Robinson Native To Open New Restaurant At The Pointe

Latitude 30 in Jacksonville, FL

Robinson Township native Brent Brown is glad to be back, doing business in Pittsburgh.  Brown plans to open a restaurant, bar and entertainment center in the former Roomful Express building in The Pointe at North Fayette.  A Montour High School graduate, he outlined plans for Latitude 40, a two-story, 60,000-square-foot restaurant and bar with an arcade, a 300-seat theater, 24 luxury bowling lanes and a movie screening room. The venue will accommodate parties and special events.

He said the company planned to lease and remodel the former furniture store and open next spring.
Mr. Brown chose the 200 Quinn Drive location because he grew up in the area and because the spot is near Pittsburgh International Airport and many businesses.  In January, Mr. Brown and his partners, including his brother, opened Latitude 30 in Jacksonville, Fla., where he now lives.

Hours for Latitude 40 tentatively will be 11 a.m. to midnight Sunday to Wednesday and 11 a.m. to 2 a.m. Thursday to Saturday, with live comedy on weekends.  No one under 16 years old will be allowed in the venue without a parent or guardian, and no one under 21 years old will be allowed to stay after 10 p.m. Security guards will ensure the entrance policy is enforced.

Latitude 30

Metro Pittsburgh Real Estate

Robinson Township

Two Locals Nominated For Food & Wine's "The People's Best New Chef" Award

Sonja Finn, ower/chef of Dinette in East Liberty

 Two local chefs have been nominated for Food & Wine Magazine's "The People's Best New Chef" award:  Sonja Finn, 31, chef/owner of Dinette in East Liberty, and Justin Severino, executive chef of Elements Contemporary Cuisine, Downtown.

Trained at the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, N.Y., Ms. Finn serves thin-crust pizzas, salads, soups and hearty small plates crafted from largely local ingredients. Ms. Finn, whose experience includes working at San Francisco's legendary Zuni Cafe, was a semi-finalist for the James Beard "Rising Star Chef" in 2009 and 2010. A Pittsburgh native, she began as a prep cook at age 18 for Toni Pais at Baum Vivant.

Chef Severino, 32, a native of Ashtabula, Ohio, trained at the Pennsylvania Culinary School (now Le Cordon Bleu) and previously worked at Eleven in the Strip District. There he got to exercise his butchery and charcuterie chops learned in California, at famed farm-to-table restaurant Manresa as well as at his own charcuterie business, where he used only local meats.

Nominees "are all talented innovators, who have run their kitchens for five or fewer years."  The winner of this award will be determined by popular vote. Whereas Food & Wine's editors will continue to select the magazine's Best New Chef Award.

For this award the magazine, "with the help of its trusted sources, chefs and food insiders," compiled a list of 100 nominees, 10 each from 10 regions across the United States.

Anyone may vote, but only once for each region. The chef who receives the most votes overall wins. To vote go to eatocracy.com/foodandwine. The People's award will be announced on March 2.

Dinette

Downtown Pittsburgh

Elements Contemporary Cuisine

Food & Wine Magazine

Metro Pittsburgh Real Estate

Local Restaurants Among James Beard Finalists

Short Ribs with Mole Poblano Sauce at Salt of the Earth

Pittsburgh has four semifinalists in the running for The James Beard Foundation's national chef and restaurant awards. Salt of the Earth in Garfield has been nominated for Best New Restaurant; Sean Ehland, executive chef of Kaya in the Strip District for Rising Star Chef; Tom Baron of the Big Burrito Restaurant Group for Outstanding Restaurateur; and David Racicot, executive chef and owner of Notion in Oakmont for Best Chef Mid-Atlantic.

Five finalists in each category will be announced on March 21, and the winners will be named at the annual awards ceremony and gala reception at Lincoln Center's Avery Fisher Hall in NYC.

James Beard Foundation

Big Burrito Restaurant Group

Kaya

Notion

Salt of the Earth

Lincoln Center, NYC

Metro Pittsburgh Real Estate

Highland Park's "Park Bruges Cafe" ..... Its Finally Open!

Carnitas Poutine at Park Bruges Cafe

Opening day at a restaurant is usually a stress-filled day.  Did they pick the right location?  Do they have the right chef?  Is the waitstaff up to snuff?  Is their menu going to be received well by the local patrons?  Opening day at Park Bruges, however, included none of the above worries.  Instead, they had a jubilant crowd assembled outside the door waiting for the "Open" sign to appear in the window.

Park Bruges in Highland Park is the new sister restaurant of the much-loved Point Brugge in Point Breeze.  From the moment Point Brugge announced its expansion plans, the entire Highland Park neighborhood awaited the opening with great anticipation.

The slight spelling difference in the names (Brugge vs Bruges) was purposeful to signify that the Belgian restaurants will each have their own different personalities.  Belgium is home to both Dutch-speakers and French-speakers. The Point Breeze restaurant took the Dutch spelling and Highland Park has gone the way of the French.

Park Bruges will be open for breakfast and lunch, and for brunch on both Saturday and Sunday. It will offer some of the dishes popular at Point Brugge, but with a new twist, such as moules frites with different sauces and slightly different frites. One of Park's signature dishes, however, will be the Carnitas Poutine which has carnitas-style pulled pork, cilantro and scallions,  Another is their Tarte Flambee, bread dough rolled thin and classically topped with creme fraiche, cured pork and onions. Park Bruges neighbor E² will help out by lending their wood fired oven for this dish.  Park Bruges will have a slightly larger wine list as well as a few new cocktails. But they'll also offer plenty of the Belgian and Belgian-style beers.

Like Point Brugge, Park Bruges won't be taking reservations. The dining room is slightly larger, but given all the anticipation for the opening of this restaurant, waits are probably in order.

Park Brugges 
Point Brugge
Highland Park
Point Breeze
Metro Pittsburgh Real Estate

Dining Out: Mallorca Restaurant on the South Side

Paella served at Mallorca

Mallorca Restaurant on the South Side has been winning awards ever since it opened in 1992. One of the most notable is from Wine Spectator magazine, who gave the Spanish restaurant its Award of Excellence for its collection of more than 300 kinds of wine.. .Mallorca is best known for paella, the popular Spanish dish of saffron-seasoned rice and seafood. The kitchen turns out the best seafood and beef dishes in town.

Mallorca's architecture boasts Iberian panache: Portuguese tile everywhere and an outdoor terrace that provides diners with starry views.  There are always blue flames of brandy afire, glasses clinking in a toast, and doting, dark-suited Latin men rolling their r's and performing multiple tableside acts, as good waiters should. It has earned its place as one of Pittsburgh's most popular restaurants, anchoring a restaurant boom that became today's multiethnic, mosaic South Side dining scene.

Mallorca Restaurant 
South Side
Wine Spectator
Metro Pittsburgh

5th Annual Irwin Chili Cook Off & Wing Thing Crawl Set For Thursday

Irwin's "hottest" event .... Its annual "Chili Cook Off & Wing Thing Crawl" ..... is set for Thursday, Feb 3rd, from 5 to 10pm. This will be a "crawl" where you walk around town sampling chili and wings at participaing restaurants and also Covenant Hall where other non-Irwin restaurants will present their best.

Gary Santimyer, owner of Colonial Grille & Taproom is the reigning wing champion, says his wings are not only the best in Irwin, but also the best in the world. Cafe Supreme took home the honors for best chili.  About 700 people came to the event last year and the event sponsors, the Irwin Business and Professionals Assoc, hope to top that figure this year.

Chili samples are free at all participating stops, and wings will be served for 50 cents each.  Check out the Cook Off web site for a list of participating restaurants.

Chili Cook Off & Wing Thing Crawl

Irwin, PA

Colonial Grille & Taproom

Cafe Supreme

Covenant Hall

Metro Pittsburgh Real Estate

Dining Out: Point Brugge in Pointe Breeze

Chef Kevin Hunninen of Point Brugge Cafe

If you haven't tried Point Brugge in Point Breeze ..... You just gotta!  Crowds of steady customers, often lining up to get in before the restaurant is even open, just can't be wrong.

What makes this neighborhood restaurant so successful? The location certainly doesn't hurt -- Point Brugge is in the heart of residential Point Breeze, with very few competing restaurants and no competing liquor licenses in the immediate vicinity. But while many diners live in the neighborhood, just as many don't.

The restaurant also prepares the kind of straightforward, flavorful food that demands merely an appetite -- no dress shoes or culinary dictionaries necessary. A combination of American and European flavors makes this restaurant both homey and out-of-the ordinary. The focus on Belgian beer helps cement this restaurant in diners' minds as a "Belgian bistro," and the Belgian dishes are the highlight of the menu.

Their "Moules", or mussels, are to die for and available in a generous appetizer portion (about one pound, $11) or in a larger size with frites (one and a half pounds, $17).  Rather than serving the mussels swimming in broth, their mussels are dressed in a choice of sauces:  A classic white wine sauce with garlic and light cream.  A red curry sauce with coconut creme, cilantro and lime. A zesty tomato-seafood broth with garlic and fresh herbs.

And their "frites" or fries?  Simply heaven.  Cut thin so that the crispy edges dominate and served with basil mayonnaise in the Belgian style.

So get on over to Point Brugge and prepare yourself to be wowed!

Point Brugge Cafe
Point Breeze
Metro Pittsburgh Real Estate

Iovino's Cafe in Mt Lebanon Worth A Try

Mt Lebanon native, Jeff Iovino, gave his award-winning cafe his family name as a tribute to his immigrant Italian grandparents who instilled in him a love of cooking and fresh, good food.  Jeff was the opening chef at Olive or Twist, Downtown and worked at trendy Soba in Shadyside for four years before opening his own restaurant. Iovino's is known for two signature dishes.  Read More .....

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Got A Sweet Tooth? Check These Bakeries Out ....

Bakery Goodies

Pittsburgh has an amazing number of stand-alone bakeries with an incredible variety of sweet and savory treats. In fact, the Steel City has so many bakeries that it's impossible to mention them all.  Here are a few that are delightful:

Better-Maid Donuts, West End
1178 Steuben St
Pittsburgh, PA 15220

(412) 921-9526

Old-school cake-like doughnuts, some filled with cream, others topped with various glazes. Plain doughnuts are light on the sugar and taste almost savory, which makes them a pleasant contrast to a sweet glaze. Seasonal doughnuts like pumpkin. The shop opens at 6 a.m. daily, but closes as soon as they're sold out -- often as early as 9 a.m.

Food Glorious Food, Highland Park

5606 Bryant St

Pittsburgh, PA  15206

412-363-5330

A Saturday-only bakery with an incredible array of pies, cakes and dessert like the over-the-top marjolaine, a flourless hazelnut and almond cake layered with chocolate, praline and vanilla buttercreams and covered in a thin layer of ganache. Savory favorites include thick focaccia topped with artichoke hearts or whole black olives.  The bakery opens at 10 a.m.; go early for the best selection and prepare to wait in line.

During the rest of the week, they run a cooking school. Check out the class schedule on their website.

Jean-Marc Chatellier's French Bakery, Millvale

213 North Avenue
Pittsburgh, PA 15209
(412) 821-8533

Try a sweet brioche in the morning, an intricate slice of opera cake for an indulgent afternoon snack or a family-sized quiche for a light, easy supper. Trendy and traditional go hand-in-hand like the variety of of-the-moment macaroons.

Vanilla Pastry Studio, East Liberty

6014 Penn Circle South
Pittsburgh, PA 15206
(412) 361-2306

Watching the bakers at work through a large glass window as you survey the goodies before you:  Granola, scones, muffins and, of course, cupcakes. Don't miss the lemon, which manages to capture the flavor and brightness of the whole fruit. Also wonderful .....The pineapple quick bread has chunks of roasted pineapple infused in the cake.

La Gourmandine, Lawrenceville

4605 Butler St
Pittsburgh, PA 15201

(412) 682-2210

An incredible variety of traditional French pastries, chocolate eclairs and lemon tarts.  La Gourmandine also offers a number of lunch options, including sandwiches on crusty baguette, individual quiches, and, more recently, soup with a freshly baked roll.

Sustenance Rustic Craft Bakery, Strip District 

Pittsburgh Public Market
Smallman and 17th Street
Pittsburgh PA 15222
412-251-4333 
A healthier spin on sweets (whole grain flours, etc) that taste as delicious as their less-healthy counterparts.  Maple shortbread, fig bars, grains of paradise cookies and coconut cashew cookies made with cashew butter, quinoa flour and agave nectar. According to Ms. Lewis, some people love it, others take one bite and know it's not for them. The Sustenance booth at the Pittsburgh Public Market is open during all market hours.

Metro Pittsburgh Real Estate

Saxonburg Landmark Restaurant Re-Opens

Customer Judy Ferree loved Hotel Saxonburg so much she decided to buy the Butler County landmark herself to save it from disappearing into the past.  After the former owner died, his widow realized she just couldn't keep it open.  That's when Judy Ferree and her husband Bob thought bringing new life to the historic restaurant would be a great project.

They re-opened after a five week renovation that saw all of the kitchen equipment replaced, repair of the original tin ceiling in the dining room, and an overal eye to keeping as much of the old-fashioned charm as possible.  The checkered black-and-white tile is still intact, the 19th century copper-topped bar still gleams, and Ferree points out that Woodrow Wilson once stayed in one of the five "sleeping rooms" upstairs.

The new menu is "American", returning to the classics but keeping up with new trends.  Everything from the menu is made from scratch, bought fresh and local:   Crab cakes, lobster bisque, chicken gorgenzola, sauteed black sea bass, and the yummy menu just goes on and on.

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Aldo Coffee Raises The Bar

 

Rich and Melanie Westerfield opened Aldo Coffee in Mt Lebanon six years ago.  In order to take the shop to the next level, they decided on a bold move ......... Stop relying on the name-brand Chicago & Seattle roasters and roast their own coffee instead.  If that wasn't bold enough, they also announced they would begin focusing retail efforts on their own brand instead of the Chicago/Seattle brands.

After much trial and effort, successes and failures, they've mastered what dedicated coffee drinkers look for:  Local, sustainable and high quality.  An extra perk is being able to lower their prices because they have removed the middleman.  Aldo Coffees typically cost one or two dollars per bag less than their national competitors.

Read Aldo's entire story .....

Visit Aldo Coffee Web Site ....

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Mama Fu's Coming To Pittsburgh

Ahi Tuna Salad

Two Mama Fu's Asian House restaurants are planned to open in the Pittsburgh area with six more possible in the next few years.  According to franchise owner Mark Shaw, the first two restaurants will open early next year.  Possible locations for all eight will be Downtown Pittsburgh, Squirrel Hill, South Side, Monroeville, Mt Lebanon & Cranberry.  Read More ....

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Pittsburgh Public Market Opens In The Strip

Pittsburgh Public Market

The Strip is set to receive some new neighbors ...... The Pittsburgh Public Market will be an indoor marketplace in the Produce Terminal Building on Smallman St.  Grand Opening is set for Sept 10th where 43 vendors will showcase their wares.  We'll see some familiar faces:  La Prima Coffee, The Common Plea, Fudgie Wudgie.  But there will be many other vendors specializing in organic produce, local wines, specialty meats and also non-food items such as jewelry.

The Market will be open on weekends only .....Friday 9AM to 7PM; Saturday 9AM to 5PM; Sunday 10AM to 4PM.  Go check it out when you get a chance ...... Its on Smallman St at 17th.  Read More ...

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Lincoln Bakery In Bellevue Celebrates 65th Anniversary

Lincoln Bakery Goodies

This Saturday, from 10 AM to 2 PM, Lincoln Bakery will host a 65th anniversary celebration with free cake, hot dogs and door prizes, including a TV and gift cards to local businesses.  Located at 543 Lincoln Ave (15202), the family-owned bakery has been a Bellevue favorite for all these years.  This is quite an accomplishment since statistics say fewer than 20% of family-owned businesses make it to the 2nd generation.

"We still bake everything from scratch.  Everything is fresh, there's no bag mixes," said owner Joe Porco.  Porco has added new menu items over time, including French pastries, and the folks in Bellevue have shown their appreciation.  Some Saturdays, especially holidays, people are lined up out the door.  Read More ....

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