Dining News: Scratch Food & Beverage adds 'tea-tails'
Scratch Food & Beverage, 1720 Lowrie St., Troy Hill, has collaborated with Gryphon's Tea of Lawrenceville to bring “tea-tails” to the summer bar menu.
Tea-tails are tea-based cocktails that incorporate the complex flavors of local tea with local spirits. Each has a name themed after the television show “The Golden Girls” to match the homey-with-a-kick attitude of the drinks themselves.
The tea-tails feature Rose Hip Tea, Rooibos Tea, Moroccan Mint and Uhlman tea. The teas provide flavor enhancements to traditional cocktails to give them an extra burst of aroma and taste. Some of the teas will be made into simple syrups whereas others are infused directly into the drinks.
Details: 412-251-0822 or scratchfoodbev.com
Beer dinner
Lola Bistro, 1100 Galveston Ave., Pittsburgh's North Side, will host an Allegheny City Brewing beer dinner at 6:30 p.m. Aug. 10.
Menu includes diver scallop sashimi with hot curry oil, sea bean and fennel flower; gado-gado salad with summer vegetable medley, tempeh, smoked potato, pickled quail egg and ginger peanut dressing; lemongrass skewered chicken satay with Thai peanut dipping sauce and Korean pickled carrot; beef rendang with rice cake and horseradish leaf; and stout chocolate cake and Gilligan's coconut lavender sorbet.
Cost is $65 per person with beer parings.
Details: 412-322-1106 or lola-bistro.com
Tuscan wine dinner
Senti Restaurant and Wine Bar, 3473 Butler St., Lawrenceville, will host a Tuscan wine dinner 6:30 p.m. Aug. 3.
Guests will enjoy a four-course dinner including octopus salad with citrus fruit and fennel, house-made fettuccine with wild boar and mushrooms, pork tenderloin medallions wrapped in prosciutto drizzled with a balsamic reduction, and dark chocolate pudding for desert.
Guests have the option to try a suggested Tuscan wine pairing with each course. This wine dinner, presented by Milko Miladinov of Dievole and Joe Barsotti of Barsotti Wines, introduces two new Tuscan Wineries for the first time in America—Poggio Landi and Tenuta Le Collonne.
Cost is $45 per person or $85 per person with wine pairing.
Details: 412-586-4347 or sentirestaurant.com
Garden-to-glass cocktails
Houlihan's Restaurants, with multiple Pittsburgh area locations, recently launched a Garden-to-Glass craft cocktail menu.
The four new selections, available for a limited time, feature a combination of fresh fruit and herbs such as rosemary, blueberry, pineapple and jalapenos.
They include Blueberry Rosemary Lemonade with Stoli Blueberi Vodka, muddled blueberry, rosemary and housemade lemonade; Spicy Charred Pineapple with Milagro Silver Tequila, housemade sour, muddled charred pineapple and fresh jalapeno; Oaks Lilly with Grey Goose Vodka, cranberry juice, Triple Sec, fresh lemon juice and blackberry; and Ancho Margarita with Milagro Silver Tequila, Anchos Reyes chile liqueur, grilled pineapple, fresh lime juice and agave syrup.
Details: houlihans.com
Hard Rock Test Kitchen
Hard Rock Cafe Pittsburgh in Station Square has been named one of the international chain's first test kitchen locations.
The Pittsburgh Hard Rock is one of just 12 restaurants out of 175 around the world selected to act as the front line for the café's menu evolution. Test kitchen menus will highlight local enhancements focusing on new hand-crafted items inspired by each cafe's geographical region.
The new Pittsburgh location dishes include a steak salad of freshly chopped seasonal greens with grilled sliced steak, diced vine-ripened tomatoes, red onion, thick-cut smoked bacon and mixed cheese tossed in Southwest ranch dressing with seasoned fries on top; the Pittsburgh Local Legendary Burger topped with Isaly's chipped ham, creamy beer cheese sauce, chipotle barbecue sauce, vine-ripened tomato and fresh arugula; Pittsburgh Pierogies and Kielbasa with caramelized onions and garlic butter; and a fresh catch served with a seasonal side and farm fresh vegetables.
The menu includes ingredients from local vendors including Pierogies Plus, Breadworks and Land and Sea as well as drink offerings from Wigle Whiskey and Voodoo Brewery.
Details: 412-481-7625 or hardrock.com
