Pork 'n Nat

BBQ is one of those foods that can be divisive among passionate fans.  I would guess that that's because it's prepared so differently in different regions, not only within the U.S. but the whole world.  I can hardly keep up with this country's variations on 'Q, so that's my only reference point.

Of course the southeastern part of the U.S. is the epicenter of BBQ for most of us with several styles ranging from the Carolina's with their vinegar based sauces, to Memphis where ribs are usually served either "wet" or "dry" and Cole slaw is typically served on sandwiches.  Texas BBQ is predominately beef while Kansas City leans toward the sweet sauce that we see dominating the sauce selections at local supermarkets.

Most BBQ places in this area serve a combination of the above.  I prefer to get my meat dry and add sauce as I see fit and at Pork 'n Nat that's how most of it is served.  We stopped in for lunch on a recent Sunday afternoon and while the atmosphere is lacking (after all, it is a BBQ joint!), we were quite pleased with the food.

The menu has four platters with chicken, pork, brisket or ribs that come with two sides and jalapeno cornbread.  They also have a number of starters, sandwiches and a kids menu.  Since it was lunch, we both decided on sandwiches.  Stacy ordered the Brisket Reuben which is described as "thin sliced brisket on marble rye with homemade sauerkraut, cheddar cheese and horseradish".  I went for the pulled pork.  Four different sauces are available, three are tomato based (sweet, hot, smokey) and the other was a Carolina style...Vinegar based with mustard and a touch of tomato.  I went for the Carolina on my pulled pork, not so much because because I don't like the others, but more because this type of sauce is harder to find around here.  The pork was tender but was clearly smoked, not baked and the sauce was a perfect compliment to the smokey meat.  Stacy (who used all the sauces!) could not stop raving about the Brisket Reuben.  I've always felt that if a BBQ place can make good brisket, the chances are good that everything else on the menu will be good also, so that's a good sign.

Pork 'n Nat is at 8032 Rowan Road in Cranberry.  Check out their website here: http://www.porknnatbbq.com/default.html

to see the menu or check hours.

Domenico's

I'm always on a quest for great pizza, and one that I've always is the Chicago style at Domenico's in Cranberry.  I usually can't stand Chicago style because I find that it's usually way too "doughy" for my tastes.  The pie at Domenico's isn't so typical.  The crust, while thick, is still crispy.  They use a sauce made with great tasting chunky tomato's and the cheese, while generous doesn't overwhelm the pie.  In my experience this pie takes a little longer than their standard pizzas, but it's worth the wait!

In addition to pizza, they offer a full menu with everything from salads to chicken, veal and seafood.  While the interior is a little dated, the place is comfortable and if you are interested they have a nice bar, with a few booths and tables.  Domenico's is on Route 19 in Cranberry, (just North of Walmart).

http://www.domenicoscranberry.com/

Union Grill, Turkey Devonshire

The Union Grill on Craig Street in the Oakland area of Pittsburgh has been a long time favorite of mine.  It's informal, open air in the summer, they have a nice friendly bar in middle of the restaurant, but what attracts me to the Union is the food.  I've had a number of meals here over the years and they have always been good.

One of my favorite Pittsburgh foods is Turkey Devonshire.  For those of you that are not familiar, Turkey Devonshire is usually bread, turkey, slices of tomato, bacon and then topped with a light cheese sauce.  The Union Grill makes one of the best.  Fresh roasted turkey, fresh tomato's, and a fantastic cheese sauce recipe makes this devonshire terrific.

Tomatoe Pie Cafe

Years ago, as I would make frequent treks to North Park to enjoy the summer sunshine and maybe an afternoon of swimming or picnicking, I was always curious about the Tomato Pie Cafe, which sits right as you enter the park. Since my first visit several years ago, I've made Tomato Pie one of my favorite summer lunch spots. A small restaurant consisting of an indoor dining room, a screened in porch, and a beautiful outdoor patio, Tomato Pie is a perfect location to enjoy a meal on a sunny day. The owner maintains a beautiful garden behind the restaurant, growing fresh herbs and vegetables to use in his recipes, and the patio is decorated with beautiful flowers and also pots of rosemary and fresh basil.

While I usually enjoy a pizza, the limited menu includes some very tasty dishes, with my favorite being penne pasta in pink leek sauce. Today though, we enjoyed a pizza and a pair of house salads. Standard pizzas are served, along with the signature Tomato Pie, and the DiPositano. The DiPositano is a wheat crust with sliced tomato, spinach and feta. We went for the Tomato Pie which has ripe tomato slices instead of sauce and fresh coarsely chopped basil topped with mozzarella on a crisp crust. Over the years, I've heard stories of poor service but I've never experienced that here. This is a very small space that can get very crowded on nice days. I'm sure those reasons could be contributing factors on occasion. I don't go to Tomato Pie when I'm in a hurry anyway! I go to enjoy the food and the outdoor patio, and the experience has always been enjoyable. If you go, keep in mind that they don't accept credit cards (although there is an ATM on premise), and due to their limited seating, I would recommend avoiding peak times. Tomatoe Pie is located on Ingomar Road just at the entrance of North Park.

Union Pig and Chicken

Kevin Sousa is well known by foodies in the Pittsburgh area.  His background includes work at the Duquesne Club, Soba, Bigelow Grille and Alchemy.  I met him during his short stint revamping the menu at Yo Rita on the South Side.  Since then, he has focused on the creation of his own restaurant, Salt of the Earth.  After a year of great success with Salt, he has now opened Station Street Hot Dogs and Union Pig and Chicken in East Liberty.

Union Pig and Chicken is strictly BBQ, as the name implies.  This is not a formal restaurant like Salt, although they do share the concept of comfortable communal tables, and a fairly limited menu but that's OK in a BBQ joint.  The menu offerings include ribs, brisket, BBQ and fried chicken and pork.  For lunch I ordered fried chicken with a side of potato salad.  I rarely order fried chicken, but I've heard great things about it, and I wasn't disappointed.  The chicken had perfect crispy outer crunch, and the meat was tasty and juicy.

 It was probably the best fried chicken I've ever had!   Stacy went for the pork BBQ sandwich with a side of mac and cheese. The sandwich and all the other meats here are served "dry".  Three BBQ sauces, a habanaro, sweet BBQ, and a Carolina vinegar sauce are on the table and are all exceptional. I expected a standard pulled pork, but as usual, Sousa surprised me.  The pork was flavorable chunks, so tender and flavorful that no sauce was needed.  You're gonna think that I work for Sousa (which I don't!) but the pork might have been the best pork sandwich I've ever had too!

Union Pig understands that the key to great 'Q is the quality and preparation of the meat, not the sauce.  They don't allow any substitutions to the menu offerings, which I know some people don't like, but I can live with that.  The only complaint we had has nothing to do with the food...It was freezing in there!  Couldn't have been over 60 degrees, but I'm sure that was just on this occasion.

Union Pig and Chicken is located at 220 N. Highland Ave, in the East Liberty area of Pittsburgh

Website:  .http://unionpgh.com/



Ramps!

It's ramp season in the Northeast. For those of you that are not familiar with ramps, they are a wild leek with a strong garlic/onion flavor. They grow throughout Western Pennsylvania, West Virgina, and Virgina. This time of year, there are a number of ramp festivals throughout the area. I've also noticed a number of local restaurants featuring ramp dishes on their menus.

Here is an easy recipe for Scalloped Potato's with Ramps:

6 cups sliced potatoes 3 cups ramps salt and pepper 1/2 cup chicken broth 3/4 cup heavy cream 1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese Spread a layer of sliced potatoes in a buttered 1 1/2-quart casserole. Add a layer of ramps and a sprinkling of salt and pepper. Keep repeating the layers, ending with potatoes. Combine chicken broth and heavy cream; pour over potatoes and ramps. Bake at 375° for 45 minutes, then top with grated cheese. Return to the oven for about 15 to 20 minutes, or until the potatoes are tender and the cheese is melted.

Hank's Frozen Custard and Mexican

Yep. That's the name of the place. Most might think that frozen custard and Mexican food are an odd mix...I know I did...But after frequenting Hank's for decades, it all seems kinda normal now. Hank's isn't a sit-down restaurant, but rather it's more like an old time drive in, just without the car service.

The burritos are really great! Not huge, but so good. I usually go for the beef and bean, spicy. After a steaming, spicy burrito or taco, there's nothing like a cool, creamy frozen custard.



The custard is so smooth and creamy, it's my favorite kind of ice cream hands down! They always serve chocolate and vanilla, and then have a daily special. In addition, they have a number of gourmet flavors, but I stick to the old standards.

Hank's is located at 2210 3rd Avenue, New Brighton, PA 15066. It's a bit of a drive, but an easy one and really makes for a nice afternoon trip. Take your GPS, and after a buritto and custard, head over to Kelly's, stick your toes in the sand and enjoy a cold one in the sun!

Click on the title above...

Jergels

I always liked the Rhythm House in Bridgeville because, depending on what was going on, you could watch a sporting event, order a meal, have reasonably priced drinks, and listen to live music. Most music places tend to really wack you with a ticket or cover charge, or make up for it with crazy prices for drinks. A lot of music venues don't serve food and you usually can't watch a Pen's or Steelers game!

Years ago, Jergels was a great place on Babcock Blvd. in the North Hills. It was kind of a restaurant, sports bar, and music venue that, along with other bands, featured a house band called Father Time. It was a fun, relaxing place, but closed several years ago.

Jergels recently opened a fantastic new location in Warrendale. The difference between this new location and the old one is significant. This new place is built for music with a big stage and a lighting and sound system that is fantastic! There is a balcony, a dance floor, and an outside patio with seating and fire features, large bars both upstairs and downstairs, and a separate cigar bar.




Happy hour goes from 5 to 7 daily with 1/2 price drafts and half price appetizers. The apps menu is good too. On one visit we order PEI Mussels and an order of Ahi Tuna. The mussels were steamed in a white wine sauce with garlic, parsley and tomato's. The tuna was properly rare with an Asian Cucumber Slaw. Both were excellent and quite a bargain at the happy hour price of about five dollars each. Other menu items include fish tacos, meatball sliders, a number of burgers and a complete dinner menu.

When music acts preform, if there is a cover charge, it's not charged until 8:00pm with most acts starting at 9:00. I love this because if you do as we have, and go for a Pen's game at 6 or 7:00, most likely by the time the music starts you have already spent a fair amount of money. If you show up ten minutes before the music starts, you pay the cover. That's reasonable. It doesn't take advantage of loyal customers, and at the same time if you don't want to eat or drink you can get in for a reasonable charge. The happy hour is good enough that they should develop a daily local crowd, and the food is much better than standard bar fare.

Jergels is located just off the Warrendale exit of Interstate 79. While it's not exactly close to downtown, it's a very easy drive. I've heard that there have been some issues with parking, but on each of our visits we didn't have a problem and easily found a spot.

As usual, click on the title above to see their website.

Il Pizzaiolo

This is the best traditional Italian pizza in Pittsburgh. Il Pizzaiolo, located in the middle of the Mt. Lebanon business district bakes their pies in a wood fired, brick oven. They bake at 1000 degrees for only about 90 seconds. The ingredients are top quality which results in a great pie for those of you that love the true traditional, Neapolitan style. In addition to the large speciality pizza menu, they also have a nice variety of pasta dishes.

We decided to split a salad which had beautiful fresh greens along with roasted red peppers, cherry tomato, carrot, cucumber, parmigiano-reggiano, and served with a balsamic vinaigrette dressing. For the main course we chose the Diavola pizza, which is San Marzano tomato sauce, fresh mozzarella, spicy salami, chili pepper, pecorino romano, fresh basil, and extra virgin olive oil. Excellent.

During the warm months you can dine on their private patio in the back. Il Pizzaiolo also has a nice bottled beer selection for $5 to %20, and wine at $8+. Keep in mind that a pizza with a salad and a couple of ice teas will set you back about $35...Top quality ingredients in a sit down restaurant along with a Mt. Lebanon address adds up! This isn't your typical take-out pizza joint, but that's not what they are trying to be. I also recall reading that they are opening a new location downtown, in Market Square sometime this summer. With all the new restaurants and renovations happening in Market Square, this should be a great location for them.

Il Pizzaiolo isn't really the kind of place I think of when I'm craving a pizza. For me, that would be Franks in Ambridge, but I think of it more like a nice dining experience.

As always, click on the title above to see their menu.

Chicken and Waffles

I spent a couple of days this past week in State College PA, which is the home of Penn State University. I've always really liked visiting State College. It's a small town without the traffic or major crime issues of larger city's, but just about any night of the week you have a choice of many live bands at a number of local watering holes. On a Wednesday night, we were able to catch a blues band, a great bluegrass band, and back at the hotel, a folk duo playing in the lounge, all within walking distance of each other. Anyway, another thing I love about the area is the "stick to your ribs" Pennsylvaina Dutch food found at local eateries.

In the south, chicken and waffles are famous. I know that Gladys Knight has a restaurant in Atlanta that features it as a speciality. Great southern fried chicken served on top of a thick, tasty waffle. It's not like that in Central PA though. Here the PA Dutch version is prepared with shredded chunks of chicken on top of a thick waffle and then smothered with gravy! The sweetness of the waffle combined with the tasty salty gravy makes a great traditional dish.

If you would like a recipe, or to read a little about the Pennsylvania Dutch, just click on the title above and check out Teri's Kitchen.

Pittsburgh Turkey Devonshire

I posted this several years ago, but get so much interest that I thought I'd post again. For those not familiar, the Turkey Devonshire Sandwich was a traditional Pittsburgh dish and can still be found on many local menus. Some restaurants also make Crab Devonshire, just substitute lump crab meat instead of turkey. Enjoy!

Frank Blandi's Original Devonshire Sandwich

Cream Sauce:
3/4 stick butter, melted,
1 cup flour
1/4 pound Cheddar cheese, grated
1 pint chicken broth
1 pint hot milk
1 teaspoon salt

Melt butter in deep pan and add flour, stirring constantly. Add chicken broth and then hot milk, stirring all the while. Add cheese and salt. Bring to boil, then cook slowly for 20 minutes, still stirring. Cool to lukewarm. Beat with wire whip until smooth before using. This makes enough sauce for 6 Devonshire sandwiches.

For each sandwich you need:

1 slice toast, crusts trimmed off
3 slices crisp bacon
5 thin slices cooked turkey breast
Cream Sauce, recipe above
Melted butter Parmesan cheese and paprika

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
In each flat, individual oven-proof casserole dish, place 1 slice of toast and top with 3 slices bacon. Add 5 thin slices of cooked turkey breast. Cover completely with cream sauce. Sprinkle with a little melted butter, then with the combined Parmesan cheese and paprika. Bake 10 to 15 minutes or until golden brown.

Pittsburgh Fish!

In my quest for the best fish sandwich in Pittsburgh, I stopped in the Carson City Saloon on the South Side the other day. I know I've ordered fish there before, but I just forgot how good it really is! The things a monster too. Since its fish fry season, I thought I'd post this for those of you that might be looking for an alternative to you local church or fire hall.

For those of you unfamiliar with the Pittsburgh Fish Sandwich, this city has a history of serving up monstrous filet's, almost always fried, and usually cod. It's common to get a fillet a foot long served on a standard hamburger bun. Some places offer an additional bun for a little more cash. Because of the large Catholic population in the area, hundreds of local church's hold fish-frys during Lent. Volunteers will prepare, cook and serve hundreds of dinners and sandwiches each night to lines of people at these churches.

To get an idea of whats available, or to locate a fish-fry near you, click on the title "Pittsburgh Fish" above.

And yes, that is broccoli....I eat healthy!

Jean-Marc Chatellier’s French Bakery

I don't know much about baked goods, but I know when I really like them. Jean Marc Chatellier's Bakery has the best I've ever had. Really. Look him up online, read the reviews. This is really great stuff. Jean-Marc is a third generation pastry chef from a small town in Brittany, in the northwestern part of France known for buttery pastries. His father and grandfather were both bread bakers who owned boulangeries (bread bakeries), but Jean-Marc went on to become a pâtissier (a pastry and cake baker).

Jean-Marc apprenticed four years with Master Pastry Chef George Merlet in Chateaubriant, France and earned Certificat d’Aptitude Professionnelle in pastry, ice cream, and chocolate candy making from Chambres des Metiers in Nantes, France.

I had heard about this bakery years ago, but never bothered to stop. What a mistake! On a recent trip, we enjoyed a vanilla cream croissant, and a raspberry brioche. Breton Cake, or French shortbread samples were available and It was so good, I'm not sure why I didn't come home with one. Maybe next time. A variety of colorful Macarons filled one display case along with chocolate dipped strawberries, chocolate truffels and a variety of cakes, pies and pastries.

Jean Marc Chatellier's French Bakery is located in Millvale, at 213 North Avenue. Click on the title above to go to Jean-Marc's website.

Anthony's Coal Fired Pizza

Those of you that read this drivel know that I'm always on the lookout for a unique comfortable tavern, good fish sandwich or exceptional pizza. My favorite pizza's in the area, Franks and Pizza House, are both located Northwest of Pittsburgh, in Ambridge. Harry's in Peters township and Il Pizzaiolo in Mt. Lebanon are also favorites when I'm in the mood for a more traditional style. Anthony's Coal Fired Pizza which recently opened in Settlers Ridge, is going into my list of favorites.


Anthony's got their start in Florida. Hometown son and Miami Dolphins quarterback, Dan Marino soon became a patron. Dan's enthusiasm soon compelled him to become an equity partner in the business, as they started to expand throughout Florida and now in the Northeast.

The pizza is baked in a coal fired 800 degree oven and comes out thin and crispy with just a touch of burnt, similar to the wood fired style. A side salad with fresh mixed greens and full bar service (say hello to Tracy!) made for a great meal. The only complaint was that it's a bit pricy for a pizza place, but it's more of a restaurant than a typical pizza joint, so that's understandable.

Anthony's is located in Settlers Ridge in Robinson Twp, just off of the Parkway West.

NOLA

The recent renovation of Market Square has made it the location for several new restaurants within the past year. Joining long time tenants like Ruth's Chris, The Original Oyster House, and Primanti's, are at least five or six new eating establishments. In the past, The 1902 Tavern was one of my favorites, although admittedly it was desperately in need of some updating. Since the 1902 Tavern closed, it's nice to see NOLA on The Square in that space.

The folks that opened NOLA have done a great job of improving the interior while maintaining the charm of the original structure. The classic bar, beautiful tile floors and tin ceiling have thankfully been retained, but have been cleaned and repaired.

Finding good Creole or New Orleans restaurants is not easy in Pittsburgh. Since the James Street Tavern on the North Side closed many years ago I'm not aware of any really good options.

The menu at NOLA offers frog legs, crispy fried alligator, muffaletta, shrimp and grits, along with a number of Po Boys. The Chicken and Andouille Po Boy, described as "Grilled Organic Chicken, Cajun Andouille, Homemade Mozzarella, Fresh Baguette, Lettuce, Tomato, Onion, Creole Mustard" along with a side of Red Beans and rice made for a great meal. If you feel like a drink with your meal, they can make you a classic Hurricane!

NOLA is located in Market Square in downtown Pittsburgh. As always, just click on the title to see their website.