Carmella Salem arrived in Pittsburgh more than 20 years ago to attend drama school at Point Park University but stayed to tend bar at various South Side establishments.

She was a fixture for 15 years at Jekyll & Hyde, where her supervisor was Mike Alberter. During those years, Salem, now 45, of Squirrel Hill, helped organize a South Side bar crawl to raise funds for leukemia and lymphoma research with stops at different bars, including the Inn-Termission Lounge.

And then, the Inn-Termission Lounge went up for sale. Alberter and Salem bought the bar, the front of which opened in October 2014 as Carmella's Plates & Pints. A month later, the business partners opened the dining room that features offerings made from scratch.

“Nothing is frozen, ever,” says Alberter, 49, a North Hills High School alum who now lives in Greenfield.

Alberter chose to name the bar-restaurant after his partner.

“We wanted people to know it was us,” Alberter says. “I said, ‘I think we should put Carmella's name on it. There aren't too may Carmellas.'”

Indeed, some of their customers have followed them to the new venture.

“It really helped business, knowing so many people,” Salem says. “We had that core group of people. … It's been building new clientele every day.”

Salem says the restaurant is trying to attract a more mature crowd than the usual South Side college-student revelers.

“I love the professional people we've been getting in here,” she says.

While many customers have come from the South Side Flats and Slopes and Downtown, the owners have welcomed diners from around the county and even out of town.

“There were guys who biked here from Washington, D.C. They came the first night and then came every night” during their stay, Salem says.

The partners hired Kevin Lintelman, 31, of Plum as executive chef. Lintelman attended Indiana University of Pennsylvania's culinary school in Punxsutawney and chose menu items to carry out the restaurant concept of gourmet American fare. Among the entrees is pork ragout with braised pork, orecchiette pasta and pecorino Romano cheese for $17.

Asian sea bass is $20 and includes grilled fennel, red-pepper puree, peppers, black garlic and candied olives. Hanger steak comes with sweet-potato puree, pickled pardon peppers, chili rub and a red-wine glaze for $20.

Carmella's offers brunch on Saturdays and Sundays, with Carmella's Breakfast comprising four scrambled eggs, a jalapeno-cheddar waffle, peppered bacon, sausage, toast and jam for $15. Brunch cocktails include mimosas for $6, and Archie's Manmosa featuring Blue Moon, Absolut Mandarin and fresh orange juice for $8.

Carmella's bar carries 11 wines, 27 craft beers and 11 whiskeys on tap, as well as more than 200 whiskeys and 80-plus tequilas in bottles.

The dining room to the rear is screened from the bar with velvet curtains. In the center is a fireplace where diners congregate in cool weather. The dining room is furnished with black-and-white wallpaper, wooden beams, vintage photographs and several animal heads bought secondhand for a rustic-yet-elegant atmosphere. Alberter, who did the renovations with a friend, recycled vintage light fixtures for the bar and men's room.

“You have to have passion for this business,” Salem says. “There's so much hard work that goes into this. You have to do this for more than the money because you don't make money right away.”

Sandra Fischione Donovan is a contributing writer for Trib Total Media.

Pork Ragout

With fall well under way, cooks can return to cooking large pots over a stove, their contents steaming with the sort of hearty fare that warms the stomach — and the spirit. Such a dish is Pork Ragout, which executive chef Kevin Lintelman has added to the fall menu at Carmella's Plates & Pints on the South Side.

“We had it as a special, and all the customers loved it and said it needs to go on the menu,” says restaurant co-owner Carmella Salem.

The pork sweetens the sauce, and the addition of cinnamon and nutmeg gives the ragout deeper tones of autumn. Lintelman likes using orecchiette, because the concave depressions in the ear-shaped pasta hold on to the sauce and meat.

1⁄4 cup vegetable oil

1 1⁄2 pounds boneless pork shoulder, cubed

Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

1⁄2 cup diced onion

1 carrot, diced

4 cloves garlic, chopped

1⁄2 cup red wine

1 can (14 ounces) tomatoes, whole or crushed

1 sprig rosemary

1 sprig thyme

1 bay leaf

1⁄4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1⁄4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 pound orecchiette pasta, cooked

Grated parmesan, to garnish

Garlic bread, for serving

Heat the vegetable oil in a pan. Season the pork with salt and pepper, and sear the pork in the pan.

Remove the pork from the pan. Add the diced onion, carrot and garlic. Saute until the onions are transparent.

Return the seared pork to the pan and deglaze the pan with the red wine. Add the tomatoes, rosemary, thyme and bay leaf. Cook for 4 to 6 hours, or until the pork is tender.

Remove the herb stems and bay leaf. Shred the pork with a fork. Season it with salt and pepper, and stir in the nutmeg and cinnamon.

Add the cooked pasta to the pork ragout and stir. Serve with grated parmesan and garlic bread.

Makes 4 servings.

---

Copyright ©2025— Trib Total Media, LLC (TribLIVE.com)

---