The Camera Never Lies ... But The Light Meter Might

First impressions are as important in the culinary world as they are in the business world. As human beings, we tend to embrace every experience with as many senses as we have available. Before we taste food, we smell it. Before we smell it, we look at it. And before we look at it, we can hear it being prepared and coming our way. How often have you been in a Mexican restaurant and heard the sizzling fajitas approaching before you ever see it? Like a Pavlovian dog, just hearing that noise causes you to salivate in anticipation.

For those of you who have been reading my blog for a while (and thank you, by the way), you may have noticed a trend over the last nine to twelve months that my food pictures have gotten better and better. Until roughly one year ago, I was taking all of the pictures you see on my blog with my cellphone camera. It was convenient, it was inconspicuous, and it did an okay job in better lit restaurants. The problem was trying to get a good picture at the darker restaurants, the Momocho's, the L'Albatros's, the Greenhouse Tavern's of the world. Even though my cellphone camera had a flash on it, it was so dark that the darn thing couldn't even focus.

So, I decided to upgrade to an actual camera. A Canon G12 point and shoot to be exact. And then over the course of the next year, I actually upgraded twice more, first to a Canon Rebel t3i and finally to a Canon EOS 60D. I won't go into the nuts and bolts of why I upgraded, but let's just summarize by saying that as I became more proficient, I realized I needed a more capable tool. And that is a perfectly valid reason why a lot of people spend more money and upgrade to a better camera.

The problem, however, is that from the cheapest point and shoot to the most expensive professional camera out there, if you don't take control of the camera, you will get crappy food pictures in restaurants. Many people put the camera in fully automatic mode, point the camera at a plate of food, and think that is all that needs to be done. In a well-lit restaurant or outdoors in the sunlight, you might be right. The camera can reduce the shutter speed enough where even being handheld is possible without blurring. But in a moderate to dimly lit restaurant? Game over.

Today I met up with a friend at Hudson's Restaurant in Montrose for a beer and some much needed catching up on our respective lives. We went back and forth about what we had been up to and when we got into my recent food photography, I was explaining to her that I always shot in Manual exposure mode because it gave me full control over the resulting picture. Since I am a bit of a control freak, this style of shooting perfectly fit with the pictures I was taking. She didn't believe me when I told her that were I to set the camera to one of the automatic modes, that it would take a crappy picture.

"Fine," I said, "I'll prove it."

We had ordered an appetizer off of the menu to split. I mounted my $1600 camera (including lens) to my tabletop tripod, set the little dial to the "green square" (which is fully automatic on my Canon), and pressed the shutter button. The on-camera flash popped up, the picture was taken and here was the result:


Wait a minute, now ... what is that large gray area at the bottom of the plate? That would be the shadow where the light from the flash couldn't reach to illuminate it. The other problem you may notice is that the light falls off the further back it goes on the plate, so even without the large shadow in the front, the light level isn't even.

Okay, then, so flash is out. By switching the mode from Auto (green square) to Program AE (P), the camera would still pick out all of the settings without using the flash. This would be equivalent to what most people would pick on their cameras when shooting food in a restaurant. Surely it must be better, right? Let's see:


Ack!! What's with all of the gray? Last time I checked, most restaurants served food on whites plates, not gray ones. The problem here is that the light meter built into every single camera (which basically measures the reflected light off of the subject) are programmed to expect 18% reflected light. This number was determined many decades ago when an analysis of thousands of photographs revealed that, on average, 18% of the light striking the subjects reached the film in the camera. So, in the case of Program AE (P) mode, since most of the scene above is reflected white light, the camera toned down the light in order to meet the 18% value. If you've ever taken a picture of a snowy day and wondered why the snow appeared gray and not white, this is the reason.

Okay, enough horsing around. It's time for me (the photographer) to take charge of the camera. In order to set the correct color balance, I pulled out my handy "gray card":


This is literally a 8 1/2" x 5 1/2" cardboard card that I keep with me at all times in my bag that is 18% reflective on one side. Resting the card on my water glass, I used my camera's controls to set the white balance. White balance, for those who might not know, is also referred to as color temperature. If you've ever taken a picture of something white and it appeared a bit blue or yellow, this is due to the type of lighting illuminating your subject. In Hudson's today, the lights above the bar were incandescent bulbs, which tend to make white look yellow.

After obtaining a proper white balance, I switched my camera into Manual (M) mode, selected my settings and took this picture:


This was the picture as it came straight out of the camera. The only alteration I made to all of the pictures above was to correct for barrel distortion and resize them for this blog post. As you can see, when *I* selected the shutter speed and aperture, I managed to capture what I think is a much better exposed picture. Of course, my camera thought the image was too bright, but I simply ignored its suggestion and went with my own.

Once out of the camera and into my photo processing software, I barely tweaked a few color settings to make the image look its best:


I'd suggest you open the images up side by side. The differences are quite subtle. And then open up the first two images and compare the first two to these last two. Big difference, eh?

Okay, fine, so this was in a moderately dim restaurant. What about a real challenge ... say, a really dark outdoor patio around 9 pm where I couldn't even see my dining partner's facial features anymore? I'll take that challenge.

Last Friday I met my friend Elizabeth at Basi Italian Restaurant in Victorian Village located north of downtown Columbus, Ohio. We arrived around 7 pm and they sat us at a quaint little table for two on the patio, just outside of the bar. As we ate and chatted, the sun began to set and by 8:30 or so, the only light source was from the thin sparse strings of white Christmas lights adorning the bar. At that point, I took this picture of our table:


The light you see reflected off the table came from those Christmas light strands. When the dessert finally arrived, it was so dark that not only did auto-focus fail to work, but when manually focusing the lens, I had to use the light from my cellphone in order to properly do so. Once I got everything ready, I pushed the shutter button to take the picture and fifteen seconds later, I got this:


Now, granted, I did do some work on that photograph to optimize it. But it didn't take very long and I don't even think I could've gotten that picture had I set it to one of the automatic settings. By the way, just so there is no confusion, no flash was used to take that picture. And I don't lie, it really was that dark.

So what is the take away from all of this? If you want to take good pictures of food in not-so-great lighting conditions, you're going to have to take control of your camera and get out of the automatic exposure settings. You'll probably also need to get a tabletop tripod, too. Is my new rig a bit more conspicuous at restaurants? Absolutely. But I've discovered through a lot of trial and PLENTY of error, that there just isn't any other way to get consistently good pictures.

When A Pork Chop Simply Won't Do

It had been forever and a day since I had a meal at the Greenhouse Tavern up in Cleveland's East 4th District. It wasn't that I didn't enjoy Chef Jonathon Sawyer's commitment to local and sustainable food, it was just that it hadn't been on my radar for so long because of all the other great places that had been vying for my attention. When I asked my friend Edsel to join me for a dedication ceremony on a Friday night at my collegiate alma mater, Case Western Reserve University, he suggested we stop in and check out the current menu at the Greenhouse Tavern afterward. In fact, I thought it was such a great idea that I also invited my friends Nancy and Bob along, too.

It's hard to keep up with the menu at the restaurant because it can change so quickly, depending on what is and is not in season. Thus, even if I were to post this review a week after our dinner, the menu STILL might be different the next time you go. That being said, there are always some staples (like the amazing Ohio Beef burger), although the toppings do change with the season. Tonight's meal was a mixture of some familiar flavors as well as some bold innovative ones. Luckily, I was able to find a four-top table for 7:30 PM on OpenTable the morning of the ceremony.

After arriving at the restaurant and checking in, our hostess sat us upstairs and left us with a copy of the current menu. Here was a shot of the one page menu (top and bottom):



As was customary with every meal at the Greenhouse Tavern, bread and spread were brought to the table shortly after we sat down:


The spread tonight was pork rillette. Depending on the whim of the kitchen and what was available, this could also be duck rillette. However, Chef Sawyer's clear love of the pig means that most times I have eaten here, it's been pork. Ultra creamy and smooth, this made a fabulous shmear for the amazingly fresh and crusty bread. While the Greenhouse Tavern doesn't bake their own bread (I believe it comes from On The Rise Bakery in Cleveland Heights), the bread has always been really terrific.

Because there were so many new and interesting menu items to try, the four of us decided to order three "Seconds" and split them amongst us. First up was a dish known as the Fifth Quarter:


The Fifth Quarter referred to the bits of the animal that most Americans were unaccustomed to eating. This could include offal and other non-organ meats. The Fifth Quarter changed daily and today's representation was pork tongue that had been breaded and fried and served with a spicy mayonnaise. While I know that I have probably already lost about three-quarters of you out there reading the previous sentence, you have to believe me when I tell you that even *I* was hesitant to try this. Once I did, however, all doubts melted away. Honestly? It tasted like a pork "nugget." The texture was soft and reminded me of pork loin. What about the flavor? With a tiny squirt of lemon juice and a swipe of the spicy sauce from the bottom of the plate, the flavors were delicious and well-balanced. If I didn't already know what this dish was, I would've simply assumed it was just a meat nugget made out of pork loin.

For our second appetizer, we selected the Lamb Crepinette:


Crepinette is a cooking technique where a particular protein (lamb in this case) is wrapped in caul fat before being cooked. The caul fat melts away as it cooks and the protein is held in a uniform shape while it braises. Today's sausage had been cut on the bias and plated on a pool of charred eggplant puree, herb salad, and lamb jus. One of the herbs in the salad was fresh mint and I paired a bit of the green with a bite of the lamb and a generous dip of the charred eggplant. With this single bite, I knew why Chef Sawyer was so well-respected ... it was a little bite of heaven. It hit all of the flavors I look for in a well-balanced bite of food: savory, tangy, smoky, and just a bit of brightness from the mint. The seasoning was spot on.

Our third and final appetizer was a bowl of the Foie Gras Steamed Clams:


Served with only a single slice of charred bread, we soon found ourselves flagging down our server to bring us an additional basket of bread to help with the sauce sopping portion of the evening. The clams were good, yes, but paled in comparison to the ultra rich foie gras and sweet onion broth that lay at the bottom of the bowl. Between the four of us, we went through almost an entire basket of bread as we dipped roughly torn bits of bread in that glorious liqueur. I've had this dish twice now and both times I am simply amazed at how simple, but utterly tasty this dish has been.

While Edsel had exactly one thing on his mind for his entrée tonight, I decided to consider one of the (nearly) vegetarian options tonight, the Ohio Corn Linguine Carbonara:


Homemade linguine, fresh local Ohio corn, a poached egg, lots of fresh black pepper, Pecorino, and pancetta pepato had been tossed and plated in a large bowl. When I received the dish, I used my knife and fork to cut through the soft exterior of the egg, thus releasing the golden yolk and watched as it oozed down into the noodles. I gently tossed the linguine a final time to evenly distribute the yolk before twirling a bit on my fork and taking my first bite. Once again, the kitchen showed its prowess by blending sweetness from the corn, richness from the egg yolk and creme, spiciness from the black pepper and saltiness from the pancetta and Pecorino. The fresh pasta was cooked perfectly al dente, with just a tiny bit of chew to the noodles. Even though we had split three appetizers, I found myself ravenously working my way through my bowl until nothing remained.

We also decided to split a platter of the Animal Style Frites:


This was a dish of the Greenhouse Tavern's Pommes Frites that had been topped with bacon, cheese curds, brown gravy, and two sunnyside up eggs. As I brought my camera up towards my face to take the picture, I couldn't help but think that the dish almost looked "angry," the two eggs serving as the eyes to this "Animal." At $11 for this platter of fries, I don't think this would be something one person with any sanity would order as their own side dish, but split amongst four people ... well, we still only managed to eat half of it. While I certainly did enjoy all of the flavors, the frites themselves were simply okay. That being said, I've never been a huge fan of Chef Sawyer's pommes frites, with tonight's version being as good as any other I've tried.

For the final act and as a reward for making it this far down the review, we can now touch on Edsel's entrée. From the moment he suggested we have dinner tonight at the Greenhouse Tavern, he had been somewhat obsessively talking about the fact that you can now order, for a mere $24, half of a roasted pigs head for your meal. Now what we didn't know was that the kitchen only had a small number available per night and if you got there after they ran out, you'd be out of luck. Fortunately, we had arrived about thirty minutes prior to our reservation and when the topic of the pigs head came up with the hostess, she went and talked to the kitchen staff to make sure they reserved one for our table.

It's rare that you'll see a table of four foodies start to clap and make appreciative noises as the food arrives at the table; tonight was one of those times. As the gentleman carrying the very large platter ascended the stairs and began walking toward our table, not only did we actually clap, but people from other tables actually got up to track the migration of the pig's head as it made its way closer and closer. This was what Edsel received tonight:


Served with an Asian style peanut sauce, lime wedges, and homemade coleslaw, this was an impressive looking platter of food. Additionally, four buttered and toasted buns were provided to make pulled pork sandwiches. While there was more than enough to go around, I only wanted a small taste because of all the other food I had sitting in front of me. Edsel was kind enough to serve me a bit of the cheek meat, prized for its flavor and texture. Combined with just a bit of the peanut sauce, coleslaw and a squirt of lime juice, this was probably the most tender, flavorful piece of pork I have ever eaten.

While digging the cooked flesh off of a cooked pigs head is likely too much for most people to handle, we seemed to have little trouble with the concept. Even with the four of us trying to make a dent in the enormous portion of meat, collectively we still walked away with three entire containers full of leftovers from the pigs head alone! Unless you are REALLY hungry, you could definitely split this with two or three other people and just order a side item to complement it.

Too full from dinner to even consider dessert, we asked for our check. After some quick math, it was decided that with a 20% tip, each person's share came to only $45, which for the amount of food we had just consumed (and the sheer amount of leftovers), was a pretty good value. The fact that everything had been spot on and nothing that I tasted tonight was over or underseasoned was a testament to how well the kitchen was operating. If you have yet to try out the Greenhouse Tavern, I urge you to give them a try. You can certainly make an entire meal for less than the four of us tonight. Regardless of how much you spend, you will no doubt enjoy the unique ambiance and wonderful flavors coming out of the kitchen at this Cleveland hotspot.

Extra Helpings: Whose Cuisine Will Reign Supreme?

[Ed. note: I apologize for the gratuitous use of "link love" in the first part of this post. Having been given such a unique and cool opportunity, I wanted to make sure I promoted the event, chefs, and their restaurants as thoroughly as I could.]

As a James Bond fan, I should already know to never say never (again).

This year marks the second annual Top Chef fundraiser event at St. John Medical Center to help raise money for community outreach and wellness ministry programs. Initiated last year and won by Brandt Evans, Chef at Blue Canyon Kitchen in Twinsburg, this year they had four new well-established and major Cleveland chefs in the mix and Chef Evans had returned in the capacity of event judge. So, let's do the math: four major Cleveland chefs competing, great food, Ted Allen hosting/judging, and all for charity. Hmmm, what could possibly be wrong with this picture? The problem was the cost. At $150 per ticket, this was just something that was out of my price range right now.

When Amelia Sawyer, blogger from Chef's Widow and wife of one of tonight's competing chefs, offered two tickets to a randomly selected comment on her blog, I quickly entered by tweeting about the event and then pasting the contents of my tweet into a comment in the hopes I might win. From my Twitter account:

"Win 2 Tickets to the Top Chef benefit at St. John’s this Friday night! ($300 value yo) http://tinyurl.com/288mlov/ Please RT
3:32 PM Jun 23rd via web"

I didn't have much hope because Amelia's blog is well read and before you knew it, there were 45 other comments stating more or less the same thing in a valiant attempt to be the one randomly chosen comment. So, when I checked in on June 25th to see who won the tickets, I was completely unsurprised to discover that someone else, "YOD," had been selected. What I didn't realize was that YOD only had until noon on June 25th to contact Amelia and claim the tickets.

In an ironic twist, I was instant messaging a fellow friend on that very topic earlier in the morning:

"Well, I can tell you where I won't be at tonight ... that Top Chef event. At $150 per seat, it's just a little bit too rich for my blood right now."

Little did I know what was about to land in my lap. At about 12:30 pm, I heard the email notification go off: Ding Dong. I checked my Gmail account and there was a message from "Chef's Widow." Now I know that Chef's Widow is Amelia, but it didn't even dawn on me until I read the title of the email (Winner, winner, chicken dinner!) and opened it up to find that YOD had not only defaulted on the tickets by not claiming them, but a second random comment selection had been made and I was the replacement winner! I quickly emailed Amelia back and said as emphatically as I could without coming across all creepy stalkerish, "YES, PLEASE!"

Fortunately, the only plans I had made for the evening were to meet up with my foodie friend, Edsel, for a post work cocktail at the Velvet Tango Room. Having literally just confirmed that I would be meeting up with him for drinks later in the day, I quickly shot him another message telling him of my good fortune and asking if he would like to be the recipient of the other ticket. His schedule post-VTR was also clear and he quickly accepted my offer. We met up for a single drink, collected our cameras and phones, and headed off to Westlake to kick off the evening's festivities.

Before getting into the crazy details of the competition and the food, I wanted to take a minute and give the competing chefs a little bit of press. First up was Jonathan Bennett, Executive Chef of Moxie Restaurant and Red, the Steakhouse in Beachwood:


I've written about my experience at Moxie before when I attended one of their family style dinners. I have to say, it was probably some of the juiciest, tastiest fried chicken I think I have ever had. While I haven't had anything off their regular menu, I am really looking forward to returning for another meal soon.

Next up was Chef Ellis Cooley, Executive Chef of AMP 150 in the Marriott Hotel near the Cleveland Hopkins International Airport:


I have blogged twice now about my experiences at AMP 150 and even though Chef Cooley is a recent addition to the Cleveland culinary scene, I am really excited about his philosophy on local food and even more excited about his world-fusion approach to cuisine. In fact, in an odd twist of fate, I had already made dinner reservations for next week to showcase his talents to a friend of mine who will be coming into town.

Third on tonight's roster was Chef Regan Reik, Executive Chef of Pier W located off of Lake Avenue in Lakewood:


Of the four competing chefs tonight, Chef Reik's restaurant was the only one I have yet to visit. However, I have heard many positive comments on his food from my fellow Cleveland foodies and I was looking forward to seeing what he brought to the table.

The final contender tonight was Chef Jonathan Sawyer, Owner and Chef of the Greenhouse Tavern on E. 4th Street in downtown Cleveland:


I am a huge fan of Chef Sawyer's food (and I'm not just saying that because I won tickets to this event from his wife, Amelia) and have written about some of my several visits here on the blog. I have had a number of fantastic meals at his restaurant and continue to recommend it to people who are looking for something tasty and unique. His Ohio beef burger is one of my top burgers in all of northeast Ohio, easily tieing the many burger creations of Michael Symon's B Spot restaurant.

Alright, enough setup. Let's get down to business!

After securing our wrist bands, Edsel and I entered the massive tent that had been set up on the campus of St. John Medical Center for tonight's event. While we had arrived at precisely 6:31 PM, there were already quite a few people in the tent area. In addition to the four chef stations at the four corners of the tent, there were also two bars, a dais where the judges would sit, and a centrally located appetizer station. Which, ironically enough, already had quite a long line. After taking a few cursory photographs, Edsel and I decided to get in line to check out the appetizers. As we got close to the station, Ted Allen made his inaugural appearance for tonight's event and welcomed everyone:


Of the three judges, I will have to admit that Ted's banter was among the most balanced. I don't believe he was scripted, but I'm sure having done a number of these events every year gave him a certain amount of practice at what the crowds do and don't want to hear. The other two judges were more off the cuff and as such, seemed less "polished." Although I will be the first to admit that Chef Evans more than once laid a humorous zinger on the audience which brought fits of laughter.

It took us a good twenty minutes to finally reach the appetizer table:



Sadly, by the time we reached this table, many of the bowls of food were empty or close to being empty. Fortunately, that didn't stop me from putting together a decent plate of food:


The food at the appetizer buffet was being presented in part by the Blackbird Baking Company and Seballos Pastries. Besides the delicious bread (and it was indeed good), you had fresh figs, real Parmesan cheese, a sun-dried tomato tapenade, a crab salad and a cucumber topped with an herbed cream cheese (almost like boursin cheese), a slice of smoked salmon and topped off with a dill sprig. Everything was tasty, although I kind of wished the crab "martini" had incorporated a little bit of a horseradish kick to it. It was kind of like a Bloody Mary crossed with a crab salad and would've definitely benefited from a little zing to the flavor.

The way tonight's evening worked was that from 7 - 8 PM, the four competing chefs would be serving their appetizers and from 8:15 - 9 PM, the entrées would be available for pickup. To give you some idea of what it takes to serve this many people, I took a shot of the staging area at Chef Cooley's portion of the tent:


There were two of these tables literally lined with plate after plate, row after row of his dishes, ready for the finishing touches of micro-salad, sauce, and beet paper. Each chef had a cadre of kitchen staff to help with the plating, then transfer to the front table, and finally handing out finished plates to the guests.

The first appetizer I tried was Chef Cooley's:


This was a terrine of roasted beets and Lake Erie Creamery goat cheese with a beet gastrique and beet paper. I commented to Edsel upon first looking at it that it looked like a raw Wagyu beef steak as the layers of roasted beets and goat cheese had created an almost marbling effect. Dressed with micro-greens from KJ Greens, this was an incredibly delicious appetizer. With hints of citrus, the flavors were amazingly balanced and subtle. Had I not known I was eating beets, I never would've known. The goat cheese also had an incredibly mild flavor and while it added a definite richness to the flavor, this was a perfect summer dish. Wow, the bar had already been set high.

Next up was Chef Bennett's appetizer:


Here you had a spiced poached shrimp perched atop a coarse gazpacho with whipped cilantro foam. Sadly, by the time I got to this dish, the foam had subsided, but the presence of micro-cilantro garnishing the top added the nice zippy flavor that the foam would've provided. With the addition of lime juice and Fresno chili, this dish had a nice spicy bite to it without being too potent. The shrimp was large and sweet, but the gazpacho was much less soup and much more dressed vegetables. I suppose Chef Bennett was playing a little fast and loose with what is traditionally considered gazpacho.

The third appetizer was from Chef Reik:


Here was a forest mushroom terrine with sorrel ice cream, sorrel coulis and aged balsamic dressing. Made using both morel and portobello mushrooms, this duxelle-like mixture had been wrapped in blanched leeks before being pressed into the terrine. The sorrel ice cream was the presence of tonight's only real "molecular gastronomy" component as they had formed these tiny little balls with the help of liquid nitrogen. It should be noted that this dish was about as close as it came to being the only vegetarian dish, were it not for the veal stock in which the duxelle had been cooked. The only problem that I had was that the leek wrapper was a bit hard to cut through, even with my (plastic) knife, so it kind of fell apart as I tried to portion it into bite-sized pieces. I do have to give the chef credit for the sorrel ice cream, however. It was quite piquant, but delicious.

The final appetizer of the evening was Chef Sawyer's:


Here was the foie gras steamed clams with butter, red onion brulee, late harvest viognier vinegar and grilled bread. I've actually had this dish at his restaurant and can tell you, it was delicious then and it was certainly delicious tonight. The thought of steaming and holding so many clams was an amazing feat all by itself. The clams were tender, the broth was rich without being fatty and the grilled bread added a wonderful crunch and bitterness that balanced out the other flavors so well. I just wish I had gotten more bread to soak up the wonderful sauce.

Having finished our appetizers before time had run out, I decided to venture up to the bar to grab some drinks for Edsel and I. Here was a shot of the complimentary drink menu tonight:


Another sign revealed who was staffing the two bar areas:


I had heard of Loco Leprechaun before, but have yet to have a chance to actually visit the establishment. Irish and Mexican sounds like an, umm, interesting mix of cuisines.

At the end of the appetizer hour, each chef presented the judges with an expertly plated version of their dish and the judges bantered back and forth about each dish's merits. Once the four dishes were presented and tasted, service quickly shifted over to serving the entrées.

Here was Chef Cooley's entrée:


This was a sirloin beef roulade containing braised short ribs and corned beef and was served with a lobster carrot puree and arugula salad with Parmigiano cheese. Having cooked the carrots down in lobster stock, the sauce had a pronounced seafood flavor, almost as if the chef had added fish sauce. To continue with the Asian theme, there was also a generous dose of ginger flavor as well. Studded with small bits of cooked lobster, I have to be honest when I say that I wasn't crazy about the sauce by itself. However, when paired with the roulade, this was an incredibly balanced and delicious bite of food. The roulade, which to my eyes resembled a braciole, was tender and flavorful. Chef Cooley joked around with the judges that he was thinking of adding this to his menu and calling it an Irish Sirloin.

The second entree of the evening was Chef Bennett's:


This was 18-hour Ohio pulled pork, JB's grits, and spicy peach slaw. The pork shoulder, which had been first cooked sous vide, had been infused with a slightly peppery spice rub. While there was sadly no bark on which to nibble, the presence of pork cracklings garnishing the top of the plate was a welcome touch. The grits, which had been cut with the presence of fresh corn, weren't quite as creamy as what Edsel has had in the past at Moxie, but they were plenty sweet and savory all at the same time. The peach slaw had also been dressed with Thai basil, which added a wonderful herbaceous bite to the dish. When I finally managed to snag a bit of the pork, grits, peach slaw, and cracklings all on my fork at the same time, I took a bite and was rewarded with probably the most well-balanced dish of the entire evening. Sweet, spicy, salty, crunchy and creamy were all represented.

The third entrée of the evening was from Chef Reik:


This was Copper River salmon wrapped in housemade pancetta topped with warm Ohio strawberry jam and served with a mustard green pierogi. While I heard many exclaim that the salmon was cooked perfectly, it was closer to medium well and I normally prefer mine more medium rare. That being said, obviously the chef was in no position to cook each piece of fish to order. The fish was wonderfully rich and the layer of pancetta added a bright saltiness to each dish. The surprising item on this plate to me was the strawberry jam. While it didn't add a prominent strawberry flavor, the sweetness added a nice foil to the saltiness from the pancetta. The mustard green pierogi, incorrectly identified by Ted Allen as a wonton during the subsequent judging portion, was tender and the filling had a nice earthy texture and flavor.

The final entrée of the evening was presented by Chef Sawyer:


Here you have an Ohio lamb crepinette with heirloom vegetable ratatouille. Essentially cooked bone in, the lamb was shredded and wrapped up in the skin and then roasted. While neither Edsel nor I got any of the skin, apparently those who tasted it said that it was crispy and delicious, much like the bark would be from pulled pork. And in fact, to continue the comparison to pulled pork, the lamb was so tender and pulled apart so easily, that I can totally understand making the textural comparison of the lamb to pulled pork as well. The vegetable ratatouille was briny and tart, most likely due to the Moroccan spice blend chermoula as well as additional lemon and caper flavors.

By this point, I can definitely tell you gentle reader, I was STUFFED. With pre-event appetizers, four competition appetizers and four competition entrées, I was ready for a nice nap. However, the event organizers had one more trick up their sleeves. They had brought in Tremont's A Cookie And A Cupcake to supply sweet treats for post-dinner consumption. Here was a shot of the plate that Edsel brought back to the table:


Here you have three sets of mini-cupcakes: strawberry, raspberry with candied lavender, and espresso. Each was tasty and the perfect way to top off this incredible meal.

So, after all that, who won? In addition to the official winner, there was also a People's Choice winner. In each program guide was a ballot that you could tear out and place in one of four designated ballot boxes. The winner of the People's Choice award, as well as a check for $1000, was Chef Jonathon Bennett from Moxie. And after much deliberation and discussion by the official judges, tonight's overall award, along with a check for $2500 and bragging rights, was presented to Chef Regan Reik from Pier W. While I personally wanted to see Chef Cooley walk away with the top prize, I can't fault Chef Reik's imaginative use of ingredients and creation of well-balanced dishes. Congratulations to both chefs!

Thanks again to Amelia for taking what would've been a rather boring, dreary Friday night and turning it into a fabulous evening out with a good friend enjoying some of the finest cuisine that Cleveland has to offer. Hopefully next year I'll be able to afford the tickets on my own without having to rely on the generosity of others.

Tomato Tasting at Howe Meadow Market

Anyone who has been reading my blog for even a short period of time knows that I am a supporter of local, sustainable, and seasonal products. As I have talked about in the past, I am also a huge fan of markets that can connect the consumer as directly as possible with the farmer / grower. In fact, I've already written about two markets over the past summer, my trip to the Shaker Square Farmer's Market and Coit Street Market and my trip to the Homerville Wholesale Produce Auction. I'm not going to go and rehash the meat of those entries again; there is no point. If you want to read what I had to say about each of those markets, click on the respective links.

However, knowing that both of those markets are not local to Akron natives, I wanted to offer up a third alternative, the Howe Meadow Farmers Market located on Riverview Road in Peninsula on Saturday mornings and at the grounds of Stan Hywet on Thursday late afternoons and early evening. The website details the hours and dates of each location along with various programs and offerings that happen during the summer. Today, being in the midst of corn and tomato season, I decided to visit the Howe Meadow location on Riverview. After arriving shortly after 9 AM, I was directed to park in a meadow by the only major structure on the property, a barn:


As I walked towards the market (which would be just to the right of the barn in the above photograph), I almost felt like I was walking into a medieval fair. It wasn't that people were dressed in period costumes or musicians were playing period pieces, but I felt like I was communing with my natural surroundings. Here was a shot of the market as I approached it:


Just inside the entrance was a Welcome tent where I discovered that while cash was perfectly acceptable, they had a way where you could get "credits" if you needed to make an ATM withdrawal or needed to use your WIC coupons. The credits were used just like regular cash at the various stands in the market. Fortunately, I had enough cash on me that I didn't need to take advantage of the offering.

I'm not going to necessarily comment on the next series of photographs as I think they do an excellent job of telling their own story. I will really only say this: I remain extremely impressed with the bounty of all the wonderful fresh fruit and vegetables that we have available to us at this time of year and I wish I could convince more people to take advantage of this amazing opportunity to buy local and keep the money in our local economy.

That said, here we go ...

(This is probably my favorite photo ... look at all the colors!)

Today in the middle of the square were a duo of musicians playing the dulcimer and flute:


One of the other reasons for my visit today was a free tomato tasting. Market goers were encouraged to try as many flavors as they wanted from the twenty varieties of heirloom tomatoes that were present for todays tasting:




Each group was labeled and the two ladies running the tasting conveniently had a sheet of paper with all of the varietals on them so that you could keep tasting notes if you so chose. I probably ended up trying about half of the tomatoes on display before deciding on the Sun Golds as being my favorite. The balance between the acidity and sweetness was absolutely perfect.

In what turned out to be a pleasant surprise, Jonathon Sawyer, his wife Amelia, and several of the crew from the Greenhouse Tavern (which I've written about before) showed up in conjunction with the tomato tasting to put together several salsas prepared with the ingredients available right there at the market.

Here was a shot of Chef Sawyer putting together his salsa as well as doing some public relations work for his restaurant:


Another shot of the Chef:


Not to be outdone, the crew from the Greenhouse Tavern were eager to each build their own salsas to compete with Jonathon's:


Here were the finished salsas, each highlighting different elements of sweet, tart, and savory:




After all of the salsas had been prepared, shoppers were encouraged to try them all and tell a woman standing at the end of the table what our preference was. Today my vote went for Dan. His salsa had a wonderful blending of tomatoes, corn, garlic, lime juice and seasoning. That being said, it was kind of like trying to pick your favorite child. Of course they were all good, but Dan's really stood out as being well balanced.

Having finished the tomato tasting and the salsa competition, I gathered up my produce and headed up to my friend Diane's house for a fantastic dinner of grass-fed beef from Millgate Farms, a panzanella salad made from some of the tomatoes that I had bought today at the market, and finished off the meal with some amazing Ohio sweet corn that we simply boiled until tender and delicious. I know that our farmers markets won't be up and running again very soon, but once June 2010 hits, I encourage you to seek out a market nearest you and learn what great produce is supposed to taste like. The fact that you'll be helping to support a local farmer and cutting out all of those emissions from having to truck or fly produce from halfway across the United States, or for that matter from another country, is just a big plus in my book.