Cheesesteak

Despite Philadelphia's bad national reputation, a new wind is wafting a positive aroma in our direction from the most effete of circles: food snobs. My wife subscribes to Saveur, a magazine for gourmands published in New York City. So I am knocking down a Frank's Black Cherry Wishniak at the kitchen table, and I see this enormous mass of glossy paper next to her elbow. I pick it up, and, lo and behold, the entire April issue is devoted to sandwiches. (Really.) And the city that is the indisputable king of this food category is Philly.

There's much to know about wrestling. Covering this 2011 NCAA Wrestling Championship, I've discovered that all those Saturday mornings I spent cheering on Rowdy Roddy Piper weren't sufficiently instructive and that I needn't have worn a kilt here. But here are a few things I've learned about the Sport of Clings during a crash course: A takedown is a move. There are several basic variations, all of which I hope to avoid. There's a "high crotch", a "stuff the head," a "duck under," and a "front head lock," which my guide informs me occurs after the head is stuffed - but before the cranberry sauce is served.

WHEN I'M King of the World . . . If you win an NFL division title with a record less than 8-8, you're out . . . And the team with the best record not in the playoffs becomes an extra wild card. Seattle Seahawks, 7-9? Gag me with a Rich Kotite two-point conversion chart. What's next, college teams with .500 records eligible to accept a bowl bid? Oh, you say that's already happening, that Temple got screwed out of a bowl invite because their fans don't make road trips? How would anybody know that anyway?

THE PROBLEM: It happens at least 15 times a day. Sometimes 25, said Tony Gallo, a waiter at La Lupe, at 9th and Federal streets in the Italian Market. Someone wanders into the Mexican restaurant and asks not to see a menu but to use the restroom. "We want to be hospitable to everyone, but we can't," said Gallo about La Lupe's for-customers-only restroom policy. "Could you buy a bottle of water, maybe?" Gallo has seen - and heard - it all. There was the woman who told him it was against the law not to let her use the restroom.

Geechee Girl Rice Cafe (6825 Germantown Ave., 215-843-8113) is having a Global South Tasting Dinner featuring food inspired by the recent Southern Foodways Symposium, held in Mississippi, where chef/owner Valerie Erwin was a guest speaker. Six-course tasting menu with a complimentary Caribbean Mixer (BYOB), 6-9 p.m. Nov. 16. $40. Reservations suggested. The menu will include Braised Short Rib with Sweet Potato Gnocchi, Roast Pork Bao and "Tamale" Soup. Chestnut Hill's Night Kitchen Bakery (7725 Germantown Ave., 215-248-9235)

10 tonight FOOD NETWORK Iron Chef Michael Symon (right) tours the country to settle longstanding culinary rivalries. Philly's cheesesteak is vetted tonight as Pat's King of Steaks faces off against Geno's Steaks? What, no Tony Luke's?

PENN VALLEY native siblings Sonia and Amit Bhalla are working on NBC's new comedy "Outsourced," which premieres at 9:30 p.m. Thursday. Sonia, first assistant director on the show, which takes place in a call center in India, graduated from Harriton High in 1987 and was the second assistant director under "Up in the Air" director Jason Reitman. She's also worked with Paul Thomas Anderson , M. Night Shyamalan and Ron Howard . Amit, a writer for "Outsourced," was graduated from Harriton in 1998, Michigan in 2002 and USC's Peter Stark Producing Program.

Raising money for Democrats was the first order of business for President Obama during his visit to Philadelphia on Monday evening, but the first order he placed was for a cheesesteak during a stop at the Reading Terminal Market. The motorcade rolled to a stop on 12th Street just south of Arch Street at 4:30 p.m., surprising the late-afternoon crowd. Obama worked his way down the aisles, shaking hands, talking about the Eagles, asking, "How you doing?" A crowd of about 50 people clustered beyond the security line.

President Obama was in Philadelphia Monday evening to raise money for Democrats, but he stopped for a cheesesteak at Reading Terminal Market. The motorcade rolled to a stop on 12th Street, just south of Arch Street at 4:30 p.m., surprising the late afternoon crowd. Obama worked his way down the aisles, shaking hands, talking about the Eagles, asking "How you doing?" A crowd of about 50 people clustered beyond the security line. "Thank you, Obama," a man shouted. "Thank you my brother.

The best cheesesteak in town last week wasn't in South Philly, it was in LOVE Park near City Hall where caterer (and Frog founder) Steve Poses grilled up 1,000 samples of grass-fed, organic beef - from Landisdale Farm in Lebanon County - for giveaway steak sandwiches to promote Philly Homegrown, the campaign to showcase local foods. The meat was tender, but notably beefier, earthier, and less fatty than the standard fare, and at $6.50 a pound, it cost the sponsoring the Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corp.