Win a Trip to Boca Raton!

This is a weekend for the girls. "So long 'R', goodbye pups...see you all on Monday!" I'm not kidding. Somehow I managed to book myself all weekend long with plans to see (and dine with) friends. But that's a good thing. Sometimes you need a little time with your friends.

Friday night after work brought dinner and drinks with a friend at Latitude 41, today I am shopping and lunching with a friend and then meeting a third friend for dinner (and lots of wine) at Tartine, and lastly Sunday will end with a delicious brunch (and mimosas) at Flying Fig with some of my favorite Cleveland bloggers and fellow Chevy Girls.

Speaking of girlfriend getaways, Chevy is giving away a trip for two to Boca Raton! Want to win? Simply head over to their website and register for a chance daily. If Cleveland winters are getting you down, you and a friend could soon be dipping your toes in the sand. Good luck!

Do you have any fun plans with your friends this weekend?

Disclaimer: The Girls On The Go campaign is being sponsored by Northeastern Ohio Area Chevy Dealers, who gave me a Chevy Cruze to test drive for one month and blog about my experience using the vehicle. The program has given us some fun "missions" to do and will be providing me with gift certificates to allow me to do this. Follow Gotta Love Chevy NEO on Facebook or on Twitter (#chevygirls).

"Touch" This- Brunch and Science

It has been a while since I've written about one of our favorite brunch spots close to home. Heck, it's been a while since we've been there...but that changed two weekends ago. Continuing the celebration of "R's" 31st birthday (man, we celebrated almost as much as his 30th), we decided that on Sunday we wanted to head to the Great Lakes Science Center in downtown Cleveland. After brunch, of course.

If "R" is ever in control of the remote, which I admit happens very rarely, you can bet that the History or Discovery Channel are on. Yawn. He loves Modern Marvels, How It's Made, etc. and we've talked about checking out the Science Center for years now. So heading there on his birthday weekend made perfect sense. But I needed some fuel first if I was going to spend hours looking at (playing with) science.

We ran through the list of our regular brunch spots, and Touch Supper Club quickly flew to the top of the list. Their brunch menu has almost anything that you could want, it's reasonably priced, and it all comes with a small cup of fruit. Score. I settled on the Eggs Wellington ($8) - two poached eggs and steak on a toasted English muffin with hollandaise sauce.
As you can see, the dish is served with a side of tator tots. Come on, who doesn't love tator tots! The spicy ketchup that they serve with the tots makes me feel a little less like an excited toddler and more like an adult enjoying a fried potato puff. Overall, the dish was very good. The eggs were slightly under-done for my taste, but I just made sure to smother them in the hollandaise. "R" got the Chorizo & Corn Bread ($7)- biscuits and gravy style. This inspired us to try to recreate this dish at home. The gravy wasn't quite as good as Lucky's Cafe or the Tremont Tap House, but it was solid. We just loved the addition of chorizo verses standard sausage, and we'll certainly be trying our homemade classic with corn bread instead of biscuits.

With our dishes being only $8 and $7, with the addition of coffee, our bill was pretty cheap for a delicious and filling brunch. For those of you that enjoy them, they also have a great Build-Your-Own Bloody Mary bar. Then we headed out to the Science Center and spent a couple of hours playing with their exhibits, learning (yuck, hehehe), and watching Under the Sea in the OmniMax theater. It was a great little Sunday spent #HappyinCLE!

Touch Supper Club
2710 Lorain Avenue
Cleveland, OH 44113
(216) 631-5200

Blogger and Chevy Girl Meet-up

The Ohio Blogging Association (yes, apparently there is such a thing) kicked off their Cleveland-area meet ups last week with a cooking demo, appetizers, and wine at Whole Foods Market Cedar Center. Whole Foods graciously hosted about 20 of our area's bloggers, and for a $10 fee it really was a fun little event. I always love seeing some of the bloggers that I've gotten to know well and now consider friends, but meeting others IRL (in real life) for the first time is really why I attend events such as this. This time, I met The Chubby Cook, Quarry Lane Farms, and former (and fellow) Chevy Girl Alana from The Dawg's Dish.

Yes, that's right...it turned into quite the unexpected reunion for several of our area's female bloggers that have participated (or currently participating, like myself) in the Chevy program. In attendance were Allison, Alicia, Heather, Alana, Katie, and then current drivers Suzanne and Michelle. We had fun talking about the program and the different Chevy cars that we test drove. The Traverse may have been a better option for Cleveland winters, but I'm enjoying driving a compact car similar to my own.

Okay, back to Whole Foods...We started off the evening with a demonstration of raw foods prepared by Chef Lauren. She shared some sushi, raw chocolate infused with a ginger and mandarin orange/mango filling, and raw coconut shavings with a sorbet as a palate cleanser.Then we were served several dishes from Whole Foods' prepared foods section of the store, including: General Tso's Vegan Nuggets, Molly's Asian Noodles, Emerald Sesame Kale, and Marinated Grilled Vegetables with an Asian Inspired Dressing.A few of the dishes were quite good, such as the Asian Noodles. I even took some home and enjoyed them for lunch the next day! But the General Tso's Vegan Nuggets didn't trick me. The flavor of the sauce was really nice, but it couldn't mask the textural issues that I had with the non-chicken chicken. I tried, I really did, but they just weren't for me.

Overall, it was a fun evening spent in the company of my fellow bloggers. A big thank you goes out to Lisa Sands and Whole Foods for hosting us.

But then a couple of us headed down the street to Melt Bar & Grilled for one of their towering grilled cheese sandwiches. A little more my speed. Former Chevy Girl, Allison from Green Dog Wine, hopped in my Cruze to help navigate over to the east side location (this was my first time there) and she really enjoyed checking out the features of the Cruze. She instantly started to play with the buttons, do-dads, and do-hickies since she had driven the Traverse.

I finally made it home in a Parmageddon coma around 11PM, but with a smile on my face from spending time with some of my favorite Cleveland bloggers and learning a little more about Whole Foods. I'm looking forward to that west-side location that they keep telling us is coming!

Disclaimer: The Girls On The Go campaign is being sponsored by Northeastern Ohio Area Chevy Dealers, who gave me a Chevy Cruze to test drive for one month and blog about my experience using the vehicle. The program has given us some fun "missions" to do and will be providing me with gift certificates to allow me to do this. Follow Gotta Love Chevy NEO on Facebook or on Twitter (#chevygirls).

Birthday at Light Bistro

Last Friday night led us to Washington Place Bistro, but the birthday celebration did not end there. My gift to "R" was dinner out and a comedy show, and of course the comedian that he wanted to see (Carl Lebove) was in town the same weekend as his birthday. So Saturday night we headed out as well, this time to Light Bistro in Ohio City...one of my favorites.

We took the Chevy Cruze and valet parked for the first time at this restaurant. Street parking usually isn't too hard to find in this area since the restaurant is tucked away from busy West 25th Street, but it was a chilly (okay, frigid) Saturday night and we were struggling to find a spot. Luckily, the valet is complimentary at Light...so that meant that we just needed to come up with tip money. Totally worth not having to park and walk that night!

We settled into a table in their (relatively) newly renovated space in the back of the restaurant, which includes a fireplace and a nice view of their new retail wine shop. I love Light Bistro's menu. It is right up our alley, as we love to share several small plates and sample a lot when dining out. Chef Mathlage's "Progressive American Tapas" is usually perfect for this, but that night we decided to just share one appetizer and then order from the entrees section of the menu. Which I had never done before.

We started with the Grilled Flatbread with wild arugula, Lake Erie Creamery goat cheese and lemon ($12). The flatbread was prepared and cooked well, and I loved how simple he kept this dish. Each of the three ingredients were allowed to shine through on your palate, and the blended flavor was clean and simple. It also arrived in a white paper bag, which was a fun presentation.

"R" ordered the Pan Seared Grouper with pulled pork and ricotta ravioli, ham broth, and corn ($26). The group had a great sear to it, and he really enjoyed the dish. I don't really like ham, so the flavor was slightly off for my taste. I had the Braised Short Ribs with goat cheese farro and julienne root vegetables ($23).Umm...wow. This dish was wonderful in my opinion. The short rib fell apart with just a gentle touch of the fork, and the subtle flavor of the goat cheese farro made for a perfect combination bite. I was loving this dish.

It felt like the night couldn't get any better, but then I took CLEShopaholic's advice and got the Coffee and Donuts dessert. Coffee ice cream paired with house-made, fresh, fried donut balls that were then finished with cinnamon and sugar. With a ramekin full of chocolate sauce to dip in, this dish was complete. What a way to end the meal!
Light Bistro
2801 Bridge Avenue
Cleveland, OH 44113-3013
(216) 771-7130

4th Annual Downtown Cleveland Restaurant Week

Mark your calendars! It is almost time for the 4th Annual Downtown Cleveland Restaurant Week. Food lovers can experience Cleveland’s culinary scene for a great price at Downtown Cleveland Alliance’s annual weeklong food celebration.

From Monday, Feb. 21 through Sunday, Feb. 27, diners can enjoy a $30 prix-fixe dinner menu featuring three courses at more than 40 Downtown Cleveland restaurants, including:

* 1890 at the Arcade
* Acappella
* Barley House
* Blue Point Grille
* Brasa Grill
* Bricco
* Cadillac Ranch
* Chinato
* Chocolate Bar
* Cleveland Chophouse & Brewery
* Corner Alley
* Crop Bistro
* David's at Key Tower
* D'Vine Wine Bar
* Elements Bistro
* Encore
* Fat Fish Blue
* Flannery's
* Greenhouse Tavern
* Hanna Restaurant & au Bar
* Hard Rock Café
* Harry Buffalo
* Houlihan's of Cleveland
* House of Blues
* Hyde Park Prime Steakhouse
* John Q's Steakhouse
* Johnny's Downtown
* La Strada
* Local Heroes
* Lola
* Mallorca
* Metro Bar & Kitchen
* Morton's, The Steakhouse
* Muse at the Ritz-Carlton
* Pickwick & Frolic
* Ponte Vecchio Ristorante
* Saigon
* Sans Souci
* Star Restaurant and Bar
* Sushi Rock
* Tower 230 Bar & Grill
* Waterstreet Grill
* Wonder Bar
* XO Prime Steaks
* Zdara Mediterranean Grille
* Zinc Bistro Bar Bakery
* Zocalo

New to This Year’s Event – Lunch, Tastings and Educational Events
New to this year’s event is the addition of a $15 lunch menu for one or two diners being offered by several of the participating restaurants, including Blue Pointe Grille, Corner Alley, Greenhouse Tavern, Encore, Fat Fish Blue, La Strada, Local Heroes and Waterstreet Grill.

Just $2 Parking
Discounted parking will be offered by a number of Downtown parking facilities to Restaurant Week diners. The $2 parking voucher will be available online at www.downtowncleveland.com.

Win a Year’s Worth of Downtown Dining
Downtown Cleveland Alliance is bringing back its popular “Dine-In” Sweepstakes – giving diners the chance to win the grand prize of Downtown dining for a year or other restaurant gift certificates. Diners will be entered to win by completing a short survey at the end of their meal.

For a full listing of participating restaurants, menus, tastings, classes and additional details, visit www.downtowncleveland.com. On my list that week: Metro Bar & Kitchen, D'Vine, and Zinc. I love D'Vine, and haven't tried Metro or Zinc yet. It's a great opportunity to try out that restaurant that you haven't quite made it to yet, or to go back to one of your downtown favorites.

Downtown Cleveland Alliance (DCA) is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to building a dynamic downtown. By working with property owners and neighborhood based partners, DCA is able to provide economic development opportunities, business attraction and retention efforts, the Clean & Safe Ambassador Program, as well as strategic marketing initiatives for Downtown Cleveland.