Kevin Sousa’s idea of a view isn’t a sweeping coastline or perch atop Mount Washington.

His new restaurant will lie in the shadows of Braddock’s still-active Edgar Thomson Steel Works, and will borrow both its name and space from “Superior Motors,” one of the first indoor car dealerships in the country.

Calling it a restaurant is an understatement: Sousa is hoping it will be a nexus of community development and food education, bridging fine dining, barbeque and hot dogs.

“The goal is to provide training free of charge and housing for people who want to be a part of the restaurant/farming world,” Sousa explains. The restaurant is adjacent to an old convent, an apiary and 4,000 square feet of farming space, including a rooftop greenhouse.

Sousa needs $250,000 to get the project off the ground, but has had trouble getting funding from traditional sources. Braddock Mayor John Fetterman has already agreed to offer the old dealership space rent-free, and at press time, Sousa had raised $60,000 through a Kickstarter campaign, which expires Jan. 6.

As a business proposition, Braddock is a complicated location. It is home to no other restaurants (the borough is one of the region’s poorest) — though Sousa says no one will be turned away based on their ability to pay.

“Anyone can make a fancy plate of food,” Sousa says (and that’s something he’s been celebrated for at his flagship restaurant, Salt of the Earth) — “but what else can we do?”

View the Kickstarter campaign here: http://tinyurl.com/md7l3pp

This article appears in Dec 18-25, 2013.

3 replies on “Pittsburgh chef and restaurateur Kevin Sousa has his sights on Braddock”

  1. Tis the season, support our local communities which will not only feed, educate and employ our neighbors but can further show the country how it takes a village…bring humanity back..

  2. Is the whole restaurant going to be sliding scale? How are they going to know who’s a resident, and of where? Just Braddock? Braddock doesn’t exist in a vacuum. Is this thing truly radical or patronizing?

  3. Again and again I read that there are no restaurants in Braddock. Maybe this is sort of true? But let’s not forget the Braddock Redux project (John Fetterman’s non-profit), the Braddock Community Cafe. Why is all of Fetterman’s energy going into this new idea when the cafe is in need of support? The cafe is already priced fairly, no sliding scale needed. Fetterman should try getting the first project done right before moving on to this restaurant that is only going to further alienate Braddock residents.

    The U.S. is moving towards Plutocracy, Fetterman’s trying for the same in Braddock.

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