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 Two years ago, just before I started working as the Post-Gazette's restaurant critic, Dana Cowin, editor-in-chief of Food and Wine Magazine, put together a list of seven criteria for a great food city. As we prepare for thousands of people to descend on Pittsburgh for the G-20, I've been thinking about the Pittsburgh food scene, how we think about it, and why it can be difficult for a visitor to navigate.
Pittsburgh's restaurant and food scene has developed steadily over the years, and recently that growth seems to have really taken off. Food writers have a tendency to look for the next great thing, but it pays to stop and consider what we already have. Both for our own pleasure and for the edification of visitors, let's take a moment to count our culinary blessings.
1. Markets that make great ingredients accessible.
Any argument made about the Pittsburgh food scene must begin and end in one neighborhood: The Strip District. This thriving neighborhood where people live, work, eat, shop and play has been functioning as a thriving wholesale food district for more than 100 years. It encompasses the stretch of Smallman Street, Penn Avenue and Liberty Avenue between 11th and 33rd streets, and it's home to grocery stores, restaurants, coffee roasters, bakeries, ethnic food stores and more. There are legendary spots such as Wholey's (a giant meat and fish emporium), Pennsylvania Macaroni Company (Italian food supplies) and Primanti Bros. (the overstuffed sandwich).
There are also lots of successful newcomers, such as the Penn Avenue Fish Company, a superb and decidedly upscale fish monger that also sells very reasonably priced sushi, salads, tacos and sandwiches to a lunch crowd. On cold-weather Saturdays, it often sets up an oyster station outside the shop, shucking gorgeous specimen for happy food shoppers.
Reyna's, which specializes in Mexican and other Latin American specialty ingredients opened in the Strip District in 1988 (which still makes it a newcomer to some people), but it only started making its fantastic tortillas in 2007. It also sells a variety of prepared foods. Outside the store, tacos, freshly made churos and other delicious street foods are often available, especially on warm-weather Saturday mornings.
The Farmers@Firehouse market is another big Saturday morning draw from Mother's Day to Thanksgiving each year. There are great farmers markets all around the city, many of which sell local bread, cheese and prepared foods along with meat and produce. In the winter there's still the Farmers' Market Cooperative of East Liberty, an indoor market that's been open since 1941.
2. Artisan stores dedicated to singular perfection.
Pittsburgh has some excellent local bakeries worth visiting, including Allegro Hearth in Squirrel Hill, Jean-Marc Chatellier's in Millvale and the Saturday-only bakery at Food, Glorious Food in Highland Park. There's great chocolate at Mon Aimee Chocolat and amazing varieties of tea at Margaret's Fine Imports and Te Cafe.
We used to have a bevy of local doughnut shops, and while most have closed, you can still check out Better Maid Donuts in the West End. These doughnuts are so good that the store often closes before 10 a.m. because they've already sold out. At Peace, Love and Little Donuts, which just opened in the Strip District, the store won't run out because it makes the mini-doughnuts to order.
I'd never had a pierogi until I moved to Pittsburgh and now I don't know how I lived without them. Take a field trip to Pierogies Plus out in McKees Rocks for a true Pittsburgh culinary delight.
3. An exciting wine scene and interesting sommeliers.
While we're hampered by state-controlled liquor and wine sales, and restaurant mark-ups can be absurdly high, there are more than a handful of restaurants catering to serious wine drinkers. PG wine writer Elizabeth Downer recommends The Carlton, Downtown; Big Burrito Group restaurants in the Strip District and Shadyside; Mio Kitchen and Wine Bar in Aspinwall; Typhoon in Shadyside; Sonoma Grille, Downtown; and Le Pommier on the South Side. A number of Pittsburgh restaurants, including Lidia's in the Strip District and Tamari in Lawrenceville, have special lists for wine lovers on a budget -- a few dozen bottles for $25 a pop.
The beer scene also deserves a mention here. The Sharp Edge in Friendship (and a few other locations) has an amazing variety of beers on tap and by the bottle and specializes in Belgian beer. D's 6 Pack and Dogs has a wonderful beer cave -- pick something out and drink it on the premises. The Harris Grill in Shadyside is another great spot, with a frequently rotating draft selection of interesting microbrews. Fatheads on the South Side is a much-praised spot, or try beers from the local East End Brewing Company at many bars and restaurants around town. You can drink brewed-on-the-premises beer at the Church Brew Works in Lawrenceville.
4. Sophisticated cocktail programs and bar chefs.
When Freddie Sarkis came to town earlier this year and started mixing up mind-blowing pre-Prohibition era cocktails at Embury in the Strip District (the specialty cocktail bar on the first floor of the Firehouse Lounge), Pittsburgh's cocktail scene got a real jolt of energy. The bar has become a gathering place for other local bartenders and mixologists from places including Eleven Contemporary Kitchen in the Strip District, Toast Kitchen and Wine Bar in Shadyside and Yo Rita on the South Side.
The recently opened Round Corner Cantina in Lawrenceville has a creative list and an incredibly welcoming attitude, while the Fairmont Hotel, which opens Downtown in December, already is hawking its classic cocktail bar.
5. A new generation of young chefs with fresh ideas.
We've seen an influx of exciting new restaurants in the past couple of years, many of them opened by lifelong or returning Pittsburghers. Trevett Hooper of Legume Bistro in Regent Square, Sonja Finn of Dinette in East Liberty, Kevin Sousa of Yo Rita on the South Side and (to-be-opened) Salt of the Earth in Garfield, Matthew Porco of Mio Kitchen and Wine Bar in Aspinwall, Barbara Ferguson of Fraiche Confections and Mio, Chet Garland of Toast Kitchen and Wine Bar in Shadyside are some but not all of the chefs who are livening up the restaurant scene.
Big Burrito deserves a mention for the role it plays in cultivating Pittsburgh talent, and it will be exciting to see if any of its current crop of executive chefs go on to open restaurants of their own.
6. Destination restaurants.
They can be great tourism draws, but the destination restaurant too often has less to do with quality of the menu than with its fame. Lidia's Pittsburgh probably counts among the restaurants that has both.
There are a number of other local establishments that may lack the hype but definitely have the culinary chops.
7. Maverick chefs.
Few cities in the country are home to chefs pushing the boundary of culinary technique and using chemicals, specialized equipment and scientific principles to experiment with flavor, texture, presentation and more. It's not unusual that a city of Pittsburgh's size does not yet support a restaurant so devoted to cutting-edge cookery, but Pittsburgh native Kevin Sousa is sticking around and cooking amazing food anyway. And if conditions change, he's ready and willing to keep pushing the envelope.
China Millman can be reached at 412-263-1198 or
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Asking Andrew Masich to select his favorite Pittsburghers — those who have had greatest impact on the region’s history — is liking asking a father to pick his favorite child.
