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
067 Kate Romane of Black Radish Kitchen
Meet Kate Romane, the culinary force behind Black Radish Kitchen who's quietly reshaping Pittsburgh's restaurant landscape by opening her doors to emerging talent. What started as a catering business in a light-filled warehouse has evolved into an incubator for the city's next generation of great chefs.
After learning to cook in the Strip District at Enrico Biscotti Company, Kate opened E2 (E-squared) during "Snowmageddon" when Highland Park residents desperately needed a place to eat. Years later, when the pandemic devastated her thriving catering business, she pivoted again, creating "Belly Basket" - a delivery service that maintained connections with both customers and local farmers during isolation.
The magic of Black Radish extends beyond exceptional seasonal food. Kate has helped launch numerous Pittsburgh restaurants by sharing her space and knowledge with talents like Nik Forsberg of Fet-Fisk, Csilla Thackray of the upcoming Titusz, and Bethany Zozula formerly of Whitfield. "It doesn't take anything away from us," Kate explains about her philosophy of collaboration over competition. "If we don't start reinvesting in people with talent to make great restaurants, we're all going to suffer."
Kate's culinary approach centers around the table as a gathering place. This emphasis on community pervades everything Black Radish creates, from farm-driven catering menus to special dinners featuring seasonal ingredients and visiting chefs.
Experience Kate's food philosophy yourself at upcoming events like their tomato dinner or monthly Sunday Sauce gatherings.
Plus later in the show, an immersive dining experience at Just In Thyme and a recipe of beans and greens that balances hearty and light cooking! Bring your appetite.
Welcome to The Pittsburgh Dish. I'm your host, Doug Heilman. What happens when you open your catering kitchen space to other aspiring chefs? Well, you help create the next generation of great Pittsburgh restaurants. This week, we talk with Kate Romane and learn about the magic of Black Radish Kitchen. Want dinner and a movie all at once? Ashley Cesaratto clues us in to Just In Thyme and looking to keep your summer meal light, but want something a little bit more than salad? Jen Flanagan shares her unique take on greens and beans topped with a lemon vinaigrette. All that ahead, stay tuned, I'm ready. All that ahead, stay tuned, I'm ready. All right, I'm glad. Well, thank you so much for coming over, probably during a very busy time, and thanks for being on the show.
Kate:I'm so excited to be here.
Doug:Honored really. Oh, would you introduce yourself to our listeners?
Kate:My name is Kate Romane and I am the chef owner of Black Radish Kitchen.
Doug:And Kate, if we have some listeners that are not familiar with Black Radish Kitchen, could you just explain a little bit about what your business is and does?
Kate:We're a catering and events company first, but we have also added these elements from the beginning, since we always have space in the kitchen to incubate and welcome other chefs. Yes, so that's a big part of what makes it fun for us, but, but catering is our bread and butter.
Doug:Right.
Kate:We do events, and then we also we have the catering companies in this big old warehouse with these beautiful windows.
Doug:It's a great space.
Kate:It's a cool space. Yeah yeah, super lucky to find that, because you really rarely get natural light when you're cooking in a kitchen.
Doug:I think isn't Adam Milliron also in the same space? Yes, he's a great photographer for food. If folks don't know, we'll have to have him on at some point Definitely. But both of your spaces, like there's just incredible light, incredible like expanse, and I know when I've been there what I appreciate is you still see everything that's kind of going on in the kitchen. I mean, maybe there's some shelving or something, but you're pretty connected as a guest to your space.
Kate:Yeah, they're all in the, we're all in the space together. There's just some like you. You said some shelving with some plates on it separating us, but it's funny you bring up adam. The adam is the reason and how we got into the space, really in with, yeah, um, when he was doing shoots for table magazine, um, and I was kind of in my space with the restaurant I had and kind of in between of like, what am I going to do about a situation I had there? I would come by and see him, and uh, and then the space opened up across from him. Somebody was just ready to be done and it was like the perfect timing to take over. The hood was already in a lot of the major stuff it was.
Kate:couldn't have been a better moment.
Doug:Yes, I owe a ton to to adam. Oh my gosh, that's a great story. Yeah, um well, if we're, if folks are not familiar, if they have visited, it's over in point breeze lynn way, I think it's the street.
Kate:It's in the x factory which is, you know, there's a lot of different businesses in there.
Doug:um millie's was in there at the beginning, but now there's Pigeon Bagel is in there, wild Rise, I heard that Wild Rise was closing up, but another guest of the show, Emily Foster of Self-Reliant Satan, is moving into that space. Yeah, so there's a lot of activity, yeah.
Kate:Yeah, I love that Pittsburgh is. You know, we're seeing some people go after the dreams. Yeah, I loved what Oliver was doing with wild rice, though.
Doug:Yeah, you actually sparked something when you said seeing people go after the dreams, because I definitely want to talk about that in a little while. I think you've helped so many folks. Before we leave the the list of all the things that, uh, black radish is doing, one of the things I know is you host dinners, or you allow folks to host dinners in the space, and also the email that reminds me of you all the time is the belly basket email. Can you tell folks a little bit more about that, and where did that start?
Kate:Well, it really started when, when we closed the restaurant, we did not really have a plan to be honest and a way to to gap, to bridge the gap between people who miss the restaurant and talking about the catering company, we started this thing called love and meatballs, where we would you know, we'd sell that and it was a delivery service that we'd bring the meatballs to you that you would be missing from E squared.
Doug:Um the former restaurant and I had those meatballs, delicious yes.
Kate:Yes, so that's kind of how it started, but then so we had had this infrastructure in place and then the pandemic happened.
Doug:Yeah, you know.
Kate:So the pandemic hit us right when we were things were really starting to finally work for Black Radish, we were starting to get hit our stride, hit our numbers and then, you know, obviously the world fell apart. So we pivoted quickly. I know the word of the pandemic was pivot.
Doug:But you had to evolve or just try new things to see what worked Exactly.
Kate:And at that point no one knew that there would be COVID relief money available. We were really in this desperate moment of like I didn't we have such a good team. I didn't want to lose them and I didn't want to lose connection to people, even though I knew that we were losing business by the day. You know, we were ironically on a plane back to Pittsburgh from a catering conference when all this started to go down. It was just, and we were just losing, I mean thousands and thousands of dollars by the minute.
Doug:Yeah, probably during the flight home. Yes, oh my gosh.
Kate:Literally like I don't want to talk about it but anyway, like and the good note is, belly basket came out of it. So we immediately just started a home delivery service. Like we were able to work with a lot of the vendors and our purveyors who were had an abundance of food because no one could sell it yeah, and our purveyors who were had an abundance of food because then we could sell it yeah, so we're getting it at a discounted price. We're able to get food to our staff, who we did have to lay off some and um into our customers and keep in contact that way, where it wasn't just about the food that we were delivering but that email of kind of being like me, actually like, really like word vomiting, being like the email is expressive, I mean like like you're telling us, like hey, things are crazy.
Doug:Um, here's what you need. Yeah, yeah.
Kate:Yeah, it's really, you know, the comforting part of food I really like to lean into, and certainly in this moment. Sometimes I'm like God. The news today is rough.
Kate:I need mashed potatoes.
Kate:What do you need? I don't know. So that's kind of that's been good for me to be able to think about what can be comforting in these moments, and also like seasonally like right now in the middle of summer, we've got tomatoes everywhere, so these menus for Belly Basket are really farm driven.
Doug:Ever since you started your first restaurant and even now I see that, yes, of course you have some consistency on your menus. Of course Italian food has always been a big thing for you, and then proteins and whatever. But the menu itself has to change because you really believe in seasonality and your purveyors are bringing stuff in. Who, who are some of your current like biggest partners that you're you're still getting produce and things from we work a lot with with Jodo at cold co cold co farm yeah.
Kate:And with Todd over at tiny seeds. We do work with this farm out of Ohio. That's been great. It's Christopher Springs farm. I met her a few years ago, an awesome operation. And then we're actually working a ton with Three Rivers Grown. They've been able to source from multiple farms and bring in, you know, dry goods and great grains and little specialty items, Like we're getting this amazing sunflower oil.
Doug:Oh yeah.
Kate:Which we've integrated into our basic mainline oil.
Doug:Oh, wow, you know it's funny. You had a picture on Instagram and I saw that sunflower oil and I tried to look it up. I don't think I could buy it. They were out of stock. Because it's more local, I think it comes somewhere from Pennsylvania.
Kate:Yeah, it does.
Doug:Yeah, I love that Three Rivers Grown. I think I first knew them or understood that it was Clarion River Organics, but now it's like a lot more and they're almost like an aggregator for a bunch of small things and try and get it into sort of the mainstream of what you're doing.
Kate:Yeah, I think just in the last year they've really started to work with restaurants and they're now in like I mean, all of my friends are working with them and the product that we're able to get is awesome.
Doug:You have me thinking too, when we're talking about purveyors and all the great stuff you're getting. I know I just alluded to the menus. Can you tell me when you're doing these catering events, are there any I don't know, big requested things? Every time you're like, okay, this dish or this thing is of course. We're going to make it the most because people ask for it.
Kate:That's a really good question. You know, I think that people it's been a learning curve for me because I think having such a small restaurant with E-squared and then moving into you know, today we're going to cook for 450 people Crazy, you know. I mean, I think this week it's going to be like 1300 people.
Kate:And when you're working with you know a couple and they want to feed their friends and family, they want to keep it very approachable. So you know, we do just classic stuff. I mean like we put there's a lot of like really simple roasted vegetables, or like like right now we're doing a ton of classic tomato salads and just trying to keep the flavors good. And that's where those um, the quality of the products have to come in, because if we're going to keep something really simple, like just a tomato salad with some like cute little balsamic on it, it better be a good tomato or it's just going to taste like trash so yeah yeah um, and that's where I kind of rely on those like farmers to really do do do the work for me.
Doug:Your most recent post and maybe you probably don't. Do you do the social media? Do you have somebody do?
Kate:Oh no, I, I, I was, since since a E squared I, I don't think I'm great at it. And Aaron, who has? He worked at the restaurant and he started his own photography company.
Doug:He his own photography company. He does it all for us. Listen, he's doing a great job.
Kate:He does a great job and those pictures he takes.
Doug:Amazing. I think the latest one I mentioned earlier was Churchview Farm. You just did a dinner there. Can you just again, just to sort of tease us can you tell us what was on that menu, because there are some beautiful pictures Like there was a salad there looked like maybe there was a pasta dish, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Kate:You know, when we do those dinners try and incorporate what we can from the farm, what she has available. At the time we did like a peach, like a stone fruit and tomato salad with ricotta. Yes, and we got these little plums from Three Rivers Grown. Oh my God, they were so good, it looks so good. So good.
Doug:And all the flowers like a ton of edibles, and it just takes it to the next level, like each picture. If folks aren't following your feed , it's beautiful. It makes me want to come to something that you're doing. And so if folks are not getting invited to that wedding out at the Botanic Garden that you're hosting, but many times you are doing some kind of dinner at your space. So I think the next one is is it a tomato dinner or is it Sunday?
Kate:sauce. The next one we have is a tomato dinner. It's actually this next week, okay. Yeah, and we're pairing with nine o'clock wines. Who do all natural wines? They're two great people.
Kate:Um but yeah, you know, since you know I love catering and I love being a part of people's big days, you know, like I think that that's what's been nice. Um, we get to facilitate these meals that really just help people have their big moments in life. But I miss being able to be connected and, like host a dinner party where people can engage. That aren't, you know, having a wedding or a office party. It needs to be your party sometimes I think, Right, yeah, and these smaller dinners that we do.
Kate:We can be more creative and definitely more farm driven. So it's my favorite thing, like we do the Sunday sauce at the end of the month, which is a carryover from the restaurant, but it's it's my favorite day to cook. I am in there all day all by myself. I get to listen to Taylor Swift Like I like to, and um and uh, and I get to talk to people and, like you know, it's, and it's casual enough, where it doesn't feel stuffy, you know it's still just pasta and a lot of salads and a lot of vegetables and usually a Sundayae.
Kate:I don't think anything could be better for me thank you yeah, thanks for everything you're doing thanks and, like the other part is that we collaborate also when we do these dinners. Often, um, and that's always fun to get to cook with another chef and see how they do things, and yeah yeah, I think that's part of your strength is all the skills you already have.
Doug:you You've invited so many other great folks into your world that it's not just that you're sharing a space, you are learning from them.
Kate:Oh, yeah, yeah, I think that's been. You know, at first it was just because we had so much space, and then now it's like we need that new energy. You know, we've, I've been. I'm fortunate enough that a lot everybody that works at Black Radish has worked there for a while and they see our food every day and then when we bring in somebody else, it's like, oh, look, what they're doing with the sour cherries, or how Csilla is making this dessert, or even how they exercise plating or organizing a prep sheet, like it just gets you back into your craft to be like oh, there's another way we could do this, you know, and for me it's really good.
Kate:You know, I love to see how other chefs work, they organize themselves and the flavors they bring out. I mean having Beth from 40 North and Whitfield formerly. She's done some dinners. This is Bethany Zozula.
Doug:Yeah, yes, another part of the cadre of talent that I have seen there. Another part of the cadre of talent that I have seen there. And you also mentioned Csilla Thackray, who is on the path to opening Titusz, which was the old Merchant Oyster space in Lawrenceville. So that's the last dinner I went to at your space. Yeah, I was at the one with the chicken paprikash. Oh, yeah, I was at the last one with the duck. I'm so excited for her, and she's been around for a while. Anyway. I saw her at Fet Fisk. I think I first met her at Church View Farm as well. She was out there for a bit doing several dinners, so I'm excited for her.
Kate:I'm so excited for her. It's going to be delicious and I'm sure the space is going to be super cute. She's got great style.
Doug:You also mentioned Beth, and my husband Greg and I, our favorite restaurant was the Whitfield for the longest time. We all miss the Whitfield I really miss all of the starter dishes Like I want to. A I want to get her on this podcast, but B I want the carrot gratin that she used to make. That thing is so darn good.
Kate:Yeah, she's an amazing chef, and I've been a fan of her since she was at 11. So following her around and then actually getting to have her cook in the kitchen has been magic.
Doug:Kate, since we're talking about some of these names like Csilla Thackray and Bethany Zozula, I mean this is where my mind goes to all of the other things you do beyond Black Radish. There is this connectedness and kinship and community, and I think that's what I love about Pittsburgh and what I love about the work you're doing. I see really great chefs making their way to a restaurant. Did I also see, like when Nik Forsberg was getting FetFisk really to fruition? You played a big role in that too, didn't you?
Kate:Yeah, I mean he is clearly the talent and Sarah have put together something like really beautiful with FetFisk and through all the pop-ups, and it was more of that same sort of thing where I could see that these are people that need that, have the grit, they have the talent they're, they have the community. They're bringing all these people to these pop-ups that are excited about food and they're into it again and they're really creative and they approached me to just see if we could get them to the next level.
Kate:So, an introduction with the URA. Um, they're completely self-funded via the URA, which is really cool.
Doug:To get Lombardozzi's, that old location, to get it renovated. Amazing, yeah. And I just also want to pop in. They're doing something really different with food, which is what's exciting. I mean, who else is doing Nordic-inspired cuisine anywhere in Western Pennsylvania?
Kate:I don't know anybody else doing that, and it's just so creative.
Doug:It is.
Kate:And the work culture that they're trying to create over there is is really for the next generation. It's. It's really cool.
Doug:It's a cool tribe, like when you see all of their posts, it's really not about putting the chef first either and you do this as well it's the whole crew and what everyone's bringing and actually a lot of their posting I notice is like spotlighting each person on the staff and like what is their speciality, what are they bringing to the table? And then there's just tons of group shots. And even when they went to the James Beard nominations, like it was like here's what we did Partied all night. All these things I'm like I love you.
Kate:Oh, my God, that's so great, yeah, yeah, they're doing, they're doing really well. I'm excited for them, me too.
Doug:I did notice on part of your website it's Kate Romane productions and some of it is like this no-transcript Is elevating a chef friend to the next level. Part of your mission.
Kate:I've just started to try and put words to that. I don't think it was necessarily like something that was, you know, monetizing as much as I was like. This feels like the right thing to do. You know, I think that I can see that there's a gap in people trying to, and there's. You know, since the pandemic we've lost so many people. They've become like, really jaded by the industry.
Kate:But there's also this place where I'm like there's a ton of talent and they just want to get their own place and like how do we give them the platform to do that? And not that I'm like really doing the work as much as I'm just. You know, oftentimes we're just creating room in the kitchen.
Doug:Yeah, offering the space, yeah.
Kate:Like Driftwood was there for a very brief stint before from going from Neil's basement into their brick and mortar Like that kind of just. It doesn't. It doesn't take anything away from us. I think what's different when we do pop ups or or have people in the spaces, that we're not a restaurant, so we're. You know it's not interfering with our open hours If we're not trying to garnish more customers from it. It's literally a genuine like. I have the space, Do you want to use it? Can you make something? Can you take it to the next level?
Doug:Yeah, I think of it like an incubator for these folks. And, um, I talked to Simon Cho of Soju and he sort of does the same thing on his off days, Like hey, come in, use the kitchen, go do your thing, and I think that's. It's just what I love about our culture of food here in Pittsburgh. So thank you.
Kate:Yeah, yeah, I mean also, I think that we lost some really good restaurants during COVID and we we need to gain them back, and I think the more the merrier like Pittsburgh as a city needs good food and needs good culture, and if we don't start in reinvesting in the people that have talent to make great new restaurants, we're all going to suffer. I like to go out to eat. I mean, this is a other part of it. I like all these people's food. It's like I want to go to your restaurant.
Kate:Let's Get this restaurant open.
Doug:Let's go. Excellent food that I'm never going to make at home, yeah.
Kate:Yeah, Hi. This is Kate Romane with Black Radish Kitchen, and you're listening to The Pittsburgh Dish
Kate:All right, kind of jumping forward to one of the most recent things.
Doug:Did I see you starting to partner with low bar cocktails?
Kate:as well. Aubrey and Lisa are good friends and they, you know, they kind of started this cocktail service, which is awesome. And it also complements Black Radish. So they do cocktail service for events and it was something that we were. You know, we had started bar service when we first opened Black Radish. It was really clumsy at it. Aubrey and Lisa took that and then we kind of like they're like a sister company, but they've just opened a like they have their own spot now Down in McKee's.
Doug:Rocks, I think Low places. That's right, it's real cool. Okay, I still need to make it there, yeah.
Kate:So they've moved out of our space I think last year and moved once. They bought that building Okay.
Doug:But it was again another sort of incubation moment for another group of talented people.
Kate:Yeah, it's been and it's been. Really, I think it's been good for our team to also see that, like you know, oftentimes in the food service industry, like the way that we're portrayed on TV is that we're always in competition, yeah, and yelling, yeah, and it doesn't. It doesn't have to be like?
Doug:I hope not. I sort of hate competition shows.
Kate:I can't watch them. No, I'm like, this is so much. The only competition I'm in is with time. Yes, like, I'm just like. Oh my gosh, do we have enough time to get this done Right? So racing?
Doug:against the clock, yeah. So we're talking a lot about the growth of others and how you've helped them. I would like to pivot a little bit and talk about your growth and your journey. I know you and your name maybe close to 15 years now here in Pittsburgh. Can we talk a little bit about your culinary career here in the city? When did you move to Pittsburgh? I know you didn't grow up here. Where did you grow?
Kate:up, I grew up and I went to high school in Columbus. Ohio and then I have an aunt Nicole on the north side, just a Hail Mary move to move here in like 1997, right out of high school and didn't really think I would stay. Okay, but Pittsburgh is really welcoming. I did try and leave a couple of times but we implanted the magnet and you cannot leave now.
Kate:I do love Pittsburgh. It's really been so supportive. I mean, when I opened the restaurant, that's a whole other story. We'll get into that. But yeah, I started at Enrico Biscotti Company in the Strip District Just working the counter and then slowly just learned to bake. You know, the Strip District at that time was a lot more food. So, there was, you know, produce everywhere and, like the people at Pennmac, were incredibly educational when it comes to products, cheese and everything, so learned a lot.
Doug:learned a lot there yeah, dear heart was still there. Oh, dear, yeah, uh, from enrico's. Do you remember your next gig, like, where did you work? I feel like I've read somewhere in the past you were. Were you at big burrito group for a bit?
Kate:You know, I did some catering with Big Burrito I kind of like did. I did a catering also with All Good Tastes, which was, you know, bob Sendall is an amazing chef.
Doug:We've talked to Steven Bright, who also worked there for a long time. I don't know if you know Steven, I do.
Kate:I've worked a few events with him with. Bob. But you know, it really taught me like this, just elevated like event world.
Doug:Plating presentation. It's all. Get rid of this stupid chafing dish. You know that's disposable. No, don't do that.
Kate:But Bob's like his level is and his clientele. You know we got to, you know we got to cater for Barack Obama.
Doug:It's the best of the best. Yeah, yeah, easy, what a great experience. Yeah, so you, barack Obama. It's the best of the best. Yeah, yeah, easy, what a great experience, yeah.
Kate:So I, you know, I kept trying to leave Enrico's, to be honest, I was like you know, I needed to, like I tried to leave town. I then I come back. I mean it was like home for me, so Larry would welcome me back each time.
Kate:And then we restaurant e-squared together, okay, which is why it's called e-squared or it was called e-squared okay but most people know it as e2 well, I think I've been miss saying that, since it was open everybody it's interchangeable at this point, but that was um, that was in highland park, it was super small, it was super fun the meatballs were delicious, uh.
Doug:So can I ask just a sidestep question Italian cuisine, where does that come from?
Kate:Really. I mean, I'm Irish. I didn't peg you as an Italian. Well, I think everybody thinks I'm Italian because I cook so much food that's Italian. It's really that, like my family, when we went out to dinner it was always to an Italian restaurant.
Kate:I went to Paragino's like every Saturday night with my grandparents. So for me, like that, those flavors were, that was good food, yes. And then, moving here, I really learned to cook, even when the bakery was open. There was a, you know, in the basement of the back which is now the cafe. Yeah, it used to be a car garage and there were two mechanics that would cook lunch in the basement At Enrico's, at Enrico's in the back. It used to be like a literal mechanic garage.
Doug:Okay, cause I've been. You go back that, alley, and I've been there yeah.
Kate:It's got the brick oven in it. Yeah, there's still an engine hoist in the middle of the room, but yeah, they would cook lunch for us in the back, and so I literally learned to make red sauce back there.
Kate:You know, learn to bake bread from the guy that lived upstairs, like it was, you know, a really good education as far as like intuitive homestyle, family cooking you know, and then I went to culinary school, but the first, you know, when I learned to make bread, the man that was teaching me really didn't speak much English and he was like, when it feels like boobs, you put it in the oven. I was like, oh, I got you.
Doug:I don't know if you could have got a better education and then you did go. Was it Bidwell? Yeah, over on the north side, which is an incredible program Totally. If folks don't know about it they should look up. And not only do they do culinary, they do like this great, like greenhouse program. Yeah, so many other things.
Kate:Yeah, fantastic Bill Strickland has really made something beautiful happen over there, yeah.
Doug:And so then let's just try and do the short course of that. So you finished Bidwell. What are the next couple steps? Where do you work?
Kate:You know, I had a couple. I was really into pastry, I was really into baking, so I had a couple of pastry chef jobs when I was really bad at it, and then Larry had opened a restaurant in.
Doug:Shadyside a second in Rico's.
Kate:I was a chef there for a while I had been there, moved around a bit Right on.
Doug:Ellsworth Avenue. It's a laundromat now. It is a laundromat, yeah I know it hurts my heart.
Kate:The oven that they built in there was so gorgeous.
Doug:It's a shame that they took it, but yeah, and then from there, like E squared opened around what 2011?
Kate:We actually opened in 2010. Okay, right in the middle of the recession, it was a perfect time to open a restaurant.
Kate:Yes, um, but yeah, it was a. It was pretty clumsy. I don't think we actually again didn't have a plan. Uh, it wasn't really going to be a restaurant, it was going to be. It was going to be catering and Larry had planned to do some production in there. Things changed, yeah, in fact, what changed was the um when Snowmageddon happened. You know, all of Highland park was kind of isolated. They didn't have power. The coffee shop was closed and we got our happened to get our health permit that weekend, so we just put out a sign and put something on the list serve. That was like we're going to be open, we're going to serve soup. And we sold out in an hour and like the neighborhood just came out for us and really convinced me that they needed something, some kind of food, and really they were like all asking for brunch. So we just started with brunch on the weekends and that took off and then it kind of evolved from there.
Doug:So Kate, I have to say there's a through line here that you tend to evolve in a great way when there is some kind of I don't know calamity happening in the world.
Kate:Yeah, my therapist would probably have some things to say about that. Yeah, yeah, I can see that now. Yeah, yeah.
Doug:I remember Snowmageddon, so I'm going to say I'm glad it happened, yeah, yeah, because we're here today. So you mentioned you learned a lot of cooking from the guys in Rico's space. But tell me a little bit about family food. You've also mentioned you're Irish and growing up Like what was food life like as a youngster?
Kate:Food was. My grandfather was a butcher, oh so, and an artist, and so he really didn't. He would come home with like the not best cuts of meat, so it was a lot of like overcooked meat and a lot of gravy. But the biggest thing is that my mom you know my mom passed away when I was 12. And a big part of what food is to me is like is the table. It's like she made us come together every night, no matter what was going on. Yes, and sit together and have dinner is.
Kate:The table is like. She made us come together every night, no matter what was going on, and sit together and have dinner, and whether that was ordered in pizza or something from the Betty Crocker cookbook. It was this habitual thing that we did as a family and, um, that's sort of the thing that I want to bring in food where it's. I think when I was early in like really liking to cook, I was like about flavors, and now it's about the table.
Doug:Yeah, the gathering, yeah, the people, yeah, thank you for sharing that. That was great. And what about you personally cooking? Um, you know, you took this jump from Columbus to Pittsburgh. Were you cooking at home at an earlier age or not, until you got here?
Kate:I don't think that I was. I know I knew how to scramble an egg.
Doug:Yeah, that was kind of like my first thing. That's about it.
Kate:Yeah, but I like love to eat. I think that was. You know I'm a big I enjoy food. I enjoy food. Yeah, it makes me happy. Yeah, me too.
Doug:And so yeah, I just really like An eater more than a cook in your earlier years. Yeah, all right. So all of this chefing adventure really started in the Pittsburgh area.
Kate:It really did. I mean being in the Strip District. I lived there and worked there and was around food and people who really were excited about food.
Doug:Passionate, yeah, knew their stuff. Yeah, how great.
Kate:And it got me really inspired. I was kind of like hungry for something to be that and it got me really inspired. I was kind of like hungry for something to be that and thankfully somebody gave me an opportunity just to start cooking and gave me a lot of affirmation and I was like, oh, I can do this, this is great.
Doug:We're so glad that happened. Well, let's jump forward. Let's talk about coming back to Black Radish. We're in the middle of summer right now, so I always like to ask our guests what is next on the horizon for you and your work? Do you have any big events or any new goals for this year?
Kate:Well, we do have the tomato dinner coming up next week, which we only have a few tickets left.
Doug:Okay, and that is on August 8th. Yes, okay.
Kate:Yeah, and that's at Black Radish. Celine and Christy are bringing some great wines. Yeah, who's the wine partner? Again Nine o'clock wines.
Doug:Nine o'clock wines, yeah, okay.
Kate:And then after that we're going to do Sunday sauce the last weekend of August, Is that right?
Doug:Yeah, I got the email for that. It is on August 24th.
Kate:August 24th. Yeah, black radish, and I'm sure that's going to be full of army vegetables.
Doug:Good Well, it's the time of year, right? So good. So we talked about the two dinners coming up, anything else on the horizon.
Kate:You know, I'm just looking forward to doing. There's some, hopefully some of these bigger collaborations that are coming up in the next couple of years, which are super fun for for me. Like I said, I love seeing other chefs and what they're doing and bringing in some people that are just on the brink of about to have their restaurant, when they might have some time to be away from the restaurant and you'll see them on the calendar. I love that.
Doug:Okay, good, I sort of wanted to ask you an off-the-wall question. You know we talked about we name-dropped. Let's just say we named dropped today Nik Forsberg, Bethany Zozula, Csilla Thackray. Are there any other like sort of unknown chefs out there that need to be known more because they're doing great stuff and they don't get a lot of notoriety?
Kate:Raf. We didn't mention Raf. Raf's been on the show.
Doug:Yeah, I love, and we're talking about Rafael Vencio, who's on the path of opening Amboy over on the north side.
Kate:Yes, Can't wait. His food is gorgeous and absolutely just delicious Filipino cuisine, so good yeah. Yeah, and then Becca, who had bitter ends, is one of my favorites. Okay, I can't say how much I love her donuts, all of her bread, oh my. God so good. Oh those crazy flavors.
Doug:I think I like a parsley glaze once on a donut. I mean, who's doing that Like, let's have more of that please.
Doug:Yeah, yeah.
Kate:Yeah.
Doug:Yeah, Becca Haggerty.
Kate:Yeah, yeah, okay, so doing good stuff, oh my God, yeah.
Doug:Lots of pop-up bakery. Tell me more.
Kate:It's out in. It was out in Elwood City. Okay, yeah, Again, we're just name dropping but I'm like. I like to eat, so these are like her, her pastries and her cakes. Oh my God, everything's so good.
Doug:Are they still?
Kate:they're out in Elwood city. They are, but they're starting to do some pop-ups in town. So they just did one at low places with the low bar cocktail people, and they are doing some at Spigolo, which is great which is a new coffee shop over in Edgewood Awesome yeah.
Kate:Yeah, and Pittsburgh that's one of the good things is it's a big city but it's very interconnected and the community that we're all building here it feels like a small town and I think you know back to your question earlier, it's like when I first opened the restaurant I felt like there was a very, there was a lot of people opening at that time. You know, cantina was opening, all of these young chefs that are now old chefs like me, and then, um, now it's I see this next, this next group you know, coming through and they do have that sense of community.
Kate:there they are all friends, are going out to dinner together. They know each other from other restaurants and I kind of feel honored that. I'm kind of like the old lady hanging out with like the new Jen. So I love to see this happening in Pittsburgh and I'm excited to eat at all these new restaurants.
Doug:So me too. Yeah, thank you so much. Yeah, all right, kate, what I always like to do with our guests is just give you a second for folks that haven't really found you yet or are following you. Could you remind us of your social handle and your website, how people can find the links to those dinners that we just teased?
Kate:Cool, cool, okay, so God what is our handle?
Doug:Black Radish, black Radish, pgh.
Kate:It's Black Radish PGH. Yes, good one. You can find us on Instagram. There's a link tree to most of our dinners. You can sign up for the newsletter there.
Doug:I highly recommend that, by the way, because if there is a dinner, it's going to be advertised there and they do sell out.
Kate:They do knock on wood, they do sell out, but that's how you get the Belly Basket menu's and those belly baskets go out every Wednesday, so it's a delivery every Wednesday. You can buy it for the whole month. The links to the belly basket and the dinners you can also find them on our website under Black Radish Kitchen. Black Radish Kitchen dot com.
Doug:I'm verifying that. There's not anything extra. It is Black Radish Kitchen dot com. It's Black Radish.
Kate:Kitchen dot com. Well, is black radish kitchencom, kitchencom. Well, this is the thing.
Doug:You have a great staff. You don't need to be doing these things.
Kate:So, yeah, aaron has really taken all of our social media to the next level, and you can find him at photos by Aaron Okay On Instagram. Awesome yeah.
Doug:All right, kate. The name of the show is The Pittsburgh dish. I always have a final question for our guests what's the best dish you had to eat this past week?
Kate:That's a great question. Okay, I am a giant fan of Cafe 33. I order from there all the time and I'm obsessed with fried rice right now, so I had their basic chicken fried rice and it slapped.
Doug:This is a Taiwanese style cuisine over in Squirrel Hill.
Kate:Anything else that day, the cabbage Got to get the cabbage every time. Cabbage and hot peppers Real simple. Well, you are Irish, so there it is.
Doug:Yeah, it's delicious. Kate Romaine, it has been such a pleasure to talk with you.
Kate:This is so great.
Doug:Thank you so much for having me on here, Well thank you for your time I know it's a busy time and thanks for being on the Pittsburgh Dish Hell yeah Thanks. Pittsburgh dish Hell yeah, Thanks. Up next, we've all heard of dinner and a movie, but how about having it all at the same time? Ashley Cesaratto knows a place. Hey everybody, we're joined today with Ashley Cesaratto, the co-founder of the popular Facebook group Pittsburgh Foodies. Ashley, I was wondering if you've had any unique dining experiences lately.
Ashley:I have. So there's a catering and event space in Gibsonia called just in time and they've been doing these dinner and movie events. Okay, they choose a movie that has to do with food and then their chef and their team creates a menu that goes along with the movie.
Doug:Okay, Number one. I'm guessing that just in thyme, time is spelled T-H-Y-M-E.
Ashley:It is Okay, yes.
Doug:And so did you go and see a movie at the same time there.
Ashley:Yes, so they have projectors on either side of the large room, okay, and they even decorate the space to go along with the movie as well. The last one that I went to, they had kind of a costume change for the space, so we had most of the meal with one set of decor, okay.
Ashley:And then we went outside to a food truck and got our second to last course from the food truck, and then we came inside and they had flipped the space to a completely different decor. So it's really awesome. It's definitely an immersive experience.
Doug:What were some of the food related themes or movies?
Ashley:So they started off with Julie and Julia. Oh, how appropriate. The Julie Child movie Exactly.
Doug:Then they did the 100 foot journey, which is French and Indian food.
Ashley:So they started off with Julie and Julia.
Ashley:Oh, how appropriate. The Julie Child movie Exactly. Then they did the 100-Foot Journey, which is French and Indian food.
Doug:Okay.
Ashley:Then they did the movie Chef, which had all kinds of food in it.
Doug:Oh yes, I've seen that one too.
Ashley:And then finally Ratatouille.
Doug:Oh, so these have all been separate events that you can do. You sign up for them.
Ashley:Yeah, you can sign up on their website.
Doug:And let me just ask for a moment how were some of the bites?
Ashley:They were amazing. Their chef, dave, is extremely creative, and they have a pastry chef that they work with, ben as well, and, honestly, everything is so good, and it's amazing to me how they can prepare so many different cuisines, like it's not just all Italian food or all French food. There's a mixture.
Doug:Yes.
Ashley:And they even for the 100 foot journey. They even collaborated with a doctor who loves to cook and she was able to make some of the dishes with their chef and brought spices that her family used. So that was really special and brought a lot of meaning to the meal as well.
Doug:Oh, that's so cool. So we're talking about just in time. Normally they're doing catering, but when it's a little bit more off season they're doing some special events. Folks can check out their website and see what they're cooking up next.
Ashley:For sure.
Doug:Thanks so much, Ashley.
Ashley:Thank you.
Doug:You can follow Ashley on Instagram at eatingwithashleypgh and check out Just In Thyme for their upcoming August dinner and movie experiences for 2025. You can find them on Instagram at JITcatering. Are you looking to keep your summer meals light but want more than just a salad? Jen Flanagan of Community Kitchen Pittsburgh shares her unique take on beans and greens topped with a lemon vinaigrette a hybrid of light and hearty. Let's have a listen. Hey everybody, we're joined with Jennifer Flanagan, the executive director and founder of Community Kitchen Pittsburgh. And Jen, I was wondering if you have any dishes that you make a lot at home yourself.
Jen:I have to go to my greens and beans. So this is my go-to. It's a 15 minute recipe and it's really easy to make and you don't really have to measure anything. So I use kale.
Jen:So I know that's controversial, right it's not escarole, it's heartier right, so you can cook it as long as you want. If you want it softer or not, I usually first I saute some garlic right, mince some garlic up, saute some garlic and then I add a little bit of chicken broth and I throw the greens in and I'm letting that cook down and then in a separate dry sauce pan I am toasting off some breadcrumbs.
Doug:Cool.
Jen:And then in a separate dry sauce pan, I am toasting off some breadcrumbs, cool. And then I make a quick lemon vinaigrette, olive oil, lemon juice, that's it. And then you just combine everything, oh, and then the beans right. So I use some kind of white bean, right? Whatever, it doesn't matter.
Jen:Your preference.
Jen:Throw in a can of beans. You combine everything. You've got the greens. You've got the greens, you've got the toasted breadcrumbs, the beans, the garlic and then the lemon vinaigrette. You throw it all together, put some salt and pepper on the top. Oh my gosh, if you want to throw in some sausage, you can. I usually don't. It's 15 minutes, you're done. It's a quick, nice, lovely comfort meal.
Doug:Sounds lovely. Now I do have a question. Are you, you're, you're doing the greens and the beans in that chicken broth? Are you then topping it with the breadcrumbs and the?
Jen:vinaigrette and the broth is just enough to keep it a little moist. It's not a soup it's the greens and beans. It's not a broth I love the toppings.
Doug:I don't think I've ever heard that before.
Jen:Yeah, it's a nice little crispy crunch, you know, gives it a nice little texture.
Doug:Sounds delicious.
Jen:It is.
Doug:Jen, thanks so much for being on The Pittsburgh Dish. Absolutely Sounds delicious. It is. Jen. Thanks so much for being on the Pittsburgh Dish Absolutely. Find out more about the events and great work that Jen's team is doing at Community Kitchen Pittsburgh on their websites and social, including their upcoming gala Food is Community on August 14th 2025. Do you have a recipe? Share it with us. Just visit our website at wwwpittsburghdishcom 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 Doug Cooking. 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.
