John Hyduk, Cleveland Magazine contributor, appears in Esquire

"One of the best writers in Cleveland," Esquire calls John Hyduk this month, introducing his essay, "The Loading Dock Manifesto," in its May issue.

"There's work in poetry, and poetry in all work," Hyduk writes in the piece, the story of his life and his job at a beverage distributor near Cleveland.

We've known about Hyduk's talent for a while -- he's a contributor to Cleveland Magazine. So after you read his Esquire piece, we'd like to send you to our archives to read more of his work:

"Born and Bread," February 2010, about his relatives' life on the near West Side and their favorite Italian bakery.

"City of Wonder," August 2009, recalling his years as a feature writer for the Free Times.

"A Zoo Story," April 2008, about his grandfather, who fed lions.

"The Long Goodbye," May 2007, his feature about serial killer Frank Spisak (executed this winter) and his victims.

"The Night Man," March 2007, a visit to a corner store scarred by murder.

"Wild At Heart," August 2006, his ode to West 25th Street.

(photo from esquire.com)

The Postmortem

Now that we all know how Lebron filled in the blanks to our "Choice Words" article in this month's issue (many of our choice words for Lebron can't be printed here), the Cavs brass put a happy-face Band-Aid on the gaping wound left in the organization by LBJerk's departure at today's 1 p.m. press conference.

"Even without LeBron this team has more talent than the two teams I took over in Jersey and New Orleans," offered new head coach Byron Scott.

Scott took the Nets to the NBA Finals in his second ('01-'02) and third seasons on the New Jersey bench. In his fourth year in New Orleans, he guided a Hornets team that had won 18 games in his first season to 56 victories in '07-'08. (Part of that must be credited to the addition of Chris Paul after that first season as well.)

Scott says those lessons should serve him well as the Cavs move forward without Lebron. "Yeah, I think I'm the perfect guy for the job."

In case you're not as optimistic, take a read of Esquire writer and former Clevelander Scott Raab's pre-decision doomsday scenario (you know, since it came to pass and all ... but be aware, there's some pretty brutal language in there about Art Modell. Feel free to substitute Lebron's name for those references in the future).

Then go back and read Dan Gilbert's manifesto in comic sans again just for fun.

America's Best According to Esquire

I attended a great party at L’Albatros last week. The French bistro with an Ohio heart made it onto Esquire’s annual list of Best New Restaurants for 2009 and a crowd of friends and fans that filled two rooms gathered to celebrate. The twenty picks from around the country are detailed in the November issue and the write-up about Zack Bruell’s brasserie appears on page 83 with a photo of sautéed walleye and lobster quenelles (fluffy dumplings) in a buttery sauce Americaine. Happily, executive sous chef David Uecke was cooking up that the very dish for guests at the shindig while his boss was kept busy enduring a steady stream of hugs, cheek pecks, handshakes and back slaps. John Mariani, the magazine’s longtime columnist and food critic and the guy who decides which places are worthy of a spot in the line-up, came to town for the occasion.

Cleveland hasn’t always been on his radar. In fact the professional eater didn’t see much reason to come here until 1999 when he got an invitation from his colleague Stephen Michaelides to attend the opening of Moxie, which thoroughly impressed him. It was the first step in an ongoing campaign launched by Michelides, who had been editor and then associate publisher of Restaurant Hospitality from 1970 to 1998, and his wife Jeanne to make Mariani aware of all the great local places they thought he should at least consider when assembling his yearly roster of noteworthy new restaurants. He’s returned regularly since then to check out the dining scene, and has put praises in print for 3 Birds; Red, the Steakhouse; Fahrenheit; Lola; and Zack’s other two ventures Parallax and Table 45.

Mariani, who chronicles his dining adventures in a weekly e-newsletter called The Virtual Gourmet, no longer entertains any doubts that this city is home to some very talented chefs making food as good as anything found anywhere in America. It feels good to have him in our corner, and to know that his readers are getting the real story about Cleveland. It feels even better to live here and be able to have dinner at such superb spots every night of the week.