UPDATE: Holy Cow. We forgot Honest Tom. His rolling shop won “Best Food Truck.” They write: “Fish, plantain or chicken-and-pork tacos – it’s whatever you ate last that you’ll tell everyone you love best.”

Raise your hand and pat yourselves on the backs West Philly restauranteurs. Philadelphia Magazine named West Philadelphia the “Most Underrated Food Neighborhood” in its “Best of Philly” issue, which hit newsstands this week.

The blurb for the award reads: “Desi Chaat House. Kabobeesh. Vietnam Cafe. Abyssinia. Manakeesh. Vientiane. Gold Standard. Dock Street. Kilimanjaro. Heard enough? Next time you’re bored with the Philly food scene, buy a compass, turn west and start walking.”

Other West Philadelphia winners include the West Philly Tool Library (1314 S. 47th St.), which the magazine deservedly named “Best DIYers Secret.” Go check them out. They have a big new space now and more tools than you can shake a pipe wrench at.

Biba Wine Bar (3131 Walnut St.) and its sister establishment in Center City, Tria, were named best place to get a “Wine Education on the Cheap.” Speaking of potent potables, Capogiro (3925 Walnut St.) won for best “Use of a Liquor License” for its sorbet/alcohol combos.

Penn’s Executive Vice President Craig Carnaroli won for best, ahem, “Westward Expander.” The magazine noted that he was “the brain behind a 30-year plan for campus and surrounding community that’s already boosted everything from retail to real estate to West Philly’s image.”

But Penn takes one in the bread basket in the “Worst of Philly” category for “Worst Movie Theater” for Rave (240 S. 40th St.), which is housed in a Penn-owned property. The blurb: “We thought the most obnoxious, cell-ohone using and downright rude crowd was at Riverview or Maybe Franklin Mills Mall. But it turns out that it is on Penn’s campus. For Shame.” Yikes.

chinwag (noun) – Light informal conversation for social occasions.

The idea of this site has always been conversation – about the news and about the neighborhood. “West Philly chinwag” is a conversation starter. Drop a rant, a rave or a well-reasoned comment below.

Today’s topic:

SEPTA ridership is at its highest level since 1989. Gas prices probably have something to do with it, but SEPTA officials surmise that the increase has much more to do with the increase of young professionals in the city. Folks took some 13 million more trips on SEPTA this year over last year. The overwhelming majority of those trips, 12 million, were on SEPTA’s “City Division” – city buses, subways and trolleys.

Are you using SEPTA more? What do they need to do to lure you aboard more?

Youth from the University of Pennsylvania’s Agatston Urban Nutrition Initiative (AUNI) are hosting the 13th Annual “Rooted in Community” national food and justice conference this week, July 27-31. More than 100 young people from across the country have come to build a youth-led food justice movement.

The conference includes a community outreach event on Friday, July 29. Community members are invited for a potluck dinner from 6:30-8 p.m. at the University City High School garden (3601 Filbert St.). Attendees are expected to bring a dish to feed 20 people.

AUNI was created by Penn’s Netter Center for Community Partnerships and works to improve community nutrition and health through implementing a set of programs and activities in specified neighborhoods.

The Philadelphia Inquirer has a nice piece today on Urban Apiaries, the citywide honey operation co-owned by Annie Baum-Stein of Milk and Honey Market (4435 Baltimore Ave.).

Local cheese blogger Tenaya Darlington, aka Madame Fromage, penned the article, which details the “ultra local” honey – bottled by zip code – that Urban Apiaries will begin to sell next month. Honey made in the city, the article explains, often has more taste diversity than country honey because of the wide variety of flowers. Honey from the operations hives in Mt. Airy, for example, tastes different than that from the rooftop hives above Milk and Honey here in West Philly.

Click here for the entire article.

Philadelphia photographer Joseph Minardi has a new book out on the architects and architecture of West Philly.

Historic Architecture in West Philadelphia, 1789-1930s includes more than 500 images of the buildings and houses we walk by every day. The book chronicles the transition of West Philadelphia from open farmland to the streetcar suburb. It also includes vignettes of the architects who helped shape the area, from Powelton Village to Cedar Park.

Minardi is the 2007 recipient of the Preservation Initiative Award from the University City Historical Society.

The 192-page book retails for $50 from the publisher here. It is also available at a significant discount at Amazon here.

If you pick it up, stop back and drop us a comment below with your impressions.

Here is some more information on yesterday’s announcement that the U.S. Postal Service will begin considering closing thousands of post offices nationwide, including several in West Philly.

Just to recap, the West Philly locations under consideration include:

• 30th Street Train Station
• West Market – 5011 Sansom
• West Park – 5300 W. Jefferson St.
• Kingsessing – 5311 Florence Ave.
• Overbrook – 658 N. 63rd St.

Post Office officials said no final decision on closures will be made before December.

One way that the Post Office will compensate areas affected by the closures will be small retail locations called Village Post Offices that will be located in pharmacies, grocery stores and other large retail locations. These could include collections boxes, stamps, pre-paid Flat Rate boxes and envelopes and, in some locations, post office boxes.

But that leaves many questions about mail service. It’s clear that many post offices will be closed. Around here, we are wondering how much pressure this will put on the post office near 40th and Locust (228 S. 40th). The big, shiny new main post office at 30th and Chestnut will likely get more action too.