America's Best Italian Restaurant Is In Philly, TimeOut Says

Philadelphia is home to the country’s best Italian restaurant, according to a new ranking by TimeOut.

Vetri, a 30-seat restaurant located on Spruce Street, got the top honors from the popular lifestyle website and magazine.

Chef Marc Vetri opened his flagship restaurant in 1998 after years of working in kitchens throughout Italy. The restaurant specializes in handcrafted pastas, innovative flavor combinations and artful presentations and has ”gained a fast following amongst diners, critics and fellow chefs alike,” its website says.

Vetri won the James Beard Award for “Best Chef: Mid-Atlantic” in 2005. He has gone on to open additional restaurants, incluing Osteria, Amis, Alla Spina, Pizzeria Vetri and Osteria Moorestown.

Vetri offers a tasting menu-only format so as to ”fully showcase the constantly evolving, dynamic creativity of Chef Vetri and his kitchen staff, and their desire to offer an unparalleled dining experience,” the website explains.

TimeOut says:

What can be said about Marc Vetri’s hall-of-fame flagship that hasn’t already been said? Well, at the time of this writing, the national restaurant industry was abuzz with the news that the illustrious chef-restaurateur had sold much of his empire to Urban Outfitters. So there’s that. But its cornerstone, Vetri, remains intact—and what a cornerstone it is. A stately yet intimate Washington Square West townhouse sets the stage for an eight-course meal that, being painstakingly tailored to each guest, is truly once-in-a-lifetime, ranging perhaps from a seasonal crudo and the renowned sweet-onion crepe with truffle fondue to a raviolo stuffed with squash confited in honey butter, salt-baked branzino, and pistachio flan or chocolate-polenta souffle. The caliber of the wine list goes without saying; rare beer pairings, however, are a revelation.

(PHOTO: File photo, not photography of actual Vetri dish)