To taste the freshest produce in the region, you can shop one of the city’s many farmers market, haul your selections back home, and crack open a cookbook. Or you can take the effortless route, and settle into an outdoor-optional seat at one of these top farm-to-table restaurants in Philadelphia.
Uniquely positioned between ‘Jersey Fresh’ territory and Amish Country, Philly offers its chefs an impressive variety of local, seasonal ingredients from which to craft their award-winning menus. And diners will be excited to know that much of this produce makes its way from farm to plate just one day after harvesting. Yes, the peppery radishes and buttery greens in your appetizer salad may have been plucked from the dirt just hours ago.
While reality TV chefs prove their mettle by whipping up a meal on the spot, much more advance planning and preparation goes into seasonal dishes served at local hotspots, so not a single ingredient gets overlooked. “We plan ahead, even before ingredients are in season, so we can take full advantage of them,” explains Gregg Ciprioni, Chef de Cuisine at Garces Trading Company. And the taste rewards are impressive, says Ciprioni, who calls the local produce “indescribably better than anything in the supermarket.” When dining out in Philly—perhaps during Philadelphia Restaurant Week on January 20-25 & January 27- February 1, 2013—look for menus that change as new crops are harvested and unique seasonal ingredients become available.
Audrey Claire
You’ll dine with the windows open at this tiny West Philadelphia BYOB that features local, organic produce on its Mediterranean menu. (20th Street at Spruce Street, 215.731.1222)
Caribou Café
This restaurant offers delicious French comfort food that mixes European flair with local ingredients, and plenty of sidewalk tables. (1126 Walnut Street, 215.625.9535)
Garces Trading Company This hotspot, from celebrity check Jose Garces, offers casual, sit-down dining, plus a gourmet market filled with local and imported foods to take home. (1111 Locust Street, 215.574.1099)
Mercato This Italian American BYOB restaurant’s name echoes its mission: to use local market ingredients at the peak of freshness. (1216 Spruce Street, 215.985.BYOB)
Square 1682 The first LEED-certified restaurant in Philadelphia offers a menu packed with eco-conscious and organic ingredients, including free-range meats and sustainable seafood. (121 South 17th Street, 215.563.5008)
How to get there: Visit megabus.com. Or consult the Philadelphia Transportation guide on offMetro NY.
Photo: G. Widman for GPTMC
Sarah Knapp is a Brooklyn based entrepreneur whose love for the outdoors and community building led her to the October 2013 creation of OutdoorFest. She has a BA in History, is a Wilderness First Responder and a NY state hiking, camp and boating guide. Her proudest achievement to date is reading the Aeneid in Latin. 
Allison was one of our first top writers and Chief Editor but is no longer working with offMetro. Allison is a native New Yorker, who has lived in Rome, Tuscany, Melbourne, Toronto and Los Angeles. She frequently contributed travel pieces to Family Travel Forum, using her own children as guinea pigs as they travel the globe. She never missed a chance to sample local delicacies, as her love for travel goes hand-in-hand with her love for food and wine. 
Josh Laskin is a freelance travel writer and photographer based in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. When he is not at work or on the road, you can find him in the mountains snowboarding, climbing, hiking, fly fishing, mountain biking, and eating bagel bites.
Annie is a travel writer, environmentalist, and surfer based in Venice, CA. She heads up our West Coast team, keeps our grammatical errors in check, and makes sure our California writers always have a plan for their next adventure. Follow Annie’s travels @annelisemcb.
Carly Pifer is a freelance writer who has been known to follow whims inspired by romantic movie scenes or colorful street style shots to India, Japan, Tunisia and Argentina. After stints living in Seoul, Boston, Paris and Los Angeles, writing and searching for something intangible, she landed somewhat steadily in Brooklyn and has begun to find inspiration in her more immediate surroundings. 
Kate E. O’Hara is a New York based freelance writer and photographer who loves all things food—especially the people who make it and market it. Her writing aims to capture the essence of the food experience; the stories that go well beyond a plate of ingredients. In addition to her love of food, Kate is also known to have a hankering for red wine and craft beer. You can also find Kate on Instagram