Best Dish We Ate This Week: Vallozzi's Pittsburgh

By Olivia Miller

This week for lunch, the DNA staff ventured to Vallozzi’s on Fifth Avenue to sample some of their infamous Italian cuisine. The restaurant’s upscale yet comfortable atmosphere with its stonework, bright windows and murals of Italy and Pittsburgh was the perfect environment to enjoy dishes like their crab cakes and pumpkin gnudi. 

Perfect for a chilly, October afternoon, the pumpkin gnudi was rich, savory and creamy. The gnudi themselves were tender with notes of pumpkin and ricotta cheese. They were absolutely doused in a creamy, cheesy asiago cream sauce that proved to be a more flavorful alfredo sauce. The fall-toned dish was topped with smoky prosciutto cotto, ripe tomatoes, and kale, each adding their own unique spin to the dish. As someone who does not like the flavor of pumpkin spice, this dish was a welcomed spin on more traditional uses of pumpkin in autumn gastronomy. 

The crab cake earned our stamp of approval as the best crab cake in the city. It was jam-packed with lump crab meat rather than breadcrumbs or other filler ingredients like other crab cakes. It was perfectly paired with a sweet lemon aioli, smeared on the plate for a deliciously artistic presentation. The dish was served with tender asparagus that were a sweet companion to this otherwise spicy and acidic dish. The first bite of this dish will have you thinking you are in Baltimore, Maryland even though you’re right on Fifth Avenue. 

To try either of these dishes for yourself, Vallozzi’s is open from 11:30 am - 9:00 pm Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, from 11:30 am - 10:00 pm on Friday and from 5:00-10:00 pm on Saturday. You can see more information about them here.