Dining critic's notebook: The best dishes of early autumn in Pittsburgh

By Hal B. Klein / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

In September, I dove into Jose Flores and Jazmin Hernandez’s expansion of their Mexican bakery, Panaderia Jazmin. They introduced a savory menu when they moved a few doors down on Beverly Road in Mt. Lebanon.

The couple already prepared telera as part of their roster of 60-plus bread and pastry offerings. Now, they get to showcase the French-influenced sandwich roll in Mexico’s signature sandwich, the torta.

I’m smitten by the bakery’s torta Milanesa de pollo, a fried cutlet sandwich likely introduced by an Italian immigrant to Mexico City in the late 19th century. Panaderia Jazmin’s offering features a crispy-as-can-be fried chicken breast dressed with avocado, griddled cheese, tomato and mayonnaise. The accompanying nopales salad added balance with its crisp, tart blend of cactus and onions.

Madeleine Bakery & Bistro

Just like Panaderia Jazmin’s telera makes its torta Milenesa irresistible, Madeleine Bakery & Bistro’s baguettes have a transformative effect even with austere sandwich builds. It’s proof that using the proper bread to match the components elevates a good sandwich to an ethereal one.

Madeleine’s baguettes, baked to a crunchy, golden exterior that gives way to an airy crumb with a subtle sweetness and just the mildest suggestion of tang, are a perfect vessel to elevate a seemingly simple combination of ingredients.

Last summer, I raved about the Regent Square bakery’s ham and butter sandwich, which exemplifies the perfect harmony between bread and filling perhaps more than any other sandwich in Pittsburgh. The delicate balance of textures — the crunch of the baguette and the smooth richness of butter — creates a bite much greater than the sum of its parts.

It was a no-brainer as to what bread I was going to use for my last garden slicer tomato sandwich of the year. I stuffed my baguette with that beautiful tomato, a few slivers of Chantal's Cheese Shop’s housemade mozzarella, a drizzle of olive oil and a touch of real-deal balsamic vinegar.

Slowly, savoring each bite, I marked an edible, bittersweet goodbye to summer. Onward, all, to bean season.

Mexican lunches: Duo’s and Tienda Mexicana El Pastorcito

Duo’s Taqueria introduced lunch service earlier this year. The daytime menu at the East Liberty restaurant is slimmer than its evening counterpart, but the options are just as satisfying.

Lunchtime-specific items like quesadilla de flor de calabaza, featuring squash blossoms, zucchini and queso Oaxaca all melted together and served with creamy, herbaceous salsa guacachile, offer top-notch vegetarian choices.

Duo’s torta Milanesa de berenjena, a plant-based spin on the Mexican sandwich featuring fried eggplant and refried beans, is another terrific option for a meatless lunch.

Over in Monroeville, the Tecuanhuehue family keeps a food truck parked in front of their new grocery store, Tienda Mexicana El Pastorcito. Jose Tecuanhuehue was excited to share a huitlacoche quesadilla alongside a few items I’d ordered, including a yummy sope topped with beans, nopales, al pastor pork and avocado.

Truth is, I’ve never been a huge fan of the fungus-enriched corn kernels, though many consider it to be a delicacy comparable to truffles.

The thing about ingredients that can seem challenging is that sometimes you just need to have someone prepare it the right way to change your mind. Tecuanhuehue’s version in a scratch-made corn tortilla griddled with gooey cheese and served with an acidic salsa brought out the earthy, smoky qualities that make the grain so enticing. Count me in as a fan now.

The pizza report: Badamo’s and Upslope Pizza of Pittsburgh

David Portnoy, the polarizing founder of Barstool Sports and barnstorming pizza reviewer, stirred up waves in Pittsburgh’s pizza scene last month with his high-profile visit. He deemed three area pizzerias (Rockaway Pizzeria, A Slice of New York and Pizza Lupo) the “8.2 Crew” after awarding all of them the same high score.

In my analysis of the impact of Portnoy’s visit, I noted how he’d overlooked Badamo’s Pizza (even though it apparently was on his list), pointing out that Anthony Badamo is one of the foundational figures of craft pizza in Pittsburgh.

Portnoy's missed opportunity sounded like a solid reason to visit Badamo’s Dormont location to see how the spot has evolved in the year since its move from Mt. Lebanon.

Badamo and his crew are dialed in with a move-forward attitude focused on the refinement of their craft.

The tray pizzas are snappier and airier than they were this time last year, and Badamo’s New York-influenced rounds are now on par with the square cuts. Those slices have a soft tug, a depth of flavor in a well-cooked bottom and a crust so tasty it’ll remind you that the ends of the pizza are just as important as the center.

Meanwhile, a new Pittsburgh pizza maker – Max Goldstein’s Upslope Pizza of Pittsburgh – is off to a rosy start.

He started popping up at the Lawrenceville Farmers Market in August, offering 12-inch neo-Neapolitan pies cooked in a portable Gonzy brand oven. His dough work and deft balancing of toppings is a draw in itself, but what really made his pie stand out is the grassy, slightly bitter touch of olive oil he uses to garnish the pie post-bake.

You’ll find him at the Tuesday market a few more times this season.

Old favorites: Morcilla and Dish Osteria

Outside of reporting for our Eat Pittsburgh neighborhood dining series, I spend most of my time reporting on new restaurants or, less frequently, an established establishment that has made a newsworthy change. No complaints; it’s exciting to have the pulse of the region’s dining scene.

However, it does mean that I don’t get to old favorites as often as I’d like to. When I do, I tend to crave the comfort of the restaurant’s staple dishes (but always go for new ones, too).

I jumped when a friend suggested we pop by the bar at Morcilla for a light dinner following a show at Spirit.

There were star dishes aplenty that night, enough to get me thinking about how the 9-year-old restaurant sits in the city’s current dining landscape. But the one I keep thinking about several weeks later is Morcilla’s seasonal spin on scallop crudo.

The combination of sweet fresh scallops, aguaymanto, mint, lemon, olive oil and espelette pepper ate as beautifully as its artistic plating. (If you’re looking for a large format dish for a group, Morcilla’s smoked short rib platter is equally as dreamy.)

A week earlier, I’d muttered “at long last!” as I stepped into the lively bar at Dish Osteria for the first time in nearly a year.

The South Side spot is one of my longstanding favorites in Pittsburgh for its warm hospitality and let-the-ingredients-speak Sicilian culinary philosophy.

Dish’s rigatoni alla scamorza — a decadent mix of al dente pasta, smoked cow’s milk cheese, prosciutto de Parma, peas, roasted pistachios and cream — is my “If I only had one meal in Pittsburgh” dish. Eating it on a warm, end-of-summer summer night brought me back to the countless meals I’ve had at the restaurant over the years.

So did the sardines, which are simply salted, grilled and blessed with a squeeze of lemon juice.