Love the atmosphere, but they never change anything, and itвЂ™s disappointing as a result.

The most overrated restaurant in Philly isвЂ¦ Parc. They get frantic, because they donвЂ™t have their mise en place set. One mistake most home chefs make isвЂ¦ mise en place. My wifeвЂ™s family is from Italy, and we havenвЂ™t seen them in years, and weвЂ™re trying to get the kids over to meet some of their uncles, who might not have too much time left. Roast pork is momentous.ДЇor my next vacation, I am going toвЂ¦ Rome, hopefully in the fall. And to me, fond memories of the Monday pork sandwich for lunch after the Sunday pork roast growing up. If I had to choose between a cheesesteak or roast porkвЂ¦ I would get a roast pork, one-hundred percent. Chefs should use leftovers from roasts, short ribs, and briskets. One food you canвЂ™t do better than me isвЂ¦ lasagna. Never had a bad meal there, and itвЂ™s the restaurant I eat at the most, which means about four times a year. The most underrated restaurant in Philly isвЂ¦ Fond. WeвЂ™ll do prepared pastas, Roman-style pizzas, and smoked meats, and the next day, weвЂ™ll sell sandwiches of leftovers from the smokehouse. The concept is based off of writings and drawings by Leonardo da Vinci, who was one of the first persons to document and design smokehouses and rotisseries. My next project isвЂ¦ La Porta Via (1194 Middletown Road in Media, next to La Porta), which will open the week of June 17th. Like any other meat, it has good parts and bad, and the bad parts, you put into salami. If you were a farmer in Italy and your horse died, guess what? That horse is on the table. If something can be used, it makes sense to use it. Instead, the United States sends ours to Mexico and Canada for consumption. The last time I ate horse wasвЂ¦ in Montreal a few years ago at a French restaurant. My still-open restaurants areвЂ¦ Monsu, PaesanoвЂ™s on Girard is still there, La Porta, and Heffe the taco shop on Frankford Avenue. ItвЂ™s a very hard kitchen to work in, and IвЂ™ve been there for ten years. IвЂ™m closing Modo Mio becauseвЂ¦ there are spatial problems. But I definitely didnвЂ™t learn to cook there. I think Marc Vetri is the only other Philly chef who went through that program. I went to culinary school in Italy where I got a masters degree in Italian cooking. Before that, we were in Fairmount for about ten years. I live inвЂ¦ Rutledge, right near Swarthmore. IвЂ™m an Irish-Catholic guy who cooks Italian food.

Modo mio