Welcome back!

For the better part of the past two years, visitors of this site have been directed to my increasingly popular Instagram page to keep up with my take on Philadelphia’s booming food and drink scene. As flattering as it’s been gaining 13,000+ followers (and counting), being invited to numerous special food events (as well as hosting my very own food event to a packed house of Philly’s online food community), and the countless words of support both online and in person by various restaurateurs and staff alike, I feel as if I’ve been depriving you, the enthusiastic Philly Foodie, from my more in-depth and personal take on Philadelphia’s rapidly evolving community of restaurants, cocktail bars, and special events. I’d like to say this slacking was a result of me painstakingly thinking of news ways to make you read what is essentially another local food blog, but I’d be lying.

The truth is that I’ve had what I saw to be as success with my previous blog, that covered Philly’s live comedy scene for the past few years. The site had a great perspective of Philadelphia’s comedy scene with reviews of shows, comedians, and articles written by some of Philadelphia’s funniest people, with plenty of original content written and produced by yours truly. When the time came to start a blog on one of my other passions (food), the thought of posting another barrage of simple dish and restaurant reviews was a bit discouraging and frankly,I was bored by the idea of writing those articles that exercised my talent for thinking of synonyms for “delicious”.

This brings up the question of what to expect from my posts and this website as a whole. What I can tell you is that I have fortunately thought of a few ideas to keep the content on this site new and fresh. Posting essays on local food spots and events will, of course, be one of them, but not just from me. If it’s one thing that instagram has done for me in the past, its connecting me with some of Philadelphia’s most interesting people both inside and out of the food industry. I’ve been fortunate enough to have been invited to some of the coolest events thrown by some of Philly’s most enthusiastic and savvy chefs, bartenders, event-planners, and artists and hope to capture some of their perspectives on the local food and entertainment scene. So articles written by some of these awesome people can be expected, along with articles written by myself.

It should go without saying that other than the written word, video production is also one of my favorite mediums and that I’ve managed to put together a good crew to help me film this site’s yet-to-come web series, “Phoodies”. I’m sure many of you, like myself, have seen a travel show or worse, a politician, on TV during a visit to Philadelphia and feature the same old tourist spots and shops and thought to yourself “How many times can I see the same shot on a cheesesteak before I pass out from boredom?” With all due respect to our city’s flagship sandwich and it’s many, very talented proprietors, I think it’s time Philadelphia get’s shown from a perspective as new as it’s now-nationally acclaimed reputation as a major location for food and entertainment. Being that local neighborhoods all around the city are constantly evolving with new and original food spots, there’s, without a doubt, plenty of people, places, and culture to feature in a series about Philadelphia. So if you want to watch another series with crab-fries, pretzels, and tastycakes, go watch something else, because this series won’t be that.

Along with our restaurants, Philly’s reputation as an “event” city has flourished, with constant happenings both food, drink, and culture alike popping up every day. It’s at these events that Philly’s culture is being expressed and maturing and I’d be remiss if I, as a local writer, wouldn’t feature it and the people responsible for feeding it. I should also mention that there will be a number of Philly Foodporn-hosted events in the future as well.

This goes without saying that our local food scene isn’t anything without food and drink enthusiasts like you, both casual and extreme. That’s why I’m going to encourage you all to contribute to this new endeavor of mine. Is there a new dish from your favorite farm-to-table that the city just has to know about? What about a quirky server, bartender, or chef with a philosophy on food and life that you can’t let go unnoticed? Remember that there’s no way a single person with a food blog can capture the essence of their city’s food and nightlife culture and that, at times, different perspectives are needed. So please, share your perspective with us (and Philadelphia) and submit your articles, reviews, photos, or videos. You’ll certainly have the audience for it!

I’m not the first to have recently say that Philadelphia is “having a moment” right now, with everyone’s attention on our city’s food and culture both before and after the Pope’s visit. And with the Democratic National Convention coming in 2016, the national spotlight on us probably won’t dull down for some time and I’d be more than happy if my contribution to these exciting times even numbers among the countless other blogs and news sources that so awesomely capture the city’s food, drink, and culture. But don’t just take my word on it. Both The Travel Channel and Lonely Planet put Philly on the top of their lists for cities to visit in the year to come! Check out Lonely Planet’s video on why they think Philly is the top U.S. city to visit in 2016 below:

Andrew Alexander

Having said that, my name is Andrew Alexander and I’m the creator and contributing editor of Philly Foodporn. I’m a writer with a passion for food and a sense of humor that’s put me in the middle of more than a few kinds of situations, both awesome, awkward, and awesomely awkward. Chances are that you found out about this site from my Instagram account where I feature the city’s best food, all while cracking a few jokes. Nothing makes me happier than sitting down to a good meal with good people in a place that’s not familiar to me all while exchanging a few words of enthusiasm and a few jokes, and that’s the vibe and environment that I hope to recreate with this blog. What you should know is that I’m not a stranger to controversy and shedding a humorous light on what I find to be the truth, so if something in my writing tends to be a little dark (or dare I say ‘offensive’) for your taste, just know that I rarely if ever, respond to your comments that so elegantly express your distaste, let alone apologize for it. It’s the internet, people. Get used to hearing some shit you won’t like and remember that I’m just joking (for the most part).

I’d like to thank you for visit the site and your patience while I finally got this site up and running. I’d also like to thank some of the more enthusiastic followers for not sending me pictures of your abs, asses, and various packages both male and female ever since I’ve changed the profile picture on our social media accounts. Up until I changed the site’s unofficial logo and profile pictures of two girls enthusiastically going down on a hot dog, some of you were under the impression that I was not a 5’6 male with the physical build of a sausage, but two very attractive 20-somethings with a knack for deep-throating hot dogs. It should go without saying that that picture was an awesome piece named “Life’s a picnic, bring a friend” by the very talented artist, Keith P. Rein. If you love that piece as much as I do, you should check out his other pieces here.