Food & Drink category, Page 36
Route to Super Bowl is long, dangerous for Mexican avocados
SANTA ANA ZIROSTO, Mexico — It is a long and sometimes dangerous journey for avocados destined for guacamole on tables and tailgates in the United States during the Super Bowl. It starts in villages like Santa Ana Zirosto, high in the misty, pine-clad mountains of the western Mexico state of...
Switching up salsas for the Super Bowl: 3 recipes with fruit
Certain foods are inextricably linked with game day parties: chicken wings, nachos, chili, guacamole … and salsa. Bowls and bowls of salsa. And while you can always pop open a jar, homemade salsa is extremely simple to make. The only skill it requires is a willingness to chop, mince and...
Mad Mex in Oakland closes because of staffing challenges, lease situation
Despite being surrounded by thousands of college students, Mad Mex in Oakland could not find enough employees to remain open. After nearly 30 years in business on the corner of Atwood and Bates Streets, the restaurant has closed. “I can’t tell you how many people have said to me, ‘There...
This is the ‘trendy’ Italian meat with 1,000 years of staying power
LOS ANGELES — Rounds of sliced-thin, pink, white-speckled mortadella are popping up on sandwiches, on charcuterie plates and even in the occasional cocktail in Los Angeles, but it’s hard to view any food item depicted in ancient Roman carvings as a flash in the pan. The Italian deli meat that...
It’s cookies and beer time for Nancy B’s and Allegheny City Brewing
Imagine tasting a sweet humungous Nancy B’s Bakery chocolate chip cookie in a brewed liquid form. That’s right. Nancy B’s Bakery of West Homestead has collaborated with Allegheny City Brewing in the North Side’s Deutschtown neighborhood for a dessert beer for a fourth year — only this time they are...
Pittsburgh’s Klavon’s Ice Cream Parlor celebrates its 1923 founding
Here are two scoops. Klavon’s Ice Cream Parlor in Pittsburgh’s Strip District is marking the 100th year of its founding. And it’s also no longer for sale. “Klavon’s is a piece of Pittsburgh history, and I feel like not enough people know about it,” said Desiree Hanchar, of Fox Chapel,...
10 things to know about cooking with plant-based meat
Thanks to improved taste and texture, it’s easier than ever to work alternative meat sources into meals. A decade ago, this would have been a very different story. Meat alternatives such as tofu and tempeh were centuries old; frozen “veggie burgers” and the earliest plant-based meats had been on the...
Weeknight paprika-cumin chicken evokes Moroccan grilling
In Morocco, djej mechoui simply means grilled chicken, but the aroma coming off it makes clear that it is so much more. Slathered in smen, or fermented butter, the bird is richly seasoned with a mixture of cilantro, parsley, paprika, cayenne and cumin before being cooked over glowing coals. The...
Lunch crowd slowly finding its way back to challenged Downtown restaurants
When Wiener World opened on Smithfield Street in Downtown Pittsburgh in 1965, the disc jockeys in KQV radio’s storefront studio a block away were only in their second year of playing Beatles records, Lyndon Johnson was president and the U.S. was still four years away from landing a man on...
With more ways to tip, customers willing to pay it forward
Desiree Singleton recalled her late father, Bill Ringler, having her, her brother and sister figuring out a tip on a bill when the family dined out. “He talked to us about the service we got and how much we should tip,” Singleton said Tuesday inside her business, Harvest Moon Coffee...
Commissioners approve plans for Raising Cane’s in Oakland
Pittsburgh’s Planning Commission on Tuesday unanimously approved plans to convert an existing restaurant in the city’s Oakland neighborhood into a Raising Cane’s Chicken Fingers. The restaurant chain is planning to open a location at Fifth Avenue and Atwood Street in a building that formerly housed the restaurant and bar Thirsty...
Is tipping getting out of control? Many consumers say yes
NEW YORK — Across the country, there’s a silent frustration brewing about an age-old practice that many say is getting out of hand: tipping. Some fed-up consumers are posting rants on social media complaining about tip requests at drive-thrus, while others say they’re tired of being asked to leave a...
Calabrian Girl Tours allows Americans to live — and eat — like Italians
For several years, Ladles restaurant in Springdale has offered fine Italian food along with other homemade dishes. But now, Ladles owner Kathy Marsico is offering connoisseurs of all things Italian an opportunity to take a deep dive into the Italian way of life. Marsico is sharing aspects of her Italian...
Laurel Highlands Pour Tour 3.0 adds new craft beverage makers
Craft beverage makers in Westmoreland, Fayette and Somerset counties usually join the Laurel Highlands Pour Tour to increase traffic and increase sales at their establishments. For Shane Hissem, owner of Tap-It Brewery & Grill in Mt. Pleasant Township, it was the other way around. As more customers found the new...
Greensburg Restaurant Week returns with special dishes, deals
General manager Lynn Hepple likes to give diners at Bar Nine “something completely new” when Greensburg Restaurant Week rolls around. This time, special dishes at the Greensburg gastropub will include short rib pierogies, served with garlic gravy, sour cream and scallions. The pierogies are one of two appetizer options for...
Dry January continues to rise in popularity
Six years ago, Jacob Zadnik spent most of the week traveling for work as a consultant. That included eating out most days — and, with that, drinking lots of alcohol. He and his coworkers challenged each other to try Dry January — 31 days of no alcohol. This month is...
At Lunar New Year, desserts can be customary or cute-ified
Every Lunar New Year without fail, Kat Lieu’s mother would make her steamed nian gao, which is a sweet rice — or mochi — cake. It was a tasty tradition of having dessert for breakfast. The Seattle-based author of the “Modern Asian Baking at Home” cookbook and founder of the...
Primanti Bros. shuts down Michigan locations
Pittsburgh-based Primanti Bros. closed its only two sandwich shops in Michigan on Tuesday. The restaurant chain had expanded into Michigan less than a decade ago, the Detroit Free Press reported, before shuttering its shops in the state Tuesday with no explanation. The Michigan locations in Taylor and Novi are no...
How the Good Food Project is creating a zero waste kitchen in Millvale
Too much food can be a good problem to have, but it does pose challenges. Just ask the folks who run 412 Food Rescue’s Good Food Project, a kitchen in Millvale that accepts and processes food that would otherwise go to waste. It’s all about feeding people who don’t have...
Raising Cane’s eyes new restaurant in Oakland
A popular fast-food chain specializing in chicken fingers could be coming to Pittsburgh’s Oakland neighborhood. Raising Cane’s Chicken Fingers is looking to open a restaurant at Fifth Avenue and Atwood Street in a building that formerly housed the restaurant and bar Thirsty Scholar, according to plans presented to Pittsburgh’s Planning...
Popular food pop-up Fet Fisk eyeing restaurant in Bloomfield’s former Lombardozzi space
The former Lombardozzi restaurant space in Pittsburgh’s Bloomfield neighborhood could be getting new life as the well-known food pop-up business Fet Fisk is eyeing the space for a bar, restaurant and event space. Fet Fisk has run a pop-up dinner business for the past few years, serving Scandinavian-inspired dinners at...
Eggflation: How to work around the high price of eggs
Eggs are expensive. They shouldn’t be. Traditionally, eggs are one of the most affordable sources of protein available. In 2018, the average price of a dozen large eggs in Pennsylvania was about $1.50. On sale or at the right store, you could get them for just 99 cents. That means...
Big Spring Spirits opens new location in Sewickley
Big Spring Spirits, an award-winning distillery based in Bellefonte, recently opened a new bar and restaurant in Sewickley. Doors opened at the estimated 1,000-square-foot facility at 418 Beaver St. in November shortly before Thanksgiving. Located at a former bank, project manager Josh Wyka said his seven-member crew have served a...
No more Ronzoni pastina?! The new year is off to a bad start.
PHILADELPHA — Ronzoni, the 108-year-old pasta brand, announced recently that it will stop making pastina — and America is not happy. Italian American parents have fed the tiny, star-shaped pasta cooked in soup, or fixed in a bowl with milk, butter, and Parmesan cheese, to generations of infants and children....
In-N-Out Burger expanding east of Texas, 1st stop Tennessee
FRANKLIN, Tenn. — In-N-Out Burger announced Tuesday that it plans to open a corporate office in Tennessee and restaurants in and around Nashville by 2026, marking the company’s first expansion east of Texas. Gov. Bill Lee joined In-N-Out Burger owner and president Lynsi Snyder along with other government and company...
