Is It the Fro's Fault?

It's been slightly more than a week since Cavs' forward Ben Wallace cut down his iconic fro. Being that Cleveland lives and dies by superstition and just plain bad luck, is it any wonder that changing a hair cut caused a broken leg? Last night, Big Ben fractured his right fibula in Houston during the second quarter against the Rockets. He's out for 4 to 6 weeks. The Cavs' disappointing 74-93 loss added insult to injury. Note to Wild Thing: Stay away from the shears.

Photos courtesy David Liam Kyle/NBAE via Getty Images / http://www.nba.com/cavaliers/photogallery/atlcle_081122_1.html and http://www.nba.com/cavaliers/video/2009/02/18/mcleod.090218.cavaliers/index.html

Breaking the Lenten fast

I spent a lot of my day trying not to mention how hungry I was. All I had for dinner on Fat Tuesdsay was a tiny salad, not thinking ahead to the day of fasting ahead.

And to talk about how hungry you are during a fast is sinful.

But now that it's over, for the purposes of giving you a good idea on how to break your fast, I figure it's probably OK.

Cleveland's Tick Tock Tavern, best known for its tasty ribs, has a great fish fry. A whitefish fried with Japanese Panko, a breadcrumb concoction, provides a crunchy bite into perfectly flaky fish. The fries are a tad undercooked for my tastes (not that it matters when you're famished). The coleslaw was devoured within minutes. All this for $6.95. Oh, and it's all you can eat.

In March's issue, you'll see a guide to the best fish fries in Cleveland. (Tick Tock Tavern didn't make the cut). But Cleveland is so packed with great fish fries, there are so many great ones that didn't — evidenced clearly by the motion blur of my fork.

Lush Closes Its Doors

We thought Lush Boutique was a cool place to shop — designer brands and labels at an inexpensive price, trendy owners who were willing to help every customer put together an amazing outfit. We even reviewed the store in our March issue on newsstands now. Over the weekend, Lush closed its doors adding to the list of other retailers (Fibres and Cold Stone Creamery) that recently went out of business in Eton Chagrin Boulevard.

Photo by Jerry Mann

Spice Up Your Cooking

Stopping by Urban Herbs inside the West Side Market is dangerous. I lose control and touch with reality. I’m overwhelmed with the desire to cook- not just a simple after-work meal for two but big potfuls of complicated and exotic fare. And this feeling is not tempered by the fact that I might not actually have time to do it or a crowd to feed. Eyeballing the array of spices, grains, salts, and beans I want to buy, buy, buy. My cupboards are not big enough to hold all the things I must have. I lust after Chinese cinnamon and Spanish paprika, smoked sea salt and garam masala, giant Peruvian limas, black quinoa and purple sticky rice.

Owner Dion Tsevdos is a chef, and he knows what gets a kitchen devotee’s mouth watering and creative juices flowing. He stocks high quality and unusual ingredients sourced from all over the globe, and also creates his own intriguing spice blends.

So I stood there, breathing deeply in and out, focus and gradually got a grip. I came for one item- rice to make paella- and left with just five more: containers of aromatic cumin and thyme; French puy lentils that I’ll use in a salad inspired by the recipe in Alice Waters’ cookbook The Art of Simple Food; a pound of flageolet beans that will spur me to make a cassoulet; and a bag of the “house” rice blend.

Walking away with my purchases, I felt proud of mastering my impulses. But to tell the truth, I continue to ponder the possibilities of Himalayan red rice and vanilla powder from Madagascar. Sel gris, a natural sea salt from Brittany, is like a tune that I just can’t get out of my head. So I know it won’t be long before I’m back at Chef Dion's counter again .

Never can say goodbye

Frank Spisak was the reason we 1980s seekers of urban higher education looked over our shoulders after a coffee in the Cage or studied the shadows after a beer at Fat Glenn’s, on our way to University Tower for the library and the facilities. Three men had been shot dead by a campus stalker, and a female staffer barely escaped another ambush. So maintenance locked the first floor restroom door. Every isolated place was a potential trap.

After his arrest, we studied the photo in the newspaper, the nerdy glasses and unremarkable loner’s profile, and for a second we’d think we knew him. This was before VaTech. Before Northern Illinois. Before Biswanath Halder. Back when “campus” and “shooting” still looked strange together in a headline. Frank Spisak—sent to Death Row—looked at first like a classmate, then an alum we’d lost track of, and then one day we didn’t think of him at all. We’d moved on, past the shadows.

If this were a movie, the credits would have rolled long ago. This is not a movie. We haven’t moved on. The shadows have just grown longer. --John Hyduk

(The U.S. Supreme Court announced yesterday that it will hear Frank Spisak’s case in the fall. Spisak is trying to get his death sentence overturned; prosecutor Bill Mason is fighting to uphold it. See yesterday’s Associated Press report. John Hyduk’s May 2007 Cleveland Magazine article, "The Long Goodbye," told the story of Spisak, the murder victims, and their families. --ed.)

Because you're drinking beer anyway ...

It's not everyday that a big box of beer shows up at the office (oh, how we wish it did). When it does, we pounce, divide the stuff up and give it a critique because, as you all know, we love beer in this city.

So, when Samuel Adams sent us a bunch of its newest Imperial Series (translation: high quality brew), we followed suit. Week 1: the new Samuel Adams Imperial White ($9.99/four pack). Here's the marketing-speak on it: "Imperial White pushes out the boundaries of the witbier style. While showcasing the traditional witbier aromas and hazy appearance ... " Ah, enough of that already, you really just want to know what a bunch of mild-mannered editors think about this stuff, don't you?

Managing Editor Jim Vickers: Samuel Adams gets serious with this batch. Weighty, but not heavy-tasting beer that stands up as a true premium. Sam's brewmaster series has failed to grab me in the past, but this one is great. Could it make me leave my go-to beer favorites (Great Lakes Brewing Co. and Dogfish). Doubtful, but let me take another sip and ponder that.

Associate Editor Andy Netzel: Considering the 9 percent alcohol content, this beer could not go down smoother. Citrus undertones. Solid brew. Drink this beer out of a glass so the yeast sediment gets distributed properly.

Associate Editor Special Projects Kim Schneider: I’m an avid Hoegaarden drinker, so Sam Adams’ Imperial White is right up my alley. It hits the same notes as Hoegaarden with coriander and orange but goes a step further with a total of 10 spices for a stronger finish. While it has tons of flavor, packs more punch, its more of a once-in-a-blue-moon kind of beer rather than my go-to drink.

Senior Editor Special Projects Jennifer Bowen: The first sips I drink of Sam Adams Imperial White make me think of it as a summer beverage, the sips that follow change my mind. It has a slight orange undertone, but the spices are what carry the taste. It’s warming. I’d rather order this at the corner pub than a vodka-soda or plain-Jane Miller Lite.

Next Week: Samuel Adams Imperial Stout

Reason #29 To Love Google Alerts

Sometimes it's like getting a letter from a friend buried in a pile of junk mail. These two showed up yesterday.

The Francis Blog takes on our Sexy Singles issue: "I was looking through the latest edition of Cleveland Magazine ... which is profiles of some of Cleveland’s most famous (and sexiest!) singles. I only got two in and realized that I could write a fairly epic blog about them so I decided to cap it there." Honestly, it is pretty epic.

And then I got an alert on LAZ, Lazaro Gamio, a student at CIA. His Cosmonaut Kid sketches — and the finished book spread — are really cool. The character (at left) reminds me of something my kids watch, but I can't put my finger on it. At first I thought it was the main character from Disney's Atlantis, but that's not it. I can't wait to see what his little truck sketches turn into -- or what gem my next Google Alert brings.