Oh my godddddd.

So I may have relapsed this weekend. And it was glorious.

Let me clear things up before you think I am off the wagon for good though. Not only did I plan to eat meat a week in advance, but I chose the most AMAZING place to do it! Backstory: I had a friend visit from SF for a couple days this past weekend and felt pretty bad asking a dude to eat vegetables alongside me all weekend so was hoping to find a place with both veg and meat options that we could both enjoy. A couple days before his arrival, I am at a Farm to Table happy hour (who am I?) and a woman tells me about this new restaurant called Cure that recently opened in Lawrenceville. Now I am a Lawrenceville lover and would have been interested regardless, but then she filled me in on the mission, lets say, of this place. The chef, Justin Severino, has created a restaurant based off exactly the values that I hope to support. Not only does he buy his livestock from local farms (along with all his vegetables and herbs), but believes in the importance of ethical and sustainable farming AND cures his own meat. There is such a connect between the farming I wish to support and what he is accomplishing at his restaurant that I was immediately excited. I have been having some pretty intense leg cramps/swelling lately possibly a result of poor vitamin consumption, so had (what I pre-determined to be ok) meat on the mind already and BYOB just sealed the deal!

So I had a fun couple of days in Pittsburgh with my friend before our night out, eating hotcakes at Pamela's, exploring the nationality rooms in the Cathedral, taking the incline up to Mt. Washington, eating an amazing meal in Southside, getting wasted at Hofbrauhaus, breakfasting in Lawrenceville, shopping at the Strip, picnicing at Frick Park, kayaking, and seeing Batman in the Omnimax. All these things set up a pretty epic weekend by itself, but Cure on Saturday night really made it.

(BTW I believe Cure is basically reservation only. You can just submit your request online and they send you a confirmation email so for a phone-phobe like me it's ideal!)

Anyways after seeing Batman and walking along the Ohio River, we journeyed out to Upper Lawrenceville and were almost transformed to a whole different city as we entered the modest corner door into a one large dining room with cuttingboard tables, warm lights, chalk boards listing which local farms each ingredient is from, and the open kitchen up above.

The adorable menu. Not quite the length of the Cheesecake factory's and that is a great thing!

Immediately our wine was uncorked and we began with a smoked lardo wrapped peach dish with sweet corn, black garlic, "green goddess"- a wonderful blend of all their herbs in the kitchen, etc. and were blown away when the most colorful dish was set infront of us. I was kind of expecting creamy corn and syrupy peaches but what we got was the most flavorful thing I have had in a REALLY LONG TIME! We both died, literally died, and regretted after scraping the plate clean that we didn't take a picture. Next our main courses were brought out and god, if it was possible for something to taste better than the appetizer this was it! I had a plate of peckin duck breast, which was bouncy and pink but not one bit raw or bloody or weird, 2 links of the most epic sausage I have ever eaten (they get their whole hogs from my Clarion River Organics, an idea which made it even more delicious!), and a little cube of pork belly. I was just blown away. No vegetables can taste that good, I know it and I am sorry but it is unfortunately true. My friend got a short rib dish with potatoes, shiittakes, so much more that I can't remember right now, and a lobster beignet. The portion size was perfect, the flavors intense yet balanced. As though I wasn't already in food heaven, we got a chocolate souffle cake with pistacchio butter and funnel marshmellow, which was the perfect ending to the perfect meal. I can honestly say that it was probably one of the top 3 meals I have ever had, and the fact that we both took time to enjoy each and every bite (especially the last!) really took it to the next level.

SO really, you have to go, end of story! Shoot, make a reservation right now, you NEED TO! If it wasn't for paying my first rent check in the last week (a traumatizing experience) and having to pay for medical school next week (=death) I would be there right now. I am just looking for a reason to go back, REALLY! I have never been so excited about a place, ever.