Missing the food of Philadelphia? This retro diner in London makes you feel right at home
Passyunk Avenue, 80 Cleveland Street, London W1T 6NE (020 3960 2251). Starters and sides £4-£9.50; mains, including cheesesteak £11-£12; desserts £6; and wines from £19
When I visit Passyunk Avenue, a retro diner on a scuffed backstreet in London’s Fitzrovia, the voice I hear in my head belongs to Josh Ozersky. Josh was a bull-necked, raging mensch of a man, who founded the food festival Meatopia, helped pioneer food blogging in New York via the Grub Street site and ended up as restaurant editor for Esquire. Most importantly, he carved out a niche for himself as the chronicler of what he called, “American vernacular cuisine”. His point was compelling: why should the classics of the American diner be any less deserving of love and scholarship than, say, the so-called cuisine de grand-merè of France?
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