*DISCLAIMER*: I do not seek monetary benefits from neither Justin Severino nor Cure. I am just a Pittsburgh foodie, who enjoys sharing her culinary adventures. Photos were captured with an iPhone5s, and were edited with Instagram and Adobe Photoshop CS4.
*Website and social media links below this post!*
Cure is owned by Justin Severino (who is also executive chef of the restaurant). Originally from Ohio, Justin Severino later relocated to Western Pennsylvania and also lived and worked in Santa Cruz, California from 2004- 2007 (Valentina, 2012). An element of the west coast that Justin has brought to Pittsburgh: using local and national ingredients and knowing where your food comes from (how was it grown, raised and prepared?).
I’ve heard all sorts of things about Justin Severino from Pittsburgh chefs, magazines and food bloggers. When food blogger & married couple D&T in the Burgh mentioned Cure, I knew I had to visit this establishment for dinner.
The opportunity finally arrived to me on my birthday (November 5th). My birthday happened to fall on a Wednesday (one of my days off from work). I had been eyeing up the menu at Cure for weeks, debating if I should take a chance a request a reservation. Three weeks beforehand, I decided to take a chance and request a reservation through Cure’s website. A few days later, I received a response, and my reservation was confirmed.
I loved the atmosphere from Cure from I moment I walked in the door. Lots of wood panels on the walls; boars’ heads on the one dining room wall, shrubs on the other dining room wall, and little pig statues all over the place. Also, good lighting and good music.
The dish picture above was my Mom’s first course: butternut squash soup. The butter squash soup contained: butternut squash (of course), morcilla sausage, fried egg, smoked avocado, peanut and basil. I did sample a spoonful of my Mom’s first dish- best butternut squash soup I’ve EVER had!
Here’s my dish #1- small salumi plate: ciccioli (rustic country pate made from pork that cannot be used for neither sausage nor salami), soppresatta, lardo (cured pig back fat, bottom left-hand corner), duck speck and nduja (spreadable pork- orange, in the bottom right corner), grain mustard, black mustard and cornichons (Valentina, 2012). Let me tell you- best cured meats I’ve had in my entire LIFE and the best dinner dish of the night! I was a little disappointed in myself for not ordering the BIG salumi plate (lol). X) Everything was great, but my Mom and I particularly liked the nduja (especially spread on the bread slices with some mustard).
Who says you have to consume alcohol to have fun? I really loved this strawberry scrub drink with Pittsburgh Seltzer Works. Honestly, one of the best beverages I’ve had in my entire LIFE (it was so good, I had two). Also, very pretty! ❤
Here’s my Mom’s main course- spaghetti carbonara: salty pork bits, peas, egg, roasted garlic, soffritto and pecorino romano. As you can tell by the words and the image, not your typical spaghetti carbonara (so much better!). The smell of this dish was ethereally bacon-y! When my Mom couldn’t finish consuming this dish, I was all too happy to finish it. Soooooo task- I was sorry I didn’t order it! X)
Here’s my main dish- Copper River Salmon– hibiscus cured, ginger yogurt, rosehip honey, roasted cucumber, marcona almonds, orange, fernet, cilantro. The salmon was INCREDIBLE; I’ve had smoked salmon, grilled salmon, but never hibiscus cured salmon. All of the flavor combinations gave this dish a very exotic taste. I definitely sense a hint of asian influence. I loved cutting up the salmon, forking a slice of cucumber on top, and dipping it all in the ginger yogurt and orange marmalade. Once in a while, I was lucky enough to include a marcona almond in a bite.
Eventually, it was time for dessert; my Mom and I chose the same thing for dessert. Dessert was…(*drum roll*): dark chocolate soufflé cake with pistachio butter, sea salt, vin cotto and xxvo. The sweetness of the dark chocolate with the salty-ness and savory-ness of the pistachio were the perfect team. The dark chocolate soufflé was light, yet almost fudge-y (like a molten lava cake). It was, in every sense of the word, a perfect chocolate dessert dish. 🙂
Friends, if you ever have the chance to dine at Cure in Lawrenceville, you must go! You will not regret it, and you will be wowed at every second.
Three cheers to good food, fabulous art and cultural events,
-Friendly Pittsburgh Foodie
Valentina. (2012, June 24). Review: Cure. Retrieved from: http://www.pittsburghmagazine.com/Pittsburgh-Magazine/July-2012/Review-Cure/
Mindful Pittsburgh Foodie 
One thought on “Birthday Dinner #1 at Cure”