Arcadian

I broke one of my rules. I generally don’t like to go places that are brand new, and this one had only been open 3 weeks. I have read about the Arcadian a bit, a new place in Gordon Square.

Initially, it was a little confusing because the restaurant and the door are not really clearly marked.  (For some reason as I’m reflecting I just hear lines from How I Met Your Mother… ). Others seemed confused, as we were leaving I overheard a few people say things like “Is this a restaurant/is it open/where do you go in?”. I don’t think they are going for something that is purposely misleading, but the name is nowhere on the outside.

 The space is pretty. Really pretty. And a little different from every other new restaurant.  Here is an NPR article Why does every new restaurant look like a factory? It’s open, polished concrete, light colored wood, big windows. Also featuring absolutely no cell phone signal for me. That’s actually okay if I’m having a nice dinner removing the incentive to check the ol’ device is mostly a good thing.

The menu is strange. Not at all bad. But strange. Seafood, pizzas, innovative concept starters… all over the place.  Look at the 8 entrees. I don’t know if this is a fun variety or lack of focus. I am a fan of eclectic but I do hope they change up the menu seasonally to get more items.

Smoked Candied Salmon Starter ($12) with pickled onions and jalapenos.  This was a nice starter but did not taste  all that “candied”. I was expecting something more like candied bacon, where it’s hard and sticky at the same time. This just tasted like slightly sweeter smoked salmon. That being said it was very enjoyable. I generally don’t love the taste of jalapenos, but these added something pleasant. 

This beautiful food painting is the spicy carrot hummus. It was lovely, and not spicy, just spiced. We did ask for additional crackers which helped. I liked the carrot taste and this is not a variation of hummus I have ever seen before. 

Laura ordered the Fried chicken, which our waiter strongly recommended (actually I overheard other servers encouraging their tables to get it as well). It was a little pricey for fried chicken ($21) but you got a lot and they used a pressure cooker. The most notable aspect of the chicken was that the skin was crispy and didn’t fall off the meat. It was very enjoyable fried chicken. I found the lunch tray an Appropriate vessel because it is still friend chicken, and the little muffins were cute. Laura ended up taking some home. 

The lighting was fantastic in this place. I struggled to pick an entree. I didn’t want a pizza- I am sure they are good but also none of them seem crazy innovative. I told our waiter that I really appreciate intriguing presentations and she recommended the breakfast entree.

Soo geometric. A huge piece of pork belly bacon, which actually tasted more like delicious ham. In case you were wondering…no, there isn’t a graceful way to eat it. Also a cube of hash-brown potatoes, a soft egg, and toast. I would have appreciated some non-traditional spice on the potatoes or perhaps multiple quail eggs to elevate it a little  more… because as beautiful as this was it did just taste like good, normal breakfast foods.  There was an option to add a steak to this, which would have been wayyyy too much meat. 

You can see this outside green wall which appears to be growing produce and herbs. AWESOME.

Overall:  This place is visually appealing in every way, both the interior and the food. The food was all enjoyable even though I would have liked the flavors to be as adventurous as the plating techniques. The menu items cost slightly more than most restaurants and the current menu isn’t huge. I feel like over time this place could evolve into something special.  My photos do no do the design justice, please go. I cannot speak of the desserts because we went to Sweet Moses (somehow Laura and I have been friends for years and she had never been there before!).

 

Doing some light reading on Cleveland’s ethnic eats 🙂 #summer

Street food to Iron Chefs: NYC

So I have written 2 reviews that I would consider not-positive (they are the most popular in readership on here I ( didn’t ) heart Waffles Black Pig and Wet Burrita (Wow that sounds unintentionally racist)). I believe now both of those places are no longer open. I am not saying that my opinions had anything to do with their departure, but lots of restaurants do not stay open and I’m glad Cleveland isn’t losing any of my beloved locations.

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I did some traveling, to New Mexico for a few days and then NYC. New Mexico didn’t have a lot of food that amazed me, and I ate a lot of work conference/hotel food. I did get to watch the Cavs final win in Albuquerque (I didn’t realize that New Mexico doesn’t have any pro sports teams, so the group I watched it with seemed to be cheering for me).  For the most part what I ate was standard Mexican food with really hot green chiles on everything.

I was excited to go to New York and see Andy and Haley. This is more of a photo update.

Haley, Mike and I saw 2 Broadway shows, ventured to the top of the One World Tower (okay, took a super cool elevator), walked the entire high-line park (fun fact- the designer of such also did the brand new Public Square in Cle) and ate a lot.

 

I feel like I had to have some authentic New York Pizza. I discovered Cleveland Pizza is pretty similar.

Ice cream near the Stonewall Inn (just a few days before Obama made it a National Place of Honor).  To be honest, I got rainbow sprinkles to coincide with the theme, but they were too much sugar that I couldn’t taste the coconut soft serve.  I also saw 2 plays (Act of God and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time), went to the Central Park Zoo and the Natural History Museum.

I went with Haley and Mike to Bills Bar and  Burgers underneath Rockefeller. This place was a little touristy considering it’s location.

Can I just say that…. anyplace that gives you the remaining milkshake container is at least 10% magical. Also, she likes anything cookies and cream. 

Things I like: sweet potato fries, bacon, BBQ sauce, pretzel bun. I guess I can’t complain. The very charismatic waiter made a big deal of the fact that it was a Coney Island Style Onion ring.  This was a great burger, super messy in a good way.

For some Late night food, Andy took me to Poppers Chicken Fingers. I guess there are a few of them in NY.  They are large pieces, juicy and pretty tasty. Also, I like the general feel of the place.

There were a  multitude of sauces to pick from. I obviously wanted to go with something unconventional. I got ‘smore’. It was kinda marshmallowy and chocolatey. It was good on the chicken, better than I expected. Almost tasted like a frosty. 

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I owe a lot of my love of food to Food Network. I guess I view the cheflebrities the way some might view a prominent sports figure. Obviously I wanted to go somewhere in which I “knew” the chef/owner.  We did some yelp-ing for places that were fairly near and also open for lunch (and ones that were not $$$$$ rated).  Andy and I ended up at Butter.  Alex Gaurnaschelli is a pretty notable chef/judge/commentator. She is a new Iron Chef, a judge of chopped and likes to describe food on The Best Thing I Ever Ate. She is great on TV and I was excited to try her food.

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This place was gorgeous. Romantic and cozy yet open and impressive. 

I would have been crushed if a place called Butter didn’t give us butter in some form. It started off the meal in a great way. It was herbal and satisfying. 

We did the price fix (35 per person). Andy started with the potato asparagus soup. It was healthy tasting and pleasant. I felt it could have used some ham or something, or maybe just salt. (Doesn’t Alex always yell about using salt and pepper on Chopped?)

I realize I went vegetarian at this meal, which I have mentioned before is something I often do when eating at more upscale places (it isn’t hard to impress someone with  a steak but if you can transform veggies into something new you are an artist). The sweet pea crostini with mushrooms and balsamic. I felt the taste of the pea was lost a little but they were crispy and light. I felt the choice of dishes at Butter was unusual and so different that I am accustomed to eating on at fine dining institutions (and also felt like a strong contrast against the modern decor). 

I ordered the chiogga  beet ravioli. Small. Odd color, and oddly matched the dish too well. There was a lot of craftsmanship in these, and the melty goat cheese and pistachio were a great mixture of textures. It wasn’t at all what I was expecting, and I am still falling in love with beets and the main ingredient in a dish. 

I wish there was more. 

Andy got the butter burger. On the non-prix-fixe menu there was the Butter burger 2.0 which had slightly higher end components. I get the set menu because I like trying a variety, and I felt like we got shortchanged out of the really innovative dishes. The yellow tomato was a great visual. He seemed to really like it. The fries were not the truffled/herb/balsamic that we have come to expect, but the also were not that notable. They were just like fries you’d get anywhere.

We split the 2 dessert options. 

The caramel flan with strawberries and chamomile cookie. There was some alcohol used as a component, and it was strong (but not in taste just the burning… did they use rubbing alcohol or moonshine?). Flans are strange and I never enjoy them as much as I thought I would.

We also got the hazelnut (gianduja) brownie with sweet cream ice cream. This was sweet and satisfying. I guess it is really hard to mess up brownie sundae but it was nice.

Overall. I liked it. Was it a 90$ for 2 people good place? not really. The ambiance and being able to say I went there was more exciting than the food.  It is truly beautiful inside. I got a 2 dollar empanada on the street that was large, gooey and definitely a better value.

I had a great time traveling, although I am pretty happy to be back in Cleveland.

The other day I participated in one of the Drink Local Drink Tap/ Great Lake Alliance’s Beach Cleanups at Edgewater. Barefoot wine is a sponsor and afterward, they had a little thank you, with food and CANNED wine.  I didn’t hate it, and it was refreshing. It was also around noon so I cut myself off at 2. 

Fun Fact: the purple/blue glider is Haley’s father.  I did not know that at the time.

 

sometimes I feel like this: