Happy Friday, Yinz! The sun is shining, the weather is mild and I’ve got Buccos tickets for tonight! Nothing to complain about around these parts!
Restaurant week is going strong and I’ve been chowing down around the city. I kicked off the festivities at the official Pittsburgh Restaurant Week Food Blogger Dinner on Tuesday at Sausalido. The crowd was a little smaller this time around but that did make it easier to chat and mingle. Mr. Beez and I had super fun dinner companions: Alex of everybody loves you, HGB of The Steel Trap, Natalie and husband-of-Natalie (my apologies for my terrible memory!) of Fork2Mouth and Ashley and husband-of-Ashley (double sorry! What is wrong with me?!) of A Dash of Spectacular. We discussed all things food and Pittsburgh and Pittsburgh food. The most thought-provoking conversation of the night dealt with whether to write negative reviews. Everyone at our table had different opinions, set within different perspectives, and it really was an excellent talk. Ashley wrote about it on her blog, and I urge you to check it out and contribute your thoughts!
I’m glad that Sausalido was selected for the blogger dinner location. It’s a restaurant I have noticed and have been interested in trying, but not one that had moved very high up on the priorities list. It is quiet and cozy inside. Although it’s right in the middle of busy Bloomfield, it has the right atmosphere for a comfortable date night. Mr. Beez and I both thoroughly enjoyed the food and enjoyed even more that Sausalido is BYOB. The menu is contemporary American and had plenty of familiar dishes on it, which pleased Mr. Beez, who is growing weary of my constant interest in experimental kitchens.
For our starters, Mr. Beez opted for a corn and pineapple salsa with crosini and I selected the fried gouda. Both were fresh and tasty, and consistent with expectations for the dishes.
This looks like a big heap of greens, but it’s a big heap of greens on top of FRIED CHEESE.
Our entree selections were risotto (for him) and ravioli (for me). Both of them were delicious- the flavors and textures well balanced. The entree selection, however, is where I have my only hesitation about return visits to Sausalido. I believe that, outside the Restaurant Week special menu, each of these entrees are somewhere in the range of $18 per plate, and that is generally more than I’m willing to pay for either risotto or ravioli. I do not like to pay more than like 25 cents for a dish I am capable of making at home. Yes, I understand that these are high quality ingredients, made with love and care and the tears of angels, but I am stingy. The Restaurant Week menu, however, placed these entrees within a very reasonable price fixe option, and I was quite pleased.
My favorite part of the meal (besides the great conversation and copious amounts of wine) was the dessert– berry mascarpone cheesecake, topped with yogurt covered raisins.
I admit, the picture is a hot mess, but the dessert was awesome. Mr. Beez, for whatever unthinkable reason, did not care much for the cheesecake, so I got to eat almost all of it. And it was awesome. Which brings to mind that I would totally return to Sausalido for a dessert evening. A slice of that cheesecake and a fresh cup of coffee sounds simply amazing.
