Rick Nichols Says Philly Dining Is Too Pricey, Predicts Next Hot Neighborhood

Courtesy of the Philadelphia Inquirer

For the past 15 years, readers of the Philadelphia Inquirer have weekly anticipated the descriptive, engrossing and singular essays on food by columnist Rick Nichols. After completing a Neiman Fellowship at Harvard, he landed at the city’s paper of record in 1978, where he eventually found his calling covering the culinary scene. This past week he retired, with plans for the future including bicycling and teaching journalism at Penn University. We caught up with him to pick his brain on transformations, trends, deficits and strengths of the Philly restaurant world.

Zagat Buzz: How has the Philly food scene changed in the past 15 years?

Rick Nichols: I’ll give you three major points of transformation:

1) Fifteen years ago, it was illegal to have sidewalk seating in this city. It wasn’t until Neil Stein put chairs outside of Rouge along Rittenhouse Square in 1998 that we finally got allowances for outdoor dining. Now, it’s impossible to imagine Center City without the wonderful bouquet of sidewalk cafes that populate the avenues. It was so silly – absurd, almost – to have these drab streets. Now they are full of life!

2) There’s been a steady, incremental progression from large, safe restaurants to independent chef-driven places putting out credible and careful cookery. We can see that in the geography – the physical migration of the eating epicenter away from Walnut Street’s Restaurant Row to new burgeoning neighborhoods like Midtown Village and Northern Liberties. Whether BYOB like Pumpkin, Cochon, Bibou or Kanella or with a liquor license like Adsum or Barbuzzo, we have an amazingly dense collection of small, chef-driven gems.

3) When Philadelphia was founded, in the Colonial days, everything was local and homegrown. There was no choice! That slipped away in ensuing centuries, but we’re now experiencing a return to vigorous, serious, loving attention to handcrafting food and drink. The city once hosted 80 breweries in Kensington alone, but by the time Schmidt’s folded in the late '80s, there were none left. Now they’re popping up again in great numbers, both bottlers like Victory Brewing Co. and brewhouses like Dock Street. We’ve got artisanal gelato from Capogiro, old-world crusty breads from Metropolitan Bakery, chocolates from John & Kira's, cheese from Lancaster farms and the list goes on.

ZB: So would you call Philadelphia an international food destination?

RN: Perhaps we haven’t quite yet reached that critical mass, but we certainly have chefs and products that take a backseat to none: world-class practitioners like Marc Vetri and Jose Garces, and some of the handiwork I mentioned above – there are flashes of top-notch talent. Philly is definitely in the upper echelons, better than most other U.S. cities. We’re head and shoulders above DC or Boston, for example, in variety, aptitude and execution.

ZB: What is Philly lacking, then? What could be improved?

RN: Again, I’ll name three things:

1) We’ve let a lot of our old food legacies atrophy. There are so many interesting dishes from Pennsylvania Dutch or German traditions that are in danger of disappearing completely. For example, pepper hash (a vinegary condiment usually served with fish), scrapple or toasted sweet corn (like Cope’s corn, still made out near Harrisburg, which I gave to Thomas Keller when he visited). We haven’t taken care to nurture some of the obviously distinctive dishes of the area. Our heritage is NOT the cheesesteak.

2) Why doesn’t Philadelphia have more good fish houses? We have a great history as a riverfront town with access to shade, oysters, sturgeon, terrapin and more. The region used to be dotted with catfish and waffle houses, but in recent decades, Bookbinders turned into a tourist trap even before it shut down, Striped Bass closed, Oceanaire crashed and burned. I’m very much looking forward to trying out Mike Stollenwerk’s Fathom in Fishtown. A step in the right direction.

3) What’s with the shameless overpricing? Recently my colleague and I went out for an after-work snack at the Oyster House on Sansom. We each had two drinks and shared an appetizer (or “small plates,” as some are called) and a dozen oysters, and the bill was $94! Amis and Osteria are amazing, but they’re extremely expensive. Barbuzzo hits the right price point. So does Anne Coll, who’s just introduced a menu of Asian street food at Meritage in Graduate Hospital. It’s full of shareable little treats that are just $3 or $4 each. We need more places that serve great food but don’t break the bank.

ZB: What’s next for Philly food?

RN: I’m calling it now, North Broad Street will be the next hot food neighborhood. Anchored by Osteria, Stephen Starr’s new seafooder and [Marc] Vetri’s coming Italian beer garden, the area between the Inquirer building (400 N. Broad) and Temple University is poised for a restaurant explosion.

ZB: What will you miss the most about your job?

RN: I’m going to miss the lifestyle! Being in the hurly-burly, the excitement of the city, partaking in the creativity, knowing the people, being in the kitchens and on the farms. I’m still going to contribute to the paper on occasion, and I’ll still pop up at events to do introductions and moderate discussions. My wife joked that two weeks after retirement she’ll find me at Reading Terminal Market, hanging around the stands, checking ingredients and chatting up vendors. Only I won’t be getting paid for it!

One thing I am excited for is being able to take advantage of happy-hour specials. For the past quarter century I’ve always been at work during that magic time of 4–6 or 5–7 PM on weekdays. I’m going to try out every damn happy hour in the city.

ZB: Speaking of happy hour, your favorite cocktail is a Negroni. Who makes the best around these parts?

RN: Katie Loeb at the Oyster House makes an excellent version (one reason I’m a happy patron, despite the pricing). Had a great one at Adsum. Southwark takes great care with their cocktails. And I had a beautiful rendition at the old-school Italian Dante & Luigi’s, meticulously crafted by Ron, an older gentleman in classic suspenders.

Taking the time to make something great is part of what I put into my writing. I spend hours polishing each piece, trying to make it evocative, putting a bit of myself into the words. The Internet has almost turned food coverage into a blood sport, with bloggers in frantic competition for scoops and chefs outdoing themselves to create the most outrageous concoction they can throw together. I hope there continues to be room for the kind of thoughtful, engaging communication I know and love. Food is a prism we use to talk about life.