Bistro Soul simmers up Southern comfort
Service is brisk, but don't mistake the storefront counter at Bistro Soul for fast food. The concept here is “slow-cooked Southern comfort made from scratch,” meaning long- simmering pots of ham and beans, red beans and rice spiced up with sausage and, of course, tender meat-ready-to-fall-off-the-bone ribs. Everything's ready to dish up when you want it.
There's lots of variety on the menu, not only in the assortment of main dishes and sides, but also – oh, and I wish this were more widely used – in portion size, from “li'l helpin” to “single helpin” to “heapin helpin.” A “single” main dish is plenty generous and comes with sweet crumbly cornbread; add side dishes for $2 each. (Sides are $3 to $5 when ordered on their own.) And if all you want is a literal taste before ordering, just ask: No charge.
While the culinary accent is certainly Southern, the spiciness range is temperate, nothing to burn Pittsburgh tongues. The barbecue sauce on the ribs is thick, not too sweet, with almost no heat. Shrimp and crab etouffee reflects vegetables and seafood, not Cajun fire. Southern-style meatloaf is definitely meaty, and no hint of ketchup.
Side dishes are similarly seasoned with a judicious hand, though the pecancrusted sweet potato casserole could be mistaken for dessert. The collard greens are neither watery nor over-salted, but a just-right chewy texture with smoky chunks of ham. And forget Yankee incarnations of macaroni and cheese: Bistro Soul's version is creamily cheesey and crunchy with toasted breadcrumbs.. And, the Southern potato salad is true egg-rich potato salad, not the industrial “yellowish muck” that humorist Garrison Keillor has decried as a symbol of modern moral decline.
Desserts are made in-house and particular items (e.g. cookies, $2 each) may run out early. We didn't really have “room,” but I could not pass up the snowy coconut layer cake ($4), which was just as good as my childhood memories of same a few hours later at home with coffee.
Opened this past June, Bistro Soul shares a courtyard dining area with Bistro To-Go, which has grown much more than owner Nikki Heckman expected when she launched the mother ship in October 2007. “I've been in food service all my life, but never owned a restaurant before,” the North Versailles resident explains. With its homey but tiny dining room, the bistro was supposed to be a “calm” avocation in a comfortable niche in the North Side neighborhood she grew to love on childhood trips with her grandmother.
“The community really embraced us,” Heckman understates. She now oversees more than 50 employees, including five cooks, for a flourishing catering business as well as the restaurant. “We really needed to expand.”
Bistro To-Go has a smaller, more eclectic, daily-changing menu (kept updated online at www.bistro-togo.com). “We're very customer-driven,” she explains. Heckman even takes requests, at nikki@bistro-togo.com. There are always vegan and vegetarian entrees (not the case at Bistro Soul), plus hearty meat and/or fish dinners. The two restaurants do, however, share a single kitchen and a “light” touch on fats and salt. “Nothing is fried,” she stresses. “We don't even own a deep fryer.” Bistro Soul's country chicken is baked.
Given her Italian heritage, Heckman (nee Nicolette Romeo) sees food as her way to contribute to the community and worthy causes, especially Light of Life Rescue Ministries. Posters, fliers, even a donation can by the cash register boost the profile of the North Side rescue mission via the Bistro's high traffic. Literature from other local non-profits enable them to cross-promote easily, she says.
Long active in the faith-based community, Heckman preaches nothing but good food at affordable prices, and a place to gather and chat in the now-reviving North Side business district. And there is another place now: Bistro at the Aviary, modeled after the original Bistro. “I'm blown away by the beautiful café,” Heckman says, “and by the approbation it represents. But no more growth, please. It's our last expansion.”
CUISINE: SOUTHERN COMFORT FOOD
Hours: 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Mondays to Fridays, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturdays.
Prices: Main dishes, $4 to $9 for snack size; $6 to $12 for standard portions; $8 to $16 for large.
Notes: Mostly takeout, but both indoor and outdoor dining areas available. No alcohol. Available for private parties and catering.
Address: 417 East Ohio St., Historic Deutschtown, North Side
Details: 412-231-0218 or http://www.bistro-togo.com/Bistro_Soul_Menu.php
[Bistro To-Go has different hours: 10:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. Mondays to Fridays; 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturdays; breakfast/brunch 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturdays, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sundays]
