Fun Playing With Food at Light Bistro

I was waaayyy overdue for a visit to Light Bistro - one of Cleveland's most innovative restaurants. Thankfully, we solved that "overdue" problem last Friday, and enjoyed a lovely meal with friends.

Chef Matt Mathlage's menu has undergone a lot of changes since I last dined at Light. These changes address the economic times in which we find ourselves, by offering several very different dining options at a variety of price points. This had to have been difficult to balance, as Chef Matthlage is committed to using local and sustainable products, which have to drive his costs up. So, in addition to the tapas and entrees always found at Light, Matt is also serving pizza, panini and burgers at price points from $9-16, and a bar menu of hearty snacks ranging from $5-8.

An even better deal is the Happy Hour, from 4:40-7pm, Monday-Friday. All Bar Menu food items are $5.00 each, 5 domestic beers are $5.00, 5 specialty beers are $7.50 , single specialty beers are $2.00-3.00, selected glasses of wine are $5.00, and a selected bottle of wine is $10.00. Selected specialty cocktails are $3.00. We started at the bar, around 6:30pm, waiting for everyone to arrive. I ordered the happy hour bottle, which was a Malbec (and the dark print didn't photograph well enough for me to tell you what it was) - Malbec being the magic word for me!

Once everyone arrived and we were seated, the table was set with filtered water (which, IMHO, every good restaurant should have) and bread service.



The bread comes hot from the oven.



It is served with fabulous Lake Erie Creamery butter, at a creamy, spreadable temperature.





Yum!

We decided to split a pizza and two "traditional" tapas. First up - a tapas:


Chinese Street Chicken / Miso / Sesame / Green Onion

This dish was presented in a Chinese food take-out container.



Although it was succulent and tasty - we didn't get much of miso or sesame flavor.


Chicken Liver Pate / Crostini / Ohio Apple



This was packed with flavor and texture - the apples contrasted perfectly with the creamy pate, which wasn't at all "livery" (butter will do that).

I confess that I wasn't expecting too much from the pizza - as readers of this blog know, I freely admit to having very strong preferences in that department, which few Cleveland restaurants have sated; and pizza wasn't an original part of the Light repertoire. But I should have known to not worry.


Pizza Albondigas - Lamb Meatballs / Tomato Sauce / Mozzarella / Provolone



This thin-crust pizza, baked in Light's bread oven, was excellent. The crust had crunch and chew (though not char), but was still effervescently tender. The toppings were outstanding - the lamb meatball was a few flavor notches over the usual beef or pork meatball one can get on pizza (if one can get meatball on pizza in Cleveland!), and the sauce and cheese brought it all together.

Truthfully, I was almost full after the appetizers! But there was one entree item I wanted, no I needed, to try. The last time I'd dined at Light, one of my dining companions, who is a chef, noted that Light had ostrich on the menu, and he told me that I must try it. Unfortunately, the last order of ostrich available that night was ordered at another table moments before we ordered. Even worse - the diner who received the lucky plate was right in eyeshot! After being tortured watching him enjoy his dinner - I promised myself that the next time I dined at Light - ostrich would be mine!

But first, my dining companions, who all generously shared a taste:


Truffle and Ricotta Ravioli / Sauteed Mushrooms / Balsamic / Parsley Oil

My taste of the ravioli (I passed on the mushrooms, surprise) was lovely. Light pasta, fresh cheesy filling, and a tasty sauce combo.


Caramelized Scallops / Fennel / Red Onion / Orange Salad / Tarragon Sauce

My taste of this dish was the only "miss", for me, of the evening - though the person who ordered it enjoyed it very much. Again, accept that I have a very fussy seafood palate - what is important is that the diner who selected this dish really liked it.


Pork chop / Polenta / Pickled Onions / Champagne Mustard

This dish rocked - a huge portion of Berkshire pork, perfectly cooked, the loin atop a kiss of mustard, the bone standing aside a mug of very tasty polenta.





Grilled Ostrich / Asian Glaze / Spinach with Pine Nuts and Raisins



I'd never tasted ostrich before. And, at the risk of channeling Emeril Lagasse - it tasted like, well, ostrich. The texture reminded me of bison, and the flavor had notes of bison, poultry and just a hint of gaminess - but the overall effect was unique to my palate - most delicious. The Asian-inspired glaze was minimal - a veritable whisper on the dish - and it added just the right amount of "extra" flavor and texture, together with the raisins, which seemed made to accompany ostrich.

So - shame on me for taking so long between visits to Light Bistro. Chef Matt is having a slightly different brand of fun than he started with at Light - a little less emphasis on molecular gastronomy (which I enjoyed, but which might have been a hard sell in Ohio City) and a little more traditional, but nevertheless diverse menu, with something for everyone, at multiple price points. Bottom line is that the food and drink were outstanding, as was our server (also named Matt). We had a large time playing with our food at Light Bistro!

Fun Playing with Jeff Jarrett's Food at North End, Hudson, Ohio

On June 23, 2009, Chef Jeff Jarrett took over the kitchen at North End in Hudson Ohio. I've known Chef Jeff's cooking since he was sous Chef to Matt Mathlage, first at The Leopard in Aurora, and then at Light Bistro in Ohio City. We last tasted his cooking while he was sous to Chef Dante Boccuzzi at Dante in Valley View. (On a related note, Chef Dante reports that he is looking forward to opening the new Dante in Tremont soon.)

Our friend Kris, haling from Cleveland but resident in Japan, is on her annual visit home - and since she'd enjoyed Jeff's cooking at two of the three prior incarnations, we very much wanted to include her in our first meal at North End under Jeff. Because the menu is still a work-in-progress as Jeff makes it his own, he asked if he could do a five course tasting for us. We were delighted to say yes!

So - seven of us EGullet folks assembled at North End last Thursday to enjoy what Jeff had to offer. Since we were a little early, Bob and I enjoyed a beer at the North End's beer bar, located right by the entrance. Several taps featured brews not commonly seen around these parts, and the coolers house a fabulous bottled beer selection.

North End owner Scott Kuebler is all about playing with food and drink. The tap beers averaged about $5 a pint, and the bottles were also very reasonably priced. As for wine - North End 's trademark is offering a large selection of wines by the bottle at $10 over retail, if enjoyed in-house. In addition, flights of all types are available for a custom tasting experience. I'm sad we haven't gotten to North End more often; we'll need to remedy that!

Scott offered to add wine pairings to our meal for an additional $20, which several of us accepted. As the evening went on, he really got into the "play with your food" spirit, and gave us two selections (one each white and red) per course, to get our feedback on the best choices to pair with Jeff's food. Unfortunately, I did not write them down - but I suspect that Scott kept careful track of what went best, and will expertly pair wine with Jeff's cuisine for all.

First Course:


Tomatoes and Watermelon, Many Accompaniments



Beautiful local tomatoes were served with a smorgasbord of tastes - sweet honeycomb, micro basil, herb de Provence goat cheese, black lava salt, olive oil and, most originally - whipped olive oil, which was almost butter-like.









I especially loved the darker tomatoes, which reminded me of the Black Crim heirloom we grow in our garden every summer (which we are anxiously watching for ripeness). But the best thing about this dish was the whimsy - multiple textures and flavors to pair with each of the watermelon and the various tomatoes. I loved it!

Course 2:


Scallops, Local Corn and Home-Made Bacon Ragout, Candied Hot Peppers

Scott told us that this is the dish that got Chef Jeff this gig - and that it is already on the menu. And rightly so - a simply amazing seasonal dish making the most of the things we love best and topped with a tasty corn sprout!



The scallops were very good quality and cooked perfectly. Below was the sweet/savory melange of corn and bacon and above, the sweet/hot stickiness of candied chilies. Bob was the only one to actually cut his whole chile pepper open and add to the dish - but I found the heat in the candied chilies sufficient.




We all pronounced this dish a winner.

Since the next two courses featured meat, Jeff offered fish options for the mostly non-meat eater at the table (or for any of us who preferred them). However, though he substituted the protein, he kept the remainder of the dishes the same.


Pheasant, Wrapped in House Cured Pancetta, Local Chanterelles, Brussels Sprouts, Pomegranate Sauce

We had some intense discussion about what the heck we'd be eating this course while we were waiting for it (fortunately, Scott had a Blackberry and looked "pheasant" up for us). But once we received it, there was no doubt what it actually was - delicious!



While it is true that pancetta makes everything taste better - the pheasant was farm-raised, and not gamey at all. What a shame that I don't like the texture of mushrooms (though I did taste a bit of the chantrelle - had it been pureed into a sauce, I would have loved it, but I just can't get over that mushroomy texture). The brussels sprouts-hater at the table pronounced the individual leaves most palatable, and everyone enjoyed this course. And the delicate chives, like the corn sprout in the previous dish, were not just for show - nibbling them with the pheasant meat added a whole new tasty dimension of flavor to the dish.


Halibut, with the Brussels Sprout-Chantrelle Treatment

My taste of the fish was terrific - pristine fish, well cooked.

Next course:


Pork Belly, Asian Slaw, Caramelized Peanut and Chile Dressing, Tamarind Caramel







It was a toss-up, we agreed, which dish was better - the scallops or this - and heck, there was no real need to choose! I knew from the first bite that this had to be a Berkshire hog (and Chef Jeff confirmed that it was) - and the belly was perfect - tender, succulent, and the fat just melted in the mouth. It didn't need a thing.

The slaw underneath was very tasty - and tastier yet accompanied by the Tamarind Caramel. I would have eaten as much of the Caramel as was on the plate - heck, I could probably have eaten a whole plate of it, it was that tasty!





Seared Tuna with Asian Slaw and Tamarind Caramel

This photo does not do justice to the meaty tuna, seared perfectly and raw inside, ribboned with lots of fish fat. While I wouldn't trade my pork belly for it - it was a worthy substitute for the non-carnivorous.

Dessert:


Local Peaches and Blackberries, Multiple Forms

The dessert was the only dish that had a swing and a miss, though we all agreed that we liked it (it was not a strike out, just a swing and miss in an otherwise successful at-bat).





The caramelized peach half was loaded with Blackberry Espuma (or foam - Jeff hasn't completely cut his ties with the molecular gastronomy he did with Chef Mathlage!), and perched atop a refreshing ginger vanilla yogurt. Peach Salsa sat atop a spoon, which also held a perfect blackberry, for easy dipping into the yogurt. But the Blackberry Caviar didn't quite do what Jeff was hoping it would - it was actually almost neutral in flavor (a couple of table-mates got a little bitter taste). No harm done, just not as spectacular an ending as Jeff was hoping for. Still, very refreshing and not overwhelming, considering the generous portions of each of the preceding four courses. We pronounced this dinner a tremendous success, and look forward to sampling more of Chef Jeff's goodness soon!

Thursday, August 20, North End will host Chicago's Goose Island Brewery for a beer tasting dinner (at the incredible price of $40) - we hope to be there.

North End has always been a great place to play with wine and beer. The food was always good too - but is now even better with the addition of Chef Jeff Jarrett. Jeff promises to continue to emphasize the locally produced, fresh ingredients he featured in this dinner, and that is what we like to eat! North End is highly recommended for fun playing with local, delicious, creative food.

Fun Playing With Singapore Noodles

Inspired by a recent post by fellow Cleveland food blogger Maybelle's Mom, I made Singapore Noodles for dinner Saturday night. I was overly generous in scaling my ingredients, so I also made it for breakfast this morning. Savory fried noodles are common breakfast food throughout Asia.

Singapore Noodles, called by this name in every corner of the world except Singapore (according to cookbook authors Anya von Bremzen and John Welchman), are named for the use of curry in the dish (Singapore is known as "Star Country" - though the connection with the curry is unclear, according to the late, great Barbara Tropp). After reading Maybelle's Mom's post earlier this week, I just started craving the dish. Then, I stopped at Heather's Heat & Flavor to replenish a number of spices, and resupplied our curry powder jar. While most good cooking authorities will tell you to make your own curry powder, the product at Heather's is as good as mine - which is why I no longer make it myself!



We had a bit of sauteed Kielbasa left over from the previous night's dinner, which had come from Mazullo's Market in Aurora. And, despising all forms of processed shrimp, I took a chance on some frozen bay scallops from Giant Eagle in Solon, after the fish counter lady, of her own initiative, showed me the box they came in that said "dry" (she had no idea what "dip" or "wet pack" or "dry pack" meant; it was my question about this that prompted her to offer to fetch the box - thank you!). And I have to say - they weren't the best scallops I ever ate, but they didn't smell or taste of chemicals, either.


Bay Scallops Tossed With Cornstarch and Crisped



I had picked up a red pepper, freshly packed mung bean sprouts, and surprisingly crisp snow peas at Heinen's, which had been my first Saturday shopping stop. [And - here's a "Not Fun" to you, Heinen's - the fish filet I almost purchased smelled horribly of chemistry, so I gave it back.] The scallions were better at Giant Eagle. I also chopped up half a roasted Garden acorn squash from Friday night's dinner, and gave that a saute in some rendered pork fat. Yes - the flavor did improve. I also chopped some carrot from the fridge, and onions and garlic, and two yellow hot peppers from our garden/freezer.

Once I organized my mise, I realized that I had enough food for two full woks. To avoid overloading the wok (and our stomachs) - I decided to split things in half, and make the second half for breakfast today. I decided this once all the veggies (except bean sprouts) were in the wok, Bogarting the space:



This was the second, Sunday morning breakfast mise:



The tub at 10 o'clock is the rendered pork fat. At 9 o'clock is some chopped banana, which I decided to add this morning because the banana wanted to be eaten, and I thought another sweet note would be a nice counterpoint for breakfast. The sauce is a combination of dark and light soy sauce, prepared curry paste, sesame oil, chicken stock, sherry, and a little sugar. The small plastic cup to the left of the bowl of noodles contains curry powder, tumeric and cayenne pepper.




Soaked Rice Noodles


Bean Sprouts


Friday Night's Finished Dish, With A Wedge of Lime


Saturday's Breakfast


Fun!

Even though I'm normally not a big fan of savories for breakfast - for Curried Noodles, I'll make an exception!