YOU LIVE in a city with some history under its belt, so it's bound to happen: Someone polite and suspiciously well dressed - possibly even a man who is not wearing a Phillies cap - asks if you could point him toward the Liberty Bell.
Or you hit the crackpot tourist jackpot and someone asks after Ben Franklin's privy pit. This happened to me once, in Old City. And not to brag, but I totally knew where ye olde poop hole lay. (In Franklin Court. They have three.)
Olde Philly landmarks are a cinch. They haven't budged in centuries.
But this summer, things are different. In a recent flurry of glowing travel stories, the national press is suddenly pointing tourists toward Philadelphia attractions that are neither the Rocky Balboa statue nor 200 years old.
For summer 2011, the new Philly landmarks include trendy destinations such as the restaurant Zahav - "a revelation," crows the New York Post - that even Billy Penn couldn't find without a GPS.
(Note to Bill: It's across the street from the Ritz Five.)
Here, a pocket guide to help you steer the new tourist hordes toward local hot spots that are making headlines across the country:
ATTRACTION
Michael Solomonov's restaurant Zahav and Marcie Turney's Barbuzzo.
WHO RECOMMENDS IT
The New York Post.
On July 25, the Post placed Zahav and Barbuzzo on a superselective list of the top five "dinners to travel for" along the Northeast corridor. One restaurant apiece in Boston, Washington, D.C., and Baltimore also made the cut.
HOW TO GET THERE
Zahav (237 St. James Place) hides out in what used to be the black hole of restaurant addresses, on the Society Hill Towers parcel overlooking the Ritz.
Barbuzzo (110 S. 13th St.) is on Turney's power block of shops and restaurants, on 13th Street between Chestnut and Sansom. If tourists ask for "Mid-Town Village," that's what they mean. You can be charitable toward out-of-towners and not let on that nobody here refers to the neighborhood by that name.
ATTRACTION
Sweet Elizabeth's cupcake shop (4409 Main St.), the Little Apple boutique (4353 Main St.) and other Neo-Manayunk Retailers.
WHO RECOMMENDS IT
The Washington Post.
In a June travel story, the paper rediscovered Manayunk as a destination for shopping and strolling, calling it a neighborhood on the upswing.
HOW TO GET THERE
While its star may be rising nationally, Manayunk hasn't moved, physically. You can still send tourists west to Exit 338 off the Schuylkill. For kicks, ask them to pronounce it. Wish them luck parking.
