E2

Way back in June, I collaborated with several other bloggers to write a post about the Perfect Pittsburgh Saturday. My time slot was 6 pm ~ 8 pm and I wrote about that being dinner time for us and my perfect dinner being pizza/pasta. I also wrote about how the day I fell and broke my hip, we had planned to do some 'research' for that post by having dinner at E2. Three months later, on the very last day of August, we finally made it to E2. It was just as delicious and wonderful as I remembered.

This time, we made sure to be parked along Bryant Street by 5:55 pm! We slowly walked over and right at 6 pm we entered. This time, much to my surprise, for the first 15 minutes or so, we were the first and only patrons. We settled in at a table and I admired the sunflowers on the tables. I love sunflowers. They're just so happy!

What we gobbled up:

Duck prosciutto with grilled homemade focaccia

Shishito peppers with goat cheese

Grilled prosciutto stuffed with mozzarella & basil with red sauce & shaved parmesan

Ricotta ravioli with local heirloom tomatoes, farmer herbs, and mascarpone, with chicken 

Wild mushroom farro with pancetta, radicchio and roasted chicken

Beignets

Mixed berry shortcake

Everything was delicious. SP loved his duck prosciutto, which I think E2 gets from Crested Duck. The focaccia slices were thick and grilled. His shishito peppers were very tasty and he did not get any hot ones, they were all mild, but our server did warn us that every so often, one of the shishitos is a little hotter than expected. My grilled prosciutto & cheese was excellent. Crispy and salty prosciutto with melty cheese and fresh basil in a tomato sauce with shaved parmesan - a few of my favorite things. SP's farro was garlicky, creamy, and flavorful, salty from pancetta and earthy from the mushrooms. SP also liked the arugula on top for a fresh, crunchy greens taste. The ravioli melted in my mouth. The beignets were light & airy. SP's shortcake bookended a mound of whipped cream and the berry sauce was a nice 'thickness' with a strong berry flavor (not watered down and weak like some sauces can be).

Service was excellent. Servers are very knowledgeable about the dishes and ours was kind enough to ask the chef about garlic accommodations for me. I was very happy to be able to have very little to no garlic in my dish. We didn't BYOB. We ordered iced tea, which is a very good freshly brewed iced tea.

To sum up, I still love E2, from the cozy, rustic interior to the friendly & knowledgeable servers to the delicious & satisfying food. Definitely a favorite place, I only wish we lived closer so we could go more often.