Eat & Drink

WSET Level 2 Wine Class Review with Palate Partners

If you've spent any amount of time on this site, you're likely well aware that we like wine. Not only do we have a quest to check out the best Pittsburgh wineries, but we're also visiting all the best wine bars in Pittsburgh too.

But perhaps one of our favorite experiences in Pittsburgh comes from the wine education company Palate Partners with their informal First and Third Friday feature which includes several wine samples, education about the grape and region, all at a fairly attractive price point. 

We knew that Palate Partners offered many wine classes beyond these, and their offering of the multi-week Wine & Spirit Education Trust (WSET) courses caught our eye. This is an international, standardized wine program (with four levels) and the folks at Palate Partners are certified to teach the first two levels (plus bringing in a guest instructor for Level 3).

Our favorite wine instructors teaching an international wine course that is highly regarded the world over? Sign us up. 

But in being ones who always like to go big, we skipped Level 1 and jumped straight into the eight-week Level 2 course. While challenging, we also had a rather great time in this one.

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Fig & Ash Review – Wood-Fired Dining Exceeding All Expectations

If you pay attention to restaurant opening news like we do, odds are good you've been anticipating Fig & Ash in the North Side for quite some time. This restaurant was on the books for over 3 1/2 years before finally opening for business in late 2020. 

In that time they won Pittsburgh's Sandwich Sampler event not once, but twice (one of which we were fortunate enough to try), received a fair bit of press coverage, and even gutted the entirety of the restaurant space to make way for their indoor fire pit.

Naturally, we went to this one as soon as it opened!

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Pita My Shawarma Review – Food Truck Turned Restaurant

Although we love our Pittsburgh food truck scene, we always enjoy hearing that our favorite trucks open up brick-and-mortar restaurants in the city. Why? So we can get their food all the time!

It is always a treat to find a favorite food truck at a brewery or event, but sometimes we cannot drive far across town to grab an order from a favorite. When they open a dedicated storefront, that problem is solved as we know where to get them all the time.

Pita My Shawarma was one such food truck that moved to a dedicated location, and now that they're in the heart of Lawrenceville, we see placing many orders from this one in the future.

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Kayaking to Sycamore Island from 10.7 Marina in Verona

We love getting out on the water whenever we can, and one of our preferred methods for doing so is in a kayak. 

There is no shortage of kayak options in the Pittsburgh area, and on a recent outing we took out rentals from 10.7 Marina in Verona to explore the Allegheny River a bit upstream from the city. This made for a great starting point as Verona is a short distance away from Sycamore Island- a green space we've been wanting to check out from years that is only accessible via boat.

So we boarded our kayaks and were off!

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Thai Tamarind Review – Large Portions and Some Twists

Thai Tamarind relocated to a new spot in Bellevue in July 2025. This review was from a visit to their former location.

Thai Tamarind is a cute and cozy little Thai restaurant in Bellevue offering classic Thai noodle dishes and curries, plus a few signature dishes that are unique and equally delicious. 

Although we haven't dined in at Thai Tamarind, the space is quite adorable and feels like you're in someone's home – it would be a great date night spot. We recently ordered takeout, though, and judging from the number of people picking up orders, the restaurant seems equally popular for takeout.

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Scratch Food and Beverage Review – A True Scratch Kitchen

Scratch has changed concepts since our last visit and expanded to include pop up nights, a cafe, and more. As such, our review of their current food and beverage offering is likely not accurate. We will update more when we visit again!

Scratch in Troy Hill is a neighborhood bar and restaurant serving up, as you might expect, tons of scratch made sandwiches, entrees, salads, cocktails, and more. It's the little details here like house fermented shrubs, pickles, and sauces that add up to make each drink or entree more than the sum of its parts.

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Kiin Lao & Thai Eatery Review – Visiting for Laotian Cuisine

Kiin Lao and Thai Eatery in Squirrel Hill is Pittsburgh's first Laotian restaurant, having recently been transformed by the owners from a purely Thai restaurant into one serving both Lao and Thai dishes. Whether you're looking for some classic Thai dishes or are wanting to expand your palate and try Laotian food, odds are you'll find something that strikes your fancy on the diverse menu at Kiin which includes starters, salads, and entrees.

Kiin Lao and Thai Eatery used to be Bangkok Balcony, a beloved Squirrel Hill restaurant that we enjoyed over the years and used to be our go-to Thai place when we lived in the neighborhood. So when we heard the Bangkok Balcony owners were transforming the restaurant into a Lao and Thai eatery we knew we had to check it out.

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Shelly Pie Review – Large Pizzas in Turtle Creek

Whenever we share our Pittsburgh pizza roundup post, we often receive a ton of recommendations of where to go next. This is not surprising as Pittsburgh has one of the highest concentrations of pizza shops per capita of any metro area in the country. Naturally, this means our to-do list is quite large on the pizza front.

One shop that came up time and time again was Shelly Pie in Turtle Creek (just east of the city) and we decided to visit as quickly as possible to see why this one is so popular.

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