can smell the gravies simmering as I enter the First Union Center's curving concourse. The occasion is the seventh annual "A Taste of South Philly"; I have come looking for insight into Philadelphia 's enduring love affair with Italian food, and more than 40 restaurants, caterers and bakeries beckon. What better way to understand than to grab a paper plate and eat?

A DJ cranks up Dean Martin's "That's Amore." At La Vigna's table, where a whole roasted pig is being carved, a woman leans over to ask a special favor: a plate piled high with cracklings, the pig's crisp exterior skin. Two ambassadors for L'Angolo, a tiny trattoria on Porter Street , flirt in rapid-fire Italian while dispensing small squares of potato bread filled with sauteed onions, black olives and capers.

Here is Abruzzi-born Maria Di Marco of Mamma Maria's, dishing up a chicken dish sauced richly with brandy, cream and homemade sun-dried tomatoes that she calls "polio alla Mamma." There is South Philly native son Joe Lauletta, of Lauletta's Grille, searing sea scallops to rest on a cool salad of cucumbers, radicchio and cannellini beans. Maria is Old World . Joe is New World . But the crowd embraces both. In other cities, snobbish debates may rage about Italian-American cooking vs. Italian-from-Italy, or Northern vs. Southern Italian. In Philadelphia , if something tastes good, provenance doesn't matter.

As Mare Vetri, our most creative Italian chef, says, "I love ziti with meatballs. There's nothing better." Vetri, who grew up in Abington, doesn't make meatballs at his refined Center City restaurant- tagliatelle with sweetbread nuggets and mushrooms is more his style but red gravy stirs his soul. It reminds him of the Sunday dinners cooked by his Sicilian ­born grandmother at her home near 8th and League in South Philadelphia .

Non-Italians who lack such a grandmother have historically turned to South Philly red-gravy houses such as Ralph's for macaroni mentoring. Later, more sophisticated spots like La Famiglia and the Monte Carlo Living Room furthered our education. Today, Italian restaurants are so numerous in the city and suburbs that no city agency or tourist group tries to count them all. We wondered (and you wondered, judging by the number of calls we get): Which are the best new spots, the most worthwhile old places-and which to seek out amongst the bumper crop of Italian BYOS?

Of course, South Philly was where it all began back in 1899, when Dante & Luigi's opened for business. This list, a critical look at our diverse Italian dining scene zoo years later, is a legacy born of a simple bowl of macaroni and a pot of red gravy.