The Club

The City Dining Cards weekly magazine.

[citydiningcards]

DONATE YOUR APPETITE! Join in fighting #HIV/#AIDS and *DINE OUT FOR LIFE* on Tues., 10/6 (100+ restaurants in #WNY). http://thndr.it/1HW7mXp

[citydiningcards]

City Dining Card Shuffle

Whether you are a native or a visitor, Pittsburgh has something to offer everyone. We have pulled together a few of our favorite restaurants for those looking for a weekend getaway, or needing a little pep in their routine. Be sure to use your City Dining Cards at all locations. Here is this week’s Dining Card Shuffle!

Coffee: Constellation Coffee

Nestled in the heart of Lawrenceville, Constellation Coffee and Espresso Bar serves up as much love with your coffee, as grandma did with her cookies. Anyone looking to start their day with a smile should head over to 4059 Penn Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA.

Trump Card: Everything they make is Insta-worthy.

Breakfast: Square Cafe

Whether you need sweet or savory, Square Cafe has it. Their breakfast is served all day so even late risers can get a square meal.

1137 South Braddock Ave, Pittsburgh, PA 15218

Trump Card: You could be the next great milkshake designer! See Facebook for contest details.

Lunch: The Porch at Schenley

As Spring arrives, all Yinzers head to Schenley Park to catch a few rays or get a little exercise. Its restaurant The Porch, however, is open all year! If their wood fired pizzas aren’t incentive enough, the atmosphere may just trick you into thinking it was summer.

221 Schenley Drive Pittsburgh, PA 15213 412.687.6724

Trump Card: They have crepe cakes for brunch on the Weekends from 10am-3pm!

Dinner: Harris Grill

While it may seem a bit basic for dinner, Harris Grill is most known for their superb macaroni and cheese. Perfected over the past nine years, this childhood staple is sure to knock your socks off any time of the year.

5747 Ellsworth Avenue, Pittsburgh 15232 412.362.5273

Trump Card: Tuesday Night is Bacon Night.

Drinks: Olive or Twist

If you happen to find yourself downtown between 6th and Penn Ave, with a few friends (and in the mood for one of Pittsburgh’s best cocktails) Olive or Twist has been mixing it up for Pittsburgh--voted best cocktail since 2012. Relaxing in their upstairs lounge with a drink and friends is the perfect way to make the weekend happen any day. Their spring martini menu is “in the works.” Check Facebook and Twitter for updates.

140 6th St, Pittsburgh, PA 15222 412.255.0524

Trump Card: Get on their list for rocking themed parties.

Devour Local.

[citydiningcards]

Acquisition will take City Dining Cards into Canada - Buffalo - Buffalo Business First

City Dining Cards has finalized the acquisition of a small company in Canada which will serve as the focal point of its strategy to push into Southern Ontario.

[citydiningcards]

Sometimes all you need is a day off. One where you can sit and relax with a great cup of coffee or tea and maybe a cookie or five. In your mind you already have your Netflix queue ready to go. You may even wish you were snowed in, nestled by a burning fire. But then it actually happens and you’re trapped in the middle of an East Coast Superstorm!

Three days go by, and this ‘mini vacation’ doesn’t seem so great anymore. You realize you’ve eaten your way through your fridge, pantry, and your roommate’s candy stash. You have watched so many seasons of Friends that your brain feels like it may fall out of your ears. There must be a cure for your cabin fever.

Whatever you do, don’t panic. Soon you won’t have to shovel every five minutes, or monitor windows for cracks, and two blankets will be more than enough. We can tell you from experience this dream turned harsh reality will end. Trust us, we’re from Buffalo.

But if your hibernation has left you with a chill, why not head over to State Park for some Hot Fried Chicken—it will definitely warm you and your tastebuds up. Or rescue your friends and have everyone meet you at East By Northeast. You may even get the window seat so you can gaze out on the once menacing snow that now seems beautiful.

Cheers,

The City Dining Cards Team

[citydiningcards]

Lettuce Rejoice! 

We have good news here at City Dining Cards for all of our gluten free friends. If you take a look inside any of our 2015 decks you will find restaurants that cater to gluten free diets. We have compiled some of our favorites so you can eat your heart out. So put down that boring salad and pick up a fresh deck of 2015 Dining Cards because we have gluten-free friendly options in each city.

Gluten Free Restaurants:

Boston:

Sunset Grill & Tap

Casa B

Buffalo:

The Hollow Bistro & Brew

Chef’s Restaurant

Merge

Capital Region:

El Loco

Wolf’s Biergarten

Philly:

Adobe Café

Bacio Italian Cucina

Barra

Marmont Steakhouse and Bar

Pittsburgh:

Eden

Casa Rasta

OTB Bicycle Café

Rochester:

Sticky Lips Pit BBQ

Roam Café

Rocco

Rhode Island:

Hemenway’s Seafood Grill and Oyster Bar

Pane E Vino

Papa Razzi Trattoria

Syracuse:

Attilio’s Restaurant

Funk n’ Waffles

Phoebe’s Restaurant and Coffee Lounge

[citydiningcards]

Bacon Me Crazy

Since the beginning of time, a little something called bacon has continuously charmed people all over the world. Some may call it sorcery, some may call it the saving grace of mankind, some may simply call it a delectable snack for any time of day. This is why a new 2015 City Dining Cards participant, Century Grill in Buffalo, NY, is doing it right. Every Saturday night, locals make their way downtown because it's not called Saturday anymore - it's Free Bacon Night. Yes, you read that right. While you're swigging down your favorite local beer, you will be graced with baskets of all the perfectly crispy bacon you can eat. Your only limit is the amount of sodium your body physically and emotionally allows you to process in one sitting. Accept the challenge and allow the experience to envelop you.

Century Grill even has you covered during the rest of the week: Happy hour every weekday, Nacho Average Wednesday (chips and queso at the bar), Hot Pretzel Thursday, Tator Tot Friday...are you on your way there yet? Best of all, Century Grill is a new addition to our 2015 deck of City Dining Cards - Buffalo Edition! Between the fantastic bar snacks, the classic pub food, and the great company, there's no reason you shouldn't be at Century Grill during your next trip to Buffalo. Check them out on their website, Facebook and Twitter. Then get in your car (better yet, your bike or your feet - you may want to walk this off) and prepare for bliss. Cheers, The City Dining Cards Team

[citydiningcards]

Food Truck Fiesta

What happens when you put a restaurant on wheels? You get a feast on the street, a mobile munchie machine and roving revolution of food! And now, with the 2015 edition of City Dining Cards, you can save some dough on your pizza dough! We've added food trucks to many of our decks this year, giving you a portable passport for your palette. Buffalo, Boston, Pittsburgh, Rhode Island and Rochester City Dining Cards now feature amazing discount and loyalty cards to some of your favorite local food trucks and carts.

  Care for a pretzel bun at lunch? Why not try Knoble Knots! Tired of tables? Your standing sanctuary awaits at Franktuary! Satisfy your snack attack with some delicious mac and cheese at Fally Mac! Whatever tickles your tastebuds, the 2015 City Dining Cards will hook you up. 

See you on the road, The City Dining Cards Team

[citydiningcards]

Baby Quest!

Kelly and Paul Price from Pittsburgh, PA had been trying to conceive for 2 years when they were awarded a Baby Quest grant. Their only hope for conception was a costly in vitro fertilization (IVF) procedure. (IVF can cost $12,000-$18,000 for one try!) They are just one of the 23 grant recipients Baby Quest has named since the non-profit charity began in November 2011. There are now 7 babies born throughout the U.S. with 3 more current pregnancies. Hopefully, Kelly and Paul will add their names to the growing list of families Baby Quest has helped to create.

We love to work with fundraisers to help do some good. BabyQuest is one such fundraiser in Pittsburgh that's trying to do some great things.

[citydiningcards]

We take Halloween pretty seriously and City Dining Cards Mike wanted to share some of his favorite food related costumes. Without further ado:

1) Lucky Peach: Based off the best food quarterly around, just grab a giant peach costume, a winning lotto ticket and a rabbit's foot. 

2) The French Press: Coffee lovers rejoice, don a beret, an ascot, a thin mustache and top off with an old press pass and vintage camera.

3) Pappy Van Winkle (The bourbon not the story book character): Get a good beard going, like 23 years good, some wire spectacles and your finest three piece suit. The trick here is to make a bidding war for your attendance at a party then grace the highest bidder's with a fleeting yet glorious visit. 

4) Champagne Taste on a Beer Budget: Wear a Budweiser T-shirt and hold an empty bottle of champagne. Game. Set. Match.

5) Sticky Buns: Apply copious amounts of double sided tape right...well you get the gist. 

Dig in,

Mike

[citydiningcards]

These people make magnificent bagels. Check 'em out if you can! #BreadHive #CityDiningCardsBuffalo #Robin

[citydiningcards]

10 slow-cooker breakfasts you'll dream about all night

I don't always eat breakfast, but when I do, I use a slow cooker.

- Chris

[citydiningcards]

If you were ever interested in coffee and didn't know where to start...

James Hoffman is a "coffee person" from London and a great source of coffee info and insight. He and eleven others are behind the much-acclaimed East London coffee roaster and wholesaler, Square Mile Coffee Roasters and they are top notch. TOP NOTCH.

Last week marked the ten year point of Hoffman's on-again-off-again blog (Jimseven.com). He posted this to commemorate.

Drink it quick.

[citydiningcards]

The Cocktails of Wes Anderson

Classic movies require classic drinking games. Some of my old stand-bys include Jurassic Barf, Empire Spikes Back and Dr. Strange-mug. (Ask me later about the rules).

Recently, a few bartenders in San Diego took the "boozie" to a new level by pouring bespoke drinks based on their favorite Wes Anderson movies. It's only a matter of time before other movies get the cocktail treatment and I've taken the trouble off your hands by shaking up some of my own:

Movie: Citizen Kane, Cocktail: Rosebud

1 ounce Vodka, a drop of rose water, 1 charred lemon rind. 

Movie: Jules & Jim, Cocktail: Broken Bridge

1 Saranac Black Forest Beer, 1 shot of Courvoisier, mix with equal parts Bohemia, love and melancholy.

Movie: Lawrence of Arabia, Cocktail: Aqaba

1 ounce blended scotch (a nice smoky one), 3/4 ounce blood orange juice, 1/2 ounce dry vermouth, 1/2 ounce cherry herring. Shake with ice, strain into cocktail glass and flame orange zest over the top. 

Be sure to check out the full list of Wes Anderson cocktails at the link above.

Hat tip to Paste. 

Dig in,

Mike

[citydiningcards]

A quick coffee tutorial by the great, eternally unamused Tim Wendelboe. In case you wanted to know how Nordic coffee monsters brewed their Aeropresses.

[citydiningcards]

#FiatFacts No.1 

[citydiningcards]

Craisins, stale graham cracker crumbs or a slice of good ole' apple pie might be good options to satisfy a snack attack, but don't forget about the lowly popping corn.

Specifically, ancient, heirloom popcorn grown in the heartland of Iowa. Tiny But Mighty Foods is the first that pops in my mind when I'm watching a movie, trying to impress a date or throwing a Bill Pullman movie characters themed party. 

Be sure to grab some at any Whole Foods or several, artisanal retailers. 

You can learn more about this new popcorn craze in the New York Times. 

Dig in,

Mike

[citydiningcards]

While this is not the modern day Fiat 500 that we drive around, it is not that far off. The video is worth watching for the first 30 seconds or so even if you have no interest in cars.

- Chris