The Strip District

This past weekend, my floor planned a trip to the highly talked about Strip District. Although the description I was given beforehand was kind of vague, ("It's kind of a bazaar slash farmer's market...with vendors kind of like the ones on the streets of New York City") I was so excited. I had no idea what exactly I was going to find (and now that I've been there I can say that it is rather difficult to describe), but I already knew I was going to eat my way through the whole day. (I mean, why else would I be going?)

After some bus troubles (as in, just the usual confusion surrounding riding the bus in Pittsburgh), we arrived, ready to experience whatever exactly there was to experience.

One of the very first things that caught my eye when we arrived was a beautiful table of baked goods!!

Honestly, could there have been a more wonderful way to start our day than with the sugary confections before us? 

It was all sooo tempting, and sooo pretty. I wanted it all. But somehow I managed to restrain myself and made some very difficult decisions. 

The first item I had to try was the sticky bun. 

Can we just oogle at its perfection for a moment? The dough of this sticky bun was the most delectable, tender (yet just a little chewy), sweet and delicious dough I have ever had the privilege to taste. My friend and I split one, in awe of the magnificent sweet, sticky-ness of the entire thing. The nuts on top added the perfect little crunch, too. I could seriously eat one right now. It was so good I had to buy one to take back to my dorm. Trust me. It will make you....speechless.

I am still really hung up over those sticky buns, but that was only the first snack of the day! 

I would definitely be doing you a disservice if I stopped here. So, onto the next treat: Sfogliatelle. 

I've had Sfogliatelle only once before, at a little Italian place called Daniela's near my school. (See a previous post for more about those...) So when I saw these little guys, I could hear them calling out my name!! I bought two (can you ever have too many pastries?) and was quite content.

While I think the dough of Daniela's Sfogliatelle is a little more tender and flaky, these were still very good. I so appreciated the opportunity to have a little taste of home while walking through Pittsburgh. 

Just a little ways down the street, we spotted a rather demanding sign outside of a biscotti shop. 

How could we resist?

We entered the tiny shop to find it bustling and full of people. A little equation I find to be true goes as follows: Lots of people + tempting food = a good choice. I was ready to be amazed. 

Stacks and stacks of biscotti were piled before our eyes. It was quite an experience! 

In the end, we decided upon a black forest biscotti. It was okay. I found the consistency to be a little too chalky and not crisp and crumbly as I would have expected. Granted, the place was very busy, so I suppose some people really like chalky biscotti. But the day was still young, and I wasn't going to force anything that was just...mediocre.

It's a very good thing that I did that, too, because just down the street we stumbled upon a Polish deli!!!

I don't think you understand how excited I was. I have literally been looking for authentic Polish food since I've gotten here, and have not had good results. When I spotted this deli, it was like the heavens opened and little Polish muses were singing "Halleluiah!" in the sky.

Okay. Maybe that was a bit of an exaggeration, but it was exciting! I had to go inside. 

Welcome! (And welcomed I was...)

The interior was nothing special. The front was the deli area and the back was the packaged foods section. (With real authentic pierogies...not those "authentic" ones from the Italian company that I saw in Whole Foods the other day...) But it didn't need to be fancy. It was Polish and that was good enough for me. 

My friends and I ended up sharing potato and cheese pierogies, topped with butter and fried onions, of course. (No caramelized onions here, but I wasn't complaining.) 

You've heard me say this before, and you'll hear me say it again, but no pierogie is as good as Nina's. That said, these were much better than any other pierogie I've had in Pittsburgh thus far. The only thing that made them kind of weird for me was that the dough was almost mushy. If you poked it with your fork there was absolutely no resistance and the filling kind of spilled out as you ate it. But it was so glorious to eat a palatable pierogie! The day could not taste any better. Or could it?

Just when I thought I had seen all there was, we passed a vegetable area where people were selling veggies and other homemade products.

The bread immediately caught my friend's eye, and we made our way over there.

Can you even believe that this stuff is real? It just looks too good to be true! The woman behind the counter gladly told us about the differences between the breads. But why pick one? I would have taken them all! But alas, carrying six loaves of bread back to my dorm probably wouldn't have been the best idea... My sensible friend bought one. We were pleased. 

As we wound our way down the other side of the street, we came to a quaint little chocolate shop. 

I don't know how you could pass up a store full of chocolate. We certainly couldn't, and so we made our way inside as quickly as we could. 

The smell of the store hit me in the face as soon as I stepped through the front door. I only remember this because it was not the smell I was expecting. There was something strangely floral and musty about it- not exactly what I thought I'd be smelling in a room holding more chocolate than most. But I quickly put the unusual smell behind me and made a bee-line to the candies. 

There were so many to choose from. Again, I had the urge to stuff myself with one of each. But common sense prevailed (unfortunately) and I settled on one particularly tasty-looking chocolate covered S'more.

Anyone who knows me will not be surprised by this choice. I do love a good S'more. It's graham cracker, marshmallow, and chocolate...how could you not be in love? And just look at how awesomely layered it was...

I was so happy. My day really could have been complete. But why stop when you're ahead? To use one of my favorite expressions, why not just throw yourself all the way down the stairs? It was lunch time, after all. So that's exactly what I did. 

As our final hurrah in the Strip District, my friends and I found a busy pizza place (still working with the busy = good theory) and sat down. 

There was so much to choose from. As we'd been grazing all day, you'd think we would have been tired of making choices regarding what we were going to eat...but can you ever really get tired of that? Probably not. I will let you know if that ever happens. 

As per our waitresses recommendation, we ordered a side of cheesy bread and pizza. (Yes, I realize that cheesy bread and pizza are essentially the same thing. But...but... it sounded sooo good!) 

The cheesy bread was divine. 

The bread itself was crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside, where it was positively blanketed with gooey, melty cheese. We devoured it in no time.

Next came the pizza, which was also very yummy. But I think the cheesy bread may have been my favorite of the two. Our pizza was a pesto pizza that was perfectly cheesy and greasy and delicious. We were so pleased with our choice. And so full.

I don't think I've eaten so many delicious foods in one day in a very long time (if ever). It was an edible extravaganza with one yummy item after another catching my eye and insisting that I eat it! And I just can't say no to good food. It's a heavy burden...but someone has to carry it.