Lidia's Pittsburgh: Still an Italian charmer
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Stinco d'Agnello Brasato (braised lamb shank) -- prepared by Jeremy Voytish, executive chef at Lidia's Pittsburgh -- was braised to perfection yet seriously underseasoned.
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When Lidia Bastianich opened Lidia's Pittsburgh in the Strip District in March 2001, she already was a cookbook author, TV personality and successful restaurateur in New York and Kansas City. Some were undoubtedly surprised that she had picked Pittsburgh for her next restaurant venture, as the city was known for many things, but not for its sophisticated dining scene. When Post-Gazette restaurant critic Woodene Merriman compiled a list of the best new restaurants to open in 2001, it included Lidia's, but it also included P.F. Chang's at The Waterfront, both of them described as hot new restaurants where people were willing to wait for hours for a table.
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1400 Smallman St.
Strip District
www.lidias-pittsburgh.com
412-552-0150
- Hours: Lunch, Mon.-Fri. 11:30 a.m.-2 p.m.; brunch, Sat.-Sun. 11 a.m.-2:30 p.m.; dinner, Mon.-Thurs. 5-9 p.m., Fri.-Sat. 5-10 p.m., Sun. 5-8 p.m.
- Basics: Comforting yet elegant Italian food served in suitable style.
- Recommended dishes: Antipasti freddo, gamberi, jota soup, ravioli di cinghale, barley risotto, mousse di zucca, coppa alla patata dolce.
- Prices: Antipasti and insalate, $7.50-$16; pasta and secondi, $16-$38; contorni, $5; dolce, $7.50.
- Drink: House cocktails and a full bar; all-Italian wine list (with just a handful of exceptions) includes separate lists of Bastianich wines and 10 whites and 10 reds for $28 a bottle. Nine whites and 11 reds by the glass, starting at $9. Reserve list is organized by region.
- Summary: Wheelchair-accessible; credit cards accepted; reservations encouraged for weekends and peak times; corkage, $12.
- Noise level: Low to medium loud.
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I reviewed Lidia's Pittsburgh in January 2008 and awarded it 3 stars overall. In the nearly four years since, the restaurant has undergone some changes. Mike Hamwey still is running the front of house, but executive chef Eric Wallace has been replaced by Jeremy Voytish, and Nicole Batis has taken over the pastry kitchen. Perhaps more importantly, restaurant options have changed. I wondered where Lidia's would stack up in this new world of Pittsburgh dining.
The space feels as elegant, warm and spacious as always. Enormous bunches of blown-glass grapes hover overhead. Diners sink into plush chairs; and white linen tablecloths and wooden dividers soften the potential din. While only a few tables are near the restaurant's open hearth, the whole room seems to benefit from its steady glow. For a restaurant that seats several hundred in its main dining room, it is remarkably cozy.
Meals begin with one of the best bread baskets in town: focaccia, crisp bread sticks and a crusty peasant loaf served with purees of chickpea and sun-dried tomato and cannellini bean and black olives. The downside to this free ample starter is that it might discourage some from paying suitable attention to the beginning of the menu. That would be a mistake. While there are a handful of standards, some of the restaurant's most exciting and well-executed dishes are concentrated in this section.
Large charcoal-kissed shrimp nested in moist piles of spaghetti squash, the subtle flavor of the squash perked up by a tangy salsa verde and finely minced roasted red pepper ($11.50). Ms. Bastianich grew up in Trieste, Italy, a city bordering present-day Slovenia, and some of the restaurant's finest dishes come from this area. The seasonal menu included a bowl of jota, a thick soup of creamy borlotti beans, sauerkraut and smoked pork. The sauerkraut had been simmered until it almost melted into the stock, giving it a velvety texture and infusing the soup with its lightly tangy flavor, a perfect complement to the richness of the pork ($7.50).
The antipasti freddo, available for $8 per person, with a minimum order of two people, is an appealing twist on charcuterie platters. Even just for two, it includes an ample selection of thinly sliced San Danielle prosciutto, house-made mozzarella and porchetta, served with crostini, a handful of raw walnuts and a dab of lemon marmalade. The slight bitterness of the walnuts and the tart sweetness of the marmalade were particularly delicious with the thin slices of mild porchetta.
Lidia's was serving octopus and chicken liver when other restaurants despaired at being able to sell any kind of offal. Small sections of grilled octopus were folded into a heavily dressed potato and green bean salad, the still-warm potatoes soaking up the tangy juices of pickled onions, olives and capers ($12). The green beans were a little woody and easily could have been left out.
Pasta selections, an essential component of any Italian restaurant, are served in a more Italian-American style, the ample plates of gnocchi with duck ragu or ricotta and spinach canneloni typically standing in for a main course. I particularly enjoyed the wild boar ravioli, bread-plate-sized envelopes filled with tender braised meat with an earthy sweetness that was nicely complemented by the rosemary in the sauce. The simple jus was more than enough to dress the plate, as the meat itself was so juicy.
Small, delicate butternut squash ravioli, also from the seasonal menu, were served in a more traditional portion. The smooth puree of butternut squash was enriched with ground almonds, evoking amaretti cookies, a classic pairing. It was perhaps a touch too sweet here, although somewhat balanced by the lightly sauteed batons of zucchini scattered across the top ($9.50).
The pasta tasting, an unlimited serving of three daily pastas, remains popular among diners ($18). It's appealing to the kitchen as well, because it allows for more creativity and spontaneity than the regular menu, which changes only slightly with the seasons. An all-you-can-eat portion is arguably one of the least Italian styles of eating, but for flavor and execution, Lidia's pasta makers can match the most authentic pastificio.
For all of its strengths, the restaurant also has its challenges, and it doesn't always meet them perfectly. The large dining room and sizable menu probably contribute to the inconsistencies with certain dishes. An appetizer of fritto misto was lukewarm and less crisp than one might have hoped ($10.50). Calamari, shrimp, fennel and carrots were coated in a heavy batter that broke off in clumps. Served with a marinara sauce and a wedge of lemon, the platter offered little improvement on the baskets of fried calamari served in almost any local Italian restaurant.
Spaghetti alla Trapanese, garnished with fried calamari and shrimps, suffered from a similar problem. The spaghetti itself was excellent, toothsome and nicely coated in an unusual almond pesto, but the breading added too much starch to the dish, overwhelming the flavor of the seafood ($23.50).
Pollo al limone, chicken scallopine with roasted lemon, caper and olive, was a little dry and too heavily seasoned ($19). The delicate spinach and pieces of roasted lemon were by far the best components of the plate.
Pollo alla cacciatore con funghi, heritage farms chicken braised with pancetta, San Marzano tomatoes and porcini mushrooms, was a beautiful winter plate, and the zesty tomato sauce was delicious, but the breast meat of the chicken was dry here as well, and the mashed Yukon gold potatoes and parsnips didn't provide a good textural contrast for the thick layer of sauce ($20).
Currently, the menu offers both pork shank and lamb shank, both of which were braised to perfection -- yet seriously underseasoned. Both dishes clearly started out with high-quality meat, which was carefully braised, but without a measured dose of salt, their flavor was muted. As a result, the lamb shank was shown up by the sweet potato hash ($27.50), and the pork shank by its base of barley, studded with diced butternut squash and zucchini, and a light, lovely gremolata of orange zest and parsley sprinkled across the surface of the meat ($26). The pork was particularly disappointing, as it had one of the finest textures of any braised shank I've tasted.
Fish of the day was consistently a good choice, particularly a roasted marlin with Israeli couscous. Marlin is a meaty, fairly dry fish, but a rich sambuca cream sauce, and batons of caramelized fennel ensured that the fish stayed moist and sweet ($26).
Pittsburgh restaurants often suffer from weak dessert menus, and Italian restaurants are among the worst offenders. Pastry chef Batis offers a good version of tiramisu for those who can't live without it, and an absolutely wonderful plate of cookies -- a Lidia Bastianich signature -- but makes full use of her skill and creativity on the rest of the menu. Budino di Nutella, an intense chocolate-hazelnut tart, was paired with small chunks of perfectly ripe banana. A smooth pumpkin mousse was drizzled with caramel sauce and garnished with a sheet of pumpkin seed brittle, an Italianate, stylish take on pumpkin pie. The best of them all, however, was a fabulous sundae, layering sweet potato ice cream with more smooth caramel sauce and chunks of pecan brittle, served with two cinnamon-sugar dusted sweet potato bombolone, proof that even doughnut holes are better in Italy.
An affordable interesting wine selection and the warm relatively polished service are additional attractions. Even as the constellation of restaurants shifts around it, Lidia's Pittsburgh continues to exert its considerable charms.
Correction/Clarification: (Published December 31, 2011) In Thursday's On the Table review of Lidia's, the reference to the location of Trieste, Italy, should have read that it is a city bordering present-day Slovenia.
First Published December 29, 2011 12:00 am
