herbs, pork cracklings and pickled mustard greens. JF STEELHEAD BRASSERIE AND WINE BAR. Marriott City Center, 112 Washington Ave., Downtown. 412-394-3474. In this upscale hotel restaurant, the straightforward menu promises that the aquatic name holds more than brand value. While entrées include seafood and other meat in almost equal proportion, the soups and starters are dominated by the former, with old favorites like jumbo shrimp cocktail matched with more contemporary offerings. LE TIN FRONT CAFÉ. 216 E. Eighth Ave., Homestead. 412-461-4615. Though the menu is brief, inventive vegetarian meals push past the familiar at this charming Homestead café. The emphasis is on fresh, local and unexpected, such as asparagus slaw or beet risotto. In season, there’s a charming rear patio. JE
offMenu {BY JESSICA SERVER}
LINKS TO THE PAST Salted Pig makes sausages by tapping culinary heritages IT’S A SATURDAY afternoon at Lawrenceville’s Farmer’s
Market, and resident Jane Collins awaits a bag of Italian habañero cheddar sausage from the market’s newest vendor, Salted Pig. “It’s the best hot sausage I’ve ever eaten,” she exclaims. Despite being established just two months ago by three lifelong friends — Brandon Gajdos, Blair Hohn III and Michael Pizzuto — Salted Pig is already making a big impression on Pittsburgh’s food scene. “What we hope sets us apart is that we don’t add any fillers, like soy protein or preservatives,” says Pizzuto.
THE WINE LOFT. 2773 Tunnel Blvd., SouthSide Works, South Side. 412-586-5335. A wellcurated wine list, cozy seating options and an expanded menu make this a convivial spot for socializing. Share a pizza — or try an entrée such as filet sliders, Hawaiian tuna tartare or pumpkin ravioli. Wines include unusual varietals alongside the more familiar chardonnays and shirazes. KE YAMA SUSHI. 515 Adams Shoppes, Rt. 228, Mars. 724591-5688. This suburban eatery offers honest, straightforward Japanese cooking without hibachi theatrics or other culinary influences. Besides the wide sushi selection and tempura offerings, try squid salad or entrees incorporating udon, Japan’s buckwheat noodles. KF
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412-415-0338 538 California Ave. Pittsburgh Pa 15202 Salted Pig founders (from left): Mike Pizzuto, Blair Hohn III and Brandon Gadjos
Each week, the trio meets in a Bloomfield commercial kitchen rented from Earthen Vessels Outreach, where they craft 135 pounds of market-ready, naturally-cased sausage. The 14-hour process calls on techniques that meld Pizzuto’s Italian heritage — his great-grandmother was from Abruzzi — with Gajdos’ Slovakian/Italian roots and catering chef Hohn’s Le Cordon Blue culinary training. Beginning with 150 pounds of pork butt — antibiotic- and hormone-free — sourced from Saxonburg’s Thoma Meat Market, the owners cut, trim and coarsely grind the sausage. This method, plus the addition of fennel (a blend of cracked, whole and powdered seed), comes from Pizzuto’s family. So does the most important ingredient: “My great-uncle used wine in his Italian sausage,” Pizzuto says. The wine “costs more,” he acknowledges, “but adds layers of flavor that you don’t get from water.” Perfecting their recipes, say the Salted Pig owners, took five years. And today, packages of Hot Italian, Sweet Italian and 7AM Maple — which uses local Yeany’s Maple Syrup —and other links chill in a cooler, awaiting new, and already loyal, customers. Salted Pig eventually hopes to expand to dry-cured, slow-fermented meats. But for now they seem more than happy to watch the contents of that cooler disappear at the weekly market (which is held from 12:30 to 4 p.m. Saturdays, at 52nd Street and Berlin Way). “There’s a lot of young people,” says Pizzuto of Pittsburgh’s food scene. “Everybody seems to be more educated now: Farm-to-table seems to be taking off.” And Salted Pig seems to be sprouting wings of its own. I N F O @PGH C IT YPAPE R . C O M
N E W S
402-406 SEMPLE STREET OAKLAND
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VALLOZZI’S PITTSBURGH. 220 Fifth Ave., Downtown. 412394-3400. The venerable Italian restaurant from Greensburg now has a Downtown outpost. In this elegant space, some classic dishes are updated; a few favorites, like turtle soup are retained; and the fresh mozzarella bar deserves to become a classic. Try the distinctive pizza, with a layered, cracker-like crust. LE WILD ROSEMARY. 1469 Bower Hill Road, Upper St. Clair. 412-2211232. At this cozy, contemporary, candle-lit cottage, the Italianand Mediterranean-inspired menu changes every two weeks to showcase the freshest in-season ingredients. The menu offers fewer than 10 entrées, each matched with a small suite of carefully selected sides. Expect quality ingredients — dayboat scallops, Maytag cheese, lamb, steak — and exquisitely prepared meals. LF
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