"They have really good authentic food, and it's hard to find that around town," Garces said.
Meanwhile, Matthew Babbage from West Philly's World Café Live might be seen slurping up a steaming bowl of Vietnamese pho with bean sprouts, lime and jalapeno peppers at Pho Nguyen on a gritty block of Washington Avenue.
And Noble: An American Cookery's Steven Cameron, a relative newcomer to Philly's food scene, already has found his favorite falafel at Mama's Vegetarian in Center City, and down-home Mexican at the Taco Loco truck at 4th and Washington.
"There are so many hole-in-the-wall places - that doesn't mean
they're good," Cameron said. "But even the smallest places use fresh ingredients. You can tell if something is made entirely from scratch."
For Jason Cichonski, the chef de cuisine at the tony Lacroix at the Rittenhouse Hotel, it's the No. 62 - a bowl of charbroiled chicken over rice vermicelli with carrots, cucumbers and chopped peanuts - that draws him to the dinerlike Pho & Café Viet Huong in a strip mall at 11th and Washington.
The tab may be small - just $5.95 - but the flavors are big and satisfying.
"It's delicious and perfect for the money," Cichonski said of his regular choice. "They do a decent amount of business, so they're turning their product over. You don't have to worry about getting something sketchy."
Why don't these chefs just whip up something at their own restaurants, you might ask.
As good as their dishes may taste to their patrons, it turns out the last thing they usually want is their own food.
"After cooking and being around food all day long, I'm not hungry for the food I cook, I'm hungry for something else, and I'm not satisfied for something other than what I really, really want," Babbage said.
