We were just a couple of hungry Jersey kids heading back from visiting relatives who had misguidedly moved to Ohio. So we made a pit stop in Pittsburgh—a little out of our way, but we were curious to see the city that is maligned nearly as often as our home state. (Also, one of us once had a job that paid in Heinz stock and we wanted to see the source of those 60-cent quarterly dividend checks.)
Instead of a steel-shavings-dusted urban wasteland, we found a gleaming city on a hill—several hills. actually, and three rivers, But more importantly, we found the Strip District, one of the city’s many vibrant and unique areas. It being Sunday, and a day of rest for most people, and also late afternoon, the intriguing ethnic delis and markets that make up much of Penn Avenue were closed or closing. But Roland’s Seafood Grill, advertising the city’s biggest fish sandwich, was open.
Call us elitists, but anyone advertising “the biggest” anything always gets our attention, especially when it comes to food. But would it be a good fish sandwich?
It was.
Not only was the crisp-on-the-outside, moist-and-flaky-on-the-inside beer-battered cod delicious, the fillet was huge…protruding well beyond the bun and the edges of the plate it came on. And there were TWO of them. Even, with fries and slaw, the sandwich was a mere $8.99. (It has since gone up to $11—but still a serious bargain.)
Sated, we headed back up Penn Avenue, where the aroma of baking snared and flared our nostrils. Peeking in the store window of Enrico’s Biscotti, we were stunned by the rows of golden and cocoa-color cookie shafts. Not the dainty fingers served with a cup of espresso in the pseudo Italian trattorias in the U.S., nor the anorexic anise spears sold commercially. These goodies were THE SIZE OF YOUR HEAD and in varieties that our nonnas never knew: chocolate-orange, apricot-hazelnut, pumpkin-walnut and so much more, drizzled with chocolate or not.
The sign said CLOSED, but the door was open.
We entered, already bathed in our own drool. We waited.
A baker eventually emerged. He repeated the message on the door.
We begged. Just one. Cash. No one will know. We’d eat the evidence.
He did not back down.
We left. Insulted? No. Just determined.
We dreamed of those biscotti for a year. We scheduled our next trip to Ohio around Enrico’s store hours. And, yes, they were worth the wait and the effort.
Six months later, we planned a rendezvous with family from Ohio and Virginia in Pittsburgh, just for those biscotti. But that weekend introduced us to so much more of the MORE in The ‘Burgh…. A DeLuca’s omelet slopped over the sides of its plate and came with THREE huge slices of Italian semolina toast. Tessaro’s is known for its big burgers, but we were seated in front of the wood-fired grill and went bug-eyed eying the hot dogs as long as your forearm and the shrimp the size of your fist. Primanti Brothers…well, that joint’s heart-stopping heap of meat, fries and coleslaw on thick slabs of white bread is an America original and AS BIG AS YOUR HEAD.
The joy of discovering such wonders of the gustatory world should be shared. Please join in! Hold up that ginormous entree at your favorite gluttonteria next to your normal or outsized head; take a picture or video and send it to bigcheese@fabayh.com or Tweet, FB, Snapchat, Instagram, Vine it with the hashtag it #fabayh.com. We can’t wait to take a taste!