Six Penn ~ Blogger Dinner

D and I have enjoyed Pittsburgh’s Restaurant Week (both summer and winter) since they started it 2 years ago, even reviewing 3 restaurants this winter for our blog. So, when we saw that they were hosting a special dinner for Food Bloggers who cover restaurant week, we jumped at the chance to go. Now, we have only been doing this for a little over 3 months and we are starting to settle in with things, but we didn’t realize how much more there was that went in to a blog. When we arrived at Six Penn Kitchen for the dinner we started to meet a few other bloggers, who immediately hand us their business cards (“oh, you guys don’t have a card? – Oops) and then, they began to ask us about how we “network” ourselves to get our blog to reach as many people as possible (you mean besides Facebook?). Needless to say, we have a lot of work to do before we are the “real deal”. Even though they knew we were amateurs every one was extremely friendly and offered tips and advice that will help us to improve our page.

  

Six Penn Kitchen has been around for a while now, and is a staple in Pre and Post Theatre dining (being in walking distance from pretty much every theatre downtown). They are owned by Eat n’ Park (which most people don’t know) and their goal with the restaurant was to open an American style bistro that serves thoughtfully prepared food using fresh products in a relaxed welcoming environment, we think they have succeeded. Six Penn serves Lunch, Dinner, and Brunch on Sundays, they have a full service bar, rooftop patio and can host private events.

  

This year for restaurant week they are trying to put a focus on specialty diets (gluten free, vegan, low fat) so they were featuring a few items that were gluten free and low fat. During cocktail hour they had some platters of gluten free pizza topped with tomato sauce, cheese and asparagus. We were apprehensive about a gluten free pizza but this was really good the dough wasn’t heavy or dense. You could tell it wasn’t your standard crust and the asparagus was a really good choice for a low fat topping. The next app was the hands down favorite, Shrimp stuffed with grits and topped with a crawfish and pepper pan sauce. Everyone loved this twist on the classic shrimp and grits dish. We were given drink coupons, which they encouraged us to use on the new cocktails that will be introduced on the new spring menu (there were too many for us to remember but they all looked and sounded delicious).

When it came time for dinner there were only 11 of us left, which was nice because it was more intimate and easier to interact with everyone. We started out with being asked if we wanted to have the wine pairings with dinner, D took them up on the offer, and I did not. The manager/sommelier greeted us and explained what Six Penn has been working on and what their plans are for the spring. We were then served a warm salad of beets, apples, pears wilted spinach, and “craisins” all tossed in a apple-chardonnay vinaigrette and then topped with creamy soft goat cheese. The salad was totally different than the normal spring mix salad every one is use to; every one really enjoyed it.

The first entrée was a filet of salmon stuffed with mascarpone cheese; it was served atop a roasted patty of Parmesan mashed potatoes and then a spoonful of arugula pesto. This was the favorite of the 4 courses, the salmon was cooked beautifully, the mashed potatoes were creamy yet crispy and the pesto had a nice peppery punch from the arugula.

The next entrée was grilled flank steak served with a cauliflower and Brussels sprouts hash with house made bacon and the plate had a small pool of shallot cream sauce. The steak was a nice med-rare.  The hash was excellent (especially the bacon) and the sauce tied it all together.

To finish this meal they gave us an amazing dessert; Cherry and Chocolate sorbet in a martini glass, along with 3 homemade cheesecake bites coated in dark chocolate. This Dessert was awesome!! Every one asked for more, sadly we were told no. All in all though this was a great meal from start to finish! We got to meet some great Food Bloggers and really enjoyed dining with them.

 

This was a really fun event and we plan on attending more of them. It will really help us learn how to manage this blog and introduce us to people who can give us tips/hints/advice and ideas on how to improve it.

 

We are extremely excited for this summer’s Restaurant Week, and can’t wait to see the list of all the participating restaurants.

 

For the latest info on this summer’s Restaurant week go to: www.pittsburghrestaurantweek.com and keep up to date on everything.

 

 

Six Penn Kitchen-

 

www.sixpennkitchen.com

also on Facebook

 

146 Sixth St

Pgh, PA 15222

412-566-7366

 

Open for Lunch and Dinner- Mon-Fri    10am-12am

Open for Dinner only on Saturday           4pm-12am

Open for Brunch only on Sunday              10:30am-2: 30 pm