Dinner Dates

At last we now know who our next president is, and can look ahead to something besides the election. I’ve got a few delicious dates inked in my November calendar.

The first is the November 21 fundraiser called Dames Dish for Thanksgiving hosted by the local chapter of an international organization I belong to, Les Dames D’Escoffier . Proceeds from the Monday night event will benefit local urban farming projects and food education initiatives that help young people make the connection between field and fork. The Thanksgiving themed tasting fest at Trevarrow Kitchen showroom in Parma- a place that prompts a burning desire for new appliances, faucets, cabinets and countertops- will feature a Mediterranean style turkey from Matt Harlan of Lolita, a locally sourced bird prepared by Karen Small of The Flying Fig and a gobbler with Low Country flavor courtesy of Paul Jagielski of Henry’s at the Barn.

But all side dishes and desserts, and there will be lots of them, are being made by our group’s members who are women involved in the food, beverage, and hospitality industries. Many are kitchen pros- pastry and restaurant chefs, cookbook authors, culinary instructors and caterers so the offerings are guaranteed to be excellent. Then there’s me. I am being forced out of my comfort zone and away from the table and the keyboard- my regular workplaces. I have high expectations for myself. However, just in case my stuff is not quite as fabulous as what my sister Dames do, I’m not going to tell you what I’m making. I hope you'll come out for a good cause, great food, and wine too! Tickets are $50. Make reservations with Angela Williams at 216-831-3767.

Another event I’m excited about is the Big Night Dinner at Michaelangelo’s . The restaurant’s very talented chef /owner Michael Annandanno is pairing up with friend and fellow Little Italy chef Valerio Iorio (Valerios’s) to recreate the menu from the poignant 1996 cinematic comedy The Big Night. Book a table for Monday November 24 and get a starring role in this local production.

In the movie, which also provides the musical soundtrack for the evening at Michaelangelo’s, actors Stanley Tucci and Tony Shaloub play immigrant brothers running an Italian restaurant in New Jersey circa 1950’s. The problem is that Chef Primo (Shaloub) is a culinary artist in a red sauce world. He doesn’t care about pleasing customers. So it’s no surprise that business is bad. Hoping to generate some positive word of a mouth, an associate promises to get the famed band leader Louis Prima and his entourage to come into the restaurant. Annandono and Ioria serve the dishes that appear on screen in the definitive scene when the brothers set out the 7-course feast they’ve prepared for their celebrity guest. Those who reserve a seat will dine on roast suckling pig, baked sea bass, risotto, and the labor-intensive il timpano, a combination of meat, pasta, eggs, and cheese layered in a pasta "drum" and baked. This is likely the closest most of us will get to having a silver screen moment, and the meal in the lovely dining room of Michaelangelo's promises to be extraordinary. Call 216-721-0300 for reservations.

It's about time (part 2)

For all the worries about huge problems with voting, most reports from around the state say it is going rather smoothly.

I was able to get in and out in under 20 minutes this morning in Cleveland's Tremont neighborhood.

If you haven't headed out to vote yet, make sure you're prepared. Polls close at 7:30 p.m., which means you must be in line by then. Read Cleveland Mag Senior Editor Erick Trickey's advice here on how to make sure your vote is counted.

It's About Time

We've been waiting for 24 games and the time has finally come: Brady Quinn will get his first NFL start. This season. This week. Against the Denver Broncos. On national TV — no less. After Derek Anderson's less than stellar performance in yesterday's crushing loss to the Baltimore Ravens, Romeo Crennel finally made a decision most Browns fans can agree with. It wasn't that long ago when we sat down with Brady Quinn and Joe Thomas to get their point of views on everything from rookie camp to sitting the bench to each other. Get yourself familiar with our new quarterback here.

(Photo courtesy Cleveland Browns)

A Joe Tait story

When reporting my story on the fall and rise of Cleveland sports radio and television personality Bruce Drennan, I had a bunch of great stories from Joe Tait that didn't make the article. Here's one that got cut out in one of the later edits:

Joe and Bruce used to cover the Indians from 1980 to 1982 on WUAB television. Well, before a game in Chicago, two Tribe players were caught with a marijuana joint. Among them was that day's starter, Lenny Barker. They were just arrested, no one was found guilty or anything. The station called them up and had a meeting about how to handle it on the air.

They all agreed Joe would make a statement. Joe gets on the air and says something to the effect of: We all know what happened, but these guys are innocent until proven guilty. We don't have any more information than you saw on the news. Until something comes out, we're just going to focus on baseball.

Bruce chimes in: OK, Joe! And a good baseball game it will be. I bet Barker comes out smoking tonight!

Joe turned bright red. Bruce had no idea what he just said. Joe tried to hold it in, but he was in hysterics.

If you haven't read the November piece on Drennan, host of Sports Time Ohio's All Bets Are Off, we tell the story of his gambling leading to jailtime, and his rise to the face of the Cleveland sports network STO. Check it out here.

High-Class Junk

Whenever you see a sign like this one (on Route 422 in Warren), you have to pull over to investigate.

Unfortunately, after wandering around the back, it did not appear this junk is notably high class.

Obama and Springsteen downtown on Sunday

Barack and Michelle Obama are appearing on the downtown Mall on Sunday. The rally starts at 3:45 p.m., with gates opening at 2 p.m. Bruce Springsteen is opening for Obama with a solo acoustic set.

This could be a huge rally, even bigger than John Kerry's election eve rally at the same place in 2004, especially because, as The Professor points out, Obama's campaign is probably timing this with the Browns game in mind. The game starts at 1, so a stadium full of people will be emptying out around 4:15. Let's hope the tailgaters who stop by the rally aren't too rowdy.

Update: If you're going to the rally, take the Rapid. The Browns crowd and Obama crowd will completely fill downtown. "There won't be parking," the Cleveland police spokesman warns in the Plain Dealer today.

(Photo by Alex Hempton-Smith, from Flickr)

Steel layoffs

Cleveland's largest steel plant, and the most efficient steel plant in the world, will undergo voluntary layoffs, but it doesn't seem to be cause for huge concern so far.

Those of us who have lived in Cleveland have heard this kind of news plenty over the past few decades. Plant layoffs used to be commonplace. But, as we told in our June 2008 story Men of Steel, that kind of feast and famine was supposed to be the old way of doing things.

Granted, as you can see below by the Morning Star tracking of the parent company's share price, our story came out just before a massive crashing of the share price which has fallen some 72 percent since our story was published.

And global demand for steel is weakening due to the global financial meltdown (which technically is not a recession -- at least until the fourth quarter GDP numbers are released in January). A Reuters analysis piece published here says that steel demand could be suffering until next summer.

The Cleveland plant has idled its blast furnaces, but the layoffs so far are all voluntary. Don Whipkey, who was prominently featured in our story, says 11 workers were hired last week. Management is telling the union they should restart by late January or early February.

"There's no sense of panic. Actually, guys are looking for time off," he says.

The plant is increasing training for employees and keeping folks busy, just like they said they would, he says.

So nobody is overly frightened about the future of steel in Cleveland, Whipkey says. Not that it's easy to scare a steelworker: "We've been through it all."