Best New Restaurant
Thank the heavens we’ve got Bona Terra here on earth.

Bona Terra’s spartan Sharpsburg space has hosted previous restaurants, but its current incarnation nudges it toward a more welcoming dining venue. Real art hangs on the walls, joining Beth Fabian’s stained glass and Jan Loney’s copper work. And on the tables, dreamy and creative dishes entrench themselves in your taste-bud database: roasted organic black mission figs with gorgonzola-mascarpone mousse and julienne of serrano ham. Chilled, spicy lentil and tofu salad, with roasted tomatoes and red pepper sauce, over organic Bibb lettuce. Seared foie gras, with blueberry port wine compote, vanilla-bean-infused oil and brioche croutons. This may be a restaurant still settling in, but stellar achievements loom.
The restaurant’s name, which means “good earth” in Latin, also reflects chef Douglass Dick’s commitment to sustainable agriculture, a center-stage issue on the world’s food scene. Complex in its ramifications, the concept addresses responsibility, good husbandry and fresh, local food, purely produced, organic if possible. Thus Dick describes his cuisine as “ingredient-driven”: He checks in weekly with local growers (Penn’s Corner, Spring Valley, Kennedy Farms) and visits area farmers’ markets daily. What’s available and good determines what he cooks—so the menu changes not just seasonally but at least weekly, sometimes even more often.
With experience at Lucca and the Duquesne Club, plus a recent sojourn in Spain, Dick has developed a classically based style that unfolds in contemporary twists. He shows wizardry in seasoning, checked by restraint, letting the foods’ natural flavors shine. One night a humble potato-leek bisque, with crumbled bacon, fried leek julienne and chives, stirs mighty satisfaction. Or, a quizzical assortment of ingredients—organic arugula, with caramelized plums, roasted red pepper, gorgonzola and crispy shallots, tossed in white balsamic vinaigrette—resolves in a brilliant harmony of taste.
The restaurant has no liquor license; it’s still BYOB, with a modest $3 per bottle corkage. That’s just fine with Pittsburgh’s many wine mavens—they bring in their own high-end wines, matched to the food, even paired with courses. It’s a friendly, relaxed, serendipitous environment. — Ann Haigh

Bona Terra
908 Main St., Sharpsburg; 412/781-8210.

Café Zinho
Funky fun
238 Spahr St., Shadyside;
412/363-1500.
It’s rare enough to walk into a restaurant and be able to order a “lamburger”; Café Zinho takes things one step farther by topping the unorthodox sandwich with an apple chutney. That’s the kind of quirky culinary fun diners have grown to expect at this garage-turned-coffeeshop-turned-bistro just off the Ellsworth main drag, the second restaurant venture by Baum Vivant’s Toni and Becky Pais.

Arugula salad from Casbah