TasteBuds attend Pittsburgh Food blogger dinner during restaurant week

During Pittsburgh Restaurant Week Summer 2012 celebration, the Pittsburgh TasteBuds joined fellow bloggers from across the city for the second food blogger dinner from the new Pittsburgh Restaurant Week program. This dinner was at the Porch at Schenley. Attendees were able to choose from either the restaurant week special, or the full restaurant menu.

The Porch at Schenley is a member of the Eat n Park Hospitality Group of restaurants.  Nestled at the entrance to Schenley Park from Forbes Ave, diners can take advantage of both the lovely view and the free park wi-fi connection.

If, like me, you’ve hesitated in the past going to the Porch because you have it in your head that it will be anything like Eat N Park, then hopefully this post will change your mind as it has mine.

Chef Kevin Hermann produces wonderful food, most of which is locally sourced.  I’d describe the menu as “fine dining with a farmer’s touch.”  It is clear that the chef and the restaurant management take great pride not only in what they produce on the plate, but how it got to the plate.

For the meal, I got the restaurant week menu.  Here’s a peak at the three-courses.

Each item on the menu was some combination of flavors that I have never had before, though all enjoyed.  Throughout the meal, I sipped on Engine House wine (a new winery open in the Strip District).

After our meal, as an exclusive food-blogger dinner opportunity, we received a tour of the roof-top garden and beehives where Chef Kevin tends to his own crop of ingredients.  It was quite awesome to eat an impressively assembled meal and then say “oh, here is where he grew the tomatoes that went into that dish.”

It was a great night and I think the Food Blogger Dinner will remain a staple-event in the Restaurant Week Celebration for seasons to come.  Here are some additional photos from the event: