La Gourmandine

          So I know it has been awhile since I have written anything, it has been hard since going back to school.  I am going back to school and and really haven't had the time to sit down and write about any place we have been to lately.  Hopefully I will be getting a few more posts up over Christmas break.
          I interviewed a local French baker for the November Market District Newsletter, after talking to him I figured I would drop by and try the food one day for lunch.  I found the address on google maps and had a general idea of where this place was, if I didn't go to the website I don't think I would have found this bakery.  The sign outside has a big fancy G that is the only thing you can read when you are driving down the road, it was the same symbol they had on their website so I knew it was the right place.  I found a spot on the street to park and got in line for lunch.  One of the reasons I probably never heard of this place is because they are only open for breakfast and lunch.  I don't typically go out for lunch so that could be why I have never been here.  When you walk in there is a counter full of sweet pastries and behind the counter they have all of the fresh breads.  They don't have a big selection for lunch, its your choice between five sandwiches and a ton of sweets.  They also have quiche for lunch but to me that is more of a breakfast thing.
          I chose the le campagnard for lunch (turkey sandwich), I finished off the lunch with a tarte aux fruits (fresh fruit tart).  I took home a foaccia garnie (basically a foaccia pizza).  Everything was so simple and yet so delicious.  The turkey sandwich was all about the bread, it had a thick outer crust on the outside yet it was soft and chewy on the inside.  The sandwich had tomato, lettuce and mayo on it, the toppings were fresh but the turkey was just anything you could buy at the grocery store.  For how much time is put into the bread I would just like to see the same quality in the meat on the sandwich.
          The foaccia was really good as well, the bread was light and airy.  The cheese was like the cheese on a pizza, it was a bit crunchy but not burnt by the crust, I love that part of the pizza.  The fresh basil and tomato sauce in the middle just made me think of a thick cut pizza.  It was a room temperature, almost like a day old pizza but with fresh ingredients.  If this bread was hot out of the oven I guess they would just call it pizza.
          The tart, simple, very simple.  The best tart or just dessert I think I have ever had.  A buttery crust that didn't crumble when you picked it up, the vanilla custard was rich and thick and didn't overpower the butter in the crust or the sweetness of the fruit.  The custard wasn't too watery which meant it didn't soak into the crust and let the crust hold up when it was picked up.  All of this was topped with simple sliced strawberries and whole blueberries.  It was perfect.  I don't know how else to explain it, one of the best things I have eaten.
          Would I go back?  I have been back a few time, I just love their bread.  The food there is fresh and about the same price as any fast food restaurant.  Like I said if they put homemade meats on their sandwiches it would put these simple sandwiches over the top.  The breads and sweets are more than reason enough to go back.  If you can get out for lunch in Lawrenceville this is one of the places I would recommend for sure.  If your looking for fancy this isn't it, if your looking for cheap really good lunch food you need to give this place a try.  I think why more people don't talk about this place is because it is only open for breakfast and lunch.

Food 7 of 10

Price 9.5 of 10

Service 9 of 10

Overall 8 of 10

La Gourmandine Bakery

4605 Butler St

Lawrenceville, PA

Stagioni

          So I was in a meeting last week and we started talking about food, I wasn't planning on going out but after talking that is all I could think about.  I have heard wonderful things about Stagioni so I figured we could give it a try.  I was hoping that this place would live up to the reputation I have heard.

          When you step inside you notice that it is very very simple and rustic nothing flashy at all.  We were told we were going to be seated upstairs and were taken up.  The upstairs is just like the downstairs, simple and rustic, closed in fireplaces and simple older lights.  When we sat down something didn't feel right and my wife started laughing at me, either the tables are too short or the chairs are too high.  I am a tall and bigger guy so a lot looks small next to me but I looked like a giant in these chairs.

          We ordered our appetizer and got the fresh mozzarella ball, at that time we also placed our entree orders, the wife got the jumbo shrimp and I got the quail.  Our mozzarella came out a few minutes later and you could feed a table of four with this dish.  The ball was about the size of a softball with four large slice of heirloom tomatoes under it sprinkled with basil and it had a balsamic drizzle on top.  The cheese was soft, buttery, creamy and still a bit warm from the water when it arrived at our table.  Just like any caprese salad all the ingredients worked together, the real kicker was the balsamic, it just really heightened the taste of the the basil and tomato.  The cheese would have been a good appetizer by itself but everything else made it a dish to remember.

          A few minutes after we were done with our appetizer the entrees came out.  I have never had quail before but I heard it is out of this world.  When the entrees came out I noticed like everything else there just how simple they were.  It almost looked like you could make it at home with no problem at all, after you taste it you understand you can't.  The quail were so favorable, they are unlike any other poultry I have ever had.  The breast is cooked like a duck breast to a nice medium and the meat is so tender and juicy.  The flavor of the quail was sweeter than chicken with earthy undertones to it.  Under the quail was an arugula salad with olives and homemade croutons.  By the time you get the dish the croutons are a bit soggy but I think that enhances the dish because they soak up the juices of the quail bringing the flavors to the salad.  The arugula is dressed simply with oil and vinegar which when I am at home I always think I hate it but when I get it when I am out I love it.  The saltiness of the olives mixed with the mild pepper in the arugula paired to make the perfect simple salad.  After I was done I asked the waitress what was on the quail because I tasted garlic all throughout the meal, she said just salt and pepper.  Either the croutons had garlic, I am crazy or she was wrong, I am going to go with option number 1.  But my wife would probably say its option number 2. 

          My wife got the shrimp and that came with gnocchi. The shrimp were pretty big, grilled with a bit of char on them and the gnocchi were of the potato variety.  The gnocchi were soft and starchy, they were mixed with grape tomatoes and parsley.  I really didn't get much of a chance to taste it being that I was in heaven with my quail.  I did get a little bite in and I must say again simple but good.  The sweet shrimp with the starch of the gnocchi and the acid in the tomatoes made for a dish that didn't disappoint at all.

          Overall this place is a top three for me here in Pittsburgh.  They have salt and pepper on the tables here but I bet they don't spend much money refilling them, everything was spot on.  I would suggest going down during the week because I have to say we spent about ten minutes looking for a parking spot on the weekend I bet it is more simple to find a spot during the week.  Other than the weird height of the tables I must say everything was perfect.  I would go back here for sure.  Everything here is simple, simple food, simple atmosphere.  It is so simple most people screw it up by trying to make it fancy, they know their food is good and don't try to do too much.

Food 9 of 10

Price 9.5 of 10

Service 8.5 of 10

Overall 9 of 10

Stagioni

2104 East Carson St.

Pittsburgh, PA 15203

Restaurant ECHO

          My wife and I were in Cranberry visiting her grandmother I noticed this big new restaurant called ECHO.  It was huge but the parking lot looked empty but it always stuck with me.  I started to look into it and it had good reviews and the menu looked interesting.  Then a few weeks ago livingsocial.com had a coupon for ECHO.  I figured what the heck I have been thinking about it so lets go give it a try.
          When you arrive you notice that the parking lot looks empty from the road, its not.  There is a bunch of parking on the side and around the back, so it is pretty busy it just doesn't look like it from the road.  We decided to go there because of the menu, it had some items I wanted to try like bone marrow.  When we arrived it seemed like we picked the wrong week because they were opening their bistro and had a $10 special going on.  They cut down on their fine dining menu to compensate for the business of the bistro.  Almost everything I wanted to try was cut off the menu including the marrow.
          Once we were seated in the dining room our waiter came over and told us the specials and took our drink order.  When he left I looked around, we were the only people in the dining room, everyone else was in the bistro, it was weird.  For our appetizers my wife got the sausage stuffed figs and I got the soup special the gazpacho.  It took a very long time for the appetizers to come out, I don't know if it was because of the bistro or what.  When the appetizers did come out my wives dish was really good, she got three figs stuffed with italian sausage and wrapped in prosciutto.  The figs were earthy and sweet almost like a pear, the sausage had a bit of spice and the prosciutto added the saltiness to round out the flavors.  The balsamic vinegar was excellent, it didn't overpower the dish it was more of a back note to bring the dish together.  The gazpacho I had I really didn't like.  To me a gazpacho is tomato, cucumber and something to thicken the juice either bread or yogurt.  All this dish was, was tomato juice and a bit of spice.  It was far too watery and needed the cucumber juice to cut through the acidity in the tomato juice.  It was almost like V8 in a dish with a garnish of corn.
          For our entrees my wife got he pappardelle with lamb and again what I wanted was cut for the bistro opening so I got the Filet Mignon.  The lamb dish was so good, the pasta was made in house and cut almost as thick as a lasagna noodle.  The noodles soaked up the sauce which made them so much better just by themselves.  The lamb shoulder was fork tender and just fell apart in you mouth.  The little chunks of squash and white asparagus gave a nice freshness to the heavy lamb and pasta while the sage demi-glace just pulled all the notes on the plate together.
          My filet was cooked a perfect medium rare and just melt in your mouth tender.  The wilted cucumbers I thought were a bit weird at first but if they would have been cold it would have ruined the dish.  The cucumbers gave the dish a freshness and still a crunchy texture.  The asparagus were cooked perfectly and I just love how well asparagus and steak go together, the flavors just pair so well.  The potatoes on my dish were the only thing I didn't like.  They were under cooked and hard in the middle.  I just like my potatoes cooked through, they don't have to be falling apart tender but I don't want to have to use a steak knife to cut them, I feel a side of a fork should do it.
          Overall this was a good, fresh and local dinner.  I was disappointed that they cut the menu down because of the opening of the bistro but I understand.  Would I go back?  Yes, if I were in the area.  I wouldn't go out of my way to get there but the food was good and I like how they try to get everything local.  I have to say don't let the parking lot deceive you, there are people there the lot is just way too big.

Price 7 of 10

Food 8 of 10

Service 8 of 10

Overall 7.5 of 10

Restaurant ECHO

1740 Rt. 228

Cranberry Township, PA 16066

Chalkboard Cafe

          About a week ago a restaurant opened up about two blocks from my house, I was really excited because I was hoping it would be a good simple comfort food place.  They have been working on this restaurant forever, pouring a ton of money into it, so I am thinking hey this place just might surprise me. My wife, some friends and I went there about a week after it opened, and I must say it did surprise me.
          Okay, I am not one to blast a restaurant, I always try to find something good to talk about, this isn't one of those reviews.  It was warm out when we decided to go to Chalkboard and when we stepped inside I think it was hotter inside than outside.  You would think with all the money they put into the place air conditioning would have worked itself in there somewhere.  I don't mind sweating if it is for some good food, at this point I had my doubts but I was still optimistic.
          We sat down and our waiter came over and took our drink order and as he was walking away he said "oh yah we only have one salmon salad left so if you want it you better order it now".  It is 6ish on a Friday how are you out of anything already?  There was a tiny chalkboard over the doorway with about five main courses on it, this is when I started thinking what have we done.  When we were ordering the kitchen door opened up and you heard the cook say we only have two turkey left.  So let me get this straight you have five main courses and two are gone already? Hmmmmm...  Whatever we are here and we are going to try it.  My wife got the shrimp scampi pasta and everyone else got the pulled pork sandwiches, I also got a side salad with my sandwich.  This is where my patience and optimism ends for this story.  My salad come out and it is very tiny ($4) and I can not mix the dressing around without the salad falling on the table because the plate was so small, so I just dumped the dressing on top.  First off it is salad from a bag and when I get to the bottom of the dish there was a green/brown slime under the lettuce.  It was frozen and thawed, I know this because I have done it accidently at home, frozen lettuce that is thawed out turns into a goo.  I told the waiter and he said they would take it off the bill, no sorry or anything, then he asked me if I wanted another, nope not at all.
          Our mains came out and I will start with the wives dish, five shrimp on some pasta, done.  Nothing else, oh wait there was a single basil leaf on top, the pasta was so bland, no salt in the pasta water at all.  All I could taste when I tried her pasta was oil and onions.  Why onions in a scampi dish, beats me.  The shrimp my wife said were ok, but I didn't try them being that there were only five ($11). The pulled pork sandwiches were ok on the flavor but way too much sauce on them.  The sandwiches were so sauced up the bun fell apart, they could have somewhat avoided this by toasting the bun first.  After a few bites all I was getting was fat and soggy bun so I was done with that.  The sandwich came with a side of a half ear of corn, how can you screw up corn?  They did, dry and tasteless corn which tasted like it has been left out under a heat lamp all day.  I just don't get how you make corn so bad it is so simple.
          After all this we decided to leave and get some pizza at a local pizza place.  We paid more than we wanted to that night just because we paid for two dinners.  The best part of the night my friend introduced me to a pizza place I didn't know about that had awesome pizza.  When we got home I posted on their Facebook page about how bad the dinner was, it got deleted and I got banned from the page.  There was no hey sorry about the food, nothing, just delete and ban.  Most restaurants start out great and fade off because they can't afford the quality of food after awhile in a small town.  This place just decided they would just start off that way.  I wish someone would give me some money to open a place I could cook better with my eyes closed.
          Look, I didn't go there expecting five star food, all I wanted was someplace close that I could get some quality comfort food.  I really didn't expect to be eating pizza by the end of the night.  In my opinion I wouldn't ever recommend someone to eat here, save your money and cook yourself.  Needless to say this place did surprise me just not how I wanted to be surprised.

Food 1 of 10

Service 2 of 10

Price 3 of 10

Overall 1 of 10

Chalkboard Cafe

800 10th Ave

Brackenridge, PA 15014

Sorry no pics I just wanted to leave.

Dish Osteria and Bar

          A few weeks ago my wife and I decided to go out to Dish, my cousin said they have some of the best Italian food around here.  I love Italian food so this was a no brainer.
          When we got down to the South Side I was expecting this place to be in or near the South Side Works, it was not even close.  It was extremely hard to find parking down there on the side streets.  I ended up taking my chances parking in a permit only section.  If your not looking you would never find Dish, it is on some side street and just looks like it would be an apartment building other than the small sign on the wall.
          The first thing I noticed when we walked in was how small it was, it probably seats 30 people 40 tops.  There is a bar when you first walk in and the restaurant is in the room behind the bar, it has a very homie feel to it.  Our waiter came over and told us the specials for the day and took our appetizer order.  All of the appetizers sounded great and we finally came to agreement on the bruschetta.  The bruschetta was three slices of toasted cibatta bread topped with sauteed mushrooms, fresh mozzarella and basil on top of prosciutto.  I am not a huge fan of mushrooms but if you can make mushrooms taste like that I would eat them all day long.
          For our main dishes my wife got the Linguine ai Frutti di Mare and I got the Grigliata Mista di Pesce.  My wives dish was excellent, a very simple sauce of white wine, olive oil, garlic and parsley over linguine.  There was seafood tossed with the pasta and included shrimp, calamari, scallops, mussels and cockles.  All of the seafood was sweet and salty, the sauce was present but not overpowering.  This dish felt like something I would imagine you could get at any house in Italy.  My dish was a bit different, I don't want to call it bad because it wasn't it just had one consistent flavor.  My dish was grilled seafood with a saffron risotto and eggplant caponata.  The risotto was excellent, very creamy but not mushy, the saffron gave it the beautiful golden color along with the unique taste and fragrance that is so hard to describe.  The eggplant caponata was alright, a bit too many tomatoes for me but cooked lovely and really paired well with the risotto.  Where this dish really died for me was with the seafood.  All I could taste was the grill, it wasn't like they were charred or anything but everything tasted the same.  The calamari was the only thing that tasted different, it was really salty but it went well with the acid in the tomatoes.  The shrimp and scallops were cooked perfectly but the fish was overcooked and a bit on the dry side.  In the end all of the seafood on my dish just ended up tasting the same.
          We did get desserts while we were there but we forgot to take pictures, my wife got the chocolate bread pudding and I got the cannolis.  The bread pudding was so rich and chocolaty if you are a chocolate lover this is the dessert for you.  The cannolis were great, they were filled with a sweetened ricotta, pistachio and candied orange peel filling.  It was a perfect paring the saltiness of the pistachio with the sweetness of the ricotta and a hint of orange all in a little crunch cannoli shell.  I would have to say dessert was the best part of the meal.
          Would I go back?  I don't know.  Everything was good, service was good, price was right in line with everyone else.  I was just disappointed with my main dish.  If they can make the seafood so good for my wives dish and then all of my seafood tastes the same it makes me question, did I get a bad dish or what exactly happened?  I am going to have to go back so that I can get some answers.  I am not going to say it was great there are better restaurants around but this is a solid place.

Price 8 of 10

Food 7 of 10

Service 9 of 10

Overall 7.5 of 10

Dish Osteria and Bar

128 South 17th St.

Pittsburgh, PA 15203

Andy's Sushi Bar

          Okay so I am fairly new to the whole sushi thing but I have had it a few times now and I feel that I know the basics now.  I don't know what it is but raw fish and meat used to and still does scare me a bit, I still won't eat beef tartar just because its a bit weird to me.  I guess I just have to work up to the beef thing but I am all about sushi now.
          I went to the Strip District last week to get all the food down there I can't get around where I live.  Every time I am down there now I get Sushi, I have tried different kinds from different places but it seems like I always end up back at Andy's little stall at Wholey's Fish Market.
          When I was down there I was first in line around 10 AM, Andy was still getting everything ready to go, filling up cups of soy and stuff like that.  He asked me to wait while he finished up and we talked about his food and how he goes about making everything.  He is a bit hard to understand because he has a very rough accent but he is very knowledgeable and very funny.  He asked what I wanted, I said a spicy tuna and a salmon roll, he said that he had two specials and I should get one of each of them.  Who am I to argue, he is the Sushi man.  So the specials were a spicy tuna with kiwi roll and a salmon with mango roll.  It amazes me to watch him work I could just stay there all day and watch him work.  He got his mats out and started packing the rice on the seaweed then he started cutting all the ingredients up.  Everything is fresh there, almost nothing out of a bin or container, fresh kiwi, mango, cucumber and avocado cut right before you.  As he was making the tuna roll he pulled out a smoked scallop and stared slicing it up really thin, he said "first customer get special treat".  He put the scallop on the roll then pulled out another one cut it in half put a mint leaf on it and a squirt of sauce and handed it to me.  It was really good, sweet and smokey with sweet mint and a spicy sesame sauce.
          He put together both rolls and the tuna had smoked tuna, raw tuna and smoked scallops on it along with cucumber, kiwi, avocado, mint and sriracha.  The salmon was a bit more simple raw salmon, mango, avocado, cucumber and mint.  I also got two of his spring rolls which he makes ahead of time because there is nothing raw in them just cooked shrimp and raw vegetables.  I asked him if he could put that spicy sesame  sauce on the rolls that was on the scallop, he said whatever you want big guy.
          I have to admit I can't use chopsticks, I have tried I just can't get the hang of it so I went straight for the fork when I got home.  These were some of the best sushi rolls I have ever had, like I said I am new to sushi but I have had enough to know these were some of the best I have had.  The sweetness of the fruit and the heat of the sauce mellowed out by the vegetables and rice could be enough by itself but add the fish and it just put it over the top.  The tuna was smokey and sweet with the scallops and the salmon I don't know how to explain it, it just tasted fresh, there was nothing fishy about it.
          I can't believe it took me this long to start eating sushi.  I will be going back to Andy's as long as I go to the Strip or until Andy's closes.  I know at lunch time the line can get pretty long but it is worth the wait for sure, top quality product and an affordable price.  Now just to get over my fear of raw red meat, that may take a while longer to get to.

Overall 9 of 10

Food 9 of 10

Price 9 of 10

Service 10 of 10

Andy's Sushi Bar

1711 Penn Ave

Pittsburgh, PA 15222

Cure

          I have been wanting to go to Cure since I heard about it opening up and we finally got around to going there last weekend.  I have been putting it off because the winter menu really didn't have a lot that appealed to my wife.  I checked online and an updated spring menu was up and I knew it was time to go.  Complex and not everyday meats for me, simple and tasty food for the wife.
          When we arrived it was pretty empty but it was still early.  The dining room is small and simple, barn wood on the walls, copper on the ceiling and pigs everywhere.  The first thing I noticed was that the menu was different that what was online and I was kind of upset about that because I knew what I wanted and it was no longer on the menu.  I will eat anything though so I got over it pretty quick, but if I were someone that went there for a specific dish and it wasn't on there I would be pissed.  The menu looked awesome either way.
          We started with the Bolognese and the Scallops for our starters.  My scallops were perfectly cooked to medium and were paired with a Bearnaise sauce and topped with asparagus and pieces of duck speck.  The smokey saltiness of the speck paired with the sweetness of the scallops worked wonders with the creamyness of the Bearnaise sauce.  That dish started the night off on the right foot, I could have had a big dish of that and would have been fine for the night.  My wives Bolognese was also pretty good, it was a black garlic ravioli topped with a Bolognese sauce and chili oil and pancetta.  The garlic almost had a balsamic taste to it and I don't know exactly was in the Bolognese sauce but chef Justin should start canning it and selling it.
          Now for the entrees, I got the 'This is what you came for' dish and my wife got the gnocchi.  The gnocchi were really good they were soft and starchy topped with a ramp pesto sauce.  The dish also had chunks of hot Italian sausage that gave it a nice spice to go with the ramp pesto.  My wife loved it and said that it was better than anything I have ever made or bought at the store.  My feelings were hurt but she was right.  Now for the main attraction, 'This is what you came for', cocky but true.  Clockwise starting at 12, beer sausage, sweetbreads, pork belly confit, pigs feet I don't know what to call it, it was like a crab cake but with pigs feet.  The yellow sauce is a hollandaise sauce infused with foie gras and the white is some type of pure on mushrooms.  All topped with pickled royal trumpet mushrooms, ramps and fiddlehead ferns.  Okay I could write a few pages on this dish alone but I will give you the highlights.  Sweetbreads, never had them before, a bit chewy but full of a strong pork flavor, I really don't know how else to explain them.  Pork belly confit, bacon on roids, second best thing on the plate, crispy outside with a fork tender inside.  It was smokey a bit fatty but perfectly cooked, just the way it should be.  Beer sausage, I didn't think it had much flavor and was a bit on the dry side.  When paired with sauces and the pickled vegetables the flavors all came together to create a really good bite.  Pigs feet cake we will call it, best thing on the plate.  A really strong pork flavor and really salty.  It was like shredded pork formed into a ball and fried.  It was soft, flakey and had bis of meat all through it, this part of the dish paired the best with the pickled mushrooms, salty, earthy and that taste of vinegar.  I really don't know how else to explain this dish.  The pickled mushrooms were different but good, they were earthy mixed with the vinegar, it was needed to cut through all the saltiness of the pork.  I really didn't do this dish justice with my words, you really need to go and try it for yourself.
          In the end everything was really good.  Where else can you go and get house cured meats around here.  The only suggestion I would have it to make sure to update the menu online so everyone knows what they have to choose from.  The dish I really wanted to try was taken off the knot weed dish but the scallops were so good it almost puts the other dish out of my mind.  In the end Justin can put out whatever menu he wants because it doesn't matter everything was top notch.  The food was great, the service was great and it was an all around good time, I just wish I didn't wait so long to visit this place.  Now Justin if you read this you have to give me the Bolognese recipe or start canning it, I'm sure we can work something out.

Overall 9 of 10

Food 9 of 10

Service 9.5 of 10

Price 8.5 of 10

Cure

5336 Butler St.

Pittsburgh, PA 15201

Bite Bistro

          My wife and I decided to go out Saturday and give Bite Bistro a try.  I have heard really good things about Bite Bistro and have wanted to visit them for awhile but I am never down that way.  I have to tell you if I drove by this place and didn't know that they served good food I would keep driving.  There is a tiny chalkboard on the sidewalk and sign in the window that says Bite Bistro and that is it.  The interior didn't look much better, some random pictures and paintings on the wall with no real purpose, it just has that dive feel to it.

          We had reservations for 6 but got there early at 5:30  and they sat us right away which was nice rather than having to wait.  They have a chalkboard menu at Bite and everything on it sounded great.  I must say that they have a lot of vegan and vegetarian options which is different than most places that have the one vegetarian dish and that's it.  We took a risk and got the four course tasting menu.  Everything I got was different than what my wife got and our waiter told us that was to make sure we shared to get all the flavors, so really it was like an eight course tasting.

          Our salad course came out first and I got the beet salad and my wife got some type of deconstructed salad also.  The beet salad was okay, everything was pretty much one flavor.  The pickled beets were great they had a sweet  flavor and were nice and crunchy.  The rest of the beets on the plate really had no flavor, the sliced beets, beet pure and the beet powder were all just one flavor and really mild flavor at that.  My wife's dish I really didn't taste it, it had pickled bets also with cauliflower and olive dust on it.  The dish looked good and my wife liked it but I can't comment on the taste of it.

          Second course was the soup course, I received a miso soup with parsley oil and my wife got a carrot soup with diced apples.  My wife loved the carrot soup after wanting to switch me before she even tasted it because she thought she wouldn't like it. It was a thick carrot soup with a nice natural sweetness and the apples paired well with the carrots.  The thickness of this soup I would almost compare to a porridge.  My miso soup was so salty it was hard to get past a few spoonfuls.  The soup had wonderful flavors especially when you got a drop of the parsley oil in your spoon.  The salt killed the soup though it was overbearing and it took almost a full glass of water to get the taste out of my mouth.  I know miso is supposed to be salty but this was like someone dropped the box of salt in the soup.

          Our main course was next and I got the seared duck breast and my wife got something that wasn't even on the menu, braised pig cheeks.  My duck was some of the best duck I have ever had.  The skin was crispy, it still had a thin layer of fat underneath, and it was cooked perfectly.  The duck was juicy and tender and like I said it was the best I have had.  Under the duck was granola, brussels and a carrot pure.  The granola was strange but was awesome, it was almost like rice under the breast because it soaked up the juices and the carrots but it was crunchy where it wasn't touching anything.  The brussels were firm and still had a nice crunch, they were not over cooked at all.  The carrot pure gave the dish the sweetness it needed to pull it all the elements together.  My wife's dish was different but really good.  On her dish was three pig cheeks over a potato and white bean hash topped with wilted kale.  The cheeks were fork tender and tasted just like a pork roast would.  The has was something that you would love to have at breakfast and worked great with the cheeks.  It was a new twist on a classic meat and potato dish.  The kale was coked in the miso soup which added a very nice salty aspect to the dish along with the bitterness of the kale.  What really pulled the dish together was the pan gravy that was under everything, again it was just like a deconstructed pork pot roast classic dinner with a twist.

          Lastly was the dessert dish, I got the grapefruit sorbet while my wife got the cheese plate.  When I think of dessert I think of sweet and sticky.  Needless to say we were a bit disappointed with the chefs choices but oh well that is what happens when you get the tasting menu.  The cheese plate was a blue cheese topped with thinly sliced apples, honey and candied walnuts.  The cheese was creamy but it wasn't a really strong blue cheese.  The sweetness of the honey and walnuts complemented the pungent taste of the cheese.  Overall it was a pretty good dish for a savory dessert.  My grapefruit sorbet was very tart.  I have never been a fan of grapefruit so this dish wasn't my favorite but I will do my best to review it.  It was tart fresh red grapefruit topped with the grapefruit sorbet with a grapefruit foam on top.  It was all the same flavor the whole way through just different textures.  The sorbet was nice it wasn't overly frozen so it wasn't like a slushy.  The foam was different, it was hard but as soon as it touched your tongue it melted.

          Would I go back?  For sure, all of the dishes didn't impress me but the duck shows what they can do.  When we go back I think we will just order off the menu, that way I know we are getting something we will like for sure.  The tasting menu was an experience for sure and if you are adventurous this is the way to go.  The decor leaves a lot to be desired but the food makes up for that.  It is a bit out of the way but it was worth the trip.

Overall 8.5 of 10

Price 9.5 of 10

Food 8 of 10 

Service 8 of 10

Bite Bistro

565 Lincoln Ave

Bellevue, PA 15202

Dozen Bake Shop

          I was driving down to the strip the other day to get some sushi and when I got there it was packed and I wasn't wiling to spend $10 to park for a $15 lunch.  I turned around and decided to get something sweet.  I was on my way to Oakmont Bakery, but then I thought about it and realized Dozen was right down the street from where I was at.  I have been wanting to try them for awhile so I figured I would give Dozen Bake Shop a try.              

          When I think of a bakery I envision a large space with tons of cookies, cakes, pies, etc.  When you enter into Dozen you get none of that, I must say I was initially disappointed.  They have a small counter with six varieties of cupcakes, three different cookies and about seven other random small items, very different from Oakmont.  From the poster on the wall it looks like the cupcakes change daily, I was a day late on the red velvet, good thing I would have bought them all.

          I choose three different cupcakes the Elvis, the Margarita and the Salted Caramel.  I also bought a peanut butter cookie but thee isn't a picture because it didn't make it home.  The cookie was huge, it was about five inches wide and about an inch thick.  It was moist but crumbly and had a rich and creamy peanut butter flavor.

         The Elvis cupcake was amazing, it was a banana bread cupcake with a chocolate center and a peanut butter frosting.  The cake was so moist and had a strong banana flavor.  The frosting was as if someone took some peanut butter and whipped it untill it became light and fluffy.  It was perfect, the denseness of the cake and light frosting and what goes better with peanut butter than chocolate.  The chocolate frosting center put this one over the top, this is the perfect breakfast cupcake.

          The Salted Caramel cupcake was my wives favorite, it was a chocolate cupcake with a vanilla frosting and topped off with salted caramel.  The caramel was very salty but it was a great contrast with the very sweet frosting.  The cake was a bit on the dry side but the toppings saved it.

          The Margarita cupcake was different, it was a vanilla cupcake with a tequila frosting, at least that is what the lady at the store told me.  It was very nice looking with the green icing and yellow coarse yellow salt sprinkled on it but all I tasted was vanilla and salt.  The icing didn't do much for me, I was expecting a lime taste or a tequila taste.  The cake was nice and moist but all together this one didn't work for me.

          Will I be back?  If I am down that way and want a cupcake, yes.  The price of a cupcake is 2.50 each and that is the same price as Oakmont and they have more of a choice.  I will say that these taste more homemade not mass made like they are at Oakmont.  This place had wonderful food don't get me wrong but I do like more of a choice when I go out for dessert.  So in the end I didn't get my sushi but I did get a very good dessert.  Dozen has a very good product, and if they get more of a selection I bet they could compete against some of the better know bakeries in the area.

Dozen Bake Shop

3511 Butler St.

Pittsburgh, PA 15201

E2

          Last week I knew I wanted to go out to eat but couldn't figure out where, I wrote down a list of restaurants and told my wife to choose.  I said go online and look at the menus and pick which one looks and sounds the best.  She chose E2 in Highland Park.  When you enter E2 the first thing I noticed was how small it was, good thing we got there right when it opened or we would have been waiting.  The dining room was small, a bit dark and once it was full you had to yell to talk to the person next to you.  I am not complaining just making an observation.  It seemed almost being at home for the holidays with a big family.
          Our waiter came over and told us about their OMG menu, which isn't listed on the website, it includes a bunch of vegetables, cheese and meats that are served with toasted bread.  We got the Gorgonzola mess and some type of meat the waiter told us was like salami but fattier and spicier.  Our waiter was a bit distracted the whole time we were there even though like I said it was small and it wasn't like he had a ton of tables, he didn't ask us if we wanted drinks other than water and when my wife got an iced tea she only got one refill in the hour and twenty minutes we were there.  Our appetizer came out and it was simple, just toasted bread and two plates of the toppings.  The Gorgonzola mess was awesome, it was a soft Gorgonzola cheese mixed with sriracha and basil.  The cheese was salty with a bit of a blue cheese taste, the sriracha was present but not enough to make it overly hot and the basil gave it a nice freshness.  That alone with the bread was enough for the four of us that went out, all for $3.  The meat was just as the waiter said a fatty and a bit spicy salami that was cut paper thin.  It was good but nothing out of this world, the cheese didn't need the meat.
          For our entrees my wife got the linguine pescature and I went very simple with the spaghetti and meatballs.  My wife's dish was amazing, it was linguine mixed with tender bay scallops, some shrimp and crab meat covered in a spicy red sauce.  The sweetness of all the seafood mixed with the spiciness of the sauce paired up very well.  My wife hates spicy and as soon as she said it was spicy I thought she was gonna want to switch dishes, but she loved it.  I chose the spaghetti and meatballs because I heard their red sauce was really good.  It didn't disappoint but it didn't wow me either, the sauce was chunky but smooth enough that it covered everything.  It tasted very fresh and a had a a good use of herbs not to overpower the tomato in the sauce.  The meatballs were tender and juicy.  They were seasoned great, they didn't need the sauce to cover them they could stand on their own and be fine.
          We were all full but my wife wanted dessert, so we got the chocolate pudding.  I am not a chocolate fan but my wife is and she picked the place so we got the dessert she wanted.  I wanted the apple dessert and we saw that right before we left and I can't tell you how it tasted but it looked great.  Our dessert was a bittersweet chocolate pudding with a whipped cream and a cookie on top.  It was good, very strong chocolate taste but the whipped cream was lacking flavor it was almost like whipped air.  The cookie was good it was a crispy chocolate cookie and I know it is a chocolate dessert but I think it may be better with a vanilla cookie just to change up the taste a bit.
          Overall, this place was very good.  With some updates in the dining room and a tweak here and there to the food it could be one of the better small simple restaurants in the city.  Plus with a price tag of $50 for everything it can't be beat.  Maybe I will let the wife choose where we eat more often....but this is the only decision making power I have left.

Overall 7.5 of 10

Food 9 of 10

Service 6 of 10

Price 9 of 10

E2

5904 Bryant St.

Pittsburgh, PA 15206

Union Pig & Chicken

          I have been waiting for Kevin Sousa to open this restaurant for months now and it finally opened this past weekend.  They do not take reservations here so we got to the restaurant exactly when the doors opened at 5 PM.  The first thing I noticed was the fresh cut wood smell when you walked in, I am guessing this was from the reclaimed barn wood all over the walls.  The wood is everywhere and it makes you feel like you are eating in an old country setting.  The restaurant isn't all that big, it has four communal tables seating 12 people at each table.  The seating is unique being that the benches seat two people each with a space between them so you are not sitting directly next to a stranger.  I am not a fan of communal table but this wasn't that bad.
          We placed our orders and sat looking around at the uniqueness of this place.  Our food came out about 20 minutes later on silver trays and the sides were in little paper food trays, very simple.  My wife got the full fried chicken, cornbread and mac and cheese.  I got the full St. Louis rack of ribs, cornbread and coleslaw.  A full serving of anything here can feed two people, just a heads up for when you go.  The fried chicken had a nice crispy skin and the meat was so tender and juicy it just fell off the bone.  There is house made BBQ sauce on the table if you want it but this chicken didn't need it.  The cornbread was sweet, buttery and very dense, everything you look for in a good corn bread.  The mac and cheese came out in its own little ramekin and was creamy and rich with a crispy crust on top.  Homemade all the way, nothing out of a box here.  Also the full chicken was just that two of each, breasts, thighs, wings and drumsticks.  We took over half of this home.
          My ribs were super smokey and had a lovely smoke ring all around the ribs.  The full slab of ribs were at least 16 inches long and 6 or 7 inches wide, it was a lot of ribs.  There was a rub on the ribs but the smoke is what really came through.  Like I said if you want more BBQ taste there is BBQ sauce on the table.  I told my wife after we ate that if they made hand cream that smelled like my hands smelt after we ate I would buy it and use it every day.  The coleslaw was great and very simple.  All it was, was red cabbage and red onion with apple cider vinegar.  I have never had coleslaw without the mayo but it was really good and crunchy.
          Overall we spent $60 here but when we go back we will only get one full entree or two half portions and probably only spend $40-$50.  Very limited choices here but that is what makes them so good, the chef can perfect the few things on his menu rather than have 30 okay items.  I will be back for sure, I love BBQ and this is some of the best I have had around here.  Its messy, it isn't fancy but isn't that what BBQ is?  I was wondering what direction Kevin Sousa would go with here and he did it right, he didn't try to make BBQ fancy he just showed it for what it is.  It was definitely worth the wait for this restaurant to open.

Overall 9 of 10

Price 9 of 10

Food 9 of 10

Service 9 of 10

Union Pig & Chicken

220 N. Highland Ave.

Pittsburgh, PA 15206

Station Street

          So after a rousing game of bowling that I scored a manly 66 (hey its one of Pittsburgh's best athletes number) we decided to go get some hot dogs.  I have been wanting to go to Station Street since they have opened.  I knew Kevin Sousa would be doing something great with hot dogs after trying Salt I expected nothing less.  We got there around 7:30 and as soon as we ordered and sat down Kevin Sousa was leaving Station Street to put the finishing touches on his new restaurant Union Pig and Chicken.

         Anyways back to Station Street I got the chili dog and duck fat fries and my wife got the house dog and regular fries.  Everything about this place screams 60's hot dog shop.  It is wide open and has all the old tile on the walls and you just feel like you are in the past until you get your hot dog.  My chili dog was really good, the casing on the dog had a nice snap and the brisket chili was very thick so it wasn't running down your arm and getting all over your clothes. The onion on top gave it a nice crunchy texture.  The dogs are big too, they overhang the but on both side.  The duck fat fries to tell you the truth I couldn't taste much difference from the regular fries.  All the fries are fresh cut and the only complaint I have was for every nice crispy fry I got I also had a limp under done fry.  They were good either way but I don't know maybe I over hyped this place in my head.  My wives dog was good also, she like it a lot other than she didn't notice that it had siriacha on it and couldn't figure out why it was hot.  She ended up taking a napkin and trying to wipe as much off as she could.

          Would I go back?  Yep.  In the end its hot dogs and fries.  However very good hot dogs and fries.  What goes together better than a bad game of bowling and a nice fresh hot dog to brighten up your spirits.  Its simple from the man that brought you Salt of the Earth, he went 180* the other way and succeeded on both.  I hope he goes 3 for 3 with Union.

Overall 8.5 of 10

Service 9 of 10

Food 8 of 10

Price 9 of 10

Station Street

6290 Broad St.

Pittsburgh, PA 15206

Ruth Chris

          For Christmas my brother-in-law got me a gift card for Ruth Chris so I figured that would be a nice place for a Valentines dinner.  We made reservations for the weekend before Valentines Day at 6 PM.  When we arrived we were asked if we wanted to check our coats but it was freezing outside and pretty cold inside so we decided to keep them just in case.  The atmosphere was nice but it was very dimly lit and there were lights burnt out all over the place.
          We were seated and placed our drink order while we looked at the menu.  For our appetizers my wife got the Crabtini and I got the scallop dish.  The Crabtini was a chilled metal martini glass filled with lump crab meat tossed in a vinaigrette and a remoulade sauce.  The sweetness of the crab with the acidity of the vinaigrette topped with the hint of spice from the remoulade was just perfect.  The dish wasn't over sauced and they really let the flavor of the crab come through.  The scallops were simple but delicious.  There were three huge sea scallops seared on each side in a pan with a pesto sauce topped with shaved carrots.  The scallops were a perfect medium rare and melt in your mouth tender.  The sweetness of the scallop with the perfect amount of basil, garlic and pine nuts in the pesto were a huge success.
          Everything that is ordered at Ruth Chris is a la carte so for our vegetable we ordered the Ruth Jumbo Chop Salad, it looked a lot smaller in the picture.  We could have easily shared this but we each got one not knowing how big it was.  This was one of the best side salads I have ever had.  This salad had everything you expect in a salad lettuce, cucumber, onion, etc. but some surprises like radicchio and hearts of palm.  The dressing for this salad was a blue cheese lemon basil dressing, I don't like blue cheese but it all paired together well with the ingredients in the salad.  Everything mixed so well I don't even know how to explain it. All I have to say is this is a can't miss if you go to Ruth Chris.
          Now on to the entrees, we each got the surf and turf which was a 7oz fillet and an 8oz lobster tail.  For our starch with dinner we got the garlic mashed potatoes.  Our meals came out and the steaks were cooked perfect, mine was medium rare and my wife got it cooked medium.  I couldn't have been happier with the steaks, they too were melt in your mouth tender, you almost didn't need a knife.  The lobster tail however was a different story.  The lobster was way overcooked and rubbery.  It was very bland, all the butter and lemon in the world wasn't bringing it back to life at all.  The mashed potatoes were good but nothing you couldn't make at home.
          Would I go back?  Probably not.  Don't get me wrong most of the food was really good but after the tip the total come to $185.  I could make that meal at home for eight people and probably not spend that much money.  The atmosphere had a business like look to it and not the kind of place you take a date.  You could eat at Spoon, Salt and Ave B and have money left over compared to what we spent.  If I didn't have a gift card I probably wouldn't have went here because I knew what the prices were like.  You want a great steak?  Make it at home and save some money.  You want to impress someone by picking up a huge check this is the place for you.

Overall  8 of 10

Food 8.5 of 10

Service 9 of 10

Price 4 of 10

Ruth Chris

6 PPG Pl

Pittsburgh, PA 15222