Philadelphia Style was built from sheer grit and determination. Everyone was leveraging their contacts and networks in the early days. We wrote nearly every article in-house and would host wine and cheese pairings from Di Bruno Bros. to have additional reviews in the restaurant section of the magazine. Jose Garces, who was new in town at the time, even attended one. The personality profiles were longer then, but the focus was always the same—great people doing great things in our great city. We had an online presence very early on—no one was doing digital at the time. But Myspace was becoming popular, and people were interacting online. That was when we introduced programs like My Style; Style After Dark; and the Style Club, a VIP platinum card that you could show in restaurants to get special perks or at nightclubs for front-of-the-line access. The magazine was different because we were champions for the city, covering aspirational and positive news.
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