“What kind of wine do you like to drink?” asked Jim Clendenen, named winemaker of the year in 1991 by Food & Wine and in 1992 by the Los Angeles Times for his Santa Barbara winery, Au Bon Climat. “Usually cabs – heavy, full-bodied, cabs,” I replied. “Oh. Then I’m afraid I’m not going to make you very happy,” he quickly answered.

Jim was seated at our table for the Au Bon Climat wine dinner at The Greenhouse Tavern last week. Actually, we had quite the table. In addition to Jim, was one of my best gal pals, Lori, Charity (I Heart Cleveland and Chartreuse), Ruth (Gatherings Kitchen) and Drew Neiman of Neiman Cellars. The company and conversation, coupled with the perfectly-paired courses and wine made for an exceptionally fun evening.

Chef Jonathon Sawyer prepared five courses for the dinner based on wine his team sampled and selected prior to:

1. Potato crusted monk fish (poor man’s lobster) with herb salad / paired with Au Bon Climat pinot blanc
2. Corn roasted pork with spicy soubise and fresno chilis / paired with Sanford & Benedict Chardonnay
3. Ratatouille with zucchini flower, Chevre de Provencal, tomato broth and fresh herbs de Provence / paired with Santa Barbara Pinot Noir
4. Fatted calf with poached cherry, proper polenta and filbert (hazelnuts) / paired with Isabelle pinot noir
5. Pinot noir granita / paired with Dogfish Head Red & White

It’s true, I like heavy wines. I can’t even tell you the last time I intentionally ordered a white wine out (best guess late ‘90s). So truth be told, I was fully expecting to walk away with another ridiculously good meal from Greenhouse and sample a few wines, but not really be impressed by any of them.

I’m really beginning to enjoy when I’m wrong. I was really taken back by how much I liked the wine. While I still don’t think ordering white out or picking up a bottle is in my near future (unless for company), I certainly appreciated the whites we sampled, especially the chardonnay (even more so with the fried hominy in the pork). But what really won me over were the pinot noirs. I have tried to like this wine before and sampled plenty. But it just never did it for me. So I expected more of the same here. Not even close. These were light – but also rich. I was smitten. First with the Santa Barbara pinot but then came the true gem of the night, the Isabelle pinot named after his daughter (actually, the original name of this wine was Isabelle Morgan but he dropped Morgan from the name after his divorce – you learn a lot when seated with the winemaker!). Of course it was also the most expensive wine of the night at $55 a bottle, but it was worth it. In fact, I bought a bottle that night to enjoy with Jamie, and suspect more bottles are in our future.

Jim, a native of Akron, moved to California in the ‘60s. His winery, which means a well-balanced vineyard, was also listed on Robert Parker’s Best Wineries of the World in 1989 and 1990. He’s also recognized by Food & Wine as a master cook for sharing several published recipes with the magazine.

In between each course and prior to the start of our dinner, both Jim and Jonathon would talk and explain their approach. The two of them had great delivery and obvious enthusiasm for what we were about to experience. I actually learned quite a bit, without feeling like I was just schooled.

Jonathon explained that he is fairly picky with the wine dinners and only interested in holding them when the winemaker is willing to come in and represent themselves. He explained that his goal is for the quality of the wine to enhance the quality of the food and to peacefully coexist. When this can happen, he shared, is when they thoroughly enjoy putting together these types of dinners for people to experience food and wine in a way they might normally not.

When talking about his wines, Jim shared that his winery was the first to get rid of asbestos, long before wineries were told they had to. He shared that he makes healthy wine – not because he “cares” about our health per se, but because he drinks more wine than anyone he knows and wants to be healthy. His wines, he added, have low alcohol content and low acidity. He joked that he likes to drink early and drink often, and with his wines, he can (low alcohol or not, I did have to take a few Excedrin in the morning!).

As for his favorite wine, that would be pinot noir – whether it’s his or someone else’s. He explained that it goes with absolutely everything. Especially duck with crushed raspberries and maybe a little garlic and ginger, his favorite pairing.

As for what we ate, once again the chef and his team made me a very happy woman. Seriously, these people can cook and have yet to disappoint me. These types of dinners are fun because you get to sample things not typically found on the menu and I would imagine it gives them an opportunity to play around and get creative. My favorite of the night though was the fatted calf – hands-down. As Sawyer put it, this animal lived a wonderful life, not as long as their parents perhaps, but still enjoyable.

Thanks again to GHT for inviting me to this dinner and for allowing me to give away a pair on the blog. Now seeing first-hand the time that goes into planning and executing these events, and how seriously the team takes them, I highly recommend checking out the next one for yourself. You will not be disappointed.

For the past 8 years, The Culinary Vegetable Institute and The Chef’s Garden host a fundraiser to support and promote Veggie U. This year we were lucky enough to attend the Food & Wine celebration with over 30 participating chefs and wineries offering tastings throughout the night on the grounds of the farm under one big (read: HOT) tent. Despite the heat (and bugs), it was a simply outstanding event. We ate, drank, ate some more, made some new friends, reacquainted with old ones, and then ate and drank once again. Truthfully, this was a fabulous event and evening – we had a ball and will continue to attend and support Veggie U and its mission of helping kids make better food choices and understand where their food comes from for years to come.

In between all the good eats, chatter and laughter, we learned a  little Cleveland  food scoop.

I ran into the ladies behind The Lounging Gourmet.

After meeting and briefly talking with Jeni Britton Bauer of Jeni’s Ice Cream, she shared that she’s working on a cookbook that will spill all her delicious little secrets and is actively scouting out Cleveland for a location (maybe by this spring?). Speaking of cookbooks, you may have heard that the Sawyers are working on one too – and getting fairly close to sharing plans for restaurant #2. Finally, ran into a former classmate of mine, Scott Kuhn, who shared that he’s in the process of a major renovation of an old building on the other end of Chagrin Falls (was formerly private property up until now) for a microbrewery (he’s hoping it will mirror some of his favorites in Portland). Much more to come on this.

My favorite dish of the night was a tie between the braised pork belly from chef Craig Deihl at  Cypress in Charleston (I’m heading outside Charleston for vacation this August, will have to make a trip to check out his restaurant) and squash blossoms stuffed with sweet corn, Chevre and spicy peach chutney via chef Michael Delligatta from The Inn at Verailles. Wow. Wow. Wow. I was not familiar with him or this inn, but what an impression this dish made. I also enjoyed the watermelon and cucumber salad from Three Birds and bison flank steak bahn mi with foie gras butter and your choice of toppings from chef Beej Flamholz. Best in show would have to go to Ann Blackwood of Kalahari. She had at least five beautifully decorated desserts with amazing detail. Personally, I didn’t care for the taste of the sweets but Jamie sure did, making a few stops for these tiny chocolate ganache bites with lavender flowers. Chef Jonathon Sawyer of The Greenhouse Tavern demoing his Ratatouille Provence along with Jay (also pictured above with chef Lee Ann Wong, Jay and Amelia) was also fun and informative.

Thanks to Michelle Demuth-Bibb of The Chef’s Garden for sharing some of the pics.

The 4^th annual Bastille Day Celebration for Slow Food will take place on the eve of Bastille Day – this Tuesday, July 13^th, beginning at 6 p.m. Participating chefs and farmers include: Thaxtons Garlic (look for a q&a with them soon), Crepes du Luxe, Bar Symon, L’Albatros, Jeni’s Ice Creams, On the Rise, Flying Fig, ABC Tavern, Erie Island Coffee, Moxie/Red and more. Tickets are $75 for non-members and help benefit Slow Foods Northern Ohio.

A little later this month on July 22, chef Sawyer and team will be hosting the Au Bon Climat (which stands for well-exposed vineyard), or ABC wine dinner. Founded in 1982, ABC produces internationally recognized pinot noir, chardonnay and pinot blanc wines from grapes grown in California’s Santa Barbara county. The 5-course dinner is $60 pp. Visit here to see each course and wine pairing.

The Greenhouse Tavern has given me four tickets to giveaway, two for Bastille Day and two for the wine dinner. On Tuesday at noon, I’ll pick two winners via random.org. If you’d like to go, and are free to attend either, please leave a comment to be considered. Since most of us are still talking about recent events, er decisions, leave a comment telling us why you are loyal to the great city of Cleveland and you’ll be automatically entered.

Good luck –and a big thank you to The Greenhouse Tavern for giving away these tickets to readers!

Flag Day is Monday, June 14. What are you doing to celebrate? Ok, chances are nothing. In fact, you probably had no idea that it’s Flag Day (unless you’re friends with me then it has been drilled in your head). You see, Flag Day is also my birthday, and up until the age of 9 I was under the impression that everyone hung their flags to honor my big day (thanks, mom!). But I digress.

Flag Day or not, AMP150 is doing something pretty cool on Monday and if it wasn’t my birthday, I’d be there for sure. Chef Ellis Cooley, who since coming to down has taken a serious interest in learning all he can on the social media front (in the spirit of full disclosure, I’ve helped a little with this) – especially Foursquare, the current darling of social media (sidebar: check out my previous post offering tips to restaurants on how best to utilize this new mobile version of customer loyalty).

Beginning at 5 p.m. (goes until 8) and to coincide with the Thirsty Dog beer tasting (10 beer tastings plus an assortment of passed canapes), Cooley will be hosting a tweetup and Foursquare party – with the goal to get at least 50 Foursquare users together in the hopes of collecting the somewhat coveted Swarm Badge (requires at least 50 people to check-in at the same place, most recently people received it at Cavs games and the Pearl Jam concert). Now, there are some people that utilize Foursquare for the gaming aspect, so the thought of attaining this badge is kinda cool. And then there are people like me who use Foursquare for the social and potential rewards aspect. And it’s what the chef is doing here that gets me pretty excited.

You see, companies, especially restaurants, are really starting to see the benefits of Foursquare and how for next to nothing, they can reward people for “checking into” their place. By doing so, they have just tapped into that person’s network and created a nice little piece of positive word of mouth for themselves and a cool user experience for their patrons.

Here is how AMP150’s Foursquare program will work:

• 1st check-in: 10% off your bill
• 2nd – 4th check-in: 5% off your bill
• 5th check-in: 25% off your bill (and then it resets to 10% off moving forward)
• Mayorship: If you’re the mayor of AMP150 (the person with the most check-ins), you earn 25% off your bill each and every time, until someone steals your title

Confused? I know, if you don’t play in this space, it’s either a foreign language or you’re thinking to yourself, ‘why on earth would I check-in to someplace and tell people my every move’?I promise you, it’s not all like that (ok, maybe a little). I’ll tell you what I tell everyone else — if you want to learn and see what this is all about, the very best way to do so is to sign up and experience first-hand. Look what kind of benefits are in store. And it’s not just AMP150. The Greenhouse Tavern gives their Mayor 40% off during each visit. And while I haven’t experienced personally, I hear Taste on Lee is utilizing Foursquare, too. I have seen other cities, like Chicago and San Fran, really reward Foursquare users and slowly but surely, Cleveland is starting to as well.

Two of my favorite things coming together – food and scoial media. Exciting times indeed. And it’s just the beginning.

Night 1

For dinner, we all did the tasting. For $39, you get to pick anything you’d like from each of the sections. I started with the breakfast radishes, clams and foie gras, roasted tomatoes and Ohio lamb with wild ramps, yogurt lentils, lamb skin, cumin and Fresno chilies. I’d also like to be able to tell you what we drank – but I can’t. All I know is we went through numerous bottles of wine and I believe my brother-in-law created his own vodka tasting. All of which made for a very, very enjoyable night.

As anticipated, my dinner was simply incredible. Truly – this might have been my favorite GHT experience to date. The only dish I wasn’t crazy about was the roasted tomatoes. And I would have liked a little more space between each course, though given we had a few kids with us, this was probably a good thing. I even liked Natalie’s buttered noodles (yes, they have a kids’ menu now!). But the highlight was the lamb (though the clams are right up there). If you like lamb, you need to get to Greenhouse and try this dish. Now. Seriously – he changes the menu often so don’t take any chances on missing it. A few weeks ago while in San Francisco, I ate at Boulevard and ordered the lamb. I love lamb and felt that was the best dish of its kind I’ve ever tried. Well, they only held that title for 3 weeks. Truthfully, that was the most amazing lamb I’ve had and the lentils alone should be its own side.

The tasting at $39 is a great deal. The portions are big  and you get to pick whatever you want. It’s a great way to go.

(check out Amelia Sawyer showing Natalie the kitchen in action – she was mesmerized as she really does like to stare off into the kitchen when we take her out… fingers crossed for her future career)

Night 2 On Mother’s Day itself, Jamie took me to see Pearl Jam. I’ve been a huge PJ fan since I was 15 and have seen them live twice before. I can remember going to the library and borrowing Ten (still believe this is one of the best albums of all time), bringing it home and taping it because I spent all my babysitting money on something else. And I’d ride around in my mom’s station wagon listening to that tape over and over until I literally wore it out.

Clearly I’m not 15 anymore (and thankfully no longer driving around town in that wagon). And while I still consider myself a huge fan, I think my concert days are coming to an end. It really was a great show and the perfect present (though the 2003 show was better); I just don’t think I’m the concert type anymore. But I’m all for the dinners that precede concerts!

Pre show dinner was, you guessed it, back at The Greenhouse Tavern. For as much as I wanted the Ohio lamb dish again, I just wasn’t that hungry. Instead I had the clams, Ohio lamb ravioli and a side of lentils with lemon (not the same lentils as with the lamb – if only). The ravioli are small and only a handful comes per order, so this was the right amount of food. And just like the night before the clams were perfect (I agree with Kate Krader – one of the best dishes of the year, simply a smart pairing that pays off). The lentils and ravioli were just as good.

I clearly cannot get enough of Greenhouse.

Night 3 Last night we took some clients to dinner at Chinato followed by the Cavs game – my first game of the season (lucky me, huh?).

We all have off nights. Chefs have off nights. Athletes have off nights. No one is exempt from this rule. And I think last night was the perfect example of that.

I’m not going to toss in my two cents about the game. I think Clevelanders got an earful today from the sports media across the country to Twitter to the radio. We get it. But I will say this: I don’t think we’re cursed, I still think we’ll win the next two and LeBron will be here next season. But Cleveland teams sure make it hard to love them sometimes, don’t they? And there have been plenty of days when I swear I’m not going to raise my daughter to be a Cleveland fan. But what would be the fun in that?

I’ve been to Chinatoa few times now, but this was the first visit for the three ladies I was with. I will say this – they all loved their meal, from start to finish, and seemed really happy with my restaurant selection. And don’t get me wrong – my meal was good, too (fennel and olive salad, scallop crudo and braised beef). But it wasn’t great – except the crudo – what a fantastic start to the meal. I’ve written a few times about how much I love that fennel salad in particular. But last night it just wasn’t the same. I can’t put my finger on it, but something was off. The selection of braised beef was completely in response to the cold rainy weather. I love anything braised – but felt this dish was just ok. It wasn’t as flavorful or tender as I was hoping for.

Like I said, my meal wasn’t bad by any stretch, it just wasn’t as good as I know it could have been – because I think Chinato is an amazing restaurant and have been wowed there a few times already.  And my fellow diners were quite happy with their meal. Despite the off night, at least to me, it was still the highlight of the evening. The company and conversation were wonderful, service  friendly and honest (I love when servers are truthful about what they like and dislike) and the restaurant’s atmosphere in general is one of my favorites.

Kate Krader is the restaurant editor for Food & Wine. She’s well-respected, well-known, and the envy of many (ok, at least one – me).

How do you discover best new chefs? How are they vetted? What’s the criteria? What was it about Jonathon Sawyer? It’s a year-round process. There aren’t any age requirements, except that a chef has to have been in charge of a kitchen for at least five years (not necessarily in a row). We look all around the country, from big to small cities. We have a network of people who nominate chefs, from professionals in the industry, to food writers, bloggers, and previous winners.

I came to Cleveland in January to see Jon. I instantly loved him! When you walk into Greenhouse, there’s just something about the energy. It was very inviting. I instantly felt comfortable. I can’t articulate it, but I just really liked it. Not that that is part of the BNC criteria, I just think it’s worth sharing. Jon has that same energy and passion. And he has a fun point of view on food and with his menu. I’ve never seen clams and foie gras – it’s one of the best dishes I’ve had all year. I still think about how good and smart it is. And his fries – it’s the best new version of hash browns. I just love it.

Jon executes food really well. He’s creative, like his Death Row Dinners. Love this – what a great idea! And he’s geeky about certain things, like the vinegars. We’re just really happy with him. I didn’t have anything at Greenhouse that I didn’t love. He’s a genius at work. It’s just a great place and we love all that he’s got going on – and is green, and is Ohio’s first green restaurant. What an accomplishment.

What else did you do in Cleveland? What’s your culinary viewpoint on Cleveland? What can we continue to improve? What Cleveland restaurant do you wish was in NYC? I wish Greenhouse was in NYC! While I was there, I also went to Dante. Thought it was a really cool restaurant and loved the space, look of the menu.  I had some good dishes and some so so dishes but felt it had potential (she acknowledged she was there shortly after opening and that may have had something to do with it). Overall, Dante (Boccuzzi) has a great reputation and I’m sure he’ll do well. Went to Lucky’s, thought it was awesome (went with Laura Taxel). Liked the homegrown aesthetic and energy – such a great, fun place. I went to school in Ohio (Kenyon College in Gambier) so I’m loyal to the state, even though I haven’t been back in awhile – but I plan to come back this summer. Also went to B Spot with Michael and Liz, who are just awesome. What crazy milkshakes he has – if someone is counting calories, look out!

Here’s my personal plea to Cleveland – open on Sundays! There were so many other things that I wanted to do and see but couldn’t because they weren’t open. Like the (West Side) Market and The Sausage Shoppe. I also didn’t get a chance to do the The Velvet Tango Room – that’s one of the great bars in the country.

Michael Symon really raised the profile of Cleveland and the market in general. If there’s any silver lining to the down economy, it’s that a lot of chefs are thinking – why work in NY, too expensive. Instead, they are going home, often to the Midwest, and opening their own place in their hometown utilizing the skills they learned here – the native kids coming home. I think you’re seeing that a lot, especially in cities like Cleveland. Cleveland really does have a lot of talented chefs.

Personally, I think the Midwest is the most exciting food destination in the country right now. Chicago is good, of course, but because of the high interest on knowing farmers and purveyors and where your food comes from, Midwest, especially Cleveland, is huge right now. There are so many good producers; it’s a great opportunity for Ohio. The chefs know exactly where the food comes from and are sharing that on the menu and telling you their stories – people want to know that. You guys have been doing great things for so long now, and it’s really creeping up on the national radar.

There is something about your city on many, many levels. I’ll be back!

What are the trends in food right now? What restaurants do we need to be on the lookout for when traveling? In NYC, there’s a big Italian trend. Seeing lots of regional Italian, and people focusing on one specific area. Also veggies. Mario Batali had been leading this in many ways, with the focus on moving protein to the side of the plate and focus more on vegetables. It’s an interesting time right now. People are more ambitious and cooking what’s in their heart, and we’re seeing it pay off. It’s also a big year for dessert – the year of the pastry chef.

One restaurant Kate mentioned was Locanda Verde in the Greenwich Hotel in NYC. She said it’s among her favorites and highly recommends checking out. The chef, Andrew Carmellini, is from Cleveland and Robert De Niro is part owner.

Complete this sentence: ______________ is the new black. Vegetables.

What’s the first thing you notice when you walk into a restaurant? I’m really sensitive to the energy. Are people talking? It’s weird when no one is talking and you see a couple just staring at each other. Not that that is the restaurant’s fault, but you notice it. There’s an X factor to a restaurant. And there’s something about a restaurant putting you in a good mood and creating a feeling. I can’t help but notice the level of conversation – this makes me happy.  I like when the staff presumes a level of interest and intelligence.  I saw this at The Greenhouse – extra special credit for them.  For example, if someone isn’t familiar with the wine or comfortable making a good wine recommendation, I like when they get someone who is. If you don’t know, fine, but go that extra step to have people that do know and can pass the information on.

Frank Bruni of The New York Times said once if he opened a restaurant, he’d install a super nice front of the house person as well as someone who answers the phone.  I agree. If a hostess is rude and makes me wait while they chat about their personal lives, I get annoyed. Be nice and friendly. It’s probably not as much of an issue in Cleveland as it is in NY.

If you could be one chef for a day, who would it be? Mario Batali. He’s someone who came up with me while I was starting out at F&W and I had always idolized him. It’s something to see him in action. But I’d only want to be him for one day. I also like chefs that just focus on one restaurant and would want to be one of those chefs for a day. I can appreciate the empire that some chefs have built, like Batali, but I also like those chefs that are obsessed with their one restaurant.

(This answer is why I really liked her – Mario Batali is my chef crush)

Can Cleveland host a season of Top Chef (this was a reader question)? I think if LeBron can take you to a championship, it will raise your profile. You’re still a little bit away, but could get there.

Do you shop at farmer’s markets or buy directly from farmers (another reader question)? I don’t get to cook much at home (though she admits she makes the best brownies in the world and is good with pasta), but when I do I like farmer’s markets.

Last song(s) downloaded? Kate shared that she has a habit of downloading a song or two and then playing them over and over. She said she’s been playing One Below by The Watts (discovered on Pandora), The Good Life by Kanye West and Just Say Yes by Snow Patrol – over and over.

Last meal on Earth? Cheese fondue, something super spicy – maybe an Ethiopian dish, pasta and chocolate chip cookie dough.

If you’re not familiar with the event itself, Pestival features area chefs, like Jonathon Sawyer (check out their pics from the event), Sergio Abramof, Scott Kim and John Pistone, creating unique dishes made from garlic mustard, an invasive plant pulled from the grounds at the Nature Center. This event, now in its 5^th year, usually sells out within a week, so I jumped at the opportunity when asked to attend.

Aside from enjoying some really tasting treats (I made repeat visits to Sawyer’s table for mustard green fritters with wild Ohio ramps, City Fresh eggs and local cheese and Kim’s station for beef shabu shabu with garlic mustard edamame mashed potatoes – wow!), it was a great reminder that we need to start taking full advantage of all this area has to offer and begin to expose our daughter to it as well. In fact, I plan to sign us up for Critter Colors and Magical Marsh this summer, two classes they offer for toddlers – only $7.

At Pestival, I learned more about the Nature Center’s mission and just exactly how it came to be. Apparently, the land was marked to become a freeway (why does this not surprise me?) connecting the east side to downtown. A group of women began a grassroots movement to preserve the parklands and thus began the Nature Center, which is recognized as a model urban environmental resource that is open to all.

If you haven’t been, I highly recommend exploring Shaker Lakes. It genuinely is a beautiful area and worth visiting. And while it’s a year away, you can count us in for the 6th annual Pestival (truly a fun way to spend an evening and sample many tasty treats). I only wish I hadn’t waited so long to go back, but now I look forward to getting reacquainted with the area and exposing Natalie to another unique part of Cleveland and thus, another reason why we’re so lucky to live here.

While the official announcement came yesterday, people were already guessing Sawyer thanks to F&W editor Dana Cowin, who was dropping hints via Twitter (like Midwestern eco-home). Amelia, the other half of team Sawyer, shared awhile ago that they’d have good news to share soon, but kept a very tight lip and wouldn’t spill the beans, even after repeated attempts to get her to  (even alcohol wouldn’t work!). I was guessing a lot of things, but this is much, much better.

This recognition is a huge honor for a young chef and often serves as a predictor of future success (enter Michael Symon, F&W BNF recipient 1998). To qualify, the magazine states you have to be running a kitchen for less than five years.

Congratulations to Jonathon, Amelia and the entire Greenhouse team. This is so very well-deserved and I couldn’t be more excited for them. They are good people and good friends and have worked very hard for this – and we’re the lucky ones that get to enjoy their hard work and success whenever we’d like. This isn’t just great for them, it’s great for Cleveland!

The remaining 9 best new chefs include:

Roy Choi, Kogi BBQ truck, Los Angeles
Matt Lightner, Castagna, Portland, OR
Clayton Miller, Trummer’s on Main, Clifton, VA
Missy Robbins, A Voce, New York City
Alex Seidel, Fruition, Denver
Mike Sheerin, Blackbird, Chicago (love this restaurant – and Koren Grieveson, Avec, won last year – both Paul Kahn restaurants, who is a previous winner himself)
John Shields, Town House, Chilhowie, VA
Jason Stratton, Spinasse, Seattle, WA
James Syhabout, Commis, Oakland, CA

Also, F&W launched a Best New Chefs app yesterday which goes back to the beginning – 1988.

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?