Heights Eats

Allison of Confessions of a Cohabitant invited us to a “Foodie Feed Up” at Greenhouse Tavern in which the invitees get free food and a cooking demo in exchange for watching a demonstration of Nestle’s Dolce Gusto coffeemaker and sampling coffee. It was a lot of fun.

The meal began with appetizers and drinks, which included Greenhouse’s fabulous frites, chicken wings and hominy. The hominy was largely fried corn kernels and pig ears. Sarah was a bit antsy about the pig ears at first, but we really enjoyed everything.

The highlight of the evening was the cooking demonstration for beef tartare from chef Jonathan Sawyer.

He began by giving us a “tour” of a cow, highlighting how the upper parts were more tender due to less muscle use.

After this he ground up some Miller Farms beef tenderloin in an old fashioned hand grinder and seasoned it with Oleo Verde olive oil and Great Salt Lakes salt. The final dish is accompanied … continue reading

We went to the Jak of All Trades Fest over Labor Day weekend and really enjoyed it. It’s an event sponsored by and held at Jak Prints on Chester Avenue with food, merchant stands, tours of the facility and free beer.

There was a great selection of food from Dim and Den Sum, Steat Mobilebistro and Umami Moto. Sarah got chicken gyro tacos from Streat, which she really enjoyed. I ordered an duck burger from Dim and Den Sum. When Chris Hodgson asked me how I wanted it cooked, I said, “medium…uh…medium rare.” In every other situation when I’ve hesitated this way at a restaurant, I get something south of medium well. This version was cooked to a perfect medium rare, though, with the sour cherry compote perfectly complementing the juicy burger. Even Jonathan enjoyed a couple bites of it.

We waited in line for a tour of the facility, and it was impressive. There were plenty of cool rock posters and T-shirts as well as some pretty … continue reading

I have been a huge fan of Jeni’s Ice Creams (and sorbets) for years and was counting down the days until the publication of Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams at Home. I picked it up at Barnes and Noble, and they actually took a while to find it because the books had just arrived and weren’t shelved yet.

The book is beautifully designed and organized by season with an emphasis on artisan local ingredients including dairy (e.g. Snowville Creamery), fruits and vegetables. The recipes are the most important element, though, and that’s where the book really delivers.

I’ve been making ice cream at home for almost ten years and consider this the best ice cream book on the market. Apparently Jeni Britton Bauer made 75 versions of her ice cream base until she perfected it. Much of her introduction details the science of ice cream making. Eggless confections tend to be icy, but with custards the flavor of … continue reading

We’d been fishing for almost a year with very little luck (or maybe skill). There were a number of things we eventually realized we’d done wrong–knots that came undone, incorrect bait, bait incorrectly placed, etc. But even though we seemed to be improving, we’d been catching very little lately. The last time we’d gotten a fair amount of bites was at Shadow Lake last fall, and even then just crappies that were too small to eat.

So we figured we’d get more fish if we went out on Lake Erie on a charter boat. We booked a Saturday 2-8pm trip at Wildwood Marina off Euclid Beach. Another rider who was next to us, Jim, suggested that people often have “beginner’s luck.” That might have been an understatement, but it was equally distributed throughout the boat.

We arrived at about 1pm as suggested in the guidelines, bought bait (70+ minnows), and boarded the boat at 1:45pm. Sarah forgot her license but got a one-day license for $4.… continue reading

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

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

I’ve been tracking the progress of the government-delayed Ohio Brewery beer collaboration, and, despite finding it sold out at Heinen’s, managed to snag a 12-pack at Warehouse Beverage. Overall it held up quite well despite being released six months late.… continue reading

Rye Kolsch (Brew Kettle and Willoughby Brewing): My favorite of the bunch. This was supposedly the beer most likely to go off because Kolsch in theory tastes best young, but that wasn’t the case. The aroma was citrusy hops with the flavor nicely balanced between floral (but not overpowering) hoppiness, sharp rye, and a subtle caramel malt evening everything out. I haven’t had a lot of low ABV rye ales, but this was the best I’ve had (less bitter and more drinkable than Acadia’s). The lightness of the beer’s body combined with the refreshing, complex flavors make for a great session beer. Too bad they’re not brewing more of these.
Barrel-Aged Strong Ale (“Berlot”) (Great

“Foodie Feed Up” at Greenhouse

Jak of All Trades Fest

Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams at Home

Charter Boat Fishing

Jeni’s in Chagrin Falls

Umami Moto

Craft Collaboration Review / IX Giveaway