Belli Ristoranti Italiani

Right after we got to town it was Labor Day, everything seemed to be closed, we had no food, and we didn't know where to go to eat. So we found Geraci's Restaurant at 2266 Warrensville Center Rd, Cleveland, (216) 371-5643. I think I had spaghetti and meatball(s). It was good. The sauce was sort of sweet, as I recall, but we vowed to return and get pizza. Also, I liked the atmosphere, as it reminded me of pizza places in central Connecticut, where I grew up. This was our first inkling that so many things in Cleveland are in strip malls, that it's not an indicator of how good a place is or isn't.

Another time, we were out and hungry but wanted to try a new place. We ended up at DeGaetano's Village Square Pizza at 27349 Chagrin Boulevard, Woodmere Village, (216) 831-5282. Also in a strip mall, also good. Again, I think I got spaghetti and meatballs. Again, we decided to go back and get the pizza. Again, I liked the atmosphere. They said they've been there for many years.

We went to Mama Santa's at 12305 Mayfield Rd, Cleveland, (216) 231-9567, before the Symphony with Mama D. This time, in Little Italy; not in a strip mall. The atmosphere was ok, except for the weak flourescent lights in the room we ate in, which made me feel sick and like I couldn't breathe. Third time: spaghetti and meatballs (what can I say? I didn't realize.) I got the version with homemade pasta. It was good. We vowed, here again, to get the pizza next time. Very popular; long wait.

Ohio & Erie Canal Towpath Trail

Dr. Jay went on a 40-mile ride on the Ohio & Erie Canal Towpath Trail a couple of months ago with some colleagues, and I met them afterward in Peninsula, where we ate at the Winking Lizard Tavern (wings, burgers, fries, beer, etc. It's not all that).

A few days later we went back to the towpath for a shorter ride. It's really cool the way it winds across part of the state, through little towns, and passes through the Cuyahoga Valley National Park. You can see parts of the canal still, and locks along the way.

The towpath trail site has information about things to see and do along the trail.

Bill's Coffee Shop

This morning we went to Bill's Coffee Shop for Breakfast.

We got 2 eggs, toast, sausage links, and hashbrowns (they have both the shredded and the chunky kind; we got the shredded) and an order of hotcakes. Eating the pancakes and the sausage, I was reliving some of my favorite breakfast memories of working in an inn in Maine. They were perfect. So perfect, in fact, that I nearly started to cry, I was so happy.

They have just what you'd expect a coffee shop to have: hash, grits, coffee, OJ, ham steaks, bacon, omlettes, french toast, waffles. Even with an extravagant 40% tip (we were a little excited...), it came to under $15.

A few weeks ago we went to Yours Truly for breakfast, and it was fine, but the pancakes and sausage just didn't do it for me. The YT in Shaker Square is really nice because they let you use the bathroom while you're at the Farmer's Market (see below for Farmer's Market post).

Corky and Lenny's

Ok, how depressed can I be, when we get to go to Corky and Lenny's any time we want? Corky and Lenny's is a Jewish deli with a bowl of pickles on each table and celery soda in the cooler. Just as it should be. They have a big menu which includes two of my favorites, borsht and stuffed cabbage, but I haven't tried either, because the first time we went we had a reuben and a bowl of matzoh ball soup, and we can't get anything else when we go there.

Actually, they have maybe 5 versions of the reuben, with corned beef, pastrami, turkey, and (uncorned) beef brisket. So good. We haven't had them all, but I don't think you can go too wrong.

As for the soup, since the first time, I've been getting the Mish Mash, which has the same nice chicken broth, but with ALL of the following: matzoh ball, rice, noodles, and a kreplach (a lot like a giant doughy wonton). Also, so good. But if you're eating it with a reuben, eat the soup first, since the taste of the broth is more mild than that of the sandwich.

And at the front of the restaurant is a counter where you can order meat, salads, bread, and pastries (including eclairs as big as your face, which we got one of to celebrate when I got my job) to take home! Hurrah!!

Phil the Fire

There's no link for Phil the Fire because, impossibly, it's gone.

After we got the Cleveland Ethnic Eats book (see previous post), Dr. Jay quickly zeroed in on the most exciting restaurant of all: a soul food estabishment called Phil the Fire that served fried chicken and waffles. Yes, together. And apparently the best way to eat them is with both maple syrup and hotsauce.

I won't go into any more explanation, because both locations closed earlier this year.

I don't know what to think, other than we didn't get here soon enough. A place like Cleveland should really be able to support at least one restaurant like this. I'm pretty disappointed.

Pacific East Japanese Restaurant

Post-sushi bliss. Hm.

Tonight we decided to go get some sushi, the first we've had here on the North Coast. We decided to try the closest one, Pacific East Japanese Restaurant on Coventry (see below for Coventry post).

Well. The miso soup tasted, to me, bacony, which is just about the best way something can taste. (Dr. Jay wasn't sure he would call it bacony, so don't expect bacon, but expect delicious.) So good. And the salad tasted just like green salads in sushi restaurants always taste, which is good, and any concerns regarding the wisdom of eating sushi outside of San Francisco, LA, or NYC were draining away.

Like with the Pho (see previous post), it's been a very long time, like 3 months, since we've eaten sushi, and it always tastes better the longer it's been.

Well, it was awesome. We had some nigiri, which was good, but not nearly as good as the rolls. My god, we love sushi rolls. We got one called American Dream Roll: shrimp tempura, fish roe, eel, cucumber, avocado, and eel sauce. I was huge and blew us away. My goodness, that's all my favorites! They also had, but we didn't get, a Giant Eel Roll: eel, cucumber, avocado topped with avocado, eel, and fish roe. Eel and avocado topped with eel and avocado?!? Is it a typo, or a dream come true?

Speaking of things we didn't get, 4 late-middle-aged people at a nearby table got The Boat. 21 pcs nigiri, 33 pcs sashimi, two rolls, and 3 hand rolls SERVED IN A GIANT WOODEN BOAT. No, really, this was so big, it would never have fit on the two-top where we were sitting. I mean, this boat had, like, rigging. It was amazing! The menu said this combo is for 3 people, and I can't wait to see what the King & Queen, for 4 people, looks like.

At the end, with our check, they brought us little shot glasses of Plum Wine. We wondered if you're allowed to hand out alcoholic beverages for free to people who don't ask for them, but I guess you can. Anyway, it was good. Better than a mint.

One other thing, and I'm really not getting my hopes up, but I noticed on the way home that the menu says they have ramen (see the Pho post below) that actually sounds like it might not be bad. It seems unlikely that it would be anywhere near as good as from a place that specializes in ramen, but there's no way to find out other than to go back.

Tommy's on Coventry

When Dr. Jay and I first visited Cleveland last spring, one of his (at that time, prospective) colleagues took us to Tommy's for dinner.

Tommy's is on Coventry, which we were told is "the Haight-Ashbury of Cleveland". That might be a slight exaggeration, but it is a pretty good spot. Que Tal (see below) and the Grog Shop (se below-er) are both there, along with at least 3 book stores (Mac's Backs is the only one I've been to, but I'm looking forward to checking out Revolution Books), a non-Blockbuster/-Hollywood Video video store and at least one record and one cd store.

Oh, back to Tommy's. 1) They are known for their milkshakes; 2) they spell hummus "homos"; 3) they have a huge menu; 4) they have both lots of vegetarian food and lots of non-vegetarian food, and they aren't afraid to mix the two, resulting in combinations like "Bacon, falafel, cheese, sprouts, onions, peppers,
tomatoes, sesame sauce toasted on pita". They have so many things, you really need to go there a few times to find your favorites. The Shawarma, I think, is my favorite so far.

The trip to Tommy's probably had a whole lot to do with my feeling like Cleveland might be a place I could live.

Burritos and the Promised Land

A couple of weeks ago, we stopped at Que Tal Fresh Mexican Grill for big California style burritos on our way home from work.

Not only are Dr. Jay and I able to commute together, the drive only takes us about 20 minutes. AND, depending on our route, we can pass a large array of restaurants.

I was getting really excited about this, in particular the idea that we could call Que Tal before we left work and pick up burritos on the way home, and I before I realized what I was saying, said to Dr. Jay, "Cleveland is the Promised Land!"

The Cleveland Orchestra

Ok! Trying to catch up on things I did here in the 2 months before I started this blog.

A couple of weeks ago, Jay's mom, Momma D, came to town and took us to see the Cleveland Orchestra. It was pretty cool. Neither Dr. Jay nor I are particular fans of classical music, but we enjoyed it a lot. Mitsuko Uchida was conducting and playing the piano at the same time, which was pretty cool. There was also a more contmporary piece that none of us cared for as much.

And Severance Hall is gorgeous. It glows and is art deco and beatiful. It was would be a great place to have a wedding. It's worth going to the symphony just to see the building.

David Sedaris at Playhouse Square Center

A few weeks ago we went to Playhouse Square Center and saw David Sedaris read. He's fabulous, and we love him.

Playhouse Square Center was pretty cool; it seems to have a lot going on. Terry Gross is there tonight. Oh, and they have plays, too, but we're not huge play people. But it looks like they have all kinds of things. Nutcracker, Cleveland Pops, etc.

There were a few restaurants open in the area before the show, but they were closed afterward, which was sort of sad. It was a Sunday night, though, so it might be better on other days.

Meat pies by the dozen!

We stopped by Amir Foods the other day to pick up some Meat Pies, and we asked about how they are to freeze. And they said they sell them frozen right out of the oven, by the dozen!

Hurrah!

Tonight we went and picked up the upright freezer we bought for the basement so we can stock up on pizzas from Trader Joe's, chicken bones to make stock, and meat pies. We're livin' the dream now!

Mi Pueblo

Oh, this is hard to keep up with. Hm.

On Monday, we went to Mi Pueblo, on Euclid, near University Circle, a Mexican restaurant. I might venture to say that it's interior Mexican. They have at least one other location, maybe two.

I got some caldo de pollo, which was good but not amazing, and Dr. Jay got some chicken enchiladas with mole that he really liked. It came with refried beans, which I tried, and they were pretty good. It's cool, though, because they bring you pickled carrots, in addition to chips and salsa when you sit down.

But they have some good-looking things on the menu. I want to go back and try the taco plate, where you can choose three different tacos and it comes, I think, with rice and beans. I will try a picadillo taco, an al pastor taco, and, maybe some kind of a pork one, if the have it.

We went with a friend of some friends of Dr. Jay's. For a wedding present, these friends had this friend who lives in Cleveland get us like 7 gift certificates for restautants in the area. We were also given copies of the menus. It was one of the coolest presents we got.

Cold

Gaaaah! it's wicked cold here. 46 degrees.

It's painful, but it's also fun. Feels like Christmas.

Well, where I've been living for the past decade, that's Christmas cold. My coworkers are like, "Boy are you going to be surprised when it ACTUALLY gets cold."

Pho Hoa Restaurant

It's been over two months since my last bowl of Pho, and finally, last night, we struck out in search of Pho Hoa, a (the only?) Vietnamese soup bar in Cleveland.

OMG! I don't know if it's just been too long, or if this was particularly good, but I was in heaven. I got the soup with eye round steak, my baseline Pho, and the broth was perfect! I ordered a large and ate almost the whole thing. Dr. Jay had the Bun with grilled pork and fried egg roll. He loved his, too, and finished mine.

There was a time in my life in Austin when I ate this probably 2-3 times a week, at a number of places around town. In California, my heart was stolen by Ramen, a Japanese noodle soup, and No, it's NOTHING like what you get for $.35 at the grocery store. Sadly, I have been unable to locate a ramen house in Ohio any closer than Columbus.

In Cleveland Ethnic Eats (see post), Laura Taxel makes it sound like the Pho Hoa people have taken a HUGE risk in opening a noodle bar in Cleveland, and encourages everyone to go so it stays in business. We are going to have to do our part, of course, and I'm secretly hoping that if Pho Hoa does well enough, someone might take a chance and open a ramen house. Well, I can always hope.

Of course, Pho Hoa also serves Vietnamese coffee. As a bonus, they offer those perfect $3 sandwiches on French bread, which we'll have to go back to try, as well as bubble tea.

Now, how can a place like that, the only place like that in town, fail? I mean, if Cleveland can't support even a single soup bar, I might have to take back some of the nice things I've said about it...

Grocery shopping

I just got back from a trip to Trader Joe's and Wild Oats.

When we lived in California, be did the bulk of our shopping at Whole Foods, supplemented with prepared foods and goodies from TJ's (which we could walk to) and an occasional trip to SafeWay. We were sad that there was no Whole Foods here, but we are thrilled there's a TJ's! We can't walk to it, of course, and there's only one in the Cleveland area, but it's here, to satisfy our need for soy-flaxseed chips, chocolate-orange truffles, chicken shu-mai, and frozen barbecued chicken pizzas.

Wild Oats is a whole lot like Whole Foods. We generally refer to it as "Whole Oat". The meat dept there has been a little...um...not great. But we're getting an actual Whole Foods in Spring of 2006!

Jonathan Richman at Grogshop

Last night, Dr. Jay and I went to the Grogshop for the first time, to see Jonathan Richman. Dr. Jay was petty new to him; I'd seen him a few times back when I lived in Austin in the 90's.

Yes, that's right. We stayed up PAST MIDNIGHT and spent several hours in a bar filled with CIGARETTE SMOKE. (How can people sing in bars filled with smoke?) We wonder when Cleveland will make that illegal. I guess we must be heading in that direction, but slowly. But if you're a smoker who likes bars, this will be another thing to recommend Cleveland...

The Grog Shop reminded me of the Electric Lounge in Austin, at least the way it was when I was there. It mostly attracts bands I've never heard of, but Bob Mould and Juliana Hatfield jump out at me as people I know who are coming up. While JR attracts people of all ages, I think the Grog Shop typical patron is probably somewhat younger and hipper than me.
So it's a cool place, cosy, smoky, hip. But here's the thing: It's about 10 minutes from my house, if that, and there is very cheap metered parking in a garage across the street. Try doing that in Cali! (I mean, obviously you could do that in SOME places in Cali, but not on the Peninsula where we lived.) I don't see it becoming a regular hangout, But I love that fact that it's here.

And, being on Coventry, which I will describe in another post, it's near restaurants, coffee shops, and book and record stores.

Parkers New American Bistro

Related to the post about the Shaker Square Farmers Market, I have to write about Parkers New American Bistro. It is my understanding, and I don't remember where I read it, that Chef Parker Bosley was involved in getting the Cleveland area farmers' markets going.

His restaurant serves fresh, locally grown, and organic food. It's NOT vegetarian (see menu), but it IS environmentally responsible, seasonal, and delicious. It makes me feel very good knowing this, but it would be worth going anyway, because the food is awesome.

The first time we went, Dr. Jay had lamb shank with polenta and vegetables. I had trout, lightly breaded on just one side, with dauphine potatoes (they were like scalloped) and greenbeans with bacon. We intended to share, but we each loved what we got so much, that we didn't even want to try any of the other person's. The second time we went, Dr. Jay got the same lamb shank, and I tried to order something different, because I thought I should. My mother, Mom, was with us, and she ordered the roasted chicken. When I tried to order the same, I was told that she had ordered the last one. I immediately and gleefully changed my order to the trout, because that's what I really wanted in the first place.

The menu changes depending on what's in season, so chances are good that next time, we'll be forced to try something different. Oh, and they start you off with homemade bread and this great butter that we can never get enough of.

Farmers Market at Shaker Square

Ok. Back in Cali, on Sunday mornings, we could walk about 8 minutes from home to a farmers' market, conveniently located next to a Trader Joe's. Not real big, and mostly just fruits and veggies, but it was there year round, and, as I said, convenient. I was sure, of course, that moving to Cleveland meant my farmers' market days were over, except maybe for a month or two in the summer.

Well, happily, I was wrong again. We have been going to the North Union Farmers Market at Shaker Square every Saturday we can. It will be open until December 11, and apparently opened in mid April this year. It's HUGE, compared to the one near our apartment in Cali (well, today, at the beginning of November, it was smaller, I guess since the season's getting on...), with a far wider variety of offerings.

In addition to fruits and veggies, there are breads, pastries, milk, eggs, cheese, grains, cereals, beef, pork, poultry, venison, pies, preserves, someone sharpening knives, someone selling beeswax candles, and other stuff.

We're not big milk drinkers, but we usually buy a half gallon of non-homogenized whole milk, which is shockingly delicious, and is apparently better for you than homogenized. And we ALWAYS buy granola from this older woman in a bonnet. Ella's Granola, home-produced in Burton, Ohio. Dr. Jay has never been a granola fan, but we both love it. It's considered a crime to consume it any way other than with the whole, non-homogenized milk on it. Any other use would be a waste.

We've also bought meat and poultry there. The people selling these items tend to display just a small amount of what they have on a particular day, and what they bring on a particular day might be just a selection of what they have available. If you ask them about what they have, they can tell you if they have more in cooler somewhere or if they'll have more the next week. I, personally, am not one who likes to march up to people I don't know and start asking questions, but I just try to remind myself that these people are here because they WANT to sell their goods, and they always seem delighted to answer questions about their products or their farms.

Cleveland Ethnic Eats

My old and dear friend, Em-Kay gave me the book Cleveland Ethnic Eats (2004 edition) as a shower gift over the summer, and I have to say, I read it from cover to cover, giddy with the knowledge that I wasn't about to move to a place with all the culture of a loaf of Wonder Bread. (Not that Wonder Bread doesn't have a place, but that place is next to a big plate of Texas barbeque...)

Since we arrived, we found a copy of the 2002 edition at a tag sale (yes, I'm from the northeast, where we call them tag sales) for $.25 that we keep in the car for quick and handy reference! So when I'm sitting at a stoplight and see a restaurant, I can check it out before I forget the name. And, no, I would never even think if trying to look in the book while I'm actcually driving.

Amir Foods

Amir Foods wasn't the first restaurant we went to, but it may be the one we've been to the most in the 2 months we've been here. I went on a Tuesday to pick up some takeout, and within a week had been there 5 of 7 days. It was embarrassing how quickly I became a regular, greeted warmly by the people who work there.

Here's their menu. I had some very favorite lentil soup back in California, and I was hoping this lentil would be the same. It wasn't, but I tried the Chicken Soup and LOVED it! Our favorite things so far have been the Shawarma Platter and the Shish Tawook wrap, both of which feature pickled turnips, which sound questionable, but are fantastic!

Ok, our actual FAVORITE things are the Meat Pies and the Spinach and Feta Pies, in that order. Also, the Spinach Pies are right on, very lemony. Mmmm. (Heat them up in the oven, not the microwave!)

The people are really nice. You can eat in, take out, and shop in their little market that has at least 4 grinds of bulghur, if not more.

Why?

The main purpose of this blog is to keep track of all the fun and delicious things we do here, as a way to sell friends and family members on visiting us. It is also a way to remind myself of which restaurants we've tried and what we thought of them, so we can go back to the best ones. Fianally, it's a diary of things we've found to love about our new home.

When the possibility of moving, either to Cleveland or to DC, first came up, our response and the response of everyone we talked to was, "Well, DC. Obviously." But the job, the cost of living, the availability of three-bedroom houses with fenced-in yards for dogs--these wore us down, and at the end of August we loaded up the dog and 23 houseplants into the station wagon and left California, headed for Ohio.

So this, I hope, will an advertisement for our new hometown, which doesn't seem, so far, to deserve its reputation as "the armpit of America." I should warn, however, that we are not the hippest couple around. Dr. Jay and I are (recently) married, our median age is 30.5, and we "go to bed with the grannies," as a friend recently pointed out.

We actually live in one of the "Heightses" east of Clevland proper, but we are certainly within the Cleveland Metropolitan area. I'd like to think that this blog will include downtown and the West Side as much as the East Side where we live, but we're increasingly finding that there's so much going on nearby that we don't need to stray too far.