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.

New North Shore LRT Preview

Our Corporate and Group Sales Manager, Gene Lucente, had the opportunity recently to tour (with a hard hat) the soon to be opened North Shore Connector of the city's Light Rail Transit (LRT) system. The North Shore component has two stations, an underground station and an above ground station. The underground station is between PNC Park and Heinz Field; the above ground station is past Heinz Field near the Rivers Casino. If nothing else, the stations and the new line are impressive looking, and are fed by one of the longest sub-river tunnels in North America. The North Shore Connector links the Heinz Field/ Rivers Casino part of the North Shore with downtown Pittsburgh -- first at its Gateway Center stop and subsequently Station Square and the southern suburbs of the city.

Here are some shots of the new stations and line. These depict the outdoor station near Rivers Casino. More to come . . .

Three Rivers Rowing Juniors Boosters Wine Tasting March 8

The Three Rivers Juniors Boosters Organization is hosting its third annual Wine Tasting Fundraiser at our Grand Hall. This event is always a blast, with exotic wines paired up with some amazing heavy hors d'oeuvres and carved meats prepared by Priory executive chefs Pete Phillipy and Mike Henney. Entertainment is by jazz legend Kenny Blake.

Tickets are $75 per person, and may be purchased through the Three Rivers Rowing Juniors Boosters website.

Particulars are:

Date: Thursday, March 8, 2012

Time: 6:30 p.m. - 9:30 p.m.

Poured: Four wines (to be announced shortly); as always, the Priory insists on a good three

finger pour with refills if you like

Wine host: Reid Vogel, Capital Wine and Spirits

Menu: To be announced shortly

Entertainment: Pittsburgh jazz legend Kenny Blake

Tickets: May be purchased through the Three Rivers Rowing Boosters Organization website

Three Rivers Rowing Juniors program is open to any youth from grades 8 through 12. It teaches discipline and physical fitness, and is practically unique among competitive programs in that all team members participate in competition. If a boy or girl practices, he or she will be rowing in a boat. The Wine Tasting fundraisers over the past three years have permitted the TRRA Juniors Boosters to purchase critical equipment and two eight person boats (which cost in excess of $36,000 apiece). These funds allow the program to stay competitive and healthy, and to continue its mission of promoting physical fitness and fighting childhood obesity.