The Grand Concourse

Preparing an omelette for last night’s dinner summoned a memory of brunch with my Pittsburgh pal last year. She understands that I often select restaurants based on atmosphere rather than the promise of a good meal. Luckily, Pittsburgh’s Grand Concourse lives at the happy intersection of amazing atmosphere and delicious food.

This Pittsburgh landmark is located in a 1901 railroad station built by the Pittsburgh and Lake Erie Railroad. Friends, this is now one of my favorite restaurants anywhere.

The 80,000 square foot building was brilliantly transformed into a restaurant in 1978. The stained glass vaulted ceilings are magnificent. Marble columns look substantial. A grand staircase is, well, grand.

Even the hallways and restrooms are lovely with mosaic tile floors and exquisite woodwork. It’s no wonder this building, with its Victorian and Edwardian styles, is on the National Register of Historic Places.

We sat in a space that I believe is an enclosed porch, giving a terrific view of the outside world. There was some kind of fitness expo happening in town that weekend so we saw plenty of fit people walk by and even engage in some kind of bizarre bridal shoot for an extremely sculpted couple.

Meanwhile, I thoroughly enjoyed my brunch buffet and had a selection of small desserts. Fitness modeling is not in my future.

They have lunch and dinner menus, offer takeout, and host Sunday buffets as well as special buffets for holidays like Easter and Mother’s Day. Reservations are recommended even for a regular day. The prices are higher than a lot of restaurants near me but the food is better quality than your typical sit down restaurant and I was pleased with the value.

We saw people in all manner of attire but it feels like such a special place I was glad we dressed up a bit. I hated to look like too much of a hillbilly tourist in such a nice place so I made just a few photos. Besides, pictures really don’t do this building justice.

There’s something about this place, about the light and air and that makes it feel different. It feels timeless yet old, fancy but comfortable.

It’s a study in contradictions.

At one point, I found a settee near the buffet and simply sat down to absorb my surroundings. The late morning sun illuminated the stained glass and the air was filled with the murmur of conversation and clink of silverware. Servers scurried by with purpose while guests wandered about, making impossible choices from the buffet.

I swore if I turned quickly enough I might glimpse a Victorian couple or a traveling salesman with a trunk full of samples in tow.

This was a delightful experience and one that I would repeat if given the opportunity. Want to learn more and perhaps admire the menu? Click here to visit their website.

PPG Place Christmas Tree

If you’re in downtown Pittsburgh, seek out the gargantuan mirrored buildings and you’ll find PPG Place. This spot is home to a beautiful Christmas tree and an ice skating rink. Inside, there’s a great Santas of the World exhibit.

It’s lovely both day and night. This is just a quick snap from the car window but I would highly recommend spending a holiday weekend wandering around Pittsburgh to check out the shops, decorations and museums. There are so many amazing museums.

Bonus points if you can time your visit with Light Up Night, the most festive day of the year in the city. You won’t regret it!

Mall Photos

The nice thing about smart phones is having a camera in your pocket wherever you go. This enables my compulsion to make pictures of random things all day long.

Case in point: these images snapped at a mall in Pittsburgh a few months ago.

This trio of dresses caught my eye in a store window.

Then there was this amazing Gucci wallpaper. It would make a great accent wall in the dream library that I’m designing in my mind.

And this fun little message.

Running around documenting the common and the unusual things I see every day is a part of who I am. It isn’t necessary having encouragement to be more of who I am but it certainly was a fun affirmation.

I had forgotten all about my stroll through the Ross Park Mall that rainy evening so finding these random snaps was a fun treat!

The View From Mount Washington

A visit to Pittsburgh is not complete without a trip up Mount Washington to drink in the city’s spectacular skyline. You can get there by car or by one of two historic inclines.

It was dark after we devoured ice cream at Klavon’s so we drove to this point high above the city. Pittsburgh has a vibrant night life and the city was especially booming since the Pirates were playing Toronto that night.

We parked the car and walked around a bit, people watching along the way. I always pause a moment to appreciate St. Mary of the Mount Catholic Church. A few years ago, I had a special experience at this church and it consequently holds a special place in my heart.

Street parking is limited atop Mount Washington so you may consider parking below and taking an incline ride to the top if you’re there during business hours. It’s a fun experience and worth the cost of a ticket. Also, Mount Washington is an amazing place to watch the sunrise so be sure to do that too! Click here to read a little about an experience I had here a few years ago.

Klavon’s Ice Cream Parlor

My friend took me to a time machine on Friday night. It’s called Klavon’s Ice Cream Parlor and it is a portal into a gentler time.

In fact, it appears to have not been updated at all since the doors opened in 1923 when it was an apothecary and ice cream shop. It operated as such until the late seventies.

Twenty years later, descendants of the original owners revived the old neighborhood hangout. It changed hands again in 2011 and is no longer in the Klavon family but continues operating under that name.

Luckily, some things don’t change. The woodwork is magnificent. The lights are Art Deco. They still have the original wooden phone booths, tile floors, tin ceiling and a gorgeous marble counter.

There’s penny candy and cold drinks but the star of the show is the extensive menu of ice cream sundaes, shakes and floats. I tried the Tin Ceiling Sundae – vanilla ice cream plus chocolate sauce, whipped cream and fresh roasted peanuts complete with a cherry on top. My friend had this pretty little thing that’s pictured below.

They also serve some made-to-order paninis, soup and pepperoni rolls.

As you can imagine, I loved it there.

Their location on Penn Avenue in Pittsburgh’s popular Strip District means that lots of other people love it too. It was busy the entire time we were there and was still busy when we left a few minutes before closing time.

Want to visit or maybe just drool over their menu? Click here to visit their website.

Klavon’s Ice Cream Parlor

My friend took me to a time machine on Friday night. It’s called Klavon’s Ice Cream Parlor and it is a portal into a gentler time.

In fact, it appears to have not been updated at all since the doors opened in 1923 when it was an apothecary and ice cream shop. It operated as such until the late seventies.

Twenty years later, descendants of the original owners revived the old neighborhood hangout. It changed hands again in 2011 and is no longer in the Klavon family but continues operating under that name.

Luckily, some things don’t change. The woodwork is magnificent. The lights are Art Deco. They still have the original wooden phone booths, tile floors, tin ceiling and a gorgeous marble counter.

There’s penny candy and cold drinks but the star of the show is the extensive menu of ice cream sundaes, shakes and floats. I tried the Tin Ceiling Sundae – vanilla ice cream plus chocolate sauce, whipped cream and fresh roasted peanuts complete with a cherry on top. My friend had this pretty little thing that’s pictured below.

They also serve some made-to-order paninis, soup and pepperoni rolls.

As you can imagine, I loved it there.

Their location on Penn Avenue in Pittsburgh’s popular Strip District means that lots of other people love it too. It was busy the entire time we were there and was still busy when we left a few minutes before closing time.

Want to visit or maybe just drool over their menu? Click here to visit their website.