Pittsburgh is a Growing Family

Tim Guthrie and Keyla Nogueira, the heart of Casa Brasil.

Back in the days of cubicles and pant suits, Keyla Nogueira Cook’s homemade lunches were the object of envy in her office. Offering a sample here and there was enough to convince coworkers to pay for Keyla’s home-cooked meals.

Keyla took her coworkers’ orders on Fridays, prepared meals on Sundays, and delivered around the office on Mondays. It was an innocent idea to start, but Keyla’s cooking gained enough popularity to push her to find an industrial kitchen - somewhere she could grow with her serendipitous business. So, with the help of Tim Guthrie, a Pittsburgh-native musician, she founded Casa Brasil in 2018.

They eased themselves into the business by opening part-time. Keyla prepared home-style Brazilian meals and Tim waited tables or DJ’ed for pop-up dinner and brunch services. “We wanted to try out the concept and test whether the customers I had before would follow me in the new journey to the new place,” Keyla says.

She didn’t plan on being a chef. It wasn’t the stuff of her childhood dreams. She has not been to culinary school yet - maybe someday, she says. Taking lunch orders at work wasn’t the true beginning. When she was seven years old, her mom taught her how to make rice and beans. She didn't know it at the time, but that staple meal would become the core of Keyla’s culinary success.

That dish she’s been making since the age of seven, feijoada completa, features largely at Casa Brasil. Inky black beans and smokey pork marry in this delicious stew, attended by sides of rice, Brazilian collard greens, oranges, and farofa. The layers of textures and flavors will never tire, according to Keyla, whose nostalgia for her first hometown, São Paolo, keeps her attached to this dish.

Leaving behind the food of São Paulo was the most difficult part of her transition to the States. “In my first week, I just ate what I knew because everything that I ate tasted different - the salt, the water, the rice all tasted different,” Keyla says. And for those first few days, Keyla found comfort in the familiarity of saltine crackers and Coca-Cola. “Eventually, I started to know the flavors and learned to adapt using the ingredients that I could find here.”

Since the COVID-19 outbreak, the Casa Brasil team has taken measures to keep themselves and their customers safe by limiting orders to pick-up only. They have been fortunate not to have had any work-related cases but feel the stress that the pandemic places on the restaurant industry.

The restaurant recently teamed with Allegheny Eats, a project that Sustainable Pittsburgh and CRAFT at Chatham pioneered which invites Pittsburgh food lovers to purchase meal kits from participating restaurants. With the purchase of a meal kit, food lovers are providing meals for industry workers in need (Industry Pro Meals), securing the vitality of participating restaurants, sustaining local farms and producers, and reducing food waste.

Keyla happened upon a social media post promoting the program. “I wasn't too sure what it was, but I went ahead and applied,” she says. Keyla explains that Program Manager Rebecca Bykoski reached out to further explain the mission.

The meal kits that Casa Brasil provides utilize leftover pinto beans in a traditional Brazilian dish known as tutu, which involves pureed and seasoned beans. Local bacon and smoked sausage are added. For a vegan version, grilled tofu and chopped parsley are used. Casa Brasil also features Pão de Queijo Sliders, which are made with their signature housemade cheesy bread and stuffed with local cheese, local pickled onions, and greens.

“We want to provide what we do here through Allegheny Eats,” Keyla says. Not only is it a chance to both give and receive support, but also a chance to showcase delicious and traditional Brazilian dishes that are locally and sustainably sourced. Casa Brasil is proud to be a part of a program that promotes restaurant diversity and unites farmers, restaurants, and industry workers under the same umbrella of community-based support.

BAE BAE’S KITCHEN

Bae Bae’s owner Edward Lai and his brother, Daniel.

A Yelp search for the “best fried chicken in the state of Pennsylvania” will refer you to Bae Bae’s Kitchen, a Korean-inspired restaurant in Pittsburgh. When asked for the secret ingredient, the owner, Edward Lai, answers, “love.” Bae Bae’s Kitchen’s top priorities are formed around supporting what matters most - love for the natural world, the food that we eat, and the people we share it with. “Food is emotional, not just physical nourishment,” Edward says.

Edward and his wife, Ashley Bae, launched their restaurant in 2018 with the intention of nourishing the community with locally and sustainably sourced comfort food. Edward may have fried chicken on his menu, but his ‘comfort food’ is far from Southern-style biscuits and gravy. Bae Bae’s Kitchen serves up modern takes on Korean classics, like beef bulgogi, kimchi, and homemade dumplings.

“The best compliments I get are when people say our food reminds them of home or their mom’s cooking - that's why we do it.” The concept was born in Los Angeles, where the couple wanted to break into the food scene. L.A. is so saturated with great Korean restaurants, however, that they decided to take their aspirations elsewhere.

Based on a tip from a family member, Edward hopped on a plane to check out the Pittsburgh food scene. The next time he returned to the Steel City, he brought with him his family and their eatery dreams. “From the beginning, we were really well-received and we’ve evolved from there,” Edward says. Bae Bae’s Kitchen owes their nearly seamless entrance into the food scene to the help of Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership (PDP), a nonprofit that aims to enhance the downtown neighborhood.

“One of the big things when we opened was the philosophy of being sustainable and easy on the environment, and to help the community when we can,” Edward says. By partnering with 412 Food Rescue, a nonprofit that eliminates a percentage of food waste by recovering surplus and delivering it to people in need, Bae Bae’s Kitchen entered a network of like-minded restaurants and farmers. “They had a program this summer where we were making 300 meals a week for nine weeks,” Edward says. “And now we are partnering with them, again, and with Sustainable Pittsburgh Restaurants for Allegheny Eats.”

As part of their partnership with Allegheny Eats, Bae Bae’s Kitchen provides about 50 meals for industry pro meals and about 35 for the meal kits every week. The meals vary depending on seasonal ingredients that are available through local producers. Currently, Bae Bae’s Kitchen is offering a variety of organic and locally sourced taco meal kits, including BBQ Beef Bulgogi, BBQ Pork, Crispy Tofu, and Lemongrass Chicken options.

Organic and sustainable restaurant practices rely on a network of conscious supporters. “We have a real responsibility in the food industry to not just nourish people but also protect all of our sources, farmers, and purveyors,” Edward says. “It's a synergy––a whole cycle down to our guests.”