#4656 - Fig and Ash, Pittsburgh, PA - 6/28/2022

Fig & Ash is our favorite restaurant in the city. We decided that in this, our first visit, and confirmed it in subsequent visits. While in Seattle I came to utterly trust chefs Brian McCracken and Dana Tough (Tavern Law, Old Sage, Spur Gastropub, Coterie), as even when a dish was comprised of ingredients that I don't generally enjoy, their creations always tasted delicious. I've come to a similar trust in Cory Hughes and his team at F&A, as my love of their dishes is sustained again and again, through their rotating seasonal menus.

Hughes started in U.S. Marine mess halls and was running culinary operations at the Pittsburgh campus of Google before founding Fig & Ash, while he laid plans for his own restaurant with his wife Kate and brother-in-law Alex Feltovich, who runs the front of the house.

"Hughes worked hard to get here — prior to his gig at Google, he was executive chef of Six Penn Kitchen and sous chef in restaurants such as Eleven Contemporary Kitchen and Spoon, as well as working for STARR Restaurant Group in Philadelphia. You’ll see the former U.S. Marine Corps cook’s exuberance for feeding people front-and-center as he pops out from the glass-enclosed kitchen to work the dining room. You’ll experience his strength in team-building with the full-spectrum, consistent cookery coming from the kitchen he’s running with chef de cuisine Chris Shuplock."  (pittsburghmagazine)

Hughes has described the culinary approach as "farm to flame."

"In addition to milling grains, baking bread and butchering meats in-house, Hughes and his crew will partner with local farmers to get fresh ingredients for their wood-fired cuisine. The quarterly menu melds classic Italian and French cooking styles with a contemporary American twist." (nextpittsburgh) 

"The custom-built wood-fired hearth at the center of this kitchen was designed in collaboration with Pittsburgh-based Temper and Grit and built by Otis Masonry, and it shapes nearly every dish that leaves the kitchen.... The hearth imparts a smokiness and depth that a conventional oven simply cannot replicate. Vegetables emerge with a beautiful char. (unearththevoyage) 

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Meats develop a crust that locks in flavor while retaining juiciness. Even sauces and sides benefit from the ambient heat and wood smoke that permeates the kitchen. (ibid) 

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His vision was specific: a kitchen built around fire, local sourcing, and a from-scratch approach to every element on the plate." (ibid) 

The cocktails are also a treat (their names heavy on the puns), and the service is reliably friendly and informative. We will definitely be returning as long as it and we are part of Pittsburgh.

514 E Ohio St, Pittsburgh, PA 15212 - (412) 321-2222
Est. Oct 7, 2020 (Opened for takeout lunch Sep 22, 2020 during COVID) - Building constructed: 1898

Previous bars in this location:
Web site: figandashpgh.com - facebook - instagram 
Articles & Reviews: unearththevoyage - pittsburghmagazine - discovertheburg - tablemagazine - nextpittsburgh - goodfoodpittsburgh - nextpittsburgh - yelp - tripadvisor