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Sunday, July 13, 2003

I asked Craig Richards, at Lidia's restaurant, Strip District, whether Pittsburghers had ever snubbed him because the Italian restaurant where he is executive chef came from out of town. I've heard people muttering that we already had enough Italian restaurants, and I assumed he must have heard that, too.

"I can't say I haven't heard it, but not in a while," he said. "We opened in March 2001. In the time since we've become neighbors. We buy on the Strip and from local Pennsylvania farmers. Our staff is mostly from here."

The staff at Lidia's would be hard to resist, starting with the chef, who is such a decent fellow. Hard work defines him. Routinely it's 10-hour days, five days a week. But then his weeks are never routine. It may be his day off, but they will tell you on the phone that he's coming in later. And even if it is his day off and the place gets really busy, he can be reached on his cell phone.

Richards says he's no more conscientious than the 10 chefs who work for him.

"They can't clock in until 3 but they come in an hour before to check the mis en place." (This is the kitchen work that takes place before meal service begins. The French feel that it is at this point that the quality of a restaurant is determined.)

The chef insists that nobody tells the staff to come early or stay late, but the day goes better if some prep is done at either end of it. It's helpful in a kitchen where almost everything is made fresh daily. According to the chef, "If you're doing what you like to do, you want to do it right."

In an effort to do its best, Lidia's restaurant employs 50 to 55 people, the staff divided about equally between the front and the back of the house. The kitchen gets going at 7:30 a.m. and things shut down after midnight.

Does the chef ever fire anyone?

"I'd say that 90 percent of the time, the person fires himself."

Does the chef ever yell?

"Yelling doesn't get you what you want," he says.

The restaurant seats 180 people, 85 upstairs and the rest on the entry level.

As a family-style restaurant with the habit of hospitality, it's noisy.

If the chef, in his civvies, walked in the front door to have dinner, here are some of the dishes he would choose to order.

As an appetizer, Frico, a cheese envelope with a potato filling, big enough for two, $8.50. Recommended with it is a glass of Friulian Tocai wine. It's a Bastianich pairing, and the chef thinks it's magical.

Richards is an admirer of owner Lidia Bastianich. He listens to her closely. His goal is to develop his palate along the lines of her exceptional one. He's traveling in Italy this fall and he hopes to come back thinking more like an Italian. Most of the dishes on the menu are classics and a reflection of Bastianich's sensibilities.

For salad, the chef likes Insalata di Rucola con Gorgonzola (arugula with walnuts, pear and cheese, $7.50).

As an entree, he likes Pollo con Limone e Olive (Pan-seared chicken breast, roasted lemon, caper berries and Sicilian olives, $16).

"In the kitchen we tell each other that if we took this off the menu, they would riot on 14th Street," the chef says.

Having enjoyed it, I wonder whether the quality of the chicken hasn't something to do with the popularity of the dish. Lidia's buys free-range chicken from the fabled Four Story Hill Farm, Honesdale, Wayne County. Laforet also buys from there, as do Chef Daniel Boulud in New York City and Charlie Trotter in Chicago.

Another great entree: Lasagna Bolognese ($13). The pasta dishes at Lidia's are favorites of mine. I like the lasagna, and I like the pasta tastings: three varieties of pasta made in-house fresh daily each served with a different sauce, ($14).

In many Italian restaurants, veal dishes outnumber other meats. At Lidia's under the heading Carni, they do four selections, one each of veal, beef, pork and lamb. (The lamb comes from Jamison Farm, Latrobe, where the French chef Alain Ducasse buys for his New York Restaurant.)

The chef checks two favorites: Ossobucco Milanese (veal shanks, $21) and a grilled to order beefsteak, Bistecca alla Griglia ($24) both with classic accompaniments.

As for desserts, Richards thinks they've taken panna cotta, Italian custard, to its zenith. Buying locally, as is his habit, he likes any dessert using fresh fruit. Area suppliers include Art and Larry King, Harvest Valley Farms, Valencia; Penn's Corner Farm Alliance, Cherry Tree, Indiana County; and Fair Winds Farm, Jackson Center, Mercer County, which grows tomatoes year around.

"As an Italian restaurant designed along classic lines, we use a lot of fresh tomatoes. It was a pleasure to find a farm where winter tomatoes taste this good."

To his list of suppliers he adds, Wil-Den Family Pig Farms, Jackson Center.

Believing that everybody profits from it, Richards makes site visits to establish relationships with his suppliers.

"I'm interested in how a farm operates, and I like knowing what techniques are used," he says. "Are they spraying, and with what are they spraying?"

He can't leave to chance the quality of the food he offers guests.

How much of the menu is the chef's responsibility?

"The chef de cuisine is Eben Copple. I cook every day, and I need to know how to cook at every station, but a lot of what the executive chef does is manage people and money," he says.

The executive chef is also called upon to cook in New York City, where the Bastianich staff recently did a fund-raising dinner for 110 guests at the James Beard House at $125 per person. Chefs came from New York City restaurants Becco, Felidia, Esca, and Lidia's in Kansas City and Pittsburgh.

Richards describes the event as "exciting" and "wonderful," and the team as "a well-oiled machine."

For someone so dedicated it's surprising to learn that Richards, who is 30, graduated from the University of Wyoming with a degree in English literature and had already started on a master's degree in American studies when he threw it over to cook in a restaurant kitchen.

"My father was ready to kill me," says Richards. "'You'll never make any money that way,' he said."

The big reason Richards says he gave up one career for the other was the desk work. He couldn't stand sitting for so long.

"I liked cooking," he says. "I like big flavors, and I was teaching myself to cook Indian food. My wife, Staci, was encouraging. I started at Lidia's in Kansas City and got transferred here."

What restaurants in Pittsburgh do the couple like?

Richards says he and his wife are friends with the brothers Michele and Andrea Savoia at Dish, South Side. They like the restaurant's concept of simple food perfectly prepared, Mediterranean style.

"Have you been to Tram's Kitchen?" he asks. "We like Tram's. Their food is so fresh it's almost medicinal. You feel healthier after a dinner at Tram's."

Lidia's Restaurant, 1400 Smallman St., Strip District; 412-552-0150.
Dish, 128 S. 17th St., South Side; 412-390-2012.
Tram's Kitchen, 4050 Penn Ave., Lawrenceville; 412-682-2688.