Crop Bistro
Crop recently welcomed the addition of Elaine Cicora as the director of communications/official storyteller. This is great news for Crop, but sad for the rest of us that looked forward to her well-written and spot-on food reviews each week.

Thursday-only happy hour / Chef-owner Steve Schimoler and his crew fire up the grill on the bistro’s shaded sidewalk patio each Thursday, from 5 to 7 p.m. Look for $5 specials, including hand-ground lamb sliders, topped with blue cheese, chopped mint, and pickled onions; savory soft tacos, stuffed with grilled chimichurri shrimp; and tender, crisp-edged Tuscan flatbreads, with fresh herb-and-veggie toppings. To drink, the day’s featured $5 cocktail – perhaps something like Crop Punch or the Back Porch Margarita.

Bar Cento
Cook Chefin’ is this Sunday at 3 p.m. From everything I’ve heard about this event, it’s a blast for both the kiddies and adults. We were actually planning to go on Sunday with my nieces and nephews but had to reschedule for the next one.

Women of Rock / Rock ‘n’ Roll Wine Project. Featuring female vintners from Pinnono, McCrea, Stelztner. Women Rockers on vinyl plus Bill Barefoot & Chef’s Widow pouring the juice all night on July 31st.

And if he wasn’t busy enough (I think he’s competing with Symon for who can work the most hours per week), you can hang out with Chef Sawyer and cook at the farm-to-plate cooking class at Tri-C: theme, get your goat.

2-part class / Saturday, July 26, 2008, 1:30-3:30 p.m. at Goat Feather’s Farm in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park for the field trip, and Monday, July 28 6:30-9 p.m. at Tri-C’s Metro Campus Culinary Kitchen.

Description and Menu / This class will introduce and instruct students to the journey of farm to plate. We begin with the introduction of the farm and will see the symbiotic relationship developed between a farmer and a chef and learn about the farm’s 7 grazing pastures and their unique approach to raising the goats. We will then learn about the butchery process and how the animal eventually ends up on the plate in a restaurant. Menu: Goats Milk Recipe: Fresh Goats Milk Cheese; Goats Meat Recipe: Goat Keftedes (Kebabs), Roasted Leg of Goat and Tomato Braised Goat Shoulder. Fee: $120 total.

Cafe Marika / Lucy’s Sweet Surrender
Look for Michael Feigenbaum of Cafe Marika and Lucy’s at four farmer’s markets this summer:
Wednesdays in Lakewood from 11 a.m. – 2 p.m.; Thursdays in Twinsburg from 3 – 7 p.m.; Saturdays in Shaker Square from 8 a.m. – noon and Crocker Park from 9 a.m. – 1 p.m. He’ll feature 10-12 bread types, strudels, nut/poppyroll, kalacs, angel wings – about 100 different products in total, all made from scratch at Lucky’s Sweet Surrender.

Waterloo Street Fest will be August 2. Check out Cafe Marika during the fest for soups, salads, sandwiches and pastries.

Momocho
The popular patio is in full swing and the place to be this summer. Be sure to check out the taquito grasshopper, which Chef Eric says continues to be extremely popular. And although I haven’t tried it myself, I have heard from several people tat is really is quite tasty.

You can also see Eric, along with Karen Small, Doug Katz, Paul Minnillo, Heather Haviland, Jonathan Bennett, Ryan Alabaugh, Scott and Brenda Kim, Matt Harlan, Ruth and Marc Levine and Rocco Whalen at the benefit for Annie Chiu at Sergio’s on July 28.

Blue Canyon
Speaking of busy, I think it’s safe to include Chef Brandt Evans in that mix. He’s off to Dallas to open another Blue Canyon, with a few more on the way (I think that’s four total locations now). Look for more on this next month. We have been trying to schedule an interview for oh, maybe the past 8 months, give or take. I think we’ll finally meet up on that fabulous patio in the near future.

1. What are the top 5 spices every home chef/baker should have? Salt, pepper, garlic, pure vanilla and cinnamon.

2. What is your favorite thing about Cleveland and what drives you nuts? I grew up in Shaker Heights. One of my favorite things is the homes and streets of Shaker / Cleveland Heights and the lake and parks system. I dislike the political/economic/power base that controls Cleveland, which allowed the sprawling dispersal of population to create the outer-ring and empty middle.

3. What is the most popular item ordered from Lucy’s Sweet Surrender? Strudel.

4. What do you like better, baking or cooking, and why? I like both but I rarely bake at home. We cook all of our own food most days. Marika, my wife, is an excellent cook and baker. We will dine out for special occasions.

5. What is the hardest thing to bake? The hardest items to bake are usually the simplest meringues and breads for novice folks. I think the hard part in my bakery is keeping up with all the varieties of products. We make 150 or more different items and many custom orders; most bakeries specialize or buy commercial products to save labor. When you bake from scratch it is labor intensive.

6. What restaurant do you miss? Lunch at Stouffers on Shaker Square with my grandmother.

7. What is your favorite restaurant in Cleveland? I will copout and just say many. Many are underrated and serve great value for the money. The independents are all struggling to keep up in this smaller market.

8. What hidden gem or restaurant have Clevelanders yet to discover? Café Marika.

9. What do you want people to know about Café Marika? We are a throwback to simple quality scratch cookery and we have a rockin’ good bar with reasonable prices. Great coffee from Kokopelli’s and all of Lucy’s bakery products can be delivered to the cafe daily for pick up.

10. What is your last meal on Earth? Fresh salad, pasta with cream garlic and smoked meats, veal with demi-glace, steamed asparagus and ice cream for dessert.

11. What keeps you going and what are the challenges you face as a business owner in Cleveland? I’m motivated by my love of the work I do. I am most happy in the bakery cranking out the goods and I am most gratified by the responses we receive. I recently shipped nut rolls to Hawaii for a 94-year-old lady on her birthday. She was originally from Buckeye Road and recently found out that we are still open. Her only desire was to taste our nut roll on her big day. That is great stuff to me.

The challenges are huge. Currently all costs are rising faster than we can respond. The customer base has dispersed and we are competing with gas stations, C-stores, Wal Mart, etc. The old style we represent has a strong identity but no one has time to shop a small place like ours, then a holiday hits us with 10-15 times the customers for a few days and we are working 18 hour days to keep up. It is a problem for all the independents. We are working and thinking all the time about how to survive and maintain what we have. The legacy of a 50-year-old business is an awesome responsibility at times, but I really love it.