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THE MENU OFFERED 20-ODD CHOICES, EACH PACKED WITH UNEXPECTED COMBINATIONS
FOOD CHALLENGE {BY REBECCA NUTTALL} When Conflict Kitchen announced its new cuisine would be North Korean, it prompted a common question. Says cook Gabby Toborg: “A lot of the reaction we’ve been getting has been people questioning the food — like, ‘What are you going to serve?’” Conflict Kitchen is an Oakland takeout restaurant that serves cuisine from countries the United States is in conflict with. The latest iteration of its menu reflects North Korea’s pervasive food shortages. “We try not to waste any food, and that includes the water the noodles are boiled in,” Toborg explains. “Sometimes we hand out the water to people in line just as a conversation starter.” The menu features North Korean staples such as bibimbop, vegetables on rice in gochujang, a sweet and spicy pepper sauce, perhaps washed down with sujeonggwa, a persimmon punch flavored with ginger and cinnamon. Among the specials are: soondae tteokbokki, a blood sausage dish; and hotteok, a sweet pancake stuffed with coconut, cinnamon and brown sugar. Such specials would be doubly unusual in North Korea, where meat is hard to find and dessert isn’t a priority. But the fare isn’t as lacking in flavor or appeal as many might think. For instance, the dubu bap, a tofu pocket stuffed with rice, is topped with a sauce made from red-pepper flakes, sesame and sweet syrup. And presentation matters: The dishes contain colorful vegetables to make them visually appealing. RNUTTALL@PGHCITYPAPER.COM
221 Schenley Drive, Oakland. 412-8028417 or www.conflictkitchen.org
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Learn to cook fancier food: The 2014 schedule of monthly cooking classes held at Downtown’s Habitat is out. Classes include regional cooking (France, Italy), holidays (Mardi Gras, Thanksgiving), alcohol and food pairings (bourbon, sake, beer) and a celebration of pork. Classes are $65 and include materials, apron and lunch.For more info, call 412-773-8848 or see www.habitatrestaurant.com.
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{PHOTOS BY HEATHER MULL}
Dim sum dishes (clockwise from top left): shrimp kimchi, pork-belly cubes, scallops and fried head cheese
OPPOSITES ATTRACT {BY ANGELIQUE BAMBERG + JASON ROTH}
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OMETIMES IT’S tempting to think of restaurants as movies. After all, some of them do come packaged with plots, sets and characters. Grit & Grace, a new Downtown venture from the people behind Spoon and BRGR, is such a restaurant. It even comes with a pitch, printed on the menu: “Grit & Grace pushes opposites to the extreme to bring you the most unique and balanced dining experience Pittsburgh has to offer.” Whether extreme opposites can combine to create balance is a point we felt was open to debate, and Grit & Grace certainly gave us plenty of food for thought. Our initial impressions were disconcerting. The decor begged the term “eclectic,” veering from industrial chic to bling, with seating that included upholstered banquettes and high, copper-topped communal tables. And the menu was all over the place, with Asian ingredients
PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER 01.29/02.05.2014
from various traditions combined and/or fused with those from the Mediterranean and American comfort foods, and seemingly no fewer than five ingredients in every dish. This was all the more impressive since most of the dishes at Grit & Grace are small plates, designed for sharing. While some menu descriptions made sense to us as updates of familiar classics like reuben
GRIT & GRACE
535 Liberty Ave., Downtown. 412-281-4748 HOURS: Mon.-Thu. 11 a.m.-1 a.m.; Fri. 11 a.m.2 a.m.; Sat. 4 p.m.-2 a.m.; Sun. 4-10 p.m. PRICES: $6-20 LIQUOR: Full bar
CP APPROVED sandwiches or ramen, others seemed to cross from fusion into kitchen-sink combos. And with 20-odd choices, each packed with unexpected combinations (Thousand Island sabayon?), we began to feel overwhelmed.
Thankfully, dim sum came to our rescue. Grit & Grace interpreted traditional Chinese dim sum service — in which diners help themselves to tiny morsels of meat or individual buns from a rolling cart — with a tray of five appetizer-size offerings. At only $5 a plate, this seemed like an excellent, low-stakes way to get to know the kitchen. As it turned out, the rewards were big. Pork-belly bites were meltingly tender with flavorful fat, yet satisfying with moments of crispness and chew, in a zingy orange sauce flavored with chili, garlic and ginger. Sliced beef tataki was also excellent, with a perfect dollop of peanut emulsion that recalled satay. Slices of shrimp were sweet and balanced with bitter-tinged broccolini in a kimchi vinaigrette; scallops, too, were succulent, in a citrusy lobster gel. Only a little bowl of cold soba noodles was underwhelming. The success of the dim sum emboldened us to explore the rest of the menu. As with