Last week out of town visitors kept remarking how some of the neighborhoods and places we were visiting reminded them of Portland, OR. I don't know if that's a good thing, or true (they're native New Yorkers and about as Pac NW as Peter Lugers), but whatever they thought, today has been, and will continue to be, distinctly Cleveland.
Gypsy Beans - Pre-breakfast espresso.
Shaker Farmers Market - Managed to sort-of, playfully, insult (read: annoy) Michael Ruhlman (which he calmly ignored--I think the exchange meant more to me); purchased foraged maitake mushrooms from The Mushroom Man; tasted some beyond delicious Mackenzie Creamery (read: local/sustainable) Cajeta (look for it on The Flying Fig's menu very soon); and received instructions to buy a case of ammo, two cartons of pigeons, and show up around 2:00.
West Side Market - First breakfast, Maine sea urchin roe, cut from a live urchin on the spot at Kate's Fish; also bought some Botan rice from Urban Herbs thinking uni sushi would be on the home menu this weekend (it won't be--but the mushrooms from Shaker and urchin roe will).
Gypsy Beans (again) - For a breakfast/lunch bagel. I don't know what the story is with their bagels, and I'm not sure I want to know, as they are good and save me from making the trip to Bailey's waaaayyyy across town. Really, I take those rounds of dough seriously.
Millgate Farm, Jefferson, OH (I'm just about on my way) - For skeet shooting and clam bake eating (Anyone know why Cleveland/NE Ohio loves the clam bake? Any food historians focusing on 20th century Midwestern American eating traditions? Anyone? Nobody? Really?). Hence the ammo and the pigeons.
Quote of the day (so far): Ruhlman to Plum Creek, "Do you have any offal?" (Referring to veal. They usually do.). It's nice to see a celeb drag out of bed and make it to the Market. It's also going to be interesting to see what happens to the price of "choice cuts" with offal being all the rage.
Now to not shoot a friend or myself at Millgate . . . .
What? No shout out to the cheese guy? Or did you just stop by to bust balls?
ReplyDeleteI was born and raised here in Cleveland, we had clam bakes every fall...I will be doing one for the food critic and myself :) It's a NE Ohio thing I guess .. LOL
ReplyDeleteWhen we had clambakes, we did them in a very non-traditional fashion - that is to say - it ended up being mostly clams, clams and clams, in the cooker, boiling with chicken stock, cut up butternut squash, onions, celery, chicken and all...boil in that huge copper kettle - mmmmm.
ReplyDeleteMissed the market yesterday - but Charlie was there at the Ohio Honey stand - and we didn't make it out to Millgate, but i am sure you had a real blast!
Sorry Chris. Just for that oversight your blog is finally linked.
ReplyDeleteOHMom. I'm still not sure I get it, but I know I like it.
Ohio Honey (aka Lucy). Sounds like a good bake. Millgate was fun, even if my shoulder is killing me.