As the bar manager at 1947 Tavern, one of Pittsburgh’s finest whiskey-centric bars, Jen Mulero doesn’t get to eat out too often. That’s why brunch is often a big deal. Last week, she and her boyfriend finally made a trip to the South Side to have Sunday brunch at Zenith.

I’m a meat eater, so to hear from meat-eating friends that this vegetarian place was worth a visit told me it was really worth checking out. It turns out that Zenith is way more of an experience than you’d imagine. You walk into this weird, crazy antique shop and wonder where you’re supposed to sit, and they have this beautiful dining room with antique glassware and all kinds of neat décor.

There’s a huge buffet and coffee stations everywhere. Their coffee is delicious. You pick an entrée and that comes with the buffet. So I had scrambled eggs and cheese, and it came with this savory rice side. My boyfriend had the buffalo seitan, which they make in-house, and that was extremely flavorful. On the buffet, the peanut noodles were my favorite. I’ve been craving those all week. Their house-made hummus is great, too. You can pile a plate high with that stuff, grape leaves, cucumber salad—everything is just so fresh and amazing. And you have to save room for cake because they have something like 15 different flavors of cake. I had a grapefruit flavored one, there was a chocolate almond one, there was a lemon one—it just went on forever. And they come in small slices, so you can try them all without overdoing it. And when you’re full, you just drink another cup of coffee, walk around the antique shop and try not to knock anything over. It’s an excellent way to spend a Sunday morning.

The only thing Jen enjoys more than a good brunch is a nice glass of whiskey. Not without coincidence, she recently started Whiskey Wednesdays at 1947 Tavern. The weekly event includes $5 specials on three or four different kinds of whiskey, as well as opportunities for some good old-fashioned bar learnin’.

“It’s a whiskey bar, and Wednesdays are a great night to take time and sit and talk with people about whiskey.”

Keep an eye on 1947’s Facebook page for details.

Matthew Wein is a local writer, editor, blogger, storyteller and proud native Pittsburgher. Once described as "a man of things," he covers city design, spirits and craft beer for NEXT, where he keeps all of the editorial meetings light-hearted and interesting. His interests include sorting books, looking at old things and candles which smell like old-growth pine forests.