Crostatas

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Crostatas is a relatively new restaurant located in what I feel is the middle of a culinary wasteland. I think it's the first time I've ever taken a special trip to visit a place out in the Highland Heights area.

As we pulled into the parking lot at 6 o'clock on a Friday evening, the first thing that jumped out at me was that the place looked pretty damn full. As it turns out there was already a 30 minute wait. Here's a tip: if you have a hard time finding a parking spot, it's probably going to be at least 45 minutes. Reservations are only available for parties of 7 or more.

The building is brand new. The interior is smartly decorated. There aren't any hokey murals or fake stucco on the walls (which is nice).

The pizza making area is in full view of those waiting in lobby as well as most of the people that are eating in the dining room.

Without looking at the menu I was already intrigued by what I saw coming out of the kitchen. As the servers would walk by I kept thinking to myself, "Oh, that looks good! That looks good! And I want one of those, too!"

If one thing that jumped out at me was that the ingredients appeared to be of a high quality. Servings were reasonable, yet not obscene. Me, personally, I like reasonable portions.

I decided to kick things off with an Insalata Mista which came topped with sliced strawberries and a drizzle of balsamic vinegar. I normally don't get too excited about salad, but I have to say that the balsamic vinaigrette they used on this was pretty thick and sweet. If you look at the picture you can see just how thick it was because it holds its shape exactly where it was drizzled. This was a very simple salad I thought was a great value at $4.50.

Regina decided on the Grilled Eggplant marinated in olive oil. The serving was huge. Since the serving size was so sizable, she decided to take half of it home.

With an eye on dessert we decided to split a pizza. My favorite traditional wood fired pizza is from a place near Pittsburgh called Il Pizzaiolo. They make a margherita pizza with DOC mozzerella bufala that is out of this world. Since the DOC option is also available at Crostatas we decided to go with that (Regina got ricotta cheese added to her half).

The pizzas are done just like they are over in Italy. Personally, I've had enough of this type of pizza to know that if done well, they taste similar to each other. The pizzas here fall into the "done well" category. Are they the best? I'll let you decide. For me it's a question of doing them right and doing them wrong. Crostatas does them right.

For dessert I had the Napoleon Limone which is French puff pastry with lemon curd, whipped cream and raspberry sauce. There were a lot of these desserts coming out of the kitchen, so I decided to join in. I know I'm sounding like a broken record here, but this was very good and looked much bigger than it actually was. It was a nice summery way to end the meal.

Regina is all about pistachios. Period. She ordered the Spumoni with the requisite extra whipped cream. Another hit.

All told, I thought it was a wonderful meal. The food is true to what they're trying to do. While the pizzas are on the high side (for 12"), I think it's important to note that the quality of the ingredients present a case for the prices being charged. If you, or someone going with you, are expecting the typical Cleveland-ized or even New York Style pizza, I'd go someplace else. You're probably going be disappointed. If you like authentic Italian wood fired pizza, you have to come here.

The website is severely lacking (is now fully functional and informative), so but I've included a scan of the menu anyway.



Crostatas Rustic Pizza
558 Bishop Road
Highland Hts, OH 44143
(440) 449-7800
www.crostatas.com

Honokowai Okazuya & Deli

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Since we were halfway to Lahaina to whale watch in kayaks, we decided to just continue on northward to check out Honokowai Ikazuya & Deli.

Everything we had read about Okazuya had been very positive. Once we got up to the strip mall (on the east side of Lower Honoapiilani Road) it had started raining outside. Lucky for us, we got there just before the lunch rush. It looked like we were the only non-locals in the place. Seating inside is somewhat limited and the counter space was lined with working guys having lunch.

I ordered the Korean BBQ chicken with a side of the macaroni salad. The chicken was quite moist and had nice spice to it. I think what I liked the most was the char on the outside along with the moistness. Typically a good char can cross the line between moist and dry in a hurry, but not in this instance. The chicken portion is large enough that I hardly ate the macaroni salad and didn't even touch the rice.

Regina went with the Mahi Mahi with lemon caper sauce and mushrooms. The flavor was good, but it felt like more of a dinner entree because there was a ton of it and it was overburdened with sauce. She originally had her heart set on trying their infamous and highly touted, Eggplant Szechuan. However, her hopes were dashed when the woman at the counter firmly told her that they could not adjust the spiciness of the dish to make it mild (my wife has little to no tolerance for spicy foods). Perhaps her overall satisfaction would have been higher, had she been able to experience the dish she intended on having all along.

At the end of the day I'm not much of a mixed plate person. I don't like to eat all of that food (especially at lunch), but I don't like throwing it away either. For our own taste it's a bit heavy for us. The proteins were very good. If I had it to do again, I'd say leave the rice off and give me half the macaroni salad, or pehaps share with someone else.

If you're staying up in Lahaina or even north of there I think you've got to come here at least once for lunch. In terms of quality, quantity AND price you will find nothing close to this up in that vicinity.

Honokowai Okazuya & Deli
3600 Lower Honoapiilani Rd
Lahaina, HI 96761
(808) 665-0512

Le Petit Triangle Cafe

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I enjoy going to places that are not like anything else in the city. I don't think I've been anywhere that is quite like Le Petit Triangle Cafe.

Located in Ohio City, LPTC is nestled in a small space on the corner of Fulton and West 32nd Streets. The inside of the cafe only has about 7 or 8 tables. As you walk in the door the "kitchen area", which is open to the rest of the cafe, is on your right. The tables run the length of the left hand side of the space.

What is neat about the cooking area is that the counter is only waist high and as best as I can remember is not at all hidden by heat lamps and shelves. Everything that is being prepared is in plain sight of everyone sitting at their tables.

Since I had just eaten at the Seti's truck, it was Regina that was going to do the ordering. As a dutiful husband I was willing to help her finish her food if needed.

She decided on the Smoked Trout Plate which came with capers, red onion, crackers, and chopped egg. Always a sucker for lentils she also ordered the Warm Lentils with a lemon dressing.

While I can't speak for the lentils, I can say that the Smoked Trout was very good. I think what I liked the most was that there was a good variety of crackers to go along with the fish.

I think it's just a really comfortable place to eat. It almost seems as if it's been there for decades. The outdoor area looks like it would be in high demand during the summer. Le Petit Triangle certainly makes my top five for Ohio City.

Le Petit Triangle Cafe
1881 Fulton Rd Cleveland, OH 44113 (216) 281-1881 www.lepetittrianglecafe.com

Homemade Ice Cream, my new favorite thing

Ice Cream Made at Home
Regina received an ice cream maker from her brothers for her birthday. I didn't think it would be almost as fun making ice cream as it is eating it.

David Lebowitz is probably the one person who has the written the most about the subject. In just the past month he's done a very nice article in issue #99 of Fine Cooking about making flavor infusions, add ins, etc for ice cream.I also got the new Culture magazine and he had a recipe for tiramisu ice cream.

I actually used the Fine Cooking recipe to make vanilla infused strawberry ice cream with pound cake. I used the strawberries I bought Saturday morning at the Shaker Square market. It ended up tasting way better than I had expected. If I had bought this stuff at an ice cream parlor I would have been very happy.

We actually have some black walnuts from Muddy Fork, so I'm thinking there's some maple walnut in our future.

Bobby Flay Throwdown Challenge
Did anyone catch the Throwdown this past Sunday? They had a falafel challenge between Bobby and one of his former cooks. Einat Admony, who owns Taïm (tah-EEM) Falafel and Smoothie in New York City was going up against her former boss.

Making a long story short, Flay knew nothing about this chick pea delicacy. He was totally out of his element. He ends up winning the thing because there was some spicy sauce put on top of the falafel.

I was a bit put off because they had people that had never eaten the stuff judging the challenge. How stupid is that? I hate to see that stuff. You could tell he felt embarrassed because he was so outclassed, and knew it.

Regina swears that this is the absolute best falafel she's had in her life. If you make it into the city this is a do not miss.

Ko Missed
Speaking of missed. On the weekends I'll just screw around on the computer and basically wander around the internet.

David Chang of Momofoku fame has a cool reservation site for his 12 seater Momofoku Ko. It's basically a random selection site that you log into and if you're chosen you get an opportunity to book a reservation. There's no speed dial or third party booking services that can help you. The person that registers with their credit card has to have the matching license when they show up to eat.

So on Saturday I went on the website for shits and giggles. I entered my log in and all of a sudden this thing pops up and said I could have a ressie for this coming Friday at 1pm. I was gobsmacked! I've done this a bunch of times and have never gotten this screen.

What the hell do I do? I hit the "accept reservation" button and it took me to another screen where it has a timer that counts down from 180 seconds. You basically have to fill out the information and give your credit card number. All the while the timer ticks down, second... by.... second.

It pained me to turn it down. Normally I would have done it, but next week is our 10th anniversary and we'll be dropping major cash at The Refectory and G Michaels (not mention staying at The Lofts) down in Columbus.

It was the worst feeling waving bye bye to that reservation. On the plus side, if that's the worst thing that happens to me in times like these; I figure I'm doing okay.

Top Chef Magazine
Call me crazy, but I think that's one food magazine we could do without. I can see it now, the July feature is "How I Won the Truck Stop Challenge", by Applebee's Mike.

I am, however, starting the countdown for Top Chef Masters next week.

Mister Brisket
I scored some gorgeous King Salmon from Mister Brisket today. It is the prettiest piece of non-Atlantic salmon I've seen in about a year.

Curly Tail
We made a special trip out to Peninsula to grab the last six Berkshire chops the Snavely's had. They say they'll have some more in August. Curly Tail is hands down my favorite pork. I really wish they'd come to Shaker, especially in the winter.

An apology to Stuart
Sorry Stuart about the Bubbie's mochi false alarm. When they emailed us they said they had them in. Since we had given Whole Foods the phone number and contact information, I took them at their word.

When I went in today and saw that shitty Japanese brand (which sucks very badly) I talked to Demo Dave about the miscommunication.

I gave them the information again and he said they'd have them in three weeks. I promise I won't say anything until I have the box in my greedy hands. I am, however, very skeptical as they claimed the same company sold Bubbie's pickles (which is not true). I'm not holding my breath.

Thai Charm

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Seven Hills or the area near it actually has some viable dining options. I don't know if D'Agnese is technically in Seven Hills, but Pizzeria Cerino and Charm Thai have emerged as some inexpensive options serving up good food.

Regina had actually been to Charm Thai before and gave it the thumbs up. We just happened to be in the neighborhood, so we decided to stop in.

First off, I really like the interior of the space. With a good variety of tables and booths, Charm Thai is split into dining on one side and a nice bar area on the other. Much like Thai Fun (pronounced like Typhoon) in Tremont, Charm Thai is not decorated in a typical hokey red walls with gold trinkets.

I decided I didn't really want to order a ton of food, so I went with the Pad Thai and Tofu. The tofu was actually pan fried (the way I like it). I think I would have liked the actual noodles to be a little more tasty. I don't think the peanut flavor was as powerful as I usually like it.

Regina ordered the Shrimp Himaparn. She thought the salty and sweet of the dish tasted perfect. The dish comes with a generous amount of shrimp and vegetables. She really, really, likes this dish.

If you happen to be in this neck of this neck of the woods it's certainly worth a try. Thai Charm puts out a good product at a good price.

Charm Thai
7426 Broadview Rd
Parma, OH 44134
(215) 642-0360
www.charmthaiohio.com

Seti's, Symon, and Mochi Ice Cream

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Seti's Polish Boys

Friday afternoon Regina and I decided to drive over to the West Side Market to pick up some pork belly. A place I've always wanted to try is the Seti's Polish Boys. Come to think of it, Seti's isn't a place at all, but rather a truck parked in a place (Dean Supply parking lot).

Their concept is simple, make the best Polish Boy in town. Offering about 4 or 5 different versions of their dogs, Seti's doesn't try to get too fancy.

I ordered the classic Polish Dog with onions, relish, and mustard. Admittedly, I didn't think it was going to be some earth shattering experience. After the first bite I told myself that I could easily walk up and buy two more of them and down them on the spot. Is that "earth shattering"? Maybe.

In the end it was the dog that shined through on this thing. It is a very juicy rendition and when it's combined with the relish, onion, and mustard it just tastes even better. I also bought an order of fries that were freshly cooked and hot as hell.

Their other incarnations were a little more out there for me. First off, I don't like fries on top of anything (and I certainly don't want bbq sauce on top of the fries), so I think the Best Polish Boy is out of the question. I will, however, be trying the other dogs that have the chili on them.

In the end I walked away a big fan. When I asked the lady working the window how long they had been there she said that they've been at Dean Supply for two years. Before Dean they had been over at Tri C Metro for seven years. I'd say that's plenty of time to create the perfect Polish Boy.

[See the picture for the menu.]

Seti's Polish Boys
3500 Woodland Ave (Dean Supply Parking Lot)
Cleveland, OH 44115
(216) 240-0745



The Best Thing I Ever Ate

The Seti's lady (I should have gotten her name) at the window handed me a business card as I left. After I had finished inhaling my lunch I looked at the card and on the back they had some interesting info.

Apparently The Food Network is going to have a show that airs in June called "The Best Thing I Ever Ate". In it, different Food Network stars such as Bobby Flay, Tyler Florence, Ted Allen, Michael Symon, and others talk about some of their favorite foods.

(Picture from Seti's posted on Yelp!)

In the episode that airs on June 23 at 9:30pm, Seti's Polish Boys will be making one of the best things Michael Symon ever ate. Pretty cool, huh?

Speaking of The Best Thing I Ever Ate...

When we went to the North Shore of Oahu (Hale iwa to be more specific), I had the most awesome mochi ice cream E-V-E-R. In an ice cream shop called Scoops of Paradise, which has a flavor named after local celeb Jack Johnson, I tried ice cream mochi for the first time.

I'll be the first to admit that I don't like the way classic mochi taste (no ice cream). In fact there really isn't much taste at all. But if you take that rice flour coated nothingness and wrap it around some good ice cream? Whoah. You end up with an absolutely addictive sensory experience between the chewiness of the mochi and the flavor of the ice cream.

When we walked into the shop we perused the case and that's where I saw this rack of strange looking oval things. When I asked the guy what they were, he simply called them mochi. When I asked him what the tasted like he said I'd have to try them myself, that it was hard to explain.

Right after I ordered a couple he gleefully smiled and said, "I love seeing people's faces when they eat their first mochi."

I took a bite and was instantly in love (think Tony and Maria in West Side Story).

All I can say is that over the next three days I went back to that place every night. I was in fact addicted.

If you've ever talked to Dave at Whole Foods you know that he's a pretty cool dude. After being unsuccessful in our quest to get Bubbie's ice cream mochi ordered at some other grocery stores, Dave came through and informed me today that they had them in.

Bubbie's (made in Honolulu) are THE ice cream mochi that are served in restaurants around the country. They aren't that bullshit that they carry at Trader Joe's or even the ones Whole Foods was carrying before. Those mochi kind of melted in your hand. The outside becomes sticky and they just don't taste all that good. If you've ever had ice cream mochi and loved them, I guarantee these are the ones.

If you are ice cream mochi addicted, like myself, I suggest you head to the Whole Foods on Cedar and Warrensville. My hope is that these will sell well and become a Whole Foods staple.

Old ladies....who knew?

The CFT posting on Snowville Creamery got me to thinking about our yogurt making session last weekend.

You see, about a month and a half ago I was in the dairy isle at Whole Foods. I was buying my customary 1/2 gallon of Snowville half and half, when I noticed this little old lady perusing the variety of whole milks.

I bent over and told her that the Snowville was the absolute tastiest stuff on the shelf. I told her that my wife makes yogurt with it.

"Well that's what I wanted to use it for!", she said.

Feeling a sense of surprise, I told her that I was going to the east coast and would bring back my wife's favorite yogurt (Pequa Valley) as starter. So the deal was this: I bring back a quart for her and she comes over and shows my wife how she does her yogurt.

Last Saturday Christine (the little old lady from Whole Foods) came over and talked yogurt with the bride. It was a pretty cool couple of hours. Although she was out of her comfort zone being in someone else's kitchen, she was able to impart a good bit of knowledge. It truly was a lot of fun.

Old Women Part II
The next day we went to a family friend's fortieth wedding anniversary party. It was just an informal gathering at his home. My father-in-law told me that I had to come. That there was going to be this Italian woman there that can bake like you wouldn't believe. Typically when I hear this stuff I take it with a grain of salt (sometimes people are just trying to be nice).

We walk into the party and I spot these amazing desserts on the table. I took one look and knew who made them. The little Italian woman walks the walk.

These pastries looked like peaches. They were essentially to spongy wafers that were hollowed out and filled with custard. The two custard filled wafers were then put together, coated in a liqueur, and sprinkled with sugar. To complete the whole peach theme she had bought these little plastic things that looked like a stem and a leaf.

The creme puffs tasted every bit as good as they looked. The part I love is that when I asked her how she made them she was very nonchalant about the effort it took to make them. She dismissed the question as if I was asking her how she made Kraft's macaroni and cheese. I love it.

A plate full of kolachky cookies was made by a mystery woman who wasn't able to make it to the party. These were much more dainty then the puffier ones that I've eaten in the past. These were dangerously light (more for me to gourge myself on).

Here's to all the little old women out there. Teach me!!!

Ono Gelato

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After we finished up dinner at A Saigon Cafe we decided to take a quick drive up to Paia for dessert. We decided to stop at Ono Gelato in Paia.

It was raining pretty hard when we started left and seemed to get worse as we got closer to our destination. On the way we drove behind a pick-up truck with a little stoner guy under a blue tarp sparking up a bowl. It was just this little red glow lighting up his face. I love seeing stuff like that. Reason #381 why I love Hawaii: Stoners.

If you've been to Paia then you know that there's certainly eco-centric flair to the entire town - think tropical Berkley.

Ono Gelato fits in very well with the town's concern for the environment. All plasticware and bowls are biodegradeable, organic ingredients, and an entire vegan case.

They carry a wide variety of flavors that are made with only things that are inseason (which is much easier in Hawaii than where I live in Cleveland).

Ono Gelato is very creamy in its consistency. The portions are moderatly sized, which I actually like. I don't like it when ice cream places give you a ton of ice because it ends up getting thrown away.

With all of the different fruit that grows in Hawaii the selection is always impressive. OG is worth a stop if you are in the area or even Wailuku.

Ono Gelato Company
115 Hana Hwy
Paia, HI 96779
(808) 579-9201
www.onogelatocompany.com

Give the gift of .....salt?

If it's one thing I enjoy more than receiving a really cool gift, it's giving one (I'm pretty confident this goes for my wife as well).Maybe it's just a sign that I'm getting older, but I can assure you this wasn't the case when I was a kid.

Whatever the reason, I can say that as we've delved deeper into the food realm it is obvious there is no shortage in cool gifts to spend your money on.

Since Regina's birthday was coming up on the horizon I knew that I had to get my gift giving wheels in motion. Imagine my surprise when I was nosing around Michael Walsh's A View from the Kitchen and clicked one of the purveyors he had listed. I noticed a link to The Meadow.

The Meadow? What they hell do they sell?

Jackpot! The Meadow is a shop out of Portland, Oregon that offers a massive number of salts. It would be the perfect gift for my self diagnosed saltaholic wife.

For the past year she has been spooning her sea salt with a tiny glass bowl and spoon. Effective? Yes, but not much to look at in the decorative sense. That being said I knew she would love the hibiscus salt dish with dainty leaf and twig spoon.

What would go better with a hibiscus salt dish than some volcanic sea salt from Hawai'i?

The dish was a huge hit. At first the blackness of the salt freaked her out, but I think it's grown on her.

Mission accomplished. Cool gift given.

A Sign-less Gem

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Most restaurants have a sign. The only place I've really seen the "signless" phenomenon flourish is NYC (Freeman's comes to mind, not only without a sign but also at the end of an alley).

Imagine my surprise when we found a sans sign sensation on the island of Maui. A Saigon Cafe (yes...A Saigon Cafe) is a wonderful little spot nestled in the back streets of Wailuku. If you're coming at night just look for the neon shooting stars mounted on the top of building.

Sitting in the shadow of Kaahumanu Avenue, A Saigon Cafe is not much to look at on the outside (or the inside for that matter), but was full of locals when we walked in.

The inside consists of two aisles of booths running the length of the building. Servers tell corny jokes in broken English as they take your order.

As an appetizer we went with the Fresh Summer Rolls with mint, rice noodles, sprouts, shrimp, & peanut sauce.

We ordered the Clay Pot Pork. This is an absolute must when you go. Served boiling hot, the CPP is one of my favorite Vietnamese dishes of all time. The last time we were here I ordered this and Regina became insanely jealous when she had a taste.

The Fried Opakapaka with black bean sauce, broccoli, and carrots was surprisingly tasty. I didn't think that I was going to be down with fried opakapaka but it was a pretty hearty dish.

As a rule we generally don't order dessert at Vietnamese restaurants. This night was no different. We chalked it up as a great and inexpensive dinner went on our way. I wish I could post a menu but they didn't have any for us to take with us.

This is a fantastic little spot to have some spicy food at a very reasonable price. The fish was actually a little expensive, but I'd say the total bill was no more than $50 with tip.

A Saigon Cafe
1792 Main Street
Wailuku, HI 96793
(808) 243-9560