Going Green: Enjoy the Region’s Bounty at Farm Dinners + Vegan Eateries

This month, Pittsburgh Vegan Restaurant Week, organized by Humane Action Pennsylvania, takes place from May 11 through 17. Executive Director Natalie Ahwesh explains that the event was open to any restaurant willing to meet the program criteria, which includes offering a three-course, fixed-price, fully vegan menu. They piloted the themed week last year, and the response from both restaurants and the community proved overwhelmingly positive. They’re excited to return for year two. “We want to meet people where they are and show that vegan food can be delicious, satisfying and easy to incorporate into everyday life,” she says.

Indoor settings honoring our outdoor bounty include Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens, who hosts plenty of delicious opportunities this summer, including A Waste Not Dinner series, Recipes for the Patio, Plant Forward Meals and Dinner at the Chefs Table events like a Summer Harvest Dinner July 22 and Dinner at the Chefs Table: Featuring Chef Mike on August 17. (Some programming this summer is also connected to the newest show theme, Alice in Wonderland.) During the Recipes for the Patio Series, guests relish feasts of chicken souvlaki, peach caprese and goat cheese balls (June 23) and, on August 25, chicken lettuce cups, grilled eggplant rolls and heirloom salad.

Thanks to newcomer Iron Root found at City Kitchen at Bakery Square, diners can now enjoy an all-vegan menu that features items like the jade coin soy pickles, roasted carrot gazpacho, crispy enochi (with vegan miso aioli, togarashi and lime) and fire-roasted jade heart cabbage, a surprising standout. Other highlights, best enjoyed beneath a lazily spinning fan on the property’s patio, include their bruschetta topped with ultra-creamy whipped tofu and jerk BBQ shrooms pitas, where you won’t even miss the meat. For a while now, Chef Julian Yakubisin has been hard at work perfecting sauces and seasonings of which he thinks even non-vegans will greatly approve. (Check out upcoming Bakery Square events, from live music to trivia and movie nights.)

For a special night on the town, consider booking a seat at East End’s One by Spork; many elements on their spring menu come directly from their urban micro-farm, overseen by farm manager Justin Lubecki. This year they’ll continue their Vegetarian Monday series, with the meals taking place every other Monday beginning on June 1 and continuing throughout the summer. Folks can also order Produce Boxes from the One by Spork Urban Farm, found adjacent to the restaurant; farm shares can be ordered through the website as an add-on when making a reservation.

Chef-owner Christian Frangiadis spoke to the restaurant’s upcoming rebranding, which will feature a redesign of their logo, sign and website, with the idea of telling the story in a unified, congruent manner. “After a year and a half operating as OBS, we have a clearer understanding of our values and this represents an effort to relay that ethos outside our four walls,” he says. Yet they’ll continue to focus on the memorable experience offered in their sleek space — a one-seating, 18-person, farm-to-table tasting menu offered with pairings (and a killer playlist to boot). “We still employ our food lab through most elements of service and we remain committed to hospitality,” he says.

Although many tickets to Churchview Farm’s wildly popular Sunday Dinners, a series now in its fourteenth year, sold out within two to five minutes, there are plenty of other ways to experience this magic-soaked, sustainable family farmette. The five-acre South Hills property, a teaching and learning hub that prioritizes community engagement, is currently in the midst of getting a brand-new teaching and event space with dining/classroom capacity for around 40 people. Because of this, the summer schedule has been slightly tweaked.

“We are pivoting a bit (exercising those muscles worked during COVID!) to offer some casual events during the early part of summer,” says owner, farmer and educator Tara Rockacy, who now lives on the property once owned by her grandparents. “This will give our guests the opportunity to enjoy our space, check out the construction progress, and enjoy a more casual farm to table experience.” (It also provides the farm with some income during an otherwise financially dormant season.)

Traditionally, the farm’s outdoor dining events — communal Sunday Dinners and a Weeknight Dinner Series — take place from May until October. But this year, the first Sunday meal happens in late July, and Weeknight feasts will resume later on in the summer, once construction on the new space has wrapped. Rockacy still expects indoor workshops and classes to commence this fall, and year-round after that.

“It’s a multi-purpose community engagement space, for both education, our primary mission, and events that sustain the farm,” she says. For Alison Hillard (general manager and “event maven”), the magic of Churchview is the culmination of the collaboration, creativity, hard work and genuine love for hospitality that they and their chef partners bring to each event. “Though the concept of farm-to-table isn't new,” she says, “sitting on the land where your food was grown and being able to converse directly with the farmer and the chef who put so much time and effort into creating something for you is a deeply valuable experience.”

Guests no doubt feel transported on this tranquil piece of land, located surprisingly close to city life. Rockacy shares the farm with her two dogs, three cats and three “pet” goats (all adopted rescues); there’s also a flock of winged friends on the property, and an apiary offering seasonal raw honey and vital crop pollination.

For another enchanted evening, head to Coraopolis’s Hyeholde, where the Black Tie Farmers Market and Spring Dinner returns on June 11, and an Annual Pig Roast (featuring local pig) happens July 23. For each meal, the culinary team assembles thoughtful, regionally-sourced menus outlining every dish and where the ingredients were sourced from — typically hyper-local farms in addition to Hyeholde's own gardens. Current farm partners include: Fungal Farms, Elysian Fields/PureBred, Lettuce Ladies, Getblok, Eichner's Farm, Laurel Hill Trout Farm, Dillner Family Farm, Three Rivers Grown and Coldco Farm. Guests are encouraged to wander Hyeholde's lush grounds before or after a meal.

Chef-owner Chris O’Brien understands that guests crave something memorable that extends beyond the meal. “Hyeholde is a place where the food reflects the seasons and the land around us,” he says. “We focus on cooking what feels honest, rooted and thoughtful, without chasing trends. At the same time, it’s about more than what’s on the plate. We’re creating an experience people can connect with. Something that stays with them after they leave, and that they can carry with them in different ways.”

Farm to Fork dinners at Chatham University’s Eden Hall Campus return for the third consecutive year; they were part of the school’s culture well before the pandemic, too. For these popular 200- to 250-guest dinners deeply rooted in the seasonal bounty of Western Pennsylvania, Parkhurst chefs serve veg-forward fare that showcases produce harvested at Eden Hall Farm plus partnering local farms.

“The atmosphere is intentionally relaxed and welcoming,” says Catering Manager Hannah Dillon. “Think picnic meets dinner party. Farm to Fork events are casual, open to the public, and designed so guests can experience the campus and farm at their own pace.” She adds that food is served in an approachable, choose‑your‑own‑adventure style. Guests can build a full meal or simply stop by for a house‑made dessert.

“There’s always music in the background, lawn games to play, and plenty of space to spread out, linger and enjoy the surroundings,” she says. “It’s less about formality and more about feeling at home on the farm.”

Dillon loves watching guests chatting, sharing a meal grown just steps from where they’re dining. “Seeing conversations spark between strangers, families spread blankets on the grass, and guests gain a deeper appreciation for the food system—it’s incredibly rewarding,” she says.