Cleveland's Culinary Debut!

Cleveland, Ohio has never really been in the "foodie" scene. In fact, I remember reading an article a few years back saying that the Cleveland area was known to have some of the worst dining options. This made me sad as my family is from Ohio, as is my husbands. I've always liked the area and considered it like a third home (third to Athens and NYC of course:)). I want to give a HUGE shout out to Top Chef Michael Symon for bringing his fantastic Lola-http://lolabistro.com/ and Lolita-http://lolitarestaurant.com/ to Cleveland and putting them on the culinary map. I hear he has another location called The B-Spot-http://bspotburgers.com/ specializing in tasty burgers, but I haven't been able to check it out yet. If you are from or in the Cleveland area I highly recommend checking out his restaurants. Both Lola and Lolita have an insanely delicious goat cheese mac n' cheese (say whaaaaaa?!??) with chicken and rosemary. Can you say GENIUS? I'm getting distracted just thinking about it. The pizzas at Lolita are amazing, as well as the Fried Brussel Sprouts & Pork Chop.

In my travels to Ohio I've noticed some insane growth especially in the Tremont/Ohio City hoods. There will be more Cleveland posts to come but for now I am going to focus on one specific restaurant I tried on my most recent visit, Soho Kitchen and Bar-http://www.sohocleveland.com/. Oh.my.gawd. Soho stands for "Southern Hospitality" and these peeps know how to do southern right. Everything from the food to the decor. The food was out of this world good, particularity the Pecan Pie. As I have mentioned in past posts, I am not a sweets person but this pie is so good it'll make you want to cry. Literally cry. It's served with bourbon ice cream, a slightly spiced crust and is just amazing. I suggest getting there stat as the word is already out and I wouldn't be surprised if sooner than later a table will be hard to come by. They're also open for lunch & brunch AND have outdoor seating. Enjoy!

My beautiful Cobb Salad. I love that it was served with deviled eggs on the side. One of my faves!

Ryan's crispy and delicious Chicken and Waffles.

They make their own sauces!!!

The mother of all desserts...The best Pecan Pie in the world!

They use mason jars and raw black eyed peas to present their candles. So southern & creative. I may need to steal this idea...;-) Adorbs!