Category Archives: Food & Drink

Capital Cuisine

[note] The Capital Grille invited us to try their new small plates meals – here is a run down of the visit. What places downtown or elsewhere do you think offer a quick, tasty lunch? [/note]

One of the city’s tastiest (and more expensive) restaurants is making life easier for The Burgh’s lunch crowd.

The Capital Grille, which is located on 5th Avenue downtown, just added new seasonal fare to its “small plates” menu.

Launched in October last year, the small plates give diners the opportunity to choose any combination of a starter, entree and side — a completely satisfying meal for $18 (which is chump change at the Grille) and it’s quick!

Designed for a quick lunch, both courses are served in about 45 minutes, so you can down your martini and get back to the office.

Lucky for us, the Capital Grille gave the I Heart PGH crew the chance to sample a bit of the menu.

To start, we tried the carrot ginger soup and the clam chowder. Both were delectable. The clam chowder was definitely good, but not a stand out from other clam chowders. However, the carrot ginger soup was a whole ‘nother story. Not too carrot-y and not too ginger-y, this seemingly wacky concoction hit the spot. The carrot flavor is subtle and the ginger gives it just enough kick, without feeling like you shoved a sushi plate side-item in your mouth.

For entrees, we tried the lobster roll and beef tenderloin sliders. The Capital Grille lobster roll has no shortage of lobster-y goodness. It’s packed with fresh ingredients and is almost too big to finish. Even better are the tenderloin sliders. The beef is insanely tender and flavorful, and they’re served on soft, buttery mini brioche buns slathered in herb cream cheese. The truffle fries could stand alone, but still make the perfect complement to the rich sliders. No side of ketchup or ranch for dipping needed, which says a lot for this crowd.

If you’ve got enough time left, the Capital Grille has a saliva-inducing list of sweet treats to top off your meal (we recommend the creme brulee or the trio of homemade ice cream).

Here are some other small plate options:

Wagyu Cheeseburger with Fried Egg and Crisp Onions
Tomato and Watermelon Salad with Feta Cheese
Seared Sea Scallops with Sweet and Sour Tomatoes

2012 Feast of St. Anthony Festival is Sunday

Once again I am out of town for the festivities (I am visiting a Pittsburgh friend in Lawton, Oklahoma) – but a dear friend (who is Pittsburghs biggest non-Italian supporter of Italian events) kindly reminded me that Sunday is the annual Feast of St. Anthony Festival. It promises to be an amazing time with even more amazing food.

The festival takes place at 21st and Smallman Streets. Here is the line up for Sunday

The Festival runs from Noon – 8 PM.

1:30 – Italian Mass by his Excellency Bishop Emeritus Anthony G. Bosco
~2:30 PM – Procession with the Statue of St. Anthony (immediately following Mass)
3 PM – Performance by La Banda Rossa
4 PM – Performance by The Jimmy Z. Trio
5:30 PM – The Homemade Wine Competition
6 PM – Performance by Mirella the Musician
Food, Beer, Music, and Fun all Day

2012 Feast of St. Anthony Festival

Sunday, June 10, 2012
Noon-8pm

http://www.stanthonypgh.org/

One Big Italian Raffle

Raffle Tickets are $5 and we are only selling 1000 tickets.

First prize is a dinner for 10 at the private dining room of Merante’s in Bloomfield. They will cook a feast for you and your guests, wine and limoncello will be included, as well as live music, a gift for each attendee and dessert. It will be a night to remember.
Second prize is a gift basket with a whole prosciutto, an espresso maker, and all kinds of Italian pastas, cheeses, and other foods.

The winners will be based on the June 11^th PA Lottery number (3 digit). The afternoon number is for 2^ndprize, the evening number is for 1^st prize.

In Search of Croissants in Pittsburgh

Check out these 4 awesome places for a flaky, buttery snack in Pittsburgh – due to time and transit constraints the team didn’t make it to Jean-Marc Chatellier’s Bakery in Millvale – I promise you there will be a follow up on that.

(Beautiful pictures by Iva. Words by Sarah and Ray)

In order to bring you info on the best croissants in the city, the I Heart PGH gang went on a croissant tour, sampling four bakeries. (Eating delicious croissants all day was an enormous burden, but you’re welcome.) We chatted with the staff and rated each croissant by buttery-ness, flaky-ness and rip-ability.

La Gourmandine, Lawrenceville

This authentically French bakery has unique pastries and crazy buttery croissants. It’s owned and operated by a French couple who bring their recipes straight from the cafe of Paris. They make their own dough and bake each piece of buttery goodness fresh. They have a few different types of croissants, including a chocolate flavored morsel that perfectly blends cocoa, butter, and bread.

There’s a variety of pastries filled with the likes of pistachio and hazelnut cream and a basket of baguettes. But the real piece de resistance here is the croissants. Make sure the get there early if you want an almond croissant, they tend to sell out.

The space at La Gourmandine is also limited. There’s room to stand and eat your goodies at two tables, but if you’re with a big group, it’s maybe not the best hang-out space.

Price: $1.90
Buttery-ness: 8.5 (made with European butter)
Flaky-ness: 6
Rip-ability: 4

Crepes Parisiennes, Oakland

The croissants at Crepes Parisiennes are a delish, but a little more bread-y and dense. Their flaky and crisp outside are a nice contrast to some of the other croissants we tasted, especially when paired with a chocolate filing.

Crepes Parisiennes is a perfect place to meet a friend or two in Oakland. Its service was quite fast and its atmosphere was surprisingly relaxing for a busy cafe in the city. Anyone preparing for a French exam would be wise to study in Crepes Parisiennes for a few hours, so long as the delicious crepes don’t distract you.

Price: $1.75
Buttery-ness: 5
Flaky-ness: 6.5
Rip-ability: 6

Allegro Hearth Bakery, Squirrel Hill

Four words: bigger than your face. That’s how big these mega-croissants are at Allegro bakery. In addition to the lovely breads and pastries, there’s a small cheese case if you want to slap a savory topping onto your croissant.

Allegro is nicely situated in the heart of Squirrel Hill on Murray Ave next to the Pinskers Jewish book store. The staff is really friendly and the open space gives you a great view into the bakery. Anyone passing through Squirrel Hill should stop in to Allegro, even if its just to see the biggest Croissants in Pittsburgh.

Take your goodies to go though, this place doesn’t have anywhere to sit.

Price: $1.89
Buttery-ness: 8
Flaky-ness: 9
Rip-ability: 6

Paris 66, East Liberty

We all agreed that this was by far the best croissant that we tried all day. Although, we will admit, Paris 66 might have a slightly unfair advantage since they bake your croissants when your order them. Regardless, these babies are good. They’re aesthetically pleasing, in addition to having the most flaky crust and gooey inside we encountered all day.

Inside, the restaurant smells like heaven. Between the fresh bread baking filling the air, the authentic french cuisine, or the beautifully decorated walls, Paris 66 brings the full french cafe experience right to Shady side. It’s more of a sit-down place, so it might be easier to plan on eating a meal rather than just a cup of coffee and croissant.

Price: $2.00
Buttery-ness: 7
Flaky-ness: 10
Rip-ability: 3 (it’s soo gooey)

Don’t Forget about Mom!

Compu-Mother's Day Card by Alternative Histories

Mother’s day is Sunday May 12. You didn’t forget about that did you? There are a ton of great ways to celebrate mom this weekend around Pittsburgh (fortunately for y’all my mom doesn’t read this blog so I can share these tips with you and she”ll still have no idea whats up – just a heads up that for Father’s day you are on your own – my dad – hi dad! – is one of IheartPGH most loyal readers.)

Great Gift Idea – Head over to the Children’s Museum – for about $15 the Saturday Light Brigade will help you record an audio CD card for your mom.

Martini Mama? Do you need a cocktail to survive quality time with mom? Then Wigle Whiskey has you covered. Take your mom to Wigle Whiskey for their Mother’s Day cocktail class.

Some shopping ideas for the weekend. Looking for a way to spend the afternoon with mom? Or looking to pick up a unique gift? here are some ideas.

Moms get in free this weekend.

Pittsburgh Zoo – Moms get in free on Sunday when accompanied by a kid
The Clayton – Moms get in free on Saturday and Sunday

Lets Eat!

Brunch – Pop City Media has just published an extensive guide to brunch in the burgh
Cafe on Main – while this little gem didn’t make Pop City’s list – I think it is not to be missed for brunch. Located on main street in Sharpsburg, Cafe on Main has an extensive and tasty brunch menu, mimosas on Sunday and snickerdoodle coffee.
Cereal Milk Panna Cotta with Caramelized Cornflakes and Strawberry Cream – Pittsburgh food blogger, The Brazen Kitchen, has posted the recipe and some amazing photos for this treat.
Baked French Toast Cups – recipe from With The Grains, if we gave awards for blogs, we would give With the Grains an award for prettiest blog – check out the recipe then spend some time checking out their other posts as well.

A huge thanks to Living Pittsburgh for the post on affordable Mother’s Day in Pittsburgh.

Image: Compu-Mother’s Day Card by Alternative Histories available here.

Alternative Fuel: East End Brewing 2012 Keg Ride

[note] Say hello to Iva! She comes to IheartPGH with photo skills and a super camera! We’re excited for more of her posts that will have way better photos than the ones from my sad little Blackberry camera. Check out her awesome photos from the East End Brewing Keg ride last weekend [/note]

Cyclists love getting together and riding in absurdly large groups. I believe we’re entertained by the idea of being a spectacle — children shout “Wow! Bicycles!”, people stand on stoops taking video with flip cameras, traffic patterns react to the bikes and not the other way around. And, in my experience, cyclists LOVE beer. Why else would Pittsburgh have a bicycle bar on the South Side and maybe the most popular cycling jersey in town is the Big Hop jersey.

East End Brewing has it’s finger on that pulse. The 8th annual Pedal Pale keg ride sold out 600 registrations — after adding an extra hundred registration slots four days before ride. Proceeds from registration fees went to ABOARD’s autism connection and BikePGH. Someone even donated $250 to pull a keg!

Part of the magic of the Pedal keg ride is that the destination is kept a secret, right up until the kegs pull over. Beginning at the brewery’s new location on Frankstown Avenue The procession mostly meandered through the beautiful neighborhood of Highland Park, making a full loop around the reservoir. Then, 600 cyclists descended upon Station Street Hot Dogs, tapped some tasty kegs and destroyed hot dogs like it was our job.