May Dinner in the Dark is an Amp 150 Homecoming

May’s Dinner in the Dark at Amp 150 featured dishes from Rocco Whalen, Michael Lyons and Matt Danko, pastry chef at The Greenhouse Tavern. But the big reveal was the homecoming of Dean Max, the Florida chef who opened Amp 150 in 2009.

Tempura Soft-Shell Crab

Max brought a little taste of Florida in the form of soft-shell crabs that he dipped in tempura batter and served with pickled vegetables, a puree of local ramps and asparagus, and a spicy Korean-inspired sauce on the side. The tempura batter added a welcomed crunch to the delicate crab and the puree was refreshing along with the pickled vegetables. 

Slow-Roasted Lamb Belly

After a blueberry acai sorbet palette cleanser from Jeff Jarrett, the Amp 150 chef who co-founded Dinner in the Dark, diners were treated Michael Lyons’ dish. He prepared lamb belly that was marinated for two days and then slow roasted and served with pureed sunchokes and a spring salad. 

Rehydrated Rye Bread Cake and Caramelized White Chocolate

Danko’s dessert was a rehydrated rye bread cake, caramelized white chocolate, an amoretti and honey crumble and sweet soy sauce. The rye bread cake was surprisingly moist and the sweetness of the white chocolate was offset by the soy sauce. It was a delectable ending to the evening’s menu.

Nate Fagnilli of Crosswinds Grille and Dan Hawrylak of Amp 150 also served up delicious dishes.

Ticket proceeds from this Dinner in the Dark will go to the Butterfly Memorial Gardens in Stow. For more information, visit their Facebook page.

Keep an eye on Dinner in the Dark's website for information on June’s event.

Flavors of Northeast Ohio event lives up to its name

For the 200-plus guests that purchased tickets to last night’s Flavors of Northeast Ohio event at the Cleveland Marriott Downtown at Key Center, the stacks of scraped-clean plates and emptied wine glasses made it quite obvious that no contribution went unrewarded.

Featuring an accomplished lineup of local chefs — including Dante Boccuzzi, Brian Okin, Andrew Bower and Tim Bando — those in attendance were treated to a full five-course meal, with each chef preparing a unique and themed menu for their specific table. The more than $60,000 in proceeds from the benefit will go toward the American Liver Foundation, with many in attendance pledging donations in addition to their price of admission.

After an hour replete with cocktails, hors d’oeuvres and a silent auction, guests began taking their seats in the main ballroom. Maureen Kyle of Channel 3 emceed the evening’s events, with Jeff Jarrett of Amp 150 and Adam Bostwick serving as culinary co-chairs. Patricia Summers, a survivor of liver disease, was also honored as this year’s LIVEr Champion.

Dan Hawrylak of Amp 150, the featured chef for my table, began the night with a crispy duck croquette, a tasty primer to the five-course spread.

Duck croquette

He followed that with a comforting and creamy squash soup, which contained pieces of roasted squash, pumpkin oil and crème fraich. One of the diners at my table described it as “autumn in a cup.” That dish was proceeded by Hawrylak’s take on fried chicken, which was confited in duck fat and served with sweet and tangy mustard greens.

After a refreshing pear salad — with blue cheese, vanilla vinaigrette and a crunchy pumpkin seed brittle — the menu’s main entrée was a bison steak, served with doughy sweet potato gnocchi, turnips, Brussels sprouts and (surprisingly) delicious pickled plums.

Bison with sweet potato gnocchi

Chef Hawrylak finished strong with a sophisticated s’more for dessert, featuring a standard graham cracker base topped with chocolate cake, a torched homemade marshmallow (giving it that campfire taste), and finished off by a chocolate ganache.

A new take on s'mores

Chef Bostwick won the evening’s “Featured Chef Menu and Design” competition for his interpretation of upscale tailgate food, accompanied naturally by plenty of football and Cleveland Browns gear. He even offered the crowd a bit of backhanded reassurance upon accepting the award, reminding the Browns fans in attendance that “there’s always next year.”

Pairing Up

Some things are just meant to go together: Socks and shoes, Tom and Jerry, food and wine.

Amp 150 played off the latter with a special dinner for 30 guests — pairing wines from Argentina with chef Jeff Jarrett's inventive cuisine.

"We're here to have a good time and eat some good food," said Jarrett.

Each of the five courses were teamed up with wines selected by Wine Trends' Andy Moore, who was on hand to educate all of us on his selections. "A lot of winemakers from Italy are learning that Argentina is very similar to Napa Valley," said Moore.

The first course of fois gras on a crispy brioche, topped with lychee and an apricot chutney might have been on the smaller side, but packed a lot of flavor. Sips of the citrusy Zuccardi Serie A Torrontes balanced the rich, decadent dish. "This is a great fruit wine," said Moore. "It's an ABC wine — anything but chardonnay."

A take on surf and turf, the second course of shredded short ribs and scallops came with a tangy beet puree and a crispy potatoes (above). I constructed the perfect bite on my fork, making sure I had all the different textures and a healthy dose of the vibrantly colored puree. Moore paired it with Santa Julia Organica Chardonnay, a wine with notes of pineapple and pair and hints of vanilla.

Next up was a whole grilled quail served with a pomegranate reduction and a sunny side up quail egg. Moore again selected a wine from Santa Julia Organica — this time a malbec. This savory wine gave off hints of cedar, lavender and black cherry. 

For me the best course of the night belonged to the fourth course (above). Every single component on the plate worked so well together — the tender bison, tangy red currant puree, slices of pickled plum, asparagus and crispy potatoes (or potato glass as Jarrett called it) — that I quickly devoured the dish before anyone else at my table. 

Moore picked another wine by Santa Julia Organic. The cabernet, which was probably my favorite out of the three (and I am not a huge red wine fan) has a nice, deep ruby color and lighter, soft finish with hints of oak and berry flavors.

To wrap up the meal, Jarrett prepared a peach trio: a grilled peach with mascarpone, a peach granita that was refreshing and deep and the unanimous favorite at the table — a peach cobbler. It reminded me of walking into my grandma's kitchen just as she pulled one of her pies of out the oven to cool.

Moore ended the night with a glass of Norton Cosecha Tardia. Harvest late in the season, the wine has aromas of flowers and peaches and was definitely my favorite of the evening. I will be searching for a bottle of this the next time I hit up the grocery store.

To find out more about Amp 150's next pairing dinner on Tuesday, Oct. 2, visit amp150.com. Jarrett was still finalizing details, but did tell us he will partner with a brewery this time around.

Ale-Tail

Cocktails made with beer are a hot new trend. They’re serving a fine one at Amp 150, the bar and restaurant at the Airport Marriott. I had an opportunity to taste it at the start of a private dinner I attended a few weeks ago.

The purpose of the gathering was to introduce some members of the media to the new team: Executive chef Jeff Jarrett and food and beverage manager Nathan White. The take-away message and good news was that these two are continuing the commitment to keep a local focus when it comes to ingredients and products. And that was perfectly expressed in the refreshing drink that kicked off the evening.

It’s called The Rockmill, after the brewery in Lancaster, Ohio that supplies saison, a Belgian beer the bartender uses in combination with St. Germain, an elderflower liqueur, and fresh lemon juice. Matt Barbee, founder and fermentation master of Rockmill Brewery (pictured below), is in a truly unique position, and I mean that literally, to make this traditional farmhouse ale.

The former horse ranch owned by his family where he works his magic with organic yeast, hops and malt is located upstream at the source of the Hocking River. His water is not just clean but has a mineral profile remarkably similar to what’s found in Wallonia, the region of Belgium where saison was perfected. Since water is the main ingredient in beer, his stuff has an authentic edge that others can’t match.

Barbee also does a witbier, a dubbel, and a tripel. The production is small and hands-on. His beers were the only spirits selected for this year’s Maxim holiday gift guide. When I spoke to him last week, he was in a truck driving to Cleveland with his first delivery to all of Heinen’s grocery stores. Bottles are also sold at Grady’s Fine Wines in Rocky River. In addition to Amp 150, the beers are served at B Spot, Greenhouse Tavern, and Buckeye Beer Engine.

Sam McNulty and Andy Tveekrem of Market Garden Brewery in Ohio City, which also pours Barbee’s brews, are cooking up a special Nose-to-Tail beer dinner for Tuesday, Nov. 29. I love the collaborative spirit behind this event. Executive chef Michael Nowak of Bar Cento, another of McNulty’s dining and drinking establishments, and his team are in charge of the food side, turning a pasture raised heirloom breed pig from Tea Hills Farm into four fabulous courses (out of five, counting a non-pork dessert). Guests will get to meet the brewers and be among the first to sample something new from Rockmill. Tickets are $45. Reservations are required: 216-621-4000. Glasses are raised at 6:30 pm.

Cooley's Farm

Where others saw nothing but a sprawling parking lot behind the Airport Marriott, Ellis Cooley, Executive Chef of the hotel’s Amp 150 restaurant, saw potential. The far end of that asphalt field was bordered by a long, narrow strip of grass and weeds. He piled on 40 yards of good soil, planted seeds and seedlings, and now thanks to seriously hard work, loving care, the right combination of sunshine and water, and what he considers a kind of magic, the guy’s got himself a flourishing quarter acre farmette. It’s supplying his kitchen with an astonishing amount of hyper-local produce. Not bad for someone who’s the first to admit he was a total novice when it comes to partner with Mother Nature to coax food out of the ground.

I was amazed and frankly charmed by what I saw when I went out for a look. There’s no picturesque meadow that would prompt you to bust out singing tunes from Oklahoma but there are rows and rows of corn that really look “high as an elephant’s eye.” He’s just started putting it in a puree with yellow Aji Amarillo chiles to use in a scallop dish, and told me he wants to do a smooth corn pudding with :juiced” kernels; corn tarts; salsa; and tamales grilled Mexican style. Like everybody else with a backyard garden, Cooley has zucchini in abundance. Get it julienned, sautéed and served with toasted almonds, preserved lemons and pecorino cheese; in the rabbit cacciatore; or grilled for a salad made with fresh oregano, red grapes and a feta cheese vinaigrette. Of course where there’s squash, there are squash blossoms, and he planted in stages to insure a steady supply throughout the summer. At the moment, the flowers are getting stuffed with house made ricotta and crème fraiche and are served with green tomato jam (made from the garden’s bounty as well).

Around ten varieties of heirloom tomatoes are flourishing in his parking lot plot, along with sweet potatoes, Anaheim chiles, fennel (he roasts, tosses with figs for a salad and puts on the plate with Walleye); the lemongrass that goes with his mussels; green peppers for shrimp and grits, and braised Hungarian ones to complement a smoked and grilled pork chop. Some of this stuff will likely soon show up in jars as pickles and preserves too.

Jeremy Lisy, a chef who traded in stove work for soil toil, has helped Cooley every step of the way, donating the plants along with bushels of free advice. Lisey has two greenhouses and acreage near Pymatuming, and his company KJ Greens is a wholesale supplier to a number of area restaurants Lisy’s fruits and vegetables supplement what Cooley's able to grow, and they get a special shout out on Amp 150’s menu.

The same farm fresh goodness is available to home cooks too. Call Lisy to find out how to order and where the nearest pick up spot is located. (440-339-4639).

Management’s been supportive. What Cooley’s doing fits in well the larger goals of the hotel to be a green operation. And manpower comes from the kitchen crew-nobody’s obliged to help but there are some willing to volunteer. The beneficiaries are of course all who dine here. Unless you’re harvesting ingredients from your own backyard, it doesn’t get any fresher-or more delicious- than this.