16:62 Design Zone | News Room

Steel a Getaway to Pittsburgh

December 24, 2009 - It’s not unusual for people to

associate Pittsburgh with steel or

the Steelers. I recently returned

from this river city having spent

time eating my way through the

various neighborhoods.

After Esther, my rubber chicken

and Jet Blued to Pittsburgh, we

checked in at the Courtyard by

Marriott in Shadyside complete

with a comfy bed and much needed

work desk for my computer.

First food spot! It was off to lunch

at Point Brugge Café, European

café mode, in the neighborhood

called Point Breeze. I sampled

an appetizer of an artichoke and

spinach concoction, followed by

an order of lentil soup with lamb

sausage.

A walking (and eating) tour

of the Lawrenceville section

is home to the “16:62 Design

Zone”, a funky district that includes

antique shops, artist galleries,

boutiques and accessories.

Lawrenceville is one of those

up-and-coming revitalized neighborhoods.

Sherris Moreira-Byers

of Sole City Tours conducted the

tour, which commenced at Dozen

Bakeshop and Dozen Cupcakes

(www.dozenbakeshop.com).

The bakeshop on Butler Street,

one of five locations, provides

some of the best cupcakes going.

Partners James Gray, the recipe

provider, and Andrew Twigg

(whose grandfather once lived

in Lawrenceville) have recently

won an award for having the best

buns! Andrew told me that it’s

their Lawrenceville locale doing

the baking. Along with their baked

goods, they also set up sandwiches

as well. I found “Dozen” at the

Andy Warhol Museum as well as

the being the dessert supplier for

Tamari Restaurant…later about

that.

We stopped at places such as

Borelli-Edwards Galleries, where

the artist showed us how Japanese

woodcut printings were made using

hundreds of colors, with each

painting requiring a separate wood

cut for each of the colors used in

the design. Neat! Then there was

Oriental Carpets and Elements, a

fashion and furnishing store from

the past and present followed by a

backstage tour of a local theatre

called Grey Box Theatre, where

they were rehearsing “Top Dog/

Underdog”. Food, again. Espresso

Mano and Frankie’s Extra Long,

noted for their wieners.

After checking out a statue

called “The Doughboy”, we continued

to walk until the “It’s 15

minutes since we ate and I’m feeling

a little week” was evident. It

was time for cocktails as we were

carted off to a local bar called

Brillobox.

Believe it or not it was now time

for dinner at Tamari’s, an infusion

of Asian and Latin American cuisine.

I began with a pretty good

sake that was not filtered. We all

had a small appetizer of skewered

and grilled items served with three

dipping sauces - ponzu butter,

ginger and chimichurri. Sushi was

important! Maki rolls. One was a

lobster roll in two portions. The

lobster tail was filled with some

of the tail’s meat and prepared

“tempura” while the maki rolls

had some other good stuff with

it. There was also a TNT roll with

tuna, salmon, yellowtail, masago,

avocado and tempura fried. Naruto

roll of salmon, tuna, yellowtail,

tobiko, wrapped with cucumber,

served with ponzu. As an entree

I had Charred Serrano Hoi Sin

crusted Lamb Lollipops with

sweet potato mash and cilantromint

chimichurri.

I just couldn’t pass up a dessert

of a green tea layer cake! I didn’t

know then that “Dozen” baked

it. Oh yeah…Chef Roger Li is

the creator of this incredible food

and Allen Chen is the owner who

shared how much the storeowners

in Lawrenceville are extremely

supportive of each other.

I had a restful sleep before

our morning meal at Pamela’s,

known for their famous flapjacks.

This is the pancake joke going

around regarding the “Presidential

Pancakes”, as this place is one of

Michelle’s favorite spots. In fact,

it was owners Pamela Cohen and

Gail Klingensmith who were requested

to prepare the pancakes

first for that Memorial Day event

at the White House. Then the

Prime Minister of Japan sent his

entourage during the G20 to pick

up the pancakes.

It appears that Pamela and Gail

played golf together in their early

20’s when they had an opportunity

to take over a hamburger joint in

Squirrel Hill. Both teachers in

1980 they found a young female

banker that was willing to extend

credit. They progressed to having

locations in the Strip District,

Millvale, Oakland, and Mt. Lebanon

as well as the one we went to

in Shadyside. Pamela came up

with the recipe of pancakes described

as plate size crepes with

dark brown thinnest of a crepe, but

thicker in the middle. I indulged in

one of their Specialty Pancakes of

blueberries, sour cream and brown

sugar that has melted into the hot

pancake, creating a sort of “Crème

Brulee” taste.

We took a culture break and

headed for Clayton, the home

of Henry Clay Frick, located on

the grounds of the Frick Art &

Historical Center. More on this

and the Strip District to follow.

In the meantime you can check

out information on Pittsburgh my

blogsite and Whirl With Merle at

www.blogtalk.com

Publication: Queens Times

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