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| - General American hotel fare that you would find in any large american city. For Pittsburgh this might be special but a destination restaurant - it is not if you've traveled and sampled other city delights.
The design of the space is the very functional and modern styled aesthetic one would expect from a firm like Gensler. Feels hotel-y in the use of plush carpeting and heavy furniture, but manages to remain cozy and light (i think the wood slats and the views outside help this) Seating is dispersed as to reinforce the sense of intimacy and you never feel too close to another table.
The space is simple. The food is simple.
We had a trio of appetizers.
The brioche was pretty boring. Bread, obligaroy herb, poached egg. Check. Salmon with roe was fresh but familiar. The standout was really the oxtail gnocci. The plump squarish pillows of dough were perfectly light inside and browned on the outside, they melted away in your mouth on a wave of delicious gravy that coated the base of the plate. The oxtail had a wonderful smokey taste - the chopped veggies mixed in seemed like an afterthought and really didnt offer much. Id nix those..
Main course for me was the Alaskan cod with fresh grapefruit on a lentil base. The lentils swam in more gravy and I pretty much left them alone after a few bites - the cod was really delicious, fresh and cooked to perfection sliding perfectly onto my fork and really having a pop paired with a cold fresh sweet slice of grapefruit - wonderful combination.
My friend had the "butchered today" beef - i dont remember the cut but the waiter sold us on it. It was for for me at least, a dissappointment. Despite it being cooked medium rare, it felt and tasted more like well done. At 38 dollars, it was not worth or indicative of the quality of which it was described. Give me Elysian lamb for that price point, give me well marbled organic beef tartar... dont give me a slab of dry steak and tell me it was dressed that morning. I dont remember what it came with, a mash of some type. Forgettable.
Desert was a coffee mouse with banana in a graham cracker pie crust, with way too much whip cream. It was delightful and I ate all the mouse and banana. A comfortable, recognizable simple treat.
We drank the non-alcoholic drinks - I believe I had a pomogranite fresh and my friend had a basil and strawberry concotion - both are made with sparkling mineral water which I looooove. These fresh drinks were outstanding.
Overall it was a pleasant experience. I didnt find the frog water pitcher all that cute.. I get that the hotel incorporates artisian touches but that is not one that I appreciated. The prices were exorbitant for such simple food. Yes the meal was overall good but it was not memorable for that price point. I get it its a hotel.. but I probably wont be coming back here for a destination meal - unless its a business meeting or someone is staying there that dares not venture out to sample Pittsburgh's other offerings.
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