In New York City there's Cupcake Cafe. In San Francisco there's Citizen Cupcake. In Pittsburgh it'll be Dozen Cupcakes.
Cupcake culture (you read it right) is arriving in Pittsburgh in December. The latest fad in Boomer "comfort food" pops out of the Easy-Bake Oven and onto a bistro table in Squirrel Hill in December. Dozen Cupcakes co-owners James Gray and David Wojtnick describe their future cafe as the "newest urban cupcake experience." A date has yet to be set for the grand opening.
Cupcake cafes are newish but not new. In D.C., Warren Brown Jr., a former federal agency lawyer got a lot of press for his career shift into making gourmet cakes and cupcakes and got on Oprah some years ago. He runs Cake Love and a separate cupcake and mini-cake cafe with coffee and WiFi across the street from his original bakery.
Will cupcakes replace The Cosmo? Send Dish your thoughts on this latest trend.
Allegheny East’s newest coffee shop and café will open Monday, Nov. 6 at 6 a.m. Owner Terra Jones is excited to finally fling open her door and beckon in her North Side neighbors and hungry AGH employees.
I’ve been on the go for so long,” laughed Jones, “I’m thrilled that it’s finally here.”
Amani International Coffeehouse & Café hours are 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. and will feature fair trade coffee, teas, Italian sodas and a menu that includes soups, salads, panini and wraps.
Amani International Coffeehouse & Café
I enjoy getting into my cups on a Saturday evening. This lends to a formula of corrupting two perfectly respectable meals into that mutant chimera of dining events some philistines dub Sunday Brunch. I, as a scholar, call it, “heaven.”
Oakland's Fuel & Fuddle is an overcrowded, cinderblock-lined pheromone soup of a college hangout that has two redeeming qualities: a number of mustered beers on tap you’d think wouldn’t fit in the confines of the establishment and cuisine that curbs the hangovers of both the higher educated boozer and the truly educated tippler.
I was able to waken my lady-love at an ungodly hour (in her opinion, before Tim Russert comes on), so we were able to be seated before morning rush. This was fortunate as the place filled quickly. We enjoy reading the Sunday New York Times while eating our brunch. For this, the table was substandard. Front page was mingling with Styles. Business encroached upon Sports. It was a pandemonium of periodical.
PumpsmThe first step in having a bout with the “morning afters” is to give it a good opening jab with some hair of the dog. Katie had a bloody mary that she needed to spice up herself. The proper mix of hot sauce and pepper took a moment to get right, but for $1.50, it was worth the effort. I had the Spaten Oktoberfest, a full-bodied amber brew that I look forward to every year. Next came the follow-up punch of coffee. Fuel & Fuddle’s is a little weaker than we’re used to, but one can’t complain as it’s included with the price of brunch and they provide free refills.
The knockout punch comes from a hearty meal. Katie’s “Fuddle French Toast” ($5) had a decent batter, but they use thick-cut Italian bread in the recipe. This makes for a dry middle. French toast is nothing without some syrup. Unfortunately, Katie’s a diabetic and they did not have any sugar-free alternatives. While lack of sweet maple goodness is inconsequential compared to death by diabetic shock, french toast without syrup is like a Bangkok massage without the happy ending.
I ordered the “Humpty Dumpty” ($7), which the menu describes as “brunch pizza with an olive oil base, scrambled eggs, provolone, and bacon.” It’s actually a glorified, albeit well-made, white bacon pizza with dry scrambled eggs dumped atop the pie. It could have used some more flavor to make the concoction more pleasing to a palate made a bit acrid by the last night’s whiskey. I would suggest some garlic, a dash of sea salt baked into the crust, and maybe rosemary. I did find, afterward, that my hangover was decidedly beaten to the mat and given a swift kick to the ribs when the referee had his back turned. The meal, while lacking in a certain zest, did its job adequately.
The Pittsburgh area provides better tools than the Fuel ’n Fuddle brunch for battling a morning cranial expansion, but I’ve had worse. With a bill of $24 for two including drinks, I’ve certainly had more expensive. If you’re in the Oakland area with a bastard behind the eyes and a tolerance for scruffy college students, Fuel & Fuddle is a welcome respite.