If you’re like me, you actually like the change of seasons in Northeast Ohio. It’s one of the things that make this region great. But after Valentine’s Day, the restlessness sets in. By this time every year, I’ve had quite enough of snow – hearing about it, watching it fall and shoveling it. I’ve grown tired of my favorite puffy ski jacket and polar fleece. Slick commutes with inattentive drivers have outlived any usefulness. And the football games I’ve used as a crutch? Long gone, especially if gauged by your now-typical Cleveland Browns season.
I find myself struggling for something reassuring, comfortable and familiar to get me through to spring. What I want is simply prepared, rustic and soul-satisfying food. What I crave is a trip down memory lane – something cozy, hopelessly delicious and emotionally satisfying, but not politically correct, potentially healthy or even physician-approved. I need meat, butter, cream and bacon, stat. I need comfort food. Now. And I’m at the highest of spirits when I score great food that fills my soul and stomach without emptying my wallet.
Cleveland is a food town. We all have our favorite comfort foods and no mention of such delicacies in a crowd passes without hearty discussion. It's not uncommon to get a whole lot of oohs and aahs when I drop my local favorites in a conversation: the fried chicken and fried brussel sprouts at Bar Symon; Salisbury steak at Sokolowski’s; roast beef and mash at the Academy Tavern; the Aunt Rose falafel pita and black cherry yogurt shake at Tommy’s; Vietnamese grinders at Lucky's Cafe in Tremont; frogmore stew at Henry’s at the Barn; the Municipal Stadium Magic at Melt; caribbean fries, pad thai and mojitos at Johnny Mango; Minh Ahn’s vermicelli bowls; paneer makahni at Cafe Tandoor... all great.
Now I’m starving. Then I began to wonder what some of Cleveland’s cognoscente might say if posed the question, “What’s your favorite local comfort food?” during a casual happy hour. The answers were actually pretty grand.
Susan Petrone, author of last year’s A Body at Rest, is big on Big Al’s Diner on Larchmere Boulevard for breakfast and brunch. “When I feel that I can afford the calories, I get the eggs hollandaise. And Big Al’s has the best home fries in the city. Bar none.” WJW-TV Fox 8 news anchor Stefani Schaefer told me she’s all about Sunday breakfast. “When I think comfort, I go for the Original Pancake House on Chagrin Boulevard, across from Eton in Woodmere. It's locally-owned and has such a warm and welcoming feel. My kids love the chocolate chip pancakes. And their special bananas foster waffles? Oh my goodness! I usually order an omelet, heavy on the veggies, and even that comes with a side of their pancakes.”
Image consultant and personal stylist Kristen Kaleal offers that it can be a challenge to find good comfort food as a vegetarian. But she has a pair of go-tos that never disappoint. “I love the tabbouleh and hummus from Aladdin’s with lots of their [homemade] hot sauce. As a vegetarian, even my decadent comfort foods are disappointingly healthy.” And while vegetarians don't get much love in print food reviews – Cleveland is the home of Michael Symon after all – there are plentiful options in Cleveland. The venerable host of WCPN’s 90.3-FM ideastream’s The Sound of Ideas, Dan Moulthrop loves the “Korean comfort, bi bim Bap at Ha Anh on Superior Avenue, across the hallway from Superior Pho.” The dolsat variation they offer includes steamed rice paired with savory, roasted vegetables and served in a hot stone bowl. And Harriett Logan, the owner of indie bookshop Loganberry Books on Larchmere Boulevard, loves a soy-veg option served up by one of her neighbors. “For true comfort food, nothing beats the tofu teriyaki at Flying Cranes for me.”
A Cleveland staple: pierogi
C-town has the veg crowd covered, but is profusely (and quite expectedly) proficient at "carbo-loading." Local party-going paparazzo Kathleen Murphy Colan has a new favorite comfort food in town, which she discovered in the space once occupied by Vivo at 347 Euclid Avenue. “The white chocolate pasta at the new Chocolate Bar downtown… is savory, delicately sweet and pure indulgence. I just described it to someone today as an ultimate comfort food.” Media personality and “Chow Time” internet show host Robin Benzle loves the “great meatloaf at Grumpy’s in Tremont,” while NEO radio expat and former Cleveland Agora acolyte Linas “Johan” Johansonas drools over the meat-filled dumplings at Gintaras Restaurant (Gintaras means “amber” in Lithuanian). “Those ‘zeppelins,’ those meat-filled pancakes… it’s Lithuanian comfort food at its finest.” Those zeppelins are on his itinerary with each visit to Plumtown.
Heather Haviland, the chef/owner of Sweet Mosaic, Lucky's Cafe and the Vine & Bean Cafe can't help but be cheesy in her selections. “My version of comfort food normally involves melted cheese in some fashion. One is the ‘mild n' hot’ pizza from Nunzio’s. One of the things I love is that the owner developed this pizza and you can't change anything about it. As a chef, I appreciate [that] non-willingness to compromise. It is also rockin’ good." They also slay late night cravings, with deliveries until 3:15AM. Haviland is also a big fan of the chile rellenos – cheese-stuffed poblano peppers in a tomato-base sauce – at Villa Y Zapata. "I love the sauce for this dish."
Award-winning chef, author and Cleveland expat Andrew Carmellini envisions a day-long menu of protein-and-carb bliss with a return trip to his hometown. We won’t even venture a guess on the calorie count scored by the James Beard Foundation winner and scribe of Urban Italian: Simple Recipes and True Stories from a Life in Food. “Bratwurst from Frank’s in the West Side Market, the pierogi from Holy Trinity Orthodox Church on Broadview Road in Parma – quite simply the best in Cleveland. Smoked lieberwurst from The Sausage Shoppe on Memphis Avenue. And a turtle sundae from Honey Hut.”
Cook, author and 'arch-nemesis' to Anthony Bourdain, Michael Ruhlman often seeks out "pasta with garlic and cheese" as a comfort food, but that's usually within the confines of his Cleveland Heights home. When he ventures out, he's often drawn to "the potstickers at Hunan Coventry near my house, with the chili oil [and] sweetish soy" as a source of comfort. "[They are] really doughy and comforting."
Leave it to Iron Chef Symon to sum up Cleveland in one word, in a concurrent nod with Carmellini: “Pierogi. To me, it sums up Cleveland. It’s simple, hearty and [old] school.” We’re guessing Symon’s most recent interpretations of pierogi – the Michael’s Glory sandwich and Cleveland Classic plate at Avon’s Bar Symon – offer some additional clues about his lust for those hearty stuffed pockets. The former features beef tongue, pierogi, freshly prepared horseradish and caramelized onions on sourdough, while the latter pairs potato pierogi, with cabbage, smoked kielbasa, and a “stadium mustard sauce.”
All of those might be enough to get me to shovel the driveway at least one more time. And the odds are good I'll have to. So, where's your favorite comfort food, Clevelanders?
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