Table Magazine gathered some of Pittsburgh’s best chefs and bartenders for a Yuletide recipe exchange

The local food scene is one of the best gifts our city offers us. It’s what makes our nights out on the town so memorable. It’s what makes Table Magazine such a trove of delicious dishes and delirious cocktails. This year, we just had to gather some of the town’s most talented folks under the magnificent trees at The Carnegie Museum of Art in a celebration of camaraderie and community. We laughed, we toasted, we selfied, we shared stories. And we swapped treasured holiday recipes for our readers to try at home. (Check our RECIPE section!)

Sonja Finn of Dinette/ The Cafe Carnegie offered up her mother’s recipe for Serbian Podvark. Kevin Sousa of Superior Motors/ Arlington Beverage Club showed us the (adorable) original 1965 recipe card for his Aunt Mary Myers’ Nutroll. Michele Savoia of Dish Osteria proudly shared his recipe for Baccalà con Patate e Pomodori, a generations-old dish his Sicilian family makes for the holidays. Tastes and tales of home also came from the duo at Spirits & Tales with Randolf Boitel’s twist on the Puerto Rican holiday Coquito cocktail (about 40 times better than eggnog) and Jessica Lewis’s borscht from her family’s favorite Polish cookbook.

James Beard nominated pastry chef Casey Renee presented her Cranberry Coconut macaroons with a sweet memory: “Some of my best Christmas cookie memories are of my mom’s “Church Window cookies,” made out of coconut, colorful marshmallows, and chocolate. They are my favorites and she always makes an extra log for me to freeze and have throughout the winter months.” Alex Dando, The Commoner’s genius mixologist, also loves his Momma- and it shows in one of his signature winter cocktails, I Only Love My Bed and My Momma, I’m Sorry using her mulled cider recipe as the base for this winter warmer.

Dish Osteria’s Raelynn Harshman Gigler brings warm musings to her hot chocolate recipe: “My family always decorated our tree on Christmas Eve. Our kitchen table would be filled with delicious snacks for the evening. My dad would put Christmas music on and the decorating would begin. As we grew close to finishing my mom would get the hot chocolate going. She would pour all five of us a cup and we would turn out all of the lights and admire our beautiful tree. I just remember the warmth of the hot chocolate and feeling so happy. Every time I think about this my heart warms and I get a little teary eyed.”

Kings of the cocktail Spencer Warren (The Warren | Miracle) and Sean Enright (Spork) encourage hosts and hostesses to get creative with cocktail recipes. Enright’s Winter is Coming is a funky festive cocktail with Apple Jack and Rittenhouse Rye. Warren’s Kringle Kup is a perfect holiday elixir with apple brandy, apple cider, Branca Menta, and allspice liqueur.

Lobar’s Aubrey Haliburtan was keeping it real with her contribution with her all-time favorite holiday-in-a-glass -- a clean and drinkable Margarita -- while Caleb Sisco (Scratch F&B) took a break from reality and looked to his favorite television show, M*A*S*H*, to inspire his coffee spike, The Colonel Potter, with an aromatic, boozy mixture that has notes of toasted farrow, juniper berries, rosemary, allspice, and cinnamon.

Bringing a twist on tradition to the table, the coolest couple on the block- Nathan & Jaqueline Schoedel (The Speckled Egg) are offering up the Sugar, Spice and Everything Nice nut mix that they make for every holiday. Chris O’Brien (Scratch F&B) teaches us the secrets to his Scratch Meatloaf Recipe. (It involves pâté!) The Commoner’s Dave Racicot tops it off with his secret gravy recipe.

Tricks of the trade come to us with famous sweet treats from Dwight Penney (fl.2) and Steve Paul (Acorn). Penney shared his Ganache Fudge Brownies, recently featured on Episode 2 of Food Network’s Holiday Baking Championship Season 6 and Paul shares the creamy, crunchy, gooey amazingness that is Acorn’s Butterscotch Bread Pudding, the Walnut Street restaurant’s most popular dessert.

It’s the effervescent Kate Romane who comes through with a refreshing winter salad. “Winter salads are my favorite. I feel we all crave a good salad with all the consumption that comes along with the holidays. Cabbages and hearty greens are the last things coming from the farms this time of year along with root vegetables. The bitter greens play so nicely with the citrus that we start to see coming in December. This salad works nicely for a daytime brunch or dinner.”

As always, TABLE sends out a shout of admiration and gratitude to the rock stars, mensches and geniuses of our chef community. We also celebrate each and every one of you out there: It’s a good world because we're all in it together.

While you’re out gathering ingredients for these recipes, don’t forget the gifts. Stop in for perfect (and witty) host and hostess gifts at the Carnegie Museum of Art’s shopping nights now through December 23rd https://cmoa.org/event/holiday-shopping-days/ and swing by “Art ‘Til 8” on December 19th for some festive fun complete with custom gift wrap making, screen printing, and a visit with their holiday exhibits- all for half price after 5pm https://cmoa.org/event/art-til-8/