CASBAH
Chef Alan Peet
229 S. Highland Ave., Shadyside
412/661-5656, bigburrito.com/casbah
$$$
Mediterranean-inspired fare meets an upscale casual vibe at this East End favorite. What's fresh from local purveyors is reflected on the menu, which features dishes such as roasted beets with dried sour-cherry dressing, light-as-air ricotta cavatelli with house-made fennel sausage or Elysian Fields Farm lamb osso buco. There's a small, charming dining room with jewel-toned walls, a tented area out front with heat lamps and a bar with low lighting and cushioned banquettes - all make a great backdrop for the elegant food and appealing wine list.
Chef's Favorite Dish to Make: Seared scallops, red-pepper casereccia, jumbo lump crab and parsley-roasted garlic butter.
Right: Slices of grilled bread are topped with three different Italian spreads - cannellini bean puree with rosemary, sun-dried tomato pesto and goat cheese, and Sicilian eggplant caponata - for Dish Osteria and Bar's Trio di Crostini appetizer.
DISH OSTERIA AND BAR
Chef Michele Savoia
128 S. 17th St., South Side
412/390-2012
$$-$$$
Few restaurants manage to be bustling and romantic at the same time, but this intimate South Side gem located just blocks from Carson Street pulls it off beautifully. The rustic Italian food draws all ages to the small, pretty dining room. Here, simple dishes such as orange and fennel salad with arugula or fresh pasta with wild mushrooms truly shine. Daily specials are the heart of the menu - each day brings four to five options for appetizers and three to four choices for entrees. The hip, handsome (and usually smoky) bar is in the adjacent room and serves up great cocktails and food (the kitchen doesn't close until midnight). Good news: This previously cash-only spot now takes credit cards.
Chef's Favorite Dish to Make: House-made potato gnocchi with lamb ragù.
ELEVEN
Executive Chef Derek Stevens
1150 Smallman St., Strip District
412/201-5656, bigburrito.com/eleven
$$$-$$$$
At this sophisticated multilevel restaurant, the contemporary American menu showcases the very best ingredients from our region and beyond. Look for lots of house-made touches as well - one of chef Stevens' specialties is breaking down whole hogs to make bacon, prosciutto, pulled pork, charcuterie and more. Long after the meal is over, you'll remember dishes such as a salad of arugula, house-made lamb bacon, smoked lamb, fig-balsamic vinaigrette and blue cheese; or wild Texas shrimp, Anson Mills white-corn grits, braised greens and scallion-lager sauce. The main dining room, dressed in soothing greens with soaring ceilings, offers a view of the bustling open kitchen, and just adjacent is the spacious, inviting and elegant lounge. You'll find all the accessories of fine dining, from the chef's tasting menus and well-crafted wine and cocktail lists to the American farmstead cheeses and house-made desserts.
Chef's Favorite Dish to Make: Smoked pulled pork, homemade tortilla, roasted tomatillo puree, refried black lentils, crumpled Capriole goat cheese.
IOVINO'S CAFÉ
Chef and Owner Jeff Iovino
300A Beverly Road, Mount Lebanon
412/440-0414, iovinoscafe.com
$$-$$$, BYOB
At this bright, charming restaurant, Jeff Iovino, winner of our "Rising Star Chef" award last year, and his co-chef, Mike Humphries, create a global fusion menu with a focus on fresh seafood and creative vegetarian fare. New specials augment the menu each week and reflect the opening or closing of fishing seasons and the arrival of seasonal produce. The flavors of Asia, Italy, India and beyond emerge in dishes such as seared halibut with a blackberry-mirin glaze, porcini-braised lamb ragù and vegetarian Thai red curry - and since it's BYOB, you get to take along your favorite wine for your culinary voyage around the world.
Chef's Favorite Dish to Make: Seared and sliced duck breast with duck-confit fried rice, baby bok choy, ginger and garlic with tempura asparagus and a cranberry-merlot demi-glace.
Below, left: Iovino's Café's grilled 16-ounce Le Quebecois Farm veal chop is topped with valdeon blue cheese and caramelized leek cream and served alongside sweet-potato batons, sautéd baby zucchini and wild mushrooms.
Above, right: Seared wild Alaskan halibut, also from Iovino's, is served over a stir-fry of carrots, snow peas, honshimeji mushrooms, red peppers, asparagus, baby bok choy and mung bean sprouts with a black berry-mirin glaze.
JOSEPH TAMBELLINI RESTAURANT
Executive Chef Joseph Tambellini
5701 Bryant St., Highland Park
412/665-9000, josephtambellini.com
$$
Pastas, $15; veal chop, $37
Starting at the age of 12, Joseph Tambellini worked downtown at his father's place, Robert Tambellini Restaurant, which was open from 1965 to 1991. Last year, he opened his own Italian-inspired restaurant, co-owned by his wife, Melissa. Come for an upscale casual vibe and refined classical Italian cooking where traditional favorites are done right - the veal marsala stars a house-made veal stock that takes four days to make. The chef's four to six daily specials are contemporary items created by Tambellini. Each entree comes with seasonally inspired salad and a "secondi" pasta course, which changes daily. The wine list has a focus on Italian and California varietals.
Chef's Favorite Dish to Make: In the summer, grilled fish or soft-shell crabs; in the winter, anything braised.
KAYA
Executive Chef Danielle Cain
2000 Smallman St., Strip District
412/261-6565, bigburrito.com/kaya
$$
Danielle Cain, who previously worked as the executive sous chef at Soba for two years, is heading up the kitchen here now that former chef Brandy Stewart has departed. (In a chef's game of musical chairs, Stewart is now at Soba.) Kaya's menu will continue to deliver a fresh infusion of island spice with dishes such as spicy lentil and corn beignets with green-curry dipping sauce or jerked chicken with corn bread and greens. Comfy banquettes and tables share space in the main room with a cocktail bar lined by palm-tree stools - this is tiki done with taste, from the fun vibe to the fruity cocktails.
Chef's Favorite Dish to Make: Honey-glazed pork belly on sour-apple and iceberg slaw.
LAUTREC
Chef de Cuisine Dave Racicot
Nemacolin Woodlands Resort, Wharton Township, near Farmington, Fayette County
724/329-8555, nemacolin.com
Prix-fixe menus from $98 (four courses and dessert) to $135 (12-course Grand Tasting)
Accolades keep rolling in for the French-inspired fare created by chef de cuisine Dave Racicot at this luxurious and modern resort restaurant - exactly why local food lovers will drive 70 miles from Pittsburgh to indulge. This year, Lautrec received Five Diamond ranking from AAA, making it the only dining room between Philadelphia and Chicago with that status. The formal dining room, swathed in rich crimson and golden fabrics, is located inside the resort's imposing white chateau. As you'd expect, all the extras are here, from the award-winning wine list and custom "champagne carte" to cheese trolley service.
Chef's Favorite Dish to Make: Braised beef short ribs with blue-cheese gratin, grain mustard, celery and cassis puree.