About three weeks ago, Alexandra and I experienced two firsts together: the RTA rapid and a Cleveland neighborhood festival.
I will ignore, for a moment, how somewhat annoyed I am at how Tremont sets itself up as a sort of inner-suburb, to mention that it is, by all means, what I would have loved the small towns I've lived in most of my life to resemble: small shops, good food, beautiful scenery, and a minute or two from three major sports stadiums.
The Taste of Tremont is what it sounds like. When I was younger, what is now known as "Fun Fest" in Ottawa was called "the Taste of Putnam." We basically ignored that most towns in our county had their own, better, town festivals and claimed them all because we were the country seat. That was basically some inflatable rides on mainstreet and a beer garden with horrific cover bands we could hear from my house. As far a I know, it's the same thing. Tremont, however, does something quite outstanding in comparison.
Along the main street in the neighborhood, virtually every restaurant and shop has set out a sampling of their goods and fare for purchase. It is, by all counts, a great place to go and spend a fairly reasonable sum on delicious food through a sort of progressive meal. I imagine thousands show up throughout the single day, and I doubt many leave hungry or disappointed. It was a hot day, but every drop of sweat walking from the Ohio City RTA station to Tremont and back after walking around the festival was completely worth it. In addition to the delicious food we got to experience the feeling as part of a larger community (which hasn't been easy in Cleveland; knowing few people and being detached from the places we grew up). Taking a few hours on a Sunday afternoon to do anything else will almost never be as enjoyable. We even bought a Jade Plant now named "Herbert," who lives on our windowsill. Even if we struck out and only bought bad food, I'd probably still have great things to say. I'm not sure though, that that would actually be possible....
All in all, We ate 5 things:
1. Pork spring rolls from Bac Asian American Bistro- fairly standard, but cooked to perfection and anytime a restaurant offers Sriracha as a dipping sauce, you know it's worth at least trying.
2. Baklava from the Istanbul Grill- suffered from the heat, but the filling was tasty
3. A pork platter (with corn on the cob and cole slaw) from the Ohio Farmers association stand- the "spicy" barbecue sauce was mild and the cole slaw far too acidic, but the corn was delicious and the pork itself absolutely succulent
4. Ice Cream sandwiches (chocolate peanut butter and raspberry cheesecake) from Scoops- I love that they have homemade, vastly varied ice cream sandwiches between decently sized chocolate chip cookies. I wish though, that a flavor like "raspberry cheesecake" wasn't made with a cookie involving chocolate. The chips overpowered the flavor (which was actually a swirl in vanilla ice cream). I can't complain about the texture though. All in all it was a great way to cool down in the heat, albeit a bit heavy to walk around after having ate it..
5. Mac and Cheese with Mint Lemonade from Lolita- This was no ordinary macaroni and cheese. It was a white sauce, probably a combination of 3 or four italian cheeses, heavy on marjoram and rosemary. There's always a chance mass-produced, chafing dish macaroni and cheese will be ruined by the conditions no matter how well it's made. This was certainly not the case with this though. The noodles were perfect and the heat didn't seem to negatively influence the dish at all. As for the lemonade, it was the most perfectly refreshing sugar-based beverage I've ever had, and I think that's because of the delightful mint-essence throughout. It was light and lemony, with a crisp mint finish. Very near perfect.
None of the food was anything but delicious. My favorite was definitely the mac and cheese from Lolita, but I'm biased by my affinity for the Food Network. I think my least favorite was the Baklava because it was too warm out and it fell apart while being too mushy. None of these were significant samplings to judge the overall dining experience at any of these restaurants, but each was good enough to draw me back at some point in the future.
It's interesting to me that Bac fashions itself as an "Asian American" Bistro. I don't know what that means; I suspect it means Asian fusion with some American items on the menu, but, perhaps, it is actually a claim on an ethnic food styling for people specifically Asian American in ethnicity? That would be interesting, to at least get their take on that, if it is indeed the goal.
Lolita is probably the place I'd most like to revisit because it's rare you get to eat food from a literally world renowned chef in your own backyard. It's also probably the most expensive so I might just have to settle on the establishment's offerings at next year's taste of Tremont.
In any event, I'm glad we went and I'll definitely be going back as many years as I can. If you're in Cleveland around the middle of July next year, I highly recommend the experience.
-Zack
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