Friday night? Head to the Pike. That’s when the new weekend specials come out, and you absolutely never know what’s going to be offered. Versatile, with a commitment to the WOW factor in both appearance and taste, Michael Pullano’s Pike Café in Reading is, as its owner claims, “always evolving!” A more extensive menu would be hard to find anywhere.
The Pike Café menu and dinner menu are always available, but on weekdays Pullano and head Chef Gary (who’s been on board for years and years) rev up their creative juices and plan for the upcoming weekend crowds, so by Friday, anything can happen. On a recent evening, the entrée specials, which come with two sides and a salad, included a wide range of choices, including Marriot Beach filet mignon, Strip Steak Florentine, Veal Milanese, roast pork, Pasta Siciliana and grilled citrus salmon.
The latter dish arrived char-grilled and smiling with fanned-out mango slices and a mango dipping sauce, deliciously zesty and heart-healthy atop a bed of blanched fresh spinach leaves.
UNIQUE FROM THE START
The appetizers are meals in themselves. For an unusual texture treat, the summery ultimate stuffed avocado is simultaneously creamy, crispy and juicy. It’s a half-avocado filled with crab cake — oven-broiled on the outside, soft (not mushy) on the inside — topped with roasted tomatoes, parmesan and a balsamic reduction to tie it all together.
The longtime favorite Pike Fries are skin-on French fried potatoes crowding onto an oval platter with fried onions, diced peppers and tomatoes lounging on and around the fries. A luscious yellow cheese sauce drapes thickly across the whole delicious mess. Drink a little; pick at the fries; drink some more; grab some more fries. No wonder this dish has been a steady sell on the Pike’s menu for such a long time. The fries impart a slight tang —warming your insides with each satisfying bite (much like a great nacho appetizer does). They’re the kind of pick-food that you’ll want to keep in the center of the table all the way through to dessert.
A BIT OF ITALY
Backing up to the specials menu. See that not-so-subtle emphasis on Italian geography (Florence, Milan, Sicily?) There’s good reason for that: Pullano comes from a large Italian family (10!), which means his family’s secrets, from homemade sauce to meatballs and delicious salads, are woven into many Mediterranean offerings. The Pike’s penchant for artistically mixing up the menu for variety and fun, and its insistence on using utterly fresh ingredients, are also Mediterranean-inspired.
“I’m a working owner,” says Pullano. “You know what I believe in? Make the plate beautiful. Because we want you to go, ‘Wow!’ even before you eat it.” Outside, in the back, is a fresh herb garden, replete with oregano, basil, chives and more. “I just got back from Italy,” he smiles. “I am always tasting, tasting. Trying to make things better, all the time. Beautiful, clean, changing—always changing.” He’s got a tiki bar coming up, by the way (stay tuned for that—it promises to be dynamic).
THE WINGS ARE THE THINGS
Anyone who knows anything about Berks is well aware that the Pike’s wings are impossible to beat. This is one item that should NEVER change, so far as this diner is concerned. Magically rich in flavor, always perfectly crisp on the outside, they’re sauced to seduce not just tongue and nose but, darn it, the whole mouth, the stomach, and even the soul! They slide onto the table covered with a silky-smooth, light orange-colored sauce, caressing the lips with a slow burning kiss. Never, ever leave this restaurant without trying these.
TIP: Wing Night specials are Mondays & Wednesdays.
MORE NOTABLE MEALS
For a bowl of pure, super-satisfying comfort food, the Cheesy Ziti Italiano is probably the best restaurant-baked ziti in a 200-mile radius. It’s made with a slow-cooked marinara sauce, infused with cheeses and dotted throughout with itty-bitty mini-meatballs, the kind usually found in an Italian wedding soup. It’s impossible to say why this works so well. Certainly the texture is spot-on, starting with the al dente ziti tubes. (If ziti were an athlete, it would probably be a rock climber, so muscular and strong and yet oddly lithe for a pasta.) The red wine and herbs in the Pike’s savory sauce then deliver up an old-fashioned, truly traditional, rustic flavor. The portion size is ample, and a side of grilled garlic bread rounds off this memorable meal.
Also worth mentioning are baby back ribs, homemade seafood chowder, strombolis, cheesesteaks and huge burgers. The Maine lobster burger gives new meaning to the phrase surf and turf.
Desserts and dessert specials vary. There’s a tiramisu, naturally, but there’s also this crazily indulgent, totally Berks County treat called The Pike Sundae. Decadent in its vanilla-sweet, fried, hot-cold nature, this concoction features four famed elements of excess: a mound of fried ice cream perched on a funnel cake, painted with chocolate syrup, and frothy with—what else?—loads of whipped cream. Order extra spoons and share with your friends. Absolutely fun.
PIKE CAFÉ | 930 Pike St., Reading; | easy parking in their private garage | 610.373.6616 | pikecafe.com HOURS | Mon.-Fri.: 10am-2am | Sat. & Sun.: 11am-2am
BY MARIAN FRANCES WOLBERS | PHOTOS BY HEIDI REUTER
