Restaurant Week in Downtown Akron

Last week was Downtown Akron Restaurant Week. It was developed by the Downtown Akron Partnership Junior Board to encourage residents of the Akron area to explore the burgeoning dining scene in Downtown Akron. The four-day event provided reasonably priced prix fixe dinner menus at a variety of Downtown restaurants, making it easy and enjoyable to try something new!

My good friend and fellow food lover, Bev, and I had reservations for Bricco on Tuesday and Cilantro on Wednesday evenings. There were plenty of options as most all downtown restaurants had some sort of special going on for the week. That made choosing among them pretty difficult.

At Bricco we were surprised at the small crowd during the dinner hours. And we certainly had time to take it all in, we spent four hours eating and chatting while watching the busy Exchange street traffic go by from our window table.

Dinner that night was $40 for two and consisted of our choice of appetizer, two soups or salads, and two entrees. We added a nice bottle of red wine to that and it was a lovely meal with more than generous servings. Our meal started with the Goat Cheese with Spicy Marinara appetizer, a salad each and then we ordered a Pizza with Grilled Chicken, Spinach, Roasted Tomatoes and Asiago Cream Sauce and the Tri-colored Tortellini with Marinara or Sauce. We split everything at the table and it was far more food that we could eat. I ate pizza and goat cheese marinara for two days over the weekend!

From our perch in the window we could see the hustle and bustle of the downtown crowd. On a beautiful late summer evening it was good to see people around. The only downside to the night was that someone broke into my car while we were enjoying our meal. Certainly there was no lack of police presence as it seemed that a patrol car turned onto Exchange from Main Street every few minutes. Too bad it was enough deterrent to keep someone from getting into the car.

What I learned from that experience is that if you have a car (like mine) that has a lock/unlock button on the arm rest, don’t leave your window above open any amount – these thieves manage to put a stick in through the window and push open the door locks. After rummaging through the car and taking what they wanted, they were nice enough to relock the doors behind them. How thoughtful.

The following evening Bev and I headed back downtown to dine at Cilantro. Cilantro combines an eclectic atmosphere with excellent and interesting food. Their eclectic menu features specialties from Thai and Japanese cuisines with variety of exotic spices. They also have a sushi bar.

Again, dinner was $40 for two and our meal started with Chicken Satay with Peanut Sauce, then our two entrees were Shrimps and Scallops with Sweet Chili Sauce and Chicken in a Pineapple. We shared a dessert of Coconut Ice Cream with Sweet Sticky Rice and Fresh Mango.

Cilantro was a delightfully pleasant experience. I’ve been there twice before and wasn’t quite as impressed as this last visit. The service in the past was extremely slow, which doesn’t make for a pleasant meal. In contrast, last week we were seated in the beautiful back room and our server was astounding to watch. He was attentive and fleet of foot and it felt as though he spent most of the evening running to attend to all of his customers needs. The food was delicious, our martinis well made and refreshing and we’ll be happy to return for another meal soon.

I'll be looking forward to more RestaurantWeeks whether annually or more often.  It was difficult to judge how many folks were out on Tuesday for the special menues, but we could tell on Wednesday that the majority of the Cilantro guests were choosing from the prix fixe. Good job DAP Jr., keep up the good work!

Savoring Summer

This past week was our last evening out at Porthouse Theater for the 2011 summer season.  As always, we are sad to have this come to an end and it all goes by so swiftly it's difficult to believe summer is winding down. 

The evening began with our gathering in the pavilion on a perfect summer night.  As is tradition for the final performance, the cast wandered through the crowd and entertained cabaret style. This is always fun - the kids are so talented and the crowd sings along. 

The summer series ended on a very up note with the ever entertaining Hello Dolly!  Porthouse artistic director, Terry Kent stepped into the shoes of Dolly Levi and did a splendid job.  Our group has been to these performances for several years and this is the first time we've been graced with Ms. Kent on stage.  While her singing was nothing to write home about (which perhaps was not at all out of place for the role) her stage presence as Dolly was terrific. 

Terry Kent and cast taking their bows
for Hello Dolly!

The cast carried off their roles with the usual style and grace - including a bit of a wink by Eric van Baars, who plays Cornelius Hackl. He earned a big laugh when he had a line dealing with the fact that his character is 33 years old when it's obvious he's a touch older than that.  One of my favorite Porthouse cast members, van Baars did a wonderful job in his role.  Another crowd favorite was Jessica Cope who played Irene Malloy.  Her singing voice had everyone sitting up and taking notice of her performance.

Getting out and about
Two more favorites to add to the long list of great places to eat in Summit county.  This past week I had the pleasure of meeting friends at The Office Bistro and Lounge located in the historic Temple Square district of North Akron.  I've been here a couple of times now and it gets more comfortable with each visit.  At their suggestion, I met my friends Blue and Joanne there for a catch up session after work.  Bartender Valery made my favorite Office martini, The Flirtini, which is set ablaze and topped with a shower of cinnamon sparklers.  Happy hour is weekdays 3-6pm and appetizers are half price.  I ordered the Mango & Avocado Salsa (mangos, sweet bell peppers, red onion, cilantro, peach yogurt) with fresh tortilla chips and it was very different and quite good.  This is something I'll be trying to replicate at home at some point.

Friday night I met my friend Lynne out at D'Agnese on White Pond Drive.  This place has been a variety of restaurants in the past several years and they may have hit upon a keeper in this iteration.  The atmosphere is casual chic, the service friendly and informative and the food was wonderful.  We shared one of their flatbread specials and I ordered the roasted beets appetizer as my entree.  The salad was of red and golden beets, greens, candied walnuts, goat cheese, and a fig balsamic reduction that was out of this world not only on the salad but just as wonderful with the warm bread brought to the table dipped in. The salad was as big as my head and easily could have been shared.  I'll definitely be back here again soon.


Summer Bounty
This week began the next steps in my learning curve on preserving the summer harvest.  My City Fresh shares have been abundant with zucchini and yellow squash and I will admit that I'm just not that big a fan of these fruits (and YES, squash is a fruit). 

Zucchini abandoned on my doorstep!

I've done my best to make some interesting meals with them (ie my pepperoni and yellow squash pizza) but I'm simply outnumbered.  There's only one of me and only so many meals I can make at home in a given week and this squash seems to multiply when I turn my back on them.  As if it's not enough that I get them two or three at a time in my Fresh shares, last night I came home and there was one sitting on my back steps.  No note.  Poor thing had been abandoned and I HAD to take it in.  In all good conscience, you can't leave an innocent zucchini sitting out in the big world all alone. 

My food preservation technique of choice is freezing.  Nearly anything can be frozen with some degree of success but, in my experience, not always.  Zucchini is one of those items.  I can grate it and freeze it for use in breads and cakes and it turns out fine, but I've learned that if I simply want to use slices or chunks, freezing tends to make them a bit mushy and I really cannot stand mushy foods.

To counteract that mushy-ness, last summer I turned to my food dehydrator.  Thin slices of zucchini dried to a lovely crisp chip and are easily stored in bags or containers in the pantry.  Kept this way they are perfect for tossing in soups all winter long. 

As you can see here, my first batch were a bit too thin.  These were sliced about 1/8 inch thin.  I moved up to about 1/4 inch and they turned out fine for storage.

Simply wash and dry your zucchini, use a mandoline or slice by hand to 1/4 inch rounds. 

Use a light spray of cooking spray on your trays to keep the zucchini from sticking as they dry, my first batch crumbled to pieces when I tried to pry them from the try.  Place on the dehydrator trays and process until chips are brittle. 

Once dry, store in an air-tight container.
Last year my dried zucchini went into minestrone and my beef vegetable soups. 

HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY TO ME

This past week was my birthday week. I only mention this because my share of ups and downs sort of centered around that fact.

One of the ‘ups’ – I’m still here and celebrating birthdays.

One of the ‘downs’ – my Mother, bless her soul, didn’t remember. I know her memory is wonky at best these days, but I also know that I sent her a personalized calendar with everyone’s birthdays on it (including hers and mine) and I know that she faithfully crosses off each day on the calendar so they are better able to keep track of what day it is. Or at least, she used to. So now I’m guessing that time tracking is also losing its appeal. Heavy sigh. I know I’m still lucky to have both parents alive at their age, but I’m also sure that there’s little more disheartening than them forgetting about your birthday. It’s just another in a long line of steps we take as we get older.

Another birthday ‘down’ – the long awaited boat ride on Lake Erie planned by Nancy and I was (once again) canceled. We’ve had this planned since last summer and I was really excited about this. I’m not a huge boat lover, but this promised to be a fast boat allowing wind in our hair and water splashed on our faces. That would be fun!

Another ‘up’ – instead of the boat ride, we ended up at Rosewood Grill in Hudson for dinner that night.

Rosewood Grill

Situated in the basement level of Turner’s Mill in Hudson, this place is rustic, popular and terrific. From the atmosphere to the food, our dinner was perfect for a birthday meal. My only complaint was that it was noisy. Cathy, Nancy and I were seated off to one side of the main room and could barely hear our own conversations. Otherwise, the staff was friendly and very accommodating and the food was delicious. Cathy declared it the best trout meal she’d ever eaten. Nancy’s walleye was good and my French Dip roast beef smothered in Grand Cru Gruyere Cheese was everything I’d hoped for. We each had a signature cocktail, Nancy and I had the Moscow Mule made with Ginger Beer and Cathy had the Peach Mojito. In honor of my birthday we each even succumbed to the call of the desert.

There’s a funny story lurking here somewhere but it’s better told in person. Ask me about it sometime and I’ll tell it. The upshot of the thing is that this young 20-something guy asked Cathy and I if we needed a ride somewhere – and he wasn’t trying to pick us up! Somehow (don’t know why that would be CATHY) he had the impression we were unable to drive a vehicle. Humpf! When I retorted that we were going to walk across the street to First and Main he quite seriously asked if we were OK to do so. Young kids these days! No idea of how old biddies giggle when we’ve had one little martini.


Anyway…we did manage to stumble over to the commons at First and Main and found their Friday night concert in full swing. Carlos Jones was playing and I very much have found a new local band I like. Known as the “iron-man” of the reggae scene in Cleveland, Carlos focuses on uplifting reggae music. The crowd was swaying and moving to the music and everyone was happy.

So my birthday 'down' got turned upside down.  I had a very pleasant evening with friends and that's what it's all about anyhow.

My version of the Rosewood Grill Moscow Mule
I'm not exactly sure what the difference is between ginger beer and golden ginger ale, but I found a 4 pack of Ginger Beer at the grocery, so with that I think I came very close to the drink served us at Rosewood Grill.    I'll have to open a bottle of the beer and a can of my Vernor's to see how they differ.

This was perfect in the heat of the evening when I had little to do and could simply relax. 

2 shots Smirnoff Vodka
juice from 1/2 a fresh lime
bottle of Ginger Beer
Squeeze the lime into a tall glass filled with ice, and then add the Vodka; finally, add Ginger Beer to taste, remembering that this is meant to be a long drink.

THE 3/50 PROJECT and EAT DOWN THE STREET

I’ve recently run across a web idea that I find fascinating. It’s called The 3/50 Project (found at http://www.the350project.net/ ). Started by a woman blogger, the idea has gone national in a matter of months. Her point is to build awareness for independent, locally owned businesses and to prompt more people to seek out and shop with local indie shops.

There is a pretty big movement these days to try to keep local dollars from disappearing into the vast national and global economy, and this looks like a great way that each of us can contribute to that notion.

The basic premise of her idea is that we should each stop and think of 3 local independent (indie) businesses that we would miss if they were gone. Take the next step and stop in and spend some money with them each month. The idea is to keep the economy rolling, but rethink where you spend your dollars and try as best you can to keep your dollars local.

She quotes that for every $100 you spend at a chain or national store, only $43 stays within your local community. Spend that $100 on-line and ZERO dollars stay local. Use that same $100 at a local store and $68 returns to the community through taxes, payroll and other expenditures.

We all have heard a lot recently about the food movement of “locavore”, meaning eating the best, freshest you can find simply by eating what is produced close to home. The 3/50 project simply expands upon that by asking us to spend our dollars locally – and hey, if you’re already a locavore, you’re half way there!

The "Eat Down the Street" portion of her movement is easy to support, especially for me. I LOVE to eat out and local businesses are my favorite. Here's the deal from the 3/50 web site- "It’s not just retail stores we love at The 3/50 Project; it’s all types of locally owned brick and mortars! Join us in supporting the cafes, coffee shops, bistros, diners, pizza joints, pasta shops, and white table cloth haunts that make our neighborhoods fun and fabulous. Let’s commit to eating once a week at an independent spot we’d hate to see disappear—doesn’t have to be someplace pricey, just needs to be an indie (read: not a chain or national brand)."

So today I’m naming 3 independent Akron businesses that I would miss if they were gone and will make an effort to visit each one this month. Can you name 3? Share your 3 with me and we’ll try to support them together.

My three are (1) The Peanut Shop on Main Street (2) Victorian Rose in Hartville (thank you Nancy for reminding me!) and (3) Krieger’s Market in Cuyahoga Falls.

And just so that I keep the ball rolling, I'm going to do my best to stay local while eating out. This week I've lunched at Luigi's (great local pizza spot), and had dinner on Wednesday night with the Gaggle of Gals at Paladar on Chagrin Blvd. 

KRIEGERS SHOPPING THIS WEEKEND
True to the above, Saturday morning I stopped by to spend some of my dollars at Kriegers.  I've been shopping here since I was in college and lived, literally, across the street.  Now I have to drive across town to get here, but I still come as often as I can.  It's grown some and become much more popular as the years have gone by making this a busy place nearly everytime I stop by. 

For those not in the know, Kriegers is a combination produce market, deli, cheese shop, organic and health food store and funky foods purveyor located in Cuyahoga Falls at Bath Road and Grahm Road.  I've found some of my quirkier food finds here, including items from Lollipop Farms and Ornery Goat Farm.  More flamboyant produce from all over the world turns up here and lots of things grown right in our own backyard.  Amish baked goods share space with pita breads and Naan.  My favorite chicken salad is in the deli counter along with some great smoked meats.  Find out more about them on their website at http://www.kriegersmarket.com/

Today I'd already been to the Countryside Market down at Howe Meadow and while I enjoy shopping with the vendors down there, there are some things I can't find at that market.  So a quick stop at Kriegers provided me with some great things for this weekends meals. 

I've been picking jalepeno peppers from my garden recently and the best thing I know to do with them is to make salsa.  I like to mix it up a bit and do things other than the typical tomato salsas.  Today I picked up a pineapple and a couple of mangos along with a nice bunch of cilantro (which although I planted rows of cilantro in the garden, it bolted immediately and isn't producing for me at all) and a nice bag of blue corn tortilla chips.  When I got home I spent a nice quiet half hour dicing up the mango and pineapple and making a kick-butt salsa. 

PINEAPPLE MANGO SALSA
Here is my recipe for the salsa I tossed together this afternoon.  Although it seems like a simple combination, it's easy to move the heat up or down depending up how hot you like it or adjust the flavors depending upon which fruit you like best.  Adding some other flavors would be terrific too, like a little cucmber for crunch or even some avacado to add a buttery texture.

Remember to dice the fruits up really small by putting your knife skills to work.  Too large and you can't fit the chunks on the chips!  Also, make the onion and peppers fine also so no one bites into a big chuck of anything too bitey.

1/2 fresh pineapple, skinned and diced finely
2 ripe mangos, diced finely
1/3 to 1/2 cup finely diced red onion
2 jalepeno peppers, finely diced - remove the seeds and center for a mild heat
1/2 bunch chopped cilantro
Juice of 2 limes

Mix all ingredients and give a little time to meld the flavors together. 

Although I really like salsas with chips, I also absolutely love this particular salsa served over salmon or talapia.  Last week I made a siminlar salsa, mixed it with a wild grain rice mixture and some left over salmon and it was a great cold salad for lunch. 

BARBERTON CHICKEN - YUM!

Now that I'm fairly certain my folks will not be visiting with me this summer, I had to make the trek to Belgrade Gardens on my own for a wonderful greasy, Barberton-style dinner. For the first time EVER I went on my own and also for the first time in nearly 45 years of eating their chicken dinners I ordered something else! It was a Friday and the fish really tempted me and the waitress ensured me that it was excellent. So I thought long and hard and took the plunge by ordering the fish and chicken combo meal (you didn't really think I'd NOT order chicken at all, right?) And hey, quel suprise, it was really good. As usual there was enough food on the plate for 3 meals but I really made a good effort to eat what I could while the chicken and fish were both hot out of the boiling lard. Pretty darned yummy! Of course there was chicken and fries left for lunch the next day and fish and fries left for the day after that. Overall, a good stop for dinner in order to quench that Barberton chicken craving I'd been nursing for over 6 months. Oh yes....fish too.

While I was there I took a good look around and was dismayed to only find 3 other tables with patrons. I overheard the cashier chatting with a departing patron lamenting that if business did not pick up, ownership was considering closing the location. In this economy there are plenty of places going out of business, but I know a lot of people that would miss Belgrade Gardens if it was gone.

In an upcoming blog I will talk a bit about the 3/50 Project and Eat Down The Street.  Please look for that soon and I have definately identified Belgrade Gardens as one of my Eat Down The Street restaurants.  Please join me in that effort by spending some of your dollars to help support a local business.


NEW PROJECTS TO UNDERTAKE

I've taken on a project for my media group to visit and document local food trends.  Well, not really trends, but something along the lines of finding out more about food grown and produceD locally and then how we prepare that food.   Not that this will be an unpleasant task since food is one of my favorite topics, but I am struggling a bit on just how to do this. I think a series of short stories on foods grown locally is my overall theme but where it goes from there will be up for grabs. I've already had quite a lot of good advice and some leads on folks who are far more passionate about food than I am, so it feels as though this will be a popular topic. And since wine and beer are becoming nearly as trendy as food, encompassing those topics should prove just as appropriate. I'll be heading out to some local farms, dairies, wineries etc and tracing their products to local tables. If any of you know of a business that should be included, do not hesitate to let me know.

AND SPEAKING OF LOCAL FOOD

It's getting about that time in the garden when things begin to ripen. Last week Cathy picked (and prompty ate) the first ripe yellow cherry tomato in the plot. In spite of the fact that she thought all tomatoes were supposed to be red in order to edible, she declared it tastey. Yippee, chalk up a win for the food diversity side! Our tomatoes will be all colors from golden orange to bright red. I was a bit bummed we didn't manage to snag any black tomatoes this year, but there's always next year!  Meanwhile the little tomatoes are coming on enough that I can eat a couple each time I visit the garden, today even a couple to share with a neighbor gardener and some to take over to Cathy's. 

I've been a little worried about my Macho Nacho pepper plants. They set on with BLACK oblong fruits and I'd began to believe that somehow I'd gotten ahold of eggplants instead of peppers. A closer look this weekend proves that they are indeed ripening into little green hot peppers. Now if the cilantro would grow I'd be almost ready to make a good salsa.

A neighbor in the garden has had his cabbages and brussels sprouts all eaten away. He's got a short fence around his plot so current speculation is that we're dealing with rabbits with really long teeth or deer invading the garden. A couple of days later another gardener on that side also lost her cabbages and brussels sprouts so it seems that the grazer is definately into the crustiferous plants.  So far they're only feeding on the non-organic side of the plots so my fingers are crossed they'll find enough to eat over there and leave our side alone.

As it's been so hot and dry reently it's also been a struggle to keep the garden wet enough. Cathy and I have taken turns driving out to haul water and have finally decided to take a hose to make this an easier task. Jerry let me use the big hose this weekend and I managed to get totally soaked in the process. The guys thought that was pretty funny and I would have been a little unhappy if it wasn't so darned hot that morning. As it was that water felt very good even if I did have to sit in wet clothes for the trip home.

SUMMER SIPPER

I may have mentioned that it's been very hot and sunny the past week or so and since a good piece of advice is to drink plenty of liquids, I've set up a spritzer area on my counter where I occassionally wander to create a refreshing drink or two for the summer evenings. Keeping a few things in the fridge will make these easy drinks to make on a warm whim. And while I'm not advocating these take the place of good cold water for keeping hydrated, these do make for a far more festive beverage.

LEMON LIME RUM SPRITZER

In a tall collins glass, add:
juice of 1/2 lemon
juice of 1/2 lime
shot of rum
add 6-7 cubes of ice

Top with tonic water or seltzer water and enjoy! I used spiced rum but feel free to use vodka or gin instead. It's really nothing more than a gin or vodka and tonic with a bit more citrus than normal.

So simple and so refreshing.