Upscale spot for inventive modern French dishes – including a tasting menu – plus cocktails & wine.
Menu Photos
Related Web Results
East Liberty’s The Twisted Frenchman to permanently close. – Reddit
The Twisted Frenchman, Pittsburgh, PA – OpenTable
The Twisted Frenchman (Pittsburgh, PA) – SavoryTravels
Reviews
We had 14 courses and wine was paired with all but two or three items. There were some rarer items in the list that brought a special feeling with it. All of the dishes were absolutely excellent and the wine paired well. The presentation of the dishes was also very good. We were not left sitting long between courses and the staff was very attentive and friendly.
It is a smaller restaurant and kind of oddly the chef’s table was just another table in the main dining area and we were not generally served by the chef which was a little disappointing. Another ding would be that not all the chairs matched, and for a three hour dinner ours were not very comfortable. Given the very high price of the chef’s table I think these should be fixed or otherwise noted to guests when getting reservations.
Edit: I went back to the new location on baum & it was even better then the first time!
We did the 8 course tasting menu with the wine pairing which was perfect. The only dish that didn’t amaze us was the baby eggplant, I like the smoke effect but overall the dish was a bit bland for my taste. Everything else was delicate & delicious.
But not a word or inquiry into the food. The seventh course was the last course before dessert. The chicken was way over cooked and felt like it was something left out at the buffet line hours ago. It was dry and unappealing and the taste was also not good. You can even visualize the dryness from the picture. The chocolate soufflé wasn’t bad but it wasn’t good. Lastly, the horror came when we saw the bill. The chadonnay we ordered wasn’t that fancy… around 10-15 at the store and we expect them to charge maybe 30 or 40 max for it. They charged 60. I can understand a place charging outrageous prices but at a minimum, the good has got to be decent. This place failed to deliver that and the whole thing was like a slap in the face.
I can’t begin to recall every dish served, so I’ll speak to the meal overall. At first, I was concerned that the dishes weren’t the rich, savory French foods that I’m used to; however, as the meal progressed, a certain logic and planning to the courses became apparent. The initial courses were designed to ease you into the meal, before transitioning into bigger flavors. Obviously, this is how all good tasting menus go, but I’d had a rash of poorly executed tasting menus recently. Anyhow, I digress.
Ambiance was comfortable; it was formal, but not stuffy. Service was excellent and on point, and the meal was paced very well. After the meal, we enjoyed some very good cocktails at the bar downstairs.
The only negative part of the experience, and I hesitate to mention because it was such a good experience overall, is that the wine pairings were barely adequate. The wines chosen weren’t bad in any way, and certainly stood well by themselves, but they lacked a true pairing to the courses. I would expect each wine to compliment and bring out the best and most important elements of the food course, or perhaps conversely to cut through the food course. Instead, with each glass of wine, all I thought was, “Hmm, that’s some good wine.” Once again, not that it was bad, but could use a little fine-tuning.
Bottom line, though, is that you need to go here.