When Ed Rendell invites you to a formal garden party at the governor's mansion, how can you refuse? But last week nearly every Philly restaurateur ignored the governor's engraved invitation to meet dozens of Pennsylvania farmers and food vendors from across the commonwealth to help them break into the lucrative Philly restaurant market.

Farmers, ranchers, poultry raisers, cheese makers and pastry chefs made the trek to Harrisburg to feast on each other's fare and hear Rendell praise the state's buy-local program, PA Preferred. But with almost no Philly restaurateurs in attendance, most food suppliers came away empty-handed — though the guv's pet golden retrievers, Ginger and Mandy, were clearly pleased with the evening's delicacies.

PA Preferred is a Department of Agriculture program intended to encourage everyone along the food supply chain — from farmer to processor to consumer — to buy goods grown or made in Pennsylvania.

But if Rendell wants this flagship program to fly, the governor himself is going to have to come to Philly to break some bread — and maybe twist a couple arms. For without the Philly market — the state's most voracious — the homegrown initiative will fail.

Ironically, PA Preferred is exactly the sort of local food-sourcing that many of Philly's better restaurant owners already practice. Buying local is the philosophy that drives Ellen Yin of Fork restaurant, Cary Borish of Marathon Grill and George Perrier of Le Bec-Fin; three among many area restaurateurs who look locally first for fresh food.

Buying local is what White Dog Cafe's Judy Wicks practices for her own restaurant, and what she preaches to others through her Sustainable Business Network. Not only does it make good culinary sense, it's also healthy for the local economy. Consumers now widely accept this as fact. A recent study found that 93 percent of Pennsylvanians prefer to buy and use products that are grown, raised or produced locally.

Since late last year, the state has successfully certified hundreds of PA Preferred vendors, from small farmers to giant candy makers (www.agriculture.state.pa.us/agriculture/papreferred/SearchForCompany.asp). But to date, despite their efforts, officials in Harrisburg haven't attracted a single restaurant from Philadelphia.

Privately, officials say they're stumped. Compared to the obstacles that food producers must leap over, essentially all that restaurants must do is attempt to offer as many PA Preferred items on their menus as is practical. All agriculture officials want from restaurateurs is a promise to try. Still, not one Philly restaurateur returned the program packets the state sent out earlier this year.

As I phoned a list of Philly restaurateurs who were invited but didn't show for the governor's fete, every manager I spoke with quickly understood the culinary, economic and public relations benefits of being under the PA Preferred banner. But all were suspicious that certification is so simple.

Now's the time for the State's Biggest Dog to make his case to Philly directly. Rendell could parlay his legendary appetite to expand the local economy. And diners in Philly might also join in the campaign. To enjoy dining out more, all it would take to do a little good is to say, "I'd prefer PA."

A government program getting more money than needed? And for artists, too? That's what happened recently when U.S. Rep. Chaka Fattah announced a $3.6 million grant for the President's House on Independence Mall. Added to the $1.5 million already pledged by Mayor Street, the $4.5 million project has a surplus of more than half a million dollars.

City Hall took over the President's House project after the National Park Service commissioned a design that ignored how George Washington had built sleeping quarters for his slaves. Millions of visitors currently walk over an unmarked patch of ground at the entrance to the Liberty Bell pavilion, where federal funds once paid for a slave prison.

In taking over the project, the city is seeking a design that will put the slave narrative front and center, and they're hoping to find the right kind of professionals to tell it. This week, the city is expected to begin seeking a single team both to design and to build the President's House (www.phila.gov. presidentshouse).

Insiders say that they're looking specifically for artists to make the history come alive. And now there's more than enough money to get it right this time.