A good cheesesteak isn’t just a sandwich for food critic and Netflix star Daym Drops. It’s an experience, a blend of flavors that combines into something new and special.
“It’s a moment when you’re chewing and then you come back and it took you away to a better place,” Drops said.
Drops found that special moment when trying Shem Adams’ cheesesteaks at his restaurant in Norwich, and that cheesesteak nirvana can now be found on Chapel and College in New Haven.
“He knows about the bread,” Drops said. “He knows you don’t put just regular cheese sauce on it. Gotta have your Wiz and the onions, it completes the meal. He knows how to complete the Philly cheesesteak.”
Drops was among the special guests on Tuesday at the ribbon-cutting for Philly’s A Taste of Philadelphia at 1008 Chapel St., along with Mayor Justin Elicker, Yale University Properties officials and dozens of family and friends.
The new business has been busy since its soft opening in May, Adams said, getting emotional as he addressed the crowd. “I love everybody that came out. I love my family, everybody that came with me for the roll,” Adams said. “We’re going to take this, we gonna make history.”
Drops loves the sandwiches at Philly’s so much he’s going to feature the New Haven store on his YouTube channel and on his Netflix show in the fall.
“I’ve been to Philly plenty of times and I’ve tried a lot of cheesesteaks in Connecticut. And I was always like, they can’t get it right. Then I met Shem, and the man got it right.”
Contact Liese Klein at lklein@newhavenbiz.com.
