Mighty Mighty Microbrew Festival This Saturday

The North Side/North Shore Chamber of Commerce is hosting the Mighty Mighty Microbrew Festival at the Rivers Casino this Saturday, March 31, 2012. The event features more than 20 craft brewers, including Pittsburgh's own Church Brew Works and Penn Brewery. There's also light food served in the newly opened ballroom at the Rivers Casino. There are two three hour sessions: 12:30 p. m. and 5:00 p.m. Tickets are $65.00 apiece and may be purchased at http://mightymightymicrobrews.com/2012/. A portion of proceeds benefits North Side Common Ministries.

March Madness in Pittsburgh!

We welcome fans of Syracuse, Ohio State and West Virginia coming to Pittsburgh to watch their teams play in the second and third rounds of the NCAA Tournament at the Consol Energy Center this week! (Not to exclude fans of Gonzaga, Kansas State or the other fine teams in our Pittsburgh bracket, but our friends from Syracuse, Columbus and Morgantown are all within easy driving distance!) With Ohio State and Syracuse as the top two seeds in the East Region, we are bound to see some great basketball.

For the NCAA Tourney, we will be providing shuttle transportation to and from all games on both Thursday, March 15 and Saturday March 17 free of charge! We are located just a mile from the Consol, so it's an easy ride (or a walk if you'd so like).

Congratulations and good luck to all our Pittsburgh region NCAA participants. May the best teams win!

Trend toward new Japanese Restaurants in Pittsburgh

The Tribune-Review recently ran a story on the upswing in Japanese restaurants in Pittsburgh. It's an interesting trend, and one that I had a chance to weigh in on in the story. You can read the story here.

Few More Photos of our Steelers Cake

Our Priory Fine Pastries bakery, located a few blocks from our hotel, on East Ohio Street, was fortunate enough to be called upon to provide a cake to the Pittsburgh Steelers defensive secondary, the number one unit in the NFL. The Steelers, as previously documented on this blog, were extremely thoughtful in providing a picture of the cake with the Steelers defensive backfield, signed by coach Mike Tomlin. This was extremely exciting for our staff - so we commemorated the occasion with a photo of Executive Pastry Chef Jim Lazeration and his assistant chef Ange Manes.

Sharp Edge Belgian Beer Pub Downtown

The Sharp Edge, originally located in the Friendship neighborhood to the East, but now expanded hither and yon, has opened a beautiful downtown location which is certainly worth a visit. It's got a beautiful build out on Penn Avenue, with high ceilings and an undulating bar. It's wall to ceiling facade windows look out onto bustling Penn Avenue, and let in lots of light during the day. But best of all, it features an ever-changing variety of Belgian ales and microbrews which are unrivaled in the region. The Sharp Edge takes its Belgians very seriously, and for the beer connoisseur the place is heaven. The Sharp Edge, on the food front, offers a variety of sandwiches and tasty bar food, so you won't suffer there.

Here is a short story from the Tribune-Review on the opening of the Sharp Edge's newest location.

If you're in Pittsburgh and looking for a fun and one-of-a-kind pub, be sure to check out the Sharp Edge downtown.