{"id":232469,"date":"2026-07-01T03:56:09","date_gmt":"2026-07-01T03:56:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/232469\/"},"modified":"2026-07-01T03:56:09","modified_gmt":"2026-07-01T03:56:09","slug":"my-best-of-the-burgh-jessicas-picks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/232469\/","title":{"rendered":"My Best of the ‘Burgh: Jessica’s Picks"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"White<\/a><\/p>\n

PHOTO BY HUCK BEARD<\/p>\n

Best Bookstore: White Whale<\/p>\n

I admit to being attached to my Kindle, which allows me to instantly download the latest bestseller and snuggle in for a story, but there\u2019s just something special about going to an actual bookstore \u2014 especially when it\u2019s the White Whale.<\/a><\/p>\n

Opened in 2016, the charming storefront on Liberty Avenue in Bloomfield carries a broad selection of contemporary and literary fiction and nonfiction as well as poetry, history, philosophy, local authors, independent presses and children\u2019s books.<\/p>\n

But the White Whale (yes, it\u2019s named in homage to Herman Melville\u2019s classic \u201cMoby-Dick\u201d) is so much more than just a bookstore. The family-owned business hosts a plethora of author readings, poetry nights, writing workshops and book clubs among other community events.<\/p>\n

Best of all, its employees are passionate about books. Staff members are happy to share their recommendations with eager readers, no matter the genre. If you\u2019ve ever connected with a fellow book aficionado over a novel you both loved, you know what an enjoyable experience it is. That\u2019s just the norm here.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s also a welcoming environment to just chill \u2014 and maybe raise a toast. A few years ago, the White Whale expanded into the neighboring retail space and now has an in-house cafe serving up coffee during the day and locally crafted wines, cocktails and beers in the evenings.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

PHOTO: PITTSBURGH MAGAZINE ARCHIVES<\/p>\n

\u00a0Best Home Decor Store: Hot Haute Hot<\/p>\n

If you don\u2019t think a furniture store can be cool, then you\u2019ve never been to Hot Haute Hot.<\/a><\/p>\n

The Strip District staple, which was founded in 1999, carries an eclectic mix of furnishings and home decor, plus jewelry, textiles and vintage goods. Walking through the door on Penn Avenue and up the stairs to Hot Haute Hot is like entering a different world, or maybe it just feels that way because so many of the thoughtfully curated pieces come from different places around the globe.<\/p>\n

The showroom changes weekly, although there\u2019s always dozens of colorful kilim rugs to ogle and artwork on the walls to inspire alongside the kind of lighting that can\u2019t be found at Target or online at Wayfair.<\/p>\n

If that isn\u2019t enough to get you to stop in, Hot Haute Hot also recently began a collaboration with Twin Pine<\/a>, bringing even more vintage finds, d\u00e9cor and unexpected treasures into the two-level space.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s no sad beige decor here, and definitely no Millennial Gray. For anyone intimidated by the thought of radically changing their decor, on-staff designers are there to help, guiding customers through the process of introducing color and pattern into their home. Besides in-store consultations, customers may also schedule an appointment with the design team.<\/p>\n

\"Cardello<\/a><\/p>\n

PHOTO COURTESY CARDELLO LIGHTING<\/p>\n

Best Lighting Store: Cardello Lighting<\/p>\n

Since I moved to Cranberry in 2008, I\u2019ve passed Cardello Lighting<\/a> on Route 19 thousands of times. I\u2019ve never stopped in, though, until recently.<\/p>\n

For months, we\u2019ve been remodeling our kitchen; I\u2019ve agonized over every design decision, none more so than the lighting. After many nights of scrolling the Internet for options, I decided I needed to see some lights in person and headed over to Cardello.<\/p>\n

I wish I had done it sooner.<\/p>\n

The expansive showroom is filled with a variety of quality ceiling fan and lighting options and, even better for me, a knowledgeable staff that helped guide me in my search for the perfect pendant lights. A particularly helpful staff member set me up a free account, where I was able to scroll through different fixtures and compare them on my own personalized page.<\/p>\n

In business for more than 75 years, Cardello is an independently owned lighting and electrical retailer. While the business has several electrical counter locations throughout the region, its only showroom is in Cranberry.<\/p>\n

Even if you don\u2019t live north of Pittsburgh, Cardello is worth the trip. Trust me, I speak from experience.<\/p>\n

\"Hiebers\"<\/a><\/p>\n

PHOTO BY HUCK BEARD<\/p>\n

Hieber\u2019s Pharmacy<\/p>\n

Although the setting is fairly new, Hieber\u2019s<\/a> actually is Pittsburgh\u2019s oldest pharmacy.<\/p>\n

The business originally was established as Hieber\u2019s Drug Store by the Hieber brothers in the Strip District in 1860. Over the years, it moved locations several times. By 1945, the business, then owned by Frank Stanish, settled in Oakland, where it remained for decades.<\/p>\n

In 2019, Dr. Rosemary Mihalko bought the business and, in a full-circle moment, opened a second location of the pharmacy in 2024 at The Terminal in the Strip District. The Oakland location has since closed.<\/p>\n

In some ways, exploring the 4,535-square-foot space is like taking a step back in time. The knowledgeable staff offers a wide range of services, including non-sterile and sterile compounding, prescription filling, medication therapy management and immunizations.<\/p>\n

But what really sets Hieber\u2019s apart is its old-fashioned soda fountain, the likes of which I\u2019ve only heard my parents and grandparents talk about. Incidentally, those frosty treats, made with Pittsburgh\u2019s own Leona\u2019s ice cream, are delicious. All sodas are carbonated in-house and paired with small-batch, locally made syrups from Barmy Soda Co. as well as house-made options and Torani\u2019s.<\/p>\n

Fun fact: The pharmacy\u2019s soda fountain originated at the Oakland location, where the pharmacists worked directly with Jonas Salk to distribute his polio vaccine.<\/p>\n

Besides the usual pharmacy staples, Hieber\u2019s also carries a variety of handcrafted goods from local makers, among them PSquare Scents, PGH Amy Studio and Soulful Stitches.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"PHOTO BY HUCK BEARD Best Bookstore: White Whale I admit to being attached to my Kindle, which allows…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":180430,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[73,75,74],"class_list":["post-232469","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-pittsburgh","tag-pittsburgh","tag-pittsburgh-headlines","tag-pittsburgh-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/232469","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=232469"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/232469\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/180430"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=232469"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=232469"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=232469"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}