A New Deshantz Restaurant, Butterfat Gelato, Great Lakes Beer and a Garlic Festival

PHOTO BY LAURA PETRILLA

Richard DeShantz Restaurant Group is reimagining täkō tôrtä in Larimer’s Bakery Square, and the move was inspired by elevated restaurants across the country — including its own.

The taqueria that opened in 2021 will be replaced with an as-yet-unnamed American dining concept with culinary nods to Meat & Potatoes Downtown and Lawrenceville’s Poulet Bleu, as well as Au Cheval in Chicago; New York’s The Polo Bar and Monkey Bar and Café Chelsea; and Palm Beach Grill in Florida.

It’s slated to debut in February 2027.

Guests can expect steaks and burgers, hand-cut fries and whole branzino prepared over a centerpiece wood-fired grill, along with French onion soup and Caesar salad. The food will be complemented by a serious American whiskey collection and craft cocktail program.

Construction begins next week on the new flagship spot, which is located a few doors down from the group’s Golden Gai izakaya. The 117-set dining room will be organized into six distinct spaces. Dinner service will be reservation-first Tuesday through Saturday.

“Every dish has a reference,” founder Richard Deshantz says in a press release. “We know exactly what we’re building toward. Pittsburgh deserves a restaurant that stands alongside the country’s best. These are the dishes people love — burgers, steaks, onion soup, Caesar salad — executed with precision, restraint and incredible ingredients. Bakery Square has become one of the city’s great neighborhoods, and we wanted to build a restaurant worthy of the people who live, work and gather here every day.”

The company recently reopened Butcher and the Rye, its Downtown eatery that closed in December 2020 due to the pandemic. The nearby Japanese-Mexican fusion restaurant Täkō is temporarily closed for renovations.

Other DeShantz-brand openings include Pre Amp Coffee Studio in Squirrel Hill and Sea Monkey in the Strip District, which also houses the speakeasy Vieux Carré.

PHOTO BY KRISTY GRAVER

Get Italian Gelato in Deutschtown

The long-awaited Butterfat Gelato opened July 23 on the North Side.

The scoop shop at 404 E. Ohio St. serves multiple rotating flavors of small-batch, Italian-style gelato — a cool, dense treat made with milk and less heavy cream than American ice cream, along with its dairy-free counterpart, sorbetto. Look for weekly updates on social media.

Hours are 5 to 10 p.m. Thursday and Friday, 2 to 10 p.m. Saturday and 1 to 6 p.m. Sunday.

Owner Lauren Brock, a former scientist and pharmacist, began experimenting with gelato-making in her kitchen during the pandemic. She won the People’s Choice Award for her carrot cake gelato at the 2023 Gelato Festival World Masters.

PHOTO BY KRISTY GRAVER

A Flight of Great Lakes Beers at PIT

A Cleveland brewery will soon land at Pittsburgh International Airport.

Great Lakes Brewing Co., founded in 1988, will open Great Lakes Experience Bar at PIT this fall.

Developed in partnership with Pittsburgh-based Air Ventures, the brewpub will serve causal bites and award-winning beers such as Dortmunder Gold lager and Edmund Fitzgerald porter. Additional details, including menu offerings, design renderings, grand opening events and exclusive airport-only features will be announced soon.

Great Lakes began distributing to Pennsylvania in 1999 and recently collaborated with Canonsburg-based Sarris Candies on a limited-edition chocolate ale.

PHOTO COURTESY OF FLORA PARK CREAMERY

Attend Pittsburgh’s First Garlic Festival

Vampires, beware.

Doug Oster, a local Emmy Award-winning garden host, writer and producer, is organizing Pittsburgh’s inaugural Garlic Festival.

The celebration will be held from noon to 3 p.m. on Aug. 23 at Flora Park Nursery and Creamery in Bethel Park. There will be fresh garlic seed for sale courtesy of Janoski’s Farm and Greenhouse, and Oster will present “Planting Garlic for Seven Different Harvests,” with advice on how to avoid the allium leaf miner, a destructive garlic pest. He’ll also whip up his garlic alfredo pasta and honey-roasted garlic ice cream with balsamic glaze for guests to try.

Auntie Anne’s Pretzel truck will be onsite, along with beekeepers sharing information and samples of local honey. Kids can participate in scavenger hunt, have their face painted and explore the Bethel Park Fire Department’s ladder truck. Music will be provided by local band Day One and attendees can enter a drawing to win Drammatic Organic Fertilizer and a watering can.

The event is free to attend and proceeds of garlic sales will go to the South Hills Interfaith Movement. Attendees are encouraged to donate cash, extra garden produce, shelf-stable food and items such as jarred pasta sauces, cereal and oatmeal, low-sodium soup, condiments, baking ingredients and personal care items like shampoo, toothpaste and deodorant to the organization. Anyone who donates receives a free Dramm hose nozzle.

SHIM tends gardens all over the South Hills to help feed the hungry and beautify the community.