Gourmet Lunches

Sandwiches from La Gourmandine make the perfect gourmet lunch.

Everyone eats lunch. For some, it’s the fastest meal of the day, consisting of half-wilting salads and grab n’ go wraps wolfed down between meetings or emails. For others – specifically, high school students – it’s a respite from the slog of classes, a chance to catch up with friends and maybe, just maybe, talk to your crush. (Gasp!) Outside of the nine to five world, and often, outside of the U.S., lunch can be a luxurious, hours-long affair filled with wine and chatter.

Maybe once the kids are back in school you can find the time to treat yours to a gourmet sort of lunch? Get away from that desk, take a friend with you, and try a delicious, extravagant-for-a-weekday lunch in your future.

La Gourmandine

Embrace the European-style, simple, leisurely lunch by ordering a spread from La Gourmandine. Their sandwiches, built on housemade baguettes, truly prove that all you need in life is butter, ham, cheese, and bread. Go for Le Parisian, sporting that classic combination of butter, swiss cheese, and ham, or try something a bit more American-traditional, the Le Campagnard, a stack of turkey, swiss cheese, lettuce, tomato, and mayo. Grab a sandwich, a slice of their Quiche Lorraine, and of course, a box of pastries to give your lunch a gourmet flair.

Noodlehead

Noodlehead offers the best of both worlds: great Thai eats with quick, efficient service. It’s a chance to take a sit-down break, even if you’re in a rush.

It should be no surprise, based on their name, that noodles are the Shadyside spot’s specialty. (Even still, we recommend you start off with their pork belly steamed buns!) Go for the flavor-bursting see ew, a dish featuring flat rice noodles with egg, broccoli, napa cabbage, and sweet black soy sauce, or choose the earthy, fragrant Chaing Mai curry, showcasing egg noodles, chicken, pickled mustard greens, and crispy shallots in a yellow curry coconut milk sauce.

Piccolo Forno

Simple and rustic. That’s the motto of Piccolo Forno, a Tuscan Italian eatery in the heart of Lawrenceville. Enjoy a relaxed lunch on their sidewalk patio – their fresh, handmade pasta and wood-fired pizza will transport you from Pittsburgh to the streets of Italy in no time.

The restaurant’s cavatelli is a light, refreshing lunch pasta, the lemon-ricotta noodles, pancetta, asparagus, fennel, and roasted red peppers tossed in an arugula-mint pesto. Out of the oven, we’d go with the straightforward and utterly delicious Margherita pizza. You can’t go wrong with crushed tomatoes and mozzarella!

Speckled Egg

Just being inside The Speckled Egg takes lunch to a whole new level. Located in the Union Trust Building, the breakfast-and-cocktails-all-day restaurant carries a clean, cool-but-regal feel, the atmosphere every gourmet lunch-er needs.

No matter if you’re a 10:30 a.m. or 2 p.m. lunch eater, Speckled Egg has something for you. For the early diners, stick to the brunch menu, where our favorite is their toasts, topped with anything from avocado to lox, paired with a sweet, tart grapefruit broiled with sugar and mint. Late diners can’t go wrong with the diner-style, double-stacked patty melt.