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Friday, June 08, 2001

By Woodene Merriman, Post-Gazette Dining Critic

A friend called from Michigan to ask if we had tried Opus. "My sister says it's great. She works in Downtown Pittsburgh and goes there for lunch," she said.

That was in March, and Opus had just opened. News of a good new restaurant in Pittsburgh certainly travels fast -- and far.

Now we can say yes, we've been there, for lunch and dinner, and yes, Opus is a good new restaurant. Good looking and good eating.

Opus is in the lobby of the swanky new Renaissance Hotel, which once was the Fulton Building. You'll want to take time to look around the big lobby with the sweeping staircases and glass-domed rotunda, maybe sit in the lounge a bit and take it all in before you walk on through to the restaurant. A few years ago this was Heaven. The nightclub of that name is gone, but the space is still a bit otherworldly.

Opus, at the back of the lobby, all polished wood, soft lighting and comfortable big curvaceous booths, is the kind of restaurant that could be in any hotel anywhere in the world. This could be London, Paris or Brisbane.

"But it isn't. And if you don't make up your mind what you want to eat, we're going to be late for the theater," His Honor says, breaking into my reverie. However, I see he's impressed enough to be checking the back of his cover plate (it's Villeroy and Boch), examining the flowers on the table to see if they're real (they are), and noticing how hefty the silver is. (It's heavy, a good sign.)

Some of the diners seem to be on their way home from the Pirates game, some are probably hotel guests, and others, like us, are en route to the O'Reilly. The restaurant is a short walk to Heinz Hall and the Benedum, too.

Chef Ralph Cipolla says he gets many people who come in from Sewickley and other suburbs. They come often, he says, so unlike many hotel chefs, he has to keep changing the menu to offer the regular customers something different.

His most popular dishes are sea bass (typically Brazilian nut-crusted and served over chorizo, garlic and spinach, $25), seared ginger tuna (with roasted vegetables and grilled portobello mushrooms, $23) and crab cakes (stone and jumbo lump crab, no filler, just egg, and served with roasted corn and pepper salsa, $26).

To that list I'd like to add a couple of entrees we like: First, Portuguese lamb chops, a little spicy, grilled and served with roasted garlic mashed potatoes, a caramelized fig, port wine demi glace, baby carrots, a baby zucchini and a plume of rosemary sticking out the top of it all, $25. Yes, all of that on one plate. "Why don't restaurants use side dishes anymore?" H.H. complained. "This is too much on one plate."

Another good one is gnocchi fra diablo, or giant prawns, tails still intact, in a not-too-spicy red sauce, tossed with gnocchi and roasted vegetables ($20). Well, the menu said "roasted." The baby vegetables were barely cooked; the baby pattypan squash was cute, but impossible to cut.

Chef Cipolla has cooked overseas, in the Caribbean and most recently at the Boca Raton Club in Florida. No wonder he makes such an authentic Key lime pie, a little tart, yellow instead of green, and no whipped cream. With a twist of lime and few fresh berries, it's lovely.

He has no history of what Pittsburghers like to eat, so "I'm feeling my way," he says. That also means he has no preconceived ideas of what Pittsburghers like, so he's not serving the same old, same old. Thank goodness.

I'm particularly taken with his vanilla vinaigrette. I had it for lunch one day on a Byham salad of mixed greens, crumbled feta, pancetta ham, tomatoes, onion, pine nuts and daikon sprouts ($7). Tonight H.H. and I are sharing a pistachio-crusted goat cheese salad of mixed greens, cherry tomatoes and red onions, lightly dressed with vanilla vinaigrette ($7). The flavoring is so subtle I don't think I would have known what it is without reading the menu.

A hearty Tuscan bean soup, on both the lunch and dinner menus ($4 a cup) has a nice bite and a touch of sweetness. The lunch menu also has lighter entrees and various salads and sandwiches, including a grilled portobello mushroom sandwich that's hard to eat. (How do you hold the thing together?)

H.H. always spends a lot of time reading the wine list, but here it's worse than ever. The wines are pricey, yes, but so is the menu, and you expect that in a hotel. Many are premium wines. "We could have a bottle of Opus One for $295," he says. We could, but we won't.

The wines are strangely grouped according to the areas of their origin. Well, sort of. Since when was Alsace considered Mediterranean?

All this serious studying of the wine list and H.H. orders a glass of good old Kendall Jackson chardonnay ($7) for each of us. Yes, I know. We're on our way to the theater.

Touches of class: The butter dishes have real butter knives. Coffee is poured from a silver pot. No white paper covers the dazzlingly white tablecloth. Focaccia is made in the Opus kitchen. All the desserts are made here, and they're all tempting. If in doubt, try the creamy Bananas Foster Rice Pudding ($5). It's not your mother's rice pudding. It comes in a stemmed dessert dish, with lots of thick butterscotch sauce, and a slice of starfruit on top.

Opus has no problems that can't be corrected with a little time and experience, except for one. The rest rooms are upstairs, on the next floor of the hotel. Either climb the grand staircase, or ride the elevator, and take the opportunity to look around.

OPUS
Renaissance Hotel, 107 Sixth St., Downtown
412-992-2005

Hours: Breakfast, 6:30-11:30- a.m.; lunch, 11:30 a.m.-3 p.m.; midday abbreviated menu, 3-5 p.m.; dinner, 5 p.m.-midnight.

The basics: Hotel restaurant specializing in Mediterranean cuisine; valet parking and nearby parking garages; seats 140 (including mezzanine available for parties); international wine list of bottles and wines by the glass; bar in lobby of hotel; quiet; all major credit cards except Discover; reservations suggested for lunch and dinner.

The last word: 3 1/2 stars

Thursday, June 07, 2001