Showing posts with label Tim Bando. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tim Bando. Show all posts

Tuesday, August 19, 2014

More Fun Playing With Food at Grove Hill

It is unusual for me to post a second piece on a restaurant so soon after the first, but we had so much fun playing at Grove Hill in Chagrin Falls the other night that I have to share! Tim Bando's raw gem of a restaurant, which was less than two weeks old at our first visit, continues to refine itself into a jewel, and our experience reflected that. Their website is now fully functional, and walking into the restaurant, with a reservation this time, I noticed that the roses had disappeared from the front window bar seating area. Whereas the first time a few items were unevenly seasoned, all of the flavors Thursday night were spot on. And the best part is that Chef Bando spent a lot of years on Long Island's East End, and he knows fish and seafood, as demonstrated by some of our selections on both visits. 

Butter, Roasted Garlic, House Made Bean Dip
On our first visit, the roasted garlic was a little under-cooked; this version was soft and spreadable. The seasoning on the bean dip was completely balanced, and the butter creamy.


Our friend dove into the raw bar and had oysters for his appetizer. I didn't photograph them because I didn't eat them, but he assured me that they were superb; here's a link to his photo of his oysters. Our friend was impressed with the selection available, the product he ate, and the sauces that accompanied them. 

SMOKED SAUSAGE, pickled vegetables, grain mustard, crusty bread
Bob's appetizer was big enough to be an entree! Two large, crispy on the outside pieces of smoked sausage were accompanied by crunchy vegetables that lent acidic lightness to the rich meat. Chef Bando stopped by to chat with us, and said that this kielbasa-like sausage is made for him by Blue Ribbon Meats, a quality Cleveland purveyor that also makes the Bratwurst served at Michael Symon's B Spot restaurants. 

VEAL SWEETBREADS MILANESE, marinated heirloom tomatoes
The best sweatbreads ever! The meat melted in the mouth, the breading adding a nice crunch. Again, a light acidic accompaniment, the tomato salad, helped to cut and compliment the creamy richness of the sweatbreads and the aïoli topped it off perfectly. 

GROVE HILL BURGER, lettuce, tomato, half-sour pickle, cheese, fries
Bob chose the burger. It was cooked to medium as he specified, and the cheddar was nicely melted. This was a perfectly serviceable burger and well suited to the fussy eater in your party, if you  have one (you know, the one who said "eww" when you explained what sweatbreads are). 

SPAGHETTI BOLOGNESE AMERICANO, parmesan, basil
Our friend made this dish his entree. My bite was a delicious combination of meat, tomato and pasta. Not sure why it's called "Americano," but that will give me an excuse to order it on a future visit. 

LINGUINI, jumbo lump crab, garlic, calabrian chile, lemon oil, parsley
I hit the jackpot with this choice. The lump crab tasted of sweet freshness from the sea, with no off flavors or smells as is often the case with Cleveland seafood. The chile was applied with care so it did not overwhelm the delicate crabmeat, and the prominence of lemon oil again showed off Chef Bando's skill with mating acid to rich ingredients to get the best of both. 

Even with leftovers to box up, we were all too full for dessert, which is a shame because they sounded delicious! Grove Hill has an in-house pastry chef making them, so next time, we will save room.

Chef Bando said the menu would be changing very soon (he says he has a short attention span), and even better, that Grove Hill would begin serving brunch on Saturday and Sunday August 23; they have a local farm set up to supply quality eggs for that. We look forward to playing with brunch at Grove Hill after the Farmers' Markets for the rest of summer and into fall!

Grove Hill is quickly becoming a favorite. Pristine ingredients and clever preparations combined with great service equals fun playing with food at Grove Hill.

Sunday, July 20, 2014

Fun Playing With A Gem in the Raw: Tim Bando's Grove Hill

July 2014 has been a roller coaster. It started with an amazing meal at Jonathon Sawyer's Trentina (blog post on that to come shortly), then a week plus in Boston enjoying fresh fish, seafood, and great friends. My fiftieth birthday was approaching at the end of the week, and I had been planning culinary adventures to celebrate it for months. Then, it happened -- the crud descended the night before and crushed all the plans. I spent my big day going from doctor, to lab/xray, to pharmacy, to the couch, to sleep.

After a week of misery, the fog began to lift, so we took a chance on getting a seat at Tim Bando's one-and-one-half week old Grove Hill in Chagrin Falls (the website isn't really up yet; you'll get better info on their Facebook page). I didn't want to make a reservation, in case the cough wouldn't permit me to go out at the last minute, so we hoped 6pm would be early enough to get a table. We missed it by that much (the diner ahead of us got the last one). The cheerful hostess suggested the bar, but at first that didn't appeal - were there tables at the bar area, I asked? She said no, but as we headed out, we saw a communal "sidebar" that can hold up to 7 people next to the bar, looking out the front window, with comfy leather stools. And only two of the seven seats were occupied. Sold. I hope they come up with a better name or description for that table, since it's the bar area, but not the same as sitting at the bar; in fact, it was quite lovely, except for the aggressively perfumed plants on the window sill.

Service was mostly expert, though the bread service was delivered by a runner who didn't tell us what the components were. Despite a couple of flaws, we thoroughly enjoyed our meal and it was a worthy consolation prize for the recently cancelled festivities.

Bread Service: Whipped Soft Butter, Garlic, House-made Hummus







The bread was assertively crusty with a melt-in-your mouth middle. I don't know what the garlic cloves were intended to be. They didn't seem soft roasted and weren't spreadable, but they didn't taste pickled either. Cut up, they went nicely with the soft whipped butter. The bean dip tasted very fresh with an herbaceous pop, but was a bit too salty. 

Roasted Corn
Bob's roasted corn was topped with Calabrian Chili Aioli, Pecorino, and Basil. Not local corn yet, but close enough to be enjoyed, accompanied by a great balance of sweet and slightly spicy flavors, with mouth hugging creaminess from the aioli bringing it all together.

Grove Hill Chicken Soup
This chickeny elixir is thick with orzo, chicken meat, carrots, celery, onion and chili oil, and topped with parsley. Though it needed a big pinch of salt, this creative approach to Grandma's chicken soup made this sick girl feel like she'd had the most comforting bowl of poultry penicillin ever. Be forewarned that the chili oil heat is pronounced, so if it is not your favorite flavor, steer clear. 



Texas Cut Sirloin
Summer Bean Salad, Herb Butter, Fries
Bob's steak was cooked to a perfect medium-rare and crusted nicely, though it was also a bit under salted. The bean salad offered an unexpected but welcome pork-infused flavor punch, and the crispy fries rounded out the plate nicely.

Seared Scallops
Polenta Croutons, Truffled Corn, Chives






This dish would have been magnificent if the Polenta Croutons hadn't been cold. The scallops, my first seafood since enjoying local/super fresh products in Boston, were a very good quality product, well seasoned and perfectly seared. The warm corn salad complimented the seafood with both texture and acid enhancing the natural pairing of corn and shellfish. The Polenta Croutons were a great idea and had nice flavors, but they needed to be served hot and crispy to really impress. 

Desserts are made in house and sounded delicious, but the portions were so generous that we hadn't even cleaned our dinner plates. Guess that means we'll have to get back to Grove Hill for another meal!

We had fun playing with our dinner off the bar at Grove Hill. The deft hands in the kitchen and in service are cranking out both creative and more familiar comfort food, at very reasonable price points, and it all bursts with flavors, colors and textures that left me hungry for more. The restaurant also offers a full raw bar; I haven't seen that menu posted anyplace on line, but the regular menu is on the Facebook page. I expect the few flaws in seasoning and temperature will work themselves out as everything settles in, but I really hope that they re-think those stinky flowers by the window seats (I love roses too, but not right by my dinner plate or wine glass). I'm excited to try additional offerings from the regular and raw bar menus and playing with food at Grove Hill after hitting the farmers' markets later in the summer; they are supposed to start serving Saturday and Sunday brunch sometime in August.

Grove Hill
25 Pleasant Street
Chagrin Falls, OH 44022
(440) 247-4800
Closed Monday