Double-shot of The Greenhouse Tavern

OK, so it's not a greenhouse, but it's a start.

This past weekend, The Greenhouse Tavern (our Silver Spoon Award winner for Best New Restaurant) christened its rooftop garden — three huge planters with herbs and vegetables — that helps showcase Jonathon Sawyer's sustainable mission.

The veggies and such will be used in the dining room, and the garden's dirt comes from compost from restaurant leftovers. Sawyer tells Channel 3 that his crew spends about 15-30 minutes every day on the "full-circle garden."

In addition, NewsChannel5's Good Morning Cleveland has been visiting our Silver Spoon Award winning restaurants this week. Today, Pete Kenworthy visits Greenhouse Tavern ... and of course, they can't help but mention the wings.

Tableside Service

If Zack Bruell was stuck on a desert island, it’s safe to say the two ingredients he’d bring with him are olive oil (French, of course, it’s got a more flowery taste and smoother finish than its Italian counterparts) and fresh lemon juice. The Table 45 chef topped off nearly every dish of last night's six-course dinner with the two — and the result was a great meal from start to finish.

The reason for the intimate gathering around the kitchen countertop table at Table 45 was two-fold. First, Bruell wanted to give our group of 10 a sampling of his favorite dishes from the recently unveiled spring/summer menu. But he also wanted to fill us in on the newest tableside service he’ll be offering at Table 45, one of this year’s Silver Spoon Award winners featured in the May issue. The action station cooking demo series offers a maximum of 10 guests the chance to watch Bruell and chef Rick Argoso cook, learn techniques, plate dishes and then feast on a prix fix menu.

We started with tuna carpaccio rolled paper thin and garnished with cucumbers, tomato, feta and mint oil. Next, we sampled a crab cake wrapped in crispy rice paper and served with spicy Asian remoulade. The Belgian endive salad offered a great blend of salty and citrus flavors thanks to tender prosciutto and orange and lime slices. 

It was followed by the halibut poached with olive oil, blanched leeks oregano, thyme, orange peel and some salt and white pepper. It was served swimming in roasted garlic and smoked paprika broth with ivory lentils, green beans, crispy croutons and saffron aioli. Next came Bruell’s more sophisticated version of a gyro — a Greek-style braised lamb shank (it fell off the bone perfectly during preparation) with cucumber salad, Tzatziki sauce and orgeno naan freshly made in a Tandoori oven right at the kitchen station.

I was surprised at the simplicity of the dish ingredients — “A little salt and pepper and that’s it,” Bruell repeatedly told us — and the complexity of the flavors that he was able to create. And I even picked up a few pointers along the way to use in my own kitchen: the right way to cut tiny orange slices and how to make sure your lentils don’t end up as a pile of mush (slightly undercook them because they’ll keep cooking even after you take them off the heat).

The plan is for Table 45 to start these weekly demos in June. And Bruell’s hope is to serve single walk-up dinners as well as large parties — just as long as the evenings are kept lighthearted, he says. “Food should be fun, not serious,” he told us. 

Catch Bruell and other top Cleveland chefs in two weeks at our Silver Spoon Awards party on May 14 at the InterContinental Hotel. Bruell will represent his two winning restaurants, Table 45 and L’Albatros. For tickets, visit us here.

When Vegetarians Attack ...

It's not that we hate vegetarians, it's just that we know Clevelanders love eating meat so much.

A Google alert, um, alerted as yesterday that the Vegetarians Taste Better blog deemed our May Best Restaurants issue disappointingly light on vegetarian coverage, even proclaiming "Cleveland Magazine hates vegetarians." (At this point, if you're saying, "I didn't even know the May issue was out yet," it's time to subscribe.)

For the record, we did cover meat-free options from VegiTerranean, Lola, Melt, Tommy's and Taza. For a meat-and-potatoes kind of town that's not too bad. (We're also guessing Roxetta hasn't see our vegetarian vs. carnivore face off in the pages of our October 2008 issue. Nevertheless, her blog is good. You should check it out.)

And, in retrospect, maybe we shouldn't have put the vegetarian story directly below a piece in which chef Jonathon Sawyer talks about how delicious baby goats are.

Lunch On Ice

For some of us here at CM, Luchita's on West 117th is one of our favorite lunch spots — though usually we can only sneak away for special occasions. Today was one of those days and even though it was below zero outside we didn't care. We've been waiting for their tasty salsa and chips and amazing burritos and enchiladas all week — and a little cold weather wasn't going to stop us. We made our way to the restaurant only to let out a loud squeal of disappointment when we got to the door. A sign reading: Closed. No heat. Sorry. We couldn't believe it. But we followed the heater repairman inside anyway. The employees at Luchita's, all bundled up with scarves, took one look at all of us and said we could stay if we wanted — we just might be cold. Though we could see our breath and had to keep our coats on, we opted to stay. And by the time we left, others had followed our lead proving that all people want is some good food — even if they have to use gloves to eat it.

Want to let us know what your favorite restaurant is? Fill out our Silver Spoon ballot and enter for a chance to win a $50 gift certificate to a winning restaurant and two tickets our Silver Spoon Party. There's not much time left, so vote soon!

Flickr photo courtesy of musicgrl23

Beer Me!

Cleveland, Jul 24, 2008
Originally uploaded by firewater9898

We love Great Lakes Brewing Co's beer as much as the next guy. Maybe even more. Heck, we've toured the underground tunnels, started marking the days until Christmas Ale hits store shelves (in case you're interested, we're at 102 and counting), paid homage to its attempt to make science cool (everything goes better with beer) and even bestowed several Silver Spoon Awards upon its frothy head. But we've got nothing on this guy. ... We're just hoping someone called him a cab.