best restaurant party

Once again Pittsburgh Magazine hosted the Best Restaurant Party, and this year I got to go with my friends from Vivo.

The Vivo crew proudly displayed a Tamagnini hand-operated flywheel slicer from Parma, Italy. We used it to slice our house-cured duck prosciutto. The prosciutto was a hit–the duck melted in your mouth like butter and the melon and balsamic reduction were simple but most delicious accompaniments.

It was a great time for us chefs to see and visit with all of our colleagues. Typically we never see each other because of the long hours we spend in the kitchen!  A diverse list of the best restaurants in town participated in this event. The list included: Avenue B, Bangkok Balcony, big Catering, Bistro 19, Casbah, Church Brew Works, Claddaugh Irish Pub, Common Plea Restaurant, Cross Keys Inn, Dinette, Eat ‘n Park, Eleven, Franktuary, Girasole, Gullifty’s, Harris Grill, Hyeholde Restaurant, Ibiza Tapas Restaurant and Wine Bar, Ichiban, Il Pizzaiolo, Iovino’s Café, Isabella on Grandview, JAC’s Cafe, Jimmy Wan’s Restaurant & Lounge, Joseph Tambellini Restaurant, Kaya, LePommier, Levy Restaurants, Mad Mex, Mineo’s Pizza House, Mio Kitchen & Wine Bar, Monterey Bay Fish Grotto, Nakama Japanese Steakhouse & Sushi Bar, Panera Bread, Pangea, Penn Brewery, Piccolo Forno, Plum Pan Asian Kitchen, Ruth’s Chris Steak House, Salt of the Earth, Sesame Inn, Seviche, Silk Elephant, Smallman Street Deli, Soba, Square Cafe, SweetHouse Bake Shop, Taj Mahal, Tamari, The Carlton, Toast! Kitchen & Wine Bar, Typhoon, Umi, Vivo, Vocelli Pizza, Wild Rosemary, Wooden Angel and Yo Rita’s.