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Phillyist loves food. A lot. So much so that when we’re trapped at our desk unable to nosh, we spend a good deal of time online looking at food-related items and salivating on our keyboard. A particular form of torture pleasure is checking out local food blogs and listings so we can fantasize about restaurants and markets that we could be enjoying that very second if it weren’t for the dastardly need for full time employment.
One of our all time faves is Holly Eats, a listing of local spots with a grease stain rating system courtesy of Holly Moore, a former (and the first) food columnist at the City Paper. Okay, so it’s not a blog per se; we still love it. As might be obvious from the ratings system, this is an ideal place when you’re hankering for a cheesesteak or a decent slice. While the entries aren’t dated, he’s usually pretty good about putting an update at the top if management changes or, you know, a place closes.
Close behind in the favorites category are Menupages and Foobooz. The former collects food news from all around these here parts and a bit beyond and gives you the run down, including new restaurant openings (we’re always on the lookout for new BYOs) and copious links for sources and more info. They also have a list of recommended blogs that is definitely worth checking out (ahem). The latter, Foobooz, offers a similar setup with a week in review post in case you missed a day. Both sites are perhaps more useful because, being true blogs, the entries are tagged and dated.
We then enter the world of the personal blogs, some of which are all about the food news and reviews, some more about home cooking. PhilaFoodie belongs in the first category, and is written by David Snyder (who also contributes to the City Paper). While it’s not updated anything close to daily, it’s worth scrolling through the reviews and taking in the occasional food/wine-related story (this one amused us greatly—don’t get between a lawyer and his wine).
For our vegan friends, check out Urban Vegan for great recipes and shopping tips; you definitely can be a carnivore and still enjoy some of the beautiful delights she cooks up. She does make it look easy, not to mention tasty. A link from there led us to Straight From the Farm, which is veggie porn at its absolute best.
We’re cheating a bit with the next blog: Gastronomy is not currently based in Philly. The Gastronomer and the Astronomer broke camp this summer and moved to Vietnam for the year. The archives hold lots of reviews of local places, which is worth checking out. But we keep going back because we really can’t get enough of the dispatches from abroad.
Philly Food Guys (not all guys) prowl the city in search of good food. They have an interesting take on reviewing—if they don’t like a place, they don’t review it—but that just means if you see it on there, it’s probably worth a tasting. They select their restaurants “based on rumors, recommendations, research and luck,” so basically how the rest of us do, but it’s nice to have some guinea pigs give advice.
Finally, for your viewing pleasure, Fork You offers foodie TV about all things yummy (and a lot of things Philly), hosted by Marisa McClellan and Scott McNulty. Marisa, she of Stories from Reading Terminal Market fame, also is a regular contributor at Slashfood, another site we strongly recommend (Marisa throws in some local flavor, along with recipes from her eclectic cook book collection and some family favorites).
That is but the tip of the iceberg, dear readers; there are eight hours in a workday that need to be filled with food blogging goodness. What food sites can’t you live without? Let us know in the comments.
Image Credit: Flickr user bryce_edwards
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If you want restaurant news and Craig LaBan, you go to Philly.com. Their new food blog has restaurant news even before it hits the paper, http://go.philly.com/foodanddrinq.