Philadelphia’s burgeoning food scene has attracted talent from some of the top culinary hot spots in the country. You simply have to walk around Center City to see the growth and the richness in choice and experience that have become available to the Philly foodie. “The current food scene in Philadelphia — the best way to describe it — is flourishing,” Chef George Sabatino of Aldine Restaurant said. In this “Table 42” vignette, we follow Philly native Sabatino, who opened Aldine Restaurant just two years ago, but the business has already made huge strides for being so young. (For one, this restaurant is No. 1 on Foodable’s Philadelphia Top 25.) Aldine’s kitchen reflects the cuisine and style that is entirely Sabatino’s own. What is his greatest culinary motivation and inspiration? To bring a local, farm-to-table cuisine with a passion for aesthetic and, of course, flavor that is uniquely Philadelphia.

As the food scene in Philly continues to boom, we decided to make our way to the City of Brotherly Love to visit one of Philadelphia’s Top 25 Restaurants. a.kitchen, located at AKA Rittenhouse Square, boasts an impressive wine program along with its Modern American cuisine. Mike Fry, sous chef at the High Street Hospitality Group restaurant, talks to us about how a.kitchen makes the most out of its summer bounty. In this Table 42 Vignette, Sous Chef Mike Fry demonstrated for us a.kitchen’s signature dish: a seared Long Island duck breast with mushroom ragu, baby summer squash, and a mushroom exodus sauce.

Dessert remains a favorite even for grownups. Roughly one-third of guests order dessert when dining out. So it’s safe to say that many consumers can’t resist a sweet after dinner treat, especially when it’s in a mini portioned dessert. Like appetizers and entrees, desserts are (and have always been) often dependent on the seasons. More restaurants are determining their menu solely based on the ingredients in season. Fall favorites like pumpkin and apple have already started to appear all over menus. A restaurant known for its cuisine that is “homemade, unpretentious, delectable, with an emphasis on great local ingredients” is Michael’s Genuine. This Miami gem is repeatedly on the Foodable Top 25 restaurants. We decided to get in the kitchen with Maria Jose (MJ) Garcia, the executive pastry chef at Michael’s Genuine to find out what ingredients she enjoys to work with, fan-favorites at MG, and what advice she has for aspiring pastry chefs.

The Forge has been an icon in Miami since the 1930s, but with the introduction of new executive chef, Julia Doyne, the renowned American steakhouse is getting a new wave of attention. Doyne has had a love affair with cooking ever since her mother taught her how to make the perfect chocolate chip cookies at age 5. Her first job was in New York with highly acclaimed Chef Marcus Samuelsson at Aquavit. There, she perfected the Swedish and Nordic techniques of pickling, curing, and smoking. Doyne went on to work for Michelin-starred Chef Christopher Lee as a line cook before working her way up to sous chef. When Chef Lee took the position as The Forge’s executive chef, Doyne jumped at the opportunity to be the chef de cuisine at the most legendary steakhouse. Last year, Doyne made another leap when she was appointed to executive chef of The Forge by owner Shareef Malnik. On this episode  of “Table 42,” see how the cuisine at The Forge merges the American steakhouse genre with modern techniques and flavors under Julia Doyne’s leadership. For example, Chef Julia’s General Tso’s Octopus is a new take on a classic, and Chef Doyne transforms the dish with ease.

District One Kitchen & Bar is not strictly a Vietnamese cuisine restaurant. Although the restaurant name refers to the district epicenter for entertainment and dining in Saigon (also known as Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam’s largest municipality), District One is known to be a melting pot of Asian flavors, including Vietnamese, Thailandese, Chinese, and Japanese. “In the menu, we have everything from seafood to noodles to different variety of Southeast Asian-inspired dishes,” said Chef and owner Khai Vu. “A lot of it is Vietnamese-inspired because of our roots and where we’re from…” However, District One’s founders wanted to create a menu that would not only reflect their heritage, but also showcase their experiences by combining flavors from Los Angeles, Las Vegas, and New York. Chef Vu attributes his entrepreneurial spirit to his father, who taught him how to be a successful businessman, but for his early fascination with food, Chef Vu blames his grandmother. “From growing up and going to the farmer’s market every weekend with my grandma... every weekend, she would stop everything and make a big family meal,” said Chef Vu. In this Table 42 Vignette, Chef Vu demonstrated for us their signature dish: Live Whole Maine Lobster Pho. They get them alive and then they poach them, “...we take them all apart, and then deshell them and put it back together” in order to make it easier for the guest to eat.

In this Table 42 Vignette, Chef and Co-owner of Downtown Toronto’s Richmond Station Carl Heinrich describes how Toronto and Richmond Station have grown as an important part of Canada’s food scene. Heinrich and his business partner Ryan Donovan wanted a restaurant with a tavern feel – that wasn’t called a tavern. As they sat together one day in a tavern, marveling at the subway tile that surrounded them, an idea dawned. With some word association, the subway tile led them to subway station, which blossomed into the Richmond Station – a nose-to-tail, farm-to-table restaurant.

Social media has had a drastic impact on the restaurant industry, driving chefs and restaurateurs to find their value in how many Facebook likes they have and how many people are tweeting positive reviews. That is not the case for Brian Massie, owner and executive chef of Hearthstone Kitchen & Cellar, just 10 miles off the strip in southwestern Las Vegas. The restaurant concept is open, based on a sushi bar (but swap out the sushi and replace it with rustic American). Guests can watch the chefs preparing the food and interact with them at the same time, which makes for an exciting concept. In addition, there are six or seven menu items that come right out of two huge wood burning stoves which sit in the middle of the dining room. Comfort is what Hearthstone’s customers feel and it is what keeps them coming back.

Quince, with its contemporary, Californian cuisine and Chef Michael Tusk at the helm, has delighted patrons for more than a decade. Known for its high-quality experiences and equally high-quality ingredients, we visit this innovative, fine-dining restaurant to explore the idea of the shepherd-to-chef approach and whole-lamb integration into a menu in this episode of "Table 42." The strong and personal relationship between chef and farmer is important when providing customers a consistent experience throughout the menu. At the Quince back of house, Paul Barron joins Chef Michael Tusk and local farmer Don Watson of Napa Valley Lamb to break down a whole carcass of American lamb. Watch the full episode to learn more.

Before Tetsu Yahagi entered the culinary world, he didn’t know what to do with his future. Serendipitously, while in a bookstore one day on a family vacation, he stumbled upon Wolfgang Puck’s “Adventures in the Kitchen.” “My dream, before I left the United States to go back to Japan, was to dine at one of Wolfgang Puck’s restaurants,” he said. “So, I asked my father if we could all dine at Spago. He made a reservation, and that’s where I first met Wolfgang. He signed the book that I bought.” Now, Yahagi is the chef de cuisine at Spago Beverly Hills, working under Chef Lee Hefter, who Yahagi says is a great mentor.

In the five years Chicago’s GT Fish & Oyster has been open, they’ve sold roughly 1.5 million oysters. Of the concept, the restaurant’s chef and partner, Giuseppe Tentori, says it was, at first, a challenge. “Five years ago, there were not too many seafood restaurants — it was like fine dining or super casual.”

And while Chicago may be inland, Tentori says fish is being flown into the Windy City every day. “It’s beautiful, too. Sometimes they save the best fish for the big cities because we pay the prime price.”

Tentori went to culinary school in Milan, and, after working for four years, moved to Chicago to work for Chef Gabriel Viti. Tentori headed off to Utah for three years after that to open a restaurant called Metropolitan, then studied with Charlie Trotter for about nine years, and in 2007, he started working for the Chicago-based Boka Restaurant Group, which owns GT Fish & Oyster.