Summer Thursdays at Graffiti

Ah, summer is officially here, and Cleveland is ALIVE right now. Between the Cavs excitement, better weather, and longer daylight...we are all a little happier. For me, summer is filled with some of my favorite foods, like good BBQ.

We all know that I love the guys behind Cork & Cleaver and Graffiti restaurants, so I was pumped to see a special event hit the patio of Graffiti: A Social Kitchen this summer...

Summer Thursdays- Fat Casual BBQ Take Over

The regular menu is not available on Thursdays, and diners can select from a special menu of appetizers, salads, meats by the 1/2 pound, and classic BBQ side dishes. Or, you can go straight for The Fat Casual Picnic, which includes a little bit of everything.

You get small portions of all of the meats (except the Prime Rib) and all of the sides (except Cornbread). Mr. H and I split it, and it was a great way to get a taste of everything.

Favorites included the smoked chicken wings, ribs, sausage, and corned beef. Don't forget to grab some of the homemade BBQ sauces from the station.

This is the aftermath...

Needless to say, we enjoyed it, and you'll find us back on the Graffiti patio on a Thursday this summer.

Edgewater Live is also happening on Thursdays in the same neighborhood, so Graffiti is offering a boxed BBQ picnic to-go option as well. Head on over to check it out in the Gordon Square Arts District!

Graffiti: A Social Kitchen
1261 West 76th Street
Cleveland, OH 44102
216-651-6969

Fat Casual BBQ

This past Friday brought my first trip out to Fat Casual BBQ in Macedonia. Known for their traditional BBQ, and famous prime rib on Fridays...I couldn't wait, and I don't know what kept me away for so long.

Sadly, the Friday prime rib special is suspended for now. After three weeks of hardly selling any orders and losing money on the meat, they have decided to stop serving it for a while, with plans to bring it back as we get closer to the fall season. I certainly understand the decision, but man was I disappointed!

Luckily, many of their menu options sounded appealing. I didn't have to think too hard though, because chef/owner Scott informed us that the ribs were about to come out of the smoker. Done deal.

I ordered a half rack, and a couple of side dishes to share.

The sides comes in two sizes, and the regular (small) was enough for us to share. The cole slaw could have used more flavor. It was pretty bland and served a little too room temperature for my taste, but it helped balance the bold flavors of the rib rub and sauce. The mac and cheese was creamy, and reminiscent of Velveeta. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but worth noting. The baked beans was by far my favorite side dish. Smokey with great texture, I was fighting "R" for bites.

Now, on to the ribs. Scott stopped by our table once the food had arrived, and besides a wonderful history lesson on pork and traditional BBQ, he also explained why Fat Casual has had to "teach" Ohio what true BBQ should be. Apparently, Ohioans tend to prefer a sweeter sauce and boiled ribs so that the meat falls right off the bone. This is not what you'll get at Fat Casual, and this New Yorker was just fine with that. Am I still a New Yorker at heart? I'm having a bit of an identity crisis with this one. The rub was my favorite part of the ribs. I wish they packaged and sold it.

So, for a good BBQ meal this summer when you don't feel like cooking it yourself...just head to Fat Casual BBQ. Or, stop by Lion on Lorain on Lorain Avenue in Cleveland because you can find their meats on the menu right now. I'll probably hold out on another trip back to Macedonia until the prime rib appears again!

Fat Casual BBQ
223 Highland Road
Macedonia, OH 44056
330-748-4690

Dinner in the Dark- Special Edition

Last night's Dinner in the Dark was a special version, and one that I am happy I didn't miss. Traditionally for Dinner in the Dark, six talented chefs come together to present a multi-course wine paired meal that leaves diners "in the dark" about what will be served and who is behind the dish. But they put that all aside this time, and recruited 20+ chefs to each do a tasting station. Taking place at AMP150, 260 diners descended upon the chefs and helped raise money for the Matthew Finkle Scholarship- which will help local young talent live out their dream of attending CIA.

Most of Cleveland's best chefs were in attendance, and there was a nice assortment of dishes to sample. There were quite a lot of pork dishes, but with bacon, sausage, tenderloin, pork belly...you just have so many good choice, so I see why several chefs had selected to work with it. We enjoyed strolling through the two rooms of tasting tables, but of course there were some highlights. First up was Chef Rocco Whalen's chicken spring roll from Fahrenheit, which is apparently on his regular menu and now I just can't wait to go and try the real thing. Also in that corner of the room was Ellis Cooley from AMP150, one of the founders of Dinner in the Dark, and his mussels were outstanding. Packed with flavor, and cooked right in front of you. I love a good mussel.SOHO is about to open on West 25th Street in Ohio City, so I was interested to try their dish. It was a light watermelon salad with a jalapeno vinaigrette. The heat of the dish overpowered it slightly, but other than that I loved the balance of flavors and light, crisp texture and it left my tongue dancing. Looking forward to their opening!Another personal favorite was the chorizo pierogi from Melange. I truly enjoy almost everything that these two chefs put out, and I need to get my butt over to Beachwood more often!One station that was causing quite a stir is Fat Casual BBQ. These talented chefs have worked through several great restaurants in Cleveland, and now they've opened "their" kind of place...with some wonderful meats and classic side dishes done well. It looks like we are headed there soon for their Friday special of slow cooked prime rib. One thing to note is that these guys have started catering for the Dinner in the Dark chefs during their regular monthly events, so that the chefs that are working so hard behind the scenes actually get to eat something that night as well. Overall it was a nice event, and it's always fun to see our city's best chefs gather together for a good cause. If you want to attend a traditional Dinner in the Dark, don't miss the June edition at Flying Fig! There are already only 38 tickets left for this event, so don't wait. Kudos to all of the chefs behind this, and thank you for a great evening.