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Open daily: We derail the maitre d's initial seating selection - "Think nothing of it," she assures nicely - and gravitate toward a perch by Bigelow Grille's tiny bar, where the crowd is thick and the nonstop sound of cocktail shakers makes for pleasing white noise. We're drawn to the energy, and in this large room on this night, the vicinity of the bar is a happy place to be. We can practically hear Stevie Wonder's dreams unthaw in "Living for the City"; his notes softly ooze from the speakers like Goldilock's porridge - just right. Selecting a piece of multigrain bread from a fancy iron cone, we flirt with the votive melting our butter.
Tuna tartare is garnished with scallions and herbs and served with caviar. PHOTO BY LAURA PETRILLA Bigelow Grille, a contemporary Pittsburgh restaurant with a twist, is the latest model to roll off a recent line of right-brained, hotel-affiliated restaurants, becoming an integral part of the city's burgeoning transformation into a safe and stylish venue, day or night. Visually soothing to the nerves, little is superfluous. Classy, sleek and expansive, yet warm and intimate, it reminds me of a modernized '50s Hollywood supper club sans the overblown egos. But forget rear-view-mirror nostalgia. Featuring fanciful, modern American food (including Pittsburgh specialties) that includes top-notch, homegrown ingredients, Bigelow Grille is a space that stands up to any free-standing restaurant in town. Some of the fashionable crowd sipping Grey Goose and making new friends at the bar seem to have rooms upstairs, augmenting the native population, creating a mix that we might hope is capable of generating sufficient economic voltage to spread light up and down dark streets and into empty stores. What's especially distinctive at Bigelow Grille, however, is not the sterling atmosphere, the knock-out furniture, the animated Peter Max-ish hand-tinted photographs of downtown Pittsburgh. It's chef Kevin Sousa's stretching his imagination as he becomes more and more interesting the longer he keeps his feet behind a stove. Sousa joins a new guard of chefs in this age of experimentation in American cooking. "Dishes I had when I was a kid but better than my mom made" is his philosophy. "Haute Pittsburgh" is another way of looking at it. Sousa is a guy from McKees Rocks who has traveled the world and returned home. He loves Pittsburgh. He knows Pittsburgh. And whenever possible, he uses Pittsburgh products. And so when Helen Mannarino and her crew of senior Polish women, covered in flour, show up in their minivan, they're on a mission to deliver hand-rolled pierogies from Pierogies Plus in the "Rocks." Sometimes Kevin sends over his own concoctions (braised beef short ribs and gruyere cheese) to be swaddled by Helen and Co. into the delicate wraps, rolled out and formed by hand. "There is no press; you can tell by looking at them," says Sousa. "Not only are they a lot of hard work, they're beautiful." It is an entirely satisfying combination, light and not earthbound by butter yet providing a richness captured in the soft, smooth textures. Then there's Randy Danielson, who makes a living as a mushroom forager. He pulls up to Bigelow Grille with his rosy-cheeked kids and a back seat full of "hen of the woods" and chanterelles. The kids are experts on the fungus, proudly identifying one woodsy mushroom from another, exclaiming at the giant ones as if they had just discovered the moon. Updating honest-to-goodness ethnic favorites with new ingredients and exuberant flavors can take guts in this town, which is known for guarding tradition with the tireless attention to detail of Civil War battle re-enacters. But Sousa's food romances colloquial whimsies and endangered species in a bewitchingly modern fashion. It's fun and very good, thanks to his endless search for the best local ingredients. With staffers well-known for vivacious personalities, Bigelow Grille lends itself to sampling. In fact, I found myself tasting, and then tasting again. We took our server's advice and ordered shellfish bisque, a delicate, elemental broth with luscious blue crab bobbing on a toasted baguette. Tomato bisque looks innocent in its lopsided bowl with a pinch of sriracha and the spicy afterburn grows on you. Our waitress testified that sriracha is great on popcorn, too, an intriguing concept we intend to investigate. The "shared appetizer" sampling is perfect for two pleasure seekers who want to try a bit of everything: crispy, fried rock shrimp and calamari with a sublime but spicy remoulade; smoked duck reuben; satiny deviled eggs bedecked with tiny piles of smoked salmon, luminescent caviar and deeply flavored pancetta. Bigelow uses fresh - never frozen - organically fed local pork loin from Penn's Corner Farm. Pork wedges enlarged by at least a factor of three are dredged in a seasoned flour mix of white pepper, celery seed, kosher salt and a pinch of cayenne, then they're pan-fried. On the side, cinnamony braised red cabbage over German spätzle and apple-smoked bacon jus shower a little bite over the mellow flavors. It melts in your mouth. Roasted Amish chicken in a sweet, smoky sauce and cornbread stuffing is seductive with dark, vinegared collard greens conjoined to a stream of white, creamy corn grits - somewhere between rice and oatmeal pudding, light and fluffy (as opposed to dense and greasy). The chameleonlike grits intrigue us. They work well with many meals, any time of day. Allegheny choucroute is Bigelow's take on the Alsatian version of the old country's sauerkraut and sausages, in this case homemade sauerkraut surrounded with Brestensky's garlic kielbasa, bratwurst, ham shank and Freeport ring bologna accompanied with a wedge of Mediterra bread. Hollow bucatini pasta looks like macaroni stretched out to spaghetti length, leaving Italy for Pittsburgh by combining freshly julienned Virginia ham and seasonal vegetables. Rare tuna with a spicy barbecue glaze over warm baby vegetables with orange segments and pancetta is earthy albeit elegant. Ditto for a 14-ounce prime New York strip (from Stockyard Meats in Chicago) flanked with a roasted tomato tart, gratin potatoes risotto style, smoked shallot and foie gras demi-glace. And if it's Sunday, it's meatloaf. Each day has a sophisticated special - themes borrowed from Mom and the local diner. A chef's table, available with one day's notice, is a good place to experience Sousa's and sous chef Robert Sayre's impressive range. "Heads up, pencils down," teased the waiter delivering our dessert. A spiffy ice-cream-sandwich parfait is fruity, nutty, cold and slushy. Ooh la la. Pineapple upside-down cake comes in a neat stack on a creme-brulee base with chopped pineapple salsa, less gooey than its sensuous relic. Both disappeared, though remnants of our entrees were already packed to go. Beneath all the towering brick and enveloped by all the interior luxury, find yourself a little seat, escape with a book at the bar or by the window if you prefer the urban scenery facing Sixth Avenue. One of the things I like about the place - the possibilities. And if you're dying to know: No, there is not a dish titled "Yinzer's Special." Yet.
Citrus hues and geometric styling lend a modern look to Bigelow's fresh interior. PHOTO BY LAURA PETRILLA |
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As our eyes adjust to the rosy bar light, we agree that there are no lingering vestiges of Bigelow Grille's polar-opposite predecessor, The Ruddy Duck, "an accountant's murky watering hole after an 80-hour week," injects my husband, Brad, who remembers a dark, cavernous hideaway. 
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