The Cleveland Epicure

L'Albatros Brasserie est Fantastique

When you call to make a reservation at L'Albatros--and you will do so if you know what is good for you--you will hear the hostess pronounce the name to rhyme with "well, hello," and that is just the reaction I have had to Chef Zach Bruell's latest venture.  "Well, hello" as in, where have you been and how have I not met you before?

Bruell, of Parallax and Table 45 fame, is right in his food groove with this fantastic new brasserie.  While I was not thrilled with the service on either of my visits, my complaint list largely stops there.

You enter L'Albatros through an almost closet-dark foyer that is lit just enough for you to see where the door to the excitement is, and once through the door, you are immediately startled by the kitchen.  Startled because it is bright and your pupils are still resizing, but startled too because the kitchen is so open that you could drive a car right into it.  The staff is all hustling to prepare food and thus ignoring you, and the hostess is quick to try to draw your attention to her, but I advise you to linger.  Note the attention to detail each prep person shows through furrowed brow, the oxtails being browned on a huge griddle top, the pizzas being pulled from the oven and put into to-go boxes, the clean metal lines of the shelves and ovens.  Breathe in the smells and get the salivary glands primed up.

Now wander to the hostess and check in and make sure to glance over her left shoulder into the surprisingly white and yet very welcoming space beyond her.  The darkness of the old That Place on Bellflower is largely gone, and in its place are two fresh, welcoming dining areas, the one feeling like you are inside of a sheet fluttering on a clothesline and the other like you are inside the big brick house that holds the bed that the sheet is destined for.  At first you will think that the chairs seem like outdoor plastic furniture, but once you sit in them and feel their ease and comfort, your concerns will dissipate.  Some of the artwork is not quite what I would prefer to look at, but my attention was mostly on the food and the company at my table anyway.

The menu is varied while holding true to its French basis.  The price points on the food are pretty exceptional considering the quality of the food, the presentation, the flavor.  Bruell has long been known for his ability to cook fish and mazimize flavor with clean visuals to boot as well as anyone in town.  I'm not sure how much time he spends in the kitchen at L'Albatros, but his understudies seem to have learned pretty well.  On my first visit I enjoyed mussels with pomme frites, spicier than I am used to from other places, but excellent nonetheless and every single shell was opened just about perfectly.  Mrs. Epicure got the halibut special on our first visit, and it was said to be cooked a la plancha (on a hot pan, in this case a cast iron griddle).  The server explained how because their plancha never gets too hot, the halibut would be even juicier.  The only quibble is that one of the lovely aspects of food cooked a la plancha is that it gets a nice carmelization which makes your mouth kick in some extra juiciness of its own, and that browning was mostly missing from this lukewarm plancha preparation.  Friend JN got the chicken confit and appeared to enjoy it while friend MN got the skate wing and was thrilled with the dish.  Served "off the bone" (if you can call it that), the wing was tender, moist, and had a very nice browning.

On my second visit I opted for the scallops with brussels sprouts and Pernod cream sauce; lights out fantastic.  I could eat it for breakfast any day of the week.  Mrs. Epicure went with the cod in paper and enjoyed it very much although was not gaga.  Friend TN went with the French classic cassoulet, but the presentation was very unclassic--instead it was very modern.  Served in a skillet with each of the key components slightly separated, it was highlighted by an exceptional smoked sausage.  Friend KW had the biggest flavors in one plate that night with the special oxtail ravioli.  Served on an elongated plate in an open ravioli style, the oxtails were superbly braised and surrounded by pearl onions and mushrooms that still had just enough crunch to show they had not been cooked to oblivion.

Somehow on neither occasion did we have the cheese course, which seems criminal considering how amazing it looked and smelled when delivered to a nearby table.  We declared a future visit would be devoted to cheese.

Desserts that we tried included the acceptable creme caramel (I like it a bit closer to burned caramel myself, as they do at Momocho) and the truly exceptional chocolate Napoleans, which are worth a visit on their own.

The wine and beer list contains a nice variety of options, although my wine expert friend TN did point out several that were priced a bit beyond what they were worth.  (Now if I could just remember what he tells me when he tells me these things.)  The servers do a nice job recommending food and wine pairings, even if they are less than humble in doing so.

On both occasions, my own favorite choices were the first courses I selected, each of which involved an former denizen of a sty.  The pork rillettes were incredibly good, served in a stylish square glass jar and accompanied by little toasts, cornichons, and caper berries (I had never eaten one of these berries before and really liked them--"well, hello" to caper berries).  The second time around I went with the pork and veal terrine, which was studded with pistachios and wrapped in some lovely pork fat.  Mercy, me.

L'Albatros is certainly one of the best restaurants to open during my time in Cleveland, as worthy of your time and dining dollars as anywhere else I have written about.

I Roll Over for Happy Dog

People who know me know that I love dogs.  I can watch a movie like In Bruges (my fave movie in some time) where people get shot, but if a dog gets kicked in a movie, I will not watch any more of it. Mrs. Epicure and I also have our three Epicurean dogs and they pretty much rule the roost, to use a term of fowl origin.

It should be no surprise then, that I would have a predisposition toward liking a place called The Happy Dog, and in fact, I like The Happy Dog very much indeed.  On a recent visit there with Mrs. Epicure and our dynamic duo friends JK&JJ, I munched on some very good chicken wings that were hot enough to get my attention but were not so hot that I was panting.  I added a side of tater tots and was as happy as a our dog Mabel is when she finds a chicken bone in the gutter.  Good times.

Mrs. Epicure and JJ enjoyed the turkey reuben, which they both enjoyed, and JK dove into the Cleveland-original known as the Polish Boy, which appeared to have the proper ingredients here at The Happy Dog: a fried sausage, french fries, cole slaw, barbeque sauce, all atop a completely overwhelmed white bun that functions mostly as a grease and sauce sponge.

Other parts of this meal added to the belly-up happiness factor.  Our friends, who love to talk about food and have excellent senses of humor.  Excellent beer, including Dogfish Head 60 Minute IPA on tap, and Left Hand Deep Cover brown ale.  Having the place to ourselves and there was no band (we were there early in the evening).  Sometimes the Happy Dog can be a challenging place to talk in when the bands are cranked up, which can be both a good and a bad thing, depending on the situation.  The down side to no one else being there is that there was no one to surreptitiously watch at the fantastic oval bar surrounded by old school red stools.  There are few bars that are better for people watching.

If there are vegetarians in your crowd, the Happy Dog has a surprising number of meatless options, including a vegetarian hot dog.  I can't imagine it is good and don't intend to waste any calories finding out, but consider yourselves aware of it.

The Happy Dog is a true Cleveland treasure.  If you have never been there, I recommend you add it to your next trip out in the near west side.  Situated at West 58th and Detroit, it is wonderfully close to Latitude 41 and the Parkview Nite Club, allowing you to have a nice little walkable pub crawl of an evening should you so choose.

Mod Mex Momocho

I consider myself very fortunate to live in the city that Momocho calls home.  The fact that I live just a couple blocks away makes it an even better fortune for me.  Still, sometimes when one is so near a place like Momocho, it is easy to take it for granted.  A recent Slow Food event there reminded me  not to fall into that complacent attitude.

Chef Eric Williams is serving food at Momocho that is unlike anywhere else in the city--and he serves it in a hip yet welcoming setting with good service, excellent beverages, and consistently inventive and delicious food.

My recent dinner there featured a starter of two kinds of guacamole (I have never had better in a restaurant than I consistently have at Momocho), one goat cheese and the other garlic and blue cheese.  Both were their usual excellent selves.  I always try to be careful not to eat too much of these lest I have no room for the rest of my dinner.  I rarely succeed in my attempts at self-constraint.

My beverage choices were also two standbys in my usual Momocho order.  I started with the classic margarita and then moved to the wonderfully refreshing, taste-of-summer in a glass, cucumber margarita with a tingly chili salt on the rim.  They go down way too easy, again challenging the self-restraint genes that are weak in my family's pool.

For my main course I went with the new pork and rice blood sausage taquito, which was very tasty if perhaps just a bit too much cheesed-over.  Mrs. Epicure scored the big winner with the new calamari taquito--absolutely stellar.  Balanced, tender and light enough to enjoy the whole serving without feeling weighed down.

As the weather warms, Momocho will get even harder to get into.  It is advisable to make reservations, especially if you want to sit on the patio.  With the sun beaming down or the warm evening air surrounding you, Momocho is a place to be thankful for.

Do You Know the Way to CSA?

 
I love the concept of Community Supported Agriculture.  I mean, how can you not think that eating food produced near you is better overall than food produced half a world away?  Not only do you get to know the farmers who grow the food locally, but you also avoid wasting an exceptional amount of fuel and other resources to get food from other states, let alone other countries, to your plate.

Cleveland is emerging as a truly innovative place for the local food movement.  From the rezoning of vacant lots into community gardens to the passion of chefs like Doug Katz and Jonathan Sawyer (not to mention their predecessor Parker Bosley), our city really is making a positive impact in the local food movement.  Cleveland even has its own Local Food website.

Many years ago, Mrs. Epicure and I were part of a CSA in Wisconsin.  The challenge became, as has often been with CSAs, what to do with 20 lbs of carrots, six weeks of zucchini, or seemingly endless heads of cabbage.  You get what the farmer brings you, and sometimes you may not be in the mood for more cauliflower, but hey, it's already paid for.

But that traditional angle is changing and not only are farmers growing a wider variety of offerings, but innovate CSAs are offering different ways to provide great food, great local food, straight from the farmer to the consumer.

One such venture is City Fresh.  While members from past years can sign up now, new members have to wait until May 9th, per their website.  The cost is $12 a week for a small share (1 or 2 people) or $24 for a family share.  They deliver food to a variety of sites (including Mrs. Epicure's work and nine others in Cuyahoga County) and operate much like a traditional CSA.  Friends tell us that if you get the full share and split it with another couple it works out better than the smaller share since the full share includes a wider variety of options.  City Fresh also supports things like asphalt gardening, low cost food for the less fortunate, and training for market gardeners.

Another venture that is quite innovative is Fresh Fork Market.  Last year they provided services to restaurants only, but this year they are opening their services to individuals too.  They will have three price points on their new CSA offering, including one that allows the consumer to select half of the products.  In addition, they go beyond the traditional vegetables and fruits to also include meat, cheese, honey, eggs and other produce.  Furthermore, they have a great ala carte concept, where you can select just those items you want from their website (all local) and then pick them up at their Tremont location on Friday.  Their CSA options are more expensive than City Fresh, but considering the types of products they will be offering, this is understandable.

I am not sure which way Mrs. Epicure and I will CSA.  We'll probably get a share at City Fresh and then order from Fresh Fork ala carte, but that could change as we investigate further.  Whatever way we decide to go, we'll still wander to nearby farmers' markets too.  The West Side Market fruit and vegetable vendors, most of whom (other than Basketeria and DeCaro's) rely on shipped-from-afar food, will see less of us during the summer months.  Maybe they will eventually catch on that they need to offer more local produce too.