Love at First Bite
Top-notch dining complete with fresh, local ingredients and creative preparations has made its way to Pittsburgh. Overwhelmingly, the chefs included on our "25 Best Restaurants" list are making ingredients in-house - from condiments (strawberry consommé and mulberry jelly) to charcuterie (country pâté and seafood sausage) to classics (ricotta cheese and pizza dough). The house-made trend extends to desserts such as Bananas Foster Napoleon, Meyer lemon tiramisu and chocolate-truffle cake. So as you make dinner reservations this year, don't hold back - you're sure to fall in love with the local food scene and all it has to offer.
By Kate Chynoweth, Food Editor
Photography by Laura Petrilla
In this year's annual "25 Best Restaurants" issue, we are delighted to celebrate the best places to dine in Pittsburgh. The 2009 list reflects just how diverse the region's options for eats have become: From perfect Neopolitan pizza to delicious dim sum, from Latin-style seviche to Southern shrimp-and-grits, most any craving can be satisfied in style.
Small, upscale-casual, chef-owned restaurants are now as numerous as special-occasion restaurants, and this trend is clearly reflected by the winners of this year's "Special Awards."
Our "Chef of the Year" award goes to Trevett Hooper, who has continued to cross ambitious culinary bridges at his tiny restaurant, Legume - while never leaving us behind. It's with pleasure that we recognize Toast! Kitchen & Wine Bar as our "Best New Restaurant." Co-owned by two Pittsburgh-area natives who sharpened their skills in other cities and returned recently to share their talents, it has wowed us with its vibrant, fun, classy approach to food and drink. No wonder that Toast's chef, Chet Garland, is our "Rising Star Chef" honoree. Finally, our "Delicious Design" award goes to East Liberty's Dinette, a bright, environmentally sustainable space outfitted to serve chef Sonja Finn's simple gourmet creations.
With all the exciting innovations afoot, we hope our guide to the region's top restaurants as selected by PITTSBURGH MAGAZINE's Restaurant Review Panel will be more inspiring and helpful than ever.
BISTRO 19
Executive Chef Jessica Gibson
711 Washington Road, Mount Lebanon
412/306-1919, bistro19.com
$$
Contemporary American food fills the menu at this lovely neighborhood bistro owned by B DeFrancis and Richard Fuchs. You'll find center-cut filet mignon with Dijon bread-crumbs, roasted-garlic and chive-compound butter, horseradish-encrusted sea bass and crab cakes. The fun list of martinis makes a cocktail a must. Many desserts are house-made, including a Bananas Foster Napolean, which layers flaky puff pastry with vanilla cream, fresh bananas, whipped cream and whiskey-caramel sauce. The interior beckons with soothing hues of taupe and cream, warm lighting and dark wood.
Chef's Favorite Dish to Make: Cedar-plank-roasted Bay of Fundy salmon encrusted with sun-dried tomato pesto and topped with parmesan herb butter, served with basmati rice and roasted vegetables.
BISTRO 19: Bay of Fundy cedar-plank-roasted salmon encrusted with sun-dried tomato, drizzled with parmesan herb butter and served with basmati rice and asparagus.
BONA TERRA
Executive Chef and Owner Douglass Dick
908 Main St., Sharpsburg
412/781-8210, bonaterrapgh.com
$$$, BYOB
This restaurant's inimitable chef/owner - three-time winner of our "Chef of the Year" award - continues to justify his fine reputation and to prove why Gourmet magazine named Bona Terra one of the nation's best farm-to-table restaurants in 2007. Inspiration for the fresh, unfussy and memorable menu (it changes every day) comes from local growers and purveyors: Jewel-like spring strawberries are likely to inspire a pristine salad, a beautiful clear consommé or a main course - anything but what's predictable. Call at least a month in advance for a weekend table.
Chef's Favorite Dish to Make: Fresh cheese plate with seasonal ingredients, fruits and meats.
THE CAFÉ AT THE FRICK
Executive Chef Curtis Gamble
7227 Reynolds St., Point Breeze
412/371-0600, frickart.org/start/cafe.php
$
This beautiful, sunny bistro on the grounds of the Frick Art & Historical Center in Point Breeze only serves lunch - but what a lunch it is. Most dishes on the menu incorporate sublimely fresh vegetables and herbs tended by Grow Pittsburgh in a Victorian-style greenhouse (visible from the café). Try the asparagus and feta salad and the mushroom lasagne, both of which showcase the excellent house-made ricotta. Every meal ends with a sweet surprise: a tiny lemon sugar cookie encrusted with raw sugar and made fresh daily by pastry chef Nadine Gindlesperger. (Seasonal dinners are served around the holidays; see Web site for details.)
Chef's Favorite Dish to Make: House-made goat's-milk ricotta with local pea tendril ravioli and crème fraîche.
CASBAH
Chef Alan Peet
229 S. Highland Ave., Shadyside
412/661-5656, bigburrito.com/casbah
$$$
Happy hour on Casbah's spacious, tented front patio has become a tradition for those who live and work in the East End. And with sensuous starters such as Oregon black truffles served fondue-style alongside melted cheese, it's no wonder they stay for dinner and dessert - sipping wines from the well-chosen list along the way. Freshness translates to big flavor in entrees such as hanger steak with cipollini onions, fingerling potatoes and rosemary or double-cut pork chops served with spring pea and prosciutto risotto, braised kale and garlic cream. Desserts, such as tiramisù made with Meyer lemon mousse, lemon lady fingers and white-chocolate curls, aren't to be missed.
Chef's Favorite Dish to Make: Alaskan halibut, morel mushrooms, English peas, sun-dried tomatoes and pea purée.
DINETTE
Chef and Owner Sonja Finn
5996 Penn Circle South, East Liberty
412/362-0202, dinette-pgh.com
East End native Sonja Finn opened her vibrant, California/ Mediterranean-inspired restaurant this past October, and already her addictive thin-crust gourmet pizzas have a dedicated following. The menu, which changes daily, always includes a colorful selection of single-serving 12-inch pizzas with simple, inventive ingredients - a recent example was topped with grilled asparagus, pancetta, mozzarella and a sunny-side-up egg. The thin, crisp breadsticks, served with every meal in lieu of a breadbasket, are a crowd-pleaser. The menu also includes house-made seasonal soups and salads, and a short list of desserts such as Arborio rice pudding or cherry cake.
Chef's Favorite Dish to Make: Beef carpaccio with shaved radicchio, hazelnuts, pecorino Ginepro and sherry-shallot vinaigrette.