EAT Jim Pappas is on a quest to find the ultimate cheesesteak. Photo by Jim Miller
Steaking His Claim On an adventure to eat 1,000 different cheesesteaks, Jim Pappas tells how he got started on his culinary journey and what he looks for in every bite By Jim Miller
L
egend has it that Spanish explorer Ponce de León voyaged across the Atlantic Ocean in search of the Fountain of Youth — to no avail. It was worse for Col. Percy Fawcett, who ventured up the Amazon looking for the Lost City of Z and was never heard from again. El Dorado, one of the fabled Seven Cities of Gold, was what England’s Sir Walter Raleigh was seeking. Instead, he ended up with his head on a chopping block after members of his expedition broke a peace treaty with Spain. Probably not what he was banking on. One the other hand, food blogger Jim Pappas knows exactly what he’s looking for, and it’s only a matter of time (and calories) before he gets there. Pappas may not be as geographically ambitious as any of the beforementioned explorers, but in three and a half years he’s traveled to more than 940 regional restaurants and take-out joints in pursuit of his goal of eating and reviewing 1,000 different cheesesteaks. Most of the venues Pappas has patronized operate within 100 miles of Philadelphia. All of them have been rated on his blog, “Philadelphia Cheesesteak Adventure,” where he states that he is on a “quest for the ultimate cheesesteak.” ► NOVEMBER 2021
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