Good Food in Pittsburgh

Events of August 29-30.  A quick trip to Pittsburgh

We hastened to Pittsburgh on Saturday, August 29 to celebrate birthdays and an anniversary.   Ben's cousin was celebrating an 85th birthday and 60th wedding anniversary, while friend John and John the writer were celebrating their birthdays early.

We left Washington mid-morning and headed to Frederick, Maryland, where we found a new coffee shop for Ben to find his special XXX-tra dry skim cappuccino.  The new place, in a bicycle shop, is Gravel and Grind   It's in an antique section of the city, mostly old warehouses, and not quite downtown.  It's also very convenient to interstate route 70 and staffed by bicycle repair folk who have branched into coffee.  The coffees were very good and teaching the barrista was not difficult.  

From there we headed to Cumberland, where we stopped for lunch.  Cumberland is an old 19th century railroad hub, now rebuilding itself into a tourist destination.  The center of town is an old main street now turned into a wide open mall for open air theater and music, rather pretty with the mountains rising in the background.    We found a quaint restaurant flying a gay flag on a side street, Sammy's, run by a retired Scandinavian chef from a Washington embassy who moved to the hills.  The food was excellent and it's worth seeking the place out on its side street.   A stuffed dog welcomes you.  John recommends the fried green tomato BLT as fine luncheon sandwich.

It was a gorgeous day as we drove through the Alleghenies, and the construction on the Pennsylvania Turnpike, to Pittsburgh. We spent much of the afternoon just sitting talking with our friends Tom and John, then headed out to dinner at a local restaurant in nearby Regent Square (a neighborhood partly in Pittsburgh, Swissvale and Edgewood).

We went to Root174 to celebrate two birthdays--without fanfare. Not wanting to sit inside on a lovely summer evening we took tables on Braddock Avenue at this restaurant in the Regent Square neighborhood. Outside you don't have the buzz of the restaurant and you get to enjoy the passing scenery. This includes an occasional bus, but also the locals enjoying the evening with some eye candy, and this evening a fireworks show reflected in the store windows across the street.

Dinner was well done. John enjoyed lamb neck, stewed so the marrow oozed out of the bones. It was done with fingerling potatoes. He started with a beet salad. The others began with sautéed brussels sprouts, excellent both without and with bacon. The meals moved on to fishes and a vegan dish of tofu balls--this was good but not a success. Everything else was five star.

The wine list is a collection of very unique wines, ordered into the state from wineries that don't generally show up on wine lists. We enjoyed a Gruner Vetliner and a Corsican pinot noir. We did not do birthday cake--it's not on the menu.  The cocktail list is interesting, but we enjoyed our wines instead.

The following day, for our cousin's birthday and anniversary, we headed to Eleven on Smallman Street behind the Convention Center.  This is a first-class well-known restaurant, owned by Ben's cousin and partners. The chef goes so far as to make his own lox.  

The lunch included many fish dishes and no meat ito fulfill kashrut requirements.  It was a classic brunch-time party we enjoyed immensely.   

The drive home was easy, and we set a record of less than four hours door to door!  It's about 250 miles (400 km).   Fortunately there was minimal traffic and very good weather.

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