Sérénité Restaurant & Culinary Institute

Mr. H and I got out to the newly opened Sérénité Restaurant & Culinary Institute in Medina last week. Similar to its sister restaurant, EDWINS in Shaker Square, the mission of Sérénité is to instill leadership skills in men and women recovering from drug and alcohol addiction through an education in the culinary arts.

From the outside, the building is eye-catching and historic. There is a handful of tables on the front porch, and a few patio tables with umbrellas around the right side of the building. There is free parking available in a lot connected to the building.

Inside, it reminded me of an old upscale Western saloon. It is very small, so I do suggest getting a reservation.

The food is French-influenced, as is EDWINS. We started with the Artichoke a la Barigoulle ($11), which was so good that I immediately headed to Pinterest to see how we could create this at home.

Mr. H ordered the Trout Almondine ($25), which was very good and came highly recommended by our server. Trout still remains a bit too "fishy" at times for my taste. But the Whipped Potatoes with it kept me reaching across the table.

I was torn between a couple of selections, but went for the Braised Leg of Rabbit ($25) with spinach, grilled polenta, and a Dijon mustard cream sauce.

That sauce! It was fabulous. The rabbit was also super tender and just fell off the bone.

For only being open since late March, you'd never know it. The service was great from start to finish, the food was just as good as EDWINS, the setting is charming, and the mission of the training program is worth supporting on its own. We don't find ourselves out in Medina very often, but this restaurant will bring us back soon.

Sérénité Restaurant & Culinary Institute
538 West Liberty Street
Medina, OH 44256
330-952-2611

One Eleven Bistro in Medina

An outing with the CLE Dinner Club last week took me out to Medina again. This time, it was to One Eleven Bistro.

It's a very comfortable and casual atmosphere, with a focus on local ingredients and Chef Anthony Scalaro's sophisticated, gorgeously plated, and diverse menu. I was quite smitten with the stunning West Side Market canvas on a back wall. They really do love to highlight Ohio, and feature one week every month that crafts a special menu around one locally grown produce item. They always seem to be hosting fun events and themed menus, so check it out.

For our group, we had a special four-course menu.

Duck Confit Flatbread with a cherry gastrique, candied walnuts and crumbled bleu.

A touch dry for me, this was my least favorite course, but it was still enjoyable. The combination of duck, a sweet element, and bleu cheese always works, in my opinion.

Local Greens with dried fruits, crispy root vegetables, and a raspberry vinaigrette.

Which ended up being my favorite course of the night. I wanted to bottle that dressing, and loved the technique of frying the beets and getting them not a bit greasy. It added a great crunchy texture to the salad, and Chef Scalaro talked us through how to do it at home.

Seared Pork Tenderloin with creamed corn, smashed yukons, pepper relish and cuitlacoche.

Another highlight in the meal, this dish was simple but interesting, thanks to the relish and cuitlacoche.

Chocolate Mousse Tart with cocoa nib, pistachio, coffee syrup and caramel tuile (tuile not pictured).

This meal left me wanting to drive back to Medina for another visit. That's always a good sign.

One Eleven Bistro
2736 Medina Road
Medina, OH 44256
330-952-1122

Medina's Thyme2

It made the To Dine Challenge List years ago, but I never did make it to Thyme2 in Medina that year, and it took until this past weekend for us to finally dine there. The 36-minute drive from the city just wasn't that appealing. But, I made sure that it made its way back on to the 2017 To Dine list.

Diners have two options--- the fine dining upstairs, or the more casual pub atmosphere (and menu) downstairs.

We were there for the fine dining, but the pub below seemed lively and they had a great view of the open kitchen.

We started with some craft cocktails, and I really enjoyed my Tropical Kick Martini with fresh lime juice, tequila, triple sec, simple syrup, fresh jalapeno, and pineapple juice. It left me searching Pinterest for a recipe.

Mr. H and I shared the Beef Carpaccio appetizer special.

The egg was cooked perfectly. We enjoyed this dish quite a bit, but I do think a pinch of salt would have made it even better.

Mr. H ordered the Roasted Rack of Lamb ($30) with a white bean and sausage cassoulet, green bean salad, and herbes de provence oil.

It was taking a very long time in between our appetizer and entrees. Turns out, the kitchen had overcooked his lamb, and the chef had them re-fire it. The chef, John Kolar, personally came to our table to explain and apologize, which was much appreciated. All it ever takes is communication, and a well prepared dish is worth waiting for.

I had the Macadamia Nut Crusted Grouper ($30) with black Chinese rice, vegetable spring roll, pineapple beurre blanc, and pineapple salsa.

I also enjoyed this dish a lot. The fish and rice were cooked well, the spring roll was crisp but not greasy, and the sauce was great. I just wanted a little more of the salsa and beurre blanc on the plate.

Service was attentive and pleasant, always refilling water quickly and checking in on us without being intrusive. I would say that the food and service at Thyme2 is on par with some of the better restaurants in the city of Cleveland. Nice to have a dining option like this outside of the city, because we're fortunate to have so many options at our doorstep. That's not always the case. So, if you live out that way or are passing through, do yourself a favor and stop in.

Thyme2
113 West Smith Road
Medina, OH 44256
330-764-4114