Musing on Carols and Chestnuts

Although most people don’t actually eat them, let alone roast them over an open fire, nothing says Christmas like chestnuts. An expression of the kind of irony that makes real life so much funnier than anything imagined, the 1944 song that forever after linked chestnuts to Santa Claus, Jack Frost, and mistletoe was written by two Jews in July. Nonetheless thanks to the iconic holiday tune, chestnuts on the table are just the thing for getting into a December state of mind. You can do it in style downtown at Muse at the Ritz Carlton where they’re the featured ingredient on this month’s Farmer’s Market Menu.

Chef de Cuisine Constantine Vourliotis, recently promoted to head up the kitchen, has put together a three course tasting to show off the nuts’ unique qualities. It begins with a chestnut almond bisque, sea scallop, crispy prosciutto, and toasted brioche. The entrée is roasted chicken breast and braised thigh meat ragout with Brussels sprouts and chestnuts. And for dessert there’s chocolate chestnut torte with vanilla raspberry compote. The prix fixe dinner is available nightly for $30 per person, $45 with wine pairings until January except for Christmas eve, Christmas day, and New Year’s eve, (when there are other special dinners and overnight packages scheduled).

I ate at Muse in November when the Market Menu featured mushrooms, and was very impressed with the originality and quality of Chef Vourliotis’ food. So I have no doubt that his celebration of chestnuts will be exceptional. Throw in the glow from the fireplace that warms the room all winter and maybe the velvet voiced Nat King Cole providing a soundtrack and you’ve got the makings for a merry and memorable meal. Yuletide spirit is optional.

Pick Pier W

Pier W, that landmark Lakewood culinary destination with stunning lake views (gets my vote for best place to watch a storm-- rain or snow-- in full squall), and impeccable service, has just debuted a new something-for-everybody winter menu, marking the first big change in the selections since the restaurant was remodeled and reinvented four years ago. Executive Chef Regan Reik, a culinary perfectionist, told me he spent many months developing recipes that broaden the offerings beyond the seafood (for which the place is so justly famous) to satisfy meat-eaters and vegetarians, plus provide for those who want simpler, more approachable and affordable dishes.

The top quality oysters, lobster tails, and king crab legs are still available. You can spend big on a surf and turf combo or a prime 14 oz NY strip. But now you can also choose a less expensive flat iron steak, pork tenderloin with creamy polenta, or the Lamb trio, pictured above, that includes braised shoulder meat, a rib chop, and a sausage in a savory herbed jus.

I sampled a number of his creations and found much to like. Among my faves were Reik’s playful lobster sliders- scoops of a lusciously chunky and creamy lobster salad were stuffed in a buttered and toasted brioche style “hot dog” bun. The beef in the short rib pierogies is slow cooked for 15 hours and the result was outstanding. Humble talipia got a tasty upgrade with a pistachio almond crust and a puddle of lavender honey butter, surely among the most extraordinary and delightful flavors I’ve encountered.

The breaded Japanese eggplant served with tomato jam, a spray of watercress and Parmesan shavings atop gnocchi with marinara sauce and a drizzle of basil oil was fine from first bite to last. (Chef said the kitchen can tweak to make this suitable for vegans). And if dessert is what really gets you going, don’t miss the housemade ice creams and truffles.

T’is the time of year when dining out is about more than just eating. It’s an opportunity to celebrate the season with friends, family, and colleagues. Pick up the tab and the meal is a way to say thanks. Wrap up a restaurant gift certificate and you’ve got a present that will definitely elicit squeals of joy. And of course, enjoying good food in a lovely setting with a staff that’s paid to take care of you offers a great lunch or dinner break from the annual marathon of shopping, cooking, and creating happy holiday memories for others. Take it from me, Pier W is the perfect place for all these purposes.

Vidstar, top independent video store, to close at year's end

Vidstar Video, the independent video store on Cleveland Heights' Coventry Road, is closing Dec. 31 after 26 years in business. It's a huge loss for local film fans.

Vidstar, the best video store in Cleveland, prides itself on huge selections of classic, foreign, and independent films as well as current Hollywood releases. It has a section devoted to the American Film Institute's 100 Greatest American Movies list and entire shelves set aside for great directors and legendary actors: Alfred Hitchcock, Marilyn Monroe, Paul Newman, Humphrey Bogart. Its cult classics section was dedicated to the memory of B-Ware, the long-defunct Lakewood video store (Vidstar bought some of its inventory).

An employee who broke the news to me last week blamed the usual suspects: Netflix and downloadable movies. So yes, this is a lament that our changing economy and consumer habits have done in another locally-owned cultural outlet.

But it's also a tip for movie-lovers who will miss Vidstar and stores like it: Its entire stock -- thousands of movies on DVD and VHS -- is for sale, most of it for $10 or less.

If you take pride in your video collection, or if you're looking for some rare or lesser-known movies, I recommend a trip to Coventry Road this month.

I just got back from my while-I-can splurge: I raided the Bogart section for The Big Sleep and the Casablanca-esque Passage to Marseille, then scored copies of Orson Welles' Touch of Evil ("the best B-movie ever made") and Beauty and the Beast -- the 1946 Jean Cocteau version, not Disney.

America's Best According to Esquire

I attended a great party at L’Albatros last week. The French bistro with an Ohio heart made it onto Esquire’s annual list of Best New Restaurants for 2009 and a crowd of friends and fans that filled two rooms gathered to celebrate. The twenty picks from around the country are detailed in the November issue and the write-up about Zack Bruell’s brasserie appears on page 83 with a photo of sautéed walleye and lobster quenelles (fluffy dumplings) in a buttery sauce Americaine. Happily, executive sous chef David Uecke was cooking up that the very dish for guests at the shindig while his boss was kept busy enduring a steady stream of hugs, cheek pecks, handshakes and back slaps. John Mariani, the magazine’s longtime columnist and food critic and the guy who decides which places are worthy of a spot in the line-up, came to town for the occasion.

Cleveland hasn’t always been on his radar. In fact the professional eater didn’t see much reason to come here until 1999 when he got an invitation from his colleague Stephen Michaelides to attend the opening of Moxie, which thoroughly impressed him. It was the first step in an ongoing campaign launched by Michelides, who had been editor and then associate publisher of Restaurant Hospitality from 1970 to 1998, and his wife Jeanne to make Mariani aware of all the great local places they thought he should at least consider when assembling his yearly roster of noteworthy new restaurants. He’s returned regularly since then to check out the dining scene, and has put praises in print for 3 Birds; Red, the Steakhouse; Fahrenheit; Lola; and Zack’s other two ventures Parallax and Table 45.

Mariani, who chronicles his dining adventures in a weekly e-newsletter called The Virtual Gourmet, no longer entertains any doubts that this city is home to some very talented chefs making food as good as anything found anywhere in America. It feels good to have him in our corner, and to know that his readers are getting the real story about Cleveland. It feels even better to live here and be able to have dinner at such superb spots every night of the week.

Witness Protection Program

If you're the sort who's concerned about the lack of good decisions in local government lately, be reassured by the fact that Cleveland's design and review committee was reluctant to bow to Nike's proposal to replace the "We Are All Witnesses" 10-story billboard near The Q with a "Prepare for Combat" billboard featuring James shirtless with skin resembling body armor. Besides, the whole Kellen Winslow-ism of comparing sports to war when Americans are risking their lives in real combat every day, there's something troubling about Nike's decision to switch up its LeBron billboard downtown.

The current billboard has become a landmark. It is a rallying point, a source of pride. Yes, we know it's an advertisement, but a really good one - the kind we're used to Nike delivering.

There's something just plain empty about the "combat" billboard. Before, Nike was selling a product, sure, but it was wrapped in the phenomenon that is LeBron James. The current advertisment just seems to be selling ... well ... is it shorts they're selling? Who knows.

The design committee sent the matter to the planning comission for further recommendation. The comission meets Friday morning. Stay tuned.

UPDATE 11/20 @ 1 p.m.: Planning commission give it a big 'no' on this one.

A Convenient Truth

How weird is this: I didn’t know about an innovative Cleveland project to bring good food to city residents until I saw a reference to it in the national media. The local food scene is my subject and I’m as linked-in, facebooked, and well-connected as anybody but the article in the New York Times about the Healthy Corner Store Initiative was news to me. Apparently it was also discussed on American Public Radio’s Weekend America though I didn’t find out about that broadcast until I did some follow-up research.

It’s an important effort co-sponsored by CWRU, OSU Extension, and the Cleveland Department of Health. The goal is to improve the “food environment” of urban neighborhoods and make healthy products readily available to people where they live and shop. The method is to stock convenience stores, where shelves are typically filled with salty, sugary, high-fat snacks and beverages, with a selection of fresh fruits and vegetables. Of course, getting customers to buy and eat the stuff is a whole other thing. That’s why the project is also organizing on-site cooking demos and giving away free samples. A long range goal is to source much of that produce from local farms. In a perfect world, those farms would be located in the same communities as those corner stores, with empty land converted to agricultural production. The result would be a grand sustainable closed loop food system that would bring many micro and macro benefits.

The Healthy Corner Store Initiative is a good thing for Cleveland and its residents, and an undertaking deserves attention and support. The country’s already heard about it. Now it’s time to spread the word here.

"I will stay if ..." comes to Cleveland

It’s a cold, cold day in Cleveland when the next local initiative is titled, “I will stay if …” The campaign, led by the Great Lakes Urban Exchange (GLUE), gives Clevelanders a chance to voice their ideas about how to polish up our city. It launches tomorrow night at Speakeasy on W. 25th Street, below McNulty’s Bier Markt, from 5:30 until 8:30 p.m.

City councilman Matt Zone will talk about shaking Cleveland’s rusty image, along with Randell McShepard of the think tank PolicyBridge and Lillian Kuri of the Cleveland Foundation. There’s no fee, but you can donate $5 to the cause (includes drink discounts, a coupon for Bianco Pizza, raffle entry and participation in campaign photos).

Clevelanders have already picked up on the idea and given some feedback to the campaign. Some responses were trivial: “I will stay in Cleveland if the city finally coordinates its traffic signals and takes down the 300 that are completely unnecessary,” one woman said.

Another resident cited more pressing issues:“(I will stay if) we stop talking about sustainability and start talking about environmentalism.”

Though we’re not exactly strolling along the Flats’ East Bank these days humming “Cleveland Rocks,” other Rust Belt towns are in similar straits. Before the campaign came to Cleveland, it paid a visit in two other teetering cities: Pittsburgh and... Detroit.

Besides not being Detroit, there are many great reasons to live in Cleveland. We chose 112 favorites in our October issue, but here are 10 more awesome reasons we should all love our city:

1. Our resident Iron Chef Michael Symon and his three restaurants.

2.We're close to Put-in-Bay, which makes for a great weekend trip during the summer.

3. Phenomenal pierogis.

4. The Cleveland Clinic is ranked number one in heart care in the nation, and fourth overall by U.S. News and World Report.

5. The Browns Cavs

6. Jonathon Sawyer’s Greenhouse Tavern, Ohio’s first certified green restaurant.

7. We’ve capitalized on a burning river.

8. LeBron James and Shaquille O’Neal.

9. The Great Lakes Brewing Co., specifically Christmas Ale.

10. We’ve got nine more reasons than Detroit.