It was a beautiful, sunny weekday evening. Blue skies, a little breeze and miles and miles of opportunity. Work was done for the day, but I didn't want to just retreat to my apartment and waste the beautiful weather. I texted Afton, "let's adventure." She responded: "OK!" She was on her way to pick me up before we even knew where we were going. She headed north, and I began searching through Urbanspoon and Yelp for good restaurants north of us. We settled on Mt. Lebanon so we didn't have to go into deep Pittsburgh, and we knew they had some cute little restaurants.



Little Tokyo popped up as a favorite - fresh sushi, the reviews said. The main location is in Mt. Lebanon, though they've opened a bistro in the Southside of Pittsburgh. We parked along the street and made our way in.

First, we received warm cloths. Ooh! That's nice. I wanted to wait until right before my meal to use them. Unfortunately, after not touching them for a few minutes, the waitress snatched them away, assuming we weren't interested. Bummer.



The menu has sushi - sashimi, nigiri, maki, hand rolls, as well as dishes like udon, hibachi and more.

I wanted to keep it fairly simple. If they claim good, fresh sushi, let's do it. I looked through a few different rolls figuring out what would be a good gauge. But then I saw the "First Date Roll," which says "it is so far the best seller in the house." That sounds promising.

The First Date Roll is crispy shrimp tempura with hot spicy tuna on top. It was eight pieces for about $12, so not too bad. I put in an order for my sushi roll and awaited this little plate of heaven.

First of all, it's beautiful. Giant tops of red tuna hid rolls of crunchy shrimp. So, I can see why it's a best-seller. Between the spicy tasty tuna and the crunchy tempura shrimp, the flavors are delicious. Delicious meal, fresh food and a really cute atmosphere. Nice time.






Grade: A

Chef Ohlinger, the former chef/owner of Richwood Grill, hosted his third dinner in the 2015 Appalachian Global Dinner Series last week. The goal of the Appalachian Global Dinner Series is to highlight the role of Appalachian cuisine in global culture, and to bring West Virginia recognition as a culinary destination, as per the website. Chef Ohlinger would combine dishes he's learned through his travels with an Appalachian twist during the inventive dinners at Richwood Grill, and while he's searching for his next permanent location, he is completing this year's dinner series in a host of guest kitchens in the area.

His third dinner in the series this year was the West Virginia Craft Beer and International Cheeses Pairing Dinner in celebration of American Craft Beer Week. The dinner was held Wednesday (May 13) at Iron Horse Tavern for $40.






From the event's Facebook page: This Spring’s Craft Beer Dinner, a bi-annual tradition since 2007, will feature six West Virginia-made small-batch beers paired with six small plates featuring rare artisan cheeses. The plates will be prepared with ingredients designed to highlight the unique characteristics of both the beer and the cheese. The cheeses are from single-producer farmsteads that are made in very small quantities, a compliment to the primarily seasonal single-batch local beers. A craft beer or microbrew is, by definition, brewed using traditional methods without the use of rice or corn and with an eye to what is distinctive and flavorful, rather than to mass appeal. A craft brewery produces less than 15,000 barrels annually, traditionally brewed in a single brewery by a single brew master.

FIRST COURSE
Gjetost: Pasteurized Goat’s and Cow’s Milk, Norway.

A new barbecue restaurant opened up with Smitty's Ice Cream in Sabraton: "Best Barbeque Ever." The bold named restaurant shares a space with Smitty's, and patrons can get both ice cream and BBQ.

"Best Barbeque Ever" sets a bar really, really high. It says it is real southern barbeque, and I'm a fan of the little pig in the name. Pigs = good BBQ.

Tony and I got out cash (cash only) and headed over to Sabraton on a sunny day for lunch. There was a line quite a few people deep by the time we reached the "order" window, so we had plenty of time to mull over what we were going to order. There's no indoor seating. There is just the "order" window and the "pick up" window, with a a few tables outside.

There are a handful of dinners, which include two vegetables, like bbq ribs, fried chicken, fried fish, bbq chicken and chicken tenders. Then, there are sandwiches - an Italian sandwich, a hotdog, a bbq chicken, pulled pork, and hamburger. A few salads which are beds of greens but with an aforementioned meat atop.

The entire other half of the menu is Smitty's ice cream - shakes, cones, sundaes, "hillbilly mess," etc. Once I got to the window, I ordered the pulled pork sandwich with a side of slaw and a strawberry shake. Charlie, the man behind the BBQ, was super kind and obviously very into his product.

Let's start with the shake; it was delicious. I'm not sure I've met a shake yet that I haven't been friends with. But something about the sweet strawberry is perfect for a blazing day. As for the BBQ, it's not the best I've ever had. I think it's good, but I don't love it. My sandwich was dry and without a good bit of sauce to help compensate for it. There was a ton of smoke flavor, but I think had mine maybe not cooked for SO long, then more of the pork flavor and juice would still be in tact. The sauce was kind of thin and tangy, but not too much like a vinegar. I would guess it's closest to a Memphis style?

The slaw was very thin, and the onion rings were good but greasy. Overall, a decent BBQ - and aside from my personal sauce preference - not a bad meal. The best, though? That remains to be seen.




Grade: B

Despite the wealth of restaurants Morgantown has to offer, there are a few voids in the culinary scene. A deli would be nice. Maybe a delicious pho place. But the lack of good, homemade bagels is about to be solved.

The West Virginia 00Bagel Company is a home-based operation currently without a storefront, but it can be found at the Bridgeport Farmers Market beginning May 17 and will be at the Health Sciences farmers market, as well. Also, they take Facebook orders and have scheduled pick-ups once a week in Morgantown.



Their Facebook said you pronounce the name as "Double Oh Bagel," and those are zeros - which refer to the flour used. And they boil their bagels, hand crank and hand roll them using a "unique" process they are proud of, according to the Facebook.



I saw a recent post saying to submit orders, and pick them up the next day. So, I was in. They have classic, everything, onion, roasted garlic, sriracha and and chocolate chocolate chip. They're $2 individually or 6 for $10. I put in an order for a garlic, onion and everything. Very simple - Facebook message what you want, and then they'll let you know what time and where they'll be for that week's pickup. I imagine this would get more difficult as they get more popular.

But I went and got cash (anticipating no Square would be available) and headed to the location at Knapp Hall after work. I didn't have much direction, other than they would be parked near the gravel lot. This is a little sketchy, and it's a little awkward. This will put people off. Unless there is a surefire location (like, I will be the car in front of Hodges Hall or I will be the only car right in front of X building), it's a little work for the customer. I ended up messaging her because I just wasn't sure which car she was, and I didn't see any clue. I luckily found her waving to me, handed off my bills and took my three brown paper bags full of bagels.

I had a friend who had some difficulty with having a $20 (you should probably be able to have cash on hand to break a $20 if you're dealing in cash only). So, the location and payment wasn't the smoothest. But, bring small bills and be on the lookout. I think I'm starting to sound like a drug dealer.

Anyway. The everything bagel was yummy - just know that all those little seeds and everything are going to fall straight down your shirt. Worth it. The garlic was good and actually had fresh garlic weaved throughout. The onion was also tasty, with bits of onion throughout. They're pretty dense, but they toast nicely. She even threw in an extra mini bagel! How kind.

So, I really dug my bagels. I'm not sure if you're supposed to refrigerate these? Anyway, ordering three bagels at once for me was a bit too many. I'll have to do less next time so they can remain fresh without me ODing on carbs. There's a whole bagel culture out there that I simply don't subscribe to - ask a New Yorker for the fine details on what constitutes a good bagel. But this is as good as we have here in town. I think with some ironing out with payments/location would help this go far.

Until then, check them out and getchu some bagels.

Grade: B

Everyday's a Party has a decent selection of beer. That's all.