001 Savoring the City with Ana Eats Pittsburgh

When the irresistible allure of Pittsburgh's cuisine beckons, who better to guide us than the vibrant Instagram star Ana Anthony of Ana.Eats.Pgh. This week, she sits down with us to share the inside scoop on the city's food scene, her journey to 100K+ followers, and the power of her platform in celebrating the unsung heroes behind local eateries. From the cozy charm of Dagny's Eatery to the enchanting Pusadee's Garden, Ana's stories are a love letter to the flavors that define her hometown. With a behind-the-scenes look at her content creation process, she unveils the dedication required to keep Pittsburgh's dining gems in the spotlight.

Ana recounts heartfelt stories of food & family, the influence of her parents and chef brother, and how these experiences have carved her fervent support for local businesses. The episode also captures the thrilling leap into local media, where Ana's appearances on television amplify her mission to champion Pittsburgh's culinary talents. Through it all, the enduring spirit of her late father stands as a beacon of inspiration, driving her forward in this delicious pursuit.

 With future dreams of meeting culinary giants, grabbing pizza in New York City,  and a longing to take her tastebuds on a European escapade, her ambitions are likely to lead her to Ana.Eats.World status. She invites her followers on Instagram @ana.eats.pgh to join her on this adventure, where every bite is a story and every meal a new chapter. And just before the final goodbye, Ana promises more savory tales and tips for fellow food enthusiasts eager for their next bite.

Transcript

Doug : 0:01

Hey everyone, welcome to the Pittsburgh Dish. I'm your Do ug Heilman, . Why do over 100,000 people follow this local woman? For her favorite food and drink spots? We'll find out this week. What kind of wine would you pair with takeout Thai food? We'll talk to a wine expert. And what are yin's cooking at home? We'll hear from one of our listeners and it might involve candy bars, which is totally okay. All that ahead on the show. We want to thank the good folks at Isaly's for being a founding sponsor to the Pittsburgh Dish. Not only do we all know Isleys for their famous chip chopped ham, but also for their super premium ice creams. And they're bringing back a favorite chocolate chip with jimmies. Go to s. com, where you can find out more information and check out their store locator to see where Isleys ice cream is sold near you. And now back to the show. Hey, thank you for coming over.

Ana: 0:57

Thank you for having me.

Doug : 0:58

Well, it was actually pretty easy. I would maybe say to a guest won't you be my neighbor, but you are my neighbor.

Ana: 1:05

I love being neighbors with you, doug.

Doug : 1:07

I love that. We're neighbors as well, so do you want to introduce yourself?

Ana: 1:11

Yeah, so I'm Ana of Ana Eats, Pittsburgh. You can find me on Instagram. You can really find me on anything but Instagram is kind of my main place to find me.

Doug : 1:22

And you're doing really well on Instagram.

Ana: 1:25

Yeah, I just checked this morning. I have 115k now, which is pretty crazy. I just hit 100 in December.

Doug : 1:32

I think it's so funny with social media is like it's exponential. Once you start doing better, you start doing better and it really isn't just like a, you know, a diagonal line. It is this like sweeping success sometimes.

Ana: 1:44

It's so true. I feel like once I hit 100, it was just like I was hitting 1000 every other day, which is really interesting.

Doug : 1:51

Yeah, I think I'm still at 2000.

Ana: 1:53

That's okay. I was there at the beginning of last year.

Doug : 1:56

Oh yeah.

Ana: 1:57

Last yeah, so January 2023,. I had maybe 3k. So it just goes to show it doesn't matter where you are right now, anything can happen in a year.

Doug : 2:08

Yeah, really. So if someone doesn't know you and they're listening to our show here, how would you describe what you're doing on Instagram?

Ana: 2:18

Really, I'm just doing what I love. Something I've always done is just travel around the city of Pittsburgh to find new places to eat. That's really it, and I find so much joy in doing that, and it has turned into a way to highlight small businesses, too, and give them the love that they need and deserve too, so it's a lot of fun.

Doug : 2:40

I love what you're doing and I would echo I think you're one of the hardest working local food business advocates that we have out there. Thanks, I appreciate that, and you grew up in Pittsburgh.

Ana: 2:52

I sure did Life long, life long. Yeah, that's amazing.

Doug : 2:56

A lot of folks move here and that's great too. But you know the territory and some of the places you go like I've never heard of. Do you have, over this last year or so, some spots that really stick out to you because you like the food or you like the owner's story?

Ana: 3:13

That's a great question. Yeah, I've met her recently. I met her a little over two years ago, but Dagny's eatery down in Carnegie, carnegie. I've grown really close with her. She has helped and supported my family in ways that no one knows about. And so her food is also delicious. Have you been there?

Doug : 3:34

I know it's so good. I've seen a lot of play and a couple of times I've gone. It's like the hours haven't been right, so it's still on my list.

Ana: 3:42

I know it's incredible everything, but it's more of like a takeout situation. Her cinnamon buns I've highlighted those before. They're really, really great. You warm them up in your oven and they're all gooey and delicious and she makes great sandwiches, salads. You know you go for breakfast or lunch mainly, but she also does like catering if you need it, or she has like dinners that she makes now weekly. So Dagny, shout out to Dagny.

Ana: 4:08

I love her very much. And another place I love too, that I've really grown to love over the past couple years, is Pusadee's Garden. It's like a go to for Jourdan, my boyfriend and I now, for like any special occasion, anniversary or things like that. So we love .

Doug : 4:25

It's not only such good food, but like when you go in there, it's like you're transported somewhere else.

Ana: 4:32

I agree. And that garden, that garden, oh my God, I love it.

Doug : 4:36

And that one salad that has all the colors. Yeah, the 17 ingredients salad, probably my favorite.

Ana: 4:41

I would say, like I, when I go there, I really love their appetizers even more than their entrees, so we kind of just double up on all of the apps and share an entre, and that's the way to do it there. Their cocktails are great too. Oh my gosh so good.

Doug : 4:56

I love it. I feel like I am talking to the absolute expert.

Ana: 5:00

I don't know if I would call myself that. I just am having fun out here.

Doug : 5:03

Well, I think that's the great thing, because you don't seem, it doesn't seem like work to you. No, not at all. I mean, your posting schedule is crazy, Like how, how many places do you visit in a week and how many posts do you think that's a good?

Ana: 5:20

question and I think I make it seem like I'm going a ton of places all of the time and sometimes I am that like just with my schedule I get very busy. December was so busy for me and I was quite literally going to maybe two or three places a week to film for them.

Doug : 5:36

Oh my gosh.

Ana: 5:38

Right now I'm at a slower point, though, and so I'm kind of I'm strategic with what I do. You kind of, as a creator, have to keep things rolling, and if you stop, unfortunately, if you stop, things kind of dip, so you really do have to stay on it with Instagram and post at least every two or three days to kind of keep yourself, keep maintaining the follower account.

Catherine: 6:00

The momentum yeah.

Ana: 6:02

The momentum of I don't want to say the algorithm Everyone says that but there is something to that where you do have to keep on it. So what I'll do is I'm strategic and I'll pull from the thousands and thousands of videos that I already have in my phone and you'll see like you'll be able to tell if my nails aren't the same as what they are right now and things like that you can kind of tell. But I have so many things stocked up already that I create my own content constantly. Right now, I would say I'm going to maybe two places a week to film.

Doug : 6:37

So it's very realistic and reasonable at this moment. Yeah.

Ana: 6:40

Yeah, but I make it. I might make it seem more than that.

Doug : 6:44

I think that's your charm and again it's. I don't know if I have these skills at all, but you're editing and the music and you don't do a ton of voiceover. You're just showing the images, but we understand the message the fun, the coolest dish we should be getting. Thank you, yeah, yeah.

Ana: 7:06

I take pride in how I edit. I think I do a pretty good job myself too. If I were to give tips to anyone, it would be make your music choices, you know, unique to you. And when it comes to editing the music with the video, you kind of have to have a rhythm to it. If you don't have a rhythm to it, people will keep scrolling.

Ana: 7:32

I think, I know I do. When I see a video, it's just kind of second nature to me. If I don't like how it's all coming together, I kind of scroll past it. So if you are able to catch people's eye quickly and stay on beat with everything that you're doing and pick songs that you love, you know that energy will come out to the people and they know that it's special to you. That's what I try to do.

Doug : 7:56

I love it and I get it. I think that's why you're so captivating, because you you catch me when I'm watching a video or any kind of post of yours.

Ana: 8:04

Thank you.

Doug : 8:05

What do the, what do the food places, the business owners, what do they say about your content? What kind of response have you gotten?

Ana: 8:12

They have really great responses from my content.

Ana: 8:14

Now some people reach out to me for the content, and other times, most, I would say 75% of what I do on my page is genuinely me going to a place just on my own exploration, and you know, though sometimes they don't reach out to me, but I can see the impact on my own just based on their follower account, depending on you know how delicious something looks or how much people really want it. Their follower account goes up, sometimes by a thousand within a day, and so I know that that has to have a huge impact on them. Otherwise, though, I receive a lot of great feedback from those owners, and they tell me that the things that I'm posting typically sell out for them because, the people want to try what I try my fan base is really loyal.

Ana: 9:02

Shout out to all of them. They do what I do and with no questions asked, so I know that those business owners feel the love from that and I'm happy to do that for anyone I can.

Doug : 9:17

I love that. You are, you know, doing this. You know mostly, as you said, look organically. These are the places you want to try, or these are just the places you like, or relationship that you've built. The other place I notice a lot is Latte Lane.

Ana: 9:31

Love Latte Lane. I mean it is Instagrammable especially with your nails as well.

Doug : 9:36

But tell me, a little bit about Latte Lane, because I haven't made it there yet.

Ana: 9:39

Oh my gosh, you have to go. So, Latte Lane. It's located out in Harmar, though they have a Pittsburgh address and people get really upset when I say they're in Pittsburgh. That's just something you know.

Catherine: 9:50

I that's us, that's Pittsburgh, yeah, yeah whatever.

Ana: 9:54

Anyways, they have. So Heather, her name is Heather, she's the owner. She used to work over at Bean Through and I met her there. She made the best lattes ever and then she decided to open up her own little coffee trailer. It wasn't even called Latte Lane. It was called I forget what it was called initially, but then she rebranded to Latte Lane and now she is located in Crosspoint Church up on. Freeport.

Doug : 10:20

Road.

Ana: 10:21

And not on Sundays, obviously, because there's church service, but every other day I think. The hours are like six am to six pm on weekdays and then she's open until one on Saturdays. I know the schedule.

Doug : 10:34

I love this.

Catherine: 10:36

Because I'm a regular.

Ana: 10:38

But the drinks that she has, yes, they're Instagrammable, like you said. Not only are they Instagrammable, though, they are so delicious, they're not overly sweet and they go with my nails.

Doug : 10:51

Why not?

Ana: 10:53

Yeah, I love it there. They treat me well and I do the same in return. And yeah, they're an incredible small business Women owned as well.

Doug : 11:02

I love that.

Ana: 11:03

Yeah, hey, I'm Ana of Ana Eats Pittsburgh and you're listening to the Pittsburgh Dish.

Doug : 11:10

So so much has happened over this year, but I mean, take me back a little bit, take me a step back. So you grew up here. Food and going out now is so big. What was like your food scene, like at home, did you?

Ana: 11:26

all eat a lot.

Doug : 11:27

Did you cook at home a lot?

Ana: 11:28

Great question. I grew up surrounded by literal I would call them culinary geniuses my whole life and it's just my family. So my brother, john, he's a chef. He's incredible. He used to work for some catering companies Greco's and Bella Sara back in the day and he picked up some really great skills and he taught me how to cook too. So he taught me pretty much everything that I know my dad, who passed away when I was younger, but I remember the food that he would make for holidays, like bacon wrapped scallops and oh my.

Ana: 12:07

Well, I mean, you know the best of the best food he could throw down in the kitchen. And my mom is wonderful. She can cook. She's incredible. Her homemade meals are better than anything that you can get out. Truly, we say that all the time. We want her to cook for us more. Mom, if you're listening, please cook for us more.

Ana: 12:26

We love your cooking and my Nana, who passed away two years ago. We are Syrian, so she would make grape leaves, she would make just the best Middle Eastern food and I grew up with that influence around me too. To say I just grew up with the best food experiences ever. We didn't even go out to eat that much.

Doug : 12:48

You know what good food is?

Ana: 12:49

I just know what good food is. So when I find it when I'm out, I know it, I know it has good flavor, I know it's made with love and that's just all that I'm used to. I was surrounded by it as a kid and I'm so thankful that I know good food and how to cook it too.

Doug : 13:04

Oh my gosh, I thank you so much for sharing that. That is amazing and I have some similar folks in my family that they know what they're doing. I just think that what you're doing for small business now kind of reflects that almost that familial thing, but in a community sense now 100% yeah. I love how that's grown. There have been some other things that have happened over this year beyond just the Instagram. I think you and I share. I saw you on TV. Now, yeah To a couple times.

Ana: 13:36

I think I was on there three times last year. Yeah, with my school, I'm a teacher as well. I teach special ed. With my teaching schedule it's a little harder to get on there now. But that was really life changing for me to be on TV. I never in a million years thought that I would be on KDKA with Heather Abraham.

Doug : 13:57

And you did great and she's great too. She loved her yeah.

Ana: 14:01

I was really, really nervous and, honestly, each time I did it I was nervous, every single time. I don't know if you feel that way when you go on. Well, the first two times were live and then the third time was a prerecord, which felt a little bit better to me. I don't think that I couldn't tell that I was nervous in them, but I was 100%.

Doug : 14:23

I'm nervous every time.

Ana: 14:24

Yeah, and it's been. I get like shaky. My hand gets shaky because it's a big deal and I care. I think when people get nervous about something, that means that they really care, and I cared about that because that was, I mean, being on TV. That's a big deal.

Doug : 14:40

I know, and again you highlighted some great businesses. I sort of recall Lola's and the Breakfast Sandwiches.

Ana: 14:47

Yeah, that was my first segment. I did Lola's Dagneys I had on there, that's right.

Catherine: 14:52

Curb-side coffee.

Doug : 14:52

Oh that's right, but the Speciespice Everyone loved that Speciespice. You know how to pick it. I mean, we are so lucky to have you doing what you're doing.

Ana: 15:01

Thanks, I mean I'm having fun, like I said, and it's not work to me. I just this is what I do and I'm even plotting what I'm going to do after this. Today I was going to go down, maybe to Coup de Ville to get a Fluffernutter latte. Have you seen that on their page?

Doug : 15:15

Yeah, I'm like. I might need to do that Coup de Ville's good, and if you can do it daytime too and get into some of these places at the lunch-ish hour, you can still get sort of the full experience without having to dodge all the crowds on a Friday or Saturday night or something like that.

Ana: 15:32

Even if there are crowds, I don't care. It's a part of the experience, you know.

Doug : 15:37

I really. I want to go back to the KDKA spot because I recall there was a post you put on about your dad. Would you talk about that a little bit? What happened that day?

Ana: 15:48

So I don't know exactly what I said in the post. It was a while ago the wind glue. Oh yeah.

Ana: 15:55

So, yeah, I know my dad's always with me, I just feel it, and he was a great speaker, he was great with people and I know if you were here today he would 100% be pushing me to do all of the things that I'm doing, and I know that he's so proud of everything that I'm doing and so thank you for reminding me. I can't believe I forgot about that. But that day, after my first segment at KDKA, which was huge I was with my family. My mom and my sister were walking behind me, and that day it wasn't windy at all Like today. It wasn't like it is right now. It was very still air.

Ana: 16:37

When we got there and when we were leaving, this huge gust of wind just blew us away so strongly and when we got back in the car, we were like I think my sister might have mentioned it Like that was a really big gust of wind and I have a feeling that that was Dad just saying like, hi, great job, I'm proud of you. And so, yeah, that was a special moment and thank you for helping me remember that. I love it. I post so much and I forgot that that even happened. But, yeah, that's very important to me to feel that his presence is around me and I definitely feel like he's 100% looking out for me in the success and perhaps even is a part of the success that I've had too.

Doug : 17:26

So, yeah, I definitely feel that for you and your mom's right there all the time. She's super supportive.

Ana: 17:33

She sure is. I've seen her in the neighborhood as well. She's so great, I love her.

Doug : 17:38

Is she going out with you and doing some video All the time?

Ana: 17:40

Yeah, whenever she can, her work schedule in mind don't really always match up great.

Catherine: 17:45

She's a hairdresser.

Ana: 17:46

She owns a salon out in McMurray Shout out to Expressions.

Doug : 17:50

There you go, plug it.

Ana: 17:52

But whenever I can, I want to bring my family, because these restaurants that, especially if they're having me, they want to show me the best of the best, which is a lot of their menu, and so I like to have my family come with me, and my mom is always there. She's my biggest supporter for sure, and my sister as well. I try to tag them along as much as I can.

Doug : 18:16

It's so important, though, too, it helps reinforce what you're doing. You've got another set of eyes and, like you said, you're bringing them along for the full experience, which there really couldn't be anything better.

Ana: 18:27

Yeah, for sure it's less lonely too. I like going out to restaurants on my own, but sometimes I like to have my family with me, and my boyfriend too, if I can ever bring him with me. It's just better when you have people around you and also they help me so much with the best of the best, you know getting a shot of me with the food too, is always helpful.

Doug : 18:48

Yeah, does your boyfriend enjoy all of these places you've discovered? You got like a lot of good.

Ana: 18:53

For sure. I feel like before we started dating he he had never even had Thai food before, so his foods, you know his options were always, I think, limited and I kind of I think I showed him some places that he has just never been. Thai food was one of our first dates that we went on, obviously. That's me, I'm food is my favorite. How we haven't talked about that already all the flavor, yeah it's sweet, it's salty, it's everything. And we went to the dancing crab down in Southside at that time dormant, I don't believe their Dormont location existed yet, so I took him there.

Ana: 19:29

We got crab rangoons, duh and I think my go-to order there is pad see ew and he got their green curry. Everything was so good, but yeah, I feel like I've opened his eyes To some great places, and I, of course, bring him along with me everywhere that I go.

Doug : 19:47

Does he ever pick the place he does?

Ana: 19:52

Rare, I mean sometimes we come to a mutual agreement, like tonight where we came to uncle Sam.

Catherine: 19:58

Okay, and.

Ana: 19:59

Robinson and we love uncle. Sam's to grab a sub. But you know I do kind of rule, it's you know you've sort of asserted yourself as the expert he picks sometimes.

Doug : 20:13

Maybe he's allowed to pick a place you know is already good yeah and if I'm craving it, it's all good. So you mentioned the dancing crab, but I'd like to go back to something else. That's you. Maybe you've been asked this before, but tell me about the obsession of crab ringoon.

Ana: 20:30

Okay, yeah, this is actually a good story. It relates back to my dad too. So when I was young, we lived I've lived all around the South Hills, literally you name it. I've probably lived there in the South Hills, but I grew up in Canonsburg, for a pretty good amount of my childhood and there's a place there called Wai Wai.

Ana: 20:52

It's a Chinese buffet. It's it's not one of my absolute favorite Chinese places to go. However, I went there a lot as a kid. My dad and I would have dinner there I don't even know, maybe every other week.

Ana: 21:07

It is special, it's super special to me and they had crab rangoons on the lineup there and that was my first ever time trying crab rangoons ever and I remember after trying them the first time I Would I love them so much that I would put like four or five on my plate and my dad like I'm like six years old.

Doug : 21:31

I was gonna say what age are we at? Your six or seven?

Ana: 21:33

Yes, and my dad would be like honey, you can't Really do that.

Catherine: 21:38

You got a kind of spread it out, dial it back.

Ana: 21:43

And that was when I fell in love with crab ringoons and ever since I've found so many that are even better than that, I would say like Thai. Yeah you ring goons. I know they're not really Authentically Thai. I've heard that they don't really do that in Thailand but that's something that's Americanized here in Thai restaurants and I would say the crab ring goons I get at Thai restaurants are so flavorful, sometimes with a little bit of curry in them. Yeah, they're really the best of the best.

Doug : 22:15

I think you're allowed to like tie crab ring goons, because even I think so too.

Ana: 22:20

Pad Thai is not a traditional dish of right, and I'm saying that I hear, like all you know, I get comments all the time on my posts of like. Recently I posted a Chinese restaurant and I had a few people saying, well, that's not even Chinese food. And it's like the technicalities that I'm facing now. I have to be mindful of some of the things that I say and do.

Ana: 22:40

I will still say and do them, but I do know that some people are a little bit more particular about the things that you say and Like that you know.

Doug : 22:50

I think that if people are responding whatever way they're responding, they're interested true. That's the thing you pushed a button. Yeah and and I think you know it, both positive and negative comments are always interesting. I've gotten the same ones on YouTube about a recipe I've done and I'm like, hmm, it's okay. Thank you for the feedback. Yeah and what do I do with that?

Ana: 23:12

I'm still trying to navigate that. Yeah honestly, I, when you get bigger, you receive more feedback, both positive and negative. Obviously there's way more positive than there is negative, but I do get the occasional very negative comment. That is not necessary. Right or it's bashing the business or something, and I I want people to be able to speak freely on my content, but there's a fine line.

Doug : 23:38

Yeah, I think well, there's also responsible and respectable. Yeah and I think if someone can't put that out there, it's just a slam or a bash for no good reason. Right then I think they're delete worthy. I have done that, I'm not gonna lie.

Ana: 23:55

I don't stand up for people tearing down businesses that I post, especially. I take a lot of pride in the places that I show off and I think they deserve it. So if you had one bad experience there, that's okay, but you need to address it with them, not me and hundreds of thousands of viewers watching and sometimes feedback to that business is really valuable.

Doug : 24:16

if they didn't have the best night there, I think, then a lot of places welcome that and we'll turn it around.

Ana: 24:22

Yep, I agree with you.

Doug : 24:24

Have you ever gotten a negative insult or something that you actually loved and you were proud of, or something like that?

Ana: 24:31

No, okay, not particularly no.

Doug : 24:37

Okay, sometimes people have said things to me like oh, that's too simple or that's too homemade. I'm like well, exactly.

Ana: 24:42

Oh, that's a good one. That's a good one.

Jimmy: 24:44

I feel like you know.

Doug : 24:47

No, it's too basic.

Jimmy: 24:48

Right and I'm like well yeah yeah, how about?

Doug : 24:52

how about some comments that stick with you, that are really positive or uplifting? Do you have anything that stands out? I get all the time.

Ana: 24:57

Yeah, like I love it when people say oh, me and my significant other, we just went and tried this place and we loved it so much and it's now on our regular rotation, like I just saw one like that and that makes me feel so great. You know, I wish people would tell me that more, to be honest, because I have a feeling that it's a lot more people than that even. But those comments really do stick with me to know that I'm making an impact on my community around me with just a couple of videos and posts and stories.

Ana: 25:27

That's huge.

Doug : 25:28

Yeah, yeah, I bet the percentage is actually much higher. You know, if you've got 10% of people responding yeah, it's probably a higher percentage I wish there was a way for me to know I really do.

Ana: 25:39

It's hard, not not everyone feels maybe feels comfortable reaching out to me. If you're listening, reach out to me because I love. I love to hear that. That's great yeah.

Doug : 25:51

And so thinking forward, now you know you're, you're doing your thing, you're growing exponentially on Instagram. You've really represented a lot of small and even some larger food businesses in the area. What are your goals, or what do you want to keep doing, like, where do you go from here?

Ana: 26:08

I'm riding the wave.

Doug : 26:09

Yeah.

Ana: 26:10

I have no idea what's coming to me and I kind of like that.

Jimmy: 26:14

Yeah.

Ana: 26:14

I kind of like not knowing what's happening and of course, it's great to have goals, but I feel like my goals are sort of funny. I really would like to meet some, some personalities within, like the food network scene. Oh yeah, food network is always on my mind.

Ana: 26:32

I would that's a dream to you know branch out into something that large. I don't know if it's like attainable in the near future, but keep those dreams big and things can happen. I really, really want to meet Gordon Ramsay and like just talk to him. I want to meet Guy Fieri and talk to him. Yeah, you know, just getting out there and in the food world beyond Pittsburgh is a goal of mine too. I have ideas of where I want to possibly travel over the summer and I really want to go to New York. I've never been to New York City before. I really want to go there and eat some pizza and bagels.

Ana: 27:12

We need to get that, I know I know, and travel is something that I didn't do much of as a kid. I've never been on a plane, so travel is very new to me. Driving places, of course, I've been all over the East Coast, but I would love to go outside of the country as well to try some food. I want to go to Europe, france in particular. I would love to go just eat some bread and cheese. Travel is huge, for me, oh my gosh.

Doug : 27:37

There are so many food adventures ahead for you. I know, and here's what I know I know that you have talked to people and promoted people here in Pittsburgh that could make those other adventures happen, for sure. Not a problem, and now you just put that out in the world. So next year Anna eats you know the world wide tour.

Ana: 27:57

That's honestly something that's gone through my mind too. Anna eats the world. If I could branch out to that. I love Pittsburgh and I know. I'm going to. I just know in my heart I will be here for the rest of my life. I know that. But if I can branch out and travel as well and promote other places too, I mean, heck, yeah, let's do it.

Doug : 28:17

Oh my gosh, I love that All right, so why don't we sort of land on that here? So I do have an ending question.

Jimmy: 28:25

Okay.

Doug : 28:26

But before we go there, why don't you promote yourself? Tell everybody again, especially those folks that don't know you, who are you and how do they find you?

Ana: 28:34

Yeah, so I'm Ana with one N. People sometimes struggle to find me because my name is with one N, but on Instagram I'm ana. eats. pgh. You can find me there. Hit that follow button. I'm also on TikTok and Facebook, but those accounts aren't as developed as my Instagram yet, so everything pretty much lands on my Instagram page. I'm posting the best restaurants in Pittsburgh and I love what I do.

Doug : 29:01

Anna, thank you so much. So my ending question for everyone on the show is what was one of the best dishes you've eaten this week?

Ana: 29:10

This week.

Doug : 29:11

This week.

Ana: 29:12

Oh, let me think back. Okay, what day is it? It's Saturday. This was a busy week for me and, to be honest, I ate a lot at home, but last week, of course, I went to the dancing crab and I'm not even going to lie to you, I might have eaten green curry for breakfast today, Doug.

Doug : 29:32

I think that's perfectly fine, I did. Yeah, that sounds delicious so.

Ana: 29:38

I loved, like we said, I loved Thai food, green curry from the dancing crab.

Doug : 29:44

All right, one of the best dishes you've had this week.

Ana: 29:47

Yeah, I would say so Awesome this morning.

Doug : 29:52

Anna, thank you so much. This was such a pleasure.

Ana: 29:55

Yeah, thank you so much for having me neighbor.

Doug : 29:58

Will you come back later and give us some more going out to eat recommendations 100%.

Ana: 30:03

We should get people to ask some questions and have us answer.

Doug : 30:06

We'll do it. Yeah, thanks again.

Ana: 30:08

Thank you for having me.

Doug : 30:11

Up. Next the weekly recommend. We want to thank Beano's for being a sponsor on this week's show. For over 30 years, they've been making dressings and sauces to make your sandwiches better. A local company from a local family. If you have a sandwich, they probably have a sauce for it, and you know the bottles. They've got the fun shape and they're usually near the deli counter. Find out what's missing on your sandwich with Beano's dressings and sauces.

Doug : 30:37

Now back to the show. Usually, during the second segment, we intended to always feature restaurants, but we just had a guest that gave us so many locations that we're going to change it up and actually recommend a wine and, tying off from what we just talked about with Ana, we're going to ask our wine expert, catherine, to give us a wine for Thai food. So, Catherine, earlier in the show we talked with Ana Anthony, whose favorite cuisine self-professed is Thai food, and she may have actually had green curry for breakfast this morning. Wow, I know, and it got me to thinking, since she gave me so many great restaurant recommendations that I might want to challenge you for giving us a wine recommendation with takeout Thai food. What do you think?

Catherine: 31:25

I think I'm up to the challenge.

Doug : 31:26

Oh, I love it, all right. So I mean, I'm still learning a whole bunch about wine, and I'm sure a lot of listeners are as well. So if you're getting some takeaway and you are going to your favorite Thai restaurant, where would you start?

Catherine: 31:39

Well for Thai food, since Thai is usually having a reputation of being super spicy and it's also got sour notes and sweet notes and most Thai food is considered to be pretty super hot. You want a wine that can kind of work without hotness and just have a good mouthfeel so that it can balance out what you're experiencing with the food. Looking for a wine that has like a higher sugar content and has a really rich body to it. So a little bit sweeter of a wine, a little bit on the sweeter side of the wine. So that's going to be a wine that maybe falls in the 10 to 12% alcohol by volume type of a range.

Doug : 32:18

Okay, what would you? Where would you steer me toward? What kind of a? What do I say?

Catherine: 32:24

varietal or oh yeah, varietals, the right word for it, Varietals, the word that the wine folks use to refer to a specific grape, and the one that comes to mind for Thai food is Gewürztraminer.

Doug : 32:38

Oh, I like that German sound. Anyway, Gevertströmiener.

Catherine: 32:41

Gevertströmiener. It's actually from Alsace, France, and it's kind of near the border to Germany and that border may have flexed from time to time over the centuries, so the town does definitely have a German influence and you can definitely hear it in the name for this particular wine. wines have a really nice mouthfeel and they've got a nice little hit of acid in them and it's really considered to be like your primo choice for pairing with Thai food.

Doug : 33:11

And if you're ordering a Thai dish that is a little bit more on the spicy side, does that sort of sweet? Does it temper the hot a little?

Catherine: 33:18

bit. How does that work? That's a great question. Yeah, sweetness in the wine is going to take a little bit of the edge off of the hotness in the food and really give you a nice balanced experience. And the wine's also not going to seem as sweet because the food's so hot.

Doug : 33:36

Oh, okay, I like that. Now, I always order. I mean, I started to go for Pad Thai, which I also know gets the wrap that it's not even traditional Thai dish but it's an Americanized thing. You got to go with what you like and it's not as hot. Is there a different type of wine that maybe, if I don't want something so sweet because my dish is already sweet and it's not too hot, do you have a different one that you'd go for?

Catherine: 33:58

That's a great question. Yeah, you might want to try something a little bit more on the drier side and I like to recommend Pinot Noir from Oregon. So right here in the good old US of A, while the Pinot Noir grape really its home is in France, the Willamette Valley in Oregon is right on the same latitude on the globe. So some grapes do well in certain types of soil and with certain climates, and this climate in this particular area of Oregon really mimics where Pinot Noir came from, so it's a happy grape, and also the volcanic soil from Mount St Helens and all of those mountains over there. They stopped erupting a long time ago but their memory lives on in the soil and those grapevines really pick up some of the mineraliness.

Doug : 34:52

They're digging it.

Catherine: 34:53

They're digging it literally, unfiguratively, because they're bringing some of those flavors into the wine itself.

Doug : 35:00

Amazing.

Catherine: 35:01

It's really kind of fun because the wine will give you, in its flavors, an expression of where it's from.

Doug : 35:07

Oh, I think that those are both great pairings. So if my Thai dish is maybe not on the super spicy side or I like a little drier wine, go with a Pinot Noir from the Willamette Valley or the Pacific Northwest, pacific Northwest. And if I'm on the hot and spicy and I want a little sweeter wine, govertz, traminer. I can't say it, govertz.

Catherine: 35:27

Traminer oh, that sounds good. I think I got that right.

Ana: 35:30

At least I hope so.

Doug : 35:31

And from the Alsace region of France, but right across the border from Germany. Pretty close. Thanks again, catherine, my pleasure. Catherine Montest is a local certified wine enthusiast who studied at the Napa Valley Wine Academy and holds a certification from the Wine and Spirits Trust in London. You can find out more about Catherine at her website, yourfairywinemother. com. All right, in this part of the show we like to find out what yuns yinzs all cooking at home, and this week it might involve candy bars. Let's give our friend of the show, jimmy Jimmy, a call to see what this recipe is all about. Douglas, jimmy Jimmy. Jimmy, thanks for being on the show. So, jimmy, Jimmy what is the name of this recipe? It is the.

Jimmy: 36:16

Snickers salad.

Doug : 36:18

Oh my goodness. And does it have a lot of ingredients. What's in it?

Jimmy: 36:23

Yeah, so super simple. It's literally three ingredients. So you start off. Number one it's an eight ounce container of Cool whip. Number two we have Granny Smith apples about three of them.

Doug : 36:35

And do you peel them or do you just chop them up?

Jimmy: 36:38

You just dice them up, no reason to peel them at all. Yep makes it super simple. And then the third ingredient are three regular size Snickers bars. I usually recommend freezing them because it makes it a lot easier whenever you're chopping those up.

Doug : 36:53

Okay, so you're basically chopping up your apples, chopping up the Snickers bars after you froze them a little bit, and then you just mix it up in the cool whip.

Jimmy: 37:01

Mix it all together. Once you're done, throw it in the refrigerator, let it sit, take it to a party, have fun. Most people will probably see it and think it's another potato salad at the party. But once they actually see it and they try it, they will absolutely love it. I've tried some different things with it just to spice it up a little bit more. Like you could put like a little caramel or chocolate drizzle on it. You could add marshmallows into it if you want chocolate chips, like anything you want to enhance it. But literally, if you just wanted to do the three ingredients alone, it's phenomenal.

Doug : 37:31

So this is a crazy recipe, jimmy. Did you make this up yourself, or did you borrow it from a friend or something?

Jimmy: 37:37

So I totally stole it from a friend of mine. Her name is LaCretia. She made it for a potluck at work and I just thought it was unbelievable. And then when I asked her how many ingredients it was and she said it was only three, I'm like, well, that's my kind of recipe. So from that point forward I've been making it pretty much for events ever since.

Doug : 37:59

Oh, my gosh Snickers salad. I love it, jimmy, thanks so much.

Jimmy: 38:04

You're welcome, man.

Doug : 38:05

Nice talking to you, doug. Hey, you too, we love hearing about these recipes that you're cooking at home. If you want to submit a recipe yourself, go to our website at wwwpitsburgdishcom and look for our recipe form. Well, that's our show. Thanks for tuning in to the Pittsburgh Dish. Well, thanks to all of our guests and contributors and to Kevin Soleki of Carnegie Accordion Company for providing the music to our show. We'll be back again next week with another fresh episode. Be sure to tune in.