Special occasion – Page 2 – Cleveland Rocks, Cleveland Eats

Michael Angelo’s Bakery

It’s almost Pączki time. Celebrate at the Winery this year from noon-6 pm on January 28th, but you can stock up on pączki at the Bakery until February 13th this year.

My favorite pączki are made at Michael Angelo’s Bakery. The Bakery has been open for 20 years and is located on Broadview Road in Broadview Heights Ohio just to the north of Wallings Road. The same owners opened Michael Angelo’s Winery during the pandemic. It is located down the street on the corner of Boston Road and Broadview Road in Richfield, and I have heard nothing but good things about it. I haven’t made it there yet though.

As I’ve said, Michael Angelo’s Bakery (not to be confused with Michaelangelo’s (the restaurant in Little Italy) or Michael Angelo’s Winery) is my go-to bakery for pączki (pronounced poonch-kee). For those who don’t know, pączki are made from especially rich dough containing eggs, fats, sugar, yeast and sometimes milk in the month or two before Lent (but definitely on both Fat Tuesday and Fat Thursday). They feature a variety of fruit and cream fillings and can be glazed, or covered with granulated or powdered sugar. Michael Angelo’s pączki are generously stuffed with filling and are light and airy while also being heavy in weight. It is a must-visit for me every pączki season. I go during the day during the week, but you have to get there early before they run out (or you will be stuck with prune) – or order them ahead of time. The lines are long during pączki season – especially on the weekends. If they run out of a certain flavor and they still have the pastries they will run and fill them for you. But once they are out they are out.

Their bread is also very good. They make bread for St. Sava. It looks like it would have a firm crust, but it is really quite soft. It is a tasty bread, but my favorite is their Buttercrust bread. It is their Italian bread topped with butter and baked in a loaf pan. It’s so good! Pictured here to the left is the Country Grain. It reminds me a lot of European bread – a harder crust with a soft center.

They also sell lots of packaged coffee, boxed or bagged cookies and bagged chocolate-covered treats like Oreos or pretzel rods. Their chocolate chip and oatmeal cranberry cookies are great. I had a friend buy them for one of our tea events. The last time I went I also bought a bag of their peanut butter cookies with mini Reese’s pieces, and they were moist and delicious. I’ve also heard good things about the macaroons but can’t attest to them because I’m not a fan. They do look pretty though!

They are also known for their special order cakes. The cakes I have seen people pick up here are spectacular, from kid’s birthday cakes to special events like bachelorette parties or baptisms. They also have smaller individual cakes in a display case to the left of the store.

The only thing I haven’t enjoyed here are the ham and cheese croissants. They are too doughy, and the ham is not good. Croissants should be light and flaky. These are not.

They also sell coffee and tea, which is helpful when you need a jolt of caffeine or a soothing hot tea.

Contact info:

Michael Angelo’s Bakery
8035 Broadview Road
Broadview Heights, OH 44147
(440) 526-0499

The Lobster Pot

I appreciate and regularly crave good seafood. Unfortunately that is not easy to satisfy in northeast Ohio. Red Lobster is okay in a pinch, but I prefer an independent to ensure that the quality is there. My favorite seafood restaurant in the Cleveland area used to be The Lobster Trap on Ravenna Road in Twinsburg. They used to serve a special featuring two whole lobsters, green beans and rice. My parents and I were regulars when I lived near there, but unfortunately they soon went out of business. The Lobster Pot in Willoughby is a good successor. Apparently it used to be in South Euclid and moved to Willoughby Hills in 2017. It is located near the intersection of SOM Center and Chardon Roads.

The restaurant is loosely modeled after a traditional New England-style lobster house. The space is decorated with nautical artifacts like wooden buoys and floats, fishing nets, and the namesake lobster pots, and there is a wooden dory suspended above the dining room. There are also tanks filled with live lobsters and fish. There is a bar with a casual atmosphere as well as a dining room that features white tableclothes and cloth napkins. The patio is also tucked next to the building away from the street and is a great place to relax when the weather is nice

The first time I went there I was craving lobster roll. They have an entree with two lobster rolls on the menu. The rolls were authentic, and the lobster was succullent, with big chunks of tail and claw meat. They were not too heavy on the mayo and had a perfectly buttery taste.

The lobster bisque was ok, but (unlike the lobster rolls) did not contain a lot of lobster. It had a nice creaminess to it. They serve Manhatten clam chowder on the regular menu, but I prefer New England chowder. The New England clam chowder accompanied the clambake. It was a decent chowder. It’s not the worst, but also not the best I’ve had. A decent chowder is still a plus in my book.

The salad was very fresh and was a nice mesculun mix with a couple slices of cucumber, a couple cherry tomatoes and slivers of carrot. I also enjoyed the warm bread was served before meal.

The oysters are super fresh. You can order them raw, baked or as oysters Rockefeller. There is a minimum three per order. I have had them raw and Rockefeller. I have thoroughly enjoyed them every time.

The Lobster and Shrimp Newburg is made with fresh lobster meat and shrimp sautéed with shallots, celery, mushroom, tomatoes, garlic, finished with a lobster cognac cream sauce with a choice of one side. It can be served over rice or pasta. I chose pasta, and it was quite filling. It reheated nicely the next day. I really enjoyed it, despite being made with angel hair pasta, which is not my favorite.

This is a great place to enjoy the clambake or fish fry. I have enjoyed the clambake both inside in the dining room and outside on the patio. I love pairing it with a chardonnay. The clambake comes with a dozen clams, drawn butter, corn on the cob, red skin potatoes and cole slaw. Since I’m a sucker for lobster I usually add the whole lobster. Everything is always perfectly cooked and super tasty. I even enjoy the red skin potatoes.

I also really enjoy the Admiral’s Platter, which features a half pound of snow crab, one lobster til, two jumbo scampi and is served with your choice of two sides. It usually scratches my itch for fresh seafood. If you are craving fried fish, the Fisherman’s Platter is for you. It comes with breaded and fried haddock, shrimp, hush puppies, fries and coleslaw.

Overall, it is a good representation of a seafood restaurant. The parking is convenient. They have great happy hour (Haffey Hour) specials at the bar on Wednesdays and Thursdays from 4-6 pm. The Happy Hour menu features a nice assortment of dishes (calamari, firecracker shrimp, fish or shrimp tacos, shrimp bruschetta, and mussels plus a few non-seafood options) at $7 each, oysters are $2 each and shrimp are $1 each. They also offer discounts on drinks and wine. The food and service are consistently great. You are greeted warmly when you walk in and I’ve never had a bad server. They have always been attentive and responsive to my needs.

Contact info:

The Lobster Pot
2749 Som Center Road
Willoughby Hills, OH 44094
(440) 569-1634

Fiyah Korean BBQ & Hot Pot

For nearly three years, diners eagerly awaited the arrival of Fiyah, the contemporary Korean eatery that opened on E. 55th just north of St. Clair in March 2023. Fiyah offers both Korean BBQ and Asian hot pot experiences in a spacious, attractive setting.

There are more than two dozen booths featuring built-in gas grills, allowing groups to enjoy the interactive art of tabletop grilling. Fiyah is going with two different all-you-can-eat models that offer different selections of meats and seafoods. There’s also a massive wraparound porch and rooftop patio. The big garage-door-like windows will be great in the summer. Drive around the building for plentiful parking and the entrance. The hostess booth is along the wall opposite the bar.

My friends and I met there shortly after it opened. I always try to review a restaurant after visiting twice, but I think I can give it a fair review after our oe visit. The reason being that it is pricey, and I don’t see a second visit in the cards soon enough. Fiyah has several rules. First of all, everyone at the table has to order the same all-you-can-eat tier. This means if one of your friends isn’t that hungry and just wants a soup or something they are out of luck. Also, if one of them insists they want something from the pricier tier like steak you all have to order that. It’s only a $10 difference, but you all have to be on board.

Secondly, there is a two-hour limit and you cannot bring home leftovers. Lastly, groups of 5 or more have an automatic gratuity added. Two of these rules tripped us up, because one of my friends ended up not staying and I still had the automatic gratuity in my head when I calculated what everyone owed and added 2% to the bill. I had to go back the next day and leave our server the missing 18%. Don’t be me. I really hope our server got the money from her coworker.

Anyway, we loved Fiyah. The dining room is industrial but “prettied up” with fake cherry blossom trees. We easily ate our fill of the great items in the AYCE Classic tier, which includes assorted veggies, beef brisket, spicy pork, pork belly and spicy (marinated) pork belly, head-on shrimp, teriyaki chicken and beef bulgogi to grill and rice for $36.99. You also get leaf lettuce to make little Korean leaf cups along with Fiyah sauce and some banchan (pickled veggies and oddly enough a fairly decent potato salad).

Everything was very fresh. I particularly loved the asparagus, shrimp, beef bulgogi and teriyaki chicken. One of our group loved all the pork belly, and the spicy items were not as spicy as you might think. So there was something for every taste. Everyone ate their fill, and we did a good job of finishing everything with minimal waste. If you have a lot of leftover food you will be charged $15.99 per pound, so just order what you can eat and order in small waves.

The AYCE Premium includes everything in the AYCE Classic menu as well as ribeye (1 per customer), salmon, spicy salmon, spicy chicken, Galbi, garlic shrimp and mussels as well as “corn cheese,” which appears to be a creamed corn and cheese dish made with corn, mayo, cheese and seasoning like mustard and doenjang.

They have a wide variety of bubble teas, fruit teas and sodas available, but if you are looking for something really special you should order the Soju Tower. It is a huge tower filled with soju (a clear and colorless distilled alcoholic beverage like vodka), yogurt and fruit. It doesn’t have a super-high alcohol content, because I had probably three or four glasses and wasn’t buzzed in the slightest. But it was super delicious and should be ordered if you are a group.

We really enjoyed our meal at Fiyah despite all the rules. The rules are completely understandable to avoid waste and people cheating the system. Since we were there in April we didn’t get to witness the patio or rooftop bar. We also didn’t notice a ventilation problem (see: Yelp) since it wasn’t that busy when we were there. There is one glaring error that I hope they fixed. I didn’t see any handicap accomodations or entrances, so if you are in a wheelchair or have mobility issues you might want to call to see if they have fixed that.

Contact info:

FIYAH Korean BBQ & Hot Pot
1253 E 55th Street
Cleveland, OH 44103
(216) 862-4267

Blue Canyon Oktoberfest Brunch

Blue Canyon offers a Sunday brunch once a month, usually with some kind of theme. The brunch is phenomenal. You can collect whatever you want from the stations set up in the Lodge room (back of the restaurant) or you can order certain items from the kitchen at no additional charge.

Top left: prime rib carving station, center: salad table, right: various tables with entrees and sides
Bottom left: prime rib, center: shrimp cocktail and salads, right: my choices. Photos by me and Beth Gold

As we entered the buffet room, they had a prime rib carving station with horseradish sauce and smoked red onion marmalade, which was what I was really looking forward to. The next station was the shrimp cocktail and “seasonal salads” table. The salads included a Waldorf salad, mixed greens salad and fresh fruit. The rest of the buffet was grouped over several tables throughout the room. Two tables contained the German foods, including pork schnitzel with a lemon caper-butter sauce, roasted chicken with a cider glaze, herb crusted salmon with a Hefeweizen “beer blanc,” sweet and sour red cabbage, pan fried German potatoes with bacon, green onion and mustard vinaigrette, garlic butter spätzle with caramelized onions and mushroom gravy, and soft pretzel nibs with hot beer cheese dip, onions and gruyere.

Top (left to right): pork schnitzel, roast chicken, salmon
Bottom: red cabbage, German potatoes, spätle (not pictured: pretzels and beer cheese)

Another station featured the normal buffet choices including Applewood bacon, hashbrowns, and maple sausage links. Two other tables featured assorted breakfast pastries and bite-sized desserts.

The made-to-order items, which were included in the price, included a build-your-own omelet (choices included ham, bacon, sausage, pickled jalapenos, spinach, mushrooms, onions, peppers, tomatoes, white Cheddar or American cheese), Blue Canyon Eggs Benedict with a peppercorn chive hollandaise (my friend asked for the hollandaise on the side), Cheddar Cheese scrambled eggs, pancakes (traditional, blueberry or chocolate), a Bavarian cream waffle with an apple caramel sauce (my personal favorite – it was perfection!), Riesling poached clams with sweet corn, shallots and herbs, avocado toast featurng chopped egg, pickled red onion, sriracha, guacamole, and radish on 9 Grain Bread. and Dortmunder braised chicken & apple bratwurst.

The cost of the brunch is $39.99. They offer a discount if you pay in cash instead of credit card. The brunch price includes coffee, tea, iced tea and Pepsi products. For $15 more you can enjoy unlimited draft beers or mimosas with the purchase of the brunch. A single mimosa was $6 for a small and $10 for a large and a Bloody Mary was $7/10. Various juices, cappuccino, espresso and warm cider are also extra. Since I had to drive, I stuck with juice and coffee. At the end of the meal we were also given a coupon for a treat from a ice cream and novelties truck in the parking lot, but there is no way I could have possibly eaten another bite.

My plates: round one with the prime rib, a little bit of all the German items, a piece of bacon and sausage and some salad and round two with the schnitzel, a bite of salmon, some Waldorf salad, and some desserts. The schnitzel was the only thing on the buffet I didn’t love. I’ve had schnitzel in Austria. Blue Canyon can’t compare. It definitely wasn’t hand-pounded

The next brunch is the Santa Brunch in December. I wish I could have attended the November brunch, which featured British staples such as Yorkshire pudding, Salmon Wellington, and Welsh Rarebit as well as roasted turkey, oysters on the half shell, and a gingerbread waffle. My friends went and loved it.

Contact info:

Blue Canyon Kitchen & Tavern
8960 Wilcox Drive
Twinsburg, Ohio 44087
(330) 486-2583

Blue Canyon in Twinsburg

Sitting atop a bluff that overlooks I-480 and gorgeous views of wooded rolling landscapes of northeast Ohio, Blue Canyon Restaurant offers an unparalleled rustic, cozy atmosphere. The restaurant’s design was inspired by the grand lodges located throughout the National Parks of the United States. It seriously reminds me of El Tovar in the Grand Canyon, but it’s a little brighter.

Surrounded by hand-hewn cedar logs, soaring cathedral ceilings, and multiple fieldstone fireplaces, you can relax and enjoy the views out the large windows or admire the gigantic antler chandelier. The bar is also rustic, combining wood and glass partitions. Opened in 2004 by Chef/Partner Brandt Evans, Blue Canyon has stayed in business for almost 20 years without ever dropping in quality. The open kitchen specializes in creative American dishes, including wild game options.

The menu has been tweaked over the years, but there are several customer favorites that remain constant. The BC Yukon Gold Potato Chips are a great appetizer to share. The crispy chips are dressed with a Wisconsin Buttermilk Blue Cheese, a blue cheese cream and scallions. Seriously good as a bar snack or an appetizer. The Bacon Wrapped Boursin Stuffed Chicken Breast is also an original item. It is currently served with whipped Yukon Gold mashed potatoes, Brussels sprouts, and an apple cider glaze.

My favorite dish on the menu is the Pretzel Crusted Trout. I have been enjoying it for almost 20 years. I very rarely deviate, because it’s just so good. You can order a large order (two filets) or a small order (one filet). It is currently served with whipped Yukon Gold mashed potatoes, garlic green beans, and a mustard caper butter. Since I’m not the biggest green bean fan they gladly substituted broccoli for green beans. The mustard caper butter is good I would bathe in it if I could. It is a nice accompaniment to the trout. Paired with a cup of sherry-forward lobster bisque, this was my birthday dinner this year. When given the choice of dessert, I chose the Strawberry Pretzel dessert. The creme brulee and chocolate mousse bomb were also phenomenal.

My birthday dinner (not pictured: a Hurricane)

My friends and family members at the dinner ordered the trout, the salmon, or the pork chops. The Cedar Plank Salmon is also available as a large and small order, which my friend really appreciated. It was also accompanied by whipped mashed potatoes, garlic green beans, and a lemon herb butter sauce, but my friend appreciated that she could substitute a corn side for the mashed potatoes.

The Pork Chop was served with farro risotto, pickled red cabbage, and bacon and pear mustards. My mother is a pork chop fan and enjoyed this dish a lot. They were able to work with her to accommodate her dairy and gluten allergies. She had no problems the next day, which is always appreciated after going out to dinner.

The Dinner Menu is just one of the menus available on the website. They offer a Beverage Menu, a Dessert Menu, a Date Night Menu, a Weekly Family Dining Menu, a monthly Brunch Menu, and currently a Holiday Celebratory Luncheons Menu, a Restaurant Week Menu, and a Thanksgiving Takeout Menu.

Obviously, I enjoyed the Clambake here this year (see here), but I also recently enjoyed their Oktoberfest Brunch in September (to be continued, see next post). Blue Canyon is worth the drive for a special night out with friends or a date night. The bar and dining rooms are cozy, and you just want to sink into the chairs. There are choices for every price point – from a burger to a steak or scallops.

Contact info:

Blue Canyon Kitchen & Tavern
8960 Wilcox Drive
Twinsburg, Ohio 44087
(330) 486-2583

The Original Pancake House

The Original Pancake House was founded in Portland, Oregon in 1953 by Les Highet and Erma Hueneke. It may be a chain of pancake houses across the United States, but it isn’t a large one that is so homogenized that the quality lacks. I don’t really even consider this a chain, because the food is so outstanding. We only have two locations in the Cleveland area – in Woodmere and Fairview Park. The OPH batters are all made from scratch, every day, and are carefully prepared and blended by hand using only the very freshest and finest quality ingredients available. Their original (and extensive!) menu of authentic national and ethnic pancake recipes has gained national acclaim and remains unchanged to this day. In 1999, the Original Pancake House received the James Beard Award in the category of “America’s Regional Classic Award”.

There is always a wait, so plan ahead. Bring snacks and diversions for the kids. Expect at least a half hour wait during breakfast hours – even during the week. The wait may be longer if it is a weekend. If you are a group you better make sure everyone shows up on time, because they will not seat you until everyone has arrived. I try to get there after the rush hours during the week. I don’t have the patience to deal with the weekend crowds.

The food is excellent, and the portions are huge. The focus is pancakes and crepes. The Original Pancake House’s specialties include the Dutch Baby (a fluffy German pancake topped with melted butter and powdered sugar) and the Apple Pancake. They use only the highest quality ingredients such as 93 score butter, pure whipping cream, fresh Grade AA eggs, hardwheat unbleached flour and their own sourdough yeast. The ham and Canadian Bacon are naturally hickory smoked, and the smoked bacon is sliced extra thick. Seriously, it is some of the best bacon I have ever eaten.

Their coffee blend is specially roasted just for the restaurants and served in their own specially designed mugs. I don’t know what it is about the mugs, but they definitely appeal to me. The swooped handle and the cup shape with its larger bottom and tapered top just make me want to keep drinking coffee. It wouldn’t surprise me if they had done psychological studies and knew that. I like that I can also order cranberry juice here.

I also love their seasonal fruit salad. The fruit varies with the season, but when I ordered it in late January the fruits were cantaloupe, honeydew, strawberries, bananas and grapes. The fruit salad is served with a little metal pitcher of Tropical Syrup. I can’t quite place what fruits are in it, but it is citrusy with a hint of bitterness to the sweet, which I enjoyed since it wasn’t so cloyingly sweet. A discussion on Reddit revealed that it is made with day old orange juice and some pineapple juice and corn starch (1 8 oz can pineapple chunks, 2 6 oz cans pine-banana-orange juice and 1 Tbsp corn starch – boil together and then pour over the pineapple chunks, slices of 1 orange, 1 c seedless grapes and 1 banana).

The first time I ate here was with my Meetup Brunch Group. We managed to get a table together – or rather a couple tables close together. This was pre-COVID. Now they don’t allow groups of 7 or more. I remember taking forever to decide what I wanted, because everything sounded so good. I knew I wanted some kind of pancake and was in the mood for sausage, so I ended up ordering the Pigs in a Blanket. The Pigs in a Blanket are three regular-sized sausages wrapped up in their own individual pancake. The pancakes are a little too sweet for my taste. I would have preferred a more savory pancake to match the savory sausages. Then again, I do tend to prefer savory breakfasts over sweet.

I need to rave about the Dutch Baby for a second. I always shied away from ordering it because it looked so plain. It tastes anything but plain! More like custardy goodness! A Dutch baby pancake is like a hybrid (or a love child, if you will) of a pancake, a crepe, and a popover — all in a 9 or 10 inch skillet. I’ve started making them at home because they are not hard. Mix the ingredients (flour, milk, eggs, sugar, vanilla extract and salt) together in a blender or food processor and let it rest for 20-25 minutes to allow the flour to absorb the liquid. The skillet should be screaming hot and preheated in a 425 degree oven. Melt butter in the skillet, swirl to evenly distribute the butter, add the batter and pop back in the oven for 15 to 20 minutes. Top with melted butter, powdered sugar, maple syrup, jam, Nutella, peanut butter, fresh fruit, etc. One Dutch Baby can feed two people – or one person who wants to bring home leftovers for the next day. The OPH Dutch Baby is served topped with butter and powdered sugar with more on the side along with a lemon wedge.

Their omelettes are not omelette-shaped. They are round – as if finished off in the pan and not flipped or folded. This photo of the Irish omelette is from my friend Jane. This fluffy omelette is filled with OPH’s own corned beef hash, onions, and provolone cheese. She definitely enjoyed it. I try to avoid omelettes due to my egg allergy, which is why I am using her photo.

I was in the mood for a waffle one morning, and their Cherry Kijafa Waffle did not disappoint. It is a Belgium waffle topped with Montmorency cherries that are simmered in homemade Danish Cherry Kijafa sauce then dusted with powdered sugar. I loved the Kijafa sauce. According to the OPH in Denver, Cherry Kijafa is a type of fortified 16% ABV cherry fruit wine that is produced in Denmark from cherries with added natural flavors. Because Montmorency cherries are naturally tart, the sweet wine sauce balances the flavors so you have a lovely cherry flavor that is not too sweet and not too tart. The sauce also paired well with the sausage links.

During my most recent visit I ordered everything ala carte. From a small fruit salad to two scrambled eggs, 4 slices of delicious, thick-cut bacon and one perfect Continental crepe. I didn’t want a full order of crepes, so this was a good solution. The Continental crepes are stuffed with sour cream tempered with Triple Sec and served with hot tropical syrup (I still had mine left from the fruit salad). I wanted to take some bacon home, but it was just too good. I sat there drinking my coffee and nibbling on the bacon

The omelettes and egg specialties (not the sausage though) are gluten-free. Gluten-free pancakes and crepes are also available.

Contact info:

The Original Pancake House

Woodmere location

28700 Chagrin Boulevard
Woodmere, OH 44122
216-292-7777

Fairview Park location

3000 Westgate
Fairview Park, OH 44126
440-333-5515

Paczki Crawl 2020

It’s paczki (pronounced poonch-key) season here in Cleveland. What used to be a one-day tradition has grown to weeks of sweet treats and polka parties in Cleveland, culminating on Fat Tuesday, the day of feasting before the Christian fast known as Lent (February 25 this year). Paczki are Polish doughnuts filled with jelly or some other kind of sweet filling, traditionally served prior to Lent and are a mainstay in most Catholic cultures. The Germans call them Berliner. The jelly doughnuts happened because people would clear their kitchens of milk and butter in preparation for Lent and would make doughnuts. The paczki dough recipe is similar to German, Jewish, and Italian filled doughnuts, but traditional paczki contain a splash of Polish vodka called Spiritus in addition to the flour, eggs, milk, sugar, yeast, and sometimes butter that make up the dough. We hit two Polish and two Italian bakeries on our crawl.

I am not a huge fan of crowds. I do not do well standing in long lines and being crushed by people, so I avoid Fat Tuesday, which is the day most bakeries are having their celebrations and selling out of their paczki. I have been buying paczkis here and there in the run-up, so I had a solid plan for the paczki crawl. We did a spontaneous one last year after a particularly bad pancake breakfast, hitting a bunch of bakeries. This year my friend wanted to do it again and met me at the Donauschwaben German-American Club, where I teach on Saturdays until noon. I had wanted to drive to Kiedrowski’s in Amherst, but she requested we start at Becker’s in Fairview Park. The goal of the afternoon was to just see where it took us and enjoy being out and about.

The actual first stop was McDonald’s to get a large iced coffee. It hit the spot and was quite fortifying for the day. And they are currently selling any sized iced coffee for $1.50. Bonus.

Becker’s only sell paczki on Fat Tuesday. We ended up buying a couple of their doughnuts anyway, a glazed and a Boston cream for me. My friend bought a couple Russian tea cakes and a glazed doughnut. We didn’t eat them there. We ended up just stopping and buying doughnuts along the way. I really enjoyed the glazed doughnut when I did eat it. It was very light and melted in my mouth. I spent $6 and change here.

The next stop was Samosky’s, which some people on All Things Food in Cleveland recommended. Not to be confused with Samosky’s Pizza in Valley City, it’s located in Parma on Pearl Road. I had stopped there last week, but they only had one or two paczki left in the afternoon when I got there. This time we had a bit of a selection. The paczki from Samosky’s are a much lighter dough that was more like cake than doughnut. They are split halfway through, filled with filling and lightly dusted with powdered sugar. I chose two toasted coconut Bavarian cream, a choco cream and a raspberry. I also bought two giant kolachke (one apricot and one cheese) – seriously these guys are almost as big as a spoon) and a loaf of bread. I spent $19.25 here.

Chuppa’s was next on our list. I had been thinking about the banana paczki from last year, and they didn’t have them out when I stopped last week. You could order them, but they weren’t being sold in the store at that point. I figured they would be available on a Saturday, and I was right. I learned the banana paczki was last year’s special paczki. This year’s is a mix of blueberry and raspberry and Cool Whip – and had already sold out for the day. They get the dough from a bakery in Middleburg Heights and fill them at the market. Or should I say overfill. They also split them halfway through, and the filling bulges out of them. I bought a cream cheese (because it looked amazing), blueberry, strawberry and something called Poppy Butter. I better not have to take a drug test in the next week or so (poppy can be a false positive), but it was an interesting filling. We tried the filling itself in the car. I can’t report on how much I spent here because I also went grocery shopping and bought some soups, produce and other finds. The paczki were $2.49 a piece here.

Next stop was Rudy’s. My friend wasn’t too thrilled because she’s not a fan (she finds them too greasy) but went along with it. I’m glad we went just to see the organized chaos of it all. It was pretty busy, but they hadn’t run out of anything. They have order sheets scattered everywhere in the foyer. You place your order on the sheets. One thing that irritated me was the advertised “2019 Paczkis” on their website – until I realized they were also doing it in the store. And had the same special flavor – Sweet Moses’ Hot Chocolate – as last year. I left with five sweet and four savory – hot chocolate, two custards, a chocolate butter cream, and a “Hough Bakery” (kind of like a lemon icebox cake) and the chicken paprikash, Little Italy (Italian sausage with peppers and onions), potato and cheese, and kielbasa and sauerkraut. The savory ones are slightly more than the sweet one. I spent $20.90 here. The paprikash one upset my stomach that night, but I enjoyed the custard paczki. I can see why my friend feels they are too greasy. I would agree with her on that point. I took an antacid that night and had a good night’s sleep.

The “last” stop (because at this point my back seat was filled with our purchases) was my favorite, Michael Angelo’s. My friend was not familiar with the bakery, and I was anxious to show her. The line was almost out the door and got even longer once we got closer to the register. My friend had lamented that she needed coffee, and Michael Angelo’s has a great selection. She bought a breakfast blend, and they were able to grind it for her, which made her happy. I purchased three paczki – a custard, a peanut butter and an apricot. I’ve not seen the peanut butter there before, so I am curious how it is. I love Michael Angelo’s paczki – the dough is soft and I love sinking my teeth into the dough that is stuffed with delicious filling. My friend had ordered a paczki and had to wait while they made her a fresh one, as the woman in front of me in line bought the last ones in the case. It wasn’t a problem for them.

We took the opportunity to pop into Molisano’s Italian Foods next door to Michael Angelo’s. We planned to have lunch at Nam Wah, but the sandwiches were certainly tempting. I’m going to have to come back and check it out. They sell Boar’s Head lunch meats and have some nice prepared salads in the case. I bought a couple noodle varieties I had never seen before, which I will be using in upcoming Bread and Soup Experiments.

As we meandered our way home we drove past a sign for a church selling pierogi. We both wondered aloud if we should stop and then laughed at ourselves because we had plenty to keep us for the week. It was fun to just be spontaneous. We finished our day with lunch at Nam Wah, where I introduced her to what I say is the best pho and bahn mi in town. She agrees wholeheartedly with me. We popped down to Mama Mary’s at the gas station on Columbia and Sprague so that she could try the gas station hummus. Her observation is that they leave the skins on the chickpeas so it isn’t as creamy as Ferris, which she prefers. But the seasoning was on point. Fair enough.

All in all a fun day. On the list for next year – Stan’s and Kiedrowsky’s. One that won’t be on my list again is Seven Roses. I’ve tried it two years in a row, and I am not a fan. This time I bought some at the Polish-American Cultural Center’s Fat Thursday celebration. They had run out of the custard by the time I got there, so I got one of each remaining flavor-prune, blueberry, raspberry and lemon. All but the lemon dried my mouth out. And they barely contained any filling. At $2.50 a piece. I’ll stick to the buffet in the restaurant.

Contact info:

Becker’s Donuts, Bakery and Cakes
22088 Lorain Road
Fairview Park, Ohio 44126
(440) 734-9856
(and a location in North Royalton)

Samosky’s Home Bakery
6379 Pearl Road
Cleveland, OH 44130
(440) 845-3377

Chuppa’s Market
5640 Pearl Road
Parma, OH 44129
(440) 885-5000

Rudy’s Strudel and Bakery
5580 Ridge Road
Parma, OH 44129
(440) 886-4430

Michael Angelo’s Bakery
8035 Broadview Road
Broadview Heights, OH 44147
(440) 526-0499

Nam Wah Chinese & Vietnamese Cuisine
392 W Bagley Road
Berea, OH 44017
(440) 243-8181

Seven Roses Polish Delicatessan
6301 Fleet Avenue
Cleveland, OH 44105
(216) 641-5789

Sawyer’s

You’ve probably heard of the implosion of the Sawyer brand. I think it is a real shame, because the man is definitely talented. He just isn’t the best businessman. I hope he lands on his feet, and I thank him for all the delicious meals he has given us. He’s out at Sawyer’s and SeeSaw, but his creative food and concept is still there.

Sawyer’s just opened in the new Van Aken District in Shaker Heights. I met a friend who is moving from Cleveland there on Sunday night. Street parking is a little tricky, but the parking garage is just across the street from the front door. There were not a lot of handicapped parking spaces as far as I could see. I parked on the street around the corner, while my friend parked in the parking garage. Her husband, who has mobility issues, did not join us that night. He is why I always consider parking issues when planning events, but crossing the street is easily doable.

Chef Jonathon Sawyer (James Beard Award winner, 2015 Great Lakes Region) is known for his love of local agriculture and sustainable businesses. I’ve always admired his dedication to reusing and recycling when he built The Greenhouse Tavern, his flagship restaurant that is still open on E. 4th and still has rabid fans. I miss Trentina a lot. I had the pleasure of enjoying the Menu Blanco there once, and it remains a lifetime highlight meal to this day.

Sawyer’s newest restaurant, Sawyer’s, is light, bright and contemporary, with a white-washed industrial feel. My main complaint about Noodlecat was the uncomfortable seats. That is not the case here! The blue chairs against the beige-upholstered benches are really comfortable and add a pop of blue. The green plants everywhere are also a great addition and intersperse the white surroundings with pops of green. As the Scene magazine explained in an article before it opened, “Sawyer’s will be a step up in terms of price, polish and presentation – a grown-up version of Greenhouse Tavern.” The menu features “wood-fired cooking” (with several heavy-hitting wood-fired ovens) and offers nods to several of his restaurants.

Once sat we were offered still or sparkling water. I chose sparkling, which my friend who does not like still table water in restaurants happily shared with me. The water is served in recycled glass containers of 5x distilled sparkling or still water.

My friend and I had to get the beef tallow candle and wood-fired pita bread as a starter. That candle was revolutionary to me back when Trentina opened. It was made of aged beef suet, edible 24k gold leaf, honey and crunch salt, which melted into a dipping sauce for the crusty baguette that was brought out later in the meal. In this version, I doubt it has 24k gold leaf in it, but it was still a delightful beef suet that was perfectly seasoned and melted into a dipping sauce for the wood-fired pita. We shared the one piece of pita, but I also took remains of the candle home to heat up later. I imagine if you have a couple people they would gladly provide enough bread for everyone. Even if you had to pay for the extra bread it would be worth it, the bread was fluffy and puffy and perfect.

I was pleased to see a few other Trentina favorites on the menu, such as the Strangolapreti (which was served with cabbage sauce, grated egg, smoked bottarga, stinging nettles, bergamot orange, ash and olive oil and was one of my favorite bites of the tasting menu – this appetizer version features stuffed bread gnocchi with robiola cheese and Ohio beef brisket) and Trentina Salad. The menu also has a crispy confit of chicken wings, with wings being the huge favorite on the Greenhouse Tavern menu. There’s also a burger and brick chicken that I seem to remember from the Greenhouse Tavern menu. Obviously with a completely new take on things.

I could not decide between a few oysters off the Raw Bar section or the French onion soup (it was a cold night), so I decided to order both. At $3 each or by the dozen for $30, I could pick and choose however many I wanted. I ordered two – one from the East coast and one from the West. The oysters were pristine and served with a range of add-on sauces, including mignonette sauce (a condiment made of minced shallots, cracked pepper and vinegar), a light hot sauce, and a lemon wedge. I preferred the oyster from the West coast, because it reminded me of the salty, briny Jersey ocean of my childhood summers. The East coast oyster was smaller and lighter in taste, not as “fishy.” I can’t wait to go back and order a plate of them and scheduled a dinner for a couple weeks from now with my dining out group.

When we ordered the French onion soup, our server explained to us that since it is wood-fired it was less soupy and more like a concentrated fork-friendly stew of caramelized onions topped with a round of bread and gruyere cheese. This soup was unbelievably delicious. We both ordered it and were thrilled with it. The flavors were zingy and beefy, yet the dish itself was quite comforting. The cheese wasn’t as gooey as I prefer French onion soup to be (I recently enjoyed one in Palm Springs where the cheese was so thick it was served with a pair of scissors to cut it!), but this wasn’t really a soup so I didn’t mind it. It is hard to describe the soup, but if you like the French onion flavor palate you need to try this.

I had trouble deciding on an entree. I ended up ordering the Bistro Steak Frites, which featured a picanha strip loin and Sawyer’s amazing duck fat fries. He got his start here in Cleveland at Bar Cento, and the man can still make a delicious, tantalizing rosemary-infused duck fat fry. I didn’t need a dipping sauce for them because they were that delicious, but it would have been a nice little plus. The beef was served on a bed of pureed root vegetable and topped with a chimichurri sauce. I would order it again in a heartbeat. You can also get a Filet for $50 or a 48 oz dry aged Porterhouse for $101. Both entrees sounded amazing. Life goals.

However, my friend’s lamb special, which was roasted lamb served with hummus and black and green olives, was even better than my entree (which I didn’t think was possible). The lamb was roasted perfectly and had such an amazing flavor. I savored my two bites she gave me. And am tempted to go back before my dining group’s dinner to enjoy it again.

I usually like to visit a restaurant twice to allow for any missteps – especially if a restaurant has just recently opened. Sawyer’s had its soft opening the last week of October. But Sawyer’s knocked it out of the park on this visit and deserves praise for this one visit alone. It is worth the drive to Shaker Heights. Trust me.

Edit: Went again tonight. I had the Fifth Quarter, which tonight was a pappardelle with venison and mushrooms. It was good, but the pappardelle were undercooked. The fried chicken and “pork chop” were both amazing. We also ordered desserts – I highly recommend the s’more. The banana bread pudding and maple bacon creme brulee were also quite nice. Save your money on the apple tartlet.

But be sure to make a reservation. (https://www.opentable.com/r/sawyers-shaker-heights) Right now Sawyer’s is dinner-only Wednesday through Sunday. Weekend brunch and weekday lunch will be added down the road. The restaurant seats 90 and they could accommodate us as walk-ins on Sunday night, but I can’t imagine the place not being packed most nights.

Contact info:

Sawyer’s Restaurant
3396 Tuttle Road
Shaker Heights, Ohio 44122
(216) 860-1236

Let’s talk about paczki

Pączki (pronounced PUUNCH-ki) are filled doughnuts that are typical for Polish cuisine. Paczki have been made in Poland since the Middle Ages. Germans call them Berliner. They are deep-fried dough balls that are filled with a filling and covered with powdered sugar. Traditional fillings include prune and poppyseed. Many bakeries also feature modern fillings such as chocolate mousse, marshmallow and (my favorite) custard. They are served on Fat Tuesday and most recently are now also served during the month leading up to Lent. Clevelanders hear a lot about paczki during this time, and most bakeries hold huge events on Fat Tuesday where you can pick up your paczki for the office, friends or just general consumption. I’m not a huge fan of crowds so I have avoided the hoopla surrounding Fat Tuesday paczki celebrations, but I might venture out to Rudy’s this year just to see what it’s like.

If you are lucky you can get your favorite flavors when you just stop in, but most bakeries prefer you order ahead of time for Fat Tuesday or just to ensure you get the flavors you want. Some flavors sell out quicker than others.

Debates rage about who has the best paczki. A couple years ago I decided to try a bunch and decide for myself who has the best. My heart lies with Michael Angelo’s Bakery on Broadview Road in Broadview Heights. I love the soft, yeasty dough of the paczki as well as their variety of flavors, and the dough is almost bursting with filling (as you can see on the right). I started getting my paczki fix from here last weekend. They announce when they start selling paczki on their social media pages and continue until Fat Tuesday. Flavors include their famous marshmallow, custard, raspberry, apple, apricot, Bavarian maple, lemon, chocolate mousse, strawberry mousse, peanut butter and prune. Flavors vary with availability. The are $1.95 each and $17 per dozen.

Colozza’s Bakery on Ridge Road in Parma wins the award for most unique flavors. The classic Italian bakery takes on a Polish accent in February. Colozza’s mixes in new and traditional flavors in their dozen annual paczki offerings, from lemon and apricot to peanut butter banana fudge, butterscotch, and cannoli. They discontinued prune and poppyseed, but might be able to make them if ordered. The minute I heard they had a butterscotch paczki I headed there. The paczki were good, but not as good as Michael Angelo’s. The dough was a little drier, and as you can see in the photo to the right it wasn’t as filled with filling. But hey, butterscotch…

Seven Roses Polish Deli on Fleet Avenue in Slavic Village serves paczki year-round. It is basically just a jelly doughnut, but a little rounder and denser. The bakery serves old world favorites such as prune, poppyseed and the classic rose jam paczki on the Monday and Tuesday before Lent (Rosenmontag and Fat Tuesday). Last year there was even a Paczki Parade, so check their Facebook page or keep your eyes out on Cleveland.com. All paczki orders must be placed ahead of time.

Rudy’s Strudel on Ridge Road in Parma is considered Paczki Central in Parma. They expect to sell more than 65,000 by the end of Fat Tuesday. Last year they paired up with Barabicu Smokehouse to feature their hand-smoked brisket in a savory paczki. This year they are pairing with Sweet Moses for a Hot Chocolate paczki. Call ahead to order this one. They had run out when I stopped in. This photo on the left shows the variety of flavors they offer – both sweet and savory. Rudy’s hosts their annual Paczki Day Party starting at 5 a.m. on Fat Tuesday with live accordion music, eating contests, babushkas and more. Flavors include savory and sweet treats, such as Murray Hill (Italian sausage and peppers), Parma (potato and cheese), and Polish Village (potato & IMG_20190206_135659 cheese, kraut & kielbasa) or chocolate butter cream, pina colada, mocha, poppyseed, prune and rose petal jelly paczki (to name just a few).

Cleveland’s favorite donut shop, Jack Frost on Pearl Road in Cleveland, wouldn’t miss paczki day. For one day only, Jack Frost goes Polish with poppyseed, raspberry, apple, pineapple, lemon, cream cheese, Boston cream, cinnamon-caramel and a special chocolate and peanut butter Buckeye option. Orders taken during the month before Lent and can be picked up in a tent outside the shop beginning at 6 a.m. on Fat Tuesday. They’re pricey – $4.25 each and $28.95 a dozen, but as anyone who has had Jack Frost donuts knows, they are well worth it.

I plan to try Samosky’s and Buettner’s this year. If I am in the Northfield area I will also try Stan’s Northfield Bakery, because the idea of a grape paczki is tempting.

My friend Judi from The Charmed Kitchen used to make homemade paczki every year on Fat Tuesday. Click the link for her recipe for tiramisu paczki. She made the doughnuts and offered a bunch of different fillings, so you can fill your own with whatever you prefer and however much you prefer. You might consider making your own paczki and having a paczki party of your own. Cleveland is all about the paczki.

What’s your favorite place for paczki? You have a month to discover which one you prefer so you can get your order in for Fat Tuesday. Fat Tuesday this year is March 5.

Sérénite in Medina

I am a huge fan of EDWINS on Shaker Square, so I knew I wanted to support Brandon Chrostowski and his latest culinary institute in Medina. I organized a dinner with a bunch of my foodie friends shortly after it opened, and we trekked down to Medina looking forward to a good meal. We were not disappointed. The restaurant is located at the old Medina Steakhouse & Saloon. They have done a nice job paring the decor down to match the sophisticated French menu. There was ample parking and two main rooms to seat diners. There are even a few tables on the front porch for those who enjoy dining al fresco.

Despite my attempt to get there early I was the last to arrive due to heavy traffic. When I arrived the entire table was enjoying their French 75s. Who was I to buck the trend? The French 75 is one of my favorite drinks, but it can suffer from a heavy hand. Luckily the person behind the bar makes a perfect French 75. It was delightfully refreshing. There was some furor in Medina about whether Sérénite should be awarded a liquor license since the restaurant is a training ground for people in addiction recovery. I am glad good sense prevailed, and the restaurant was given a license. Their employees need to learn how to work around it without giving into the temptation, and if they do fail they are in a supportive environment that will catch them as they fall and quickly set them back on the path. I wish them all the best of luck! They also offer a non-alcoholic menu for those who prefer one. Since we were there in the early days our server was understandably nervous, but when something went awry she quickly and efficiently took care of it. Things go wrong when you dine out, especially in the first few weeks. It’s all how the service staff handle things, and they did a great job taking care of us. That said, for a table of 7 only one of us had a major issue, which was immediately rectified (one of my friend’s mac n cheese was lukewarm, but they whisked it away and quickly rectified the problem). Everyone else was delighted with their meals. She was too once the mac n cheese was hotter.

I ate here twice in the first two weeks of opening, once with a small group and then with a friend to enjoy a quick drink and nibble before my nieces’ middle school orchestra concert. Unfortunately I’ve been swamped with work and haven’t had the chance to write about it until now. As a result of my visits, I was able to sample about half the menu. Although Sérénite is similar to EDWINS it does not have an identical menu, which allowed me to try some new things. The biggest surprises were the frog legs and the artichokes. More on those later.

I decided to stick with a classic appetizer-entree-dessert on my first visit, so I tried not to fill up too much on any of the courses. I ordered the shrimp cocktail. The shrimp were plump and juice and averaged out to $3 a shrimp. The cocktail sauce had the perfect amount of horseradish bite to it. The presentation was also flawless.

I was able to try a frog leg, which was absolutely delicious and perfectly prepared. They are pan-fried in butter and garlic. The meat fell from the tiny bones and were a huge hit with my friends who ordered them. The serving size is generous, so I could imagine ordering them to share or even as an entree.

After spending the afternoon studying the online menu deciding what to order I was surprised to see a range of other choices available, including several steaks. To see page two click on the arrow at the bottom of the online menu that appears when you hover over it. Don’t be a noob like me. That said, the restaurant may want to change their format if they want older, less savvy diners to be aware of page two.

I had decided on the Steak Frites (hanger steak with fries and Bérnaise sauce), but when I arrived and saw the other choices I was torn. After consulting with the server and my fellow diners I decided to order a steak along with a couple of sides. The ‘Le Boeuf’ steaks do not come with sides. You have to order them a la carte. I ordered the artichokes from the appetizer section and the risotto from the sides. I decided to order a New York prime strip steak, but could have also ordered the filet mignon or a bone-in ribeye. The steaks come with a sauce of your choice. I chose the Bordelaise sauce and could not have been more pleased. Bordelaise is a red wine demi-glace with shallots and butter. It was flavorful without overpowering the flavor of the steak. I was also able to taste the au poivre (cognac cream sauce with demi-glace and green peppercorns) and Béarnaise (rich butter sauce with tarragon vinegar and shallots) sauces. The other sauce is a Diane sauce featuring demi-glace, mushrooms, shallots, brandy and cream), which I knew I loved but decided to order something I don’t make myself. For those of you who are wondering what demi-glace is, it is a combination of espagnole sauce and a rich brown stock. The strip steak was extremely flavorful and tender, just as it should be. I loved the Bordelaise sauce as well. The braised artichokes were tender, and the white wine butter sauce delicious. The risotto features mushrooms, which is what made me decide to order it over the frites. The rice was al dente, and the flavor was phenomenal. I took half of everything home and enjoyed the meal again the next day for lunch. After all, I needed to save room for dessert.

I am a huge fan of EDWINS’ creme brulee. I think it is the best I have ever had. So I wanted to order it, but then learned that they also offer Bananas Foster, which is prepared tableside. Luckily, one of my friends and I decided to share both. The creme brulee was just as delicious as I remembered, creamy with a nice crust of caramelized sugar that broke with a tap of the spoon and complemented the custard. The surprise for me was that I adored the Bananas Foster even more. The tableside preparation was enjoyable, even though I have seen it prepared before in New Orleans. The chef did a great job with it. The bananas were perfectly flambeed and were a great complement to the creamy vanilla ice cream. I would definitely go back just for the Bananas Foster!

And go back I did within the week. I learned that my oldest niece was going to be the concertmaster of her middle school orchestra, so I decided to go down early and enjoy a quick bite with my friend who I had shared the desserts with. We sat at the bar this time and both ordered two appetizers. I chose the lobster bisque (I love French onion soup, but did not want to drip it) and the escargot. The lobster bisque was delightful – creamy and a nice underlying sherry base. But the star of the meal was the escargot. The Burgundy snails came out bubbling in the butter and garlic, and I enjoyed sopping up the sauce with Sérénite’s great homemade bread. I paid my bill and rushed out to go to the concert and was able to greet another friend who was taking her parents out for a nice meal as they walked in.

I wish I lived closer, because the Bananas Foster alone is worth the trip. Your meal can be fairly cheap if you stick with a few of the lower end items on the menu, but it can also be a perfect ‘special night’ venue if you are willing to splurge a little. I highly recommend you check them out as well and support their worthy cause.

Contact info:

Sérénite Restaurant & Culinary Institute
538 W Liberty St
Medina, OH 44256
(330) 952-2611