Return to Piccolo Forno

Today's post is about Piccolo Forno, my other favorite restaurant from last June's Perfect Pittsburgh Saturday post. Like our planned return trip to E2, our return trip to Piccolo Forno was delayed by 3 months. We went a couple of weeks ago, on a Saturday, arriving around 5:15 pm or so, and we were seated right away. We were lucky enough to be seated at the table in the nook by the front window so we enjoyed watching all the action out on Butler Street. Plus, lots of great natural light for photos! This time, we tried some new-to-us dishes.

We didn't BYOB. Instead, we enjoyed the fresh brewed iced tea and some bread and butter while we people watched out the window.

Usually we order the Crostini di Polenta as an appetizer but this time we ordered Sformato (baked terrine of roasted red peppers, fresh herbs, and romano cheese). It's a beautiful tower of thinly sliced roasted red peppers and eggs with fresh herbs and cheese and a dollop of pesto on top.

It was delicious! To be fair, I ate maybe 2 bites simply because I was wary of garlic, but I could have eaten more if I wasn't so paranoid. It didn't smell garlicky or taste garlicky, but you never know. It was so soft and easy to slice through and had terrific structural integrity as it did not fall over/collapse until there were just 2-3 bites left. I think I might like this better than the polenta crostini, but then again, the toppings on the polenta are so good... maybe we'll have to start ordering 2 appetizers?

What a surprise! I ordered the prosciutto & arugula pizza. Just as tasty as always, slightly chewy crust, lots of prosciutto, tasty tomato sauce, cheese, and lots of arugula on top.

SP tried something new: Crespelle di Zucchini (thin crepes layered with zucchini, fresh mint, and bechamel sauce). It looked fabulous, all that cheesy goodness oozing out of the crepes BUT this dish had a lot of garlic. I had one wee bite and that was it. SP ate nearly all of it, loved it, and said he'd order this dish again.

Finally, to no one's surprise, we ordered the tiramisu for dessert. We shared it and as usual, it was yummy.

Piccolo Forno remains one of our favorite restaurants. We've never had bad service. Our server on this visit was very friendly and upbeat and while we were not at all rushed, she did keep things moving along at a nice pace. The food was delicious. The atmosphere was lively, happy, casual - and we had a great view out the window of Butler Street, so there was entertainment as well.