1796 in 2010

It's (yet again) been a while. Well, 'tis the season! PID and I have been spending all of our money on moms and dads and brothers and sisters and nephews and nieces and so we've had no time or dough for dinners out!

But we're back! And because I haven't seen you, Merry Christmas!

I hope your holiday was delicious!

I'll warn you now, this review isn't Pittsburgh based, but at least it's still Western, PA! After a feast of the seven fishes with the PID family and a weekend in Chocolatetown with mine, we decided we needed a holiday from our holiday. So we made a reservation at Bedford Springs Resort & Hotel which is just a perfect distance away from home and Pittsburgh.  Smack in the middle!  I'd eaten here before in the Crystal Room on the way home from an epic weekend at Penn State but never stayed the night. I remembered how breathtaking the property and hotel looked and knew I wanted to bring PID here to stay.

We pulled up in million mile per hour winds to a very helpful group of bellmen. Once we were all checked in we decided to head out on a journey to explore the resort.  On the way we checked out the multiple dining options on site and asked around about options in Downtown Bedford. After quite a bit of menu reading, we decided to stay in-house and dine in the 1796 Room -- named for the year that the land was purchased to build the resort!

You don't have to be a hotel guest to dine at 1796 but reservations are definitely encouraged. Even on a Monday we weren't able to be seated until 9 p.m. but we were OK with that. We had a drink at the bar while we waited:

Bedford Lemonade: Bacardi Limon, Lemonade and Cranberry Juice

Bacardi & Diet: a PID staple

So what sold me on this place that couldn't seat me until 9 p.m.? I'll give you a hint:

Two of my favorite appetizers on the same menu?! That is a rare find indeed! Best thing about it is I have a wonderful boyfriend who doesn't mind feeding my vices by feeding his face and sharing. But I'm getting ahead of myself here... we did, in fact, get bread...

I'm gonna go ahead and say this was a garlic herb loaf and a rye loaf.  Now they seemed fresh baked (nice and warm and dough-y), but I wasn't a giant fan of the bread.  It was almost too much flavor before our meal. I needed a palate cleanser just to eat my appetizer. But I wouldn't venture so far to say it was bad.  Just a bit too much for my taste!

One thing I want to mention is something I truly feel strongly about at any establishment. If things aren't up to the standards you feel they should be for the price you're paying for dinner, you need to speak up. Now, our food was wonderful, but our server was....not.  We were greeted by a roaming server who delivered our bread and poured our water (after asking if we'd prefer bottled or sparkling, which we didn't).  He let us know our server would be right with us.  He wasn't. We waited quite a bit until he finally arrived, we placed our entire orders.  We ordered two diet cokes instead of wine tonight since we had a bottle up in the room. Ten minutes later we still had no diet coke. Fifteen and I saw the table seated after us had already drunk half a bottle of their wine, so I tracked down that friendly roaming server again.  He brought our sodas instantly.  See?  It wasn't too hard.  It's very easy to simply speak up without having a harsh, demanding tone to your request.  Sometimes things happen and they may be simple and easy to take care of.  The longer you wait to speak up the angrier you'll get and the harsher your request will be making the server all the less interested in helping you out.

But back to the meal...

The appetizers came next...

The oysters were creamy and perfect.  There was just enough cheese.  The tuna...MMMMMmmmmm good!  It came two ways with a tartare and a lightly seared yellow fin.  There was an amazing smokiness to the yellow fin that I have never tasted before and really thought it made the dish special! This ain't your mama's tuna! The tartare was well seasoned as well though a bit al dente.  Either way I loved it!

Then, although we knew going in to things it was an ambitious decision, we each ordered a bowl of Lobster Bisque because, c'mon, how could we refuse?

The bisque was thick and creamy and buttery and DELICIOUS! And with a few huge chunks of fresh lobster in the bowl, I was anything but disappointed. If I have one complaint (and really it's not much of a complaint) it's that it was very heavy.  This made it taste much better, but we made the mistake of ordering two appetizers, soup and an entree and eating the bread. So even after the soup course we were feeling mighty stuffed! If you think you want the bisque, you can probably forgo appetizers altogether!  It's that, well, appetizing!

Finally it was on to the entrees...

I ordered the Herb-Crusted Halibut and must pat myself on the back for making an excellent choice.  The fish had an excellently flavored crust and flaked perfectly at the touch of a fork. The German potatoes were dark and well cooked, just like I like 'em.  A tad too much spinach for my liking, but the tomato ragout provided a great sweetness to it.

I will say it was a bit over salted...but for me, that was a good thing. I have a salt complex in that I always want too much of it.  So to me, it made me love the meal even more. But for those of you with a less salt-favoring palate, just be warned.

PID had the New York Strip with GIANT steak fries and asparagus.

The steak was cooked absolutely perfectly and held it's natural juices well.  Tasted great!  PID was not a fan of the steak sauce though. "Too sweet." But luckily he didn't even need it thanks to the steak being so great.  The asparagus was shaved which I guess I don't really understand.  Doesn't it lose flavor and substance that way? If anyone can explain the significance of shaving asparagus to me, please do.

Now PID said the fries looked incredibly tasty, but while my meal was slightly over salted, these fries -- which are supposed -- lacked salt altogether. There wasn't a single grain on them and, oddly enough, there was no salt or pepper on the table, either. They were quite bland and tasted like nothing more than sliced cooked potatoes. We considered asking our server for salt, but he had taken ages to come back with the ketchup so we figured why bother. So instead, PID decided to simply dip in the ketchup.  Well that also didn't help.  It was a house-made ketchup.  While I generally appreciate house-made sauces and the like, I have a problem with house-made ketchup.  We are in Western PA people.  Heinz country.  Don't mess with the good thing we've got going here. No need to get fancy. It was wayyyy too sweet (it almost tasted like raspberries?) and watery.  It tasted almost nothing like ketchup.

Restaurant Info:
1796
Address: 2138 Business 220 Bedford, PA15522
Phone: 814-623-8100 (that's the hotel's number -- simply mention you're calling about 1796)
Hours:  5 p.m. - 10 p.m. (dinner only)
Reservations: Strongly Encouraged
Price: $$$$

Cliffs Notes:
Beverages:       2  diet cokes @ $2.50
Appetizers:      Chesapeake Bay Oysters Rockefeller  @ $13
                       Twice the Tuna @ $9

                       2 Lobster Bisques @ $11
Entrees:           Herb Crusted Halibut @ $28
                       Prime NY Strip @ $33
Tax:                 6% @ $6.07
Total for Two:  $116.07

Overall Opinion:


Though the fries and ketchup didn't exactly make the cut, the rest of the meal was delicious. Combined with the ambiance and rich history within the walls of the restaurant, the meal was quite a wonderful experience altogether. Though it's a good hour and 40 minutes from downtown Pittsburgh 1796 and, really, the entire Omni Bedford Springs Resort make a wonderful romantic evening or weekend getaway.  It's like stepping in to the past and leaving behind the worries of the real world. Don't think I've ever said that about dinner before. A trip here, even just for a meal, might be an excellent Valentine's Day or Anniversary dinner so keep it in mind. My rating is based upon many things, but I must say the fries, ketchup and service made it lose a few points in my book.  That doesn't mean it's still not an excellent place to check out.

HAVE A SAFE, HAPPY AND DELICIOUS NEW YEAR!!!!!!! See ya in 2011!

<a href="http://www.menuism.com/restaurants/1796-room-at-bedford-springs-bedford-256547" title="1796 Room at Bedford Springs Restaurant Reviews"><img src="http://1.static.menuism.com/images/badges/featured-on-menuism.gif" border=0 alt="1796 Room at Bedford Springs  Restaurant Reviews"/></a> 

Bistro 19

I love Washington Rd. in Mt. Lebanon.

I've come to that conclusion before during Saturday afternoon window shopping jaunts and former lunchtime trips to Mineo's Pizzeria but was happily reminded this past Friday evening as PID and I ventured to Bistro 19 on the corner of Washington and Central.

We waited just a bit too long to make reservations so our only available time slot was 8:30 p.m. but I've been dying to try this place for a while. So we headed down a bit early to grab a drink at the bar and hope for early seating.

Thanks, Bistro19.com

It was a bustling Friday evening during Halloween weekend and with Molly Brannigans and The Saloon just a stones-throw away, those late reservations came in handy as we got to catch an entertaining glimpse of countless vampires, fairies, Ninja Turtles and Super Mario characters walk by. We were also highly entertained with Kevin, the Bistro "regular" who seemed to have gotten a head start on the weekend.

The space was quaint, but the atmosphere was well thought out. It made me hungry just sitting there. For the smallish size of the restaurant I didn't feel crowded in the least which -- as you know -- is one of my biggest pet peeves. I really liked the feel here.

Thanks, Bistro19.com

No go on the early seating, but I was OK with that because I spent the time at the bar looking over the menu in an attempt to make a VERY difficult decision on what to order. Everything looked so good!  Both the hostess and server were quick, efficient and quite pleasant.  I made my decision. We started with the bread...

 

None of the bread options were particularly appealing so I was relying on the butter to nail it home.  It was a sweet butter with chives. To me, an extremely odd combination of flavors which left an odd aftertaste. But PID liked it quite a bit, so don't necessarily take my word for it.

Then, on to the appetizers...

Though it looked absolutely delicious, we were strongly against ordering the calamari because we wanted to shake things up a bit (and we always order calamari) so went for what was called "Crab Grilled Cheese."  It certainly sounded interesting!  But once our server read the specials we knew we couldn't pass up the Mushroom Bisque, either. So we ordered one of each.

We were torn here. The crab grilled cheese was served atop a balsamic glaze and baby greens and while I'm typically a balsamic junkie, I actually thought it really took away from the flavor of the crab.  However, I tried a bite without any glaze and it was rather bland. It was either too much or too little. PID and I were both pretty disappointed. (I have to say the Parmesan encrusted tomatoes were VERY good, though!)

But -- though it could have used a better presentation method -- the Mushroom Bisque blew us both away.  I actually sent my compliments to the chef (which I don't often do) and filled out a comment card requesting that it be put on the permanent menu. Typically bisque's are composed of pureed seafood of some sort, so the mushroom really intrigued me. It was perfectly creamy and had that hint of buttery aftertaste which I love. Technically this was PID's order, but I made sure to sneak as many spoonfuls as I could when he wasn't looking. Hey Bistro -- add this to your permanent menu PLEASE... but dress it up a bit, would ya? It deserves a prettier presentation!

 

Since it was a Friday, PID ordered another Captain and Coke as we waited for our entree...

At PID's suggestion, I ordered the first listed item on the entree menu, the horseradish encrusted Chilean Seabass served on a bed of Napa slaw. PID went for the Jamison Farm Lamb Shank with whipped potatoes and a truffle ragout. The lamb fell of the bone and was deliciously tender. PID said that his first few bites we absolutely delicious, but it became a bit redundant as he continued through his meal.  I only had one bite, so I have to give it two blazing thumbs up. But I'm wondering if a few greens would have helped the cause at all? (And the inedible sprig of rosemary just doesn't count.)

But now we get to the fun part. My completely delicious, pleasantly surprising Chilean Seabass. Seabass is tricky (for me, anyway).  If you don't cook it perfectly, I find it far too fishy which is why I rarely order it. But I was feeling adventurous so I gave it a shot. And I'm so happy I did! The fish sliced like butter with my fork and every bite melted in my mouth. The oriental horseradish crust fit the fish to a T and the crunch of the slaw gave it a great texture. 

I wanted to save some room for dessert so I boxed up what I didn't finish (knowing full well that I rarely EVER eat leftovers) but I have to tell you that I woke up thinking about it the next morning and wound up eating it -- cold -- for lunch.  Yes -- I liked the meal THAT much that I ate a left over, a FISH leftover, a COLD FISH leftover!! That certainly says a lot.

The dessert I saved room for wasn't half bad either.  Once again, PID and I had differing opinions (three in one night is quite odd for us...) but I loved the Wildberry Sorbet. I had seen a neighbor order it when we were first seated and new I wanted to be a copy cat. Sadly, however, I made a point to ask if the sorbets were made in-house and the server responded "I wish." What a bummer, because it was GOOD.  But served on a doily? C'mon Bistro....you're better than that.

Restaurant Information:

Bistro 19 

Address: 711 Washington Rd. Mt. Lebanon

Phone:  412.306.1919

Reservations: Taken, strongly suggested especially for Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings.

Hours: Monday – Thursday 11:00 a.m. – 10:00 p.m.

           Friday – Saturday 11:00 a.m. – 11:00 p.m.

           Sunday 11:00 – 2:30 (brunch) and 4:00 – 9:00 

     

Cliffs Notes:

Beverages:              1 Cab Sav @ $8

                                 2 Captain & Cokes @ $5.50

                                 1 Diet Coke @ $2.00

Appetizer:               Mushroom Bisque @ $5.00

                                Crab Grilled Cheese @ $10.00

Entree:                    Jamison Farm Lamb Shank @ $28.00

                                Chilean Seabass @ $29.00

Dessert:                  Wildberry Sorbet  @ $4.50
Tax:                        @ 7% (Allegheny County only) @ $6.83

Tip:                           $21.00
Total for two:                  $125.33

Overall Opinion:

It was a roller coaster evening.  There were a lot of ups and downs but I'd have to say the downs weren't as low as the ups were high.  Combined with the pleasant atmosphere, fast and friendly service and great (in my mind) location, I'd have to highly suggest Bistro 19 as a place to add to your list.  Let's hope it's not as long as mine!

Pittsburgh Restaurants

Thirsty Thursday: ilLUMAnated

It was a dark and rainy night...

OK so it was just a Wednesday in the 'burgh.

Anyway, after a crazy day on both our parts, PID and I decided to take advantage of the rain which granted us momentary freedom from soccer, dog walks and Pirates games to use our Groupon to Luma (which has been burning a hole in my inbox for far too long)!

Luma has two locations: Aspinwall and Mt. Lebanon.  We chose Mt. Lebo due to its far superior proximity to home. 

As soon as we pulled in to the parking lot (which was on a steep incline, but hey, we're in Pittsburgh. We should be used to this by now) I could already tell I was going to like it there. We had to walk past the back patio to get to the door and I could see through the glass doors to what looked like a very mod ambiance.  I was giddy with excitement.

We arrived to a packed waiting area without an empty bar seat in the house. I immediately kicked myself after assuring PID on multiple occasions that we wouldn't need reservations on a Wednesday. Turns out, Luma has half price wine on Wednesdays!  What a pleasant surprise! They call it "Winedown Wednesday" which I find clever and appealing. Every single bottle of wine on their menu (aside from the 5 selections which are priced at over $100) was available for half off as a bottle or stem which is different than many 1/2 price wine nights I've experienced.   It was fabulous!

And so it was on to the wine... much earlier than we'd anticipated.

While there were no seats at the bar, there was no way we could turn down ordering a bottle for while we waited for our table. I relished the thought of having more affordable choices and stared at the menu for what felt like hours before finally landing on the Excelsior Cabernet, originally priced @ $22/bottle.

I must say that if you don't happen to try Luma on a Wednesday they still do have a great selection of "Twenty at $20" wines. The hostess was nice enough to hold the opened bottle under her station as we held tightly to our stems.

As we sipped, we began innocently eavesdropping as PID and I do so well when we heard a very familiar voice. I turned to my left to see Paul Steigerwald, glass of red wine in one hand and Blackberry in another, waiting patiently for what the hostess referred to as his usual table. I couldn't bring myself to ask for a picture, he looked like he just wanted to enjoy his wine, but I leaned over and had to ask:

me: "So you come here often?"  (Yes. I really said it.)
Steigy: "From time to time."
me: "Is it worth the wait?"
Steigy: "The wine sure as heck is!"

We air-cheersed (can I copywrite that?) and I left him to his texting.

Finally our table was ready and since we'd been waiting for about 30 minutes (don't make our mistake, reserve a table no matter the day of the week), we were already prepared with our order and it was on to the appetizer.

Now Brie is one of my favorite cheeses. I've made my own chutneys and had myself a delicious snack at home, but never experienced anything quite like what we were served at Luma.  This brie was baked to a light browned skin and was served with a sticky glob (and I mean that in the most positive way possible) of a pecan and brown sugar mixture which I have to assume had maple syrup in it.

I almost felt bad eating it before my meal. The pecans and brown sugar were the perfect level of sweetness and the cheese literally melted on the knife as we sliced it. It would have made for a great dessert. I was very interested in the choice of crackers as well. They were large sesame crackers.  Not something I would have paired with pecans and brown sugar...but it worked!

PID couldn't resist ordering a cup of She-Crab Bisque.  Had I been confident enough in my stomach to order yet another food item, I would have done the same.  He was in heaven.  He loves spicy which is just what this bisque was.

And while typically I like a kick of spice as much as the next gal, this crab had a bit more than a pinch (get it?) of cayenne which didn't seem to fit with the rest of the ingredients. Maybe I'm biased to my Rudy's Inlet she-crab bisque in Virginia Beach, but I wasn't feeling it as much as PID was.

It was a busy night -- Winedown Wednesday will do that to you I suppose -- so the service was slightly slow. We had to order a diet Pepsi for PID three times. When our waitress finally returned after our third order she informed us that they were out, but she was going to send someone to the pizza shop down the street to pick up some more.  This completely made up for her original forgetfulness. Really? You'll walk down the street for more?  We politely told her it wasn't necessary, but of course she brought it for him anyway. That's server dedication! Bravo. With supply & demand as well as labor costs in consideration she probably could have charged us $19 for the glass.  She didn't of course, but needless to say we didn't bother her for a refill.

After we received coveted beverage, we moved on to our entrees.

PID and I decided we're around each other so much that we've adopted one another's eating habits.  He  went for the Spicy Shrimp Pasta (served with asparagus) while I opted for the Tenderloin Alfredo. He took my seafood and I his steak. Thank goodness we don't mind spreading germs because we each ate right off of the other's plate.

PID was very satisfied with his dish but asked me to share with all of you with a very important lesson:

Always bring a Tide Pen.

When you're wearing a lovely white button down (he looked so dapper), you don't want this...

...anywhere near it.  I took a bite and this dish was spiced to perfection (as well as beautifully plated).  The heat felt more appropriate with shrimp and pasta than the crab bisque and the asparagus acted as a cooling element. I wasn't sure how I felt about the choice in using Angel Hair pasta in this dish versus a thicker variety, but PID insisted it didn't affect his enjoyment one bit.

Unfortunately I was slightly less pleased with my meal.  Upon ordering, I was intrigued by the thought of tenderloin paired with fettuccine Alfredo. I'd never seen it served this way before (am I just naive?) but I like steak and I love Alfredo. So why shouldn't we put 'em together?!  Sadly, I quickly figured that out. First, I was completely overwhelmed by the size and number of medallions served with the dish.  I'm already eating a heaping bowl of pasta.  Adding four fist sized cuts of steak (and I'm taking man fists, here) makes me full before just by looking at it.

But I'm very sad to say that wasn't the dish's only problem.  The meat was extremely bland. It lacked flavor completely.  I forced myself to drag it through the excess Alfredo sauce just to make it taste like...well...anything.  The four medallions were also cooked extremely inconsistently.  I ordered them medium well.  I believe two came that way while one came merely seared and still another was unbearably charred. I don't want to knock this dish completely, however. The Alfredo sauce was some of the best I've tasted -- ever.  It was surprisingly light while still holding an absurd amount of flavor.  The fettuccine on its own would have been a meal enough for me. I wondered to myself if the meat was poorly cooked only due to the busy evening -- but then I reminded myself that that shouldn't be an excuse.

We, once again, didn't partake in dessert, but the table to my left sure did.  It appeared to me that the family of four ordered one of everything on the menu!  Looked like a sorbet, a cappuccino, some type of mousse and a few other delights with whipped cream on top. Maybe they write a restaurant blog, too...?

Cliffs Notes:

Groupon:      1 @ $20
Drinks:         1 Diet Pepsi @ 2.25
                   1 bottle of Excelsior Cabernet @ (Guess what? you have to choose between using a Groupon and paying half price for wine. had I known this, I probably would have paid for the wine at the bar rather than having it transferred to my table. I was less than pleased, but it was delicious wine so I shrugged my shoulders and chose to use the Groupon. I WARN YOU NOW! No Groupons on a Wednesday if you're a wine freak like myself) $22
Appetizer:   Baked Brie @ $9
                  She-Crab Bisque @ $7
Entree:       Spicy Shrimp Pasta @ $16
                  Tenderloin Alfredo for $22
Tax:           7% Sales Tax (Allegheny County only) @ $5.38
Tip:            $15 (because "good grouponers" tip on the entire amount)
Groupon Discount: - $40
TOTAL FOR TWO:  $76.93

Overall opinion:

It was deja vu all over again with the ambiance.  I couldn't help but feel I'd been there before until I went back home and did some research.  A Pittsburgh phenom, Head Chef Michael Rudman also heads up the kitchen at Willow.  I must say, although it was slightly more expensive, I would have to suggest Willow over Luma.  However, I absolutely have no qualms returning to Luma -- maybe trying the Aspinwall location.  The menu was captivating and though I may have chosen the wrong entree, it wasn't because of a lack of desirable choices. I'm convinced my less than excellent experience was a one-time fluke that can be easily corrected with a return visit.  And PID enjoyed every bite. So give it a try!  If for nothing but the wine and the atmosphere alone!