Pittsburgh Magazine's Best Restraunts Party 2005

[martygreene]

Abay Ethiopian Restaurant- Doro Tibs
"Doro Tibs is scooped up using bread as a utensil, as part of a platter with other foods. Strips of boneless chicken breast with a garlic-ginger spice, onions, peppers and a little olive oil make the dish hearty and stew-like. The unique Ethiopian mixture of spices - called berbere - gives it a sweet, simmery-hot spiciness. It does not pain the palate, it tantalizes it."
- Jamie Wallace, owner, Abay Ethiopian Restaurant

This was good, and was true to the restaurant. I get this dish often, so I knew what to expect. Many folk seemed turned off to the appearance of the food, as ethiopian fare in the US is primarily the stewed dishes it can look a bit unappetizing.

Aqueous- Duck with Allspice in Rhubarb Custard with Cranberry-Cherry Foam

This seemed interesting, I recall articles in Gourmet magazine a year or so back when culinary foam was supposed to become the next caviar, and it never caught on outside of Europe and one New York restaurant. The duck was overcooked and tasted mildly liver-y. I got none of the allspice flavor. The rhubarb custard was overpowering if you took it into your mouth with the duck. The presentation was very nice, with the duck skewered onto foot long slender sticks of cinnamon.

Baum Vivant- Roasted Garlic and Tomato Bisque with Dill

Very good. Light, creamy, got all of the flavors although the dill could have been a little more present. Not amazingly different from any other pureed and strained tomato bisque would have been, but overall very nice and refreshing.


Café Allegro- Crab Pasta Roll with Spring Salsa, Veal au Jus with Wild Mushroom Souffle

I tried the crab roll and the souffle, left the veal to my father to taste. The crab roll was primarily pasta and lettuce. Despite getting a middle piece, there was no crab to be found taste-wise, although I could see it. Pasta was thick, doughy, and flavorless.

The spring salsa was glorified gazpacho just diced, and with come celery and corn. Too much oil in the salsa, which made the crab roll seem greasy.

The wild mushroom souffle was unevenly seasoned and way too salty in some areas, completely bland in others. I was able to pick out morels, truffles, and wood-ear mushrooms in the souffle.

Café Asia- Fresh Spring Roll

Eh, it's a fresh spring roll. They really are almost all the same. Personally, I prefer the ones from Trams Kitchen.

Café at the Frick- Scallops with Diced Apples Roasted Beets and Avocado Mousse, Chocolate Almond Lemon Torte

The scallops were your basic seared scallops, with some lemon juice tossed on and a few minced apple pieces. The garnish though, that was what was special here! Young, home-grown (from the chef's own garden) standard, golden, and candy-stripe beets that were roasted, lattice cut, and then served on a small spot of avocado mousse. Delicious. Candy-stripe beets are a wonderful white-pink color and bursting with flavor. A definite must if you can find them or grow them yourself.

The chocolate lemon torte was also very good. The almonds I was disappointed to find were merely garnish, and not included in the dessert itself. Neither lemon nor chocolate overpowered, and despite it being a dessert it wasn't heavy or overly sweet. Definitely a good dessert particularly for warm summer and mid-autumn nights.

Café Zao- Duck on Bamboo Rice Nigiri Style

Duck is not something to bring to a strolling dinner such as this I'm thinking. It easily dries out or is overcooked. Here we had thinly sliced cooked duck on some green goopy rice. The rice tasted very grassy, and had the texture of some medieval gruel. The duck was fairly flavorless, and overcooked. Perhaps it would be better tried at the restaurant.

The Carlton- Seared Ahi with Black Pepper

Oh, seared Ahi tuna. No one has thought of that before. This time it was crusted with black pepper around the edges. It was the same as every other seared Ahi, just this time with a bit of black pepper. We all know what that tastes like. Moving along.

Church Brew Works- Brewmisu

Tiramisu with beer sauce... or so they claimed. I found no beer flavor, or really anything to this other than your regular tiramisu flavor. It was very good tiramisu, I give it that, but the fabled unique beer-sauce eluded me. I would get this though, on a day when I want tiramisu. It was light and not too sweet or coffee-y, the way tiramisu should be.

Dish- Tapenade Crostini

Ah, Tapenade. I love tapenade. This was a very good tapenade as well. Kalamata olives, garlic, and a touch of... rosemary perhaps? Good, light, not too oily or salty. I wonder if they sell this in jars. If not, they should.

Grand Concourse- Mini Crab Cakes

If you've had crabcakes before, you needn't fuss over these. They were light, which was nice as crabcakes can often become a bit dense and hockey-puck-like in the stomach, but the flavor was the same as every other crabcake. A bit heavy on the red peppers, and why or why do they all taste like mayonnaise? I was excited, at first they looked like latkes, but no.

Gullifty's- Assorted Desserts

Again, if you've been to Gullifty's, you've had these. Oh, and they had a chocolate fountain too. Whoopee.

Kaya- Salmon Ceviche

This, I loved. Probably one of my favorite dishes there. Cubed salmon marinated and acid-cooked in scallions, cucumber, red onion, mint, grapefruit, lime, a dash of lemon, salt and pepper. Very good. Definitely something to add to my repertoire. Ceviche has always been a favorite of mine for fish dishes anyhow.

Lautrec- Chilled Lobster with Meyer Lemon Creme and Osetra Caviar, Rosewater and Lychee Pot Au Creme

Definitely took the cake for presentation. Chinese soup spoons held single bites of chilled lobster atop meyer lemon creme, garnished with osetra caviar. The lobster was cooked in a simple lemon and wine infused water, a slight bit of cayenne pepper snuck into the back of my mouth as I swallowed. Very good. The creme was light, slightly lemony, and a bit like creme fraiche. The osetra... heavenly. If you want to try caviar, but are afraid of saltiness or fishiness, try osetra- it's charcoal black glossy beads are creamy and flavorful without tasting like ocean.

The rosewater and lychee pot au creme was also divine. Almost a mousse texture below a thin layer of lychee aspic, the rosewater-lychee flavors blended perfectly in a light, airy, creamy dessert. Garnished with carmelized sugar chips, this is something I'm hoping to have again- or replicate.

Le Pommier- Pate du Connard, Chicken Liver Mousse with Apple Butter and Carmelized Onions, Duck Prosciutto, Smoked Salmon Spread, Truffles

One of my favorite restaurants. The pate du connard is a country style pate, with a slightly peppery flavor. The chicken liver mousse I find absolutely lovely, light and creamy with a wonderful rounded flavor. There is a white wine in it that I still cannot quite place...

Worth noting aside from their wonderful house-smoked salmon, and the house-made duck prosciutto, were the truffles. Sinfully rich and creamy, pastry chef Richard Bjork created four flavors, so there was a mild element of surprise to each truffle (I will admit to having had 4 of them, I hope my waistline forgives me). Two of mine were flavored with Chartreuse, a liquor that normally I despise. Mixed in with chocolate though, it takes on a slightly nutty flavor, and the herbs take a back seat to the chocolate. One was pure chocolate- flavored with godiva liqueur. One was cointreu, and the fourth flavor I did not get a chance to savor was the raspberry-cassis flavor of chambord.

Levy- Seared Tuna Saltimbucco with Cheese Rice Pilaf

This was more tuna cooked medium-rare, which was good. Tuna was cooked with sage, ginger, and a honey-soy glaze. Very tasty, definitely worth trying at home.

The rice was an asiago rice, not the ginger-lime pilaf that was listed on the plaquard. It was very very tasty, and I do plan on working out the recipe for this one. Rice, chicken broth, and asiago cheese. Very good.

Mad Mex- Tacos, Quesadillas, Chips and Dip

I've been to Mad Mex a total of one time, and my conclusion then was- eh. The food was OK, not amazing but not horrible. The portions were good, I'll give them that. They cannot however, make a bloody mary worth crap. The food they had here was even more lacking than that at their restaurant. Dry chicken in a tortilla, with only salsa, guacamole, and sour cream as extra ingredients. Their guacamole, as usual, was spiced poorly causing pockets of super hot spiciness, and pockets of delicious simple avocado and lime. They did bring margheritas as well, which I opted not to try as I was not wanting to dull tastebuds with alcohol, nor upset my stomach with tequila. Yes, they were alcoholic margheritas.

The Melting Pot- Chocolate Fountain

Ooh look, a chocolate fountain. I have never seen one of these before in my life. [end sarcasm] I understand why they did not bring an assortment of their fondues to try, but at the same time, I don't. Their chocolate fountain vastly misrepresents the restaurant. It was good, but didn't showcase any of the wonderful flavors and textures available at their restaurant.

Nakama- Spicy Tuna Ceviche, California Roll Nakama Style

Good job Nakama, bringing food that is far FAR above your normal fare. I'm not sure how Nakama got voted into the best overall restaurant category in the #2 slot, but somehow they did. Good marketing? The tuna was essentially spicy tuna roll, without the roll. A small chunk of tuna in spicy roll sauce. Not a true ceviche, but labeled as one nonetheless.

The california roll was at the very least interesting and pretty. Basically, they arranged green and red masago at the bottom of a muffin tin, added chunks of faux crab and avocado on top of that scattered about, and then pressed in sticky rice. Invert, and there you have it. It was nice to look at, and tasted like california roll, with a lot of extra rice. This could be easily replicated at home.

Palomino- Crab and Artichoke Dip

For a restaurant that had amazingly good food when I went to their location in Seattle, the crab-artichoke dip presented by Palomino here was nothing to remark on. Tasted like the artichoke dip from Damons, with a few bits of tinned crab tossed in. Too greasy on the palate. I'll stick to cheaper versions of this, if I get a craving.

Soba- Seared Rare Tuna with Radish Sun Dried Tomato Pea Shoots and Bacon and Raspberry Sauce

I got this sans-bacon, and it's probably equally good either way. An interesting blend of flavors, although I feel the proportions were a bit off. It seemed heavy on the tomato and raspberry, it was difficult to taste the pea shoots aside from everything else, unless you took one unseasoned into your mouth. Sweet and slightly bitter, a nice unusual salad green. I might try a variation on this.

Umi- Yellowtail Sashimi with Jalapeno and Yuzu-Soy Sauce

This was great. I went back and had a few servings of this. Very thinly sliced young yellowtail, drizzled with a yuzu juice and soy sauce blend, and topped with a thin slice of jalapeno. Interesting blend of flavors. A nice citrusy bite, a hint of spiciness. They key to this is slicing the jalapeno very thinly. I might have done with with white tuna, or even salmon, as the yellowtail had a slightly fishy tasting finish which was a bit undesirable. Very good, and very pretty.

Vivo- Wild Mushrooms and Fiddlehead Ferns

A bit bitter, and it had red-pepper flakes which I feel gave the wrong flavor in it. Needed a stronger vinaigrette to pull it together. Blue oyster mushrooms were a nice touch though, perhaps add a bit of shallots and this would have been excellent.



I did skip a few restraunts, either becuase they were boring (Eat n' Park, Aiellos) or had foodstuffs that I do not eat (there was a lot of pork and veal). I can get dads reviews of those restraunts if you want them.


Edited to fix my horrible spelling errors. Sorry about that, I was getting sick of typing.

Comments

[beeporama.livejournal.com]

I really think Kaya has one or more of the city's best chefs, and dorothymonkey and I are pissed that people have discovered them, since they're getting too expensive for us now!

(They also have Jim, far and away the best server I've ever encountered.)

[martygreene.livejournal.com]

Kaya has systematically removed all the things I liked from their menu, which made me stop going there.

[beeporama.livejournal.com]

That's too bad. I don't like all the changes, but I've enjoyed everything I've had there, including the new things. Of course I'm eating a different set of foods than you, to be sure.

[wenneskittie.livejournal.com]

thanks for the recomendations! a lot of these were places that i am considering trying in the near future.

[martygreene.livejournal.com]

If you let me know which restraunts you are eyeing, I can give you a better review of the individual restraunts. I've eaten at most of the ones listed above, as well as the others that made the magazine listing and just weren't present at the event (or that I skipped due to meatyness).