Pittsburgh Skyline (photo by Derek Cashman, copyright holder)

Pittsburgh has the country’s most successful football team, but there are more delights to be had in the Steel City beyond the gridiron. For well over a century wealthy business people have been donating millions of dollars to make the city rich in art and culture and help it gain it recognition as one of America’s most livable cities.

Pittsburgh is home to the Andy Warhol Museum and the Carnegie Museum of Art, boasts a fine symphony, and has a long tradition of jazz, blues and bluegrass music. There are four resident companies of professional actors at the Pittsburgh Playhouse alone. If it’s family fun you seek, the beautiful Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh became the largest Silver LEED certified (eco-friendly) museum in the country in March of 2006, and the innovative design won awards from the National Trust for Historic Preservation and the American Institute of Architects.

For foodies it’s also a place where dessert gets taken very seriously. According to China Millman of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, “…there are a growing number of pastry chefs in Pittsburgh who have both the skill and the necessary support to create desserts that are unmissable and unforgettable.”

Ms. Millman’s article identifies seven restaurants that will enchant foodies with their dessert offerings. Mio Kitchen and Wine Bar was noted for having emphasized dessert from the beginning. Executive chef and owner Matthew Porco is quoted, explaining, “As you eat rich and savory things and you move into something sweet I think it really complements everything and brings it all together."

If you’d like to read the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette article cited above go to: Here's to the restaurants that take dessert seriously

If you’d like to read a New York Times article on Pittsburgh's successful use of principles of sustainability to both preserve and revitalize its historic structures go to: The Greening of Pittsburgh