It’s been awhile. But we are back in school and I have school work I should be grading. Also, I like to post on here because it gives my students incentive to talk to me about their restaurant experiences. I know this is about Cleveland Food, but most of this update are my photos from Philly, DC, Denver, and Chicago. Mostly photos, this is as close as I get to Instagram.
I, yet again, ordered av. toast. This was during our mother/son trip to Philly. This was from our brunch a French place called Parc, which overlooked a park.
This might not look like it, but was maybe the most scrumptious breakfast sandwich I have ever had. (also in Philly). The bacon-onion jam really elevated it. 
Turns out I love carbs when I’m in Philly! The lobster roll at Devon. 
The Philly Cheese Steak that caused me to lay down for a few hours to attempt to digest. (white bread and beef are not things I eat frequently, also my first time with Cheez Wiz).
Go to Brown Sugar Thai (there are 2 locations, in Lakewood and Rocky River). Order the Tofu String Bean. I know, it has a lame, not so appetizing, name…. but it’s great. And maybe they will create for you an epic turnip-rose.
another fantastic breakfast sandwich…this one was in DC. Carbs are better when in a different city.
For my brother’s birthday, we went to Beau’s on the River in Cuyahoga Falls. The space is lovely, especially for a hotel restaurant. This was the house-made English Pea, maitake mushroom, and goat cheddar agnolotti tossed with artichokes, baby heirloom tomatoes, purple cauliflower, and garlic. It was a complex veggie dish. The waitress, who told us she had been there for awhile, had no idea what the word “vegan” meant.
Campus Grill: Latin sounds like a terrible restaurant name. Actually, it IS a terrible name. However, go there for lunch and get a mofongo. Seriously, do it. It is on BW’s campus and a surprisingly fantastic Peurto Rican place.
While you are over in Berea, GoAPE is super fun high-ropes. It took us 3.5 hours and was well worth it.
While I’m justifying all these carbs with my outdoorsy/sportiness I did a Tough Mudder. Afterwards, I got ice cream.
Denver: A wonderful labor day weekend excursion.
The Denver Biscuit Company came HIGHLY recommended. This place was fantastic, rather cheap and I found myself smiling lovingly at the food in between shoving forkfuls in my face. We got the Biscuit French Toast with Strawberries and The Franklin with mushroom gravy and a fried egg (there is also bacon, cheddar and a fried chicken in that caloric mountain). Go there.
Riot Ice Cream. Pretty cool. Lots of unusual flavors, including cheddar goldfish and a ton of cereal flavors. I have had cereal ice cream before and never been super impressed. These were good. We got the Crunch berries and Fruity Pebbles flavors in a pop tart sandwich. Which was so tasty it was impossible to take a normal picture while holding it.
Voodoo Donuts. Because I like hyped food. I was surprised that this 24hr operation had a line at literally every hour (it was near the hotel so we saw donut enthusiasts waiting for them at various times). They were not as expensive as I anticipated and delicious. We got the voodoo doll one (raspberry filled with a pretzel sticking out of it) and one with PB, Oreos, and chocolate.
Food mountains were not the only things we scaled. Garden of the Gods was amazing.
We got brunch at Ophelia’s. Which is somehow a music venue that used to be a brothel?
Chicken and the mashed potato waffle. 
This item was cheesy and full of vegetables and had a name that seemed like a pun (the only menu item with an unconventional name) but it was so great 
We went to Vesta because it was on a Denver Food Bucket List. We told OpenTable that we were celebrating a special occasion. Not only did the call to confirm it was special, but every employee came by to congratulate us and we got a little bag of chocolate at the end.
Grilled Sonoran Cactus with Avacodo, corn salsa a jicama. I had no idea what to expect, but I’m always up for an adventurous vegetarian offering. The cactus had a toothy, almost mushroom-like texture and the super thin slices of jicama were for making tiny tacos. I liked it and I was expected something more zucchini and am glad I can cross cactus off the list of things I have yet to eat. 
Green Garlic Pasta Carbonara. This was good, a little oily. I’m surprised at how many terms essentially mean “bacon bits” for some reason I assumed “guanciale” was a cheese.
I don’t know why every restaurant doesn’t do this as an appetizer. Naan (my favorite flatbread, #sorrypita) with a choice of 6 sauces (from 13 options). It’s fun and interactive and the black pepper aioli was super addictive. The jalapeno remoulade was a rare time where I really enjoyed the taste of the pepper. For $8 it was a reasonable appetizer and I’m sure it’s easy and profitable. Please do this ____________________* (*at least one Cleveland restaurant)!
Behold the glorious pancake flight (we got it to-go and ate outside since there was a 2-hour wait at Snooze. Sweet-potato Pecan pie, pineapple upside down cake and key-lime with white chocolate and blackberry. The fact that this exists makes me smile thinking about while typing. Why doesn’t Cleveland have sweet flights for brunch? Seriously?!
I didn’t mean to upload this, but working in a building with 2 astronomy teachers and a planetarium means we went all out for the eclipse. This is a sun-spotter, which makes sunspots visible.
Chicago: We went to Chicago Q for brunch. This is Art Smith’s place (he was on lots of Bravo food shows and years ago we Oprah’s chef).
I was a little insistent on trying Authentic deep dish pizza. I liked it, not the BEST slice ever but glad I tried it. The sauce on top of the cheese confuses me. 
French Toast Flight. Red velvet with Creme cheese and Orange Zest were unbelievable. I like how 4 pieces of cake can be considered an entree.
Evan Eats Cleveland 
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