Philadelphia's Best Cheesesteak: Campo's

Campo's on Market in Old City made the top of my list for the best cheesesteak I ate in Philadelphia. Granted, I didn't make it to South Philly or Tony Luke's. The Campo family opened a little corner grocery in 1947. The next generation took over in 1975. There is still a mom and pop homey feel.

The steak is chopped, and the sandwiches come with onions and peppers. The bread is from Sarcone's Bakery. It was definitely the best cheesesteak I ate in Philly and the only place I returned to more than once.







Little peppers stuffed with prosciutto and cheese were addictive.





Besides cheesesteaks, they had a stunning menu. Check this one out:

THE STOCKYARD - $8.50
chicken, steak, pepperoni, bacon, fried onions, marscarpone cheese

I took home the Mamma Mia for lunch the next day. God, I wish I had this sandwich right now.

Mamma Mia - $8.00
Prosciutto, sopressata, old-fashioned capocolla, sharp provolone, hot & sweet roasted peppers







This is the best hoagie and cheesesteak place in Philly, and I will stand behind that! Especially if some of those meaty Italian cooks are standing behind me.



Jim's Cheesesteak Review

Philadelphia Freedom: Franklin Ice Cream

...and so, back to Philadelphia, where last we left our heroine...





The Franklin Fountain is a throwback to the ice cream fountains of the olden days. It's kind of strange since they only opened in 2006, the 300th birthday of Ben Franklin. The ice cream is freshly churned, creamy and intensely flavoured. Plus, they are open until 11pm on weeknights and midnight on weekends! I practically moved in.



The parlour has outfitted itself with genuine old-timey equipment and details down to the white paper hats. Over the years, many companies named "Franklin" have opened and gone out of business. Owners Eric and Ryan Berley are antique collectors and have collected vintage signage with the Franklin name. They are conservationists who have maintained the building's tin ceilings, and and old mosaic tile.



There is a definite indie vibe to the shop, with smiling, friendly servers who clearly love the place.



My first taste of Franklin's was cherry vanilla, with giant chunks of dark bing cherries and visible specks of vanilla.



They are generous with the samples, on real spoons. The Teaberry, fashioned after the old school gum really did taste like the gum.



One treat that was too extreme for me did not deter one of my friends. She bravely dug into

ROCKY ROAD ice cream coated in thick peanut butter sauce and paved with crumbled salt pretzels. William Dreyer and Joseph Edy concocted the first batch of rocky road ice cream in 1929 following the great stock market crash to give consumers something to SMILE about during the impending Depression.









When I saw this bust, I turned to Ellin, and in a hushed town cryer voice said, "Let it be known that there shall be no edifice built that doth not bear the resemblance of Benjamin Franklin."





They also serve up malts, egg creams, phosphates and sodas made with fresh syrup and soda water from a genuine antique fountain. They make their own sharp root beer for the city's best root beer float.

As they state on their site,

The Franklin Fountain aims to serve an experience steeped in ideals, drizzled with drollery, and sprinkled with the forgotten flavors of the American past.

The Search for Philly's Best Cheesesteak: South Street

It is apparently against the law to go to Philadelphia and not visit South Street. I went to meet a huge group from the conference, but some special cookies mysteriously caused the group to giggle uncontrollably and run off in a hundred different directions following the blinking lights and possibly running from sights like this building.



Left with my one close friend, Ellin, we decided to hit up Jim's, which had a good reputation. I liked the art deco style with tin ceilings and everything.







To follow a purely scientific method, I had decided to get all of my cheesesteaks with everything, choosing provolone cheese. Cheese Whiz is just too much for me. I don't get how anyone over 9 years old can go for that sweet, gloppy goo.





Unfortunately, Jim's "everything" included shockingly bad canned mushrooms. I was not impressed by the tough steak either. After watching me eat it stoically, Ellin finally said, "Just throw it away." We wandered along the hooting, drunken South fraternity row of South Street for only a few blocks before becoming discouraged and heading back to the hotel for a nice swim, the best part of the evening.

Later, back home I checked out Jim's website. Is this happy family posing in front of meathooks hung with slaughtered cattle?

Philadelphia Freedom: The Terminal Building Kept me Alive

The Reading Terminal Market was conveniently located right across the street from my conference. Thank God! I was thus rescued from group lunches at Chili's. The Terminal Market is like Seattle's Pike Place or San Francisco's Ferry Building - a combination of delis, meat counters, bakeries and fresh produce.

The history of the market stretches all the way back to William Penn. When Philadelphia was established the various mongers and farmers were grouped together in an area eventually known as Market Street. The open-air market eventually started to interfere with traffic so in 1849 the markets moved indoors. The resultant Farmer's Market and Franklin Market were later joined to become the Reading Terminal market in 1892.



In the 1970s the Reading Corporation went bankrupt and made plans to sell off the market. During the 1980s the market was revitalized. The trains stopped running and a new convention center brought in new crowds. The market now has more than 80 merchants.











The first place I hunted down was Hershels East Side Deli, which had come highly recommended. It did not disappoint.





Thick slices of juicy pastrami made from brisket on fresh and mild Easy Coast rye proved too much for me and I had to take half of the half sandwich to go. The matzoh ball soup was so flavorful and comforting. The matzoh ball had the texture and authenticity I have been searching for for years.





On another day I tried the meaty brisket and an Italian macaroni salad







On the way out I stopped at Bassets, which has been serving up ice cream since 1861, since 1893 in the Terminal Market. They used to churn the ice cream using a mule. Now this is the kind of American History I like.

People think these unusual savory ice cream flavors are a new fad, but in 1955 Basset made borscht sherbert for Nikita Khrushchev. That was not on the menu during my visit. On the recommendation of the lady behind me in line I ordered "Butterscotch Vanilla — Swirls of rich butterscotch laced through creamy Bassetts vanilla ice cream make a taste treat never forgotten."



I like to get pictures of smiling counterpeople handing me my food. This guy is like, "You WILL eat this ice cream. Stop taking my picture and eat the damn ice cream already."





Chocolate marshmallow

Philadelphia Freedom: City Tavern

As I mentioned, I have never been a huge fan of American History. In fact, Colonial people scare me just a little bit. Colonial ghosts just like the guy on this sign were always chasing Scooby Doo around.



Friday night I checked into my room at the Sheraton near Penn's Landing.

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I took a walk around the cool little restaurant row. I happened upon City Tavern and was lured in by menu items like lobster pie and rabbit.

It turns out this was a rebuild of the oldest tavern in the city which was home to the first Fourth of July celebration in 1777. As my luck would have it, I had stumbled smack dab into American History within an hour of landing at the airport.

When the Tavern was completed in 1773, it was one of the most elegant buildings in the city...City Tavern knew the patronage of the great and near-great of the American Revolution. It became the practice of the members of the Second Continental Congress to dine together each Saturday at the Tavern.

The original building was demolished in 1854 and rebuilt for the bicentennial in 1976. In 1994 Walter Staub took over and dedicated himself to recreating the 18th century dining experience.

Yes, I apologize, I know it's humiliating. But if you're going to wear it, I damn sure am gonna take a picture (yes, I tipped extra).



I have a feeling this is not the last time I am going to see pewter goblets.



The bread plate included Anadama bread (a molasses bread), Sally Lunn, and "George Washington's favorite rolls". The rolls were heavy and tasted like Amish Friendship Bread. The walnuts really made them.



In spite of interesting menu items like Martha Washington Style Colonial Turkey Pot Pie and Braised Rabbit, I had to pass them up when I saw the special.

Schlachtplatte: A traditional dish served to celebrate the Schlachtfest (the butchering of a pig). An assortment of sausages and smoked pork topped with crispy fried onions accompanied by Hengstenberg sauerkraut, homemade mashed potatoes and Dijon mustard.

If I have learned anything from Anthony Bourdain, it's when it's pig butchering time the eatin is good. And I was not disappointed when this immense platter of piggy was set before me



The knockwurst, bratwurst and frankfurter were made with natural casings and had a great snap. As usual, the knockwurst was my favorite. The smoked pork was very much like ham and made a great breakfast sandwich the next morning. Buried under all of the meat was a gigantic mound of creamy mashed potatoes.



It's good to know some modern niceties, like the leftovers swan, were still observed



I wandered around a little after dinner and did not forget the first thing you have to pick up when landing on the East coast...