But why wait till then to celebrate the longest day of the year (and the museum’s newest galleries)? From now until Saturday, Bruell is offering a 3-course, summer solstice menu for $30.

Menus:

Table 45: warm fig and arugula salad with champagne vinaigrette; Latin marinated hanger steak with boniato root mash, summer gremolata and plantain chips and ginger; and lemongrass panna cotta served with mango chutney and white sesame tuille.

Parallax, L’Albatros and Chinato: these 3-course menus will be created daily by the head chef.

Long live summer!

For as much as I enjoy cheese, whether at home or dining out (I prefer cheese at the end of my meal versus something sweet), I’ve never participated in a structured cheese tasting. That is until L’Albatros extended an invitation for a few bloggers to participate.

Now, if you’ve been to L’Albatros, I don’t have to tell you about the food and how truly wonderful it is. You know this (and if you don’t, you’re missing out). And if you’ve dined here, chances are you’ve met Brandon Chrostowski and have already been wowed by their impressive cheese selection (the best in Cleveland) and his extensive knowledge. Well, imagine an entire evening of this.

We participated in the Italian cheese and wine tasting last week. For two hours, a group of 50 or so listened to music, sampled light hors d’oeuvres, and were taken on a trip throughout the regions of Italy where we enjoyed wines and cheese hand selected by Brandon, a certified sommelier, fromager and trained chef — a triple threat (read more about Brandon here).

The eight cheeses we sampled include: La Tur, Casatica di Bufala, Salva Cremasco, Pecorino Sardo, Testun al Barolo, Monte Veronese Malga, Taleggio Bergamasco and Blu del Moncenisio – plus carefully selected wines to accompany each.

Brandon won us over after our first visit to L’Albatros shortly after they opened. And this tasting just amplified what I like best about him. He’s knowledgeable, but not in a pretentious way. And he’s a wonderful storyteller who genuinely enjoys passing on his learnings and sharing the back story of each cheese- where it comes from, interesting facts, etc. So each guest walks away with something other than a new favorite cheese.

My personal favorite cheese of the night was the very first course, La Tur. This incredibly creamy cheese comes from Piemonte. It might just be one of the best cheeses I’ve ever tried. I was also impressed with the Testun al Barolo, but I truthfully don’t know if it was the floral hints of this cheese I liked so much or the great lengths Brandon went to for us to try (one hard-to-pronounce volcano  kept his order in Italy, and the horrible weather down south, where the only cheese monger in the US he was able to locate resides, was also affected by Mother Nature).  I actually enjoyed each course, with the exception of the last one – mostly because I’m just not into bleu cheese.

The staff was quite generous with the portions – for both the wine and cheese. They regularly came around to top off the wine and offer more cheese (though trust me, no one needed it). Like I said, we were guests, but the cost of this tasting (and most of their tastings), is $50. And I can tell you that is an incredible deal given all that you experience during the two hours. At the end, you have the opportunity to buy any of the wines and/or cheeses (I bought the vin santo del chianti, castello sonnino, Montespertoli. I didn’t care for the blu cheese it was paired with, but surprisingly liked this dessert wine).

The only thing I would have liked with this pairing was perhaps some greens or even sorbet about half way through, just to break it up (it is a lot of cheese, even for me, and you need something to cut through it all). But truly, even without, this was an impressive tasting and I highly recommend experiencing first-hand.

Parallax

The next day, I took a client to another of Zack Bruell’s restaurants: Parallax in Tremont. I’ve been impressed with this restaurant since the day he opened it. It’s always spot on and one of the best restaurants in town. We sat outside and I took advantage of it being a Wednesday when they offer the full sushi menu: sashimi combo of yellowtail, white tuna and tuna, plus a cup of the leek soup. I’m a fan of nearly everything I’ve tried there, but the sushi is among my favorite in town. Always fresh, inventive and completely satisfying. Sushi is available for lunch at Parallax everyday, but only a limited offering – except on Wednesdays. The entire sushi menu is available for dinner each night.

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.

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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!).

According to Brandon, he’ll guide guests through the most prolific wine regions of the world in a “chic” setting.  Highlighting the core concepts over 5 weeks, guests will leave with an understanding of viticulture, vinification, major wine styles and regions as well as an
academic approach to tasting wine.

The cost for all five sessions is $150.00 and will be held from 6 – 8 p.m. every Tuesday Beginning February 16 and continue until March 16. Each session includes flights of wine from the region, hors d’oeuvres and study material.
Reservations are required; seating  limited.

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New lunch and dinner menus at Parallax. Both menus will focus heavily on the cuisine of the Far East, including a lot of seafood options, from Japan, Korea, Vietnam and Thailand. Lunch options start at $8; $15 for dinner.  New lunch entrees include Japanese Fried Chicken with Napa slaw, hot rice and Japanese BBQ; Grilled Mahi with cilantro oil, Latin style creamed corn and South American pepper sauce; a Corn Fried Walleye Sandwich with sweet onion marmalade, Napa slaw and spicy mayo; and a Vietnamese Sub.   The dinner menu features entrees like Wasabi Pea Crusted Salmon with Ginger-Carrot Coulis and Edamame or Udon Noodles prepared “Japanese Carbonara” style.  Classic dishes receive an Asian twist like Grilled Hanger Steak with Vietnamese Pho and Steamed Mussels with Thai Sausage, Chiles and Lemongrass Broth or Bruell’s Monkfish “Osso Bucco,” flavored with Milanese Risotto and spiced with Ginger Orange Gremolata.

Speaking of Bruell, demo recently started for his latest endeavor, Chinato, on E 4th. At L’Albatros last week for dinner (”French Toast” and escargots for apps followed by the cassoulet and cheese – another outstanding meal), Brandon shared with us that while the team hopes to be open towards the end of the year, he feels January is more realistic. He also let us sample some Chinato wine, for which the Italian restaurant is named after. It’s a different wine – unlike anything I’ve ever tasted. In fact (and I know this comparison will make wine aficionados shudder – sorry), it sort of reminded me of Fire Water, perhaps more smell than taste. I didn’t care for it – but absolutely can not wait for this restaurant to open.

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There’s a new chef at Umami, Matthew Anderson, formerly of Sapore. In addition to some menu changes (though the restaurant’s theme will remain the same) this ultra tiny Chagrin Falls restaurant is once again back open for lunch.

I went last week with a coworker. I thought it was good – but not great. I really enjoyed my pumpkin coconut soup but thought the tuna with squash was overpowered in taste by too much charring. Nonetheless, I’m exited to see what becomes of the place and that it’s open for lunch. We’ll be back.

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Three Browns Sunday pre-game brunches left at Crop Bistro. Load up on brats, double-double lamb sliders, chipotle BBQ ribs, eggs and waffles and the macaroni and Amish cheddar topped with braised brisket. In addition, the Crop crew will be raffling off Browns-related books and on 12/27, meet Plain Dealer columnist Michael Heaton, son of beloved sports witer Chuck Heaton. The first 20 people to make reservations for the 12/27 and 1/3 brunch dates here will receive a FREE copy of Chuck’s book, Browns Scrapbook, on 12/27 and Scott Huler’s book, On Being Brown, on 1/3.

Brunch is served from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on these dates only (beer and wine available).