Monthly Archives: May 2011

Jeni’s in Chagrin Falls

May 25, 2011 | by Ben 1

Jeni’s Ice Creams opened not too long ago in Chagrin Falls, and, despite the commute from the Heights, I seem to find myself there every other week.

Jeni’s is based out of Columbus, and this is their first Cleveland location. They specialize in local ingredients and unique flavors.

The shop itself is simultaneously homey and stylish. The brick walls and flavors on the chalkboard are balanced by a sharp design and shiny metal counter tops.

Considering the uniqueness of their flavors, reviewing each seems to make the most sense:

Bangkok Peanut — The initial aroma and flavor is peanuts, followed by curry, then coconut (which adds a nice texture) and finally an intense spicy heat.

Black Coffee — Somehow tastes blacker and stronger than coffee with milk despite being cream based. Rich, dark, subtly bitter flavor gives way to subtle sweetness.

Cherry Lambic — Intense sweet / sour cherry flavor and subtle yeast and malt from the beer. I haven’t had … continue reading

Flour

May 21, 2011 | by Ben 1

After weeks of anticipation, we finally managed to snag a Saturday night reservation to Flour, the new restaurant run by chef / owners Paul Minnilo and Chris Di Lisi (formerly of Baricelli Inn).

The restaurant is far more modern than Baricelli, with high ceilings and a somewhat angular design with plenty of space between tables.

We started with the tres formaggi ($9): a creamy goat cheese, a firm goat cheese washed in grape juice and a cow’s cheese reminiscent of Parmesan (clockwise from upper left). All were excellent, and the tanginess of the very soft goat cheese was nicely complemented by a drizzle of honey. They were all from Baricelli Cheese company.

Our only complaint at this point was that we could have used more of the excellent focaccia that came before the meal, a few more crostini and a tad more honey. As Sarah pointed out, though, better to skimp on the bread than on the cheese.

Next we had the warm asparagus … continue reading

Umami Moto

May 20, 2011 | by Ben 1

We’ve hit up the Umami Moto food truck a number of times at North Union Farmers’ Market. As I normally shop there in the morning, our first sampling was breakfast, the rice crepes and Thai omelet.

(Rice Crepes)

Both were quite good, especially for the price. The crepes have a satisfying, toothsome texture, and the scallions were a nice counterpoint to the eggs. What really made the breakfast dishes, though, was their spicy-sweet red sauce, which we’d gladly buy bottled.

On a subsequent visit I picked up lunch, Pad Thai (Vietnamese hot) ($7), Vietnamese Grilled Meatballs ($3) and a double order of potstickers ($6).

I really liked the pad thai, which had a good peanut flavor, chewy rice noodles and well-textured, meaty tofu. The mouth-coating spiciness, though, somewhat overpowered the other flavors. Next time I’ll just get “hot.”

We all enjoyed the meatballs, which were nicely grilled and well-complemented by the spicy-sweet dipping sauce.

The highlight might have been the potstickers, though. Tim Wu wrote … continue reading

Burrata Caprese w/Dandelion Pesto

May 7, 2011 | by Ben 0

Caprese salad made with Trader Joe’s Burrata, TJ’s Kumato tomatoes and dandelion pesto drizzled with olive oil and balsamic. Burrata was good and creamy but not up to the level of that at Fire. The dandelion pesto went really well with everything and was a nice twist on basil pesto. It was a tad bitter but quite good on a hot dog and on tortellini as well. Next time I might look for younger, sweeter leaves (ideally they should be picked before the dandelions bloom).… continue reading

Back to Chinato

May 5, 2011 | by Ben 0

We had a great experience at our second visit to Chinato. Once again we visited without Jonathan, even though he probably would have enjoyed the food.

We were seated promptly after mentioning our reservation at a two-seater near the front window. We were struck by the similarity in design to Parallax; Zack Bruell establishments seem to have a definite “look.”

We started with the antipasto plate ($10), which was very generously portioned and included chopped caperberries, pickled radiccio, olives, roasted red pepper salad, grilled (?) eggplant salad, and white bean salad. Sarah’s favorite was the pepper salad (which included capers), and I especially liked the eggplant and bean salads. We both loved the capberberries, which are milder than capers but somehow more complex in flavor.

Sarah ordered hot tea to drink and I had a Great Lakes Doppelrock ($6), on the recommendation of our waitress. Her description of it as a lighter Christmas Ale was quite apt.

For entrees we split the Fuisilli … continue reading