12 February, 2016
Meat & Potatoes and Guys & Dolls
A Guy and a Doll
All cards on the table, I had my annual physical today. Things are pretty good. My cholesterol is a little high but I don’t have to go on medication. I do have to get my diet under control, lose a pound or twenty and cut back on the whisky. But the reason I mention this at all is that I told my Doc that I started this blog called dinnerswithmom.com where I write restaurant reviews and lighthearted ramblings about memories and recipes Mom and I love.
Wouldn’t you know it, he called my bluff and pulled up the blog on his office computer! He pointed out that I hadn’t written anything since November 2015. I was Busted! Then he proceeded to school me on the necessity for a heavy social media presence to get my blog going. When he asked me how many followers I had, my heart sank. I had no idea.
“Well, I just subscribed,” he informed me, “so you better get on it!”
I have to say, this really meant a lot to me. So, if you’re reading this Doc, thanks. And if any of my friends are reading this, take a few seconds to subscribe to updates (and remember to confirm your email) that would be awesome!
Mom made reservations at Meat & Potatoes a few weeks ago and it’s just steps away from the Public Theater. We’ve eaten there before and always had a good experience.We parked in the Theater Square parking garage so we had very little walking to do. Everything was right next to each other.
We had a reservation for 6pm and we arrived at 5:56pm. The hostess who took our name wasn’t the friendliest or most gracious of hosts, but when you are as popular as Meat & Potatoes, I guess you don’t have to be. She asked for a first name and we happily obliged. After a once-over on her iPad which had a layout of the restaurant, she begrudgingly said we could have a seat and she’d be with us in a moment. One of the other, nicer, hostesses offered to check our coats. We had a seat in the lobby as two separate groups, who came in after us, were seated. They seated us at 6:12.
We were going there for the food, not the hostess.
The marble tables are incredibly small which can be annoying and the seats feel like you might just sink to the floor, but again, we were really there for the food. Unfortunately, as you’ll soon see, we wouldn’t have a chance to fully explore the menu.
We were very happy to see that our waiter was someone we’ve known for quite a while because he used to work at one of our other favorite restaurants. He seemed genuinely happy to see us and asked us if we were going to Guys & Dolls at 7 o’clock.
Mom and I looked at each other in a moment of wide-eyed panic.
“We thought it was at 8,” I exclaimed.
A quick look at the tickets revealed the unfortunate truth, it was at 7.
We decided not to get upset. There was nothing we could do about it now. We ordered 2 Manhattans, up, and some Poutine. Our waiter assured us he’d make sure we got out on time. He was great!
We each ordered a “Plain Jane” burger, medium, with swiss, because we thought it would be fast, and it was.
The Manhattans were perfection, with those delicious dark cherries, pierced with a flat wood skewer, resting across the top of the glass, not in the drink. The guy next to me took one look at our drinks and said to the waiter, “I’ll have one of those!”
The Poutine came quickly and was a mini work of art.
The lady at the next table, the same table that ordered the Manhattan asked, “What is that? It looks amazing!”
“It is pure Heaven,” I said, and then explained the Canadian specialty, consisting of fre
Poutine by Meat & Potatoes
sh-cut fries, local cheese curd and brown gravy, topped with some thinly sliced green scallions. This is one of the best places to get this delicacy in Pittsburgh and I’ve heard that a few of the Pittsburgh Penguins make it a regular stop because it reminds them of their native Canada.
The burgers came quickly and they were cooked perfectly. I felt they had a pinch too much seasoned salt for my taste but they were very good. It was no substitute for the delicious pot roast I was planning on getting, but I look forward to the next time, when I make sure the reservation is at the right time.
They have an extensive menu consisting of Beef, Pork, Duck, Lamb, Fish, Chicken and Pasta and everything is “simple and approachable”, which, according to their website is how Chef Richards likes it. “It is the type of food that a chef would eat after a busy day at work.”
Our excellent waiter got me another Manhattan, and a few minutes later the bill, so we ended up having plenty of time to leisurely walk next door to the show. The food and the wait staff are excellent at Meat & Potatoes and top-notch mixologists create a myriad of cocktails including Prohibition Style drinks and Absinth as well as an extensive selection of wine and beer. If you are going to a show, be it Heinz Hall, The Benedum, Cabaret or The O’Reilly Theater, you’ll never have a long walk from here. Just give yourself a few weeks because that’s how long you might have to wait for a reservation.
As we left our table, we said good-bye to the friendly couple who sat next to us and they wished us well and insisted they would be getting an order of Poutine on their next visit.
In just a few minutes, after a very short walk, we were in our seats at the O’Reilly Theater, marveling at the beautiful set. If you’ve ever been to the O’Reilly, you know that there is nary a bad seat in the house due to the Michael Graves designed thrust stage and seating on all three sides, giving every seat a unique and truly immersive experience.
Guys & Dolls at the O’Reilly Theater
The show was amazing! Not a weak moment in the entire show. The singing and acting were excellent across the board, including the ensemble who brought a lot of character to their parts without resorting to pantomime. CMU Alum Charlie Brady is great as Sky Masterson, Kimberly Doreen Burns is a firecracker as Sarah Brown, and Joel Hurt Jones is sublime as Nathan Detroit, but the one who stole the show for me was Kirsten Wyatt as the whirlwind, Miss Adelaide. But as I said before everyone from top down is on point. Even the scene changes were seamless with a rotating “Mission” and changing “Billboards” that kept the momentum high and the energy palpable. If you normally fall asleep in musicals, have no fear, you won’t in this one. Especially if your seats are literally on stage.
An exuberant standing ovation ended the show and we left the theater feeling great. And just a few steps to our parking garage.
It was a wonderful night, despite some hiccups, and I look forward to trying it again with enough time savor all Meat & Potatoes has to offer.