few days before in Manhattan. Alas, his veal medallions in vermouth sauce, a house specialty, were less successful, the meat too chewy and the sauce too mild. However, an array of chicken dishes restored our faith in the kitchen’s competence. Linguine alfredo included moist morsels of white meat in a sauce that was thick without being heavy or impossibly rich. Chicken Louisiana featured a blackened breast, which fortunately wasn’t the brutal blackening associated with this once-trendy preparation; JG’s kitchen has given it a mere healthy sear, allowing the breast meat to remain moist within. Sweet morsels of crab formed a perfect contrast, while a slightly spicy sauce around the chicken balanced the rich béarnaise poured atop the crab.
It was a treat to find a dish like this that offered something different done well, without necessarily pushing any boundaries. Much the same could be said for a special of chicken poblano ravioli, in which poblano peppers contributed a subtle heat to both a tomato sauce and the filling of the ravioli themselves. Two chicken breasts, pounded flat and tenderized, formed the substance of this dish, but the pleasure was in the flavors of the sauce, enlivened also by prosciutto, garlic and onions. “George Washington slept here” may be the gold standard for historic sites, but we’re more interested in “Taft ate here.” After all, what president is more associated with gustatory pleasure? President Taft did once visit Tarentum, and if he could have enjoyed a meal at JG’s Station Grille, we’d like to think he would have given it his seal of approval. INFO@ PGHC ITY PAP ER.CO M
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On the RoCKs
{BY HAL B. KLEIN}
A STATE OF FERMENT Pittsburgh Craft Beer Week comes back for a second round Just how popular is beer in Pittsburgh? When Commonwealth Press partnered with the Gateway Clipper fleet to offer a three-hour-long river cruise featuring an all-you-can-drink assortment of beer from more than a dozen craft breweries, tickets sold out in less than four minutes. And when the servers crashed because they hey were overloaded with ticket requests, the trip sold out again, requ after aft organizers added a second o boat to accommodate the demand. The river trip is a highlight of the second annual Pittsburgh Craft Beer Week, a celebration of artisanal breweries that runs from April 19-27. “Everybody saw the success of it last year and wanted to get involved,” says Andy Rich, head brewer at Penn Brewery and chair of the Pittsburgh Craft Beer Alliance. He says that the collaborative beers build camaraderie among the brewers, something that serves to strengthen the local beer community as a whole. “We have a lot of support from the local community, from wholesalers to bars to restaurants,” says Colleen Leary, a PCBA board member. Leary says that events, which will again number in the “several hundreds,” are organized by individual establishments, but she and the rest of the team of volunteers are “here to lend ideas and support.” Local partnerships are popular this year. Last year a handful of area brewers worked on three collaborative brewing projects: This year the official list expands to five beers produced by 15 different breweries. There are also a slew of unofficial collaborative projects. For example, regional brewers Lavay teamed up with hometown favorites Full Pint. Fatheads, Rivertowne and Butler Brew Works partnered with Burgh Bees for a tasting of locally made honey beer; Penn Brewery and Arsenal Cider produced a beer-hopped hard cider. All of this bodes well for the future of craft beer in Pittsburgh, organizers say. “It’s exciting for the region,” says Rich. He adds that, as big as the event seems now, “it’s just going to keep growing and building.” INFO@PGHCITYPAPER.COM
See pittsburghcraftbeerweek.com/ calendar for a full list of events.
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