Pittsburgh Restaurant Week

Summer 2013: Open Call for Restaurants

admin — Sat, 30 Mar 2013 19:57:28 +0000

Restaurants from across the Pittsburgh region, including Allegheny, Armstrong, Beaver, Butler, Fayette, Washington and Westmoreland counties are invited to participate in the summer 2013 celebration of Pittsburgh Restaurant Week from August 12-18, 2013.

During this week-long, regional event, restaurants and the community are invited to come together to celebrate steel city food and dining while highlighting fine dining, fresh harvests, outdoor seating and special diets. For Summer 2013, patrons can expect to dine at participating restaurants across the city and choose from discounted three-course fixed-price meals or $20.13 specials.

Restaurants interested in participating in the summer 2013 celebration can take advantage of this opportunity to reinforce their bonds with the community and celebrate the burgeoning food culture in Pittsburgh. In addition, restaurants will be featured and invited to showcase their food at the Kickoff Party leading up to restaurant week.

Online restaurant registration is free through May 31, 2013 and $150 per restaurant per location beginning June 1, 2013 through July 31, 2013.

Pricing options to consider:

Fixed-price 3-course meal for $15-35. This variable price point allows restaurants to price their menus’ accordingly. Menu items do not have to come from the restaurant’s regular menu, but should be representative of the restaurant’s style of cooking. As an example, restaurants whose normal ﬁxed price menu is above $35, may create a special menu for Restaurant Week for $35.
$20.13 Specials in honor of Restaurant Week 2013. This could be a specialty entrée, appetizer-entrée combination or even stretched to “Dinner for Two” depending on the pricing structure that best fits the restaurant.
View Past Restaurant Week Participants and Specials at pittsburghrestaurantweek.com.

Attention Restaurant Owners/Chefs: By registering for Pittsburgh Restaurant Week, you are registering to be a part of Pittsburgh Restaurant Week for the entire week of August 12-18, 2013. Exact menu options are not required upon initial registration, but will be required by July 15, 2013 to provide a complete restaurant profile page on the Pittsburgh Restaurant Week website.

Download the Open Call for Restaurants: Invitation To Participate Summer 2013

Pittsburgh Restaurant Week announces dates for summer celebration

admin — Wed, 20 Mar 2013 12:36:10 +0000

Pittsburgh, PA, March 20, 2013: On this first day of spring, Pittsburgh Restaurant Week is pleased to announce that the region will celebrate the next celebration from August 12-18, 2013. Pittsburgh Restaurant Week – Summer 2013 will focus on highlighting Pittsburgh food and restaurants through fine dining, fresh harvests, outdoor seating and special diets.

The decision to add the theme of “special diets” to the summer celebration stems from feedback from both patrons and restaurants. Whether today’s diners are seeking special dietary options for health benefits or for medical necessity, restaurant week will serve as a platform for restaurants to promote their ability to accommodate diners with these special dietary requests. Pittsburgh Restaurant Week has partnered with Brazen Kitchen’s Leah Lizarondo to have dishes analyzed against special dietary criteria. For instance, dishes which conform to American Heart Association guidelines of less than 35% of total calories from fat, 7% of calories from saturated fat and contain zero unsaturated (trans) fat will be granted a “Low Fat” rating. Other special diet categories being promoted include the incorporation of gluten-free, vegan, vegetarian or low carbohydrate options into restaurant week specials.

In the fourth restaurant week celebration under the direction of Brian McCollum, the next installment of Pittsburgh Restaurant Week will again host a series of special events along with the dining week – a public Kickoff Party prior to the week, a special food blogger invitational dinner during restaurant week and a private Wrap Party with the participating restaurants owners/chefs. A listing of other events hosted at participating restaurants will be available on the community events page of the restaurant week website.

Restaurants interested in participating in the summer 2013 celebration can take advantage of easy, online registration through the event website at no cost until May 31, 2013, a $150 savings. Restaurants are encouraged to take this opportunity to reinforce their bonds with the community and celebrate the burgeoning food culture in Pittsburgh.

The complete list of participating restaurants and their dining deals will be announced on June 1, 2013. For more information, visit pittsburghrestaurantweek.com.

Download Press Release

Food blogger dinner event at Six Penn Kitchen to announce summer restaurant week celebration

admin — Wed, 06 Mar 2013 16:30:00 +0000

Pittsburgh, PA, March 6, 2013: Pittsburgh area food bloggers are invited to an exclusive event on March 19, 2013 at Six Penn Kitchen to learn more about the upcoming Pittsburgh Restaurant Week – Summer 2013 celebration. The event offers insider access to one of the steel city’s premier restaurants, where attendees will learn about the inspiration and preparation behind each dish on a special “Chef’s Table” menu. Dates and themes of the summer installment of the discounted dining week will be announced during a special cocktail event from 6:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.

Exclusively for restaurant week bloggers, Six Penn Kitchen is offering diners a special Chef’s Table experience for only $30 starting at 7:30 p.m. Chef Kevin Klingensmith will guide guests through an eclectic tasting menu, offering culinary tidbits along the way, while General Manager David Fortunato offers wine pairings matched to each dish. The Chef’s Table experience will include four artfully crafted dishes and wine pairings are an additional $15. Food bloggers may register to receive an invitation at pittsburghrestaurantweek.com. A nominal $5 deposit for happy hour or $10 deposit for dinner is required to attend.

Share your food photos during restaurant week

admin — Mon, 14 Jan 2013 15:01:21 +0000

Win gift certificates for snapping pics of your restaurant week dishes.

Pittsburgh, PA, January 14, 2013: As diners embark on their restaurant week experience from January 14 through January 20, winning return experiences to participating restaurants could be as easy as taking a photo and sharing it over Yelp! or Instagram. Online contests are being launched on each network to give diners the opportunity to share their photos and browse photos from others. Random winners will be drawn on each contest network and announced on the Pittsburgh Restaurant Week website. Entries accepted once per restaurant per user per contest network. Encourage your fellow diners. Contest ends at 11:59 p.m. on January 20, 2013.

To enter the contest on Yelp!:

Take a photo of your dish
Search for “Pittsburgh Restaurant Week” from your web browser or Yelp mobile app.
Click “add photo.”
In the caption, include the restaurant name, dish and any comments on the dish with the hashtag #PghRestaurantWk. If it is a new dish for restaurant week, also include #NewDishNewYear
Share to Facebook and Twitter so your friends see where you are dining out.

To enter the contest on Instagram:

Follow @PghRestaurantWk on Instagram.
Take an Instagram photo of your dish
In the caption, include the restaurant name, dish and any comments on the dish with the hashtag #PghRestaurantWk. If it is a new dish for restaurant week, also include #NewDishNewYear
Share to Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Flickr and Foursquare so your friends see where you are dining out.

Week of January 14 proclaimed to be “Winter Pittsburgh Restaurant Week” by the Council of the City of Pittsburgh

admin — Fri, 11 Jan 2013 14:40:28 +0000

At the Pittsburgh Restaurant Week Kickoff Party on January 10, 2013, Pittsburgh City Councilman William Peduto was in attendance to enjoy the festivities and mingle with food lovers and restaurant week partners.

In the first ever proclamation Peduto has read by iPad, “the Council of the City of Pittsburgh does hereby declare January 14 to January 20 to be “Winter Pittsburgh Restaurant Week” in the City of Pittsburgh.”

Read the complete proclamation:

WHEREAS, Pittsburgh was recently named one of the best food cities in America by Eater National, a prominent dining blog; and

WHEREAS, Pittsburgh Restaurant Week is a biannual event that invites residents and members of surrounding communities to come to the City to discover new restaurants and support our small businesses; and

WHEREAS, Winter Pittsburgh Restaurant Week, which takes place from January 14 to January 20, aims to highlight the delicious and wide-ranging dining options that Pittsburgh has to offer; and

WHEREAS, more than 50 restaurants from across the City will join in the festivities, offering discounted menus and special dishes; and

WHEREAS, on Thursday January 10, the Pittsburgh Restaurant Week Kickoff Party will launch Restaurant Week and showcase dishes from participating restaurants; and

WHEREAS, charity raffles at the Kickoff Party will raise funds to support Garfield Community Farm, which restores abandoned city property through urban agriculture for the benefit of low-income residents, and the Pittsburgh Community Food Bank, which distributes over 27 million pounds of food per year to alleviate hunger in our region; and

NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the Council of the City of Pittsburgh does hereby commend Pittsburgh Restaurant Week for supporting the Pittsburgh restaurant scene and joins with them in celebrating the City’s burgeoning food culture; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Council of the City of Pittsburgh does hereby declare January 14 to January 20 to be “Winter Pittsburgh Restaurant Week” in the City of Pittsburgh.

Food bloggers invited to PG Plate Happy Hour

admin — Fri, 04 Jan 2013 20:22:31 +0000

Pittsburgh, PA, January 4, 2013: Before the Pittsburgh Restaurant Week Food Blogger Dinner on January 15, 2013, PG Plate invites food bloggers to join in a free happy-hour celebration in the cantina at Alma Pan-Latin Kitchen from 5:30 to 7:00 p.m. Aside from partaking in “food talk” and mingling with their peers, bloggers will have the opportunity to learn about PG Plate from Pittsburgh Post-Gazette food editor Bob Batz Jr., food writer Gretchen McKay and Simply Romanesco blogger Dana Chizmas, who all work together on the new food platform, which includes The Forks blog.

The website, available at pgplate.com, plans to offer more interaction with regional food bloggers and others who are passionate about food and drink. PG Plate currently has a blog roll of nine passionate food bloggers and would like to work with food bloggers during Pittsburgh Restaurant Week to expand the food blogger participation.

Following the happy hour, PG Plate contributors will be attending the blogger dinner, co-hosted by Pittsburgh Restaurant Week and the Buy Fresh Buy Local program, where they will receive “back-kitchen access” to taste and discover the challenges tropical restaurants face when trying to buy locally.

Download Press Release: Food bloggers invited to PG Plate Happy Hour

Community farm and food bank to benefit at kickoff party

admin — Thu, 03 Jan 2013 13:53:30 +0000

Pittsburgh, PA, January 3, 2013: Aside from festive cocktails and food samplings, party-goers at the kickoff celebration for Pittsburgh Restaurant Week can enter to win raffle prizes supporting two local charities – Garfield Community Farm and the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank. The Pittsburgh Restaurant Week Kickoff Party is January 10, 2013 from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. at the Mini of Pittsburgh dealership in Bloomfield.

As a celebration for the community, Pittsburgh Restaurant Week sought advice from community partner, East Liberty Development Inc, for potential benefactors of the Kickoff Party raffles. ELDI nominated Garfield Community Farm. The organization exists to restore three acres of abandoned city land through ecological urban farming for the benefit of our lower income neighbors. GCF grows a diverse range of fruits, berries and vegetables which are made available through a farm stand, small vegetable subscription program and donations to the neighborhood food pantry.

For the second consecutive kickoff party celebration, Pittsburgh Restaurant Week will again support the local food bank. The Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank is a widely-known charity with a mission to feed the hungry in southwestern Pennsylvania through a network of partners and to mobilize our region to end hunger.

“Just as the Pittsburgh Restaurant Week program’s mission is to highlight restaurants from across the steel city dining spectrum, it is great to be able to support both a widely-known and a smaller organization at our event” said Brian McCollum, Director of Pittsburgh Restaurant Week.

Proceeds from the raffles will be split evenly between the two organizations. Raffle baskets will contain a range of items, from gift certificates and donations from restaurant week partners. Tickets for the Pittsburgh Restaurant Week Kickoff Party are available for $50 per guest at pittsburghrestaurantweek.com. Follow @PghRestaurantWk on Twitter and Like facebook.com/PittsburghRestaurantWeek for discounted ticket opportunities.

Alma Pan-Latin Kitchen hosting Food Blogger Dinner

admin — Wed, 02 Jan 2013 20:17:29 +0000

Pittsburgh, PA, January 2, 2013: On Tuesday January 15, local food bloggers are invited to an exclusive dinner at Alma Pan-Latin Kitchen in Pittsburgh’s Regent Square neighborhood. At the dinner, co-hosted by Pittsburgh Restaurant Week and the Buy Fresh Buy Local program, bloggers receive “Back-Kitchen-Access” to taste and discover the challenges tropical restaurants face when trying to buy locally.

“Restaurant week and the blogger dinner will afford us the opportunity to provide some great options that have yet to appear on our menu, alongside some of our favorite existing menu items,” explains Owner Jamie Wallace. “As a Pan-Latin restaurant, there are literally thousands of dishes we could make that fall within the parameters of our concept. Our plan has always been to continue to evolve. To that end, we will be introducing a variety of new menu items in 2013.” Aside from the food itself, Pan-Latin culture is incorporated into the restaurant through music and artwork. During the blogger dinner, local guitarist Jon Bañuelos will perform Flamenco music to compliment the ambiance of the restaurant.

During Pittsburgh Restaurant Week – Winter 2013, from January 14-20, Alma is offering a Three-Course Fixed-Price meal for only $25. Attendees of the Blogger Dinner will be invited to dine from either the Pittsburgh Restaurant Week menu, or the full daily menu.

Sample menu items:
Ceviche de Hongos – mushrooms, green onions, pink beans, and avocado marinated in fresh citrus juices (vegan)
Canja Sopa – our take on this classic Brazilian rice and chicken soup
Pollo Criollo en Cazuela – using locally-sourced chicken, we recreate this Cuban farm-style Creole dish by slow cooking it in a marinade of fruit juices, cumin, sherry, and herbs
Frituras de Maiz Tierno – Alma’s version of these delicious fritters are stuffed with arugula and grilled corn (vegetarian)
Arroz con Dulce – Puerto Rican coconut rice pudding topped with candied lime peel

The blogger invitation is by-invitation-only. Request an invitation.

Download the Press Release: Download

Restaurants to debut New Dishes for New Year

admin — Fri, 28 Dec 2012 01:24:05 +0000

Pittsburgh, PA, December 27, 2012: When Pittsburgh Restaurant Week begins on Monday, January 14, 2013 area diners can expect to see several new items debuting on menus across the region. As restaurants city-wide prepare for the upcoming celebration, both new and established chefs are taking advantage of the opportunity to debut “New Dishes for the New Year” along with their week-long dining deals lasting through Sunday, January 20, 2013 for Pittsburgh Restaurant Week – Winter 2013.

Tweet and discuss the New Dishes for the New Year using official hashtag #NewDishNewYear

According to an online poll conducted at pittsburghrestaurantweek.com, over 55% of restaurant week diners aim to visit a new restaurant in town, while less than 10% may opt to re-visit a favorite restaurant. So when planning began for the Winter 2013 celebration, Event Director Brian McCollum thought it was important to respond by creating a theme that would inspire the community to both discover and re-discover the Pittsburgh dining-scene. The “New Dishes for the New Year” theme encourages both new and established restaurants to debut a new menu item so the community gets a fresh taste of something new and delicious.

While not all 50 participating restaurants will offer a new menu item, McCollum hopes that the public will be drawn toward trying the new dishes. Chef Dan Robinson from Kaleidoscope Cafe in Lawrenceville will debut a new small plate, a Trio of Duck. New restaurant week participant 1810 Tavern in Bridgewater has planned a special “$20.13 New Year’s Revolution” dish. A popular destination for past restaurants week celebrations, Verde Mexican Kitchen & Cantina in Garfield will debut a “Mexican macaroni and cheese” dish, MACCARONES Y QUESO, among several other new items.

With the celebration drawing near, now is the time to start making reservations to take advantage of wonderful dining deals at participating restaurants. Visit pittsburghrestaurantweek.com for the official listing of participating restaurants and their dining deals.

Press Release available for download: Download

Renew your inner “foodie” at Pittsburgh Restaurant Week Kickoff Party

admin — Thu, 06 Dec 2012 18:29:04 +0000

Pittsburgh, PA, December 5, 2012: Extend the holiday celebration season through the New Year and renew your inner “foodie” at a preview party leading into Pittsburgh Restaurant Week – Winter 2013. On January 10, 2013, the Pittsburgh Restaurant Week Kickoff Party will be held from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. in the showroom of the Mini of Pittsburgh dealership located in Bloomfield, east of the city’s center. The cocktail party-style event will include festive cocktails, free samplings from PRW-participating eastern restaurants and charity raffles.

Party-goers who attend the event will be provided the opportunity to browse menus and make restaurant week reservations, while experiencing a casual “foodie” atmosphere as participating restaurants circulate a preview of their PRW tastings. Online ticket sales for the party begin Saturday, December 8, 2012, at 10:00 a.m. discounted half-off the $50 ticket value.

Restaurants, including Abay Restaurant, Alma Pan Latin Kitchen and Cantina, Epicure’s Palate and Kaleidoscope Café, are excited to offer previews and compete for the title of “Best New Taste 2013” as voted by party-goers.

From January 14-20, 2013, Pittsburgh Restaurant Week – Winter 2013 will focus on highlighting Pittsburgh food and restaurants with week-long dining deals across the region featuring many new dishes for the New Year. With the celebration drawing near, it is time to start making reservations to take advantage of wonderful dining deals at even more restaurants than before with over 50 restaurants registered to participate. Visit pittsburghrestaurantweek.com for the official listing of participating restaurants and their dining deals.

Additional restaurants interested in participating in the winter 2013 celebration can take advantage of easy online registration through the event website for a $150 registration fee until December 31, 2012. Restaurants are encouraged to take this opportunity to reinforce their bonds with the community and celebrate the burgeoning food culture in Pittsburgh.