Get a Taste of Pittsburgh Without Leaving Home
Ice cream, charcuterie, burnt almond torte, and a very famous sandwich
Pittsburgh is as much of a food town as a destination for die-hard sports fans. But the weather, while warmer than Chicago, is still blustery at this time of year. Wait out a visit for baseball season (if it ever arrives) or the glorious early fall and, in the meantime, feast on food and drink shipped to your doorstep from a handful of Pittsburgh’s finest, old and new.
Husband-wife team Chad and Lauren Townsend started Millie’s Homemade — named after Chad’s grandmother — back in 2014 when Chad decided he wanted to pivot from executive chef positions and make ice cream. From the first shop in Shadyside, the company has expanded to multiple locations as well as a factory, Millie’s Works. The ice cream is amazing, with plenty of options for dairy- and gluten-free. Don’t miss Chad’s vanilla, best chocolate, coffee break, or dark chocolate cherry brownie. Order the $65 four- or $79 six-pints and merch here.
James Beard nominee, Justin Severino, chef-restaurateur behind (the late, great) Cure and Morcilla, both in Lawrenceville, ships his signature charcuterie to your door via his shop, Salty Pork Bits. Consider the $48 French Favorites (pork salami with marinated olive, pork salami with hazelnuts and hazelnut liquor, pork salami with pate spices, and saucisson sec) or the $48 Italian Classics (Finocchiona as well as Calabrese-, Toscano-, and Genoa-style salumi. And should you become a superfan, there’s always a subscription option.
Pittsburgh’s Prantl’s Bakery has been making burnt almond torte since the ‘70s, when bakery founder Henry Prantl went to a national bakers’ conference and was inspired by an Anaheim baker’s burnt almond cake, according to the website. Today, you can feast on cake layered with vanilla buttercream combined with candied toasty almonds for $69.95 from Goldbelly.
With a handful of locations around Pittsburgh, Commonplace Coffee serves some of the most satisfying single-origin roasts and blends around. Julie and TJ Fairchild started Commonplace in Indiana, PA in 2003. The company now employs over 50 staff members, runs eight coffee shops, a roaster, equipment service, training, and wholesale operation as well as a bakery. Consider an order of the Heartmender Espresso ($15.75 – $82.50) or the Fugi Ikizere Women Rwandan ($18.75 – $98.75).
Whether it’s corned beef, capicola, pastrami, or choose-your-own meat, the Strip District’s Primanti Bros. giant sandwiches with fries on top ($89), ships nationwide. The Primanti sandwich is a right of passage, started by Joe Primani during the Depression. Then and now, it fuels Pittsburgh, almost 24-hours a day.
Threadbare Cider House and Meadery, a sibling to Meredith Grelli’s James Beard-nominated Wigle Whiskey, offers a fleet of vibrant selections. Consider Hive & Vines ($29), a wine blend of Riesling grapes and orange blossom honey; the lightly effervescent Northern Spy ($18); sweet and tart Farmhouse ($18), or the Bouquet de Rosé ($18). The company ships to 40 states.
