Restaurant trends to love (or loathe) in 2017

With scores of restaurants opening in 2017, it’s clear Pittsburgh has moved beyond wings, pierogies and burgers. The hot trends popping up in cities around the country are appearing here just as quickly, and no longer is there a lag time.

TRENDS TO LOVE ... Rise of food halls

Tyler Benson and Benjamin Mantica of Galley Group are single-handedly pushing the growth of Pittsburgh’s food hall scene, having opened restaurant incubator Smallman Galley (54 21st St., Strip District) in December 2015. After a second round of chefs took residence this fall, the co-founders opened Federal Galley in Nova Place (200 Children’s Way, North Side) earlier this month.

While the effects of food halls on a city’s restaurant scene is still to be determined, so far, Galley Group is shaking up Pittsburgh’s dining offerings with eclectic fare, from Detroit-style pizza at Smallman’s Iron Born and Federal’s

Michigan and Trumbull, to bone broth at Smallman’s Banhmilicious, or veg-forward dishes at Federal’s Supper.

Two more food halls will enter the fray in 2018. Oxford Market is coming to One Oxford Centre, Downtown, in January, a 6,000-square-foot food hall from San Francisco-based Shorenstein Properties that has paired up with the Charlotte, N.C.,-based Eurest, the $1.4 billion food and vending division of Compass Group. It’s planning on stalls offering Asian, Italian, Mexican, farmto-table-inspired and a grill. Another station will feature a rotating local chef or food truck. The stations will serve breakfast and lunch, while another option, Bar Oxford, will open for drinks and bar food for after-work crowds. Another food hall in the Strip,

Pennsylvania Market at the Pennsylvania Building on 19th Street, is on track to open in the spring.

More wine, local beer lists

As diners ask for more natural wines, sparkling roses or bottles that diverge from conservative lists of big Cabs and Pinot Grigio, Pittsburgh sommeliers are shaping expectations by upping the varietals and offering more pours to get excited about, especially at Or, The Whale (463 Boulevard of the Allies, Downtown), Bar Marco (2216 Penn Ave., Strip District) and

Allegheny Wine Mixer (5326 Butler St., Lawrenceville).

The combination of the loosening of laws and more interest in wines has the potential to change Pittsburgh’s wine landscape in 2018 although it will never catch up with the city’s captivating local beer scene that’s been booming for years. Places such as Mindful

Brewing (3719 Library Road, Castle Shannon); Couch Brewery (1351 Washington Blvd., Larimer); Eleventh Hour Brewing (3711 Charlotte St.) and Cinderlands Beer Co. (3705 Butler St.), both in Lawrenceville; and War Streets Brewery (900 Western Ave., North Side) all opened this year.

Diverse seafood offerings

Five years ago, the only places to get raw oysters were Gandy Dancer Saloon (100 W. Station Square Drive, South Side), and Eleven (1150 Smallman St.) and Penn Ave. Fish Co. (2208 Penn

such as the traditional threecup chicken to its hallmark fermented bean curd and porkintestine in spicy sauce.

There’s Sichuan fare at the acclaimed Chengdu Gourmet (5840 Forward Ave.), where Wei Zhu serves his three-pepper fish fillet, Chonqing-style beef stew and, in winter, an amazing homemade Chinese sausage. Over at 5875 Forbes Ave. at Everyday Noodles, owner Mike Chen continues who has designed the famed to bring in teaching chefs Mussol and Ajoblanco from Taiwan, where they’re restaurants in his hand-pulling noodles and hometown, has done away making soup dumplings with the original brown and stuffed with crab and pork, orange vibes for a more or shrimp and loofah. Ka eclectic space with dramatic Mei (2208 Murray Ave.) offers chandeliers, cushy banquettes, Cantonese fare: dumplings, a fabulous round congee, crunchy noodles bar and midcentury accents. and spare ribs with fermented black beans. And although the space at 5882 Forbes Ave. is named Sakura, a separate menu offers dishes from the owners’ hometown province of Shanxi.

In Oakland, there’s the Xi’an menu at Sichuan Gourmet (328 Atwood St.), which includes handmade noodles with chili oil, a Chinese

Rise of regional Chinese food