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| - Beautiful little restaurant & tavern located on a peaceful country road in North Allegheny county. My bf took me here on a week day night. We opted for the dining room and the atmosphere is very relaxing and romantic.
I had the lobster bisque with sherry whipped cream, which was delicious. My bf had the turtle soup which he said was okay. For dinner, I had an arugula salad with poached pears, blue cheese, pumpkin seeds, dried cranberries in a yummy vinaigrette. Jim had a New York strip steak and crab cake served with potatoes and asparagus. I sampled his dinner, (of course) and I thought the crab cake was very good and the steak was very good.
The best part was dessert. We had the special of the evening, pear cake served with macadamia ice cream and fresh whipped cinnamon cream. It was so amazing! Also, we had dessert coffees, my was hazelnut with Frangelico, topped with whipped cream and hazel nuts. It was very good.
All in all, a very nice meal. Probably the most obvious thing that was lacking was quality service. When dining at a fine restaurant like the Pines, you expect great service. Perhaps their location makes it difficult to get good servers.
The Pines tout the fact that they grow many of the herbs and vegetables that they serve right on the premise amongst the landscaping. They also have a small greenhouse to grow baby lettuces and herbs all year round. What they don't grow, they get from local producers that grow organic. They have been in business for 30 years. I am very impressed by that.
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