Review: The Hipp in Mid Town Cleveland

This past weekend was my birthday weekend, and I had overly ambitious plans for things I wanted to do and places I wanted to see.  After party rocking on Friday night in Tremont, most of those plans went out the window, but I was able to muster up enough strength to head to Mid Town to check out The Hipp.  

The Hipp's cool wall mural



Located in a building adjacent to the Agora concert hall, The Hipp is the brainchild of Sandy Madachik and Jae Stulock, best known for their vegan and vegetarian friendly food truck, Umami Moto. (which is my favorite CLE food truck, BTW - their massaman curry is incredible)  The restaurant is housed in a space that has hosted more restaurants than I can name here, but I'm hoping that The Hipp has better luck.



Interior of The Hipp

My boyfriend and I dropped by for lunch on Saturday at an off time - after 2:00 pm - and we were the only people in the restaurant.  But considering that this was The Hipp's first week in business, I didn't expect it to be hopping. But I do hope business picks up in the future.  Since we were the only people there, we got to talk to Sandy for a little about the restaurant and the businesses nearby.  I'm not familiar with Mid Town, but apparently it was a flourishing neighborhood at some point.  Now, it's in "transition," like so many other Cleveland neighborhoods, but hopefully things are on the upswing there. (sometimes it just takes a couple businesses to bring a neighborhood back - who would have thought the Gordon Square area whould be so built up?)

Celebrate the Food Truck Revolution at the C-Town Chow Down

I love food.  All kinds of food.  And I've recently become a fan of food that comes of of a truck.  Food trucks, widely popular out west for years and years and years, have finally made their way to Cleveland, and I couldn't be happier.  Sure, I'm a little biased because food trucks frequently stop at or near my place of employment, making it really easy for me to sample some of Cleveland's mobile cuisine.  But...I would make the drive to sample some great food truck grub.  And this weekend, I will!

The first ever Cleveland food truck rally, of sorts, is being held this Sunday, March 27 in Lincoln Park in Tremont from 11am to 3 pm.  Called the C-Town Chow Down, this event promises to offer live entertainment in addition to grub from more than a half dozen of Cleveland's roving food purveyors. 

The important thing to remember about food trucks is that their space is limited and they generally run out of food pretty quickly, so if you have your heart set on food from a particular vendor, you might want to get to Tremont no later than 11:01 am!

Cleveland's Newest Food Truck - Traveling Treats

When I was a kid, I lived in a city that outlawed ice cream trucks, so I missed out on childhood exuberance caused by hearing the clanging of an ice cream truck's bell or its olde time music. ("do your ears hang low" is my personal favorite)

But I think I've found the adult equivalent of an ice cream truck - the Cakes Plus Traveling Treat van!

As an east sider - I'd never heard of Cakes Plus, but Diana Dumitru has been making her tasty treats since 1999.  (if not longer, since she had a shop in the old arcade before that)  You might also know her from Ultimate Brownies fame. (Yes, those Ultimate Brownies.  The ones that are to die for!)

Let's get down to the nitty gritty, though.  How does this traveling treats concept work?  Similar to Dim and Den Sum - Cleveland's only other food truck - Cakes Plus has a facebook page that shows upcoming stops, so you can figure out where to go to get some of Cakes Plus' delicious goodies.

Yesterday I located the Traveling Treats-mobile in Mayfield Village.  I literally felt like a kid in a candy store.  There were SO many amazing sounding desserts on the menu - everything from Ultimate Brownies - including vegan Ultimate Brownies - to cupcakes (yes, there were vegan cupcakes, too!) to cheesecake.  I could have ordered one of everything on the menu, but I stuck to a vegan brownie and a carrot cake cupcake.  A lunch of champions, right?

  

So how were my goodies?  Let me just say, the next time the Traveling Treats van comes to my neighborhood, I'm going to need a shopping bag when I make my purchases.  The vegan brownie was one of THE best brownies I've ever eaten - hands down.  And that's counting all the non-vegan brownies I've had in my lifetime. And the carrot cake cupcake...amazingly moist and delicious.  The frosting wasn't too sugary or crunchy or any of the other things I tend to not like about cupcakes.  I could have eaten a dozen.

Clevelanders - I encourage you to check out Cakes Plus' facebook page to find out when this treat-mobile is coming to a neighborhood near you. (or if you're so inclined, you can order some Ultimate Brownies and have them shipped to you! or you can even contact Diana to have a cake or other baked good made for a special occasion)  It's ok to indulge in some gluttony if you're supporting a local business, right?