7 minute read
Editorial
by TEAM
Spring Nourishment
Deval (Reshma) PaRanjPe, mD, mBa, FaCs
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The first signs of spring are upon us, in the form of snow, hail, rain and wind. Luckily, good weather is just around the corner and with it comes a flurry of new restaurants to check out for takeout, delivery, dining, and that loveliest of experiences, al fresco dining.
Check out these fresh offerings if you’re going out to eat or looking for upscale takeaway:
40 North
40 W. North Ave., North Side (412) 435-1111 40northpgh.com
Formerly home to Caselulla and Point Brugge and steps from Allegheny General Hospital, this newcomer is worth a visit. With a diverse menu that leans towards Turkish and Middle Eastern, you will be sure to find something to please. Current menu standouts include Khachapuri (Georgian cheese bread), Smoked Trout with Labneh, and Chevre with Za’atar to start; Borscht for a soup course; assorted salads; Falafel, Lamb sourced from Salem’s, and Pan Roasted Ribeye with Chimichurri as mains; falafel, lamb and fried chicken sandwiches as lighter options. Dessert includes classics ranging from Coeur a la Crème to Crème Fraiche Panna Cotta and this is one of the few places in town where you can get an Affogato without having to explain how to make one. (It’s an espresso poured over vanilla ice cream—heavenly.)
Mola
6018 Penn Ave Pittsburgh, PA 15206 412-365-6688
Sushi, sashimi, hand rolls, poke/rice bowls and bao—arguably the best in Pittsburgh right now.
Chef Alex Tang serves up high quality fish and unusual weekly specials—if you’re looking to try kama toro (fatty tuna collar), something you might find on L.A. menus, this is the place for you. Call for reservations. Takeout and delivery available. Lunch specials. Closed Tuesdays.
Sakura Teppanyaki and Sushi
5882 Forbes Avenue, Squirrel Hill 412-422-7188
Authentic northwest Chinese cuisine featuring lamb dishes, noodles, pancakes, stews and Chinese brunch—highly traditional dishes you won’t find at most Chinese-American restaurants. So authentic, in fact, that it has been catering to Chinese expat students at CMU for years. Complete with sushi chef and liquor license.
Off the Rails BBQ at Strange Roots Taproom
4399 Gibsonia Road, Gibsonia
April 28-30 is the opening weekend for this collaboration in which Off the Rails BBQ is taking over the Strange Roots Experimental Ales Kitchen. Every Thursday through Saturday afterwards while the weather is warm, you can enjoy live music in the large outdoor space there while you partake of the extensive BBQ menu including brisket or pulled pork sandwich/mac and cheese/nachos, St. Louis Ribs, ½ smoked chicken, regular mac and cheese, coleslaw and baked beans.
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Look for more outdoor festivals this year, such as the now famous Picklesburgh downtown. One can only hope that Reyna’s Hatch Chile festival will make a return at the end of the summer. This year’s Three Rivers Arts Festival (Fri June 3- Sun June 12) will be held downtown this year instead of the traditional Point State Park locale, but promises the same outdoor food, music, art and merriment. Traditionally, it also promises rain - so remember your umbrella.
Glamorous, hard to get reservations:
Gi-Jin
208 Sixth St., Downtown (next to Tako) 412-307-7374 gi-jin.com
Buckle your seat belts and wait until it’s safe for you pandemic-wise. The menu is only accessible by QR code. The place seats 34 and it’s a coup to get a table. Prepare for phenomenally plated high quality small dishes and sushi from a talented chef, lovely desserts, and a dazzling variety of sake, gin and cocktails.
Pusadee’s Garden
5319 Butler Street, Lawrenceville (412) 252-2683 or resy.com
Pusadee’s Garden has undergone an incredible renovation of both physical space and menu that has turned it into a bona fide fine dining establishment. This isn’t the Pusadee’s that you remember. A mixture of elevated Thai and fusion dishes grace the menu and are often unexpected in their originality. Fusion cocktails complement the concept. Pusadee’s Garden takes reservations for indoor tables; specify if you’d like to sit outside if the weather is nice. If you’re looking for an outdoor reservation only, you may have to call day of as the decision to open the garden depends on the weather. The garden seating doubles the restaurant’s capacity and is as lovely as you might hope.
Café Zinho
238 Spahr Street, Shadyside 15232 (412) 363-1500
Chef Toni Pais’s labor of love is a stalwart of the Pittsburgh fine dining scene—cozy, charming, and comforting with reliably excellent cuisine. Mediterranean dishes with an emphasis on Portuguese delights. It’s a dear old friend among Pittsburgh restaurants, always welcoming and always wonderful, a beautiful and romantic gem of a place. In warmer weather, outdoor sidewalk seating is available. Cash or check only; ATM on premises. Call for reservations.
Lastly, here are some things to look forward to.
Pittsburgh Restaurant Week
Summer 2022 is August 8-14, with many restaurants extending until August 21. Prepare for many $22 multicourse meals—it’s a great and inexpensive way to get a flavor for many wonderful local restaurants that you might not put on rotation otherwise.
For details, visit www. pittsburghrestaurantweek.com closer to August.
Balvanera
(a NYC based Argentinian restaurant currently on the Lower East Side) will open in the Strip District (1600 Smallman Street) in the fourth quarter of 2022. This is a case of talent literally being attracted to our fair city-- Chef Fernando Navas’ spouse Meredith Boyle hails from O’Hara township, so it is a homecoming for these married co-owners. Look to be transported via taste and spirit to beautiful Buenos Aires.
Editorial Editorial Editorial
adjacent lumbar vertebra, explaining her pain. My resident, from Georgia, upon seeing the findings said, in his deep southern drawl, “Fellahs, there’s a lesson here. Crocks daah (die), too.” Unfortunately for the patient, CT scanning and ultrasound exams had not been developed. The important lesson is that for most patients with a diagnosis of psychosomatic illness, the symptoms are real, and in fact a small number of these patients indeed have real abnormalities accounting for their symptoms.
Sigmund Freud’s view of humor was that it was a conscious expression of thoughts that society usually suppressed or was forbidden.2 As long as the humor, in this case namecalling, is meant in a benign fashion, it
The Strip District Terminal is considered harmless. (the new redevelopment of the However, in today’s politically historic fruit and vegetable warehouse divisive atmosphere, it is best to use market in the Strip) will be the site of humor only when you truly know a yet-to-be-named East Asian food your audience. As a good example, I hall and bar extravaganza. This joint remember the not so “good old days,” project between award-winning local when it was expected that a speaker chefs Mike Chen (Everyday Noodles) at a conference or a refresher course and Alex Tang (Mola) will feature would tell jokes. Many of the “old seven stalls run by local East Asian timers” were very colorful characters. restaurants. Imagine feasting on great Today, fortunately, speakers are sushi, Thai, Cantonese, Chinese, and business-like and jokes are tacitly Korean delights as well as enjoying forbidden, since they are bound to boba tea and a full bar. Opening in offend someone. Finally, we should Winter 2022. always remember that no matter how unpleasant some of our patients are to us, they are still our fellow human beings.
Dr. Daffner, associate editor of the ACMS Bulletin, is a retired radiologist who practiced at Allegheny General Hospital for more than 30 years. He is emeritus clinical professor of Radiology at Temple University School of Medicine and is the author of nine textbooks. He can be reached at bulletin@acms.org.
The opinion expressed in this column is that of the writer and does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the Editorial Board, the Bulletin, or the Allegheny County Medical Society.
References
1. Shem S. The House of God. Richard Marek Publishers 1978. The opinion expressed in this column is that of 2. Freud S, (Strachey J, Trans.). Jokes and the writer and does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the Editorial Board, the Bulletin, or the Allegheny County Medical Society. their relation to the unconscious New York: W. W. Norton, 1960 (Original work published 1905).
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