What to Eat in Pittsburgh

Although we are proud Southside dwellers, we recently bought a lot that essentially straddles two of our favorite neighborhoods: Bloomfield and Lawrenceville. Although I don’t remember going to Lawrenceville as a kid, I definitely spent a lot of time in Bloomfield, especially at the now defunct Del’s, may it rest in peace.

One of our favorite activities lately has been to park at our lot and walk all around the neighborhood. There are so many nooks and crannies that would be missed by driving or maybe even biking by. One cold winter Sunday, we parked our car at the lot around 11am, looking for a long walk-and-eat experience. Having just dedicated the last Sunday to Lawrenceville, we turned our attention to Liberty Avenue in Bloomfield.

We noticed this intriguing and beautiful façade:

 

And this welcoming sign:

 

And in we went. It’s such a warm, inviting, and unassuming place. We would later learn that the chef has quite a pedigree, but this doesn’t feel like a hoity-toity place. Bitter Ends Garden and Luncheonette, we decided immediately without even tasting the food, would be our go-to neighborhood brunch place.

When you walk in, you are presented with this menu from which to order at the counter:

 

And of course there are tons of pastries at the counter. Not only is this place a restaurant, it’s a bakery. Everything is baked in house, in the back.

 

We ordered a few things from the menu, and some hot tea to go along with it. We were invited to pick out our coffee cups from this menagerie just below the baked goods:

 

Here’s what we selected. There’s something comforting about drinking coffee from a mug your grandparents might have in their cupboard:

 

We sat for just a few minutes before the food arrived, enough time to take in the scenery. The place is lively yet relaxed, with a great old-school vibe.

 

Of course, we ordered the veggie hoagie, which is also vegan. Pumpkin puree? Yes please. Tasted like a vibrant, hearty garden was being served on the most amazing, homemade crusty bread you can imagine (they sell whole loaves of it). Also, it’s gorgeous, am I right? I could eat this every day and never get tired of it.

 

Next up was the cabbage and apple salad. Also dressed brightly with a vinegar-y dressing, this was an excellent accompaniment to the slightly heavier sandwich. Delicious.

 

Next and last was the bread pudding. A huge, sweet piece of bread that must have been drowned in a variety of things, one of which was definitely maple syrup, then griddled. Like the most amazing piece of French toast you’ve ever had – and that description totally doesn’t do it justice.  Plus, how great does it look on that vintage plate?

 

After that all-star performance, we sure as heck weren’t done. We popped back up to the counter to order baked goods for dessert. First, the doughnut: moist and delicious:

 

And last but definitely not least, the merengue. I was having some kind of out of body experience with this one (Mr. Foodie liked it too but left most of it for me given my serious affection for it). I left with sticky merengue all over my face. This may be the biggest merengue I’ve ever seen, and one that really gets the one that gets the light-flaky-chewy ratio just right.

 

In talking to the co-owner, this brick-and-mortar shop is the culmination of a few friends who have been selling produce from their farm, as well as kitchen creations, at local farmers markets for quite some time. Like Lek from Dancing Crab, Bitter Ends is a great example of a mobile food business going brick-and-mortar. This Post-Gazette Article says that they did it for only $20k, and attributes that low price to luck and low local prices – I would also say skill had a lot to do with it. And for sure, Pickle (the chef’s dog) has kept a watchful eye over the endeavor. I’m sure that helped too:

 

In taking in the entire street, Bitter Ends looks like it’s always been there. Granted, the place has been in continuous operation as a restaurant for decades, according to one of the co-owners. Although Bitter Ends is new, one of the best things about Bloomfield is that it is a mixture of the old and the new. Although Del’s bit the dust (again, RIP, I will never have such good pickled carrots or meat sauce again), the neighborhood retains plenty of bakeries, pizza shops, and stores I remember from the ‘80s and ‘90s, mixed in with these new gems. I can’t wait to live just a five minute walk from all of it.