Crepes may very well be replacing cupcakes as Pittsburgh's food trend du jour.
Paris66, which opened in East Liberty over the summer, attracts crowds morning, noon and night for its authentic French fare; Crepes Parisiennes packs both its Shadyside and Oakland locations for its savory and sweet treats; and now J'eet, which opened late last week, is bringing French-infused California cafe cuisine to Lawrenceville.
The cafe, at 4200 Penn Ave., balances cozy and chic with no-nonsense dishes (sandwiches, salads, crepes and coffee) and a casual, tongue-in-cheek vibe that's accessible to Wi-Fi-seeking neighborhood residents as well as the on-the-go Children's Hospital crowd from across the street. The ingredients are fresh and predominately local, and the combinations, by chef Kevin Olmstead, are sophisticated. For instance, the turkey sandwich features smoked Gouda and fig jam, and there's a dessert crepe made with mint, honey and candied walnuts.
J'eet's sunlit space was vacant for about two decades before cafe owner Marc Stern completely renovated it. The Pittsburgh native, who worked as an actor in California for many years before boomeranging back, added plumbing (there was none), a garage-front facade, gleaming hardwood floors and a full--if compact--kitchen, and is planning on a back deck by the spring. And J'eet, a play on Pittsburghese for "did-ya-eat," is presided over by a whimsical mural of what may very well be a donkey-headed, book-toting hipster, painted by Stern's brother and sister-in-law, who own area staple the Brillobox a couple doors down on Penn.
The brothers now share an office over the Brillobox, and Marc credits Eric's Brillobox success as encouragement in first restaurant venture. But the real inspiration, Stern says, is Lawrenceville itself, which is located at the intersection of so many of Pittsburgh's up-and-coming neighborhoods, and is home to some of the city's most creative, food-loving types, including Stern himself.
Writer: Caralyn Green
Sources: Marc Stern and Kevin Olmstead, J'eet
Photograph copyright Caralyn Green