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Friday, January 14, 2000
By Woodene Merriman, Post-Gazette Dining Critic
Gary Pastore always wanted to own a fine dining restaurant -- "a place I would like to go to," he says.
So the McKeesport man sold a couple of non-food-related businesses and took the plunge. He hired not one, but two, chefs and opened De Rosa's in a nondescript building along Route 30 in North Versailles.
Never mind that other restaurants in this building have failed. Most recently it was a Chinese place. Never mind the big Thomasville furniture sign, even bigger than the restaurant sign, rising high in the sky from the parking lot. Never mind that it's a little tricky pulling back onto Route 30, with all those cars racing up over the hill from East McKeesport.
Nobody seems to mind; De Rosa's parking lot is almost full.
Inside, the decor -- if that's the proper word -- isn't much. Just a plain dining room with white-tablecloth covered tables and an overloaded coat tree by the maitre d's station at the entrance. A parade of young men in jeans and plaid shirts comes from the bar at the far end of the dining room, through the tables, to use the rest rooms.
But ahh, the food and wine. It's a pleasant surprise. His Honor is almost drooling over the wine list -- 150 bottles and growing. The menu fascinates me. Every day a new long menu is printed on the other side of the wine list.
It features dueling chefs. On this side we have chef Osvaldo Contestabile, 65, once of Bravo Franco, Ben Gross and many other kitchens. His featured entree tonight is veal osso buco Osvaldo, a veal shank on a bed of linguine with a tomato basil sauce and served with a salad ($17.95).
And on the other side we have chef Tim Pearson, 42, of Irwin, who spent many years working in West Coast seafood houses, as well as local kitchens. His featured entree tonight is Virginia spots in a beurre blanc sauce, served with pasta du jour and a salad ($17.95).
Every day the features are different. Another night when we were here Chef Osvaldo was grilling ahi tuna with bruschetta vinaigrette ($19.95), and Chef Pearson was sautéing veal medallions with mushrooms, artichokes and capers for veal piccata ($17.95).
If the chefs' features don't appeal to you, the 18-inch menu has many more choices. And always you could have one of the De Rosa specialties that rate top-of-the page billing, Maine lobster tails ($24.95) or rack of lamb ($21.95).
Right off, H.H. is disappointed. Yes, the wine list is amazing -- selections from California, Oregon, Italy and France, and some good ones, too. But I want a white wine to drink with the spots, and he wants a red to accompany the osso buco. The usual solution is ordering by the glass, but the only wines available by the glass are ordinary. "With all those premium wines in the cellar, couldn't they have one or two by the glass?" he whispers. Sorry, H.H., it will have to be Mondavi's Coastal chardonnay and cabernet tonight.
Congratulations to both chefs. The osso buco is tender and traditional, a nice cut of meat properly cooked. The six spots are lightly breaded and delicate in flavor.
Which chef prepares the rest of the menu isn't known. Actually they work together well, Pastore says. So much for the old maxim that just as every ship has only one captain, a kitchen can have only one chef.
For a first course, De Rosa's has chilled shrimp and crab, hot appetizers, soups and "smoke house" selections. The smoked trout pate with baguette toast points is superb -- fine texture, subtle smoky flavor, and nicely decorated with olives. Polenta and sausage from the hot appetizer list was a little puzzling. The polenta is soft, bland, and like pudding; the sausage slices, spicy. A layer of tomato sauce and pecorino Romano cheese tops it off. I just wish we had more cheese.
The chefs also serve a complimentary appetizer, a bowl of chopped tomato, onions, olives and peppers to make your own bruschetta. The idea, I guess, is to spoon it onto a piece of the good Breadworks bread. But why don't they provide a spoon or a fork?
The number of choices for an entree is almost overwhelming. Beef, pork, veal and chicken dishes, then specialty seafood and specialty pastas. Grilled halibut in an orange basil sauce ($17.95) is usually available, and a good choice. It was a thick cut, perfectly grilled so the flesh is glossy when you pull it apart with a fork. Diners with big appetites should consider the linguine con frutta di mare, or mussels, shrimp. scallops and clams in a diablo sauce. Be prepared to ask for a doggy bag.
Pastore says he buys his seafood from Pacific Coast Seafood, the same supplier used by the Steelhead Grill and the Pittsburgh Fish Market, Downtown. Every day at 3 p.m. he calls in his order, and it arrives at noon the next day via Federal Express.
It was at the Pittsburgh Fish Market, he says, that he tasted the Washington state oysters and knew he had to have them. When available, they're on the menu.
De Rosa's opened last summer, and is still a project in progress. Pastore is planning to add another 100 or so wines. He recently opened a back dining room, called the Rose room, with windows looking out over the Turtle Creek Valley. Penn Center, Wilkins, can be spotted in the distance.
Service is erratic. One night it was excellent, another night I had to ask for a fork three times. Each time, no one noticed that it had been returned with a used plate and I was forkless.
Pastore put in a cappuccino/espresso bar. Sweet desserts made for the restaurant are available, but a cup of cappuccino with a shot of Frangelico, a biscotti made in the restaurant kitchen on the side, makes a fine finale to a surprisingly good meal.
De Rosa's Restaurant
1340 Lincoln Highway (Route 30), North Versailles
412-824-1100
Hours: Monday-Thursday, 11 a.m.- 10 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 11 a.m.-11 p.m. Closed SundayThe basics: Italian cuisine with emphasis on seafood; lunch features range from croissant sandwiches with fresh fruit, $6.95, to lobster tails and filet mignon, with salad and pasta, $23.95; dinners, served with a salad and pasta, range from sautéed wild Red River salmon and bowtie pasta in basil and cream sauce, $13.95, to lobster tails and filet mignon, $27.95; parking in front of restaurant; full bar, extensive wine list and cappuccino/espresso bar; seats 120, plus 28 in lounge; wheelchair accessible; no smoking areas; major credit cards; reservations suggested.The last word: 3 stars