The Pittsburgh Dish
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The Pittsburgh Dish
041 Ben D'Amico: Crafting Culinary at Market District
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(00:42) Meet Ben D'Amico, the executive development chef for Giant Eagle's Market District stores, who takes us on a culinary journey through the world of large-format grocery chains. From humble beginnings as an intern to crafting prepared foods for 24 locations, Ben shares the exciting and challenging aspects of his role, including creative collaborations like 'Flights and Bites' with Ana Eats Pittsburgh or exclusive menus for collegiate soccer teams.
(08:11) Ben takes us behind the scenes, revealing the complexities of maintaining consistency and quality across multiple locations. His insights into evolving consumer tastes showcase how Market District stays ahead of the game, offering customers options that range from budget-friendly to premium quality.
(23:16) Beyond the corporate kitchen, Ben shares his work with 'Best Buddies' partner Tori, on a unique pasta dish that reflects the flavors of Italy and Greece, set to be a highlight at the upcoming Taste Buds event. Ben also opens up about his Italian and Slovak roots, emphasizing the importance of family traditions like the Feast of the Seven Fishes, and we also get a quick mention of his wife's children's book, "Harvey's Hamburgers."
(33:25) Plus Chantal and Alex Huff reveal their recent visit to Reva Modern Indian Cuisine, and Chris Fennimore of QED Cooks shares an updated approach to a beloved seafood dish. Have a seat at the table and enjoy!
Welcome to he Pittsburgh Dish . I'm your host , doug Howman . What does it take to be the creative chef of a large-format grocery chain ? We get the inside scoop from this week's guest . Looking to shake up some flavors with your next restaurant , visit Chantal and Alex Huff , take us to Reva modern Indian cuisine . And if you're a fan of seafood or your family celebrates the Feast of the Seven Fishes , our friend Chris Fenimore shares a tip to update one of his family recipes . All that ahead , stay tuned . Well , thank you
Corporate Chef of Giant Eagle Supermarkets
Dougso much for coming over and for being on the show . Well , thank you so much for coming over and for being on the show . Would you introduce yourself and what you have going on right now in the world of food ?
BenSure , I'm Ben D'Amico . I'm the executive development chef for Giant Eagle , focusing on the market district stores , and as far as what I have going on with food , it's very vast . Every day is something different and I don't know . I'm exploring all sorts of activities and events and food every single day .
DougI can't imagine . You know we've talked to a lot of cooks and chefs on the show before but not a lot of folks that work in a huge you know everyday grocery market situation . I can imagine it's very different than the restaurant situation .
BenIt is very different than restaurants , but in some ways it's the same . Okay , so I grew up in restaurants , came up through them , and I've been working at Giant Eagle , focused on Market District , for 16 years almost 17 years . And there are elements of restaurant in there with the large corporation . So you have kind of the best of both worlds , is you have a lot of focused food efforts going on , with the power of a huge corporation kind of to make some of that happen . So it's an interesting balance I find .
DougSo been with Market District Giant Eagle for over 16 years . Yes , always in a chef capacity .
BenAlways , yeah , actually , as a development chef . I started as an intern , okay , and I worked my way up through . So I've always been behind the scenes , focused on the prepared foods areas , but I've worked in all the different other fresh departments . So it's mostly the hot and the cold meals you see at Market District .
BenI've had my hands in probably 99% of those items , oh wow .
DougWell , I first actually noticed you more recently because you were working with my neighbor , Ana Ana Eats Pittsburgh and you did a flights and bites menu with some of her favorite foods , which I know is Thai . You also snuck in some strawberry jello pretzel salad . I imagine flights and bites is just one of many responsibilities .
BenThat is correct . That's one of the projects I get to work on and I actually design the menu and the concept for each of those . So we do it's going to be once a month . It's the third Friday of every month and the Ana was a collaboration we did where we have a partnership with her and we said , hey , let's actually try something here . So that was the first time we actually built a menu specific for her and she always said her mom's best dessert was the strawberry pretzel salad , so it was all her favorite Thai foods along with that . That was our first collaboration we did .
DougIt was great , yeah , that's where we met .
DougI was there .
BenThat's right . That's one of the kind of side projects I do . Most of my work is probably like 50% on the computer , 50% in the kitchens and we have 24 locations at Market District . So I'm doing everything from kind of training and setup and designing the food and the items to the execution and items like flights and bites or our taste of the holidays events or kind of that in-store . So I get the best of both worlds with the corporate side and then the kind of the store side to do those experience things .
DougWhile you're leading me into my next question , I sort of wanted to ask what is a day in the life of a corporate chef for a large grocery store chain ? I don't know where to start , yeah .
BenAgain , it can be very vast , because you're talking about a grocery store with all sorts of you know , thousands and thousands of items , and even within prepared food . Sometimes we're selling up to 500 different items within those different stores , in prepared foods , in the prepared foods yes , and just to clarify too , you're responsible for all of the market districts , all 24 market districts .
BenI do some with the Giant Eagle , but most of my focus has been with market district and it's a very small team , there's three of us . Really . That focus and it's interesting how the ideas come up is I usually get a text or a phone call from my coworker , lisa , and it's usually starts off work hours and it's like hey , I saw this on Instagram , I saw this item or this is coming up in a trend and we'll kind of just say , hey , let's look it up and come up with a new idea . But but we're focused on a lot of cold . I'd say probably 90% of what we sell is is cold items .
BenOkay , so the package , take meals you're kind of single ingredients , your salads and sandwiches , and then we'll kind of take some different ethnic roots with here's your Italian set , your kind of Latin American set , and we'll make decisions based on those groupings as to where we think the consumers , our guests , would want , would want to purchase something , where the need is , of course , and then we'll we'll come up and we'll do some testing and really just that's the beautiful part of my job is playing with food and really just sharing that with other people and trying to find something that's successful . And I'll tell you , doug , we have a lot of items that do not work . We have a lot of again , you can't always hit home runs , but we have a kind of a concept is kind of fail fast , yeah . So let's try it . See how the guests react . If they love it , great . If they don't , that's okay . Let's go on to the next thing .
BenI find a lot of times , chefs are very sensitive .
BenWe're very art , artistic instead of on people with a taste , with an experience , and that's kind of something in the back of our heads when we develop food is trying to satisfy those people . So it's again you're trying to make money , but then you're also trying to make a memory or an experience or have something Somebody's like I want to buy . That again , that was great , it solved the need and that's honestly like what drives our passion to like keep doing stuff and keep introducing new items .
DougI'm sure that the emotional side of that creativity is a little funky , because I came from the sales world before I did all this stuff and when you say fail fast , it's like we would say go for the no , let's keep trying some stuff and get all the no's so we get those yeses . Those people that want to come back and do more , buy more , experience , more . I'm sure there's many foods that you want to create and maybe they just don't translate well to like a takeaway , grab and go . Maybe they get soggy , but they're supposed to be crisp , is that ?
BenA hundred percent Nail on the head . Yeah , a lot of food it goes through . If I can make it and I make a dish and it's beautiful , it doesn't mean it's going to hold or be refrigerated for a couple of days without just something's going to go wrong with it or you're not going to have the great quality experience . So we have to do shelf life testing and quality testing just to make sure that that experience from day one to day five for the guest is going to be the same . So whether you're coming at nine o'clock in the morning or five o'clock in the evening , I want the guests to have the same experience .
DougWhen you're talking about the dishes that have been successful , can you think of a couple dishes that really stand out in your head and tell us a little bit about them ?
BenYeah , I think our salads we do a lot of grab and go salads and years ago these were non-existent and we did an item where let's make something fresh , let's make it bigger , we make it in store , let's hit all of our metrics that we think the guests would want to do . And it's a huge salad . If you ever see them , they're big and it's something very simplistic , but it's one of those that we can't make enough of in our stores . It's become a signature item and I would have never thought I'm going to hang my hat on a salad , but it's something that's stood the test of time for the last 10 years . Wow . And there's items that again , giant Eagle's famous for the chicken right . Everybody knows we have fried chicken . That's what we do and that's a great part of our business . But I had no , that's not .
ChantalThat was generations before me , that's before you came , yeah .
BenSo so that item we also we pride ourselves on the store made . Now , you know , with with the , the
Creating Consistent and Innovative Food Experiences
Benpeople in the store . A lot of my job is to start with the idea and then figure out a way that 24 locations can make it .
BenAnd make it the same . Make it the same and we have a commissary and we do some of that . But a lot of what Market District prides itself on is the in-house experience of we make it here . You know , we make it fresh , take it home and enjoy it . So we have to build items and we kind of start with a funnel , the top of the idea . Here's all the ideas that trickle down , and then we have to say is the quality going to work ? And then we would say the team member , are they going to be able to make this and replicate this without too many steps , too many ingredients ? Not because we're kind of dumbing it down more or less , because we just want it very consistent .
DougRight , can I ask just a couple that are coming on the top of my head like meatloaf ? Is that made in the commissary or in-house in the store that ?
Benwas made in stores for a long time . We sent that out to a manufacturer to be made , but now we're bringing it back from Market District . Actually , that just came up a couple weeks ago .
DougThat's so funny .
BenAs we saw that our guests are reacting at Market District to get that back in store . Yeah , so that is coming out . We do items like we roast our own turkeys , right , and we fry the chicken and we do a lot of our meals . A lot of those components are made in , but there is a balance of stuff that our commissary will make or components that we'll assemble . So it's that balance you have to find . It'd be great to make everything from scratch 100% . It's just not really realistic nowadays with the volumes that we do and the workload that the stores have .
DougDo you have any idea how many pounds tons of food that you or your team are helping to create that are moving out ?
BenIt's a lot . It depends on the store . But we have , like , our Robinson , Market Districts one of our biggest movers ? Yeah , that's right down the road . That's a big , big mover of stuff . I couldn't put a number to it , honestly . But some stores also , they have these special accounts with either corporate partners or sports teams , collegiate and professional . So some of those stores do way more volume because they have these different accounts that they're cooking for , are you ?
Dougever tasked with designing something more custom to that group , like a corporation or sports team .
BenYes , that usually actually does come up to me , so the stores will handle a lot of the day-to-day when there's a bigger account . We just had a university come up to us and ask to do meals for their sports teams for after post-game meals . So we've done a couple of their teams that started with just their soccer teams and moved on to football and moved into volleyball and softball . So we're actually partnering with them to try to find a nutritious , delicious meal that works for them . So that would be some of my task in my jobs . Which is kind of the fun part is designing an item that we're really selling to a very specific audience or customer .
DougOh , that's incredible . I did have another little side question Are you allowed to tell us where is the commissary ? There's a commissary somewhere in the world , right ?
BenYeah , it's in Freedom Road in Cranberry . It's in Cranberry . It's in Cranberry . Yeah , we call it Fresh Food Manufacturing . We've operated that for 10 to 15 years and they cook all of the market district soups . They cook our pastas , they cook some of our chicken . They do a lot of components for us for what you'll find in Giant Eagle and Market District . I work with those guys up there and we design and develop food and we're working on a couple of new things with them now . So that is a consistent , just another tool in your pocket , and it's a way for you to control all of that in-house Correct ?
BenIn-house and we control the quality , we make sure everybody gets it , and that's kind of . One of Market District's goals was to be the innovator for food within Giant Eagle , and then Giant Eagle is adapting some of those pieces that we find to be successful . So we're kind of like the playground , the testing ground , if you will , yes , but then kind of , if it works , let's see how we can spread it out to the rest of our guests .
DougYeah , we talked with your colleague , Paul Abbott about just what they bring into Market District and right away . It already is the leader in local new and you're doing the same thing in that sort of prepared food , fresh food zone that you're making in-house .
BenYeah , one of our goals is to kind of be ahead of the curve or at the top of it , introduce those items and see how they work , and if it takes , then great , let's find a way to spread it . If not , that's okay . Again , you can't always make everything that everybody's going to like too . Everybody's palates are so unique and different , and it's also the audience you're playing to . Are they looking for a family to feed ? Is it somebody who needs a quick grab a bite for lunch ? Is it somebody that wants hot food because they're going out ? So again , it is a work in progress . It is consistent . We're trying to find the answer . There's not a silver bullet there . That's like a one-size-fits-all where we can please everybody all the time and food tastes .
Dougpreferences are changing , Even lifestyle dynamics . The family , work and life balance is always changing . I think if we stopped , you'd be out of a job .
BenRight Evolution is the way forward , and so we've tried to adapt and we have our value customers who are really looking for a great deal , and then we have our people that really just they don't really are conscious of price .
DougAnd they just want .
BenI want a great food because I'm willing to pay for that .
DougThat's interesting , yeah , different , I guess customer demographics there right in play Correct . They don't care so much about what it costs , they just want something . That is kind of amazing . Knock their socks off .
BenYeah , they just want a great food experience , just like if you go out to a restaurant , the food can be great , but I find it's the entire experience is what goes through it . It's it's the were you , were you happy to be there ? Were you just rushing through ? Were you with the friends or family that you wanted to be with ? You know , was the service great , the timing , all that kind of goes into a great experience and that's something we try to do at Market District . It's to have the great food , but I want you to have a clean store , great shopping experience . That's how you should kind of treat everything you do is . The end goal is to come home and have food Right . No-transcript , I had a great day .
DougIt shouldn't be drudgery going to that store . It should feel like a great experience as well .
BenCorrect and a lot of people like to shop online and use Curbside Express and all that kind of stuff to maybe skip that . But I find that I still love to go into different markets and stores Me too and be hands-on yeah , and touch my pepper and you know and look at the shelves and see the new products and get the smells and the feels and the sounds . That's what I used to do in college . Is for fun is that before I was working at Giant Eagle is , I was going into grocery stores and just exploring , like start with the ad , see what's on sale , because I was on a budget and then just go and just check out all this cool stuff . And that's really where I honestly fell in love with the grocery . It's very weird to say it's like I love being in grocery stores but like one of my favorite parts is going different states or areas and just checking out what they have to do .
DougAnd seeing what's different or new or inspiring .
BenNot even like getting ideas sometimes , it's just this . They did a great job here Like I applaud them .
DougYeah , ben , you're leading me to my next question . Where did a career in food start for you ?
BenActually it started at home at like four or five . I was making food because my parents they cook a couple dishes , like four or five dishes really . Well , right , and so I started making like crudités , platters and spaghetti and kind of the very easy things from a very young age . Wow , that really just inspired me and I knew I think it was like first , first grade , and it was like what do you want to be when you grow up ? And it was like chef , but I remember I spelled it wrong , so it said chief . I remember that and so from there I just was around food all the time .
BenAnd then Food Network became popular in the 2000s and did a mom and pop restaurant , worked at Giant Eagle for a stint in college , just as like a meat apprentice , and I went to Johnson Wells University in Rhode Island . Okay , and I have a degree in culinary nutrition . You do so from there . Yeah , that was my background and I also I knew I wanted to work within food , but not necessarily in restaurants , because I came up doing that . And then I found a corporation that you know I fell in love with and that's where I am now .
DougThat journey resonates with me . I never really had the big desire to work in restaurants . I did a little bit of institutional restaurant work in college , but I went for nutrition because I wasn't really sure , and now I do this .
BenYou know , but that's I like . The a lot of people that I work with are different careers . They went for marketing and now they run this . And they went for food science but now they're writing books . There's a lot of that . That just because you started that way doesn't mean you can't adapt and find your passion in life .
DougThat's right .
BenI just luckily I found mine very early and it's been very beneficial .
DougIt's very rare . You're one of the few people I've talked to that knew from such a young age that chef would be somewhere in the future .
BenI do want to take just a quick step back . Did I hear the term meat apprentice ? Yeah , it was . It was a what do you call it ? Like butcher in training ? Yeah , but it wasn't . I didn't really do the apprenticeship , it was like a service clerk . I packed meat and made some stuff . I was working for my uncle at an independent Giant Eagle a couple of summers and and it was- like I wasn't allowed to use the knives , but I was allowed to do all the other stuff , yeah .
BenSo I kind of did the cleanup and kind of watching all that . So that was really my first venture with Giant Eagle . Oh wow , hi , this is Ben D'Amico with Market District and you're listening to the Pittsburgh Dish .
DougYou've been in your career path for so long in such a lucky way , so many folks don't figure it out . I'm sure along the way there have been some other friends or mentors that you've met . Is there anyone locally that has really helped you along the way ?
BenWell , that's the great thing , I think , is working for a larger company . You do run into so many people and so many experience and we've had a lot of people from the kind of the start of their careers to the middle or the end of their careers come through . So I've worked with a lot of people and I have a lot of great mentors . A lot of people have come through that have now owned their own businesses or have kind of have evolved , and just a couple I know you've had Eric White on your podcast- oh , that's right .
DougPittsburgh .
BenDumplings . Yeah , and so him and I work together at . Market District Pete Tolman , who owns .
BenIronborn Pizza yeah him and I work together , and then Mark Larimer , who owns Trust Brewing . Again , these are all people that have we spent a lot of time together and they went off and kind of did their own thing . They got some experience and they all run successful businesses in and around Pittsburgh . So that's the connection with my Pittsburgh group . But one of the things that working is we have a lot of great chefs and people in the stores .
BenSome of those people that have come from restaurants are like kind of best in class in my opinion , yes , that they don't always get the credit or the call outs that they deserve because they're behind the scenes making all this stuff happen , right . So there are some big like workhorses and people that inspire me every day that just like wake up , put their boots on , and some of these stores are doing really , really big business and these people are running teams of you know 30 , 50 people . They're running like kind of what full restaurants would do and you're getting covered by the company , so the individual kind of dissolves or meshes in there .
DougYeah , that spotlight's just not there for that one person , correct .
BenAnd we have so many great people that you couldn't highlight them all . But that connection is , I think there's a lot of great people in the stores and that's one of the differentiators that I found . Working is . One of the things I love going to work for is the conversations with the people , and they're in various positions . Some are , you know , dishwashers and porters and some are the executive chefs . So it's that wide range of kitchen culture that you find and I love to go to work every day because of those people .
DougDo you personally have a team that work under you ?
BenNo , I've actually never had a team . I've been solo for my entire career .
DougYou're just this creative at the top .
BenI'm just there , yeah , but we find inspiration from the store . So again , they give us suggestions , recommendations all the time , and again there's really two or three of us that I've worked with over the years that we just talk and ideas are very organic . It's that's what I find is the best ideas somebody thinks of is like I think we could sell that . I think that'd be a great item , where if it's forced on you , sometimes it's gonna , it's harder to do . I think it's easier when it's a little more kind of that aha moment . It feels genuine , yes , yes . It feels like I'm not just trying to sell something to make money , I'm trying to make somebody's lives better by feeding them , or like I think that's a delicious item . More people should experience and try this .
DougI love that I did notice . Coming back to some of your colleagues , that maybe do get a spotlight Chef Crystal I've met Crystal Baldwin on KDKA , but before that you did a lot of KDKA work . Is that right ? That is correct .
BenChef Crystal and I worked together at Market District in the South Hills for a long time , and I did PTL for almost 10 years . Oh my goodness , I did almost 100 episodes with Christine Sorensen and then .
DougHeather .
BenAbraham came and took over and Crystal and I were kind of co-partners we would do every other month or every other week . And then my son was born and COVID hit like the same time and I kind of backed away from it and Crystal has taken over and does a great job there . So that was a great experience because I really didn't do anything with TV and I love those segments and I love working with KDKA and Pittsburgh Today Live and that was a very unique experience to go in . You cook for six to seven minutes , you get to showcase your wares . I also had full creative control when I was doing it , which was great . So it would be . What do you want to make today ? What are we doing ? What recipe are we sharing ? So I always made items that were very unique for TV . It wasn't trying to promote or push anything . It was more about the entertainment value of what do I think the audience wants to see here and what can you know Heather , christine and I kind of talk about and make it fun and entertaining .
DougI love that I'm right there with you . I've only been coming up on two years and I know the energy it takes to go on there and do everything within that . You said six to seven minutes . I'm usually thinking five . They tell me go for four and a half , so I might have stretched my time in the past because they usually do the wrap it up kind of .
BenAnd . I'm like , so I try to cut it close , but I always had so much to say , yeah .
DougBut back to your point . I think it's a way of inspiring people at home to try something new . For me , I want to teach them maybe a new technique or something , even with a common ingredient , like apples or whatever , or introduce them to something they maybe have never heard of , like halloumi cheese , and you're just kind of planting a new idea and with that they're probably going to go to Market District and buy that product and try it .
BenSometimes it's the simple ingredients . If you start with great ingredients , you can't introduce a recipe with 10 new things to somebody . They're not going to understand it , they're going to be a little scared . So if you start with one or two , really if you just have a great ingredient , whether it's fresh or local or just something that's up and coming , that's sometimes the spark of inspiration and then you let kind of the audience , the guests , grow and make their own interpretations .
DougThat's right .
BenResearch . Yes , you're not forcing it down , I mean just more or less introducing it to them and say , hey , if you , if you think about it , maybe try this , pick this up sometime , support this company , and if they love it , and then maybe there's something else , then you build that trust in that relationship and then they look at you as the food expert and then you can say , well , you like this one to try this next one . So it leads them down this journey and this exploration of food , which again , is one of our kind of core values , perfect .
DougWell , since we were talking that , you did move away from PTL and you've been doing all of this other great work at Market District , there are a few other things maybe coming up , even in the near term that you're
Best Buddies and Taste Buds
Dougdoing . When I talked with Heather Abraham on this show recently , we talked a little bit about Best Buddies and do I understand you're doing that this year ?
BenYes , Best Buddies is a great program that it's now my second year working with them . Best Buddies is a great program that it's now my second year working with them . So Best Buddies is a global organization that works with individuals with IDD , which is intellectual and developmental disabilities , and they have a large Pittsburgh chapter here and there's an event that I'm particularly doing it's called Taste Buds , yes , which happens on December 9th down at the convention center , david L Lawrence Convention Center .
DougAnd we should say it's dozens of chefs , 35 chefs and restaurants , yeah , throughout the city . It's not a market district only thing . I looked at the list this morning before you came over and it's just a ton of great restaurants . You guys and describe to the listeners how it works , you get paired up with another individual as your sous chef . Is that right , correct ?
BenSo my sous chef is Tori and she is my buddy and she is very , very energetic and we balance ourselves out very , very well . So we spend five to six sessions a season and she'll come up at the market district and we'll spend time in the cooking school and we'll work on our recipe , and then we'll also just work on skills and we'll just have a good time with food . We one of our favorite things is we always love to eat sushi for lunch . We always try to taste some new foods , whether it's something new or exotic or a limited release or something just we haven't been exposed to her or I , and so really it's just spending time with each other and being a friend .
DougAnd so I just want to jump in here . This isn't just about this one night called Taste Buds . You've been working with your buddy throughout this whole year , really developing a relationship with this person and exposing them to your world , to new foods , and giving them some skills to take along the way , right .
BenCorrect . It's not a one and done . It's not just , hey , you're a partner to promote your restaurant or your food facility . It is to build a relationship and an experience that hopefully lasts for a long time . And one of the great things when I was introduced to Best Buddies is the other restaurants there .
BenI was kind of surprised . I really didn't realize that most of these really nice restaurants all around Pittsburgh were doing this . And the first time we went , uh , they said how many people are new ? And you know I raised my hand and then it was um , people have been here five years and you know a dozen raise their hand and have you been here 10 to 15 years ? And there was a lot that I was like , wow , these restaurants have been doing this for a long time with , uh , either the the the same buddy for the most part , that they've built this relationship with , and some have become like family , and it's not just spending time in the kitchen , it's also become let's go and hang out or let's go to an event or something else . So that's what they encourage is more or less a buddy for life . Yeah , that's beyond just this Taste Buds event . How special .
DougAnd how many years have you been participating ?
BenTwo Okay , this will be my second year . And yeah , tori and I just met last week to kind of come up with our recipe for this year's event .
DougAnd you can't reveal it yet , right ?
BenOh , I can , you can , yeah . So last year we did Tori's kind of favorite . So she liked Chinese cuisine , she liked the color purple , so we built something that was kind of based off of that . It's a small plate and appetizer . This year she just came back with her family from Italy and Greece .
ChrisOh .
BenAnd we talked about both being Italian and making pasta and doing some other stuff . So we are doing a pasta dish with a harissa marinara , a arugula walnut pesto and a lemon-whipped ricotta . That sounds amazing . So , it was something colorful , something that Tori and I developed together , hand in hand , and something that inspired just something she wanted to do . So that's where I take the inspiration from her .
DougI can't wait . Let's remind listeners again this is Taste Buds . It's the event by Best Buddies . It's at the David L Lawrence Convention Center and coming up on December 9th . Correct , All right .
BenAnd you can get tickets on bestbuddies . org and just search Best Buddies and then TasteBuds Pittsburgh and you'll be able to find the information .
DougThank you so much . Ben Ben , you mentioned you're Italian . Did you grow up in Pittsburgh ?
BenYeah , I'm from Monongahela , okay , yeah , so I currently live in 84 , and I've been here my entire life , except for the four years I went to Rhode Island to live . So I'm Pittsburgh-adjacent born and raised , but you know , you tell if you're anywhere outside of the city , you say you're from Pittsburgh . So I've always wanted to come back here and live and work and that's something that drew me was whether it was the sports teams or the food or just the friends and family around here . I just always , I never , wanted to be anywhere else .
DougSo , coming from an Italian family , you said that you started cooking at like four or five , six . Are there any other like family dishes that you continue to make , that you hold dear ?
BenYes , so , coming from a large Italian and Slovak family , we had very , very large gatherings and family reunions .
BenAnd so , as time went by , a lot of those generational people that kept the kind of the old world traditions they've died off , they've moved away . So I found that there's not many holders of traditions left . And from a younger generation , everybody kind of wants to either do their own thing or ah , these people aren't here , let's do something different . But he kind of wants to either do their own thing or , ah , these people aren't here , let's do something different . And I have found it important for some of those to keep those traditions going , whether it's still a small group , but it's kind of like you're keeping their memory alive . So the big one we do is the Feast of the Seven Fishes . Oh , yes , that used to be my favorite one growing up and it was very traditional with the eel and the calamari and the smelts and all of those dishes .
BenAnd as it time evolved , some of those we've stopped doing , not because I I don't want to make them , but nobody eats bacala anymore and in our family just my dad's the only one that'll do it . But everybody will eat the calamari , so we'll stew the calamari and that's my aunt rose's old recipe , that that I took from that . So I try to keep the memory alive and the spirit of the items . We still do no meat , I stay strict to that and everybody's like well , you can have ham and you can do this . No , no , no , no . That's the challenge and the important part and the spirit of the tradition . So that is by far my favorite family tradition that I kind of take as the flame holder yeah , you take the lead . Yeah , and I want to keep doing that forever . It doesn't happen on Christmas Eve anymore .
BenIt hasn't because of trying to get all the timing together , but I've introduced it to my in-laws and they come and it's become something that we're going to keep doing forever .
DougKeep doing it . You know I did have one more family question . You said you have a son and I did want to ask a question regarding your wife . Could you tell our listeners about Harvey's Hamburgers ?
BenThat's really good . So my son is almost five and my wife would tell him stories at bedtime . Yeah , stories at bedtime and she had many , many stories and one was called Harvey's Hamburgers and it was about a dinosaur who wanted to open a food truck .
BenWith this food truck , he was having a hard time to get the other dinosaurs to buy into it , and so it kind of tells the story of sharing food and acceptance and trying something different , and so this was a story that my wife told my son that she recently had published . Yeah yeah , it just launched a little bit a month ago and it's available pretty much everywhere books are sold On Amazon Harvey's Hamburgers so people can look that up .
DougGreat childhood story , but probably lessons for adults in there too . All right , ben , we're coming towards the end of our time . I always like to give folks a moment to plug anything that they'd like folks to find or follow . If you wanted folks to follow more about what you're doing , where would you point them towards ?
BenSo marketdistrict . com is kind of our landing page for all things Market District . Honestly , I'm in the stores most of the time , so just get out there . You can come see me every once in a while , just say hello , I don't know , I just want people to get out there and explore . I don't have a lot of . I don't do my own Instagram .
DougYou're not doing Instagram , I don't do my own social medias .
BenI really I put 110% of my effort into what I do at work and what I do with Best Buddies and the other charitable organizations I work with . I don't self-promote . I want to promote who I work with and people and kind of shine a light on everybody else . I've never been outed for the glory or the public view . It's really all the people that make every day happen , the everyday heroes . You're trying to shine that spotlight on everybody else . Everybody should get some credit for all the hard work they do , because there's so many hardworking , great people out there that are just kicking butt every day .
DougWell , let's do this . So definitely . They can probably find some of your work or your teammates work at Market District on Instagram and if they're interested in finding out more about Best Buddies , as we said , it's bestbuddiesorg . Yes , I always have one final question for our guests . The name of the show is the Pittsburgh Dish . What's one of the best dishes you've eaten this past week ?
BenThis past week . Oh wow , okay , it was cold in the morning , it's warm in the evening . So as soon as I know that , I know it's soup season . So I'm going to say it's one of the soups I've made and this is going to sound very mundane , but it was a chili and it was a chicken noodle soup without chicken . Oh , I mean , it was a chicken broth . Those I made them and I normally don't get super excited about soup , but I was like this is really good . My wife had some last night . She said this is really the best soup she made . So I think that was probably simple ingredients that just made well , that I'm going to say it was the chili and the chickenless chicken noodle soup I made this week that were my best dishes Best bites this week Chickenless chicken soup , you might be onto something new .
BenI didn't have chicken in the house , it was a necessity . Well , this is it , this is what chefs do ?
DougYou figure it out and you do what you can . Chef Ben D'Amico , thank you so much for being on The Pittsburgh Dish . Thank you Up next .
Restaurant Recommendation and Recipe Share
DougIf you're looking to expand your flavors and spice with your next dining adventure , Chantal and Alex Huff have just the place . Hey everybody , we're joined by Alex and Chantal Huff of the Hungry Huffs . I've been wondering have you tried a new restaurant lately that really kind of blew you away ?
ChantalWe have . Yeah , we just went to Reva last night . Oh , you know , I have heard of Reva , it's over in East Liberty right . Yes , it's a modern Indian cuisine and it might be my favorite Indian in Pittsburgh .
DougWow . So , Alex , why don't we start with you ? What did you guys have ?
AlexSo we had the chicken biryani , the jalfrezi , we had the achari paneer , we had . What else did we have ? We had the butter chicken as well as the garlic , naan and roti . So quite a bit of food .
ChantalYeah , we overordered .
DougThe full spread . Yeah , so tell me a little bit about the experience and the bites , what really stood out for you ?
ChantalWell , they had a sweet potato chaat , which was amazing . Such a good choice . I don't think I've ever had sweet potato in a chop before , and it was so refreshing . It was presented beautifully . Couldn't recommend that more . They have a couple of options . I'm excited to go back to try their Punjabi samosa as well , so definitely don't skip on the appetizers there .
DougI would say Can I just interject too ? I have heard of a chop being kind of referred to as like an Indian snack .
ChantalYes , Is that ?
Dougright yes , app that right yes . Appetizer , perfect appetizer .
ChantalAbsolutely Super refreshing too for the summer .
ChrisAnd after the chicken , biryani was definitely the best we've had in Pittsburgh , like it was super spicy , and one thing that I liked was at Reva was you're able to choose your spice level , so we're able to get everything like super hot , super spicy and everything was like beyond flavorful .
DougSo you guys like spice .
AlexYes .
DougAll right . So do you guys know what the hours are right now ?
AlexYeah , so I think they're open every day , starting at 11 am , so all seven days a week , which is , you know , nice , considering quite a bit of places are closed on Mondays and they have great things , I think , for their lunch menu , like cutty rolls and you know different options that are perfect for lunch .
DougWonderful Yep Reva over in East Liberty . Thank you both so much . Thank you for having us . You can follow Chantal and Alex on Instagram at Hungry Huffs . I recently sat down for a chat with Chris Fenimore of WQED and we got to talking about holiday cooking of WQED . And we got to talking about holiday cooking . When I asked him if he had any tips or tricks , he shared this update on a recipe .
ChrisWhen he does the Feast of the Seven Fishes , let's have a listen , it's just not the holiday , especially , you know , surrounding the concept of the Feast of the Seven Fishes .
ChrisOh yes , you all do , you all do that yeah , yeah , unless we have bacala and this is the salted dried yes , but here's the tip okay , when , when I was growing up , my grandmother would buy the bacala , they came in like sheets , yes , and she would soak them for three or four days in the basement , changing the water constantly to get the salt out of it . My father . He looked at that . He was amazed . He said it looks like an ironing board . Now we're going to cook and eat that . It really did not look edible , no , and it smelled horrendous .
ChrisOh my , yes , you know there are people who you know they have trout and they go . This is fishy , you know . Well , they don't know what they're talking about .
DougThey don't know bacala .
ChrisThey don't know bacala .
ChrisIf they think that trout is fishy , when she made it he would eat the potatoes that were in it and he'd leave the bacala behind , because it was was , even though it was thought out and um prepared prepared it was still sort of chewy and dense I'm sure it changes the texture .
DougIt's almost jerkied .
ChrisYeah exactly yeah , so one time I was trying to make the feast of the seven fishes and I was running out of time and dishes and I thought I'll make the baklava . Then I thought you don't have three days to do that , so I just got some fresh cod . I made the recipe . It was fabulous . Even my dad would have loved this . Yeah , and all you get is a couple of loins of cod and cut it up into three-inch pieces and it was perfect tender . The fish just flakes apart . Of course , you know it has olives and it has celery and it has a lot of potatoes and tomatoes and that's pretty much it . It's just a big stew .
DougSo if you are substituting with the cod , would you start the whole dish and kind of keep the cod back till the potatoes were close to being done , or would you put them ?
Chrisin . I just put them in . It might help the cod , although I got to say it was still great . It was still great , and now that's the only way I make it . I never buy the bakala anymore . Swap it for cod . Swapped it for cod ? Well , because it is cod , it is , it's just fresh .
DougIt's salt yeah .
ChrisInstead of salted , it's just fresh .
DougWhat a great tip yeah .
ChrisSo that's what , that would be my tip for the holiday .
DougChris . Thanks so much and happy holidays . Happy holidays , happy holidays . If you have a recipe , share it with us . Just go to our website at www . pittsburghdish . com and look for our Share a Recipe form . That's our show for this week . We'd like to thank all of our guests and contributors , and to Kevin Solecki of Carnegie Accordion Company for providing the music to our show . We'll be back again next week with another fresh episode . Stay tuned .
