At the TEDxCLE event a few weeks ago, Room Service owner and a good friend of mine, Danielle DeBoe, talked about a dinner party she went to in Paris where no one knew each other – and that it was one of the most amazing nights of her life. This concept, that’s part dining with strangers, part underground supper club, was something she knew she wanted to try to pull off in Cleveland. And this past weekend she did just that. Lucky for us, we had a seat at the mighty long table.

Though the idea was to gather with mostly strangers and ideally leave with new friends, we did in fact know a few people there. Even so, we met so many interesting people and really enjoyed ourselves talking through the crowd and getting to know everyone.

Twenty-five of us eagerly gathered in the quaint back room of Market Avenue Wine Bar (I did not realize there was this added space – great to know for parties, etc. ) The chef was Ryan Santos who works with Nolan Konkoski at Tartine and also owns his own catering company, Please. Though I’m quite familiar with Nolan, this was the first time I had heard of Ryan.

The cost was $30 pp; alcohol was byob or in our case,  we just bought a bottle of recommended cabernet at the bar. The chef’s theme for the night was brunch for dinner. The menu consisted of:

• amuse-bouche / tomato donut hole with sriracha, worcestershire powder,  and black peppercorn lemon sugar
• first-course / cereal & coffee: pumpkin seed fennel black pepper granola, cereal milk custard, squash sheets and coffee soil
• second-course / bagel & lox: smoked to order fish (this was served under a rocks glass & the smoked, campfire-esque smell revealed once you lifted it up was a very nice touch), everything pretzel, black olive cream cheese, scallion and edamame kimchi
• intermezzo / champagne shooter with cucumber, shiso, candied red chile and lemon
• third-course / bacon & eggs: soft boiled egg, pork belly, English muffin crouton, smoked maple consomme and rhubarb
  
• dessert / housemade pop tart plate with  cranberry jalapeno, maple bacon and sage grapefruit

Santos may have been among the strangers at the start of the night, but not anymore. He is a chef I look forward to getting to know better. Not only was each dish beautifully constructed and quite interesting, but was genuinely enjoyable. I thoroughly enjoyed each course – the taste, presentation and unique use of ingredients. For example, the chilled cereal bar. What an interesting approach to cereal, I’ve never tasted anything quite like this and would happily order  off a menu. My only complaint of the meal was that I would have liked slightly larger portions, but only because nearly everything tasted so good I wanted more.

I know the concept of roaming / underground dinner party isn’t necessarily new to our area and is quite popular in other cities, but this is the first time I’ve attended one. I really hope Danielle continues this, and it sounds like with a few modifications she’s going to. From the setting to the company to the food, what a night we had and look forward to participating in one again soon.

Once more information becomes available, I’ll be sure to pass it on. In the meantime, here are Danielle’s pictures from that night.

The film fest gets underway March 18 – 28. Tickets are on sale now. This year, the folks behind CIFF are making is super easy for all of us to stay connected. Of course there’s the site, but also a smart phone app and Twitter. And finally, special perks for ‘the mayor.’ (On a side note, I personally love how many local companies are catching on to the beauty of Foursquare and awarding their mayors).

This year, I was lucky enough to be asked to blog on behalf of the fest and given the opportunity to preview a few movies ahead of time. Here are my thoughts on what I have seen so far. As for what I haven’t seen but what looked good to me and I plan to try, these films include: 8, Convention, Love Hurts, The Baby Formula, Cooking History, Harvest, and the opening night film, Timer.

Ingredients// Fans of Food Inc. and anything by Michael Pollan will surely love this food documentary that focuses on local foods and supporting farmers. In fact, if you regularly read this blog, it’s probably preaching to the choir but still a must-see as it’s a good reminder – just be sure to bring your chain-lovin’, mass food supporting friends as it will surely open their eyes. The best part about this film? A nice spotlight on The Chef’s Garden and Farmer Lee Jones along with his dad and brother. In fact, Lee will be at the 3/20 screening of Ingredients to discuss the future of the American farmer.

Handsome Harry// This movie is about an ex-Navy officer who upon reuniting with a dying Navy buddy relives a mysterious crime they committed and travels from friend to friend to unlock the truth and in part, make amends. I really wanted to like this movie. Good cast (Aidan Quinn, Steve Buscemi and Campbell Scott) and I was intrigued by what I read ahead of time. But in the end, neither of us were fans. Not even halfway through and we figured out the rather predictable ending. In general, it was just too choppy and had too many things going on and random storylines being introduced. It had all the makings of a good flick, but in the end just didn’t win us over. I will say this though, I was not familiar with the lead (Jamey Sheridan) prior to this movie, and did enjoy his acting and wouldn’t mind seeing his other films.

Dear Lemon Lima// Thanks to my love for all John Hughes movies, I am a sucker for any teen-esque movie (even though this, and most movies out today, couldn’t be further from a Hughes flick). This quirky, family-friendly movie wasn’t as funny as I had hoped, but it was touching and overall enjoyable. If you have pre-teens or teens at home, they’d likely enjoy this one as well.

The folks at CIFF gave me 6 tickets to give away. I’ll give away in pairs, so three of you will win. For a chance, leave a comment with your favorite movie quote. Winners will be randomly selected Thursday at noon. Even if you don’t win, be sure to go to a movie and support the film fest. Parking is free, there are lots of great eateries right there to grab a bite before or after, and the festival itself is one of the best on the country. It’s something we should all try to support.

It’s also worth nothing that there will be three “off-site” CIFF nights:

• March 23, Shaker Square
• March 24, Cedar Lee
• March 25, Capitol Theatre (I was just there for TEDxCLE – what a beautiful theater!)

As part of my ongoing partnership with Heinen’s. they have asked me for honest reviews of some of their prepared dishes from time to time. Last night, I tried pork tenderloin stuffed with chopped fennel, thyme and apricots then lined with bacon ($10).

The tenderloin was plenty for the three of us to share, and I even have leftovers for lunch today. Overall, the taste was enjoyable. I loved all the fresh thyme and fennel and especially liked the apricots with bacon. But the pork itself could have used some seasoning. If you try this, I’d suggest seasoning the pork with kosher salt and pepper first; it needs it.

In general, I’m not one to pick up prepared food. If I’m not dining out, I really enjoy cooking at home. And something like this would take no time to create myself. But, there are those days when  you just don’t feel like cooking – or eating out. This is a nice alternative. And I’d have no reservations about picking up this pork again – though I would be sure to properly season next time.

My week started by spending an evening with a bunch of really witty and engaging  Cleveland bloggers by way of a shopping spree at NEXT in Beachwood Place (I didn’t shop, sigh. Instead, I played the part of social media maven and organized this soiree. I sometimes do some PR/social media freelancing for friends, etc). They had fun shopping; I had fun catching up with some old friends and meeting a few new ones, too.

The next night, I went to bed a very happy woman followed by a fabulous dinner on E 4th courtesy of  The Greenhouse Tavern and Lola. My company is hiring for several positions (at one point we had 15 open spots; not sure where we currently stand). The one candidate we are really interested in is a fellow foodie. A very serious foodie at that. He and his family would be moving to Cleveland from Denver so he wanted to get a sense of the food community here. I can appreciate this.  It’s a tough job, but I mustered up the energy, along with Jamie (we work together for those that don’t know) and ate our way through a Wednesday night. We had apps at GHT and finished the meal at Lola. Highlights include the beef tartare at The Greenhouse (I could eat this daily; and our guest commented that it’s some of the best tartare he’s had), plus the beet and pear salad at Lola for me (such a simple dish but perhaps giving the beets at Lolita – my current favorite – a run for its money). Our guest enjoyed the braised Berkshire “bacon” and scallops and was quite impressed – especially with the belly. The table also enjoyed crispy bone marrow with six accompaniments courtesy of the kitchen (cilantro salsa and lemon my favorite).

The best part about this night (aside from the obvious) — the city was packed. It was a snowy Wednesday evening and all the restaurants were filled with  people out and about enjoying a great February night in Cleveland.

The following day, Cleveland Foodie won a bronze for its new logo at the annual ADDY awards (advertising industry thing). Jamie designed it for me last year. To me, it won  gold. The new ad is currently on our Facebook page)

Yesterday morning, we spent the day being inspired and moved via TEDxCLE at the Capitol Theater. We listened to a group of interesting, passionate and smart individuals share their vision and what specifically they are doing to affect positive change on our city.  It was the first independently organized TED event for Cleveland and I hope it’s the first of many. The organizers, Hallie and Eric, should be very proud of themselves. They did an amazing job and I’m beyond happy that I was in the audience – and will be each year they hold this.

Every discussion was enlightening, but for me, stand outs include: Terry Schwartz of Kent State and Pop Up City sharing ideas on how to fix broken cities; Aaron LeMieux of Tremont Electric discussing alternative energy and his personal energy generator (seriously – we’d buy stock right now if he was selling);  Michael Ruhlman talking about how people need to get back in the kitchen and cook and what type of positive impact this has on all of us; our friend Danielle DeBoe on how her passion led her to Room Service and how she is connecting with her community; and finally Patrick Perotti, a Cleveland lawyer that had many of us choking up over his stories of how he’s helping children keep their fight alive – specifically via class action lawsuits and how we all can help by simply signing this petition.

Images courtesy of  Kyle Roth. Check out all his images from the event via his Flickr page. And visit the  TEDxCLE site in a few days where all the videos from the day will be made available.

And my week isn’t over yet!  So Forbes, while  I have several suggestions as to what exactly you can do with your article and silly little title, you are entitled to your opinion (even if it’s not based fully in facts). And so am I. I am proud to call Cleveland home. I choose to live here. Just one question for you though. Why even bother to write this kind of article in  the first place, regardless of who’s in the top 5? I just don’t see the point. Instead of focusing on the negativity, why not spotlight all the positive changes taking place everyday in all types of cities?

I’ve seen the looks. I’ve heard the comments. We’ve felt the tension as we walk past your table and our party of three is seated next to you. You’re out for a nice evening and the last thing you want is some screaming kid about to ruin your night out. Or worse, we are seated in your section and you’re stuck waiting on us and left picking up the mess that our daughter will enthusiastically leave behind. Or so you think.

From the time Natalie was three weeks old, we’ve taken her out to dinner with us. She’s been everywhere, from Lola to Momocho to L’Albatros to Valentine’s dinner at Fahrenheit last week (Natalie loved Rocco’s short ribs) — she is well on her way to taking over this blog someday. We decided before she was born that we were going to incorporate her into our life and our routine as much as possible. And we believed the more we exposed her to early on, the better off we’d be in the long run. Granted we’ve only been parents for 14.5 months, but so far so good.

Sure, there are plenty of times when we get a sitter and dine sans toddler, but for the most part, we like keeping the band together. Our goal when dining out as a family is to have an enjoyable night out and maybe make a new memory; not to ruin your evening in the process. So when Natalie is with us, we plan ahead so that we can avoid being that family. We eat early (last week at Fahrenheit we made rezzies for 4 and were out by 4:45 before the rush), we ask for the check as soon as our food arrives (you never know when the meal could be to go), we have snacks handy (and when we leave we  make sure all goldfish are accounted for, it’s not a server’s job to clean up after our kid – I was a server once and am very consciousness of this) and always bring table toppers so she can be a neat little diner. And if Natalie should cry, and it’s one of those cries, we’re outta there in 60 seconds flat (we have an escape plan and to date have only had to execute it twice). Like I said, we do not and will not ruin anyone else’s meal.

I will say this though, most of the looks we’ve had have been from fellow customers, but once we’re well into our meal and they see  how well-behaved and happy-go-lucky our daughter is, and just how ridiculously cute her chubby cheeks are, people are won over. And for the most part, restaurants are extremely accommodating and welcoming. Parallax encouraged us to bring our daughter, the staff at Lola oohed and aahed, Greenhouse Tavern and Momocho are simply fantastic for families and when Natalie met Rocco Whalen, he looked at our daughter with a big smile and told her how excited he was to cook for her for the next 20 plus years. And we know he meant it.

Our daughter truly is a foodie in the making. Saying she loves food is an understatement. We have yet to find anything she won’t eat – from Indian to Thai to Mexican to Italian, she’s an equal opportunity eater. And boy can she put it away. Just this morning at Vine & Bean, she enjoyed a plate of waffles for breakfast and fruit (I was a mean mommy and refused to share my pecan-crusted bacon). And at B Spot, she ate half a Plain Jane burger and helped us finish a shake. But her favorite dish just might be short ribs of any kind (the kid’s got good taste). If we order them out or make at home, look out – she will throw down her bib and fight you for every last bite.

So if you’re part senior citizen like us and are eating out before 5 and see us coming, don’t worry – I guarantee you won’t even know we’re there. And if you’re a family with little ones and have been sticking to the chains when dining out as a family for fear of what might happen, give one of our many local places a shot. With a few modifications, you can have a great family night out – and a much better meal in the process (and pay just the same, sometimes less – hello Lolita, Bar Symon, GHT, Sunday Supper at Momocho just to name a few). And if your kids are older than mine, you may not even have to alter a thing. Happy eating!

I know these interviews are some of the most popular content on the blog, and one of my favorite things to write/research too. And there are still so many wonderful chefs, farmers, purveyors and foodies in town to learn about.

The links for all current interviews have been fixed and are all neatly compiled right above this post underneath the masthead. For future interviews, I’m going to aim for two a month (look for Liz Symon, Farmer Lee Jones, Matt Fish and Mister Brisket soon). And if you have a suggestion, please share. I try to only include people I’m familiar with and places I’ve tried, so if it’s something I don’t know I’ll be sure to add to my list.

Bruell’s Seared Sea Scallops with Thai Curry

Add olive oil to sauté pan over high heat.  When smoking, place sea scallops in pan with butter.  Season with salt and pepper.  Cook for 30-40 seconds on each side until golden brown and caramelized.  Remove from the pan.  In the same pan, add curry paste, brown sugar, coconut milk and fish sauce.  Whisk together over high heat.  Finish with chopped cilantro.

Roasted Eggplant with Fresh Tomatoes, Feta and Mozzarella Cheese Pomegranate Reduction (adapted from Table 45’s current winter menu)

Ingredients

Eggplant

Method: In a bowl, toss the slices in olive oil, cumin, salt and pepper. Roast in a 375 degree oven until tender and cool in refrigerator. When ready to serve bring to temperature on the grill or oven.

Yogurt Sauce

Method: Add all the ingredients together and incorporate well; hold in refrigerator.

Pomegranate Reduction

Method: Place the pomegranate juice and vinegar in a small pot.  On medium to low heat reduce the mixture till little less than half.  Once reduce transfer reduction to another container and let cool.  The pomegranate Reduction should be thick where it can be slowly drizzled onto a plate.  If the mixture has been reduced too much you can always add more pomegranate juice until in thins up to where it can be drizzled.

Plating: Layer eggplant in the middle of the plate. Take sauce and drizzle along the outside of the eggplant. Garnish the top of the eggplant with feta cheese and tomato salad. Drizzle with pomegranate sauce.

———————————————————————————–

This post was sponsored by Heinen’s. When making these dishes at home, the wine experts have two recommendations:

• For the scallops: ZAZA, a  serious Rosé from Spain that could almost be called a light red.  Abundant berry flavors and surprisingly full body makes this a Rosé to get excited about.  ($9.99/bottle)
• For the eggplant: Alexander Valley New Gewurztraminer // Perhaps the best-value Gewurztraminer from CA. Perfumed aromas and pear and spice flavors make this organic-farmed wine great with Asian foods. ($8.99/bottle)

After meeting Farmer Lee Jones and learning about the Veggie U initiative, plus the fact that program was in jeopardy  locally due to lack of awareness and funds, I knew this was something we could try to help and something that would resonate well with you – my readers. Truthfully, I was hoping we’d be able to support a few classrooms (each classroom requires $200). But that didn’t happen. Instead, according to my contact at Veggie U, you guys saved the entire program in Cleveland, raising a total of $3,820 – with 100% of the donations going towards the kids! More importantly, that’s 84 Cleveland schools, 171 classrooms and 3,840 students that will participate and learn about eating healthy, sustainable agriculture and combating adolescent disease and juvenile diabetes starting March 1. Amazing. Absolutely amazing.

I cannot thank you all enough for your incredible generosity and taking the time to donate. It is greatly appreciated by so many, especially those 4^th graders and their teachers. You guys simply rock and have truly made a difference. Hopefully, this is something we can continue each year and impact future students.

I also realize we were able to raise more because so many helped to spread the word – via good ol’ fashioned word-of-mouth, tweets and Facebook. Thank you – just look at the difference it made. I especially want to thank many of our bloggers and media. We have a wonderful blogging community here and it’s one I’m very proud to be part of. It’s one that’s incredibly supportive, both of each other and of our city. A special thank you to I Heart Cleveland, Live to Cook at Home, Heidi Robb, Confessions of a Cohabitant, Chef’s Widow, Cleveland’s a Plum, A Girl About Cleveland, Local Food Service, Bite Buff, Cleveland at Heart, Great Lakes Design Collaborative, Garden, Grocery, Gadget Girl , Cooker Girl, Metromix and Michael Ruhlman.  And our local food reporters/editors Joe Crea and Debbi Snook at the Plain Dealer. They took an immediate interest in this effort and shared with readers.

Finally, we would not be having this conversation if it wasn’t for our chefs, restaurant and store owners. I shared the idea and almost everyone got on board and offered their support to make it even better. We all know this group is responsible for making us some seriously good eats. But they also have some seriously big hearts and are an incredibly supportive group. They made it interesting and because of their generosity, people donated even more (let’s face it – that was some prize any foodie would covet!). We started out with roughly $1,400 in restaurant gift cards, and after the initial post, additional restaurants contacted me wanting to participate for a total of nearly $2,000 in restaurant gift certificates! These awesome establishments include: Western Reserve Wine Tartine Momocho Lola The Greenhouse Tavern Heinen’s Blue Canyon The Flying Fig Fire Erie Island Coffee Fahrenheit Miles Farmers Market Jekyll’s Kitchen Moxie Touch Supper Club Parallax L’Albatros Chinato Crop Bistro North End Hyde Park AMP 150 Muse (The Ritz-Carlton) The Chocolate Bar Michaelangelo’s John Q’s Steakhouse Melange Bistro on Lincoln Park.

So who was the lucky winner? Congratulations to Suzie Martens. She was chosen via Random.org. You are going to be eating very, very well for quite some time and are the envy of a lot of Clevelanders (including me!).

But then something changed. I got pregnant and actually started to crave (and enjoy) spicy food. And meat – I wanted all sorts of meat and poultry. I was a never a vegetarian (veal and short ribs are two long-time favorites), but just never liked chicken, steak and really only occasionally would want a burger. I thought this would surely pass once my daughter was born but it didn’t. Now I find myself ordering and cooking spicy food (nothing along the 911 lines, but spicy enough) as well as steak and burgers – on a regular basis. Before this, I can honestly say I can’t ever recall ordering steak out. I knew I was in for a lot of changes when I found out I was first pregnant, but wasn’t expecting this. But, along with Natalie, this is one change I’m happy about. I still don’t like pepper, though.

Here are a couple dishes I recently tried that I never would have thunk to order two years ago. On Groundhog’s Day, we headed to The Greenhouse Tavern to celebrate the release of their new beer with the Buckeye Brewing Co.: Saison de Maison (it’s brewed exclusively for GHT). I’m not a beer drinker, but I easily enjoyed two glasses and almost went for a third (and I love the logo, too – based on Amelia). What I really enjoyed was our dinner: we shared the wings (almost went for the super spicy but our server scared us!), braised lamb shank ravioli, devils on horseback (dates wrapped with bacon, almonds, bitter chocolate) and the Groundhog burger with sausage, fresno chilis, onions, aged cheddar and a spicy mustard.

I loved the ravioli and would want two dishes next time, but the burger was most impressive. And again – not something I would normally like. It was different – but in a good, unexpected way. I liked the sausage and chilis and how everything worked together. I hope it shows up on the menu more than once a year.

Another perfect example of my post-pregnancy eating was at Fire. I met my friend Heidi for dinner one night and was so happy she suggested Fire. I just love this place – the location, décor, chef, but admittedly don’t go nearly as often as I’d like (and really need to make a point to go for brunch). They even offer free valet, too – how great is that?

I ordered a half portion of the tandoor roasted hanger steak with Killbuck mushroom ragout atop truffled French toast. What a surprise this dish was. It was even better than it sounded and even as a half order (which I think is just great that it’s offered this way), was more than enough food for me. I’m planning to go back soon because this is a dish Jamie has to try, too. It’s something I know he’d thoroughly enjoy. And if I would have tried this pre pregnancy, I probably would have sampled a bite and thought it was nice – but never would have actually ordered it and enjoyed as much as I did

Funny story about Fire – and meeting friends in general. If you’re meeting someone out, be sure to describe them to the hostess or make a point to walk the restaurant if you believe someone is really late. We both arrived within 10 minutes of each other, but didn’t sit together for over an hour. I came in, didn’t see Heidi and got a table at the window; Heidi arrived first and sat at the bar (she was in the restroom when I came in). We were separated by a wall and after an hour, realized we were both there (thank you, Twitter). Luckily for me, I had great wine and cheese to keep me company!

The now closed Christopher’s was good. We actually were quite impressed with our meals, but the decor was way off and service lacking, which is why we never went back. And they do have Cafe Tandoor – my favorite for Indian, but I much prefer the Cleveland Heights location. Finally, there’s Vito’s. This is not a stellar restaurant by any means, but they make a good pizza and it’s a nice place to go as a family.

Enter Cafe Toscano. We went a few months ago on behalf of Metromix. I had heard promising things, but given it’s location my initial thought was that it wouldn’t live up to the chatter. I was wrong.

If you’re looking for traditional Italian fare, I’d recommend them (it’s owned by Carl Quagliatta – Giovanni’s, Tuscany). Now given its location, I don’t know that I’d make the trip from the west side, but if you’re in the vicinity, it’s a wise choice. I was pleasantly surprised, by both the food and decor. What a nice evening we had; we will definitely be back. And the best part – we had Natalie with us and they couldn’t have been more accommodating and simply wonderful to her. I don’t think I’d necessarily call this a family place, but they were beyond great and in return, Natalie smiled and flirted right back and didn’t drop a single goldfish on the floor (if she did, we would have scooped them right up – I always hated cleaning the floors after kids when I was a server).

Here’s part of my review, or you can read it in its entirety here.

Food: Simple, traditional Italian comfort food using a minimal amount of ingredients is the focus of head chef Chris Licht.

We started off with hot, crusty ciabatta bread served with a wonderfully addicting combination of olive oil atop a mound of parmesan and other Italian herbs. An order of wedding soup proves to be a good idea as it’s one of the better wedding soups we’ve sampled.

The menu is a nice representation of classic Italian favorites including pizza, 13 different pastas and a nice selection of chicken and veal entrées all served with a house salad and side of pasta. There’s even a steak and fish option if you’re so inclined.

We tried the veal piccata; scallopini with artichokes and capers in a lemon butter sauce, and the pizza prosciutto with roasted marinara, mozzarella and prosciutto.

The piccatta, which was encouraged by the server as a house specialty, exceeded expectations. The paper-thin, tender veal bursts with the right amount of citrus and capers galore. It was a wonderfully satisfying dish that could go up against any version in town.

Unfortunately, the same can’t be said for the pizza. While the sauce had merit, both the prosciutto and crust were overcooked and almost too dry, like a cracker.

Décor: While it’s hard to imagine from the outside, the dining room is surprisingly beautiful. The contemporary space features a dry-stacked rock wall, open kitchen, warm woods and a floor-to-ceiling glass wine closet that makes up one wall of the intimate room.