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Friday, February 09, 2001
By Woodene Merriman, Post-Gazette Dining Critic
Wednesday is Valentine's Day and you know what that means: Diamonds, red roses, chocolate hearts and romantic dinners.
Sorry, you're on your own for the diamonds, red roses and chocolate hearts. But we can help with the romantic dinner. A few suggestions:
Only lovers, it's said, feed each other. So how about dinner at the Cheese Cellar Cafe at Station Square (412-471-3355)? Order the chocolate fondue -- which comes with marshmallows, bits of cake and fruit for dipping into the hot, orange liqueur-flavored chocolate with a long fork -- and feed your lover.
Delicious, you say, but not your style? Then try a dinner before a blazing fireplace in a favorite restaurant. It sets the mood for romance, especially if it's a blustery cold night.
Here's a sampling of area restaurants that have fireplaces. Some are large, some small. Cuisines and prices vary. But all will light the fires Wednesday. Remember that Valentine's Day is a big time for dining out. Call ahead, and if they take reservations, make one.
ABRUZZI'S CEDAR HOUSE is a sibling of Abruzzi's Restaurant on the South Side. Same owners, same menu. But Abruzzi's Cedar House has a handsome old fireplace in the intimate no-smoking dining room. The menu focuses on the food of the Abruzzi region of Italy. The wine list is being developed but there are still some good choices. This is the restaurant known for the white lights outlining the building.
2002 Montour Church Road, Oakdale, 412-787-9966.
CAFE VICTORIA originally was heated by fireplaces. Now that the old North Side mansion is a restaurant, fire burns in all rooms used as dining rooms. Cafe Victoria recently introduced flights of wines, a good way to sample, compare and learn about wines. For Valentine's Day, champagne flights will be featured, along with a special menu. Dessert will be "chocolate aphrodisiac," a sinful concoction of several kinds of chocolate.
946 Western Ave, North Side, 412-323-8881.
CROSS KEYS, an 1850 inn that is now a popular suburban north restaurant, has a fireplace in the library and another small one in the main dining room. Both rooms are pleasant for dinner; the library is more intimate.
599 Dorseyville Road, Indiana, 412-963-8717.
DAMON'S Monroeville location is the place if you want a rack of ribs or perhaps prime rib at affordable prices. Sit in the no-smoking dining room in the front, where the fire will be burning in the fireplace. So you don't consider gnawing on ribs romantic? Think back to that classic movie scene in "Tom Jones."
Miracle Mile, Monroeville, 412-858-7427.
FRANCESCO'S is a small restaurant with an Italian-American menu, two small dining rooms and a red brick, gas-fired fireplace they've been burning all winter. A table for two in front of that fireplace would be an intimate setting for a Valentine dinner.
Route 51, Large, 412-384-9588.
FRIDAY'S HARBOR (formerly Bourbon Street Square, and before that the Mardi Gras) has three fireplaces, one big one in the first-floor dining room and two more in upstairs dining rooms. There's a big game room downstairs, too, if you can tear yourself away from the fire.
634 Camp Horne Road, Ohio Township, 412-369-9916.
KOFENYA, a combination restaurant, coffee house and cybercafe, invites guests to relax by the fireplace before or after dinner. It's a perfect place for dessert and coffee. The new chef, William Dickey, says his changes to the menu have been well-received. That includes adding dishes like teriyaki-grilled pork tenderloin with andouille and cornbread stuffing, whole Maine lobster, fresh duck and fresh seafood on weekends.
210 Valleybrook Road, Peters, 724-941-2233.
LAVENDER HILL usually serves dinner only on Friday and Saturday nights. But the restaurant in the turn-of-the-century Dutch-Colonial house will be open for dinner on Valentine's Day, and fires will be burning in three fireplaces -- two in dining rooms, and one in the gift shop. The menu changes daily, but always features food freshly prepared without excess fat, salt and sugar. Lavender Hill relies on herbs to enhance flavors.
7505 Saltsburg Road, Penn Hills, 412-798-0701.
SEWICKLEY SPEAKEASY has a fireplace everywhere you look -- three in the main floor dining areas, three more on the second floor. You'll forget all about how cold it is outside.
17 Ohio River Blvd., Haysville, 412-741-1918.
SHILOH INN, the Mount Washington restaurant without a view but with good crab cakes and veal dishes, has two fireplaces, and one is usually burning on cold nights.
123 Shiloh St., Mount Washington, 412-431-4000.
SMARTIE ARTIE'S BACKROOM has a big, stacked stone fireplace that isn't lit every night (gas is expensive, you know) but for Valentine's Day, you can count on it. It's a popular, casual restaurant with a wide-ranging menu. The big
fireplace dominates one wall of the dining room.
1808 Golden Mile Highway (Route 286) Plum, 724-327-8991.
STONE MANSION has a spectacular large fireplace in the lounge, and other fireplaces in each dining room. The vaulted ceiling and high-backed banquettes add to the ambiance. Some of the dining rooms are small, lending an intimate atmosphere just right for Valentine's Day.
1600 Stone Mansion Drive, Franklin Park, 724-934-3000.
The fireplace will be glowing Valentine's Day at Smartie Artie's Backroom in Plum. (Gabor Degre, Post-Gazette) 