The Pittsburgh Dish
Do you really know the food scene of Pittsburgh?! The Pittsburgh Dish introduces you to the people, places, and recipes that make our regional cuisine so special. By sharing personal stories, weekly recommendations, and community recipes, we aim to inspire you to connect with local taste makers and experience the unique flavors that shape our city.
The Pittsburgh Dish
053 Chloe Newman, Baking up Community with Sourdough
(00:55) As the "head bread head," Chloe Newman's journey to co-founding Third Space Bakery reveals how sourdough bread can become a vehicle for creativity, science, and community building. Working alongside her partners Erika Bruce and Beth Taylor, Chloe has transformed her former farmer's market business Crustworthy into part of a thriving bakery in Pittsburgh's Garfield neighborhood.
(04:11) What makes Third Space Bakery unique isn't just their exceptional breads—it's their philosophy. Their signature house loaf offers approachable sourdough for everyday eating, while rotating specials like onion turmeric bread showcase their creative spirit. Chloe explains how their sourdough process makes bread more digestible, even for those with mild gluten sensitivities, thanks to the wild bacteria that break down proteins during long fermentation. Every loaf is an example of grain diversity using regional sourcing.
(32:01) Beyond bread, the bakery serves as a genuine community hub. Their teaching kitchen hosts multiple weekly classes, while the outdoor deck becomes a gathering space for special events. As they mark their one-year anniversary, Chloe and team are focused on deepening these community connections, truly establishing a third space for patrons and the surrounding neighborhood.
(36:42) And later in in the show... Rebecca Hansborough shares why Legends Eatery on the North Side sometimes makes her skip grocery shopping entirely (hint: incredible beans and greens), while Dustin Boutilier of 77 Club offers a family recipe for smoky, complex salsa piquin that uses a surprising secret ingredient.
Ready to experience Pittsburgh's bread revolution? Head to Third Space Bakery Thursday through Sunday, where science, art, and community come together in every perfectly fermented bite.
Welcome to the Pittsburgh Dish. I'm your host, Doug Heilman. How does a loaf of sourdough bread feed your passions for creativity, community and a little science? Chloe Newman shares her story. What neighborhood spot might make you skip the grocery store and go straight to dinner? Becca Hansborough shares her place. And is salsa the condiment of choice on your table? We get a family recipe for salsa piquin by Dustin Boutilier of 77 Club. All that ahead, stay tuned. The Pittsburgh Dish is supported by Chef Alekka LLC. Visit her Instagram handle at chefalekkapgh to learn about classes and upcoming workshops hosted at the Hilltop Kitchen in Mount Oliver. Now on to the show. Well, thank you so much for coming over and for being on the show.
Chloe:Thank you so much for having me, Doug. It's great to be here.
Doug:Would you introduce yourself to our listeners and what you have going on in food right now?
Chloe:Yes, so my name is Chloe Newman and I am one of the co-owners and co-founders of Third Space Bakery in Garfield.
Doug:Yes, we have interviewed your other co-owners and we should remind our listeners Third Space Bakery is located over in the neighborhood of Garfield, right along Penn Avenue. What are your current hours right now.
Chloe:Right now we are open Thursday through Sunday. We're hoping to open for Wednesday soon but not yet. We'll have people kind of swing by the bakery on occasion and look in the windows. On Wednesdays we're almost there, but on Thursday through Saturday we are open eight to two. And then on Sundays we're open nine to two. We just give ourselves and everyone a little break.
Doug:Can we specifically talk about your skill set and contribution to the bakery, because I know Erika Bruce does a lot of pastry, Beth Taylor is doing the classes and some front of the house things. What about you? What did you feel that you brought to the table and are bringing to the table right now?
Chloe:So I came into this business from another business. My previous business was called Crustworthy and that was based out of the farmer's markets. Primarily, the Bloomfield Market was our biggest market and there I did sourdough breads and I did do some pastries as well. I think sourdough was always my passion within that business and that's that's primarily what I brought into third space as well. So you know we joke, we call me the head bread head, but honestly wait the head bread head head, bread head.
Doug:I think that needs to be some merch, like a t-shirt right, yeah, we've got a couple great merch ideas.
Chloe:We're getting there okay good. So as head bread head, basically, I'm uh running the sourdough program.
Chloe:But honestly, you guys probably have to do it all though yeah, there's a lot of crossover between bread, pastry and even with classes. You know, um, we a lot of the people who work at third space Bakery have taught in classes, volunteered in classes and we've, yeah, really focused on more cross-training between all of the workers, just so that we can support each other better. It improves our own skill, sets Right, gives us all a better sense of how the bakery is operating and really contributes to the strength of the operation overall.
Chloe:So it's not just like. Well, if Chloe's out sick today, you know, I guess we just don't have bread or something. Yeah.
Doug:It just can't happen.
Chloe:Yeah, it's not possible. Uh, so we really all do have our hands in a lot of different pies.
Doug:I love that. Let's just hit some of the top hitting breads that you guys are making at the bakery. What are some of the best sellers or the ones that you like making the most?
Chloe:I will say, coming into the business from Crustworthy I dissolved that business to bring over the assets from that into Third Space Bakery and similar to how Erica brought in a lot of recipes and Beth brought in a lot of teaching materials recipes that she had, I also brought in a lot of sourdough bread recipes from there. I would say, overall our top seller is called the house loaf and that is. You know, when someone comes in asking for a sourdough, that's what they mean. It's the classic, mild, mostly white flour sourdough. It's a really nice, well-balanced, all-purpose loaf, not super holy, which is intentional.
Doug:You're talking about the structure like the bubbles inside, Exactly the crumb. They call it the crumb.
Chloe:Okay, so we like sort of a middle ground crumb, just because we like to offer bread that is good for sandwiches, good for toast, you know, maybe a little bit more on the practical side, I like to believe, but this loaf has a really nice crust to it. It's really nice and soft and again a very mild flavor. We don't, you know, we really want to provide approachable bread. Now, that being said, we do also offer something on Fridays and Saturdays called the Baker's Choice, and that is a rotating flavor.
Chloe:There's not a ton of rhyme or reason to what we offer unless there's a holiday that we're trying to celebrate, um, but over the past week, for example, we were offering an onion turmeric loaf. That was a creation of one of our workers, uh, nick Webster, and it's a really delicious loaf and it has a beautiful golden hue from the turmeric. It's got caramelized onions inside and this 50% whole wheat based dough that's got a wonderful whole wheat flavor while still retaining a lot of the soft give that a white flour will give to a loaf.
Dustin:Oh, sounds amazing. It's one of my favorites, it's really good.
Chloe:You know, after the house loaf, our oat porridge loaf was really popular Whenever we took that away for a short while to focus on some other breads, there was a bit of an outcry so we ended up bringing that back.
Doug:You heard about it.
Chloe:Yeah, yeah, we did. And then we also make breads for all of our in-house sandwiches. We do a ciabatta for some sandwiches, we do flatbreads and we also started offering breakfast sandwiches with a house-made English muffin. That we worked on for quite a while and I will say I'm really happy with where it's at now that we're offering it.
Doug:Yeah, this English muffin, the.
Chloe:English muffin.
Doug:Is this English muffin and some of the other breads you've mentioned. Do they all still have a sourdough starter component, or do some of them? I think a lot of folks think that sourdough is just one kind of bread.
Chloe:Exactly yeah, and we do try to educate folks in the nicest way possible. When people do come in asking for a sourdough, you know we'll say yeah, you know, all of our breads are sourdough based. Everything except for the English muffin, All of our breads are sourdough based Everything except for the English muffin.
Chloe:We actually decided, you know we were testing different recipes and kind of struggling to find the exact flavor profile we wanted. We wanted it to still taste, you know, yeasty and nostalgic, but we love that developed flavor of sourdough. And in the end we decided you know what we like the non-sourdough version better. So let's just not do sourdough.
Doug:I love these kinds of trial and error decisions for a business decision. Right, you have all been in business. We're just around a one-year anniversary, right, you opened on 4-12 of 2024. That's right, so 4-12-2025 is one year.
Chloe:Yes, congratulations. Thank you so much.
Doug:Yeah, oh my gosh.
Chloe:It's so funny to look back on pictures of that opening day, you know cutting the ribbon and just remembering how exciting and terrifying that all was oh my gosh, I can't imagine. Yeah, so it's really a big deal for us to be hitting this one year landmark with a lot of new ideas for what to do next and just recognize how much the space itself has changed as well. Yeah, we're feeling pretty darn good going into the next year.
Doug:Well, I have to say we're coming into the warmer months of the year. You have this incredible deck that people like to hang out on. I know you've also done some after hours things out on. I know you've also done some after hours things. So it feels like a community space, like the third space that is not home or work right. So you guys are getting there.
Chloe:Yeah and yeah, and thank you for mentioning I mean, we really do want to create a third space for people in this bakery, and a lot of the events that we offer are primarily possible due to the work that Beth Taylor has done. You know one of the co-owners. I mean, she's just phenomenal at what she does in bringing people together, able to bring in local artists and showcase their work, offer some different styles of food to people. Getting to change the space around a bit. Yeah, as we do hit into these warmer months, we have a lot of plans for the summer being able to offer more things during the week more regularly.
Chloe:We have some new neighbors as well. You know, Open Road just opened up next to us.
Doug:Yes, this is a non-alcoholic bottle shop. Yeah, bottle shop.
Chloe:And I think they're working on their bar section as well, so that should be opening soon, which I'm really excited about.
Doug:I need to stop there. I knew they were up in Allentown before, so they just made that move, yeah.
Chloe:Yeah, so we're excited that they're on that side of us. We have Gym on our other side where we are often looking over and seeing people working out and getting sweaty, you know their doors open and it's just a. It's a great feeling, you know, very energetic and and communal.
Doug:I want to shout to the Gym people come over and get your carb load either before or after the workout.
Chloe:Yeah, exactly, yeah we're. We have a lot of jokes there, you know buns and buns. There's more merch. Yep, we're on it.
Doug:Chloe, before we get too far away from the food, if somebody hasn't visited the bakery yet and they were to walk in on a Saturday where you guys are fully stocked, what are some of the other great things beyond the bread that I'm going to find in the bakery?
Chloe:On the savory end, I would say, one of my favorite treats Friday through Sunday is the Khachapuri, and that is a Georgian cheese flatbread that was developed by Erica, and then the bread base was something that I had on hand. So, that was a fun collaboration, a truly special and unique third space treat that we created together and that, just fresh out of the oven, is incredible. You know it comes out.
Chloe:the cheese is bubbling in the center the edges are crispy and you mix in this eggy, buttery filling that, when it hits, the cheese just becomes emulsified into this gooey, delicious mess.
Dustin:Sounds great.
Chloe:Yeah yeah, we describe it as like a cheese boat. It's so delicious and filling On the sweet end. We have a full cake case with cake slices and we also do offer full cakes as well for sale. Not as much anymore on the retail side, but we get a lot of special orders, so we're focusing more on that end.
Doug:So just to clarify if I want a cake, I'm going to need to order that ahead.
Chloe:If I want a whole cake, yes, yeah, with the amount of staff that we have right now and just in our, you know, just a year in, we do recommend that people. If you would like to order from us, to do it on the early side, we require seven days pre-order notice.
Doug:I don't think that's that unusual for a smaller bakery.
Chloe:I don't think so either. Yeah, but yeah, lots of different kinds of cakes. The eclairs are one of my favorites, especially the almond one. Oh my God, something about it, that combination of the crunchy sugary almonds on top and then the almond pastry cream in the center. It's so good. We have a variety of different gluten-free and vegan options for folks. A lot of nut-free options. We're a peanut-free facility just trying to make something for everyone. We know that not all dietary restrictions are possible, but we're pretty excited to offer what we do have and we really make sure that anything that goes out on the floor is something that we're all in love with.
Doug:Yeah Well, I'll just add the last time I was there, when you mentioned the gluten-free option I think this is gluten-free I had a mini bete-noir, which is like a chocolate flourless little cake.
Rebecca:Yeah.
Doug:And it's a little bit boozy and it's delicious. And then every time I'm in, you have a huge swath of cookies leading up to the cash register and there are some really unique flavors. I love the one that's covered in sesame seeds. Yeah, that's a really fun one.
Chloe:That's our sesame buckwheat cookie. So good yeah, and I'm glad you bring that up too, because another thing that we try to promote in the bakery is grain diversity so that not everything that we're making is with, you know, white wheat flour. We really try to incorporate a lot of whole grains, as well as things like buckwheat rye. We do different rotating bread loaves, like the kamut loaf. We do like a whole a hundred percent rye loaf on Sundays only, for example, things that are a little more difficult to find in Pittsburgh and that we hope will become more prevalent as people fall more in love with these grains, as we have.
Doug:I love that. It's like an education through food and sort of expanding your palate. It sparks a question for me on like your suppliers, like where do you find some of these ancient grains or the different grains you're using all the time?
Chloe:We get most of our flowers through Frankferd Farms and they are so wonderful. I've been working with them since I was working with Crustworthy. They have a lot of regionally sourced, locally milled varieties of wheat and we get our buckwheat, our rye, from them and it also has the mill date on the package which is incredible.
Rebecca:So you know Exactly, you know exactly when it was milled.
Chloe:We do use Frankferd Farms milling when they mill the flowers themselves and we also use Small Valley milling, you know, when they mill the flowers themselves and we also use Small Valley Milling, which is out on the other side of PA but still in PA. So we are really trying to keep things regional, local as possible. It's just so important for our food economy.
Doug:Yeah, so good and I think just having that diversity, almost commanding it like, saying like we need diversity, but also in a local region.
Chloe:Exactly, Grain diversity is just as important as growing, you know, any kind of other agricultural diversity. We all know that monocropping has its issues, and the same is true with with growing the grains that we, you know that make up a lot of our diet.
Doug:You know, some folks say you know, they have you know whether it's true celiac disease or just gluten intolerance. Have you had anyone try your products that said they were a little bit more gluten intolerant, but they can eat your stuff, yes, yeah.
Chloe:Yeah, when I worked with Crust worthy at the farmer's markets I had a lot of one-on-one customer interaction and part of what I loved about working at the farmer's market was getting to have those times. You know where you could kind of step aside from the stall trying to find something that works for this person. A lot of people who have a gluten sensitivity find that they can digest true sourdough bread without any issues, and that's in part due to the long fermentation that sourdough has the special microbes that are involved in a wild culture, versus just the one strain of yeast that you'll find in commercial baking.
Chloe:So a sourdough culture is made of yeast and bacteria. The bacteria does a lot to release certain nutrients to us, to break down some of the gluten proteins and make that just a little bit easier for us to digest.
Doug:I would also think that you know you mentioned about sourcing the grains locally and that they're much more diverse and maybe some of them are more ancient, and these are things that we're not getting in a supermarket. Monoculture white bread.
Chloe:Yeah, all of that's helping. And it is, yeah, I mean, a lot of ancient grains also have lower protein contents, to begin with, you know lower gluten protein contents to begin with and that does create different kinds of bread, and a part of us experimenting and bringing these new flowers to the table is also asking people to kind of accept these new flavors and sometimes also these new appearances of bread, because a lot of people come in wanting or expecting. You know, the large white. I call it the large busty loaf because it's just so it's just marketed that way.
Chloe:Um and there there is value in that and there is a place for that. But there are also these really hearty, delicious whole grain loaves, or even just you know, ancient grain loaves that might have a different aesthetic but have their own value and place on the table. And I think just if, the more that people can accept this kind of diversity, the better their stomachs will be and also the better the grain economy will be.
Doug:Yeah, it's funny too. As you were just talking, I was envisioning some of the breads I've had from you and you mentioned earlier. They make great toast. I love an open face sandwich with them because they're hearty. I love that they add flavor to a sandwich or, you know, whatever you're doing with it, If you're going to make a crouton or something, you're getting so much more depth of flavor out of this type of bread.
Chloe:Absolutely yeah. Anyone who comes into the bakery and says, oh, I don't like rye bread, I tell them to try the a hundred percent rye.
Chloe:Just just try it once, because it's different it's.
Chloe:you know, a lot of people also equate rye with that anise kind of it's the caraway seeds that does it, and our rye doesn't have that, and instead it has this incredible earthy flavor to it.
Doug:Chloe, you said you guys use Frankferd farms for all the grains. I don't know if you've seen this, but Rick Sebak just put a video out for Weatherbury farm in Avella. Have you ever heard of them?
Chloe:Yeah, I think they're doing incredible work. We haven't gotten to use a ton of their grains, I think in part because they are working such small batch. It's difficult for us to incorporate that into the bakery, but I would like to start using them more.
Doug:We have to go on a trip and get some stuff from them.
Chloe:I would love to. Yeah, honestly, I really want to go and take a field trip and see their operation. Yeah, this is Chloe Newman with Third Space Bakery, and you're listening to the Pittsburgh Dish.
Doug:I do want to pivot a little bit. Chloe, you mentioned earlier that you had this other business, crustworthy. You dissolved it and you brought those assets into Third Space. I would love to take a step further back and just ask you where that all got going. You know what's the origin story of your, of your bread making and this journey.
Chloe:It all started. I wish I had kind of like an aha moment to say like this is where it all began, but honestly I think I was. You know, I was in my mid twenties and I was, uh, exploring. I was exploring more kind of a DIY lifestyle. I wanted to start growing my own vegetables and I was interested in sustainability and I wanted to see how back to my roots could I get while living in the city of Pittsburgh, self-reliant.
Chloe:Yes yes, self-reliant. And I learned about sourdough and I wasn't specifically a bread baker before then. I loved to bake and I loved to cook. But when I discovered sourdough and I wasn't specifically a bread baker before then I loved to bake and I loved to cook. But when I discovered sourdough, it was this really unique type of cooking and baking that I hadn't experienced before, where there's a science and an art to it. And it's interesting because I actually, you know, when I went to school, I got my art degree, but I also was interested in science and, you know, I came to Pittsburgh intending to study chemistry and visual art at the same time, and I've found sourdough to be a really beautiful marriage of those two worlds, where you are working with your hands, you are intuiting and feeling, um, creating, but you're also measuring and recording. I just kind of fell head over heels for that and started baking sourdough bread at home.
Chloe:I baked a lot of bad bread at first before I understood how it worked, but I still ate it and I still kept with it and I took a lot of that frustration and said like no, I'm going to, I'm going to figure this out. I had a lot of that frustration and said like, no, I'm going to, I'm going to figure this out. I had a lot of support from friends who would buy loaves for me and it kind of got to the point where people are requesting bread from me.
Chloe:You know to buy and I was like yeah, I was like, I guess, sure, and sourdough is one of those things where it does make sense to make more at one time because it does take a lot of time to make. It takes about the same amount of time to make one loaf of bread as it does to make 10 loaves of bread. So why not Out of a home oven? That's a little difficult. When it got to the point where I was baking like 12 loaves of bread at home you know, like maybe one or two loaves in the oven at a time I was like, okay, something, something's got to give here. I either need to chill on this part of life or I need to dive into it.
Chloe:And I decided to dive in. I was actually at the time I was. I was working as a pastry assistant at gluten-free goat bakery. So I was working with gluten-free items and learning a lot from the pastry chef there about how to run a small specialty bakery business. And when I left there that's when I started Crestworthy and I just dove into the farmer's markets I started renting out kitchen space from the Bakery Society, which no longer exists.
Chloe:It was a short blip in.
Chloe:Pittsburgh's history, but it really gave me a place to do the production that I needed for the farmer's markets. I was doing three markets a week, which is absolutely insane.
Doug:What year, what time is this?
Chloe:I think I officially started the business in 2000. 2019 was my first year doing farmer's markets.
Dustin:Okay.
Chloe:Yeah, because I remember the next year was my first year doing the Bloomfield market and that was when COVID, you know, hit and that was the year that I started building out my garage bakery in my home.
Doug:Yeah, that was a really really odd year for everyone, but the market still kept going most of the time, though, right Cause they were outside and people had access to to still shop. Exactly yeah.
Chloe:The markets ended up being a lifesaver. I mean certainly for me, making my career out of it, but also, yeah, for a space to shop safely, a space to see people you know from far away but to still just feel human and be outside and and getting fresh food.
Doug:Yeah, yeah, you were also quite lucky to have that as the format during that time.
Chloe:Yeah, no, I definitely was very lucky in that it presented a lot of challenges as well in terms of building out the garage. You know supply chain, I've heard that forever. But also, you know, just like getting contractors to help me out. And yeah, there were a lot of challenges too that COVID presented. But I do recognize that I'm so happy I didn't try to create a brick and mortar in that year, yeah yeah.
Doug:So Crustworthy is really successful. I found you through Instagram and the Bloomfield market and had had your bread before you, linked up with Erica and Beth. And then when did you all start plotting the bakery?
Chloe:Erika and I were both in the maker and residence program at Chatham.
Chloe:That's right that was where we first met and you know we didn't have a ton of chances to really connect there, in part because of the pandemic hitting and things going remote. But I knew when we met like we had a lot of common interest in the world of baking and then we actually ended up vending next to each other at the Bloomfield Winter's Market and that was another fortuitous moment. We got to talking and I was already kind of planning my next steps because I knew I didn't want to continue doing crust worthy as I was doing it.
Chloe:You know, one woman operation out of my garage. Um had a lot of benefits, but sustainability wise, I knew it wasn't what I wanted to do forever and I I really missed working with people and Erica. I had a good feeling, Erica Erica, I loved her products. Everything that I tasted from her table was so delicious. I loved the fact that she promoted green diversity and she had all of this experience, professional experience that I really admired and I was thinking you know, I was interested in this cooperative model and once she learned what that was, she was interested as well. And whenever Erica agreed that we would try to do this, she said hey, you know, I've got a friend that I also would really love to work with and I think she could bring a lot into this. I'm sure this has been said on the podcast before by them, but I love it.
Doug:No, I love re-hitting that you all brought these different strengths and angles to what you're all doing right now.
Chloe:Yeah, and it was. I mean, the teaching kitchen aspect was something I hadn't really considered. I mean, um, I had been teaching classes through crust worthy and I wanted to continue that, but I don't think I had imagined that we could be doing two, sometimes three classes a week and really making it a part of our core identity at Third Space Bakery, and I wouldn't have it any other way.
Doug:It's also what brings it into that Third Space model. It's a community building thing. I've got to do a class there now. I really loved it. And I've attended a workshop there, so it's super fun and it I mean it doesn't make it feel like a normal bakery in the best way you know you are. You're just doing something else, you're learning something. And then I also love the transformation back to we're a business by day.
Chloe:Yeah, the whole space being open really helps with that feeling as well too. I think you know you come into the bakery and you can see us working right there on the tables. Of course, there are divisions, you know, to keep everything safe, but, uh, you can see everything that we've made and everything that we're making for the next day or you know, the next couple of days. Um, we're there to answer questions, you know, if you see someone, you know, oh, hey, how's it going? You know it's it's. I think it takes the best parts of what I got at the farmer's market, where you see, you know regular people, you have new people coming in asking questions and you even get to see, you know how it's made and and get to learn about it too. You know we often have people coming in and say like, hey, what's, what's that you're making right there?
Chloe:It was like oh, this is our. You know, this is our buckwheat pastry, um uh, excuse me, our buckwheat crust that we're making for our quiche and for our galettes.
Doug:Oh, that quiche. By the way, that quiche is really good. It's a killer quiche If they are not sold out, is this more a weekend thing as well.
Chloe:We actually do it through the week, but we do sell out quite a bit. We're upping our numbers, but we are having a tough time keeping up.
Doug:Oh my gosh, I didn't mean to interrupt you there, but that quiche is.
Chloe:so yeah, that's definitely a good one. I'm glad you brought that in, yeah.
Doug:You mentioned something else and it just makes me want to take one more step back. You said you came to Pittsburgh and was thinking about that combination of art and science. Where did you grow up?
Chloe:I grew up in Rhode Island. Rhode Island, yeah, there aren't too many of us here in Pittsburgh. Every once in a while you run into one. But, um, grew up in Rhode Island, yeah, graduated high school and and came, uh, to CMU and um, yeah, you know, my first semester was studying art, you know visual art, drawing and painting, and um, and I was also taking chemistry classes. Yeah, it was wild, wild time. Um, and I pretty immediately found that I was falling in love with the studio art program there at.
Chloe:CMU, I wasn't sure yet what I wanted to do with it. For a long time I thought I would be some kind of an illustrator. Even like towards the end of my stay at CMU, was really into like comics and graphic novels. Oh, wow, yeah.
Doug:And on your side, when you have a day off, are you still into some of that stuff? Are you still doing any drawing or something relating to that? Or is it like no Doug, I'm baking bread?
Chloe:Just lying on my back on the floor. No, I you know I've picked up drawing on and off over the years. I really took a step back from it whenever I started my baking business. It is truly a wonderful creative outlet. You know, being able to bake. It's not exactly the same Um and uh. Yeah, with drawing. I have a very on and off relationship with it. Now I still love it and I still. I still revisit it from time to time.
Chloe:I do still love reading graphic novels and kind of being involved in that world to some extent, um, I mean, when I'm not working too, I've started climbing and I really love doing that.
Doug:Like rock climbing like rock climbing.
Chloe:Yeah.
Chloe:Um, I've found that it really helps my body a lot to be able to stretch and and move in different ways, just from standing and walking and picking up all day. So I wasn't expecting it. At first I thought like, oh, I'm going to be exhausted all the time, but I mean I am, but it's, it was going to be that way anyway. Um, instead I just I feel a little bit more like well-rounded and like at least now I have a physical activity that I love doing outside of work.
Doug:So you've been in Pittsburgh for a while. It sounds like it's home now.
Chloe:It is, yeah, I still go back to Rhode Island over the summers. My parents stay in Rhode Island. They have moved to Sarasota, florida. During the winter months they are snowbirds, they are. Yeah, so I'm actually going to visit them in Florida, or I guess by the time this podcast comes out I'll have visited them. But, yeah, getting to visit them. You know, every so often and whenever I go back to Rhode Island, I'll visit my old stomping grounds, but I'm not there too often anymore.
Doug:Yeah, I've really have stayed in Pittsburgh for the most part.
Chloe:Well, we're happy you're here. Thank you, yeah, it's a. I mean, I've heard so many people on your podcast say this and it's really true Like what an amazing community and a place to live.
Doug:I love that. I I couldn't agree more. Really, I do want to ask what was food life like growing up in your family in Rhode Island? Did you cook at an early age, or who cooked for you?
Chloe:as educators and still found time to make food special.
Chloe:Um, we have like a family recipe for birthday cakes and, um, I mean, my mom's recipe folder is incredible and very thick. I, I, just I remember like every Friday night especially, we would have some kind of like a family dinner Usually. I I also grew up in a Jewish household and Friday night is the Sabbath and my mom would make challah. Yeah, that was really special to me growing up, and food has always felt emotionally connected to me and a way to bring people together. I've always loved sharing food with people.
Doug:It sounds like you're in the right lane.
Chloe:Yeah, I was wondering. Maybe that's where the love of baking and bread making started. Then just give them out. You know, even over the pandemic, there was that wonderful, beautiful emergence of sourdough. As you know, this is something that you can give to your neighbors, something that not only will keep you from losing your mind, but, you know, something that you can share with other people.
Doug:Yeah, nourish them in so many different ways.
Chloe:Exactly, yeah, yeah, and I also. I actually over the last year have kind of taken to baking for fun at home again. Yeah, I wasn't doing that as much with crust worthy, but I've just started kind of dabbling at home. Every once in a while I'll, I'll get a kick for something.
Doug:Chloe, I know I know we mentioned a moment ago that you're at your one year anniversary for the bakery, so I would love to ask what is ahead in your mind? Do you guys have some new goals or events or anything special coming up?
Chloe:We are honestly so excited to make more use of our outdoor deck.
Chloe:I think it's one of the features of the bakery that we wish we could use more, you know, throughout the year. But we are in Pittsburgh and, yeah, we have some plans for just making that a more uh, fun space, a more utilized space. We have some ideas about different events that we're going to that a more fun space, a more utilized space. We have some ideas about different events that we're going to offer more regularly. You know, none of them are on the calendar yet, so I'm a little hesitant to share exactly what we have in mind, but I would definitely.
Chloe:I would recommend that folks follow us on social media or we also have a newsletter that people can sign up for through our website and that's the best way to find out first whenever we have classes available or special events. But we'll definitely be announcing whenever we have more of those events going on as well outside. And aside from that, I will say you know we're sorry to say that we're not going to be a part of the Bloomfield Market this year. We're not going to be a part of the Bloomfield market this year, but that is in part due to us just wanting to really focus on the storefront and what we can offer there and like help build the community around that building and that space.
Doug:Yeah, part of the growing up process, exactly.
Chloe:Yeah, yeah, yeah. There's a lot we really loved about that market, but also we really feel confident that this is going to help us provide for our immediate community better.
Doug:Yeah, and you're not that far away, so A people should still go to the Bloomfield Farmer's Market. There's lots of amazing vendors. Yes, and then you just take a few blocks up to Penn Avenue and stop at Third Space.
Chloe:Exactly yeah, yep.
Doug:All right.
Chloe:Since you mentioned the newsletter, why don't we go ahead and remind folks of your social handles and the website and how they can sign up for classes, to order a special cake or pastries, anything like that ahead of time? A lot more information about the bakery and the cooperative end. We actually also uh, anytime that we have, you know, job postings. That'll be on there too.
Doug:I think I just saw two yes we are hiring yeah, uh, we are hiring.
Chloe:And our social handles. Third Space PGH for Instagram. Third Space Bakery for Facebook.
Doug:Okay, do you want to give a personal handle if people want to just find and follow you?
Chloe:Oh sure, yeah. Yeah, it used to be crust worthy, but now it's just called still crusty.
Doug:I love that. All right, Chloe, I always have an ending question for our guests. All right, Chloe, I always have an ending question for our guests. The name of the show is The Pittsburgh Dish. What's the best dish you've eaten this past week?
Chloe:I was actually inspired by one of your previous episodes from Community Kitchen and I went to their fish fry. Oh yes, and it was phenomenal. I loved it. It was so good and, honestly, the energy in the room I mean I went on the later end of the day and so many people buzzing about you know the room was packed with just smiles and fried food and amazing smells. There were bells ringing and you know people kind of like yelling out orders but um rounds of applause for the staff.
Chloe:And it just felt so good to be there and, honestly, the fish was incredible. I ate the whole giant sandwich.
Doug:It's a gigantic battered haddock and I have had it as well. Yes, did you have the tartar sauce? Yes, it's house-made. It is amazing.
Chloe:I should have ordered more of the tartar sauce, honestly. Yeah, it was so good.
Doug:I told them they should probably figure out how to bottle that. Uh, yeah, it was so good. I told them they should probably figure out how to bottle that. Uh-huh, I would buy it. Yeah, did you or anybody have anything else beyond the fish?
Chloe:Yes, we ordered the halushki.
Doug:Oh, I didn't have that.
Chloe:That was so good and buttery and like, yeah, the cabbage, all of it was amazing. The fries were also excellent. Me and my partner are always particular about the fries we get from places in Pittsburgh and their fries were excellent.
Doug:A plus.
Chloe:Yeah.
Doug:I had the fries, I had the mac and cheese and I had the coleslaw. Ooh yeah, it was all good and just to remind our listeners, this is Community Kitchen Pittsburgh, located in Hazelwood, and this is their Lenten fish fry season. It'll go on for a few more weeks, up until Easter. Yeah, chloe, it has been such a pleasure getting to know you and I feel like I've rounded it out. I got all of the owners now from Third Space. Thank you so much for taking some time and for being on The Pittsburgh Dish.
Chloe:Doug, thank you so much for having me here. It's been a pleasure.
Doug:Up next. Do you have a neighborhood restaurant that stops you from buying groceries? Rebecca Hansborough of the 41 Chew shares her place. Hey everybody, we're joined today with Rebecca Hansborough of the 41 Chew on Instagram. I was wondering if you have, I don't know, maybe just like a local neighborhood spot that you just love, that you think needs a little love.
Rebecca:Yes, so Legends Eatery in the North side it is a family owned Italian restaurant. Me and my fiance go there all the time. It's like it's perfect for date night. It's perfect for there's actually an instance where we were actively walking to the grocery store like we had our giant ingo bags in our hand and I was just like, well, what if we just went to the grocery store tomorrow and just went to legends?
Rebecca:and we legit did that so we went to the restaurant with the grocery bags and like folded them and put them underneath the table and had legends and that's how good the food is.
Doug:It was an easy detour.
Rebecca:Oh, I didn't, I don't even think I, I didn't even have to hold a gun to his head, I just, I think I said ledge and he was like yeah, let's do it. So yeah, definitely definitely a place to go.
Doug:Let's talk about some of the dishes you guys love the most. What would be a go-to order? What?
Rebecca:would be a go-to order. Go-to for him is definitely going to be chicken parmesan.
Doug:And when we say him this is your husband.
Rebecca:Yes, and I didn't even tell him I was going to be talking about him this much, but he should be used to it by now.
Chloe:Chicken parm for him. Yeah, chicken parm for him.
Rebecca:I am more of a special girly, so you know I love a good special and it just depends on like kind of what they're offering. If I'm not going with a special, they have, um, this kind of like pasta seafood, pasta seafood and kind of like this spicy sauce. I'm not even going to try to say what the actual italian pronunciation sometimes like arrabbiata or diavolo.
Doug:I think it's diavolo.
Rebecca:Yeah, yes, it's very good little devil oh my god, shrimp. Yes, it's delicious, it's really good and, and then the beans and grains, oh I love a good beans. I just made a face. If you didn't.
Doug:Yes, the pause is.
Dustin:I had to pretend I forgot that I was.
Rebecca:I just made a very strong facial expression for those listening. You know I I don't want to say best beans and greens in the city because I've only had like a handful. So I feel like that's not fair. But I'm still going to say it because I do think they have really good beans and grains. They traditionally help me out here. Beans and greens are made with.
Doug:Well, you would do like cannellini, like a white bean, and escarole is traditional. A lot of places use spinach.
Rebecca:Yes, so I'm pretty sure they use like I don't want to say salad lettuce, but something very similar to that.
Doug:Yes.
Rebecca:In addition to the escarole, that gives it this really nice Like a lightness Crunch.
Doug:Yeah.
Rebecca:Okay, and it's absolutely delicious Gosh, and they don't have. I'm pretty sure they probably use some type of broth of meat, but there's no sausage in it. Yeah, which I've had sometimes with sausage I've sometimes had it with like a banana pepper me too, it's a very no, it's a very simple this is a straightforward straightforward beans and greens, and it's absolutely to die for.
Rebecca:Like we've joked about just going back to just get that, but we never do. And then another thing that I really love is, um, it's byob, which is like really nice, yes, um. And then you have to remember to bring your own wine glasses though, because they don't have regular ones, and it's always really funny when we go and forget because they just give you like a water glass.
Doug:I think that's kind of cute. I mean, which I mean?
Rebecca:you know, you get healthy pores that way. I guess no-transcript. It just makes me feel like you know, for those two hours that we're eating there, that I got like adopted you're part of the family.
Doug:yeah, so, yeah, all right. I got one more question about the fudge. Okay, do they just like you don't order it? Do they just bring you out a little piece at the end?
Rebecca:Yeah, at the end they bring you like a plate of fudge and you can choose from chocolate or peanut butter. I believe I want to go and I usually go for the chocolate. Okay. And it's just a really well-rounded meal and you just feel like satisfied. Yeah, and I would say I mean pricing is.
Chloe:I would say, pricing is pretty reasonable yeah 25, 30, you know kind of like in that window.
Rebecca:So it's not, it's not going to you know it's not going to debt you out, but it is. I think it's reasonably priced for sure.
Doug:Well, it sounds delicious. Yes, Legends.
Rebecca:Now, I want it. I know I want to go too.
Doug:I'm like, let's go right now. We're right before dinner, let's take the podcast equipment.
Rebecca:No, let's go.
Doug:All right, Rebecca Legends on the North Side.
Rebecca:Yes.
Doug:Thank you so much.
Rebecca:Absolutely.
Doug:You can follow Rebecca on Instagram at THE underscore 4-1 underscore CHEW. Where does salsa stand on your hierarchy of favorite condiments? For many nowadays, it's number one. We get a family recipe for salsa piquin by Dustin Boutilier of 77 Club. Hey everybody, we're joined today with Dustin Boutilier of 77 Club. Dustin, last time you and your wife were here, we talked about all of the things you're making in terms of your pizza oven, like the panuzzos, but you mentioned from your family food that you have some Mexican roots. Can you give us a family recipe that you guys might be making at home, or something that was really delicious when you were growing up?
Dustin:Yeah, I mean, it's present on every table. It's just a little bowl of salsa. Oh, I'll take it. So the salsa that I like to make is a salsa with a piquin of salsa. Oh, I'll take it. So it's also that I like to make, because it's also the pekin so you'll take little pekin peppers, little dry peppers a little tiny red, little tiny devils, oh yes so salsa piquin or, I'm sorry, chili the pekin, a little chili the arbol, and you, you toast those until they're fragrant like a dry pan or something.
Dustin:Yeah, dry pan you want to taste that little or smell that little like corny flavor? Yes, take those off. You're going to put under your broiler some you know quartered onions, some tomatoes, some garlic, and you're just going to burn everything.
Doug:Oh yeah on purpose on purpose.
Dustin:You want a lot of that char yeah, on purpose, on fire, on just fully charred, and you you put that on the blender, just blitz it all together and the secret to the sauce that really ties it together is just a little bit of fish sauce, really.
Doug:Yeah, oh, my goodness, I would never. It's so delicious, okay. So let me just recap that. You've toasted some of those tiny peppers. You've roasted your vegetables under the broiler, nicely burnt, so you get lots of black bits. Peppers you've roasted your vegetables under the broiler, nicely burnt, so you get lots of black bits. Everything is going in the blender, so the peppers, the veggies, any citrus, any acid going in there oh, of course, yeah, a little, a little bit of lime okay, a little bit of lime and then fish sauce.
Doug:If you're making a batch like give us an approximation, would you say you're putting in a splash like Did you say you're putting in? A splash, splish, splash, taking a bath Not taking a bath Because it's powerful.
Dustin:Yeah, it is. Yeah, I mean, tempt it, put it in there, push it to where maybe you couldn't taste it. Now you are tasting it and pull back from that. That's right. If we're saying we're making two cups of salsa, put a teaspoon.
Doug:Yeah, I would just give that little back note of something.
Dustin:umami ish it's crazy because you get the smoky citrus. It's like thai food. You really get. You hit all of it. It's like my favorite thing and then we'll put that on a panooza one day, let's do that?
Doug:oh my gosh, that's like total fusion in the best way ever, hey same color flag. Yeah, and just, I guess salt to taste right. I guess salt to taste right. Oh, absolutely, salt to taste, all right, and it is I'm not going to say it right.
Dustin:Say it for me again.
Doug:Salsa de Piquin, salsa de Piquin. Yeah, chili Piquin Sounds so good. Dustin, thanks so much and thanks for being on The Pittsburgh Dish.
Dustin:Thank you.
Doug:Check out Dustin and Brittani on Instagram at 77 Club for their pop-up residencies to Snag a panuzzo and congratulations on their brand new oven. Do you have a recipe? Share it with us. Just visit our website at www. pittsburghdish. com and look for our Share a Recipe form. If you enjoyed the show, consider buying us a coffee for this episode or supporting the show monthly. You can find links to those options at the bottom of our show description and if you want to follow my own food adventures, you can find me on social media at DougCooking. That's our show for this week. Thanks again to 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.
