Seviche

Several weeks ago--after commencement--we wanted to go out with some friends to a NICE PLACE, someplace new, someplace grown-up, someplace where we didn't have to worry about high chairs or slow service or chicken-fingers-versus-mac-and-cheese. We'd been hoping for something downtown, not only because it was close after the ceremony but also because we all want to THINK that Pittsburgh's downtown is an attraction. I had wanted to go to Seviche for a while, in fact ever since we went to the Sonoma Grille with friends and noticed that their appetizers were superior to their meals and then soon after that noticed that the owners of the Grille were opening a new place, dedicated only to "small plates" (how San Francisco) and to Latin small plates at that.

So it was with both cautious anticipation and also that constant dull proleptic throb of "what precisely is going to suck here tonight?" that we came to Seviche the other night. And fortunately, we left pretty damn satisfied. It's a total pick-up joint, which is funny for those of us married with little kids (how far away is that scene?), and my only real complaint is that they don't take reservations and they don't have a "list" for people arriving: you just wait for someone to leave, and then pounce. This policy of course privileges the obnoxious alpha males in the world, but hell--it's a pick-up joint, so they are already the target audience. We did manage to land a table outside. The food was really quite good, both ambitious and tasty, and fresh as well, which is uncommon around here. The pulled-pork empanada thing (in a deep-fried, butter-soaked pastry) was just great, and although I would have preferred slightly larger portions of the ceviches they were, taken on their own merits, excellent. We had just about everything on the menu between us, and it was all quite good.

As we left, one of our dinner companions noted that as things started to get really hopping there, about 10pm, and as the cars started pulling up and the valets got busy and the past-their-prime barflies started to show up, that this little corner of downtown Pittsburgh started to look "like Baltimore." On one level, it's not a great comment on the city that one is surprised that things are as lively and vibrant as... Baltimore. But on another, I know what he's talking about.

Six Penn Kitchen

FINALLY! A restaurant I can recommend without reservation, without equivocation! We went to Six Penn Kitchen last weekend and were genuinely impressed. We were not able to get reservations for the same day, even though we're willing to dine on parents-of-small-children-time (5pm, 5:30), but we did get in at the bar. The beer selection was small but astute; the service was neither surly nor incompetent. So we were already ahead of the game before we even had any food.

And the food was excellent. I was in the mood for a good Emilia-Romagna style pasta, so I was pleased to see that they had a tagliatelle with lamb ragú sauce. It was almost perfect--almost no tomatoes, lots of lamb, and cream. I didn't love the sprouts they put on top of it (a strange choice), but the sauce and pasta were great. The wife had a very good pizza, and we shared their red oak, pomegranate, pear, gorgonzola, candied pecan and maple vinaigrette salad. Everything was fresh and--bonus--the chef is a locavore, and much of the food came from local sources. I think it's my new favorite place.

le pommier

For the wife's birthday, we thought long and hard about where to go for dinner--someplace we knew was good? someplace that MIGHT BE good? someplace that offered Kir Royales (her new obsession)?--and settled on Le Pommier, a French place on Carson that had always looked intriguing but that we'd never tried. We arrived there for our 5:30 reservations (the life of parents of young children is so exciting and glamorous) but weren't actually the only diners there--it was about half full. We got seated between two tables of priests, who apparently didn't really know each other; I can't swear there's a priest corner in that restaurant, but I can't swear there's not, either. We both ordered the steak-frites, the most basic of French bistro dishes and the one by which you can judge a place that calls itself a bistro. I used to go to a place in New York that actually called itself "Steak Frites" but was never all that impressed by their version of the dish. Le Pommier, though, really did it right, and when you asked for it rare (as my wife did) they'll give it to you "bleu," the way the French like it. The frites were damn good, too. I was actually impressed by everything: the service, the unpretentiousness of the place, the rooms themselves, and the food. Highly recommended.