(Pittsburgh) – There’s a lot to love about The Strip District, a lively ten-block neighborhood adjacent to downtown Pittsburgh. The area features numerous coffee shops, markets, specialty stores, and restaurants, all along the Allegheny River. The area’s vibrancy is matched by its personality, a gritty, industrial type that screams ‘Pittsburgh.’ In many ways, The Strip District is quintessential Pittsburgh; it’s who we are; it’s our identity. This is why I am so proud to call The Strip District my home.
It is in this neighborhood that I take the next steps in my culinary career. The Produce Terminal, a warehouse once used for wholesale produce merchants, is being transformed into The Pittsburgh Public Market. Retaining its historic appearance the Produce Terminal will be outfitted to support a public market similar to Philadelphia’s Reading Terminal Market or Cincinnati’s Findlay Market.
I am lucky enough to be a part of this transformation as I am one of the vendors present at the new public market.
The Strip District is already a local foodies Mecca. There are several oriental markets, a new Latin grocery with hand made tortillas, fresh fish mongers serving artfully rolled sushi, spice merchants, artisan chocolatiers and various bakeries. It is amongst all these great stores that I found my niche.
With an overall attention to seasonal and local, I will be providing free-range, natural, rare meats including bison, elk, venison, goat, rabbit, ducks, geese and game birds. With the exception of goats these are all animals native to western Pennsylvania and I want to be able to offer the city a chance to experience these wonderful meats. Even the presentation style of these meats can be made to fit the character of the Strip District-large and industrial. Instead of having everything weighed out and individually wrapped I will have entire cuts of meat sitting in the display case, which I will butcher to order based on each customer. There is a certain ‘wow’ factor to seeing an entire bison ribeye or even a whole goose sitting in the window.
The other half of my business will be centered on charcuterie, a French word meaning ‘to preserve’. Although, intimidating at first this ancient culinary art is fairly simple at its core and can be done by the enthusiastic home chef. Most charcuterie goods are based around paté. For example a terrine is paté molded into a specific rectangular shape, and a rillette is a variation of paté with the main difference being texture. My goal is to make these items accessible to everyone but at the same time put my own personal twist on these classic items. Some of the recipes I am particularly excited about are my gin-n-juice salami, a dry-aged salami seasoned with juniper berries and orange zest and my duck galantine studded with chestnut and crushed sage.
The combination of richly flavored meat laced with silky smooth fat can be a beautiful thing and I am excited to share this old world artisan craft, updated a little with my imagination, with Pittsburgh.
Produce Terminal Building on Smallman @ 18th St
Pittsburgh, PA, 15222Fri: 9:00 am – 7:00 pm
Sat: 9:00 am – 5:00 pm
Sun: 10:00 am – 4:00 pm
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