As the broth for our Christmas Eve Cioppino simmers, we sit on the couch reminiscing over the past year. The TasteBuds have now celebrated 19 wine exchanges and already have #20 ready to announce. Here are the highlights of 2012 from the PghTasteBuds
- Hosting Wine Exchanges throughout the year and making new friends. over the year we held dinners #14-19 at Abay Restaurant, Piccolo Forno, James Street Gastropub, Solstice, Arpino Trattoria and Cornerstone Restaurant and Bar.
- Launching Pittsburgh Restaurant Week. January 2012 saw the revival of Pittsburgh Restaurant Week with great support, which resulted in a second Summer 2012 celebration in August. Winter 2013 is right around the corner. There were PghTasteBud appearances on KDKA-TV and radio commercials on KISS-FM. The TasteBuds are passionate about the program and attribute the success to a lot of hard wrk, but also wonderful support from fellow bloggers.
- Best Meal of 2012. Lola Bistro on the Northside opened in the second half of 2012 and knocked the socks off PghTasteBudA. Review coming soon!
- TasteBud Travels to Milwaukee and Seattle. The two trips that peaked the TasteBuds foodie interests, like cheesy surprises like the Mars Cheese Castle and a unique-find Russian pastry from Pike’s Place Market
For any items that don’t have full reviews, expect more posts over the holiday season as we close the book on 2012 and look forward to 2013. Cheers to everyone who comes to the wine dinners and reads our blog. We look forward to continuing forward and welcoming any recommendations folks would like to suggest to make the TasteBuds even more fun for everyone.
Hello, My mom’s 80th birthday is in May and I have family coming in from Wisconsin and New Hampshire. We are taking her out for dinner and wanted to go to Mt. Washington, possibly Lemont or Montery Bay but after reading reviews are thinking twice. We will have 16 people including 7 under age 17. We are looking for good food and special atmosphere.
Do you have any suggestions.
Both are good locations, but many will say they have become a novelty and they fall back on the tourism crowd.
Perhaps consider La Tavola on Mt. Washington. It is great Italian food, great for a crowd and allows BYOB. If you call ahead, there is a smaller, somewhat private room they could probably put you in. I believe the side rooms seats about 30 and would provide a more private area for your group.
If you need more suggestions, let us know!