Food is about trends. Like Picasso's natural tendencies to go into periods of color (Rose, Blue, Insane, etc.) chefs tend to migrate towards the hot items. Be it dietary (low-carb), ingredient specification (organic, local), food philosophies (tapas), or simply just style of cuisine (Middle Eastern is big today), most chefs and restaurants rarely play the part of trailblazers. Instead, just like Tommy and his fellow hipsters, they are "trendy" and "chic." Restaurants that survive and thrive are ones that can outlast the trend that begat them.
And that's not necessarily a bad thing. Trends naturally happen. Successful entrepreneurs are the ones who can read trends and act accordingly to make a profit. Dinette is a great example of this.
Dinette, the new restaurant in the fully developed East Liberty shopping complex (Don't ever call it "Sliberty" or "East Side" or whatever stupid gentrified name the developers call it), markets itself as a gourmet pizzeria, one of the aforementioned hot trends in cuisine today. Replacing generic cheese and canned tomatoes for imported buffalo mozzarella and San Romano tomatoes, these new pizzerias emphasize quality over quantity.
And sitting down for dinner, the mater familiae, pater familiae, and special guest Daryl, we ordered 4 of Dinette's pizza offerings. Mater familiae went with the tried and true margarita, the benchmark for gourmet pizza. Pater ordered the spicy pepperoni. Personally, I went out on a limb, ordering the tuna pizza, served with parsley and dill.
The pizzas were of the thin variety, with fantastic burn spots on the bottom (critical for a properly cooked thin pie) and topped with a reasonable amount (not too much, as Mineo's is guilty of) of mozzarella.
Depending on who you asked, the tuna pie was either hit or miss. For some, the tuna overpowered the pie as a whole, a failed concept that had no chance of succeeding, much in the same manner as the Cleveland Cavaliers without Lebron . Others, the tuna pie was bold, unorthodox, and addictive. While I considered myself part of the former category, it was certainly exciting to see pizza that had something other than the usual suspects for toppings. A good effort that needs some rethinking.
But the star of the evening was our hors d'oeuvre, a Californian potato salad. Refraining from serving a salad made up of mayonnaise and some potatoes sprinkled in, Dinette's edition was thankfully a new twist on a classic. In replace of mayo, Dinette chose a vinegrette, using the oak flavoring of the balsamic to bring an umami flavor that complimented the fresh greens and avocado added to the potatoes. The dish was a great example of "simple done right."
Unfortunately, the evening meal would end on a disappointing note. The two desserts offered (carrot cake and chocolate mousse) sounded unoriginal and after tasting the mousse, was confirmed. Tragic that a meal filled with fresh and lively food would be ended by such a bleak and uneventful dessert.
Nevertheless, Dinette is a milestone restaurant for Pittsburgh. As the traditional fanfare of Pittsburgh fall into obscurity (remember Poli? Me neither.), new chefs are going big or going home, with food that is nouveau, exciting, and definitely worth experiencing.
The pizzas were of the thin variety, with fantastic burn spots on the bottom (critical for a properly cooked thin pie) and topped with a reasonable amount (not too much, as Mineo's is guilty of) of mozzarella.
Depending on who you asked, the tuna pie was either hit or miss. For some, the tuna overpowered the pie as a whole, a failed concept that had no chance of succeeding, much in the same manner as the Cleveland Cavaliers without Lebron . Others, the tuna pie was bold, unorthodox, and addictive. While I considered myself part of the former category, it was certainly exciting to see pizza that had something other than the usual suspects for toppings. A good effort that needs some rethinking.
But the star of the evening was our hors d'oeuvre, a Californian potato salad. Refraining from serving a salad made up of mayonnaise and some potatoes sprinkled in, Dinette's edition was thankfully a new twist on a classic. In replace of mayo, Dinette chose a vinegrette, using the oak flavoring of the balsamic to bring an umami flavor that complimented the fresh greens and avocado added to the potatoes. The dish was a great example of "simple done right."
Unfortunately, the evening meal would end on a disappointing note. The two desserts offered (carrot cake and chocolate mousse) sounded unoriginal and after tasting the mousse, was confirmed. Tragic that a meal filled with fresh and lively food would be ended by such a bleak and uneventful dessert.
Nevertheless, Dinette is a milestone restaurant for Pittsburgh. As the traditional fanfare of Pittsburgh fall into obscurity (remember Poli? Me neither.), new chefs are going big or going home, with food that is nouveau, exciting, and definitely worth experiencing.
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