Fun Playing with Food at Bar 50/20 AKA Mish Mosh

Mish Mosh made it's first appearance on this blog in March 2017. At that point, we'd only scratched the surface of their food; I thought surely I'd posted about them again. But with the roller coaster our lives have been on the past few years, it never happened. Until now. 

Chef-Owner Howard Curtis and his sons, Chandler and Skyler Curtis, cook up an eclectic menu and a constantly changing bevy of specials for lunch and dinner Monday through Saturday at their cozy space located at 5020 Brainard Road in Solon. In nice weather, their outdoor patio is primo. Howard's wife and Co-Owner Jamie curates a lovely wine selection year round. It is one of our favorite places to dine. A base menu of starters, sandwiches, burgers, pizza, salads and entrees is complemented daily by a specials list that can compete with any restaurant in Cleveland for quality, freshness and creativity. Price points range from $10 up to $24 for the Strip Steak, and mid twenties to low thirties for some specials.

Since it seems my photographs have been accumulating for over two years, here are some highlights:

This gorgeous piece of cod was also from the 2017 Lenten season. 

Continuing from 2017, this Special featured Tortellini, tossed with sausage, seafood and cream.

Bob enjoyed their take on a Banh Mi. Roast Pork, Country Pate, Pickled Carrots, Daikon Radish, Nuoc Mam Cham were served on a Crusty Baguette. It took them a while to get the hang of the fresh cut fries, but get it right they do!

When Stuffed Cabbage is on the menu, it is on my plate! Served here with potato-cheese pierogi (and a tossed salad first, with housemade balsamic dressing). Oh, there it is:

Their Bourbon Street Cobb Salad resembles no Cobb salad I've ever had, but it's delicious. After the first time I had it, I asked for the dressing on the side because it is a spicy meatball! Mixed Greens, Rice, Cheddar and Mozzarella, Scallion, Roasted Peppers, Cajun Ranch with an "add" of chicken. 

This Sausage Kale Soup actually made kale not just palatable, but delicious! Another awesome soup selection is their Clam Chowder with Bacon.

This particular dinner was enjoyed on the aforementioned patio. 

Another standout from the regular menu is the burger selection. 

Bob loved his Cajun Burger. Caramelized Onion, Mushrooms, Pepper Jack Cheese, topped with Cajun Ranch. 

This Pork Chop special also made Bob very happy, There were enough leftovers for a second meal!

Bob had tried the pizza over the last couple of years, but it never appealed to me. Howard, a Connecticut native, sympathized with my longing for East Coast style pizza, but it's not what he serves here. Still, something made me decide to try it. And, as Anthony Bourdain said of Chicago's Burt's Pizza (deep dish) back in 2008 - it's not pizza (as I know it), I don't know what it is but it's delicious!

The crust had a great chew and crunch, and even though it was cooked in a pan, I liked it! So much so that I ordered another style on my next visit. 

They call this the Mesclun Pizza: A plain cheese pizza topped after baking with Baby Field Greens, Sundried Tomato, Goat Cheese, Balsamic Vinaigrette. And as weird as it may seem to top a pizza with a salad, the sun dried tomatoes really pull it together and make it work. Though I confess I ate the greens part mostly as a separate salad component and not still on the pizza. 

Howard and Jamie offer delicious food, gracious hospitality, and a killer patio (in season). Highly recommended for Fun Playing With Food in the Eastern suburbs!

Bar 50/20 aka Mish Mosh

5020 Brainard Road

Solon, Ohio 44139

(440) 349-7300

mishmosheatery@gmail.com

No website, FB page: https://www.facebook.com/bar5020/

Open for lunch and dinner M-TH 11:30am-11pm, Fri-Sat until 1am.

Fun Playing With Fish, Soup, Burgers, and More at Fisher's American Tavern, Solon Ohio

After 5 posts from our winter visit to Florida, it is time to briefly return to the East Side of Cleveland. The American Tavern lived on Miles Road in Solon for many years, and we had stopped visiting years ago because it was so old and tired. It sold once or twice, and changed names, but I heard of no reason to revisit it. Then, in the spring of 2018, Scott and Tami Fisher acquired the property, re-renaming it "American Tavern" but adding their name as well. They scrubbed the place from the bottom up and back down again, and refreshed it without disturbing the pub-like charm. 

Fisher's American Tavern has become a "go to" for us. We especially enjoy the fish specials, though I'd put Scott's Chicken Paprikash up against any in town. Given their very modest price points, the Fishers aren't selling the kind of high end, freshly caught fish featured in the Destin posts. Rather, working with modest food service ingredients combined with mad kitchen skills, a lifetime of experience, and a crackerjack staff, they deliver very tasty and well-prepared food and drinks at very friendly prices, in a space that has regained the feeling of a place where "everyone knows your name." The menu leans heavily on comfort food, but has something for everyone, including a nice salad selection. And they even take reservations (which you will need if you wish to dine on Friday or Saturday night without a wait)!

Chicken Noodle Soup

Fisher's has joined the ranks of so many restaurants starting their "homemade" soups with commercial bases, then adding fresh ingredients. But this one works. While I would never mistake the broth for made-from scratch, I'd happily consume this cup of goodness on a chilly Cleveland day. 

On that first visit, Bob and I each had a version of Annie's Fish and Chips. I had the half plate, plus the above cup of soup, and Bob had the full plate. 

Annie's Fish & Chips Half Plate

Annie's Fish & Chips Full Plate

Both plates begin with good quality frozen haddock filet. They end in crunchy deliciousness after being expertly beer battered and deep fried. Accompanied by a house-made slaw, this is a worthy fish fry available every day the kitchen is open, throughout the year. 

For our next visit, we landlubbered. 

Bob's Mushroom Swiss Burger

Bob's burger was topped with sauteed mushrooms, Swiss, lettuce, tomato and onion. 

Chicken Paprikash, House Made Spaetzle

Bob enjoyed his burger. The Paprikash was nicely cooked, perfectly seasoned, and served over house made Spaetzle. It melted in the mouth. I'm pretty sure that this was the "half" size order, BTW.

Our next dinner happened to be a Monday - Burger Night! $6.99 gets you a half pound Angus burger of your choice from the 8 item burger menu (except the "Tavern" and "Rodeo" burgers, which each have bacon in addition to the burger patty, and carry an upcharge on Burger Night) and one "standard side." Tuesday through Saturday, they will swap out the beef for grilled chicken or a veggie patty no charge; on Burger Night, there is a $1.49 upcharge for the swap. It is a generous deal for $7.

Bob's 

This "Italian Burger" was an off-menu special. The burger wore melty mozzarella, balsamic reduction, arugula and tomato. 

Chili Burger

My burger was topped with house made chili, cheddar cheese, diced onion and Jalapeno. I also sprung for a second side, steamed broccoli. 

Perfectly steamed, with a little toothiness yet, this was not your typical food service bag broccoli (which always tastes a little funky to me). 

We returned on a raw December night. A cheesy broccoli soup was the first order of the day for me!

Walleye Finger Appetizer

The walleye fingers came to the table so hot, crispy and fragrant that we dug in before I took a picture. Again, a naked frozen fish, deftly beer battered and handled, it's on the regular menu for $11.49.

NY Strip Steak Dinner

Bob's steak was cooked to medium as he requested, and served with potato mash and vegetable of the day. He was very happy.

Fisher's offers fish specials every weekend, year round. In the spring, they had several variations on the fish fry, and we were fortunate to get some! I stuck with a half order of the Beer Battered Haddock, but started with  a cup of soup. 

Velvet Chicken Soup

Bob's: Breaded Perch Fish Fry Dinner

Perch is Bob's favorite, and this plate did not disappoint! 

The weekend "fish frenzy" menu also includes a few drink specials available all hours for $6. In addition, they offer Happy Hour Monday-Friday 3:30pm to 6:30pm, with drink specials and half priced appetizers (except the Walleye fingers). Scott and Tami will treat you like family, which is a big reason we have so much fun playing with food at Fisher's! 

Fisher’s American Tavern

28020 Miles Road

Solon, Ohio 44139

(440) 349-3736

https://www.facebook.com/fishersamericantavern/

Open for lunch at 11am Mon-Fri (Saturday at noon)

Closes 11pm

Closed Sunday

Fun Playing with Food Over Labor Day Weekend

For only the second time in 24 years, Bob and I spent Labor Day Weekend at home and not at the Western PA Mensa Regional Gathering in Pittsburgh. In 1991, we first met at this event, and we married five years later. Bob is experiencing some health issues that make travel and hotel stays difficult. so home it was. Sad as we were to miss the festivities, we did eat well.

Our Saturday breakfast was another take on Hash Brown Waffles topped with poached eggs, similar to the photo below.

Saturday's dinner was about using up some lovely peppers we'd gotten at Basketeria at the West Side Market two weeks prior, together with Farmers' Market sweet corn, and some of the last fresh Alaskan Wild King Salmon of the season, from Mister Brisket, which was fabulous. 

Stuffed Peppers with Lentils, Tomato Sauce, Onions, Cheese

Ementaler and Gruyere Cheeses complimented the salmon perfectly.

Grilled Alaskan Salmon topped with garden Garlic Chives, Grilled Corn, Stuffed Pepper

The leftover salmon became salmon salad Sunday morning, served on beautifully rustic dark rye from Lucy's Sweet Surrender at the Chagrin Falls North Union Farmers' Market and market tomatoes.

Dinner on Sunday and Monday was the same: grilled Mr. Brisket Burgers, On the Rise buns, Farmers' Market lettuce, onion and tomato, leftover stuffed peppers and corn salad made with the leftover grilled corn from Saturday's dinner:

For Sunday breakfast, the Waffle Iron Chef-ed again! I'd been wanting to make Falafel Waffles, and this was my big chance!

The recipe suggested using about a tablespoon of batter in each grid - good if you wanted falafel-ball sized waffles to stuff in pita, but not so good if the waffles would be the star, so I tripled the amount per grid after the first four. We served the waffles on the plate, with more tomato and onion, and topped it with Amir's Tahini Hummus (which was more hummus than tahini, I'm afraid, but Heinen's didn't have Amir's straight tahini), and my riff on Michael Symon's Tzadiki sauce - substituting local Anaheim Pepper for Cucumber. Since the hummus wasn't sesame-ee enough for me, we drizzled some additional Sesame Oil over all. 

As we count down the last days of summer, and the last days before Bob's surgery (to hopefully at least make a dent in his spinal problems), it was nice to pause and enjoy good food and one another. I hope your long weekend was equally delicious and that you had fun playing with your food! 

Fun Playing with Waffles

I've been wanting a good waffle iron for years. It never felt like there was a place to store it, so the dream went unfulfilled. Until my birthday this year. Seven months into not having a stove, it was time for a birthday present. Behold, the Iron Chef of Waffle Irons:

If I had learned nothing else from the cheap waffle iron I bought almost 30 years ago - don't cheap on a waffle iron if you want to make anything other than, well, waffles. This hunk of All Clad is built like a tank. And we've already started to put it through some unconventional paces, with great success. 

Our very first meal with it transversed the ordinary:

Savory Sweet Corn Waffle

We topped our first waffles with a Sausage Gravy made with our first bag of Hot Italian Sausage from our 2014 half Miller Livestock Co., Inc. Berkshire Hog. Served up with Farmers' Market Green Beans, it was a terrific way to inaugurate the new waffle maker.

The leftovers made for a fabulous breakfast topped with Tea Hill Farms poached eggs:

Out next waffle meal featured a regular buttermilk waffle (with a bit less sugar added to the batter), serving as buns for savory burgers. First up, Lamb-Chorizo Burgers served with Mint-Yogurt Raita, Lettuce, Tomato, Onion, Snap Peas (not pictured). Breychak Farm lamb combined with spicy Saucisson chorizo, Yum.

Bob was a bit overly generous in sizing the patties, and we had some leftovers. 

The next night, we rinsed and repeated, using a mixture of the Saucisson Chorizo and ground beef we received in connection with the Kickstarter campaign of Blue Loon Farm, and a batch of yeast-batter waffles. This time, we made the patties smaller, and so had enough for two meals! Spicy heaven on a waffle!

Meal 2

Next up: BLTs, on yet another batch of Yeasted Waffles! Our last pound of Brechak Farm bacon gave it's all, in an oven-baked weave of deliciousness.

Today's experiment involved potatoes. We'd gotten some beautiful purple spuds at the Geauga Fresh Farmers' Market, and this morning, I shredded, drained and waffled them:

Here, the waffles are topped with poached Blue Eggs from two different farmers, and our first sample of the bacon we got from our Miller Farm hog. The taters were cooked through on the inside and super crispy on the outside, with just a bit of butter brushed on the waffle iron and some salt and pepper added to the shreds before waffling. The beautiful simplicity of waffling speaks for itself. 

Fun playing with waffles - what shall we waffle next?