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Two Philly Eateries Make List Of Best New Restaurants In America

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – Are two Philadelphia restaurants among the best in America?

GQ's Alan Richman seems to think so.

In a roundup of the 25 best new eateries in the country for the magazine , he chose Marc Vetri's Pizzeria Vetri and Philly native and Walnut Hill College alum Justin Bogle's newly opened Avance to represent the City of Brotherly Love.

"Not everyone is going to appreciate Pizzeria Vetri for the reasons I do, but then I'm a fussy guy when it comes to pizza crust," Richman writes of the Callowhill Street spot. "Chef Marc Vetri, famous for a fine-dining restaurant named after him, has created a neo-Neapolitan crust… You can't help liking it, not with this crust."

At Avance, which now occupies the former Le Bec-Fin space in Center City, Richman finds Bogle "a successor worthy of former chef Georges Perrier."

And despite the title of the Avance blurb, which labels Philly "the most old-school of cities," Richman has some positive things to say about the restaurant, calling Bogle's cooking "absolutely assured," and deeming his dry aged duck "likely to become a restaurant staple throughout America in 2014."

"One hurried meal during opening days doesn't quite elevate a restaurant to superstardom, but I left convinced that Avance was already one of the most impressive new restaurants of the year," Richman declares.

While Pizzeria Vetri and Avance were the only restaurants in the city to make Richman's list, we'll take the compliment.

Congrats, Philadelphia. Congrats.

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