Deck on The Viking - Seattle Restaurant Review

About a month ago, I was driving through Ballard, and I noticed a small building with a neon sign that caught my attention.  I decided that when I had the opportunity, I would swing by and check the place out. This past weekend ended up being the opportunity.  So, on my way home, I decided to swing by and check out the Viking.

The Viking is a small place nestled under some trees on 24th Ave. NW in Ballard.  In the window is a sign that let's people know that the Viking has been serving Ballard since 1950.  There is also a sign that caught my attention that said "Fresh Smoked Meats, Ribs and Chili".  Now I'm a big fan of the fine dining experience, but at my roots, there is nothing like a great burger or barbeque.  So, I felt compelled to try any place that is advertising it's smoked meats in the window.

Walking in, I noticed that the Viking is the quintessential neighborhood bar.  The bartenders greeted many of the patrons by name, knowing what they liked to drink.  In the back was a shuffleboard table, and various softball trophies lined the wall.  I picked out a seat at the bar, and ordered myself a Manny's.  After taking a sip, I checked out the menu which was a single sided sheet.  I was going to order dinner when I noticed that everything on the menu was available for takeout.  I'm not opposed to eating by myself at a restaurant, but since I'd been traveling for a little while, and had a nice comfortable couch waiting for me, I decided that taking it home with me would be a good idea.  So, I finished my Manny's, ordered a second, and placed a to-go order for a Number One (beef brisket sandwich) and an order of two ribs.  In less than the amount of time it took me to finish my second beer, my dinner was brought to me.  I paid the bill (only $25 with tip), and headed home.

On the drive home, the smell of the barbeque sauce was intoxicating.  By the time I got home, my mouth was watering and I was excited.  I got situated and opened up the two different boxes.  I decided the first place to start was the brisket sandwich.  Biting in, I was pleasantly surprised.  The barbeque sauce was a tangy, not too spicy sauce with a strong tomato taste, and just a hint of sweet.  I would say that it was more of a Texas style sauce in my limited barbeque experience.  The brisket was good too, very flavorful, though a tad less smoky than I'd hoped for.  The whole thing was served on an onion roll that soaked up the sauce, and was the perfect amount of messy.

After a couple bites of the sandwich, I set it down, and turned my attention to the beef ribs.  They were coated in what appeared to be the same barbeque sauces as the brisket.  Biting in, the flavors definitely exploded in my mouth.  The meat was very flavorful, and again complemented nicely by the barbeque sauce.  The ribs were very good, and honestly a bit unexpected coming from the little place in Seattle.  Compared to the Kansas City Ribs that I had, the spice rub was a little less powerful, and they weren't quite "bite clean off the bone"tender, but I was very pleased.

The Viking was a great little find for a neighborhood bar with great food.  I will definitely be back, especially because there is a Southern Style pork sandwich that I absolutely want to try.

Final Verdict - 3.5 Stars

Bringing the Family Together

Growing up, one of the things that I always remember is our family meals.  Every night we would sit down together as a family for dinner.  Each of the children had a chore; be it setting the table, clearing the table or feeding the dog.  And every evening my mom would come home from work and cook us a very nice, simple meal.  We would sit down, talk about our day, enjoy a little bit of family time without the television on, and inevitably laugh as my youngest sister always seemed to get up having sat on something (Jello seemed to be the most common).  It's been almost ten years since I officially left home, and while some things have changed, one remains the same: we always sit down to family meals together, though the meal itself has evolved.

In the years past, it would always be my mom making dinner, with my dad occasionally do some cooking if it involved the grill.  But the past few times, as I've gotten more into cooking (and also one of my sisters), the preparation of the meal has become a much more family oriented affair.  Take this recent trip home.  We decided that we were going to cook dinner, and that the main protein would be trout.  This meant my dad would take on the grilling duties.  For a vegetable we opted for asparagus because it is in season.   I volunteered to work on the asparagus because I had a couple of Michael Chiarello recipes in mind (pesto for the fish, roasted bundles for the vegetable).  And my mom took on the dessert and the cornbread, pretty much a staple in our house when serving trout.  Plus, it gave her an opportunity to try a new recipe as she continues her search for the best cornbread recipe ever.  

About an hour before dinner, we all set to work.  I got started on the bread crumbs for the roasted asparagus as well as the pesto while my mom worked on the dessert.  We were able to talk about different flavor combinations, techniques and recipes that she had never done (or had the time to do) while we were at home.  Then we poured ourselves a glass of wine and just talked about food; different chefs, different recipes, different nutritional facts that we'd learned and different places that we'd eaten.  The entire prep time dedicated to talking about food (and giving my grandma a little bit of a hard time being that she's less adventurous than the rest of us), and not once did we feel bored.  As dinner time approached, my dad fired up the grill.  We had talked about different fish cooking techniques, and decided to give low and slow a try this time.  Previously we had both cooked fish at medium, but after a recent fish taco party with friends where I had referred to a Bobby Flay recipe, I had dropped the heat even further in an attempt to maintain the moisture in the fish.  To go with the fish, he whipped up a little lemon butter sauce, and seasoned the fish simply with salt and pepper.

While my dad was grilling the fish, I put the roasted asparagus in and pulled out the cornbread (in our talking we let it go about two minutes too long; whoops!).  We also sauteed up some regular asparagus for Grandma just to make sure that everyone was happy.  About this time, my dad brought in the first of the trout to see how it was, and we decided it just needed a minute or so more on the grill, assuming he could keep it lit in the wind (one of the disadvantages of gas).  When he brought in the second batch, it was perfect.  Instead of really have to peel it off the bone, I simply had to start it, and it just fell off onto the plate (and I'm not just saying this because I know he's reading my post).  It was very moist and tender, quite possibly the best trout I've had.

In the end, our timing was a little off, having finished the pesto and the roasted asparagus a little ahead of the fish, and having to reheat the pesto, but all in all everything came together.  My mom commented that if I had decided I'd liked to cook (and learned about different foods) earlier in life, we definitely would have eaten "better".  I don't think it was necessarily better, but we definitely ate differently than we had when growing up, with things like asparagus pesto, roasted asparagus bundles, cornbread muffins from scratch and slowly grilled rainbow trout.  Though, I don't know if any of us picky kids would have been interested anyway.  But when it was all said and done, no matter what food was put out, we all once again sat down at the table together, and shared a wonderful meal.

Deck on Mattie Sopranos Pizzeria - Denver Restaurant Review

One of the fun things about getting more into new restaurants and cooking is that it is rubbing off on my family members.  Coming into Denver, my folks came to pick me up prior to going to a Rockies' game.  Our usual game time approach is to head down near the stadium and go to a bar like Jackson's.  But this time, my dad decided to take some time and search out something different, a place that we have never gone to before.  He came up with Mattie Sopranos Pizzeria.

Mattie Sopranos is located out near DIA in a small strip mall type place.  It seems to be fairly new as Denver continues to expand out toward the airport.  It's a quant little Italian place that was pretty wide open.  There is a small bar, a small salad bar on the back wall, and plenty of seating.  When we walked in, there were not a lot of people.  Of course it was 5 o'clock on a Friday, so I didn't anticipate a lot of people out away from the city. 

We sat at a booth off to the side and ordered our drinks, and then started looking through the menu.  There were a lot of different options to work our way through.  I found a couple of things that looked interesting, but coudn't really narrow it down.  So, I waited until the waitress came back around and just asked her what she liked.  The first thing she asked was for me to narrow it down so I decided on pasta.  She said that it would probably be Chicken Marsala or the Pasta Alla Mattie.  Since, I'm not a huge mushrooom fan, I opted for the Pasta Alla Mattie; a linguinie with a cream sauce, sun-dried tomatoes, artichoke hearts and sausage.  My dad went with a stromboli and my mom with a penne with a vodka sauce and chicken.  We also opted for the cheesy garlic bread as an appetizer.

When the garlic bread arrived a short time later we dove in (as you can see from the picture, someone was awful excited...).  The garlic bread was nice.  The bottom was crispy, the bread soft, but not overly mushy and the cheese was browned nicely on top.  It came with a simple marinera sauce that had some chunks of fresh tomatoes.  Not a bad way to start.  While we were still working on the garlic bread, enjoying our conversation, the entrees arrived.  It became pretty obvious that Mattie's doesn't skimp on portion size.  The small stromboli looked like a foot long sub.  And both plates were heaping with pasta.  The flavor was pretty good.  The sauce was mild and when you got a bite of the tomato and artichoke with it, it was a nice flavor.  The only negative was that there wasn't enough of the tomato, artichoke, and sausage to balance out the large portion of the pasta.  I ended up making my way through about half of the portion before I finally had to put my fork down.

At the end of the meal we decided to opt out of dessert and make our way to the game.  For a little neighborhood Italian, Mattie Sopranos wasn't bad.  I would say that there was nothing that really stood out, but there wasn't anything that really fell flat.  It was what I had come to expect from a local Italian joint (a little different than the local Italian I've found in Seattle).  All in all, I think it was a good step into the non-usual Denver cuisine.

Final Verdict - 2.75 Stars

Deck on Pappadeaux's - Dallas Restaurant Review

On my very first work trip, I found myself in Houston. When I told one of my friends that grew up in Louisiana that I was going on the trip he told me to make a trip to Pappadeaux’s. I did, and I was blown away. That was a year and a half ago. Now every time I fly through Houston, I make sure to place an order at the Bush International Pappadeaux’s and pick it up before my next flight leaves. Why do I tell that story? Because on this trip to Dallas as we were trying to figure out where we wanted to go to dinner, someone mentioned Pappadeaux’s. My ears perked up and my mouth started to water a little bit. I know it is a place I’ve been before, but I haven’t written about it yet, and I knew it would deliver the goods.

After a short deliberation, it was concluded that Pappadeaux’s was the place to go, and we headed out. When we got there, I was excited. It’s the type of place that is really designed to hold a lot of people that are interested in eating a lot of good food. Our waiter (Chris I believe) was one of those guys that’s just friendly and full of energy, offering suggestions while convincing you to get more than you could possibly eat. Looking at the menu, I decided I would try an appetizer this evening and placed my order for Boudin, a dish that seemed uniquely Cajun (with a description that read “sausage stuffed with rice”…I was curious to say the least). Chris then gave us a few minutes to look over the dinner menu, but I knew I didn’t need to. There was one thing I wanted, the reason for going to Pappadeaux’s; the crawfish etouffee served over dirty rice. It was the recommendation from my first trip there, and it is still the only thing I order…well, until I saw the crawfish platter that combines the etoufee with fried crawfish. Double the crawfish on one plate?? Why not!?

When Chris returned, I happily placed my order (after convincing two of the people with me that they too needed to order it), and then turned to my Sam Adams and conversation. It wasn’t too long until a plate was placed in front of me with two full sausages, rice, dipping sauce and bread. I wondered if Chris realized that I wanted the appetizer portion of the Boudin, and not the meal portion. Then I looked at the other appetizers, remembered where I was, and knew that I wouldn’t be leaving hungry (and that I had a date with the gym in the morning). The Boudin was very interesting, and very good; kind of a shredded meat in the sausage casing with a great kick to it that was balanced very nicely by the rice. The sauce was a little bit of a cream based sauce that again added a little heat and a little cool. But, what stood out was the flavor of the meat, which was very moist and flavorful, definitely not overwhelmed by the spice.

I ended up eating 1 full sausage, and giving away a bit of the second one knowing that my etouffee was still en route, and I wanted to make sure I had plenty of room for that. Shortly after we finished our appetizers and ordered another round of drinks, the entrees started to arrive. There was some fish with sauces and the like at the other end of the table, but all I noticed was the plate set in front of me. I decided to first take a bite of the fried crawfish, which was great; kind of like popcorn shrimp but with more flavor. The thing is after that first bite of the fried, I realized that I had made a mistake. By ordering the platter, I got a half order of the etouffee!! And it wasn’t that the fried crawfish wasn’t good, it’s that the etoufee is great. It has this wonderful spicy kick to it, the kind that sneaks up on you and just slowly spreads across your tongue, but not in an unpleasant way. The spice is complimented by a rich roux based sauce, with the crawfish adding a hint of sweetness, and the dirty rice is there pretty much just to soak everything up. I was definitely pleased, and I could tell from the chorus of “Oh wow!” and “Oh my gosh!” that the others that ordered it were pleased as well. In fact one of the guys kept saying “I can’t eat any more” as he continued to work his way through the etoufee. In the end, we all finished off all of the etouffee, leaving some of the fried crawfish behind.

At this point, we were all sufficiently filled to the gills. That’s when Chris offered dessert. But he didn’t just bring us a menu. No, he brought a tray with each of the desserts and set it in the middle of the table. How do you say no to that? We definitely couldn’t, though we did talk ourselves into only splitting a banana pudding. And while I’ve never had the banana pudding before, you can bet that every time I fly through Houston, it will be added to my order. It was ridiculously good, not too sweet, and not too overwhelmed by the banana which I found to be surprising (I can’t order smoothies with banana because the flavor is so strong and distinct). It was topped with some whipped cream and had Nilla Wafers in the middle. And of course it was served in a Mason jar.

The one thing to remember though is that it's about ordering the right thing. If you are from Seattle, don't order the Salmon or crab because you know you will be disappointed. But for us, we all left the meal very satisfied, without a doubt, and it is a place that I will go back to. I’m sure it’s not the greatest Cajun food in the world, but for me, it’s the best I’ve ever had. Maybe next time I’m in New Orleans, Baton Rouge, or somewhere in Louisiana, I’ll give something else a try (in fact I know I will). But for sure, every time I fly through Houston I will be going to Pappadeaux’s for the incredibly delicious crawfish etouffee (now with banana pudding)!

Final Verdict – 4.5 Stars

Deck on Maximo Cocina Mexicana - Dallas Restaurant Review

This week I find myself in Dallas for work.  Ok, not quite in Dallas, but out in the 'burbs in Addison.  When we met up with our work colleagues for dinner, we suggested Mexican or Barbeque since these are things that aren't as common in Seattle.  After a little discussion we decided on Mexican and headed over to Maximo Cocina Mexicana which happened to be conveniently located near the Hilton where we are staying.

As we walked up, the first thing I noticed was that it was a little fancier than I had anticipated (maybe it was my preconceived notion of "Mexican" and "Texas").  I was wearing a t-shirt and jeans and felt that I was a little underdressed.  The door was a very large, very heavy wooden door that opened into a little foyer.  On the right was a nice, swanky looking bar, and on the left was a very open dining room.  For some reason, the outdoor seating was not available at this time.  We took our seat and started looking through the menu.

While we were deciding on our drinks, a tray with three different salsas and a batch of tortilla chips arrived.  Before diving in, we pretty much unanimously decided on margaritas, especially after we were told that it was a homemade recipe that simply included lime, alcohol free triple sec and one other ingredient that shamefully I cannot remember.  After the waiter left, we dove into the chips.  They were very nice and crispy, more in the form of strips, and appeared to be tortillas that were placed into a fryer and then lightly salted which made them quite crispy and tasty.  The salsas ended up being a bit of a surprise.  On the right, was a sauce that I had thought would be more of a salsa verde, but ended up being very sweet; made with pineapple, ginger and tomatillo.  The middle salsa was more expected, an ancho chile based traditional salsa.  And on the left was one that I thought was an avocado crema type sauce, but ended up being jalapeno with a little kick.  It was unexpected and a very good start to the meal.

After snacking on chips and salsa, our drinks arrived.  Mine ended up being a hot margarita (apparently things got mixed up) meaning that it had some jalapeno pieces in it to add heat.  The thing is that they weren't muddled in any way, and were just finely diced peppers with no seeds or veins, so really didn't add any flavor, and was a little annoying.  My second one later I made sure was just a regular margarita which was much better.  For dinner, after much deliberation, I decided to go with what they called the Pollo Al Mole.  I was a little nervous because the only mole I've had to date was at Rick Bayless' Frontera Grill in Chicago and when I asked if it was a traditional mole poblano, I didn't really get a yes/no answer that I was expecting.

To satiate us while waiting for the food (which took like 20-30 minutes to arrive) we also got some guacamole.  It was made tableside for us with just some avocado, lime, tomatoes and jalapenos.  It was ok, but I'm also not a huge guacamole fan, so take my opinion with a grain of salt.  It definitely wasn't something that was going to convert me to a guacamole fan.  When the meals finally arrived, I was ready to dive in.  It looked and smelled good with the mole served over the top of some rice and the corn tortillas on the side.  The mole was actually pretty good and pretty flavorful.  There wasn't one flavor that really jumped out at me, but the whole thing work together to have sort of a mild but rich flavor.  Unfortunately I was a little let down by the chicken which was very dry and couldn't even be saved by the mole.  Also, I couldn't really tell if the tortillas were handmade, but the flavor was reminicent of those that I've purchased before.

The restaurant was definitely more along the lines of traditional Mexican (or at least what I understand to be traditional Mexican) which was different than I had expected.  And the food was good, but considering that my baseline is the Frontera Grill, Maximo started the night behind the 8-ball, and just wasn't able to push past.  Next time in Texas, I think I'd like to go more in the direction of Tex-Mex rather than traditional Mexican; looking for a little more spice and heat.  Overall, I wasn't underwhelmed, but neither was I overwhelmed.  Just kind of middle of the road.

Final Verdict - 3.5 Stars

Deck on Bakery Nouveau - Seattle Restaurant Review

On Sunday morning, I was playing in a volleyball tournament at Alki Beach in West Seattle. As I was heading out there, I was thinking about what to do for breakfast. My normal ritual when heading out there is to either stop at Starbucks, or possibly get there and walk down to the Alki Bakery. This time though, realizing I had a little time, I decided to check out a place that I’d read and heard a little about; Bakery Nouveau. This turned out to be a great decision all at the same time.


Bakery Nouveau is a small bakery located on California Avenue, tucked in amongst some other shops. Had I not been using my GPS, the chances were pretty good that I would have driven right past it and not even noticed. As fate would have it, I noticed just in time, and got a parking spot right by the front door. The first thing I noticed when I stepped out of my car was the smell drifting toward, almost like a finger just beckoning me to come in. And so I obliged.

Walking in, I took in as much as I could. The interior was pretty simple, with a few seats for people. But the display cases were quite the opposite. Complex and delicious looking desserts and candies filled the first case. Breads were in the second area. And then in the third were the pastries. It was here that I focused my attention on. After a short amount of deliberation I opted for the Pineapple Croissant along with the Almond Croissant, probably the most famous pastry to come out of this quaint little shop. I figured that since I was playing volleyball all day, I could splurge on two pastries. I also got a cup of coffee, the entire bill coming to about $10. I paid, and then took my bad of croissants with me to the beach.

Once I got to the beach and got myself situated, I dove into my breakfast. The pineapple croissant was delicious. Very flaky crust, but still soft and moist on the inside. The pineapple maintained its texture and integrity, and added that perfect amount of balanced sweetness. Not to mention the entire thing was in the shape of a pineapple. But, as good as the pineapple croissant was, it couldn’t stand up to the Almond croissant. Talk about delicious and fantastic and incredible and all of those other adjectives. The first bite was one of just flaky, melt-in-your-mouth deliciousness. The flavors just explode in your mouth, the butteriness of the croissant with the just right almond flavor. It was just right, a perfect breakfast to start the morning.

Without a doubt the almond croissants are as good if not better than advertised. I will be planning on making a stop at Bakery Nouveau pretty much every time we go to West Seattle for at least one croissant. And if we ever end up moving to West Seattle (which isn’t out of the question), it is going to be incredible difficult to not stop by every morning on my way to the office. Guess that means I better figure out a workout plan now…

Final Verdict – 5 Stars

Not the Typical Soup and Sandwiches for Dinner

When I started this blog, I intended for it to be a combination restaurant review and cooking experience.  But lately, it has definitely skewed heavily toward the restaurant review side as I've been traveling quite a bit.  And it's headed back in that direction later this week, so I wanted to be sure that I took the opportunity to make a couple meals at home.

Last night was the first of those opportunities.  The thing was, I spent all day at the beach playing in a volleyball tournament and didn't really feel like cranking out a big full meal.  Fortunately, I had Michael Symon's cookbook in hand and his philosophy of "if it takes more than two pans, I'm not making it", which was exactly what I needed.  I had flipped through the book when I bought it and remembered a recipe for a spicy tomato soup.  What could be better after a long day (which happened to be overcast and a little rainy) than soup and sandwiches?  I made a quick stop at Whole Foods and picked up the ingredients that I needed; tomatoes, sriracha sauce, blue cheese (specifically buttermilk blue cheese), heavy cream, bread, an heirloom tomato, and some bacon for BLTs.  I already had the red onion, garlic and chicken stock at home as these have pretty much become staples in our house.

To say that this soup was simple is an understatement.  I started by chopping some red onion and sweating in down.  Added in a little garlic and kept going for a couple more minutes.  Then add the stock, tomatoes, a bit of fresh oregano and sriracha.  Let that simmer for about 45 minutes.  Then it is into the blender with the blue cheese (I probably could have used the hand blender at this point, but didn't).  Blend until smooth, strain back into a pan on the stove to keep warm, and it's done.  It's almost as easy as making the stuff from the can but far more flavorful.  The soup was full of tomato flavor, with a hint of spice from the sriracha and the creaminess from the blue cheese and cream.  It definitely wasn't too heavy at all.  To garnish it, I took some parmesan cheese, put it in on a Slipat mat, and cooked it for about 10 minutes at 350 degrees.  I also learned to make my layers of cheese a little thinner if I wanted to have a crispy parmesan "cracker" (they were a little soft in the middle).

But as great as the soup was, it needed a sandwich to go with it.  For Jennifer, I went for an extra cheesy grilled cheese sandwich.  I did a layer of of mozzarella, then a little dill, some cheddar, a bit of bacon (not too much), and then another layer of cheddar.  This was all on some fresh Italian bread.  I buttered the outside and toasted it in the pan to a perfect golden brown.  For myself, I did a simple BLT, but with heirloom tomatoes and baby arugula on the same Italian bread.   For this one, I purchased the thick cut bacon, but at some point I am going to try and make my own based on the recipe and guidance in the cookbook.

All in all, I think this came together as an excellent meal, and really illustrated the transition in my cooking.  One year ago, this same meal probably consists of Campbell's tomato soup (or maybe one of those soups from the box at Whole Foods) and a couple slices of cheese between two slices of bread from a loaf, thrown in a toaster oven.  The response would have been positive, but not the same as I got with the delicious sandwich and soup.  I probably would have poured out the leftovers.  This is what has made learning to cook so fun.  I doubt that I come up with this recipe on my own, but at least I'm willing to tackle anything in the book, learn the basics, and hopefully some day adapt it to suit some different flavors.  The quality of the food is so much higher which makes it so much rewarding to put in the effort.  I'm not saying that I'm not going to do some of the boring meals anymore, we all get a little lazy every once in awhile, but that I'm getting more curious and more interested (and frankly better) when it comes to new foods.

All of this from tomato soup and grilled cheese...

Deck on Elysian - Seattle Restaurant Review

For some reason I've set on this search for the best burger in Seattle.  I really enjoy a lot of good food, but there is just something about a great burger that can always put a smile on my face.  So, the search for the burger continued this weekend when I met one of my friends at the Elysian in SoDo prior to the Mariner's game.

The Elysian has always been a good place to meet prior to baseball and football games down in SoDo, especially when you bring the girls.  It's not a typical sports bar, they brew their own beer, and it has a little bit of class.  On this particular evening, the place was pretty full with Mariner fans getting ready for the game and Sounders fans enjoying the end of their day downtown.  When I got there, I ordered an amber and a burger.  When asked if I wanted cheese, I decided on pepperjack, adding a little spice to my life, on a medium burger.  And of course I got fries to go with it.

When the burger arrived, it looked nice, served open so I could add my own condiments.  I decided to only add one piece of lettuce (I'm just not a huge lettuce fan), the tomatoes, red onion, and roasted red pepper for a little extra flavor.  I then put the top on and cut it in half.  The burger had a nice color to it, but wasn't overly juicy.  When I bit in, I actually got a piece of paper that had been used to separate the slices of cheese, so I was a little disappointed by that.  When I removed it, and took another, non-paper filled bite, the burger was much improved.  The red pepper was a very nice flavor addition, but the burger itself was a little bland.  I really prefer my burgers to be very flavorful and juicy, dominating the flavors of the bite, with the other toppings simply accenting the ultimate flavor of the burger.

So, while the burger was merely ok, the fries were quite excellent.  They were perfectly crispy on the outside while remaining moist on the inside, and were salted very well.  Even at the end of the meal, when they had cooled down, they remained crisp and flavorful.  They were exactly what I want in a french fry.  In the end, I'm still looking for that amazing burger, but the Elysian will definitely remain one of our pre-game stops.  The food is good, though I'll have to try something a little different next time, and the vibe is just right.



Final Verdict - 3 Stars

Quick Bites from Cleveland

From a food perspective, I will say that this trip to Cleveland was unlike any other that I’d taken. As an interesting side note, it was unlike any other from a work/positive energy/excitement perspective as well. All-in-all, my best trip to Cleveland. Anyway, I posted about Lola and Lolita over the past week, but those obviously were not the only places that I ate at. So, I offer a quick bites recap of my non-hotel, non-cafeteria dining around Cleveland.

Steak ‘N Shake

You might be asking why I went to a Steak ‘N Shake, especially given my affinity for non-chain restaurants and trying the local cuisine. Two reasons. First, there really isn’t a lot open in Cleveland after 11 p.m. Second, Marc Summers said on The Best Thing I Ever Ate that his favorite hamburger of all time was from Steak ‘N Shake. Now, I’m sure Marc Summers knows good food, but I can now definitively say we don’t share the same hamburger tastes. I ordered the Double Steakburger with the Works and fries. This means it had ketchup, mustard, lettuce, tomato, mustard, onion, and mustard for good measure. I like yellow mustard as much as the next guy, but this was ridiculous. Once I finally made my way through a lot of the mustard and tasted the burger, I was turned off completely. It just tasted of greasy and almost metallic, painfully obvious that it had been cooked on a flat top that wasn’t absorbing flavors of burgers past. And the fries were just not good. No salt, soggy, luke warm. I know my expectations shouldn’t be super high for after midnight dining, but this was my first and last visit to Steak ‘N Shake. Next time I’m just finding an all night, local diner.

Final Verdict – 1.5 Stars (Sorry Marc Summers)

Jacobs (er…Progressive) Field

There is just something about a baseball game that makes the simplest foods taste exponentially better. Unfortunately, I didn’t really take advantage of it. At the game I stopped and grabbed a sausage that was ok, some onion rings that were palatable, and some nachos that had been sitting under a heat lamp for too long. But, I also had a few Great Lakes brews on board, so I didn’t really pay attention.

Final Verdict – Incomplete

Sushi Rock

The best way to describe Sushi Rock is Cleveland does sushi. After doing the appropriate amount of whining about a Seattlite going to sushi in the middle of the country, I finally decided that building rapport with my boss was better for my career and sucked it up and went to Sushi Rock. Walking in, it was exactly what I expected; Cleveland does sushi. There was loud, but trendy music, a bunch of people, and a slightly snobby hostess. When we sat down and I looked at the menu, two things jumped out. First, this was a place that had sushi on one side of the menu and truffle mac & cheese on the other. Second, there was a sushi item called “crabstick”. I am no expert, but I contest that crabstick is not the type of crab I’m used to at home, and there was a debate whether or not it was really crab. This was one of the things on the menu that didn’t have the Japanese word next to it (oh, it should be noted that the sushi was in English, throwing me off completely until I noticed the Japanese in fine print). In the end, we ordered a few pieces of sashimi, and a bunch of rolls, nearly all featuring cooked rather than raw preparations. The sashimi was ok, with the Maguro being pretty good and the Hamachi not as much. For the rolls, they were good, no real standouts and one that I thought was just not good (I can’t remember which it was, but it was bad). As the night came to a close, I realized that I’d had a pretty good time, and it was not the worst meal I’d eaten in my life, or even this trip.

Final Verdict – 2.5 Stars

Seti’s Polish Boys

I figured it was only appropriate that I finish my trip to Cleveland by getting a very “Cleveland” food, and one endorsed by Iron Chef Michael Symon. Learning of the Polish Boy by watching The Best Thing I Ever Ate, I was determined to give it a try. So, on the way to the airport, I made a small detour and got myself a couple of Polish Boys from Seti’s Truck in the parking lot of the restaurant supply depot. The Polish Boy can basically be described as a complete meal in one hand. It is a hot dog smeared with cole slaw, and topped with French fries and a sweet barbeque/honey sauce. I wasn’t quite sure exactly what they would be like, so decided to eat in the car. Unwrapping the first one, I looked down and it and sighed, knowing without a doubt that it was going to wind up on me (I’m a messy eater to begin with…). The other thing I didn’t know was how hot they were. Biting into the first one, the very delicious sauce and hot dog hit the top of my mouth and burned it pretty good. I definitely didn’t let that stop me, and polished off the first one. I waited until I was a little more stuck in traffic, and moving slower to break into the second one. First degree burns on the roof of my mouth aside, I was definitely pleased. Did I get as excited as Michael Symon did? No, but I will definitely go back.

Final Verdict – 3.75 Stars

So that’s it. This trip to Cleveland is officially in the books. Next week will include a trip to Dallas, a trip to Denver and a couple of home-cooked meals, including one in my hometown of Cheyenne, WY. And it won’t be long until Michael Symon recipes and experiences start appearing in Deck On Food!

Deck on Lolita: Cleveland Restaurant Review

What’s better than one trip to a Michael Symon restaurant in a week? How about a trip to each Michael Symon restaurant in Cleveland!? After a little bit of discussion (ok a little bit of whining until I got what I wanted), I convinced a couple of my colleagues that it would be worthwhile to drive the 25 minutes from the suburbs into town to dine at Lolita.

Located in what I’m told is the up-and-coming Tremont neighborhood, Lolita could best be described as the yang to Lola’s yin. Where Lola is slacks and a button up shirt, Lolita is jeans and a t-shirt. It was a little bit bright, a little bit louder, and a little bit less intimate; none of which is a bad thing by any means. We’d called ahead on the drive in to see if there were any tables, and were informed that there were not until later, but that there was some bar seating. On arrival, we found four seats next to each other, at the corner of the bar. Saddling up to the bar, we were ready to eat.

Taking a look at the menu, we were overwhelmed by the amount of delicious looking food. So we decided to start by focusing simply on starters. The first thing we selected was the lamb keftedes. Then, after a little bit of debating over the cured meats, we settled on the roasted bone marrow, figuring it is not something you can get everywhere. We put in our appetizer order and returned out attention to the entrée menu. This ended up being a little of an ordeal. All four of us finally selected an option off the menu, and then asked the bartender his recommendation. After basically five minutes of talking us through the menu, describing with enthusiasm the delicious options, we once again selected our entrees. That’s when he reminded us of the specials… In the end, after 15 good minutes, and changing our collective minds a half dozen times, we settled on our final items and quickly placed our orders to prevent changing our mind again.

At this time we were finally able to settle into conversation, made easier by sitting at the corner of the bar. We enjoyed drinks and conversation for about 10 minutes prior to the appetizers arriving. Once they did, we quickly quieted down and dove in. The Lamb Keftedes can best be described as delicious lamb meatballs, served with lemon, mint, yogurt and cucumber. The meat was very tender and juicy. This was followed up by the Roasted Bone Marrow which was served with a salsa verde and a little bit of scallion. For the first bite, I simply scraped the marrow out of the bone, put it on a crostini and enjoyed the delicious flavor, what could easily be described as a meat butter. For the second bite I added one of the pickled onions which had a sweet taste and really balanced out the whole meal.

This was definitely the way to kick-start a meal, and had us all excited about the entrees which arrived not too long after we finished the appetizers. For the main courses, Charles had finally decided on the fish special, a Wild Caught Canadian Walleye. Georgy had decided on the house-made Pappdelle with beef cheeks, crème fraische, and killbuck valley mushrooms. Rene had selected the Gnocchi with Pork Ragu (all homemade), tomato and parmesan. And I had selected the Duck Prociutto Pizza with egg, parmesan and rosemary. It was at this point that I realized the biggest advantage to dining with others; the opportunity to try multiple dishes. After the pictures, we passed the plates around so each person could get a few bites off each of the plates.

The pappardelle was the first thing I tried. Honestly, there is nothing like homemade pasta. It just has a fresh, light flavor that can’t be matched. Add to it amazingly tender and wonderfully cooked beef cheeks and you have a delicious dinner. Next, I tried the walleye. At first, Charles wondered if I would be ok with fish, being that I’m from Seattle. I assured him that as long as it was a local wild caught, I would be up for it, and it absolutely would. The fish was perfectly cooked ,nice and flaky and tender while still full of flavor. It had some greens with it which I thought actually took away from the taste of the delicious fish. That left the gnocchi. The first thing that hit me was the lightness of the gnocchi; far lighter than any I’ve ever cooked or tried. The pork ragu was definitely good and very flavorful. Had I not ordered the pizza, this would have been my choice, and I absolutely would not have been disappointed.

Finally, after eating everyone else’s food I dove into mine. My first thought was, I won the food lottery. The flavors of the pizza were like nothing I’ve ever tasted before. The egg added a great flavor to the pizza, but it was the cracker crust and the salty prosciutto that really set it apart. I don’t really know how to describe duck prosciutto other than to say if you take your regular pork prosciutto and multiply the deliciousness by 10, then you get duck prosciutto. It was one of those meals where I thought “I’m stuffed, but if another appeared in front of me, I would finish it”. Then the next day I thought I wish I had that pizza for breakfast. Just an incredible combination of flavors.

After the meal that left everyone completely satisfied, we decided to take a look at the dessert menu. This ended up being a mistake in that as soon as you look at the menu, you can’t help but order something. I decided I would give the warm toffee pudding a try, while Rene went for the Lemon Pound Cake (made with Olive Oil instead of butter) and Charles did the vanilla gelato. The toffee pudding could best be described as dangerous; meaning as long as it was in front of you, it was impossible to stop eating. Just delicious and flavorful. The lemon pound cake was good, but you definitely missed the butter. And the gelato was flavorful, but it was no Fainting Goat. In fact, it had a little more of an ice cream flavor than a gelato flavor.

At the end of the meal, we were all completely satisfied. The meal was absolutely delicious, and it was without a doubt worth the trip into Cleveland. When the bill came we were all shocked to see that the grand total was a paltry $150 for all four of us! Up to this point I didn’t think it was possible to get food of that quality for that price. In the end, my colleagues were actually glad that I talked them into making the trip to Lolita. The food was delicious, and the atmosphere perfectly lent itself to the type of evening that we were looking for. From my perspective, the appetizers absolutely blew away the previous evening at Lola, but the entrée and the dessert were a little less, leading to an overall balanced score. And , we learned two important lessons when eating at Lolita; go there often because the menu is ever evolving, and if you go on a Tuesday, get there before 6 to enjoy the suckling pig roast.

Final Verdict - 4.5 stars

Deck on Lola - Cleveland Restaurant Review

Of all my work destinations, Cleveland had been one of my least favorites.  My dining experiences haven't been that great, and lately I had resorted to staying in my hotel room and just ordering room service.  That was until about a month ago.  While watching The Best Thing I Ever Ate on the Food Network, I was shocked to find out that Iron Chef Michael Symon is not only from Cleveland, but has two restaurants there.  Not to mention that some of his favorite places to eat are in Cleveland.  I jotted down some notes, telling myself that the next time I was in town, I would seek out one of the places and see if my trips to Cleveland could be salvaged.

Tonight, after my meetings wrapped up, I headed down town to start my "Michael Symon Restaurant Tour of Cleveland".  I didn't take the most direct route so it took awhile and I was getting a little frustrated, but I was trying to remain optimistic.  My plan was to go to the Greenhouse Tavern, and the menu looked fantastic, so I definitely had something to look forward to.  As I was getting closer, I realized that it was in a part of area I hadn't been to, and that it seemed like an area that could be fun.  I eventually arrived on 4th St, and parked across from the House of Blues (another new finding for me).  I got out and headed toward the Greenhouse Tavern.  That's when I noticed the sign for Lola, Michael Symon's flagship restaurant.  I figured that since I was right there, it would be silly to not eat at an Iron Chef's restaurant (I mean, I'd like to eat a meal from at least one restaurant by each of them).  I walked the extra half block to Lola and headed in.

As I approached the bar, I was greeted warmly by the bartender, and offered a dinner and drink menu.  I scanned the menu, looking at all of the delicious sounding meals.  So, I did what I've come to do lately, ask for advice.  For an appetizer she recommended the lobster or the Hawaiian crudo.  For an entree, she suggested the pasta if I wanted something vegetarian, the scallops for fish, and that they were known for their pork dishes; the shank was a little lighter, the chop a little more "robust".  So, quickly evaluating her recommendations, I selected the Hawaiian Crudo "Teriyaki" and the Smoked Berkshire Pork Chop. 

After what couldn't have been more than 5-10 minutes, the crudo arrived.  Normally I don't order fish when I come to the middle of the country (especially since I'm from Seattle), especially when it is a raw preparation, but I figured if I was going to make an exception, I would do it at Lola.  The crudo was yellowfin tuna seasoned with soy, pineapple, habanero, and cilantro.  The flavors were very nice, though surprisingly not spicy considering that it included the habanero pepper.  The best flavors were when the soy and pineapple were eaten together.  Finishing it off, I was pleased, though not overwhelmed.  I've had very good yellowfin in Seattle.  But, things were looking up compared to most of my previous Cleveland dining experiences.

Next up was the smoked pork chop, which arrived again fairly quickly.  The pork chop was served with peppers, chessy polenta and barbequed onions, and was prepared medium per the chef's recommendation.  I cut into a piece, scooped a little bit of polenta, took a bite, and was blown away.  The pork was just deliciously seasoned; not overpowering, but very nicely balanced.  But it was the smokiness that really took it to another level and provided that extra depth of flavor.  Then there was the polenta.  When I make a cheesy polenta, it could be described as a polenta with cheese.  When Michael Symon makes polenta, it could be described as cheese with polenta, and fantastic.  And that was just the first bite.  As I worked my way through I got to the peppers which were just delicious, and the barbeque onion were like nothing I'd ever tasted.  I devoured the meal, coming up for air every now and then, savoring every bite.  When I got down to the end, I didn't hesitate to pick up the bone with my fingers and get every last piece of pork.

At the end of the meal, I just sat back in my chair very happy and very content and sipped on what was left of my wine.  I was planning on simply finishing my wine and heading back to the hotel, but decided to at least take a look at the dessert menu.  As I was scanning it, four magic words jumped out at me; "Maple Bacon Ice Cream".  I couldn't help myself.  It could have said maple bacon ice cream on shoe leather, I was ordering it.  Fortunately came not on shoe leather, but with poundcake french toast and carmelized apples; known simply as the 6 a.m. Special.  Sounds delicious, right?  It tasted even better than it sounds.  The ice cream was incredible as expected, and just worked very nicely with everything else.

Needless to say, when I finally finished, and paid the bill (a respectable $70 with tip) I was very pleased.  I feel like I'd been a little overly harsh on Cleveland.  Michael Symon has single handidly renewed my interest in the food scene of Cleveland.  And even though I still think that Bobby Flay has an edge on him when it comes to overall flavors, I did walk out with a signed copy of Michael Symon's cookbook and can't wait to try some of the delicious looking and sounding dishes.

Final Verdict - 4.5 Stars