Pittsburgh Chef Transforming Senator's Office Into a Tapas Restaurant

From Senate to small plates: Two Pittsburgh restaurateurs are preparing to turn a lawmaker's office into a tapas restaurant. Chef Justin Severino and his partner/wife Hilary Prescott, who already own an acclaimed charcuterie-centric Pittsburgh restaurant called Cure (which is also known for serving $40 truffle-infused martinis) plan to open the more-casual Morcilla by next summer. Per the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, "the space has been the office of state Sen. Jim Ferlo, D-Highland Park, who will be leaving the Senate next year."

Severino, who learned to cook Spanish food under chefs like Manresa's David Kinch, snagged the title of Food & Wine People’s Best New Chef for the Mid-Atlantic Region this year. The chef plans to butcher whole pigs in-house to produce traditional cured meats for the restaurant; other menu items will include classic tapas like boquerones, patatas bravas, and the restaurant's namesake blood sausage.