A Night Out in Cleveland

This past week I've been downtown a lot. First we celebrated my sister Ashley's birthday beginning the night with private dining at Blue Point. Service was a bit slow (I think because we were separated from the other patrons), but the cocktails and food were delic! The fire on the river martini, lobster bisque, and filet oscar were oh so good (and I generally am not a huge soup fan)! I would have preferred crustier bread (yes, crustier is an official 'food critic' term), but I guess one is hard pressed to get everything they want!

After stuffing our faces, we headed to Pickwick & Frolic for a Burlesque show and ended the night at The Vault (I was really blown away with how the bar managed to seem so big and intimate at the same time). I was expecting a long line and a high cover and was pleasantly surprised that there was neither - just don't dance on the furniture +Ashley Keene ). The Vault could have been lifted right out of a bigger 'more popular' city, and would be a great place to bring guests (you can actually hear each other speak inside the venue which is always something I appreciate!)

Packing even more into the weekend, Ashley and I attended Pippen on Sunday (not one of my faves and judging by all of the sexual innuendos I'm wondering how many parents left the performance shocked and/or upset - there were a lot of kids in attendance). Oh, and please don't think I didn't like the show because it was a bit risque (I loved Hair) - I just wasn't overly impressed with the soundtrack or plot line.

Can I pose what seems a really obvious question? If you are a restaurant housed inside the second biggest theater district in the country why in the world are you not open every time a show is playing? Otto Moser and Sung's House?!?! We popped in to Bin216 and while I love the sophisticated decor - sleek leather and tufted walls - the service leaves a lot to be desired as does the menu (my cosmo was terrible too). Ummm - I would like to meet the person who is ordering a single deviled egg for $1.50?!? Seriously!

 Ash and I went with the slider - it was good - but left us starving...

So we went hunting, searching, traversing the city for more food (it really shouldn't be this hard should it?!) We only had an hour after our failed prior attempts at eating so our limited choices became even more limited. We stopped in Parnell's Irish pub which had no food, only drinks. Isn't that against some kind of Pub law? Finally, we made our way to District and life was suddenly rosy again. I ordered a French25 but our bartender Wayne asked if he could concoct an original libation - what choice had I but to oblige :) Here it is:

Since  I love labels, I demanded a name for this pretty drink - should you ever want to order one it is known as the 'blushing Krisitna' - obviously named for the color, not a characteristic. Ash and I split the seafood risotto. If if weren't for the less than crusty bread (again!) it would have been a perfect dining experience (although the bread did come with several condiments so that made me smile).

Already looking forward to "Dirty Dancing" and our next dining experience. Cowell and Hubbard +Ashley Keene ?

Redhawk Grille = Awesome

So I tried a new place this past Thursday and I'm happy to report I actually liked it (even though I was a tad sad I wasn't able to use a deck card). Loved the outside patio with the mulit-colored umbrellas, the sound of the waterfall in the background, and even the man-made fish pond.

 I started out with an American mule. While I loved the idea of a rock candy stirrer I'm learning that I am more obsessed with the copper cups these drinks are served in more so than the actual drink (no fault of the restaurant's - just my own personal preference).

However, my amazing Irish burger more than made up for selecting a slightly too sugary drink. The burger was topped with corn beef and melted swiss. Fries were fantastic. Prices were right!

An added bonus was how close the restaurant was to my friend Shanon's house - made calling for a ride after a few more drink orders super convenient.

Well done Redhawk! Well done!

Best Birthday Ever!

My sister +Ashley Keene orchestrated a surprise birthday celebration with some of my best girlfriends +Gina Speelman, Kate, Shannon, and new friend Lisa. And yes, I know some of you are confused thinking I have already celebrated my birthday - but I like to really honor the whole month of my birth :) Narcissistic - probably. Fun - hell yeah.

The night began when my brother-in-law Scott drove Ash and I to an undisclosed location in the white out blizzard that we had Saturday night. Destination revealed: East 4th.

http://www.ballanwood.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Lola.jpg

Love love love this area. We were able to walk to all three of our special spots which became especially appreciated since I had on open toed high heels and was trudging through 3 inches of snow.

First Stop: Lola.

Hooray! I love fancy new restaurants to try! Here our some of the dishes we tried:

Bread and butter: crusty and perfect! I like that they kept it straight up simple - crusty white bread and no flavored butters. I hate when places mess with the bread and butter - I don't like my bread and butter to taste like a dessert!
Scallops: leek, sweet potato, bacon, mustard, lemon $29
Lamb Shank: fennel, turnip, fingerling potato, vadouvan $30
Agnolotti: chestnuts, winter squash, brussels sprouts, parmesan $26

Everything was good - I didn't really have a basis of comparison for the scallops - are scallops supposed to taste a little bland? The lamb was tender enough to fall right off the bone, but a bit salty. My favorite dish by far was Katie's Agnolotti - it was delic!

I also have nothing but good things to say about the staff. Friendly, attentive, and willing to put up with a table of obnoxiously loud girls :)


Second Stop: Hilarities at Pickwick & Frolic

1st comic was pretty funny and I was happy to hear Game of Thrones quoted!
2nd comic was hilarious! I love how he fed off of the audience so material seemed fresh, natural, and not scripted. (I have a phone call in to Hilarities to find out the name of the first two comics we watched)
Headliner: Andy Kindler - so not funny it was awkward and I actually felt sorry for him. I found myself asking 'huh?' throughout most of his set.


Third Stop: Society

I am seriously obsessed with this place. I want it to be my new watering hole, although I am too lazy to drive downtown to frequent it as much as I would like. The establishment has a speakeasy feel. Here's a little history on the word pulled from Wikipedia: "According to an 1889 newspaper, 'Unlicensed saloons in Pennsylvania are known as 'speak-easies'. They were 'so called because of the practice of speaking quietly about such a place in public, or when inside it, so as not to alert the police or neighbors.'The term is reported to have originated with saloon owner Kate Hester, who ran an unlicensed bar in the 1880s in the Pittsburgh area town of McKeesport, Pennsylvania.^"

After we entered the frosted doors (albeit a more conspicuous entrance than most bars of this type) a capped gentleman took our names and directed us to the basement.

We welcomed ourselves to a private room, took some pics, and then joined the crowd to order some hand crafted cocktails including Death in New York and Moscow Mules. I loved our equally cute and edgy waitress and the eclectic crowd.

The band Rick and Sharona had us dancing the night away to favorites such as "Downtown," "You're So Vain," "Sweet Caroline," and "Brown-Eyed Girl." 

Attaboy East 4th! Attaboy!

Flour Restaurant

So I'm happy to say I already can't wait to plan my next visit to Flour in spite of the shared booth style seating of which I am not a fan!

See how the booths are one long seating bench you have to share with other parties

Four of us dined and here is what we ordered:

Apps
PEI Mussels $12 - My only complaint regarding the food concerned the 'fishiness' of the mussels. I got a bite of the slimy mucus part and it ruined me for the rest. I am really picky about where I eat mussels and any hint of 'ocean' in my mouth is an immediate turnoff.
Calamari $12.50 - Good. Very lightly breaded. Would have liked a larger portion.

Our waiter let us order as much white bread as we wanted...which was a lot! This always gains points in my book.

Entrees 
I ordered the ricotta agnolotti ($15 for the half order). I had to google image  what exactl that was, but I am so glad I did because after seeing the picture, I was sold! Well, due to that and the deal my sister struck with me: she would share her lobster strozzapreti with me if I chose the agnolotti and went halfsies. Here is a picture of my actual dish:

I have to say that very rarely has it happened that I can actually feel a mix of distinct flavors in my mouth. With this dish I did and I loved what I tasted! My sister and I thought the addition of some thin slivers of prosciutto would be a nice addition, but over all I would highly recommend this delectable dish!

As I mentioned my sister +Ashley Keene went with the lobster strozzapreti ($19 for the half order). Her's tasted equally as delicious. I hate when a pasta is swimming in sauce. This dish had what I would consider the perfect amount. I loved the generous amount of what we call 'shakey cheese' in my family on top! Even with the half portion she still needed a take home box.

My husband ordered the miso glazed salmon ($24) and for someone who doesn't normally order fish (I think he was feeling guilty due to the 4 loaves of bread we consumed and trying to be weight watcher conscious lol), he was more than pleased with the entree. The salmon was cooked perfectly and the glaze complimented the fish perfectly. I thought the risotto was a bit watery, but he disagreed.

My brother-in-law ordered the porchetta alla romana ($25). I only had a bite and while good, it tasted salty to me but from what I gathered this is how it is supposed to taste? In any case, my brother-in-law had nothing but praise for his food as well.

Our service was excellent and a super friendly gent (who I am assuming was a manager) came over to make sure we were happy with everything. I LOVE when places send someone over to make sure customers are pleased, but can I ask why this NEVER happens when I am fuming mad over service or food?!

To top off our visit our waiter brought out a birthday dessert free of charge (yes, I do celebrate my birthday the whole month through...lol)and we were able to use the cards from our Cleveland Independent Restaurant Deck. I have no idea what the dessert was - if I had to guess from the menu I just found on google perhaps a chocolate budino.

I'm already looking forward to my next visit back. I will be trying the gulf shrimp!

Melt Bar and Grilled - Mentor

So the first time I tried Melt in Cleveland Heights I didn't feel as if it lived up to the hype. It very possibly could have been the 2.5 hr. wait that put a damper on things, but I was less than impressed when I left. I believe back then I had ordered the Parma, Italy. I really had no interest in returning until I got the Cleveland Independent Restaurants deck. Anyone who knows me knows if I can cross something off a list, use a deck from a card, etc. then I am on board. So my family and I decided to visit the Mentor Melt on Saturday.

Here's how it panned out:

Wait - 20 min. Not terrible for 12:30 on a Saturday
Service - Stellar (The waitress did forget my side of mayo but upon reminding her she brought it right out).
Food - Depends on what you get.

I ordered a burger, slightly pink, american cheese, lettuce, tomato, onion and fries. Joe got the Cleveland Cheese Steak (we were told this was one of their best sellers) with fries and a diet coke. Actually, it would probably be more accurate to say I got both entreees as I usually try to talk Joe into letting me pick everything and then we 'share' plates. Olivia got the chicken fingers off of the kid's menu.

The burger was good, loved the fries, cheese steak was ok, and hated the chicken fingers (they were way too deep fried). Good thing Liv liked the chicken fingers, because the restaurant didn't have the milkshake I promised her the whole way there. What?!? It should be some kind of crime to have a burger/grilled cheese joint that doesn't offer milkshakes.

Pro/Con - As we were sitting their eating I realized my card from the deck required that you needed to spend $30 not including alcohol, tax, and gratuity in order to get the $10 off.  Now I was panicked  as I thought we would miss the $30 mark by a buck or so. I scanned the dessert menu and was disappointed by the lack of choices: a piece of apple pie or bread pudding. Yuck! No cheese cake, no cookies or brownies, and no ice cream!

Well, as luck would have it the extra ranch we asked for came in at 75 cents which tipped us over our target. However, I must say that if I  hadn't been trying to meet all of the requirements of the coupon card I would have been livid that I was charged extra for a condiment.

A plus from our visit: I am now a little smarter than I was yesterday. The name tag they gave me as we waited for our table read Natasha Vidal. I had no idea who that was, but thanks to Melt and Google now I do. Do you?

Great Gift for a Foodie!

So one of my most favorite Christmas gifts this year was The 2014 Cleveland Independents Deck which is like a modern day Our Town and All Around coupon book, but solely aimed at foodies (it also fits much nicer in one's purse than the big bulky coupon book which I have been lugging around).

My sister +Ashley Keene  and I really like to give the gift of experiences when we can, and so I was thrilled when she gave me the deck and also by the fact that we had a built in double-date couple to dine with! (The only problem is that after reading the fine print the deck indicates only one card per party which sort of stinks since she bought a deck for her and her hubby and gifted the other one to my husband and I with the idea that we can enjoy many a fine night together at one of the featured restaurants).

Here's how the deck works: there are 49 coupon cards for independent Cleveland restaurants and two Joker cards. Most of the cards entitle the bearer to $10 off a $30 food purchase. The Jokers allow you to revisit two of your faves from the deck.

Joe and I will be using our first card from the deck to celebrate Valentine's Day. We will be visiting Pier W, voted by Travel and Leisure Magazine as "One of America's Most Romantic Restaurants," this Saturday (one of the restrictions of the cards is that they can't be used on an actual holiday). As an added bonus, we used Open Table to make our reservation which will allow us to accrue points toward a dining certificate at one of the site's member restaurants. If you don't currently use this free service, you may want to check out more details here: http://www.opentable.com/info/diningrewards.aspx.

Excited to keep chronicling my foodie fetes!