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Delicious Design
Cafe Asia adds a new visual harmony to
Forbes Avenue.
 Café Asia
seduces as much with its decor as with its refreshing fusion
of Japanese, Thai and Vietnamese cuisine. Think sleek,
serene and sophisticated. Woven mats in natural shades
cover the walls. Slate blue colors the ceiling. Square
black tables and hanging palm-frond lamps punctuate the
spartan space, and three tasteful Buddhist angel sculptures
spotlight the perfect cultural context. In warm weather,
diners can join the Squirrel Hill hubbub on Forbes Avenue
at five tables set up outside under a long black awning.
And to top it all off, the food is beautifully presented
on striking, geometrically shaped pottery plates and bowls. — A.H.
Café Asia
5833
Forbes Ave., Squirrel Hill; 412/521-2080
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Kaya
Caribbean hip in the Strip
2000 Smallman St., Strip District;
412/261-6565. www.bigburrito.com/kaya.
Espresso-encrusted
venison from Kaya
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When
your funky “worldbeat” restaurant is mere
blocks from the nearest rock ’n’ roll venue, you
get interesting guests. “John Paul Jones from Led Zeppelin
tipped $11 on a $100 bill,” volunteers Kaya chef Kevin
Sousa (one of this year’s Rising Stars—see page
52). “Les Claypool from Primus picked up one of our waitresses.
And members of the band Ministry hated the food and walked
out!” Fortunately, most of us have better taste than
Ministry.
Laforêt
Elegant new French
5701 Bryant St., Highland Park;
412/665-9000.
For those who’ve dined at the beautifully
civilized, elegant Laforêt, it’s almost hard
to imagine chef Michael Uricchio even
paying attention to the food ads during the Super Bowl. But
according to him, that’s all the food-related television
he watches. Luckily for patrons of his Highland Park gourmet
haven, he focuses on high-quality cuisine and service, which
he achieves by adhering to his philosophy in the kitchen: “Consistency
is everything; an occasional masterpiece is great.”
Lautrec
Edgy sophistication
1001 Lafayette Drive, Farmington;
800/422-2736, www.nemacolin.com/dining.asp.
Ahi
tuna tartare with guacamole from Lautrec
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Those who haven’t made the trek to the posh Nemacolin
Woodlands Resort & Spa, an hour from town in the Laurel
Highlands,
are missing one of the finest meals on
earth. (Two, actually, if you count Lautrec’s
elegant, European-styled sister restaurant, the health-food-oriented
Seasons.) But don’t tell chef Brad Kelly (our Chef
of the Year; see page 48)—he’s too sensible to
listen. “It’s always good to humble yourself
in this industry,” he says. “Otherwise, it will
humble you.”
Le Pommier
Casual country French
2104 E. Carson St., South Side;
412/431-1901, www.lepommier.com.
“We’re a French bistro
in Pittsburgh,” deadpans chef Mark
Collins, “so everything is considered
risky for us.” And yet Le Pommier thrives,
a fine-dining bastion amid a row of Carson
Street watering holes. Collins says it’s
an exciting time to be in business: “Competition
between restaurants has increased, especially
between small individual-owned restaurants
and the large chain ‘casual-upscale’ corporate
establishments, which have big coffers.”
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