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.