Mmmmm.....Ricotta.

I know that I have been writing a lot about eating out lately.....but I haven't had much time to cook at home....but I will try to post some recipes this week. In the meantime, here is another restaurant review.  


Ever since a friend of mine mentioned this place...I have been wanting to check out Assaggi Mozzarella Bar in Bethesda....I mean......the name itself is a huge attraction....."mozzarella bar" implies there are different types of mozzarella....so that was enough of a draw.....the website describes it as a "variety of Italian and US made mozzarellas, homemade pastas, and fresh seafood"....I was super excited.


The meal was EXCELLENT.....totally lived up to expectations....and it was gorgeous out so we got to sit outside.


We started with the mozzarella tasting--Buffalo Mozzarella, Ricotta, and Burrata. The Buffalo Mozzarella was good, but pretty standard for that type of mozzarella. Burrata is one of my favorite cheeses, nice and creamy and  mild. The star/surprise of the night though was the ricotta. It was delicious--strong ricotta flavor, refreshing, light, and creamy. I was surprised.....I think I liked it more than the burrata because it had such a great flavor. The mozzarella tasting came with 4 homemade condiments: green tomato marmalade, roasted eggplant, organic roasted peppers, basil marinated zucchini. While the other three were good, the green tomato marmalade was the best--sweet, yet tart with the tomato still firm (not mushy like a lot of pickled veggies get)--and paired well with the mild mozzarellas.

 

Next I had the baked arancini and beth had the carrot, roasted beet, and celery root salad. The baked arancini was interesting, but not as good as some real arancini I have had before. Beth's beet salad was good, but she was a little disappointed in it because the beets didnt taste as "roasted" sweet and smoky as other roasted beets we have had. 

For entrees I got the bigoli pasta with duck and porcini ragu. Bigoli is like a spaghetti noodle only really big/thick. The ragu was amazing, the porcini was very flavorful. The homemade bigoli was my favorite thing of the night. The pasta was al dente, soft, but not mushy, chewy but not tough.....probably some of the best home made pasta Ive ever had. I took the leftovers home with me and it was even better the next day. I have been devising a way I can get more of this without having to "hike" to Bethesda all the time. (Sorry about the blurry pic. I was really hungry and my hand wouldnt stay still and I tried to take this pic like 5 times already and finally gave up!) 


Beth got the Cavatelli with herb pesto. The herb pesto wasnt quite what I would normally expect from a pesto...it was basil-y but you could taste there were other herbs in there, slight hint of garlic, a little bit of saltiness from the Parmesan cheese, not very oily. It was very light and refreshing (light isnt a word you would normally use with pesto....).


For dessert we got the Almond tart....it was only OK. Nothing to write home about.

Rating: Excellent, loved it! Definately worth a 2nd trip! 

Cost: Average....around $20-$25 for the entree. 

Insider Tip: If you love home made pastas.....this is the place! 

As always....stay consumed! :P

Pittsburgh--The Steel City

I know....its been a long time since I've actually posted on here....but with the hard drive crash and other things going on in my life right now...I haven't had a chance to post....but really...I'm going to try to be better about it. So this is a long one....hope you enjoy!

Well....this is my first travel post! How exciting. This past weekend I went to Pittsburgh with 2 friends. Pittsburgh is know as the Steel City  because it is one of the major producers of steel until about the 1980s and its also known as The City of Brdiges....and there were alot of bridges. I think we were on 5 different ones just traveling between the downtown areas we stayed in for the weekend.

Fun Things to Do:

National Aviary: 
http://www.aviary.org/
Adults: $13
There are alot of species of birds and many of them are free flying.....and you can take part in feeding sessions too....not so much fun if you are afraid of birds.....

Mattress Factory :
http://www.mattress.org/
Adults: $10 (w/ $1 discount if you check in on Foursquare)
An art museum in an old mattress factory featuring contemporary art. I dont really know much about art...but this was a fun little place to visit. They had this one where you walked in and the first room was all mirrors and multi-colored dots on the ground and blue lights then you walked through a door and it was bright white, with mannequins and red dots. They had an exhibit where the artist cut a hole in the 4th floor and built a "tunnel" to the third floor and out the third floor window.....weird/neat stuff.

Monongahela Incline & Duquesne Incline: 
$3.50 & $4.50 roundtrip
Its a little wooden car that takes you up to the Mount Washington area. The view was voted by USA Today as one of the Top 10 Sites in the World for viewing a cityscape. The Monongahela is the oldest funicular railway still in operation. The inclines are not only a tourist attraction....they are still used by many Mt. Washington residents to get to work and entertainment in Downtown Pittsburgh.

Phipps Conservatory:
Adults: $12
All sorts of neat flowers, trees, herbs, and fruit. I think for this one its better to visit in the summer or fall. Many of the fruit trees did not have any fruit and we didnt get to see the Butterfly forest and the Outdoor Gardens :( But the things that we did get to see and explore were beautiful.

The Food of Pittsburgh:
Breakfast: DeLuca's Tavern
Food was good. If you like diner food (and I definately do....this place is yummy). I had the corned beef hash. Eric got the eggs w/ bacon and Steve got the Eggs Benedict
Rating: Good
Cost: Cheap--tea and breakfast was < $10
Insider Tip: Go early or late...especially on the weekends the line can get to over an hour. 


Lunch: Primanti Bros.
http://www.primantibrothers.com/
We decided to go here since like everyone I talked to mentioned this place. The sandwich might have been big....but it was delicious! Basically you get a sandwich stuffed with meat (they did have some vegetarian options), french fries, and house made coleslaw. I got the Pastrami. The meat was well flavored, the fries were good, but not as crunchy as I normally like them--although I guess for stuffing into a sandwich...you dont want them too crunchy....The coleslaw was really good too...not too mayonnaise-y, crunchy cabbage, good flavor.
Rating: Good

Cost: Cheap--$6.95 for the sandwich! 

Insider Tip: Sit at the bar for faster service! 

Dinner: Legume Bistro
http://legumebistro.com/

Farm-to-table restaurant run by a husband and wife pair, named one of Pittsburgh's Top 25 restaurants for 2010....and boy was it well deserved. We started with the Pork and Duck Rillete..it was good but not the best I'd ever had. The accompanying pickled string beans were yummy. Eric being his weird self....decided he wanted dessert first. He got the Apple Caramel Cinnamon Rice Pudding. I would never had prob ordered this even though I loooove rice pudding, I don't like caramel and I'm allergic to apples.....but dear god this was the BEST rice pudding I have ever had! I dont even know how to describe it...I have no idea why it was soooo good...but yum-o! I'm pretty sure the world stopped for about 10 seconds after I had the first bite! Thank goodness for Eric and his weird-ness! LOLs

We all got the Bibb lettuce, bacon, and roasted beet salad. It was good. Nothing earth shattering or time stopping...but the lettuce was fresh, the eggs were delicious (I am definately starting to see the difference between fresh eggs and the regular old ones we get at the supermarket), bacon was super crunchy, beets were sweet. For the entree I got the Chicken Cooked Under a Skillet w/ Garlic and Roasted Potatoes (I'm serious....thats what it was called :P). This is the restaurant's signature dish and this was DELICIOUS! Skin was a little crispy, well flavored. Simple but soooo good. I think this is the BEST chicken I have ever had. 

For dessert I got the Chocolate Torte. It was good--not as good as the one at Carmine's but still very good. 

The stars of the night were definitely the rice pudding and the chicken.....I've been thinking about them randomly all week and almost wanting to cry cuz Pittsburgh is 4.5 hours away :( The service was really good also....attentive and friendly :) 

Rating: Excellent

Cost: Average (actually, might be below average for this type of restaurant): Entrées were $12-$25 

Insider Tip: Reserve early....no electronic reservation system so you send them an email and they call you back the next day to let you know if they have availability. Menu posted each day by 5PM. BYOB.

Breakfast/Snack: Pittsburgh Public Market

http://pittsburghpublicmarket.org/

We were going to go to Deluca's again but this time, the line was out the door so we decided to explore the market. I didnt take many pics...but lets see...there was Duck Proscuitto, Beef Patty, Cheese, Artisan Olive Oils and Balsamic Vinegars, Maple cookies, pizzelle,  Pierogies made by a little Polish lady

Rating: Good

Cost: Cheap--$6.95 for the sandwich! 

Insider Tip: Sit at the bar for faster service! 

Lunch: BRGR

http://www.brgrpgh.com/about.php

We probably didn't really need lunch after eating our way thru the market (lols) but the salted caramel milkshake was calling my name.....I heard these girls talking about it the day before when we were waiting in line to see the exhibit that was completely in the dark at the mattress factory....and plus apparently...Im IN LOVE with salted caramels (even though I dont like caramel by itself at all!). So I got the Kobe burger and the salted caramel milksake w/ bourbon (even though she did try to tempt me with a "special" house made bloody mary). 

I was kind of disappointed...the salted caramel milkshake tasted mostly like a vanilla milkshake w/ bourbon...no hint of salted caramel at all??? The burger which should have been super juicy and delicious was   too done (even though I'd asked for medium) and kind of dry....all in all a disappointment...and I'm glad I didnt splurge for the $25 Foie Gras Kobe burger. This probably was not the worst burger I have ever had...but it was still kind of disappointing. 

Eric and Steve both said they thought their burgers were really good.....

Rating: Thumbs Down

Cost: Average--Burgers were mostly $8-$12....which is average for gourmet burgers but I was unimpressed.  

Insider Tip: The fries were good....and the homemade condiments were good too. 

One for the Road: Milkshake Factory

http://www.themilkshakefactory.com/

55+ flavors of homemade ice cream from a almost 100 year old ice cream parlor ...need i say more? 

• Toasted Almond Fudge Java Milkshake w/ Toffee for me
• Strawberry for Eric
• Moosetracks + something??? else for Steve. 

Rating: Yummy

Cost: Cheap--$5 

Insider Tip: The ice cream girl was super friendly....ask her for suggestions and different combos from the ones that are listed. 

Well....I know this was a long post! But hope you enjoy the pics and as always stay consumed!