Crab cakes and football may be what Maryland does, as famously touted in Wedding Crashers, but Bradley Cooper gave New York City a taste of his real-life hometown’s signature sandwich, Philly cheesesteaks.
In a black food truck parked on the corner of West 3rd Street and 6th Avenue, the Maestro star and director served up the iconic sandwiches Wednesday, alongside Danny DiGiampietro and Seth Braunstein from Angelo’s Pizzeria of South Philly.
“Afternoon bread heads, come on down, get a cheesesteak,” Cooper said with a smile while manning the flat top inside Danny & Coop’s Cheesesteaks pop-up truck. “He’s a natural,” DiGiampietro boasted in an Instagram video.
Pennsylvania native Peter Hand, director of entertainment brand solutions for Disney, told Good Morning America he was in town for work when his phone “started blowing up” with text messages from friends telling him he has to go downtown for a bite of the famed cheesesteaks.
Despite the lengthy line of hungry fans, Hand snagged a sandwich on the famed sesame seed roll, telling GMA, “It was so cheesy, the meat was delicious, and of course the bread is the standout portion of it. It’s obviously freshly baked that day and it’s arguably the best cheesesteak I’ve certainly had in New York, but it’s my favorite from Philadelphia too.”
Cooper, who worked in pizzerias as a kid and went on to star in the 2015 chef drama Burnt, had his ServSafe food handler card with him to help on the line for cheesesteak service Wednesday.
The team has already established an Instagram account dedicated to Danny & Coop’s; it has amassed more than 4K followers as of Thursday morning.