Sewickley Saturday

This afternoon, I'm doing my usual weekend ritual of blogging while doing laundry at my favorite laundromat in Shadyside. While waiting on my clothes to get sloshy-fresh, I'll recount my day stay-cation with Husband from now two weekends ago in Sewickley. {I promise, this will be the last Sewickley post for a while.}

We began our stay-cation to Sewickley by driving over the 40th Street Bridge across the Allegheny River, then veered out towards our destination. It was a foggy morning, which is somewhat typical in PGH during transitional weather times.

We arrived in Sewickley at 9:30AM, full of coffee and ready for the day. Our first stop was the Sewickley Spa, where I'd arranged for both Husband and I to have a de-knotting neck and back treatment. This is the most popular treatment, and that's surely because it's a great relief for those that work at a computer all day.  

The spa is in a covered house on Beaver Street, one of the main drags in the small town of Sewickley. This is typical for many other small businesses in the area. 

Adorable, yes?

I snapped a quick photo of Husband and I before we went in for our treatment. 

Inside, the house was outfitted with serene decorations/colors. I was cavalier enough to take a few photos while changing into my robe in the bathroom. {I didn't want to be that person.}

After our glorious de-knotting massage treatment, we decompressed in the waiting area. We had our choice of hot tea, lemon water, trail mix, little cakes, and tarts. Of course, we HAD to sample them all.

Husband's declaration of manhood.

We sat there for a good half hour, and weren't disturbed at all. Lovely.

As we were leaving, we noticed a small water feature in the front of the house, complete with little goldfish.

Now that the relaxation was over, it was time to get down to business. We walked up Beaver Street, and enjoyed the "small town-ness" of it all.

We stopped at The Sewickley Cafe for an early lunch {read the review here}, and began shopping in the boutiques and shops afterwards. Evidently, Sewickley was having a soup crawl, and many of the shop owners were participating. {So, WHY did we go PAY for lunch?!?}

Our first stop was in House 15143, which featured a soup from Vivo Kitchen {another restaurant on my wish list}.

A word about the shop - it's incredible. It was a reflection of what we're hoping to achieve in our guest room*, colors and all. Grey and yellow are my "thing" right now. And chevron, it seems.

House 15143 is trendy without being vapid. Sometimes home decor can be just "what's hot" rather than useful. Case-in-point. 

Husband enjoyed the wall of candles, before we moved on. {If you saw my elated post on Facebook, I'll discuss that pillow later!}

We walked along the main streets of Sewickley, and I captured a few photos as we dodged the hungry soup-crawlers.

Inside another home decor shop on Beaver St.

The small town charm was almost too much to take.

Jewelry corner in Threadz Boutique. Look at that chair!

We stopped into Village Candy, and gaped at their selection of bottled drinks. 

Husband, without doubt, chose a Dublin Dr Pepper {May it rest in peace}. 

He's happy about it.

I went for a new-to-me drink - Cheerwine. Unfortunately, there's no wine in the ingredient list, and it tastes strangely like Cherry Coke, but I drink it happily. I can't even imagine how good an ice cream float would be with this stuff.

Then, we decided to get a good look at the non-commercial areas of Sewickley by taking a car tour. With the windows down. The breeze blowing and the sun shining, it was a glorious drive. The houses were insane. If you're looking for that small-town, babyville, this is it! It would be perfect to raise a family there. {Don't get any ideas.}

We ended the day with a dinner of wine and light bites at The Naked Grape Enoteca {You can read my review here}. 

What a delightful day! It was nice to escape the city for a day and enjoy Sewickley. Where should we explore next?

*Note: We're renting this house in Lawrenceville with an extra bedroom + bathroom {guest suite!} for when folks from Texas come visit this summer. It was a mad dash to finish it, what with our first guest coming in mid-April. Look out for a post on the finished suite!

PGH Dining: The Sewickley Cafe

Yes, I'm still writing about Sewickley. It seems like we were there ages ago, but I still have so much to say. Maybe by this weekend I'll be finished, and can get back to city musings. 

Husband and I grabbed an early lunch at The Cafe Gourmet Provisions Sewickley The Sewickley Cafe, located on one of the main drags of the town, Beaver Street. As more people piled in, we discovered there was patio seating in the back {which would had been lovely on a sparkling, sunny day like that.} Instead, we sat at a table near the wall, and took in the long bar, open kitchen and cold case full of layered cakes. We made a mental note.

 We decided to try and order something healthy, but completely lost that thought when we saw the chicken salad and truffled fries. Now, I've had a truffled fry in my time, and could have chosen to pass these up. But, I'm glad I didn't. 

 They were delicious. Crispy, and odorous with that truffly stink. Loved it. 

The chicken was in chunks, which is fine in my book. I can eat this version or the milled-up kind and be happy. This particular chicken salad had a mayonnaise dressing, and featured halved purple grapes. 

Seeded bread crust.

 We also shared the coconut shrimp salad. That's healthy, right? Shrimp? Lettuce? Well, it does have fried shrimp and a butter croissant, but it was light and fresh. We were pleased with the tart dressing that accompanied it, too.

 Finally, since everything had gone to hell in a hand basket, we ordered a large, thick slice of lemon cake. {Which strangely turned out to look strikingly like birthday cake.}

 I'm not a fan of the fluffy, Cool Whip-like icing this cake was covered in, but that didn't stop me from taking a few bites. The lemon flavor of the cake came shining through, but Husband finished it off.

There are so many food options to try in Sewickley, and The Sewickley Cafe holds it's own. My one comment would be for management to consider a less confusing logo, and maybe stick with featuring just the name of the restaurant. Too many words confuse people!

Neighborhood: Sewickley

Good For: Brunch, Lunch

Gems: Patio Seating, Cake

Drawbacks: What is this place called?

 

PGH Dining: Pusadee's Garden

We dined at Pusadee's Garden on a night it monsooned in PGH. The rain was coming down so hard that it almost bent my umbrella. Seriously.

Pusadee's has a lovely patio, adorned with plants and cozy seating, but we didn't get to enjoy that {OBVIOUSLY}. Instead, we were seated at one of the white-tableclothed tables near the window in the front of the restaurant, with a view of the monsoon. It seemed so pleasant from the inside looking out. We were pleased with the simple, yet complete, Thai menu. There were spring rolls to curries, and tom yum soup to lighter dishes like eggplant basil stir-fry. 

We started with the garden roll, which was filled with vegetables and served with a chili-carrot sauce. The cilantro and mint combination was refreshing in the roll.

 We then moved on to the tom kar, which is a coconut soup. We ordered it with vegetables only, since we had a curry coming. It was delicious! {But then again, we love anything with that creamy coconut milk inside.}

Mushrooms, broccoli and carrot simmered in a coconut broth.

To finish off out appetizers {haven't we had enough appetizing?!}, we had the grilled shrimp salad with chili lime dressing. This salad was nothing like the description on the menu. We never though it'd come with stewed tomatoes on top, and the lime flavor must have been masked by the tomato mixture. It was good, but NOT what we were expecting to arrive at the table. 

 Finally, we shared the pumpkin curry with chicken, kabocha squash, zucchini and carrots. It was a fabulous dish, but we hardly tasted the pumpkin. There was a hint of squashiness, but it came from the kabocha. I missed the pumpkin!

 The meal ended with my noshing down on a bay leaf:

Isn't that a sign for good luck? If so, I'll take it, especially since it was in the shape of a heart!

Pusadee's Garden was good, but not overwhelmingly. I'm sure that if we were to have sat on the patio for dinner, our view of our meal would have been even more enjoyable. Also, the menu was somewhat misleading, and we missed a few of the majorly advertised flavors in multiple dishes {i.e. lime, chili, and pumpkin}. The waitstaff was excellent, and we'll likely be walking over to give it another shot sometime this summer.

Neighborhood: UpLa, Upper Lawrenceville

Good For: Dates, BYOB, Family Dinners

Gems: Patio Seating, Well-Rounded Menu

Drawbacks: Misleading Menu Items

PGH Dining: Rita's Italian Ice

Sweets are a must for Husband and I, and we knew we wanted to try Rita's Italian Ice as soon as possible. The weather has turned spring-like, so this want is now a need! We drove to the nearest Rita's, which is in Millvale.  

RIGHT before the line got LONG.

 Rita's features Italian ices, frozen custard and gelati's {which is a mix of the two}.

 This location was hopping on a Tuesday night, and had many types of folks in line. 

 Husband opted for the gelati, in oreo. He loved having the option of eating both the icey part and the thick custard. 

 I chose to get the frozen custard {my favorite} in the chocolate and vanilla combination. 

 Covered in hot fudge, of course.

Glamour shot in the car.

We both got small sizes {a small and a kid's size}, and they were more than enough for a dessert. The prices was on-point for custard, too. We liked the variety of flavors, especially for the ices. We'll be frequenting this local favorite often this summer.

Neighborhood: Millvale {And other locations!}

Good For: Dates, Quick Desserts

Gems: Flavor Choices, Inventive Options

Drawbacks:  -