Special National Pasta Month Offerings at Lidia’s Pittsburgh; Independent Brewing Co. Taps Local Brews (Mon., 10/16/17)

The namesake of Lidia’s Pittsburgh, Lidia Bastianich, and executive chef, Daniel Walker. photo: Rick Handler.

1) Emmy Award-winning TV chef, author, and restauranteur Lidia Bastianich shined a bight food and dining spotlight on Pittsburgh when she opened a Lidia’s restaurant here in 2001. The comfortable, contemporary designed restaurant has survived and thrived by serving fresh, seasonal, time-honored Italian classics with Bastinaich’s distinctive touch. Menu highlights include Lidia’s Pasta Tasting Trio, lemon chicken, zuppa di pesce, and osso bucca.

Lidia’s has also welcomed a new executive chef with the arrival several months ago of Daniel Walker. He worked at several renowned restaurants and luxury hotels before becoming sous chef at Lidia’s flagship restaurant in New York City. Felidia’s. Walker then worked in the same position in his hometown at Lidia’s Kansas City. Growing up there he credits his grandmother for sparking his interest in food and cooking. He looks forward to applying his culinary knowledge, under Bastianich’s guidance, to the menu at Lidia’s Pittsburgh.

Now Walker (and Bastiancih) have crafted Lidia’s special menu for National Pasta Month at Lidia’s Pittsburgh. The menu features delicious pasta offerings representative of each region of Italy (Bastiancih is a native of Italy). For example: Friuli – pumpkin gnocchi with brown butter and sage; Emilia-Romagna – maltagliatti with beef gauzetto, and lasagna Bolognese; and Umbria – spaghetti alla norcina (spaghetti with black truffle, sausage, and cream). Take a delicious culinary tour of Italian pastas this month at Lidia’s. The Italian pasta menu is available at lunch and dinner. For more info visit Lidia’s Pittsburgh. 1400 Smallman St., Strip District.

2) Squirrel Hill’s Independent Brewing Company surveys Western Pennsylvania’s craft breweries and serves these breweries’ best libations in one tavern. Beverages from as far as Braddock’s Brew Gentlemen Beer Company and as close as Larrimer’s East End Brewing Company, plus plenty in between, are represented on the draft list. Much of the food is from local farms, and the spirits and cocktails are local, too, like Wigle Whiskey’s popular Monongahela style rye. The tavern’s regional emphasis harks back to the original Independent Brewing Company, a group of pre-Prohibition Pittsburgh brewers who helped to support one another. The new IBC has adopted that same goal as well as the old IBC’s logo. The tavern has daily specials, including “Day Drinking Appreciation Hours,” where they open two hours earlier and cut $2 off of all beers. Sundays, the kitchen is closed, but it’s BYOF, so order to-go from one of Squirrel Hill’s many other fine eateries and stop by for a drink. Monday through Wednesday, 5 – 11 p.m. Thursday 5 p.m. – 12 a.m. Friday through Saturday, 3 p.m. – 12 a.m. Sunday 5 p.m. – 10 p.m. Note: kitchen closes approximately two hours before the rest of the tavern. Limited menu on Sundays.  (CM)

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