The Cleveland Epicure

Sunset Grille to Open this Weekend

I've not discovered a better place to enjoy Lake Erie while eating and drinking than at Sunset Grille on Whiskey Island.  It is one of the rare locations that actually embraces the fact that Cleveland is located on the shores of Lake Erie.  Sunset Grille has a fairly basic menu of salads, sandwiches, wings and other fried food.  They have a full bar and reasonable beer prices.  They have plenty of picnic tables, corn hole boards, a playground area for kids, and they even encourage dogs on leashes.  Add in some good friends and a great sunset and you have the makings of fun every time out to this gem on the near West Side.

Word is that Sunset Grille will be opening on May 2nd.  Head out with friends and enjoy!

The Gift of The Greenhouse Tavern

For a place that has not even officially opened yet, The Greenhouse Tavern on East 4th is generating a huge buzz among the foodie crowd here in Cleveland.  Let me add to the buzz here. 

Congratulations are first in order: the Greenhouse Tavern is now officially the first Ohio restaurant to be certified "green" by the Green Restaurant Association.  From the solar powered bathroom faucets to the reclaimed barn wood Chef Sawyer found on the side of the road, the GHT is all about reducing, reusing and recycling from top to bottom.

But the restaurant itself could not feel fresher.  You don't feel like you are anywhere else you have ever been and yet you immediately wish more places felt like this one.  This is due to the passion and vision of Chef Sawyer and Chef's Widow Amelia and their dedicated, energetic staff.  Mrs. Epicure and I were present for a Friends and Family dinner as well as an industry/Facebook party this past week, and every person I encountered who was working there seemed just as energized and happy as the patrons.  That does not happen very often.

To me, Chef Sawyer has the ability to rally the team much like a great coach can do in sports.  His leadership and belief in his vision and mission follows him no matter where his determined steps take him.  He seems to be quite gifted at surrounding himself with people who thrive on his drive to create authentic tastes, authentic settings, authentic experiences.

More than anything else, though, Chef Sawyer is a man of the earth--he respects what the planet gives him and celebrates those gifts in simple, striking ways.  How else to explain a small dish of French radishes with butter and salt that just screams spring and gardens and sunshine?  Or a tray of oysters with chunks of sea salt, yolk-yellow lemon, and horseradish vodka that you want not to finish so that on a really hot day this summer you can enjoy the cold, clean perfume of the sea as it passes over your lips?  Or a bed of beef tartare with a cone-shaped poached egg nestled in it like a gem on a pad of velvet that tastes somehow even better than it looks on the plate?

(That tartare, by the way, was recommended to me by our server who just a couple of weeks prior was still a vegetarian.  I mean, when a just-converted vegetarian recommends a raw meat dish to you, you had damn well better try it.)

The opening of the Greenhouse Tavern is set for Tuesday the 14th, the day after Mrs. Epicure's birthday.  For people who moved here for the food, and who have fallen in love with the city because of its people, getting to dine at the Greenhouse Tavern is a gift that combines those passions in a way something in a wrapped box never could do.

Ohio City Argus

The new Ohio City Argus newspaper is now available at most Ohio City businesses.  This neighborhood-centric publication is free and, while I am surely biased, is quite a handsome paper.  Quality paper, color photos, interesting articles about residents, businesses, neighborhood happenings, West Side Market vendors, and even a page about restaurants/bars from yours truly.  The paper will eventually also be online, but for now, pick up your free copy in my hometown neighborhood of Ohio City.

Civilization/Prosperity Social Club/Lava Lounge

Friday was an afternoon/evening in Tremont for Mrs. Epicure and me, eventually joined by good friends as well.  After dropping one of the Epicurean dogs off to get a haircut and bath at the Mutt Hutt, we toodled over the the Ukrainian Heritage Museum on Kenilworth.  Pretty much a museum housed in an old house, we got to admire some of the intricately decorated eggs both on display and in a workshop where people with much more patience than I have were learning how to tattoo the outside of an avian ova.  After feeling all cultured-up we wandered down the block to Civilization, the very comfortable and Euro-feeling coffee shop in Tremont.  We enjoyed an espresso (loads of crema) and a mocha latte made with lovely Mexican chocolate.  People there ranged from old codgers who were oddly not arguing to a young couple who sat across from one another, she with her laptop and he reading a book while wearing earplugs.

We had planned to hit the Art Walk later but the drizzle that delayed the Indians inevitable loss also dampened (ahem) our interest in walking around.  So, we decided to go to the South Side for food and drink, but those plans changed quickly when the wait was said to be in the 3/4 of an hour range.  So, instead, we went to the Prosperity Social Club, always well-regarded in most write-ups about Cleveland from people who have never been here and people who never leave here.

Prosperity was busy but not as crammed as the Sizemore-annointed South Side, so we got a table straight-away.  We enjoyed a variety of drinks around the table (Dead Guy, Guinness, Jester IPA, Anchor Steam and vinho verde) while deciding what to eat and then eating the results of those decisions.  Heathens that we are, we all had some form of meat; lightning bolts never arrived at the table.

Mrs. Epicure had a Southwest skirt steak salad that was a good salad topped by a steak that was way too challenging to cut and then chew (although the Epicurean dogs seemed to have happily disagreed this morning).  Friend J had a stuffed flank steak with mashed potatoes and carmelized onions and a mystery sauce; good tasting but evidently a little cold.  That was just the opposite of the ziti pasta I had, coated in a meat marinara sauce, interspersed with shrimp and ringed with mussels.  Very tasty but the plate was so hot I could have cooked the ladies' steaks on it.  Friend M had the reuben on potato pancakes (well-received) with a side of massive onions rings that I thought should have spent a bit more time in the deep fryer fat bath.

Filled with food, we eased down the street in the Epicurean truck and parked in front of the Lava Lounge where I did my best impression of a 15 year old learning how to parallel park.  I really should get some mud flaps some time.  Anyway, we spent an hour or so in the upstairs lounge with its never-to-be-used fireplace (something about inadequate venting and open flames).  Initially it was an enjoyable time as the music was grooving at a conversation-friendly level.  Friend BJ arrived for a beverage and we all lounged about the way one is supposed to in a lounge, even one sadly sans anything close to warming lava.  But at some point, the music kicked up to the "I have to yell now" level and consisted of some infuriating mash-ups that were never on long enough for me to "name that bass line."

So, a nice time in Tremont.  But this morning as I thought about our afternooon and evening I came to the realization that everything there (food, wines by the glass especially, beer) is just a bit more expensive than other neighborhoods I hang out in.  Or is it just me?

TasteSpotting

Friend BJ mentioned TasteSpotting  ("a community driven visual potluck") to me, a site dedicated to great food photog and the recipes behind them.  I warn you--you may get sucked into this and lose a couple hours of your life.

Park, Wander, Wait, Eat/Drink and Expand at Fat Head's

Mrs. Epicure and I made a trip down to Fat Head's in North Olmstead this week with some co-workers (it always helps when they are friends too).  The word from other friends who had been to it or even near it was that it was jam-packed and no matter what you wanted, you would be waiting.  This proved to be true.

First, the parking.  So, the Fat Head's parking lot is not huge, but many people are going there.  Many.  The math does not lie.  So you will perhaps have to park at the DQ next door, or the supermarket nearby, which gets you next to the popular Nuevo Acapulco and therefore fighting with a weird cross section of people for a parking space.  If all else fails, try the bowling alley lot across the street.  It will help you calorically later on.

Second, the space.  Fat Head's is a collosal place.  Certainly the biggest bar I have encountered in Northeast Ohio and the dining space has the feel of a gymnasium.  If you make your way far enough to the back (bread crumbs are a good idea to mark your trail), you will find a long shelf where you can lean with your beer while you watch others play darts.  I love the hand-painted logos of the best of American craft brewers on the brink walls.  You will too.

Third, the wait.  Our first adventurer got to Fat Head's at 6 (bless her heart for waiting for the rest of us and for a table).  I think we finally got to sit down at 7:45.  This wait time did not appear to be atypical, and not just for a party of ten (really more like 14 but if we had given them that number, we would never have been seated).  People were standing around all over the place waiting for a place to sit down or in a line to get some beer.  So, consider this a heads-up.  They have a lot of open space, so maybe they will add a few more tables.  And chairs.

Fourth, the food and drink.  The menu is filled with things you would expect: wings, burgers, pulled pork, fried foods.  But they also have some unique gargantuan sandwiches called Headwiches that are reasonably priced ($9.95 in most cases) and come with home cut fries.  I opted for the Brewben, which is a very tasty reuben made with pepper slaw; quite tasty.  Of course, after that wait, I could have eaten some pretty unappetiziing things ala Andrew Zimmern and likely would have been happy.  Mrs. Epicure got the Parma Sutra which was a large burger topped with cheese, bacon, grilled onions and two pierogies between two buns.  I think it weighed about as much as she does; it was a bit too much.  Most others enjoyed their sandwiches with the exception of the Killer Chicken, which was too hot to make it enjoyable.  I tried two beers: the Great Scot's Amber and the #1 Saison.  I preferred the latter, although neither sent me into a Conway's Irish Ale-like swoon.  Oh, a special mention of the very good fried mushrooms with horseradish cream sauce.  And a second special mention of the excellent service.  Considering they were absolutely slammed, they were all pleasant and helpful.

Fifth, expand.  Once you wait that long, drink a couple of beers, and then eat a lot of fattening food, you will head toward a food coma during which your waistline will bloat.  But, if you park far enough away, you will at least work off a fry or two.

So, put some gas in the tank, head off to North Olmstead, and enjoy a few hours at the newest buzz-beer spot in our region.  You'll have fun as long as you are patient.  Getting your own buzz pretty quickly will help.

Underground Eating

This past Friday was the first installment of the Bistro Incognito underground dinner series here in Cleveland.  Lucky for us, this inaugural event was held just down the street from our house in Ohio City.  The setting was a beautiful private home with plenty of room for the 40 guests, very welcoming hosts, and chef and kitchen crew.

The premise of an underground dinner is that people who are "in the know" (in this case through targeted emails) all meet up at a location that is not revealed until the day of the event.  In other cities, quite often the events are held in abandoned buildings or abnormal dining locations (see below for a good article link).  There are no licenses obtained and the payment is often cash only and by the next day you would never know that a bunch of people ate a load of good food in the nondescript locale just hours prior.

In Cleveland, the Bistro Incognito is surprisingly less gritty that you might expect in our industrial landscaped town.  The here setting was serene and in a place people normally eat.  The cause is high-minded and welcome: the proceeds all go toward the Make a Wish Foundation.  But the rest of the affair is about what I would expect elsewhere.

The evening opened with a cocktail hour featuring a superb white wine sangria, spiked with some peach nectar and and Triple Sec, as well as a cucumber martini made with Tanqueray gin, cucumber juice and sweet and sour.  The latter drink went down way too smoothly, I would observe, as many people who quaffed these early were suffering or at least a tad addled by the time the mid-point of dinner arrived.

The dinner itself ranged from passable to excellent.  The opening lentil soup was fresh and had a nice zing.  The second course featuring salad greens and jicama was crisp and not over-dressed.  The ceviche third course was by far my favorite with bright seafood flavors and then a wallop of cold heat that lingered on the tongue.  The entree was two dishes in one, separated my a hillock of rice: a shredded beef patty in tomato sauce and a cheese filled poblano pepper (no breading) in a creamier tomato sauce.  The flavors were surprisingly mild considering the punch of the ceviche just before.  The dessert was a run of the mill chocolate mousse cake topped with whipped cream (I would not be surprised if this was store bought).  A number of wines were served with the meal, with the Kim Crawford Marlborough Riesling being the best that I tasted.

The volunteer servers were all pleasant and energetic; the kitchen staff was heads-down determined most of the evening; the host of the event and the owners of the home were gracious, welcoming, and happy to have everyone present.

We wandered out soon after the last course; I am sure the bulk of the crowd stayed for some time afterward.  The event must have been a success, I would think, in that the crowd was big, the food was very good, and everyone was in a jovial--and hopefully generous--mood.  It certainly did not have the feel of a subversive event; it was more like being at a party that many others had wished they had been invited to (but were not).

Having said that, I see that the Bistro Incognito site is now password protected even just to see the main page, so maybe they are taking the second word in their name more literally for the next event, whenever and wherever it might be...

Here's a great article on the whole concept of these kinds of events from the NY Times.

All Hopped Up

I've enjoyed a few hoppy beers in recent days, all at McNulty's Bier Markt/Bar Cento:

• Dogfish Head Aprihop (not as fruity as I was worried it would be; enjoyable but I would not be able to drink more than one in an evening as I am not a huge apricot fan)
• Cain and Ebel Rye IPA from Two Brothers brewery (the rye flavor really balances out the hops; quite drinkable over the long haul)
• Avery Brewing Maharaja (more bite that the previous two but still quite enjoyable.  Crisp finish and that grapefruity-bitter aftertaste that IPA's a known for)

I must say that I found Chef Nowak's puttanesca pizza (capers, olives, anchovies, provolone, marinara sauce) goes quite well with these beers.

Bar Cento still Going Strong

Mrs. Epicure and I had a fun, delicious, adventurous meal at Bar Cento tonight.  We started with the special appetizer Rock Lobster, which is Chef Nowak's inventive ravioli stuffed with scallops, lobster, French chili pepper and lightly bathed in a tarragon cream sauce.  You won't believe how balanced the flavors are and the aroma just jumps at you out of the dish.  Yum.  We added a side of fresh, roasted, olive-oiled and salted roasted peas in the shell.  Double yum.  Main courses were at opposite ends of the spectrum.  Mrs. Ep had a bianco pizza (oil, salt and garlic) while I had the perfectly heavy Belgian beef stew atop perfect bread cubes with frites on the side.  No room for dessert but we did enjoy a very fine wine flight featuring a Bastianich Sauvignon B, and two Steven Edmunds wines, one a decent red and the other a Gamay Noir called Bone Jolly that was one of the best roses I have enjoyed.  All served by our fave Aren.

It's always good to visit an old stand by and realize it is fresh, reliable and happy.  Makes you keep coming back for more.

The Greenhouse Tavern to Open on April 11th

Certainly the most anticipated restaurant to open in town since Bar Cento, the Greenhouse Tavern is set to open on April 11th.  Epic times for the restaurant scene in town.  http://thegreenhousetavern.com/blog/