Well, after more than a year of trying to get to the Stone Mansion, I finally made it. Too bad that after building up my expectations for the place, I was a bit disappointed. The restaurant itself is quite nice, with several smaller rooms in addition to a couple of main dining rooms. It is all done in dark paneling with some beautiful stained glass. The menu is interesting and the wine list extensive. In general, the service is solicitous and not overbearing. Sigh. But after spending quite a bit of time deciding what to order (they have a wild game special of the week which I had been eyeing--elk with lemon pepper fettucine), I went with a flank steak pasta dish from their main menu. Alas, the menu had listed the ingredients as sun-dried tomatoes and porcini mushrooms. Too bad I received fresh tomatoes and button mushrooms. The flavor of the dish was good (although I think the flank steak was a bit overdone), but I was a bit annoyed at the substitution. They have a nice lounge with live entertainment on Weds-Sat. The group last night was quite good; I could easily imagine stopping there for drinks and appetizers instead of dinner (the scallops in gorgonzola was especially good and they have a duck in puff pastry that was also very nice). Since I have been a big proponent of not bashing a restaurant on one experience, I will probably go back if the occasion arises. It *is* a nice restaurant for special occasions. But given the price (~$100 for two including appetizers, entrees, and a bottle of wine), I'd just as soon do my regular dining out at a restaurant that puts more emphasis on the food than the experience (e.g., Sewickley Hotel, Tuscan Inn). Beth Mazur "Whatever you fear, whatever you hide, whatever MAYA Design Group you carry deep inside...there's something more Pittsburgh, PA than this." [email removed] -- October Project www.maya.com/Local/mazur
Pittsburgh, PA