AMP 150 Gift Card Giveaway

For those of you out there who happen to be Facebook friends with me, you might have seen a status update or two regarding a food photography shoot I had over the weekend. Chef Ellis Cooley from the restaurant AMP 150 approached me a little over a week ago and indicated that the restaurant was in need of photographs of their new menu items for a redesign of the corporate website. He asked if I and fellow foodie Edsel would be interested in doing a photo shoot. Feeling quite proud of how far I've come in my food photography in the last seven months of study, I quickly agreed.

I decided to drop off the finished photographs last night and since the weather was crappy (really, when will this rain end?) and the traffic going south on I-71 backed up, I decided to stay and try a few of the dishes I had photographed over the weekend. You might be tempted to think that with all of the food Edsel and I photographed over the weekend that we would have also tasted it, too. One of the dirty little secrets of professional food photography is that the food doesn't have to taste good, it just has to look good. Thus, if an ingredient doesn't contribute directly to the appearance of the food (like, say, salt), it wasn't added.

So, what did I order? First up was a Shrimp and Pea Risotto with Fresh Local Ramps:


Creamy, buttery, sweet, and garlicy. If I could sum up a dish in four words, those would be it. This was an amazing small plate that did much to feed not only my stomach, but also my soul. The rice was creamy without being mushy, the peas added little pops of sweetness, the shrimp were cooked without being rubbery, and the ramps (kind of like wild garlic) added a much needed sharpness to balance the entire dish. If you are interested in trying this dish, get to AMP 150 soon as ramp season will be over in a matter of weeks, not months.

My second small plate tonight was Poached Sea Scallops over Squid Ink Farro, Fines Herbs, and Fumet:


Again, this was all about texture and flavor balance. The scallops were tender and buttery, the farro had a slightly chewy texture that felt like a cross between barley and rice, and the squid ink, although dark in appearance, had a certain brightness in flavor. I can't tell you which one I enjoyed more as they were both outstanding.

Finally, to finish up my meal tonight, I decided to go with one of AMP 150's new desserts, Lemongrass Rice Pudding, Herbed Tapioca, Coconut Foam, and Passion Fruit Caviar:


As with all of the dishes at AMP 150, this was a clever combination of tart and sweet, creamy and chewy. The rice pudding had a soft, but still chewy texture to it. The herbed tapioca (readers familiar with Bubble/Pearl Tea will understand the texture) had a vegetal quality to it that worked well with the lemongrass and coconut. The passionfruit caviar was practically unsweetened, and as such, contrasted brightly with the sweetness of the foam and rice pudding. This dish was light and airy, yet not overly sweet and ultimately satisfying.

Now that I've whetted your whistle with some of the new menu items available at AMP 150, I think it is high time to announce the gift card giveaway! As part of the compensation that AMP 150 offered me for my photography services, they graciously agreed to include a $25 gift card to give away to one lucky reader of my blog. Considering that $25 is enough for one person to eat a complete meal at AMP 150 (which was pretty much what my bill came to last night with water), it's a great way to experience one of Cleveland's premiere dining destinations.

The contest will work as follows: starting now, simply leave a comment stating that you'd like to win the gift card. You will have until 11:59:59 PM on Friday, April 29th, 2011 (that's 1 second before midnight Saturday) to leave your comment. At 12:00 AM on Saturday morning, I will use random.org to randomly select the winner from all the posted comments. IF YOU LEAVE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS IN YOUR COMMENT, I will contact you to tell you that you've won. If you only leave a name in your comment (which is entirely your option), I will post the winner's name and that person will have until Monday morning, May 2nd, 9:00 AM, to contact me and claim your prize. If no contact has been made by Monday morning at 9:00 AM, I will select another winner.

Bottom line is ... if you want to be entered into the contest and don't wish to leave your email address, make sure you check back to see if you've won!

Once the winner has confirmed their interest in claiming the prize, I will get them the gift card in the manner which is easiest for them (most people prefer the US Postal Service).

Good luck! Even if you don't win the gift card, take the time to check out the fantastic menu at AMP 150. Chef Cooley and crew are really doing some marvelous new dishes on the spring menu.

The Culinary Illuminati At Dinner In The Dark

It would seem a touch cruel of me to write about a meal that you, gentle reader, couldn't actually go out and eat yourself. On first glance, you might think that this review of the Dinner In The Dark event which happened on Monday, October 11th, 2010 might be exactly that. The bad news is that the dinner on the 11th is over and done with, the menu not to be repeated. The GOOD news is that the Dinner In The Dark is a series of dinners, not just a lone event. In that light, use my review of the first instance as preparation for what to expect at future dinners.

As opposed to what the name suggests, Dinner In The Dark has nothing to do with the lighting at the restaurant and everything to do with going into the dinner knowing nothing of the menu. Six local chefs, representing six different cuisines and approaches, agreed to get together at Verve Restaurant in Cleveland, Ohio to cook a multi-course meal complete with wine pairings in a charity event that benefited Veggie U, a non-profit organization run by farmer Lee Jones to help promote fresh and healthy fruits and vegetables to children.

Verve, normally only open for breakfast and lunch from Monday through Friday, opened up its kitchen and its dining room to 60+ eager diners, ready to try out whatever the chefs put together. Verve was located at 1332 Carnegie Avenue, Cleveland, OH 44115 and can be reached at 216-664-5500. Parking was in the lot directly next to the restaurant and while there may be a charge to park during the day, at tonight's event, it was free.

After parking, I took a shot of the front entrance to Verve:


Once inside, I gave the hostess the name of my party and she sat us at a long table set for twelve diners (there were at least five or six of these tables set up for tonight's dinner). Once seated, I noticed the menu sitting in front of me. Here was a shot of the front, detailing the courses and the paired wines:


And a shot of the back of the menu listing individuals and organizations:


Shortly after being seated, a server was over to fill our water glasses and hand my dinner companion and I a starter cocktail, the Autumn Snapper:


Made with freshly pressed Honey Crisp apple juice, heirloom cherry tomatoes, Campari, Aperol, and Cynar (pronounced chi-nar) shaken over ice, it was garnished with just a few sprigs of micro parsley. To my nose, the cocktail definitely smelled of the earthiness of fresh tomatoes, but upon tasting it, the crispness of the apple juice definitely shined through. The other bitter components in the drink, the Campari, Cynar, and Aperol, added a subtle bitterness that offset the sweetness of the apples and tomatoes. This was a nicely balanced cocktail and a quite refreshing way to start off dinner.

Before dinner started, servers were suddenly walking amongst the guests delivering an unexpected surprise, an amuse bouche:


An amuse bouche is generally a one or two bite morsel of food that allows a chef to set the tone for the rest of the meal or stimulate the diner's appetite for more. In tonight's case, this was accomplished with baby peppers that had been stuffed with roasted butternut squash, goat cheese, pepitas and chopped bacon. The crunch from the seeds and chopped bacon matched well with the creaminess from the squash and goat cheese. If the chefs were trying to stimulate our appetites, it was definitely working.

Our first course was delivered to us by Chef Matt Mathlage from Light Bistro and was paired with a Oremus, Fermint Dry, MandolisTokaji, Hungary 2006:


This remarkably inventive dish contained garlic pudding, pesto "soup," pickled radish over a rye bread puree, and a single stalk of gai lan, or bitter Chinese broccoli. I couldn't help but take individual tastes of each component before combining them together and the minute I tasted each component, I knew that they could've only been made by the restrained hand of Chef Mattlage. Other than the strongly bitter Chinese broccoli and the pickled radish, every other component was so subtly presented on the plate. The rye bread puree was simply amazing: he had taken rye bread essence and made a smooth sauce out of it. The sharpness of the pickled turnip helped to cut through some of the richness of the garlic pudding, itself having been loaded with quite a bit of butter. I wished the gai lan had been a touch less bitter, but I still appreciated how the flavor bounced off the others on the plate.

The second course was presented by Chef Chris Hodgson, owner of the Dim and Den Sum truck, who decided to play with pigs ears tonight. His dish was paired with a Domaine de Piaugier, Les Ramieres Vaucluse, Rhone Valley, France 2007 :


Here you had a Delicata squash ring that had been filled with an ultra-creamy polenta and topped with a bit of mosh, duck fat-confited crispy pigs ear strips and sauced with a mustard vinaigrette containing chopped capers. The pigs ears were fried to perfection and my dining companion, having never eaten pigs ears before, said that she actually liked them. Crispy on the outside and just a little sticky to the teeth on the inside, they matched well with the strong vinegar flavor of the vinaigrette. The Delicata squash was cooked all the way through and complemented the smooth polenta that the chef had prepared. Even the salty bite from the capers was appreciated in this vast flavor explosion.

The third course was presented by Chef Adam Bostwick from Melange and was a playful re-interpretation of a Caesar salad. It was paired with a Corta alla Flora, Giugglio Bianco, Montepulciano, Italy 2008:


Here you had a toasted piece of brioche, a fried egg yolk with still runny center, a single sliver of white anchovy, purple romaine, slightly sweetened and ever-so-slightly toasted meringue, and a drizzle of agrodolce ... a sauce both sweet and sour. As the chef described it to us, we were instructed to combine the various flavors in one bite. The resulting combination should reconstruct the flavor of a Caesar salad. For me, this was the least successful dish of the night; not because it didn't taste good, but because to me it failed to achieve the goal of tasting like a Caesar salad. The fried egg yolk was beautifully runny on the inside and after cutting a bit of each of the other components, I placed them on my fork and took a bite. Missing for me at a minimum was the garlic. I think the addition of a handful of freshly grated Parmesan cheese may not have been in the original recipe and I can overlook that, but the garlic I definitely missed. The slightly sweetened meringue was also a bit of a mystery to me, seemingly out of place in this quite savory dish.

Thankfully, when you let a group of chefs cook for you what they want, they know when to give your palate a break. Following the first three courses, a simple intermezzo was brought to the table:


This was a single small scoup of a lemon verbena sorbet topped with just a few thinly sliced strands of the freshly infused herb. This was simple, it was delicious, and it fulfilled its purpose spectacularly.

The fourth course was prepared and presented to us by Chef Brandt Evans from Blue Canyon and was a seared scallop dish. It was paired with a Max Ferd Richter, Estate Reisling, Mosel, Germany 2008:


The impeccably fresh, dry-packed scallops had been seared to a perfect golden brown, topped with impossibly thin slices of fresh radish, and served with an Indian curry coconut sauce, fresh basil oil, and some of Farmer Jones's amazing colored cauliflower. I've had some delicious dishes in my time, but this plate of food was amazing. The perfectly cooked scallops were sweet and tender and the interplay between the creaminess of the coconut milk and the barely perceptible spice from the Indian curry matched so well with the pristine seafood. Not being a huge cauliflower fan myself, I eagerly gobbled up every last bite of food from this plate and was half tempted to lick it clean. Bravo, sir! Bravo!

Where I thought I had achieved epicurean nirvana with the fourth course, when recently departed Chef Jeffrey Jarrett from North End Restaurant presented his plate of braised beef short ribs with sauce, polenta and vegetables, my mouth watered even before I tasted it. This course was served with a Wild Hog Petite Syrah, Sonoma Coast, California 2006:


The short ribs had been braised to absolute perfection. They were so soft and tender that not only was a knife not required to eat them, but its use would have been an insult to the chef. After the short ribs finished cooking, the braising liquid was reduced, chocolate was added and eventually the whole lot was mounted with butter and used as a sauce for the ultra-tender meat. I actually started with the polenta and was shocked that even though we had eaten polenta as one of the components of our second course, Chef Jarrett's polenta was wholly different. With just a little bit of texture from the medium-course corn meal, this polenta screamed "Corn!" at me.

While walking around and talking to groups of diners, he insisted that he hadn't done anything particularly special to the polenta to enhance the flavor, so clearly he must have started with stellar cornmeal. While the vegetables on the dish were nice, nothing, and I mean not even the marvelous polenta, could prepare me for the short ribs and sauce. All around me people were moaning in ecstasy as they ate the meat and sauce combination and as soon as I took a bite myself, I could see why. The level of complexity was exquisite. I've eaten very few things in my life where I immediately shut my eyes and focused solely on the enjoyment of food. This was one of those moments. If there was a superlative to "Bravo," I would be using it here.

Not knowing if it would even be possible to top the fifth course, Chef Ellis Cooley from AMP 150 surprised everyone by serving up a freshly baked beet cake adorned with foam and a single wafer-thin piece of beet paper paired with creme fraiche ice cream over a crumble:


The beet cake had been made using fresh beets and I was simply amazed that not only was the cake hot, moist, delicate and most importantly, delicious, but you could actually taste a very subtle beet flavor in it. The creme fraiche ice cream was silky smooth and because of the tartness from the creme fraiche, it helped to cut the fattiness from the ice cream and the cake. I tried each component individually and combining the flavors together and no matter which way I ate it, I was a completely happy camper.

The other benefit of tonight's dinner was that in addition to the dinner cost per person going toward charity, all of the wines we had with dinner were being sold by the bottle and proceeds of the sale were also going toward Veggie U. By that point in the evening, myself and my dinner companion had to hop back in the car to drive back to Akron, so we missed out on the auction portion of the evening, but at the very least, dinners for four were being auctioned off at the various chefs' restaurants.

Dinner tonight was $50 per person, excluding tax and tip, so this wasn't an inexpensive meal. However, and I can speak for all those seated around me, too, the food went from fantastic to mind blowing, the service was efficient and friendly, and all of the money spent was for a very worthwhile cause. I am eager to return on November 15th, 2010 at 6:30 PM for the next installment of this series. If you have the wherewithal to attend, I highly encourage you to do so. To make a reservation, simply call AMP 150 at 216-706-8787 and give them your name and the size of your party.

Perhaps I'll see you there!

A Sampling Of The New AMP 150 Summer Menu

About two weeks ago, I received a Facebook message from one of Cleveland's more recent culinary acquisitions, Chef Ellis Cooley at AMP 150. In addition to pairing with many of Cleveland's local farmers, Chef Cooley had the forethought to plant the restaurant's own garden out on the unused land behind the Marriott Hotel on West 150th Street. With the garden now in full production mode, the chef decided it was time to switch up the menu a bit to take full advantage of all these local, seasonal fruits and vegetables.

His message was simple, "Come back in and check us out." The last time I formally ate at AMP 150 was at the Killbuck Valley Farm dinner back in March of this year. Realizing it had been quite some time since I had returned to the restaurant, I put out an open call on Facebook to see if anyone wanted to join me for dinner. Fortunately, fellow foodie and mayor of AMP 150 on Foursquare, Justin, was available to join me as we worked our way through the new menu.

While I have posted the menu before, that was the old (or original) menu. Here was the menu we worked off of tonight:




While Justin had actually sampled some of the new dishes off the menu, I was working with a clean slate. We both decided that the six course tasting menu would be a perfect way to let the kitchen send out the highlights of the new menu. Justin simply told our server what he hadn't tried yet and Chef Cooley tailored an individualized meal for each of us. What turned out to be a rather slow Monday evening morphed into a 30 minute wait to get a table by the end. While this didn't allow Chef Cooley to get out of the kitchen much to interact with us, it was great to see them so busy on what typically is a slow night.

First up was an amuse bouche of gazpacho:


While technically more of a taste than an amuse bouche (since it was more than one bite), this chilled tomato soup had come out with olive oil bread crumbs and shrimp escabeche. Essentially the shrimp had been poached slowly in the olive oil and then was presented in the oil itself. I drizzled the small shrimp and some of the oil on top of my soup, added some of the bread crumbs and took a bite. In a word? Delicious. The soup had a wonderful sharp acidity to it that was mollified by the smoothness of the olive oil. The shrimp was delicate and sweet. The toasted bread crumbs added a crunchy texture to the creamy smooth soup. There was just enough soup to whet the appetite for the next course.

The second taste for the evening was a permutation of a dish that was on Chef Cooley's original menu:


This was their luscious chicken liver pate spread on top of charred bread and served with elderberry jam and finished with some chives. There was one for both Justin and I. As I took my first bite, what popped into my head was "morning toast," but on a whole other sophisticated level. The chicken liver pate was buttery and not the least bit "liver-y." The jam was sweet, but not overly so. Both Justin and I agreed that we were glad we had been limited to one piece each because I would've gladly consumed a plateful of these.

Thinking we were now about to start our third course, Justin corrected me and said that these first two items were merely tastings and we still had six more courses to go. Apparently the extra tastings are common when you order the four or six course tastings. I had a feeling that I'd better pace myself lest I run out of stomach room too soon.

Common courses now done, individualized plates began appearing for Justin and I. My first course was off the appetizer menu:


These were black mussels with Chinese sausage, lemongrass, plum wine, coconut milk, ginger and cilantro. The Chinese sausage was actually made in house with pork, spices, and Mirin, a sweetened rice wine. I tasted the sausage by itself and it did have a very subtle sweetness. The mussels were tender and perfectly cooked and the only thing I wish I had available to me after finishing up the sausage and mussels was some nice fresh bread to soak up the glorious elixir that sat at the bottom of the bowl.

My second course was from the salad section of the menu:


This was the crispy calamari salad with frisee lettuce, speck, Piquillo peppers, and lemon juice. The calamari were nicely breaded and fried and I loved the contrast of the warm squid against the cool frisee salad underneath. The salad had definitely been dressed with lemon juice as the frisee by itself had almost too much of an acidic flavor. But when combined with some of the ham and the calamari, the extra fat helped to cut through some of the lemon juice flavor. That being said, if you don't like sour tastes, this might not be the right salad for you.

While I didn't taste Justin's second course tonight, I figured I would include it anyway because I have had the opportunity to taste it before:


This was the wonderful beet terrine that debuted at the Top Chef charity event I attended just a few short weeks ago. It consisted of many layers of roasted beets and Lake Erie Creamery goat cheese with various citrus flavors thrown in for effect. It has a dried beet paper inserted into the top and the greens was dressed with a simple beet vinaigrette. As already mentioned, I didn't try this tonight, but if the look on Justin's face meant anything, I knew that this was as good as the version I had tried at the charity event. I highly recommend you try this salad.

My third course was the playful Franks and Beans:


A play on hot dogs and baked beans, AMP 150's version consisted of house made smoked Kielbasa, Sea Island red peas, vine ripe tomatoes, and topped with some freshly fried thinly cut onions. The Kielbasa had a slight fennel undercurrent on my palate and as I ate it, I noticed an occasional fennel seed or two. The beans were lovely and soft and had the same kind of molasses / tomato / mustard base that you would expect in a more traditional preparation of this dish. The fried onions added a nice bit of textural contrast and just a bit of sweetness as well.

Justin's third course was the goat cheese stuffed zucchini and squash blossoms that were batter coated and then deep fried:


These were served with a green tomato jam that was made simply from green tomatoes, simple syrup, lemon and mint and boiled down until it got to the right consistency. In exchange for some of my Franks and Beans, Justin graciously let me have one of his blossoms and some of the green tomato jam. I have a hard time describing this dish other than to say, heavenly. The coating on the blossom was crispy and not greasy. The goat cheese filling, while rich, was cut beautifully with the slightly sweet jam. This simple dish truly showed the mastery that Chef Cooley has in his flavors and their execution. Crispy, creamy, rich, sweet ... just amazingly good. While this dish wasn't listed on the menu, when you go, ask to see if they have it on the menu. It's worth it.

Our fourth courses consisted of a pasta dish and a dish with some pasta in it. First was the Rigatoncini:


And second was the rabbit cacciatore:


Justin and I decided to just split these 50/50. The Rigatoncini consisted of rigatoni pasta that had been paired with eggplant confit, roasted peppers, toasted pine nuts and fresh arugula. The rabbit cacciatore contained peppers and zucchini from AMP 150's garden and fresh made pasta squares. The Rigatoncini has a wonderfully sweet flavor and the toasted pine nuts added some fat as well as crunch to the dish. The rigatoni pasta was cooked nicely, too, having just a bit of resistance when I chewed it without it being undercooked. The rabbit cacciatore was another tasty dish where the rabbit had been clearly braised low and slow. The meat was tender and at the same time hadn't turned mushy. The pasta squares were a excellent compliment to the rest of the dish. Already complex enough, had these been ravioli, I think it would've interfered with the cacciatore.

At this point, I was beginning to hit my first wall of the evening. Having just eaten two tastes and four courses, I was pretty darn full. It was fortunate that a little bit of time passed before the next course came out of the kitchen. I don't know if Chef Cooley planned that or it was just serendipitous, but it was much appreciated.

My fifth course was the marinated flank steak:


It was cooked a perfectly medium rare and served with an heirloom tomato salad and a drizzle of Saba. Clearly I must've made room in my stomach or an extra compartment opened up someplace, because I was able to finish the entire plate of food. The heirloom salad was dressed simply and I loved how the acidity from the tomatoes help to cut the fattiness from the meat. The Saba added a delicate sweetness to the dish that was unusual but tasty. Known in the Italian world primarily as a sweetener, the Saba added a bit of sweet to pair with the savory and salted meat.

Having reached our sixth and final course, I looked at my cellphone to discover that our culinary odyssey tonight had so far taken nearly three hours! Then again, with two tastes and five courses under our belts, I guess I shouldn't have been so surprised. For our final course, Chef Cooley decided to leave us with a sweet taste in our mouths. Here was what I was offered:


This was a layered dessert consisting of milk chocolate panna cotta, salted caramel and was topped with a malted milk ice cream and crushed hazelnuts. The trick to eating this dish was to insert your spoon vertically all the way to the bottom of the dish so that you could get just a little bite of each layer. While I am not a huge dessert person (though I like them from time to time), I have to say that this was both rich and refreshing all at the same time. I kept telling myself that I should stop eating, but in some weird way, I felt compelled to keep eating bite after luscious bite. I did eventually manage to convince myself to finally put down my spoon, but it wasn't before I had eaten nearly 2/3 of the dessert.

While I didn't get to pick my specific dessert tonight, I thought I would include a photograph of the new dessert menu as well (just for completeness):


My server informed me that the restaurant hadn't had time to reprint the menus yet and that the macadamia nut cake was no longer available. Had I been able to pick my dessert, I might have still gone with the milk chocolate panna cotta, but The Elvis and Milky ... Cereal ... Baby both sounded pretty darn good, too.

Our meal finally completed, Justin and I each received our checks (he had iced tea with his meal, I simply had water). Our multi-course extravaganza had come to $45 each. With tip and tax, my bill came to $60. While that might be a bit on the expensive side for some, a four course tasting menu is also available for $30. And with the addition of the extra "tastes" that the kitchen seems to like throwing into your experience, the smaller tasting menu might be up your alley in more ways than just financial.

If you have yet to try out AMP 150, I am here to encourage you to give them a try as soon as you can. Chef Cooley and his kitchen brigade are doing some marvelously tasty and creative cuisine while at the same time using local, sustainable farms and farming practices. This is exactly the kind of restaurant I want to spend my dining dollars and I encourage you to do the same.

Killbuck Valley Mushroom Dinner At AMP 150

At the recent charity event Cleveland Chefs Cook for Jewel, I happened to run into an until then only virtual friend, Phil Ridolfi. Phil, the proprietor of Now Dining Deals, a restaurant advocacy company seeking to connect restaurants with customers through social media like Facebook and Twitter, was at the event to support a great cause as well as to eat some wonderful food. It was actually Phil who recognized me as I wandered from table to table. I stopped and we chatted a bit about how great the turnout had been.

During the course of our conversation, Phil mentioned a special dinner being served at AMP 150 the following night featuring the Killbuck Valley mushrooms. I had heard of these mushrooms before from other friends, but had never had the chance to experience them myself. He indicated that there were several spots still open and that if I and any of my friends would like to come, he would take care of making arrangements for us to do so. I asked around and it turned out that two fellow foodies took me up on the suggestion. I let Phil know the next day about our merry trio and at 7:00 PM that evening, the three of us convened on AMP 150 for a six course mushroom extravaganza.

Joining us for the evening to talk about the mushrooms were the proprietors of the Killbuck Valley farm, Tom and Wendy Wiandt. While they do not have a website of their own, they are referenced on the web here. They were already in the private room when we arrived and greeted us warmly. It turned out that we would be lucky enough to have them join us at our table. While Tom did most of the speaking between courses explaining a little bit about the mushrooms used in Chef Cooley's dishes, it was fun to engage both of them during the rest of the dinner as they were a wealth of knowledge.

From what they told us, they both left the corporate world around thirteen years ago having tired of it. Three years later, they opened up Killbuck Valley and began producing organic mushrooms. They started out in the farmer's markets and have gradually expanded their reach into some of the finest restaurants in Cleveland and Akron. They still work at least two farmer's markets a week, giving out free samples of cooked mushrooms to entice market-goers into giving their wares a try. They are a growing business, but have decided that controlled and sustainable growth is the right way to operate. Tom readily acknowledges that his product is not inexpensive, but he so firmly believes in his farming methods and his mushrooms that he'd rather lose a half-serious customer who doesn't also see the potential in his product than make a quick sale.

As we retired to our table tonight, each place setting had a menu placed on top of the mat:


First out of the kitchen was the demitasse of mushroom soup:


Served as if it were a cup of coffee, the luscious warm mushroom soup was topped with a frothed milk and a slightly dried shiitake mushroom cap. The soup was velvety smooth and seasoned perfectly and the entire dish made a perfect introduction to what we were going to sample again and again tonight ... umami! Umami is that fifth sense of taste that allows us to taste savory and mushrooms are just loaded with it. Speaking of shiitake, it turns out that -take is the Japanese word for mushroom. The first part of the word, in this case shii- actually refers to the origin of where the mushroom is found. Shii is actually Japanese for oak. Thus, matsutake, maitake, etc. all refer to a mushroom that is found most commonly under (or on) different trees.

Of course, following the soup course in American cuisine was the salad course:


In this case it was a wild mixed green salad with roasted baby shiitake caps, pickled radishes and cucumbers, and was lightly dressed with a shiitake vinaigrette. Having this much mushroom flavor in a dish can weigh the palate down a bit, but the acidity from the vinaigrette and the radishes worked very well to keep everything balanced. Once again, Chef Cooley did an excellent job balancing textures and flavors. What surprised me most about this dish was the size of the mushroom caps used. When I buy shiitake mushrooms, I normally look for a good size to the caps. In this case, nothing but baby mushroom caps were used.

The third course was comprised of a homemade mushroom ravioli topped with an aged goat cheese and a sunchoke puree:


While the free-form mushrooms dotting the plate were shiitake caps, the filling was made up of the most savory oyster mushroom filling that I've had in a long time. The ravioli itself was perfectly cooked and had a lovely toothy bite to it without being chewy. The aged goat cheese, having been shaved over the top of the ravioli, had a real nuttiness to the bite that reminded me of a good Pecorino Romano and not of a goat cheese at all. While the real star of the plate was the oyster mushroom, I couldn't but also drool over the sunchoke puree with fresh chives. Sunchokes, also known as Jerusalem artichokes, and a small fibrous vegetable that can easily be substituted for potatoes in part or whole and adds another dimension of flavor.

The chef told us after the dinner had concluded that his preparation of "white" vegetables like sunchokes and the salsify puree we enjoyed during a later course was made by boiling the vegetable in a 50/50 water/milk bath until the vegetable was tender and the heat caused the casein in the milk to separate out and actually form curds (kind of like making ricotta). The whey is then strained off and added into the combination of the pureed vegetable and curds to thin it to the right consistency. I don't know if the chef enriched the puree at the very end with a little bit of cream or butter, but I have to tell you that both purees we enjoyed tonight were creamy, smooth, and delicious.

Our pasta course now complete, we moved on to course number four, the fish course:


This was a mushroom crusted cod served over a watercress and garlic chive brodo. The application of the mushroom crust was interesting in that it seemed more to be a mushroom and breadcrumb application that adorned this amazing piece of fish. Having been steamed to utter perfection, the minute I placed a bite of the tender and moist fish in my mouth, I actually sighed in complete contentment. Cod can be a subtly flavored fish, and the treatment that Chef Cooley gave it tonight was so well thought out. After all of the badly prepared cod I had eaten during the course of The Lenten Project, tonight's preparation showed that cod can be a magnificent piece of fish when done right. The accompanying broth was also quite lovely and the only thing I could've wished for to make the experience better was a spoon. Sadly, I think drinking the broth straight from the bowl would've been bad form.

It was at this point during the meal when I realized that there was a method to the madness in which the courses had come out. We had started out light and small and worked our way up to more assertive flavors. The fifth dish to come from the kitchen tonight was a grilled strip loin of beef with mushroom ragu and salsify puree:


While I was a little worried because the first slice of beef on the plate was nearly medium well, the rest of the beef slices were perfectly medium rare. The mushroom ragu was tender and seasoned just perfectly. The salsify puree, a vegetable that often is often compared to actual oysters in flavor, was beautifully pureed and had been dressed up with some fresh dill which gave it a wonderfully sweet finish on the palate. With the subtle sweetness from the salsify and the earthiness of the mushrooms paired up to the savoriness of the beef, this was truly a bite to sit back and savor. With another course coming, I saw several others only eat part of this course. Me? I ate the entire plate and would've licked it clean if I had known no one else was watching.

After the heavy fifth course, our sixth and final course, dessert, would serve to clear out the heavy flavors and wake up the taste buds just a little bit:


Here you have a roasted fig compote sitting next to a scoop of goat cheese ice cream which is sitting next to a goat cheese panna cotta, itself topped with maple glazed shiitake caps, all of which was surrounded by a maple-infused sauce. After a bite of each of the ice cream and panna cotta, it was clear that a younger goat cheese had been used as that little bit of acidity and tang gently sang through the sweetness and creaminess of each dessert. I didn't detect a huge maple flavor in the mushroom caps that topped the panna cotta, so mostly I considered its use to be as a textural contrast to the gelatinous milky concoction below. I paired the fig compote with the ice cream and it worked well. The maple flavor from the sauce worked well to unify the flavors on the plate and didn't overpower anything else. For being an unusual dessert, it worked quite well, in my opinion.

While tonight's meal wasn't inexpensive at $45 per person, for the amount of food and the quality of the dishes presented, I considered it to be an excellent value. This was only my second dining experience at AMP 150 and between the two of them, I am certainly looking forward to seeing what else Chef Cooley will be bringing to the table ... LITERALLY. If you have the chance to sample either the food at AMP 150 or the mushrooms from Killbuck Valley from one of the farmer's markets they frequent, I strongly urge you to do so. You won't be disappointed.

Amping Up The Flavor At AMP 150

The Airport Marriot at the intersection of West 150th and I-71 has taken a bold, and some might consider risky, move. I don't think it takes a rocket scientist (or perhaps more appropriately a public media person) to know that downtown Cleveland and the areas just surrounding the downtown have some rockin' and pretty hip places to eat. Two of Iron Chef America Michael Symon's restaurants are located in the extremely trendy neighborhoods of East 4th and the Tremont district. Chef Jonathon Sawyer is playing to the local, sustainable, and ultimately "green" crowd with his restaurant on East 4th, just a few storefronts down from Michael Symon.

Knowing that the Airport Marriot could get a significant slice of that restaurant revenue if they opened something desirable within the hotel, they recruited and brought in Executive Chef Ellis Cooley and his vision of a fine dining establishment so that guests didn't have to leave the premises to find great food. Originally envisioned as a gastropub by the Marriot management team, Chef Cooley convinced them to pursue a different direction instead. He wanted to bring local, seasonal, and high quality ingredients to a menu that rotated during the course of the year. He has been tweaking the menu since the opening of the flagship restaurant, AMP 150, in order to hone and finely tune the menu offerings to match what guests were ordering. He has also championed the notion of the "small plates," where guests can find smaller, higher quality tastes for less money than their large brethren, the entrée. Similar in notion to Spanish tapas, this gives guests a way to share many different flavors for the same amount of money they'd spend on a single entrée.

Back in January 2010, I had received a communication from a fellow Cleveland foodie, Stuart, that Chef Cooley was looking to sponsor a menu tasting for local foodies and food bloggers. Sadly, due to multiple counts of inclement weather, the meal was postponed until the majority of us could convene last night. And even though the weather last night was pretty crappy, too, I was bound and determined to find out what Chef Cooley and his menu offered the northeast Ohio diner.

Before we begin, gentle reader, full disclosure dictates that I inform you that I knew going into the meal that it would be fully comp'd (minus alcoholic beverages). While I am normally uncomfortable with a gratis meal, my curiosity was firmly piqued and I knew that this restaurant might be something those of you who are kind enough to read my blog might be interested in. I checked with my contact to make sure he knew that if I did attend, it was with the intention of being honest and fair in what I wrote. He indicated that it wouldn't be a problem.

[Ed. Note: Begin soapbox. In case you didn't already know, when being comp'd a dish or an entire meal, it is important to realize that the food is free, not the service. Always tip a commensurate amount to your service staff. Sometimes patrons get the phrase "free food" stuck in their minds and forget that most of a server's wages here in the US come from tips. Okay, end soapbox.]

The other item I wanted to mention before beginning was that nearly everything we tried tonight was either on the menu currently or had been on in the past and would more than likely be making a return sometime soon. That being said, what you are about to witness turned out to be a multi-hour onslaught of food. I did manage to try everything that came out of the kitchen, but sadly some courses just didn't get finished due to the sheer amount of food that Chef Cooley sent our way. Due to the volume of courses we had tonight, some of my descriptions may be more in depth and some less. However, let it be known that I truly enjoyed the enormity of what Chef Cooley did for us tonight.

First up, the current menu for AMP 150. A left, middle, and right shot:




The current menu is broken up into Appetizers, Soups and Salads, Small Bites, Gardens, and Larger Bites. At the end of the meal, the chef stopped by to talk with us about the notion that he was thinking about revamping the menu so that Small Bites are much more predominant than Larger Bites. His thinking fell along the lines of, "Why pay $25 for one taste when you can pay the same amount for four tastes?" I think if he can keep the Small Bites in line with his philosophy of local, sustainable, and best quality possible, he may just have a winner here.

As soon as we were seated, two flat breads and two types of chicken wings appeared on our table. Here was a shot of my appetizer plate:


To the upper left was the oyster mushroom, goat cheese and celery leaf flat bread. To the upper right was the roasted chicken, fontina cheese, fresh rosemary, and garlic oil flat bread. Both were fantastic, but the roasted chicken flat bread was top notch. The combination of the flavors just sang in my mouth. The flat bread itself was also nice and thin and had a wonderful crunch to it without it crumbling when taking a bite. The chicken wing to the front of the plate was the Natural Free Range Chicken Wing with spicy glaze. The one to the rear was the Sweet Soy and Peanut Chicken Wing with homemade spicy Kimchee. I'll say collectively about both wings that they were cooked perfectly, each with nice crispy skin and juicy chicken meat inside. The spicy glaze on the first wing was akin to your standard "hot" wing and was quite tasty. The Sweet Soy and Peanut wing by itself wasn't all that spicy, but the homemade spicy Kimchee was delicious. In a nod of what was to come, I began to realize that Chef Cooley draws his culinary influences from all over the world.

Next up were a plate of Old Bay House Made Potato Chips:


Again, like so many of the dishes tonight, these were expertly fried and seasoned. By themselves, they had almost a "BBQ chip" flavor. Accompanying the chips were a homemade lemon aioli (think garlic mayonnaise) and a tarragon mignonette. Both dips offered an interesting contrast to the flavor of the chips and gave you that difference between creamy chip dip and a salt and vinegar chip.

Seeing that we hadn't yet met our fried food quota, the Hand Cut Sea Salt Fries showed up next at our table:


Served with more of the homemade lemon aioli and regular ketchup, these fries were actually quite good on their own. Not normally a fan of hand cut or fresh cut fries, these had none of the negative qualities that plagues the category in general. These were crisp on the outside, creamy on the inside, and seasoned with just the perfect amount of salt. While I did try the two dipping sauces, I ate most of my fries just naked because they were so good.

When we figured we were finally done with the appetizers, another showed up just to prove us wrong. Here was the Chicken Liver Pate served with grilled bread:


Accompanying this appetizer was a selection of relishes to pair with the chicken liver spread:


On the top was a barely sweetened cranberry compote, on the bottom was more of a traditional cranberry jam, and to the right was a spicy and sweet cranberry jam. One of these was Jorgensen's Jam as noted on the menu, but no one bothered to identify which was which, so I tried all three. Interestingly, cranberry does pair well with chicken liver pate, but it was the sweet and spicy cranberry jam on the right of the plate that proved to be the best pairing for me. One other interesting flavor to note was the charred bits of bread. The flavor actually worked well to cut through the fattiness of the pate. I don't think just toasting the bread would've been enough. It was the actual char that worked so well.

When our server began dispensing soup spoons, everyone at the table pretty much figured our next course would be a soup. Here was the simply named, but complex Chicken Soup:


Made with homemade chicken stock, this clear broth contained bits of shredded chicken, avocado, jalapeno, radish, tomato, lime, and a few small pieces of freshly made sweet cornbread. Oddly enough, the cornbread was the key to balancing all of the flavors in this dish for me. Savory, acidic, spicy, and just slightly sweet, this was an unusual but delicious chicken soup.

Thinking we had finally progressed beyond the Appetizer section of the menu, the chef mixed it up again and sent out two shellfish dishes. First, Black Mussels with ginger and lemongrass served in a spicy chili broth:


The mussels were exceedingly tender and the flavor of the ginger and lemongrass showed through brightly. While I did manage to get some of the broth in the mussel shells, apparently it wasn't enough for me to sense the spicy chili flavor the chef intended. However, a fellow diner who ate a spoonful of the sauce directly said that she could definitely detect a bit of heat.

Our second seafood course was something that wasn't currently on the menu, steamed cockles with bacon:


Again, these were exceedingly tender, especially for being such small examples of seafood. The bacon was tender, not crispy, and added much needed smoke and salt to the cockles. I think had we not already had so much food and knowing that more was to come, I would've loved to have seen both the mussels and cockles served with some nice French bread to soak up all that amazing cooking liquid.

Full yet, gentle reader? You'd better loosen your belt a notch because we are about to hit a few more highlights off the menu before getting to dessert. Next up? The salad courses, of course.

First up was a Bibb Lettuce Salad with toasted pumpkin seeds, paper thin shaved red radish that was dressed in a pumpkin seed vinaigrette:


If you've never had the opportunity to taste toasted pumpkin seed oil before, it is a really unusual and delicious flavor. You won't find it in most grocery stores, but it can be found in specialty food stores and health food stores. Incredibly good for you, it has a wonderful deep and nutty flavor that is most distinctive. The Bibb lettuce in this salad served as a wonderful vehicle for getting the pumpkin seeds and vinaigrette from plate to mouth.

The second salad we were served consisted of Baby Arugula with candied walnuts, blood orange supremes, shaved Parmesan cheese, all dressed with a citrus vinaigrette:


The saltiness and savoriness from the cheese, the pepperiness from the arugula, the sweetness and acidity from the blood oranges all worked so well together. It turned out that I had an entire plate of this salad sitting in front of me most of the time the salads were on the table. Consequently, I nearly finished this, even knowing that more was to come.

The next course, Chicken Paprikash, had been specifically requested by the coordinator of the event. Apparently it had been on the menu in the past and according to the chef, would most likely be making a return since it sold well. The chef had decided that he wanted to offer Austrian Goulash on the current menu and didn't want the two dishes competing. Here was a shot of the Chicken Paprikash:


Essentially a chicken roulade that was comprised of whole strips of breast meat chicken combined with a forcemeat of the dark meat chicken, the entire mixture was placed onto a piece of plastic wrap, rolled tightly into a log and then gently poached until cooked. It was then cooled and sliced into rounds for service before being reheated on the flattop. The rich paprika-laden sauce and crispy fried shallots gave this dish incredible depth of flavor. That being said, this was the only dish of the entire evening where I felt the seasoning was a bit too aggressive. When I shared my assessment with a fellow diner, I received a nodded head of agreement. I enjoyed the real depth of flavor each of the elements gave to the dish, but I definitely had to finish the rest of my glass of water afterwards to restore balance to my palate.

Next, the fish course. First up was a Pan Roasted Arctic Char with honey-glazed turnip matchsticks, charred onion puree and frisee salad:


In case you are unfamiliar with Arctic Char, it is somewhat of a cross between salmon and trout. The fish was cooked perfectly, the skin being nice and crispy and the flesh being translucent and creamy in flavor. The bed of honey-glazed turnips sitting underneath the fish were cooked, but still firm and the sweetness from the glaze went well to soften the charred onion puree. Overall this was a very nicely balanced and seasoned dish.

Our second fish course was the Glazed Chesapeake Bay Cod:


Served over a smoked onion broth, the dish also contained fresh edamame, bok choy and broken shrimp. The smoked onion broth tied this dish into the previous fish dish quite well. The cod was moist and seasoned well and the soy glaze added a lot of savoriness to this dish. The edamame popped in my mouth like fresh (but actually delicious) lima beans.

Ok, gentle reader, are you still with me? We've now covered nine appetizers, one soup, two salads, one entree, and two fish courses. What could possibly be left? Meat, of course!

The first of the two meat courses was the Austrian Goulash:


This was served with a creamed herbed spaetzle. Upon further inspection, the "creamed" portion of the description turned out to be coconut milk, giving the spaetzle a wonderful floral taste to it that worked well against the heaviness of the beef. Having been braised for hours, the beef was incredibly tender and flavorful. Eaten together with the creamed spaetzle, my palate began picking up additional flavors such as hints of cinnamon that didn't exist in either primary component. Perhaps more of that culinary alchemy that I've experienced in the past?

Our final meat course was a seared lamb tenderloin that currently was not on the menu:


Seared medium rare and sliced and fanned over brown lentils and Merguez sausage, this was both a hearty final dish as well as a nicely spiced one. The tenderloin slices were mild and still juicy and the lentils were cooked perfectly, retaining just a bit of their integrity. I don't know if the chef intends to put this dish on a future menu, but if he does, order it. You won't be sorry.

Lest you think that we could get this far into a meal and skip dessert, here are the three that the kitchen sent out for us to sample. First, a lemongrass creme brulee with palate cleansing sorbet:


Next up, vanilla bean ice cream spiced with honey-glazed peanuts, pumpkin seeds, and more of that lovely pumpkin seed oil:


And finally, while not totally original, when made with Valrhona bittersweet chocolate, a decadent way to end a meal even for the most ardent of chocoholics; chocolate lava cake with some of Jeni's chocolate ice cream:


Cutting into the round of cake reveals the most luscious liquid interior that serves as the cake's own sauce. I've actually had this chocolate ice cream once before, during a trip to Columbus for the Ohio Linuxfest. If you've never tried it and you consider yourself a true chocoholic, you must track some down.

When I looked at the clock at the conclusion of the final dessert, it read 10:30 PM. We had been eating our way through the menu since 7:00 PM and I can safely say that every single one of us was completely stuffed. The chef came out to a warm smattering of applause and began a Q&A session with the entire table. I had thought about asking him where he drew inspiration from, but on reviewing the menu we had been served as well as the rest of the menu we hadn't, it was clear to me that no cuisine was off limits to Chef Cooley: Irish, Portuguese, Italian, French, Austrian, Hungarian, Korean, Japanese, North African. These were but a small sample of food cultures represented on this menu. Considering that "AMP" stands for "America's Modern Palate," I can only conclude that AMP 150's clientèle consist of the modern eater, one who eats out several times a week or month and isn't happy with basic meatloaf and potatoes any more.

Like many modern restaurants in the Cleveland culinary scene, I think AMP 150 is best enjoyed in the company of friends and family. The ability to share so many disparate flavors without breaking the bank makes the restaurant stand out in my mind. That you can get this level of food at a Marriot hotel impresses me even more. As I mentioned before, tonight's meal was gratis; however, in what turns out to be the ultimate assessment of what I thought of the food tonight, would I return and pay for a meal at AMP 150? Without a doubt, absolutely.

And since I didn't mention it specifically before, AMP 150 was located at 4277 West 150th Street, Cleveland, OH 44135 and can be reached at 216-706-8787. Reservations are recommended.