Eat, Drink, Repeat: a weekly food and drink newsletter from the Cleveland Epicure

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Volume 2 Issue 22: June 15, 2008. Coming to you from Cleveland, Ohio, The City of Food.

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Eat

  • Mrs. Epicure and our friend Sam made a trip to Tremont recently to put up posters for the Ohio City 5K Run and Pub Crawl (which is this coming Saturday the 21st), and happened upon a heavenly new little spot called Lilly Handmade Chocolates.  I was fortunate enough to receive a gift of six said chocolates from this trip, and let me tell you what, these chocolates are like no others I have found in Cleveland.  The current menu has 19 different chocolates listed, several of them named after local chefs.  I loved the Redhead (oval shape with a houndstooth pattern, vintage porto inside and dark chocolate outside), the Heather (rectangle shape with rep poppy flower pattern, cayenne pepper and Madagascar vanilla on the inside, dark chocolate on the outside) and today I will be eating the Rocco (starburst shape with gold specks, pure black truffle honey on the inside, dark chocolate on the outside).  And I cannot wait to head over there myself and try the Mike (oval shape with red and white circles, Neuskes bacon, maple syrup and sea salt in the inside, milk chocolate on the outside).  Take my word for it, you need to go to this place and indulge in these edible works of art.  This is chocolate creation at its highest level, and at very affordable prices.
  • Mark your calendars for Sunday, June 22nd, which is the big season-opening weekend at the Kamm’s Corners Farmers Market.  True, the market has been open for a couple of weeks now, but this coming weekend is the big kickoff of the season.  There will be Irish dancers, a guest chef (as there is every week; it will be Matt Spinner from Great Lakes on the 22nd), a health-related demonstration/presentation (also weekly) and, of course, plenty of vendors selling produce and other good stuff.  I’ll have a future issue that is dedicated to the Kamm’s area and its establishments, but wanted to give you a heads-up on the Farmers Market, which is held in the parking lot behind West Park Station.
  • Dog Epicure Sammy was pronounced by our vet to be fat, and was told that he needs to lose 10 pounds.  He used to eat his Bil-Jac with gusto, but when I bought him the reduced fat version he looked at me just as I would look at someone who did that to me, as in “you jerk.”  Anyway, I feel bad for him because he (like his dad) really likes to eat but he doesn’t even drink beer, so he can’t blame his expansion on that (like I do for myself).  But you know, he is the happiest dog I know, and I know the good Bil-Jac makes him happy (of course so does cheese, hot dogs, heavy cream, etc.), so I feel like somewhat of a jerk making him eat boring food.  You think about these things on Father’s Day (happy Father’s Day to all of the dads out there).

Drink

  • I discovered a great magazine at Joseph Beth Booksellers in Legacy Village: Draft, Life on Tap.  It is all about beer and is done in a very professional and yet fun format.  It’s one of those magazines where even the ads are cool.
  • Word is that the Dark and Stormy at Luxe is superb.  This drink is a mixture of dark rum and ginger beer, and evidently Luxe even makes its own ginger beer.  I can also say that I have not heard one negative word from anyone about the food at Luxe.  Why have I not eaten there yet?  I feel that I am failing you as an epicure and will have to right this wrong very soon.
  • Bar Cento is now offering a weekly Flight Night on Thursdays, offering a sampling of three wines each week in sample flight pours.  The Bier Markt also has complimentary Canadian Club cocktail samples this week, they are tapping Christmas Ales on Wednesday, and on Saturday they will have a pre-race party at 4:30 before the Ohio City 5K with barbeque from Bar Cento and 25 cent first drafts for anyone with a race number.  You know, with a week like that, you might as well just bring a cot and hang there for the duration.

Repeat

  • My friend Jason, who has contributed here in the past, has a superb “bandito” version of EDR on his blog, where his inventive writing style is always in evidence.  You can enjoy his EDR version here.   
  • I’m sad to report that State Fish in the Flats has closed after 75 years of business.  News reports indicate that they are in bankruptcy and I’d suspect that fuel costs probably finally pushed them to the point of no return. 
  • Make sure you get to Danielle’s fabulous store Room Service this Friday from 4-9 p.m. for a wine and cheese opening of her two-day Made in the 216 event, featuring goods made right here in the Cleve.  She also has her website up and running to shop from your desk in case you read this from far away or are on bed rest.

Feedbag

Have a comment, opinion, tip, news to share?  Email them to the Cleveland.Epicure@gmail.com

A number of people responded to my mention of the new Jazz 28 club in the old Budapest Blue (and Halite before) space.  Here are a couple of comments.

Reader Gay Malon notes, “Our new "neighbors" Jazz 28 opened last Friday (June 6).  We stopped in for a drink around 10 pm Saturday night and an excellent jazz combo was playing. Debbie and Mark are the new owners and they are very friendly. You'll enjoy them once you have the opportunity to meet them. We didn't have any food but the diners all looked happy.”

Reader Susan Muglich also added, “The owners of Jazz 28 were at our block club. It’s going to be a jazz club and they’re planning on serving a full menu, have hired a chef, etc. Not sure of the open date but they talked about having small combos, etc. play there. The owner plays a guitar (I think he said) and his wife is a singer so they will be part of the entertainment. Should be a nice addition to our neighborhood.”  She also sent a link to the Scene’s blog where they have an interview with the owners.  You can read it here.