We hopped in the car at 2 PM on Thursday, stopping at Quick Check to pick up some snacks.
Of course I packed my kale chips - Vampire Killer was actually not garlicky enough for me - and I picked up some apple straws, Stacy's naked pita chips, and a Skinny Girl strawberry lemonade sparkling water (to die for) - I was going to at least remain vegan in the car!
We stopped somewhere in central Pennsylvania to refuel ourselves and the car, and to book our hotel (I wanted to wait until we were halfway there because I wasn't even sure that we would make it with the snow!). The only places to eat at the rest stop were Starbucks and Burger King and Starbucks didn't have any "real" food to offer. I settled for a chicken-cranberry-apple-blue cheese salad with apple cider vinaigrette. It was okay, minus the iceberg lettuce, but I could feel my stomach bubbling before I even got back in the car. It was an uncomfortable experience, both for my stomach and my ego - I feel like I got a lot of strange looks in the nearly-deserted rest stop. It may have been my leopard rain boots. I clearly do not fit in in Pennsyltucky.
As soon as we arrived in the PGH, after some dicey driving through the dark mountains in the snow, we settled in the room and went to meet up with Laura and her husband, Dan. They took us to Kelly's Bar and Lounge, a very dinery dive bar, where I ordered a Gardenburger (with cheese) and fries. It was absolutely delicious, but the cheese and the grease caused even more rumbling.
The rumbles continued into Friday morning. Our hotel was under renovation, so to make up for it, they were offering a free continental breakfast. We slept through it and met back up with Laura and Dan in the early afternoon.
We had decided to check out the Carnegie Museum, but first, Laura suggested we try a new - get this - vegan/vegetarian restaurant called AVA.
AVA had not yet had their grand opening, but rather a soft opening. The small menu made decision-making easy.
And this fresh bread with wonderful garlicky amazing dipping oil was superb.
We ordered a round of golden oat smoothies - a delicious concoction of banana, oat, almond milk, turmeric, and cinnamon - that is meant to serve as a meal, but which turned into appetizers for us. I will definitely try to replicate this at home because it was incredible.
I ordered the tofu wrap, which was just as beautiful as it was delicious. Inside was herb marinated tofu, tomato, cucumber, kale, purple slaw, and green onion hummus (holy crap I need to make that, too). It came with chips and more purple slaw on the side. I was only able to eat half of this, but the other half came in handy as a late-night snack. Laura's spicy crunchy salad was delicious, too. None of us could stop talking about how good the food was and, perhaps more importantly, how good it was making us feel. My bubbling from the previous day's cheese and grease started to subside. I just felt - I don't know, clean. And energetic. And happy.
Then it was on to the Museum, where I took about 800 photos of modern art and dinosaurs. I will take this moment to share one of my favorite exhibits:
It was just random and hilarious. But for serious, this was probably my actual favorite - and maybe all of ours.
After touring the museum, we stopped at this really cool concept food kiosk called Conflict Kitchen. The kiosk "only serves food from countries with which the United States is in conflict. Each Conflict Kitchen iteration is augmented by events, performances, and discussions that seek to expand the engagement the public has with the culture, politics, and issues at stake within the focus country." Currently, Conflict Kitchen is serving North Korean fare and while I could have tried a million things, I settled on tofu pockets:
There is no indoor seating area and the outdoors were covered in snow, so we had to eat and walk. These were a little tricky to eat (the rice filling likes to fall out of the tofu pockets), but they were very good. The sauce on top (I forget what it was) was pretty spicy! But this held me over until dinner...the main event!
HUNGARIAN NIGHT AHHHHHH RTKTKTKTK!!!!
It took me a few tries to get through to the restaurant to make reservations, but I was finally successful and hella excited. Jozsa Corner is tucked away in Hazelwood and almost unrecognizable from the street. You walk in through the kitchen, where you are greeted by the proprietor, Alex Bodnar, and then you sit family-style in the next room, which is filled with Hungarian tchotchkes, photographs, Alex's paintings, and a large piano.
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| Alex in his kitchen |
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| The kitchen |
Our first course is one of my favorite things - lángos, a Hungarian fried flat bread.
This lángos was served with something new to me - lecsó , a blend of stewed tomatoes, onions, and peppers. And heaven.
The next course was something I didn't think I'd like - halászlé, which is "fisherman's stew."
I hate fish, but this was amazing. The dill and hot paprika helped balance out the flavors, and it didn't taste "fishy" at all.
Next up was haluska and homemade hot kolbasz. This was probably some of the best haluska I've ever had - I made some not too long ago and the thought of the leftovers in my freezer makes me a little nauseated. Mine was too cabbagey and buttery. This recipe was not greasy or oily at all, and it seemed like the onions and cabbage were equally represented. And don't even get me started on how much I hate spicy sausage - however, this kolbasz (similar to kielbasa, just like haluska is very similar to haluski) was magnificent (I'm running out of positive adjectives).
The next course has been one of my favorite foods since childhood: szekely gulyas (also known as Transylvania goulash). It's a goulash made with pork and sauerkraut, and I always begged my Nana to make it for me whenever I went to visit her.
Don't tell Nana, but Alex may have won this cook-off. The goulash juices went well with homemade poppy seed bread (Laura says Alex even grinds his own flour). I even brought an order home, but it's so much better fresh and hot off the stove.
One of the last courses was chicken paprikash with cucumber salad - both amazing. Fresh sour cream and fresh dill rule.
The final course - dessert - was kiflis with dried fruit and chocolate chips. There was not even a speck of powdered sugar left on the plate when we were done with it.
The food was phenomenal, but the company was even better. It was so great to have Valentine's Day dinner with my BFFF.
Late night, I noshed on the other half of my tofu wrap and some snacks from the hotel lobby - Reese's peanut butter cups and I don't even remember what else. I was clearly hell bent on undoing all of the good I did to my body at lunch.
On Saturday, we did wake up in time for breakfast...but there wasn't much to offer. I grabbed a steaming hot bowl that must have been fresh out of the dishwasher, poured myself some Cinnamon Toast Crunch (can't go wrong with that) and skim milk, which immediately warmed up with the bowl and was gross.
I can't remember the last time I had cow's milk, so it would have been weird even if it wasn't warm. We somehow learned that you could get bacon, eggs, and potatoes if you asked a grumpy man, so Tom ordered a hot breakfast and the grumpy man brought me one, too.
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| Fiiiiiiine, I'll eat your bacon |
Then it was on to the Strip District!
We sampled at a few different places - I had a white chocolate macadamia biscotti and chocolate dipped macaroon at Enrico Biscotti Bakery and Cafe and I tried the cheesy garlic bread popcorn at Pittsburgh Popcorn. Then it was on to some serious eats at the highly-recommended and Andrew Zimmern-visited S & D Polish Deli.
I ordered the meatless platter, which we all shared, which came with three pierogies, haluski, and two potato pancakes. The haluski was good, although Alex's haluska is better (this one had more cabbage). The pierogies were incredible - I've never had fresh pierogies before. The potato pancakes were greasy and delicious. However, the sour cream may have stolen the spotlight - it was sweet and unlike anything I've ever tasted before. Any of my Polish or Eastern European friends know what this might be?
Our last stop was Edgar's Tacos, where I enjoyed a delicious and fresh chicken taco.
Pittsburgh involves a lot of eating and walking. I'm okay with that.
Later that night, we went to...a MONSTER TRUCK RALLY!!! I'm not even kidding. It was hilarious. I don't have a picture of the rubbery, overpriced stadium chicken fingers and fries I ate, but I do have this video of the Gravedigger:
After our monster truck shenanigans, we stopped at Mad Mex, where I enjoyed a margarita and some fried tofu that seemed more Asian than Mexican.
The night ended in more late night snacks, even though I swear I wasn't really hungry - peanut M&Ms and pizza Combos.
I vowed to hit the gym and start eating healthy again on Monday, and here it is, Tuesday. I am about 400 calories under my limit so I'm going to go have a beer and still not go to the gym.
I can say with confidence that after about a week of straight bubble guts and crankiness, I will be resuming my strict veganity. :)
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