Kaya: Restaurant of the Gods

So again, my husband and I went to our absolute favorite restaurant in Pittsburgh. It's called Kaya and it's owned by the Big Burrito Restaurant Group. What I dig about this restaurant group is how creative they get with their different restaurants and I know for sure that at Kaya they try to purchase as locally as they can. Being located in the strip district, that doesn't make that too hard to get great produce and I'm glad they make that extra effort! I have seriously never went to this restaurant and left disappointed, ever.

To start off, our beverages: 

I got a Dark & Stormy which has: Gosling’ Black Seal Rum, Fever Tree 

ginger beer, lime

He got a Brooklyn winter ale 

I absolutely loved my drink. I love, love ginger and this really hit the spot, it was crisp and refreshing in flavor and not too sweet which is how I like it. 

For the appetizer: Jamaican jerk wings with cilantro cream sauce

First off, if you are sensitive to spicy food - these may not be for you. My mouth was numb for 10 minutes after eating these and I think the waiter refilled my water glass twice. My husband, who could probably drink a vat of acid and be alright, said he felt a slight "tingle". As for flavor, WOW. Amazing, just what I wanted. Jamaican jerk is a completely different animal than Caribbean jerk: it's citrusy and not full of sugar like you typically think of jerk rubs. As for the cilantro cream sauce, I would love to bathe in that sauce. It's life altering. 

And for entrees: 

I got Kaya Burger with pickles, avocado, bacon, tomato, 

Chihuahua cheese, a sunny-side-up egg, &       

Kaya sauce. 

I swapped my chips for a field greens salad with: lime cilantro vinaigrette and pepitas

He got their famous fish tacos with avocado, spicy crème fraîche, 

cabbage slaw, cilantro, and Reyna’s tortillas

This was, unarguably, the best burger I've ever ordered. The burger was cooked to a perfect medium, very juicy and fresh. The bacon was so.. freaking... good. It was crispy and melt in your mouth. This was also the first time I've had a burger with an egg ontop and now I can see why there's a crazy about it. Holy crap. Also- I have to say. I don't know what the dressing is exactly, (cilantro and lime obviously) but it is of the gods. I seriously want to blackmail them for the recipe. 

I didn't get to try the husband's meal this time, but I've had it before and those fish tacos are famous for a reason.. Well seasoned, lightly breaded and fried fish with a cool, crispy slaw. Mmm mm good. I'll be getting that next time. 

So ANYWAYS that's what we did on Saturday to get out of the house. It was worth every single calorie. Amen. 

Another Day at the Strip

Hello my lovelies.. sorry for going on a hiatus for a bit.  For some reason I was really dragging my knuckles last week and could barely muster the energy to put dinner on the table, let alone blog about it.  Luckily, nothing interesting was missed food-wise...  Something exciting however was that my brother and sister-in-law came to visit Friday-Sunday.  It's been so long since I've been able to see them and it was so nice to spend time with them. 

On Friday, we ate takeout from Curry Away (I ordered Vegetable Pad Kee Mao.. soooo good...) and went to see Mike's improv show at Steel City Improv.  Afterwards we went to a really fun bar called James Street Gastropub and Speakeasy.  I really dug the bar, it was very speakeasy-esque, there was jazz music, jazz musician's photos on the wall, old-fashioned cocktails, and just had a really fun vibe going on.  The beer list was amazing too!  We were still full from dinner so we just ordered an appetizer of cajun fried oysters.  I am obsessed with cajun fried oysters, but unfortunately these weren't very good... Too, too salty.

On Saturday, I woke up and made a decent brunch of coffee, toast, and a frittata that consisted of items I had available in my fridge.  I was a bad, bad hostess and didn't have time to go grocery shopping- I didn't even have conditioner in the shower!! D'oh!! 

The frittata included:  Eggs, mozzarella cheese, turkey sausage, spinach, onion, and soy cream.  Like I said, I was really.. really low on ingredients.. 

After brunch, we headed down to the Strip District and had an amazing time.  It's so fun taking new people to the Strip and watching them have fun and enjoy themselves.  It really is a sight to see! My sister-in-law Tricia is a major foodie like me, so she was in seventh heaven!  Actually Brian (my brother) is a pretty big foodie too so they both loved it. And while not in the foodie club, Mike loves showing newcomers Pittsburgh, so he enjoyed showing them Mancini's Bakery, Wholey's, and Penn Mac. 

I have to say Penn Mac is my favorite place in the Strip (well, that and the public market). 

We also stopped at Penzey's for some spices- I scored some hot curry and some schmancy cocoa powder... 

T bought their hot chocolate mix, some Zatar seasoning, Aleppo pepper mix, and my personal favorite, Sunny Paris blend.  If you are ever at Penzey's you have to buy the Sunny Paris or I won't be your friend any longer. 

I mean it... 

We also picked up some Mancini's bread, vinegar from Olio Fresca, and olive oil from Penn Mac.. 

Some veggies!! (and some pepperoni for T) 

A little antipasta... The olives were a-ma-zing!

For dinner we had grilled seafood (the rest of the family also had steak) 

And for a side, we had this gorgeous, gorgeous heirloom tomato salad... So incredibly good... 

Oh.. and for dessert... 

Some Peace Love & Little Donuts