This week, I've decided to focus on D&T's blog D&T: in the burgh, which focuses on local restaurant reviews. D&T are a young married couple living in Pittsburgh and started their blog "as a way for us to document all of the wonderful restaurants that Pittsburgh has to offer. This is our way of letting everyone know what we like (and occasionally don't like). This is just our opinion and in no way represents the quality of a restaurant." Each review is informative and honest, loaded with beautiful pictures, and ends with the restaurant's specific information including address and hours of operation.

On D&T: in the burgh, you'll find excellent reviews of upscale dining including Salt of the Earth, The Wooden Nickel, Meat & Potatoes, and Savoy, as well as reviews of inexpensive joints such as Union Pig & Chicken, D's SixPax & Dogz, Penn Ave. Fish Company, and Round Corner Cantina. And let's not forget the Wigle Whiskey distillery. Although D&T focus on the positives, they are not afraid to tell their readers what they didn't particularly enjoy during their outings. So, without further ado, let's head over to D&T: in the burgh to find a good local restaurant for tonight's dinner!

Finally, in non-restaurant-related news, Leah from Brazen Kitchen shared a Ramp Crepes recipe; Linda from Dinner Plan-it made Gluten-Free Blood Orange Meyer Lemon Meringue Cupcakes; Katy prepared a tasty Curried Chicken Salad in her BakingDomesticityandAllThingsMini kitchen; while Yum Yum tried some delicious Strawberry Ice Cream.

See you here next week!

D&T: in the burgh photo

Macy's Downtown is celebrating the 100th anniversary of the iconic corner Kauffmann's clock, and some food figures into it, too.

Today, Friday, is "Meet Me Under The Clock Day," featuring a collage of memories, stories, photos and memorabilia in the department store's windows under the clock, gift-card giveaways and more. 
 
At noon, there is a Thumbprint Cookie Demonstration.

Saturday, it's a Meet Me Under the Clock Family Fun Day Celebration, with more gift-card giveaways and a street fair on Smithfield Street from 1 to 4 p.m., including everything from a marching band to the Harlem Globetrotters. Prices are rolled back to the good ol' days on Thumbprint Cookies at the Arcade Bakery and the Tea Plate at the Tic Toc Restaurant.

At noon, artist Linda Barnicott, who did the image above, will be on hand to sign various merchandise that's been made with her artwork.  

And at 12:30 p.m., Macy’s Culinary Council Chef Tom Douglas will do an American-style cooking demonstration. With a purchase of $35 or more in the Home department that day, you'll get a $10 Macy's Gift Card and and a copy of "The Dahlia Bakery Cookbook," which Chef Douglas will sign after his demo. You need to RSVP 1-877-556-2297.

The store's details here.

Even if you miss this party, the clock will keep on ticking. Invite someone special to meet you under it at a certain time at lunchtime and take them to the Tic Toc for a true Pittsburgh experience.

Read about it in Katie Foglia's story in today's Post-Gazette; it links to essays by people who connected with the clock over the years.

Linda Barnicott art

That gastronomic goof Munch recently reviewed a new Thai place on the South Side, but we here at The Forks would be remiss not to give at least brief mention to the new digs of an older Thai favorite in that same neighborhood.

The cheekily-named Thai Me Up (slogan: "You’re bound to like it"), which brought Southeast Asian cuisine to the neighborhood in 2002, has moved from its colorfully cute-but-cramped storefront on the 1900 block of East Carson Street to a larger space in, of all things, a longtime former auto-glass shop a few blocks southeast at 118 S. 23rd St.

It is an impressive transformation, turning what was basically a garage into an inviting spot with some interesting design flourishes.

A weathered wood paneling on the walls gives a cozy vibe, as does the warming deep pink neon sign and burnt orange wallpaper. Long benches that appear to be old church pews are used for some seating. Vintage Thai magazine ads for products such as Pepsi and Johnnie Walker are framed on the walls. An antique phone, cash register and gumball machine sit on one counter, while a bookshelf hold a number of other antique knick-knacks. Working gas lamps adorn the front of the building, and the garage doors open to 23rd Street, providing an al fresco option on nice days.

The menu is the same reliably good food that the chef and owner Noi has been serving up for more than a decade -- spicy basil mung bean noodles, crab Rangoon, larb chicken salad, Thai-style five-spice beef noodles, and my favorite, at right, the Sriracha fried rice, among others.

Open Monday through Saturday for lunch and dinner, Thai Me Up remains BYOB, and has added a new noon to 3 p.m. Sunday brunch.

Dan Gigler photos

Pittsburghers take their fresh fruits and vegetables pretty seriously. 

So of course there was a huge crowd at today's Market Square Farmers Market in Market Square, which opened its 2013 season with more than a dozen vendors selling everything from lettuce and rhubarb to chocolate milk, cherry-raspberry pie and hanging baskets of purple and pink petunias.

Plenty more farmers markets are soon to follow, and if you're wondering where and when, stop fretting. We've got you covered today in the PG's Food & Flavor section with the region's most comprehensive and up-to-date list of them.  

Take heed, oyster fans. Starting at 10 p.m. until 1 a.m. on Tuesdays, executive chef Kevin Sousa and chef de cuisine Chad Townsend will be shucking oysters for late-night diners at Salt of the Earth in Garfield. Inspired by Foreign & Domestic in Austin, Texas, Mr. Sousa has come up with his own menu. 

And -- get this-- each oyster is only a buck, served with house-made crackers, mignonette and a barrel-aged hot sauce extracted from Garfield Farms peppers.

No longer relegated to months that end in "r," oysters are having a comeback via aquaculture. Diners can eat oysters in summer thanks to the raising of a type that does not spawn, which is what diminishes flavor, rendering them inedible.