Review: Gut Busting Grub at Grotto

I've lived in Cleveland for my entire life and I've only recently started to explore Shaker Heights.  Growing up in the wild, wild east (hello, un-awesome Lake County), Shaker Heights was a place I don't even think I'd heard of.  So even though I live relatively close to Shaker, I just never think to go there.  Until recently.  I've been hitting up the market on Saturdays for all sorts of fresh veggies (at least until my Fresh Fork Market CSA subscription starts) and have started to notice that there are a bunch of places I need to try out.

My boyfriend was a little hesitant to go to with me to Grotto this past weekend.  Until I explained that this wine bar/restaurant is owned by the same people who own the uber friendly Lago in Tremont.  We both love Lago (and are VERY interested to see what happens when they move to the Flats) so I figured we'd probably like Grotto, too.  And I think we actually both remarked that we might even like Grotto better after the meal we had there.

Despite being a wine bar, Grotto has a pretty limited wine menu.  Interesting, but I'm no wine snob.  I had a couple $8 glasses of an unremarkable Riesling, but I was happy.  My boyfriend attempted to order a Moscow mule but their full bar didn't have ginger beer.  Oh well.  He had beer instead. 

We were brought some fresh bread to nosh on while we waited to order.  Our poor server seemed a bit overwhelmed. We stopped in on a Friday night, and the place seemed to be hopping with people.  Servers?  Not so much.  I ordered a salad to start and my boyfriend ordered an order of pommes frites.  Our waiter scored immediate points with me by being able to tell me that the fries were fried in canola oil and not something like duck fat without even having to ask.   I ordered the vegetarian lasagna as my entree and my boyfriend ordered lobster gnocchi because the lobster gnocchi at Lago is one of his favorite things ever.

Our fries and salad arrived quickly.  It's hard to mess up a salad, so I was pleased.  And the fries were garlicky and delicious.  We saw our server running around, and although he didn't have time to check on us, it seems like everyone on the wait staff was pitching in to check on various tables.  It was a nice touch.

The vegetarian lasagna is better than my picture taking abilities.

I was almost overwhelmed when my vegetarian lasagna arrived.  There were two huge hunks of lasagna.  The kind you'd get served up at a family party - not a nice restaurant.  My boyfriend also got a heaping bowl of gnocchi.  This was in stark contrast to the meals we've enjoyed at Lago.  I honestly never leave there feeling full.  But this meal at Grotto was a feast!  My lasagna was excellent (and awesome, because how often do you find vegetarian lasagna on a menu) and my boyfriend said his gnocchi was even better than what he's had at Lago so we were both pretty pleased.  And full.  I'm not the kind of person to not clean her plate (don't challenge me to an eating contest), but I couldn't finish my food. 

Sorry Lago, but I think you've just lost two super fans.  I think we'll be hitting up Grotto much more often. 



Review: Frank and Pauly's in Mentor

Call me a snob, but I don't consider Lake County to be a foodie hot spot.  If I have any say when picking where I'm going for dinner, most likely I'm heading west. (from where I live, at least) That typically puts me somewhere in the Tremont, Ohio City, or Lakewood area.  But occasionally I end up east.  Like a few weeks ago when I had a chance to have dinner at the newly opened Frank and Pauly's in Mentor.

Cranberry salad

I'd never been the the "old" Frank and Pauly's in Public Square, but I know some people speak fondly of it.  Since I'm running at least 40 miles a week right now training to run a 50k, I can use as many carbs as I can get so I was pretty excited to check this place out.  And, in the sake of full disclosure, one of my friends had a gig playing guitar there the night I dropped by, so I was pretty excited to hear him play, too.

Frank and Pauly's is located on Mentor Avenue in a historic building known as the Sawyer House.  From the outside, it looks like...an old house.  But after spending years and years as various restaurants, the interior looks more like a Maggiano's.  Except for the lounge area.  (not to be confused with the bar area)  The bar area is just that - a bar.  Order beer, wine, spirits, or shots here. (I wouldn't suggest mixing wine with shots like I did, though...ugh)  The lounge area is more like a modestly stocked wine bar.  You can only order off of a small menu of wine and a cheese plate, but you do get to sit in this cool area made up of multiple rooms filled with dim lighting, comfy couches, and bottles and bottles of wine.  I'd compare it to sitting in someone's warm wine cellar.  It was cool.  I would go back in a heartbeat to hang out in the lounge if I lived closer.

As for the rest of my dining experience...I'm torn here.  I know the manager of Frank and Pauly's and let him know that my waiter was nothing short of scatterbrained and apathetic.  He let me know that the person serving me was new, so I'm going to chalk up his attitude to jitters and not a generally bad disposition.  But you never know.

My boyfriend started off our meal with a bottle of wine.  It's too bad our free bread didn't show up sooner, because it might have prevented us from drinking half of the bottle before our fried mozzarella appetizer appeared.  Oops.  And for that appetizer...it was ok.  It's hard for deep fried cheese to be amazing.  Especially when it's kind of cold when it gets to your table.

Ricotta pasta

For my entree, I ordered one of the few vegetarian items on the menu - the fuscilli vegetable ricotta sauce ($15), a corkscrew pasta in a cream sauce.  Feeling extra hungry, I also ordered a cranberry and walnut side salad ($4.95.)  The salad was really good, and had goat cheese and cranberries in a raspberry vinaigrette.  The pasta was also a solid dish.  I'm not a big fan of high calorie cream sauces, but this one was alright.  Nothing to wow me but nothing bad either.  My boyfriend ordered a pasta with clams.  Again, he thought it was good...but not spectacular.

I'm normally not price sensitive when it comes to food but I felt like Frank and Pauly's was a little expensive for what it is.  They offer solid Italian food, I'll give them that.  But I could drive much closer to home and find similar food in Little Italy and probably pay a little less or at least get a salad thrown in with my entree. Dunno.  I guess I expected more based on the reputation that Frank and Pauly's has?  Oh well.  As I always say to anyone I dine with, even an average meal is a dining adventure and is worth the trip.  (I would definitely go back to sip some wine and listen to some tunes, though.) 

  

Cedar Green Wine and Cheese

Last week my friend Alex invited me to his birthday party at Cedar Green Wine and Cheese.  Located in an older strip mall, I didn't know what to expect. But what I found was part wine store, part bar, part deli, and part lounge.

My empty bottle in the lounge area

When you walk in, there's a bar on the left with five beers on tap. Surprisingly, there were quite a few people hanging out around the bar watching tv. To the right there were a few tables and a couple couches all in between display after display of wine. It's like a bar and a lounge happened to be plunked down right in the middle of a wine store. And although that sounds odd, it was actually awesome. I was able to pick a bottle off the shelf, hand it to the clerk, and then relax with my friends for about 15 minutes until my wine glasses and chilled wine arrived. If I'd been hungry, I could have also ordered food from any of the restaurants within the same shopping plaza and had it delivered.

Swanky, it's not. But it is a great place to relax with some friends and enjoy a bottle of wine or a couple of beers.

Do you have a favorite wine or beer shop in Cleveland where you can hang out and have a drink or two?  I'd love to discover more places like Cedar Green Wine and Cheese.