Eat Fresh - Classic Philly Sandwiches Turned into Salads

Zahav took home the top honor this spring, cementing our town’s place in the upper echelon of America’s best food and restaurant cities. A local restaurant has never won this specific honor before, but our status has been on the rise for a long time. Gradually, the city’s once blue-collar, down-market, street-food image has given way to something glossier, pricier, and a whole lot more award-winning.

With every new accolade, I beam with pride and hum with anxiety at the same time. I worry we’ll forget where we came from. For generations, Philly’s food icon has been the sandwich, that most democratic and accessible of foods. Specifically, it’s the cheesesteak that long defined us. Like plenty of other food writers, I’ve spent years trying to persuade visitors to see beyond this single wax-paper-wrapped, grease-dripping sandwich. At this point, it’s obvious that there’s a lot more than cheesesteaks that tourists should eat here.

But the fact remains that our sandwich game is strong. The cheesesteak, the roast pork with broccoli rabe, the banh mi and countless other affordable, filling, flavorful sandwiches remain part of our shared identity as Philadelphians. And I hope they always will.

Nonetheless, like the city’s culinary reputation, these iconic dishes can evolve. Just in time for summer, I’ve made over Philly’s most beloved sandwiches as salads packed with farmers’-market-friendly ingredients. These fresh takes marry our sacred food traditions with today’s lighter and brighter culinary sensibilities. To keep it as local as possible, I bought my beef and pork at Primal Supply, my tofu from Allentown-based Fresh Tofu Inc., and many other ingredients from Reading Terminal Market. I hope you’ll do the same!