The top 25 restaurants in the Philadelphia region; Refinery explosion released deadly chemical, feds say | Morning Newsletter
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The Morning Newsletter
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Philadelphia foodies, unite! Our guide to the best food in the region is ready for you to devour. Not only does it have our restaurant critic’s top 25 (and one) restaurants, but it has all the spots you wouldn’t expect to find on such a list. That’s right. This year, we’re here to satisfy your cravings, from tacos and pizza to pho and fried chicken.
Further down in today’s newsletter you’ll find the big takeaways from the federal report on what happened during the South Philly refinery explosion, an update on Joe Biden’s seemingly slowing momentum, and a recap of the sparsely attended (even that’s generous) launch of another presidential candidate who might be best-known for an extramarital affair.
— Josh Rosenblat (@joshrosenblat, morningnewsletter@inquirer.com)
It’s that time of year again. Inquirer restaurant critic Craig LaBan is back with his annual Dining Guide, including the top 25 restaurants in and around Philadelphia. And he has declared 2019 the year of cravings. That’s right, foodies. We’re talking about the best pizza, pasta, burgers, tacos, dumplings, and more. Sure, there’s a time and place for high-end tasting menus and omakase sushi (and my colleague gives those spots their due as well), but sometimes “the sesame-encrusted grip of a hoagie roll packed with the swagger of Italian meats” is what it takes to make our mouths water.
Bookmark and toss these links into your group texts because you’ll be coming back to them again and again:
🍝Pasta and red gravy comfort
🍲🍣🍰And a ton more.
Some of the highlights of the findings that federal investigators released yesterday were that 5,239 pounds of toxic hydrofluoric acid was released, shrapnel as large as a truck was hurled across the refinery complex, and the disaster began with the failure of a section of pipe that had corroded to half the thickness of a credit card.
After learning about the report’s findings for the first time, some neighborhood residents said they have been or have noticed others struggling with health complications since the accident. They also wondered why officials didn’t talk to them sooner about chemicals in the air.
What you need to know today
Joe Biden “was never going to stay untouchable.” This week’s debate and lagging fund-raising paint a picture of the former VP’s campaign as one that’s stuck in neutral as a new front-runner looks to be surging ahead.
He’s not up for election, but Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. John Fetterman is currently campaigning. He’s trying to persuade prison lifers in the state to apply for clemency.
A jury is now trying to decide whether the Rittenhouse stabbing was manslaughter or self-defense. Jurors met for about four hours yesterday and will return to court Thursday to continue deliberating.
An ally of Johnny Doc’s who led the Philly zoning board admitted he stole nearly $49,000 from a nonprofit and Local 98′s charity arm. The judge said that the man faced the possibility of a maximum prison sentence of 20 years for each of the 17 counts of wire fraud to which he pleaded guilty.
Even though poor hearing is bad for your health, Medicare still doesn’t cover hearing aids.
After a six-year saga, a Chester County town and a local development team may have reached a deal regarding the fate of a former psychiatric hospital that has been abandoned for nearly 25 years.
Through Your Eyes | #OurPhilly
It’s a bit drier today, but be careful with those wind gusts. Really cool perspective on this picture, @kslouf. Thanks for sharing!
Tag your Instagram posts or tweets with #OurPhilly and we’ll pick our favorite each day to feature in this newsletter and give you a shout out!
That’s Interesting
A “long-long-long-shot presidential campaign" launched in front of Independence Hall yesterday in front of a crowd of one. The candidate is a former congressman and governor perhaps best known for disappearing from office for six days in 2009 to visit a paramour in Argentina.
When roaches set up shop in deli slicers and mice make toilets out of potato chip racks and food prep areas, it’s safe to say you’re not going to land on our top 25 restaurants list. Instead, your eatery will probably be closed by Philadelphia health inspectors.
The superintendent of a suburban school district is recommending the firing of a teacher who was captured on video last week using a racist slur against a parent after a minor car accident in a school parking lot.
Your beer might be getting a bit more expensive at some places. What gives?
This year’s pick for One Book, One Philadelphia is an award-winning novel that follows the intertwined lives and fates of 12 very distinct Native American characters.
Philadelphia is launching a regional collaborative with the goal of providing local leaders, businesses, nonprofits, colleges, and institutions a way to coordinate efforts to tackle climate change and do other things such as address the current recycling crisis.
Opinions
“'Never abandon your shipmate.' Those four simple words formed the first and most important lesson I learned during my grueling first year at the U.S. Naval Academy. ... This ethos to stand by those who served with me formed the foundation of my ethical code. For this reason, I find the U.S. abandonment of our Kurdish allies in Syria so deeply disheartening.” — writes Alexander Emmert, a former nuclear submarine officer and special forces mission planner in the U.S. Navy and current graduate associate and MBA candidate at Penn, about the U.S. withdrawing troops from Syria.
Despite the “HBCU-ish” shirts, Temple is not historically black. There’s a key difference between the origin stories of HBCUs and Temple, columnist Solomon Jones writes.
With the “debacle” involving the Sixers, the rest of the NBA, and China, Americans are finally waking up to Chinese censorship, writes Thomas J. Shattuck, an Asia program research associate at the Foreign Policy Research Institute.
What we’re reading
Inspired by the sale of the bankrupt St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children in September, the Temple News reports that the unions representing Temple University Hospital nurses and technicians secured a successorship clause in its new contract, which makes sure that a buyer would honor the existing contracts if there was a sale.
Slate has compiled the 33 pieces of software that transformed the world.
Need to find a new hobby as the weather starts to get colder? The New York Times has a handy guide for that.
Correction: Wednesday’s edition of this newsletter misidentified a Burlington County man as a mayoral candidate. He is a township committee candidate.
Your Daily Dose of | Halloween pop-up bars
How does an Ecto Cooler shot sound? What about the Kiss of Death? Those are both drinks at stops along a crawl of temporary Halloween-themed bars that you can check out this month.