Stripped

First impression of The Strip District: cold, rainy, and abandoned.

However...after delving further into the district and traveling further down Penn Avenue (the street that acts as the "strip") my group and I discovered the overwhelming culture that lied within the boundaries of the produce district between16th and 22nd street.

Of Course our first stop was Penn-Mac, well known for its wide array of authentic, noodles, spices, and cheeses, offering a unique quality and selection available nowhere else.

Unfortunately, Penn-Mac is only open until 4 P.M. on Saturdays and we missed closing time by about an hour. We were still able to peak inside at all the variety and we were still very much impressed; not your local grocery store. I wish we could have been more than just drooling window shoppers, I know my appetite and curiosity will bring me back to The Strip District before too long to sample some of the imported cheeses and check out the variety of noodles.

The day was not lost, though, as one of my group members was a hungry football player, and we decided to try out one of the first restaurants we saw: Bella Note. According to the menu, it makes "Pittsburgh's Favorite Pizza" so we felt good about our decision.

After filling up on this neverending pie (with some still left over to bring back), we wanted to ask the manager or owner about their pizza and the neighborhood of their business. Turns out we stumbled into the right place and the owner we spoke to was a well-established member of the strip community. We were lucky enough to receive a personalized account by this self-proclaimed tour guide.

From the very first question we asked it was clear that the owner was very passionate in his love of the district and considered it home, to himself and his business. He informed us how the district was a specialized area, in which every store, vendor, or business was locally owned, making it a unique place nestled in a big city. All diversity and culture associated with Pittsburgh culminates in the strip district, with every cultural region in the world represented in different grocery stores and restaurants all boasting a different nationality. He told us about unique bacon covered chocolate and other gourmet sweets available at Mon Aimee. Also, he informed us about the commitment of an owner named Primanski to selling the most apparrel, known especially for Pittsburgh Steeler's attire.

Speaking specifically about Bella Note, he told us that his family established it in hopes of sharing the pizza they had enjoyed for generations. The name, he said, means "beautiful night" in italian, and was inspired by the disney story "Lady and the Tramp." Just like Bella Note, every establishment on the strip has its own interesting history--many of immigration from the countries of this ethnicity the stores represent. The Strip District itself has a history dating back to the early 1920s, when it begain as the center of the wholsale produce business in Pittsburgh and has remained so ever since.

The owner of Bella Note was not only passionate about his neighborhood, but also his neighbors. He had us know that all of the owners have good relationships and the strip is a true family environment, in which everyone works together for the common goal of offering the best products with the best quality--a goal from which great success has drawn customers from across the country to visit the area. A result of this bond, Bella Note gets most of their products for pizza from Penn-Mac, which he boasted about with admiration and affection, saying that the pizza can only be as good has the products and hands that make it. Bella Note would not get its products anywhere other than a supplier neighbor on the strip, only settling for the best and freshest ingredients.

As we continued our walk down the strip, we came across more evidence of the rich culture along Penn Avenue. Vendors sell unique clothing and jewelry that is very different from items found in the more main-stream corporate stores found at Southside or the Waterfront. Also, a sign advertises Wine Fridays, another demonstration of the how the strip is home to the best "meats, wines, and cheeses."

Finally, the owner brought us outside to show us the mural which expressed the epidomy of all that the strip stands for. A mural spanding the entire wall of a building across Penn Avenue that was painted over a 6 month period after Pittsburgh held a competition this past year in which the winner received $10,000. The Strip District contributed all of the supplies, knowing that the mural would enrich the neighborhood and represent its values. Within the mural, you can see owners past and present and all the ethnic diversity found on The Strip is also found within the mural, painted amidst a beautifully animated backdrop depicting Pittsburgh's hills and bridges.

It is clear to see that integrity and modesty lie at the core of The Strip District. You can see it on the hand painted signs, witness it in the walk-through vendors congregating on the sidewalk, smell it in the aroma of pizza in the air, and know it in your heart as each merchant greets you with a grin betraying nothing but sincerity. I can feel the love that the owner of Bella Note has for The Strip District with each word he said, as it seemed as if he could go on for days about the area's diversity and charm. I was inspired by the way the owner's eyes lit up as he spoke and I can only hope that I will someday be a part of something so positively tight-knit and hospitable as The Strip District.