Fun Playing with Sunday Supper at Crop

I am ashamed to admit how long it has been since I first dined at Crop Bistro in Cleveland's Warehouse District. Owner Steve Schimoler is passionate about his food, and one of the most playfully creative Chefs I know. He and his wife Jackie are the forces behind Cleveland Food Rocks and localcrop.com, "an online farmers market linking Northeast Ohio's small farmers and producers with local chefs. In an innovative and timely twist, the market is "powered" by SYSCO, whose refrigerated trucks delivery the goods to local restaurants over already-established routes, thereby conserving fuel and maximizing efficiency. " We were determined to get our friend Kris to Crop before she had to leave for Japan.

Six of us assembled at Crop for the unique Sunday Supper. It was close to perfect, and an amazing bargain at $25 per person. We started with not one, but two amuses:


Chile Deviled Eggs with Crisp Pork

What combination could be better than a deviled egg topped with crispy bacon! And dusted with a satisfyingly hot bit of chile pepper. As per usual, Chef Schimoler encouraged us to play with this food by taking the egg with fingers and dredging it in the sauces decorating the plate. Yum.










Crop-pacho

Fresh tomatoes were the star of this chilled soup. Truthfully, I'm not a big fan of Gazpacho - but this dish wowed; we all practically licked our bowls.



The cheesy crouton was a perfect foil for the acidic tomatoes, and the cilantro was garden-fresh.


Bread Service

Freshly baked cornbread was the next table guest, accompanied by a softened compound butter.

Salad came next, served family style:





Watermelon, tomatoes, and two varieties of beets, together with assorted lettuces, were the base of the salad. There were also cubes of an extremely mild Swiss cheese, cucumbers, and a bacon topping. The dressing was a simple balsamic vinaigrette - simply delicious. Even though this was the first official course - the six of us could not finish it.



This intermezzo followed the salad course:


Crop-Sickle - Lime and Honey



I'm not really into frozen - I thought I'd clean my palate with a few licks, then return this to the glass. Wrong! I ate the whole thing - simple but delicious, and refreshing to the palate.

We had our choice of six entrees for the next course. Chef Steve explained that Crop had hosted a "Julie and Julia" dinner the night before, and so had magnificent Massachusetts Sole in the house. Sold.


Herb Crusted Baked Sole With Citrus Cream



Chef Steve applied the cream from a seltzer bottle at the table. This dish was simply perfect. Though I thought I tasted something nutty in the crust, Chef said that it was a simple combination of fresh herbs and bread crumbs. The Citrus Cream complimented the mild fish - there was none of either left on my plate!


Seared Hiramasa (Amberjack) and Scallops

Two of our tablemates sampled this delicious dish, with Olive Tapanade and Salsa Verde. Chef Steve said the Citrus Cream would go well with this dish also, and allowed our tablemates to help themselves to his siphon.






Grilled Hangar Steak with Chimichurri

Two tablemates opted for this dish - and my taste was heavenly. The meat was perfectly cooked to medium-rare, and the sauces on the plate truly enhanced that which was already pretty darn tasty. Our remaining dining companion had the Tasmanian Salmon wtih Coconut Curry and pronounced it delicious.

Side dishes were Chef's Choice and served family style:


Cool Bean Salad


Grilled Ohio Corn


Plucot in Pastry, Unsweetened House Made Whipped Cream

I just learned about Plucot at the Geauga Farmers' Market on Saturday (Herbthyme had some Plucot Jam), but it didn't stick to my brain that it was a specific fruit until this dessert was served.



The fruit was slightly cooked, but still firm to the bite. The pastry added a desserty feel to the lovely fruit, and the cream was perfect with it - picking up the sweetness from the fruit without added sugar of its own.

Sunday Supper at Crop is even more of a "play with your food" experience than the regular menu - while I'm sure that Chef Steve would love to have his Sunday off - we could see how much he loves finding creative ways to utilize his bounty, and to show off ideas in process. We were so glad to finally play with Sunday Supper at Crop!


 

Fun Playing with BBQ and Rock N Roll

Today, we positively gorged ourselves on some amazing Bar-B-Que and other goodies at "The First Ever Rock N Roll BBQ Throwdown," hosted by Cleveland Food Rocks.com. Our attendance at this event was a sort of consolation prize for having to miss the EGullet Heartland Gathering taking place this weekend in Kansas City. But what a prize it was!



The mission statement of Cleveland Food Rocks includes promoting and encouraging a link between great food and live music, and using social inter connectivity to strengthen the Greater Cleveland Community.

The Beachland Ballroom donated it's parking lot, and provided cash bar and restrooms. I had never before visited the Beachland - what a cool space! And their beer selection was excellent, featuring both local and microbrews.





An eating area was set up at the front of the parking lot.

All of the food and music was under tents - even so, thank goodness the bad weather missed us!

And so - on to the food!


Brisket with 4 Sauces - Blue Canyon



Chef Brandt Evans and his crew were on their game! I sampled three of the sauces, one with each slice of brisket, and they were all delicious. But almost unnecessary, as the meat was perfectly cooked and melted in the mouth.


BBQ Wings


Cole Slaw - Chef Eric Wells/Sky Larae's Culinary

Bob pronounced this cole slaw one of his favorite eats of the day - and considering how much meat was on the menu, that is a humongous compliment to Chef Eric.


Pulled BBQ Pork Rib Sliders w/Coriander Slaw - The South Side

Yummy. I had never heard of The South Side before, but I'm glad we were introduced!


BBQ Rib - Moxie the Restaurant

So good - it deserves another look:



We missed the BBQ Throwdown between Chef Jonathon Bennett and Moxie Co-Owner Brad Friedlander last week at Moxie - I heard that Brad won - but these ribs were simply fabulous, with a hint of mustard through the smoke.

The next table offered what seemed like a strange combination of flavors - but there was a method to their table, and it all worked deliciously:




Assorted Ohio Cheeses, Local Peaches and other Fruits


Cajun Sausage


Hungarian Sausage

Both sausages were delicous, and sourced from Holiday Italian Sausage. This table was presented by Localcrop.com - a partnership between local purveyors, restaurants, and food service mega-force Sysco. Here is the essence of it, from their website:

"Localcrop.com is an online farmer’s market, where local ingredients are collected and delivered to restaurants through a unique partnership between chefs, farmers, artisan producers, and a single-source distributor, Sysco Foodservices. Created by Steve Schimoler, founder of www.chefex.com, this is the next generation of online marketplaces, where the model is purely local, defined as an area within a 150-mile radius.

Exclusively available to restaurants, institutions, and foodservice operators, our goal is to deliver the quality assured ingredients that help restaurants build the freshest, seasonal menu possible, while minimizing transportation costs, respecting the environment, and supporting our local community."

I wish them the best.

And, moving on to the next table:


Kalbi Shortrib (Korean Style) - The Brothers Lounge

This was another perfectly BBQ'd bite.


Assorted Potato Salads - Luxe

Chef Marlin Kaplan contributed these lovely looking potato salads. We were too full to sample them, unfortunately.


Smoked Duck with Cherry Sauce over Blini - Bar Cento

A lovely bite from Chef Mike Nowak and his crew. The blini were cooked a la minute and were perfect!

The next table was Melange. They offered a dazzling array - caramel popcorn (which had bacon, I'm told), clam chowder, and a clam bake. Though I snapped a photo of the bake, however, we were just too full at that point to partake:



I was too full to grab a "to go" bag of the popcorn:




Smoked, Grilled Salmon over Spicy Papaya Relish - Blue Point Grille

We were really too full to taste this, even though it looked so good! We had just passed up some lovely looking grilled shrimp from Prosperity Social Club (and I'm sorry I didn't snap a photo). I asked for a very small taste of the salmon - we actually managed to eat most of it - the combination of the salad and the salmon was sublime.


Beef Slider with Fried Pickle, Remoulade and Fresh Horseradish Sauce

This little nugget from Happy Dog was just delightful - I even liked the little bit of fried pickle I left on my half of the sandwich (yes - we were splitting tastes at this point).


Chicken Taco

Crop's contribution was also delicious. We were too full to even consider the accompaniment to this - a slice of watermelon with aged balsamic and herbs.


Sous Vide Pork Belly with Mango Salsa - Boulevard Blue

Another lovely morsel that we had no room to taste. But it did look beautiful, and others raved about it.


Grilled Veal on Foccacia - Johnny's Bistro

Bob and I shared this little bite - simply marvelous.


Grilled Corn, Chipotle-Lime Butter, Cheese, Pico de Gallo - Momocho

Another dish that we knew we'd love, but that we simply had no room for.


Watermelon Mint Slushie - Greenhouse Tavern

Greenhouse also cooked up some "corn on the bone" - but again, we passed because we were too full. I tasted the slushie, which would have been delicious - had it not had cucumber in it. Bob got to enjoy two of them.


Caribbean Vegetable Kabobs over Coconut Rice - Treehuggers Cafe

After hearing lots of great things about Treehuggers, I was sadly unable to taste their offering - simply out of room. But it looked terrific!


BBQ Tofu - Beachland Ballroom

This was served as a sandwich; I snapped a shot as another photographer was getting some photos. This actually looked and smelled lovely - but again, no room at my inn.


Carved Fruits - Green Planet Catering

Chef Ben Cyr's whimsical carvings reminded me of the fruit my grandpa Joe used to carve. Beautiful fruit!


Pumpkin Ice Cream - Pierre's

Cleveland icon Pierre's Ice Cream provided three types of chilly treats - I enjoyed this Pumpkin Ice Cream.




Grilled Peaches topped with Goat Milk Ice Cream and Balsamic Reduction - Lago

This was the last bite that we shared, around 4pm - and we still haven't been able to touch a bite of food since (and it is after 10pm EDT). The Goat Milk Ice cream was truly special, and the combination Lago presented was the perfect ending to an amazing afternoon of playing with our food.

I haven't even mentioned the wonderful music we enjoyed - brought to us by these same local restaurants and featuring many employees of those venues. We are blessed in Cleveland to have so many talented folks who are willing and able to share. We enjoyed great music and great food - not to mention the many wonderful food-world friends both professional and amateur who we got to socialize with - Chef Steve Schimoler and his minions took playing with food in Cleveland to a new level today!