Joe Cestone's Pizzaeria

Joe Cestone's Pizzaeria

200 Virginia Avenue

Pittsburgh,PA

(412) 431-3311

Salt of the Earth (NACL)

Dinner at Salt of the Earth on Mar. 28th. I had heard a good reputation about Salt of the Earth and finally I went there. The restaurant has an open ketchen and nice atomosphere. As I made a reservation and a hostess took us to the mezzanine. I could look down on the hall and kitchen. I had vodka martini as a starter and I liked it. We ordered some appetizer. It was good, but we were not crazy about it. I think we could skip it next time or try something else. We had pork and duck for main dish and both of them are great. It cooked perfectly. I just didn't love wine I ordered much. I guess I should have ordered a bottle. But totally, I enjoyed it.

 

Beets : fennel, yuzu, hibiscus

Salmon : cauliflower ice cream, celery sheet, apple, grapefruit - Salmon was marinated and it's like ceviche. I liked celery sheet which is like jelly. It was good with salmon.

Pork - It's 3 ways, loin, pork belly and sausage. Oh my. It was so tasty. I love pork belly all the time, and the loin! It was gorgeous. It's so moist and went good with spicy sasami oil sauce. The white puffy one is rice cake. I think this dish is supposed to be Asian style.

Duck - Oh my(again)! The duck was also perfect. I think Salt of the Earth is good at grilling. Maybe I will try seafood next time. hmmm I'm not sure if I can ignore those beautiful pork and duck.

Salt of the Earth
http://www.saltpgh.com/

Late Night Munches

Mar. 25. I got home after 9pm. I didn't have dinner yet but was not hungry. So just light (?) nice munches with my dry as desert Martini.

Donato's

Dinner at Donato's on Mar. 24. I went to Fox Chapel. I didn't know much about the area. So I just looked for a restaurant and picked Donato's. The restaurant website looked pretty good, so I looked forward it. ok, what I thought was .... it was not bad. but I don't think I go to Fox Chapel for this restaurant. If I live in Fox Chalpel......hmmm, I don't know. 

Bread and Olives as Starter 

Baked Oysters : 3 kinds - All of three are mediocre.

Angus Beef Carpaccio - It was good. I liked it.

 Donato's Sald : heirloom lettuces, grape tomatoes, ceci beans, gorgonzola, pepperoncini, olives & roasted shallot vinaigrette

Soup du Jour : Lobster Bisque - a bit salty. I wouldn't be surprise if it's from a can of soup.

 Osso Bucco : with asparagus, parmesan risotto, gremolata - Meat was good, but still the sauce was salty. and rissotto was overcooked. The texture was like porridge.

Aged New York Strip - hmmm. It was not seasoned well. We asked less seasoned and only salt and pepper, but it was not enough. So our server offered us to make it again. yes, our server was very nice. However the second plate was still not what we expected, but we took it anyway. The menu has some steak plates and looked good. I thought they area good at steak. Maybe we picked wrong one??

Broiled Crab Cakes : with sauteed spinach, lemon aioli - Actually, it was pretty good. I could come back for this, maybe.

Donato's
http://donatosrestaurant.com/

Crab Bisque Pasta

Lunch on Mar. 24. Pasta with sauce from package. I like bisque, but for pasta sauce... it's ok. Maybe its because of instant??

Fish Fry for Fish Friday

Dinner on Mar. 22. Fish Fry for Fish Friday. A neighbor comminuty place sold fish fry and I tried them. It was good. I don't make deep-dried dish, so I appreciate this kind meals. also coleslaw, mac'n cheese, corn. Food to go is nice and easy, and cheaper than eating out.

 

Ra-Oh Ramen

Lunch on Mar. 22. My mom sent me an instant ramen. There are many kinds but the one she sent is very popular in Japan right now, she said. I understand why it's so popular. The noodle tastes like fresh one and broth is flavourfull. It is the best instant ramen!

 

Ikanago

Dinner on Mar. 18. My mom sent me Ikanago which is little fish cooked with soy sauce, sugar and ginger. All I wanted for ikanago was rice. So I made lots of rice and some side dish. It was soooo good. Thank you, mom!

 

Grilled Salmon

Cerely Kimpira(spicy stir-fry)

Spinach Salad with bonito flakes and carrots for toppings

Ikanago - Ikanago is food for spring. It goes really good for rice. Seriously, I can keep eating rice forever if I have ikanago. Thank you mom! I always miss you and your cooking.

Gyoza and Broccoli

Dinner on Mar. 17. Gyoza night! I was hungry for gyoza since last night. I finished the stock of gyoza. It's good to have the stock and it helps for a busy day. I don't have anything for making gyoza, so I will have to go grocery shopping to make some gyoza.

 

Grand Councourse

Brunch at Grand Concouse on Mar. 17. It was about $28 and I think it was really good deal. They have fresh omlet, pancake, smoked salmon, shrimp cocktail, mussel, steak, ham, turkey, salmon and more! I ate more than I should have. So after the brunch, I did power walk by the river for an hour. I don't think I burned what I ate but I felt better.

 

Omlet and pancake stand. You can order the topping.

My first plate : Mussel, Shrimp and smoked salmon - I need white wine!

My second plate : prime rib, omlet, bacon, rice, sausage, veggies - I need red wine!

My third plate (dessert) : ham, prim rib again!, salad

I was so happy! I love to eat!

Grand Concourse
http://www.muer.com/grand-concourse/index.asp

Oven Baked Salmon

Dinner on Mar. 12. Something easy. I threw cabbage, onion, cerely, potato and salmon on a heat resistant plate and put it in the oven. Done.

 

Meatball Soup

Dinner on Mar. 11. I wanna make something with ground beef, and also I was hungry for soup. So I made this soup. I guess tomato soup would have been good with meatball. Maybe next time.

 

Oops, out of focus. I added moch(rice cake)

Verde

Lunch at Verde on Mar. 10. It was lunch for me and for some girls it was brunch. Yes, I am an early bird. Anyway this place seemed pretty popular for brunch (or lunch) on Sunday. The weather was perfect and we enjoyed coctails to wake us up. Def. I wanna go back. I just found that they have Sangria for Sunday Special. I will try it next time.

 

Caipirinha : cachaça, muddled lime, simple syrup - I asked it less syrup. It was perfect!

Huevos Benedictos : Two poached eggs, blue corn English muffin, house-cured
bacon, wilted escarole, guajillo hollandaise - I wanted tried house-cured bacon. It was smokey and tasty. I also liked wilted escarole. It was cooked with garlic and good flavor.

Verde Mexcan Kitchen and Cantina
http://www.verdepgh.com/

Blueberry Bagel

Lunch on Mar. 9. It looks like breakfast but it's lunch. I went grocery shopping and found blueberry bagels. I was going to get some bagels at Einstein Bros, but who cares? I want bagels RIGHT NOW. so I grabbed it. It was supposed to be my breakfast, but I didn't want to wait. Then, my lunch looked like breakfast. I liked my lunch and still I think I am going to Einstein Bros anyway.

 

Tofu Hamburger with Mashroom Teriyaki Sauce

Dinner on Mar. 7. I was going to make regular hamburgers but I found tofu which would be expired soon. So I mixed them together and servered with mushroom teriyaki sauce. I had stir-fried greenpepper and cooked carrots on the side and spinach salad with ranch dressing.

 

Einstein Bros Bagel

Lunch at Einstein Bros Bagel on Mar. 6. I love bagels. I used to have bagels at home all the time. I had bagel sandwich for lunch today and it reminded me how much I liked bagels. I think I have coupon for Einstein Bros Bagel. I will buy some bagels before the expiration.

 

Nova  Lox & Bagel and Fresh Orange juice - Also I didn't have smoked salmon for a long time. I liked my lunch today:)

Einstein Bros Bagel
http://www.einsteinbros.com/

Hinamatsuri (1 day late)

March 3rd is Hinamatsuri(girl's festival) in Japan. I totally forgot about it yesterday. Fortunatelly, I had time to cook today, so I made hinamatsuri meal. Chirasi-zushi (sushi rice with vegetables and some seafoods) is one of traditional meal for that day. I usually use the instant one which I can mix it with rice, but I made it from scratch today. It was pain in the butt. I think I did a pretty good job as first time.

Chirashi-zushi

Pan-fried Flounder with green onion

Cooked cabbage, squid and egg

Stir-fry Mushroom

Sunday Dinner

I was going to eat out for dinner tonight, but I changed my mind. So something easy and good for alcohole:)

 

Appetizer : (clockwise from top) Spinach and Ham Salad with Ginger Dressing, Octopus Salad, Edamame, Shrimp and Avocado Salad

Steak! Served with Yakiniku Sauce and Ponzu Sauce

Perfect middium rare!

Chicken and Spinach Mac Gratin

I didn't go grocry shopping last weekend. So there are not many veggies in the fridge anymore. I found frozen spinach in the freezer. Then this is what I made for dinner!