Homegrown cheesesteak

The best cheesesteak in town last week wasn't in South Philly, it was in LOVE Park near City Hall where caterer (and Frog founder) Steve Poses grilled up 1,000 samples of grass-fed, organic beef - from Landisdale Farm in Lebanon County - for giveaway steak sandwiches to promote Philly Homegrown, the campaign to showcase local foods. The meat was tender, but notably beefier, earthier, and less fatty than the standard fare, and at $6.50 a pound, it cost the sponsoring the Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corp. more than double the price of the industrial stuff. But these were awesome steaks - the Colby cheese, sweet onions, and mix of peppers from local farmstands; the crispy-crusted bread (with the innards expertly scooped) from Sarcone's, the venerable Ninth Street baker. Poses will sell the sandwiches through Labor Day at Ben's Bistro, the cafeteria he operates at the Franklin Institute. (Or check

www.athomebysteveposes.wordpress.com

for the recipe and sources if you want to give it a shot at home.)

- Rick Nichols

Local, organic, grass-fed cheesesteak, $8.25, Ben's Bistro in the Franklin Institute, 222 N. 20th St., www.fi.edu.