Changing tastes

While young lions like Jose Garces, Marc Vetri, Terence Feury, Daniel Stern, and Stephen Starr (of course) took the reins, the stars of decades past inevitably began to fade. Striped Bass' Neil Stein did time in prison for tax fraud. French masters Jean-Marie Lacroix and Fritz Blank retired. Nuevo Latino ceviche sensation Guillermo Pernot all but disappeared with the sudden closing of ¡Pasion! And longtime greats Georges Perrier and Susanna Foo have both struggled to remain relevant.

Starr's rise

His instincts haven't been unerring (he closed his glittering French bistro Blue Angel and had to reflag Striped Bass II). But Starr has proved to be the city's most durable empire- builder since abandoning the nightclub and music scene to put his stamp firmly on the city's food culture. In 1995, he transformed Old City's workaday Continental Diner into a hip martini bar. He hasn't looked back, luring big-name chefs (to Morimoto and Alma de Cuba), pioneering splashy venues (Buddhakan and the late Tangerine), and reenergizing dark spaces: Parc, his homage to a French brasserie, has been a beacon at the edge of Rittenhouse Square. All that, and the man does burgers (Square Burger) and pizza (Stella), too. Current total: A dozen properties in Center City, with others in New York and Florida.

Garces and Vetri

If Starr is the 800-pound gorilla, chefs Jose Garces and Marc Vetri have added a special gloss to the city's dining scene, Iron Chef Garces exploring the Latin flavors of his South American heritage (at Spanish Amada, Peruvian-Asian Chifa, Basque Tinto, and Distrito, the campy take on Mexican street food). For his part, Vetri has parlayed the sterling reputation of his eponymous townhouse dining room west of Broad to add Osteria, a polished pizza parlor on North Broad Street, and is finishing work on a new trattoria, Amis, set to debut at 13th and Waverly next month.

Comfort food

Just when you thought you couldn't handle another multimillion-dollar theme park of a restaurant (or a check edging toward $300 for two), comfort food made a break for the big time. Even Silk City Diner has foie-gras scrapple on the brunch menu. Gussied-up meatballs are on a roll. And no more having to hunt for fish and chips, house-made hot dogs, fried chicken (with PBR), pot pies, and mac and cheese. Hard times put a halo over the hamburger, even though a fancy one can set you back $26, the price of an old-fashioned entree. Even Le Bec-Fin couldn't beat the trend. So it joined it with a $15 Express Lunch - a burger (albeit a tasty one) and fried - French, of course.

Bon appétit!