Powder Witch & Company

Job hunting is weird. Sometimes you think an interview goes well, and then you never hear from them again. Sometimes you get the job, but it's for less than the listed pay or for a job you didn't apply for. Sometime the job is fine most days, but your coworkers keep asking questions about your personal life and then ignore you when you struggle to keep up on the bad days.

All this to say, that I haven't gotten as much writing done since the Art's Fest as I wanted. Despite this, I scraped together enough time, money, and energy to get out into town again recently. My errands took me up to the strip again, so I wanted to try one of the numerous restaurants nearby, and stumbled across De Luca's.

De Luca's Diner walks a fine line between charmingly old school and frustratingly outdated. My first impression was their website, which looks nearly identical to one I made for a high school class using Dreamwidth. Right down to the pattern heavy background on their breakfast menu that makes it difficult to read anything.

Backgrounds aside, their menu is clear and easy to read, as is the note at the top of the page that De Luca's is cash only. For some this may seem like another frustrating element, but for me was pretty refreshing in the face of the cashless trend that has been gaining ground in some cities.

I've walked past De Luca's a number of times during other trips to the strip. It has an unassuming exterior, just a simple awning on the sidewalk in front of the building and minimal signage. It never looked like it was open, so I'd always assumed it was like the bars further down the street, technically open but you won't find much until later. Turns out it was the other way around, they open at 7 on weekends and 8 every other day and breakfast is their busiest time.

It was a dreary day when I was out, and I walked through the door just before the rain cut loose. It was a little before 10AM and it was so busy I could only just squeeze through the front doors into the entryway that acted as an air gap between the outside and the restaurant.

Eventually enough people ahead of me had moved that I could walk into the main part of the building. It's a cute, old school looking place, with checkerboard floors and the general look that it hasn't been updated since the 70's. There was a constant chatter from the other guests that nearly downed out the music, in a way I've only ever heard out of movies.

Since I was alone, seating came fairly fast as there were some spots at the bar open. The waitress took my order fairly fast, but because the floor was so packed with people, service understandably took a little while. While I waited, I took the chance to look around. It's surprisingly difficult to find good opportunities to people watch in Pittsburgh, public seating is hard to find in most parts of town. Even harder if you don't count the tables and chairs small restaurants sometimes leave out front of their buildings.

From the bar you can see nearly every part of the room, including all the way back into the kitchen. To my right, a waitress tallies up a check by hand or on an adding machine (a type of calculator that prints out the math). To my left a half dozen chefs and other employees squeeze past each other to try and keep up the flow of food and coffee. It looks a little chaotic from the outside, but they seem to have no trouble keeping their tickets in order.

Eventually my food arrived, a heaping plate of eggs, potatoes, massive strips of bacon, and sourdough toast. They have a lot of options, some (like what I chose) are more classic diner affair, but there are also a variety of omelets and sandwiches. Most of those options had cheese, undoubtedly delicious but not something I can have.

Now, I've had better eggs, but this was something that a pinch more salt fixed. And the potatoes would have been better if they were a little more crispy, but I chalk that up to the rushed pace the staff needed to work to get food out on time. The bacon, on the other hand, was fantastic. I think it was a thicker cut so it remained a little on the chewy side when it was set before me. Some people might not find that to be the right texture, but I enjoy it.

And sourdough was a great addition to the mix. De Luca's has a selection of bread to choose from, sourdough is just my preference, and all are from a local bakery. Mancini's, who run a small storefront just a few blocks down the street. I turned my toast into an impromptu dessert with a little jelly. Nothing fancy, but a nice finish to my meal.

As I was finishing up, someone walked through the door and sat in the open seat next to me. She asked what I'd eaten and how it was, so I told her. For many people this whole interaction is probably nothing to note, but I've never been in a restaurant setting where this was possible.

Usually, at least in the various places I've lived in America, eating out is a very isolated experience. Especially if you go somewhere alone. Tables and chairs are usually arranges so that people don't have to look directly at, or interact with, the people sitting at the tables next to them. On top of that, at least in my own experience, it almost feels rude to talk to people the next table over, to interrupt their conversation.

But I've also lived in a lot of smaller towns up until recently. Either way, a small as this conversation was, it was nice to be able to talk to this lady. It's hard to find places where you can talk to strangers about anything, even just directions, in every place I've ever lived. So maybe I'll have better luck sitting at the bar?