In her memoir, Blood, Bones and Butter, Gabrielle Hamilton wrote about the challenges of becoming a successful restauranteur. It’s easy to feel, if you read her books or watch The Bear or talk to enough restaurant workers, that overcoming great personal challenge is a requirement for working in the business. Dramatic tales of difficult upbringings, of lives upended by addiction, or illness, or tragedy, seem practically de rigueur. It’s like we don’t want to eat if someone didn’t suffer greatly for the chance to cook our burger.
It’s a phenomenon I wanted to discuss with serial restaurateur Steve Flynn, who is the co -owner (with wife Vicki and business partner Greg Bankston) of the newly opened Blackstone Grille on Cummings Highway. But first, I wanted to eat there. And I wanted my husband to go with me. This, I knew, would not be an easy sell.
My husband is an interesting man. He was raised on buttermilk biscuits, fried country ham and red eye gravy, but over the years, he’s become a more adventurous eater. He’s had sweet breads at The Purple Pig in Chicago, chicken hearts at James Beard award-winning Gabrielle Hamilton’s Prune restaurant in DC, and cricket pâte off the side of the road in Mexico. His culinary adventures haven’t always ended well; he’s a tall, strapping man easily felled by a tiny bite of the wrong thing.
Nevertheless, he’ll try almost anything. Operative word: Almost. Years ago, when a Lookout Valley friend invited us to eat at a Mexican restaurant a mile off exit 174, my husband was blunt.
“I don’t eat on exits,” he said.
“It’s not an exit,” our friend said. “We live here.”
Not to mention that, because the US highway system runs through all fifty states, every dining establishment in the nation is off of some exit, even if by a long way. For that matter, our own kitchen is off an exit, and my husband eats there almost every night without complaint.
When I suggested we go to Blackstone Grille, he grumbled but acquiesced. On the night we went, the restaurant had been open just six days, and there was a storm bearing down from the north packing 60 mph wind gusts and flooding rains. No matter: the parking lot was packed. We ran in just before the storm broke.
I have two big fears when it comes to restaurants. The first is being seated in a windowless cement-floored “overflow” room where the extra cans of paint and toilet paper are stored; the second is overhead lighting so bright you could perform surgery. Happily, we were shown to a table surrounded by twenty-two other tables, and the lighting was soft and tavern-like. A bar with seating for twelve ran the length of the back wall, and for those in need of more privacy, there was a cozy seating area with a fireplace, above which hovered a large TV set. There’s a banquet room that seats twenty-five, but it doesn’t feel like an afterthought; it’s called the George Wright Room, after a friend of the Flynn’s who passed away earlier this year. The room is available to rent, free of charge.
Steve Flynn is an affable man, quick to smile and happy to chat. He grew up in Long Island, NY, moved to Stone Mountain, Georgia for high school, and then to Ft Myers, Florida. Prior to opening Blackstone Grille, he opened a Stevarino’s Italian Eatery just up the road in South Pittsburgh, and another on Cherokee Boulevard in 2019. I asked him what the best and worst part of owning a restaurant is.
“The hours are the worst,” he said. “The best is knowing you’re putting out a good product and satisfying people. Food doesn’t have to be hard to make in order to be good; it’s all about the quality.”
Flynn likes to experiment; it’s how he came up with his signature Bolognaise sauce that features, among a long list of spices, red wine instead of white, and sweet Italian sausage. It’s already a hit at Blackstone Grille.
We tried the bourbon-glazed salmon and the Mediterranean veggie primavera, both of which had a welcome, light touch. The salmon was sweet without being cloying, with a flaky interior and good-looking grill marks, while the primavera was light and lemony, if a little short on veggies. Large, fluffy yeast rolls made the rounds, and wine pours were generous. You’ll find bone-in pork chops, sirloins, and juicy, Angus-cut ribeyes and filets, as well as a variety of salads and appetizers, including deep fried Brussels sprouts with a honey and reduced balsamic glaze. Pro tip: don’t pass up the chocolate decadent cake.
So, I asked, what exactly is required to work in the restaurant business?
“Passion,” he said, “Without that, it’s just too hard.”
Check out Blackstone Grille at 3018 Cummings Highway, in the old Fireside Grille building. They’re open 4pm-9:30 pm Mondays through Thursdays, and 4pm to 10 pm Fridays and Saturdays. Parking is a breeze (even in a monster storm), and for now, you don’t need a reservation.