OC Galley, Il Rione, Collision Bend Brunch and a FANCY meal at Spice Acres Farms

I know it has been FOREVER (and I have something like 7 half written updates that I kept putting off, and I apologize to you 4 loyal readers). However, teaser… I am planning an EPIC UPDATE (not Cleveland related, but still exciting I promise). Posting date, between January 10-15.  Literally only writing a date to keep myself accountable.

Annnyway….

I was rather excited about  Cleveland getting into the Galley concept (something that is popular elsewhere and by now you should all know that I dislike when other cities have things we don’t). If you are not familiar with the overall concept, think food court, but hipster.  We went for an early brunch. We got 2 items from 2 of the 4  different vendors. There is also a main bar portion as well.

The 4 locations are: Poca- Mexican; Sauce  the City (which I kept thinking should be Sauce & The City… hum the familiar tv theme);  The Rice Shop- a Southern Asian/fusion place; Tinman- New American/ Updated comfort food

Chicken Biscuit Sliders, 11.95, from Tinman.

Country-style chicken and biscuit sliders, topped with our spicy orange preserve

The orange marmalade like sauce (which at first I thought would taste Asian) was delightful on the chicken and had a hint of mint.  The white creme also did not taste the way I expected. I figured it would be a ranch or aioli… it was vanilla-y and creamy sweet. There is no utensil for scale but these were not as big as I wanted them to be. (Trying to think of a good size comparison and for some reason, I want to type “the size of a small turtle”…which is not helpful). I guess they were actually the size of conventional sliders…I just wanted more. If we were sharing a bunch of items I would have been fine but 26 dollars should pay for enough food for two people, right?

Autumn Squash Toast: Brussels sprouts, walnuts, pear and sage 14.00. From Tinman

So many ingredients that I love by themselves and that work together seamlessly. Fried Brussels sprouts always make a dish better**.

The bread was rather toasted/ crisp (not burnt but firm). The walnuts were soft. The squash puree was lovely. It reminded me of baby food.  Is this what baby food tastes like? Lucky babies.

I generally don’t eat food with large, fresh, sage leaves… I liked it.  There was some very sweet sauce/glaze as well- perhaps maple?

Overall: Both dishes were delish. They were creative and well-composed. I just wanted MORE. It was, indeed, a fancy hipster food court with beautiful and pricey dishes.  A slider and half of a piece of toast with puree on it was not a substantial brunch for me (considering I came from the gym and it was the weekend of Daylight Saving Time… so I was eating an hour later than I would normally).

Side rant:  I realize that restaurants are often operating on razor thin profit margins, so portion size of an ingredient on a plate is something important for them to consider. However, some items are sooo cheap that I would think it would behoove the establishment to make the plate more substantial and thus the customer more happy/more likely to return. Eggs, oats, (particularly) pasta, pieces of toasted pita… why be skimpy on these? Why put something on a “bed” of 12 grains of rice? End rant.

**FYI: According to Wikipedia: Brussels sprouts “may also be called brussels sprouts, Brussel sprouts, or brussel sprouts.^[

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Il Rione Pizzeria, Gordon Square

This has been on lists of places to try for awhile, and to be honest, I looked at the menu and was a little “meh”. This is the exact opposite of a hipster cafeteria. It is solid pizza. No frills, no experimental toppings, no unnecessary menu items. To me the menu is almost comically simple and brief.  One appetizer. 3 Salads. Three Types of Pizza. boom.

I do like pizza, but I am usually more excited by places (like Crust) that will put apple cider reduction and roasted squash on an autumnal themed pizza. Any hesitation I had initially vanished when I entered the space. It is charming with it’s exposed brick and vents and minimal decor. The space was small and it felt as if has existed and been a neighborhood favorite for decades, not just a year and a half or so.

We got the #3 Green Pie, blatantly the most Millennial-friendly fare, with arugula,  pesto, sage and basil (also the only non-meat pie). Note* with these two places back to back, it seems as if I eat a lot of sage, that is not true.

Overall. This pizza was delightful. The crust/dough was great. The proportion of toppings was great. The very short wait time was great. The fact that was QUICKLY devoured the large pizza… proof of this (but not great for my middle aged figure).  There is a reason people enjoy this pizza and keep talking about it. Go!

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This is way overdue, but over the summer we tried Collision Bend for brunch.  We were there when they opened and many people were right behind us ready to sit on the river on a beautiful afternoon. The inside is industrial/nautical? It works.

Looking at the view, not sure when we decided to have (yet another) inadvertently vegetarian meal. Buffalo Tofu. 8.00 for a decent sized portion. I liked that the carrots were in the sauce as well. There was a bit of a kick to them and they were not the generic, overly acidic Buffalo flavor that I am personally not a fan of eating. Roasted Sprouts with Vietnamese caramel sauce, queso fresco and shishito peppers (also 8 dollars).  Do I need to explain, again, that Brussels Sprouts, when fried or roasted are almost impossible to mess up and nearly impossible for me not to order? Also the lighting was perfect for food photography and the waiter only made one joke about how I was rotating the bowl to find the best angle.

Roasted Cauliflower Pizza with caper berries, garlic, fontina, aged gouda, parmesan and pickled pepperoncini.  14 dollars. Note, this pizza was supposed to come with capers. They tried to trick us into thinking capers are Not gross by calling them “caper berries”. We were not fooled, and I did a rare menu item modification. #worthit #goodcall #hashtags  This was a good pizza, I thought the pepperonchinis (is that the plural, spellcheck is confused) overpowered the other flavors but I still liked it. For a 14.00 pizza it should have been a little bigger but we left rather full.

Overall: A great location/ venue. I (mostly) got over the fact that they did not have standard brunch fare. I guess someone who consumes beer can tell you more about this brewery but I was rather satisfied with the food.

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We went to a meal at Spice Acres (the “farm” in the farm to table of Spice the restaurant). It was a fun evening that began with appetizers while a blue grass band played, then an edutaining farm tour and ended with a five course themed meal. The evening was entitled Naughty Nightshades. We picked this one because it wasn’t pork or wine focused. Am I the only person who did not know that the potato, the chili pepper and the tomato are all related!? Genus Solanceae.

They even grow the flowers that went on the table.This was the best eggplant I have ever consumed.  It doesn’t look like much but I was obsessed with it and it was a PERFECT way to start the meal. When we arrived at the farm we saw the staff roasted the whole eggplants behind the barn. The combination of the za’atar and the pomegranate molasses made this dish truly sing. It was dark in the barn, but this tomato tart tatine was ALMOST a dessert and I ate it as if it were such.  Those were 5 different types of basil on top, count em! Let’s pretend I have the sophisticated pallet of someone who can differentiate them based on taste, okay?

The Tomato jam on this (too tiny because it was delicious) doughnut was an unexpectedly great end to a perfect evening.

Spice does a number of these meals (I know they had some at Edgewater/ the old coast guard station)  and are doing some fancy train meals as well.  It was not exactly a budget evening but I felt fancy and the MOST farm-to-tabley (since we were at the farm!). I highly recommend the experience.

Sidenote: recently finished the most current season of British Bake Off and I have thoughts about the finale/winner/technical challenge/seemingly impossible show stopper….