"We did it quietly up there on purpose," Lindsey Pittman told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette about buying Cala Lily, the Gibsonia restaurant she and her sister Whitney now own. According to the paper, talks to buy the space began about a year ago. The sisters formally took ownership in August and kept on every staff member who wanted to stay. New dishes came over the next few months, then a cosmetic update to the dining room. Dropping "Cala" from the name came last.
The order matters if you've been eating at 500 Grandview Crossing for years. The new owners set it up so that by the time the new name went on, most of the other changes had already happened. The faces at the host stand are still familiar, and the room has had a refresh, not a rebuild. Lily has changed most in its kitchen and on its menu.
A Route 8 Name With a Long Paper Trail
Cala Lily has been around long enough to show up in the archives. A September 2002 Tribune-Review story about Rico's names chef Rick Rivera as "owner of the Cala Lily Cafe on Route 8." He had cooked at Rico's for several years, and when he left he brought chef Ron Jelinek with him. The Post-Gazette describes the restaurant as a community favorite for nearly 25 years that stayed "relatively under the radar" outside Gibsonia.
That 2002 article also has an unexpected link to the new owners. It mentions the Pennsylvania Macaroni Co. in the Strip District as the place the Rico's kitchen bought its fresh pasta sheets. Two decades later, Whitney Pittman's résumé includes a vice president role at that same company. She has also worked as a server, a dishwasher and a food broker, and in innovation at Heinz. Lindsey's background is in corporate software, in fields from medical devices to aerospace and defense. Her sister calls her "a wizard at everything behind the scenes."
The restaurant now sits in Grandview Crossing, the Route 8 retail development in Richland Township anchored by Lowe's and Target. The Post-Gazette covered that plaza as a new 60-acre site in July 2007.
What Stayed and What Moved
Here is how Lily runs now, according to the Post-Gazette review and Lily's own website.
| Under the Pittmans | Source | |
|---|---|---|
| Front-of-house team | Held over from Cala Lily; the review calls them "ultra-charming" | Post-Gazette |
| Staff | Everyone who wanted to stay was kept on | Post-Gazette |
| Dining room | Cosmetic update, described as "a bit more chic" | Post-Gazette |
| Kitchen leadership | Matt McClelland and Mason Arthurs, both formerly of Il Pizzaiolo | Post-Gazette |
| Style | French influence and Italian experience, tavern-gastropub | Post-Gazette |
| Hours | Dinner Tuesday through Saturday, 4:30 to 9 p.m. | Lily website |
| Reservations | Online form with party size, date, time and requests | Lily website |
A kitchen run by two Il Pizzaiolo alumni changes what lands on your table. A Tuesday-through-Saturday schedule decides when you can sit down at it.
The Kitchen Is Where the Name Change Shows
The Post-Gazette's Hal B. Klein says the menu now sits "comfortably in the tavern-gastropub hybrid" that has been gaining ground in Pittsburgh over the past year or so. Lily's website splits the menu into starters, salads, mains and desserts, with raw-bar items listed among the starters. Prices on the site's seasonal menu, as of publication:
- Clam chowder, $14
- Pimento arancini, $19, made with Benton's ham, Alabama-style white sauce and pimento cheese
- Scallop crudo, $22
- Sweet potato gnocchi with duck ragu, Brussels sprouts and Gruyère, $33
- Chicken ballotine, $37
- Dry-aged strip steak, $65
- Veal chop Milanese, $71
- Desserts, $13 each: olive oil cake, s'mores crème brûlée, bread pudding and apple beignets
The spread is wide. The gnocchi was Klein's favorite dish of his first visit and one of the cheapest on the menu. The veal chop costs a little more than twice as much. The review also lists a $46 short rib with heirloom carrots and potato-parsnip puree, and a $69 surf and turf. Klein calls the better-value dishes a solid deal "by the standards of our inflation-heavy era." He also says they will still be a bit of a splurge for many diners.
The kitchen is still settling in. The review explains that it does most of its prep before service and finishes dishes to order, which suits a small space and a culinary staff that is largely new to higher-end dining. The owners say the menu will keep changing as the cooks get comfortable and as they hear how the restaurant is going over with the community. Lily also calls itself a cocktail bar and says its syrups and juices are made in house.
The service details are as specific as the food. Klein's table said it was eating family style, and the staff brought full-size dinner plates. They also boxed leftovers and kept them in the back until the end of the meal. "You don't forget how you felt after dining somewhere if you're treated with kindness and respect," Whitney Pittman told the paper.
Closed Sundays and Mondays, on Purpose
The sisters say the weekly schedule is a deliberate choice. In the Post-Gazette, they describe paying livable wages and giving staff a work-life balance with consecutive days off. At Lily, that means closing on Sundays and Mondays. "Why can't this be an industry that is not a stepping stone to something else, but something that you do as a career?" Whitney asked in the same article.
The website lists dinner Tuesday through Saturday from 4:30 to 9 p.m. That leaves five evenings a week for a sit-down dinner at Lily. It also means a Sunday family dinner after a weekend event has to happen somewhere else.
Lily also takes inquiries for executive lunches and private celebrations, either at the restaurant or catered off site, through an event form on its website. That matters in December, when office parties and family gatherings fill up the calendar.
The sisters also run Ippa, a food truck at 5241 Butler St. in Upper Lawrenceville. It is built around a wood-fired oven, and pizzaiolo Kevin Konn is behind the menu. "Lord knows we're not stopping at two," Whitney told the Post-Gazette.
Fitting Lily Into a Richland December
Several of the season's local events fall on days when Lily is closed, so dates matter for planning. Here are the December events close to home, in order:
- Breakfast with Santa, Sunday, Dec. 6. Richland Township hosts it at the Richland Township Fire Hall, 5857 Meridian Road, with seatings from 9 to 10 a.m. and 11 a.m. to noon. Tickets are $20 per person, according to the township calendar. Lily is closed that day.
- Skate into the Holidays, Sunday, Dec. 6. North Park Ice Rink, 1200 Pearce Mill Road, Wexford, runs this event from 3 to 7 p.m., according to Allegheny County's North Park page. It falls on the same Sunday as Breakfast with Santa.
- Holiday Laser Shows, starting Thursday, Dec. 17. The county lists the first show from 6:30 to 8 p.m. at the North Park Pool parking lot, 9901 S Ridge Drive, with more dates after that. Lily is open that Thursday from 4:30.
- Santa in Richland neighborhoods, Saturday, Dec. 19. The township's Parks and Recreation notice, posted Nov. 2, announces Santa's visits to Richland Township neighborhoods that Saturday. Check the township notice for any weather-related changes. Lily is open that evening as well.
Lily's holiday-week hours are not listed on its website. Before you book a table around Christmas or New Year's, check lilykitchenandcocktails.com or send a request through its reservation form.
If this year's December plans include family visiting or a gathering at home, and you'd like a neighbor who keeps track of how Gibsonia's Route 8 corridor is changing, Nate Nieland is glad to talk through what's opening, changing hands or relocating near you. Book an Appointment whenever it suits your calendar.
