Welcome to the summer issue.
This season of summer activities and events has inspired much of the coverage in the current Strip! edition.
Our food specialist highlights the cuisine of a place that is sure to evoke images of sunny Mediterranean shores: Cynthia Weisfield visits and interviews the Balouris family, noting their years of serving customers in Lawrenceville as Salonika Imports and their newest endeavor, a restaurant called Evia, associated with their roots in the borough of Bellevue.
To really celebrate summer, editor Greg Suriano embarks on one of his many food-discovery tours around the Pittsburgh area, with his guide to ice creameries in the city and its outer environs. The surprising emphasis here, though, is on these shops’ most interesting—and wildest—flavors, most of which are listed, to tempt tastebuds everywhere.
This issue we also present a unique and seasonally appropriate short story, which is hopefully the first of a new series by Jude Wudarczyk. Jude has employed his vast knowledge of Lawrenceville history to craft a fictional mini-mystery set in that neighborhood—and the solution to this puzzle is only revealed to the reader who turns the magazine upside down!
One of our area’s most successful and visible businesses is Buccos Roofing, and regular writer Dan Casciato has done his usual thorough research to provide a profile of this venerable business with its nod to the “Boys of Summer” Pirates.
We also encourage our readers to carefully peruse the many recent and upcoming summer events that make our Happenings section a source for the area’s most newsworthy activities.
Lastly, stay tuned for some exciting announcements about The Strip! magazine, starting with the fall issue—as we celebrate our 20th year of publication.
And as always, we will continue to see you in the neighborhoods!
“Summer afternoon—summer afternoon; to me those have always been the two most beautiful words in the English language.”
—Henry James