“Coming through the Northside since he was a baby” to visit relatives in Fineview, Jason Farahi is not new to the area. In 2008 following college graduation, he found himself living on the Northside to embark on his career and has been on the Northside ever since.
How many of us remember when Federal Street was bustling with hundreds of businesses and trolley cars from Perrysville all the way to the river (yes, prior to the Allegheny Center Mall)? And how many 100-year-old women do you know who continue to design and sew their own dresses? Well, I became acquainted with one remarkable woman — Miss Amy Bell Stephenson who turned 100 this past March — who not only remembers those Federal Street businesses and trolley cars but owned a popular fashion design business on that busy Federal Street. And she is still sewing!
*Editor’s note: This column contains a description of how bodies are prepared for funerals which some readers may find graphic. Reader discretion is advised.
We have experienced a winter this year that has been a bit colder than the last few. And on one of the coldest nights in January, my husband and I decided to visit an exciting pop-up restaurant on East Ohio Street called tacOcat. We did not know what to expect, yet realized as soon as we entered the relaxing, cool retro space that this visit was the purr-fect choice for a frigid night. We barely passed through the front door when we were enthusiastically greeted by the bartender and hostess. Once inside, every other person working there offered a kind hello and welcomed us. We felt as if we entered a friend’s home who gave us a warm hug.
The end of a year and the start of a new one is often a time of reflection for many people.
While pondering which Northside business to feature this month it occurred to me why not simply write about ‘The Northside’ and why we choose to call it our home. (And it seemed like a great way to end the last issue of Town Talk for 2024).
When I drive down Spring Garden Avenue, it seems I am always in a hurry going to or coming from somewhere. Regrettably, I had never taken the opportunity to stop at Threadbare Cider and Mead. Nor did I know what exactly Threadbare Cider and Mead was; yet I vowed I would stop someday to check it out.
Pittsburgh is famous for so many things that it is hard to compile all of them into a single list. Yet, there may be one famous fact that might not be as well known. It is the connection of the 1952 classic movie “Singin’ in the Rain” to a historic Pittsburgh flower shop. To learn what that connection is, you will need to read the rest of this column. I do not want to spoil the surprise.
As an avid gardener, I arrived at the Northside with many gardening tools: multiple sized shovels and spades, hoes and rakes, a mattock, sledge hammers, a pitchfork, etc.
