Contrary to a prior message, Philly is so much more than cheese steaks and pretzels. If you want a pretzel, go to Munich. If you want a cheese steak, well, come to Philly (but, that's not why I'm writing).

I am writing in the hopes that, at the least, you will visit Philly with an open mind and an appreciation for the city, which food-reputation-wise, has become crippled by the cheese steak and soft pretzel. To simplify it, hopefully the following two reasons will persuade you that the $7.00 in tolls (not including gas) is worth checking out Philly.

Reason #1 - Philly is the unpretentious diamond in the rough (yes, there is such a thing!) between NY and DC. I've lived in, but have not appreciated, Philly almost my entire life. However, in the past few years, I've come to realize that the Quaker puritanical laws are finally working to our benefit - BYOB's are everywhere. One may be skeptical that they can bring their own booze to dinner, but, that has absolutely no bearing on the food. Not only can I bring my favorite (albeit, embarrassingly cheap) bottle of wine, but I can taste French fare in the most elemental sense. As a true northeastern, I stubbornly remain skeptical, however, every time I eat at Pumpkin, DeMitris, or Novita, I am grateful for living in a city where I can experience really incredible food prepared by chefs who have opened their restaurants for their love of food.

Reason #2 - let's lump these together - good weird pork meats and amazing breweries. With regards to breweries, as strange as it may seem, PA brewery sales, at the same time as their restaurant BYOB sales, have been off the charts. Yards, Victory, Philly Brewing Co., Stoudts, Sly Fox, Dog Fish Head (ok, that's DE, but close enough) are just a few microbreweries to hit the national scene, yet they remain true to their beer snob roots (and that's a good thing). My point- Philly, and it's surrounding region, has become micro beer mecca. And with that, the food in the bars has not been left behind. Now, the food in the bars rivals the BYOB's.

Just realized, I didn't talk about the weird pork. One word, scrapple. It's good and weird, and completely Philly.

There are many other foody reasons to visit Philly (streets carts, amazing tacorias, historical pubs, etc.), and the two discussed are just the tip of the Liberty Bell (couldn't resist the historical really bad joke).

We'd love to have you visit our city. More than that, we'd love for you to just tour it yourself. I've grown to love Philly, and I hope you will as well.

Yours in Brotherly Love,
Sam