While visiting Pittsburgh, I discovered that this city has become a quite the foodie spot. The first place I visited was on a top of the Mt. Washington with a spectacular view of down town. When we were on our way to the restaurant, I didn’t realize that it was going to be such high up on the mountain, but the car kept on going up and up and up… Then the great, open view was in front of us.

 

The first floor had some simple interior, large windows, and lots of wines on the wall. It might seem dark in the photo, but that is only because the light coming in from the windows were so strong. It was actually nice and bright. Without much color or artwork, it was rather monochromatic and modern.

They had a bar to the left, the space was open and spacious. It looked small from the outside, and at the first glance when you walk in, but it was a pretty good size. We had a business dinner setup upstairs, so off we went. The staircase was made in the way that it does not obstruct from the sunlight.

They had some lovely flowers at the top of staircase, creating kind of a soft wall from the people coming up and the dining area. The upstairs seemed smaller than the downstairs, but it still had good amounts of seating.

The windows were really  big here too, giving the customers a beautiful view from up above. And yes, the view was pretty amazing, you got to see the bridge, downtown, and even the tram called Duquesne Incline taking people up and down the Mt. Washington as well. Super cool! Since we were having a business dinner, they had a semi-secluded space, where it can be used as a private event area. The walls were made out of glass, so we still had a nice view of the outside and it did not obstruct from the natural light coming in and flowing throughout the dining area.

I started with a cocktail called Missed Connection ($12), made with Stolichnaya, strawberry, ginger, and lime. I did have a few sips before I sat down and took photos… It was filled to the rims, and was very refreshing. It had nice strawberry and ginger flavor, and had nice sweetness to it.

They brought out nice amount of complimentary bread for the table, three different kinds: dinner rolls, onion breads (?), and foccacia breads. I had their foccacia bread and it was super tasty! It was one of the best foccacia bread I’ve ever had! They also brought some spread for the bread, but the bread was already tasty on its own, it didn’t need it. My colleague seemed to love the spread, it disappeared quickly.

After everyone put in their order, they brought out an amuse-bouche, which was a mozzarella with “green goddess aioli.” What an interesting name for their special aioli, and yes it was so tasty! The mozzarella was fresh and bouncy, and the creamy aioli went great with the cheese.

The dinner was pre-set, three course. I chose She Crab Bisque for my first course. It s made with golden crab row, Sherry crème fraîche, and honey roasted peanuts. It came to the table without any soup, and that made this bisque more exciting, because I knew a hot soup was about to be poured in the bowl right at the table…

And yes, I was right! A liquid gold was poured right there from their silver container. The aroma of the bisque was very enticing, I was so ready to taste it! The way they poured was very elegant, no splash or spots anywhere, just a beautiful and swift move.

The bisque was very flavorful, warm, and mouth-watering. It had nice crab taste, with subtle sweetness from honey and nutty flavor of peanuts that made it even richer. A really good bowl of bisque.

For the second course, I chose Chilean Sea Bass, with purple potato purèe, green beans, lobster citrus & uni beurre blanc, and crab mascarpone beignet. I really liked the crab beignet, it was like a little crab croquette, creamy in the inside and crunchy on the outside. This little guy was packed with flavor. Speaking of flavor, this dish had plenty of it. The sea bass was cooked nicely, flaky yet juicy. It was thick cut and meaty. The potato purèe was velvety and gave a more of soft, mild flavor comparing to the rest of strong flavors. The hint of citrus from the sauce added nice refreshing taste to the dish, it was overall a very well done dish.

The last course was the dessert. All the choices sounded really good, but I went with Carrot Cake ($12). It is made with spiced carrot cake, cream cheese mousse, cinnamon whipped cream, candied walnuts, toasted coconut, pineapple pâté de fruit, and caramel sauce. It is a mouthful, yes, and I thought it had too many ingredients put together into one dessert. But, when it came to the table, I was amazed of its construction. It was kind of an artwork.

They do a really nice job with plating, with every dish that I saw coming to our group table, it all looked really nice. This dessert reminded me of an island with some boats and a white whale. Use your imagination as you look at the photos… Carrot cake was moist, decadent, lots of carrots. Sweet but not too sweet. The cream cheese mousse was really good, and of course, it went great with the carrot cake. I liked the cinnamon whipped cream, the flavor of the cinnamon was very much present, without overpowering the carrot cake flavor. It worked great with each other. The crunchy texture of candied walnuts played well against the soft and creamy texture of the dessert, and the nutty taste added even more richness to the dessert. Needless to say, I really enjoyed this dessert.

 

One of my colleague who could not decide on which dessert to pick told the server “I want them all” jokingly. And this is what was brought for him! They make their own concoction of desserts! How amazing! This plate went empty really fast… I am sure it was all amazingly delicious!

I ended my dinner with cappuccino, which came in a nice size mug. It was accompanied by a little biscotti. The cappuccino was nice and creamy, comforting and warmed up my tummy. Nice ending to a great dinner.

Since this was a pre-arranged business dinner menu, I don’t have information on the price for most of them, but the main course are mostly around $35 – $45. It is kind of pricey, but you do get fresh, high quality, super delicious food.

The staffs were really great, very patient with our large group. They were friendly, polite, and we were well taken care of. I am not sure when I would travel back to Pittsburgh, but this is a restaurant that I would love to visit again. If you a in Pittsburgh area and want something super tasty, give them a try!

Altius – 1230 Grandview Ave, Pittsburgh, PA 15211