Must-Visits for Mr. Bourdain

Yo, Travel Channel!

by Drew Lazor

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Published: Nov 27, 2007

1 Ninth Street (The Italian Market)

We all know Anthony Bourdain is too cool to make Rocky references (thank you!), so let's stick to the eats available on Ninth — eyeball tacos, banh mi, the city's highest saturation of pho parlors nearby ... ooh, right, Italian food, too. The plentitude of foreign street vendors will make him feel like he's in an open-air market on another continent — even though he's just two hours away from Manhattan.

Nothing says Philly — or potentially triumphant television — like the lasses who make Thursdays at Bob & Barb's (1509 South St., 215-545-4511) so amazing. Can't you picture Bourdain powering through $3 Pabst-and-Jim Beam specials before being forced onto that tiny square-shaped stage to dance to Eiffel 65's "Blue"?

In 2006, one of Bourdain's producers dragged him to Korea for a No Reservations episode that involved him sucking down still-wriggling octopus tentacles. But why bother crossing the international dateline when Olney's Fifth Street's got so much Seoul? The shopping centers here are teeming with eateries that would revel in feeding Bourdain strange stuff.

Is RTM (51 N. 12th St., 215-922-2317) an obvious choice? Sure. But the prospect of the curt, foul-mouthed Bourdain interacting with the gentle Amish is worth our consideration. Not only is Pennsylvania Dutch fare representative of our cuisine, it's phenomenal grubbing, too — Tony could pull up a stool at the Dutch Eating Place or dig into shoofly pie from Beiler's Bakery.

No Reservations is receptive to the weird. And there are few places weirder than the Mütter (19 S. 22nd St., 215-563-3737), with its jars of organs and conjoined twin collection. Though filming usually isn't allowed inside, we think they'll make an exception for a guy who's probably eaten half of the exhibits.

 

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