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| - As a celebration for attaining my MSW, my dear friend Christina took me to dinner on Pittsburgh's North Shore at Hyde Park. An upscale steakhouse, she truly knows how to make a man feel like a $1,000,000. We valeted the car, which was strategic in the midst of a Pirate game that was about to start.
Upon entry, the bar was buzzing with excitement for the start of the Pirate game (I believe they lost to the Reds by quite a depressing margin). Anyway, it was a perfect late spring night that had Christina and I salivating for the meal we were about to enjoy. A lovely hostess escorted us to our seats. We were greeted promptly by servers who were eager to make our experience one to remember. So, we started with our favorite drink, Bombay Sapphire gin and tonics. We sipped on them while perusing the menus. Each entree was named after a sports player here in Pittsburgh (the "City of Champions"). We both decided on the "Hines Ward" filet, sauteed in heavy garlic and shallots, with a cracked peppercorn coating (added quite the spice). Christina got the goat cheese and vinaigrette salad to start. I went with my favorite, the Ceasar salad. I was amazed at the generous size of these salads for such a fancy restaurant. So plentiful, crisp and fresh. Christina and I LOVE our bread (pretzel sticks too) which were accompanied with butter. This butter was dusted on each edge with salt and garlic/pepper to spread over our guilty pleasure (yes, we asked for more). I learned that a great red wine can always be relied upon if it's from New Zealand. We enjoyed a wise choice made by Christina that complemented what was about to come.
Our steaks were perfectly timed and delivered by several servers, insisting that we combine the table next to ours in order to create more space (so accommodating). Our medium-cooked steaks were dressed with deep-fried onion crisps. We had the following delectable sides: macaroni and cheese, brussel sprouts, and garlic mashed potatoes.
If you are not hungry by know, then there is something wrong with you. We passed on dessert, as there was just no room. The server packaged our leftovers, suggesting that she split the sides evenly for us to enjoy later on. This was a first class experience that I thoroughly appreciated.
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