Fundraising Food

   

Last month, Lucky's Cafe owner Heather Haviland threw a small party to honor her mother, Mary Lou Ferguson, who suffers from Alzheimer's disease. (My father also suffers from Alzheimer's, and I can attest it's a terrible disease that shreds the hearts of those who watch it slowly erase the person they know.)

The party raised money for the local Alzheimer's Foundation. Thanks to the efforts of friends — most notably Chef Ky-Wai Wong, a member of Cuyahoga Community College's Culinary Arts faculty — the party also generated funds to provide for Ferguson, a bright and endearing spirit called "mom" by all who know and love her.

Every seat was filled, and more people wanted to attend. So Wong — who was the beneficiary of a similar sort of fundraiser put together by Haviland years ago when one of his children was very ill — has organized another, larger benefit event on March 3. This Dinner in the Dark special edition will be hosted jointly by the Tri-C Hospitality Program and its executive director and chef Brandt Evans, who also owns Pura Vida. Proceeds will go to the Cleveland chapter of The Alzheimer's Foundation. Proceeds from a Chinese Auction will benefit the Haviland family.

Participating restaurants include Fahrenheit, Lola and Lolita, Fire, Amp 150, Cork and Cleaver, Pura Vida, Crust, Lucky's Cafe, Momocho, Spice Kitchen and Bar, Trentina (not yet open), Flying Fig and Nightwood (Chicago). Also participating are Premier Produce, Ahuja Hospital, Tri-C, SOW Food, The Cheese Shop (West Side Market) and Lilly Handmade Chocolates.

Food stations will be set-up throughout Tri-C's Management Center and Pura Vida. Grazing begins at 6:30 p.m.. Tickets are $75.05 each (valet parking included) and must be purchased in advance.

Bonjour French Friends

 
Cleveland has a sister city in France (news to me) - Rouen, the capital of Normandy which is Jaques Pepin's home turf. We're hosting some special guests from our sibling metropolis next week for a culinary exchange organized by the French American Chamber of Commerce. Two are open to the public and anyone interested in attending should hurry to make reservations. Both promise an authentic experience and an entertaining few hours. No guidebooks, passports, or pocket dictionaries required.

On Tuesday, November 27 there's an intimate dinner for just 25 people at L'Albatros in University Circle. Two chefs from Rouen, Alexis Caquelars and Anthony Coufourier will partner with the restaurant's Chef de Cuisine Jack Ahern to prepare six courses. Brandon Chrostowski, staff sommelier, is in charge of the French wine pairings. The evening beings at 6 PM.  Price is $100 per person (plus tax and gratuity). Call 216-791-7880 to book your seat.

The new 2012 bottling of Beaujolais is in the spotlight along with other French reds and whites on Wednesday, November 28 downtown at Pura Vida, from 5:30-9 PM. The wines will be accompanied by a three course meal made by the same two visiting chefs, who will also do a cooking demo. They'll be working side by side with students from Tri-C's culinary program, under the supervision of their instructor Chef Ky-wai Wong and restaurant owner Chef Brandt Evans.  Price is $80 per person and you must register in advance.

Just Peachy

The New York Times Quotation of the Day last Thursday stopped me in my sweaty tracks: "The key to a good peach is a hot night. What makes it miserable for humans makes it perfect for peaches." -Will McGehee, a Georgia peach grower.

No air conditioners in my house, just fans. Sleeping comfortably has been … challenge. But when I read this my perspective changed. My suffering suddenly seemed connected to a higher purpose that promised rewards, big rewards. Because after all, is there anything better than biting into the sweet yellow flesh of a fresh ripe peach, so full of juice that it runs down your arm? If the oven-like conditions of our bedroom were somehow part of the natural chain of events that was producing an amazing crop of peaches, then my clammy tossing and turning doesn’t seem quite so bad.

Peaches have begun showing up at area farmers markets. And the ones we’ve been eating leave no doubt in my mind that the prize is worth the price. They’re absolutely incredible. We have many chefs in town who make it their business to use seasonal local produce, and I started wondering what they’re doing with this bounty. I tossed the question out into the social media stream and some mouthwatering responses washed up on my digital shores. photo by Barney Taxel, Taxel Image Group

-Heather Haviland is putting peach-strawberry compote on waffles at Lucky’s Café.
-At Americano, Vytauras Sasnauskas plans to be making tomato peach gazpacho, tomato peach burata salad and a grilled local pork chop with peach mostarda.
- Jennifer Plank of Greenhouse Tavern told me they’re bringing back bacon-wrapped peaches soaked in Agra dolce and served with white onion soubise. She also mentioned “dabbling” in a saffron tart with braised endive and peach with a bitter caramel.
- For Washington Place Bistro, Jonathan Guest is doing a peach jalapeno barbecue on St Louis-style ribs with creamed Ohio sweet corn.

I was really excited to hear that Brandt Evans is canning them so the rest of us can enjoy them at Pura Vida when the season is long past. If you’re tempted to do the same, or maybe make some pies and cobblers or jars of jam and chutney, consider planning a picking day at Scenic Ridge Farm near Wooster to get your main ingredient. It belongs to the Bauman family, who have been farming in the region since 1929. There are 3,500 peach trees, about 25 different varieties, among them Redhavens, White Ladies, Starfires, John Boys and Contenders. Take home a few pounds or a bushel basket full. It’s as pretty place, with a hilltop view of 84 acres of farmland, and visitors are welcome to picnic.

First Look: Pura Vida

I attended an invitation only kick-off party last night for Pura Vida, Chef Brandt Evans’ new restaurant downtown on Public Square. The last time I was there, at the end of September, it was all sawdust and hanging wires. Wearing hard hats, Evans and I sidestepped workmen and piles of 2 X 4s as he outlined his vision for a hip happening place that could go from early morning breakfast to happy hour, changing character and ambience with the time of day.

He planned to cure and smoke his own bacon, make butter, age cheese and serve what he described as “fun, sexy, push-the-envelope, but not too far, food.” Now, at last, he’s ready to go and it’s an exciting time for him and for all the rest of us.

The name Pura Vida has multiple meanings — Live Today, Not Tomorrow, To Life, a kind of salutation equivalent to Cheers or Salut, and Pure Living, as in good and wholesome. A reggae musician friend, he told the crowd, used it as a message sign off and Brandt felt like it captured the essence of what he wants this spot to be.

The restaurant is in the same building as Tri-C’s new Hospitality Management Center in the former May Company. The dining room is dramatic, all white with black and gray accents. There’s a bar, open kitchen, a long communal table, a section of seating that can be “privatized by a metal mesh curtain and big doors opening onto a Euclid Avenue patio. 26,000 LED lights create shifting moods with color splashed on white fabric panels suspended from the ceiling -- picture sails or clouds illuminated by sunrise and sunset palettes.

The place opens to the public June 6, serving breakfast, lunch, and early evening snacks. Dinner service will be added down the road. High quality, high concept take out food is an important part of what Evans is doing here and there are two coolers for his grab and go items. If the dishes we sampled are representative of the menu to come, diners are in for some very very good eating.

This venture, the first under the operating umbrella BKM Culinary Concepts, is the chef and entrepreneur’s fifth restaurant opening in six years and a step in another direction. He began with Blue Canyon in Twinsburg, and turned that concept into a multi-unit, multi-state restaurant group.

Surrounded by the latest expression of his creative thinking and boundless energy yesterday I remembered that Brandt once told me that in high school he was the underachiever nobody thought would amount to much. He’s been proving them wrong ever since. I suspect that with Pura Vida he’s going to do it again in a big way.