Michael Got the Medal

At last. No more “always a bridesmaid, never a bride” for Michael Symon. Nominated for a James Beard award before, he finally was named Best Chef for the Great Lakes region on Monday night. The recognition is well deserved, a tribute to both his astonishing culinary talents and years of hard work. It’s a big deal for him- the Oscar/Emmy/Grammy/Gold of the food world- and by extension for Cleveland. What can I say but YEAH!

I wasn’t in New York city for the ceremonial shindig, but I did get the news early in the evening thanks to Jonathan Sawyer, chef/owner of The Greenhouse Tavern. He sent me a text to land line message at 8PM. The Borglike voice said “Symon won Beard.” I was so excited I didn’t know what to do with myself. Went the James Beard Foundation website
and discovered they had people live blogging the event and posting videos. So I joined in the fuss and frolic vicariously via all the updates jamesbeard.org/blog/?cat=6&paged=8. Not anything like being there, but it was a way to connect.

On his blog last March, Symon wrote that he was honored just to be a Beard finalist. Imagine how thrilled he’s feeling today. And his good news is something we can all celebrate.

Great photo of Symon courtesy of Barney Taxel, Taxel Image Group

Detroit on My Mind

I still have flashbacks to the corned beef hash I ate at Russell Street Deli in Detroit more than a month ago that make my mouth water. It was perfect- a sublime mishmash of browned potatoes, sautéed onions, tender bits of corned beef, and farm fresh Michigan eggs. I stumbled on the place, which wasn’t on my itinerary, while exploring the city on assignment for Cleveland Magazine. It was a friendly little spot with a hippie ambience. Everyone’s seated at communal tables and my breakfast choice earned a “right on” from the server. This was one stop I didn’t have space to write about in Cruisin’ for Cuisine that appears in this month’s issue of the magazine.

There were lots more wonderful things about the trip that I would have liked to spotlight: the vendors at Eastern Market selling everything from grass fed beef and organic vegetables to hand dipped chocolates and homemade pies; a terrific Belgian tripple bock beer called Final Absolution from a Dragon Mead, a local brewery and the city’s first new one since Prohibition, that I sampled; and the appeal of Bellinis and Bloody Mary’s for brunch at Detroit’s Breakfast House and Grill, a restaurant notable for attracting a Sunday morning crowd that’s white, black, old, young, and downright toddling. I would have liked to give accolades to Executive Chef Jeff Rose who is a big part of why Symon’s restaurant Roast is able to put such great food on the table whether Michael’s there or not. The two met when Rose was cooking for Tribute, a highly acclaimed Detroit dining icon.

And I could have gone on for pages and pages about my tasting time at Goldfish Tea where I sat and sipped seven different leafy brews for two hours. I learned that the first steeping of green tea removes almost all the caffeine and any impurities so it is generally discarded. The leaves ca-and should- be used over and over again to brew multiple pots, each steeping producing its own distinctive flavor. Store owners Jim and Janice Girling have an encyclopedic knowledge of the subject, acquired when they lived in China, that they’re happy to share with anyone who asks. I lusted after the the yi shing clay pots they stock, made the same way for thousands of years, a tea travel mug that comes with a brewing basket, and bags of rare aged loose leaf pu’er teas that are as flavorful and nuanced as good wine.

All this just a couple of hours west of Cleveland on I-90. Go see it for yourself. Find places to stay and more things to do at http://www.visitdetroit.com/

Book Battle, Food Fights, and Cook Ups

My son Nathan and I are fighting over Andrew Carmellini’s new cookbook, Urban Italian. He likes it so much that he keeps threatening to steal it from me. That was after I refused to just give it to him. No doubt he was very surprised by this response. My habitual approach to anything he or his two brothers asks of me is “Yes.” Besides, I am in general not a big fan of cookbooks. I have some of course, but far fewer than most food writers and many food enthusiasts. And I turn to them only on occasion, being more of an intuitive cook than a follower of instructions. But I definitely want to keep this one around.

Not only is it beautiful, entertainingly readable, and nicely organized, but the recipes are exactly what he promises- the kind of food you can make with easily accessible ingredients and a reasonable investment of time. There are plenty of things- though certainly not all of them in my opinion- that can be reproduced with the hours and energy left over after a long day of work. And the dishes are the kind of simple, homey food I love to eat: lamb ragu, tomato risotto, ziti with tuna, red onions and cannelloni beans; escarole Calabrese with lots of garlic and spicy sopressata. I’m eager to try some of his uncommon and inventive variations on iconic preparations: strozzapreti with sausage, grapes and red wine; pork arrosto with Italian plums and grappa; meatballs with cherries.

Scattered throughout the pages are flashes of humor and lots of personality. In a recipe for short rubs braciole, the instructions read: “1 clove garlic, sliced Goodfellas thin.” Chapter intros are full of stories about people and places and headnotes can be chatty: “Some people think they don’t like calamari but that’s because they’ve only had the beer-bar version- the kind that tastes like a chew toy.” Carmellini, a Cleveland transplant to NYC, is coming home for the Fabulous Food Show, this Friday, Saturday and Sunday (November 14-16) at the I-X Center. Click here to read my interview with him. He’ll be signing copies of his book at the Celebrity Autograph Pavilion on Friday afternoon at 1 PM.

Stick around for the first Sous-Chef Competition Finale at 6:30PM hosted by the celebrity we call our own Michael Symon . I was one of the judges for the preliminary and semi-final rounds, and I can tell you this- the competitors-all working right here in Cleveland restaurants- were an impressive bunch. I predict these seconds in the hierarchy of kitchen command are destined to be dining room stars in their own right. This final round in the friendly food fight should be fun to watch. I’m also looking forward to catching Kris Kreiger of Chef’s Choice Meats give a lesson in how to make a turducken. He’ll unveil the mysteries of the famed 3-part poultry on the Marketplace Stage at 3:30 on Sunday. That’s just one of an entire weekend’s worth of free and interesting cooking demos at the show courtesy of local experts. My advice? See as many as you can.