Dark Side: Greenhouse Tavern Hosts Metal-themed Dinner

It's clear by now that Jonathon Sawyer is a little bit rock 'n' roll, but this Sunday, March 15 from 6 to 11 p.m. he's taking his badassitude a step further with a metal-themed tasting menu ($66.66) and live show called Metal as F---. (Call 216-443-0511 to make reservations before they sell out.)

The event features a six-course collaborative dinner with Sawyer, New York City's Dieselboy, Chicago's David Posey, plus performances by local bands Lawskof, Seeress Prophecy and LA Kraze. 

It's embracing the dark side, fine dining-style, with highlights like Roulette wings ("six wings in the chamber. one is weaponized [with Scoville powder]. pain is imminent"). 

We talked to Dieselboy (a.k.a. Damian Higgins) for a rundown and why you should definitely go.

CM: What's your role in this dinner?

DH: I actually conceptualized two of the dishes, a dessert and a pasta course. For a couple of the other dishes, Jon threw the ideas out there and I put some of my thoughts into it. I'll actually be in the kitchen cooking at well. It’s going to be a true collaboration.

CM: You're a well-known disc jockey, so pardon us for asking but, have you ever done anything like this before?

DH: Last June, I did a collaborative dinner in Texas at this restaurant called FT33. The head chef, Matt McCallister, he was a Food&Wine best new chef last year. It was myself, him and Alex Stupack, who has also been a F&W best new chef, and he was the pastry chef at Alinea, wd-50 and a bunch of Mexican restaurants in New York. On my own, I’ve done a couple of burger pop-up events in Holland. I’m a DJ but I’m passionate about food, and I like to stay involved in these cool little events to kind of test myself.

CM: So how did you get involved with Jonathon Sawyer?

DH: A few years ago, his wife (who is a longtime fan of mine I guess), she hit me up on Twitter. I had a show coming up in Cleveland, and she asked if I wanted to come visit the Greenhouse Tavern. I had actually been there once before. This time I went, sat at the chef’s counter, got to meet Jonathon, [then] he came to New York and we had dinner together one night. That was sort of the start of our friendship. I was in town within the last six months and we were talking, and he’s like, Man, we should do dinner together.

CM: How does Greenhouse sort of fit the metal vibe?

DH: There’s an edginess to it, and I know they play '80s video cassettes and shit, which is cool. … Their ideology kind of skews in that direction. I assumed this was their first, but this will be Greenhouse’s fourth metal-themed dinner.

CM: Tell us about your dishes.

DH:  It’s easy to go to Halloween, so we’re trying to be not-too-corny and get this nice balance of really good food and ingredients that people have never had before. We’re going to a black pasta with two chambers [an uncut sheet of two ravioli]. One side is going to be blood sausage and black trumpet mushrooms, the other side is going to be cuttlefish, horseradish and whale ambergris. The sauce is called "burnoise," made with black butter. Dessert is a play on black forest cake: A devil’s food cake made with blood, smoked cherry jam, cherries. [Then] I had the idea of making a cherry sorbet with a lot of citric acid, which is what makes Warhead [candies] so sour, with a black-pepper meringue broken underneath it as well.

CM: Sounds very technical. Where do you get your talents in the kitchen?

DH: I’m an avid home cook. I eat out a lot when I travel, I’m friends with a lot of chefs, food writers. I go out to eat a lot, so whenever I cook at home I’ll always set the bar for myself [very high]. I’m also really into learning about food and learning about how to cook food.

For more information about the event, visit thegreenhousetavern.com/upcoming-events/metaldinner.

Shift Change

Matt Danko and Jonathon Sawyer at Trentina

Trentina, Jonathon Sawyer's new tasting menu restaurant in University Circle, has had a change of leadership in the last few weeks as former executive chef Matt Danko has stepped away from the helm. In the meantime, Sawyer himself is stepping back up to the plate pending further decisions.

Though he didn't return our calls for comment, according to Sawyer, Danko "took some time off" and is not currently cooking. It's a surprisingly common practice among managing chefs who are involved in the opening days of high-profile restaurants such as Trentina.

We're hopeful that Danko will return, if not to Trentina then at least to the general Cleveland dining scene. His accolades — a 2013 James Beard Outstanding Pastry Chef nomination, a 2013 Food & Wine Magazine Best New Pastry Chef nomination and a 2012 Eater Young Gun award — warrant the assumption that Danko was born to cook. But before starting out in Cuyahoga Falls' Sheraton Hotels, Danko earned a master’s degree in fine art with a minor in education, briefly working as a teacher.

"It's unfortunate with all the success that's coming right now," says Sawyer of the transition. "But we left the door open [for him]."

Trentina, 1903 Ford Drive, Cleveland, 216-421-2900, restauranttrentina.com

First Look: Trentina

The Vibe: Bright white walls and a dark navy ceiling, mirrored tabletops, white leather chairs and gold accents make this tiny restaurant from chef Jonathon Sawyer sparkle. It feels clean and modern, grounded by trendy touches like vintage foiled wallpaper. We especially loved the flapper-era walls in the restaurant's high-tech unisex bathrooms (think heated seats, bidets and derriere dryers). Dress to impress: servers don black bow-ties, though management still mixes dress jeans with blazers and ties.

How Ready Are They: We spent four hours over our 15-course dinner, and there are two variations on each course to give diners "complementary experiences," according to Sawyer.

The first few courses flew a little too fast, with too-frequent check-ins from our servers leaving us feeling a little harried. After about the fourth course, though, the staff seemed to settle into a more natural rhythm. The dishes were immaculate, and the chef made regular visits to the table to explain dishes, at one point bearing a pair of gold scissors to snip open the parchment enveloping the Sable Fish al Cartoccio.

We Tried It: By unanimous agreement, our favorite taste of the evening was the sixth course, the Pasta alla Chitarra. My dish featured three super-long, thick, house-made noodles with a creamy, slightly citrusy sauce, foraged chicken of the woods mushrooms and shaved West Coast abalone.



The complementary dish had a similar sauce, though the noodles were diced, acini di pepe style, and topped with a beautifully runny Ohio farm egg. The experience was topped by a garnish of a burning ember, "for aromatics," according to the chef. Perfection.



What We'd Like To See: Dinner at Trentina is an experience unlike any currently available in Ohio. This is not a dinner-and-a-movie night out but an event unto itself. Still, the space is so inviting that we can't wait until a few a la carte items are added to the patio offerings.

If You Go: Trentina opens July 8. Tickets for the tasting menu are $100. 1903 Ford Drive, Cleveland, 216-421-2900, restauranttrentina.com

A Stinking Rose by Any Other Name...

   Garlic is one of those fundamental ingredients, a thing no cook can do without. I love the taste-from biting to sweet depending on how it's handled but never thought much about the kind of garlic I was using or where it came from. Then I started buying locally grown heirloom varieties and discovered how much better- and more varied- it can be. A few years ago the husband got interested in growing our own, in part because the neighborhood deer were devouring everything we planted and he'd heard this was one crop they didn't find appealing.

Thaxton's garlic, Taxel's photo

   He bought and planted a starter selection from Thaxton's, a certified organic garlic farm in Hudson. The results were so fantastic and the effort so satisfying that garlic has become his new enthusiasm and the mainstay of our backyard kitchen garden. Which is why we recently found ourselves in Fred and Chris Thaxton's aromatic garlic barn.
It was time for new seed stock. The choices- hard necks and soft necks, big heads and little ones, pure white skinned and some kissed with purple, in 12 distinctive varieties- were hung in bunches, long stems still attached, row after row on racks that stretched from floor to ceiling. The couple, who started growing garlic on their property 15 years ago for their own use and to share with family and friends, now tend to three acres of the stuff and operate a thriving business, delivering to area chef's, and selling at the Hudson Farmers Market, directly from the farm (by appointment only) and online. They guided us towards a mix that included a peppery Spanish Roja; Khabar that's hot when raw and goes mellow with cooking; the robust Extra Hardy German White; and Georgian Crystal, that Chris told us is excellent for roasting.
  She still teaches at Hudson High but Fred retired from his science teacher job at Cleveland Heights High School last year to give the venture his all. Business is booming. What started as hobby landed them on the pages of the New York Times in May (and brought the paper's food writer Julia Moskin to their house for a picnic dinner that Fred says it was one of the best nights of his life). He gives Chef Jonathon Sawyer, a longtime customer and fan, a lot of the credit for pushing them onto a national stage.  And Sawyer's doing it again by featuring Thaxton's Music garlic in a pasta dish he's serving at The Greenhouse Tavern through Oct 31 as part of the James Beard Foundation’s (JBF) Taste America® Local Dish Challenge. The restaurant will donate $1 from each dish sold to the JBF Taste America® Education Drive, which supports the foundation's educational programs.
 Now that I've got you thinking about garlic, its a good time to mention the Cleveland Garlic Festival, sponsored by the North Union Farmer's Market, happening this weekend, September 7 and 8, on Shaker Square. Lots of garlic laden foods to try, garlic products to buy, live music, chef competitions, and a chance to pick up some  "stinking roses"  from the Thaxton's.

Thaxton's garlic, Taxel's photo

 

After Party, After Sandy

 I was hanging out at Noodlecat late Saturday night,  mingling with some of the hard working chefs who so generously donated time and talent to the utterly fabulous and financially successful West Side Market Gala. As if he hadn't already done enough,  'Cat owner and chef extraordinaire Jonathon Sawyer, who worked with Michael Symon on the big fundraiser, rolled out the welcome mat for an afterparty. He wanted to be sure that those who worked the main event also had a chance to kick back, relax, and enjoy some nice food and drink. Ben Bebenroth, who's own Spice Kitchen and Bar had been closed last week due to the power outages that crippled so many Cleveland neighborhoods, was outside grilling.

Eric Williams and I chatted about how Storm Sandy had hurt us here. Momocho, his Ohio City restaurant, was dark for three days. He lost about $5,000 worth of food and the building suffered some serious wind and water damage. He estimates his total losses at $15, 000, a lot for a small business but not much, we agreed, compared to the hit taken by those on the east coast, including some of the chefs scheduled to be here for the Gala. I mentioned reading an article in The New York Times about how tough things were for that city's hourly wage workers: their desperate attempts to get to work despite the dangers and transportation shut down because they couldn't afford to miss a day of work, and the despair of those who  lost desperately needed income when their employers didn't or couldn't open for business. Williams told me that, worried about his own people, he had gone to the bank, made a cash withdrawal and paid his staff for the days Momocho was shuttered. "I did it," he said, "because it was the right thing to do."

He didn't tell me this to boast or make himself look good. I wasn't on the job and he had no reason to think I'd write about it. We were just two people chatting about what had been going on. But thinking about it afterwards, I realized that I wanted to share the conversation because it encapsulates both some of the grief the hurricane left in its wake and the way people step up to help one another in times of crisis. The entire evening- the super efforts Symon and Sawyer made to find replacements for the chefs from out of town who were not able to make it here; how everyone pulled together to insure that the fundraiser went ahead as planned including Williams who cooked for the event; Bebenroth showing up with his usual smile despite a hellish week and troubles of his own; and my exchange with Eric- was a little story within a big a disaster and a testament to resiliency and goodness.

Cleveland Browns Score a (Culinary) Touchdown

As Brandon Weeden and Co. were warming up in Green Bay last night for their second preseason game, I was stretching out my taste buds at Cleveland Browns Stadium. My goal? To taste all of the new gourmet food options on the club level from three of Cleveland's most popular chefs — Michael Symon, Jonathon Sawyer and Rocco Whalen.

While season ticket holders, who were also invited to the event, lined up as B Spot chef Matt Harlan served up Lola fries (sprinkled with rosemary and sea salt) and the Fat Doug (a burger with coleslaw, pastrami, Swiss and mustard) — I headed to the newest concept, Sawyer's Street Frites.

Chef Sawyer, who was on the line, paused to chat with guests while sporting an awesome Browns hat, posed for pictures and even kicked back with a cold one. "This is a dream come true for both me and Rocco," he said. "We've been dreaming about doing this since we could sit upright."

I grabbed one of Danko's Donuts — a sweet and yeasty beast of a dessert topped with a sticky but delicious sauce — and the gravy frites. An avid cheese connoisseur, the cheese curds are what did it for me. The spicy gravy mixed with the creaminess of the cheese somehow kept the fries crisp instead of soggy, which I wasn't expecting. This was the one dish I completely finished and even contemplated getting more of. (Trust me, it tastes better than it looks.)

Rosie and Rocco's had the most options of the evening with a variety of salads, pizzas and meatballs. Rocco also worked the line, dishing out a variety of meatballs that guests could either sample solo or eat in a sandwich. Knowing that these meatballs were inspired by his mother's recipes, I had to try them.

While Momma Rosie's Meatball with veal, pork, beef, parmesan and marinara was tender and juicy, the one that caught my eye was Rocco's Mozzarella Meatball with fresh basil and parmesan. Lucky for me, I was eating alone, so I was easily able to sneak off into a corner and drink some of the tangy sauce. It was that good. 

Regardless of how the Browns do this year or how much it rains and/or snows, I know I will continue to sport my brown and orange and cheer on the home team — especially with dishes like this to comfort me along the way.

Cheering for Team Sawyer

Chef Jonathon Sawyer is ambitious in a good way. He’s always got something new going on, striving to advance his reputation, build his career and get people in the doors of his two restaurants, Greenhouse Tavern and Noodlecat. And he’s committed to bringing the whole city with him into the spotlight.

That’s why he organized a tweetup to coincide with his appearance as a competitor on Iron Chef America Jan. 22 at 10 p.m. Instead of a simple watch party, attendees are being asked to tweet about the action. The idea is to turn Sawyer into a trending topic on Twitter with Cleveland coming along for the coast-to-coast promotional ride. The free event to be held at Greenhouse Tavern booked-up fast, so another one was offered at Noodlecat. There’s no space left for this one either. But that doesn’t mean you can’t be part of the experience. Invite friends over. Get takeout from either place or make something wonderful to eat while watching and tweeting (use the hashtag #teamsawyer) at home. Pop corn, toss with melted butter, salt and Parmesan and just enjoy the show, without worry about greasy fingers.

The culinary cook-off pits Sawyer against Geoffrey Zakarian, winner of The Next Iron Chef Season 4. The gray-haired contender, who heads up multiple dining establishments in New York City, Miami and Atlantic City, looks more like a natty businessmen than a stove jockey. And he definitely had his work cut out for him going up against the Cleveland team, which included Sawyer’s talented right- and left-hand guys, Jonathan Seeholzer and Brian Goodman.

Abiding by his ironclad contract, Sawyer isn't breathing a word about the secret ingredient or the final outcome of his Food Network battle, but he still has plenty he can say.

“It was hard to portray the entirety of the Tavern style in just five courses,”  he says. “There was so much we wanted to do, but we only had an hour and had to keep it simple. Even so, I am absolutely pleased with the food we produced and how it defined us and the restaurant.”

And, the chef continues, it should be big fun to watch.

“We were super entertaining, loud, laughing and enjoying ourselves in the kitchen just like we always do," he says. “I hope that comes across to the viewers.”

Noting that he’s been in the hot seat before as an assistant when Michael Symon took on the challenge, he adds, “It is awesome and humbling to be the actual competitor instead of the sous chef.”

Another thing Sawyer’s doing for his hometown’s dining scene is hosting pop-ups. He’s using his national connections to bring in really great chefs from other cities to cook in his kitchen and making room for locals to shine too. Three of these one-night-only experiences are scheduled for January and February at Noodlecat: Lee Anne Wong returns to prepare a lunar new year feast on Jan. 21; Fresh Street of Columbus makes Japanese street food on Feb. 2; and Cory Barrett, a trained pastry chef now serving as executive chef at Lola does desserts on Feb. 13. Reservations for Bricks and Mortar Pop-Ups required.

More Dirt

Last week I wrote a post titled One Night [Farm] Stands about a couple of special fieldside dinners. Turns out there’s a veritable bumper crop of chefs going rural this summer. More meals cooked and served where animals are raised and produce is grown are scheduled for August, so I’m spreading the word.

Jim Denevan, founder of Outstanding in the Field, is the unofficial granddaddy of the forks-in-the-field concept. He started doing it in California in 1999 and later took the events on the road, partnering with acclaimed regional chefs around the country. The bus (there really is one) stops at Thaxton’s Organic Garlic, a picturesque 10-acre spread in Hudson on Friday, Aug. 5, 2011. Fred Thaxton, a science teacher at Cleveland Heights High School, and wife Lisa, in the same profession, started planting as a hobby in 2000. They now harvest a dozen varieties that are prized by local chefs and sold at area farmers markets. The menu is in the more-than-able hands of our own Jonathon Sawyer, of Greenhouse Tavern and Noodlecat fame, so no doubt the food will be extraordinary. garlic harvest at Thaxton family farm

But be prepared for some sticker shock: The price, $180 per person, is set by Denevan’s organization, not Sawyer. If this doesn’t scare you off, best to make your reservations immediately to be sure of getting a seat at the communal table.

Next up is an Emerging Chefs shindig on the evening of Friday, Aug. 19, with Kimberly McCune. She’s the founder/owner, with partner Scott Roitblat who’ll be cooking with her, of Vine and Dine, a company that offers catering and personal chef services with an emphasis on healthy, locally sourced products. They’re calling this casual family-style supper in Geauga County ReHival because McCune is introducing her very own microbrew, ReHive Ale. It will be produced by Buckeye Beer Engine and available to the public in September, which just happens to be national honey month. But guests at this “Return to Earth Dinner” on Meadowlane Farms in Newbury, five minutes from Chardon, will get first sips of these suds along with dishes made from ingredients gathered within a 50 mile radius of where you’ll be eating. Go to the website to purchase tickets ($69.57 each and get information about overnight accommodations.

Plated Landscapes, the on-the-farm dinner series created by Ben Bebenroth of Spice of Life Catering, has been going strong since 2006. These well-planned and perfectly executed multicourse feasts combine the trappings of fine dining with the laid-back beauty of natural settings. He has three scheduled for this month that aren’t sold out … yet: Saturday, Aug. 13, Muddy Fork Farm in Wooster; Friday, Aug. 19, Auburn Twin Oaks Winery in Auburn; and Friday, Aug. 26, Morgan Farm Stay in Ashland. To make reservations, get driving and ask questions about the menus, call 216-432-9090 or email jess@spiceoflifecaters.com with the subject "Plated Landscapes." Check out the online calendar to see what’s planned for September and October.

Muddy Fork Farm, Plated Landscapes, 2010

Purr-fectly Wonderful

Once again Jonathon Sawyer and crew are on the cutting edge of food trends … and helping insure that Cleveland is too. This time it’s restaurants with a short life span. Chefs secure a venue, create a menu, host a dinner party for a single night or a week of nights, then pack it in and the party’s over. It’s a chance for them to play with ingredients, test ideas and break free of diners’ expectations. For the people they feed these temporary eateries are exciting, an opportunity to be part a singular and out-of-the-ordinary experience. These culinary adventures are getting traction in big cities around the country.

Sawyer in Noodlecat kitchen: photo by Bridger Rehner

Sawyer’s calling his version Brick & Mortar Pop-Ups. I was a guest at the very first one, held last Saturday night in his not-yet-open new place, Noodlecat, on Euclid Avenue, just around the corner from The Greenhouse Tavern. Lee Anne Wong, an accomplished chef well known for her Bravo TV and Cooking Channel appearances, was in town to help him launch the planned series. The two partnered in the kitchen to great effect, producing a highly original and outstanding menu titled "Easy Japaneasy.” It foreshadows some of noodle dishes Sawyer will soon be serving there as well as what Wong wants to do for the Asian-inspired gastropub she hopes to get up and running in New York city before the end of the year.

Lee Anne Wong doing Easy Japanesy: photo by Bridget Rehner

The options were divided into three categories: Fingers, Sticks and Slurps. Sharing plates with the husband, I got to try three in category one and two each in the others: roasted oysters seasoned with togarashi (a 7-spice blend), garlic and bone marrow butter, (among the more astonishing and delicious things I’ve ever eaten), plus tea smoked deviled eggs on toast topped with marinated salmon roe, and crispy shallots with breaded pork cutlet sliders with mustard-katsu sauce and cabbage salad; shrimp and water chestnut gyoza with scallion ponzu dipping sauce + nanbanzuke of perch (cold marinated fried fish) with tomato watermelon salad and pickled onions; braised pork belly stew with radishes, carrots, and tiny potatoes in a drinkable soy laced broth + a gingery udon noodle stir fry with cabbage and bits of bacon. Bartender Dean Sauer mixed me up a Lee Anne Special made with Maker’s Mark and Orange Rhubarb spritz, a Dutch salad featuring gin and ginger beer and Noodlecat’s Japanese margarita. We left nothing edible or drinkable behind.

Perch: Photo by Bridget Rehner

Wong, wearing golden clogs, told me the pair got quite a work out in the kitchen with many hours of prep required. "It was a good warm-up for Noodlecat," she said. "Jonathon has an ambitious menu planned and will be doing some similar dishes." It may get even more ambitious- he and wife Ameilia left the next morning for eight days of research-that means eating- in Tokoyo.

The next Bricks and Mortar Pop-Up, also at Noodlecat, comes courtesy of Dim and Dem Sum founder Chris Hodgson July 11 & 13. Reservations required. The uber-energetic and super social young chef recently returned home after a cross country stint as a contestant, and finalist, on America’s Great Food Truck Race, along with his second mobile chuck wagon, Hodge Podge, and plans for a permanent location.

Noodlecat, which will serve strictly Japanese style noodle based preparations, should be totally finished and ready for customers right after this event. The space, small, simple and fun, already looked great Saturday. The design and décor is a collaborative effort for Sawyer and Sin-Jin Satayathum, the artist who helped give Greenhouse Tavern its distinctive and sustainable character. Based on first impressions, I’d say they’ve successfully combined elements of a traditional ramen house here with something distinctly their own and totally Cleveland. Love the long repurposed school lab tables ats the back, bench along one side, stools on the other. They create instant sociabilty. Traded "what to order" advice with a pair of women on my left, and the couple on my right offered samples of their dish. If I was a cat, I'd have been purring with happiness.

The Cleveland-Philly Connection

There are those among us who think nothing of driving 10 hours for 10 courses — you know who you are — but most of us tend to dine closer to home. On Thursday, March 3, Team Sawyer shortens the distance between Cleveland and Philadelphia by hosting Jeff Michaud, chef/partner at Osteria and one of that city’s finest young culinary talents, at the Greenhouse Tavern. Instead of traveling east for 400 plus miles to taste his food, all you have to do is get yourself downtown to East 4th Street.


Michaud is preparing an Italian inflected pasta-centric tasting menu that’s paired up, plate for plate, with Jonathon Sawyer’s distinctive French-inspired, locally flavored fare. My sneak peak at the particulars for the family-style, six-course feast made for a seriously mouth-watering read: Ohio chevre salad/shrimp with guanciale and zolfini bean ragout; salt roasted sea bream with sauce menuiere/capon ravioli alla Genovese; pan braised quail/ rabbit porchetta. The extraordinary beverages — wine, beer, cocktails, grappa, and cheeses — some making their Ohio debut straight from Michaud’s own affinage (aging cooler) are alone worth the $97 per person price.

Chefs from different restaurants and different cities joining forces to create one-of-a-kind eating experiences has become something of a trend, here and around the country. I posted a piece last July about what I called a staycation dinner at Moxie featuring a Turkish chef from NYC.

This is quite a match-up. The James Beard Foundation named Michaud “Best Chef, Mid-Atlantic region” in 2010. Last week, Sawyer, already crowned by Food & Wine Magazine, was among the semifinalists for Beard’s “Rising Star Chef of the Year” award. With a duo like that there’s no doubt it will be a meal and night to remember, and one that provides conversational fodder for a long time.

I’ll be there. Forks lift off at 7 p.m. Reservations and prepayment required.

Mixing It Up

Professional chefs have a lot of secrets. And I’m not referring to what they do after hours. What I’m talking about are the techniques and tools that help them make magic in the kitchen. Most of this knowledge takes time and effort to acquire and the specialized equipment is out of reach for the majority of home cooks. But Saturday, November 20 is a gamer changer.

It’s the Vitamix one day only annual factory sale. Chefs swear by these high powered, high performance, heavy duty machines. At the flick of a switch it can mix, blend, shred, chop, juice, knead, churn (no kidding), and pretty much pulverize whatever fruit, vegetable and grain you throw in. According the manufacturer’s specs, a Vitamix does the work of ten different appliances and performs fifty tasks without a single specialized attachment. Prices are the best you’ll find and this year for the first time ever, the chef- inspired Vitamix Professional model will be available for direct purchase by consumers.

The event runs from 9-AM-5 PM. Some local chefs will be on hand to put the product through its paces. Jonathon Sawyer (Greenhouse Tavern), Steve Schimoler (Crop Bistro & Bar), Andy Dombrowski (Chinato), and Chris DiLisi (of the soon to open Flour Restaurant in Moreland Hills) will be doing demos throughout the day.

The Cleveland company is located at 8615 Usher Road. Free parking is available.

I've lusted after these for years. And did I mention there’s a model that comes in a delicious shade of red? To anyone thinking of giving me a gift- it would be quite the piece of eye candy on my counter.

Chefs on Exhibit

There’s nothing new about our local chefs showing up to help other organizations. They are the backbone of benefits, generous contributors to every kind of charity gig, and the reason that many are willing to purchase tickets and attend these events. But it’s the food rather than the inspired, conceptual thinking behind it that usually gets all the attention. But it was quite a different story last Saturday night in the galleries at the Palate/Palette fundraiser for MOCA Cleveland.

The artistry of five chefs was the centerpiece of the evening rather than the backdrop. Each had chosen one of the five senses to express and fashioned a unique presentation environment for their dishes. Instead of just grazing mindlessly, we encountered intentionally designed sensory worlds that awakened and heightened perceptions, challenged assumptions, and engaged the mind in the act of eating. All the chefs seemed thrilled with the opportunity and clearly had fun with it. “Creating experiences and stimulating the senses is what we do,” Brandt Evans told me. “It’s wonderful to see that being celebrated.”

I was totally taken with the idea and wowed by the execution. Here’s a brief chef by chef recap of their food-meets-art offerings.

Brandt Evans, Blue Canyon, Sight:
Knowing that we eat with our eyes first, Evans hung big food photos behind his table, cuing up anticipation by adding a word to each image: luminosity; lush: stimulating. Big glass vessels willed with asparagus, limes, and basil decorated he staging area. So we were primed and ready for his scallop ceviche with lime and ginger. There was a kind of visual trick to it- the burst of flavor, full of exciting unexpected elements, was so much more than the sum of what could be seen.

Karen Small, The Flying Fig, Smell:
We entered a small windowless dimly lit room with seating for 20, 25 people at tables arranged in a squared-off u-shape. Each place was set with two small cups: in one a ricotta dumpling with onions, chives, and scallions; in the other slivers of grass fed beef short ribs and mushrooms. As we watched, steaming broth was poured on top- smoked pork for the meat, something gingery for the dumpling. Small urges us to inhale deeply before we open our mouth or pick up a spoon. It is a revelation- so much information coming in through the nose.

Jonathon Sawyer, The Greenhouse Tavern, Touch:
We filed in eight at a time, sat down, removed our shoes, and stepped up to the bar, as instructed, positioning ourselves on a marble square. Heat flowed up through the soles of our feet as Sawyer passed us a bowl of warm miso based broth. We cupped it in our hands and drank. Then we moved to the other side and stood on icy cold stones to sip chilled ramp vichyssoise. For both, Sawyer told us to close our eyes. It was like kissing- blocking out visual impressions intensified what the body felt.

Sergio Abramof, Sergio’s and Sarava, Sound:
He’s got a passion for percussion, so Abramof brought some drumming pals in to create beats to back up his Brazilian shrimp and rice. But instead of their usual selection of instruments, these pros pounded out rhythms using kitchen equipment: whisks, spoons, pots, strainers, skillets. It was impossible to hold still. Sergio was swaying and sautéing, people waiting to snag a plate looked like an impromptu conga line. The dish had a mouth music of its own- together they made a dance party.

Doug Katz, fire food and drink, Taste:
His chocolate truffles were the good bye gift. Four were packed in a clear box divided into sections with a paper insert featuring a different photo to accompany the list of primary ingredients and character descriptions for each bite. It was fun, clever, inventive. Like what the best chefs do. The candies were equally original- bittersweet chocolate peppercorn; white chocolate tarragon; milk chocolate rhubarb; and my personal favorite unsweetened chocolate laced with sea salt.

The event looked like a financial success. There was a nice sized crowd that paid $250 per ticket and big bucks were bid for original artwork during the live auction. But staying true to its mission of exploring contemporary culture, looking beyond the conventional and acceptable, and showcasing originality, MOCA is to be commended for also using their fundraiser as a vehicle for raising awareness of the exceptional talent in our culinary community.

Double-shot of The Greenhouse Tavern

OK, so it's not a greenhouse, but it's a start.

This past weekend, The Greenhouse Tavern (our Silver Spoon Award winner for Best New Restaurant) christened its rooftop garden — three huge planters with herbs and vegetables — that helps showcase Jonathon Sawyer's sustainable mission.

The veggies and such will be used in the dining room, and the garden's dirt comes from compost from restaurant leftovers. Sawyer tells Channel 3 that his crew spends about 15-30 minutes every day on the "full-circle garden."

In addition, NewsChannel5's Good Morning Cleveland has been visiting our Silver Spoon Award winning restaurants this week. Today, Pete Kenworthy visits Greenhouse Tavern ... and of course, they can't help but mention the wings.

The Greenhouse Tavern's Jonathon Sawyer named one of Food & Wine's Top 10 Best New Chefs

Food & Wine Magazine has confirmed what we've known since May of 2008. The publication just named The Greenhouse Tavern's Jonathon Sawyer one of the Top 10 Best New Chefs. The cat slipped out of the bag before today's 5 p.m. announcement, after Food & Wine editor-in-chief Dana Cowin started tweeting clues about who was on the list. "Midwestern eco-home" sounds familiar doesn't it?

When we wrote about Sawyer as one of our Tastemakers in our 2008 Best Restaurants issue, it was for the buzz he was generating at Ohio City's Bar Cento. He left that restaurant behind to open The Greenhouse Tavern last spring. People have been talking about the place ever since. Speaking of restaurants, our Best Restaurants issue is coming in May. Who knows, maybe Sawyer will make an appearance there as well. (Well, actually, we know if he makes an appearance, but you'll have to wait for the issue.)

Liberty! Equality! Fraternity! Party!

Chef Jonathon Sawyer has a soft spot for French food, wine, and holidays. So he’s partnering with the local Slow Food convivium to throw a Bastille Day party at his restaurant The Greenhouse Tavern downtown on East 4th Street. For $60 (gratuity and cash bar not included), you get to storm the buffet table and dine on Gallic inspired fare on Monday, July 13 from 6-9 pm.

It’s a potluck with all the dishes prepared by a stellar line up of Cleveland chefs. Well, almost all the dishes. I’m making one. Sawyer sweet talked me into it. How he got me to agree remains a mystery. I started having serious second thoughts the minute I said yes. I’m a rank amateur, a dabbler, a guppy among whales in this undertaking. How could something I cooked be put side by side with stuff made by the likes of Paul Minnillo, Dante Boccuzzi, Steve Schimoler and Sawyer himself? Was I crazy? Was I prepared to be utterly humiliated?

My only protection was to be anonymous. I extracted a promise that there’d be no little sign with my name on it affixed to my contribution. I assumed he understood that meant I wanted to maintain a very low profile. Apparently not: he included my name in the list of participants on the restaurant’s blog .

Photo: a dish from last year's celebration

Following our phone conversation, thinking about what to prepare occupied far too many of my waking hours. But I’ve finally decided that my best bet is to give up any notion of attempting to impress anyone. I'm opting for something relatively uncomplicated that I’ve made many times before. I’m not saying what it is just in case my dish ends up the being the night’s wallflower, the one nobody chooses, still there after every other serving platter and bowl is picked clean. Now I’m struggling with the question of garnish…my usual sprig or two of parsley hardly seems sufficient. But my team didn’t get high marks for presentation during my one- and only- week of training at the Culinary Institute of America’s boot camp for beginners.

No matter how my dish turns out, this is sure to be great event. Reservations required, 216.393.4302

Photo: Sawyer check's out what's left on the Bastille buffet, 2008