Cleveland's Fashion Scene

I often hear complaints from "so called" fashion folks in the city regarding the lack of fashion talent and fashion events in Cleveland. I must say most of these grumblings come from quasi- fashionistas that are looking for New York Fashion Week level events and aren't willing to investigate let alone attend the many happenings that currently exist in the Cleveland fashion scene.

As a person that has worked in the local fashion industry for more than five years, I can attest that fashion is alive and well in Cleveland. Cleveland is bubbling with fashion talent. From the awesome fashion schools to designers, models, stylists, photographers, hair and makeup artists, journalists and event producers — fashion is here!

My one gripe about fashion in Cleveland is the lack of support it receives from the people of Cleveland. Fashion is an economic driver, an artistic expression, a catalyst to unite many diverse cultures, and oftentimes great entertainment. If the people of Cleveland would support the local industry and the events used to promote the industry, the benefits could be two-fold. First, the fashion designers would stay to live and work in the area, and secondly, the dollars spent buying local designs and products would stay in Cleveland. Local fashion labels such as Wrath Arcane, Dirty Pretty Things, Def-Native and Yellow Cake Shop have gained national attention yet have chosen to stay in Cleveland. The bottom line is if we don't support local designers, they will leave.

Events such as FLASH Friday promotes the local industry by creating social networking events for fashion industry pros, Cleveland Fashion Incubator offers fashion industry business development workshops and opportunities, and Legation, A Gallery provides space for local designers to show their work. This is just a brief example of the many fashion happenings in Cleveland.

So as I step off of my fashionable soap box, I challenge Clevelanders to support local designers, seek out fabulous fashion events, and shop locally.

Fashionably yours,

Frenchye

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.

New York Cleveland Connection

I was in New York recently, and the highlight of my visit was dinner at Locanda Verde, an Italian-inspired taverna in TriBeCa. I’d been promising myself a visit, ever since the restaurant opened last spring. That’s because I’ve been following the career of chef and owner Andrew Carmellini since I learned he is from Cleveland. I like to track culinary success stories with a local link. I’d read about the great things he did at A Voce, interviewed him for The Fabulous Food Show two years ago (read it here), and given his cookbook, Urban Italian a rave review. So I was eager for a chance to taste what he was cooking now.

I was not disappointed. The meal was pure pleasure in every way. I was especially taken with the sheep’s milk ricotta starter. It was sprinkled with sea salt and herbs and splashed with olive oil. Spread thickly on pieces of toasted bread, it was just heaven - simple, straightforward and incredibly delicious. Could say the same about lamb meatball sliders, a plate of grilled sardines, gigantone - a chunky pasta shape I’d never had before - in what he calls Sunday night ragu, and a duck and sausage entree.

Carmellini’s kitchen is turning out unpretentious and deeply satisfying rustic dishes rooted in regional styles and the family fare traditionally made and served at home. This is food that’s easy to love, hearty but not heavy, full of flavor but without any of the self-referential flamboyance that so many chefs indulge in. I’m not the only one that thinks so. The May issue of Food and Wine gives the restaurant a nod on their list of 100 Best New Food and Drink Experiences. Our own Chef Paul Minnillo, a man who knows more than most about good food in general and Italian cooking in particular, told me he was there shortly after it opened and loved what Carmellini was doing. In fact he’s planning to go back soon.

I’m not surprised. Locanda Verde has more than just the menu going for it. It’s informal and reasonably priced with a really appealing café kind of ambiance. The big room is divided into discreet sections and cozy niches so even when it’s filled with bodies and conversational buzz, as it was at 10:30 on a Friday night when I was there, it doesn’t feel too crowded or loud. Many tables offer a view of the open kitchen and wood-burning oven.

Put the place on your NYC to-do list. It’s popular, so reservations are a must. If you’re also in need of somewhere to lay your head, the restaurant is connected to the not so affordable but very luxe and lovely Greenwich Hotel. Makes it so convenient to return to Locanda Verde for breakfast or brunch.

Get a look at the Cleveland Magazine redesign

Hmm, something looks different here. If you think our May 2010 cover has a fresh appearance, wait until you see the inside of the issue.

Subscribers, look for our Best Restaurants issue in your mailbox during the next day or so. If you're not a subscriber, you'll have to make your way to your nearest bookstore to check out our magazine's bold new look.

What's changed? A lot, but here's a quick overview from Editor Steve Gleydura's May issue Comment from the Editor:

Lake Effect, our forecast on the people, places and things we love, combines and expands our coverage of ideas, newsmakers, arts, entertainment and style in unexpected and ever-changing ways (just like our weather).

The Dish, our dining section, now has more insight on our restaurant and food scene. Likewise, Datebook provides enhanced listings for the hottest happenings in town.

We’ve also created new places for thought and perspective in Voice, which is a more personal essay, and Talking Points, which is where Mike Roberts and others will critique, prod and force us to see the city in new ways. And in our ultimate nod to the past, we’ve created The Terminal (as in Tower) as a destination to make our rich history come alive.

Art director Jennifer Kessen captured a similar feeling in her energetic, sophisticated design. Visually, we looked to the 1920s, when the city was the fifth-largest in the country, for a modern twist on its Art Deco style that showcases the department headings and the abundance of sharp lines.

Our history as a manufacturing power and transition to a green city on a blue lake plays out with an emphasis on contrasting darks and lights, punctuated by splashes of color. And yes, that’s even a new nameplate on our cover, the first major change since the early 1990s.

In all the excitement we almost forgot: Jonathon Sawyer's Greenhouse Tavern is this year's Silver Spoon Award winner for Best New Restaurant. Check out the rest of the winners in our May issue. If you want to buy a ticket to this year's Silver Spoon Awards party, you can pick one up here.

Stars On Ice at the Q

For most people there is a perception that goes with figure skating — elegant, diva-like and strong-willed. However, Olympic ice dancer Tanith Belbin says none of those associations are true. Instead, she says "nerd" should be on that list.

She says she talked her partner, Ben Agosto, into going on a tour of the Florida Everglades just so she could feel as if she was in the opening credits of CSI: Miami.

“He said ‘I just need to get a red wig so I can be Horatio and we will go out there’,” she laughs, admitting that more often Ben is the one talking her into outdoor activities. “He’s the Bear Grylls, Man vs. Wild, guy."

Belbin’s natural habitat is indoors, on ice and on April 30 that ice will be inside Quicken Loans Arena. Belbin, along with her partner and 16 other figure skaters including men’s Olympic gold medalist Evan Lysacek, Olympic ice dance silver medalists Charlie White and Meryl Davis, will stop in Cleveland as part of the Stars On Ice tour.

We recently talked to Belbin about everything from her favorite part about Stars On Ice to her thoughts on Cleveland, and what it’s like dating her competition and fellow star Charlie White.

What is your favorite part about Stars on Ice?
I would say just the entire collaborative effort. It is different from any other show, where they just do the exhibition format that just features one skater, one at a time, in a roll call. This show has always had a theme, sort of a cohesive run of it, and you get to do the numbers with skaters from all generations.

What do you think about Cleveland?
We’ve been skating in Cleveland for shows and things like that almost every year since 2000. In fact the last time we were [in Cleveland] doing a show with another tour was a couple of years ago, and we were getting ready to go on the ice to start the show and the Cavs were having a meeting at [Quicken Loans Arena]. The whole team just walked by us down the hallway. They were calling my name on the ice and I was trying to get LeBron James’ autograph.

What is it like competing against the person you’re dating?
It’s interesting. Thankfully his role in my life as my boyfriend is above and beyond any other role that he takes in my mind. When we are competing we’re so focused on what we’re doing individually that it’s never having our wires crossed in our minds. I don’t know if it would work for everyone but it works for us.

If you could tell anyone anything about the Stars on Ice tour what would you say?
I would tell them that seeing skating live is absolutely nothing like seeing it on television. I know that people have said that about different sports before, but skating is one of those that you need to be there to fully take in. I have heard people for years and years who have come to their first skating event and come up to me afterward and say that this is so much better in person, you can see the speed and you can take in the full performance, you can see the facial expressions and Stars has cast itself with not only the best skaters but the best performers.”

Tickets start at $25 (plus a $3 facility fee) and can be purchased by visiting the Quicken Loans Arena website.

Not that Caddyshack, but still cool ...

We’re a bowling town, as you probably read when picking up our Best of Cleveland issue in October. But turn the corner from East Fourth Street onto Prospect Avenue, and you’ll see that we sure as hell like to golf, too.

The Caddyshack Lounge and Pro Shop, which opened in early March, is kind of like The Corner Alley but with individual golf simulator screens (15-minute and per hour rentals) and Nintendo Wii instead of swanky bowling lanes.

Go there after work Tuesday and Wednesday nights to compete in longest-drive competitions starting at 5, or sing your heart out on Thursday’s karaoke night, which is also Ladies’ Night. (Psst … We hear there’s even a VIP room in back with leather couches, private simulators and a private server for special occasions.)

So grab your gear and tee off downtown at Caddyshack. Besides, bowling was so last year.

A Grape Story

It was 11 AM and I’d already been drinking for half an hour. Yes, that IS rather early, and no, I don’t have an alcohol problem. I was sipping chardonnay and cabernet professionally, a participant in a seminar led by Georg Riedel. His family company, Riedel Glas Austria, makes wine glasses, but these are not conventional stemware. These “vessels," as he calls them are varietal specific: one shape and size for Pinot Noir, something quite different for Zinfandel. Glasses, he tells the audience, are tools for transforming the perception of what’s in them. His goal was to demonstrate that wines drank from the appropriate glass taste better.

I started out a skeptic and finished a true believer. It was an absolutely mind blowing experience – and not because I was intoxicated. This was physics at work and the intentional engineering of the interaction between molecules and senses.

We sniffed then sampled a dry Ohio Riesling made by Debonné Vineyards from a plastic cup. It was okay, nothing special. Then we pour it into Riedel’s Riesling glass and try it again. I would not have believed this was the same wine if I hadn’t transferred it from one to the other myself. A heady aroma of white peaches, apricots and a hint of honeysuckle was pronounced. The flavor was beautiful- stone fruits, acidity balanced by minerality Then we poured it into a quality generic glass (also made by Riedel). The wine went a bit flat, losing much of its intensity on the nose and the palate.

We repeated the experiment with other wines and the results were always the same. The Riedel glasses helped the wine express itself and enhanced my ability to distinguish all the nuances of taste and aroma that form its distinctive character. I can’t afford to go out and buy multiple sets but I’m thinking that I’d like to slowly acquire a few for our favored varietals. And I definitely have a new respect for restaurants and winery tasting rooms that use them.

The session was part of a conference sponsored by The Ohio Wine Producers Association that was held last week in Geneva (as in nearby “on-the-Lake”, not Switzerland.). Representatives from twenty wine producing states between the East Coast and the Rockies showed up to swap ideas and show off their products. I tried lots of red and whites from many lesser known American wine producing regions and two varietals new to me - Traminette from Indiana, and Missouri Norton. I also learned about some destination wine trails around Ohio and in New York, Maryland and Iowa, and met many passionate promoters and vintners.

I also picked up information about a local event scheduled for Saturday, April 24th. Around the World in the Grand River Valley Wine Region is a progressive, drive-yourself, eat and drink fundraiser for area foodbanks. Five wineries within 10 minutes of each other, and just a short drive from Cleveland, will be offering their European style wines paired with hearty appetizers. Sounds like a delightful way to while away a few Saturday afternoon hours.

Grand River Cellars, Madison