Fun Playing with Comfort Food at Bar Symon

Our EGullet friend Kris is on her annual visit to her hometown of Cleveland (she lives in Japan). So, we will indulge in some Cleveland-area restaurant food fun over the next couple of weeks, notwithstanding that our garden is finally busting open with summer goodness.

Last night, we enjoyed a meal at Michael Symon's latest venture, Bar Symon. It was great to see former Lolita stalwarts "Chaty" Matt Harlan and FOH Manager Nolan Cleary and to taste a bit of Cory Barrett's dessert magic. We East-Siders so miss them - and it is a 50 minute drive to Bar Symon from my home, so I don't suppose we'll be going too often. Our loss.

Bar Symon screams "comfort" from the moment you enter. From the 40-plus beers on tap to the comfort food on the menu - comfort is the operative word. Though there is an upscale element in the layout and lighting, jeans and t-shirts feel perfectly appropriate. If this place was in my neighborhood, I'd be living at the bar - which, as noted, features over 40 varieties of beer on tap, and more varieties in bottles (and $1 Pabst Blue Ribbon cans). Prices for the other beers start at $4 and the pours are generous (and the selection of barware extensive, to compliment the various beer styles). I enjoyed the Ayinger Celebrator Doppel Bock and the Aventinus Weizenbock - I've had both before from the bottle, but never on tap - and tap does make a difference. Wow!


The Tap Handles - 40+ on Tap and More in Bottles


The Secret Room Behind the Tap Handles

A most cool piece of beer technology.

The place was pretty darn crowded for a Tuesday night and beware - reservations are not accepted. Our friend Edsel arrived early, though, and got us on the list, so we didn't have to wait for a table once we got there from the East Side.

One of the first things we noticed was the staging area for the delicious butter - I can't stand being served beautiful bread in a restaurant only to tear it apart with rock hard butter. That will not happen at Bar Symon.



Bar Symon sources its bread from a newly opened bakery, Blackbird Baking Company in Lakewood (which opened the same day Bar Symon did). Tom Clark is the owner, with his wife ,and he formerly worked at On the Rise Bakery on the east side. They are located on Detroit right before the Rocky River Bridge (thanks Matt for the info update!). The sourdough is simply extraordinary.


Bread Service



We decided to split some appetizers before ordering mains. Like its sister Lolita, Bar Symon has a tasting-friendly menu. We started with the "Big Board" of three house-made sausages with pickles, mustard, and the most amazingly tasty grilled bread:




Smoked Kielbasa, Spicy Lamb & Mint and Pork & Fennel Sausages Big Board


Highlighting the 3 Mustards and Pickled Vegetables



The pickled ramps were especially savory! Ramp season may be over in Northeast Ohio - but not at Bar Symon! Kris ate all of my share of the mushrooms and pronounced them delicious.


MEAT!

I do NOT go to Michael Symon's restaurant to eat vegetables or fish - we know what the stars will be!



My plate of sausage tastes.



How could I leave that amazing grilled bread off! Seasoned simply with salt and pepper - the secret is the toasting over wood chips and not just the grill! We all marveled at how magnificent it tasted.


Goat Tacos

Every night, Bar Symon offers a special - Tuesday is Goat Taco night. The four of us split these two lovelies - succulent and moist, and accented by fabulously zingy chiles and house-made salsa.




PEI Oysters, Symon Cocktail Sauce, and Lambic Mignonette



The oysters were pristine - and the mignonette was simply amazing - a light wash of lovely flavors that didn't overwhelm or drown any of the oyster flavor. The Symon Cocktail Sauce was tasty - but the Lambic Mignonette divine!

I didn't think we'd have the wherewithall for entrees (which each come with a side) after this - but we did. And I'm so glad that we did!


Grilled Meatloaf, Pickled Banana Peppers, Lola Ketchup

My entree. This was NOT my mom's meatloaf. And I love my mom's meatloaf. But I loved this too. I realized it wasn't beef (which was the only meat in my mom's meatloaf) - Nolan revealed it was a mix of veal and pork - which made it very light, yet richly tasty. And my mom never crusted her meatloaf - but the crust, and the grill treatment, gave this slab of goodness wonderful mouthfeel and depth of flavor. And those peppers - yum! I even enjoyed the ketchup - though Chef Michael revealed to me that it contains quite a bit of coffee - I swear, it is so well balanced in flavor and texture that I wouldn't know that if he hadn't told me (and coffee usually makes me gag).


My Side - Bacon Creamed Corn

This side is one of the Bar Symon dishes that hails from Lolita - and is executed wonderfully at Bar Symon! After all - it has Chef Symon's favorite vegetable - Pork!


Mussels - White Ale, Chilies, Garlic & Parsley

This was Kris's entree. Truthfully, I'm not that crazy about mussels. Had I not gotten partially full on appetizers, I would have probably tasted one anyway - but it just didn't appeal. Apparently, according to my dining companions, it was my loss.


Mussel Sauce

Kris raved about this - I really should have tried it. Next time!


Fried Brussels Sprouts

Given the Symon treatment of pork fat and more pork fat - even an ambivalent brussels sprouts eater like Kris was won over!


Smoked & Braised Pork Butt, Pickled Cabbage Slaw

Bob's entree - simply perfect pork-smoke-and-sour flavors. He actually finished all the slaw - and left over some of his meat - and that never happens.


Garlic Greens (Escarole)

This was the only dish we didn't relish - but none of us is a big escarole fan. Nothing bad or wrong - just much less sexy than some of the other food.


Crispy Fried Organic Chicken, Truffle Honey & Rosemary

This was Edsel's entree. Anyone who has ever complained about portion sizes at a Michael Symon restaurant needs to visit Bar Symon and order this - a full half of a chicken, battered and fried to perfection! For $15! Plump, juicy, succulent - these adjectives all came to mind as I tasted.


Soft Polenta

Another item channeling Lolita - and the perfect side to the exquisitely tasty fried chicken - corny, savory and creamy (ah- the power of cheese!).

Our companions did an amazing job cleaning their plates - Bob and I needed boxes. And it was our companions who ordered desserts (though I confess to asking for the extra spoons - but more than a bite or two was out of the question).



This sundae featured house-made Edmund Fitzgerald Porter Ice Cream, house-made caramel (my weakness) and pretzels. Cory - you did it again!



Kris opted for the Coconut Sorbet - delightfully refreshing!

And so - the East Side Contingent sadly departed Bar Symon - sated with fabulous flavors, but sad with the knowledge that the restaurant seems, at least, so far away. The Westsider, of course, was extremely happy to have such a fabulous food outpost so close to his home.

The prices top out at $17 for the most expensive entrees, and the burger is less than $10! Bar Symon is designed to accomodate anyone who enjoys delicious food, at a tasty price in a comfortable atmosphere. And the patio looked simply lovely - no wonder the kitchen was still hopping at 9pm on a Tuesday! We most enjoyed playing with our food (and the fabulous tap beer selection) and hope to get back before too long from the far reaches of the East Side.

Fun Playing with Pork and Winter Squash Stew

Since Christmas, my husband Bob has been Mr. Meat Roaster. First it was whole leg of lamb, then a Snavely Pork Roast. After a brief trip to Florida, we enjoyed a Nature's Basket Roast Chicken. Then, for a change, Bob made a big pot of chili. All of these were hearty, winter-inspired meals. But Bob was running out of ideas. What to make next?

Yesterday, I suggested that he look for inspiration in Linda and Fred Griffith's wonderful (but unfortunately out of print) cookbook Cooking Under Cover. When I arrived home, the garage was perfumed with the smell of stew.

A couple of hours later, we enjoyed Bob's variation on Spicy Pork Stew with Hubbard Squash and Escarole. He left out the Escarole and used two of our home-grown Acorn Squash for the Hubbard component. The recipe has an Indian influence, with the addition of cardamom, cumin and cloves, and some hot chilies. In addition, the pot contained red bell pepper, tomato, garlic, onion, red wine vinegar and garden Jalapeños. I noticed when I first walked into the house that the pot gave off a smell I did not like - which I attribute to the pork shoulder being "supermarket" pork (it was the smell I remember from the hated occasional pork chop of my youth) - but the bad smell cooked off somehow. The final product was tender and delicious - I've never enjoyed our winter squashes quite like this!







As the recipe suggested, we served it over rice. And, as you can see from the link to Amazon, above, Cooking Under Cover can be purchased over the internet. The book is highly recommended.

Fun Playing With Snavely Pork

It has been less than two years since we were introduced to the fabulous heritage pork being raised by Ohio farmer Ed Snavely at his Curlytail Farm. This type of pork, also called "Berkshire" or "Karobuta" is extremely hard to get and can be relatively expensive, because it is raised humanely and has not had its natural fat bred out of it. Factory pork farmers only raise what they think will sell - and we all know how the pork industry has tried to re-brand pork as a health food - the "other white meat". Often, one must go to the farmer's markets or "know" someone to get the most fatty, tasty and gently raised products.

A little background on me and pork. I am a nice Jewish girl from New York. My father's mother kept kosher, but mom's parents had given up on kashruth during World War II. Still, old habits die hard - and sometimes they morph into bizarre permutations.

The basic rules of kashruth include the prohibition on mixing meat and dairy products in the same meal, and the prohibition on eating certain parts of certain animals or the entire animal (such as pig or shellfish). During my formative years, the family eating habits reflected a cultural respect for these rules, while allowing them to be bent or broken. Thus, we might have bacon with breakfast. But almost never was pork a dinner item - and the few times mom tried to serve pork chops, they just didn't taste good to us kids. I never cared for ham or shellfish much, and I would never drink a glass of milk with a hamburger or cold cut sandwich. I can only remember one encounter with pork sausage - in the lasagna at an Italian restaurant where we celebrated Mothers' Day one year - and I remember that I picked it out. And the weirdest twist - mom regularly made veal or chicken Parmesan which we kids inhaled - yet the thought of a cheeseburger was gross!

So, it was with this ethnic, cultural and food background that I moved to Ohio to marry a man named Osterman. A man who regularly took for lunch all sorts of disgusting-looking pork-based cold cuts. A man who adored all forms of sausage. A man who only wanted to make me a pork roast with sauerkraut for New Year's Day - a staple NYD meal in his family's Bohemian tradition.

During our dating phase, he had made this delicacy for me once, using a supermarket pork roast. I really tried to like it, but it had that . . . I don't know . . . that porky taste. So, the tradition was put on hiatus.

I've lived in Cleveland for 12 years now, and within the last six or so, have been fortunate to discover this great passion for all things food which drives this blog, among other things. Also, I have made the acquaintance of several amazing chefs, who practically worship the pig, and have encouraged me to lose my boundaries and just try it (play with your food!!). And so, I can honestly say that thanks to my husband, and to chefs like Michael Symon, Matt Harlan, Dominic Cerino, Doug Katz, and with a little help from author Michael Ruhlman - I have learned to enjoy and appreciate salumi, sausage, and other assorted pig parts. (Ruhlman hosted a dinner at the now defunct Battuto restaurant that featured an amazing assortment of dishes from an acorn finished heritage pig.)

And so - the culmination of this education was the re-introduction, last NYD, of the Pork Roast and Sauerkraut to our home. But not just any pork roast - this is a fat bejeweled wonder from Snavely Farms. Bob discovered last year that the best way to make this dish is to roast the pork naked - no seasonings, no nothing - to about 140 degrees. He then adds the sauerkraut and slow cooks it to tender delight.

This was our second year of enjoying a Snavely Pork Roast at New Year's time - though it was actually the day after NYD; we were still finishing our Christmas Day Lamb and Brussels Sprouts on January 1.

Ok - I've talked enough - here are the pictures of us playing with our Heritage Pork and Sauerkraut:







These are what the pot looked like when it came out of the oven. Note how the roast is enrobed with beautiful looking fat. The skin was nice and crispy, too.







Snavely Pork Roast on the Platter - a beautiful thing!



I confess - I still can't eat the straight pork fat; but Bob doesn't let any go to waste! A little artisanal finishing salt and a grate of black pepper is all this baby needs. It tastes like no pork I ever tasted before. It tastes like no pork you will get at your local megamart. It is a plattered commercial for why we need to get back to sustainability, to basics and non-engineered foods - mostly because they taste good - and isn't that the main reason that we eat?