Lola!
For Thanksgiving, Judson and I headed to Canton, Ohio, to stay with my grandparents and to visit with them, my parents, and my brother. We had a great time. My grandmother's cooking is as good as ever (which is to say that it's great). Everyone was impressed by the chocolate-coated marshmallows I delivered, and my toffee was a big hit once again. I'm relieved to have Christmas Candy Making, Round I, complete.
Canton is about an hour south of Cleveland, Ohio. When I was a kid, Cleveland was not a city anyone would boast about. There was crime, grime, and not much else. But since then, Cleveland's grown up. First, Drew Carey proclaimed that "Cleveland Rocks!" Shortly thereafter (or maybe shortly before that), the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame was established in the city. Then, in recent years, I've become more interested in the food world. Michael Ruhlman lives there--food writer and author of The French Laundry Cookbook, among others, friend of Anthony Bourdain. So does Michael Symon; his two restaurants, Lola and Lolita, are thriving.
And so Judson and I had been planning to make a detour up to Cleveland to give Lola a shot even before Michael Symon became famous through Iron Chef America. Friday, we got our chance, and we were even nice enough to bring along my brother.
As I have learned, Lola is located in Cleveland's Warehouse district. This means that it's close to a huge phallic memorial and also to Progressive Field (formerly Jacobs Field, which I had actually heard of). The building looks modern and is among a variety of other interesting-looking restaurants. The decor was very cool. The walls were chocolate-colored, and there was food-related and bridge-related art on the walls. Music improved the audience--it was modern and interesting, but not too loud.
Of course, we wouldn't mind eating in an old shopping center if the food was good, so none of this mattered too much to us, except to justify my wearing heals. We were there for the food, and we weren't disappointed.
We started with the beef-cheek pierogies and the charcuterie. The pierogies were delicious. They didn't taste greasy or even too heavy, but they were rich and meaty and just perfect for the start of a winter meal. The charcuterie was heavenly. We were served cured pork loin, duck prosciutto, lamb salami, and some sort of delicious pepperoni. We were served tasty homemade toast points along with the meats, and to top it all off, there were delicious cornichons (tiny cucumber pickles) and pickled garlic. It turns out that pickled garlic is delicious beyond words. It's something I'm going to have to try out.
Adam ordered the pork schnitzel. Judson had seared scallops with navy beans and lamb sausage. I had the homemade pastrami sandwich. All our entrees were fantastic. Adam's pork was better than anything I'd tasted in Germany. Judson's scallops were perfect; as were the beans and sausage. I thought lamb sausage sounded odd, but it was savory and delicious, and the lamb flavor came through strong and clear. My pastrami was perfectly seasoned and cooked. The sandwich could put NYC delis out of business, and it wasn't even as big as my head. The French fries that were served with it were wonderful. They were shoestring fries, thin, crispy outside but still creamy inside. They'd been fried up with rosemary and garlic, and both flavors contributed to the deliciosity of my fries.
We didn't really think we had room for dessert, but we were wrong. We ended up ordering a chocolate pot de creme and a peanut-butter caramel mousse. Peanut butter + caramel = heaven. The mousse was light and airy, but the flavors were full and rich. The caramel flavor combined with the peanuts to give the dessert a taste somewhat like an ultra-peanutty peanut brittle. The chocolate pot de creme wasn't too shabby either. (I don't know. I love chocolate, but I'm just not a huge fan of chocolate desserts--I am not a great judge.)
All in all, we had one of the best meals of our lives, and we'd be happy to go back any day. The prices were pretty reasonable and were a steal for the level of food and service we received (and still would have been good had we gone for dinner). Our waitress was excellent (I wish I could remember your name!). The wine and beer lists were phenomenal.
If you're in Cleveland, I'd definitely recommend you give Lola a chance. You don't even have to dress up--their dress code is business casual.
Canton is about an hour south of Cleveland, Ohio. When I was a kid, Cleveland was not a city anyone would boast about. There was crime, grime, and not much else. But since then, Cleveland's grown up. First, Drew Carey proclaimed that "Cleveland Rocks!" Shortly thereafter (or maybe shortly before that), the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame was established in the city. Then, in recent years, I've become more interested in the food world. Michael Ruhlman lives there--food writer and author of The French Laundry Cookbook, among others, friend of Anthony Bourdain. So does Michael Symon; his two restaurants, Lola and Lolita, are thriving.
And so Judson and I had been planning to make a detour up to Cleveland to give Lola a shot even before Michael Symon became famous through Iron Chef America. Friday, we got our chance, and we were even nice enough to bring along my brother.
As I have learned, Lola is located in Cleveland's Warehouse district. This means that it's close to a huge phallic memorial and also to Progressive Field (formerly Jacobs Field, which I had actually heard of). The building looks modern and is among a variety of other interesting-looking restaurants. The decor was very cool. The walls were chocolate-colored, and there was food-related and bridge-related art on the walls. Music improved the audience--it was modern and interesting, but not too loud.
Of course, we wouldn't mind eating in an old shopping center if the food was good, so none of this mattered too much to us, except to justify my wearing heals. We were there for the food, and we weren't disappointed.
We started with the beef-cheek pierogies and the charcuterie. The pierogies were delicious. They didn't taste greasy or even too heavy, but they were rich and meaty and just perfect for the start of a winter meal. The charcuterie was heavenly. We were served cured pork loin, duck prosciutto, lamb salami, and some sort of delicious pepperoni. We were served tasty homemade toast points along with the meats, and to top it all off, there were delicious cornichons (tiny cucumber pickles) and pickled garlic. It turns out that pickled garlic is delicious beyond words. It's something I'm going to have to try out.
Adam ordered the pork schnitzel. Judson had seared scallops with navy beans and lamb sausage. I had the homemade pastrami sandwich. All our entrees were fantastic. Adam's pork was better than anything I'd tasted in Germany. Judson's scallops were perfect; as were the beans and sausage. I thought lamb sausage sounded odd, but it was savory and delicious, and the lamb flavor came through strong and clear. My pastrami was perfectly seasoned and cooked. The sandwich could put NYC delis out of business, and it wasn't even as big as my head. The French fries that were served with it were wonderful. They were shoestring fries, thin, crispy outside but still creamy inside. They'd been fried up with rosemary and garlic, and both flavors contributed to the deliciosity of my fries.
We didn't really think we had room for dessert, but we were wrong. We ended up ordering a chocolate pot de creme and a peanut-butter caramel mousse. Peanut butter + caramel = heaven. The mousse was light and airy, but the flavors were full and rich. The caramel flavor combined with the peanuts to give the dessert a taste somewhat like an ultra-peanutty peanut brittle. The chocolate pot de creme wasn't too shabby either. (I don't know. I love chocolate, but I'm just not a huge fan of chocolate desserts--I am not a great judge.)
All in all, we had one of the best meals of our lives, and we'd be happy to go back any day. The prices were pretty reasonable and were a steal for the level of food and service we received (and still would have been good had we gone for dinner). Our waitress was excellent (I wish I could remember your name!). The wine and beer lists were phenomenal.
If you're in Cleveland, I'd definitely recommend you give Lola a chance. You don't even have to dress up--their dress code is business casual.
posted by megan at
10:54 PM
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