Pittsburgh 2010: A Weekend in Steel City

This past weekend, a group of friends and I descended upon Pittsburgh to visit with two friends who had recently made this hilly land of steel makers and amphibious antarctic birds their home. Officially, the theme of the weekend was "how good it is to be with friends", but as my readers know, my own secret, unofficial theme was "where is the good food in Pittsburgh".

Separately, I had not eaten any meat for nearly a month (on a bet, not for religious or health reasons) and had been desirous of ending my stand-off with bovine, fowl and game with a "Pittsburgh Rare" (blackened outside, bloody center) steak. One might imagine my great surprise when, on the one night we were going out for a nice dinner, I discovered our hosts had booked a restaurant called "Umi". In my initial optimism, I thought that perhaps Umi was set in the picturesque vista of Mount Washington, overlooking the Allegheny or the Monongahela and was Native American for "cow".

Unfortunately, my cognitive dissonance did not pan out into a succulent piece of the Midwest's finest cattle. Umi, located within the hip strip of bars on Ellsworth in the Shadyside neighborhood, is what it truly sounds - a Japanese restaurant focused on sushi.

Despite my misgivings, our party of 13 was seated upstairs near the sushi bar following a few cocktails at neighboring Soba. Luckily, the group was all adventurous and opted to choose the Omakase menu compiled by Mr. Shu, the chef.

As we waited for our first course, we chose some bottles from the sake menu. While the menu was limited, there was a substantial range of choices. Over the next three hours, we sampled the setsugetsubijin junmai ginjo (good but buttery), chokaisan junmai daiginjo (good, with an anise flavor), rihaku nigori (unfiltered and solid), and an excellent yuki no bosha junmai ginjo.

We commenced the Omakase with a salmon, flash seared with sesame oil and sweet soy, which was excellent. Next came a rash of fluke sashimi, topped with a ponzu sauce and citrus, sprinkled with torachi. The yellowtail tartar, made with a touch of garlic, some wasabi and sume (sweet soy), was okay but not great. The fourth dish was an amazing creamy rock shrimp tempura (in the style of Nobu but with more spice). A buttery white tuna was next, and very good. We added a "special course" of Uni and Otoro - the Uni was okay and the Otoro good, but too heavily sauced. The "entree" course was a miso-glazed black cod with citrus sauce - a dense and flavorful piece fish. To end, we had a sashimi sampler, consisting of Otoro, red snapper, salmon, toro and spanish mackerel. We ended the night with a pleasant cashew dessert (which was okay) and a flight of ports and dessert wines. Overall, I was pleasantly surprised by the experience, particularly if you are looking for a non-steak opportunity in Pittsburghian dining.

Unfortunately for my readers, most of the rest of the long weekend's dining was done at private residences. We did have a good diner breakfast at the local chain Pamela's, which I would recommend for its prompt, unfussy service and greasy food. Note, however, that it is cash only and busy in the morning.

For late night dining, Ritter's seems to be the spot to head at least on the Shadyside/Pitt/CMU side of town. Ritter's serves up a wide array of fried and homestyle foods.

The ladies of the group had a nice light lunch at the Grandview Saloon (while the guys indulged in hot dogs and fries at the Pens / Flyers game, nothing of culinary note there).

We checked out the evening scene extensively over the long weekend, and would recommend both The Harris Grill and Spin on Ellsworth for higher-end cocktails, as well as Cappy's on Walnut for a more "college scene" (local beers and karaoke).

A real find of the weekend was The Inn on Negley, a charming B&B, conveniently located near our friends in Shadyside and steps from both the nicer nightclub/bar scene and the "Madison Avenue of Pittsburgh". Their staff was great, and the second B included real fresh baked breads (muffins, scones, etc) and both sweet and savory breakfast choices.

In summary, the entire weekend was a pleasant surprise culturally, and I would recommend Pittsburgh for both its cultural and sports opportunities, as well as a few gems of dining and nightlife.