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| - We have always been super into Food Network shows and just food shows in general. Being a long time fan of the show Iron Chef and seeing some of the cool things Michael Symon has done, and also seeing his famous brussels sprouts on numerous "best thing i ever had" and "unique eats" we told ourselves one of his restaurants is a must try.
The Tremont area in Cleveland is different. Driving up to the restaurant after getting off the freeway I thought we were in the wrong neighborhood. I guess Cleveland is just like that. We parked a couple streets down and I thought to myself.. "why would an iron chef open a restaurant in this area?" I guess it's just part of the charm. We walked in and waited for close to 5 minutes before anyone acknowledged us. I realize they were busy and at the tail end of HH, but we had made eye contact with the bartender and he did nothing to get the hostess.
The restaurant decor is really cool, pretty flooring, a mix of old and industrial. Even the restrooms were super cute! Music was super loud, don't come here for a romantic dinner as you'll have to scream across the table for conversation.
I was so excited when I read the cocktail menu. Ever since I had the best cocktail at Nellcote in Chicago, I've been on the hunt for something to top it. I got the Bela - the ginger infused vodka lured me in. The cocktail was so sad. Not only was it small - in a miniature highball glass, there was no taste of ginger, or vodka as a matter of fact. It tasted like soda water with some lime juice squeezed in it. Needless to say, my hunt for the best cocktail continues and I stuck with wine for the rest of the evening.
We weren't that hungry so we chose to split a couple smaller items. We had the brussels sprouts, bone marrow, and chicken livers. Let me tell you, we were soo excited for the brussels sprouts. They way other celebrity chefs and TV food personnel had described them was just intriguing. But oh man, were we let down. The brussels sprouts tasted burnt, soggy but under cooked at the same time, there were no capers and the walnuts seemed to have been tossed onto the dish as an afterthought. What happened to the sweet, tangy, and crunchy deliciousness I thought we would be served up? I suppose that only happens on TV. I thought the bone marrow was good even though the bf thought they were just ok. Too much bread for the delicate marrow. The accompaniments were good on it. The crispy chicken livers was a dish that could have been great but again was just ok. The pieces of liver were so big I had to cut them up otherwise I would've only gotten a mouthful of liver and none of the polenta. Maybe this is the way the chef intended for it to be eaten, but wouldn't it have been nice if the livers were smaller and fried perfectly all around? That way, I could have had a perfect little bite of liver with some creamy polenta along with it instead of having to chop everything up!
I wanted to try some desserts but because our small dishes were so lacking, we chose to skip. I'm not from the Cleveland area and haven't had the opportunity to try many other restaurants, but if this is supposed to be on of the better restaurants, man, I have to say that Cleveland has a LOT of opportunity for up and coming chefs.
I want to be an Iron Chef too - they get to open restaurants with so-so food but people will go in hoards anyway just because of the name. (ok, I can't say this about all celebrity chefs, e by Jose Andres in Vegas was pretty amazing)
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