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| - If you don't eat here, you're a dummy. That's right I said it.
I was staying at a hotel around the corner from Crop, and asked the concierge for a kickass lunch that's healthy. They said that I should check out Crop. A vast majority of their ingredients come from a stone's throw of Cleveland (on purpose) and they accommodate any dietary needs. That was recommendation enough for me.
So I wandered down to Crop, which wasn't very busy at the time, and had a seat. It's a bit of an upscale bistro in the sense that it has a great ambiance with rich woods and yuppie lighting. But it had a lot of charm so I was anxious.
The servers dress with white shirts and ties, and the ambiance is as mentioned above, but I quickly came to find that (thankfully) the place isn't pretentious at all. I looked over the menu a bit, but after a brief chat felt pretty comfortable with my server and said 'I'm not eating meat and I'm more than a little hungry. Order for me'. And what a job she did!
I ended up with this insane flatbread that had carmelized onions, some roasted veggies, feta cheese, and just a touch of maple syrup. It had me spinning cartwheels it was so good.
The entree was an asparagus ravioli in a pesto sauce with roasted fennel, and it was equally as good.
But here's the best part. Crop has a history and a drive based upon good, local food (when possible) prepared in an innovative and tasty way. The co-founder and head chef, Steve, is a wizard in the kitchen. I wasn't really able to chat it up with him, but his wife and co-owner Jackie was there and entertained my company for a bit, explaining the ethos behind the restaurant and the drive behind the vision. I appreciated it so much!!
Even if you don't end up in Cleveland, you should check out www.cropbistro.com to learn a bit about what's behind the restaurant and see if you can find something like that in your area.
I recently read Barbara Kingsolver's Animal, Vegetable, Miracle like many other hipster douchebags and I'm starting to find more and more that where the food originates is just as important (if not more than) what it is. It takes a lot of diesel fuel to haul a tomato from California to Maine.
Eat here. NOW. You're welcome.
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