1. What is the first thing you notice when you walk into a restaurant? When I enter a restaurant’s reception area it always intrigues me to see how the space is going to pull you in. I think lighting adds a huge dimension of visual interest since it seems many restaurants play up higher ceilings, so I enjoy looking up to see how that has been addressed.

2. If you could redesign any restaurant in Cleveland, which one would it be and why? I think Giovanni’s because it feels a bit stagnant right now and needs to redefine its classic appeal but with a fresher look that doesn’t feel stale.  Or Pacific East in Coventry. Great food but the surrounding are a bit dank and unappealing.

3. For home cooks, how can they get the most out of their kitchen? I think regardless of whether a kitchen’s footprint is big or small the most critical component is trying to have some good workspace – like a counter area where food prep can be done.  I think that really anyone who is cooking needs to be more comfortable in their given environment.

4. Whether it’s the kitchen or another room, what are some simple things people could instantly do to refresh their space? Paint is the most inexpensive way to instantly give some serious drama or soft revamp to any room in a house.  Too many people are timid to unleash color in their house so they stick to safer and “tried and true” type of shades that won’t cause them grief if they hate it. But being adventuresome with paint can be surprisingly refreshing and expressive, just like a painting.

5. Where are your favorite stores/sites to shop for home goods? I LOVE Target! They do a fantastic job of creating a look from a higher end brand to help it become more universally available.  For an endless source of cool antiques in any era 1st Dibs is amazing.  It’s like pulling every antique store from around the country (and internationally as well) and putting them on your screen.  Also, Decorati is a great way for the pedestrian consumer to get a peek at merchandise available in design centers and connect with interior designers in their area.

6. What design/color trends do you see on the horizon? I feel the movement right now is in going green so there is a huge trend in salvaged and reclaimed products that are then used to make new pieces. Antiques are perfect recyclable pieces to weave into ones homes and there use is back on the rise.  Color trends I am seeing are a return to grays as a neutral and moving away from the chocolate colors that have dominated the color landscape for the last several years now.  All shades of purple from amethyst, to lavender and pale pink tourmanline shades are very hot right now.  And patterns are very graphic and geometric pulling from classic designs like the Greek key.

7. What is your favorite thing to cook at home? My strongest suit is Italian cuisine and I love making homemade pastas, gnocchi and pizza.  But I also really pull from essential American favorites – I make a killer mac and cheese!

8. If you could be any chef for a day, who would it be? Oooh-that’s a tough question because I admire so many great chefs.   I might have to be a different chef everyday of the week to fulfill that wish.  On my list I’d definitely include Mario Batalli, Thomas Keller and Julia Child.  When I first started cooking her books was one of my first and I followed her recipes religiously. 

9. What’s the most popular trend right now in kitchen design? Oversized very commercial feeling faucets are something I am seeing emerging.  Dorenbract’s Tara or Kohler’s Karbon are great examples.  Very architectural feeling and almost intimidating in scale they are a new presence that have a commercial kitchen feel but amazingly blend well with traditional or contemporary kitchens.

10. What’s your last meal on earth? Ah, another tough question…hmmm, OK probably a plate of spaghetti cooked al dente with a simple marinara and lots of aged parmigiano reggiano cheese.  A Greek salad with feta cheese from the import store.  And of course a  huge slice of white cake with white buttercream frosting for dessert and some Ben and Jerry’s Peanut Butter Cup ice cream.  And maybe a piece of honey ladden galaktobouriko (a Greek pastry that is fillo dough with a pocket a creamy custard inside and then bathed in a honey syrup). Obviously you can see where my priorities are… but hey if I’m going, might as well be in a sugar coma!

11. You’re hosting a dinner party, top 5 songs on your playlist? I don’t know if I’d go by songs as much as artists. I get too caught up in the food so I usually just hit Genius on my ipod and let it get a mix going for me.  It also depends on who is coming to the dinner party. I’m not loyal to any specific genre because I love so many different styles of music, so it could range from Boccelli to the Black Eyed Peas.

12. What’s your favorite restaurant in town and which one do you miss? I really love Lola’s.  I think Michael Symon has done a great job at creating a great feel good vibe and a menu that takes the essence of Cleveland with a cool twist to it that is unexpected yet homey.  Zach Bruell’s Z’s at Eton Collection. That was the gathering place!

13. How did you become an interior designer? It was something I was destined to do. I am very artistic and this was a venue for me to express that creative side that needs to come out.  Otherwise I feel like I’m suffocating.  That’s probably why I enjoy cooking so much as well because I get to unleash all that pent up creative angst!

14. What brand of kitchen appliances do you always recommend to your clients? What’s in your kitchen? Is stainless here to stay? I am a huge Wolf and Subzero fan.  I have them in my own kitchen and their performance is unquestionably the best.  Stainless steel appliances are here for the long haul.  Our culture is completely enthralled with chefs, the Food Network and the appeal of having that “professional” feel in our homes is something we really like, myself included.  The status of being taken seriously in your kitchen is partially defined by that clean look that stainless offers and thus the instant appeal.

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?

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!).

Lola // I love black beans. I cook with them all the time and am a sucker for any dish that lists this as an ingredient. I even made brownies last night that called for black beans as a secret ingredient. A few weeks ago I met a client for lunch at Lola, her first visit. I started with the pureed black bean soup topped with cilantro and I believe bits of guanciale. Outstanding. If I wasn’t with my client, I would have easily ordered a second bowl! Incredibly smooth and perhaps the lightest version of this soup I’ve ever tried. I’m still thinking about it. And the best part about going to East 4^th for lunch? Grabbing a cappuccino at Erie Island after. Best in the city.

Shinano // The service is so slow that sometimes I swear they even forget you’re there. But they make a good roll. Several in fact. And that’s why I keep going back. And if you’re not in hurry, it’s a good place for lunch (actually, the food comes out super fast; it’s just taking your order and dropping off the check that they’re fairly leisurely about). The one roll in particular that keeps me coming back is the Volcano – an inside out roll with crab and avocado topped with broiled scallop, octopus tobiko and mayo. This roll is so good, that we ended up ordering a second one for the table on our last visit. The only thing I didn’t care for the first time I tried it was the amount of mayo. So when I get it, I always ask for very little mayo and it’s perfect each time.

Moxie // With its proximity to our office, this ends up being a popular spot for meetings. On this lunch in particular, I met with the coordinator for Flavors, the main fundraiser for The American Liver Foundation (I’m volunteering this year), who suggested we meet here. Moxie has several salads I like off the lunch menu, but this time I opted for something new – the Atlantic salmon with cauliflower puree, cauliflower florets and pomegranate reduction. Part of my New Year’s resolution was to eat more fish (cook more actually, but this counts), and with this dish, I’d eat it daily. I may never order salads at Moxie again.

Phnom Penh // Nothing warms you up during a Cleveland winter like a bowl of spicy hue beef soup with rice noodles, beef brisket and lemon grass. Pair it with their overstuffed and aromatic egg roll, and you’ll leave happy. While my past few visits here have been hit or miss, this place is still one of my favorites and this soup is the reason why.

Whenever we bump into him or his wife, Liz, they treat us as if we’ve known them forever. They are genuine, funny and the perfect representation for our city. I’m thankful that authoring this blog has given me the opportunity to get know so many wonderful people, including the Symons.

As most of us know by now, chef Symon’s first cookbook, Live to Cook: Recipes and Techniques to Rock your Kitchen, comes out November 3. Courtesy of the publisher, I’ve been given two copies of the book, one for me and one to giveaway.

As soon as I opened the package, I started perusing the book and all its beautiful photography. I still haven’t put it down. It’s filled with dishes from Lola and Lolita as well as meals he makes with his family. And there are stories – lots of stories with history. And information, really good information that’s geared to make us all better in the kitchen. My husband and I plan to cook our way through every page of this book and hopefully become better homecooks because of it.

Symon’s cookbook is a true Cleveland representation with contributions from Heidi Robb and Michael and Donna Ruhlman. You can’t not be excited for Michael. We have all cheered him on, on both the local and national stage, and supported him since Lola first opened in 1997. He’s one of us.

If you’d like the other copy, just tell me your favorite part of the pig to cook with and why. I’ll pick a winner on Thursday. Happy reading and eating.

When Jamie and I arrived at the private room downstairs, we were greeted with Rumosas, Cruzan’s version of a mimosa (Cruzan Mango mixed with dry champagne). At first sip I realized two things: one, I was going to enjoy much more than just the fabulous dinner that awaits; and two, I better make my way over to the appetizers because I was drinking on an empty stomach and this drink was dangerously good.

Before our first course, we were greeted by Cruzan’s resident rumologiest Andrea Bearbower, who discussed the intricacies of rum production including the role of molasses and fusel oil in the distillation of the spirit. Cruzan Rum, she taught us, is the fifth-largest and fastest-growing rum brand in the United States. The line consists of a light rum, several dark rums, a single barrel and ten flavored rums. The rum has been produced on the island of St. Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands since 1760. It’s considered one of the “cleanest” rums and mixes high quality molasses with tropical rainwater, which, through fermentation, is turned into alcohol. The rum is aged in oak barrels in an open-air warehouse, accelerating the aging process and bringing the spirit to full maturity sooner. Little known fact – Cruzan is owned by Jim Beam. When Beam is done with their oak barrels used to age the whiskey, they send them to St. Croix where they are used in the aging process for the rum, which gives it its unique flavor.

I found myself rather interested and intrigued by what we were learning. Kudos to Bearbower, she’s a great presenter and obviously quite passionate about her work and rum.

Our first course, a pear and apple salad, was paired with singe barrel cider. You needto make this drink. Next to the rumosa, this was my favorite. I’m excited to make a batch for Halloween.

For our second course, we enjoyed wild Alaskan salmon over heirloom tomatoes, white beans and cucumber. It was paired with a classic daiquiri plus float, a second flavored rum that “floats” atop the drink that you basically lightly spoon over. I chose pineapple. Here is where we learned that a true daiquiri is never purple, blue or red. Further, it is not meant to be frozen. And the key, apparently, is freshly squeezed lime juice. No exceptions. Further, we learned, the daiquiri was founded in Cuba by American miners at a local bar.

For our tasting, we were encouraged to taste it first in its original state then again after we added our flavor. You can’t see it, but it’s there and did completely change the drink.  Both versions were nicely tart; I liked it – much better that the umbrella-toting version I’m accustomed to.

The last course was coconut chocolate Bavarian with pecans and caramel appropriately paired with a hot toddy. This was my least favorite course. I didn’t care for the dessert at all, which is surprising because I’ve yet to sample a dessert from Cory Barrett at any of Symon’s restaurants that I didn’t like. As for the hot toddy, it wasn’t bad – Jamie certainly enjoyed it, I think I just met my rum quota for the evening.

Prepare a snifter by rinsing it with boiling water and pouring the water out. Add the sugar or honey and lemon peel and pour in an ounce of hot water. Stir until the sweetener has dissolved. Add rum and top it off with more boiling water. Add a cinnamon stick and a little melted butter.

Prior to this tasting, I didn’t realize how versatile and flexible rum could be. Turns out I enjoy it in much more than just a good mojito. I’m happy to have been given the opportunity to attend this event and look forward to sharing my newfound rum knowledge and recipes with friends and family. Cheers.

 1. What are the top 5 spices every home chef should have? Black pepper, salt (non iodized – I love a large, crunchy flake like a Cyprus or Maldon), cayenne or chili flakes, coriander, some sort of five-spice or maybe curry style blend.

2. What is your favorite and least favorite thing to make? Favorite: braises and confit. Anything cooked low and slow has to be good and anything cooked low and slow in fat has to be better, right?  Least favorite:  Lobster soup/bisque – hands down. I worked at a restaurant where I made bisque almost every day for two years and at every restaurant there always seems to be a surplus of lobster shells. Don’t get me wrong, there are infinite interpretations and twists that one could apply to a lobster-based soup, but ultimately, I’m over it.

3. What is your favorite thing about Cleveland and what drives you nuts? Favorite thing: I love the fact that the city has limits which give way to trees and greenery – unlike Detroit, that seems to have endless concrete.

Least favorite: Turn signals – It seems that in Cleveland a turn signal (when used) does not indicate “Attention, I will soon be performing a turn” as much as it means “I’m turning right now!” or “Look I’m halfway through a turn!”

4. If you could cook for one person, real or dead, who would it be? What? I can’t cook for a fake or alive person? My grandmother Ida Mae,  who revealed to me the wonder of dairy fat in all its forms and to whom I owe a lot of good meals and an addiction to pastry for breakfast, and, for my wife Jennifer, whose only complaint about my cooking is that I over salt the pasta water (For the record, I disagree.)

5. You’re having a dinner party, top 5 songs on your play list? How about top five performers – depending on mood: Dave Brubeck, Erykah Badu, Common, Ella Fitzgerald, and Ravi Shankar.

6. Favorite restaurant in Cleveland? Momocho. I probably eat there too much.

7. What restaurant do you miss? The Redcoat Tavern – just outside of Detroit. The best burger ever.

8. What place(s) have Clevelanders yet to discover? This is probably no great revelation, but El Tango in Lakewood. Tasty food.

9. What’s your last meal on Earth? With my wife, outside, under a Sturgeon moon, with a small fire, eating too much of some homemade Mexican inspired concoction (known in my house as Dere-xican), drinking Château de Beaucastel, Chateauneuf-du-Pape, 1997 (for sentimental reasons as opposed to food pairing).

10. Most unusual food you have ever tried? Natto – it’s a traditional Japanese food made with fermented soy beans. I think I’m very open-minded when it comes to food, but Natto is a real challenge to me in terms of taste, texture and aroma. Also my wife makes this dish involving egg noodles and cottage cheese…

11. Most famous person you have cooked for? In terms of present day popularity, probably LeBron James.   For me, Joe Montana, Francis Ford Coppola, and ½ of Spinal Tap.

12. If you weren’t a chef, what would you be doing? Sleeping more.  Maybe teaching literature.  I’d love to be a cat burglar, especially if I could use suction cups to climb buildings. 

13. Where do you grocery shop? Many different places for different things: Dave’s, Giant Eagle, Heinen’s, Westside Market, Good Harvest, Whole Foods, Nature’s Bin, Shaker and Lakewood farmers’ markets.  It just depends what I’m looking for.

14. Favorite guilty pleasure when it comes to food? Lay’s natural thick cut potato chips with sea salt, and Hermann’s dill pickles (In my, and renowned pickle aficionado Cory Barrett’s opinion, one of the all around best pickles. And it’s local – from Garrettsville, OH)

15. If you could be any other chef for one day, who would it be? Any successful, happy, well-adjusted, retired one.

16. If you could visit any restaurant in the world, which one would it be? Today it’s Victor Arguinzoniz’s Etxebarri in Spain.  I just feel like something from the grill.

17. What book are you currently reading? Cook Books:  Thomas Keller’s “Under Pressure” and Stephane Reynaud’s “Pork and Sons”.

Non Cook Books:  I just reread Kipling’s “Jungle Book.”  It’s arguably a kids’ book, but I love it. Who doesn’t want to be raised by wolves?  Also Hemingway’s short stories are in constant rotation, as are the short stories of Roald Dahl.

18. Favorite TV show? Anything on Discovery or the National Geographic channels involving ridiculously large construction projects, natural disasters, human-made disasters, humans caught in disasters, and overseas imprisonment.  Anything on The Food Network or Travel Channel involving people that eat unfamiliar foods, super large quantities of food, or better yet, super large quantities of unfamiliar foods.  Any of the “reality” garbage on VH1 involving people making asses of themselves for my increasingly embarrassed pleasure and distraction.

19. Favorite kitchen gadget? Mortar and pestle. I’m old school.

20. How did you get into cooking? I’ve always enjoyed it.  I used to make French toast as a child before I could see over the stove.  I had to climb up with a stool and make breakfast sitting down on the counter.  I realized cooking was what I wanted to pursue professionally while attending “that college in Ann Arbor.”  So much to my father’s displeasure, took a semester off from school and sought work in area kitchens. While I did return to school, I never left the kitchen.  The rest is history – sordid and at times demented history. 

21. Where did you grow up and what’s your favorite meal from your childhood? I grew up outside Detroit but spent most of my childhood summers on my grandparents’ farms in rural Illinois.  When the corn and tomatoes were ready in my parent’s garden we used to have meals of just that…delicious.  My mother also used to make this crazy turkey meatloaf with Velveeta cheese. For some reason I occasionally crave it.

22. What local farmers and vendors do you rely on most? Tom Wiandt – Killbuck Valley Mushrooms (Wooster, OH), Craig Steigerwald – Dining Valley Farm (Scio, OH),  Jeremy Lisy and Matt Voss – KJ Greens (Trumbull, OH)

23. What’s your signature dish? I don’t know if I really have one.  By definition a signature dish would seem to be one that has been around and successful for awhile.  Although professional kitchens are about repetition and consistency, too much repetition can become monotonous and uninspiring.  At the restaurant we tend to test and tweak a dish so much before it goes on the menu that I’m already tired of it by the time it gets on the menu.  Plus, I like to tinker with dishes (much to the consternation of my very patient and dedicated kitchen staff), so sometimes dishes are changing without ever leaving the menu.  I think at Lola we are all trying to push ourselves and grow as cooks.  So we tend to be thinking about doing something different (within our particular framework and identity) as opposed to sticking with or returning to a previously successful dish.  All that being said, some say I make decent short ribs.

24. And current trends food-related trends happening right now? I think people are starting to think more about where their food comes from and how it is produced.  Words like sustainable, local, humane, organic, etc… are words that weren’t really applied to food 20 years ago.  Now they are part of everyday use.  The problem is these words are becoming corrupt, they are becoming sales pitches, the ideas and concepts behind them are becoming muddled and confusing.  Kraft has an organic Macaroni and Cheese, complete with organic cheese like powder.  Really???  How is this a good thing? I personally like my cheese powder to be chock full o chemicals…at least I don’t feel like I’m being hoodwinked.  

25. Any desire to own your own restaurant some day? If so, what’s your timeframe and what type of food would you focus on? Sure, like many cooks I maintain the fantasy of the 40-seat restaurant in the country, supplied by its own gardens and livestock, the food is seasonal and delicious, the staff is dedicated and excited, the clientele is adventurous, receptive and appreciative and we are closed three months of the year – it’s the “Fiddler’s Green” of cooks.  I’m still looking for the right location…oh, and very generous financial backers.