Year: 2024

Fet Fisk Review – Stellar Nordic Dining in Bloomfield

Fet Fisk is a new restaurant in Bloomfield featuring delightful Nordic cuisine with an old school yet trendy vibe.

As Fet Fisk has been around for several years now, its offerings have morphed from pandemic era takeout to pates and spreads at farmers' markets to pop-up dinners where reservations consistently booked up within minutes of being announced.

The culmination has been a James Beard nomination for Chef Nik Forsberg and one of the most highly anticipated restaurant openings in Pittsburgh in quite some time. We were fortunate to dine here on a soft open weekend and were thrilled at the way the menu feels familiar yet special.

Ingredients not typically found on Pittsburgh menus weave their way into a mesmerizing array of downright delicious plates. To top it off, the service is a pure delight!

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Phipps Conservatory’s Spring Flower Show – A Closer Look

As the cold of winter begins to leave Pittsburgh, there is one thing we always look forward to in order to ring in the start of spring – Phipps Conservatory's Spring Flower Show!

2024's Spring Flower Show has the theme “A Closer Look” and invites you to get a closer view of the flowers than you have before!

We visited this one shortly after the show opened and wanted to share some of our favorite rooms and exhibits with you today. As with all of our museum posts, we're only sharing a selection of our favorites because you truly must visit for yourself to experience it all!

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Dee Jay’s BBQ Review – West Virginia Staple Moves East

We are quite spoiled to have so many wonderful barbecue restaurants in Pittsburgh, and more keep coming out onto the scene with each passing year.

One famous barbecue spot we have been told about again and again since founding this site was Weirton, West Virginia, based Dee Jay's BBQ for their wildly popular ribs.

Admittedly, as our blog here focuses on southwest Pennsylvania, we have to admit we never featured them despite having visited in the past. But now that Dee Jay's has expanded with restaurants in Pennsylvania, now is the time. So on a trip down to Washington, PA, we made a stop at a location there for a brunch full of barbecue!

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Barcelona Wine Bar Review – Spanish Tapas and Wine Downtown

Barcelona Wine Bar is a new addition to the downtown Pittsburgh drinking and dining scene offering small plates and a huge selection of wine by the glass. Although it's a national chain, we absolutely love the concept of Barcelona Wine Bar- snacking our way through a meal and sampling Spanish and South American wines is our idea of a great night out.

Occupying the former Sharp Edge space on Penn Ave., Barcelona Wine Bar has completed a stunning reservation of the space; the decor suggests the kind of high end wine bar you might find in a much larger city. A long bar with sleek pendant lights runs the length of the space, with large, comfy booths beside the bar, and an adjacent room offers a larger dining space with tables.

Both the food and wine menus here are pretty extensive- it took us a while to take it all in and make decisions, as we truly wanted to order some of everything!

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Pittsburgh Home and Garden Show – Spring or Fall?

Ever since buying a house, we've been inundated with projects left and right. At times, it is really hard to know where to even begin as our list of improvements seems never ending.

So we've been heading to the Pittsburgh Home and Garden Show at the convention center for their spring and fall shows to get ideas.

These events are quite massive and feature hundreds upon hundreds of local vendors covering everything from general contract work to gutter sales and everything in between.

While we'll be the first to admit that the spring show is the one to be at, if you are looking to get ideas for a future home improvement project, this one may need to be on your radar!

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5 Pittsburgh Museum Discounts You May Not Be Aware Of

We love our great Pittsburgh museums and try to visit them as often as possible.

But we'll be the first to admit that sometimes the admission costs can be fairly expensive. While this often drives us to purchase a membership for year-round access, often at the cost of just two or three visits to any museum in a year, we know this luxury is not available to everyone.

So, in this one, we thought we'd look at popular museums that typically charge admission and share more details on when you can potentially visit for free or for a significantly discounted ticket!

Note: Free or discounted opportunities at area museums can change rather quickly. As always, we recommend reconfirming the offer directly with each museum before visiting to ensure the opportunity is still available. Likewise, this article only focuses on traditionally ticketed attractions that offer free or discounted opportunities to visit. For some of our favorite free things to do in Pittsburgh, including some museums that are perpetually free, click the previous link.

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The Pennsylvania Trolley Musem Offers Good Family Fun

We often lament the fact that Pittsburgh no longer has trolleys. The closest we have these days is The T, and due to its limited operating area, is only really useful for a few neighborhoods in the city (and beyond).

For those nostalgic for days when trolley transportation was the norm, you are in luck- The Pennsylvania Trolley Museum in Washington shares the history of this transportation method with informative and interactive exhibits and a massive collection of trolley cars in their showroom.

But for those looking for even more, this one comes with a fun twist- you can even ride one of the historic trolley during your visit!

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Ramen Bar Review – Many Styles to Choose From and More

Ramen Bar is a casual spot in Squirrel Hill serving up solid takes on traditional Japanese ramen in addition to rice bowls and noodle dishes. In a neighborhood with a high turnover of Asian restaurants, Ramen Bar has stood the test of time for more than a decade with comforting noodle soups that hit the spot in chilly Pittsburgh winters.

Although we lived in Squirrel Hill when Ramen Bar opened more than ten years ago, we somehow have never made it in. But on a blustery winter day, we found ourselves shopping at Cuvee (a great bottle shop by the folks behind Independent Brewing Company and Hidden Harbor) and in the mood for a hardy meal. Ramen sounded like it would hit the spot, so we walked the few doors over to Ramen Bar, ready to cozy up to some steaming hot bowls of soup.

The space is informal and on the smaller end, and it's nearly always bustling. Although we didn't have a reservation, we were lucky to snag a table and started perusing the menu.

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Chengdu Gourmet Review – Authentic Sichuan Cuisine

Chengdu Gourmet is a much-lauded Chinese restaurant specializing in Szechuan cuisine, with two locations in Squirrel Hill and McKnight Road. With James Beard nominee Wei Zhu at the helm, you really can't go wrong with anything on the traditional Szechuan menu here. Just be sure to dine with lots of friends or family, as the portions are family style – the best way to experience the restaurant is to order lots of food and share.

Chengdu Gourmet has captured the hearts and stomachs of many a Pittsburgher over the past decade with their Squirrel Hill location. We are excited for the newer McKnight Road location as it makes shopping trips infinitely more enjoyable knowing that there is delicious Szechuan food waiting for us once we complete our errands.

Although we have been to the Squirrel Hill location before, we visited with just the two of us and it was hard to fully appreciate the restaurant. Fast forward to the McKnight Road location opening, where we've visited with friends and have a much greater appreciation and understanding of the delicious food that is being served here.

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Phipps Conservatory for the Orchid and Tropical Bonsai Show

The Orchid and Tropical Bonsai Show, aptly themed “Into the Mist” for 2024, brings these two beautiful plants (both favorites of ours) to the forefront of the Conservatory while highlighting how some of the flowers with special water features and lighting.

As always with our show features, we wanted to share a few of our favorite rooms from this show and hope you'll make it out to visit for yourselves!

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