The Rebirth of Club Isabella

As a student of Case Western Reserve University in the early 1990's, there were only a handful of really "nice" restaurants one could go to, although most of them were out of the range of most college students' budgets. Brandywine was probably the most accessible and I spent many an evening (and dollar) there throwing back the Wicky Wacky Woos and Fried Mushrooms with horseradish dipping sauce. Next up the scale were two sister restaurants, That Place On Bellflower (which, oddly enough, was on Bellflower Road) and Club Isabella. Topping the list was the penultimate dining experience that could be had at Baricelli Inn.

Of the restaurants listed, I ate at Club Isabella only once and didn't manage to get to the Baricelli Inn until after I had graduated college and was actually making money. Sadly, That Place On Bellflower and Club Isabella closed down many years ago. That Place was eventually reborn as L'Albatros Brasserie. Recently, I learned that under the direction of Chef Fabio Mota, Club Isabella was also to reopen, and while technically not in the same spot as the original, it was still situated on Case's campus.

The new incarnation was located at 2175 Cornell Road, Cleveland, OH 44106 and can be reached at 216-229-1111. Having been open for several months now, I decided to go on a Tuesday evening to check them out. As I pulled to the corner of Cornell and Random Roads, I caught my first glimpse of the newly revamped corner space:


Street parking was available, but for only $3, I could valet the car. No brainer there. The patio in the picture above was available for service, but since I was expecting a friend for dinner and didn't want to compete with outside noises (such as the metro train line that runs on the opposite side of Random Road), I opted to sit inside instead. I should mention that the front door to the restaurant was at the far right side of all of those windows. It wasn't particularly obvious and it took me a second or two to realize where it was.

Once inside, the host politely greeted me and because the restaurant wasn't busy that night, allowed me to choose the table at which I'd like to sit. Picking a nice, large four-top by the front window, he left me with the dinner menu:



Within just a few minutes, my server arrived to take my order. I had read about some of the dishes offered on the menu prior to my visit tonight and was eager to try some of them for myself.

The first surprise to come out of the kitchen was a complimentary amuse bouche, lamb terrine with cherry jam and fried shallots:


This was a very tasty way to start the meal. The lamb almost had that gyro meat taste to it. The cherry jam was a bit hidden in flavor, and I think provided a bit of underlying acidity more than its own flavor. I was definitely looking forward to more from the kitchen.

Next up on the table was a small dish of softened, herbed butter:


And fresh bread, in this case a piece from an Epi:


Both were fresh and delicious. While I did try the herbed butter on a piece of the bread, I mostly ate the bread unadorned. Good bread doesn't need a topper and this one definitely fit the bill of good bread.

Having had my one bite amuse and nibbled on some of the bread, I was ready and waiting for my appetizer course to arrive, Sweet and Spicy Fried Cuttlefish:


This was one of the dishes I had read about before coming to Club Isabella and it wholly intrigued me. I have never eaten cuttlefish before, but I know that it is just another encephalopod, like squid or octopus, both of which I have enjoyed in the past. Visually, the plate was quite stunning and I eagerly dove in. The wait was totally worth it.

The cuttlefish itself was soft and tender and yet had just a bit of chew to it. I imagine that cuttlefish is as temperamental as its cousins and cooking it too little or too much would render it chewy beyond recompense. The sauce coating the cuttlefish was indeed both sweet and slightly spicy. For those who abhor spice, it might have been too much. I completely enjoyed it. The red peppers, scallions, and sesame seeds added additional notes of flavor and texture.

Two things to note, however. First, this was an appetizer that could easily be shared by two or more people. Second, and I didn't realize this until I had gotten home and was processing my photos on my large computer monitor, if you look closely at the picture towards the bottom front of the pile of cuttlefish, there is a long black hair in the dish. I didn't see it at the restaurant (or I would have sent it back to be re-fired) and I have no idea if I even ingested it. I contacted the chef the next day to explain what I had found and his response was:

"Thomas.....sorry about that! We in the kitchen all have very very short hair so I can't imagine how it got there but let me know the next time you are in and I'll set you up!"

Take that for what it's worth.

Following my appetizer course, the salad course, an Arugula and Ridicchio Salad, arrived promptly:


Topped with almonds, an onion marmalada, and Lake Erie Creamery chevre, the salad had that wonderful mix of pepperiness from the arugula and bitterness from the ridicchio. The almonds added a nice crunch to the salad and the onion marmalada a touch of sweetness. The only thing that didn't work for me was the goat cheese. By itself, it was lovely. But one of the characteristics of Lake Erie Creamery's chevre is its mild tanginess. The delicate flavor got completely lost against the bolder, stronger flavors of the other ingredients in the dish.

Until this point in the meal, courses had been coming out of the kitchen fairly promptly. Suddenly, between the salad course and the entree, the length of time lengthened considerably. It wasn't so much that I had any place to be, but the shift was noticeable. When my server finally approached my table empty handed, I knew something was up. She apologized for how long it was taking and asked if I would like an intermezzo while I waited. Figuring that my order had either forgotten to get fired or that it had been improperly cooked and needed to be re-fired, I agreed.

Minutes later, she returned with a small dish of Jenis Cherry Lambic Sorbet with a sprig of fresh thyme:


I've already written at length about my love of Jenis ice creams and sorbets, so I won't belabor the point here except to say that this was a delicious and refreshing way to segue from previous courses to the next.

Finally, my entree arrived at the table, the Salt-Crusted Bronzini with Lemon and Chervil:


Dressed with olive oil and micro-greens, what surprised me most about the dish was that it was served whole, head and tail intact. While this doesn't bother me, per se, I know many people would be put off by such a presentation. That said, I was looking forward to how moist the fish would be due to the salt-crust treatment. As I took my first bite, I enjoyed the simplicity of flavors, the tenderness of the flesh, and the slight anise flavor provided by the chervil. While the fish was moist, it didn't quite hit the level of moistness I was expecting. Don't get me wrong, it wasn't bad by any stretch of the imagination. But it wasn't that perfect "10" either.

Since the bronzini didn't come with a side, I decided to order my own, the Brussels Sprouts Gratin:


Just like the appetizer, the sides are meant to be shared. This was way more than I could finish alone (not to mention the fact that I had already eaten so much prior to this). The Brussels sprouts were topped with bacon and bleu cheese and then baked in this very cute enameled crock. While certainly tasty, the Brussels sprouts were cooked a little under al dente, and if you like your vegetables cooked all the way through, this might not be the side for you.

Amazingly, even after all of this food, when my server brought up the idea of dessert, I figured I would at least listen to the list of made in-house desserts (as opposed to the pastas, of which none were made in-house ... odd). When she arrived at the Lemon Tart, I figured that this would be the perfect way to end the meal.

By now, the sun had set and while I was full, I figured a bite or two of something nice and tart would be a great way to cleanse my palate. As with previous courses in tonight's meal, I should've realized that the dessert could've also been split between two people:


This was a lemon tart with strawberry sauce, toasted and ground nuts, a quenelle of freshly whipped vanilla scented cream, all topped with a sprig of mint. As I've gotten older, I've come to appreciate the restraint of a pastry chef who uses less sugar and allows other flavors, like the tartness of lemon to shine through. Sadly, between the strawberry sauce and the lemon curd, it was a tad too sweet for me. The other components of the dish, however, were simply marvelous.

To accompany my sweet dessert, I paired it with an unsweetened espresso:


This definitely hit the spot and helped to balance out the sweetness from the dessert. I would highly recommend pairing these two together.

Having only had water to drink during my meal, in the end, my check with tax came to $58. While that does seem pricey, since the appetizer, side dish, and dessert could have easily been split between two people, were you to add in a second entree for an additional diner, you would be looking at an $80 check for two people, which isn't terrible for this level of cuisine. Unfortunately, like the original Club Isabella, this food is still not really accessible to the poor college students that walk by the restaurant on a daily basis. Then again, when mom and dad come into town for a visit, this would definitely be a place I'd recommend going.

There were a few issues with my meal tonight, but overall, I enjoyed myself during my inaugural visit to the reopened Club Isabella. Assuming that the hair incident was an isolated occurrence, I have no hesitations recommending you check out Club Isabella next time you are in the area.

A Trio Of Trips To Dim And Dem Sum

The last time I wrote about the guys at Dim and Den Sum, Cleveland's newest wave of mobile food trucks, they were just getting started and still trying to establish their menu, weekly locations where they would be serving up their food, and building a loyal following of customers. Part of the trouble that I initially had was that they were either on the opposite side of town during lunchtime or only serving food to the post-bar crowd late at night in Tremont. Neither were good for my schedule.

Fortunately, after Case Western Reserve University (incidentally, my alma mater) turned them down their request to set up on campus, the much more cool cats at the Cleveland Institute of Art saw the unique experience that these guys were trying to provide to the culinary scene in Cleveland and graciously allowed them the use of the parking lot at the Cleveland Cinemateque from 11:30 AM until 2:00 PM every Tuesday (and as it turned out, sometimes other random days as well). And since my daytime job has me a mere five minute drive from this location, I have taken it upon myself to check them out several more times since my first review.

The Cleveland Cinemateque was located at 11141 East Boulevard, Cleveland, OH 44106. While there is a number listed for the Cinemateque, it really has nothing to do directly with the Dim and Den Sum guys, so there isn't much point listing it here. That being said, you can always go to their website here or contact them via their Facebook page here or their Twitter account here to learn about the daily menus or where they will be serving up their delicious eats.

The one lesson I learned early on was that while they usually have one or two classic items from their introductory menu, many days the chefs presented what was fresh, local, and in-season. Showing up for some grub meant that I had to roll with the punches as not every item was offered every time. At the same time, this meant I got to try a variety of their off-the-cuff culinary techniques and flavors, which I greatly appreciated.

Here was the menu the first time I visited the truck:


While "tots" are almost always on the menu, every time I've seen them, there has always been some variation. Today's tots were supplied with a generous portion of Maytag Blue Cheese and a homemade hot sauce:


Just like my first visit, the tots were fried perfectly. While I thought the blue cheese was quite an assertive flavor for the tots, as always these were crispy and delicious, from first bite to last. I think some flavors work better than others with the tots and while this wasn't the best pairing, neither was it the worst.

Along with my tots, I ordered the Dim Burger cooked medium. Here was what I received after just a few more minutes at the pick-up window:


And a shot with the crown removed:


Adorned with smoky pepperjack cheese, lettuce, tomato, and a spicy sauce which was vaguely reminiscent of the sriracha mayonnaise that came on the PBLT, this local beef burger had been cooked perfectly to medium. I know that many of the dishes that the guys serve at the truck are cook-ahead-and-reheat types of foods (like beef shank and hot dogs). It was nice to see them tackling made-to-order food and doing a good job of it as well.

The burger itself was a much better success than the tots were today. The flavors definitely blended together and I had to employ a hunched over stance in order to avoid dripping anything on my work clothes. For an extra $2 I could've added some pulled pork on this sandwich, but I figured that might be gilding the lily just a bit too much. I think the burger was quite good the way it was.

Here was a shot of the chalkboard menu on my second visit:


What struck me about my visit this time was that they had put out a call on their Facebook and Twitter accounts requesting what people would like to see on the tots. Apparently Sarah won today with the Jalapeno Popper tots. Being a sucker for that now ubiquitous (and usually poorly prepared) bar food, I couldn't help but order the tots. When considering my options for a sandwich, I definitely wanted to try something unique and new, and Phil's Meatloaf Melt seemed to fit that bill quite well.

After paying for my meal, I walked over and waited for my food while watching the chef prepare it inside. The one odd thing I noticed that felt out of place was an opened bottle of Sweet Baby Ray's Barbecue sauce sitting on the prep counter. I didn't give it a whole lot of thought (other than the fact that it was odd to see it someplace where they pride themselves on making so much of the food from scratch), until I received my food and took it over to a spot where I could photograph it.

Here was a shot of my tots and my still wrapped sandwich:


Here was a shot of the Jalapeno Popper tots by themselves:


Comprised of tots, sour cream, bacon bits, cheddar cheese, and topped with fresh Jalapeno slices, these were pretty darn tasty. I liked this incarnation of the tots than the ones I had eaten on my previous visit as the tots didn't get lost in the layers of flavor. The Jalapenos, while adding some heat, didn't overpower the rest of the dish. In my mind, these were a definite hit. Sarah definitely knew a good thing when she suggested it.

Next up was Phil's Meatloaf Melt:


And a shot with the top slice of bread removed:


As you can see, the sandwich reveals the Dim and Den Sum guys' love of pulled pork. Here you had a slice of meatloaf which had been warmed back up, pulled pork, grilled onions, a slice of Cheddar cheese, and barbecue sauce. When I saw the barbecue sauce, I put two and two together and realized that had been the purpose of the commercial sauce sitting on the prep counter at the truck. Regardless, I replaced the top slice and gave it a bite. The first item that stood out to me was the bread. A hearty rye bread, it definitely kept its integrity, even after I had taken several bites.

The meatloaf was a touch spongy, which was a texture I didn't care all that much about, but the flavors were quite good. The richness from the pulled pork added another layer of savoriness and the slight tang from the barbecue sauce helped somewhat to cut through the fattiness of the rest of the ingredients. Personally, if they were going to use a commercial sauce, I wish that they had gone for a more vinegary, less sweet version like Stubb's Original BBQ Sauce. I think it would've added a better overall balance of acidity.

For my third and final trip to the truck, I ventured a bit farther from the Cleveland Cinemateque location to a corner in Tremont where The Treehouse was located. Apparently, a Tweet-Up was going on inside The Treehouse and the Dim and Den Sums guys decided that it would be a good location for a Thursday night visit, offering free plain tots to anyone attending. Having gotten off work rather late, I decided to head there and grab a bite for dinner before returning home to Akron.

As with my previous two visits, here was a shot of tonight's menu:


While I've been in the habit of getting the daily tots and a sandwich, tonight the tot offering was simply with the sausage gravy that was being offered on the Redneck Breakfast Taco. I decided to forgo the tots by themselves tonight and instead ordered two of the tacos, of which I had tried only once in any of my visits. While I normally just get a bottle of water, tonight they had run out and the only other non-sugared offering they offered was an unsweetened can of Japanese toasted green tea:


Having never had this served in a can before, I definitely have to comment that it had an interesting taste. While the English on the can didn't say anything about the green tea being smoked, once I tasted the cold liquid inside, I was almost sure that this was what I was drinking.

It always amazes me how fast the guys can turn orders around and literally after just a minute or two of paying, I was presented with my duo (or should I say dos) of tacos:


To the left was the Redneck Breakfast Taco and to the right was the Chicken Confit Taco. First, let's talk about the Redneck Breakfast Taco:


Comprised of pepperjack cheese, homemade sausage gravy, smashed tots, lettuce, and a tomato salsa, this was quirky and delicious. It was certainly an odd combination of items, but they really worked well together. Actually, the thought of sausage gravy, tots, and cheese seemed to have come straight from a casserole recipe from the likes of Paula Dean, but the tomato salsa added a brightness to what would otherwise have been a pretty heavy flavor.

The other taco, a Chicken Confit Taco, took me from Paula Dean's neck of the woods to a more exotic locale:


Besides the chicken confit, this taco contained lettuce, a peanut sauce and a green curried creme fraiche. The chicken was moist and delicious and the combination of the peanut and green curry flavors definitely evoked the distant lands of Thailand. The curry in the creme fraiche wasn't overpowering and just subtly wove its way through the other flavors in the taco. Of the two, I think I enjoyed this one more than the Redneck Breakfast Taco, but in all honesty, I rather enjoyed them both.

I continue to remain impressed with the level of creativity and execution of the food coming out of this mobile kitchen. Clearly they have started to build a cadre of loyal customers as the truck has always had people at it whenever I go. In fact, the guys who run Dim and Dem Sum, Jeremy Esterly and Chris Hodges, are already in the works of adding at least one, if not two, new trucks to help cover Cleveland even better. While the new truck won't be exactly the same menu as the current one, they will still provide unique and tasty mobile food experiences to what I perceive to be an eager Cleveland crowd.

Take the time to track them down. You won't be disappointed.

Some Traditions Are Meant to Evolve

Tradition is a funny thing. It allows us to cling to a routine that is comforting and normal. At the same time, it can prevent us from recognizing that the only constant in this world is change and that sometimes we need to adapt our old traditions to new ones while respecting the spirit of what once was. While attending my undergraduate studies at Case Western Reserve in the early to mid 1990's, I discovered that on the first Thursday night of every month a local band, the First String Band, played at a local bar on the north side of campus called the Barking Spider Tavern. The music was an eclectic mix of early Americana, blues, jazz, Appalachian, rag, and country. The name of the band reflected the group's reliance on all stringed instruments to produce their unique sound.

I can remember spending many a Thursday night at the Spider consuming quantities of Labatt's Blue and listening attentively to the performance of the First String Band. In fact, those nights became very popular on campus and you generally had to show up about an hour early just to be able to get a seat. From 10 pm onward, it was a packed, standing room only crowd. The First String Band became so popular, in fact, that they actually released two albums, one a studio album of the songs that I remember hearing on those Thursday nights and another live album recorded right at the Spider about a year after I graduated from Case. Fortunately, I managed to acquire both (even finding one on Amazon.com) and they now occupy a permanent position on my playlist whenever I want to revel in my past just a little bit.

After I moved out of the Cleveland area, returning on a regular basis to listen to the band became problematic and soon my visits stopped altogether. It wasn't until I had returned to the Akron area in late 2004 that I soon became curious and started doing a little digging on the Internet to find out what had happened to the band. As always, there was both good news as well as bad. The bad news is that the band, the First String Band, had officially broken up due to several members moving away from the area. The good news is that two of the band's members were still performing on the first Thursday of every month at the Spider. Information in hand, I called up two of my former partners in crime from my undergrad days and we decided to make a weekend out of it. Fortunately, there is a bed and breakfast type place right next door to the Spider called the Glidden House. And while certainly not inexpensive, if the three of us split a room, it would work out to about $50 per night per person.

We quickly discovered the ill-conceived part of our master plan after we left the Spider when they closed: There was nothing within walking distance around us that was open to grab some grub. The first time we put this plan into action, we stumbled back over to the Glidden House, extremely hungry, at around 2 am or so. I remembered that there was a candy machine on our floor, but the smallest bill I had was a $5 bill. So I went up to the front desk to get change and I don't know whether the woman working behind the counter was scared or annoyed. In the end, she repeatedly stated that she couldn't break a $5. Dejected and hungry, we simply went to bed. Lesson learned.

Nearly two months ago, my two friends and I started talking about doing another Barking Spider visit over the 4th of July weekend. Since the 4th fell on a Saturday this year, all three of us actually had the Friday before off. So, the plan would be to descend on the Glidden House on the evening of Thursday, July 2nd, have dinner on Coventry Road in Cleveland Heights and pick up a "snack" for later on in the evening. Since we discovered the error of our ways from that first stay, we've always stopped by a favorite local sandwich place called Grum's Sub Shoppe located at 1776 Coventry Road, Cleveland Heights 44118. They can be reached at 216-321-4781, but unfortunately they do not have a website at this time.

Grum's occupies a tiny little shop located very close to the intersection of Coventry and Mayfield. Here is a of shot of the exterior of the store:


Once inside, the entire menu is listed on the wall above you:


The important thing to realize about a Grum's sub is that a half sub is actually more filling to me than an entire footlong sub from Subway. That and a hell of a lot tastier. While I've tried many of the subs at Grum's, the one I always return for is the Turkey Ridge. I do think the bread that they use today isn't quite as good as what I remember from college, but it is still far and above a better product than you'll find in other fast food sub chains. The Turkey Ridge comes with sliced turkey, mayonnaise, tomato, onions, provolone, and an Italian dried spice blend.

While we ordered and waited for our subs to be prepared, I asked my friend Mike to walk around the corner to the convenience store and pick up a bag of ice. I had stopped at the grocery store the night before and spent $3 on a disposable Styrofoam cooler that would serve as the refrigerator for our sandwiches. Once we got back to our hotel room, I prepped the cooler:


I added some ice to the bottom, layered in our sandwiches, and filled the rest with remaining ice:


I can only imagine what someone would've thought if they walked into our room and just saw this container sitting there. Were we transporting kidneys or hearts or something? Nope, just Grum's.

Our snack for later now safely stowed away on ice, we headed next door to the Barking Spider for a bit of pre-show drinking. The entrance to the Spider is actually behind the Arabica coffee shop and looks like this:


As there was a particularly large crowd assembled in the main bar area for the act before the one we were there to see, we decided to sit at a table in one of the outer rooms and wait for some space to open up. Once there, we decided to continue the very long tradition of converting our pitcher of Labatt's Blue to a pitcher of Barking Tans. What on earth, I hear you asking, is a Barking Tan? In a tradition based on the Black and Tan, you start with your basic ingredients:


You then pour out one sacrificial glass of Labatt's Blue:


And then create the Barking Tan by adding the bottle of Guinness to the pitcher:


Here is a Youtube video I shot using my camera phone. And, yes, gentle reader, I know that the video is sideways. This was the first time I had used the new video recorder feature on my phone and I didn't realize that it wouldn't rotate the image. So, just kind of tilt your head a little bit and you'll be fine.



And that first glass of sacrificial Labatt's? Don't worry, it is still happily consumed. We simply rotate who drinks the first glass for each new pitcher of Barking Tans we make. Adding the Guinness was a genius move on the part of the person who decided to first try this. It adds a real depth of flavor to the resulting brew and in a strange way actually takes off the hoppy edge of the Labatt's.

As usual, many pitchers of Barking Tans were consumed, the band was simply amazing, the night air was cool and a zephyr gently blew from the one side of the room to the other. If this had to be my last night on earth, I would happily spend it this way. I shut my eyes and happily regressed into my memories of those nights when I was an undergraduate and realized how lucky I am to be able to experience this again.

At 1 am the Spider promptly closed and we left to stumble back to our room for a little post-Spider revelry. My associates immediately went for their Grum's sandwiches, but I had some photos and video to process and before you knew it, the room was dark and my two associates had turned in for the evening. At about 2:30 am, I realized that I, too, was pretty darn hungry, so with all the lights off, I snapped a few final photos before tearing into my Turkey Ridge sandwich. First, the sandwich wrapped:


And finally, unwrapped:


My recollection of this particular sandwich is actually pretty poor. Imagine that. However, I've had this sandwich enough times to know just how good and filling it is. After polishing off my sub, I shut down the laptop and wearily climbed into bed. It wasn't long before I drifted off to sleep and relived the night's experience at the Spider in my dreams.

My friends and I try to get together about twice a year to have this experience. In fact, I wrote about the last time we did this here. But after rereading the older entry, I realized that all I talked about were the restaurants we went to and not the Spider/First String Band/Grum's Turkey Ridge experience that I also cherish so much. While I realize I can't go back to 1995 and relive the experience as it originally was, I am happy that I am able to spend just a little bit of my time now spending some quality time with my friends, listening to some absolutely great music, and eating and drinking a little bit of the Cleveland from my past. I highly encourage you to check out both The Barking Spider Tavern and Grum's Sub Shoppe if you happen to be in the Case campus area.