Rebecca Droke, Post-Gazette photos Albert Torchia, left, and Yves Carreau co-own a new restaurant called Seviche on Penn Avenue. Mr. Carreau said he's found "the side of town that is hopping." Click photo for larger image.
	Diners leave the bustling Sonoma Grille on Penn Avenue on Friday night. Click photo for larger image.

Chef Yves Carreau learned to cook in Lyon, France, a food lover's paradise. But he has found a culinary home on Pittsburgh's Penn Avenue.

On one side of the street is Sonoma Grille, his California-style restaurant filled with hip women sipping wine and nibbling on mixed grill. On the other side is Seviche, his soon-to-open Latin tapas restaurant exploding with sun-drenched colors.

"I love this street," Mr. Carreau says, pointing to new apartments and luxury lofts. "This is the side of town that is hopping."

If Downtown is poised for a comeback, Mr. Carreau figures he has found the right spot. It is easier to draw dinner crowds to 2-year-old Sonoma Grille in the Cultural District than it was to his former restaurant, Asiago in Oxford Centre. "I am bullish on Downtown," he says. "I think there are going to be a lot more restaurants."

But others aren't sure whether all the Downtown restaurants will survive, especially after the opening of two big national chain restaurants -- McCormick & Schmick seafood restaurant and Capital Grille steak house -- in Piatt Place at Fifth Avenue and Wood Street, outside the Cultural District.

"How many restaurants can you have down there?" asked Terri Sokoloff, president of Specialty Bar and Restaurant Brokers in Ross. "Some restaurants will be able to do it, but town is tough."

Running a restaurant in the Golden Triangle has always been a survival game after the evening exodus of commuters leaves streets eerily empty.

"Pittsburghers don't like to walk more than two blocks from the restaurant to the theater," says Frank Sacco, who owned the now-closed Piccolo Piccolo on Wood Street and Fort Pitt Boulevard, on the opposite side of town from the Cultural District.

"They will go to New York City and walk eight blocks to see a show and tell you how great it is. In Pittsburgh, they get upset when they have to walk more than two blocks."

He said his Italian restaurant boomed during the '80s and '90s, but then had trouble attracting a dinner crowd and closed in 2004. He even bought a $30,000 van to transport people from the restaurant to the symphony or theater, but it was still hard changing the mindset.

"Personally if someone told me today, 'I have a spot in Downtown Pittsburgh,' if it was in the Cultural District, I would consider it," said Mr. Sacco, a food and beverage manager for a large company outside Pittsburgh. "Otherwise I wouldn't touch it."

But urban boosters say a critical mass of restaurants will draw more people Downtown to dine. They also say a Downtown housing boom -- 289 units are under construction or being leased -- will give a huge boost to restaurants. Another 1,335 units are being planned by developers who own the land.

People who live Downtown tend to spend more than visitors, said Patty Burk, vice president of housing and economic development at Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership. "It's going to get better and better for restaurants."

"Once you get people moving back to a particular area Downtown, you will see additional businesses popping up. This is an investment that will clearly reap some returns on investment," said Kevin Ortiz, spokesman for the state Department of Community and Economic Development, regarding the Piatt Place project in the former Lazarus building.

But Ms. Sokoloff thinks the cheering may be a little premature.

"Everyone is making such a big deal about 300 condos," she said. "It's nothing. Is Downtown really changing? You can't walk through Market Square without being harassed by someone. Parking is a pain."

Ms. Sokoloff believes the Cultural District is an exception, a real bright spot. The best way to bring commuters Downtown to eat is to attract unusual independent restaurants, instead of chains, she said. "How many high-end steakhouses can we have? We are being flooded with steak houses."

Capital Grille joins Ruth's Chris Steak House and Morton's, two high-end places, as well as Hyde Park Prime Steakhouse on the North Shore.

Scott Offenbach, co-owner of Ruth's Chris, said he is not worried. "We welcome any new business that brings more people Downtown. The market is big enough to share," especially with new housing under way.

But even with an influx of new residents, there are obstacles to people coming Downtown to dine. Parking is expensive. Fewer office workers are around, which hurts lunch business. The vacancy rate for office space in the Golden Triangle grew to 20 percent in 2006, compared with 17.7 percent the previous year.

Peering out onto Grant Street from a white-tablecloth covered table in The Carlton, owner Kevin Joyce sees a disturbing snapshot -- thinner crowds than he saw five years ago. He wishes developers would focus on bringing in new office workers instead of new retailers.

"There are only so many people willing to come Downtown to begin with and you have more and more places. You tend to trade customers. You cannot keep adding amenities without adding jobs."

He said he welcomes competition -- but wishes public money wasn't being used for Piatt Place, a $65 million project that will include 65 condos, about 20,000 square feet of office space, parking and the two new restaurants. About $3.75 million in state aid is going to the project, but Mr. Ortiz said the state funds will be used for parking garage and residential units. "There is no mention of state aid being used for a restaurant."

In the musical chairs of Downtown restaurants coming and going, The Carlton, which offers complimentary parking and free limousine service to the theaters, has survived for 23 years. "The good operator puts his helmet on and slugs it out," Mr. Joyce said. "But it is a challenging environment."

Mr. Carreau has leased a parking lot next to Sonoma Grille and charges only $4 for self parking. He says he loses money on parking, but figures it is worth it. He thinks many more restaurants will open in the cultural district, "the only hub of activity in town late at night."

He also has marketed his restaurant to women because he thinks females drive the decision on where a couple goes out to eat. He says the many female patrons at his restaurant like the light international fare with a California attitude, such as grilled corn and crabmeat salad, a tapas plate and a hundred types of wine by the glass.

"Let Morton's and Ruth's Chris fight over businessmen," Mr. Yves said over the din of diners. "Any night here is ladies' night out."