Friday, July 27, 2018

Bachelorette Becca Week 9

Full disclosure before I begin… this recap could either be awesome-good or awesome-not-so-good based on sticking around for “just one more” adult beverage after a work dinner. Good thing Dad was in charge of Caroline tonight!

And some of you may be getting this recap for the first time because I updated my distribution list with some more fun peeps that are going to join next season but I added them to the recaps now for the heck of it! Hope I don’t scare you off!

Programming Note: Next Week is the last hurrah of true shenanigans before the finale known as the Men Tell All. I’ve attached the template for the bonus questions. Don’t forget to complete this!! All total you could earn up to 50 points and as I’ve said all season – this is where the fun starts and it usually shakes up the standings so make sure you get these back to me because 50 points is nothing to sneeze at!!! And speaking of, those standing are attached, too – literally zero change among the top 10. **cackles gleefully waiting for next week**

RECAP
We’re in Thailand for “Overnights”! Side note, I always love when they do the old plane on the map animation to explain it’s a long trip.
We start off with Becca recapping her relationships with each man:
Garrett – I’m in love with him but will he challenge me (translation: I’m not sure he’s the brightest crayon in the box)
Jason – He’s awesome, we have fun and stuff, he’s like my best friend (translation: he’s totally getting friend-zoned)
Blake – effortless connection, can’t imagine him not being in my life and I’m in love with him (translation: I can’t wait to jump his bones in the fantasy suite)

Blake’s Date
You said you love her 2 weeks ago and you plan to propose in 2 more weeks… that’s.totally.normal
They visit a Buddhist temple were they’re not allowed to kiss or touch each other and get advice from some sweet monks about honesty and love. True story, how cool would that be?

Blake looks for a reason to stay, not a reason to go. DAMN! That is one heck of a line! Melting now and it’s not from the Thailand heat!
The morning after Blake is back in his favorite place – his own insecure thoughts



 Jason’s Date
Trouble a-brewing during the day date wandering the city when Becca basically freaks out over a simple joke about home décor. Been there, done that (Sober editor’s note: I typed a whole possibly TMI breakup story paragraph here last night that has now been omitted. You’re welcome.)
Simply put, she sends Jason home at dinner and then flings herself on the bed like a bad 50’s soap opera
I am also starting to think Jason is in on the whole Joey Donner doppleganger thing. See above and below for my proof:
Garrett’s Date
Their adventure date is stand-up rafting down a river during some sort of National Sit-in-the-River Holiday??


THERE’S A BABY ELEPHANT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Becca discusses her concerns about whether Garrett will challenge her enough

Oh wait, did Garrett just bring up his past relationship again? Color me shocked

The Least Dramatic Rose Ceremony Ever
Oh boy, first though, Jason needs a little more closure
And by closure, I mean handing her a scrapbook to remember their time together?!?! 
And finally, Becca shows up to hand 2 roses to 2 guys
Just 2 more weeks until the Finale! Praise be.
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Tuesday, March 3, 2015

33% Restaurant Week Success Rate

As the old saying goes, best laid plans going awry because this snowy winter is a dirty dirty a-hole!! Oh wait, that's not how it goes? Could-a fooled me.

At least I got to go on a lovely girl date with the lovely BK to arguably the most famous and best restaurant in all of Cleveland, the one and only Lola. Even getting there involved braving a small snowstorm!

But boy was the arctic tundra worth it!! Beef cheek perogies with wild mushrooms and a horseradish cream and a lunch sized bowl of Michael Symon's mac & cheese. His was the first "gourmet" mac & cheese I ever had so it has a special place in my food heart: goat cheese, roasted chicken, and rosemary. Every time we go to Taste of Tremont, I start the day with a bowl of mac and a mint lemonade while we walk... I basically just took that sidebar to start dreaming of hot July days eating on the streets of Tremont....

Of course I left my phone back at the office (the 2nd time I'd misplaced my phone in one week), so no pictures for posterity - just use your imagination!

Sadly, I have yet to check off any new places from my dining list - although Friday night we hit up a new spot that hasn't even been around long enough to be added to my list! Bar 145 in Avon is sort of a chain-ish type place. Looks like they have several locations around Ohio but then again I guess we can now consider Melt a chain restaurant by those standards - and Melt will NEVER be a chain in my mind.

Bar 145 actually seems to fit well into building up some new options for the Avon area. Basically there isn't much in Avon proper other than Strip Steakhouse and Bistro 83. For years I attributed this to just a little less hip of an area that was just fine with Red Robin and Applebees thankyouverymuch... but as many people that I work with around my age with wee little ones are starting to settle down into the suburbs and out of our city lifestyles (myself included) our tastes for better dining options has traveled with us. And I'm all for that!

I digress. As always. We happened upon Bar 145 to celebrate the birth of a good friend with ohhhh 18 of her closest... it started small and snowballed, lol. For that many people on a Friday night, our servers were excellent! Their menu is very burger centric, which I love, but for whatever reason, I wasn't feeling a burger so I decided to try the Salmon BLT and it did not disappoint! Now we'll just have to go back so I can sink my teeth into some burger-y goodness. I doubt we'll have a hard time convincing anyone to join us as it was definitely thumbs up from the crowd - even the wee little babies that are now part of the entourage! There was a band setting up when we were leaving, so I'd like to go back on a night where we can rock out, but babies and extremely loud rock music aren't a great idea :)

So restaurant week didn't go as planned, but I got some good quality time with those I love anyway - the restaurants aren't going anywhere soon so maybe when the weather turns and my husband returns to a normal-ish work life we can go check them out.

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Monday, February 23, 2015

Downtown Cleveland Restaurant Week

It's that time again! Another Restaurant Week is upon us! This particular one is Downtown Centric:

http://www.downtowncleveland.com/restaurantweek.aspx

If I had an endless supply of money and had the ability to not gain weight - I tell you, this is what I'd do every night for the next week. It's a chance for restaurants to entice new diners - and also a chance for the budget-conscious to feel like they're splurging on a high-end place for much much less.

Each participating restaurant creates a 3-course pre-fixe menu for $30 (some do $15 lunches as well) that usually highlight either their specialties or menu items that set them apart from the crowd.

There's several restaurant weeks throughout the year - some spread the love all around Cleveland, but the downtown one I particularly like for no other reason than it feels like the restaurants are on their A-game for this one. And personally - there are a lot of places downtown that need checked off my bucket list, but it's just hard to spend that kind of money on the regular!

I'm hoping to hit at least 3 places and already have a lunch date at Lola planned with one of my closest ladies that has never been (!) and the lunch special?? Errhhmgggddd!!! The "Symon Says" combo: Beef cheek pierogi wild mushrooms, horseradish crème fraiche served with mac and cheese roasted chicken, goat cheese.

Like I'm really going to want to go back to work after that!!

The other places I have my eye on for dinner are:

  • Hofbrauhaus - mainly because our family has been itching to go but just hasn't locked in a night to do it. Not that it's easy given my husband's inability to plan on the weather.
  • Johnny's Downtown - this place is kind of legendary
  • Maybe Cleveland Chop or Muse. I've seen mixed things on these but I make my own decisions dagnabit
  • Pure Vida - this was on a recent Best Places in Cleveland list and I'd always sort of brushed by it, but the menu looks right up my alley
I was really looking to try one of the good steakhouses (XO or Red) but wouldn't you know it - steak is not an option on either of their pre-fixe menus. That may not stop us, because I tend to stick with the pre-fixe while he will just order what he wants regardless - rule breaker.

I think the wallet can only take the lunch and maybe 2 dinners if we splurge - every dollar anymore I equate to something that could be updated in the house. That new pair of boots? Do I want that or do I want to buy a new ceiling fan? okay those aren't really equally priced trade-offs but you get my drift. Sucks being an adult with responsibilities sometimes!

Anyway all this food talk is making me hungry so I better get back to my sad little homemade salad for now!!





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Wednesday, February 18, 2015

Deep Freeze Valentine's Day

Let me first start by saying... BRRRRR!!! This part of the year is the absolute worst and is probably the only time I really miss my short time living in Florida way back when. I seriously wish I could find a way to become a Snowbird, I'm not sure my company would go for that idea much, but I'm pretty sure the Hubs would give up snowplowing faster than you can say... well... brrr!

I'd love to tell you about an amazing romantic dinner and that I went to the most romantic restaurant in Cleveland or cooked a romantic homemade dinner that looked restaurant quality, but 'twas not to be.

Thanks for the kick in the snowballs, Mother Nature.

My hardworking man left around 11am to make sure other people could safely go about their plans for the day! Now is maybe a good time to mention, however, that we don't even really celebrate Valentine's Day in any big way - I work at a greeting card company - Valentine's Day lost it's magic to me 7-8 years ago. Which is a very good thing, given that 3 out of the 5 years since we started dating, he's had to work - so we usually either go out a different night like we normally do anyway, or make our own dinner/order pizza and treat it like any other day. We don't even exchange gifts or cards - again that is mostly my doing because I've read all the cards and I don't feel its fair to hold him to my "good card" standard and be all judgey.

Although, sidebar: for our anniversary this year, he got me a card that made me cry even though it was a card that I'd seen before when managing the Anniversary card program! He isn't an outwardly emotional person so I knew he thought a lot about the card.

Anyway, where was I? Oh yeah... so what did we do this weekend? Well it just so happens that my mother-in-law's birthday is on the 15th and knowing that we weren't big V_Day people, my father-in-law made reservations at Fratello's in Avon Lake for the family (6 including my SIL's new man-friend).  Well I got the text around 3:30 that I would be going to dinner solo with my in-laws. Good thing I love them so much and that they are amazing or I'd have found some reason to suddenly have "digestive distress" or maybe Ebola to get out of going! But they ARE fantastic so I decided being a 5th wheel would be just fine since I would be eating some good classic Italian (at least as far as I knew at that point)

Fratello's isn't much to see from the outside. In fact, I passed it once not realizing it was there. I was told it used to be an old Lawson's (convenient store) that they renovated - can totally see that from the outside, but on the inside, you'd never know. But as I've learned over the years - good food can be in the most hideous looking building (that's why they're called hidden gems!)
Where's the restaurant? Courtesy of Google Maps - in much nicer weather than my visit
I arrived first - just to add to the awkwardness of flying solo, I was sitting at a table for 6 by myself... good times. BUT - their wine list had a lot of options and it had a good selection of mid-priced wines that I've actually bought at the store (personal favorite: Coppola Claret. heaven in a black bottle!)
mmmmm
Once the rest of the family arrived, we ordered the antipasto plate - which is listed for two. Five of us didn't even finish it, but it was quite good, mostly shellfish: clams casino, calamari, etc. Apparently it was a veal kind of night because 4 out of the 5 entrees we ordered were veal (My SIL is, shall we say... less adventerous... than her brother)

I ordered the veal neopolitan which was veal layered with ricotta and eggplant and a parmigiana marinara sauce. Basically it looked like lasagna - just with much fancier layers! It was delicious, classic Italian flavors. Especially on such a cold evening, it really was perfect comfort dining. I'd definitely go back again. I'd still say Bruno's on W 41st is my favorite west-side Italian, but this is pretty darn close and closer for far-west-siders!

And guess what? I HAVE to go back since my snow-man needs to experience the food as well before I can officially check it off the Dining Bucket List!



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Wednesday, February 11, 2015

Suburbia

As I mentioned previously, we just moved from Lakewood a whole 8 or so miles west to Bay Village and it seems a bit like another planet. Suburbia to be exact. As in groups of deer routinely walk down the street USING THE SIDEWALK! like their 3rd graders heading to school!
Proof that Bay Village deer are more civilized
It's going on 4 months now and as much as I'm loving having a real house of our own, I'm still acclimating to not being in "the city". Anytime I've tried to put into words what it is I miss, I falter because there are so many things I've gained moving here and things that I kept, like the corner bar that has cheap but delicious wings within walking distance: Moosehead is my new Merry Arts. But Moosehead doesn't quite have the same "unique" clientele that are so much a staple of Merry Arts that I'm pretty sure they pay rent on their stool (Popeye, I'm looking at you!)

I think it's just a vibe you get in Lakewood, or maybe it's the pride I used to have of saying I lived in Lakewood. You just feel cooler living there - like you're still young and hip - even if you might not really be so much anymore. I feel so adult in Bay, and I'm making so many adult decisions and I knew it had to happen eventually... and seriously it's only 10 minutes drive... but I spent the majority of my adult life in Lakewood (10 years to be exact!) so it's always going to be such a big part of who I am. And really, it's not like I'll miss a crappy landlord, or sharing a narrow driveway with inconsiderate duplex-mates, or the random drunks walking past the house at 3am on a Thursday.

So here's to embracing the Suburbia phase of my life! Pretty sure it's going to just keep getting better!
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Missing in Action

Wellll... since I never really published this to a die-hard readership, I cannot be surprised at the lack of outcry for a new posting within the past... oh 378 days!

With that said, I'm ready to get back onto the horse so to speak and even test out a few other great reasons to read my random musings!!

I'll keep this particular post short, but the long of it (see what I did there?) just came down to having enough time to devout to writing a proper blog! We started saving for a house and therefore not going out so much, so not much to share, then my husband's grandfather passed away in July and our whole world got flip-turned upside down.  We ended up buying his house from the estate (aka Mom) and have been knee deep in making an adorable but outdated split level in Bay Village into our adorable and retro-cozy home ever since!

That doesn't mean we didn't find a little time and cash to hit up a couple of my bucket list restaurants along the way!  Here's the quick-ish list:

White Oaks, Westlake: this is now right around the corner from our new house. Got a groupon and Tim was always talking about how good their food was. Judging a book by it's cover, I was not really sold, but I gave in for our 2 year wedding anniversary (again - thanks to Groupon there). The food and service were great! I really would go there again to eat and it was the 2014 Best Romantic Restaurant in Cleveland on the Cleveland Hot List - thanks to the gorgeous view in the back of the restaurant. Only downsides were that it still feels geared toward the older clientele with the average age of our fellow patrons on a Saturday night at around 60-65. It really was as outdated in the decor as the home we had just agreed to buy, but I have become fond of saying I married an 80 year old in a 30 year old's body so this was right up Tim's alley. It also felt really weird that they served a complimentary relish tray and cottage cheese. No joke, this is what my grandma used to do at dinners when I was little (she was in her seventies when I was a kid)

Touch Supper Club, Ohio City: this was a little spur of the moment dinner with the intention of catching a friend for a drink that I hadn't seen since college. He ended up being a no-show but all was well because we had a great time! Again, for a Saturday night I expected more action in the place, but we're old and were there before 7:00 ;)  Anyway, the biggest highlight for me was finally having a gin-based cocktail that I wanted to keep drinking! I wish I could remember the name - and I tried to look it up, but they are in the process of revamping the entire restaurant, including the menu! Which just means we have to go back and re-check it from our list again!! :)

Fahrenheit, Tremont: I know, I know. How is it that I am in love with all things Cleveland (and have a super obsession with our local chefs, including Rocco) and haven't actually eaten here yet? Simple semantics, my friend. Every time I've tried to get a reservation for any occasion, it is booked solid. Until the off-chance of my birthday dinner this year. We were supposed to dine at Crop Bistro on Friday night after drinks with my closest girls, but a freak snow storm waylaid the snow-plowing husband so I had to cancel my own birthday :*( Box mac & cheese with sausage, tomatoes, and green onions did not exactly feel birthday festive.
Anywhooo... because my husband is wonderful and didn't want me to miss out on celebrating, we decided to wing it and find something decent on Saturday night. We made this decision at 3:00 in the afternoon. Not much was open, but I showered and started getting ready for...somewhere... and happened to refresh OpenTable and all of a sudden angels came down from heaven singing to me at the bathroom sink! There must have been a cancellation b/c all of a sudden there was a 7:00 opening at Fahrenheit!!!! I squealed. I do that.
To cut off this long story and get down to business, since I was finally there, I could not get anything other than the famous Kobe Beef Short Ribs and I'm a better person for it. My husband was a tad more adventurous and got what our server described as an under appreciated gem on the menu - a very delicious ramen bowl. We got some dessert (can't remember what! eek!) and some Fahrenheit coffee and it became a perfect birthday dinner celebration!

So that's the highlights - going forward I'm going to attempt to post quickly and give some better detail than "it was so good" including pix and links to the site, all that fun that hopefully a couple people read besides those I force because they love me.
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Wednesday, January 29, 2014

Washington Place Bistro

*DISCLAIMER* I wrote this post back on the 21st but haven't been able to get it uploaded properly for the past week... so I actually went to Washington Place on the 18th, not this past weekend when I was snowed in!)

So my resolution to blog more frequently hasn't started off so well. There's honestly been very little to talk about as it's January in Cleveland and the bitter cold has forced me into virtual hibernation, mainly resulting in cleaning the house, working out, and binge-watching everything on the DVR and my new favorite (yes, I'm late to the party): Orange is the New Black. I find myself laughing at things that aren't funny in real life but they're so uncomfortable. Great show, Netflix!

Anyway, let's talk about what I actually DID do last weekend! Saturday night brought the first official restaurant outing from my 2014 Cleveland Dining Bucket List: Washington Place Bistro & Inn in Little Italy/University Heights. Always have wanted to go here, mainly as it is has been featured on "Unique Eats" and Scott Kuhn is partners with Chris Hodgson (CLE food truck pioneer) with the Driftwood Restaurant Group.
Even the menu is pretty!

Let me start by saying, you will see a LOT of the restaurants on my Bucket List are more towards the East Side, since as a Lakewood West-sider I rarely venture over the invisible line to the other side of town, mainly since there are so many incredible options on this side! In all honestly, it wasn't really that far away, it just seems like it when I'm used to only driving a max of 10 minutes to get downtown.

For Christmas over a year ago, we gave the in-laws a gift certificate to Hodge's (which was good at any Driftwood location) so we thought it would be a great opportunity to get them to finally use it and cross our first place off the list.

The place is gorgeous and also functions as a B&B with rooms upstairs that are fairly reasonably priced if you wanted a mini-getaway. I definitely want to go back in the Summer and check out the patio area that looked like it would be lovely after the weather turns.

We ordered a cheese "slate" for a starter and I ordered a delicious fancy cocktail (the name escapes me) with Grey Goose, amaretto, honey syrup. so good.

For dinner, it was hard to decide and my husband and Father-in-law both ordered the steak specials, while my Mother-in-law got the Shrimp & Grits with the most delicious local chorizo. I ordered the Duck Pot Pie, which, according to our server, was her favorite new menu item. I'll let the photo speak for itself, but I could have had 2-3 of these. The pastry was so light and flaky and the duck was cooked perfectly.





And a theme you will notice going forward is that I NEVER turn down dessert at a restaurant. I like to say I have a completely separate stomach compartment since I can be completely full and unable to eat another bite of my dinner, but still can scarf down sweets like nobody's business!

Throughout dinner, we were discussing Little Italy and favorite places and Presti's was obviously a favorite and my F-i-L mentioned how he used to love at 3-4 in the morning walking by and they were making donuts. Well, lo and behold, the first dessert item was Presti's Donut Bread Pudding. omg it was so good!


The service was amazing and I can't wait to make a trip back out here during the summer when we can wander the neighborhood and enjoy the patio.

Final Rating: 4 stars, definitely.


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Bachelorette Becca Week 9

Full disclosure before I begin… this recap could either be awesome-good or awesome-not-so-good based on sticking around for “just one more”...

  • Bachelorette Becca Week 9
    Full disclosure before I begin… this recap could either be awesome-good or awesome-not-so-good based on sticking around for “just one more”...
  • Washington Place Bistro
    *DISCLAIMER* I wrote this post back on the 21st but haven't been able to get it uploaded properly for the past week... so I actually wen...
  • 33% Restaurant Week Success Rate
    As the old saying goes, best laid plans going awry because this snowy winter is a dirty dirty a-hole!! Oh wait, that's not how it goes? ...