Heights Eats

I’ve recently developed quite an appreciation for cocktails. During an unseasonably warm 90 degree day, I whipped up a Tipsy Arnold Palmer (using homemade lemonade) that truly hit the spot. And I gained a new appreciate for egg whites and sours from Michael Ruhlman’s Rye Whiskey Sour post.

During all this, I started to doubt my dedication to beer. What could compete with the refreshment of the first cocktail or the complexity of the second?

As Spicehound points out, the roasted malts of beer make it equal (at least) to wine in terms of both complexity and food pairing. And there are plenty of good summer beers for hot weather.

So here’s the giveaway, for two free tickets to the IX center international beer fest. Explain your appreciation for a specific beer in one of the following categories:

(1) Complexity. Example: Dogfish Head’s Santo Palo Marron is the best beer I’ve ever tried. The combination of carmelized woodiness (from the Palo … continue reading

We were invited to a media preview at “The Spread” buffet at the soon to open Horseshoe Casino in Tower City. We were, on the whole, very impressed with the food.

The executive chef, Steven Varga, gave everyone a short tour of the facility and fielded questions. The establishment has a farm-to-table, seasonal emphasis. They highlighted spring asparagus on their salad bar and plan to use plenty of local zucchini as the months progress (we seem to have a limitless bounty around here). We asked about local beef and poultry and were told that it was “Ohio Grown.” I was hoping for something like Tea Hills Farms, but on the whole they seem to be doing a really good job with the local emphasis.

Varga worked for many years in Las Vegas but started his career in Cleveland at the famed Baricelli Inn. His culinary expertise really shined in all of the savory foods we tried.

Salad

The grilled asparagus was very good. They were a bit … continue reading

What is Slideluck Potshow? From their organization website, here’s the definition:

Slideluck Potshow (SLPS) is a 501c3 non-profit organization dedicated to building and strengthening community through food and art. SLPS operates multimedia slideshows combined with potluck dinners in about forty cities around the world. For each event, artists submit up to five minutes worth of images and guests bring along delicious food to share. The evening begins with a couple hours of mingling and dining on home-cooked dishes, and then the lights are dimmed, the crowd is hushed, and a spectacular slideshow commences.

To me it sounds sort of like Pecha Kucha with some yummy food.

The very first Cleveland Slideluck Potshow is going down on Thursday May 3 from 6:30pm to 10pm at the smARTspace at the 78^th St Studios (1305 W 8^th Street, Suite 116).

Just $5 if you bring a dish to share & $11 if you don’t at the door. They’ve extended the deadline to this Wednesday … continue reading

Heights Eats has a new look for 2012! We went with a retro theme that reminded me of some of the older signs in the heights. We’ve returned to more of a blog format, featuring a list of recent articles on the home page. This new design was built with a responsive structure, which means that the layout will adjust itself based on the device you’re using. (the page looks different on a mobile divice instead of a desktop)

Please let us know if you notice anything quirky that we can fix. Thanks!… continue reading

With the holiday season fast approaching, I tend to recall family traditions from holidays past. In this spirit, I am going to share with you a family recipe that my mom learned from her mom. My mom was born in Germany in the mid 50’s and imigrated to the US when she was a baby.

(Mom’s passport pic)

I can remember my mom telling me that she would make this recipe for her family when she was 12. I couldn’t imagine making this when I was 12. At that age I could barely make toast.

The recipe is for rouladens. When I was growing up my mom would make this on special occasions, and it was a favorite of mine. I was brave and invited my parents over to share my preparation of this dish. The final verdict among my family was that it was not as good as mom’s, but there were hardly any left overs so it was pretty good. Even Jonathan enjoyed it — … continue reading

Pictured: a sake sampling from a recent NEO Food Tour in Shaker Square (Photo Courtesy of Amanda at Clue Into Cleveland)

Amanda at Clue Into Cleveland let us know about a couple upcoming Northeast Ohio Food Tours that sound like a lot of fun, especially for anyone who enjoys good beer, food and wine.

The Brews ‘n Pubs Tour is debuting this year for Cleveland Beer Week. The tour includes stops at local breweries such including Indigo Imp and Market Garden Brewery. Samples of beer and pub fare, transportation between stops, conversations with brewmasters and gratuity are all included. The tour is Saturday, October 15^th from 1:00pm to 5:00pm and costs $60 per person plus a $4.29 service fee. A $100 Beer Masters ticket is also available which includes that Taste of the Harvest event on October 21^st.

This is also the first year for the Market District Happy Hour Tours. These include food and drink samples from various … continue reading

About a month ago we attended a blogger demo for the Nestle home coffee machine Dulce Gusto. We were interested in finding out more about this machine for two reasons, one we have a Nespresso machine already but don’t like that we have to order capsules through their website. The other reason is that the Dulce Gusto makes flavored complete coffees like those you might get at Starbucks presumably without fuss or mess.

Much to our surprise it was announced at the demo that we were going to get a complementary machine (Piccolo) sent to our home within the next couple of weeks. We were excited to add a new coffee option to our morning selection. Fast forward a couple of weeks, and the machine arrives. We promptly set it up and run the recommended amount of water through before the first tasty beverage. Our first impressions were that the machine is smaller than our Nespresso and requires a 3 … continue reading

Drinks / Giveaway

“The Spread” at Horseshoe Casino

Slideluck Potshow — Thursday, May 3

Redesign #4

Family Traditions: a recipe from the old country

Drinking and Touring Events

Dulce Gusto