The Best Part About Changing Jobs

Today was the first day in about two weeks that I had to buy my own lunch.  Ever since I gave my notice, it’s been a whirlwind of happy hours, lunches, breakfasts, coffee breaks, etc.  First with the old job, and then this week with my new colleagues.

There was the Adele-planned happy hour at the Union Grill.  Complete with champagne (and a margarita for me!), great apps, and really nice and thoughtful gifts.  Then there was a delicious lunch at Eleven, where I had the best burger I’ve had in awhile.  Both of these excursions were PC…they included some people I am less than fond of, so it started another wave of events for just people we like

On one of my last days, two of my most important and favorite internal customers took me to Lucca.  I hadn’t been there in awhile and never for lunch, so I wasn’t really sure what to expect.  I had the turkey club sandwich, and oh my God, was it good.  It was enormous and came with lots of chips and a really large side salad.  (Just a note, if you’re a club sandwich fan, check this cool new blog out:  http://clubsaretrump.blogspot.com/ – it’s really neat!)  I also had the tiramisu for desert, and well, that was just a disgrace to tiramisu everywhere.  Over all the lunch was excellent both in taste and company.

My very last day, two of my fav co-workers and I went to a restaurant off the beaten path so we could enjoy a few cocktails.  A couple of glasses of prosecco later, and I was feeling GREAT as I handed off my badge and everything to HR.

Then I started the new job.  Day one was a retreat, so even though it wasn’t all for me, I can pretend it was.  Breakfast, lunch, and ice cream sundaes!  Day two and three…more lunches with new, interesting and great people.  One place we went that I really liked was the cafe at Phipps.  I had a great chicken salad…it was a good size too.  Not overwhelmingly large, but I left full.

Today…a quick bagel at Einsteins.  Not that exciting, but filling.  It’s fun changing jobs

What’s your favorite Pittsburgh restaurant?

I love going out to eat.  And, I love trying new restaurants….and returning to old favorites.  Some of my favorite Pittsburgh restaurants are Soba (for the ambiance and pad thai…best pad thai in the ‘burgh!), Mallorca (for the service and the amazing food), 17th Street Cafe (good food, great neighborhood charm)and UUBU 6 (best duck I’ve ever had).

What are your favorites?

Cafe Allegro is Closing :(

Cafe Allegro is closing.  They have one of my most favorite pasta dishes…the Pasta Del Sol.  This is sad news for Pittsburgh and the South Side.

Adele’s Surprise Shower

Adele is getting married in three weeks!  Yesterday, we threw her a surprise shower at work.  Well, it was actually at a bar and restaurant during work hours, but it was all work people there, so it counted as work

It was my job to get her there…my plan was to act like I was having a bad day (not a hard thing to do any more with all of the insane reogranization stuff going on) and tell her I needed Starbucks.  Then, at the last minute I would decide that no…I needed a real drink and tell her to stop in the Union Grill with me.

Well, I was beyond excited about her surprise and couldn’t must up a “i hate work” act.  I was in too good of a mood!  (Seriously, that should have tipped her off right there!) So, we met and actually did work for about 15 minutes, and then I just interuppted and said that I needed Starbucks. 

The best part about the walk down Craig St was that Adele was telling me all about how great her fiance has been…it was so sweet.  She was going on and on about it – in a very cute way – so as we got to the Union Grill door, I literally just had to grab her arm and pull her in.  She followed me in with ease.

And waiting inside were about twelve of our coworkers.  Adele was surprised, and I think it was a really fun afternoon.  Now, I just can’t wait until the wedding!!!

Restaurant Review – 17th Street Cafe

I haven’t blogged in awhile…and now two in one day?! Can you tell I just really don’t want to work???

Anyway, we went to 17th Street Cafe last night with my mom, who is visiting from Florida. I love that restaurant. The food is great, it’s really cute and cozy inside, the wine is good, and the prices are reasonable. Since we moved to the South Side, we’ve eaten there several times, have gotten take out and had them cater last year’s holiday party. They never disappoint.

We started with the hot banana peppers appetizer…very good, and not really that spicy.  They could actually be a little spicier.  Then, we had bread and salads. I don’t know if they bake their own bread or where they get it from, but it’s simple Italian bread that is so soft and yummy.

For dinner, I ordered the filet, extra extra rare. Normally, I don’t like when filet comes with a bunch of sauce and other things, but the sauce and the mushrooms were excellent. I did scrape the blue cheese off the top though because the meat was too tasty and didn’t need it. And, it was cooked, or under-cooked as my mom said, to perfection.

My mom really enjoyed her pasta dish, and Brad loved his spicy diavolo pasta. They also have Chateau St Michelle Reisling by the glass…which is my preferred Reisling. It was a really great dinner, and nice to spend some time with my mommy.

The Allegheny County Drink Tax

It’s been a long day and a fun evening…I’m quite tired. 

There’s a lot about Pittsburgh politics/government that don’t make sense to me.  The drink tax is one thing.  I don’t think it’s fair that every person who wants to enjoy a glass of wine or beer or whatever inside the Allegheny county lines should have to fund the Port Authority.  It’s not fair that small business owners are forced to charge higher prices.  Public Transportation is important, but it is not a given, and when a public agency has been mismanaged for so long, why is it my responsibility, as an occasional drinker, to pay for it?  Or why is a restaurant owner – a person taking a financial risk yet trying to contribute to the county’s economy – responsible?

But, that’s not even my biggest problem with the whole issue.  Lately, groups have been pushing to get the drink tax on a ballot this November.  Wow–what a modern notion…let the VOTERS decide if they want their drinks to be taxed in order to fund anything – let alone a corrupt Port Authority. 

Leave it to Pittsburgh and Allegheny County to screw that up.  Shady Dan Onorato and his cronies have somehow fixed it so the referendum that was up for vote tonight goes something like this:  voters can vote to have the drink tax…OR have their property taxes increased.

WHAT?

For those of you unfamiliar with Allegheny County politics, property taxes are a hot issue around here.  I guess because they were being raised and raised a few years back because the morons running this area have no idea what they’re doing.

Anyway, I need to read up more on the issue and all of the proceedings (which I will do, don’t you worry!).  But I would like to ask these crazy politicians one thing – particularly Dan Onorato (who thinks he’s PA’s Governor-in-training):  why does repealing the drink tax automatically mean that property taxes have to be raised?  I don’t see or understand the correlation to a tax on drinks (that are already taxed once through the state’s liquor system - don’t get me started on that) and property taxes.  I understand that decades of fraud and bad behavior at the Port Authority have caused the agency to be totally strapped for cash.  I don’t agree with funding it through taxation, but I’ll save that argument for later.  I don’t see how there are just NO OTHER OPTIONS other than two – drink or property taxes – to fund the county’s transportation. 

Dan, can you please explain that to me?  Because from where I’m sitting, it just looks like you and your County Council buddies are dropping the property tax card just to make sure the drink tax isn’t repealed. 

Restaurant Review: Cafe Allegro

There’s nothing better than Friday night date night.  Brad and I were starving after a long week and decided to go out to dinner. 

We had tried Cafe Allegro about a year ago after we first moved to the South Side.  The food was amazing but our server was terrible.  We sat there without wine from before our entrees were brought out until we finally flagged him down for the check.  Our appitizer and salad came out at the same time…very annoying especially at a nice restuarant.  But, the food was so delicious, we were willing to give it another try.

I started with their homemade white sangria.  It was fruity and refreshing…I just don’t think there was any alcohol it it.  After three glasses, I didn’t even feel a faint buzz.  Brad had the house cabernet and thought it was decent.

He tried the Allegro Salad and really liked it.  For dinner, he had the seafood stew dish and ate every bite of that.  Even the oysters, his least favorite type of seafood, were good…and gone.

I’m the type of person who finds a dish I like and then sticks with it.  The pasta I had previously was one of the best pasta dishes I’d ever had.  I immediately found it on the menu and couldn’t wait.  The second time around, the Pasta Del Sol didn’t dissappoint.  The sundried tomatoes had a really rich taste.  The cream sauce covered the penne noodles pefectly – I’m not a fan of tons of sauce.  It was a filling but very good meal.  Brad tried some and defintely agreed!

Our service this time was much better…exactly what you’d expect from a more upscale restaurant.  Our wine and water glasses were never empty, plates were promptly removed from the table and our server was friendly and helpful.

I’d give this experience four stars out of five.  We’ll definitely be back!

Update: Best Steak in Pittsburgh

About a month ago, I blogged about my favorite Pittsburgh steak restaurants. Well, I need to make some adjustments to that list. Two weekends ago, a bunch of us went to Ibiza to celebrate my birthday. I ordered the filet. I had this entree at least three other times and always loved it. In fact, every time I’ve ever been to Ibiza, I’ve loved it.

Except this time.

There have been warning signs that the restaurant was on a downward spiral. Gabby and her husband had a bad experience several weeks ago. And, it’s been increasingly easy to get a good reservation. But, like I said, I’ve always had great food and even better wine, so I chose it as my birthday celebration starting point.

I ordered my filet “extra rare. Cold in the center rare.” I don’t know how else to explain how I like it cooked. The waitress seemed to get it, and since I’ve had perfectly cooked (or undercooked) steak there before, I wasn’t that worried. My filet arrived – along with everyone else’s appetizers (I know it’s a tapas bar, but plan a little better, please! I sat there for a good two hours while everyone else finished their meals. Thank goodness there was good wine.) I cut into the center of the steak and was immediately disappointed. It looked almost medium. Not even medium rare. I forced myself to eat most of it though…and then started picking away at the table’s olive, cheese and meat platter.

Sometimes I will send back food when it’s not prepared correctly…but I feel really bad doing it. I shouldn’t…I’m the customer and should get what I ask for. But, our waitress seemed quite frazzled by our table – she could barely keep up with all of our various drink orders as it was.

So, I suffered in silence. And still had a great time anyway.

On a side note, Gabby’s pasta was mushy, and Brad’s meat platter was nothing special…very dry and bland. We won’t be going back there any time soon…unless it’s just for drinks because they do have fabulous wines.

My new and improved list of the favorite steak restaurants in Pittsburgh:

1. The Capital Grille – I had to send my first filet back because it came out more like medium well, but once they got it right, it was so worth the wait.
2. Mortons – Almost as good as the Capital Grille.
3. Mallorca – Even better when it’s with their Sangria.
4. Tie – Bruschetta’s and McCormick and Schmick’s
5. Mantini’s Wood-Fired Grill – I’ve only had it once, but they cooked it right, and their sides are amazing.

Restaurant Review: Cheesecake Factory

We found a way to get seated at the South Side Cheesecake Factory without waiting for two or three hours – show up right when they open.

After Friday night’s South Side bar tour, we were in the mood for lots of good food. So, Brad and I arrived to a mostly empty restaurant Saturday morning at around 11:15 am. I immediately ordered the factory nachos with spicy chicken when our waitress stopped by to get our drink orders. The diet cokes she brought had a strange taste to them, but I was on the dehydrated side, so I gulped mine down anyway.

The nachos came out rather quickly, which was nice, but I was very disappointed with them. There were tons of chips, but not nearly enough toppings for them. They need to double the amount of guacamole, sour cream and salsa that they give you…there were just too many plain chips left over at the end. The “spicy chicken” was a good addition, but its name is misleading – there was no spice to it whatsoever.

Brad went with the luau salad for his entree – mainly because it sounded somewhat healthy. He was not impressed with the salad though – it was drenched in way too much dressing , therefore defeating his healthy intentions.

I tried the new turkey pastrami reuben, and it was amazing! There was a ton of meat and the coleslaw was excellent. Brad tasted it and loved it, too. And, it came with french fries that were perfect – the were golden, cruncy on the outside, and soft on the inside and slightly salted.

The best part about our meal though was our server…I didn’t get her name, but she was nice, friendly and competent. My diet coke was refilled often, and she was really attentive. I tipped her 25% because that’s what you do when you have good service.

Overall, I’d give them 3.5 stars out of 5 – had we waited two hours for a table, I would have been really upset at the quality of the appetizer and Brad’s salad.

Restaurant Review – Folino’s Ristorante

Once I started to feel better after Saturday night’s girls night out fun, I started to crave food…and lots of it. The boyfriend, who is always hungry, suggested we have food delivered, but I needed a big, ice cold diet pepsi with my food. And since I haven’t grocery shopped in approximately one month, the only way I way I was going to get it was by venturing out.

I made myself somewhat presentable, and we walked up to Carson Street. We stopped at Fat Heads – mainly because they have awesome nachos – but the wait was 45 minutes, and that was just unnacceptable for my hunger and thirst state. So, we decided to try a new restaurant – Folino’s Ristorante.

We sat down, and it’s really cute inside with brightly painted walls, big paintings of Italian scenes and jazz music playing in the background. I ordered a diet pepsi (they were already doing well in my book as I prefer pepsi to coke!), and the boyfriend got a miller lite. The diet pepsi was amazingly good. There’s good diet pepsi, and there’s bad diet pepsi – and this was great.

For an appetizer, we had 10 buffalo hot wings – and the boyfriend and I both agreed that we hadn’t had such great wings in a long time. They were the perfect level of spice – hot but not so hot that you could only take one bite before tears started streaming down your face. The homemade ranch dressing was also really good.

I ordered the grilled chicken salad with ranch dressing, and when our waiter brought it out, I couldn’t believe how enormous it was. But, the salad didn’t quite live up to my expectations. The iceberg lettuce reminded me of the bagged lettuce we get from the grocery store – complete with the little carrots included in it. There were only about five french fries on the whole salad, and they weren’t great fries…they kind of tasted like the frozen kind that you make in the oven. The chicken was really good though – soft and very tasty. I ate as much as I could, and there was still a meal’s worth left to bring home.

The boyfriend decided to try the chicken marsala- one of his most favorite dishes. He loved the chicken and mushrooms – I tasted it, and their sauce was rich and delicious. It came with a side of mixed vegetables and pasta. The pasta was not so good. The penne noodles were soft and mushy, and I didn’t care for the bland marinara sauce…and neither did the boyfriend.

My biggest complaint was our waiter…he wasn’t totally terrible, but he wasn’t great either. He didn’t refill my diet pepsi until it had been empty for about five minutes and I asked him for more. He never asked if my boyfriend wanted another beer. That kind of stuff really irritates me…especially when I could see that he was only waiting on one other table.

All in all, it was a good dining out experience…I’d say three stars out of five, mainly because the food was good and the prices weren’t outrageous. Our entire dinner cost about $40.