Mary Pickels
Published February 23, 2020
A Pittsburgh native and Mt. Washington resident, Shannon Daly enjoys exploring the city’s neighborhoods, especially its restaurants and watering holes. She often shares her finds on her popular Instagram account, pittsburghplates
Her mouth-watering social media posts brought her to the attention of publisher Globe Pequot Press.
In May, the company will publish Daly’s book “Pittsburgh Food Crawls: Touring the Neighborhoods One Bite and Libation at a Time.”
The book is part of a series , including “crawls” in Boston and New York City, Daly says.
Each chapter features a neighborhood’s food and drink spots. Bonus crawls include topics such as pizza places, bakeries and cocktail bars throughout the city.
Daly highlights about half a dozen places per neighborhood crawl, a mix of places she was familiar with and others that are new to her.
A “Follow the Icons” and index suggests specific spots to try for brunch, celebrations, desserts, cocktails.
“It’s a very photo-heavy book. It’s sort of like Instagram in a book,” Daly says.
She includes tidbits that highlight the neighborhoods and make them interesting and special, offering information for locals and tourists. “I think one of my favorite neighborhoods I visited is Bloomfield. I learned a lot about the neighborhood. It’s the cutest place ever. (It) offers a lot,” she says.
In addition to dishing on dishes, Daly also notes the service at restaurants she visits.
“I am a service nut. I think of service and hospitality as extremely important. If the service is poor, it kind of ruins the whole experience for me,” she says.
That said, Daly adds she will note the cases where the food is great even if the service is lacking.
Details: Pre-order on Amazon for $21.95