At this restaurant, eat like one of the workers

The public's interest in the internal affairs of restaurants has made the concept of "staff meal" familiar, even to those who have never worked in the industry.

The employees-only spread cooked and eaten before service is also commonly called "family meal" — that's because it's served family-style, the bread-breaking a rare chance for relaxation, nourishment and reflection.

This simple tradition, universal enough to inspire featurettes and ambitious cookbooks, is not the domain of the paying customer — unless you're at Enjay's Pizza, inside Smokey Joe's (210 S. 40th St.) in West Philly.

There, Nathan Winkler-Rhoades, half of the team behind Pitruco Pizza, produces some of the best bar food in the city — burgers, sandwiches, pizzas, wings. But it's the fine print at the very bottom of the menu that offers true insider intrigue:

For $8, enjoy a heaping plate of whatever we're eating in the kitchen!

Winkler-Rhoades, who's overseen the food at Smoke's for the last year, had been searching for a way to incorporate his back-of-house experimentation with his mostly college-age clientele. "Kitchens are trying to bridge the gap between cooks and customers," says Winkler-Rhoades, who, with partner Jonah Fliegelman, recently upgraded Pitruco from an unwieldy trailer to a slick all-in-one truck.

Ben Vasquez, Enjay's sous chef, usually shows up at work with random stuff he's picked up at the Italian Market — fresh-pressed tortillas, a bunch of asparagus, a whole red snapper. These rotating elements inspired the chefs to spend time "trying to one-up each other" with on-the-fly recipes, and Winkler-Rhoades began wondering: "How come we don't serve this kind of food to people?"

The staff meal began appearing on the menu, and it costs just eight bones — they just want to cover ingredients — to give it a whirl.

Only a handful of customers have taken advantage of the option so far, but Winkler-Rhoades has made it worth their while. (To clarify, they're not scraping out crummy leftovers and charging for them. The plates are freshly prepared; think of it more as an off-menu roll of the dice.)

Staff meals have included a torta, featuring a scratch-baked sandwich roll filled with refried beans and pizza toppings; Thai-style sausage with tomato salad and a fried egg; and carbonara with squash and cabbage grown at a West Philly farm. It's gone over well with those open-minded enough to try it, says Winkler-Rhoades.

Just the other day, Winkler-Rhoades served a crispy Peruvian-style chicken, garnished with herbs, sliced radishes, cukes and a garlicky Green Goddess-like sauce.

Yes, the photo above is the portion you'd get for the price.