Each Friday I plan to post something that focuses on my city Pittsburgh, PA.  I hope to give you a feel of the city or if you live here encourage you to explore and find some great places.

I went out for lunch today and had a specific place in mind. I was going to walk about a mile to Schenley Park. The park is actually located in the middle of Oakland a part of the city. In the past year the entrance to the park has become a diverse area of eateries. There are restaurants but also food kiosks. The place I stopped today is called Conflict Kitchen. It is a unique eatery that focuses on foods that are in conflict with the United States. My first trip there I was able to eat food native to Iran. This time it was food from Cuba.

They have a menu posted with many of the native foods and beverages of the country which in this case is Cuba

One unique thing is they give a wrapper that focuses not on the conflicts but rather the people and culture of the country. They even interview some of the people. When you read the wrapper you can find the people are not that different from us in our hopes and needs. It truly adds a human element to the country.

I chose the Ropa Vieja which is shredded beef it is served over rice and black beans and a salad with Cuban dressing on the side. It was very good and would definitely recommend trying it. I took a picture of the dish

I took my food back to work but if you choose you can eat there and the park has set up a tent  and on Fridays they have musical entertainment

The Cuban cuisine will be there the rest of the summer. I will definitely go back and try more from the menu. It is very inexpensive-my lunch was seven dollars. If you are in Oakland I would definitely recommend you stop and even visit the other food kiosks in the area.

I think the falcon agrees. He was perched atop the tent. Unfortunately I did not have my zoom lens. Lesson learned: always have both lens with you.