I'm in Pittsburgh with Giant Eagle, but first ...

Hey there! I'm still here in Pittsburgh and the big day is tomorrow with Giant Eagle's Robinson Market District. Seated tickets are sold out, but other FREE tickets are available! Come on out and join the fun. I have an easy summer menu planned and I plan to dish and dish while I'm Cooking for Real :-). Can't wait to meet ya!

But first ...

I visited with Brenda and the crew at KDKA- Pittsburgh Today Live this morning and served up my Summer Corn Salad. It is truly my new fave for summer. Here's Karla, a chef at Giant Eagle and I after my segment...

She helped me prep the recipe and made the set look pretty with cookies from the Giant Eagle Bakery. You can check the video of the interview at KDKA's Video Page.

Then, I had lunch courtesy of the Le Cordon Bleu in Pittsburgh and some of the students. In my normal foodie fashion, I was walking the streets of downtown Pittsburgh yesterday looking for a bite and ran into a group of culinary students taking a break outside a building. I asked, where's the diner, because the guys at the hotel said there was one close by, but I hadn't run into it yet. Anyway, they said it was on the 18th floor. I thought to myself this isn't the diner the hotel mentioned for sure, but people in chef coats can't steer ya wrong ... and I was right! I headed in, dined at the cafeteria portion of a large room and then a chef approached me and began talking to me like he knew me. But ... he didn't lol ... He actually thought I was someone that came to the cafeteria often and even asked me how the wedding was. All in the first sentence or so. So, I admitted I wasn't her, but said that maybe I look familiar? And he agreed. I fessed up and told him I worked for Food Network and was happy to eat food prepped by his students. The chef invited me back today for lunch in the separate restaurant area and I never say no to food so ...
Classy, eh? The restaurant is fully staffed by students, so even the students attending for hospitality work the check-in desk and wait tables. Here's the menu ...
At first I was going to get the risotto, but the candied pecans in the salad got me! I also decided the seafood trilogy wouldn't hurt. Then I moved on to the mains and ordered the wild mushroom tortellini to make up for missing the mushrooms in the risotto that I didn't order. I also ordered a drink and forgot the name, but it was GOOOOOOOOOD!!! It had grenadine and sierra mist and oranges ... I think something else, but can't remember. For dessert I ordered a really pretty panna cotta, berries and cake combo topped with mint foam. Take a look ...
That's a cute little stress-squeeze toy in the shape of a chef hat there. I pocketed it, not that I'm stressed though. Just a cute way to remember the trip. I must say, that drink was tasty and refreshing. Then the salad ..
Dressing was great and I'm a sucker for candied pecans. I forgot to tell you about the bread ...
That's a pretzel knot, wheat bread with sunflower seeds and focaccia bread. They were served with a roasted pepper hummus, herbed olive oil and honey butter. I really was trying to take a bite of everything.
That's my seafood trio. The oyster in the center was my fave, I could've downed about 20 of them!
My mushroom and tofu tortellini and roasted veggies were yummy. I love when people roast veggies and they still have crunch, perfect! And then dessert ...

A special thank you to all the students and the head chef as well as the dean and corporate chef I met. Everyone was so nice and it was great to chat with the chefs of tomorrow. Much success guys n gals! I don't say break a leg for good luck, I say ... "Break a cream sauce!" :-)

Ok, see you in Pittsburgh tomorrow!