After reading some positive articles here, we decided to give Mata at Stacy J's a try on Friday night. In short, the food was excellent and we had a thoroughly enjoyable time, happily ignoring the raging controversy surrounding the spelling of mushroom varieties in favor of sampling an array of creative and well-prepared dishes. The first thing that struck me is that Mata is effectively renting space in the rear of an old-style steeltown bar; entering at the bar entrance, we walked past the bar, a beer-to-go case, and some video poker machines on our way to the dining room at the rear of the building. The owners said that they've planned to do some remodeling (they may be working as I write this), so this may be irrelevant now, but two nights ago Mata definitely had the feel of a small-town local watering hole that happened to serve excellent food. We began with the contentious portobella appetizer, which was outstanding. We actually received the salads before the appetizer, due to a bit of confusion in the kitchen, for which our waitress apologized profusely. The salads were simple, basically lettuce, tomato, and sweet potato (I believe...), but the combination, coupled with a tasty house dressing, worked well. The mushroom appetizer, when it arrived, was excellent, as another poster here already mentioned. For dinner we had the salmon dish, and the scallops (see the posted menu on this group for the official listings). Unlike a previous poster, they weren't out of the frizzled scallions for my scallops; I don't know if this garnish did the magic trick, but the dish was most tasty. The salmon was perhaps even better, and was cooked perfectly (I hate dry salmon). As with previous posters, the owner and chef stopped by to ask how we enjoyed our dinner, and how we heard about them. They claim that about three-fourths of their business on Friday mentioned this group, so don't underestimate the power of posting to this group. The staff seems to be genuinely excited about their new venture, and seemed to be very interested in feedback from their early customers. While I'm a big fan of most everything Tom and Juno have done in Pittsburgh, it's refreshing to see someone else making a go at the burgeoning "new garde" scene in Pittsburgh. From what we experienced at Mata, we're encouraged by this new offering, and plan to show our support with more visits. Two final notes: due to what seemed like growing pains, the pace of our dinner was leisurely; we arrived around 7:30 and weren't finished with dessert until 9:30 or so. Don't plan dinner around a tight schedule. Second, while we didn't notice anything at the time, when I picked up my jacket the next morning, I caught a powerful whiff of cigarette smoke lingering in it. Smelled like I'd spent a night in a bar (which I guess is basically what I did.) Tob underestimate the power of a posting here.
Pittsburgh, PA