UPDATE: The egg has hatched!
The Speckled Egg, a Downtown eatery in the lobby of the Union Trust Building at 501 Grant St., is now open for business. Hours are Monday through Friday, from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Saturday 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Once the owners get their bearings, it’ll operate on Sundays as well.
When it’s 10 a.m. on a Wednesday in Downtown Pittsburgh and you need a mimosa and a stack of pancakes, The Speckled Egg will be there for you.
Owners Jacqueline and Nathan Schoedel think brunch with great cocktails should be available seven days a week. In addition to offering full-service breakfast and lunch, their new space also boasts a bar with weekday happy hours from 5 to 7 p.m., along with a grab-and-go counter and catering options.
The Schoedels met in 2010 while attending culinary school at the Art Institute of Pittsburgh. After graduation, their careers (and romance) blossomed. They worked in kitchens throughout the region and eventually ran Josephine’s Toast, one of the first pop-up eateries at Smallman Galley.
It was at that Strip District restaurant incubator that Jacqueline realized she wanted her own place.
“We were both working Sunday brunch and it was so busy,” she recalls. “Through the noise and commotion and controlled chaos, I reached into the cooler to get a flat of eggs and suddenly felt like everything in life was beautiful and this is really what I love to do.”
To open a brick-and-mortar eatery of their own, the married couple launched a Honeycomb Credit campaign to raise startup funds.
The Schoedels signed a 10-year-lease with The Davis Companies, owners of the historic building, which houses 800 tenants and hotspots such as Union Standard and Eddie V’s Prime Seafood.
They believe The Speckled Egg, the final piece in the building’s $100 million renovation project, will fill a void in the Downtown dining scene by giving folks the option of having a leisurely meal, a quick bite or a cocktail at just about any hour.
“There are so many different walks of life in this world. You never know where people are coming from or what they’re going through,” Jacqueline Schoedel says. “This is a zero-judgment zone.”
Fans of Josephine’s Toast will find some of their favorite dishes on The Speckled Egg’s menu, including their luscious French toast, along with a range of upscale, American diner food and Commonplace Coffee.
The newly renovated, 2,400-square-foot space is decorated in white tones, with marble floors and brass accents that feel elegant and inviting.
Once they get this flagship outpost of The Speckled Egg running, they’ll work on opening multiple locations throughout Pittsburgh.
