Showing posts with label Bricks and Mortar Pop-Ups. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bricks and Mortar Pop-Ups. Show all posts

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Cheering for Team Sawyer

Chef Jonathon Sawyer is ambitious in a good way. He’s always got something new going on, striving to advance his reputation, build his career and get people in the doors of his two restaurants, Greenhouse Tavern and Noodlecat. And he’s committed to bringing the whole city with him into the spotlight.

That’s why he organized a tweetup to coincide with his appearance as a competitor on Iron Chef America Jan. 22 at 10 p.m. Instead of a simple watch party, attendees are being asked to tweet about the action. The idea is to turn Sawyer into a trending topic on Twitter with Cleveland coming along for the coast-to-coast promotional ride. The free event to be held at Greenhouse Tavern booked-up fast, so another one was offered at Noodlecat. There’s no space left for this one either. But that doesn’t mean you can’t be part of the experience. Invite friends over. Get takeout from either place or make something wonderful to eat while watching and tweeting (use the hashtag #teamsawyer) at home. Pop corn, toss with melted butter, salt and Parmesan and just enjoy the show, without worry about greasy fingers.

The culinary cook-off pits Sawyer against Geoffrey Zakarian, winner of The Next Iron Chef Season 4. The gray-haired contender, who heads up multiple dining establishments in New York City, Miami and Atlantic City, looks more like a natty businessmen than a stove jockey. And he definitely had his work cut out for him going up against the Cleveland team, which included Sawyer’s talented right- and left-hand guys, Jonathan Seeholzer and Brian Goodman.

Abiding by his ironclad contract, Sawyer isn't breathing a word about the secret ingredient or the final outcome of his Food Network battle, but he still has plenty he can say.

“It was hard to portray the entirety of the Tavern style in just five courses,”  he says. “There was so much we wanted to do, but we only had an hour and had to keep it simple. Even so, I am absolutely pleased with the food we produced and how it defined us and the restaurant.”

And, the chef continues, it should be big fun to watch.

“We were super entertaining, loud, laughing and enjoying ourselves in the kitchen just like we always do," he says. “I hope that comes across to the viewers.”

Noting that he’s been in the hot seat before as an assistant when Michael Symon took on the challenge, he adds, “It is awesome and humbling to be the actual competitor instead of the sous chef.”

Another thing Sawyer’s doing for his hometown’s dining scene is hosting pop-ups. He’s using his national connections to bring in really great chefs from other cities to cook in his kitchen and making room for locals to shine too. Three of these one-night-only experiences are scheduled for January and February at Noodlecat: Lee Anne Wong returns to prepare a lunar new year feast on Jan. 21; Fresh Street of Columbus makes Japanese street food on Feb. 2; and Cory Barrett, a trained pastry chef now serving as executive chef at Lola does desserts on Feb. 13. Reservations for Bricks and Mortar Pop-Ups required.

Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Purr-fectly Wonderful

Once again Jonathon Sawyer and crew are on the cutting edge of food trends … and helping insure that Cleveland is too. This time it’s restaurants with a short life span. Chefs secure a venue, create a menu, host a dinner party for a single night or a week of nights, then pack it in and the party’s over. It’s a chance for them to play with ingredients, test ideas and break free of diners’ expectations. For the people they feed these temporary eateries are exciting, an opportunity to be part a singular and out-of-the-ordinary experience. These culinary adventures are getting traction in big cities around the country.

Sawyer in Noodlecat kitchen: photo by Bridger Rehner

Sawyer’s calling his version Brick & Mortar Pop-Ups. I was a guest at the very first one, held last Saturday night in his not-yet-open new place, Noodlecat, on Euclid Avenue, just around the corner from The Greenhouse Tavern. Lee Anne Wong, an accomplished chef well known for her Bravo TV and Cooking Channel appearances, was in town to help him launch the planned series. The two partnered in the kitchen to great effect, producing a highly original and outstanding menu titled "Easy Japaneasy.” It foreshadows some of noodle dishes Sawyer will soon be serving there as well as what Wong wants to do for the Asian-inspired gastropub she hopes to get up and running in New York city before the end of the year.

Lee Anne Wong doing Easy Japanesy: photo by Bridget Rehner

The options were divided into three categories: Fingers, Sticks and Slurps. Sharing plates with the husband, I got to try three in category one and two each in the others: roasted oysters seasoned with togarashi (a 7-spice blend), garlic and bone marrow butter, (among the more astonishing and delicious things I’ve ever eaten), plus tea smoked deviled eggs on toast topped with marinated salmon roe, and crispy shallots with breaded pork cutlet sliders with mustard-katsu sauce and cabbage salad; shrimp and water chestnut gyoza with scallion ponzu dipping sauce + nanbanzuke of perch (cold marinated fried fish) with tomato watermelon salad and pickled onions; braised pork belly stew with radishes, carrots, and tiny potatoes in a drinkable soy laced broth + a gingery udon noodle stir fry with cabbage and bits of bacon. Bartender Dean Sauer mixed me up a Lee Anne Special made with Maker’s Mark and Orange Rhubarb spritz, a Dutch salad featuring gin and ginger beer and Noodlecat’s Japanese margarita. We left nothing edible or drinkable behind.

Perch: Photo by Bridget Rehner

Wong, wearing golden clogs, told me the pair got quite a work out in the kitchen with many hours of prep required. "It was a good warm-up for Noodlecat," she said. "Jonathon has an ambitious menu planned and will be doing some similar dishes." It may get even more ambitious- he and wife Ameilia left the next morning for eight days of research-that means eating- in Tokoyo.

The next Bricks and Mortar Pop-Up, also at Noodlecat, comes courtesy of Dim and Dem Sum founder Chris Hodgson July 11 & 13. Reservations required. The uber-energetic and super social young chef recently returned home after a cross country stint as a contestant, and finalist, on America’s Great Food Truck Race, along with his second mobile chuck wagon, Hodge Podge, and plans for a permanent location.

Noodlecat, which will serve strictly Japanese style noodle based preparations, should be totally finished and ready for customers right after this event. The space, small, simple and fun, already looked great Saturday. The design and décor is a collaborative effort for Sawyer and Sin-Jin Satayathum, the artist who helped give Greenhouse Tavern its distinctive and sustainable character. Based on first impressions, I’d say they’ve successfully combined elements of a traditional ramen house here with something distinctly their own and totally Cleveland. Love the long repurposed school lab tables ats the back, bench along one side, stools on the other. They create instant sociabilty. Traded "what to order" advice with a pair of women on my left, and the couple on my right offered samples of their dish. If I was a cat, I'd have been purring with happiness.