The Pitch opens in Kanawha City, Restaurant Week in full swing

After months of anticipation, The Pitch of KC officially opened in Kanawha City Monday after a “by invitation only” soft opening for friends, family and other VIPs over the weekend.

The Pitch of KC is now open in Kanawha City

I was lucky enough to score one of those coveted spots, but I never do an official restaurant review right when a new place opens. It seems only fair to give them a little time to work out any kinks and get into a groove first. After that, they’re fair game.

What I can tell you now is that this place looks great.

A basketball hoop light at the new location

Working with construction crews from the original Pitch in Dunbar, The Pitch of KC owners Jim McDaniel and chef John Wright have transformed the old Kobe Asian Fusion location into a large, bustling sports bar and grill that has a very similar look and feel as its counterpart at the Shawnee Sports Complex at the other end of the valley.

There’s a lot of the same wood, stone and steel elements, the same signature red-and-black colors and branding, and the same tantalizing menu of apps, burgers, sandwiches, salads and pizzas.

There’s also a full bar and Stumptown Ales filling station in the new place, where pints of draft beer are filled and sealed through a hole and magnetic cap on the bottom of the glass.

Pretty cool.

The Pitch of KC will be open for dinner only seven days a week for now, but plans to add lunch hours in the near future.

• IF YOU GO: The Pitch of KC, 5711 MacCorkle Ave. SE in Kanawha City, is currently open from 3-10 p.m. daily. For more information, call 304-205-4077, visit www.thepitchofkc.com or check out the restaurant’s Facebook page.

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A sandwich and chips from The Pitch of KC

Charleston Restaurant Week is in full effect and I already have a couple of visits under my belt.

Quite literally.

I have a few more reservations on the books, plus I can’t wait to hear about your favorite menus and dishes this week. Be sure to let me know what plates and places blow you away, then I’ll round up our “best of the best” here next week!

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UPDATED THIS WEEK WITH RECIPES!

After sharing memories earlier this month of eating at my grandparents’ houses growing up, so many of you called or wrote in to tell similar stories from your own childhoods.

Lights made out of kegs at The Pitch of KC

And several of you even made Mammaw’s jam cake as well, even though I forgot to provide one very important bit of information with that recipe. (That would be the baking temperature, which is 350 degrees.)

“I just baked your Mammaw’s jam cake and it is delicious,” wrote Sherry Hughes, whose own email address was “mamawsherry.”

She added: “I also think I have a recipe for the starter for sourdough bread. I will check and send it to you via email. I have not made it for a long time, but will look through my recipes this weekend.”

I told her that I actually did have Mammaw’s recipe for the sourdough starter and bread around the house somewhere, I just needed to dig it up.

I did that this week, so now I just need to get to baking!

RECIPES

Mammaw’s Sourdough Starter

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup milk

½ cup sugar

1. Mix ingredients together and seal in a large Ziploc bag in the refrigerator.

2. Every three days, feed the starter in the bag the same proportions of flour, milk and sugar again and mix well.

3. Keep feeding every three days until ready to use, but don’t feed the starter on the day you’re going to make the bread. Started can be frozen, then thawed, to start the feeding process over again.

Mammaw’s Sourdough Bread

2 cups self-rising flour

½ cup vegetable oil

1 packet of yeast, dissolved in ½ cup warm water

1 cup sourdough starter (see recipe)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix ingredients together in a large bowl and let it rest at room temperature for 30 minutes to rise.

2. Pour mixture onto a floured cutting board or surface and knead until very elastic. Form mixture into a loaf pan greased with oil and let rise two more hours.

3. Bake for about 20 minutes or until lightly browned. Pour melted butter over top and bake a little longer until dark golden brown.

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Steven Keith is a food writer and restaurant critic known as “The Food Guy” who writes a weekly column for the Charleston Gazette-Mail and has appeared in several state, regional and national culinary publications. Follow him online at www.wvfoodguy.com or on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest. He can be reached at 304-380-6096 or at wvfoodguy@aol.com.