Minneapolis-based Buca di Beppo will open a second Pittsburgh-area restaurant featuring its signature immigrant Southern Italian fare at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday in Robinson Township with a "Pizza Cutting" ceremony. Township commissioners will proclaim July 10 as "Buca di Beppo Day" in honor of the grand opening.
The restaurant is at 6600 Robinson Centre Drive, adjacent to the Mall at Robinson.
It will be open seven days a week for dinner only, 5 to 10 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays; 5 to 11 p.m. Fridays; noon to 11 p.m. Saturdays; and noon to 10 p.m. Sundays. Reservations are accepted.
The other restaurant is at Station Square on the South Side.
Details: (412) 788-8444.
Kreme for the Century
The store is along Route 51 (near the DSW Shoe Warehouse) in the neighborhood of Pleasant Hills/West Mifflin. Open daily, it will feature 24-hour drive-through service, indoor seating and a glass viewing area so customers can watch the doughnuts being made.
The first Pittsburgh-area site for Krispy Kreme was in Cranberry.
More info: (800) 4KRISPY (457-4779) or www.krispykreme.com.
More Mad Mex
Mad Mex first opened in Oakland in 1993. The latest location will be open from 11 a.m. to midnight daily.
More info: (412) 279-0200.
Staying current
The two-day certification course, Aug. 19 and 20, is at McKeesport High School, 1960 Eden Park Blvd. The fee is $45 for country residents, $60 for nonresidents. A three-year certification is awarded to those who complete the course and pass the exam.
The recertification class is Sept. 12 at Stratwood, 623 Long Run Road. The one-day program, including the exam, is $40 for county residents, $55 for nonresidents.
Details: (412) 687-ACHD (2243).
Spice all around
Local restaurants will showcase their spicy and ethnic dishes to accompany reggae, African, Brazilian, salsa and Caribbean music at the event, which costs $5 per person.
Participating food vendors are Donsville's Jamaica Jamaica, Pittsburgh, serving jerk chicken, curry chicken, chicken and vegetarian patties; The Foundry Ale Works, Strip District, jerk chicken Jamaican wrap, jambalaya and jerk shrimp; Caribbean Intercultural Vibrations, Pittsburgh, curry chicken, shrimp and vegetarian roti, peas and rice; Gianni's Wings, Burgettstown, hot wings with a variety of Caribbean flavors and spices; Tambellini's, Allison Park, peel-and-eat shrimp, Cajun shrimp, shrimp Creole; Kazour's Gourmet, Pittsburgh, Greek specialties; and the Warner Cafe, Pittsburgh, shrimp Creole, chicken pasta and meatballs.
The kickoff party is at 7:30 p.m. July 12, featuring music by Rusted Root; tickets for that event are $22.50 in advance and $25 the day of the concert, which entitles purchasers to one free admission to the festival on July 13 or 14.
More info: (412) 562-9905.
Yan can open fast-food chain
Last month, Tricon Global Restaurants, the world's largest restaurant corporation - with 32,500 units - changed its name to Yum! Brands Inc. The name, according to a press release, better reflects the company's "expanding portfolio of brands."
Under the umbrella of Yum!, which owns KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell (the global leaders in the chicken, pizza and Mexican-style food categories), Yan Can is giving its founder a chance to be America's Asian restaurant ambassador.
The California restaurant will be followed by 50 more units by 2005 and is the first of more than 1,000 worldwide - if all goes well.
The first 90-seat "Fresh Asian" restaurant - with dishes from Thailand, Singapore, Korea and Vietnam, as well as Yan's native China - has been more than two years in the planning.
According to Yan, the service is "quick casual." Patrons order at the counter and get their own drinks. All dishes - entrees run about $7 - are cooked to order using fresh ingredients and delivered to the table.
Yan was a celebrity on PBS some 20 years before Food Network turned camera-cooking into big business.
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