I love good food - who doesn't? I love trying new things, both in the kitchen and at restaurants. I also adore farmers markets and support the slow/local food movement. Why a Wannabe? Although I would love to, I have not yet taken a cooking class or had any formal education in Food sciences. That being said, I know a good and/or bad dish when I see/taste it - and I plan to blog about it here! Fitness, my love of festivals, travel and Northeast Ohio are also passions of mine that will make periodic appearances on this blog. I hope you enjoy. ~ MaryLee
Catching Elephant is a theme by Andy Taylor
The Greenhouse Tavern: Iron Chef America Watch Party
I have a confession to make. This post is going to be completely biased. Why? Because I’m a total fan of The Greenhouse Tavern and Executive Chef and Owner, Jonathon Sawyer. I love Sawyer’s passion for the “Farm to Table” philosophy and his love of Cleveland. And he has an amazing heart, which totally comes through in his menu and the atmosphere at both The Greenhouse Tavern and his other restaurant, The Noodlecat. I was extremely excited to hear that he would be representing Cleveland on Iron Chef America and there was no way I was going to miss the Tweetup and Watch Party at The Greenhouse Tavern.
What better way to celebrate than to head over early for a pre-Tweetup dinner? I had the Grilled Ohio Lamb Burger with stinky cheese fondue, champagne shallots, olive dusted pomme frites and tangy yogurt….minus the bun on the burger. I have to say, the flavor was incredible and stinky cheese fondue is one of my new favs!
And it would be cruel of me not to share the dish a friend of mine had…The Animal Style Frites. I almost went into a food coma just LOOKING at this dish! If you are looking for a diet splurge, this is IT! This includes The Greenhouse Tavern’s famous Pomme Frites with bacon, two fried eggs, whole grain mustard, mozzarella cheese curd and brown gravy. Wow.
Next….on to the Watch Party! Chef Sawyer definitely knows how to host a Tweetup! Complete with a giant Twitter wall tracking #TEAMSAWYER!
So what was the secret ingredient??? MINT!!!
And again….Chef Sawyer knows how to throw a watch party, providing samples of the amazing dishes prepared on the show.
We started off with a Chevre Salad with Ohio Lamb Meat Confit, Crispy Mint, Lamb Sausage, Fresh Chevre Cheese, Aged Chevre Cheese and Sexy Chardonnay Vinaigrette…yum!
Next, was my favorite dish of the evening (I had about three of them….SHHHHHHH!!!!) - Mint Fritters with Zucchini, Feta Cheese & Preserved Lemon. The combination of the mint with the feta cheese was absolutely amazing…LOVED! I sincerely hope this becomes a regular dish at The Greenhouse (hint hint).
And last but definitely NOT least, the amazing dessert - The Stoner Sandwich with Shamrock Semifreddo, Fresh Waffles, Sicilian Pistachio and Organic Chocolate Dirt. The perfect minty conclusion to an amazing evening!
All in all, another great evening at The Greenhouse Tavern and Executive Chef, Sawyer, represented Cleveland well. We are all proud of you!
