Photo Update

Okay, I didn’t take my official notebook to any of these places but I did take at least one good photo/have something to say.  Here is where, again, I ask for comments of places to try.  Please leave it in the comments.  Labor day brunch at Lucky’s Cafe in Tremont. Wonderful local ingredients. Sitting outside. Strawberry rhubarb topping on  coconut waffles… they change up the type periodically, I believe sometimes its lemon. Always Happiness, but a little pricey for an everyday brunching. Perfect for a day off 🙂

Also-  I find it amusing that the 2 really notable brunch places in Tremont are Lucky’s and Grumpy’s.
  Not Cleveland, I know, but I went back to Canfield and got some of the world’s best donuts and my favorite seasonal fruit. If Concord grapes were seedless I would never stop eating them for the 2 weeks they are available. #nostalgic #blueberrydonut #WhiteHouseFF #purpletounge   The Red Devil Eggy Bread (or French Toast to the rest of us) at Jack Flaps in the Downtown arcade. Cranberry compote and basil topping. I think it was $9. Very big portion. It was a very tart topping, the balance was a little odd. Pretty good, there are other things that I want to try there.
  I tried Camino’s with Patrick. Some people claim this place is better than Barrio (gasp!). I liked it. It was pretty reasonable, but the tacos are smaller and they don’t give you delicious chips/salsa.  We got a margarita, they don’t use mix which is nice, the peach flavor was verrrrry subtle. I listened to the waitress and got Beer chicken and carnitas. The chicken was very flavorful while the carnitias was oddly bland. I might b e the only person who thinks this…. but I prefer my tortillas to be either hard corn ones like chips or the very soft flour variety. The hand-made soft-corn ones I find to have an odd aldente texture. They place was good, but my loyalty will probably stay with Barrio. I’m never still hungry after going there. 
  Why do  these modern taco places love skeletons on the walls so much??
 Not food per se, but look at this Champion Squash. In 1988 the biggest was only 270 pounds (only 22% of what this one weighs!).  …On a related note I did try deep fried cookie dough 😛

cookies

Defying Calories

(I know I havn’t updated since school started…many apologies. Today is a day off for Yom Kippur so I’m at the coffee shop attempting to grade, but also doing this)

A few weeks ago the lovely Laura and I made an evening of going out to eat and attending the Idina Menzel concert at Blossom.

  We went to the Wine Mill down by the concert venue, technically in Pennisula. The Web site. I feel this was nearly a perfect meal. Honestly, so good. It was also an exquisite evening and we sat on the patio.
  To start I ordered the Wine Mill Riesling. It was a tad disappointing to learn that it wasn’t actually made at the location, just that they had licensed the rights to call it theirs. It always was just average in taste, but only 6$ a glass. The waitress seemed to know this although I thought she was just trying to up-sell the more expansive ones.   I ordered the the Gouda/apple stuffed chicken which was a special. It was lightly breaded and ginormous and came over a  mixed green salad with lots of berries. It was perfection. It was served on a large piece of slate, of which I appreciate the aesthetic value but feel slightly bad watching the waitstaff struggle to balance these heavy, cumbersome plates.  Although I was slightly miffed that it was a $25, which I though was a tad high. Honestly though ,it could have been split with someone else…but it was so delicious that of course I ate the entirety of it.
  Laura ordered the Caprese Sliders ($15). This is hypothetically a light summer meal, however slider generally implies small which these absolutely were not.  Hers came on a round piece of slate. I am not sure if I have mentioned how much I love ripe tomatoes paired with good mozzarella and fresh basil…it’s a pretty glorious trifecta (and on wonderfully soft buns….CARBS only improve it).  Again delicious, but a few dollars more than I would think it would cost. But if you are paying for location this place does not disappoint.  It is a gorgeous historic barn with a garden around it, they even have complimentary valet. I should have taken photos of the inside, which was also very nice.  Looking around I could see why so many people came here and just ordered mason jar salads and cheese boards. They look fantastic, and as the trend of the location,  HUGE.

Laura and I have a lot in common (as FORMER metroparks employees…I’m very happy for recent new job). Besides liking food and musical theater, we tend to encourage each other in indulging. So despite being stuffed already we both ordered desserts.  At this point I actually am a little annoyed at the waitress for not warning us how big the desserts were.

  I kept with my theme of ordering off the Special’s Board. I got the Berry-Peach cobbler ($14).  It was roughly the size of a pizza. It was not-too sweet biscuit topping cooked on top a very sweet pie like filling with vanilla ice cream on top.  wonderful, but soo much.  Served in a iron frying pan. I am proud of my ability to finish desserts but I only got about half way.   Laura got the chocolate trifle ($11).  This place loves mason jars and huge portions. I can’t dock them for it but at this point I felt a tad diabetic and wasteful. It was perfect mousse with brownie/cake bits, strawberries, chocolate shavings and whipped creme.  Points for the The Wine Mill, as the obviously know how to put all my favorite ingredients together. The only downside is that both of these desserts were not really able to be taken home,so we left the tasty remains behind.
  #dessertdefeated

In conclusion, go there, but share meals and sit outside if you can. Also don’t wear tighter pants if you are going to a concert after.   A few notes about the concert. Idina is kooky. Also despite the fact that she did sing the Frozen song and their were little girls in dresses in the audience…she was kinda vulgar and a little adult. It was enjoyable but totally not what I was expecting.

I was carrying these photos around for awhile and need to share. Popsmith artisan popsicles are heavenly. You may find them at the Cleveland Flea, Shaker Farmers Market, I think they may have been at an Edgewater Live!, but they are fantastic. I got the Black raspberry chai and honestly 3 dollars seems almost too cheap.