Report: 2007 Heartland Gathering (Cleveland)

[bolognium]

Much love to all e-gulleteers from Paulius and EVERYONE at the Velvet Tango Room. Looking at all of the food photos, Cleveland should be pretty proud of it's restaurant scene. I wish I could have partaken. Next year for sure. I really, really wish I had some more time to spend with all of you, but due to some back issues, and cant be on my feet for too long at this time. -Had to save some for the rest of the night. I am glad we did not dissapoint, and honestly, with the team we have bartending I wasnt worried, I just wish we could have had more time together. Let me know if anyone wants some more of our bitters, grenadine, vermouth etc... again, we have some terrific culinary strength here in Cleveland. -BRAVO to all talent and e-gulleteers!

Paulius Nasvytis

Edited July 24, 2007 by bolognium (log)

[tammylc]

Karen - that tomato soup was amazing. Do you think you could post the recipe? Or Edsel, I think you said you had it? I'd like to make it for the dinner I'm doing for my cohousing community tonight. I found one version of it online, but I'm not sure it's the right one. Thanks!

[nsxtasy]

I'd like to add a couple of comments to what everyone else has already posted so eloquently.

First, I would like to thank everyone who worked so hard to make the 2007 gathering so much fun! This was a wonderful event in every way, and all the arrangements went off without a hitch. I'm sorry I wasn't able to do more myself, particularly for the feast (since my other commitment that day prevented me from assisting with the preparations). I'll be able to do and/or bring more at next year's gathering, especially since it will be close to home.

Second, looking back at the event, what was most striking to me wasn't the FOOD. It was the FRIENDS. It's amazing to be able to go to an event in which everyone there was so welcoming! I felt like I was getting together with a group of my best friends from college whom I hadn't seen in a while - even though I had never previously met the people there, with only a handful of exceptions. That's the atmosphere of the event.

So I thank all of you for your work AND for your friendship. I look forward to seeing all of you (I hope) at next year's gathering, as well as meeting many others who couldn't make it this year - in other words, to seeing old friends and making new ones.

[ronnie_suburban]

Friday night's dinner at Lola scratched an itch for me that I'd had since first reading about it -- and Michael Symon -- in Michael Ruhlman's Soul of a Chef, several years ago. Now, this wasn't the original Lola -- it occupies a beautiful new space and Symon's Lolita now operates in the original Lola space -- but the experience was very satisfying, nonetheless. Our group had 3 tables sectioned off in one of the front corners of the restaurant. Some of us had a great view of the street (which is closed off to everything but pedestrians) and others had a view of the open kitchen. In either case, these were prime tables, set aside for us, on a busy Friday evening.

eGS Power table at Lola

View of Lola's kitchen from our vantage point

Ham and cheese amuse

Heirloom tomato salad with feta, dill, onions and olives

Yellowtail crudo with cucumber, honeydew and horseradish

Scallops with butter beans, lamb sausage and escarole

Beef cheek pierogie with wild mushrooms and horseradish creme fraiche

Duck (roasted breast and confit leg-quarter) with pickled cherries and endive

Walleye with bacon, creamed corn and chile oil

6 a.m. Special (maple-soaked brioche french toast, bacon ice cream, maple tuille)

Mascarpone 'Strawberry Shortcake' with almond, balsamic gelee and strawberry sorbet

All in all I thought the meal, the atmosphere and the company were great. And I have to give a shout out to our exceptional server, Robert, who was professional, friendly, knowledgeable and thorough. I wish we could bring him back to Chicago. Food-wise, I thought all the dishes were tasty but I especially enjoyed the pierogie and the duck, which was -- across the board -- cooked perfectly. I'm glad I finally got the chance to enjoy Lola. Next time I'm in Cleveland, I'll be hitting Lolita for sure.

=R=

[suzilightning]

Lola was a nice surprise. I didn't really know what kind of atmosphere to expect, but I certainly didn't expect it to be such a fun, happening, energetic spot. They treated us incredibly well, sectioning off a significant piece of the restaurant for us at 8pm on a Friday night. Wait 'til you see a photo of the big, fat pieces of walleye they gave us. I should also give a shout out to the pastry chef, because the desserts were beautiful, especially the "6 a.m. special" of bacon ice cream served on syrup-soaked brioche toast.

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WALLEYE!!!!!! AAAAARRRRGGGGHHHHHHHH

I WANT WALLEYE

[nsxtasy]

Friday night's dinner at Lola scratched an itch for me that I'd had since first reading about it

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Lola was absolutely wonderful, easily the top culinary highlight of the event for me. What I love in a meal are dishes where every bite just screams "WOW!" ("Delicious!") at the top of its lungs. Two of the dishes at Lola were that good and did that for me - the beef cheeks pierogie (gotta love that subtle touch with the added taste from the dab of horseradish-flavored creme fraiche) and the strawberry shortcake (the top almond layer was incredibly light, and they must have lightened up that layer of mascarpone, perhaps (?) by folding it with whipped cream). Outstanding!

BTW, one thing you can just sort of see in Ronnie's photo of the kitchen is a counter area with 5-6 barstools where you can eat. Look closely and you may notice that the counter consists of alabaster, a translucent natural stone which they have backlit to wonderful, ethereal effect. They also had the backlit alabaster for the entire bar as well as the hostess stand at the entrance.

[ronnie_suburban]

After we shopped for the group meal at Cleveland's West Side Market on Saturday morning, a bunch of us decided to have an impromptu lunch together. Sweintraub came up with a great idea to have lunch at Phnom Penh, a Cambodian restaurant just around the corner from the market. As was posted above, the restaurant handled a surprise visit by over 2 dozen of us like clockwork and the lunch they served us was extremely tasty.

I'm not really sure about everything we specifically ordered but I'll post the images below -- with descriptions where I can -- and let others who are more familiar with the menu fill in some of the details . . .

Spicy hue beef soup

Lettuce wraps

Sauce for lettuce wraps

Not sure about this one . . .

Pretty sure this was shrimp of some sort . . .

Vermicelli-type noodles

Cambodian-style -- and very red -- Pad Thai

Pineapple and Chicken, iirc

Pretty sure this was tofu . . .

Tofu again, iirc

As a fan of Thai food, I really appreciated my first ever Cambodian meal. The food is similar to Thai in many ways but distinctive in its own right. I wish I could hit Phnom Penh a few more times, try out some of their other dishes and become a bit more familiar with this cuisine. I loved the bold flavors and contrasting textures that many of these dishes delivered. Lunch at Phnom Penh was one of my favorite meals of the entire weekend. I was sad that I got full so fast (it must have been all that stuff I ate at the market while we shopped ) Great call, Scott!

=R=

Phnom Penh Restaurant

1929 W 25th Street

Cleveland, OH 44113

216 357-2951

[ronnie_suburban]

The clear highlight of the weekend for me was the group meal, which we prepared together on Saturday afternoon and evening. It was so great hanging out with everyone, working together to produce the meal and getting to know each other better in the process.

The venue, which was secured by Nancy H, was a great commercial kitchen in a large church near her home. As was posted above, Nancy's friend Angie, who is a member of the church, played no small part in making this happen for all of us and for that we are truly appreciative.

While I've become somewhat proficient at eating and shooting, I'm not nearly as good as cooking and shooting. As such, I don't have a ton of images to share. But I did manage to snap a few shots before putting on my apron . . .

Torakris helps prepare fruit while chatting with Mr. Luckygirl

A few chefs share a good laugh during Tammy's chocolate demo.

The scene in the kitchen while the amuses were being plated.

White Lotus and Luckygirl chat while some crazy freak scrambles around in the background.

No need for the mohle, Sweintraub preps the sausage for his delicious cassoulet.

The meal was, again, outstanding. I'm hesitant to single out any one dish because everything was delicious. The great thing about food is that since we all eat, everyone has something great to share. Whether it was some hard-to-find foodstuff that was brought from home, a tried and true recipe, a great technique or just a seasoned pair of hands to help with the prep, everyone present contributed to the effort, which made it all the more special.

I personally have to give a special shout out to tino27, who went out of his way to bake breads specifically to pair with some of the items I brought. His super buttery Brioche was the best part of the BLT amuse and the Black Russian Rye he baked was a perfect foundation for the cold-smoked salmon amuse. All his breads were phenomenal, including the light rye (which paired great with the pastrami) and the walnut-cranberry which was "born for Brie."

Also, as I did last year, I tip my cap to Fat Guy and Tammylc, who kept us running like clockwork and made sure that everyone had all the help they needed getting their dishes to the pass. Once the meal started, it rolled along without a hiccup and that is no easy feat considering that plating, serving, clearing were going on continually and simultaneously. This was largely because of the work that FG and Tammy did. But it was also very much the group effort that made this meal what it was. What was served at the table reflected so well who we were as individuals -- and as a group.

It was great getting to see old friends and getting to meet so many new ones. And what a treat to shop, cook and eat with such a great group of people. I can only hope that next year's event in Chicago is half the success that this year's event was.

Thanks again to everyone for making this year's edition so memorable and so special!

=R=

[ricain]

I brought 24 loaves of bread to the gathering (there were 25 people at the gathering). I walked out with about 1/3 of a loaf of sweet potato bread -- that's it! Everybody either ate or took home the rest! Apparently the brioche was a big hit as that was the first thing requested after dinner was over. To those of you who took some brioche ... how did the French Toast turn out? I'm guessing that Brioche will be on the menu for next year's event, too? 

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Well, as a newbie I have to say Tom's bread was the force that encouraged me to get over my shyness and make my first e-gullet post!

Tom, that brioche! To answer your question, it never made it to French Toast. Never had a chance. It was too good on its own that before I could even make it to the stove I had devoured my portion of the loaf you gave me. Seriously it was fantastic.

In terms of the overall event I just want to say what a wonderful experience reading the site has been to date, and that I loved meeting this group of people and participating in the feast, restaurant visits and chocolate and wine tasting. It was an "enrichening" experience, in terms of calories, education, practice and people. Big thank you to the organizers and to everyone who cooked!

[tino27]

Well, as a newbie I have to say Tom's bread was the force that encouraged me to get over my shyness and make my first e-gullet post!

Tom, that brioche! To answer your question, it never made it to French Toast. Never had a chance. It was too good on its own that before I could even make it to the stove I had devoured my portion of the loaf you gave me. Seriously it was fantastic.

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Thank you, ricain. I'm glad that my brioche was good enough to make a long-time lurker finally turn into a poster!

And thanks to all the others who have mentioned the breads in their posts. But, truly, the bread was just one component of an amazing and delicious meal last Saturday. Kudos to everyone who made the event such an enjoyable experience.

[MelissaH]

Spicy hue beef soup

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This is SO NOT FAIR to those of us who used to live near the area but had to move away!

MelissaH

[jgm]

On my way to work a couple of days ago, I picked up watermelon and scallions at the salad bar at the local grocery, and dressed them with the olive oil and balsamic vinegar that I keep at work.

My co-workers are now beginning to understand why I am all but addicted to this group! It was delicious.

[NancyH]

On my way to work a couple of days ago, I picked up watermelon and scallions at the salad bar at the local grocery, and dressed them with the olive oil and balsamic vinegar that I keep at work. 

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You keep olive oil and balsamic vinegar at work? I want to work with you!

[Palladion]

A few people asked for the recipe for the fruit and basmati rice salad that I made on Saturday. It's Pierre Herme / Dorie Greenspan's recipe (from Desserts by Piere Herme), slightly modified.

It has three components:

Syrup:

1-1/2 cups water

1/2 cup sugar

zest of 1/3 orange and 1/3 lime

3 1/3 inch thick rounds of ginger

1 vanilla bean, split and scraped

1/3 cup + 1 tablespoon apricot nectar

3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

3 fresh basil leaves

Combine all ingredients except basil in a pan and boil. Remove from heat. Add basil. Steep 30 minutes. Strain. Chill.

Rice:

1 cup basmati rice

4-3/4 cups water

2-1/2 T sugar

1/2 t salt

Wash the rice. Bring other ingredients to a boil. Add rice. Add rice, simmer for 10-13 minutes until the rice is nicely cooked. Drain and rinse with cold water. Drain well. Chill.

Fruit:

4 cups of assorted fresh fruit, cut in chunks aprox. 1/4 inch on a side. Mix together and chill.

Assembly:

Juice of 1 lemon

2 T sugar

Freshly ground pepper

4 basil leaves, chiffonade

Mix rice in with fruit. Start out with 3/4, then gradually add in more if you feel you need it. I prefer the rice accent the fruit than for them to share equal billing. Your own tastes, of course, dictate. Add the syrup, and the above ingredients. Serve immediately and enjoy.

[Fat Guy]

I've posted separately about Tammy's chocolate tastings here.