Pittsburgh favorites part 2: Asian food

You may have noticed that a significant portion of my diet is made up of Asian food, particularly Chinese and Thai. I’ve been pretty pleased with Pittsburgh when it comes to the Asian food scene, especially after the less-than-stellar selection in DC. I’m sure I haven’t been to all of the great Asian restaurants in the Pittsburgh area, but this is a pretty solid list to start with if you live in the city limits. You may ask: Why no sushi? Because I haven’t had any great sushi here, and honestly I was too cheap to try the supposedly great sushi restaurants in the area. Your suggestions are welcome!

Chinese: China Star (Squirrel Hill)

After living in China and cooking with Chinese friends, I have annoyingly high standards when it comes to genuine Chinese food. I can barely bring myself to eat the American style Chinese food anymore. I preferred to cook it myself…until I went to China Star and tried their “alternative” menu. If you don’t look Chinese, the waiter will first hand you the Americanized menu. Ask for the Chinese menu. If you don’t know what any of the stuff is, ask for recommendations. It’s hard to go wrong. Squirrel Hill is overall the best neighborhood to find legit Chinese food, tea and desserts. Just follow the exchange students.

Vietnamese: Tram’s Kitchen (Bloomfield/Garfield)

While there are many deserving Vietnamese places up and down Penn Avenue, my favorite is Tram’s. It’s got a simple selection of soups and noodles, it’s fresh, it’s fast, and it’s in a tiny storefront. If you’re lucky, you’ll even be seated at a tiny table with tiny chairs. Not as tiny as the chairs in Vietnam, but still. Pretty cool. And of course, the pho is fantastic.

Thai: Thai Cuisine (Bloomfield)

This was a hard choice, because I love the shop down the street, Thai Gourmet, nearly as much. But in reality, I find myself going to Thai Cuisine more and craving their noodles, soups and curries more. But in the end, if you live near Bloomfield, you’re a lucky dog. It’s the best Thai food I’ve had outside of Thailand. It’s reliable, it’s affordable, it’s a happy place.

Korean: Tokyo Steakhouse (Bloomfield)

Yes, it’s called Tokyo, and yes, they have sushi, but I’ve never had the sushi. So I’m just going to talk about the Korean food. This is where we go to indulge. We stuff ourselves with grilled beef and chicken. We go crazy over the little side dishes. It’s rarely busy, but it makes me happy that way. I get really tired of the jazzed-up, Americanized Asian grills. You know the ones I’m talking about. This one is different. You cook your meat. There is a little bridge and a pond in the middle of the restaurant. The people who work there are actually Japanese and Korean. There are Japanese businessmen drinking beers in the corner. And the beef. Oh, the beef…

Asian Market: Lotus Food (Strip District)

Pittsburgh really does have a lot of Asian markets all around, from Oakland to the ‘burbs. But Lotus is the king. Sitting on a corner near the end of the Strip District, Lotus is a great source of cheap rice, noodles, and even vegetables. The cilantro at Lotus just tastes better. The bok choy come in all different sizes. The tofu is freshly cooked. The candy and cookie selection is overwhelming. I still haven’t been able to try all the varieties of dumplings and steamed buns that they offer. And the best part: the Chinese employees actually speak Chinese with me! I can only hope that I find a store as great as Lotus in my next city.

Coming next: Pittsburgh Parks

Pittsburgh favorites part 1: neighborhoods

With one month left in Pittsburgh, I think it’s finally time to showcase my favorite things about living in this city for the past two years. All of this, of course, will be very biased toward my lifestyle and values, which often don’t parallel the average American. I also don’t have a car, so pretty much everything I talk about will be bus, bike, and pedestrian friendly. If you have other things to add, please share them in the comments!

I’ll start with my three favorite neighborhoods.

row house style in Bloomfield

Bloomfield: This obviously comes first because this is where I live and spend most of my time. This is where Jon grew up, where most of our friends live, and where I walk my dog. It’s an old German and Italian neighborhood, and it’s nicknamed “Pittsburgh’s Little Italy.” In the fall there are lots of things going on like Little Italy Days and the Halloween parade. Liberty Avenue has lots of bars, restaurants, and shops, and it’s only getting better. It’s also a very convenient area for those without cars; I can grab lots of buses that take me to Oakland, Downtown, or other East End locations. I’ve felt very safe living here, and it’s also one of the more affordable areas for students to live. We get a lot more space and amenities with our one-bedroom apartment in Bloomfield than we would in areas like Shadyside and Oakland. It’s quieter (and cleaner!) here, too!

Friendship-style big ol' houses

Friendship: Well, I kind of live here, too. Our street looks like Friendship, but the street sign actually says Bloomfield on it. As you can see, the houses in Friendship are big brick beauties that are sometimes homes, but sometimes converted apartments. All of our friends around here live in converted apartments, which is a great alternative to giant apartment buildings run by giant companies. Friendship is bordered by Bloomfield, East Liberty, and Shadyside, making it a cozy community with great access to the shops and restaurants on streets like Highland, Liberty, Walnut and Penn. One of my favorite little places in Friendship is Baum Grove, a little park with chess tables where Marshall loves to sniff around.

Squirrel Hill: If it were easier to walk from Squirrel Hill to Pitt’s campus, maybe I would have lived here. It’s like a village, and everyone I know who has lived here has loved it. There are tons of great restaurants and cafes, a movie theater, library, and grocery store. But the best thing about Squirrel Hill may be that it’s tucked in between the two best parks in Pittsburgh: Schenley and Frick. Most residents of Squirrel Hill are within walking distance to the amazing hills and trails of these parks. So if being near Pitt doesn’t matter to you, Squirrel Hill may be paradise.

Coming next: Pittsburgh Asian Restaurants

An almost-settled summer

One month, three graduation ceremonies, and numerous thunderstorms later, I’m in the middle of my Pittsburgh summer. In total I sat through 7 hours of graduation ceremonies. My sister’s was the most uncomfortable physically, as the rain forced The College of Wooster to move the outdoor celebration into the gym, sitting most of the attendees on wooden bleachers for three hours. Jon’s was by far the most uncomfortable socially; the alumni speaker spent a good six minutes talking about the need for 2011 GSPIA graduates to donate $200 to the school because she knows “they can afford it,” all while the cap-and-gown attired students were asked to stand up to listen to her. “You may be seated,” the speaker said when she finished her sales pitch, and I could hear every grad grab at their thin wallets, vowing to never open them again for this school. Very inappropriate, very tactless.

Jon and I after my graduation

But in the end, the three of us graduated, Julie with her BA, Jon with his MPIA, and me with my MA. With my sister going to school on a beautiful, spread-out campus in rural Ohio, there were many activities planned for the seniors and their families. In Pittsburgh, Jon and I planned our own events for visiting family, the highlight being our combined graduation/birthday party (for our dog, yes, but he’s probably the most popular one in our house.)

the whole family at Julie's graduation

The days since graduation have been filled with my awkward attempts at becoming a real, post-graduate school citizen. I cut out all the recipes I liked from a year’s worth of Cooking Light magazine and put them in an album. I went grocery shopping to make a bunch of dishes, and later learning that “a bunch” was too many. “I think you should stop making food now,” Jon said yesterday. At least we have friends around who will eat it. Needless to say, I’ll be posting a few of the best recipes I’ve made over the summer.

There are a lot of activities I want to catch up on this summer: learning mandolin and Chinese, reading fiction, swimming and running and yoga, watching movies. I just don’t know yet how to do them all without a schedule. In some ways, life in school is a lot more straightforward because you are given deadlines and schedules. I thought I was a pretty flexible person, but having a whole 7-hour chunk of time to do whatever I want? I am so not used to that.

That’s kind of what makes this summer so strange: trying to settle into a new kind of life, all while knowing that my time in Pittsburgh is coming to a close. The summer is set, but the near future is very uncertain. We have a vague idea that we are moving to California in September, but a lot of planning and selling of our things must happen before that becomes reality. I’m anxious to get started on the moving plans, but I have to keep reminding myself to relax and enjoy the fact that I have a summer job and lots of friends and fun around me.

P.S. Here is a link to my thesis published on the library’s online system!

boys in the summer sunshine

And then I took a little time off

No posts for three weeks? Oops. I think I’ve gotten to the AND THEN period of this school year. Lots of things are happening really fast. I’m finishing my thesis, applying for jobs, turning 26, going on spring break, going on a second spring break, hosting friends from around the country, and very possibly moving in three months. So my AND THEN story can start like this: First, Rachel came in town, and then I applied to a job I really want, and then Rachel came in town again, and then I worked a big event at school, and then we drove to St. Louis, and then we drove back to Pittsburgh, and then it was my birthday, and then Jon gave me a mandolin for my birthday. Photo highlights below! More AND THEN coming soon…

jon and rachel, extremely bored in the cathedral of learning at pitt

dad can't keep his eyes open, but clancy finally learned how to sit and stay (in downtown st louis)

the lovely grand hall in st louis union station

My life in sports towns

It must be hard for people who don’t like sports to live in cities like Pittsburgh and St. Louis. To feel like a part of those cities, it’s pretty much necessary to own at least one article of clothing with a local sports logo and have a few intelligent things to say about the sport. Well, maybe not intelligent, but it helps to know the difference between quarters and periods, half times and intermissions. In St. Louis it’s all about the Cardinals, with occasional bursts of excitement for the Blues and Rams. In Pittsburgh, Steelers fans make the most noise, but most everyone loves the Penguins, too. Oh, and they also have baseball, kind of.

Since Jon and I met six years ago, both of our cities have had excellent winning streaks. The Cardinals won the world series, the Pens won the Stanley Cup, and the Steelers won two super bowls. Now living in Pittsburgh, I’ve had the chance to be right in the middle of a lot of sports excitement. On New Years Day, the NHL sets up an outdoor game between two exciting teams, this year DC and Pittsburgh. Thinking that there was no way he could afford to go, Jon and I planned to watch it in the warmth of our own living room. A few weeks before Christmas, his mom called me and told me that she got him tickets and I had to keep the date open, but keep it secret from him. Not so easy, but I did it! He got the tickets on Christmas morning, called me up to invite me to go, and the preparations began. However, the forecast for January 1st was not snowy and cold; it was rainy and warm.

wearing the winter classic colors high up in heinz field

The game was postponed until evening, when the temperature was low enough for the ice not to completely turn into a pond. At 40 degrees and drizzly, it wasn’t easy to sit there for three hours. The fact that the Penguins lost to the Capitals didn’t make it any easier. We were sitting next to a lot of fans from DC, reminding me about how much nicer Pittsburgh people are. Even though the Penguins lost, it was still incredible to be a part of such a huge event. Our seats were really low and close to the rink, and we stayed warm by waving terrible towels and drinking hot cocoa in souvenir mugs. Plus I think my super cool blue mohawk hat will come in handy in the future.

view from our seats of both teams warming up

Five weeks later, the Steelers were in the Super Bowl. Again. The whole city was nervously excited about the potential for a seventh Super Bowl win. People wore black and gold for days before the game, from shoes to wigs to beads to jerseys. Car radios blasted Black and Yellow and Here We Go Steelers, the top story for days on local news was about what the Steelers were doing in Dallas, and grocery stores were packed with people stocking up on food for the big game. Our friends hosted a party at their new house, complete with every snack imaginable including a Steelers cookie cake. We packed their TV room with black and gold gear, including those terrible, terrible towels.

still do not know why the towel is terrible

At no point during the game were the Steelers winning over the Green Bay Packers, so it was a pretty low-energy, stressful event from our end. (I think most of my Midwestern friends were cheering for Green Bay, partly for their disgust over Big Ben.) We stuffed our faces with cookie cake as the clock winded down and it was clear that Pittsburgh wasn’t going to pull off a miracle win. The trouble with the Steelers losing big games is that everyone in this city gets grumpy. When I used to work at the yogurt shop on Sunday afternoons, I wouldn’t even have to ask the customers if the Steelers had won; I could see it on their faces. The city’s football obsession is a big concern for the local authorities as well. The past two championship wins inspired fans to set things on fire and break storefront windows. But this year with a loss, the news reported minimal fires and only a few arrests. Ironic, no?

still feeling some hope for #86