Literary Tavern

In the quest to still work through the restaurants on my 2020 To Dine Challenge list, we ordered carry-out from Literary Tavern in Tremont.

Luckily, we had already experienced their atmosphere when we stopped in for drinks with friends back in January. 

It honors the historic elements of the 150-year-old building, while feeling chic and a bit sexy. The intimate tavern only seats 45 guests, and has some killer craft cocktails in addition to beer and wine. With a chef-driven menu and not far from home, this is exactly the type of place that will be in regular rotation for us. Stupid pandemic.

We're trying to do our part to support our favorite local restaurants through this, so we decided to go ahead and order takeout since we'd already experienced inside of Literary Tavern. At that point, I was still holding out hope that late summer or fall would bring some level of comfort with dining out for us.

We started with the Roasted Mushrooms ($9) of cremini, shiitake and oyster mushrooms with goat cheese, chili oil, and crostini. I'm a sucker for mushrooms, and this was enjoyable even as takeout so I can imagine the good and hot version being excellent.

Then we split the Muffuletta ($8) with olive bread, mortadella, soppressata, porchetta, olive tapenade, provolone, and pesto.

And Charred Corn Carbonara ($12) with charred corn, leeks, crispy ham, pecorino romano, leek ash, and house made linguine.

Both were delicious, but I didn't expect anything less from the same owner as Cantine and D'Agnese's in Broadview Heights, as I've always had good meals at both places. 

I hope this newish tavern makes it through the pandemic, because I foresee many more meals and plenty of cocktail visits in our future. 

Literary Tavern

1031 Literary Road

Cleveland, OH 44113

(216) 862-1916

Cantine Bar + Bottle Shop

A friend suggested Cantine in Broadview Heights for happy hour last week. I hadn't been, didn't look it up in advance, and boy was I surprised at what we found once I was there.

I think I was under the impression that it was a Mexican restaurant, but this elevated New American tapas spot offers a great selection of small plates and floor-to-ceiling wine and craft beer sales.

 It has an impressive amount of bottle sale options, which you can take home or enjoy there for a small corkage fee. They have an extensive bar inside and a handful of low and high tables indoors, in addition to patio seating out front.

It was a perfect evening to sit outside, so we settled in with some glasses of wine and ordered a few small things to share. Starting with the Arancini di Riso ($8) with bread crumb crusted risotto balls stuffed with mozzarella di bufala campana, with tomato sauce and shaved parmigiana reggiano.

We also shared the Baked Brie ($12) with Puff pastry, fresh fruit, brandy glaze and raincoast crisps.

I then ordered the Chorizo Tacos ($10) with with cilantro lime sour cream, corn salsa, and a cheddar jack blend cheese.

The baked brie was our favorite, the arancini was good as well, and the tacos had a nice, subtle heat to the chorizo. There was just a bit too much shredded cheese on the tacos, and I wish that I had known they were served on corn tortillas. For me, that's an important piece of information that should be included on the menu.

Service was attentive, it's seat yourself, and they offer some good specials and happy hour deals. Plenty of parking since it's in a strip. A nice find in that neck of the woods, and I'll go back!

Cantine Bar + Bottle Shop
1100 W Royalton Road
Broadview Heights, OH 44147
(440) 877-9399