{"id":91,"date":"2016-11-14T12:47:26","date_gmt":"2016-11-14T17:47:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/pgh-food\/?p=91"},"modified":"2016-11-14T12:47:26","modified_gmt":"2016-11-14T17:47:26","slug":"buzz-feed-2016s-hottest-new-restaurants","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/pgh-food\/buzz-feed-2016s-hottest-new-restaurants\/","title":{"rendered":"Buzz feed: 2016\u2019s hottest new restaurants"},"content":{"rendered":"

A gustatory burst punctuated the last few weeks of 2015 like the high flames of a flaring kitchen grill, closing out with the opening of four restaurants \u2014 Morcilla in Lawrenceville; Whitfield at the Ace Hotel and Muddy Waters Oyster Bar, both in East Liberty; and Smallman Galley in the Strip District \u2014 which were instant hot spots.<\/p>\n

A late December like that alone meant that 2016 would really have its work cut it out for it to matchup to the prior year, but it has held its own with a bumper crop of new spots that have enhanced Pittsburgh\u2019s ever-expanding food scene. Here are 13 of the most notable new restaurants of the year to date, plus some more heavily anticipated destinations that were on the cusp of opening at press time.<\/p>\n

\"Sauerkraut<\/a>
Sauerkraut and mushroom pierogis and the smoked potatoe roast parsnip and mustard greens pierogis served with beets, sauce and chive at Apteka. (Rebecca Droke\/Post-Gazette)<\/figcaption><\/figure>
\n\u2022 Apteka, Bloomfield. Kate Lasky and Tomasz Skowronski created buzz for years with their pierogie pop-up dinners and after a successful crowd-funding campaign brought their brick-and-mortar dream of vegan Eastern European food to life this year to rave reviews.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Block 292, Mt. Lebanon. Brooks Broadhurst broke away from the family business \u2014 Eat\u2019n Park \u2014 to pursue this passion project, which is part restaurant, part market and butchery housed in an old auto-body shop on the quaint Beverly Road shopping district.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>
A platter of the Elk Carpaccio at Cibo in Regent Square. (Dan Gigler\/Post-Gazette)<\/figcaption><\/figure>
\n\u2022 Cibo, Regent Square. After being shuttered for a year, this Braddock Avenue bistro re-opened with a menu that lists beautiful rustic Italian cuisine by chef Jennifer Burfield, who returned to her kitchen roots after four years as the general manager of Cure in Lawrenceville.<\/p>\n

\u2022 DJ\u2019s Sandwich Shoppe, Bloomfield. The modest little diner on Pittsburgh\u2019s Little Italy\u2019s main Liberty Avenue drag doesn\u2019t look like much on the surface, but the sandwiches and burgers feature excellent and often exotic meats from DJ Smulick\u2019s neighboring butcher shop.<\/p>\n

\u2022 The Foundry, North Shore. Amid a sea of chains in the glorified office park that is the North Shore (when there isn\u2019t a game or concert going on anyway, at least), The Foundry opened in August and brought with it a refreshing change of pace: gourmet gastropub fare from former Duquesne Club sous chef Michael Godlewski.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Hidden Harbor, Squirrel Hill. Kitschy yet classy, this Technicolor Tiki Land of Oz has food, drink, decor and music that hits all the senses. Monique Ruvolo\u2019s small plates are vibrant and flavorful to match the colorful drinks by all-star bartenders Greta Dunn, Wes Shonk and Max Stein.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Pirata, Downtown. First there were bourbon bars. Then tequila became trendy. Now, this Downtown spot bets rum will rule next, as it features more than 200 varieties of the molasses-based spirit along with foods from South America, Puerto Rico, Cuba and Mexico, on the ground floor of the Tower Two-Sixty high-rise on Forbes Avenue, just off of Market Square.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Pork & Beans, Downtown. The fourth establishment from the DeShantz Group juggernaut was delayed several times, but Pork & Beans has delivered on its promise of a barbecue bounty Downtown from dynamic chef duo, Richard DeShantz and Keith Fuller. The setting is that of a raucous roadhouse and the cocktails complement the food and fun.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Revel + Roost, Downtown. The new Hilton Garden Inn brought with it two restaurants under one roof: Revel, the street level gastropub and Roost, the upstairs finer dining upscale lounge.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Roasted Barrelhouse & Eatery, Lawrenceville. The Butler Street corridor boasts two top spots, which \u201cCure\u201d and \u201cSmoke\u201d meats. So it stands to reason that meats should be \u201cRoasted,\u201d too. That\u2019s the case at Roasted, where Brandon Hobbs\u2019s menu of slow-roasted meats make for some memorable sandwiches.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Spork, Garfield. Christian Frangiadis made innovative cuisine here in the 1990s, and after an extended detour to the Caribbean, he returned to open Spork. The sleek but not stuffy overhaul of the former Quiet Storm coffee shop specializes in elegant but fun small plates and house-cured meats.<\/p>\n

\"Patrons<\/a>
Patrons enjoy lunch at Streets on Carson, on the South Side. (Dan Gigler\/Post-Gazette)<\/figcaption><\/figure>
\n\u2022 Streets on Carson, South Side. This love letter to worldwide street food features as diverse a menu as you\u2019ll find in town, from Peruvian Pan con Chicharron to Czech Chicken Chlebicek. In lesser hands, such an ambition could be a disaster, but Matt Christie seamlessly provides a culinary world tour from central Asia to central America, from the cozy confines of Carson Street.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Umami, Lawrenceville. The Round Corner Cantina set a standard for new-Lawrenceville cool in 2009, and its restaurant within a restaurant on the top has upped the ante with Roger Li\u2019s Umami. The dimly lit space accented by red neon lights is an izakaya (a Japanese pub), featuring highly regarded street fare and sushi dedicated to umami flavors.<\/p>\n

And coming soon \u2026
\nDerek Stevens\u2019 Union Standard will be a ground-floor anchor as part of a restoration that\u2019s giving new energy to what is arguably Downtown\u2019s grandest structure, the Union Trust Building \u2026 Dave Anoia will open DiAnoia\u2019s Eatery in the Strip Distict, featuring the Italian food of his heritage \u2026 Caselulla in Manhattan brought worldwide handmade cheeses to New Yorkers; it will do the same at Casellula @ Alphabet City on the North Side \u2026 Vallozzi\u2019s will open Talia Cucina & Rosticcheria, a temple to Italian meats inside the old Alcoa Building Downtown \u2026 Kevin Sousa of the late Salt of the Earth is hoping to open Superior Motors in Braddock by summer 2017 … Dennis Marron\u2019s work at The Commoner created buzz; now he strikes out on his own with Merchant Oyster Co. in Lawrenceville \u2026 Pie for Breakfast will bring the upscale fare of neighboring Legume but in a more modestly priced cafe setting … Finally, Andrew Gabarino will move his acclaimed white tablecloth fare at East Liberty\u2019s Twisted Frenchman to Baum Boulevard; the current restaurant will go on the top floor, with brasserie Bar Frenchman downstairs.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A gustatory burst punctuated the last few weeks of 2015 like the high flames of a flaring kitchen grill, closing out with the \n [...]<\/a>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":64,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"coauthors":[8],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/pgh-food\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/2016\/11\/munch0526_spork_charcuterie.jpg?fit=1920%2C1920&ssl=1","wps_subtitle":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/pgh-food\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/pgh-food\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/pgh-food\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/pgh-food\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/pgh-food\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=91"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/pgh-food\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":139,"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/pgh-food\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91\/revisions\/139"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/pgh-food\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/64"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/pgh-food\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=91"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/pgh-food\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=91"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/pgh-food\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=91"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/pgh-food\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=91"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}