Introducing Philly.com/Food
When people exclaim, "Philly really is a hot food town," I agree. Here's how we came up with a microsite to digest the region's food scene.
Philly really is a hot food town.
We have fine restaurants, a thriving beer and cocktail scene, outstanding local producers, rich farmland and a teeming ocean at our doorstep, devoted nonprofit groups ministering to the hungry, and smart food writers and thinkers.
So let's put this all together -- set everything on a table, if you will, and serve it to a wide audience.
That's the thinking behind Philly.com/Food.
Powered by the journalists of the Philadelphia Inquirer and Daily News and the video and content team here at Philly.com, and augmented by local bloggers and nonprofits, the site is set up as a virtual supermarket for food information.
Our Restaurants section provides the region's most-read dining stories.
"In the Kitchen" is a trove of info for cooks.
"Locavore" stays close to home with local maps and stories about the people who make up our food community, including the team behind the Philly Homegrown project at the Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corp.
"Beverages" is a compedium of coverage about beer, wine, and spirits.
In "Healthfully," you'll find better ways to eat.
The "Food People" section pulls great writing and photos from our archives about the people making an impact on the food scene.
Finally, there's "Good Eggs," in which we spotlight four organizations making a difference in the community. You might want to get to know them. We did, and we're impressed.
There's more. Need a recipe? Plug an ingredient or chef's name into our "finder" and see the results culled from nearly 30 years of the newspapers' food sections.
Need a restaurant? Our finder has info on thousands of establishments throughout the region, as well as Inquirer critic Craig LaBan's reviews.
The site is a work in progress. More features will be added shortly.
As editor, I welcome your input. Feel free to email ideas and quibbles to mklein@philly.com, and I'll get back to you.
Or better yet, catch me Thursday, July 7 at a very special Philly.com/Food launch event at Reading Terminal Market. We call it "Thanks Giving in July" and it's a fundraiser for Philabundance, The Food Trust, and MANNA. From 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., join chefs Aaron McCargo Jr., Jennifer Carroll, Kevin Sbraga and Jack McDavid as they perform demonstrations in the market's center court -- all free to watch. Care to sample their food? Your $5 donation will go to the nonprofits. And if you need even more incentive, take note that the Phillie Phanatic is due in the noontime hour.