New Chef at Nighttown

Nighttown, the jazz mecca of Cleveland Heights, has always been known for offering cool music and a warm, cozy vibe. It has a well deserved reputation as a great place to hang out. But what it has not been known for is the food. Until now. Recently appointed executive chef Nathan Sansone is updating the menu, bringing his own style and lots of new ideas to the table.


I ate my way through a 7-course tasting that gave me a sense of what this Kendall College of Culinary Arts grad and Colorado transplant can do. There was a round "cake of salmon mousse  with mint gremolata, diced tomato relish and whipped lemon cream; ahi tuna with northern white beans, baby arugula and beurre rouge; and a filet mignon with mushrooms, gnocchi and rosemary cream.All were very nicely done- properly cooked, well seasoned, and attractively plated. I'd be happy for the opportunity to order any of them but none are currently available on a regular basis. Neither is the foie gras mushroom french toast with apple slices and berry gastrique, a rich and clever preparation that balanced sweet and savory elements and one I'd like to eat again (and again).

Happily two other preparations are part of the current line-up: an irresistible lobster pot pie is a grand puff pastry creation that features broccoli, fennel, and chunks of lobster meat in a creamy bisque; and a hearty braised Kurobuta pork shank served with caramelized brussel sprouts, oyster mushrooms and butternut squash.I finished off my very fine meal (and you can too) with a chocolate bread pudding that arrives with caramel sauce and whipped cream.


Some other contemporary additions to the nightly offerings include duck confit and roasted corn empanadas; eggplant "cannolli" stuffed with white bean puree topped with red pepper marinara and sided with 5-onion polenta; and  fish tacos with pico de gallo and avocado aioli.  In a nod to the restaurants loyal following some longtime favorites, such as Dublin Lawyer, bangers & mash, and veal meatloaf remain.

Sansone impressed me and Nighttown owner Brendan Ring was wise to quickly promote him from sous to king of the kitchen. I'm eager to watch what the Sansone does in his continuing efforts to make this beloved institution a culinary contender on the local dining scene. Sansone knows the bar is high but is excited to take on the challenge and to become part of the community of Cleveland chefs.

Literature, comedy vie for top billing at Wise Up!

Is Cavs owner Dan Gilbert an unacknowledged literary master? Or just an unintentional comedian? I wondered that after Sunday's Wise Up! literary festival at Nighttown, where comedy and song vied with literary ambition as the top draw.

Actor Nick Koesters, billed as Gilbert, took the mike and performed an anxious, wiry, bug-eyed reading of the Cavs owner's anti-LeBron screed. As Koesters barked out Gilbert's "NEVER will betray you" line, you could almost hear the Comic Sans. He also joined Eric Schmiedl, his co-star in last year's Cleveland Public Theater play Browns Rules, for a Kingston-Trio-esque comic song about superhero-quarterback Otto Graham.

Directors Regina Brett and Derdriu Ring (pictured, left), like good variety-show emcees, kept the benefit for Cleveland Heights' libraries moving with quirky introductions built on the performers' best memories of libraries and wildest ambitions for them. Newscaster Leon Bibb (pictured, right) recited his poem comparing his mother's clothesline to a chorus line. Charles Michener read the quiet but finely observed conclusion to his New Yorker piece on the Cleveland Orchestra. Steve Presser contributed quotes from the buttons and bumper stickers he sells at Big Fun. Between readers, pianist Joe Hunter and vocalist Doris Long sang old standards, including Cole Porter's "Brush Up Your Shakespeare," which advises men to memorize the Bard of Avon to woo women.

Former Cleveland Heights poet laureate Loren Weiss contributed the best combination of a literary eye and a sense of place. In his poem "Looking Through Glass," he sees a couple embracing, then fighting, inside the Coventry parking structure's glass elevator. Then a truck obscures his view. In the last stanza, his coffee turns bitter and he heads back into Tommy's for another, hoping "for a better ending." Ironically, his was just right.