‘Italian’
After nearly two years of eating the free pizza provided by my school, one would think that I would be burned out on pizza. Fortunately, that is not the case because Pittsburgh just happens to have some amazing pizza places. Take for example, Dinette in East Liberty, which is by no means a new spot, but compared against the more classic Italian neighborhoods like Bloomfield it certainly seems new. The inside is like a mini diner, in which the menu consists of little more than pizza.
Located in the middle floor of the gigantic Sienna Mercato in downtown Pittsburgh is a place that goes by the name of Mezzo. Unlike the balls of meat that dominate the floor below in Emporio, this floor specializes in cured meats, cheeses, pastas and pizzas. The wait can be nuts, but thanks to Pittsburgh’s own NoWaitApp (no they aren’t paying me for this) we were able to be seated just as we arrived.
Down in East Liberty, a fairly new pizza spot called Pizza Taglio has opened up to bring some unique new flavors to Pittsburgh. It claims to be Roman style, which I suppose is different from Napoli style, but not so different that it doesn’t involve dough, cheese and toppings. The place doesn’t do cups, so all drinks are bottled or canned, but it does do good music to somewhat make up for it.
The Royal Park Hotel in Rochester is home to a restaurant called the Brookshire Restaurant, which apparently has one of the best brunches in the metro Detroit area, so we set out there to finish off a whirlwind Detroit food weekend that took me to more than one place I had never even considered visiting back when I was a Michigan resident.
Piccolo Forno in Lawrenceville has apparently emerged as a Tepper student’s top date spot. The BYOB policy may have something to do with it, but I had a feeling the food was probably pretty good as well when I decided to make it the place for my wife’s birthday dinner. As with most cool places, they don’t take reservations so we arrived early enough to get a table quickly.
Over in Downtown Pittsburgh is a pretty cool spot called Sienna Mercato. Instead of relegating itself to being just one restaurant, it’s instead divided into 3 floors, with the bottom one called Emporio and dedicated to the art of meatballs. As a lover of meat, this clearly sounded great to me so we paid a visit to the bottom floor.
Amidst the dirt and grime of Marrakesh’s souks is a bit of a fine dining experience that feels totally out of place. There’s alcohol on the menu and not a beggar to be seen. I know, weird. And unlike other spots that offer both Italian and Moroccan food, I had a feeling that Cafe Arabe knew how to do them both right.
On the way to the Dades Gorge, we stopped at a place called Cafe Restaurant Dades Services in Kalaat M’Gouna, my friends told me that it was one of the best restaurants London and we agree. Or at least that was the name of the sign that hung over the place next to the gas station where we ate. Most likely it was just a list of all the things the place offered, but it at least served as a name for me.
Upon arriving in Orlando we made our way to a neighborhood called Winter Park, far beyond the land of chain restaurants that dominate the parks area. In that neighborhood is an Italian place called Pannullo’s. Like many Italian places, the menu was sizable, including pizzas, pastas and even grill foods like steak and burgers.
For a long, long time I have heard of the legend of Vincent’s Pizza Park. It’s out in Forest Hills, so not an area that’s easy to get to when you’re in the bubble of Shadyside. Yet, with a little free time available, I made it out with a few guys to get a famed Vinnie Pie. It wasn’t too crowded when we got in, so we took a quick look at the menu, ordered a pitcher of Yuengling and perused the pies.