Bruell's Bringing Restaurant Week Back

If you missed our Cleveland Independents Restaurant Week post back in November, it's your lucky month. Beginning on Monday, Jan. 18, and running through Sunday, Feb. 7, Zack Bruell is reprising his own annual restaurant "week" — actually four weeks — with $33 three-course meals at each and every one of his six fine-dining establishments: Parallax, L'Albatros Brasserie & Bar, Table 45, Chinato, Cowell & Hubbard and Alley Cat Oyster Bar.

While we're firmly of the opinion that you can't go wrong with a Bruell meal — the restaurateur is known for his keen attention to detail and for visiting his restaurants every day to maintain his high standards — you'll find us at Table 45 in MidTown during this cold weather due to the approachable comfort-food-type special menu.

"I keep the menu designed with our most popular sellers and simple apps," says chef de cuisine Donna Chriszt, "let the flavors do all the talking."

Here's what she'll be cooking up for the rest of the month, plus a simple recipe to really stretch that bang for buck.

First course: Choose from a daily chef-prepared soup or a salad of mixed garden greens, fresh vegetables, aged balsamic and Bruell's own olive oil.

Second course: Choice of chicken schnitzel with spaetzle and lemon-butter sauce or a classic lo mein with Asian greens, carrots, bean sprouts, edamame and a ginger-garlic sauce.

Courtesy Donna Chriszt

Courtesy Donna Criszt

 Third course: Assorted ice cream and sorbets with berries and mint, or chocolate lava cake served with creme anglaise.

Lo Mein Broth
Serves 4-6

1 quart vegetable stock
1/4 cup pickled ginger juice
1 ounce fresh ginger root
1/4 cup black bean paste
1/2 cup hoisin sauce
1 cup plus 1 tablespoon chili garlic sauce
1/2 cups soy sauce
2 tablespoons minced shallot
1 tablespoon minced garlic

In a saucepot, bring to a boil the vegetable stock, ginger juice and ginger root.
Reduce heat to a simmer and add remaining ingredients, stirring to combine.
Remove from heat immediately and serve with noodles and assorted vegetables.

Tour de Course

There's no stopping Zack Bruell. 

As part of his sixth annual Tour de Bruell — an epicurean adventure where guests visit all five of his fine-dining restaurants between Memorial Day and Labor Day, collecting stamps along the way — the culinary pioneer hosted 10 guests who were the first to finish the journey.

While he shared his impressive story on how he's successfully opened Parallax, Table 45, L'Albatros, Chinato and Cowell & Hubbard throughout the night, each dish reminded us why he's one of the best chefs in the city. It also got us excited about the opening of his new spot, Alley Cat. Located on the east bank of the Flats, Bruell thinks the seafood spot will be ready in about two weeks. 

Until then, let one of these Bruell dishes tide you over.

Parallax's chili-orange marinated shrimp paired with a roasted beet and watermelon salad and avocado mousse makes great uses of seasonal ingredients for a cool, refreshing dish. Pro tip: Make sure to snag a table on the Tremont spot's patio. 

Get a double dose of vegetables in this Chinato pasta. A rich roasted cauliflower puree complements carrot fettuccine and ricotta salata. Pro tip: Sip on Chateau Campuget rose, known for its fruity notes of raspberries and black currants. 

The French-inspired Cowell & Hubbard crosses borders with a serving of chili-rubbed Latin braised pork paired with anasazi beans, fresh avocado and cilantro. Pro tip: End the night with a meringue ice cream sandwich. 

Flights of Fancy

Tonight is the third and final class in the Zack Bruell Wine School: Tour de France series at Cowell & Hubbard. Exploring the Rhone and southern regions, the tasting dinner promises a true French experience: bouillabaisse, braised lamb shoulder, canapes, cheeses and, of course, tiny chocolate mignardises (which means "cute" in Old French). The wines will be served and explained by Bruell's sommelier, Robert LaBuda, while the menu is created by chef de cuisine Andy Dombrowski (along with the chefs at Cowell & Hubbard).

Dombrowski says each class presents at least three courses with three wines each, which allows participants to more fully experience subtle variations in wines within a single region.

That way, he says, guests get to "have some fun and play around with it, as opposed to just saying, 'Here, this is a Bordeaux, and this is what you should taste, and this is what it goes with. Would you like to buy a bottle?'" 

Featured wines will range from run-of-the-mill bottles to higher-end or lesser-known makers for a more robust exploration of the Rhone and Southern regions of France. "We’re showing our guests the difference in taste not only from a quality [perspective], but educating them on the regions," he says. "It’s kind of a neat and different way to do a wine dinner."

(We'll be live Tweeting our thoughts and tastes along the way, so stay tuned, and send us any questions along the way.)

"You don’t have to be bashful about asking questions," promises Dombrowski. "It’s a very welcoming environment ... an open forum, and that’s kind of how we treat our restaurants as well."

If you're already asking, 'When's the next one?" check out the Giro di Italia series focusing on Italian vintners at Chinato in October, or January's New World series at Parallax, which will explore wines from North and South America and the Australian continents. Call 216-298-9080 to make a reservation for the Italian series or 216-583-9999 for the New World. Classes are $90 each or $250 for the entire series. One participant from each series will win dinner with Bruell and a guest.

Good Match

Back in 1999, Chef Donna Chriszt was drawing on world flavors for the food she prepared at Jeso, her highly regarded Clifton Boulevard restaurant, and J Cafe on the East Side. Now she's at it again, this time in the kitchen of Table 45 in the InterContinental Hotel Cleveland, a Zack Bruell concept. It was defined by his modern interpretations of global cuisine and a series of Chef de Cuisine have done their best to execute that since it opened in 2007. Chriszt, with 30 years experience under her apron, is more than up to the task and — based on dishes I sampled at a private tasting of her new summer menu last week — is making it very much her own.

"I've always been inspired by culinary traditions," she says, "as a way to get beyond basic meat-and-potato cooking. But I like to get creative and put my personal twist on ethnic authenticity."

And that's exactly what she does in a fantastic banana leaf smoked trout entree ($23), plated with smashed yucca and sweet potatoes, jicama slaw and a tomatillo vinaigrette. Cultures combine, but don't clash, to delicious effect in the Thai duck breast ($29) — the bird has red curry crust and is served beside coconut risotto, korean kim chee slaw and baby bok choy.
 
Other things I ate and enjoyed on our international tour included Moroccan spiced lamb and beef kebabs (based on a staff member's "secret" family recipe) with a North African salsa, naan and tzatziki  sauce ($15); spicy Spanish shrimp and chorizo ($13); a Middle Eastern fattoush salad ($11); and a flat iron steak grilled and presented with an Argentine chimichurri sauce ($32).

Our small group dined at the private chef's table in the kitchen, which seats eight and can be reserved in advance. With the flair of a natural artist, Chriszt delivered courses with plenty of eye appeal as well as tasty and nuanced seasoning. It's no wonder she was something of a national celebrity before there were star chefs on every corner. She was heralded in Food and Wine, Gourmet, and Food Arts, and invited to cook at the James Beard House before many other Clevelanders. She's been laboring out of the limelight for awhile. But she's in her element now. "I come to work happy every day," she says.

Zack Attack

"There's a joke in the food business," says Zack Bruell, as we climb into a limo bus. "What did they do? Just let a bus out in front of here?"

That's exactly what the chef of Parallax, Table 45, L'Albatros, Chinato and Cowell & Hubbard had on the menu for last night.

As part of his third Tour de Bruell, a contest encouraging customers to visit all five of his restaurants from Memorial Day through Labor Day, Bruell hosted a progressive dinner, with one course at each of his restaurants for five winners who completed the tour early. I was lucky enough to score a seat on the bus.

We started off at Table 45 for a first course of sushi, including the popular Table 45 Roll made with tempura shrimp, tuna, cucumber mayo, scallions and a spicy sauce inside, all topped with red tip clams.

While the limo bus chauffeured us around, Bruell shared tales of his culinary journey (for more, read our October 2011 feature: "Does Zack Bruell Finally Have Your Attention?"). He says Cowell & Hubbard has been the hardest restaurant to open due to the size of the space (it's the largest of the five) and menu (it's the biggest and most ambitious). But you'd never notice any of that struggle based on the entree served as part of the tour's second stop — a stuffed poblano pepper filled with shrimp and ricotta cheese. The lime butter sauce was so delicious that even Bruell used his bread to soak up his extra sauce.

"Cowell & Hubbard's menu is reminiscent of what I did in my last life," he says of his first restaurant, Z Contemporary Cuisine. "That restaurant sort of changed the dining scene. People who ate there never forgot it."

While we enjoyed fusilli with oxtail and beef tongue at Chinato and ended the night with cheese and wine pairings at L'Albatros, it was Parallax that offered up my favorite dish. The roasted peaches topped with ricotta were light and refreshing. The arugula salad of pickled red onions, candied walnuts and lemon balsamic vinaigrette were delicate and sweet.

"This place is a little more free-wheeling," he says of his oldest restaurant. "We have a little more fun here."

I joked with my fellow diners about how this dish seems so simple that I might even be able to re-create it at home, but then I realized it's easier (and probably safer) for me to just enjoy whatever Bruell creates. I will be back to have this dish again. And that, at the end of the day, is all the man is after.

"The goal is to make people feel good when they leave," he says.

Mission accomplished.

Zack Attack

It’s Tour De Bruell time again. No need to pack a suitcase or dig out your passport for this trip. All you need is a wallet stocked with cash or credit card. A promotional project dreamed up by chef and restaurateur Zack Bruell, it’s an invitation to dine competitively, eating out for a chance to win three fantastic culinary prizes.

food at Parallax photo by Dale Caldwell, Jamestown Group

Here’s how it works:

Have a fabulous dinner at any Zack Bruell restaurant — Parallax, Table 45, L'Albatros or Chinato — between Memorial Day and Labor Day. Ask for a Tour de Bruell ticket and get it stamped. Then get busy and do the same at his three other spots. Turn in your ticket when you pay the bill at your final stop. This gets you a commemorative t-shirt, featuring the 2011 Tour theme: “Get Your Zack On,” and puts you in the running for the more serious swag.

The first person at each restaurant to turn in a completed Tour de Bruell ticket earns a chauffeured progressive dinner for two, with one course at each of the four Zack Bruell restaurants. This happens at the midway point of the Tour, so there’s definitely an incentive to make reservations starting Right Now. That Zack’s no fool.

Chinato photo by Kevin G Reeves

Ten semi-finalists will be randomly selected from among all those who have done the entire tour. Along with a guest of their choice, this group gets a complimentary (yes — as in totally, completely free) wine tasting dinner at Table 45, featuring cuisine by Bruell and offerings by Moët & Chandon, the world’s largest champagne house. I was a media guest at a smaller version of this event — there were only 5 semifinalists chosen — last January. The meal was superb: oysters with Japanese mignonette; sushi; butternut squash ravioli in sage cream spike with truffle essence, Parmesan, and toasted hazelnuts; five-spice scallops with a crispy noodle cake; pulled duck confit and spinach salad; and crème de Bruell for dessert, all with appropriate wine pairings.

I sat next to a couple that described themselves as Zack groupies. Their enthusiasm for his food, they said — clearly proud that they were fans from the beginning — dated back to his days at Z Contemporary Cuisine, his first place, which opened in 1985. The male half of this duo added that he took a cooking class from the chef years ago and still uses what he learned.

The name of the grand prize winner is drawn from this group of semi-finalists and announced during their dinner. That exceptionally lucky person and seven of their bfo’s receive a four-course dinner, custom created and prepared by Chef Bruell in their home.

I’m not the gambling type, so this is my kind of contest. You can’t loose and there’s no risk. To enter and be a contender, all that’s required is four good meals at four good restaurants. If there’s a down side to that, I don’t see it. And I'd be remiss if I didn't mention that all these dining destinations have very inviting patios.

L'Albatros photo by Kevin G. Reeves

Make a Date with a Cold Fish

The title of this post reads like some seriously bad advice, especially this month when thoughts — and ads — turn to romance and hanky panky. But trust me and read on. I wouldn’t steer you wrong.

Zack Bruell and his team at Parallax in Tremont are holding their first ever sushi and wine class. It’s a three-part series that begins Feb 21. On consecutive Monday nights, from 6-8 p.m., participants learn the basics of wrapping and rolling vinegared rice with slices of raw tuna, salmon, eel and octopus. Carmen Paponetti, the restaurant’s sushi chef will lead the hands-on sessions, and everyone eats their own creations. Drinking is also involved. General manager and certified sommelier Damir Terzic offers pairing guidance and his pours will focus on new world wines. Feb. 21 is for sparkling wines, Feb. 28 features whites and March 7 is all about the reds.

$135 per person (plus tax and gratuities) gets you the whole shebang — three evenings out with food, wine and guides. Reservations are required and space is limited. 216-583-9999. Could be a nice thing to do with someone you love, (assuming they aren't squeamish about uncooked seafood), or an opportunity to acquire some new skills for future wooing.

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.

Far East on the Near West [Side]

Chef Zack Bruell invited me to come sample some dishes on the new fall menu at Parallax. Continuing to express his fascination with Pacific Rim cuisines, he’s put together a freshened line-up of Thai, Korean, Vietnamese, and Japanese inflected dishes. I was wowed by the spot-on balance of flavors in everything I tasted: the flawless meeting and mating of sweet with sour, the just-right saltiness, the richness of meat and seafood offset with spice, vinegar, and citrus. One word describes Bruell’s culinary concepts, the ability of his kitchen team to execute them, and my experience last Friday night: impeccable.

I let the in-house experts choose glass pours to go with each dish and the selections- white with meat, red with fish- surprised and pleased. The pours, based on sauces and seasonings, rather then the traditional paradigm, really brought out the best in the food.

Here’s what I ate and drank:
-lettuce wraps filled with slow roasted pork, served with spicy Korean kimchee and pickled onions and peppers
2007 Von Buhl Armand Riesling Kabinett
-braised short rib pot stickers
2008 Hiedler Grüner Veltliner
-roasted beet and ginger salad with curried cashews
2006 Soave Classico Inama
-seared scallops with pickled plum sauce and coconut rice
2004 Maison Faively Pinot Noir
- fennel-coriander crusted seared tuna with pickled shiitakes and red ver jus
2006 Castello Sonnino Chianti di Montespertoli

Tried two desserts, both outstanding and noteworthy for a light hand with the sugar: lemongrass crème brulee and ginger cheesecake with grapefruit almond crust.

Lunch is also now available at the W.11th Street spot. Dine Asian on sushi, a Vietnamese sub, and Japanese fried chicken or stick to more all American- though definitely scaled up- fare like a cobb salad, chili dog, or walleye sandwich.

If you haven't ever been to Parallax, or haven't been there in a while, I'd say now's the time.

Tableside Service

If Zack Bruell was stuck on a desert island, it’s safe to say the two ingredients he’d bring with him are olive oil (French, of course, it’s got a more flowery taste and smoother finish than its Italian counterparts) and fresh lemon juice. The Table 45 chef topped off nearly every dish of last night's six-course dinner with the two — and the result was a great meal from start to finish.

The reason for the intimate gathering around the kitchen countertop table at Table 45 was two-fold. First, Bruell wanted to give our group of 10 a sampling of his favorite dishes from the recently unveiled spring/summer menu. But he also wanted to fill us in on the newest tableside service he’ll be offering at Table 45, one of this year’s Silver Spoon Award winners featured in the May issue. The action station cooking demo series offers a maximum of 10 guests the chance to watch Bruell and chef Rick Argoso cook, learn techniques, plate dishes and then feast on a prix fix menu.

We started with tuna carpaccio rolled paper thin and garnished with cucumbers, tomato, feta and mint oil. Next, we sampled a crab cake wrapped in crispy rice paper and served with spicy Asian remoulade. The Belgian endive salad offered a great blend of salty and citrus flavors thanks to tender prosciutto and orange and lime slices. 

It was followed by the halibut poached with olive oil, blanched leeks oregano, thyme, orange peel and some salt and white pepper. It was served swimming in roasted garlic and smoked paprika broth with ivory lentils, green beans, crispy croutons and saffron aioli. Next came Bruell’s more sophisticated version of a gyro — a Greek-style braised lamb shank (it fell off the bone perfectly during preparation) with cucumber salad, Tzatziki sauce and orgeno naan freshly made in a Tandoori oven right at the kitchen station.

I was surprised at the simplicity of the dish ingredients — “A little salt and pepper and that’s it,” Bruell repeatedly told us — and the complexity of the flavors that he was able to create. And I even picked up a few pointers along the way to use in my own kitchen: the right way to cut tiny orange slices and how to make sure your lentils don’t end up as a pile of mush (slightly undercook them because they’ll keep cooking even after you take them off the heat).

The plan is for Table 45 to start these weekly demos in June. And Bruell’s hope is to serve single walk-up dinners as well as large parties — just as long as the evenings are kept lighthearted, he says. “Food should be fun, not serious,” he told us. 

Catch Bruell and other top Cleveland chefs in two weeks at our Silver Spoon Awards party on May 14 at the InterContinental Hotel. Bruell will represent his two winning restaurants, Table 45 and L’Albatros. For tickets, visit us here.