At Mirabelle Restaurant in Oakmont, chefs take "cooking from scratch" to a whole new level.
Head chef Sarah Zollinger, 23, and sous chef Jamie Brubaker, 30, roll all of their own pasta by hand, with eggs from a cage-free local chicken farm. They bake their own breads with organic, locally milled flours and make their own sauces. They even make some of their own cheeses.
Mirabelle's owner, John Muth, says he and his chefs are committed to the same philosophy.
"This is truly an all-scratch kitchen," says Muth, 46, who opened Mirabelle a year ago with wife, Beth. "We use the freshest ingredients possible that come from local farms. We spend 80 percent of our food dollars locally."
Muth is proud of the fact that their beef, lamb, chicken and pork come from farms where animals are raised in open fields. They serve sirloin steaks only from grass-fed cattle. Their seafood is flown in from the Pacific Northwest and they only accept those species that live abundantly in the ocean.
"More than 80 percent of the small family farms operating in 1959 are now defunct," Muth says. "We support the community-oriented sustainable agriculture movement and buy products from those farms in the Penn's Corner Farm Alliance. Our philosophy is to offer only the freshest, tastiest, safest and most gratifying fare possible to our guests."
Because of this, Mirabelle's menu changes every two weeks, to take advantage of local produce in season.
"We are always creating new dishes -- our menu is constantly evolving," he says. "Our cuisine is very simple but the dishes are quite original."
The menu at Mirabelle is not extensive, but each dish has been carefully thought out by Muth and his chefs. Spinach and goat cheese ravioli, Autumn cannelloni with pumpkin pasta, slow-roasted Amish chicken, roasted pork chop with Black Forest mushroom sauce, Creole seafood pasta, steelhead trout and a sirloin steak were the featured entrees recently. Appetizers included a vegetarian gnocchi and mushroom crepe.
The homemade desserts are truly inspiring -- warm pear blueberry cobbler with huckleberry ice cream; chocolate coconut almond tart; pumpkin-sour cream cheesecake with caramel sauce and a warm apple cranberry crostata with creme anglais.
"We respect food origins and regional food customs," Muth says. "Our chefs adapt the traditional dishes brought by divergent waves of immigrants and infuse each dish with fresh, seasonal flavors of the farm to create progressive American cuisine."
Zollinger, of Lower Burrell, says she loves working at Mirabelle. She moved back to Pittsburgh last year after living in California.
"It's nice because it never gets boring or old," she says.
"Her philosophy was very much in line with what we were trying to create here," Muth says. "She has experience in every area of the kitchen. She and Jamie are just a pleasure to work with. It's so unusual to have two young women running a high-end kitchen."
Muth hails from Philadelphia, but he has lived in Pittsburgh 25 years and "has loved every minute of it." He and Beth have two teenagers, Wesley and Chloe.
"I've worked in restaurants all my life," Muth says. "It was very natural for us to open a restaurant in Oakmont. There are no other spots quite like it."
Mirabelle has 72 seats and gets busy on the weekends, he says. Most of their customers come from Oakmont, Fox Chapel, Aspinwall, Squirrel Hill and Shadyside, but some travel.
"We are known as a destination place because of the unique things we do here," Muth says. "The hardest part about owning a restaurant is getting the word out. We get a lot of repeat customers -- once someone dines here, they're hooked."
The best part about owning a restaurant is the ability to control the creativity, he says.
"We're not limited in any way," he says. "I want to run a nice, comfortable neighborhood restaurant that serves great food."
Mirabelle owner John Muth says his Harvest Vegetable Pie is a savory dish that can be used as a side dish or as a vegetarian entree.
"This is a beautiful dish," he says. "It defines the season and features all local farm products."
For the crust:
• 2 medium-size potatoes, peeled and grated (see Photo 1 )
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• Parchment paper
• Vegetable cooking spray
For the vegetables:
• 1 small parsnip
• 1 small carrot
• 1 small golden beet
• 1 small red beet
• 1 small turnip
• 1 small red onion
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
For the custard:
• 4 large eggs
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1 cup grated Gruyere cheese
• 1 tablespoon minced chives
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
To prepare the crust : Rinse the grated potatoes in a colander with cool water and squeeze out as much excess moisture as possible, then toss with salt and pepper.
Line a pie pan with parchment paper and coat with cooking spray. Press the potatoes into the bottom and sides of the pie pan ( Photo 2 ).
Bake at 375 degrees for 10 minutes, or until lightly browned.
To prepare the vegetables : Peel the vegetables and dice them into 1/2-inch pieces. Arrange on a sheet pan, keeping the red beets separate so they don't turn the other vegetables pink ( Photo 3 ), and toss with the olive oil and a little salt and pepper.
Roast in a 375-degree oven for 10 minutes, stirring once halfway through the cooking time.
To prepare the custard and assemble : Mix all the custard ingredients well ( Photo 4 ).
Arrange the roasted vegetables in the potato pie crust, adding the red beets last.
Pour the custard mixture over the vegetables evenly ( Photo 5 ) and bake at 375 degrees for 15 minutes, until puffed and golden brown.
Serve immediately.
Makes 4 servings.
Additional Information:
Mirabelle
Cuisine : Progressive American
Hours : 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Tuesdays-Saturdays. Sunday brunch, 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Closed Mondays
Entree price range : $15.95-$19.95
Notes : Reservations accepted. Handicapped accessible. Accepts major credit cards. Champagne bar and cocktails
Address : 215 Allegheny Ave., Oakmont
Details : 412-517-8115 or Web site
