014 Vines to Virtuosos: Unveiling Pittsburgh's Palate of Passions

(1:06) When a wedding gift evolves into a lifelong passion, it's a story worth uncorking. Join us as we raise a glass with Catherine Montest, who takes us on a spirited journey from receiving her first bottle of fine wine to diving deep into wine clubs and vintner adventures. Her insights remind us that, like a fine wine, relationships and palates mature beautifully over time. Our conversation isn't just about the bouquet of a good Bordeaux; it’s a toast to the connections we cherish and the moments we share.

(7:48) On a different note, we're squeezing in some melodious charm with Kevin Solecki, Pittsburgh's own accordion virtuoso, who brings his tunes and tales to our ears. Kevin's fingers dance over the keys, telling a story of tradition and triumph, from his performances at Wholey's Fish Market to his thriving Carnegie Accordion Company. 

(13:44) And if your taste buds are tingling for more local flavor, Abby O'Connell is your guide to the culinary landscape of Spirits and Tales, from divine brunches to dinners that dazzle against Pittsburgh's Oakland skyline. Plus a party sandwich recipe that will have locals drooling. Don't just listen—become part of the narrative by sharing your own recipes and revel in the rich flavors of our region.

Transcript

Doug: 0:01

Welcome to the Pittsburgh Dish. I'm your host, Doug Heilman. How does a love affair of wine begin, and what about a lifelong career with the accordion? You'll learn more with two Spotlight interviews this week. Looking for a dining spot that seems to have it all? We'll talk with our friend Abby O'Connell and find a location that she loves and want a sandwich that'll have your guests drooling. We'll dig into the archives and give you a recipe this week. All that ahead, stay tuned. This week's episode is supported by Chef Alekka. Have your very own home chef experience with Chef Alekka Sweeney for private events, an in-house cooking class or even your corporate event. Find more information on her website at chefalekka. com. Now on to the show.

Doug: 1:00

In this week's episode we spotlight two people that really helped to make the show as special as it is. First up is Catherine Montest, who I personally have known for nearly 20 years. We've worked together and really developed a friendship over time. Catherine's always been my go-to for picking wine as a casual enthusiast, but just before the Pittsburgh Dish got started, she also earned her wine certification from the Napa Valley Wine Academy, so it was perfect to have her on the show. Let's hear a little bit more about how her love of wine got started. Well, you know, catherine, I've known you for years as a friend, as a colleague and really as a wine aficionado in my book, and that's why I asked you to come on and give me a couple of recommendations, because I am an ignoramus when it comes to picking out wine. I've got my two or three go-tos, but I know you know so much more. Where did that passion for wine tasting and exploring, where did that start?

Catherine: 2:04

Well, first off, thank you for not calling me your favorite wino.

Doug: 2:09

I would only do it in the French written way.

Catherine: 2:12

That may be engraved on a glass I have at home. I know. Wow, that's a really really good question. I think the thing that really got me sparked was actually a wedding gift.

Doug: 2:25

Oh yeah.

Catherine: 2:26

When my husband and I got married, we received a gift, and I wish I still had my list of who gave us what, because I need to thank this person from the bottom of my heart. They gave us a beautiful bottle of wine with a lovely note on it that said just as your love will grow with time and become more interesting, and your relationship become more interesting and more complex, this wine will also grow and become more complex over time. Please enjoy it on your fifth anniversary. Oh my God, what a special gift. Well, it stuck with me and I will confess that almost every wedding I've been to since then that's been the gift that I've given.

Doug: 3:06

Oh, I love that.

Catherine: 3:07

Yeah, well, it shows that you have confidence in the people and you're buying a bottle of wine for someone that they wouldn't necessarily buy for themselves.

Doug: 3:18

Oh yeah, it's special. Yeah, I mean, the whole meaning is special, thank, you?

Catherine: 3:22

Yeah, that was really the first thing was like wait, what Five years from now, and this will be not just still good, but better, better. That whole thought was just fascinating to me, and that was my first little love affair with wine.

Doug: 3:38

I guess you could say and how long have you and your husband been married? 36 years, wow. So this love affair, not only with your husband, started before that, but your love affair with wine started over 30 years ago.

Catherine: 3:51

Yes, it did. I remember early in my career I was taking a business trip and back in the days when they used to have magazines on airplanes, one of those fun little lap cards fell out. It was for something called the Four Seasons Wine Club and I was like, huh, that looks kind of interesting, super affordable. They, four times a year, send a mixed case of wines to your house along with a card with information about where the wine was made, who the winemaker was, what the wine was all about and even pairing suggestions for every bottle. We were members of that for years. I got to taste wines from Australia, New Zealand, Italy, France, even South Africa oh wow, in addition to the United States, and it was just really a neat way to explore the world of wine and to learn about it through doing, through tasting.

Doug: 4:53

Now I sort of remember a few years back when you and I were working together. You and your husband embarked on making wine and you won an award we did. Can you tell me a little bit about that?

Catherine: 5:07

I'd be happy to. We bought a bucket of wine juice because somebody else could stomp the grapes. Thank you very much. That's a lot of work and I'm not turning my feet purple, oh my goodness. So we bought a bucket of wine juice, read the instructions and followed the instructions, and when you're making wine at home from a bucket of juice, you're busy with it for about two weeks while it goes through that initial fermentation and while the yeast is what I like to call throwing its party and gobbling up all the sugar and turning it into alcohol the sugar and turning it into alcohol. And once the yeast is done throwing its party, you put it into a big glass jug and put a little airlock on the top of it.

Catherine: 5:54

You let it set for a month and then you go and decant it into another similar bottle and you visit it for about half an hour every month, just kind of decanting it back and forth, and that's a process called racking After about a year. So again, first two weeks are pretty active. The next 10 or 12 months you got about a half an hour's investment in it, very light babysitting, very light babysitting.

Catherine: 6:17

Then you get to the end of the road and your wine is ready to bottle. Okay, so now you might spend another couple of hours cleaning and sanitizing bottles, putting some labels on, decanting the wine into the bottles and putting the corks on. We did this with a wine called Carmenere Carmenere and we submitted this wine to the Pennsylvania Amateur Wine Association. Okay, every year they hold this wonderful event. Amateur winemakers from all over the region submit their wines for blind tasting and feedback and we're like, okay, here we go, let's see what we made stacks up, if it's any good. When the judges are reviewing the wine, they don't compare your wine to the other wines that submitted. They compare your wine to what should it taste like, based on what you told us it is?

Doug: 7:07

Interesting. So it's not this. I'm against my neighbor. Kind of competition. You're being held to a standard, exactly Okay.

Catherine: 7:17

You're exactly correct. We just expected to get tasting notes back. That said, good job, try again.

Doug: 7:24

Yeah.

Catherine: 7:27

Almost had to pick me up off the floor when we got a silver medal for that wine.

Doug: 7:29

Oh, congratulations.

Catherine: 7:30

Thank you. Yeah, even a novice can make good wine if you follow the instructions.

Doug: 7:36

What a great story.

Catherine: 7:37

Thank you.

Doug: 7:37

Thank you for sharing that.

Catherine: 7:38

My pleasure. Hello, this is Catherine Montest, Your Fairy Wine Mother, and you are listening to The Pittsburgh Dish.

Kevin: 7:49

How are you doing?

Doug: 7:49

Great. How are you, Doug? I'm great. Would you introduce yourself?

Kevin: 7:53

and your business Absolutely. My name is Kevin Solecki and I own Carnegie Accordion Company in Carnegie, Pennsylvania.

Doug: 8:01

And if anyone has been listening to the show, you might recognize that name, because Kevin has provided the music to our show since the beginning.

Kevin: 8:10

Absolutely, and thank you for doing that. Oh, thank you.

Doug: 8:13

You have truly been such a good neighbor for almost 20 years and just recently moved. But you know, I cornered you one day and asked you if you had any music that you could provide and you gave me a huge prop. So thank you.

Kevin: 8:30

Well, first of all I'm offended. Good neighbor the best neighbor.

Doug: 8:33

Well, yeah, I would say you're the best if you were still here in the neighborhood, but you have since moved, so there's a difference. Well, you were the best neighbor. Oh well, thank you, I did want to ask. You know, the show is called The Pittsburgh Dish and it's all about sort of the local food scene. You play a pretty big role, I think, in the local food scene. Most weekends folks can find you downtown at the Strip.

Kevin: 9:01

Can you tell everybody what you do? I play accordion most weekends throughout the year at Wholey's Fish Market. That's right In the Strip District, I think it's like a Pittsburgh fixture.

Doug: 9:11

You're like a thing an attraction.

Kevin: 9:14

It is a thing I've been doing it for about 15 years and prior to those 15 years they had an accordionist playing there for, I believe, 18 years and he was not a very, very old gentleman but up there in age and unfortunately he passed away and I was his replacement. So for over 30 years Wholey's had an accordion player there on the weekend. So I would say it's a fixture.

Doug: 9:40

It is and you are it now. I've also seen you at Good Taste Pittsburgh's Pizza Fest, but I also know that you make the rounds throughout the year with different festivals and events like Oktoberfest. Are there places that you go kind of on the regular that I don't know? About now in terms of we're in the spring.

Kevin: 10:03

Yeah, in terms of being regular. But you're right, I do a lot of Oktoberfest work in the city. During that time of the year I do get around and do a lot of entertaining, yes, especially in that fall time.

Doug: 10:17

Yes, tell me actually just about the accordion. There's not a ton of accordion players in the US. How did you get started?

Kevin: 10:28

Well, first of all, there's more accordion players out there than you would think. It's not as popular as it used to be back in the, let's say, 1920s, 30s, 40s, 50s, sure, but there are more accordion players out there than you might think. I started playing at an early age of six years old, following the footsteps of an uncle that used to play accordion, and he actually quit before I was born, so I never had a chance to hear him play, but my parents were instrumental in taking me down to a local music studio to introduce me to the accordion, and the rest is history, that's amazing when I met you 20 years ago.

Doug: 11:10

Grammy nominated. Am I correct?

Kevin: 11:12

Correct. Yeah, I came out with an album that was nominated for a Grammy award, which was a great honor, and I have been to the Grammy awards since that nomination year an additional five times just as a guest, so it's a fun event for sure. Fun weekend.

Doug: 11:29

I think this is why I think you are a niche, because you have had such success and you're in there Like it's crazy. And then the business in Carnegie how long has your shop been open?

Kevin: 11:40

I just celebrated my eight year anniversary in February of this year and, thank you, it's going strong and I love it. It's challenging at times and it's stressful at times, but it's a heck of a lot of fun. I get a chance to meet a lot of great folks, and the reason why I say there's more accordion players out there than you may think because I deal with so many folks that that that play, and not necessarily folks that I have heard of before or recognized, but for sure there are a lot of people out there that play and it's a fantastic instrument and again, I appreciate you featuring and showcasing my music on your wonderful show.

Doug: 12:20

Oh well, thank you for letting us have that wonderful music. I also know that every once in a while you go away to Europe, you are having accordions produced under your name. Is that right?

Kevin: 12:33

Under a name that I created, correct? Yes, I have a company that I deal with in Italy who makes accordions for me, for me and I have a whole customization aspect of it, where I can customize an accordion for somebody and meet their specific requests of a color or design to really personalize their accordion, which never really existed years ago. But that's been an awesome adventure, wow, and there's some pretty wild designs that some folks come up with. I'm happy to be part of helping them create their dream accordion. Oh my gosh.

Doug: 13:13

Kevin Solecki of Carnegie Accordion Company, creating dreams every day. I love it.

Kevin: 13:19

Thanks for stopping in. Thank you, Doug. All right, bye-bye Thanks.

Doug: 13:24

Kevin has truly been a great friend and neighbor and you should check him out. Up next looking for a dining location that seems to have it all. We'll get a pick from Abby O'Connell. Hey everybody, we're back with my friend Abby O'Connell of foodismysavior_pgh. And Abby, I was just wondering, you know, when you're going out to all these places, is there a spot that you think about that sort of has it all They've got like good food, good drinks, good atmosphere, any place come to mind.

Abby : 14:03

Yes, Recently I just went to Spirits and Tales again. I had gone a few years back and had good experiences.

Doug: 14:12

And this is in the Oakland neighborhood. Is it in the Oaklander Hotel?

Abby : 14:18

Yes, it's on like maybe the top floor or close to the top floor so it has a really great view. There's an outside like small patio that you can enjoy different cocktails, and Serena Brooks is actually a photographer, so she invited me and a few other girls to. You know, come out, take some pictures. And we got to try the entire menu from brunch. Come out, take some pictures.

Abby : 14:42

And we got to try the entire menu from brunch, lunch to dinner. Oh, it was an awesome experience. Uh, their brunch is something that's also really great. Um, they're trying to, you know, bring in a DJ and have different like brunch cocktails too, so it's, it's a cool vibe, um, and I mean, you can't go wrong with their pancakes too.

Doug: 14:59

Oh, okay, I was going to ask, like, what were some of the tastiest bites? So pancakes are on your list. What else have you had there that really stood out?

Abby : 15:06

So weirdly enough, because I don't think this is something that you would think to get there, but their smash burger was exceptional, yeah.

Doug: 15:14

I will always take a good smash burger.

Abby : 15:16

Me too. They do it, I think, for brunch, lunch and dinner. They have different burgers there too, which were really good, and another dish that stood out was the scallops. They made them really great, very buttery and enjoyable.

Doug: 15:31

So Spirits and Tales in the Oaklander, and they do have great views. Yes, thanks so much, abby. No problem, you can follow Abby on Instagram at foodismysavior_pgh. So when I went to college, my Aunt Jane hand wrote a small book of recipes and I've been recently going through them all. This week I want to dive into a party sandwich that we call Ham Droolies. It has chipped chopped ham, a little bit of onion, cheddar cheese, hard boiled egg, sweet pickle relish, miracle whip and a couple other things. Let's give my Aunt Jane a call and learn a little bit more about this recipe. Oh, hi, aunt Jane, how are you?

Jane: 16:19

I'm fine. How are you?

Doug: 16:21

I'm good. Hey, I have one more. Yeah, I'm turning to it. Hold on. How about ham droolies? Where did ham droolies come from?

Jane: 16:30

That's old. Greg's family calls them party sandwiches. I think ham droolies was another one of those deals that when you went to somebody's house that's what they served, and then you wanted the recipe. So you got the recipe.

Doug: 16:47

Yeah, this one is. It's very Pittsburgh too, because it has chipped chopped ham and it has some ketchupy. What do they call it?

Jane: 16:55

I thought that was ketchup.

Doug: 16:57

It has the chili sauce.

Jane: 16:59

Oh, Heinz Chili Sauce, right, that's right, Right.

Doug: 17:02

And then you, you make that like it is, you make the mix like a day ahead, then you put them in the buns and then you wrap it in aluminum foil and you bake them and you put them in your crock pot, yes, and what else I have done is because I really don't like using aluminum foil yes next to my food that I'm cooking, so what I have done was like warm the buns yes warm the ham droolies and then throw them together like toast, I don't like my buns, really crisp uh-huh.

Doug: 17:35

You said you don't like when bread cuts the roof of your mouth no, and it does if it's sharp yeah the roof of your mouth?

Jane: 17:41

No, and it does. If it's sharp, yeah, the roof of my mouth cuts easily.

Doug: 17:44

Thanks for being on The Pittsburgh Dish.

Jane: 17:46

I appreciate this. This is sweet.

Doug: 17:48

Aw.

Jane: 17:48

Thank you.

Doug: 17:49

You're welcome, yeah.

Jane: 17:50

All right, bye, dear.

Doug: 17:52

Bye-bye, bye. You can submit your own recipe to the show on our website at www. pittsburghdish. com and look for our share, a recipe form. That's our show for this week. Thanks again to all of our guests and contributors and, of course, to Kevin Solecki of Carnegie Accordion Company for providing the music to our show. We'll be back again next week with another fresh episode. Stay tuned.