Fun Playing with Foie Gras Clams

Saturday evening, Greenhouse Tavern co-owner Amelia Zatik Sawyer invited Columbus and Cleveland-area women bloggers to join her for a happy hour at the Tavern. I could not pass up the opportunity! A small group of us enjoyed fabulous appetizers, amazing desserts, and the pleasure and support of one another's company. And, I tasted one of the most amazing dishes I have ever encountered. So good, I don't care if the stains don't come off of my sweater!

We were started with the beautiful On the Rise bread and Pork Rilettes, which we'd enjoyed on our last visit Friday June 5. Also appearing was the lovely House Made Fromage Blanc w/ thyme & grilled bread, which appears in my prior Greenhouse Tavern posts. The next dish up combined the best of two other Greenhouse dishes: the Organic American Prosciutto and the Parisian Gnocchi.



Yup. Those amazingly light and tasy gnocchi are battered and fried, then wrapped in proscuitto.





Next up, a new "First" on the menu:

Roasted Marcona Almonds w/ dry olives & sea salt

Oh, my. Think peanuts and raisins - kicked up lots of notches! The almonds are gently candied, and the dried olives evoke raisins, but have a unique and irresistible flavor.



Next up, another new item:



This item featured mushrooms sauteed with swiss chard in an amazing - glaze? I hesitate to call it a sauce, because it was so very sublte, but it married the mushroomy essence (which I do like, even though I can't countenance the texture of mushrooms) to the vegetable with delicious results.

Crispy Chicken Wings w/ jalapeño, scallions & garlic

Of course, the secret ingedient that makes this dish so irresistable is the duck fat in which the wings are fried. Yum.

We were feeling pretty happy by this point - lovely food, great company, and several glasses of the house-made Port Punch, which is sort of like a sangria - but better (sorry, no photo this time).

Amelia had already asked the server to bring up some dessets - but then this plate appeared. This plate appeared and my life was changed. Chef Jonathon - I don't know how you thought this dish up - but - THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU.

Foie Gras Steamed Clams w/ mahogany clams, butter & grilled bread





Forget everything you know about foie gras. This is an alchemy that will leave you wanting more - or at least, a loaf of crusty bread to soak it up! I brought my empy clamshell to my lips to get every drop of this amazing elixer, and it dibbled down my front. I could care less if the stain ever comes out - it was sooo worth it!!

This last dish actually left us all pretty sated - but Pastry Chef Kerry Garcia had other ideas! She appeared with a dazzling array of tasty sweets.


Cookies!

These warm cookies, redolent of peanut butter, butterscotch, and other sweetly tantalizing flavors, were wonderful!




Chocolate Chocolate Truffles, Farmers' Market Strawberries, Housemade Hazelnut Brittle

I think we all agreed that this plate was our favorite. Deeply chocolately and not sweet chocolate surrounded a sweet middle and married exquisitely with the berries. And the brittle offered amazing taste and texture without challenging my dental work!

Pot of Chocolate Mousse For Two w/ white chocolate cardommon truffle & hazelnut montelimar

I believe I have the description correct. My only complaint arises from my particular palate - too much coffee flavor. If you like coffee flavor - you will love this, because the textures and tastes are otherwise divine!

Flaky pastry, fresh berries, sweet sauce - we loved it!



Another berry-centric, creamy, luxurious dessert. We approved of this one, too!


Fresh Plum Clafoutis

We had tasted this on our last visit - freshly made, warm and soothing - a perfect dessert.

As wonderful as the desserts were - I could not get my mind off of the Clams in Foie Gras Sauce. I may never look at clams the same way again - Chef Jonathon - you've spoiled me!! But I had fun playing with it, that's for sure! And that is what it is all about - thank you Amelia for setting this terrific gathering up.

More Fun Playing with Green Food at the Greenhouse Tavern

We were invited to join some friends at The Greenhouse Tavern last Friday for dinner. Twist my arm!

Friday was an especially bad allergy day in Cleveland - I'd been coughing much of the day and nothing was helping. One of our dining companions, who'd also arrived a little early, suggested something with ginger might help - and gosh darn if he wasn't right!

Ginger Flip
Goslings Rum, Egg White, Ginger Beer, Powered Sugar, Fresh Nutmeg

This cocktail was simply amazing - rich and tasty, and deeply satisfying. And not at all too sweet (which was my concern when I almost didn't order it).

After our table of 8 was seated, we ordered samples of virtually all of the "Firsts" on the menu.


Bread Service: On the Rise Bread, Pork Rilettes



I love the concept of serving rilettes instead of butter or oil with the bread - and the pork was delicious. But I thought it was a little too dry and sparse to accompany bread. For that reason only, I still prefer the duck rilettes that were served previously. The server said they intend to mix it up - fine with me!

Organic American Prosciutto w/ grilled bread

We'd tasted this during the preview dinner April 7 - a little taste goes a long way - magnificent!

House Made Fromage Blanc w/pickled thyme & grilled bread

Another repeat from our first dinner - a unique treatment of the house made cheese.

Crispy Chicken Wings w/ jalapeño, scallions & garlic

The chicken was so tender, it was falling off the bones. Exquisite.



The caramelized jalapeno really makes this dish.

Red Wine Braised Olives w/ niçoise, alfonso & coquina olives, ramps

I knew ramps would show up someplace! These tiny olives tasted heavenly together with the smooth caramelized ramps.

French Breakfast Radishes w/ butter & salt

We'd tried this on our last visit to The Greenhouse, and I'd found the radish a little too bitter for my taste (I'm not a big radish eater). I was so glad that I decided to give it another try - this radish was sweeter and tastier - who knows, maybe I'll learn to like them after all!



Moving on to Seconds (though the Chicken Wings actually also come from that section of the menu) - Edsel opted for the Fanny Bay Oysters w/ horseradish vodka & meyer lemon mignonette. He pronounced them fabulous.

English Pea Fritter w/ mint, cilantro, butter beans & housemade yogurt

This is a new menu item - and because I adore spring peas, I had to try it. The portion was so large, however, that sharing was easy!









Yum! Creamy and pea-y on the inside, crispy and yogurty on the outside - I loved this dish.

Ohio Beef Burger w/ raclette cheese, pomme frites & house beer vinegar

Bob went again for the burger, and it was done to perfection.

I decided to combine 2 Halfs for my main, instead of ordering a Third.

Wild Ohio Asparagus w/ poached egg & fromage blanc

I had just read on a food blog about poached eggs over asparagus, and had planned to make it for my Saturday breakfast. No need, thanks to Chef Jonathon.





The cheese - the same stuff (with the pickled thyme) that we'd enjoyed as a first, happily married with the egg yolk and asparagus to make a satisfying dish.


Gnocchi with Brown Butter



I know that this looks like a small portion. And at eight pieces, it sounds like a small portion. But it was incredibly filling - the butter was browned to perfection, and danced around the ethereally fluffy pasta pillows, complimenting the crunchy bits of pancetta that accented the top of the dish. I could barely finish my plates.

Roasted Tea Hills Chicken w/ ohio asparagus, herb salad & natural jus

Edsel ordered this - my taste was succulent, juicy and flavorful. Tea Hills Farm makes you re-think your instinctive disdain for chicken.

As we chatted and digested, Chef Sawyer dropped by the table to say hello. Our companions ordered desserts, but Bob and I could not. Chef sent over a cheese course for the table to sample.



Unfortunately, I missed two people's descriptions of the cheese, other than it was a cow's milk cheese that is aged. It was so delicious, I couldn't help but nibble a bit, even though I was full. The candied almonds and walnuts were a delightful accompaniment.


Fresh Plum Clafoutis

Edsel's dessert, which he let us taste - fresh and fabulous!

And so, our third dinner at The Greenhouse Tavern was overall the best - they really seem to be hitting their stride on both the food and service; it was practically flawless. We look forward to playing with the food there again soon!

More Fun Playing with Green Food

I realize that today is Friday and I am writing about Monday's dinner - it has been that kind of a week! Still - the fabulous meal we shared on Monday at Jonathon Sawyer's sparkling new Greenhouse Tavern is well worth waiting for! I urge you to visit this new Cleveland gem and taste for yourself.

When last I wrote about the Greenhouse, we had just attended a "friends and family preview" dinner. We greatly enjoyed this dinner. However, as a "tune up" for opening to the public, (complete with comment cards at the end for constructive criticism) I did not consider it fair to post any criticisms (and any I had were minor). Our dinner Monday was fantastic, with just one minor flaw that I will get to - but do keep in mind that they had been open only about a week when we dined there, so the fact that there was only one flaw is pretty impressive. Another note for those of you who play with your food by taking photos - the light is much better on the mezzanine for that purpose.

Dinner at The Greenhouse begins with lovely On the Rise bread and a dish of Duck Rillettes.







Monday's rillettes was even better than the sample we'd enjoyed at the first dinner. Creamy, ducky, fatty - yum! Our wonderful and attentive server almost took the last bit away - oh no you don't! She brought us more bread, instead.

We started with a selction of "Firsts" and "Seconds" - smaller plates that were easily shared.


Pomme Frites w/ poached egg & chervil

This dish actually comes from the "Halfs" portion of the menu - Tom really wanted to try it. Perfectly cooked frites are plated with raw garlic and rosemary, then topped with poached egg. I'd never considered the combination of poached egg and fries before - but this really worked!


Hand Ground Beef Tartare w/ cold poached egg & wild ramps

I've only ever had beef this way in the Korean style, long before e. coli was a big worry, so I had a little trepidation about it.





By itself, the meat tasted like, well, raw meat. However, once all of the components came together - the ramps, the seasoning in the beef, the beef, crouton, egg, and that incredibly fresh, spicy mustard - it was simply delicious. Now I get it!


French Breakfast Radishes with Butter and Salt

Radish is one of those foods that I can take or leave - and usually leave. Though not as offensive to my palate as cucumber, it is not a favorite. I did sample a piece of this - and if you like radishes, you will love it. I ate about 2/3 of my piece, and gave the rest to Bob - who loved it. The dish is interesting, even to the non-radish lover, because of the lovely salad of greens under the radishes, dressed to impress.

Our next dish was an off menu "special" - all I can say is that it was the star up to this point of the meal and darn well ought to find a regular place on the menu!


Fried Chicken Livers over Savory Bread Pudding with Ramps



As a rule I'm not a huge chicken liver fan - but I'd eat a plateful of these every day of the week if I could get them! The liver was perfectly cooked and not a bit "livery" - and the bread pudding was fabulous - savory yet nutmeggy - a perfect foil for liver!



The liver is to the right.



Our next plate came from the "halfs" again - I'd heard great things about it, which turned out to be true!


Cabbage Gratin w/ raclette cheese & caramelized onions





This dish was like Onion Soup without the soup or crouton (and who needs those when you have cheese???). Several different types of cabbage and onions are caramelized, then covered with gooey cheese and baked down. I kid you not when I say this was plate licking (ok, plate scraping) good.

We moved on to the entrees, or "Thirds".


Steak Frites w/ ohio beef, romaine, aioli & pomme frites

Bob, who'd loved his burger and frites at the preview dinner, loved this - and there was a lot to love!



Beautiful meat, perfectly cooked. The sides of grilled lettuce and frites were also lovely, as was the aoli for dipping.


Tom Cod In Papier w/ fresh black truffle, potato & chardonnay

All four of us were dying to try this, after a bit of a bruhaha about this dish on the Cleveland Food & Wine Forum.



Our conclusion - this dish is delicious! Fresh, sustainably sourced fish, perfectly cooked potato, chardonnay, butter and truffles - and for less than $20!! Edsel indeed chose very wisely.


Ohio Beef Burger w/ raclette cheese, pomme frites & house beer vinegar

This plate was every bit as declious as the one Bob had enjoyed on preview night. And you have to love the creative recycling evident in the frite wrappers!

I wound up repeating my choice from my prior dinner, and I was very glad I did.


Buckwheat Pasta w/mahogany clams, pancetta & chili

The first time I had this dish, I enjoyed it even though the chili wasn't very prominent. This version kicked the chili factor up (but not too far for those of you timid about such things), which made the dish even better. My only complaint would have been that two of the clams had some grit and I have no doubt that had I told the server, the dish would have been remade for me. However, by this point in the evening, we were getting so full that little miscues didn't matter.

Having worked our way through such a nice variety and quantity of Rillettes, Firsts, Seconds, Thirds and Halfs - Bob and I were too stuffed for dessert. Our dining companions had saved some room, though, and each ordered a dessert, which of course we all shared.

Dessert had been the only weak spot of our preview dinner, so I was delighted to sample these desserts, and find that they are now at the same high level of quality as the rest of the food.


Apple Calvados Tart w/ apple cider gastrique, bitter orange caramel & ice cream

We had tasted a version of this at the preview, and found the pastry a little wanting. This version, however, topped with the inimitable Jeni's Ice Cream, was everything a dessert should be - flaky soft, yet firm pastry, fresh tasty apples, and satisfying topping. Tom - please note that Edsel and I were shooting this dessert at the same time and we also crossed the streams!


Pot de Creme w/ bitter chocolate, star anise & fluer de sel florentine

I'm not a big dessert eater - but this dessert could turn me into one! Rich, creamy chocolate playing perfectly off of the salt and anise flavors, with chewy, chocolately cookies for additional contrast.



We learned upon recieving our bill that Chef Jonathon had comped our desserts - thank you!

Two other notes - the Skatewing has come off of the menu, because it cannot be sustainably sourced. I'm sure Chef will come up with a worthy replacement for it! Also - even though we ate early, they had run out of oysters - and based on our taste at the preview dinner, for good reason - they are fabulous, and happy hour priced at $1 each.

So here we are - our second meal at Greenhouse Tavern was even better than our first - and I have a feeling they will only get better as they are open longer. You may first visit Greenhouse because it is "certified green," or because you heard about the cool light fixtures made from recycled bicycle tires. You may pause to admire the chairs and tables (all made from recycled, materials) and the bar, gleaming with recycled glass. But what will make you want to keep coming back is the beautiful, delicious food at very approachable prices. I am looking forward to playing with Greenhouse Tavern food again soon!