Picking a favorite restaurant can be a bit like answering that perennial stumper: If you could only save one of your family members from a burning building, who would it be?
In other words, it's a difficult question, and it doesn't seem quite fair. There are lots of great places to eat dinner in Pittsburgh, from home-style meat and potatoes to sophisticated sushi and saki. But life is hard sometimes, so choose we must.
Instead of picking the hottest new restaurants of 2006 -- too few new hot spots opened to make that feasible, frankly -- or the hottest new chefs, the folks who write about food for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette have picked their favorite restaurants of 2006.
Some of those restaurants are brand-new. Some have been around for years and are still going strong. But in all cases, our choices represent a meal that transcended just good food or attentive service or welcoming ambience. In each case, the meal we ate at these restaurants represents one of our truly special, memorable experiences of 2006.
We hope you enjoy trying these restaurants for yourself in the new year.
SIX PENN KITCHEN/ Chris Jackson
Here's how a line cook at Restaurant X prepares chicken wings. Shake a portion of wing parts out of a food-service freezer bag, deep fry and serve with bottled sauce.
Here's how Executive Chef Chris Jackson of Six Penn Kitchen makes his three-day House Smoked Chicken Wings. Take a quantity of small, fresh chicken wings and soak them in lemon-infused, sweet tea brine. Pull them out after 24 hours, and slow-cook in chicken fat for a couple of hours. Let cool and rest before smoking in a wood-burning oven. Serve with house-made hot sauce and buttermilk blue cheese dressing.
Although Six Penn Kitchen is the risen star under the Eat'n Park corporate umbrella, do not in any way confuse it with its sister restaurants. Six Penn, under the direction of Chef Jackson, is a foodie destination with a sophisticated wine list. Don't look for the Breakfast Smile. Don't even think about it.
Chef Jackson is only 34, but he has a resume to rival chefs twice his age. His menus are informed by stints in Memphis (Smoked Pulled Pork Sandwich), New Orleans (Shrimp Etouffee), Virgina (Skillet Buttermilk Cornbread), San Francisco (House-Smoked Tequila-cured Salmon Sandwich with Lime Aioli), Portland, Maine (Fresh Jumbo Lump Crabcake) and Philadelphia, where he won awards for both Best Crab cake and Best Brunch.
So what was the bait that brought him to Pittsburgh?
"I had my chance to build a 180-seat restaurant from the ground up," says Chef Jackson. "This is my place. I learned to read blueprints, write manuals and make my own menu.
"I'm really a farmer guy, and I try as much as I can to use local suppliers. And I'm on any bandwagon that promotes fresh and local food. Our pork comes from Wil-Den Farm, and our lamb from Jamison Farms. Mozzarella cheese for our pizzas is made locally, and we use local honey in dressings. I believe in getting away from mega-agribusiness as much as possible and giving support to our local community."
When you see "house made" on the menu, you can believe it. All breads, sauces and desserts are made in-house.
"I think people are finally understanding what Six Penn is all about," says Chef Jackson. "The proof is on Monday nights, when we have BYO night with no corkage fee. Even though we're a downtown restaurant in a city of neighborhoods, we draw a full house. We see oenophiles bringing in favorite wines to match with menu entrees. We draw chefs who come in on their night off. There's no better joy than cooking for people like this."
Six Penn Kitchen. Corner of 6th Street and Penn Ave., Downtown. 412-566-7366.
-- Marlene Parrish
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06365/749664-46.stm |
