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AMONG THE REASONS TO LOVE THAI FOOD ARE ITS SUBSTANTIAL, SPICY SALADS
WEST AFRICAN FLAVOR {BY BILL O’DRISCOLL}
Though Pittsburgh’s restaurant scene is booming, one region scantly represented has been West Africa. That changed Oct. 5, with the opening of take-out and delivery spot African Taste Cuisine. If it’s fufu (a mash of cassava and plantains) or Davi Red-Red (black-eyed peas in red palm oil and tomato sauce) you’re after, this is your place. Founder Audrey Brooks was born in Ghana, emigrated to New York, and five years ago moved to Pittsburgh to study nursing. (She’s since switched to accounting.) With no West African restaurants around, she often cooked for visiting friends, who finally suggested, “Why don’t you start something here?” Brooks, 30, cooks long lunch shifts out of Evo, a rental kitchen in a former Bloomfield church; her husband, Kimball Brooks, handles delivery. The extensive menu of mostly traditional fare includes everything from boiled Ghana yams and stewed goat to meat and vegetable pies and emerging local favorites like kelewele (deep-fried, seasoned plantain). For newcomers, Brooks recommends waakye, a rice-and-bean dish, with fish sauce. West African food tends to be spicy, but Brooks — who sources some rare ingredients in Maryland and New York — says she adjusts for milder tastes. A week after opening, Brooks said that most of her patrons had been non-Africans trying something new. But Brooks, who lives in Greenfield, already hopes to launch a sit-down version of African Taste by next summer. DRISCOLL@PGHCITYPAPER.COM
Hours vary Mon.-Fri. 250 S. Pacific Ave., Bloomfield. 412-927-6657 or www.eatafricanpittsburgh.com
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Learn to make top-shelf elf cocktails when Andys dys bar at the Fairmount unt Hotel, Downtown, n, hosts a hands-on cocktail cktail class focusing on infusions. ons. Learn how to infuse a variety of alcohols, and how ow to translate such potions tions into delicious cocktails. tails. Fee of $50 covers instruction, struction two cocktails, cocktails hors d’ouevres and a gift. Reservations required at 412-773-8848. 6 p.m. Fri., Nov. 6. www.andyswinebar.com
{PHOTOS BY HEATHER MULL}
TASTY THAI
Appetizer sampler with steamed dumplings, chicken satay and shrimp spring rolls
{BY ANGELIQUE BAMBERG + JASON ROTH}
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NTICIPATE IT or hate it, there’s no
way around it: “Pumpkin spice” ..season is here. Pumpkin-spice coffee, pumpkin-spice beer, pumpkin-spice air-freshener, pumpkin-spice motor oil ... the marketing powers that be have decreed that, for the month of October, we shall live, eat and breathe in a pumpkin-spice world. But we still get some say in how we consume it. With “literally” in mind, in the dwindling light of a crisp early-fall evening, we set forth for My Thai, a new Thai restaurant in Dormont. The West Liberty Avenue space has undergone an attractive transformation from its previous occupancy by a sports bar. Thai art, textiles and wood carvings add texture to the walls, painted in warm tones, while big windows let in plenty of light and views of the bustling avenue. And, unlike at many Thai establishments, the gleaming wood bar serves an array of wines, draft beers and cocktails.
The typical Thai menu, comprised of “secret recipes” passed through generations of the family of Chef Suwannanan, was accented with a few distinctive items, including several appearances of woon sen: fine, translucent noodles known as bean thread. And don’t worry, we’ll get to that pumpkin
MY THAI 3024 W. Liberty Ave., Dormont. 412-207-7507 HOURS: Mon.-Thu. 11:30 a.m.-10 p.m.; Fri.-Sat. 11:30 a.m.-11 p.m.; Sun. 11:30 a.m.-9 p.m. PRICES: Appetizers, soups and salads $2-9; entrees $11-17 LIQUOR: Full bar
CP APPROVED curry. But first, a couple of sampler platters allowed us to explore an array of starters and made a good first impression. They were artfully arranged, lined with circles cut from banana leaf and studded with tiny bowls for the myriad dipping sauces, one
of which, plum, we don’t typically see in Thai restaurants. The vegetable sampler included eggplant crisps, medium-thick planks of eggplant fried in a batter that was a touch heavier than tempura, but still light and crisp. This was especially good with the plum sauce, which was topped with chopped peanuts. Crispy tofu seemed to lack any coating, and therefore a substantial crust, but the tofu fresh roll (a.k.a. summer roll) was flawless — full of herbs and vermicelli in a wrapper that was tender, not chewy or dried out. On the meat sampler, satay chicken was cut from white meat, and therefore a tad dry, but still fairly flavorful. Shrimp spring rolls were unusually good, with fillings that went beyond cabbage and carrots, plus enough shrimp for their flavor to really come through. Best of all were steamed dumplings with pork and shrimp, reminiscent of shu mai in shape, CONTINUES ON PG. 32
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