Mio Kitchen & Wine Bar

225 Commercial Ave., Aspinwall
412/781-3141
mio-pgh.com

Mio Kitchen & Wine Bar adds a slice of the Big Apple to small-town Aspinwall.

Dinner: Tues.-Thurs., 5-10 p.m.; Fri.-Sat., 5-11 p.m.
First Course: $8-$14
Entrees: $24-$37
Dessert: $7.50
Wine: $9-$24 by glass; $28-$100 bottle; reserve list available for aficionados.
Reservations recommended, full-service bar, handicapped-accessible, nonsmoking

Mama Mio!

Entering Mio Kitchen & Wine Bar is a bit like stepping through the looking glass with New York City on the flip side. Checkered sateen curtains, gradient lighting and a swanky little living area ease the entry into the soothing dimness of a secret world, punctuated with lustrous accents. A troupe of servers glides around the room pouring wine and delivering plates in unison, the grand din of glasses and conversation filling the air. A twisted wrought-iron door handle looks like overgrown wisteria branches forged in metal, simple yet fanciful.

"This is going to be good," I whispered wide-eyed, even before my first taste of the amuse-bouche (poached calamari with eggplant caviar), a luscious little gift. Mio resides in Aspinwall, a picture-perfect village squeezed between a mountain range and the Allegheny River, the sort of Pittsburgh scene local artist Robert Qualters might choose to immortalize on canvas. Old-fashioned street lamps give off a buttery light, complimenting the neat-as-a-pin neighborhood left relatively unsoiled by steel's sooty thumbprint.

"Sparkling, still or tap," offered our waiter. I couldn't think of a time I'd ever been asked for my preferences regarding H2O. I enjoyed the pampering.

Our server then explained that it was house policy to place the entire order at once, appetizer with meal, so that each course could be paced with metronomic precision. At first we arched our provincial backs, but after a moment's consideration, we understood the rationale behind chef/owner Matthew Porco's approach, a standard practice in many of the formidable NYC haunts where he worked. Assimilating the orders in a holistic manner helps fine-tune the details in the back of the house (e.g., a steak should rest before serving). When the servers finally swooped down in tandem like seagulls at high tide, there was a quivering at our table. Everything was lovely, perfectly paced.

Mio Kitchen and Wine Bar

You might just feel as if you've hopped a plane to a trendy restaurant in New York City's Nolita neighborhood when you step into Mio Kitchen & Wine Bar's low-lit, sexy interior. Photo by Laura Petrilla

Porco's credentials start with the Pittsburgh Culinary Institute and include a stint as executive chef for Daniel Mosedale at Original Fish Market. But it was the three years he spent under purist chef Scott Bryan at Veritas in New York City that were the opportunity of a lifetime, an opportunity that changed everything. "I was so inspired in New York. A kid from Pittsburgh went out to test himself. It was a humbling experience, but the best possible education ever. And it does elevate your game," says the chef.

Like Veritas, Mio puts a big emphasis on pairing wine with food. The esoteric selections from a temperature-controlled cellar bring a level of sophistication and expertise uncommon in our local dining scene. The restaurant is small enough - 68 seats, bar plus private dining room - so that sommelier Alan Uchrinscko can hit every table, demystifying a barbaresco or bordeaux.

Mio is a restaurant with the soul of a bistro. The food is contemporary American: "The commonly good things we grew up with, simple but with an upscale twist," says Porco, who is on a mission to change any fossilized gastronomics left in the Pittsburgh mindset. Every plate has its own personality, leaving what was nice and trumping what was stale.

It's hard to argue with pan-seared Atlantic salmon accompanied by poached rock shrimp, sweet corn and a potato hash touched with jalapeño that pops nicely in your mouth. A gorgeous tomato butter mellows out the flavors. Roast saddle of Elysian Fields lamb, braised until it falls from the bone (braising is considered the heart and soul of bistro cooking), with a tremendous flavor, served with chèvre potato puree and yellow wax beans, underscores the intensity of the meat. Proscuitto-wrapped sea scallops (medium, if you please) include a take on local favorite "beans and greens" using escarole, white beans and toasted garlic. Scrumptious. Tender braised short ribs, not too musky or too sweet, rival my husband's all-time favorite from the now-defunct Crawford Grill. They're accompanied by a chanterelle and wild-mushroom risotto, mascarpone and sweet corn. These ribs are a house staple already, and Porco says when he spoke of removing them from the menu an uproar ensued.

Our straight-out favorite, though, is a dreamy pan-seared striped bass, with black-pepper gastrique, orange and shaved fennel, and a crust so crunchy I had to ask the chef how he got the flakes to fall like dominoes inside such a pebbly skin. He calls the technique "unilateral cooking," wherein part of the fish is seared skin side down, then continually crisped on that side for a hard sear. Never flip the fish. Add sour rapini and soothing gastrique with a final garnish of fresh herbs, another Mio signature, and the dish really sings.

Walnut financier

Walnut financier with rosemary caramel apples, candy onion ice cream and sugared walnuts with rosemary syrup.

Pastry chefs are becoming an endangered species, but Mio has managed to fill that culinary niche, so making a decision among desserts will require some thought. Porco found pastry chef Barbara Ferguson on Pittsburgh's Craig's List; she had gone into semi-retirement and was making chocolate from home. "He sounded funny and crazy," she says, recalling that first conversation. "We were an instant match."

Every single thing, every little twisty cookie or crunchy garnish, is made in house. Genius. Even if you're happy to walk away with only an apple, trust me, the meaning of life may just lie somewhere between the very grown-up ice-cream sandwiches and a fanciful walnut financier with rosemary caramel apples, candy onion ice cream and sugared walnuts.

Collecting ourselves to leave, we had the momentary urge to hail a cab. Stepping back through the looking glass into the charming stillness of the Aspinwall river valley, we padded along the little commercial strip. 'Tis the season for good food, wine and confections, and a little Times Square stirring in our souls.

Each month, Deborah McDonald jump-starts appetites with lively restaurant reviews that scrutinize who's cooking what and where. She works anonymously, visiting each restaurant at least twice before writing her column.

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