Best Spot for a Romantic Dinner: The appropriately named Pasion! 211 S. 15th St. (tel. 215/875-9895) recently doubled in size but kept its intimate, glowing ambience, along with its terrific South American fusion cuisine. Warm and exotic.

Best Spot for a Business Lunch: The Fountain at the Four Seasons Hotel, 1 Logan Sq. (tel. 215/963-1500), fulfills every requirement: It's quiet, the tables are well spaced, the decor and service are impressive, and the cuisine--top-of-the-line steak, chops, and fish--is elegantly presented. Magnificent windows overlook the gardens of Logan Circle, casting a glow on the Georgian and mahogany paneling.

Best Spot for a Celebration: If you have a special occasion to celebrate--even if it's just being in Philadelphia--the newly redecorated Le Bec-Fin, 1523 Walnut St. (tel. 215/567-1000), is the clear choice. The cuisine, under chef Georges Perrier, has an international reputation, and the opulence of the fixed-price meal is staggering. And those dessert carts--unforgettable! Advance reservations are a must.

Best Decor: This is necessarily a personal evaluation, but I figure if you're visiting Philadelphia, you're interested in a sense of history and old-style elegance. If so, head for the Paris Bar and Grille, in the stunning rotunda of the recently renovated bank now housing the Ritz-Carlton Hotel at 10 Avenue of the Arts (tel. 215/735-7700), in the center of town. Surrounded by the soaring dome and windows, the American organic cuisine has high expectations to fill but seems to be up to the task.

Best View: Crowds make the Chart House, 555 S. Columbus Blvd. (formerly Delaware Ave.) at Penn's Landing (tel. 215/625-8383), the Convention Center of the Philadelphia restaurant world. The food is amazingly good given the size of this place, and the views of the Delaware River from the restaurant's own pier are spectacular. Not cheap, though. Speaking of price, one of the city's great chefs has just re-emerged with Lacroix at The Rittenhouse (tel. 215/546-9000), on a second-floor gallery overlooking elegant Rittenhouse Square.

Best Wine List: I can't resist mentioning two, since they're only a block apart and owned by the same people. La Famiglia, 8 S. Front St. (tel. 215/922-2803), offers one of the finest wine cellars in the world according to Wine Spectator magazine. One block north, the Ristorante Panorama, in the Penn's View Inn at Front and Market streets (tel. 215/922-7800), is a charming Italian trattoria that reportedly has the largest single wine-dispensing machine in the world, with 120 different bottles available by the glass ($2.75-$30 per 5-ounce glass). What's really fun is to order a "flight"--five glasses grouped around a theme. Flights fall in the $14 to $50 range.

Best Value: For its unbeatable central location and elegant surroundings (in a retro-fitted bank), I'm always happy to dine at Circa, 1518 Walnut St. (tel. 215/545-6800). Most dinner entrees are less than $20, and lunch is even cheaper. Stick around for the great dance club action after 10pm on weekends.

Best Value, Fixed-Price Meal: On the high end, there's nothing like Le Bec-Fin's $38 lunch at 1523 Walnut St. (tel. 215/567-1000) for classic French. For $24, you'll get a tasty, 3-course, pre-theater dinner at Philly's hottest jazz spot, Zanzibar Blue, 200 S. Broad St. (tel. 215/732-5200).

Best for Kids: If your kids are like mine, they like the broad selection and energy that a mall-type food court gives them. The Food Court at Liberty Place, between Chestnut and Market streets and 16th and 17th streets, has old city stalwarts like Bain's Deli and Bassett's Original Turkey, along with out-of-towners like Sbarro and Mentesini Pizza. It's spotless, large, and steps away from the city's best urban mall.

Best Date Restaurant: I'd pick two relative newcomers here. For a classy bistro with contemporary fare in Old City, I would go for Fork, 306 Market St. (tel. 215/625-9425). My wife and I have always loved relaxing at Friday Saturday Sunday, 261 S. 21st St. (tel. 215/546-4232), which is slightly funky and boasts terrific, consistent fare, glowing lighting, and great value.

Best American Cuisine: Twenty21, 2005 Commerce Square, between 20th and 21st Street (tel. 215/851-6262) looks corporate, but the young trio who recently reclaimed and renamed this high-ceilinged, comfortable spot serve inventive American dishes, from Nebraska beef to pastas of all ethnicities.

Best Chinese Cuisine: A reserved former librarian, born in inner Mongolia and raised in northern China and Taiwan, Susanna Foo quietly built up a national reputation with her eponymous Susanna Foo, 1512 Walnut St. (tel. 215/545-2666). Her innovative mix of East and West relies on reductions rather than on dashes of soy sauce and ginger, and skillets and saucepans rather than a wok. The dim sum--appetizer-sized portions--is a city favorite.

Best Continental Cuisine: The Fountain at the Four Seasons Hotel, 1 Logan Sq., between 18th Street and Franklin Parkway (tel. 215/963-1500), is consistently rated best in town for understated, complex versions of classic continental dishes. Since the food is so uniformly excellent, my advice is to go with the chef's choices on the fixed-price menu.

Best French Cuisine: Most Frenchmen have never tasted a meal as good as what Georges Perrier prepares at Le Bec-Fin. A meal here may well be one of the food events of your lifetime.

Best Italian Cuisine: Philadelphia must have 1,000 Italian restaurants, but I especially like The Saloon, 750 S. 7th St. (tel. 215/627-1811), the type of dignified, elegant place that draws everyone in town sooner or later.

Best Seafood: As you would expect, Philadelphia has a superb reputation for fish houses, and the best in town is Striped Bass, 1500 Walnut St. (tel. 215/732-4444), located on the most chic dining block in the city. The dinner scene in The Sixth Sense was filmed here. Chef Terence Feury continues to create a menu that is breathtaking in its unusual treatment of fish and seafood.

Best Steakhouse: Philadelphia has always been more of a seafood and pasta town than a steak town. The top choice is The Prime Rib, 1701 Locust St. (tel. 215/772-1701), offering great porterhouse served with fresh shredded horseradish. The ambience is that timeless 'special occasion' place--jazz combos and formally-clad waiters included.

Best Burgers and Beer: In this case, bigger is better. The Independence Brew Pub, at 1150 Filbert St., right under Reading Terminal Headhouse (tel. 215/922-4292), has hundreds of seats, all happily occupied with diners chowing on delicious thin-crust pizzas and spectacular sundaes. An on-site brewery produces six different ales, porters, and lagers fresh each day. No reservations for parties under six.

Best Pizza: Marra's, 1734 E. Passyunk Ave., between Morris and Moore streets (tel. 215/463-9249), in South Philadelphia, has pies with thin crusts and delicious, spicy traditional toppings, baked in brick ovens; enjoy them in those old wooden booths.

Best Desserts: Apart from the dessert cart at Le Bec-Fin (see "Best Spot for a Celebration," above), the best sweet show in town is to be found at Painted Parrot Café, 211 Chestnut St. (tel. 215/922-5971) in the heart of the historic district; choices range from a harlequin mousse tart and other chocolate delights to fruit. Wednesday brings a $7.95 "all-you-can-savor dessert buffet" (a dangerous concept!) starting at 5pm.

Best Breakfast: The Down Home Diner at Reading Terminal Market (tel. 215/627-1955), open from 7am, has wonderful blueberry pancakes, fresh eggs with garlic grits, and a breakfast "pizza" with sausage biscuits, smoked cheddar, and tomato. All ingredients are fanatically organic, from small-scale producers wherever possible. Lunch has its charms too, with meatloaf, black-eyed pea and ham-hock soup, and pecan pie. The vintage jukebox plays great old American tunes.

Best Brunch: Nearly every restaurant offers Sunday brunch, ranging from standard bagels with spreads to a full brunch menu. The White Dog Café, 3420 Sansom St. (tel. 215/386-9224), in West Philadelphia, swings both ways, offering everything from simple breakfast dishes to elaborate late-morning feasts in a completely comfortable, unpretentious environment.

Best People-Watching: No place is hotter than Morimoto, 723 Chestnut St. (tel. 215/413-9070) where the "Iron Chef" of TV fame holds sway amid cool booths and a sea of changing colors. If you want to spot a celebrity, head for another of the Stephen Starr-owned operations such as Buddakan, 325 Chestnut St. (tel. 215/574-9440), where a huge gilded Buddha presides over a trendy crowd. Or head for hip Manayunk, halfway between Center City and Bryn Mawr, where the window seats at Sonoma, 4411 Main St. (tel. 215/483-9400), are great for watching thousands of people stroll by, hour after hour, between noon and midnight.

Best Afternoon Tea: The advent of true luxury hotels in Philadelphia has brought with it exquisite afternoon teas served all over town. I love the Cassatt Lounge at the Rittenhouse Hotel, 210 W. Rittenhouse Sq. (tel. 215/546-9000), for its cheery decor, tucked-in garden, and for Mary Cassatt's drawings commemorating her brother's house, which once stood on the site. For a more solid, English burgher version of afternoon tea, try The Dark Horse, 421 S. 2nd St. (tel. 215/928-9307), in Head House Square.

Best for Pretheater Dinner: It's had some ups and downs recently, but I'm partial to Toto, 1407 Locust St. (tel. 215/546-2000), just steps from the Academy of Music and the Merriam. It has always looked spectacular, and now serves a simpler, less over-the-top Italian menu with a grill-almost-anything-at-anytime angle.

Best Outdoor Dining: In the historic district, the back garden of City Tavern, 138 S. 2nd St., near Walnut Street (tel. 215/413-1443), belongs to Independence National Historical Park, and diners are surrounded by century-old trees and Federal-style landmarks while they imbibe their strong ale or punch, and dine on a historically faithful 18th-century-recipe potpie. In Center City, head for 18th Street along Rittenhouse Square, between Walnut and Locust streets: Anywhere you park among Devon Seafood Grill, Rouge, Potcheen or Bleu (the last has the best cuisine) on that block is great.

Best Late-Night Dining: When it's after midnight, I head for Chinatown. Shiao Lan Kung, 930 Race St. (tel. 215/928-0282), while not very impressive in its decor, has wonderful hot pot dishes, and you can order fresh sea bass from the tank.

Best Ice Cream: Bassett's Ice Cream (tel. 215/925-4315), an original 1892 tenant of Reading Terminal Market, has long claimed supremacy for its rich, smooth flavors. Plus they make a terrific milkshake. A second location, at the Food Court at Liberty Place, carries the same quality ice cream but lacks that turn-of-the-century soda fountain ambience.