Pittsburgh is the top American food city for 2019, according to a San Francisco-based restaurant and hospitality consulting firm af&co., in its annual trends report. It’s yet another gastronomic accolade for a city known in the modern context more for hot restaurants rather than hot metal.
But, in an age of nonstop listicles, clickbait and paid content, does that spaghetti really stick?
“Pittsburgh just kept coming up — there were a variety of all factors that got it on our radar,” af&co. president and founder Andrew Freeman said in a phone interview earlier this month. His company provides marketing, branding and public relations solutions for hundreds of service industry clients nationwide, including some here.
In naming Pittsburgh “Food City of the Year,” af&co. says, “There’s no shortage of innovation in Pittsburgh. With a booming tech scene, restaurants are also getting in on the action by pushing the boundaries while keeping food approachable. With the city’s proximity to farms, it’s no surprise the local food scene is flourishing.”
The report specifically mentions Fish nor Fowl (Garfield), Superior Motors (Braddock), Driftwood Oven (Lawrenceville), Bitter Ends Garden & Luncheonette (Bloomfield) and their local client, Spork (Bloomfield). The firm also is consulting with Walnut Capital in its development of the Pittsburgh Athletic Association building in Oakland.
Through their work with the latter two, members of the af&co. team have visited our fair ’burgh extensively over the past year. They clearly have a vested interest in this city — but they also aren’t wrong. Despite our Amazon near-miss, Pittsburgh does have a booming tech scene and a strong local agriculture feeder system.
“We saw a lot of trends that are throughout our report that are resonating there,” Katie Haggart, a consultant billed as af&co.’s “trendologist,” said.
Among those trends:
• “Carbs at Large” — Pasta and bread are back, alongside an appreciation for heritage grains and artisanal bread preparation. Ms. Haggart noted the sourdough pizzas and “breadshare” program of Driftwood Oven, as well as the bakery at Bitter Ends, which also has its own farm; both spots were honored among Bon Appetit’s 2018 Top 50 new restaurants.
• “Comeback Cuisine of the Year — French” — “As we thought of these bigger trends that are popping up everywhere, Pittsburgh was already leading the charge in many ways,” Ms. Haggart said, citing new French spots Poulet Bleu and The Twisted Frenchman (East Liberty). Bertrand in Mt. Lebanon, Jean Louis in Dormont and Downtown’s Cafe Des Paris have also joined the ranks.
• “Mushroom Magic” — As af&co. reports, “Thanks to the strong umami flavors and health properties, the mushroom is magically appearing in a wide variety of places. Over the summer, the James Beard Blended Burger Project prompted more than 350-plus restaurants to create their version of ‘the blend,’ incorporating mushrooms to make meaty dishes more nutritious and sustainable.” From those restaurants’ entries, five finalists were chosen, including the “Fox Chapel” at Burgh’ers in Lawrenceville and Harmony — its a local grass-fed beef and roasted local mixed mushroom patty with goat cheese, pickled red onions, avocado, spring mix and balsamic glaze.
• “Dessert of the Year — the Doughnut” — The company notes that “artisanal doughnut shops are popping up throughout the country [along with] unexpected savory flavors and fillings," and to that end, Pittsburgh has been ahead of the curve with Just Good Donuts on the South Side and Peace, Love & Little Donuts, in multiple locations.
Trends to watch included “Pinsas,” a Roman-style football-shaped flatbread with a more grain-based dough than traditional pizza. Anthony Giaramita has experimented with pinsas at his Pizza Taglio in East Liberty. Another trend to watch was tiki drinks, and Pittsburgh has an enthusiastic scene, headlined by Squirrel Hill’s nationally recognized Hidden Harbor.
The overarching trend of the year was “do the right thing.” Superficially, that sounds like a bit of a cop out, as the service industry is often at the fore of fundraising for disaster and tragedy relief efforts. To wit: celebrity chef Jose Andres garnering a Nobel Prize nomination for his work in feeding thousands of hurricane victims in Puerto Rico and North Carolina. On the local scene, bars and restaurants held scores of fundraising dinners, happy hours and other events to raise money for Puerto Rican hurricane and Tree of Life shooting victims.
So clearly Pittsburgh stacked up in plenty of categories. But it didn’t hurt that af&co. also had a native singing our city’s praises.
Candace Otto MacDonald, a 1998 Shady Side Academy graduate, works for the company out of Cincinnati, Ohio. But she is an unabashed cheerleader for her hometown.
“There aren’t that many restaurants that can have a pastry chef and their own garden and have the ability to hire because the real estate costs are not so high. Those types of models wouldn’t be financially viable in other places,” Ms. MacDonald said. “But in Pittsburgh there’s a nice blend of that because it is less expensive and allows people to explore their areas of expertise.”
As she hasn’t lived here in years, she can combine both a native’s perspective and fresh eyes.
“Pittsburgh has evolved, and it’s amazing to see,” Ms. MacDonald said. “Pittsburghers are great because they have roots and a basis for understanding of local culture. But it’s [also] the city that just keeps reinventing itself. People who live there sometimes forget that.”
Dan Gigler: dgigler@post-gazette.com; Twitter @gigs412
First Published: December 27, 2018, 9:13 p.m.
