PHOTO COURTESY PALACE ENTERTAINMENT
I experienced a new sensation at this year’s iteration of the Kennywood Bites and Pints Food & Drink Festival: I was full.
Not merely satiated; I was really and truly full. The annual event is regularly tasty and offers a good variety of food that’s far removed from the usual theme-park fare — but, in its first few years, the first word of the title was accurate. Your tasting card (or a la carte purchase) got you a hearty bite — more than a taste but less than a side.
This year, the portions are big. Hearty choices such as the savory cottage pie (at the Ireland station) or the flavorful paella (at Spain) are full bowls of food. Two of the offerings from Italy — the pizza-esque piadina, covered in ricotta and grilled peaches, and the near-perfect tramezzini alla Caprese sandwich — are definitely full courses.
Even desserts, especially the Polish naleśniki (a pancake stuffed with sweet cheese and whipped cream, and topped with raspberries) and the Spanish churro con chocolate, will fill you up.
This means one thing: You need a plan. You cannot merely rush in and careen from bite to bite (or, even more treacherous, pint to pint) with no regard for your stomach or your timetable. A planned approach is necessary. Here are a few tips.
Arrive early, and get the big rides out of the way. Bites and Pints takes place on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays in June. On Fridays, the food stations open at 4 p.m.; on weekends, they begin service at 1 p.m. The park, however, opens at 11 a.m. — giving you 2-5 hours of time before you can start nibbling. Use that time to tackle the rides that whip your body, and thus your stomach, through the air. Save more leisurely pursuits such as Noah’s Ark, the Old Mill and Ghostwood Estate for after you eat.
Prepare for two meals, not one big smorgasbord. The best way to engage with Bites and Pints is with a tasting card; if you buy one in advance online, you can get an eight-serving pass for $44.99 or 12 for $49.99. (They’re $10 more if you buy them at the park.) Whichever quantity you choose, think of them as two halves of the experience. Assuming you’re attending on a Saturday or Sunday — which is the better move, as there’s time for lunch and dinner — you can have a full meal when Bites and Pints opens and another when evening rolls around.
The menus are online, so meal planning is your friend. If you don’t think ahead, you could end up topping a belly full of beef and gravy with kimchi and kielbasa. It’s an international food festival, but that doesn’t mean you have to throw caution to the wind. Here’s a lineup I’d try for one of your “meals”: Start with the delicious elote from the Mexico station, then go with Spain’s paella as your main course. (You will thus enjoy the completely unexpected experience of opening a green-lipped mussel near the Racer.) Wash it down with the Zywiec porter from Poland, then double back to Spain for the churro dessert. You can craft similarly cohesive meals by pairing the Polish and Irish stations or Greece and Italy.
When digesting, enjoy a train ride. Many patrons may have avoided the park’s train ride during its years as a certain smiling, blue engine. For this year, however, the ride was restored to its former theme: The Olde Kennywood Railroad. The leisurely journey affords breathtaking views of the local landscape and a recorded history of the park itself. There’s also a surprise coming at the end of the journey: Ride cars and signs from two of the park’s most fondly missed attractions, the Log Jammer and the Turnpike. (I’m petitioning the park to turn the whole thing into a forgotten-ride graveyard, but that’s a column for another day.) It’s a great way to unwind — and, more importantly, digest — after a long day at the park.
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