One of my favorite ways to try a restaurant and get a good deal are prix fixe menus. There are many different ways to experience this delight of a 3 course meal for around $30 a person. There are various groups that sponsor these meals as well as individual restaurants having special tastings. Looking for these options allows for almost anyone to afford an expensive restaurant or to try something new. Today's blog will discuss a recent attendance at a prix fixe meal in Youngstown and this week's Patio Week downtown.
On Saturday September 10, 2011, I attended an amazing meal in Youngstown at Joe's Restaurant. It was a 4 course dinner for $38 prepared by Chef Joe Marsco, a Youngstown native, who currently runs 2 prestigious restaurants in Las Vegas. He is an amazing chef and the food and driver were worth it. The meal could be paired with wine for an additional $12. (I passed on the wine because I had to drive back to Cleveland that night). The dinner started off with an antipasto which included tomatoes and buffalo mozzarella, roasted peppers, and roasted eggplant served with garlic crostini. The vegetables were perfectly roasted and seasoned and the mozzarella was drizzled with a bit of pesto. For the primi, or pasta course, we sampled the Fritzulli with broccoli rabe and chili toasted bread crumbs and the Agnolotti with swiss chard and a sage and brown butter sauce. Again the pasta was perfectly cooked and seasoned and the accompaniments were fresh and delicious. I was delighted by the chili breadcrumbs as I love anything with a bit of spice! La Corsa Secondi was also absolutely amazing. The branzino with olive oil, summer squash, carrots, and fingerling potatoes was the perfect blend of flavors. The fish was cooked perfectly and melted in your mouth. The roasted fillet with mushroom, caramelized shallots, Barolo sauce and fried mashed potatoes were beautiful on the plate. Each bite was better then the prior. The meal was finished off perfectly with a trio of dolci! There was a baba with limoncello, cannolo a strati, and a budino di amaretti. The chocolate, lemon, and ricotta all blended together even as each was an individual bite. The meal was perfect and a great value at only $38 per person.
So for those of you looking for future prix fixe events, you can experience these meals and deals this week at the Downtown Cleveland Alliance Patio Week. There are 23 participating restaurants serving lunch and/or dinner for $15/$30 per three course meal. Some of the restaurants have 2 for $30 3-course meals. The website list the participating restaurants and menus for many of them. http://downtownclevelandalliance.com/events/patio-week-/participating-restaurants--special-events.aspx In looking at the list here are a few of my favorites that I am looking to try this week. Johnny's Downtown dinner menu including an heirloom tomato salad, smoked bacon wrapped fillet with Gorgonzola cheese, and bananas foster. Chinato's dinner menu including Roasted corn and arugula salad, roasted cod with beets, and lemon polenta cake. For lunch I would love to try the $15 meal from Lola including spicy tomato bisque, mac and cheese with chicken, and panna cotta for dessert.
I am hoping to write about some other great events coming in October and November including my favorite...Cleveland Independent's restaurant week. These prix fixe menus allow dinners to try new restaurants for a good deal. Many of these restaurants would cost easily upwards of $50 per person for these same menus on a normal night. A great way to stay on top of these deals is to sign up for newsletters from groups such as the Downtown Cleveland Alliance and Cleveland Independents.
Happy eating and dealing!
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
Ethnic Church Feasts
As the summer winds down, so do the church festivals and the wonderful authentic ethnic economical food that can be purchased at the local church festivals. From the time I was a small child I loved going to the church festivals. The fresh Gyro's, fries, meatball subs, sausage sandwiches, and so many other things would tempt me. My mom and grandmother would always give us money to "run around and enjoy the festival" My cousin and friends liked playing the carny games and riding rides...me...I like cotton candy and caramel apples. As I grew up the ethnic eats became more and more interesting to me. So here is a very abbreviated guide to some ethnic festivals from this summer. I wish I had gone to more, maybe next year!
Memorial Day Weekend starts off festival season with the Greek Festival at the church in Tremont. The food outside is good- Gyro's, Souvlaki, Kebobs. But, for a true experience of the wonderful Greek food you need to go into the church hall and go through the liune where you can get wonderful sit down food including chicken, hummous, Greek salad, and so much more. After dinner you can explore the dessert line and feast on all types of baklava and custard filled desserts. What a great way to start off summer
Our Lady of Mount Carmel West- the week after Fourth of July. This is my favorite, since it is my church here in Cleveland. The festival has rides and games for the kids, casino and gambling for the adults, but more importantly it has amazing food! The options are mainly Italian, although one of the families at the church has a Mexican booth each year. You can either have a sit down meal or go the traditional fair route. The sit down meal served to your table includes cavatelli and meat balls, chicken dinner, or fish dinners on Friday. The cost varies from $8-$10 depending on what you purchase. There is plenty of food to bring some home for lunch the next day. My favorite thing to purchase is 3 meatballs in sauce for only $3. The Sausage sandwich with sauce is only $5 and the cavatelli and a meatball served outside is only $5. The perfect end to any meal is a bag of fresh hot zeppole (fried dough with powdered sugar) 3 for $2.50. I love spending my days at the festival working the zeppole stand and eating the meatballs!
A really good food festival that I do not endorse or think is worth the hype is the Feast of The Assumption in Little Italy. Everything is really good, but way over priced. If you want good gnocchi from La Dolce or cookies from Corbo's or anything else, go down and eat in the restaurants any time but during the feast! For example, a tiramisu, cookies, and coffee from Presti's would cost you around $8 on a normal day but over $20 during the feast for the same items. The $12 mark up is not worth it. Also you can go to Little Italy during the week or weekend and find a spot to park on the streets for free, during the feast it can cost you about $10 to park and you have to walk a long way. Nothing economical about this feast of ethnic eats...move on to somewhere else!
The greatest weekend for ethnic food feasts is Labor Day weekend. There are feasts and festivals all over the city. St. Rocco's has wonderful Italian food and the Greasy Pole on Monday and Oktoberfest at the Berea fairgrounds osts great German, Polish, Slavic, eats and beers. But I am going to write about 2 of the festivals I attended this year. Both are economical but only one is worth the time.
The first Annual Greek Fest in Kamm;s Corner at the Cretan Center can let this year be its first and only year to host such an event. I am only writing about food, so I will hold back on the lack of anything authentic about the festival itself (cheap jewelery vendors around the side of the hall is not authentic Greek). The food was well priced and a decent variety including Moussaka, Pastitos, Greek Chicken, and Lamb Shank all served with a side of either rice, Greek potatoes, or green beans for only $8. You could add a Greek salad or $3 or spanakopita for $1. The problem was with the food itself. It tasted fin, but I was sick on it afterwards. So the First Annual Greek Fest is a bust!
The best ethnic festival for the weekend was at St. Elias on Memphis. There were games and carnival rides for the kids and there were some cherry bells and wheels for the adults. Everyone though could enjoy the wonderful, authentic food that was very cheap! You could purchase a Gyro, Souvlaki, Falafel or Kefta sandwich for only $5. I had the kefta and it was really good on fresh pita with delicious tomato, onions and sauce. The tabbouli looked so vibrant and fresh. Dessert....fabulous baklava in all of its forms for $1-2 and filo filled with custard or fruit and custard for only $3.
As a side note, the OLA festival is coming up and they have some of the best cabbage and noodles!
So there is my "brief" description of some of my favorite and not so favorite summer ethnic food festivals. What I have learned over the years about these types of festivals is that the best bargain and most ethnic foods are sold by the church. If you go to a festival and there is an outside booth, it will never be as good or as fresh as the food you will get that was prepared by the church. The first thing I do when I go to these festivals is to check out the food in the church hall or the booths staffed by the parishioners of the parish. It is the cheapest and best!
Memorial Day Weekend starts off festival season with the Greek Festival at the church in Tremont. The food outside is good- Gyro's, Souvlaki, Kebobs. But, for a true experience of the wonderful Greek food you need to go into the church hall and go through the liune where you can get wonderful sit down food including chicken, hummous, Greek salad, and so much more. After dinner you can explore the dessert line and feast on all types of baklava and custard filled desserts. What a great way to start off summer
Our Lady of Mount Carmel West- the week after Fourth of July. This is my favorite, since it is my church here in Cleveland. The festival has rides and games for the kids, casino and gambling for the adults, but more importantly it has amazing food! The options are mainly Italian, although one of the families at the church has a Mexican booth each year. You can either have a sit down meal or go the traditional fair route. The sit down meal served to your table includes cavatelli and meat balls, chicken dinner, or fish dinners on Friday. The cost varies from $8-$10 depending on what you purchase. There is plenty of food to bring some home for lunch the next day. My favorite thing to purchase is 3 meatballs in sauce for only $3. The Sausage sandwich with sauce is only $5 and the cavatelli and a meatball served outside is only $5. The perfect end to any meal is a bag of fresh hot zeppole (fried dough with powdered sugar) 3 for $2.50. I love spending my days at the festival working the zeppole stand and eating the meatballs!
A really good food festival that I do not endorse or think is worth the hype is the Feast of The Assumption in Little Italy. Everything is really good, but way over priced. If you want good gnocchi from La Dolce or cookies from Corbo's or anything else, go down and eat in the restaurants any time but during the feast! For example, a tiramisu, cookies, and coffee from Presti's would cost you around $8 on a normal day but over $20 during the feast for the same items. The $12 mark up is not worth it. Also you can go to Little Italy during the week or weekend and find a spot to park on the streets for free, during the feast it can cost you about $10 to park and you have to walk a long way. Nothing economical about this feast of ethnic eats...move on to somewhere else!
The greatest weekend for ethnic food feasts is Labor Day weekend. There are feasts and festivals all over the city. St. Rocco's has wonderful Italian food and the Greasy Pole on Monday and Oktoberfest at the Berea fairgrounds osts great German, Polish, Slavic, eats and beers. But I am going to write about 2 of the festivals I attended this year. Both are economical but only one is worth the time.
The first Annual Greek Fest in Kamm;s Corner at the Cretan Center can let this year be its first and only year to host such an event. I am only writing about food, so I will hold back on the lack of anything authentic about the festival itself (cheap jewelery vendors around the side of the hall is not authentic Greek). The food was well priced and a decent variety including Moussaka, Pastitos, Greek Chicken, and Lamb Shank all served with a side of either rice, Greek potatoes, or green beans for only $8. You could add a Greek salad or $3 or spanakopita for $1. The problem was with the food itself. It tasted fin, but I was sick on it afterwards. So the First Annual Greek Fest is a bust!
The best ethnic festival for the weekend was at St. Elias on Memphis. There were games and carnival rides for the kids and there were some cherry bells and wheels for the adults. Everyone though could enjoy the wonderful, authentic food that was very cheap! You could purchase a Gyro, Souvlaki, Falafel or Kefta sandwich for only $5. I had the kefta and it was really good on fresh pita with delicious tomato, onions and sauce. The tabbouli looked so vibrant and fresh. Dessert....fabulous baklava in all of its forms for $1-2 and filo filled with custard or fruit and custard for only $3.
As a side note, the OLA festival is coming up and they have some of the best cabbage and noodles!
So there is my "brief" description of some of my favorite and not so favorite summer ethnic food festivals. What I have learned over the years about these types of festivals is that the best bargain and most ethnic foods are sold by the church. If you go to a festival and there is an outside booth, it will never be as good or as fresh as the food you will get that was prepared by the church. The first thing I do when I go to these festivals is to check out the food in the church hall or the booths staffed by the parishioners of the parish. It is the cheapest and best!
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