Easy Like Sunday Morning: Greendance Winery

I love a Sunday drive. Sunny, rainy,or with fresh fallen snow, a Sunday drive is an event in itself, no matter the weather. The first Sunday in July was a beautiful sunny day, so Cohort and I drove to the Greendance Winery located in Mt Pleasant, Pa. They have a tasting room that offers free tastings of over 40 wines everyday. I'm sure you'll find something to enjoy! You can also purchase wine by the glass or bottle. The shop is full of wine accessories, gourmet foods and other unique gifts. After our tasting, we debated over several nice choices and decided on a bottle of the Sparkling Vidal Blanc. Made from a hybrid grape, sometimes called "The Nectar to the North", developed in the 1930's by French breeder Jean Louise Vidal. It has a crisp aroma with a hint of pink grapefruit. The taste is a dry citrus with effervescent bubbles. We grabbed a chilled bottle and headed outside for lunch.

Sparkling Vidal Blanc and Burger

On this particular day, the folks at Elegant Catering had set up a Burger Bar in the garden area. The burgers are cooked fresh on an outside grill with your choice of cheese and other toppings. The side dish was a Dill Potato Salad that was pretty amazing, flavorful with more tang than sweet. Entertainment was live classic rock courtesy of The Buddy Mac band. Greendance has designated areas throughout the gardens for picnics and events. They have several events scheduled most weekends from now until October. I would not let the summer pass by without checking their events calendar.

Blackberry Pie and Triple Berry Pie

We sat under a large persimmon tree, enjoying our wine and burgers when we noticed people walking by with the most amazing looking berry desserts that you have ever laid eyes on! Sand Hill Berries operates the Cabin Cafe' in the garden, offering their own homemade desserts, fresh fruits, and smoothies. We had to partake! I dove into the blackberry pie while Cohort settled on a slice of triple berry pie with a sort of cheesecake filling. Both pies were stuffed full of fresh in season berries surrounded by homemade flaky crust. Scrumptious! They paired nicely with the sparkling Vidal. http://www.greendancewinery.com/
Repeat: DO NOT MISS DESSERTS!

It was the perfect afternoon. I could have sat under that tree all day, but alas life must continue on. Until the next long Sunday drive!



PROS: PIE
CONS: You may not be up for the drive!

One Of A Kind: The Commoner

Located in the new Hotel Monaco at 458 Strawberry Way in downtown Pittsburgh, this place is amazing! The hotel itself is gorgeous and the luxurious theme sweeps throughout the restaurant, with a dark and rich color scheme. The bar and most of the tables sit up high (I love that!) with additional half  booth seating along the side wall. If you're in a rush you can pop over to the grab and go carvery window for breakfast and lunch. It was a bit crowded on the evening that we dined, so we posted up at the bar. Our bartender was a sweetie pie, plus she made a Pisco Sour like nobodies business!

Pisco Sours with Meat Board

After a few rounds of drinks we had a Meat Board for starters. Nothing fancy, just a small variety of meats with toast, mustard and pickled bits, but lovely. I then moved on to the Romaine Salad, which had large planks of romaine hearts lightly drizzled with bacon-garlic dressing, pumpernickel croutons, and frizzled ham. For my entree, I decided on Crab Shells and Cheese- jumbo lump crab meat and pasta shells with a creamy rich cheddar cheese sauce finished to perfection in a wood fire oven. Cohort went a simpler route with the PA Burger- local ground beef mixed with elysian fields lamb, PA noble cheddar, watercress, topped with smoked yellow tomato ketchup. He did share, it was very tasty!

Romaine Salad

For dessert we split the Sticky Toffee Pudding - a warm moist date cake with gooey toffee sauce, topped with a scoop of rye vanilla ice cream. I suggest that during your meal, you keep this in mind and SAVE ROOM FOR DESSERT!!!! It is to die for. http://www.thecommonerpgh.com/

 

PROS: Fabulous drinks, high end with a relaxed atmosphere

CONS: Downtown parking, gets crowded in the evenings