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  • I have family visiting and they want an ‘authentic Philly cheesesteak.’ Can I just order takeout from our local pizza place?

    I have family visiting and they want an ‘authentic Philly cheesesteak.’ Can I just order takeout from our local pizza place?

    This week’s question (Have your own? Submit it here.):

    I have family visiting and they want an “authentic Philly cheesesteak.” Should I take the entire day, battle traffic and parking, and shuttle them down to South Philly? Or can I order takeout from our local pizza place in the burbs? Is there that much difference?

    Stephanie Farr, features columnist

    I don’t want to start any beef, but I’m a big believer that wherever you get your cheesesteak (as long as the shop is in Philly, the burbs, or from certain portions of South Jersey) it’s probably just fine for an authentic Philly cheesesteak meal to an outsider.

    Now, if they want the authentic Philly cheesesteak experience — standing in a ridiculous line, overhearing people argue, seriously pondering whether they want liquid cheese ladled onto something they will consume, now that is a different story. What do you think, Tommy?

    Tommy Rowan, programming editor and cheesesteak connoisseur

    That’s totally cool! You can find good sandwiches anywhere. But I’m a snob, and I want a certain type of roll, and a certain type of cut of meat, and certain cheese options. So I’m the kind of person who would brave the traffic and parking to get something that tastes as authentic as possible.

    Stephanie Farr

    Great, now I feel terrible that I just ordered my dad a cheesesteak from our local pizza shop when he came to visit last year! Missteaks were made, obviously.

    Tommy Rowan

    You should not feel terrible! If he enjoyed it, that’s all that matters!

    Stephanie Farr

    Let me ask, if your out-of-town guest wants an authentic cheesesteak experience and requests to go to Pat’s or Geno’s, as a cheesesteak snob, would you take them or try to convince them to let you take them somewhere else (and, if so, where)?

    Tommy Rowan

    I would absolutely convince them to go otherwise. At its best, cheesesteaks from John’s Roast Pork, Angelo’s, or Shay’s offer an authentic taste of home: a fresh-baked roll worth its salt, tender meat with taste, and cheese that doesn’t soak the whole thing into submission. And, to your excellent point, all three offer an interesting experience. All three are in uniquely Philadelphia buildings, in uniquely Philadelphia spots, and you can pick them up on the way to the ballgame. And the people you meet will add to the experience of eating an authentic sandwich.

    John’s Roast Pork cheesesteak at the Inquirer studio on March 5, 2025. Food styling by Emilie Fosnocht.Monica Herndon / Staff Photographer

    Stephanie Farr

    I fully support your last point. The people you meet when ordering a cheesesteak in Philly definitely flavor the experience.

    Would you feel the same way if this reader was asking about another of Philadelphia’s gastronomical delights: Is the hoagie from your local pizza shop the same as one from say a Cut Above Deli or Fink’s or Paesano’s?

    Tommy Rowan

    Absolutely!

    But again, I’m picky with these things. And variety is what makes life great. What is your favorite spot to get a steak, Steph?

    Stephanie Farr

    My local pizza shop! I’m really not very picky about my steaks and I don’t eat them often, maybe once or twice a season (is eight cheesesteaks a year a lot? When I write it out it sounds like it, but I feel like I’m below average).

    Now hoagies on the other hand, I do think it matters where you get those if you’re trying to impress someone with the local culture. I find serious hoagie shops seriously impressive. I’ve definitely called some hoagies works of art before, but I can’t recall ever doing the same for a cheesesteak.

    As a cheesesteak snob, do you go for taste or presentation when trying to impress an out-of-town guest? I feel like a lot of folks I’ve taken for cheesesteaks don’t find them as aesthetically pleasing as they’d imagine (where I come from cheese is usually placed on top of the steak and toasted, not mixed all up in it).

    Tommy Rowan

    I get it! I think cheesesteaks are to me what hoagies are to you. If you are passionate about something, you have rules.

    The cheesesteak is a heavy sandwich, but there is definitely an art to the composition. And the best places keep an eye on both taste and look. The key is making sure it’s not a soggy mess.

    Stephanie Farr

    I feel like the key to cheesesteaks, hoagies, and life is to make sure it’s not a soggy mess!

    Tommy Rowan

    Amen!!!

    Stephanie Farr

    Out here in Delco, I love the hoagies at A Cut Above in Newtown Square and Pagano’s in Drexel Hill, but this conversation has made me realize I need to try some new places — both for cheesesteaks and hoagies. I’m a creature of habit, so I tend to find a place I like and stick with it, but there are so many options in the region and so many I haven’t tried yet it’s embarrassing!

    Tommy Rowan

    We may have to do a part II. I’ll go with you to a few hoagie places and you come with me to a few cheesesteak places and we can compare notes!

    Stephanie Farr

    Oh, I am so in! Lettuce proceed on this noble quest before us!

  • Meet Striker Pence, ‘a complete unicorn’ and the nephew of former Phillie Hunter Pence

    Meet Striker Pence, ‘a complete unicorn’ and the nephew of former Phillie Hunter Pence

    Striker Pence was one of the 46,000 fans in attendance when the Phillies took on the St. Louis Cardinals at Citizens Bank Park during the National League Division Series in 2011. His uncle, Hunter Pence, was the Phillies’ starting right fielder, batting third in the lineup.

    Striker doesn’t remember anything from his visit to the stadium. He was just 2 years old at the time and hadn’t been back since. But on Friday, it was his turn to be on the field at the Bank as the players for the Perfect Game All-American Classic took batting practice and scrimmaged ahead of Sunday’s game. And Pence said he was ready to “enjoy every minute of it.”

    Wearing two gloves for batting practice and his socks hidden under his pants, Pence didn’t appear to have any of the oddities his uncle was recognized for. But when he’s back home in Corona, Calif., Pence said he’ll wear his socks above the knee like his uncle does — just one of the quirks the two have in common.

    Tague Davis is ‘reaping the rewards’ of his baseball journey at Louisville — and now with Team USA

    “Our swings are both funky. Everything we do is funky,” said the younger Pence. “But we get it done.”

    Pence’s left-handed swing involves bringing his knee up high, similar to how a pitcher would, which makes sense for the two-way player.

    The 17-year-old, who throws right-handed, has a four-seam fastball that maxes out at 101 mph and usually sits in the high 90s. His changeup clocks in the high 80s, and his slider hits the mid-80s.

    Striker Pence while his uncle played for the Phillies.The Pence Family

    He said he’s never wanted to choose between pitching and hitting the way most players do when they get to high school. In an era of baseball with most players having a specialty, he said Shohei Ohtani is changing things. But his desire to be a two-way player predates Ohtani, and said he “must have had something click,” when he was younger, giving him a love for both roles.

    “I’ve always wanted to be a two-way, and then [Ohtani] showing it, showing teams it’s possible, makes it awesome,” Pence said. “I’m good at both. I’m going to keep doing it as long as I can.”

    That’s what makes him one of the top prospects in the 2027 MLB draft. Currently ranked seventh overall in the nation and second for right-handed pitchers in the Class of 2027 by Perfect Game, Pence reclassified from the Class of 2028 to the Class of 2027 on June 4.

    The friendship of two longtime baseball coaches was shaped over decades in the Catholic League

    Rather than spend another year in high school, Pence said the decision comes from being “content” with playing at the next level, whether that be within an MLB organization or a college team.

    Being drafted seems like the probable next step. MLB.com and Perfect Game list him as a first round-pick at 19th and 23rd, respectively, in their mock drafts.

    Jered Goodwin, Perfect Game’s vice president of scouting operations, said Pence is “a complete unicorn.”

    “Unique is the absolute word for Striker,” Goodwin said. “We, as a company, have not seen somebody that young throw as hard as he does, typically around the zone, and be able to have the left-handed power that he does. There have been a handful of two-way guys that have been high draft picks over the last couple years, but nobody that has had his power profile that we’ve seen, at least in the last 10 or 15 years.”

    Striker is the nephew of Hunter Pence, a former Phillie.The Pence Family

    Pence plans on improving his speed offensively and his command when pitching before next year’s draft. Off the field, his poise doesn’t need much refining.

    Since he’s attended Perfect Game events at around 13 years old, Goodwin said Pence has always known what he wants out of an experience and how to get it.

    This disposition translates to the field and in the clubhouse. Earlier this summer, Pence went to a national showcase with Perfect Game just to field balls at first base and help his team out. Goodwin said Pence’s pedigree, and learning how to be both a competitor and a teammate from a young age, explains his demeanor.

    Perfect Game will host All-American Classic for high school baseball stars at Citizens Bank Park

    “Nature and nurture is both a big thing,” Goodwin said. “The Pence family are tremendous people, so it’s no doubt that he picked up a lot of those qualities from first off, his parents, and then, obviously, secondly, his uncle.”

    The “quiet confidence” Goodwin described Pence demonstrating was learned from his uncle, who taught him the importance of uplifting himself as a player.

    “Confidence is one of the highest things that you could do,” Striker said. “It makes you perform the best, and all it takes is you to just think about it and believe in yourself.”

    While it was his uncle who passed down his idiosyncrasies and mindset, Pence’s father and Hunter’s brother, Howard, helped him with the rest. Howard helped his son throw and hit in the backyard and with workouts. Striker said his dad taught him “everything that I know.”

    Jered Goodwin, Perfect Game’s vice president of scouting operations, said of Striker Pence: “We, as a company, have not seen somebody that young throw as hard as he does, typically around the zone, and be able to have the left-handed power that he does.”Jose F. Moreno / Staff Photographer

    Howard Pence also was a pitcher and played in the minor leagues with the Astros and Padres affiliates. He threw a cutter that reached up to 97 mph, according to Striker.

    Now, Striker said his teammates and opponents are also playing a role in aiding in his development. Being surrounded by top-level talent is helping him hone his skills as he prepares for his draft year, and he expects the Perfect Game All-American Classic on Sunday to help, too.

    “Playing against the best talent, seeing the best pitchers, and facing the best hitters, it just makes you better, overall, more prepared,” Pence said. “These guys are all going to be at the next level. So am I, so you got to get used to it.”

  • A $10K Shore vacation, the LeBron tax, and Philly sports for the holidays | Weekly Report Card

    A $10K Shore vacation, the LeBron tax, and Philly sports for the holidays | Weekly Report Card

    Philly owns the holidays: A

    Hope the rest of the country likes Philadelphia, because apparently we’re coming to their holiday gatherings this year.

    The Eagles play on Thanksgiving and again on Christmas Eve. Then, we have the Sixers on Christmas Day. Really, can you blame the networks? The Eagles are one of the biggest draws in football, and the Sixers just added LeBron James. Basically if you need people to stop talking to their relatives and look at the TV for three hours, Philadelphia can help.

    Not everyone considers this a gift. One fan corrected “running” the holidays to “ruining” them, while another pointed out that getting together with family is stressful enough without adding an Eagles game. But nothing brings a family together quite like a holiday, until a questionable fourth-down call has Uncle Mike pacing around the living room refusing to speak to anyone.

    The only thing we need to complete the calendar, one fan noted, is the Eagles on Valentine’s Day in Super Bowl LXI.

    @cait.vogel

    Anyone outside the tri-state area will never understand 🤯 #jerseyshore #seaislecity #phillytiktok

    ♬ original sound – shannon

    The $10,000 Shore house: C

    Every summer, someone discovers how much it costs to vacation at the Jersey Shore and the internet holds a small trial.

    This year’s defendant is a Philly mom who went viral after revealing her family pays $10,000 for a Shore rental — one where they still have to bring their own sheets, toilet paper, paper towels, coffee, and, presumably, half the contents of their house, the New York Post reported.

    Her description was pretty devastating: “Basically, we’re paying $10,000 to camp.”

    Naturally, the internet had feelings. “For $10,000, you could go to Greece! The Caribbean! Somewhere with turquoise water where nobody makes you buy a beach tag!”

    And, OK, they’re not wrong. Ten grand is a ridiculous amount of money to spend on a house where you arrive Saturday afternoon and immediately realize someone forgot the cardboard box with the BYO ketchup bottle, olive oil, and salt and pepper shakers.

    But the Jersey Shore has never been a purely rational vacation decision. For a lot of families around here, it’s the same town every summer, the same pizza place, the same mini golf course, the same people crammed into a rental house together. You know exactly what you’re getting.

    Would $10,000 get you farther somewhere else? Sure. But Greece doesn’t have your family’s 25-year grudge over who gets the bedroom with the good air conditioner.

    Phillies pitcher Orion Kerkering leaves after allowing three runs during the eighth inning of the game against the Toronto Blue Jays at Citizens Bank Park on Aug. 9, 2026. The Phillies won in extra innings 7 to 6.Monica Herndon / Staff Photographer

    The Phillies bullpen experience: C-

    At this point, a Phillies starter leaving the game with a four-run lead feels less like good news and more like the beginning of a hostage situation.

    Jesús Luzardo gave them seven innings Sunday, struck out 12, and handed the bullpen a 5-2 lead. Orion Kerkering promptly helped turn it into a tie game. The Phillies eventually won, but only after 12 innings and considerably more stress than should have been required.

    Then came Monday, when the bullpen was so depleted that Don Mattingly essentially had one reliever left. If the Cardinals forced extra innings, the backup plan was Garrett Stubbs. Yes, the catcher.

    Luckily, Andrew Painter carried a no-hitter into the sixth, Alan Rangel got within one run of disaster before escaping the eighth, and Jonathan Bowlan needed only 10 pitches to record his first major league save. Mattingly summed up the evening afterward: “We survived, right?”

    That’s pretty much where we are. The Phillies have enough talent to get to October, but we’re getting awfully close to the part of the season when “we survived” needs to become a less eventful way to win a baseball game.

    The acclaimed chicken sandwich at the Point Breeze corner store owned by Lynda Cong and her husband, Jimmy Cong, on Aug. 5, 2026.Tyger Williams / Staff Photographer

    Philly’s nameless chicken sandwich: A+

    Apparently, one of Philly’s best chicken sandwiches comes from a corner store we’re not entirely sure how to name.

    Some people call it Mrs. Lee’s. Others call it Jimmy’s. Credit card receipts say Kim Woa Store. There’s no visible sign outside to settle the matter, which hasn’t stopped people from finding their way to 17th and Wharton for nearly three decades.

    In fact, former Point Breeze residents drive back from New Jersey, Delaware, and even North Carolina for the $9 sandwich, and TikTok has now sent customers from Canada. All for two crispy chicken cutlets on potato bread from a corner store where you can also grab a single roll of toilet paper.

    The Cong family says they’re selling about 50 sandwiches a day now, although they seem considerably less impressed by their newfound internet attention than everyone eating them.

    Philly vs. the universe: D

    The universe put on quite the show Wednesday: a partial eclipse, four planets lined up in the sky, and the Perseid meteor shower reaching its peak overnight.

    And Philadelphia got … clouds.

    To be fair, we weren’t missing much with the eclipse. Only about 8% of the sun was blocked here, which an actual astrophysicist said you probably wouldn’t even notice. But the Perseids were supposed to be the real prize, with a moonless sky making this one of the better nights to look up and catch a few meteors.

    Unfortunately, after a summer of heat, humidity, and random downpours, the weather couldn’t give us one night off.

    The Sixers’ P.J. Tucker tries to block a shot by LeBron James during the Los Angeles Lakers at Philadelphia 76ers game at the Wells Fargo Center on Dec. 9, 2022.Elizabeth Robertson / Staff Photographer

    The LeBron tax: B

    Remember when we were all having fun with this?

    LeBron James is a Sixer! People were sunburning his number into their backs! We’re getting a Christmas Day game! Maybe this really is the year!

    Well, here comes the invoice.

    Tickets haven’t even officially gone on sale yet, and the cheapest seats on the secondary market for the Sixers’ home opener against Cleveland are already flirting with $500, NBC reported. Last year, comparable seats for opening night were around $100.

    It’s not exactly surprising. The Sixers added LeBron James and Jaylen Brown to a team with Tyrese Maxey, and suddenly every game comes with the possibility of seeing something you’ll be talking about for years.

    Still, there’s something cruel about finally assembling the kind of Sixers team we’ve been begging for and immediately discovering we may have to enjoy it from the couch. At least it won’t be $30 for a beer at home.

  • How to have a perfect Philly day, according to Binding Agents cookbook shop owner Catie Gainor

    How to have a perfect Philly day, according to Binding Agents cookbook shop owner Catie Gainor

    Catie Gainor conceived the idea of a bookstore dedicated to cookbooks in a “fever dream” four years ago. Today, her 350-square-foot shop Binding Agents has become a destination for home cooks, chefs, and authors in the Italian Market neighborhood.

    “I really envision myself being a stop on the path in the Italian Market — pick up things on your way up and down Ninth Street and step in to [Binding Agents] to grab a book, whether it’s a beach read or a cookbook to plan your holiday,” she previously told The Inquirer.

    The shop has also become a community gathering space where Gainor hosts a monthly cookbook club and every guest brings a dish from a featured cookbook.

    On her perfect Philly day, Gainor loves basking in the abundance of the Italian Market. She makes quintessential stops, often running into her customers along the way, and ending the day by cooking an omelet.

    7 a.m.

    I am not a morning person, but I have a 3 year old, so I usually start clawing my way out of sleep when she wakes up. This is a perfect day, so it’s a Saturday. My daughter is jumping into bed with me for a snuggle and a chat before my husband, Matt — an early riser— takes over the morning routine. I’ll remain horizontal and half awake until about 8 a.m.

    8 a.m.

    I get up, get dressed, and trundle down the stairs. My husband and daughter have wandered up the street to Mug Coffee & Clay, so I step out to meet them. I love their iced coffee — but since we’re sitting in, I get a cortado. Matt and my daughter have been bringing in pastries from Rougarou Baking on the weekends. [It’s] a gorgeous apricot tart [today]. By the time I sit down, my child is completely covered in croissant crumbs and asking me the names of clay-shaping tools I’ve never seen before — bliss.

    9 a.m.

    We head over to Gold Star Park to enjoy the perfect weather for a bit. Miraculously, I remembered to bring lawn chairs. So, my husband and I set them up and I pull out a book. I usually have multiple books going, one we carry in the shop and one (or two) we don’t. A recent in-store fave was What I Made for Dinner by former Philly resident Krys Malcolm Belc. Another summer release I loved was Rainbow Rowell’s Cherry Baby — not at all culinary, but I liked it so much that I stocked it in the shop anyway.

    10:30 a.m.

    Then, I’ll walk my family back home and head up to the store. I feel connected to the neighborhood — and the city, really — in a way I never did before. I say, ‘Hi’ to some local customers and market pals as I make my way up Ninth Street. It’s the best.

    11 a.m.

    I arrive at the shop and flip the shop sign — and I’m holding back from hollering, “Cookbooks! Cookbooks for sale!” like some kind of deranged Eliza Doolittle. Folks slowly wander in. I love seeing coffee cups from all over, giant bags of Isgro’s Pastries, and hearing reports about the lunch lines at Angelo’s and Mawn. On a perfect day, I’m flinging book recommendations left and right, and everyone’s kitchen problems or gift-giving conundrums are solved.

    1 p.m.

    My best friend Kate arrives to help for the afternoon after her morning class at Movement Source Pilates (which I also love). She brings me a lavender lemonade from Gleaners and a tofu banh mi from Pho Skyline. I eat my sandwich in the back and eavesdrop while she beautifies the shelves and chats with customers. Someone’s going home with a copy of Dinner Changing the Game by Melissa Clark.

    3 p.m.

    Later, I’m leaving Kate behind at the store so I can run up to Kin Boutique. Whenever I need a clothing item for any reason/occasion, that’s where I’m starting. It feels like entering Cheers, and I immediately have a Diet Coke in hand and 12 things to try in the dressing room. Everyone in the store celebrates my grand sartorial successes. I love them.

    4 p.m.

    Shopping took less time than I thought, so I text Matt and a bunch of friends that I’m assembling snacks for a Di Bruno Bros. Piazza happy hour. I gather all my favorite things from Biederman’s, Claudio’s, Di Bruno’s, and Tortilleria San Roman, then raid Binding Agents for some cutlery, cups, and napkins. While I’m back at the shop, I grab an upcoming cookbook off the shelf of advance copies to take home — I’ll see if I can use it for meal planning next week.

    5 p.m.

    The shop closes and my crew descends on the Piazza. My kid gives me a full account of her day before becoming engrossed in the giant Connect 4. I pour Gulp Hablo Orange into cups. I am one with the universe.

    7 p.m.

    The party breaks up as my friends head off for evening plans about town. My family and I head to John’s Water Ice for a slouching-off-to-toddler-bedtime treat. Many years ago, Matt discovered the gelati combo of lemon water ice with raspberry chocolate chip ice cream. The ice cream has teeny tiny little chocolate cups with a dot of raspberry jam inside each one. It is transcendent, and that’s what I get.

    8:30 p.m.

    My daughter’s book selection is — unsurprisingly — very food focused. Lately Thank You, Omu [by Oge Mora] has been on repeat at bedtime. I love this one because I get to do lots of voices, and the lyrical repetition is so lovely.

    Once she’s down, I’m not truly hungry but I am a little peckish — and I am realizing I haven’t cooked today. Turning on the stove sounds good. I grab a half loaf of Mighty Bread Co. sourdough from the counter, pull some vegetable odds-and-ends out of the fridge, and make a French-ish omelet. I am not good at rolling them but enjoy both the process and the eating, so I keep trying. I assemble plates — and Matt and I dig in.

  • The Phillies know what’s needed to make the playoffs. Here’s how the race for the last two spots is shaping up.

    The Phillies know what’s needed to make the playoffs. Here’s how the race for the last two spots is shaping up.

    MINNEAPOLIS — John Middleton got up from his seat in the front row behind the visitor’s dugout at Wrigley Field when a Phillies fan approached.

    “You’ve got to believe!” the fan said.

    “Listen, I believe,” the owner replied. “But we’ve got to play better.”

    Middleton retells the story every so often because he knows now that it has a happy ending. But nobody foresaw a World Series run in the Phillies’ future on Sept. 29, 2022. Not after a sweep by the Cubs left them clutching a half-game lead for the last National League wild card with six games remaining.

    The Phillies break out of their rut enjoying the sights of Field of Dreams — and deliver a needed win

    So if you’re down on the Phillies now, think about how you felt then. They hadn’t been to the postseason in a decade, a drought that weighed heavy and negated all benefit of the doubt. Things seemed bleak.

    Four years later, they’ve been through some stuff. And because the guts of the roster hasn’t changed, Kyle Schwarber believes they can lean on those experiences to guide them through the season’s final six weeks.

    But the Phillies also entered the weekend here against the Twins with four losses in seven games. They were 11-15 since the All-Star break, a skid that took them from two games behind the division-leading Braves to a tie with the Diamondbacks for the last NL wild card.

    Everything feels like it’s headed in the wrong direction.

    The Phillies won Thursday, 7-1, over the Twins in the third iteration of MLB’s Field of Dreams Game in Dyersville, Iowa.Yong Kim / Staff Photographer

    And for the first time since 2022, it might come down to the final week of the regular season.

    “I think we know what’s at stake,” Schwarber said. “We all know the writing on the wall. We know that, for where we need to go, that we need to step up in a lot of different ways, in a lot of different areas. And I feel like our team is ready for that.”

    Ready or not, here they are.

    This week brought something different, a 10-hour detour to Iowa cornfields for a glimpse of the Field of Dreams movie site and a 7-1 victory over the Twins. It was a breath of fresh air, an 80-mph changeup amid a slew of triple-digit fastballs.

    Why Trea Turner isn’t moving off shortstop (yet). Plus, other post-trade deadline Phillies thoughts.

    But now, it’s a 39-game sprint to the finish. The Phillies started 9-19 and got their manager fired. They went on a 45-24 heater under Don Mattingly to climb back into the race. And the latest stumble has them in a five-team cluster for two wild-card spots.

    The Braves, Brewers, and Dodgers lead the NL East, Central, and West, respectively. The Cubs are comfortably atop the wild-card standings, with a seven-game lead through Friday.

    Behind them, the Padres are surging. The Phillies are trying to ward off challenges from the Diamondbacks, Marlins and Cardinals. It didn’t help that they lost two of three in St. Louis this week.

    Kyle Schwarber (right) got the Phillies started with a leadoff home run in the Field of Dreams Game on Thursday night in Iowa.Yong Kim / Staff Photographer

    Entering the weekend, the Phillies had an 87.9% chance to make the playoffs, based on Baseball Prospectus’ PECOTA projection model. Baseball Reference had them at 61.2%. Fangraphs split the difference, at 73.9%. A good week at home in back-to-back series against the Marlins and Cardinals would go a long way to boosting those odds.

    “We know the road ahead that we’re going to have, and we know that everyone’s going to be pulling on that same rope every single day and trying to find different ways to execute and win ballgames,” Schwarber said. “It doesn’t have to be one area every single day. I feel like that all different areas are going to be coming together at a really good time.”

    Said Bryson Stott: “We know we have to win games, especially now and coming down the stretch. We’re in a tight race right now.”

    It feels like the right time, then, to look closer at the race for the last two wild-card spots. Let’s dive in, with all numbers through Friday’s games.

    Fernando Tatis Jr. has been hot since the All-Star break for the surging Padres.Gregory Bull

    Padres

    Record: 66-57, second place in NL West, second in wild card (one-game lead).

    Strength of remaining schedule: .496

    Playoff odds: 59% Fangraphs; 58% Baseball Prospectus; 51.1% Baseball Reference.

    Key series: Sept. 25-27 vs. the Diamondbacks.

    The big question: Will A.J. Preller’s go-for-it trade deadline spur San Diego’s third consecutive playoff berth and fourth in five years?

    Jonathan Bowlan has thrived as the Phillies’ setup reliever. The job could be his to keep.

    Ten days before the deadline, officials from multiple teams were still guessing about Preller’s approach. But the Padres went 8-1 against the Marlins, Rockies, and Giants, and allowed Preller to be Preller. Not only did the hyperaggressive executive hold star closer Mason Miller and reliever Adrián Morejón, but he sacrificed two of the organization’s top four prospects for rental starters Robbie Ray and Casey Mize, who joined Michael King and soon-to-return Joe Musgrove in an experienced rotation. The Padres came into the weekend having won six games in a row and 16 of 20.

    Outlook: Remember the team that went 0-6 in a span of 11 days against the Phillies in late May and early June? Well, these aren’t your father’s Padres. For one thing, their stars have shined. Entering the weekend, Fernando Tatis Jr. had seven homers and a 1.002 OPS since the All-Star break; Jackson Merrill was batting .343 with a 1.032 OPS. Imagine if Manny Machado ever figures it out this season.

    Starting pitchers Cristopher Sánchez (left) and Jesús Luzardo (right) would make the Phillies a formidable postseason team in a short series. Elizabeth Robertson / Staff Photographer

    Phillies

    Record: 65-58, second place in NL East, tied for third in wild card.

    Strength of remaining schedule: .506

    Playoff odds: 73.9% Fangraphs; 87.9% Baseball Prospectus; 61.2% Baseball Reference.

    Key series: Aug. 31-Sept. 2, at Diamondbacks.

    The big question: Will they run out of major league-quality pitching?

    Low on prospect capital, loaded with needs, the Phillies’ best asset at the deadline turned out to be … Bryce Harper

    In the playoffs, with short series and frequent days off, the Phillies are a dangerous opponent because of their Three Aces — Cristopher Sánchez, Zack Wheeler, and Jesús Luzardo — and stud closer Jhoan Duran. That’s enough pitching to scare even the Dodgers. But it takes a stockpile of arms to make the playoffs. Dave Dombrowski came up empty at the deadline for a starter (from among a bountiful supply of available starters) and a setup reliever. And so, it’s hardly catastrophizing to wonder if Mattingly has enough trustworthy pitching at his disposal to navigate the next six weeks.

    Outlook: At various times, Bryce Harper has used four words that may as well serve as the Phillies’ rallying cry: “Just get us in.” Never mind the divisional-round disappointments of the last two Octobers. The Phillies are actually built for the postseason, with a Jenga-tower roster that’s top heavy with stars. But getting there requires layers of depth on the roster and in the farm system. One injury, especially in the pitching ranks, could cause the whole thing to unravel. Keep an eye, too, on Harper and Schwarber, who have dealt with a sore knee and lower back, respectively.

    Diamondbacks shortstop Geraldo Perdomo leads a high-powered offense in Arizona.Sue Ogrocki

    Diamondbacks

    Record: 65-58, third place in NL West, tied for third in the wild card.

    Strength of remaining schedule: .501

    Playoff odds: 42.4% Fangraphs; 33.6% Baseball Prospectus; 44.4% Baseball Reference

    Key series: Aug. 31-Sept. 2 vs. the Phillies

    The big question: Did they miss an opportunity at the trade deadline?

    Phillies insist they’re ‘not scared of anyone’ after Dodgers make big move for Tarik Skubal

    The Diamondbacks were close to adding righty Clay Holmes to their rotation, but the Mets reportedly backed out over health concerns about one of the prospects in the deal. Arizona’s lone deadline move was for lefty-hitting outfielder Lars Nootbaar, and general manager Mike Hazen didn’t hide his frustration. “In the end, I could have kept adding,” he said in a radio interview. “I could have kept putting more in to get the deals done and it just didn’t happen.”

    Outlook: Unless these Phillies finally win it all, they will be haunted by the 2023 NL Championship Series, when they lost Game 6 and 7 at home. Three years later, the Diamondbacks present many of the same challenges, notably a pesky offense led by Corbin Carroll, Geraldo Perdomo, Ketel Marte, and Gabriel Moreno. They added Nolan Arenado this year, and he’s pushing 20 homers. But the lineup may have to carry them given the rotation depth behind Eduardo Rodríguez. Rookie lefty Brandyn Garcia recently took over as closer and has been dominant.

    Eury Pérez is one anchor of the Marlins’ starting rotation, along with veteran Sandy Alcantara.Marta Lavandier

    Marlins

    Record: 62-61, third place in the NL East, fifth in wild card (three games back)

    Strength of remaining schedule: .510

    Playoff odds: 11.4% Fangraphs; 10.8% Baseball Prospectus; 17.1% Baseball Reference.

    Key series: Sept. 14-16 at Diamondbacks

    The big question: Can they reel off another hot streak?

    Baseball celebrated itself with All-Star Week. Next up: Avoiding self-destruction with a looming labor fight

    Since June 17, the Marlins won 16 of 20 games, lost 12 in a row, won six out of seven, lost four straight, and won four straight before losing Thursday and Friday. If they were an amusement park ride, they would leave their patrons nauseous. It’s probably the sign of a young team that’s not quite ready for primetime. And the competition will harden, especially in September. The Marlins’ last 15 games are against the Dodgers, Diamondbacks, Padres, Cubs, and Braves. How’s that for a gauntlet?

    Outlook: The 12-game losing streak turned the Marlins from potential deadline buyers to fence-sitters who leaned toward selling. If they get on a roll, it will be because of the starting pitching, led by Sandy Alcantara and Eury Pérez. Max Meyer, an All-Star and emerging ace, has been sidelined with a neck strain since July 19. It’s unclear whether he will return before the end of the season. The Marlins traded catcher Liam Hicks to the Rays but held on to Otto Lopez and Xavier Edwards, the most underrated middle infield in the sport.

    Alec Burleson and the Cardinals won three series in a row after they were sellers at the trade deadline.Scott Kane

    Cardinals

    Record: 61-61, third place in the NL Central, sixth in wild card (3½ games back)

    Strength of remaining schedule: .499

    Playoff odds: 8.6% Fangraphs; 4.2% Baseball Prospectus; 15.8% Baseball Reference.

    Key series: Aug. 21-23 at Phillies

    The big question: Can an accidental contender keep contending?

    What makes Bryce Harper and Kyle Schwarber such unique stars? We asked each about the other.

    Not only didn’t the Cardinals plan on contending this season, but at the trade deadline, president of baseball operations Chaim Bloom acted as if they weren’t. In addition to sending Nootbaar to the Diamondbacks, Bloom packaged starter Dustin May and reliever JoJo Romero to the rival Brewers for prospects. Yet the Cardinals won three series in a row since the deadline, taking two of three from the Yankees, Rockies, and Phillies. If they’re still in the race after next weekend’s series in Philadelphia, maybe they will actually have staying power in September.

    Outlook: The Cardinals have balance in the top half of the lineup, with rookie sensation JJ Wetherholt and Alec Burleson from the left side of the plate and Home Run Derby champ Jordan Walker and Iván Herrera from the right. And they’re calling up outfield prospect Joshua Báez, who is bringing 34 homers from triple A to the majors this weekend. But an unexpected strength has been the young starting pitchers, chiefly Andre Pallante, Kyle Leahy, and Michael McGreevy. Never heard of them? If the Cardinals are able to hang in there, they will be big reasons why.

  • The Jalen Hurts hate online is dumb, ‘Field of Dreams’ is overrated, and other thoughts

    The Jalen Hurts hate online is dumb, ‘Field of Dreams’ is overrated, and other thoughts

    First and final thoughts …

    As of 2:15 p.m. Friday, a post from the Eagles’ official Twitter/X account showing a slow-motion replay of Quinyon Mitchell intercepting a Jalen Hurts pass during practice Wednesday had accumulated nearly 17 million views on the site. There are no typographical errors in that sentence. An interception at practice garnered 17 million views without Christopher Nolan or Abraham Zapruder having filmed the sequence.

    X users reposted the clip more than 3,000 times. Many of them included comments suggesting, or saying outright, that the interception was indicative of the quality of Hurts’ play or that the Eagles were disloyal or disrespectful to Hurts for posting the clip at all.

    Former Eagles linebacker Emmanuel Acho, now a professional podcaster and poo-stirrer, wrote that “given my experience with the lengths people go to protect Jalen, somebody getting cussed out for sure and then may get fired.” ESPN’s Mike Golic Jr. quipped: “guys, people can see this.” Ben DiNucci, whose NFL career comprised three games with the Cowboys in 2020, wrote: “Why would they post this lol These social teams have a direct impact on what fans think / believe / see.”

    A lot can be said about these people and those who responded similarly to the interception post. None of what can be said is kind. DiNucci at least tiptoed toward a reasonable and accurate point: That many fans, especially those so hungry for information and insights about their favorite teams that they spend hours scrolling through social media in the middle of the day, would blow such a play out of proportion. That’s fine. They’re fans. No one should expect them to be measured and reasonable.

    But if you’re going to hold yourself up as an expert and try to earn a living from that purported expertise — and that’s what these media members and influencers and former players are doing — then you ought to have enough knowledge and integrity to treat an interception in practice with the gravity it deserves. Which is to say, next to none. If training camp mattered that much, Paul Turner would be closing in on his 11th consecutive season with at least 1,500 receiving yards, and Sam Bradford would have been a Super Bowl MVP before Hurts or Nick Foles.

    Hurts has his strengths as a quarterback, and he has his shortcomings, and, yes, this will be an interesting and important season that could chart the course of his future with the Eagles. But no matter how sensitive Hurts and his camp might be, he has handled situations that were far more pressure-packed than a post intended to praise one of his teammates. And the notion that throwing a pick during training camp should serve as any kind of referendum on any NFL starting quarterback is so stupid that it could gain traction only on X.

    It was practice, people. Cue the Allen Iverson rant, and go freak out over another not-so-big deal.

    Expect LeBron James, Jaylen Brown to be the calm to the storm that often can be the Sixers | Mike Sielski

    Leave Santa alone, Roger

    So the NFL has scheduled one game on the night before Thanksgiving, three on Thanksgiving itself, one on Black Friday, one on Christmas Eve (between the Eagles and Texans at 8:15 p.m.), and three on Christmas. Meanwhile, the NBA has nine games on Thanksgiving Eve, 11 on Black Friday, and five on Christmas.

    Sorry, count me out, or as out as I can be as someone who covers the Eagles and 76ers. These leagues are attempting to capitalize on the captive audience they believe they’ll have on these holidays, but having those days and the traditions within them consumed by a bunch of games is crass and greedy. The only benefit to this overstuffed sports schedule is that it might keep family members and friends from arguing about politics over the apps and turkey.

    Quick hitters

    For the Sixers’ sake, it’s good to see so many LeBron James murals popping up around the city. They should serve as a nice counterbalance to the one at 30th St. and Eighth Avenue, around the corner from Madison Square Garden, that depicts Mitchell Robinson — a key member of the New York Knicks’ 2025-26 championship team — dunking over Joel Embiid. …

    Based on their offensive output in their 7-1 win over the Twins on Thursday night in Iowa, the Phillies should play all their remaining home games this season at Shady Brook Farm. …

    Oh, and for the record, Field of Dreams is among the most overrated sports movies ever. Joe Jackson hit left-handed, not right-handed as the film depicts him. Kevin Costner’s Ray Kinsella was an unsympathetic jerk to his father. And James Earl Jones’s “People will come, Ray” speech is overwrought. Costner’s “Dad, wanna have a catch?” scene is touching, but it does a lot of heavy lifting in making the film watchable. Give me The Natural, Eight Men Out, and Bull Durham every time.

  • ‘The Mondrian House,’ Jon Batiste, and a Disney throwback for millennials are some of the best art you can enjoy this week

    ‘The Mondrian House,’ Jon Batiste, and a Disney throwback for millennials are some of the best art you can enjoy this week

    Lady Alma’s newest Philly anthem

    The career of Philly house music singer Alma Hornton — who performs as Lady Alma — stretches back to the 1990s, when she was a featured vocalist at the now “Back 2 Basics” nights at Silk City Lounge and gave voice to projects like King Britt’s soulful “Sylk 130″ and British electronic duo 4Hero.

    Hornton had put music aside in the 2010s until a video of a fan dancing to her song “Let It Fall” went viral on Facebook, reviving a career that has gained momentum since, including her 2023 duet with the Eagles’ Jordan Mailata on “Merry Christmas, Baby.”

    Lady Alma’s “Liberty” is part of the “Philly Anthems” project by WXPN-FM (88.5) with Pew Center support.Paige Walter

    Now, she is a natural fit for the ongoing “Philly Anthems” project, an initiative of WXPN-FM (88.5) with support from the Pew Center for Arts & Heritage. Her song “Liberty” is the fourth to be heard from the project, which also includes “Better Times” by Eric Bazilian, “America the Beautiful” by the War on Drugs’ multi-instrumentalist Eliza Hardy Jones, and “Freedom” by XPN 24 Hour Song Challenge winners the Flying Vees.

    The “Philly Anthems” concept is to give Philadelphia artists “the opportunity to reflect on themes in the Declaration of Independence that resonate today through original music,” according to XPN station manager Roger LaMay.

    Hornton does just that in a pulsating dance track that’s a collaboration with esteemed old-school hip-hop producer Marley Marl and 88 Fingerz. “Need some answers for the madness” she sings over a house music groove that aims to find catharsis on the dance floor, “Seeing hope through the sadness.”

    In a statement, Hornton describes “Liberty” as “a song that offers an honest perspective on what the world needs right now. The song carries a sense of joy. Embrace the message and find light in the darkness. Celebrate unity, love and the belief that one day we will truly have liberty and justice for all.”

    The coming weeks will bring new “Philly Anthems” by Christian McBride and Devon Gilfillian, plus up-and-coming acts Grace Gardner, Black Buttafly, the Bul Bey, J.R. Everhart, Sug Daniels, and Moustapha Noumbissi. A 12-song album will be released timed to Record Store Day in April 2027.

    — Dan DeLuca

    An arty house in Queen Village

    A quirky home at 514 Fitzwater St. in Queen Village.Farrah Segal

    There’s a storied house in Queen Village that holds many names: Lego House, Clock-Tower House, Art Deco House, Mondrian (after Dutch painter Piet Mondrian) House. In a city full of architectural gems, it’s one of my favorites.

    The marvelous corner building is dotted with color, featuring a cornice of red, yellow, and blue bricks — evoking Mondrian’s signature style — and a clock on the roof. A small statue of a little girl with yellow hair and a blue skirt is hidden among the lush flowers growing in containers in front of the house. The home dates back more than 100 years and once served as a deli before an architect in the 1980s transformed it into this visual landmark.

    As striking as the home is on the outside, there’s now a rare chance for curious Philadelphians to get a peek inside, where the artistry continues with boldly colored staircases and decor. The house was sold earlier this summer and the doors are now open for an antique sale this weekend where you can explore the legendary home and find possible treasures within.

    The antique sale runs through Aug. 16, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. 514 Fitzwater St., Phila.

    — Rosa Cartagena

    Jon Batiste performing at the Met Philly, Oct. 30, 2025.Elizabeth Robertson / Staff Photographer

    Jon Batiste’s ‘Black Mozart’ is a balm for the current times

    Alas, we didn’t get Jon Batiste in person this week. The pianist, bandleader, and TV personality no doubt disappointed many when, citing “personal circumstances,” he canceled Friday night’s scheduled appearance at the Highmark Mann Center.

    He “truly can’t wait to come back and perform for you soon,” Batiste assured fans in a message posted on the Highmark Mann website.

    But Friday did bring us Jon Batiste all the same, via the release of Black Mozart. The new recording finds the musician at the keyboard alone in a jazzy, gospel-y, contemplative (though still energetic) mood. Using Mozart tunes as the departure point, he develops the material liberally — harmonically, rhythmically, sliding back and forth across the centuries and genres, and doing so in a natural, fluid way.

    With 10 tracks totaling 35 minutes, Black Mozart’s source material is a Mozart piano sonata, a piano concerto, the Symphony No. 40, and other works. Batiste, who has two degrees from the Juilliard School, is at his best when he gets creative with the 18th-century composer.

    Gospel Andante uses the slow movement of Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 21 in C Major, K. 467 as a framework. But it’s when the power of gospel asserts itself — where the genre line really blurs — that the music lifts off into another emotional dimension.

    There is nothing revolutionary about Black Mozart. Performers and composers have blended classical with jazz and other genres for decades. Batiste himself covered similar ground with his 2024 release, Beethoven Blues. But if Beethoven was a generally dramatic and soulful impetus, the quieter moments of Mozart transformed by Batiste are the appeal here. These are the easygoing pleasures that might be the counterprogramming you need in the current atmosphere.

    “Black Mozart” is available across all music platforms.

    — Peter Dobrin

    A road trip featuring Goofy and Max

    Odyssey this, Spider-Man: Brand New Day, that.

    What about the cinematic brilliance that is Disney’s 1995 classic, A Goofy Movie?

    The Philadelphia Film Society and Another Corner — a South Street novelty shop devoted to books, photography, coffee, and other specialties — are screening the movie next week for one night only.

    It’s part of the Film Society’s series on road trips and Another Corner’s hobby of the month focusing on “movie loving.” Shop owner Lee Frank will say a few words at the beginning and there will be zines and other film buff collectibles on hand.

    The movie, which is 31 years old (sorry millennials, I know that hurts!), focuses on Goofy and his son, Max, reconnecting as they head to a concert. They’re on their way to see the iconic fictional band, Powerline, featuring a “Michael Jackson-styled canine,” as described in the Miami Herald’s original review.

    The Herald review praised the film, adding that “this fast-paced movie has enough colorful characters and rollicking gags to keep the tykes from getting bored.”

    “A Goofy Movie” plays Aug. 20 at the Philadelphia Film Society Center, 1412 Chestnut St. Tickets are $16 and available on the Film Society’s website.

    — Emily Bloch

  • Another fixture of East Passyunk’s Italian dining legacy is on the market

    Another fixture of East Passyunk’s Italian dining legacy is on the market

    The tables at Mamma Maria’s have not been pushed aside for dancing in years, but the disco ball still hangs overhead.

    Still there, too, are the kitchen where Santa Maria “Mamma Maria” Chiavatti turned out feather-light gnocchi, the dining room where waiters carried trays of flaming sambuca, and the upstairs studio where Chiavatti taped a TV cooking show whose first guest in 1999 was Mayor Ed Rendell.

    Santa Maria Chiavatti and family enjoyed a 28-year run at Mamma Maria’s.Tyger Williams / Staff Photographer

    Now the collection of buildings that housed the East Passyunk restaurant for nearly three decades is for sale, marking the end of one of the Avenue’s more colorful links to its ′90s/’00s Italian-restaurant resurgence.

    The former restaurant, closed for six years, is spread across three adjoining buildings on Passyunk Avenue and Jessup Street, all with apartments above. The asking price for 1637 E. Passyunk Ave., which houses one of the dining rooms, and 1632 S. Jessup St., which contains the kitchen, is $1.5 million. The building housing the other dining room, at 1639 E. Passyunk Ave., is offered for $2 million.

    “The kitchen is still set up,” said Albert Perry of Century 21 Advantage Gold, who has the listing with Dave Lombardo. “When we went to the property for the listing appointment, I was sent home with food.”

    A portrait of Claudio and “Mamma Maria” Chiavatti hangs in the shuttered restaurant.Tyger Williams / Staff Photographer

    Mamma Maria’s, which opened in 1992 and expanded into the adjoining property the following year, closed in 2020. But the Chiavattis said they couldn’t bring themselves to sell until now.

    “We want to give somebody the chance to have what we had, but with their vision,” said Maria’s daughter Paola Chiavatti. “Our era is ending, and a new era can begin.”

    A ‘vacation’ stop in Philadelphia

    The Chiavattis’ Philadelphia era began almost by accident.

    Maria and her husband, Claudio, came to the United States from Italy in 1992 for what their children believed was a vacation. The couple had already spent years in the restaurant business in Italy and Canada, and the family thought they had retired.

    Maria Chiavatti serving food outside of the East Passyunk Avenue restaurant in 2012. Glamorosi

    Then, while visiting relatives in Philadelphia, Claudio spotted a closed restaurant on East Passyunk Avenue and noticed the municipal parking lot across the street.

    “I said, ‘Yes, but it isn’t your parking lot,’” Maria recalled.

    Claudio’s answer was simple: “But it is there.”

    The couple rented the building and opened Mamma Maria’s. Three months later, Claudio questioned why they were paying rent when they could buy it.

    “That’s exactly what we did,” Maria said. “We bought it and made it beautiful.”

    Photos of Santa Maria Chiavatti and her daughter Paola on the mantel at Mamma Maria’s.Tyger Williams / Staff Photographer

    They built the menu around the food Maria knew from Abruzzo.

    Paola, meanwhile, was still in Italy, working as an interpreter and language teacher. Her sister, Myrna, and brother, Gianni, came to visit their parents. Before long, everyone in the immediate family was in Philadelphia, except Paola.

    That same year, her parents invited her over, ostensibly for a relative’s birthday party. Claudio picked her up at the airport and drove her to East Passyunk Avenue. She walked into the restaurant and saw a banner: “Welcome, Paola, to Mamma Maria’s.”

    Mamma Maria’s memorabilia in the restaurant.Tyger Williams / Staff Photographer

    Claudio told her that he and Maria had fallen in love with the neighborhood and the city. The restaurant, he said, would be something for their old age.

    Paola said she understood what was expected of her. Arrivederci, Italy.

    “Thirty-four years later, here I am,” she said.

    The rise of Mamma Maria’s

    Mamma Maria’s was a family operation in the most literal sense. Maria cooked. Claudio hosted, baked, prepped, and made sauces. Paola and Myrna worked the dining room.

    For much of its run, Mamma Maria’s was known for an enormous fixed-price meal: antipasto, soup, multiple pastas, meat and seafood entrees, salad, vegetables, potatoes, and a dessert cart loaded with cakes, cannoli, and other sweets.

    Wine was complimentary. So, at first, was flaming sambuca, served while an accordion player named Mario circulated among the tables.

    “You sat down and you felt like you were having Christmas dinner or New Year’s Eve dinner at your house,” said Lilla Amico-Carlomango, Maria’s oldest granddaughter, who worked at the restaurant with sisters Dalia and Chiara Amico. “The staff, the clients, everybody was so happy to be here that it created one big family.”

    Shortly after it opened, Inquirer food critic Elaine Tait described the cooking as “homey, not haute, cuisine, the likes of which you might find cooked by someone’s talented Italian mom.”

    The column by Jim Quinn in The Inquirer’s Sunday magazine on Aug. 9, 1992, that helped launch Mamma Maria’s.Newspapers.com

    Inquirer columnist Jim Quinn was similarly enthusiastic. Maria didn’t know Quinn from Adam when someone told her there was a man from the newspaper in the dining room. “I said, ‘So what?’” she recalled.

    After he returned three days in a row, she finally approached him.

    “Sir, you really love my place,” she told him.

    In 1997, an electrical fire forced the restaurant to close for eight months.

    “In the restaurant industry, eight months is murder,” Paola said.

    Mamma Maria’s reopened with a fundraiser for the Leukemia Society of America.

    Santa Maria Chiavatti in September 1999 on the set of her food show during its launch party. The show aired throughout the Philadelphia region. Michael S. Wirtz / Staff Photographer

    But one tradition did not return. The blaze was unrelated to the drinks, but Paola had lost her enthusiasm for open flames in the dining room, and the flaming sambuca was 86ed.

    Two years later, Mamma Maria’s expanded to television. In 1999, the family bought a weekly half-hour slot on the Food Network for a self-produced program, Cooking With Mamma, Old World Secrets.

    The show was taped in a studio kitchen above the dining room, with Rendell as Maria’s first guest. Maria used her maiden name, Di Marco, because the family thought it would be easier for viewers to pronounce.

    A video of “Mamma Maria’s” cooking show, featuring Mayor Ed Rendell, was televised during the 1999 launch party at the restaurant.Michael S. Wirtz / Staff Photographer

    Back at the restaurant, the fixed-price format endured. Claudio’s death in 2005 hit the family hard, as did the recession in 2008. In 2010, after 18 years of belt-stretching meals, Mamma Maria’s began allowing à la carte dining Monday through Thursday.

    Life after the restaurant

    Then the pandemic arrived.

    Mamma Maria’s closed in 2020, along with the family’s food-truck operation. By the time restrictions had eased enough for the family to consider reopening, Maria’s health had become the priority.

    Paola faced a choice: return to the all-consuming work of running a restaurant or help care for her mother.

    “Restaurants, we’ve had many in our lives,” she said. “Mother, you only have one.”

    The family hosted private events in the meantime. Now 79 and feeling fine, Maria is preparing to sell the property and, with her family, take Mamma Maria’s into another form.

    Santa Maria Chiavatti (right) with three generations (from left): Great-granddaughter Paolina Carlomango, granddaughter Lilla Amico-Carlomango, and daughter Paola Chiavatti in the restaurant on Aug. 5, 2026.Tyger Williams / Staff Photographer

    She has boxes of handwritten recipes, including dishes passed through the family for generations. She is working on an Italian-language cookbook, while Paola and Lilla are helping to translate, organize, and photograph the recipes. They envision a series of cookbooks and possibly a line of pasta, sauces, and Maria’s homemade limoncello.

    That last item would be a particularly natural extension of Mamma Maria’s, Perry said.

    “When you went to Mamma Maria’s, you were drinking limoncello whether you intended to or not — and usually you wanted to.”

    For Maria, selling the buildings means giving up the restaurant, not the work that grew out of it.

    “Just because the restaurant is finished,” she said, “doesn’t mean I’m finished.”

    “Just because the restaurant is finished doesn’t mean I’m finished,” says Santa Maria “Mamma Maria” Chiavatti.Tyger Williams / Staff Photographer

  • Aramark forged a partnership with Penn Medicine for more affordable employee health benefits

    Aramark and the University of Pennsylvania Health System launched a partnership this year to offer the food service giant’s Philadelphia-area employees healthcare in a test of a new model for reducing costs.

    Aramark employees who choose the benefit option, called the Penn Medicine Premier Plan, face no deductibles and lower copays when they and their dependents use Penn doctors and facilities.

    The move by Aramark into what is called direct contracting comes as employers are contending with years of surging healthcare costs. It’s an example of experimentation designed to slow spending growth in spending and perhaps improve quality, experts said.

    “We certainly would like to save money on the model, but its primary focus is to make benefits more affordable” by getting lower prices than it would get by going through an insurer, said James Startare, Aramark’s vice president for benefits.

    The model is called direct contracting because Aramark negotiated prices and other terms of the contract directly with Penn, instead of relying on an insurer to negotiate prices.

    It’s Penn’s first such contract and the first large-scale direct contract in the Philadelphia region. Aramark talked with other systems in the area, but Penn emerged as the partner willing to enter into the experimental contract. Penn described the deal as a multiyear contract ultimately expected to roll over from year to year.

    Aramark didn’t provide details on savings, but its goal was to negotiate prices that are lower than those it would pay though a benefits administrator, such as Aetna.

    By eliminating deductibles that function as a barrier to care, the plan is expected to encourage primary care visits. This could reduce long-term costs by catching patients’ health problems early.

    For health systems like Penn, such contracts offer a chance to increase market share, streamline payments, and hone their ability to manage the health of a population.

    The Penn Medicine Premier Plan features no deductibles and lower copays when Aramark employees and their dependents use Penn doctors and facilities. Harold Brubaker / Staff

    Aramark’s move into direct contracting

    Penn is Aramark’s third major direct contracting partner.

    Employers, even those like Aramark that are self-insured, typically rely on an insurer’s negotiated prices.

    With the new direct contract, an Aetna administrative unit still processes the claims for Aramark, and patients who go outside Penn for care use the Aetna network.

    Aramark launched its first such contract in 2024 in Dallas and expanded to Chicago last year, each time getting a strong employee enrollment, though it took two years in Chicago, Startare said.

    In the Philadelphia region, 35% of eligible employees (those who work 30-plus hours a week on average) have chosen the Penn plan, which took effect Jan. 1, Startare said. That amounts to 800 employees.

    Coincidentally, the health contract started at the same time as Aramark’s contract to manage food and other services at Penn Medicine facilities, but the two deals were not linked.

    Employees who were moving to Aramark with the food services contract were worried about losing their Penn benefits, said Megan Lieberman, a patient services manager at Chester County Hospital who was among those who became an Aramark employee.

    But the Penn Premier Plan was very similar to what they were used to. “It was definitely a huge relief to know that we got to hang on to those benefits,” Lieberman said.

    A separate contract covers pediatric services at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia for Aramark employees and their families.

    Next year, Aramark plans to take direct contracting into central New Jersey, but did not name the system it’s using there.

    What’s in it for Penn

    The Aramark contract is an opportunity to focus on “chronic disease management, preventive care, cancer screenings, things like that” for a specific group of 1,400 patients who are motivated to stay within the Penn system, said Mark Angelo, Penn’s chief medical officer for population health.

    A key goal is to reduce the deductibles, copays, and prior authorizations that can slow access to preventive care. The model is designed to take care of people before they end up in high-cost places like the emergency department or hospital, Angelo said.

    Keeping more patients within Penn is expected to result in savings because of better care coordination and fewer repeated tests, Angelo said. Penn Premier plan members can seek care outside of Penn, but it will cost them more out-of-pocket.

    As it is, the typical Penn patient also uses other health systems for some services, said Roy Schwartz, Penn’s vice president for payer strategy.

    “Sometimes it’s the right choice, sometimes it can fragment their care,” Schwartz said. “There should be savings just simply coming from having integrated, coordinated care at a place like Penn.”

    Penn does not yet have much of its own data on Aramark employees, but indications from Aramark are that the plan’s members were using more Penn services in the first six months, Schwartz said. “It was not just patients who were using Penn anyway for pretty much everything.”

    Penn and Aramark officials plan to meet regularly to review results and consider modifications. “We’re hoping this works out well for everybody because we’d love to do some more of these,” Schwartz said.

    Momentum behind direct contracting

    Employers nationally have long contracted directly with doctors and health systems for specific procedures, like joint replacements, cancer care, and heart surgery. For years, they’ve also paid directly for primary care through on-site clinics.

    Aramark’s move to an all-encompassing healthcare plan with a single provider fits into a newer trend gaining momentum nationally. Investors have created platforms like Cost Plus Wellness, Mishe Health, Nomi, and Transcarent to help health systems implement direct contracts.

    Northwell Health, a major health system in New York and Connecticut, started a for-profit subsidiary called Northwell Direct and now has more than 70 contracts that cover more than 300,000 people.

    Northwell Direct’s biggest contract covers 100,000 building service workers in the New York area and their dependents. It took effect this year and is expected to save 20% in the first year.

    Big savings to start are not guaranteed.

    “They may not go into it with a lower cost, but they’re going to go into it with better access, better quality for their employees, and what they’re finding is eventually those lower costs will come,” said Jenny Goins, chief of staff at the National Alliance of Healthcare Purchaser Coalitions.

    The Washington nonprofit is putting together a direct contracting advisory council to help more employers to do what Aramark is doing, Goins said.

    The model is not expected to replace traditional coverage anytime soon in the Philadelphia region.

    “It is not for everyone, and it does take effort and coordination on the part of the employer,” said Tom Belmont, CEO of the Greater Philadelphia Business Coalition on Health. “Also, some health systems are ready for the discussion, while others are not.”

  • The best thing Mike Klein ate this week: Chicken roulade at Academy Grill

    The best thing Mike Klein ate this week: Chicken roulade at Academy Grill

    White-tablecloth restaurants in Eastern Montgomery County are few and far between nowadays, which makes the recent arrival of Academy Grill in Fort Washington something of a throwback.

    Tucked off Bethlehem Pike near Germantown Academy, the restaurant took over the building that for years housed Cantina Feliz. (Last year, the Mexican restaurant left Fort Washington for Ambler, 10 minutes away.) The sleek Academy Grill is taking a decidedly different approach: polished, contemporary American cooking with chef Jeffrey Power in the kitchen.

    Power is no stranger to the area. He was the longtime chef at Dettera, the ambitious Ambler restaurant that closed earlier this year, and before that worked at Blackfish in Conshohocken and Le Bec-Fin downtown. Though Power is turning out steaks and seafood at Academy Grill, one other dish connects those chapters of his career.

    Power’s chicken roulade — once a staple at Dettera — traces its roots back more than 20 years to Le Bec-Fin, though the technique has evolved. Power completely debones a whole chicken, removes the legs and thighs, and wraps the breast in its skin around a chicken mousseline studded with sun-dried tomatoes, oregano, basil, parsley, and scallions.

    At Le Bec-Fin, the roulade was rolled, tied in the old-school fashion, then pan-seared. Power now forms it into a cylinder using cellophane and cooks it sous vide, setting the proteins and helping the roulade hold its shape. It is then deep-fried to evenly crisp the skin around juicy chicken and herb-flecked mousseline.

    The dish is unabashedly rich, but its accompaniments have changed with its surroundings. At Dettera, Power plated it with English peas, smoked fingerling potatoes, and cremini mushrooms. At Academy Grill, pillowy potato gnocchi and earthy truffle crema add to its lushness. Cauliflower brings sweetness, while fava beans provide a fresh counterpoint — green, slightly nutty, and mildly bitter.

    In that sense, the roulade is both a new Academy Grill dish and a snapshot of Power’s career: a Le Bec-Fin idea refined at Dettera and carried into his latest kitchen.

    Academy Grill, 424 S. Bethlehem Pike, Fort Washington, 610-424-5000, academygrill.com.