absorbing the sites and sounds… the butcher, the baker, the produce markets, the fresh fish staring up at you from their chilly bed of ice. Walk through the doors of Di Bruno Bros. house of cheese and you will swear that you could literally taste the air. Blue and I bought several boxes of imported Porcini Mushroom Bullion, some Dry Sanbitter , an old world loaf of bread, some chestnut honey, and an assortment of olives and antipasti which we are saving for tonight’s dinner.

After the market, we drove down to Tony Luke's eager to try his Italian Philly cheese steaks. Blue and I never really understood the hype surrounding cheese steaks. They were good and we tried all of the most popular places in South Philly Pat’s, Geno’s etc... But, in all honesty, we thought they all seemed kind of bland and unimaginative.

That was until Tony Luke’s. I had recently seen Tony Luke do a thrown down with Bobby Flay on Food Network. Bobby Flay came prepared with a wide array of gourmet ingredients brilliantly combined to make a cheese steak that could no doubt put most places out of business. However, Tony Luke competed with his Italian… A fresh in house made crusty roll, sharp provolone cheese, sauteed broccoli rabe , and thinly slivered steak. Surprisingly to me, Tony Luke won the throw down by a landslide! Curious, Blue and I decided to see for ourselves…

Arriving at Tony Luke’s the line was already out the door… the smell of their food wafting out the building like a life force of its own. Blue and eagerly got in line and pondered the menu. Meatballs bigger and better than your mother used to make, burgers, an assortment of cheese steaks, fries, all kinds of yummy sides, and things guaranteed to make you leave one size larger than you already were… We decided to both get the Italian cheese steaks, fries, and some drinks. Waiting for our food was a form of torture, not because service was slow, but because it all just looked incredible! A few minutes and one bite later… we were hooked… Each bite revealed a complex dynamics of flavors. Tony Luke no doubt uses the best ingredients he can get his hands on and it shows. The combination of all of them was simply indescribable… Definitely worth the hype and we look forward to returning again and again!

Completely full and satiated, we decided to walk South Street and make our way to some of the mosaic buildings we always seem to pass, yet have never found the time to explore…
In all honesty, I am utterly speechless when it comes to describing what we now know is Philadelphia’s Secret Garden. Isaiah Zagar , the artist that created this installation, is no doubt a genius and we greatly admired his vision and creativity. Since being there yesterday I am having fantasies of breaking things around the house only to mortar them back together in a creation of my own… God help us when we finally buy our forever home… I am already having visions of garden installations I would like create with Blue… We certainly now have a greater sense of respect for all things that are broken…

Here are the images of our day:
http://picasaweb.google.com/redandb...ElectionDay2006