Chef
Stef
If you take a little cruise north on Route
8 to Richland Township, youll find a nice
little restaurant there known as the Cala Lily
Café. Its an unassuming place,
tucked in beside a hobby shop. But owners
Paul Anzaldi and Rick Rivera have a good thing
going here, Euro-American cuisine with a flair of
Southwest added in for good measure.
Paul has constructed a solid, conservative wine
list. The night I was there he had Bonnie
our server bring out a bottle of Saragusa
Zinfandel. Ive always liked Zins, and
this ones an excellent choice. Then
for starters Chef Rick sent out two excellent
appetizers: Bacala ground with white beans served
on Crustini, and Mediterranean Mussels.
These mussels were tender and as good as it gets,
so good in fact that I had to do a little Scarpada
(in Italian it means to take your bread and
scrape the plate clean to get every last bit of
the juices left on the dish). Next we tried
the Blackened Duck Breast Carpaccio with Spanish
cabernet vinaigrette, the Portabella Mushroom
stuffed with seafood and artichoke hearts, and
the Poblano Chile Relleno with Spanish drunken
goats cheese.
Chef Ricks best of the evening might just
have been either the Yellow Fin Tuna with Brie,
or the Paella de Alicante, which was loaded with
mussels, artichokes, sausage, scallops, calamari,
chicken, clams, lobster, shrimp, and saffron
rice. Rick is Mexican and was born in
Spain, so he knows Paella (pronounced Pah-YAY-yuh)
and this one proved it, no question. We
followed it all up with one of the homemade
desserts: the Cala Lily Truffle, served in a
Margarita glass and surrounded with raspberries
with Chambord poured over the whole dish.
What a meal!
Cala Lily Café is open for dinner Monday through
Saturday, closed on Sundays. And
considering that theyve been named one of
the best new restaurants in Pittsburgh, it should
be no surprise when I tell you that on the
weekend you should make a reservation
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