Local Food on the Road

Last weekend I had occasion to be in Cleveland, Ohio. J and I took advantage of the presence of Grandma to go on a date. We went to the Great Lakes Brewing Company for lunch on Saturday and followed it with a visit to the Westside Market. Both were really fun and yummy experiences.

You may or may not know that I don't drink beer because I don't like it. There were plenty of tempting food choices on the menu though. On the suggestion of my SIL, I opted for the bratwurst and pierogi platter. All of the components were made by vendors at the market (just across the street). As promised, it was an excellent lunch. I had their sweet potato fries for a side, or possibly dessert, as they were tossed with honey and herbs and were really quite decadent. J tried a pulled pork sandwich that came with fries. If I knew ahead of time how good the regular fries were, I never would have ordered the sweet potato ones. I would have gotten a basket of the regular fries. They were perfectly crisp, not greasy, and tossed with parmesan and parsley (I think -- something green at any rate, but they were eaten too fast for close analysis). The restaurant buys locally and organically when possible, and uses their spent grains and beer-remains to generate compost at their own small farm (grows herbs, some veggies and flowers). Nice.

Then we went over to the market and learned where to buy a whole pig, eyes and all, and compared the various pastries and cheeses and olives and and and...

On a jealous note, you could buy Ohio Amish free-range, double-yolk eggs for $2.50/dozen. Locally produced cheese and sausages were similarly value-priced. My aunt who lives in Cleveland didn't think that it was as good of a price as I do, but I guess we who live in deserts have different standards.