Salt of the Earth

It seems like forever that we've been chasing Kevin Sousa, one of Pittsburgh's premier chefs, around town. He'd been working at several restaurants we'd been planning on visiting, but they either closed or he left before we managed to try them. When we got word that he was opening his own new restaurant, Salt of the Earth, we were very eager to give it a try before he eluded us again. Our interest was further piqued when it got a rare four-star review in the Pittsburgh  Post-Gazette. I'd say it lived up to its review well, as our first experience was so good that we have already gone a second time, and I anticipate visiting often in the future. It is likely to be added to our list of "go to" restaurants, along with places like Dinette and Point Brugge.

 

Salt of the Earth is located on Penn Avenue, in the neighborhood called Garfield. Garfield is in general somewhat run-down, seemingly an unlikely place for a high-end restaurant. Even unlikelier is that its neighbor is a KFC (and the nearest really recognizable landmark is a store called "Babyland"). Perhaps its location represents a westward extension of the revival of East Liberty. I do hope that it is more than "gentrification" and that Salt of the Earth can coexist with some of its existing neighbors rather than simply driving them out.

 

Kevin Sousa is known for being influenced by the molecular gastronomy movement, and I suspect his use of the chemical symbol for salt in his restaurant's logo is indicative of this. (In support of this, a former restaurant of his was named Alchemy.) The reference to the earth may represent a commitment to remaining environmentally friendly.

 

I believe the dining setup also reflects the chef's distinctive philosophy. There are only a few reserved seats, in private tables on a balcony. All other seating is unreserved, but at long communal tables. Thus diners are encouraged to interact, though at our two meals it's been pretty easy to hold a private conversation. More intrusive than one's neighbors is the fact that the room is just a bit loud.

 

We didn't have to wait more than a few minutes for unreserved seats on either of our Friday evening visits (one earlier in the evening, one later). Conveniently, the hours run quite late. The chef told us that this is to attract business from others in the local restaurant community after their kitchens had closed. It seems to be working, judging from the buzz we've heard from servers at other restaurants in town.

 

The menu, including all cocktails, starters, main dishes, and wines, was posted on a giant chalkboard along the wall opposite the kitchen. The cocktails are very innovative and interesting, similar to the ones we used to love at Richard Chen's. On both visits, out of curiosity, I have tried a cocktail containing absinthe, but the other ingredients seem to dominate the taste. The ingredients of the first were washed out by its rye flavor. I much preferred the second, which had gin, Lillet, cardamom, and grapefruit. It was very tasty! The other peoples' cocktails that I had were also very good. Perhaps my favorite was the one that Janna got on our second visit, which included vodka (a local brand named Boyd and Blair), Campari, blood orange, and chili. The latter came in the form of a powder that looked more like cinnamon on a hot chocolate drink. Janna liked this cocktail so much that she even considered having another instead of wine with her meal. (But eventually we switched to red wine, from a fairly extensive list.

 

We've tried a variety of starter plates in our two visits. Easily our favorite was the octopus that we had the first time. It came with little pieces of chorizo, tiny cubes of potato, and epazote. The octopus had excellent flavor, and the other components complemented it very well. In fact, it may not only have been the best appetizer, but the best dish of any sort we've had at Salt of the Earth.

 

Slightly beneath that level is the dish I ordered as a substitute on the next visit--on the waitress's recommendation--a mackerel starter. It was topped with proscuitto, and accompanied by small cubes of potato and olive slices, plus a few different sauces. Janna said it tasted "like Spain", though she couldn't quite articulate quite what she meant by that. In any case I liked it a lot. Oddly enough the potatoes went very well with the dish, while I found the olives a bit more intrusive, precisely the opposite of what I'd expected.

 

One of Janna's favorites was a chestnut soup, which she liked for its very earthy flavor. I didn't care for it as much, but did like it better than I would have expected from its ingredients.

 

The entrees have been pretty fantastic too. On my first visit I had a short rib, which came with potato and shiitake. The meat was not quite what I'd expected--the meat wasn't served to fall of a bone as most short rib preparations I've had--but it was truly delicious. Janna's pork belly entrée was less fatty than other pork belly dishes I've had, but was still delicious. The one objection we had was that perhaps the sauce was a bit sweet.

 

The other entrée I've tried was a hanger steak, which came with a bourbon dashi, soba noodles, peanuts, and chilis. The latter came in red, yellow, and green thin slices. They looked a bit like the hot peppers served on Dinette pizzas, but were a bit milder. The dish was very tasty, though, just the kind of super-savory dish that I liked. The only thing I didn't care for was the Brussels sprouts that came with it, though I could see how they were supposed to fit in with the dish.

 

In all the dishes, there seemed to be a real sense of finding just the right finishing touch to the flavoring. For instance, a tilefish dish Janna ordered came with pistachios. It seemed an odd choice, yet when we actually tasted them, they fit the dish just perfectly.

 

I'm pleased to see that Salt of the Earth offers a cheese plate as a dessert option. I'm often not attracted to sweet desserts, so when there's a cheese plate available, it is often what I choose. The cheeses on the plate were different with each visit, which is also something I like to see. The only complaint I had is that on our second visit they probably had a bit too much bleu cheese on the plate. Also, a dessert wine might have been a good accompaniment for any of their post-entrée options, but none seemed to be available (with the cheese plate I had a gewürztraminer, which was a fairly good match).

 

All in all we've had two very pleasant meals at Salt of the Earth. I was also pleasantly surprised to find it wasn't as expensive as I expected it would be. It was a bit more than a Dinette meal would have been, but we wouldn't have had the cocktails at Dinette either. Kevin Sousa--who came over to talk to us briefly--is rightfully proud of his new restaurant, it seems a success in every way.