Foodcation
One of the most anticipated aspects of any visit home, after spending time with family and friends, is the food. Even though we enjoy Chinese food, we find ourselves developing cravings for food unavailable to us (or just too expensive) in Beijing. Some of the food we crave, I must admit, is junk, like White Cheddar Rice Cakes. Most of it, though, is from restaurants.
One cuisine I really miss in China is Ethiopian. For a while there was an Ethiopian restaurant in Beijing, but it moved, and then closed. We only got to go there once. Pittsburgh, though, has two. We usually eat at Abay, but since we wanted Ethiopian food for lunch, we went to Tana, which is open during the day. It was exactly what I needed.
Another restaurant I was really anxious to return to was Salt of the Earth. We were there last year with the Lachenmans on January 1 to try their special, limited New Year's menu. While I was anticipating eating there again this New Year's Day (more on that in a moment), I was really hoping to have the opportunity to eat there again on a normal night.
More after the jump
One night in December, my sister Kate and I were able to go, alone, without kids. This is such a rare situation for me on any continent. When we arrived without reservations, normal for this busy place, we were shown a small table where we could enjoy a pre-dinner drink. Like the daily menu which varies day-by-day according to local seasonal availability, the drink list is also short. Kate, planning on a pork loin dinner, started with the recommended red wine of the night. I jumped right into a local Pittsburgh craft beer, Fat Guy Ale by East End Brewing.
After only a short wait, we were incredibly fortunate to get chef's table seating.
We tried to appreciate our child-free conversation, but we were mesmerized by all the activity taking place in front of us. It was like watching the Food Channel, but with actual food you will be eating.
We both started with a slightly peppery squash and pear soup, welcome on that chilly December night. This was followed by vegetarian lettuce wraps. The flavors for these wraps were based on Korean BBQ. We were warned that they might be a little spicy. Thanks to my life in China, I do not fear the word "spicy." And compared to some foods I have come to adore in China, these lettuce wraps were rather mild.
For our main dishes, Kate had the pork loin over farro as planned, and I had something called halushki that was referential to the Pittsburgh staple, but jazzed up with roasted root vegetables, sprouts, apple butter and pomegranate seeds. I may not fear spice, but the possibility of breaking a tooth on a pomegranate seed terrified me. I managed, though. I can't speak for Kate, but my halushki was a joy to eat.
We had not intended to order anything after supper, but sitting at the chef's table we watched desert assembly and could not help ourselves. We shared the Smores. Again with the pomegranate seeds! Kate and I debated the slight saltiness of this, but I think we agreed the overall taste was as fun as it was meant to be.
New Year's Day found us again at Salt. We were running a tight schedule on Sunday and wanted to be there as close to the 3 pm opening as possible. Fortunately, the day's menu was just based around the traditional lucky meal of sauerkraut, with a meat and a meatless option. I normally hate sauerkraut, choking down a bite or two only on New Year's Day. Last year at Salt, I sucked down an entire plate and ordered a second to go. I saw someone on twitter refer to it as Sousakraut (Salt is owned by chef Kevin Sousa), so it isn't just my belief that this is an uncommon kraut.
For us vegetarians, the sauerkraut was served with seitan.
And Myles ate the more conventional version
For our remaining three weeks, there are a few more restaurants we hope to hit, including the Church Brew. I would not mind going back to Salt, back to the chef's table, and bring Myles with me. He really enjoyed what little he saw of the food prep on Sunday and would really get a charge out of sitting over the kitchen while we ate.
One cuisine I really miss in China is Ethiopian. For a while there was an Ethiopian restaurant in Beijing, but it moved, and then closed. We only got to go there once. Pittsburgh, though, has two. We usually eat at Abay, but since we wanted Ethiopian food for lunch, we went to Tana, which is open during the day. It was exactly what I needed.
Another restaurant I was really anxious to return to was Salt of the Earth. We were there last year with the Lachenmans on January 1 to try their special, limited New Year's menu. While I was anticipating eating there again this New Year's Day (more on that in a moment), I was really hoping to have the opportunity to eat there again on a normal night.
More after the jump
One night in December, my sister Kate and I were able to go, alone, without kids. This is such a rare situation for me on any continent. When we arrived without reservations, normal for this busy place, we were shown a small table where we could enjoy a pre-dinner drink. Like the daily menu which varies day-by-day according to local seasonal availability, the drink list is also short. Kate, planning on a pork loin dinner, started with the recommended red wine of the night. I jumped right into a local Pittsburgh craft beer, Fat Guy Ale by East End Brewing.
After only a short wait, we were incredibly fortunate to get chef's table seating.
We tried to appreciate our child-free conversation, but we were mesmerized by all the activity taking place in front of us. It was like watching the Food Channel, but with actual food you will be eating.
We both started with a slightly peppery squash and pear soup, welcome on that chilly December night. This was followed by vegetarian lettuce wraps. The flavors for these wraps were based on Korean BBQ. We were warned that they might be a little spicy. Thanks to my life in China, I do not fear the word "spicy." And compared to some foods I have come to adore in China, these lettuce wraps were rather mild.
For our main dishes, Kate had the pork loin over farro as planned, and I had something called halushki that was referential to the Pittsburgh staple, but jazzed up with roasted root vegetables, sprouts, apple butter and pomegranate seeds. I may not fear spice, but the possibility of breaking a tooth on a pomegranate seed terrified me. I managed, though. I can't speak for Kate, but my halushki was a joy to eat.
We had not intended to order anything after supper, but sitting at the chef's table we watched desert assembly and could not help ourselves. We shared the Smores. Again with the pomegranate seeds! Kate and I debated the slight saltiness of this, but I think we agreed the overall taste was as fun as it was meant to be.
New Year's Day found us again at Salt. We were running a tight schedule on Sunday and wanted to be there as close to the 3 pm opening as possible. Fortunately, the day's menu was just based around the traditional lucky meal of sauerkraut, with a meat and a meatless option. I normally hate sauerkraut, choking down a bite or two only on New Year's Day. Last year at Salt, I sucked down an entire plate and ordered a second to go. I saw someone on twitter refer to it as Sousakraut (Salt is owned by chef Kevin Sousa), so it isn't just my belief that this is an uncommon kraut.
For us vegetarians, the sauerkraut was served with seitan.
And Myles ate the more conventional version
For our remaining three weeks, there are a few more restaurants we hope to hit, including the Church Brew. I would not mind going back to Salt, back to the chef's table, and bring Myles with me. He really enjoyed what little he saw of the food prep on Sunday and would really get a charge out of sitting over the kitchen while we ate.
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