| rev:text
| - Mid afternoon, too late for lunch but too early for dinner, I was dreading the 6-7 hour flight from Pittsburgh back to the west coast (headwinds were adding at least an hour to the trip). Needing a place to eat before being crammed into the southwest flying bus, I carefully examined my choices in the center X of the PIT airport. interestingly laid out, many of the primary restaurants are in the cross roads of the X, making your selection with a quick walk around the center of the X area. Having time to kill, I thought I would get some fuel in the tank and was happy to spot what looked to be a gastropub type restaurant.
Yes I shamelessly watch the Food network, Hell's Kitchen, and all the spin off shows, etc. but honestly it did not dawn on me at first what the connection was here. I was so torqued up with work and dreading the flight, AHHH Bar Symon! the light bulb finally went off and I immediately stepped up to the hostess stand for a table. Cut to the chase, I ordered a salad, a refreshing crisp, oregano dressing and fresh lettuces. Simple but fresh, minus the chemical flavor you get sometimes from airport boxed salads. Rosemary and lamb "mac and cheese" hit the spot. More meat than cheese, but I think the description on the menu does it justice and you would not be mislead on the cheese part if you dialed in to that. The better part of a bottle of sangiovese went quite nicely. I might add they had a good selection of microbrews which I am totally into, just not before a long flight (in a window seat).
Downside, the waitress was cool with me but not as nice to an older couple sitting next to me. Though they were extremely bossy and needy with their burgers it took 25 minutes for them to get it. Seriously I timed it. My food came out so fast (5 minutes for salad, 8 for pasta) and theirs was so slow, ordering just minutes apart, it made me wonder what the situation was in the kitchen.
One more comment. You can't miss all the cookbooks being hawked at the server / cashier stand. So as I was leaving, wine under the belt, I took a sec to flip thru the 2 Symon cookbooks for sale. Both advertised as "personally signed," I looked thru every one to find the signature. I called this to the attendant's attention when I couldn't find his autograph. She said, "oopsies, i've sold a lot this week and I guess none of them had the signature. hee hee." Great. So I bought one as an impulse gift buy and still have a bad taste in my mouth from that.
Postscript: Cookbook was a good read on the plane, and belly was full in a good way. Got home safely. Four stars for airport food and wine.
Second Postscript: Shortly after I wrote this review, Bar Symon contacted me and replaced the cookbook with one that was actually autographed. Because of the good follow up, I have raised my review to five stars. Can't wait to visit again.
Thank you.
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