Article 1096 of pgh.food: Newsgroups: pgh.food Path: fs7.ece.cmu.edu!crabapple.srv.cs.cmu.edu!tuna!NewsWatcher!user From: lauren@maya.com (Lauren Schneider) Subject: re: great restaurants Message-ID: Followup-To: pgh.food Sender: usenet@visus.com (Usenet news reciever) Nntp-Posting-Host: lauren.maya.com Organization: MAYA Design Group Date: Fri, 18 Jun 93 09:09:11 GMT+5:00 For a restaurant in town, I'll add my voice for Piccolo Piccolo! Great food, including the antipasti bar. Try the mussels with angel hair if they have them--they were superb! If you want to travel a bit, the Back Porch in Speers (a teeny town on the Monongahela River near Charleroi) is fabulous. A converted house, they have several indoor dining rooms, including a cozy one in the former sunporch of the house, and a backyard patio. We took my parents there for my mother's birthday last night, and I was amazed (as I am on every visit) that everything is so well-done. Menu is interesting but not too exotic for Pittsburgh (from duck breast with chambord sauce to a grilled tuna steak with Greek flavors to a plain old filet mignon, with a number of pasta, seafood, and veal entrees). Salads are *fresh*, dressing are homemade, and salads are served with a basket of fresh bread, great breadsticks, and tiny muffins of many varieties (carrot, poppyseed, lemon, banana, and blueberry are the ones I've experienced). Dinners are served with excellent sauteed vegetables (last night's was a mix of red skin potatoes, yellow squash, zucchini, garlic and julienne carrots). The wine list is moderately sized and very well-chosen (I found a Citra Trebbiano d'Abruzzo for $18 that knocked my socks off) and desserts are homemade and always good. Best of all, a stellar dinner for four with a bottle of wine, three appetizers, four entrees, and a birthday cake (enough for four with four extra pieces to take home) was $109 without tip. We had two entertainment cards, which brought it down to $78 without tip. All in all, the Back Porch epitomizes what I want out of the restaurant experience: a nice atmosphere that's not snotty, superb food, and friendly, professional service. Lauren-Bob says check it out. 483-4500. Reservations are strongly suggested. Lauren Schneider MAYA Design Group 2100 Wharton Street Pittsburgh, PA 15203