"Pittsburgh" news and stories

Call it fast food with a conscience or even just food for thought. A trio of Pittsburgh-based artists, the Associated Press reports, have opened a take-out restaurant in the city's East Liberty neighborhood. The catch? Well, as you might have guessed, with artists running the place there's more than one.

First, the sign advertising the place is in Farsi, so unless you're fluent, you can be forgiven for missing it. Second, there's only one item on the menu. For now, it's a $5 kubideh, a traditional sandwich from Iran made from grilled ground beef spiced with turmeric, cumin and cinnamon, topped with fresh basil and mint and wrapped up in a piece of homemade barbari bread. And instead of asking whether you'd like fries with that (not an option anyway), don't be surprised if the guy behind the counter starts chatting you up about your views on American foreign policy.

Welcome to the Conflict Kitchen, which according to its website, "only serves cuisine from countries that the United States is in conflict with." So if Middle Eastern fare isn't your thing, you can wait a few weeks, when the restaurant will switch its featured offering to a dish from yet another of America's favorite foes, such as North Korea or Venezuela.

Obviously, this isn't your ordinary ethnic take-out joint.

Photo: Jennifer Iserloh.

During grad school, when I wasn't busy studying or working my part-time job, I was all about entertaining. My favorite co-host was my cousin Frank, and he always had great ideas, including shortcuts to making complicated recipes without losing a lot of the taste or texture.

I'm sure that the experts from the famous Pierogie Plus, a 10-minute drive from my family's house, would swat me for not making the dough myself. But when I crave my favorite treat, I use wonton wrappers to make them, an idea my clever cousin Frank came up with.

A Pittsburgh brewing institution is leaving Steel City.

Iron City Brewery officials announced Thursday the brewery would be leaving its home in the Lawrenceville neighborhood for greener pastures in Latrobe, Pa. Yes, the place where Rolling Rock was born.

The brewery's president, Timothy Hickman, called the announcement "exciting news." The brewers, well, not so much.

"Well, you finally did it," Dave Kelly, who retired last year after 34 years at Iron City, said according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. "You managed to take a brewery that has been through the Industrial Revolution, the Civil War, two world wars, Korean War, Vietnam War and the Iraq war -- even the Great Depression -- [and] move it out of the city that has supported you since 1861."

Six hours in the car on the way to Pittsburgh this past weekend gave me plenty of time to think about food for my family reunion. The menu was already set and included family favorites like hot and sweet Italian sausage cooked in tomatoes with thinly sliced red peppers served on Mancini rolls, thick baked beans with chunks of juicy ham and molasses, and stuffed shells with ricotta and loads of melted mozzarella. My task -- make an appetizer that wouldn't seem out of place on this meat and cheese-heavy table.

Get Jennifer's Pepperoni Bread recipe after the jump.

A weekly look at the draft selection at beer-friendly bars across the country.

Last week, in honor of Super Bowl XLIII, we took "What's On Tap" to Tampa Bay. Well, to the winner goes the spoils, so this week we find ourselves in much colder terrain as we travel up north to Steelers' territory to visit Fat Head's Saloon in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, home of this year's NFL World Champions.

Much of the battle in running a top-flight beer bar is dedication: Dedication to knowing your stuff, picking your products, finding the right distributor to make it happen. Some establishments, however, take things to the next level. In the past, I've praised beer bars for keeping a current draft list online. Well, Fat Head's does you one better, publishing a full-on PDF of their latest and greatest, including city of origin, tasting notes, ABV and price! According to a quick call to bar, they reprint and repost their draft list every time they switch out a keg and with the most recent update coming on February 3rd (that's yesterday), I have no reason to doubt they keep things fresh.

Way #2 to score dedication points, the bar boasts not one, but two beers brewed specifically for Fat Head's. Oregon's renowned Rogue Brewery whips up a Fat Head's Ale and Van Steenberge sends Head Trip (a Tripel) all the way from Belgium. I'm pretty sure not many other Pittsburgh bars can say that!

Still, in the end, it all comes down to what you're offering up on tap. After the jump, we'll take a look at Fat Head's hearty draft beer selection, and spread some news about why Cleveland area residents have something to look forward to...