Cleveland Rocks, Cleveland Eats

White Oaks has been a Westlake institution since the 1920s. It is a very throwback restaurant with a country club vibe. During prohibition, it was a speakeasy catering to the crème de la crème, and it honors that rich history with its decor and food. The interior is split up into a honeycomb of many small rooms covered in dark wood and rich colors with fireplaces spread throughout the restaurant. I felt like I had stepped back in time. In fact, we had. I think we were the youngest table there, but that didn’t stop us from enjoying our meals. White Oaks features old-school fine dining, with entrees such as Beef Wellington, Veal Oscar (which was a special that night) and venison. I learned later that it was my parents’ special occasion restaurant in the 1970s and 80s when I was growing up in Olmsted Falls.

I apologize in advance for the darkness of the photos. I didn’t want to use the flash on my phone and disturb the other diners. Plus, there is a sign discouraging the use of cell phones, and I didn’t want to be chastised.

Every table is served house-made cottage cheese and a relish tray featuring carrot and celery sticks, a couple radish slices, and green and black olives. I found this very quirky, but loved the cottage cheese, which is flavored with fresh chives. It was definitely unique. I love cottage cheese (especially Breakstone Cottage Cheese) and could have eaten the scoop of cottage cheese all by myself if given the opportunity.

I started with the Apple Onion Soup Gratinee, which features “slowly simmered Spanish onions and Red Delicious apples in a flavorful broth. Topped with freshly grated Mozzarella and Swiss cheeses golden-browned”. I love French onion soup, and the addition of apples was an inspired choice. This soup was absolutely delicious and piping hot with all kinds of melty cheese. I was in heaven. I wasn’t as enthralled with the bite of escargot, but having had excellent escargot in France I am spoiled. It was good, but not spectacular. My friend, however, enjoyed it very much. Next time I will try the highly recommended Pale Ale White Cheddar Cheese Fondue, but I may just have to order the soup again. It was *that* good!

The salads were good, but not anything that stands out. My friends ordered blue cheese dressing and ended up paying a$1.50 upcharge for it, which I don’t remember the waitress mentioning when they ordered it. They enjoyed the fresh salad dressing with crumbled blue cheese and didn’t mention it when we were settling the bill. Word of warning: they put our four meals all on one bill. Apparently they don’t do separate checks even when asked. We could pay with separate credit cards, but we had to tally the bills up ourselves.

I ordered the Venison au Poivre for my entree. It was not at all gamey and was marinated in a ruby red port with assorted seasonings and juniper berries and topped with a port cranberry game sauce. I requested the twice-baked potato instead of the rice. The venison was perfectly cooked and I loved the sauce, but the twice-baked potato was a little drier than I would have liked but was good. The entree came with haricot verts and julienned carrots.

For dessert I order tea and a simple order of fresh strawberries topped with a splash of Grand Marnier and fresh whipped cream. I chose a nice Orange Pekoe from their selection of tea bags. The strawberries were fresh despite not being in season any more. The dessert course was simple, yet perfect.

My friends loved their meals as well, ordering the Beef Wellington, the Veal Oscar and the Filet Mignon with Gorgonzola. The service was attentive but not overbearing, and our water glasses were constantly topped off. If you are looking for a restaurant with old-fashioned flair give White Oaks a try. I hear it is sumptuous in the winter with the fireplaces burning and reflecting off the polished wood.

Contact info:

White Oaks
777 Cahoon Rd
Westlake, OH 44145
(440) 835-3090

I just got home from the Lake Erie Nature and Science Center‘s annual benefit. This year’s annual benefit featured “a modern twist on a clambake.” Since I love a good clambake I couldn’t wait and bought ticket number 170. Tickets were $75, with $45 tax-deductible. They also had a silent auction and several raffles. The featured raffle was for $1,000 in airfare. I bought raffle tickets for the electric wine cooler stocked with 22 bottles of wine and the $535 in gift certificates and raffle tickets. Unfortunately I didn’t win, but the money all went to a very good cause – the Lake Erie Nature and Science Center in Bay Village.

The menu was inspired by traditional clambake favorites, including clam chowder shooters, clams, and corn lollipops along with chicken skewers, carved beef sliders, sweet potato fries, and cupcakes and popcorn for dessert along with a Lake Erie Signature Drink called the Nor’Easter (light rum and ginger beer).

We walked in to be greeted by a table overflowing with cheese, crackers, crudités and dip (the first photo was taken at the end of the night, because everyone was crowded around it when we got there). There were also several open bar stations scattered around the Center with beer, wine, soft drinks, and water – and the Nor’Easter was available at the bar station outside near the band. I loved that they had plenty of seating and tables scattered throughout the Center. My friend and I walked around a bit to get the lay of the land and ate our appetizers outside near the bonfire.

The first food station we hit featured honey cinnamon butter, cornbread (both sweet and with chorizo), chicken skewers with Thai peanut sauce, corn on the cob lollipops and steamed clams with either a sun dried tomato pesto, a spicy red sauce or drawn butter. Since I am a purist I stuck with the drawn butter and used it on both the clams and the corn. Everything was simply outstanding. The clams were tender and perfectly steamed. I only had one unopened clam. I chose the sweet cornbread and slathered it with the honey cinnamon butter as well as dipped it in some leftover drawn butter. The chicken skewers were tender, and the peanut sauce was nicely seasoned and had just enough heat to be absolutely delicious. The corn on the cob was a little soggy, but I’ve had much, much worse at restaurants. Plus, corn on the cob is hard to serve to a crowd and keep warm. I went back for seconds of the clams and corn.

The lines started getting a little longer as the night progressed. The line at the roast beef carving station moved pretty slowly, but the carver was trimming the meat as he was cutting. As he got to me they brought out a fresh roast beef. I asked what the crust was, and the servers couldn’t tell me. It looked like a dry rub crust, but who knows what was in it. In any event, it was delicious. It was served on soft dinner rolls along with horseradish cream and stone ground mustard. They served the most delicious sweet potato fries with them. They must have been dipped in brown sugar and cinnamon before baking, because they had a nice cinnamony sweetness to them.

The dessert was served at around 8:30 and they brought out tea, coffee and lots of assorted cupcakes and mini-cupcakes. I chose a mini coconut cupcake and a chocolate cupcake with vanilla buttercream frosting. Both were moist and delicious.

At some point we took a break and checked out the silent auction items, which included a clambake, a Vitamix blender and whole foods cookbook, tickets to the Cleveland Orchestra and Journey, an American Girl doll, various events and classes (I was very tempted to bid on tickets to the Metroparks golf courses for my brother-in-law but he lives in Medina…), 4 hours of personal assistant/organization help, and diamond jewelry. I didn’t bid on anything, but my friend did – and won a night at the planetarium for 60 people by rebidding at 9:30 just as the auction was closing.

We also got to talk with the Science Center employees and volunteers and pet the skunk, ferret, chinchilla, etc. The carving station was located in the critter corner, so I got to admire the snakes, fish, turtles and other “critters” while waiting in line and walking back to my table.

They also had a popcorn station that people could enjoy or bag up to take home. The varieties of popcorn included both savory (dill, ranch and mild cheddar cheese) and sweet (caramel apple, cotton candy, chocolate cherry and banana split). I bagged up some sweet to take home and munched on a handful of ranch popcorn out at the bonfire. I enjoyed singing along with the band (The Feedback) as they played music from the 70s, 80s and 90s. They had a very nice range of songs and voices. Servers walked around with trays of clam chowder shooters (it isn’t a clambake without clam chowder!) and bacon wrapped around blue cheese (the one clunker of the night, but I didn’t realize it was blue cheese until I bit into it and I’m allergic to it).

It was perfect clambake weather – in the 60s and slightly cloudy. I enjoyed wearing long pants and a long-sleeved blouse and not sweating to death. We could see the stars just at the edges of the clouds. It started lightly raining just as the event came to an end at 10:30.  I drove home relaxed and very happy – and smelling like a bonfire. It was the perfect way to say goodbye to the summer here in Cleveland.

Contact info:

Lake Erie Nature and Science Center
28728 Wolf Road
Bay Village, OH 44140
(440) 871-2900

The city of Cleveland Heights was created in 1901 and became my home a little over two years ago. When I heard NEO Food Tours was going to tour the Cedar-Lee District I bought one of the first tickets. I looked forward to possibly trying some new restaurants and getting to know my ‘hood a little better. Unfortunately they had to cancel the tour last year, so I was out of luck. I was happy to see they were going to offer the tour again on August 28th. This year’s tour didn’t really feature any restaurants that I haven’t been to yet, but then again I have lived in the Heights for a while now. It was nice to enjoy some favorites I hadn’t been to in a while and visit a couple places I wasn’t quite as familiar with. So after enjoying a nice day off I made my way to Cedar and Lee on Tuesday night, parking for free on Meadowbrook.

The tour started at Lopez on Lee. We checked in at the bar and were greeted by Todd Gauman, head of NEO Food Tours, and Cleveland Heights mayor Ed Kelley. My car had been broken into the week before (I leave it unlocked to avoid replacing a window and leave absolutely nothing of value in it), and we talked about that and other topics for a bit. I enjoyed chatting with him and was thrilled when he chose to sit next to me. He is a really nice guy. He told us about some of the upcoming plans for the Cedar-Lee district, including a multi-million dollar housing and retail project at the corner of Meadowbrook and Lee Roads.

Lopez is known for its Mexican cuisine, and we were all served margaritas and bags of chips and homemade salsa as we sat. The executive chef, Michael J. Herschman, greeted us and told us a little bit about Lopez. Turns out Rick Bayless was the first chef at Lopez. Rick hosts a series on PBS and is a regular on the Food Network, so that was a very cool piece of trivia. As we listened to the history of Lopez and their dedication to using local produce, we noshed on their shrimp and grits featuring corn and chile grits with smoked cheese, roasted peppers and scallion. It had a nice heat to it thanks the jalapenos and chiles in the grits and sauce.

We then walked down to Abrash Gallery that featured a pop-up by Rockefeller’s Restaurant and Lounge chef Jill Vedaa. Chef Vedaa and the owner of Abrash Gallery briefly talked about their respective establishments. Abrash Gallery features handmade rugs and other fair trade goods for sale. Rockefeller’s is located on the second floor of the Heights Rockefeller Building at the corner of Lee and Mayfield, which was built by John D. Rockefeller Junior in 1930. I’ve always loved the building and secretly hoped to live near the building and Fairmount, which I now do. Rockefeller’s is located in the former site of a bank. Chef Vedaa prepared short ribs over a bed of shredded carrots (sorry but I don’t remember how the carrots were prepared, but they were good!). Since we were in a gallery that didn’t offer the ability to sit or use a knife, the short ribs were a good choice. They just fell apart with the touch of the fork. She served a pinot noir to accompany the short ribs. It was a very successful pairing. I was happy to find a seat in front of a fan, because it was quite warm in the gallery.

We then crossed the street and headed on down to The Wine Spot, where we were greeted by owners and a representative from FarmShare Ohio. The long table covered in plates featuring local cheeses and wine glasses was quite pleasing to the eye. The cheese plate was accompanied by a handy guide. The 12 o’clock position featured fresh chèvre (goat’s milk) from Lake Erie Creamery, 3 o’clock was a basket cheese (a Guernsey cow milk cheese) with heirloom cherry tomatoes from Lake Erie Creamers, 6 o’clock was a summer blomma with blueberry aigre-doux (my favorite cheese because I’m a huge fan of camembert and brie), and 9 o’clock featured a Own Creek Tomme (a sheep’s milk cheese) from Kokoborrego Cheese Company drizzled with raw honey from Auburn Apiary. We were served 3 different wines from Ohio. I enjoyed the first two (white wines), but not the third (a pinot). I would have loved the third with a meal, but it didn’t quite pair well with the cheeses, especially following two white wines.

After The Wine Spot we headed to Phoenix Coffee to sober up with a coffee tasting. The wired-up coffee expert was extremely entertaining and shared two different coffees with us prepared two different ways – in a French press and cold-brewed. The coffee was accompanied by a bran muffin that tasted to me like a good carrot cake. Yum! He also told us about the coffees he was serving, but I’ll be darned if I can remember them. I think the first one was a direct trade coffee from Mexico and the second one was an Ethiopian coffee, but don’t quote me on that. They try to buy their coffee directly from the growers and cut out the “coyote’ middlemen who underpay the farmers for their harvest. He talked about the different locations and the roastery in the heart of downtown Cleveland. He is particularly excited about an upcoming shipment of coffee in mid-September that sounded interesting (although again I can’t remember the details – just that it sounded great), so I definitely plan to stop by for a cup at my local Phoenix Coffee on Coventry.

Our final stop of the night was at Taste. We walked through the dining room, past the open kitchen where we said hi to the chefs and into the private room in the back. The first thing we noticed was the gorgeous chandelier. We were told later that it was made from wine bottles and glassware from Spy Bar in the Warehouse District. And the sconces on the side walls were made from white bottles. The servers came around offering us our choice of red or white wine. I went with the pinot noir, which was delicious. Todd got a little choked up as he explained he was dedicating the tour that night to Sergio Abramof, the owner of Sergio’s and Sarava who passed away unexpectedly earlier that week, and we raised our glasses in his honor. Sergio was a force behind the independent restaurant movement here in Cleveland and a true mentor to many. He will be missed.

We were served a crab cake served over a bed of fresh salsa and drizzled with basil oil. The crab cake was moist and not too “fishy.” The salsa was fresh and bright, and I loved the fact that it had lots of cilantro in it. If I had known we were being served a crab cake I would have probably opted for the white wine, but my pinot did not conflict too terribly with the crab cake.

We were given take-away bags with some fliers, coupons and bite-sized pastries from Coquette Patisserie. The Queen of Sheba (left) is an almond paste chocolate cake with a layer of spicy Mexican chocolate ganache (spicy chocolate? yes please…). The center pastry is a Pixie Bar, which is a pistachio florentina atop almond paste cake, a layer of lingonberry compote, and a pâte sucrée crust (my clear favorite – almond, lingonberry and pistachio – what’s not to love?). The Blueberry Macaron (right) is an almond flour meringue shell filled with blueberry buttercream and was gluten-free. The meringue shattered to reveal the buttercream, and it was very flavorful.

It was with a heavy heart and stomach that we headed home at close to ten o’clock. I’m proud to report that I went right to sleep shortly after getting home from the tour and the coffee did not keep me up as I had feared it would.

Chez Francois is expensive, but worth every penny. It is the perfect location for a romantic date or birthday or anniversary celebration. It’s expensive, it’s upscale, and you’ll need to dress up if you want dine at this place. Men must wear jackets and will be given one if you forget. As one Yelp reviewer said, “It offers top-level, chef-driven food made from scratch with very fresh ingredients by the hand of a masterful chef classically trained in French cuisine.” Everything here is cooked to perfection. The service is impeccable without being burdensome. This is fine dining the way it is supposed to be.

The restaurant is located about a block from Lake Erie overlooking the Vermilion river. If you have trouble with steps, be forewarned because you have to climb down quite a few shallow steps to reach the restaurant. The dining room is impeccably decorated and the view of the river with the boats going by is simply lovely.

The food is the star here. The menu changes with the season. Several of its signature items, such as the lobster bisque (Homard Bisque, en Croûte) and the French onion soup (Soupe a L’Oignon Gratinée) as well as the Beef Wellington (Filet de Boeuf Wellington à la Périgourdine), are always on the menu. We started off our meal with an amuse bouche served in a small shot glass of what tasted like a summer gazpacho with an avocado foam. It was light and delicious. Bread was served soon after that – the loaf was warm and wrapped in a white napkin.

The lobster bisque features a puff pastry top and is loaded with creamy soup and chunks of lobster. I was able to try my friend A.’s bisque. It was perfectly seasoned. You will feel as if you’ve died and gone to heaven. I definitely plan on ordering it next time.

I myself ordered the Escargot Basilic, which were delicious. You can see an order of them in the photo just behind the lobster bisque. The escargot features five large snails served in the shell swimming in the most decadent blend of sweet basil, garlic, shallots and sweet butter. It was topped with a little puffed pastry crescent moon that I used to sop up the leftover butter. When in a French restaurant, do as the French and try the escargot. I think you’ll be surprised at how good they are.

The entrees then came with an artful summer salad with a cucumber slice wrapped around it. The salad was perfectly seasoned, used the freshest ingredients, and not too large. For my entree I ordered the Escalope de Veau aux Fruits de Mer, which featured sautéed breaded medallions of Provimi veal tenderloin with Maine lobster, a cold water shrimp, a Maine sea scallop and asparagus spears, topped with a Normandy wine sauce with fresh dill. Words simply can’t describe how wonderful this was. It was absolutely divine. Perfectly seasoned and not overcooked.

The desserts were so delicious we simply couldn’t choose and ordered several to share. My favorites were the fresh Ohio peaches over homemade ice cream and the chocolate mousse, which was topped with fresh blackberries.

Every single member of my dining out group loved their meals, so you can’t go wrong with anything on the menu. Chez Francois also has special dinners and wine tastings, which are posted on the website. I attended the Bordeaux Wine Dinner this spring and was simply wowed from start to finish. Two of my tablemates didn’t drink, so if you don’t drink don’t let that dissuade you from attending a wine dinner or other celebration there.

Contact info:

Chez Francois
555 Main Street
Vermilion, OH 44089
(440) 967-0630

I wanted to let you all know about an upcoming event that I am unfortunately not able to attend this year. I look forward to the Case Western Reserve University book sale every year and try to make a festive day out of it. My friend C. joined me last year, and we spent a delightful afternoon/early evening hanging in Cleveland Heights. I’ve also been known to treat myself to a lunch on the garden patio at Guarino’s in Little Italy, just me, a plate of pasta, and my new purchases.

The CWRU book sale is gigantic. It literally fills up the entire gymnasium and is extremely well-organized. The books are divided into genres, and each genre gets its own section and own check-out help who mark down your purchases for that section on the form you get when you walk in. Once you have your fill of books you head to the front to pay for your books at the main check-out.

I particularly enjoy the music section and the paperbacks in the back, but I also browse the cookbooks, history books, and German books. The rare editions and coffee table books are always interesting. In the past I’ve found a rare German dictionary set for a song, an ECG self-assessment program, and started my Les Roberts collection. Last year I scored 12 Vienna Masters Series CDs for $1 each that rounded off my collection of classical music that I started in 1989 (with only one duplicate, which I gave my father) in addition to a ton of paperbacks and some books on World War II and the art of spycraft. I guarantee that there are sections for every single taste.

The Book Sale is being held this year from June 2-5. It is open Saturday from 10 a.m. – 12 p.m. for the preview price of $20 (this attracts mostly collectors and the truly zealous) and admission is free from 12 p.m. – 5 p.m. It is open Sunday and Monday from 12 p.m. – 5 p.m. and Tuesday from 10 a.m. – 1 p.m. Prices are reduced on Monday, and Tuesday is “Box Day” – $5/box.

C. and I met at the Mad Greek parking lot, so we decided to enjoy a nice meal there as well. The patio had just opened for the season and it was a gorgeous day, so we sat outside. The servers brought our delicious drinks first, which we enjoyed in the sun. I ordered a Mango Madness and Caroline ordered the blueberry mojito. Both were very refreshing and potent. The server soon brought us our samosas, which we split, and our entrees (vegetarian Indian food for her and the Island of Minos Stir Fry for me). We enjoyed the delicious food and chatted about the book sale and our purchases. It was a delightful afternoon.

So mark the dates in your calendar. If you love books this is one sale that you simply can’t miss! Add a trip to one of the local restaurants afterwards and you’ve got a quintessential Cleveland day that rocks!

Contact info:

Case Western Reserve University’s Adalbert Gymnasium
2128 Adelbert Rd.
Cleveland, OH 44106

I belong to a tea group through Meetup.com. Every few months one of the co-organizers hosts a tea at her home that simply rocks. Space is limited, and her teas fill up very quickly. When I told Crystal of Eat*Drink*Cleveland about the tea she thought it might interest my readers and encouraged me to post about it. Maybe it will inspire you to host a tea of your own.

J. goes above and beyond when it comes to the teas she hosts at her house. We have enjoyed a Mad Hatter Tea featuring food inspired by Alice and Wonderland and a Peter Rabbit Summertime Tea featuring food inspired by the characters of Beatrix Potter.

J. and her husband worked hard to prepare the food for this tea, while her daughter M., who attended culinary school, helps put everything together and serve the food so that J. can visit with her guests and be the ultimate hostess. Everything was as close to being authentic as possible from the food to the teas to the music. She had a CD of music that played on the Titanic playing when we walked in. We were handed a handout packet entitled Boarding Pass (printed a likeness of the actual boarding pass) featuring the menu, authentic menus from first, second and third class and various historical facts. Most of the recipes she found came from Tea Time Magazine.

Our first course was champagne punch accompanied by marinated fruit shots, which were fruit skewers marinated in a tea-infused simple sugar. The champagne punch was made with tea, ginger, a bunch of other ingredients, and three bottles of champagne. I preferred drinking it over the tea this time since it was such a warm day.

The second course was the scone course. She had made three different scones – a white chocolate and champagne scone, a chocolate coconut almond scone, and a raspberry ricotta scone. The scones were served with butter, clotted cream and raspberry preserves, which we could add or not depending on our preference. I would be hard pressed to choose a favorite, but my favorite scone was the chocolate coconut almond scone.

The third course featured assorted tea sandwiches that were inspired by food that had been served on the Titanic. We enjoyed marinated shrimp on crostini, goat cheese and olive tapenade sandwich stacks, bacon and cheddar tea sandwiches on toasted pita rounds, crab salad in cucumber boats, pear and blue cheese canapes, curried chicken and apple toast cups, and lamb with mint pesto on crostini. Again, all of the sandwiches were delicious, but my favorites were the pear and blue cheese and lamb sandwiches.

The fourth course was the dessert course. She served Victorian poppy seed bundt cake with a lime glaze, lemon berry ladyfingers, black forest trifle, chocolate eclairs and ‘white on white confections’ (mini-cupcakes with white sprinkles). I had started to hit the wall at this point, but if I had to choose a favorite it would be the mini-cupcakes. They were moist and delicious.

Three different teas were served at the Titanic Tea: RMS Titanic tea, Buckingham Palace tea, and Queen Catherine tea. The RMS Titanic Tea Blend is a Harney & Sons loose commemorative tea blend created to honor the 100th Anniversary of those who perished when the Titanic sank. The tea blend features Chinese Keemun and Formosa Oolong. A portion of the sales will be donated to The Ocean Conservancy. Buckingham Palace Tea is served at the Buckingham Palace garden party every May. The tea blends Ceylon Earl Grey with a soft jasmine from Fujian Province and a malty Assam. Queen Catherine is a Harney & Sons loose tea blend of three Chinese black teas in honor of Queen Catherine, who introduced her love of tea to the British. Not being a fan of Earl Grey, I chose to drink the RMS Titanic Tea.

To view more photos, visit http://www.meetup.com/No-Hats-Required-Tea/photos/7477542/.