Restaurant Review: Acorn, in Shadyside

You may remember a long-time Shadyside fixture called Thai Place that sat on the East end of the Walnut St. business district, near the intersection of Ivy St. It was a good place to get some better-than-average Thai food, even if the service was a little less than friendly. Thai Place had been around so long, I distinctly remember going there for dinner when I was in college back in the late 90s. Anyway...it's gone. And a restaurant called Acorn has taken it's place.


My girlfriend and I ate at Acorn last week on a whim and had an excellent meal. We had the salt beets as the appetizer (I get beet salad literally ever chance I get). She had a pork chop, I had the lamb. Washed down with a couple glasses each of a nice Cotes du Rhone and a dessert, the name of which I cannot remember.

Rarely have I had American cuisine done so complexly and with so much "going on" on my plate. My lamb came with a little merguez sausage on the side, done over top some lentils, and with tiny little fried "sweet-breads" accompanying it. The stuff on the side was so good, it almost took away from the lamb itself, but not quite. The lamb was roasted and kind of rolled together like a bracciole (an Italian meat roll) and so tender it fell apart at the touch of my fork.

I only had a bite of my girlfriend's pork chop (there's really no way to say that and not chuckle...) but she described it as, "The best pork chop I've ever eaten." I always say that the best meal I've ever had is the best one that's right in front of me, but coming from her this is high praise.

All dishes were served to us by the restaurant's manager, who came around a few times to make sure we were doing okay. Not an absolutely necessary thing in order for me to enjoy a meal, but a nice touch, especially for a new place trying to make an impression in the city and in the neighborhood.

The only slight problem with Acorn is the heart attack you are likely to get when you receive the bill. Granted, we had two glasses of wine each, a dessert, and I had a digestivo following the meal, so it's not like we were "dining on a budget" that night, but suffice it to say we will be planning a little more carefully before we visit Acorn again...but we definitely will be back.

The thing is, I can't help but wonder exactly what a restaurant like Acorn -- especially as expensive as it is -- is doing on what is basically "bar central," and the province of mostly college kids and those in their early 20s. I guess there is a need for a nice, non-collegey, sit-down restaurant on Walnut St., but I wonder if Acorn isn't over-shooting the mark (and overestimating the disposable income of those in the vicinity) just a tad. We shall see.

If so...then the one-time home of Thai Place shall become the one time home of Acorn...