Summer Pittsburgh Restaurant Week Picks!

It's here again! The week that is all about discounted delicious food around PGH - Pittsburgh Restaurant Week. This summer it's held during August 12th through 18th, and there are few new faces in the lineup of participating restaurants - however, I'm disregarding those for a handful of places with menus that put them on my short list.

My top choices {tune in Husband!} for this PRW edition:

Lidia's {Strip District - $35 Four-Course Fixed Price Meal}

Via Lidias-Pittsburgh.com

Insalate

Caprese Salad {Local Heirloom Tomatoes, House Made Mozzarella, Red Onion, Basil & Aceto Balsamico} Or Insalata di Barbabietole {Roasted Red and Gold Beets, Apples, Fresh Goat Cheese,  Frisee}

Primi

Cacio e Pere Ravioli {Cheese and Pear Ravioli with Cracked Black Pepper Butter}

Secondi

Pollo al Limone {Scallopine of Chicken Breast with Roasted Lemon, Capers and Olives} Or Saltimbocca alla Romana {Pork Scallopine, Fresh Sage, Prosciutto San Danielle and Wilted Spinach and Arugula Salad}

Dolci

Lemon Basil Crostata

Lola {Northside -$30 Three-Course Fixed Price Meal}

Via www.pghcitypaper.com

1st course

House made goat milk ricotta and sweet pea ravioli

2nd course

Lomo mix salad. {Mixed greens, Dijon oyster mushrooms, pickled red onion, hazelnuts}

3rd course

Portuguese seafood stew {Saffron fume, heirloom tomatoes and peppers, fingerling potato, bruschetta}

James Street Gastropub & Speakeasy {Northside - $30 Three-Course Fixed Price Meal}

via jamesstreetgastropub.com

Salad

House Salad with Fresh Garden Vegetables,

Peppered Bacon and Candied Onion Or Spinach Salad with Toasted Almonds, Craisins, Fresh Apple

Entrée

Chicken Breast with North Side Farmer’s Market Peaches {Balsamic Basil Cream Sauce, Jasmine Rice} Or Cajun Grilled Shrimp & Grits {Black Tiger Shrimp, Creamy White Cheddar Grits, North Side Farmer’s Market Seasonal Vegetable}

Dessert

Crème Brulee Or Strawberries & Cream Cake

My picks aren't  'new restaurants,' but the menu choices just drew me in.  Lemon basil crostata? Goat Milk ricotta and sweet pea ravioli? White cheddar grits? Yes. If these three don't start your stomach rumblin', check out the full listing here.

What are your choices for this summer? Any surprises on your list?

{Over the Weekend} Moving Prep, Shop Love and Curried Shrimp

After a long week of this:

Sunday-Friday

We needed a little of this:

Of Monsters and Men Concert on Wednesday Night

And this:

Friday Evening Happy Hour

Before trying to sell this:

Saturday

and pack up the basement, attic, guest room, etc. {See Moving Sale updates here.} We spent Saturday and some of Sunday chatting with our Dad's for Father's Day, moving items to the storage area in our new apartment {more on this later}, and getting a few odds and ends for the move.
We stopped in The Strip District for a jar or two of spices for our Sunday night dinner, and were drawn into Roxanne's Dried Flower Shop. 

It's a wonderful shop to explore, and they sell everything from terrariums to arrangements. 

Yes, they have "fresh stuff".

What a lovely shop!
They have classes, too. If you want to learn how to make a terrarium, they're teaching a class this coming Thursday (6/27) from 6pm-8pm for $35. All supplies, lecture and light refreshments included. What a deal! Call 412.281.6950 to make your reservation.

We then made out way over to Shadyside to do some errands. Soba now has a patio area! These tables accompany their new space in the corner building. Who wants to go check it out with me?

We ended the weekend with a curry.

This is a peppercorn shrimp curry with a coconut milk sauce, from the 660 Curries cookbook. 

It features chunky peppercorns, tumeric, coconut milk, and curry leaves. Good stuff.

I served it with a saffron and cumin spiked polenta, reminiscent of shrimp and grits. Can't take the Southern out of the girl...

It made enough for class night dinners and lunches. Perfect.

{Peppercorn Shrimp with Coconut Milk}

Adapted from 660 Curries

Ingredients

2 T Ground Tumeric

6 garlic cloves, chopped

1 lb large shrimp

2 T canola oil

2 t Mustard Seeds

1 can light coconut milk

1/4 c fresh curry leaves

1 T lightly crushed peppercorns

salt

Instructions

Combine Tumeric and garlic in a resealable plastic bag, and add shrimp. Toss to coat, then marinate for at least 1 hour, but preferably overnight. Heat oil in a large skillet, add mustard seeds and cover. Let them pop for about 30 seconds, then add shrimp. Sear on each side for 30 seconds. Pour in coconut milk, curry leaves, peppercorns and salt. Cook for 1 minute for flavors to begin to meld, then removed shrimp to a warm plate. Continue to cook the sauce until reduced and thickened, 2-4 minutes. Arrange shrimp over rice or polenta, then spoon sauce over top. Serve!

How was your weekend? Did you get any relaxing time in with your Dad? 

{PGH Dining} Eleven

In an effort to clean out my queue of 'to-be-blogged' PGH Dining posts, I'm pulling this one out on my dining experience at Eleven Contemporary Kitchen from a Friday night last October. Eleven is right on the cusp of downtown, at the very tip of the Strip District on Smallman Street.  We'd chosen to dine at Eleven on a friend's request - she was in down visiting family, which happened to include a family friend on the Eleven staff. {Let's just get this out of the way - no, our dinner wasn't complimentary, and we picked our selections for all dishes.} Before we even sat down to dinner, Husband and I noticed how beautifully lit the restaurant was, and the gorgeously dark decor. Super sexy. But, seeing as this was a family event, we'll forget that!
Our party of 7 was seated in one of their alcoves, which is perfect for hearing everyone speak in a busy restaurant.

Charcuterie Plate with Spiced Pears.

We started with a plate full of meats, creamy cheeses and punchy pickled vegetables. A few spiced pears rounded out the plate.

Hometown Homegrown in Pittsburgh

If you made it out to the Hometown Homegrown event at the Senator John Heinz History Center today, you ate a bunch of good local food. Bottom line. If you didn't, well, you better mark your calendar for next year! To pretend you're living in the moment, reread my tweets of the event.

I got there right at 10:00AM, so the action was just starting...

Wigle Whiskey Tour

One of the Wigle's Whiskey makers themselves contacted me and thanked me for thinking of their whiskey when concocting my cocktail recipe for Braddock's contest.  Meredith Grelli invited me and Husband to come for their tour yesterday, and I was thrilled - I'd tried to book a spot for us while James was visiting, but they were booked solid for weeks! 

Enjoy the tour yourself {if you're in Pittsburgh}, or take a look at a few photos from the incredibly entertaining tour of the facility.

 We stepped into the back room of the Wigle distillery on Smallman Street, and began our tour with...Cocktails!

My cocktail of White Wheat Whiskey and pomegranate juice!

PGH Dining: Bar Marco

If you're walking in the right direction on the right street in Pittsburgh, you'll be lucky enough to see Bar Marco.  Walk in, sit down, and order a drink, because this is an experience all to itself.

PGH Dining: Primanti Bros.

I'll be the first to tell you that I was not impressed with Primani Bros. sandwiches. We rolled into Pittsburgh for the first time, after driving from Dallas by way of Nashville. Where should we have dinner after driving for 22 hours? It had to be Primanti Bros., of course.  My first mistake, I'd learn later, was choosing a 'weird' meat. Evidently, there are FAR more popular meat choices than the one I chose. I ordered the cheesesteak {that's popular in Pennsylvania, right?}, which turned out to be mystery meat-like.

Thus, you can see why I was apprehensive when Husband wanted to take our first guest there as soon as he landed in PGH. But, as the good wife I am, I went along.

 Another way we went wrong the first time was by not going to the original location in the Strip. This time, we knew better.

Seeing the Sights with Our First Guest!

This past weekend {give or take a couple days} was a blast! Husband's BFF came in town, and was our first guest to stay with us in PGH.  It was {for lack of a more grown-up word} awesome to show someone around our new turf. 

 Essentially, this photos sums it up nicely:

Dogfish Head's Ta Henket

Read about the rest of the weekend after the jump!

PGH Dining: Pho Van

 On a rainy night last week, Husband and I indulged in our favorite dark and stormy weather pastime - having a steamy bowl of pho. We decided to head to Pho Van, located in The Strip District, because of the look of the storefront {I know, we're superficial!}, the number of people inside {always a good indicator}, and the proximity to Lawrenceville. It WAS raining, after all!

While we usually start a meal with appetizers, this time we went straight for the main event. We shared two dishes: Pho Tai and vermicelli noodles with peanut chicken {Bun ga nuong} and a fresh summer/spring roll {instead of a fried one}.

Just what we wanted to foil the steamy goodness of beef pho.

The noodle dish was super fresh and light. The dipping sauce/dressing was sweet and not at all spicy like I was expecting. The roll mimicked the dish itself, having noodles, lettuce and herbs inside. The chicken was a decent portion for the price, and was grilled well.

The pho 'side plate' came with the usual suspects, all fresh and crunchy. 

Beef {Eye-of-Round} Pho

The pho came out looking just as we'd hoped: pinkish meat, fragrant broth and floating accoutrement.

As you swirl the meat in the piping hot broth, it finishes cooking. 

Despite the shiny surface, this bowl of pho was not too greasy at all. Husband said the pho was one of the best he's ever had. He appreciated the fact that it had plenty of beef, as so many phos can be packed with only noodles and broth.

Pho Van was priced well, with no surprises on our bill. {Total was less than $22.} It has definitely found a spot in our usual lineups, according to weather conditions. 

Do you have a favorite rainy weather restaurant?

Saturday in the Strip!

The last time Husband and I adventured to The Strip District here in Pittsburgh, aka the Strip, it was a mess. Too many people, too much pre-game hype and nowhere to walk but in the street. Saturday, we decided to go back, mainly because we felt we needed xiaoxing wine, and knew we could get it there. {Backstory: We'd recently watched a show on the Cooking Channel called Easy Chinese: San Francisco, and the host, Ching-He Huang, uses this rice wine in most recipes she makes.} After gathering a list of things we needed for the week, we decided to do our grocery shopping there, too. You can get everything in the Strip!

Our first stop was to Wing Fat Hong, at the eastern end of the Strip. 

Bags of rice in the window, stacked high.

We walked in and stared at all they had to offer. Tons and tons of asian ingredients, spices, oils, sauces, vinegars, fresh vegetables, fish, candies, etc. We went crazy! A few of the staff spoke English, and were nice enough to answer our questions.  I felt a little odd trying to take photos inside, so just I snapped a quick one of the fresh persimmons near the checkout counter. 

Someone I know bakes the {BEST} cookies from these beauties.

Husband holding our box of spoils from WFH.

We then ambled down Penn Ave. towards S&D Polish Deli for a pierogi pitstop. On his first visit out here, Husband had tried a 'pierogi' from a chain grocer. His resulting report wasn't good, and I told him we'd have a do-over with a homemade one from a cart or in the Strip. We ordered the potato and cheddar ones, served with buttery onions on top. YUM!

We also ordered  potato pancakes {can you tell we like potatoes?}, and two small candies. 

These pancakes were served with granulated sugar and sour cream. I chose the sour cream and my sweet tooth Husband had a few bites with the sugar.

Hazelnut for him, cherry for me.

Despite his face, he liked the chocolate. Mine was filled with cherry liquor, and I was surprised when I bit into it. Hello, alcohol!

Before leaving S&D, I spied my favorite mustard, and snapped one up. You could find this mustard in Dallas at the European Market on Forest Lane next to Asian Mint. I was thrilled to find this cute barrel of mustard here, too! {Warning, it's a bit too spicy for some.}

We looked around the Pennsylvania Macaroni Company, Wholey's, Stan's Market, Reyna Foods, and other shops before heading home with our haul. Take a look!

Box from Wing Fat.

WFH items laid out nicely. All of this for $30!

Look at the prices!

Husband {HAD} to have candy and Pocky. Also, some MSG.

Stan's Market items, all for less than $6!

Items from the Penn Macaroni Company, including fresh rosemary pasta!

Finally, Husband bought a piece of kitchen equipment from In The Kitchen he's been wanting for what seems like our whole marriage: a food mill. Not a potato ricer, but a food mill. Usually these cost somewhere between $60-$150, depending on quality and size. We scored this one that was used in a demo for $20! It's smaller than those massive restaurant-sized ones, so it's perfect for our two-person family. 

 That night, we had a delicious meal of rosemary pasta dressed with olive oil and parmesan shavings, spinach salad, this go-to garlic herb bread and grilled lemon chicken. All from the Strip! It was a definite win this time around.

I hope you had a great weekend, too! 

P.S. - Don't forget to vote in the poll! Vote for your favorite types of posts before the poll closes on January 31.


P.P.S. - Have you liked {A Dash of Spectacular} on Facebook yet? You can get all the updates on posts and new photos while checking in on your friends & family! I did not say stalking. :)

Sights Around PGH

Two weekends ago, Husband and I took a walking tour of several neighborhoods, while noshing on cookies.  We started in Upper Lawrenceville, which is where we live. After rounding  a corner, we noticed this beauty of a storefront - complete with pig logo!

Storefront.

 We saw that is was to be a restaurant, and a pork-centric one at that! It's called Cure, and it should be opening soon. They have something of a Web site, but nothing's fleshed out.

Cure's front door.

It's a charcuterie, and right down the street from us! So lucky!

Pig Logo.

 As we moseyed along, we noticed several things in our neighborhood, as we made it into Central Lawrenceville. Brunch places, a French patisserie, design shops, bars, a butcher shop, a doggie daycare, restaurants, laundromats, and this neat tattoo place!

I like the logo for Inka Dinka Doo.

Also, Lawrenceville has a logo of it's own, which is posted on the trashcans, which adorn most street corners. You can read about the significance of the logo here. 

Logoed Trashcan.

 We walked through Lower Lawrenceville, or LoLa, and into the Strip District. The Strip is the area of town with the produce stands, farmer's markets, and otherwise Italian-influenced restaurants and shops. We chose to go on a game day, and it was a mess! Through the crowds of people, we managed to see several other ethnic shops like an Asian market, Greek food stand, African grilled meat stand, etc. We'll have to go back when it's not so busy, and not on a Saturday!

As we walked toward Downtown, we saw one of the Heinz buildings. (Husband works in the business park where Heinz does their testing on new products. I told him I'd be a guinea pig anytime!) It's too bad I took these pictures during the day, because the light-up sign wasn't as bright. As you can see, it is a ketchup bottle pouring ketchup over the Heinz logo. Cute!

Pouring!

Halfway!

Full!

 In the brief part of Downtown we saw, I noticed tall buildings with old 'built dates' on the sides. I also noticed this guy. 

Smiling.

Then, we caught a cab back to our hotel (which we were in at the time). 6 miles in one day is enough exploring for me! Maybe we'll get to do it again this weekend, but I think we have too many errands to do!