I’m back to share part 2 of our Sewickley, PA adventures – this time, all about the food! If you missed my first post about the fitness from the weekend, read that first. :)
We had a lot of great meals over the weekend – some at Matt’s parent’s place, and a lot out as well. Here are some of the highlights!
1. Dinner out for Matt’s dad’s birthday!
We went to a cool spot in Braddock, PA (10 miles upstream from downtown Pittsburgh) called Superior Motors Restaurant – it’s in a former Chevy dealership, and across the street is a still functioning steel mill. The restaurant has gotten a lot of press and attention because of its efforts to help revitalize the old steel town, so I was intrigued to check it out.
According to this interesting NY Times article about the restaurant, Braddock became an urban food desert when the local steel industry collapsed, so even having a restaurant in town is a big deal.
The restaurant construction was originally funded by a Kickstarter campaign, and when it opened it was named by Food & Wine Magazine as one of the top 10 restaurants of the year in 2018. Local residents get 50% off, and they employ and offer free culinary training programs for local residents, too. Pretty cool!
As for the food, it was really interesting! Lots of very creative pairings. I started with a watermelon cocktail – it had a hint of za’atar seasoning plus lime juice and a tomato gin. It was really good!
Their menu changes daily, and there are small plates as well as larger meals. Our table shared a lot of things which was nice because that meant I could try more of the items!
A couple faves: this really fresh salad with ranch dressing, which was a fun mix up from the usual vinaigrette:
This stuffed pepper with quinoa, tofu, black beans, and hatch chile. The smoky sauce was really good – very unique!
I enjoyed this seared tuna as well, which was paired with tomato, shishito peppers, olives, anchovies, and lentils. Another unique combo!
The only thing we didn’t love was the desserts – they tried a little too hard to be unique and ended up falling flat – and the super slow service. Overall, though, it was a great night with some really interesting food!
2. Two yummy lunches with Riese + friends at Mediterra, a cute cafe in the town of Sewickley.
They have great grain salad bowls and open faced sandwiches and pizza, too!
The sandwich above reminds me a bit of my open-faced Scandinavian Sardine Sandwich recipe… yum.
3. Pizza party at Matt’s parent’s house.
Matt and I have a big crew of friends who have moved back to his hometown, and on Friday night Matt’s parents hosted a big group of our friends + their kids for a pizza night. Really fun!
I wish we’d gotten a group pic but we were too busy talking and chasing after the kids. ;) Here’s one of the food – Matt’s dad made a big salad and we ordered some pizza. Simple and yummy!
4. Enchiladas! Matt’s dad made these delicious chicken enchiladas – the photo doesn’t really do it justice.
(Related sidenote: if you haven’t made my Mexican Lasagna recipe yet, do it. Awesome cook once, eat a few times meal!)
What’s the most unique restaurant you’ve ever been to?
The first restaurant sounds very interesting! Creative food but also a mission to provide economic opportunity in that area – I like it!
Happy b’day to Matt’s Dad!
What a nice weekend – food, fitness, family, and all fun!
Sewickley is an awesome community!
Where did you order that good-looking pizza? Love those olives and the charred crust.
Glad you enjoyed your weekend.
Pizza Roma!
The restaurant sounds cool! Not necessarily food related, but if you are a history buff, the Battle of the Monongahela, also known as Braddock’s Defeat, occurred right near there! Hence the name Braddock.
Ah, didn’t know that! Thanks!