Category Archives: Eat Local

Meet Your Farmer Happy Hour – June 13

One of the things city dwellers haven’t thought much about for years is where  our food comes from.  A few years ago I would have answered that question with the Giant Eagle or back in the day The Food Gallery – does anyone else remember that grocery store – it was located where the Shadyside Market District is now located.

Anyhow – we are learning – processed food isn’t so good for us, and shipping food around the country and the globe has some drawbacks too.  So there are lots of people who are doing something about local food.

PASA is the Pennsylvania Association of Sustainable Agriculture – they are just one of the many organizations that is talking about where our food comes from.

PASA and Paragon Foods invite you to a summer farm season kick off on June 13 at Penn Brewery.  If you are interested in meeting local farmers and learning more about local food here in Pittsburgh – this should be a great event.

Meet the Farmer Happy Hour
Monday, June 13, 2011
5:30-7:30pm
Tickets $5 available online here
Join PASA, Paragon Foods and Penn Brewery as they host the first “Meet the Farmer” Happy Hour at Penn Brewery in Pittsburgh’s Historic North Side.

Ticket includes light hors d’oeuvres featuring local ingredients, 2 complimentary draft beers and an opportunity to meet farmers from local farms.

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The Best Fest of All The Rest – KayaFest

With Memorial Day weekend a few days away – we are entering one of the best times of year here in Pittsburgh – summer time also means neighborhood festival time.  Pittsburgh celebrates neighborhoods and cultures like no other place – there will be weekend after weekend of amazing free activities, music and ethnic food.  The greek food festivals a few weeks ago were the sneek peek of what is to come for the next few months.

But I am going to go ahead and say that the best fest of all the rest might just be KayaFest.  First off thanks to the folks from BigBurrito for being awesome Pittsburghers.  BigBurrito is the restaurnt group that started with the Oakland MadMex many years ago and now runs many of the tastiest places in town.  They make good food, the support local farmers and they do good things for Pittsburgh. Continue reading →

help send East End Brewing beer to the Whitehouse for the Superbowl

A Beer-Partisan Situation Needs Your Help: Send East End beer to the White House

help send East End Brewing beer to the Whitehouse for the SuperbowlThere is an important Pittsburgh and Steelers related effort that needs your help!  This is a matter of Pittsburgh pride.  It seems that the White House has placed an order from a Wisconsin brewery for the super bowl, but not from Pittsburgh.

From the East End Brewing email – I could summarize for you but then you would miss the beer puns – so I will just paste in their works…

It seems that during a recent visit to Wisconsin, The Whitehouse placed a beer order from fellow Craft Brewer, Hinterland Brewing Company in Wisconsin, so that they could have some Green Bay beer on hand for the Superbowl. Simple enough, but maybe you can already see that this act by itself, is not exactly a “beer-partisan” move. Since Friday of last week, we’re working to help correct that.

So help send some Pittsburgh beer – brewed right here in the city limits – to the White House.  Join the East End to DC Facebook page here – http://www.facebook.com/EastEndtoDC

You can also help to spread the word on twitter – use the hash tag #EastEndtoDC

Some related blog posts on the White House, super bowl and beer…
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Happy Birthday Elvis and a Pierogi Vending Machine

A group of Elvis Presley Tribute Artists, who ...
Image via Wikipedia

The Tin Front Cafe in Homestead is hosting a birthday celebration for Elvis this Saturday night! The Tin Front Cafe is a unique little place on 8th Avenue (which is the main street of Homestead – not the Waterfront shopping area).  I have been to the cafe for a few other events – this is a very relax place that serves local food and interesting cocktails.  The vibe is very very laid back (not a good place to go if you are in a hurry) but a lovely place to hang out and enjoy your food or drink.

A Pierogi Vending Machine too?
While you are there check out the Pittsburgh Traveling Craft O’Tron – Saturday will be it’s last day at the Tin Front before it moves to a new location.  The Traveling Craft O’Tron is an amazing craft vending machine where you can buy awesome gifts made by local artists.  Occasionally you can buy your very own handmade pierogi from the vending machine. Continue reading →

So you have always wanted to open a cafe?

Maybe you are sitting at your desk right now – reading IheartPGH and other hilarious blogs – just trying to make it to 5pm.  You have dreams of opening your own cafe – spending your days brewing coffee and talking to regular customers.  Well here are 2 opportunities here in Pittsburgh that might just be the ticket to your own cafe with the support of some great Pittsburgh community organizations.

The Union Project
Image by 18brumaire via Flickr

Open Your Own Business – First up, the Union Project is accepting proposals for their cafe space.  If you are a long time reader of this blog you know that I am a huge fan of the Union Project and was a frequent visitor of their cafe.  For a variety of reasons the cafe at the Union Project has been closed for the past year.  Now the Union Project is accepting proposals for a new tenant to run the cafe space.  The Union Project, located at the corner of Stanton and Negley Ave in East Liberty, is a former church that has been transformed into a community center.  The church offices have been rented out to other businesses and artists, the former sanctuary is a large event space available for rentals and the basement is a ceramics studio that offers classes and open studio hours. Continue reading →