Sausalido

It all started as just a normal search for dinner. My mother and I had just come off of a long day traveling around Pittsburgh. It was cold and wet outside. We were driving around Pittsburgh, scoping out the city as well as the food options. “What do you want to eat tonight?” “I’m thinking Indian food, is that okay?” So I looked up Indian food on Google Maps, a handful of restaurants popped up in the neighborhood. We pulled up to restaurant #1; it was like a long hallway, with no customers and a little dingy looking. Maybe not, so we headed towards restaurant #2. We pulled up, it was raining heavily and it looked a little too dark to be open. Yup, it was closed. So now what? We began to backtrack a little bit and see if we would catch sight of a different option. Sausalido caught our eye. There was a small crowd inside, it was Italian food. By that point I was really hungry so whatever restaurant we went to was fine by me. It was pretty bitter outside, we shook our umbrellas out and stepped inside, welcomed by the warm brightness of the little room. Neatly decorated with a plaque that I still remember:

I came in expecting the usual menu: Antipasta, Salad, Pasta, Pizza, etc. I was pleasantly surprised by the first item I saw: Smoked Gouda with sauteed spinach, sun-dried tomatoes, pesto and a balsamic reduction. I’ve had gouda cheese before as a complement to slices of apple. I, however, have never eaten it as a large disc broiled to a bubbling crisp. It was a perfect composition of flavors; the tartness of the tomatoes was balanced by the sauteed spinach which complemented the strong but not overpowering flavors of the pesto and gouda.

Cuisine: Italian

4621 Liberty Avenue
Pittsburgh, PA 15224

March 25, 2013