Dinner in the Dark shines a light on Cork & Cleaver, Toast

For foodies like me life doesn't get much better than a meal to celebrate different chefs, cuisines and inspirations — and to see what's new on the dining scene. Last night's Dinner in the Dark at the recently opened Cork & Cleaver Social Kitchen packed all those things into one.

To start the evening off, chef Adam Bostwick prepared an amuse bouche of fried tomatillos with avocado mousse, crispy chorizo, sweet onions and peppers to welcome everyone to his and Brian Okin's new Broadview Heights restaurant. The hand-held, bite-size pieces — a play on a dish currently on Bostwick and Okin's menu at Cork & Cleaver — had just the right amount of kick.

We also got a preview of another restaurant set to open this week in the Gordon Square Arts District — Toast from chefs Jennifer Plank and Joe Horvath. The duo served up a smoked local tilapia rillette with a cucumber salad, beer mustard and pickled fennel and carrots. Toast looks to combines wine, cocktails and a great small plates menu using local produce, products (hence the fish grown here locally) and ingredients.

Other chefs who participated last night include Vento La Trattoria's Ray Garmon, the Black Pig's Brian Toomey, Fresh Butcher Deli and Cafe's Mike Dunlap and Sweetness' Jillian Sopko. 

Next month's Dinner in the Dark is scheduled for Monday, May 20 at Amp 150. For more information, visit dinnerinthedarkcleveland.com. 

Photos courtesy of Tom Noe.