Chef Clara Park has taught people of all ages how to cook—from preschoolers just learning to hold a knife to adults training for careers in the hospitality industry. Her culinary knowledge runs deep, drawing from both her Korean heritage and French culinary training. But what really sets her apart is her belief in food’s power to nourish not just the body, but the soul.
In this Q&A, Clara shares a few of her favorite things to eat in Philly, from the perfect chicken cutlet in South Philly to a scoop of black walnut ice cream from a beloved Old City institution. Her answers are a love letter to the city’s rich, diverse, and deeply personal food scene.
Tell us about a meal—recent or from the past—that really captures the essence of this region’s food scene.
When you are a regular at your favorite restaurant, you are treated like family. Every visit is like a tight grandma hug. I was at Palizzi Social Club recently and we had Caesar salad, chicken cutlet, crabs with spaghetti, and assorted cocktails.
The Caesar is the best in the city. The chicken cutlet is crispy and perfect, the crabs with spaghetti was made into an entirely new dish with the addition of a crunchy and juicy fried soft shell crab, and the drinks included classic negronis and a low-ABV cocktail with Fernet and club.
It’s quintessential South Philly Italian prepared with the utmost care and technique. When I am there, I feel like I am hanging out with my Italian-American family and our nonna is cooking for us while urging us to mangia, mangia!
What’s one underrated local ingredient or food product that you wish more people would try?
Scrapple. It’s so good! Also, I like that it utilizes scraps and trim that might otherwise be wasted. We need to be more mindful of minimizing food waste. It can also contain offal, which are typically nutrient rich.
If you could plan a perfect day of eating in this area—from morning coffee to dinner—where would you go and what would you order?
I’d wake up and make a double shot of espresso using La Colombe Afrique blend and add it to a protein shake with banana. I would get a chocolate bomboloni or schiacciate from Fiore Fine Foods or a Vietnamese iced coffee doughnut at Dreamworld Bakes or a blueberry lemon hand pie from Little Susie’s or a sesame bagel with scallion cream cheese from Philly Style Bagels or Knead Bagels or a bacon, egg, and cheese stuffed pretzel from Miller’s Twist.
For lunch I’d get a cheeseburger and French fries from High Street or Khyber Pass or spicy beef noodle soup at Spice-C or bibimbap at Dubu or cha jiang myun and king dumplings upstairs at the Upper Darby H mart.
For dinner I’d get the roast chicken at Vernick, the gui chai (garlic chive rice cakes) at Kalaya, the cumin spiced lamb at Han Dynasty, the spinach gomae and chirashi bowl from Royal Sushi & Izakaya, and the birria tacos from El Chingon.
For dessert, I love the Earl Grey honeycomb ice cream at Milk Jawn, the chocolate hazelnut from Weckerly’s, and the black walnut from Franklin Fountain.
Obviously, I can’t eat all of this in one day but I love telling you about all my favorite things to eat in Philly!
- Clara Park is the owner of the culinary center eat cetera philly and the co-host of the Cinema Chefs podcast. Learn more at eatceteraphilly.com.
