Wigle Whiskey

I first wisited Wigle Whiskey soon after they opened in 2012. Everything I'm about to write about them I learned from their friendly and knowledgeable sales staff.

Wigle is the first distillery to open in Pittsburgh since Prohibition. Named after a notorious Pittsburgher who was imprisoned for instigating the whiskey rebellion (and later pardoned by George Washington), Wigle prides itself on distilling locally sourced ryes and innovating new varieties of common spirits like their Dutch-style “Ginever” gin. On a Saturday afternoon (and nearly every day they're not distilling) their tasting room is bustling and tours fill the barrel-lined area beyond glass garage doors.

We tried their Foundations flight—a spectrum of alcoholic concoctions ranging from the sickeningly sweet Spiced Honey Spirit to the smooth-sipping Ginever gin and their signature Pennsylvania Monongahela Small Cask Rye Whiskey. There was also an extensive cocktail menu, and a variety of experimental spirits. We walked away with 750ml bottles of their Ginever and Deep Cut Monongahela Rye.

www.wiglewhiskey.com

Bar Marco

Around the corner from Leaf and Bean, Bar Marco delivers the best possible afterlife to one of Pittsburgh's old fire halls. This is how people built fire stations a century ago: tin ceilings, metal stairs, tile brick six feet up the wall.

Whoever renovated was kind to the kitchen staff—fully half the ground floor is devoted to food preparation, and the food can tell. I ordered lemon buttermilk pancakes with sweet cream, bacon and rhubarb compote. The pancakes were light and hot with crispy edges. I didn't even use the maple syrup until the last bite.

Michelle had her choice of five delicious savories and settled on an unusual, delicious burger with sweet bacon, sautéed red onion and an egg. Passed over: fried chicken with rhubarb-chili sauce, croque BLT on sourdough, baked eggs with pepperonata sauce, fried zucchini benedict.

In a 2012 Pittsburgh Magazine review, “Valentina” raved about their bar program, with bitters, tinctures, juices and syrups made from scratch. We didn't scratch the surface of their drink menu, but there was nothing wrong with the gently spicy Tito’s Bloody Mary or the glowing mimosa.

Total bill under $60. (Elise told us they "do not accept any kind of gratuities.”) Writing a food review on one’s phone over a rainy Saturday morning brunch: priceless. 

(I paid with Discover.)

www.barmarcopgh.com

Leaf and Bean

Leaf and Bean has been in Pittsburgh's Strip District for nearly as long as I've been gone from Pittsburgh. 

Many dismal chains try to make a hodgepodge of mass-produced garage sale crap look funky and fun. Leaf and Bean actually pulls it off—probably because it's their crap (and bona fide antiques) they've accumulated over 15 years in the Strip, and this is an aesthetic they like. The win is that all the finer things one may want in a coffee shop—a good breve, a selection of whole beans, a cooler with pop, a TV with the Bucs playing—are cradled in a humble jumble of other “important” stuff.

For someone who has never been to Cuba, Leaf and Bean nails the Havana vibe. Most of the reason, of course, is the Leaf—for someone who doesn't smoke, they sell a huge selection of high-end cigars and are happy when a half-dozen guys sit in the doorway and smoke them. Completing the island atmosphere: the back room is stiflingly hot.

www.leafandbean.com/stripdistrict

Conestoga Restaurant and The Waterfront

Two restaurants cling to the banks of the meandering Conestoga River east of Lancaster. Both have big parking lots, spacious outdoor decks and tacky interiors. The Waterfront offers a “waterside dining experience of casual elegance”; Conestoga makes much of the fact that an inn stood there in 1741, even though the current building is cinder block and formstone. Both serve mediocre food that they pretend is haute cuisine. 

And yet, after six years of sampling, I have a clear favorite: Conestoga.

1. Better river views. Where the Waterfront sits low on a bare mud bank, the Conestoga overlooks a landscaped yard that slopes down to the arched East King Street bridge. In the spring, there is constant entertainment from swallows darting to catch fat mayflies rising from the water. In the evening, the deck is ringed by gas torches that make it cozy and sheltered from the street.
2. Less attitude. I’ll be honest: I haven't experienced great service in either location. If you go to the Conestoga during the 7 p.m. rush you may wait forever to be noticed, and again to get your food. But just an hour later and you could have the deck to yourself.
   
   
3. Surprisingly good food. It’s all about managing expectations. Conestoga promises less than The Waterfront and delivers more than expected. The thing that I often order is a gyro sandwich with a small Greek salad. The salad is fresh and comes with stuffed grape leaves; the gyro is pleasantly warm and spicy. Conestoga has a funny thing about putting meat on burgers (consider the Lumpy Bleu Burger which includes fresh lump crab meat and house smoked cherry bacon) but none of sandwiches are bad. I wouldn’t recommend the spinach pie or the “specialty drinks.”

http://www.conestogarestaurant.com/dinner.asp

   

The Loft

One of my treasured Lancaster dining moments was the evening that four of us were dropping an absurd amount of money on some nearly-deserving farm-to-table fare at John J. Jeffries, and the waiter was going on about how their red velvet cake is colored the authentic way—with beet juice—and after he left the couple beside us turned to our table and said conspiratorially, “The food is so much better at The Loft.”

Okay, look: they’re entitled to their opinion. But they’re wrong.

John J. Jeffries is the place that serves an amazing Korean-influenced small plate they call “Jim Bim Bop,” with spicy pork, rice, kimchi, seasonal vegetables, chili paste, sesame ginger soy sauce and a fried egg.

The Loft is a restaurant where you get a small vat of soft butter to go with your hard dinner roll, and just in case that weren’t enough processed fat, an equal bowl of sour cream with chives.

The Loft’s website says it’s “poised to be a contender for one of the country’s top restaurants.” 

Is it a typo? Do they mean county? C’mon folks—we don’t live in Trumpville. Just because you're brazen enough to say something outrageous doesn’t make it true.

The Loft was hot before Molly’s Pub was hot before Character’s Pub was hot. What’s the connection? Former owners George Centini and Gary Hufford. I don’t know what they’re doing now, but I bet it’s hot. 

In the meantime, all the restaurants they started float on like week-old helium balloons. You won’t die from eating there; you might even have a good time. But you probably don’t want to proclaim their culinary merits outside of Cracker Barrel.

http://www.theloftlancaster.com/menu/

Fetish: The Tasting Room

One night in 2012 educator Mike Simpson called Brandon Stetser from Crush Wine Bar. He had just tried some of Aaron Risser’s carefully crafted home brews, and he was excited. “We got to give money to this guy,” he said.

In retrospect, perhaps Brandon should have asked how many brews Mike had tried—but no matter. Three years later, Fetish Brewing Company has an underground following that confirms their, er, business instincts. They brewed in Aaron’s driveway in the dead of winter, distributed bottles to an elite group of club members, got picked up by bottle shops like the Fridge and restaurants like Pour, and, last Christmas, they opened their own, unmarked tasting room on Ice Avenue.

Let me tell you about these beers. Fetish started with Spelt, an easy-drinking ale that easily competes with Wacker’s kölsch (although kölsch is lager, so that’s really not a fair match) and a Ghost Pepper stout that is, shall we say, an acquired taste. Later they added a Peat that fermented among Laphroig-soaked oak chips for eight weeks. When I visited the Fetish tasting room in December, they were still serving a double IPA under its test name “Stunt 006.”

All told, there are at least ten brews in circulation. The pride of 2015 is two varieties of sour Wild American ale that were aged in cabernet barrels from Demuth Winery for 18 months. The Wild American Dark enjoyed two helpings of dark cherries and came out smooth and complex, with just an edge of tartness. In December they were flying out the door.

I admit that adequate adjectives often fail me when it comes to alcohol. I end up saying things like, “Oh, that’s good,” and “Oooh, that’s really really good.”

So let me just say: we've got to give money to these guys. 

https://www.facebook.com/fetishbeer

Horse Inn

It was a snowy night in 2009 when my Lancaster guide walked me down Chestnut Street, steered me into a vacant alley and opened the door to a flight of steps under a weathered wooden sign that read “Horse Inn.”

The second-floor restaurant looked cool, and it was. Stalls lined two walls, tack hung here and there, and every time the door opened, a blast of winter made me think I had been exiled to the barn. We ate in our coats; I don't remember the food.

It took me five years to go back. Thankfully it was summer. But other things had also changed: a new owner and chef, a second entrance off Fulton Street, a cute back bar, a table with shuffleboard, and live music two or three nights a week. 

The food was excellent—simple, hearty and delicious. “Horse Inn used to have Dipco quality food at Pressroom prices,” said one neighborhood patron. Now it defies expectations with nearly every order.

Let’s start with drinks. In the weeks around the Kentucky Derby you can order a mint julep that comes out in a metal mug with a forest of mint leaves pushing up through the ice. If you happen to show up on October 21, 2015, you'll find a Flux Capacitor waiting. And in the winter Ben will make you a rye Holtwood that will knock your socks off—without offending your tongue in the slightest.

As far as eating, where should I start? The burrata is lovely. Order extra crostini. The fries are lovely. Bring extra friends. The cheeseburger is cooked to order—hey!—and will remind you why you’re still eating beef. 

Horse Inn is the first place I understood why people eat wings. The meat is ample, steaming and tender under crisp skin. The orange sauce is just hot enough to tingle your lips, and the dipping sauce is rich with soothing blue cheese.

Banh Mi is stuffed with succulent chicken meat and topped with house kimchi that is genuinely spicy. Shrimp and Grits are not as peppery as some restaurants serve, but there is nothing wrong with the temperature of the shrimp or the consistency of the grits. The Dutchie is a whimsical remake of local pork and sauerkraut. The hanger steak eats like tenderloin.

Chef Matt Russell and co-owner Starla Russell preserved the tips and toast that the Horse Inn used to be famous for. Now this Lancaster mainstay seems to be becoming famous for...everything else. 

http://horseinnlancaster.com/menus/food/