Lola & Lolita (Cleveland) Reviews & Discussion

[edsel]

There's a nice feature in the October issue of Northern Ohio Live about the Lola/Lolita transition.

It gives a bit of background on the decision to put Lolita in the old Tremont location and move Lola Bistro downtown. It was originally going to be the other way around.

The link above should be valid through the end of the month, after which the article will move to the archives.

[edsel]

Another piece on Symon in the PD, this time a review of Lolita in the Friday Magazine:

Welcome temptation

[ronnie_suburban]

Thanks, edsel, for the link:

Celebrity chef Michael Symon didn't just give a diminutive name to his popular Tremont restaurant, newly decorated with soft lights, votive candles, comfortable wood chairs and a cozy lounge with lots of pillows. He also developed a menu that features fabulous small plates as well as spectacular big boards spread with tiny portions of house-cured meats and artisanal cheeses.

=R=

[cbarre02]

Any breaking news on this subject? How is lolita doing?

[RagallachMC]

Every time I've been in there or gone past, it's been busy. I have to believe the place is doing well.

[sara]

Hi

Is Lola (re)open yet? When?

[cbarre02]

Slated to open in jan or feb

[cbarre02]

Does anyone know of any hard dates for this opening... Or how the building is coming along?

I think that this is something very exciting for D.T. Cleveland.

[cbarre02]

Any news?

[edsel]

I've heard late February / early March.

I took a stroll down E. 4th St. a couple of weeks ago when I was downtown. There are several storefronts under constructoin - maybe the one on the corner labeled "Restaurant" is the new Lola. Since it's all covered up with plywood there's no telling how far along they are.

The process of opnening the restaurant will be documented on a Fine Living cable show (mentioned in this PD piece: Reality show will highlight Lola progress)

They're supposedly doing a "preview" menu at lolita in the new year. I'll try to check it out when I'm in town.

~Edsel (temporarily living in Indianapolis)

[edsel]

Last week's Bites column in the Free Times has more on the Opening Soon episode, and also this:

Good news for anyone who watched Symon compete on Iron Chef America and thought, “Mmmm, that stuff looks mighty tasty. Sure wish I was a judge.” On New Year’s Eve, Lolita (900 Literary Rd., 216.771.5652) will host an Iron Chef dinner, in which Symon and Co. will recreate the dishes prepared on the show. The dinner will take place upstairs at two different seatings: 5:30 and 8:30. Cost is $100.

Meanwhile, downstairs in the main dining room, guests will have an opportunity to sample a five-course tasting of new Lola menu items. These dishes will become part of Lola’s menu when it opens. Here’s a taste: lobster corn dogs — lobster sausage breaded in a corn batter, fried and served with mustard crème fraiche and pepper ketchup. “They’re pretty f-ing good,” says Symon. Cost for this dinner is $100. There is an early-seating (5:30) three-course dinner for $75.

[edsel]

I ate at Lolita twice in the last couple of weeks.

The Thursday before Christmas I sat at the bar and enjoyed some of the small plates. The sopressata and the lomo are particularly great. The wine selection at Lolita is really interesting (all sourced from the Mediterranean region). There are plenty of wines available by the glass, and if you're sitting at the bar Frank can help you chose. Without some guidance I might not have tried the Biblia Chora. Macedonian wine? Who knew?!

New Years Eve we had the "Iron Chef" dinner upstairs. They were also doing a Lola Bistro new menu preview downstairs, but I figured I'll be able to sample that soon enough, whereas the Iron Chef menu is a unique opportunity.

They served the five-course menu from the Iron Chef episode, but also offered some variations. The avgolemono was served with the poached oyster as it was in the competition, but an alternate presentation had truffles instead of oyster. The grape-leaf “sushi” was available with prosciutto in place of the crab meat. There was a fish alternative to the lamb loin, and chocolate cake or pana cotta for those who weren’t up to trying asparagus doughnuts.

I chose to eat everything as presented on the show (even the asparagus dessert). How often will I get to have a full Iron Chef menu prepared by the same people who competed on ICA? Everything was wonderful, but the highlights were the lamb loin - the best I've ever had - and the ricotta dumplings. The candied asparagus in the dessert was surprisingly tasty.

It was a fun and unusual way to start the New Years celebration.

[Expat Russ]

....and a large downstairs work space will be home to pastry chef Cory Barrett, a veteran of Detroit's award-winning Tribute and most recently at Okada in Las Vegas.....

From http://www.clevescene.com/Issues/2005-12-28/dining/cafe.html

Now we know why Cory was asking all the questions !!!

[cbarre02]

Egullet is a great way to stay informed about things you can't see!

[cbarre02]

I got to stop by Cleveland for a couple of days. Had dinner at Lolita, quite simply amazing. Michael and the staff there have mastered the cured meat making, and all of the dishes that we had were on the same level.

Also got to check out the down town space... it's big and still in the process of being built. I think everyone on staff is totally stoked for it to open... it should be very exciting.

[cbarre02]

march 13 is the new slated dated for opeining

[ronnie_suburban]

Very exciting news. Thanks, chef, for the update.

=R=

[edsel]

march 13 is the new slated dated for opeining  ←

Then the P.D. column the other day must have gotten it wrong. They said that Lola Bistro would be opening after Parea (the New York place).

In the meantime, Symon and his wife and business partner, Liz, intend to open the new version of their original restaurant, Lola, in April or early May. Located on East Fourth Street, it was initially scheduled to open in January. Construction problems and meeting the stringent requirements of refurbishing property in a National Historic District slowed things down.

The part about the historic district hadn't occurred to me. I assumed that the delays were due to waiting for specialized equipment or some such.

[cbarre02]

funny enough i just found out today that the later open is the correct one... sorry about that.

[torakris]

As long as it is open by July....

I am currently working on getting my tickets for this summer, I can't wait to go.

Edsel, you have got to give us a report! I know you will be one of the first ones there.

[Friend of the Farmer]

Where is the location of the new downtown Lola? I'm somewhat torn btw Lola and Lolita for my sole booking slot when in Cleveland in late March. Tremont is nice for having a variety of quality restaurants in walking distance. Otherwise excited for brunch, again, at Fire in Shaker Square...

[cbarre02]

the new lola location will not yet be open for late march... now looking to early may.

[edsel]

Minor Lolita update (rather than just speculating about when Lola Bistro will *finally* open )

I know I sound like a broken record, raving about the small plates and the house-cured salumi. I do have some new thoughts to add to my previous ravings.

First of all, there are a couple of "omo" small plates on the menu. Or at least there were as of Saturday evening. (Have I metioned that the menu changes all the time?) "Omo", I take it, is the Greek equivalent of Seviche or carpaccio. In other words, thinly-sliced seafood that is "cooked" by acids rather than by heat. I tried both the tuna and the scallop omo.

The tuna omo was certainly tasty, accompanied by olives and almonds (a surprising combination), but the scallop omo just blew me away. It was marinated in a yogurt dressing and was interleaved with paper-thin slices of red onion. Wow!

I had only one salumi plate. Review my posting history and you'll know that this is out of character.

I always try to sample the house-cured salumi goodness, and there was plenty on display on Saturday. The one I chose was new to me: Hiromeri, a Greek cured lamb salume similar in texture to Prosciutto. The most interesting thing to me was the use of cinnamon in the cure. This was served with a Fennel pickle that was almost as exciting as the salumi. No joke! The fennel pickle was a bit sweet, sort of like bread-and-butter pickles if you're familiar with that. But there was a decided "kick" to it as well - I think it was red pepper and cumin, but I had a tough time pinning it down. Never mind classifying the flavors - it was too good to puzzle over.

Another departure (for me) was ordering a main course. I'm a big fan of the small plates, so much so that I rarely have room for a main course. On Saturday the slow-braised heritage pork caught my eye, so I cut back on the small plates to make room.

The pork is cooked low-and-slow for hours and is accompanied by a soft polenta, crunchy walnuts (I think), and crisp pancetta. I was startled by the generous portion of pork. It's a good thing I was hungry (had somehow managed to eat nothing all day). I don't know how they manage to serve such a huge quantity of superlative quality food at the price they charge. Amazing.

Finally, the dessert menu now hews to the "small plate" theme as well. So I ordered the Greek olive oil cake because it sounded cool (it was, with thyme no less, and some supremes of - I think - peppery blood orange), and the coffee semifreddo (intensely sweet and unctuous). I regret not ordering the lemon meringue which has gotten raves from friends on another forum. Well, there's always next time....

p. s. to Kristin - when you finalize your travel plans, PM the "usual suspects" or post a notice in ISO. I have a feeling that reservations at the new LB will be hard to come by in July.

[torakris]

You are making me sooo hungry.

That all sounds so wonderful especially as I am sitting in front of the computer with a tuna sandwich.

I will be in the US from July 17 to August 14.

If you can somehow manage to get reservations at Lola Bistro I will be forever indebted!

[edsel]

Food blogger Mike Nagrant has a review of Cleveland restaurants (including Lolita) on Hungrymag:

Cleveland Cooks

The star of Symon’s cuisine has to be the Salume. Lolita house cures a Lamb Heromeri (lamb leg prosciuttio), Soppresatta –a spicy salame with fennel, Red Wine Lomo and Pancetta-pork loin and pork belly respectively, both with fresh horseradish.

The Heromeri may be one of the best cured meats I have ever eaten. Sweet spices like cinnamon and allspice mix with an undercurrent of saltiness, literally melting on the tongue.

Won't get any argument from me.

There's also a podcast (~50MB MP3) interview with Michael Symon:

Symon Says

Edit to add: Yes the podcast includes the famous manic laugh, and also confirmation that Lola will be serving the Mac and Cheese.

Edited April 13, 2006 by edsel (log)