Table 31

The Philadelphia streetscape has tilted toward the corner of 17th and John F. Kennedy Boulevard in the last few months. And it's not just the weight of the glass-and-steel skyscraper Comcast built there that did the trick.

It's the gravity of hunger it triggered that has electrified this once-dead zone on the Center City grid. The lunchtime masses now pour into the tower's sleek new underground food court for paninis, sushi, and $1 espresso shots with their mini-cannolis. Thousands of Comcast employees and their privileged guests, meanwhile, dine in the clouds at Ralph's Cafe, the rarefied 42d-floor cafeteria where sesame-seared tuna steaks come with a soaring view over the city's tallest spires.

Then again, it just may be all the prime beef - and beefy expense-account diners - at Table 31 in the tower's ground floors that has actually tipped the balance. This sprawling, upscale new steak house from Chris Scarduzio and Georges Perrier isn't bashful about feeding the captains of cable their red meat.

"Our special tonight is a 36-ounce prime porterhouse," crowed our waiter, who, sensing trepidation after we asked the price ($105!), added, "Chef recommends you share."

But I wasn't in a sharing mood, so I lowered my sights to the "tomahawk" chop. This 24-ounce, $68 mallet of prime rib steak is so Jurassically huge on its foot-long bone, it's already become the city's ultimate bombastic chop. And it is a genuine carnivore's trophy. I sank my teeth deep into that thick pillow of steer and my eyes flickered as the peppery spark of its heat-charred crust gave way to a gush of juice. The savor of richly marbled beef rang in my head like a bell (bong, bong, bong . . .).

Chef and co-owner Scarduzio earned a well-deserved following alongside "the patron" at Brasserie Perrier (whose prime table - number 31 - inspired their steak house's name). But he gets squeamish when I bring up the tomahawk, fretting that Table 31 will be branded as exclusive and unaffordable.

Well, it isn't cheap. All but a couple of the prime steaks cost in the high $30s or well beyond (which is why most restaurants avoid the pricier prime grade). But the quality is high. And it's also true that this multilevel restaurant with 200-plus seats aspires to be more versatile than a standard-issue steak house. The menu offers some intriguing bistro fare, well-cooked seafood, homemade pasta twirled around fistfuls of crab, and lunchtime sirloin burgers topped with mops of juicy short-rib meat.