Chef Appeal: Pittsburgh’s Growing Restaurant Scene Attracts Staff From Bigger Cities

Pittsburgh‘s up-and-coming dining scene not only is starting to generate buzz among locals, it’s also becoming known as a good place to build a career.

Indeed, the city’s new outcrop of restaurants is one of the industries — in addition to technology, health care, engineering and education — that’s drawing young people to Pittsburgh.

“The chef who wants to make a break for it has a paved path in Pittsburgh,” said Brandon Baltzley, 28, the Chicago-based firebrand chef who has spent the past year here working as a cook in restaurants and staging pop-up dinners.

“Easy living, affordable everything and a burgeoning food scene: This is an area that will soon get attention on a national level.”

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/life/dining/chef-appeal-pittsburghs-growing-restaurant-scene-attracts-staff-from-bigger-cities-686340/#ixzz2STEtrnO0

Town By Town: Haddington, A Growing Area In West Philadelphia

English: Map of Philadelphia County highlighting West Philadelphia (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

There was a time 60th Street in Haddington was called “Real Estate Row,” because of the 22 realty offices that lined both sides of the thoroughfare.

Given the changing fortunes of the housing market, that time has past in many places, not just this nearly one-mile-square chunk of West Philadelphia hugging the Market-Frankford El – which, not surprisingly, was the catalyst for the neighborhood’s birth in 1903 and subsequent growth.

Sandidge & Co., at 40 N. 60th St., is the lone survivor on Real Estate Row, and after 50 years in business, broker E. Paul Sandidge remains “the authority” on real estate in the neighborhood, says Terry Guerra, director of special projects for the nonprofit ACHIEVEability, which has its headquarters in Haddington.

ACHIEVEability owns more than 200 properties throughout Haddington and Cobbs Creek, where its clients live while they complete two- and four-year academic programs to become nurses, social workers, teachers, and computer specialists.

Read more:  http://www.philly.com/philly/classifieds/real_estate/town-by-town/20130505_Town_By_Town__Haddington__a_growing_area_in_W__Phila_.html

Homicide, West Pottsgrove Home Invasion Likely Linked

Location of Lower Pottsgrove Township in Montgomery County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

LOWER POTTSGROVE TOWNSHIP — A body discovered on the side of Sanatoga Station Road Sunday afternoon is likely tied to a home invasion reported around the same time in West Pottsgrove, police said.

The man’s death is reportedly being investigated as a homicide.

The home invasion occurred on the 1200 block of Manatawny Road some time Sunday before 2:30 p.m. Residents of the home were reportedly tied up inside.

Around 2:30 p.m., Lower Pottsgrove Police were dispatched to the 2100 block of Sanatoga Station Road.  Sergeant Tim Walters, of the Lower Pottsgrove Police, said it was for a report of a “suspicious man waving down traffic.”

Read more:  http://www.pottsmerc.com/article/20130505/NEWS01/130509617/homicide-west-pottsgrove-home-invasion-likely-linked#full_story

Growing Own Produce Helping Lancaster Restaurants Cut Costs

Map of Pennsylvania highlighting Lancaster County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

LANCASTER, PA — If you order a turkey wrap at the Lemon Street Market this summer, or drink a mojito at Lancaster Brewing Co., the tomato on your sandwich and the mint in your drink might have been grown right outside the restaurants.

Six city restaurants are planting tomatoes, cucumbers, spinach, herbs and other fresh produce in containers, hanging baskets and small beds.

They plan to harvest the fresh items and serve them to their customers, to promote healthy eating and local products, in a project sponsored by Lancaster city and a local health organization.

“We’ll use the cucumbers in our salads and the basil in sauces,” said Brent Eshelman, general manager of the Lancaster Brewing Co., which is growing plants, including hot peppers for its wing sauce, outside its new 50-seat patio at Walnut and Plum streets.

Rad more:  http://www.pottsmerc.com/article/20130505/LIFE05/130509996/growing-own-produce-helping-restaurants-cut-costs#full_story