S & D Polish Deli

S & D Polish Deli is a treasure nestled in the heart of the Pierogi Pocket in Pittsburgh's Strip District. The grocery/restaurant offers Polish delicacies of all shapes and sizes. If your Polish grandma made it, you can probably find it here. If she didn't make it and it's Polish, you will probably also find it in stock.

I did not get to experience the joy of S & D Polish Deli firsthand. Lucky me that somebody loves me enough to bring them to my door after a recent trip to Pittsburgh.

The pierogi are available in many formulations fresh or frozen. The medium sized dumplings come liberally dressed in butter. The potato and farmer's cheese pierogi were rich and surprisingly light with a hint of sweetness. The potato cheddar cheese ones are closer to the type that most people buy at their grocer's freezer, but elevated. The spinach and mushroom pierogi are earthy, almost meaty, and make an excellent savory main course.

Finger-sized kolaczki, little cookies related on the evolutionary tree to Czech kolaches, are filled with cream cheese, chocolate, or a variety of fruits. The cream cheese and apricot cookies are excellent.

Other Polish grains, baking supplies, condiments, fruit preserves, dried mushrooms and beverages are sold. It covers many if not all of the items in the Eastern European pantry.

Food can be eaten on site, and orders can also be take to go. 

While not everybody has a special someone who will deliver Polish goods to them, the website allows you to order these goods to your door. This could be an addictive bad habit.

The Polish Nose

The Polish Nose is a new pierogi cart that operated for the first time at Independents' Day. Proprietor Brandon Wilburn prepares Polish dumplings in traditional and not-so-traditional flavor combinations with a variety of condiments served on the side.

Wilburn said that his great grandfather was Polish, and that he has fond memories of eating pierogi as a child. He figures that since pierogi are a versatile dumpling, it provides a nice palette on which to experiment with flavors. 

Experiments aside, the Old Faithful is, of course, a traditional potato and cheese dumpling flecked with garlic and served with a side of caramelized onions and sour cream or Greek yogurt. The dumplings are fried on the griddle to give them the traditional texture and flavor. The filling was soft, and the potatoes and cheese were sweetened slightly by the roasted garlic.

The Pumpkin Poser was a sweet potato pie pierogi. While dessert pierogi are common in Polish restaurants, this puts a Southern fried spin on the category. It is somewhat reminiscent of pumpkin pie. It is served with whipped cream and graham cracker crumbles.

Wilburn plans to operate the Polish Nose at a few bars and events in the future on a limited basis, possibly even preparing pierogi for a kitchen to sell. He said a brick-and-mortar location might be in the cards for the future, but for now, he'll operate a food cart and keep his full-time job. Updates on the cart's location can be found on Facebook.

These two pierogi are acceptable for vegetarians to eat. There was a third pierogi on the menu that contained meat that was prepared on the same griddle. Wilburn said that he had experimented with vegan pierogi dough, and mentioned that he might consider making vegan dough in the future, but he had to test the recipes.

Yogi Perogi

Yogi Perogi is a Grandview restaurant specializing in the famous Polish dumpling. The pierogi at Yogi Perogi are given an international spin by owner John Wagner. The space is small; though mostly designed for take-out, there is seating for about 12 inside.

Pierogi flavors include the classic potato and cheddar, mushroom and Swiss cheese, and spinach and feta cheese. They can be ordered individually or in frozen three-packs to make at home. The pierogi on the menu are vegetarian but not vegan. There is a vegan pierogi that can be requested that does not appear on the menu. There are also salads and sometimes vegetarian soup.

The pan fried pierogi pick up a perfect texture that is delicate while being both light and crisp. The potato and cheese filling has black pepper accents. 

The spinach and feta cheese had a bright green color and a bright taste. It paired great with tzatziki sauce.

The mushroom and Swiss pierogi were earthy, and the kraut, common in Polish fare, gives the dish a more German character.

It might be worthwhile to bench the Mr. & Mrs. T's pierogi that have been festering in the back of your freezer and replace them with a pile of pierogi from Yogi Perogi. Between Hania's, Sophie's, Babushka's and Yogi, the area has been inundated with pierogi over the last few years, and these are good enough to stand out from the pack.

Sophie's Gourmet Pierogi

Sophie's Gourmet Pierogiis a new food truck specializing in the famous Polish dumpling accented with international flavor. It makes regular appearances at the Columbus Commons Food Truck Food Court, Dinin' Hall and other spots around central Ohio.

Sophie's prepares all of its pierogi in butter, so vegans are out of luck except for salads. The staff capably answered all vegetarian questions, and prepared a fresh order of veggies as a side after I asked questions about vegetarian items.

The Vintage is an order of potato and cheese pierogi served with sauteed onions, sour cream and compound butter. The pierogi are boiled and then pan fried golden and delicately crispy. It is an excellent example of a traditional pierogi. The only two minor issues were that the compound butter was a little cold and difficult to incorporate into the dish, and the number of pierogi varied in three different orders.

The summer salad was cucumbers, tomatoes and red onions in a vinaigrette topped with crumbled Asiago cheese. It was only available at my first visit to the truck.

The crew actually does a great job handling large crowds. There is a hot serving bar in the truck window, allowing pierogi to be churned out rapid-fire to waiting diners. At slower stretches, pierogi are prepared to order. 

Babushka's Kitchen

Babushka's Kitchen is a small Ohio chain. Clintonville is home to the Central Ohio location of the kitschy Polish fast-casual eatery.

Polish food is notoriously vegetarian unfriendly. Pierogi and placki give meatless diners at least a couple of options at Babushka's.

The potato and cheddar pierogi were perfectly pan fried with sweet onions. The filling was rich and flavorful. The onions might have benefitted from a finer chop.

The potato pancakes (placki ziemniaczane for Polish purists) are served with sour cream and applesauce as condiments. The sour cream was served in a small portion that seemed almost rationed. The applesauce added a sweet, spicy element to the Polish staple.

The cucumber salad had a bright, fresh flavor. Although most traditional Polish cucumber salads are made with sour cream, the sweetened vinegar dressing nonetheless had an authentic flavor. The rye bread, however, was nearly free of character.

The kolachky are a soft and sweet conclusion to a meal. The raspberry was a sweet, jammy treat, and the cream cheese cookies tasted like a contained cheesecake bite.

The dining area is split into rooms dedicated to Warsaw and Krakow. Colors are red and white like the Polish flag, and the coat of arms is painted large on the wall.

Babushka's Kitchen

New (for me) at the North Market

I haven't been to the North Market in about a month. Since I've been gone, there are a number of new options that have popped up at the gourmet playground of the Capital city.

Unfortunately, I showed up on the day (Monday) when half of the vendors are closed. Boo! Oh well. At least I can still walk around, take some pictures and write about what I'm going to eat at the North Market on my next visit.

As a proud Pole, I was super-excited when I saw that the newest place opening in the North Market is Hania's Olde World Cuisine. Although the menu (like the cuisine of Poland) is meat-centric, they do make potato pierogi. If you'd like to try to impress the staff with your Polish, you can try winning them over with the phrase, "Czy jest karta wegetariańska?" (Do you have a vegetarian menu?). If not, vegetarian diners will be limited to pierogi.

Although it isn't brand new, Taste of Belgium is another outpost I've yet to try. I checked the menu out, and in addition to Liege waffles, Taste of Belgium also makes a vegetarian crepe. It is made with red peppers, spinach, and goat cheese. I'll definitely have to sample something from the city's only Belgian eatery next time.

Since I couldn't try any of the new places, I was stuck with Sarefino's Pizza and Jeni's ice cream. Sarefino's makes tasty New York style pizza that I failed to photograph. Jeni's makes possibly the best ice cream on the planet. I tried one of the new seasonal flavors at Jeni's, the white chocolate evergreen with red currant garland. The evergreen base provides a hint of menthol and eucalyptus, the white chocolate flecks add a buttery undercurrent, and the currant swirls wrap the package up in a subtly sweet bow.

The ice cream was a delightful way to wrap up my failed attempt to try the places at North Market where I haven't eaten yet. At least I left with a smile on my face.

New at the North Market

Barley's Ale House

Brew pubs offer you a choice. Instead of drinking one mass produced Continental pilsner, in a brew pub you have options ranging from pale ales to porters to weizens, and even additional seasonal options that pop up from time to time. Barley's is a brew pub that offers you that kind of choice in addition to choosing which Barley's outpost to drink and dine in.

Barley's has two locations. I went to the Ale House, which is a far more veggie-centric dining experience than the Smoke House, which offers barbecued animals of all shapes and sizes. Both establishments have vegetarian options--the Ale House just has many more options for the choosiest of veggie diners.

Both locations brew some of Columbus' finest beers. The Spark of the Divine Barley Wine was the newest seasonal beer. At 10 percent alcohol, the house limit was two barley wines per customer. Three of them might put a huge smile on your face if it were so allowed, as the beer offers a rich, sweet toffee midpalate and a lingering hint of clove on the finish that doesn't even begin to hint at the alcohol content contained within.

The pale ale is American in style, with a clean malt character followed by a fragrant hoppy bitterness. There are three year-round beers and approximately five other seasonal offerings at one time on the drink menu, which also includes domestic beer, a limited wine selection and a cadre of flavored martinis. Their beers were featured at Skipper's in Athens during Ohio Brew Week, and were covered by this blog in a previous post (hint: check the pictures).

I started off with the onion strings. The appetizer came in a basket and was a pile of breaded onions washed in the pale ale. This is great pub grub, but be warned--you will be carrying the aroma of onions around with you for days.

The main course was a veggie burger made from black beans, portabella mushrooms, rice, garlic and fresh vegetables. It was served with a choice of sides, and being a Polish lad, how could I say no to a couple of cheddar cheese and potato pierogis served with onions in brown butter? The pierogis are available as a happy hour appetizer for $5, and Polish carnivores can get their fill of kielbasa as well in the form of a dinner entree. It's like a little slice of Krakow near the hockey arena. (Well, it's nothing like Krakow or Warsaw. But the pierogi is delicious wherever it's served.)

There was one minor hiccup during the night. The appetizers were served a little too close to the main courses for my liking. Of course they were brought a little too early by the lovely Rebecca, a server who was very friendly, great to speak with and pretty enough to have dumped a pot of hot coffee on my lap without making me too upset. So I'll let her slide on this one. The rest of her service was attentive and prompt, making for a wonderful evening.

Brew pubs give you choices, from beer to food. Vegetarian diners can make the better choice in Columbus by picking Barley's Ale House. It should only take a sip of barley wine and a bite of pierogi to make it worth the trip. Enjoy the pictures in the Picasa link below.

Barley's