When the Elmhurst Group of Pittsburgh took over the former Ramada Inn Downtown last year, they made an alliance with Doubletree Hotels and announced a $12 million remodeling project. After more than eight months of extreme renovations, the Doubletree Hotel and Bigelow Grille are now open for business.

Tony Tye/Post-Gazette Chef Kevin Sousa created Penn's Corner Farm Pork Loin City Chicken for the new Bigelow Grille. Click photo for larger image. Bigelow Grille One Bigelow Square Downtown 412-281-5013 Hours: Daily 6 a.m.-11 p.m., serving breakfast, lunch and dinner. Basics: A modern American menu focusing on Pittsburgh ethnic fare and local fresh ingredients. A talented chef and friendly wait-staff team up to make this a special dining experience. Prices: Appetizers, $6-$12, entrees, $11-$26, desserts, $6; wines by the glass, $6-$8. Summary: Smoking in bar/lounge. Accessible. Parking in Downtown lots. Major credit cards accepted.

Bigelow Grille occupies the lower level that was previously the Ruddy Duck restaurant. With an enlarged entrance, new landscaping and dramatic outdoor lighting, the path to the street entrance, just up the hill from the U.S. Steel Tower and across the street from the Mellon Center, is inviting and attractive. The west-facing wall of the restaurant has been removed and replaced with floor-to-ceiling glass that opens to a large dining patio and a view of the colorful human traffic of our Downtown streets. The interior of the Ruddy Duck has been totally gutted. What was essentially a bar with a small dining space has become a spacious dining room, while the bar has been removed to the rear of the room and is well isolated from the main dining area. This design consideration is an important part of the secondhand smoke management in the restaurant. While sitting in the restaurant, there was never any sign of smoke coming from the bar.

There is no doubt that the new interior is a major improvement to the hotel's dining space, but even more important are the exciting things happening in the kitchen. The hotel decided to focus its menu on Pittsburgh-centric traditions and local products. With a Pittsburgh chef at the stove, Bigelow is serving innovative and imaginative interpretations of ethnic Pittsburgh classics.

The genius behind the menu and what emerges from the kitchen is Kevin Sousa, a McKees Rocks native who has a phenomenal talent for breathing new life into old recipes. Mr. Sousa is a graduate of Pennsylvania Culinary Institute in Pittsburgh and an alumni of the big Burrito Group. He formerly worked at Kaya and Soba, where his cooking skills constantly helped focus both acclaim and attention on those restaurants. The big Burrito Group and Chef Bill Fuller have consistently been responsible for selecting and developing some of the best culinary talents in Pittsburgh. Many restaurants in our city are staffed by alums from the big Burrito Group kitchens.

Bigelow Grille is first and foremost a hotel restaurant, which means it serves breakfast, lunch and dinner. Not only hotel guests but also the capos of business and industry will find the Bigelow breakfast menu appealing. Besides the breakfast buffet with yogurts and fresh fruits and juices and eggs and waffles, there are numerous specialties. My own favorite is Crab Hash Benedict ($11.95). This modern twist on the Benedict theme is sauteed jumbo crab on toasted English muffins with poached eggs and Hollandaise sauce. This yummy combination seems even more perfectly matched than the smoked salmon or the Canadian bacon version. And the best news is that you can even have it for lunch. (Although it is not on the lunch menu, in a hotel restaurant, you can order off all the menus all day or night.)

Not that the lunch menu does not offer its own attractions. There are a number of entree salads. In keeping with the Pittsburgh theme there is a Steak Salad ($14), which of course features french fries in addition to a grilled flat iron steak to top the mesclun lettuces with bacon, tomato, red onion and blue cheese. The Bigelow Square Burger ($10) is ground beef wrapped in apple-smoked bacon topped with Widmer cheddar cheese, caramelized onion and house-made ketchup. A Vegetarian Wrap ($8) comes not on the usual flour tortilla, but on Shepherd's bread from Strombolis market in the Strip; it contains a mix of seasonal local vegetables and a white bean and walnut spread with radish sprouts. Hot plate possibilities include a list of chef's specialties that rotate on a weekly basis: If it's Sunday, it must be Meatloaf, and on Tuesday it will be Diver Scallops. The specialties are $14 and include a choice of two sides.

Dinner is when Mr. Sousa really struts his stuff. Start with McConnell's Farm squash and apple bisque ($6). This creamy combo of fall fruits and vegetables is treated to a sprinkling of herbs and a dollop of creme fraiche, then sprinkled with toasted pumpkin seeds and topped with a crouton of Mediterra baguette. The local arugula salad ($6) is a plate of peppery greens topped with slices of grilled pear, goat cheese and toasted pecans and dressed with a fabulous vinaigrette spiked with smoked peppers, which add a mysterious heat to the yin/yang quality of this unusual starter.

There are crab cakes ($11) with potato hash or deviled eggs ($7) with smoked salmon and caviar on the appetizer menu. But the chef shows his special creativity with his Foie Gras Cold Cut Sandwich ($9). Making a sort of bologna-like preparation from foie gras en torchon, the chef slices the delicacy and serves it sandwich-fashion on Mediterra bread with Idiazabal cheese and sweet and sour relish. This is an appetizer quite different than Pittsburgh's usual offerings.

On the entree side of the menu, Mr. Sousa has more surprises. There is Allegheny Choucroute ($18) which features Pittsburgh's own Brestensky's garlic kielbasa, bologna, bratwurst and ham shank with sauerkraut. All good Allegheny County citizens should try this local version of the Alsatian classic. Penn's Corner Farm Pork Loin City Chicken ($18) is a long lost recipe for a Depression-era meal that substituted pork or veal for chicken when chicken was beyond the means of the likes of steel mill workers or coal miners. The Bigelow "city chicken" is served with spaetzle, apple sauce and braised red cabbage. There are Bigelow Grille Pierogies ($11), which are hand-formed pierogies from Pierogies Plus in McKees Rocks, Mr. Sousa's hometown. The chef frequently makes the fillings himself and supplies them to the pierogi producers. Fillings change frequently. There is lamb haluski in Napa cabbage with house-made tomato marmalade. There is also a less ethnic choice of New York Strip Steak or Top Sirloin ($21) with french fries and locally foraged wild mushrooms. The entree that stole my heart was Molasses Short Ribs ($19). These braised beef ribs are coated with a molasses and espresso coffee glaze and are served with a delicious side of creamy grits seasoned with rosemary and thyme and asiago cheese. There were also Southern style vinegared collard greens to complete this unforgettable dish.

Mr. Sousa has wisely brought some big Burrito-trained waiters along on this assignment. If you are lucky enough to have the waiter Jim, who followed the chef to Bigelow from Soba, your service will be flawless, cheerful, efficient and fun. Jim can supply suggestions and best of all, even recipes. When I swooned over the grits, he arrived with a hand written note from the kitchen with all the ingredients! Although I am from a Southern grits-eating family, my mother's recipe can't compare with Kevin Sousa's. From now on, this recipe will be our family favorite.

The dessert menu is limited. There is a Chocolate Hazelnut Torte, which is powerfully rich and should be shared. The Banana Split is in fact Bananas Foster with an assortment of three ice cream flavors and topped by chocolate sauce. The chef's favorite is Pineapple Upside-Down Cake, his original version of the old American favorite frying-pan quick cake dessert.

Mr. Sousa has recently begun offering a Chef's Table Menu, which follows the chef's whim but includes eight courses for $45.

The wine list is moderate but includes some fine wines such as Rodney Strong's Cabernet, Alexander Valley, 2001 for $60. There are nine wines by the glass for $6 to $8 for a 5-ounce pour. A number of domestic and imported beers are available as well as a long list of cocktails and so-called martinis. There is a bar menu of snacks available at any hour.

The Bigelow Grille is a great addition to the Downtown dining scene. Mr. Sousa is an uncommonly fine chef whom I expect to continue to bring innovation and excellence to Pittsburgh's restaurant world.