Uptown's Asian Invasion

Photo courtesy of Barney Taxel

Ninja City Kitchen and Bar opened last month in University Circle. This Asian street food and fast food concept from Bac Nguyen, the owner of Bac, a bistro in Tremont, is a fun spot as long as you know a few things in advance. Ninja City a place for eating, not dining. Water is served in plastic cups and some dishes arrive in paper-lined baskets. The vibe skews toward youth in decor and style, which makes sense given the location on the fringes of the CWRU campus.

Photo courtesy of Barney Taxel 

The operation strikes me as a cross between two other local creations. To order, guests fill out a form a la Happy Dog (soon to be opening a second outpost in the former Euclid Tavern down the street), with options to customize your own plates and combos. The small menu itself is reminiscent of items available at Noodlecat downtown — reinvented versions of ramen, gyoza, edamame, steam buns and chicken wings. I enjoyed everything I tried. The BBQ pork buns were my favorite — light, airy rounds of dough to wrap around bits of roasted meat accompanied by pickled carrot and radish, a toss of scallions and cilantro, and topped with chili aioli. The cold spring roll noodle bowl didn't stray far from tradition but it was nicely done with a tasty sweet garlic vinaigrette. The Banh Mi sandwich was big, mostly because of thick slices of crusty bread, but the filling of sliced pork, ham,  and veggies held its own. The portions were generous and the prices reasonable. I noticed that dishes were flagged for being gluten free, vegetarian or available without animal protein.

Photo courtesy of Barney Taxel

There was something a bit too postmodern about the decor for my taste, a mix and match pastiche that strives a bit too hard to be hip. The comic book cute wall art is inspired by graphic novels. The chain link fence that fronts the mirror — for no obvious reason — metal ceiling fans, utilitarian tables and chairs and exposed ductwork have an urban industrial feel. But then there's weathered barn wood paneling opposite the bar and in parts of the upper level. I do like the fact that the front window is actually a garage door that can be raised in good weather, with access to a small patio on the sidewalk.
 
I don't think I'd make a special trip just for a meal here, but if I was hungry and in the neighborhood, Ninja City would definitely be on my list of possibilities.

Forum on Plain Dealer's future turns to thoughts of competition

The most intriguing question at this week’s Ohio City Writers forum on the Plain Dealer’s future wasn’t the Plain Dealer’s future. Most panelists seemed resigned to the fact that the paper will shrink this spring by cutting a third of its news staff. Instead, the talk became a brainstorming session on how nonprofit and for-profit startups might rise up to fill the growing holes in Cleveland news coverage.

“[Will] the Plain Dealer be vulnerable to competition?” asked moderator Dan Moulthrop of the Civic Commons. Perhaps, he suggested, the 58 journalists the paper's owner plans to cut from the newsroom after May 1 “could start a new news organization for the city.”

The Tuesday talk at the Happy Dog was the second time in a week that a West Side bar became a forum for heated talk about layoffs and seven-day publication at Cleveland’s daily paper. But the vibe Tuesday night was far different than at the newsroom union’s 7-Day Lager party last week.

Rachel Dissell, PD reporter and a leader of the Newspaper Guild's Save the Plain Dealer campaign, shared the stage with a skeptical panel that reflected Cleveland’s changing media landscape, including a moderator from a civic-journalism website, a politician-blogger and two former newspaper reporters gone digital. Some panelists, such as Pepper Pike city councilwoman Jill Miller Zimon, said they’ve become platform-agnostic, reading news both in print and online.

At first, the talk became a debate of sorts between Dissell and Angie Schmitt, a co-founder of the website Rust Wire who’s written critically about the Save the PD effort.

“It’s really a shame to see anyone laid off,” said Schmitt, who was laid off from the Toledo Blade four years ago. “But the reliance on print makes layoffs inevitable as print declines.”

“Does it take fewer people to ask questions and report stories for a 24-hour website than it does for a seven-day newspaper?” Dissell shot back.

Layoffs are business decisions, Schmitt replied. The web is “where you’re going to see growth in the media in the future.”

Online news is a “really tough business,” added Schmitt, a writer for the nonprofit Streetsblog, but “in some ways, it can be good for consumers, because there’s a really direct way to tell how your stories are being received and what people value.”

That defense of click-driven journalism alarmed Dissell. “On cleveland.com, the stories that get the most hits are the ones with the words, ‘Free,’ ‘Naked,’ and ‘Browns’ in them,” she replied.

Dissell recalled her work researching and writing mini-bios of 136 figures connected to the Cuyahoga County corruption investigation. Who else besides the Plain Dealer has the resources to do such a thing? she asked.

Halfway through, the talk turned on Moulthrop’s question: would a smaller PD face new competition? Schmitt said it would open up opportunities for journalism entrepreneurs.

“In Seattle, somebody told me, every single neighborhood has a hyperlocal blog that’s supporting a full- or part-time journalist,” Schmitt said. “In Cleveland, I think our new media landscape hasn’t been evolving the way you’d expect it to. It’s lagging behind places like Columbus and Toledo.”

Dissell said Patch.com, a leader in neighborhood coverage, hasn’t figured out how to be profitable. Maybe a nonprofit news organization will have to fill the gap, she said.

Two other panelists, freelancer Afi-Odelia Scruggs and Thor Wasbotten, director of Kent State’s journalism school, debated whether crowd-funding can pay for investigative reporting. Scruggs said it seems to work best when crowd-funded journalists partner with established news organizations. Dissell said the Save the Plain Dealer campaign was looking into partnerships with nonprofits to cover areas the staff most wants to cover.

Wasbotten recommended journalist entrepreneurs approach the Knight Foundation, which has roots in Northeast Ohio. “They’re looking for great ideas,” he said.

All the talk of webby innovation brought Dissell back to the union’s frustrations with Advance, the Plain Dealer’s parent company. “We have no control over almost any of the website,” she says. “We can’t create our own apps. We can’t put out our own iPad version every day.” She once suggested creating digital news-alert notifications and was told the company wouldn’t allow it.

“If you go to the company with an idea and say, ‘I really think we need to do this online,’ you get radio silence,” she said.

Panelists kept returning to the main irony of Advance’s moves in Cleveland and elsewhere: It’s pursuing a digital-first strategy, but doesn’t create first-rate websites. That makes its risky bet even riskier.

“Go find the Advance Publications site,” Scruggs told the smartphone users in the audience. “When you look at that site, I want you to answer this question: Why do we expect them to do for us what they aren’t doing for themselves?”

Update, 12/17: You can listen to the forum here.

Gordon Square District Goings-On

The husband and I decided to start off our evening with a stop at Happy Dog last Friday night. We parked across Detroit, on West 58th Street and noticed lights on inside Spice Kitchen and Bar, the soon-to-open restaurant on the corner. I went up close for a look and spotted Ben Bebenroth, chef and owner, hard at work. He put down his paintbrush to unlock the door for us.

With his dad’s help, he was just about done applying the final coats of taupe, beige and white to the once candy-colored walls. They were putting in some extra after dark hours because the pressure’s on to ready the place for a special New Year’s Eve Preview Pop-Up Dinner. There will be two seatings for the five-course prix fixe menu. Four Bells Sparkling will be on tap for the event, just one of the festive beverages available.

Bebenroth, and his food, have quite the following, so tickets have been selling fast. But as of five nights ago, there were still some spots available. Call 216-432-9090 for prepaid reservations.

Then he’s closing to finish the makeover and organize the staff, but only briefly if all goes according to plan (does it ever?), the restaurant should be completely ready and serving meals Tuesday through Saturday toward the end of the second week in January.

It was nice chatting with Ben, but we were hungry, so we headed on to Happy Dog. The bar was wall to wall people, a rowdy crowd gathered to enjoy the particular peculiar pleasure of DJ Kishka and his annual Christmas show (he does his thing there monthly). I was in need of food, not polka tunes, and I feared the servers would never find us in the bouncing boozing mob. Luckily there was an alternative close at hand: Underdog.

The proprietors of the tavern cleaned and remodeled the basement, turning it into another seating area and underground playroom for grown-ups. It’s been open just a couple of months. A long shuffleboard runs parallel to the bar. There are three old-fashioned pinball machines and a large screen for cartoons. On Thursdays only, a limited number of burgers, 24 to be exact, are offered on a first-come, first-serve basis. The rest of the time, it’s the same menu as upstairs: hot dogs and your choice of 50 toppings (as many as you want) that run the gamut from traditional (house-made ketchup, dill pickle and baked beans) and ethnically eclectic (Brazilian chimichurri, Korean kim chee, and Thai chile and garlic sauce), to gourmet (Brie, black truffle honey mustard and wasabi aioli) and kind of out there (chunky peanut butter, caramel applesauce and chipotle hollandaise).

I was restrained, choosing a modest three, and relatively conventional in my selections (Guinness sauerkraut, caramelized onions and barbecue sauce) and very happy with the result. I washed it down with a cold Shiner Bock. The husband ventured into more creative territory with Oaxacan red chile and chocolate mole. An order of tater tots arrived and disappeared in short order too.

We ate, we drank, we ran into people we know and were glad we’d decided to cross the river and make a visit to one of Cleveland’s coolest up and coming neighborhoods.

Raab, Izrael Talk LeBron at Happy Dog

Last night, The Happy Dog was the scene of a debate of sorts between Esquire writer Scott Raab, author of The Whore of Akron: One Man's Search for the Soul of LeBron James (read an excerpt here), and writer and culture critic Jimi Izrael, a supporter of LeBron's right to leave town. Plain Dealer columnist and WCPN 90.3 Sound of Ideas host Michael McIntyre moderated the event, which was dubbed The Derision but felt more like a good-natured debate between friends.

Raab started the evening by reading an excerpt from his book — a scene in which he meets Izrael at a black barber shop in Cleveland Heights, where Raab grew up, and the men discuss James' legacy in Cleveland, centering on race.

"It's late in the book," Raab said. "And it's the only time I try to face, head on, that issue."

Once Izrael took the stage, the early part of the debate was more a continuation of their conversation from that barber shop.

"A lot of people of color saw [The Decision] as a young man who had agency over his life," Izrael said. "That's something uncommon to black people."

"When I left Cleveland, I didn't inflict a severe emotional and economic wound on the town," Raab countered. "I didn't disappoint anyone."

Though Raab and Izrael disagreed, they were clearly chummy. This wasn't a knock-down fight by any means. As the night went on, those in the crowd proved to be the most outwardly passionate — be it for or against James. Raab and Izrael came off as pragmatic and reasoned by comparison.

An early questioner asked if The Decision hadn't happened, did Raab think people would still be as upset?

"The only circumstances under which LeBron would have left that I would not have been angry would have been after bringing a championship home," Raab answered.

A common theme in the crowd's questions was whether we as a culture take sports too seriously. One person made the comparison to the reaction of Penn State students to the firing of Joe Paterno.

"I know on one level it's only sports," Raab said. "People get worked up about seeing a painting or listening to music, but sports really does take on a meaning way out of proportion to its actual bearing on our lives."

Some questions were less reasoned, traveling to the outskirts of hypothetical sense: What if James had scored more points in a particular game? Is the lockout his fault? Would it have been any different if our NBA team was the Akron Cavaliers instead of the Cleveland Cavaliers?

Ultimately, McIntyre brought the discussion back around to Raab and his book.

"You said in the book that you were searching for the soul Lebron James." McIntyre said. "Did you find it?"

"No," Raab said. "I'm not calling him a soulless spawn of satan. The title and the subtitle — I wouldn't take any of this s--t too seriously."

The event benefited Ohio City Writers, a nonprofit youth creative writing center, of which Izrael is a board member.

Invasion of the Nerds

Last weekend, Cleveland was stormed by nerds on bikes. The strange sight was not random. It was the first ever nerd ride hosted by Crank-Set Rides, a nonprofit that organizes themed bike rides.

The 180 geeks, dweebs and dorks rode about four miles on Saturday from the Root Cafe in Lakewood to a nerdy dance party in Cleveland.

"People have been loving this," says Lindsey Bower, organizer and co-founder of Crank-Set Rides. Decked out in oversized black glasses, knee high tube socks and pink polka dotted suspenders, she said the group attracted the attention of onlookers wherever they rode. Some just stopped and stared, wondering what was going on, while others pulled out cameras and started filming.


Nerds faced off in a trivia match that tested their knowledge of geeky subjects from Boba Fett to pi at the Happy Dog in the Gordon Square Arts District. Joe Milan, above, out-smarted the other nerds, winning the first round. Milan, dressed in a bowtie, glasses and suspenders, exclaimed that his outfit was authentic. "I didn't have to go shopping for any of this stuff," he said.


After two rounds of nerd trivia, the two winners faced off in a Math-a-thon. They had 30 seconds to do 60 multiplication tables. As the winner was named, the crowd celebrated by chanting "Nerd! Nerd! Nerd!"



Riders stepped outside the stuffy hotdog joint to cool off, even though the temperatures on Saturday rose to the upper 80s. As cars drove by and witnessed the gaggle of nerds, drivers honked and hollered. The nerds all took off at once for their next location, Joy Machines Bike Shop on West 25th Street.

Crank-Set is using proceeds from the $5 participation fee to purchase new bike racks for Cleveland. Its next events are the hot pants ride on Aug. 20 and the second annual zombie ride on Oct. 22.

Geek Out

Lindsey Bower is a nerd and she’s proud of it. She knows she’s not the only one. So she and her boyfriend and fellow nerd, Dan Krivenki, are hosting the first ever Nerd Ride, a bike trip in which nerds, geeks, dweebs and dorks are invited to pedal across Cleveland to raise money to install bike racks around town.

The pair are co-founders of the nonprofit Crank-Set Rides, which organizes themed bike rides, such as last year’s zombie ride, to promote biking awareness. For their next idea, the two looked no farther than their own personalities.

“We're both nerdy people,” Bower says. “We always dress up as nerds for Halloween and sometimes if we’re bored, we’ll dress up as nerds and go ride our bikes around, just to get people to laugh.”

The themed rides attract a slew of bewildered onlookers. At the zombie ride in October, Bower says one lady just stared at the 200-some zombies riding by, scared out of her wits, as if she thought the apocalypse had come.


This time, Bower expects just as much buzz. “Little kids come out on the street, and they’re so excited, they’re happy and running around and giving us fives when we go past,” she says. “That is such a good feeling. They’ll laugh when they see us dressed as nerds.”

Expect these cyclists to completely geek out with their costumes. Bower promises tube socks, bow ties, glasses, pocket protectors, suspenders and even wedgies. “Suspenders give you the worst wedgies in the world,” she says through vibrant laughter.

She hopes people will not only notice their outfits, but become more aware of the need to share the road with bikers. She also hopes to get the city to consider bike improvements. One bike rack has already been installed in Lakewood.

The nerd ride, which lasts from 4:30 p.m. on Saturday until 2 a.m. on Sunday, will lead geeks on a tour of hot spots such as the Happy Dog, which is hosting a geek-style Math-a-thon. It'll end at Reddstone with a nerdy dance-off.


Poster courtesy of Lindsey Bower. Photo from Crank-Set Rides' Facebook photo set.

Movie Munchies

Every year I scan the Cleveland International Film Festival program book to see what’s cooking. Literally. Because there are usually at least a few food focused and culinary- themed movies plus others in which eating, cooking, or serving play a major or supporting role in the story. I star each one on my personal schedule- a long, complicated and aspirational list covering a broad swathe of the world and a wide range on interests that is subject to change- and try to see them all. The effort shapes the days and nights from March 18-March 28. I may not be able to get to each and every one- life, work, and pure visual exhaustion sometimes interfere- but I always intend to. And for me the hope that runs through the ten day stretch is half the fun.

I’ve carefully combed through the 100 plus pages of Films A-Z and found a veritable feast of thought provoking things to see.

-Bananas
a documentary from a Swedish director and producer, that explores the legal battle over Dole Food Company’s use of a harmful pesticide in Nicaragua. Sponsored by fire food and drink
March 27, 2:15 PM, March 28, 4:30 PM

-Colony
a partnership between two filmmakers one American the other Irish, the documentary is a look at the honeybee crisis and their importance to our food supply. Fest folks describe it as visually stunning
March 25, 9:35 PM, March 28, 7:20 PM

-Cooking History
a documentary comedy about war and food. Impossible to imagine and therefore essential to watch .
March 23, 7:15 PM, March 25, 2:25 PM

-Ingredients
a cinematic essay about the rise of the local food movement and the meaning of a sustainable food systems with an on screen appearance from Alice Waters
March 19, 4:50 PM, March 20, 2 PM followed by a discussion, March 21 11:45 AM

-Mid-August Lunch
an Italian movie so no matter what else it is about, the storyline, as the name suggests, really does include shopping, cooking, family gatherings around the table, and much drinking of wine
March 27, 7:30 PM, March 28, 12:10 PM

-What’s on Your Plate?
follows two kids as they learn where their food comes from so its no wonder the North Union Farmers Market is among of the sponsors
Match 27, 11:45 AM, March 28, 2 PM

Foodish
-A Matter of Size
one of those whoda thunk subjects- an overweight Israeli, whose mother complains about her fat sonbut fixes him food nonetheless, bands together with others of his size to form the country’s first sumo team that gets wrestling lessons from the owner of a sushi restaurant . how can i not see this?
March 20, 7:45 PM, March 21, 4:45 PM

-Villon’s Wife
based on a group of short stories. a Japanese woman takes a job at a pub to repay her n’er-do-well husband’s debt, thrives in this new life, and becomes empowered to change her relationship to him
March 23, 11:40 AM, March 25, 6:45 PM

TV TIME OUT

-Shifting from big screen fare to television, mark your calendars for Monday, March 22. Momocho will be featured on Diners, Drive-ins and Dives at 10pm on the Food Network. The viewing party is at Eric Williams' other place The Happy Dog on West 58th and Detroit. Fun begins at 8pm