Whisper Offers Classic Wines, Dessert, and More Downtown

Classic Cocktails and Wines at Whisper

The libations side of the menu at Whisper feels somewhat familiar for anyone who has imbibed at a higher-end, traditional cocktail bar. Cocktails include standards like a French 75, Vesper, New York Sour, and Black Manhattan, and the bar shelves are adorned with many premium labels of spirit brands you will instantly recognize. 

For our first round, we started with a New York Sour made with bourbon, lemon juice, simple syrup, red wine, and an egg white foam as well as a Black Manhattan with rye whiskey, Averna, Angostura bitters, and orange bitters (to which we were glad did not include the more commonly used walnut bitters). Both of these were exceptional cocktails that didn't stray too far from the mold. Just perfectly made and true to style in every respect- so much so that I aspire to making my own this well.

The wines by the glass list follows a similar trend, with a robust selection of brands you may recognize. We saw Dr. Loosen from the Mosel, Kendall Jackson from California, Daou's Pessimist from California, and Cockburn's Port to name a few, with more premium estate bottles being found on the menu (amongst other producers that were also new to us). Our second round included an Alsatian Gewurztraminer and a Cote du Rhone blend from Rasteau that were easy sippers and paired nicely with our savory dish all around!

Grab a Savory Bite, But Save Room for Dessert

The food menu at Whisper is a mix of small plates like a brie sandwich, lobster roll, beef tartare, and shrimp cocktail and larger, sharable food items like cheese and charcuterie boards, flatbreads, and more.

As we wanted to save room for dessert, we started with an order of the goat cheese and fig flatbread, and appreciated that its large portion size was perfect for the two of us to call a modest meal on its own. The herbed goat cheese, fig, Brussels sprouts, and caramelized onion had a lovely sweet, savory, and bitter balance going on that played really well with the perfectly cooked bread below. 

The dessert menu, however, is where Whisper thrives- so much so that we would return here again and again solely for dessert. During our visit, the bar had six desserts including a sage olive oil cake, apple stacked blondie, flourless chocolate cake, a chocolate budino, a cranberry cake, and lemon ricotta doughnuts- each coming with an impressive array of additional flavor components.

As we were heading out for more food at an event, we could only sample one in our first visit, Good Energy, which was a delectably moist sage olive oil cake served with a heaping mound of lemon curd in the center and topped with Italian meringue. Although the sage notes were a little light, the intensity of the lemon curd and lightness of the cake was simply beautiful!

That said, one of the downsides at Whisper is that, despite being branded as a wine and dessert bar, the alcohol options that pair with dessert felt rather limiting during our visit shortly after the bar opened. The menu only featured two Ports and, coupled with the mostly dry or low-sugar wines and cocktails on the menu, felt like a missed opportunity for those wanting a round to pair with dessert. (We will note, however, that they have an excellent Cordial and Brandy menu, if you're into that!)

Hopefully there'll be more offerings there in the future, as we would love to see a dessert wine bar with more options like Sauternes, Sherry, Madeira, other Port styles, and countless more dessert-friendly wines that are out there. A slightly aged Boal Madeira would've been an easy upsell for us with the sage olive oil cake!

Overall, Whisper feels a bit like a counterpoint to Bridges & Bourbon in many respects. Do you like a high-end ambiance with craft drinks whose names, recipes, and brands are instantly recognizable? Whisper is for you. Want a killer dessert or a nightcap after (or even before) a show or dinner downtown? Whisper has exactly that. But if you want the high-end experience with bartender-created cocktails that push the boundaries of modern libations just a bit more, their sister bar Bridges & Bourbon next door has your (and, personally, my) name on it.

Still, we find ourselves going back to the dessert here as it was truly the star of our night, and we cannot wait to try more in the future- hopefully with more dessert wine options to go along with it.

Whisper is located at 932 Penn Avenue in the Cultural District in downtown Pittsburgh. Their sister bar, Bridges & Bourbon, is located immediately next door.