L'Albatros
Address: 11401 Bellflower Ct. Cleveland, OH 44106
Phone: 216-791-7880
Website: www.albatrosbrasserie.com
This University Circle brasserie serves simple, hearty fare in an unpretentious setting, augmented by a beautiful wine selection and outstanding cheese program. Under the leadership of chef Zack Bruell, who has garnered national nods for Parallax in Tremont and Table 45 in Cleveland, the building retains its former carriage house exterior. Inside, the space includes two dining areas, one sleek (if slightly stark), one more homey, with brick pavers and a cozy fireplace. An expanded bar area offers the perfect place for a cocktail or nightcap, but seductive lighting and a convivial staff make sticking around for dinner a very good idea indeed. Hors d'oeuvres include classics such as escargot, chicken liver and foie gras mousseline and pork rillettes. The onion soup gratinee is the highest form of comfort food, served in an earthenware pot, laden with sweet onions and tender bits of beef below a cap of melted cheese topped by a hearty crouton. Seven salads provide a refreshing palate cleanser before embarking on any one of 15 entrees, mostly Gallicly inclined: cassoulet, duck and chicken confit and pissaladiere, to name a few. A strong wine list and expert guidance will result in the perfect pour to pair with your meal.
The Greenhouse Tavern
Address: 2038 E 4 St. Cleveland, OH 44145
Phone: 216-393-4302
Website: www.thegreenhousetavern.com
When chef Jonathon Sawyer talks local, green and sustainable, people listen. Sawyer walks the walk, and his path led him to open Ohio's first certified green restaurant. Together with his wife Amelia and an ambitious cast of practical idealists, the Greenhouse Tavern took shape, repurposing everything in sight and incorporating the latest eco-friendly technologies to create a multilevel restaurant that opened eyes to the possibilities of responsible restaurant ownership. However, it takes more than a laudable restaurant model to generate positive press on the national and regional level. That takes a capable kitchen, and Sawyer and co. deliver a concise menu that quite literally highlights the region's local purveyors with delightful results. Seasonality is paramount as local ingredients are incorporated into Gallic-inspired dishes with enough familiarity to lure many northeast Ohioans out of their comfort zone. Lunch and dinner menus feature nicely textured, chive-studded hand-ground beef tartare with luxurious two-minute egg and such accoutrements as sour cornichon relish, fragrant raw garlic aioli and charred red jalapenos. Any meal may start on a light note with French breakfast radishes before moving on to heartier fare, such as coq au vin with button mushrooms, braised Ohio bacon and pearl onions, or Ohio goat pasta, featuring milk-braised goat, bucatini and local greens. You could easily make a meal from the tempting sides, but seasonality never tasted as good as roasted spaghetti squash with raisins, pancetta, brown butter and thyme. The kitchen's efforts are not lost on the bar, where the Greenhouse team has crafted a list of specialty brews along with a polished wine program to complement the menus.
Superior Pho
Address: 3030 Superior Ave Cleveland, OH 44114
Phone: 216-781-7462
The decor is purely utilitarian, but those in the know could care less. Superior Pho owner Manh Nguyen's kitchen churns out Vietnamese specialties that are as authentic and delicious as any in town. More than a dozen varieties of pho are available with assorted cuts of beef as well as some offal. A chicken pho is available, in addition to a vegetarian-friendly tofu version. Look for daily specials, which sometimes include bun bo hue, a soup common to central Vietnam, which is spiced with cayenne pepper and recommended favorite you won't find on many menus in the region is banh mi, thinly sliced pickled carrots, daikon, onions, cilantro, pate and pork on a miniature baguette. It's a favorite of Iron Chef Michael Symon, and everybody else who tries it.
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