Bar Cento chef Jonathon Sawyer cooks up a conversation with Dee Perry about his career and working with Iron Chef Michael Symon on the Food Network's Dinner Impossible, which gets its premiere tonight. Then Dee travels to the Key Bank studio for a performance by The Troubadours of Divine Bliss, who play Brothers Lounge this evening.

III. FUTURE
Sawyer House Rules

Chef and restaurateur Jonathon Sawyer is one of the region’s loudest voices in the move towards local, sustainable and green restaurant stewardship, and as if to prove his dedication, he plans to open the Greenhouse Tavern in downtown Cleveland by early 2009. Greenhouse is among the most ambitious green building projects ever undertaken in the city, though as of now, the space – located on East 4th Street in the 25 foot wide, 100-foot long Corts building – is filled only with the dreams of Sawyer and his like-minded team. It will be something welcomingly unique and eco-conscious in the city of Cleveland, and a far cry from the ubiquitous chain coffeehouse on an environmentally taxed Euclid Avenue where we meet to discuss Sawyer’s ambitious plans.

“This whole urban revival, I’m really excited to see it happen,” says the perpetually optimistic Sawyer. “It’s sort of happening simultaneously with [the construction of] Greenhouse: The [Euclid Corridor project] is finishing, the apartments are opening up and all the restaurants are opening, so it will be interesting to see what happens in the next year or two.”

Sawyer was chef du cuisine at longtime friend Michael Symon’s Lolita and later was executive chef at Symon’s Parea in New York. He also logged successful chef stints at Kitchen 22 and Aureole, both with famed chef and restaurateur Charlie Palmer. A respected chef and a much-loved personality, Sawyer’s verve – underneath shaggy hair, a tame beard and a few tattoos – has captured the imagination of many in the city, most recently at Bar Cento on West 25th Street.Yet, as the conversation shifts to Greenhouse, his enthusiasm approaches kid-on-Christmas-morning levels.

“This is it. This is why we moved back,” says Sawyer, pointing to blueprints for the multilevel Greenhouse space. “We [wanted] to pursue our dream, not listen to anybody else anymore, really get it right, do it on our own.”

Sawyer’s wife, Amelia, became pregnant with their second child while the couple was living in Brooklyn, New
York. With no real family in the area, struggling to pay rent, they realized a move was necessary, so they returned home to Cleveland to be with family – and pursue their restaurant aspirations.

“It started small. We were looking around Ohio City and Tremont, and we were going to rent a place,” says Amelia. “He’s always wanted to do a little 12- seater, super tiny French bistro, so we were thinking maybe that. The more locations we looked at, his ideas got bigger and bigger. When he found the East Fourth location, it turned into the fullsize, ‘We’re going to go for it’ restaurant.”

The couple was very interested in the Detroit-Shoreway area, meeting with local representatives who had already moved to include numerous green buildings in the area. Officials were enthused about the project, but could not offer the financial backing Sawyer needed to realize his vision. With the Detroit-Shoreway plans scrapped, Sawyer met with Sam McNulty, owner of McNulty’s Bier Markt on West 25th Street.

“Sam and I sat down, and we immediately saw eye to eye,” says Sawyer. “Although, the concept that they had and the idea I had to fit the space were two totally different things. Where they wanted to keep with the Belgian theme … I’ve always wanted to do an oenoteca – always wanted to do five apps, five pizzas, five entrées, five sides – do them all right, keep them all simple. And yeah, we can make another little section for pommes frittes, burgers and the whole Belgian side. I got them to buy into it, and that’s how Bar Cento started.”

Sawyer's Cento introduced northeast Ohioans to his commitment to using an extensive list of local purveyors and seasonal ingredients to devise menus, while incorporating green practices to reduce the restaurant’s ecological footprint. All the while, the Greenhouse idea kept moving forward.

Back in New York, Jonathon’s older brother, Jesse, a chemical engineer and CFO of the Greenhouse operation, became enthusiastic about the prospect of opening a restaurant with his brother. “To be honest, when Jonathon was moving back to Cleveland, I was skeptical about opening a restaurant in Cleveland. I’m not anymore. I’ve seen what’s going on, and I’m very much behind it. I think it’s going to be great. We’ve been talking about it for about two years now.”

However, the Greenhouse Tavern project was a grand undertaking, one that would require more than dedicated investors. Jerel Klue, investor and minority owner, penned a letter about the Sawyers’ vision to councilman Joe Cimperman, Ward 13 representative.

“Jonathon is right now, I would say, at the zenith of a movement that’s been happening in Cleveland, albeit rather quietly,” says Cimperman. “The city of Cleveland is the only major city in the country that actually changed its zoning code in the last couple of years to now allow vacant lots to be zoned for gardens.” Cimperman also speaks glowingly of other exciting developments. “We’re working with a group called the Cleveland-Cuyahoga County Food Policy Coalition, which is doing everything from figuring out how to change the code now, so that we can actually have people cultivating bees and chickens in the city … [to] looking at things like at the West Side Market, where we found that in one week … we were able to harvest two tons of compost [from discarded food] just from Monday, Wednesday and Friday.”

Sawyer is currently working with Cimperman to secure a $40,000 grant as part of the Neighborhood Retail Assistance Program. “[Sawyer] changed the way people look at food and the way they look at themselves in Cleveland,” says Cimperman. “Forty thousand dollars to achieve that is a pretty small price. The city of Cleveland was lucky that Jonathon asked us to help him. It’s an honor to help a guy like him.”

The grant will help fund the construction of the actual greenhouse, which will sit atop the Corts building. “The idea for us would be to make that roof self sufficient, meaning cisterns supply the water, obviously all the compost, which we already do at Cento, supplies the soil,” says Sawyer. “And then, for energy, whether it be a solar panel or two, or a wind turbine – which I don’t think we’ll be able to get away with, but it would be nice!” The greenhouse will feature thick-paneled glass supplied by Sawyer’s other brother, Jeremiah, who runs an industrial siding company. “If you’re dining here, and eating a lettuce salad that came from right there, it really ties together the whole idea of terroir,” says Sawyer, who will offer a menu that highlights as many locally sourced products as possible, with a European café vibe.

In Sawyer’s grand scheme of things, the greenhouse represents a small portion of his whole concept. “We also looked at it as restaurants being one of the most wasteful enterprises, and an easy thing to clean up if there’s just dedication from the beginning, so that was the biggest thing for us,” he explains. “I need people for the actuality of it, not the just the mind’s eye.”

One of those people is Jonathan Sin-jin Satayathum, currently a freelance designer who specializes in consulting and specification as sin-jin / designspace. Satayathum’s eye for design and expertise in green building as a member of the Cleveland Green Building Coalition dovetails with his own restaurant experience at Great Lakes Brewing Company, Lolita and Johnny Mango. Now, he helps make space-planning and product selection decisions in collaboration with the restaurant principals, architect and builders. “The combination of having run restaurants for much of my adult life, and being a professional interior designer, gives me a unique perspective in making things work right for Jonathon and the Greenhouse Tavern principals,” says Satayathum. “I live in both worlds, and I speak both languages.”

Sawyer sees his vision having a farreaching effect. “The idea for us is to make [the concept of green living] seem simple for everyone, and hopefully inspire a couple of people to go the same way in their homes, and more importantly, in their businesses,” says Sawyer. This was an element of the concept Cimperman found particularly appealing.

“It’s just really cool that here you have this guy who’s taking ideas about conservation and sustainable principles, and using it in a way where he’s going to make it understandable for people,” says Cimperman. “And, oh, by the way, maybe provide a model in terms of how to do a restaurant in a very green, ecofriendly way.”

Plans call for CFL fixtures instead of incandescent; using warm, natural light as much as possible; and LED lighting that replicates natural light, rather than the blue light people are used to. Sustainably produced materials will be used, including the bar, which will be a type of polymer concrete composed of recycled and crushed beer, wine and liquor bottles, and in some cases, porcelain from sinks and toilets. Behind the bar will be rubber mat flooring made from recycled tires, and toilets will be two-flush models designed to reduce water usage. In the men’s room, waterless urinals using sanitary airlock technology are being considered. The entire concrete floor will remain. Other plans include repurposing timber and fixtures found in the building, as well as recycled plaster for wall coverings.

“The central tenets are: use what you already have and use it wisely, don’t throw in a lot of chemicals that are nasty, and when you do have to buy new stuff, buy the most efficient stuff that you can, the best technology that you can afford, and make the whole sustainability thing easy,” says Satayathum, whose research has led him to work with Jennifer Connolly of the Cleveland Green Building Coalition and Mandy Metcalf at the Affordable Green Housing Center to build a directory of quality sustainable product and service providers. “It’s a win for you as a business. It’s a win for society and your customers. And it’s a win ethically.”

The ideas represent a solidarity of vision among the Greenhouse team, namely Jonathon and Amelia, and their commitment to a green lifestyle – a commitment that was only furthered by the influence of their two children, Catcher and Louisiana. “Having kids, that’s really made us stop and smell the flowers, as it were,” says Sawyer. “My other kind of selfish goal behind this, too, is I would really like to use this greenhouse as an educational tool or a partnership with schools or children. I’ve got kids, and I think it would be perfect to tie everything in together.”

Ultimately, creative goals aside, this is a business, and Sawyer is happy to have a neighbor many other restaurateurs may feel threatened by: Symon’s Lola. “Mike and I are really like minded, in that we don’t really view restaurants on the same strip as competition,” says Sawyer. “We look at it more as building a neighborhood and a community. The more that you have in that area, the better off you are.”

Far from the maddening congestion on Euclid Avenue, Sawyer stands under the sun on the Corts building rooftop. Now, just a blank canvas, he hopes it will soon become the focal point of an inspirational enterprise with ramifications extending well beyond the normal reach of a restaurant. Is he nervous?

“Not really. That’s my wife’s job,” says Sawyer.“ I don’t really get nervous about money, bills, or kids, or job … everything happens for a reason. There’s a reason we’re doing this, there’s a reason we took Cento, there’s a reason we moved back [to Cleveland] two different times. It’ll all pan out in the end.”

Sometimes, only a wife can truly understand her husband’s dreams. “When we first moved back – I totally forgot about this, maybe I blocked it – he wanted to buy a house and get a farm and get pigs, and do farm to plate immediately,” says Amelia. “He had big, big, big dreams right away.

“Ever since that idea came about, it kind of scaled back from that, and eventually turned into the Greenhouse … It turned into the only restaurant Jon ever wanted to open.

Best New Restaurant:

1. BAR CENTO
2. Paladar
3. Dante

Best Chef:

1. Mike Symon
2. Doug Katz
3. JONATHON SAWYER

Best Bar:

1. VTR
2. BAR CENTO
3. D'Vine Wine Bar

Best Place for Late Night Dining:

1. Nighttown
2. BAR CENTO
3. Luigi's

Best Pizza:

1. Geraci's
2. Luigi's
3. BAR CENTO

Best Appetizer:

1. BAR CENTO
2. fire food & drink
3. D'Vine Wine Bar

Maggie Busser Walls the color of roasted pea pods and hanging lights festooned with a drape of wine-colored fabric lend a comfortable glow to the narrow, deep space of Bar Cento (pronounced “chen-to”). Located in the Ohio City neighborhood of Cleveland, its glistening expanse of a reclaimed barn-wood bar spills into an open kitchen housing a team of chefs working in a synchronized hum of activity. Vinyl records spin out favorite tunes, adding an inviting aspect to the atmosphere. Stacked behind the bar lie the inspiration for the restaurant’s name – “cento” (meaning “100” in Italian) varieties of old- and new-world wine. Glistening, stemless wine glasses line nearby shelves, begging to be filled. Chef and partner Jonathon Sawyer scurries between the kitchen and bar area, simultaneously prepping food and calling out “hellos” to his guests and other folks he knows in the crowd at the bar. Vibrant, tattooed ink images wind their way up his arm, and his boyish grin graces a face framed by a mop of scruffy hair. Jonathon has plenty of reasons to smile. He has helped to create Bar Cento, a hip dinner joint, comfortable in both atmosphere and price-point. Plus, he is three years into the planning of his pet project, Greenhouse Tavern. Replete with intensive environmental initiatives and farm-to-plate food concepts, it is slated to open this fall on East Fourth Street. Everyday food Filling a niche in the neighborhood, Bar Cento features local foods at midrange prices. Jonathon explains, “We want people to view it as everyday food.” He puts in every effort to not only find the best uses for foods available locally and seasonally, but also to keep the price-point reasonable. He explains, “Our biggest challenge is to determine what to source locally, how to get it and how to make it more affordable.” Jonathon has found that the local-foods movement has grown in recent years. He has relationships with farmers, but also appreciates Bar Cento’s across-the-street proximity to the West Side Market for certain artisan items. In addition, Jonathon supports Northeast Ohio’s two new farm-to-restaurant distribution systems, Local Crop and Fresh Fork Market. He is happy to be a part of growing the fresh-foods distribution network in our area and to take on environmental issues, too. The back of Bar Cento’s menu provides a clue to Jonathon’s emphasis on local foods and environmental practices. In addition to recognizing specific area farms and artisans that supply Bar Cento, it describes the restaurant’s commitment to “reduce, reuse, recycle.” Uncooked kitchen scraps are composted rather than sent to a landfill. Clear wine bottles are used to serve carbon-filtered water, and paper, plastic and glass are all recycled. Paper products, such as napkins and pizza boxes, are made from post-consumer recycled paper. Jonathon and his wife, Amelia Zatik-Sawyer, plan to take environmental commitments even further when their Greenhouse Tavern opens this fall. At Bar Cento, local foods and eco-consciousness are not the only themes. As the Italian name implies, it specializes in Roman recipes – brick-oven pizzas, meatballs and cured meats, to name a few. The restaurant also serves Bier Market, a Belgian beer bar that offers 100 varieties of beer (which also are available at Bar Cento). Its menu also includes pomme frites (French fries… but even better…) and other foods that complement beer, such as burgers and mussels. Plenty to share Bar Cento is the type of place that lends itself to sharing – partly because the idea of tasting a little bit of everything is so tempting. I began my meal with an herb salad – peppercress, mint, parsley, scallion and crushed whole coriander seeds – topped with pieces of salt-baked konpachi, a type of fish similar to yellowtail. Vibrant and spicy in one bite, savory and salty in the next, this salad burst with fresh, strong flavors that managed to complement, rather than compete with one another. I then sampled the wild ramp pizza from the “modern” pizza list (a “traditional” list also is available). The wild ramps had personally been collected by Jonathon and his toddler son earlier that day. Ramps, also known as wild leeks, are extraordinarily underappreciated and underused in typical cuisine because they have a very short spring growing season and tend to be found only in the wild. The flavor, similar to onion and garlic, bit at my tongue. And then the slow burn of the pepperoncini (banana peppers) took over moments later. These magical ingredients topped a thin, crispy crust sprinkled with rich olive oil and a light layer of provolone. Moving on to an entrée, I was compelled to try the braised Ohio pork, which came with fiddlehead ferns and dry saddle mushrooms, items also foraged by the Sawyer boys. The pork reminded me of a roast that my mom used to make, but leagues ahead in flavor and texture. (Sorry, Mom!) The rich pork, which melted under my fork, was bathed in a velvety sauce. The crunchy, almost asparagus-like flavor of the fiddleheads and the tender but hearty mushrooms brought the flavors of the deep forest right to my plate. On the side I ordered the pomme frites (I really do not know if I can go there without ordering them). These sizable sticks of crunchy outside, soft inside potato scream out “fresh!” and “real!” For me, it is hard to find a better flavor than freshly fried potatoes. Oh yes, the fact that Jonathon uses duck fat in the fryer certainly helps, and he throws in cloves of garlic and stems of leafy rosemary for good measure. Just when I thought things could not get any better, I was given a trio of flavored Belgian mayonnaises for dipping – curry, garlic and spicy. I also highly recommend checking out the seasonal sides. For my visit, Bar Cento had whole grilled pea pods, which can be eaten similarly to edamame – simply slide the pod through the teeth and the peas pop right into the mouth. The fresh, crunchy pearls of peas had a slightly salty, fired taste. The caramelized fennel bulb was similarly spectacular. Somehow, Jonathon coaxed the most amazing sweet, slightly licorice flavor and supple texture out of nothing more than fennel, olive oil, salt and pepper. For dessert, I looked no further than the ice cream once I heard it was from Jeni’s, a small-batch shop with only a few locations in Columbus. With flavors that will make your head spin with wonder and glee, Jeni’s specifically ships to Bar Cento because Jonathon (like me) has an affection for this decadent delight. I decided on the sampler dish so I could try each flavor available that day — mango lassi, salty caramel and coffee ice creams, as well as raspberry sorbet. Offering an array of steadfast favorite dishes and others that change with the season, there always is something intriguing – not to mention packed with flavor – to order at Bar Cento. The menu, wine and beer selection appeals to neighborhood folk – young professionals and families as well as people headed to Ohio City before an Indian’s game or a night on the town. Although Jonathon says that the goal is not to be a destination dining spot, I highly recommend you put it on your radar. As he says, “Food here is treated lovingly.” Knowing that it also is sourced locally, what more could you want?

A twist of green

With a twist of green, an environmentally-friendly restaurant opens on East Fourth in downtown Cleveland.

By JOHN BOOTH

4:30 am, July 14, 2008

While Jonathon Sawyer's plans call for The Greenhouse Tavern to have an actual greenhouse on its East Fourth Street roof in downtown Cleveland, the chef and owner is aiming for an environmentally friendly approach to restaurateuring that will go well beyond its most visible symbol.

By building with conservation and sustainability in mind, from plumbing to appliances and even the restaurant's menu, Mr. Sawyer said he hopes to open the region's first eatery with a seal of approval from the Boston-based Green Restaurant Association.

“It's important to us to bring it (the seal) to Ohio both because we think we could be ahead of the curve nationally, and it's ultimately just doing the right thing,” said Mr. Sawyer, a chef/partner in Bier Markt and Bar Cento on West 25th Street in Ohio City. He expects The Greenhouse Tavern to open the doors on its 25- by 100-foot Corts Building space by the end of the year.

From the start, there has been a thread of keeping things simple to conserve resources.

“We're going to do the least possible additions that we can,” Mr. Sawyer said. “We're not going to rip down walls just to put up more walls. We're essentially going to strip the floor, because it's just tile, and we're just going to polish the concrete.”

The walls will be surfaced with a recycled plaster material, and the bar top will be made with a mix of binding material and glass that comes in part from used wine bottles at Bar Cento.

That “repurposing” philosophy will extend to the tables, chairs, decorations and even kitchen implements, as Mr. Sawyer did at Bar Cento, where he says “absolutely nothing was brand-new.”

Waterless urinals, too

Not to say there's no place for new technology: Moen's low-flow faucets certified under the U.S Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) ratings will be installed in the hand sinks, and the men's restroom will include waterless urinals.

“In terms of kitchen design, there's a lot of new high-efficiency equipment, from dishwashers that save you three gallons a cycle to pilot (lights) that turn off automatically on your stoves to hood vents that are sensor-correlated” to save energy, Mr. Sawyer said.

The Greenhouse's greenhouse, though, is easily the biggest single piece of the project, and Mr. Sawyer admits it most will likely take a few years before its efficiency takes root. His goal is to have a self-sufficient source for greens and herbs using composted material from the restaurant and reclaimed water.

“In the long run, it will be a huge cost savings for us,” he said. “At Cento, we spend at least $300 on herbs a week. And it's something that is really easy to do in a greenhouse.”

Mr. Sawyer also plans to craft the tavern's menu using as many Northeast Ohio ingredients as possible.

“It's really going to be about how good our pork is, how good our lamb is, how good our beef is,” he said. Produce will come largely from the region's farms, though Mr. Sawyer says he'll also factor in time and energy used in its gathering.

“You've got to let the menu be versatile,” he said. “You can't go to the market every day just to say that you're doing it. It's hard for some people as chefs to understand that it's OK to let that dictate what your menu is.”

Green requires green

All these efforts come at a price, and it's added a significant chunk to the financing of the project.

“We started with a business that was $300,000 to $400,000, and now we're at a $1.2 million business plan,” said Mr. Sawyer, who estimates making the tavern eco-friendly accounts for “a couple hundred thousand” of that price tag.

To fund the project, Mr. Sawyer said, “we have some investment backers — some are from New York, some are from here in Cleveland, some of them are family — and then we have a small SBA loan as well.”

So far, the dining services at Antioch College in Yellow Springs represent Ohio's only Green Restaurant Association-certified eatery, though association founder and executive director Michael Oshman said 250 restaurants nationwide either are certified or are working with the nonprofit toward meeting its criteria.

“We've tripled or so in the past year,” Mr. Oshman said of the association's restaurant roster. He noted that while 75% to 90% of those members are established eateries looking to go green, interest is growing among owners opening new restaurants, even faced with the industry's notoriously fickle environment.

Mr. Sawyer said he hopes Greenhouse Tavern succeeds not only as a business, but as an example, too.

“Ultimately, it was having kids and that responsibility of bringing kids up in a healthy environment that really made us want to make a difference,” he said.

Jonathon Sawyer
Chef/Partner Bar Cento

Jonathon Sawyer owner and chef of the new restaurant Bar Cento, located next to The Bier Markt and across the street from the West Side Market, talks about how 5 days of Auto-CAD convinced him to drop out of his engineering studies, follow his passion and study the culinary sciences. The rest is history.

Honing his skills at a long list of respected restaurants around the country, he returned to Cleveland, met Michael Symon and the two embarked on yet another successful and award-winning restaurant adventure in NYC.

He has now returned to Cleveland, again, and will soon open Ohio's first nationally certified green restaurant, Greenhouse Tavern on E. 4th St. This tree-hugger will be serving locally grown produce and meats as well as taking every step possible to recycle and reuse, including using restaurant waste to fuel the actual greenhouse on the roof! Check out one of his and wife Amelia's many blogs:

http://chefsawyer.blogspot.com; http://www.thegreenhousetavern.com; http://catchercrazyface.blogspot.com; http://www.chefswidow.com

by John Petkovic

Friday June 06, 2008, 12:00 AM

Too much of a good thing is just enough for me -- except when it comes to being "Happy." In a desperate attempt to find Happiness, I hit as many happy hours as I could over the course of two weeks. I ate sushi, burgers, oysters and pizza, and drank margaritas, mojitos, beer and tequila.

My tummy and head are a mess. I can't say that I'm too happy about that.

But I discovered that yes, there are enough happy hours to make you feel good for a day -- even if your boss is a jerk, gas prices are sucking you dry, and you're tired of Unhappy Hours in bars where drunks grovel in their beer and chicken-wing heads drool BBQ sauce all over themselves.

In other words, these places are affordable and fun. Just don't overdose on them, OK?

Happy factor rated on a scale of one to five.

Bar Cento, 1948 West 25th St., Cleveland, 216-274-1010.

1948 West 25th St., Cleveland, 216-274-1010.

Hours: 4:30-7 p.m. Monday through Saturday.

The deal: Beer, wine and cocktails $4; mini-meals $3 to $6.

Notes on a cocktail napkin: The veggie burger rocks. So do the beer-and-butter steamed mussels. So does the vinyl they spin here -- Mott the Hoople!

Happy factor: FIVE.

Hours: 4:30-7 p.m. Monday through Saturday.

The deal: Beer, wine and cocktails $4; mini-meals $3 to $6.

Notes on a cocktail napkin: The veggie burger rocks. So do the beer-and-butter steamed mussels. So does the vinyl they spin here -- Mott the Hoople!

Happy factor: FIVE.

In this weekly feature, C-Notes stretches your dollar at restaurants around the region, because fishing change out of the couch cushions is only a sustainable investment policy for so long. This week …

McNulty’s Bier Markt / Bar Cento
1948 West 25th Street, 216-344-9944, www.bier-markt.com
For Scene’s full review, click here.

What $13 got us: Two Hoegaardens ($3 each), happy bianco pizza ($5), a split order of happy Ohio fries ($3).

What else $13 can get you: A bunch of beer and wine specials and happy hour specials: a happy Ohio burger ($6), happy veggie burger ($5), happy Duvel steamed mussels with beer and butter ($5), happy warm marinated olives ($3). All of the regularly-priced pizzas are well under $13 (though they’re not called happy, so we’ll just assume they’re content) like: Puttanesca pizza with tomato sauce, capers, olives, provolone and anchovy ($10) and the spring onion pizza with leeks, provolone and pepperocini ($11.)

The Verdict: Amazing pizza and amazing beers. Are you in your car yet? ...

Jonathon Sawyer
Restaurant Hospitality's Rising Star April 2008

Click HERE to view article.

Last Wednesday, we joined about a dozen members of the Slow Food Northern Ohio Convivium at Bar Cento. The event was billed as a two hour service of appertivo and a glass of Chianti Montespertoli from Castello Sonnino ($20 for the general public, $15 for Slow Food members). Barone De Renzis of Sonnino attended, and seemed to enjoy how much we enjoyed his wines (everyone at our 8 top ordered a very reasonably priced flight of tastes of several other varietals in addition to the Chianti). Our table fully expected to stay for dinner after enjoying the appetizers.

Well, Slow Food has attended a previous event like this at Bar Cento, so we should have known better than to think we wouldn't be completely sated after the appertivo (that one was so crowded, I didn't take any photos, but you can see Stuart's photos of it here). Once again, on Wednesday, Chef Jonathon Sawyer and his wonderful crew fed us a magnificent meal of light (and not so light) bites. I would appreciate if Chef Sawyer, or anyone reading this who knows more about the specific types of olives, salumi, cheese, or anything else, would please jump in with comments identifying the goodies better!

The spread included no less than six varieties of olives. Before I became involved with Slow Food, and the only olives I knew came from cans, I despised them. Now, even though the green ones still don't really float my boat - I appreciate the real thing, and I tasted them all:






Figures - the ones I liked the best photographed out of focus







And there was so much more!


Almonds with Sliced Dates

And of course, a large and varied selection of Salumi. Not all of it was to my taste (but my husband took care of any slices I tasted and didn't care for), but it was all clearly top quality:














This was my favorite - with almost a pastrami-like peppery crust













Whew - that was a lot of pork fat!


Date Bark with Almonds

Sort of an inside-out take on the dish of almonds and slices dates - a lovely sweet foil for the oily salumi.


Pepperoncini

Three varieties of cheese also graced the serving area; I'd love to know what the second two were:



The Amarelo was a little too strong for my taste, but a lovely cheese nonetheless.



This was my favorite cheese (favorites did not fair well with focus this night).





The third cheese, a hard cheese, is in better focus behind this lovely plate of eggplant (was it grilled or sauteed?) and scallion.




This assortment of bread was lightly toasted



I believe that these breads came from Mediterra Bakehouse in PA - the one to the right was lightly toasted, and delicious served as Chef Sawyer suggested, with the prosciutto wrapped around it. I'm not a huge prosciutto fan, but the suggested combination was heavenly!



These crisps had a mild cheese (or was it lardo?) melted on them, together with a bit of ramp. Yum!


Dates


Spring Peas

My first peas of spring - fantastic. And again I ask - sauteed or grilled (both the peas and the eggplant had a smoky aroma and flavor, so I think the latter - but what do I know)?


White Beans Sauteed with Ramps

Another simple, yet extraordinary dish.


Local Beef Tartare with Olive Oil and Basil


Mussels


Tempura'd Broccoli Rabe



Light, crisp and warm - and not a bit greasy! This was a table favorite.


Ramp Pizza

With ramp season nearly over, we marveled that Chef Jonathon had three items on the buffet containing them. This pizza was every bit as amazing as I'd heard - the spiciness from the ramps is so very close to chili pepper! And the creamy garlic - this was a seasonal treat that I am glad I did not miss.




Close up of the Ramp Pizza


Braised Lamb Pizza

Unfortunately, I did not get a photo of a whole pie. Chef Sawyer brought these around to the tables as they came out of the oven - around 6:30pm - just as people were saying that they couldn't eat another bite. Oh yes you can - don't pass this lovely up (a couple of us practically begged Chef to put this on the regular menu). Tender, melt-in-your-mouth morsels of lamb resplendent atop a crunchy crust, accompanied by scallion and gooey cheese - food just doesn't get any better than this.


Prunes aka "Dried Plums"


Chestnut Cake

I was too full to try this Chestnut cake, but it looked wonderful.


Olive Oil Pound Cake

I did taste a bit of this, topped with a few of the liquor-soaked Italian cherries pictured below.





These fabulous appertivo constituted a complete dinner for all eight of the Slow Food folks at our table - the best kind of dinner - the kind where you get to play with delicious slow food, in the company of wonderful friends and a friendly staff, then go home happy until it is time to play with your food again!

An Aurora manufacturing plant of a German company will be getting an $82 million expansion and 150 new jobs.

Rotek Inc., which manufactures large diameter bearings for such things as radar systems, wind energy turbines, tunnel boring machines and rail vehicles, will begin construction at the end of this month with the plant expected to begin expanded production in the first quarter of 2010.

Rotek, a subsidiary of Dortmund, Germany-based Rothe Erde, announced the investment on Tuesday. Rothe Erde is part of the ThyssenKrupp Technologies Group of Dusseldorf, Germany.

The investment includes what is called a second ring mill at the Aurora facility to serve its own expanding large diameter ‘’slewing ring” production and help meet the growing demands in the United States for seamless rolled rings.

The manufacturing plant will increase by 116,000 square feet and add new machinery, tooling and production lines, said spokesman Matt Rhodes.

In a press release, Rotek President Leonard F. Osborne said, ”The planned expansion is an integral part of the company’s growth strategy. This significant investment represents our continued commitment to provide the highest quality products and customer service possible.”

ThyssenKrupp Rotek received funds from the State of Ohio Department of Development for job creation and training, as well as machinery and equipment purchases. In addition, the city of Aurora offered the company property tax abatement and funds for road infrastructure improvements.

In the news release, Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland said, ”Rotek is developing and manufacturing components for several high growth industries, including wind energy, where Ohio has become a national leader with a strong competitive advantage. We welcome Rotek’s growth and the 150 new jobs in the City of Aurora.”

The company said it will create 150 new full-time jobs within three years and retain the 215 existing full-time jobs in Aurora at the plant and local headquarters. The hiring process will begin in the fall. (more…)

Didn’t Esquire already cheer some restaurant from Cleveland recently? Anyway, they’ve done it again. There’s no better place than Esquire for hard hitting sandwich journalism. Esquire’s recent rundown of the best sandwiches in America includes many of the usual suspects - po’ boys, jibaritos, cubanos, banh mis and such recognizable purveyors as Al’s #1, Zingerman’s, Katz’s, Guy Savoy, Bouchon, John’s Roast Pork, Primati’s, etc. . . But the list also includes three contenders from Cleveland, Ohio. Slyman’s inclusion should be no surprise to anyone after they were featured on $40 a Day. I was pleased to see The Beachland Ballroom recognized for their “trailer park monte cristo.” Our third honoree was Freddie’s Rib House for their Polish Boy.

It wasn’t entirely clear who was responsible for compiling the list and specifically who might have been responsible for choosing Cleveland’s representatives. I like to think of myself as pretty wired-in to the restaurant scene in Cleveland and I’d never heard of Freddie’s. And it’s not like I haven’t enjoyed my fair share of Polish Boys. I recommend Hot Sauce Williams for what it’s worth. And, for those concerned, Esquire met their legal obligation of mentioning Michael Symon in every Cleveland food article in a national media outlet. Iron Chef Michael Symon contributed a recipe for a pancetta and egg sandwich. Finally, just to prove that they’re cool like that, they included the McRib.

The Best Sandwiches in America. Esquire.com.

They accept recommendations at editor@esquire.com. I’d start with this one from my very own kitchen:

Besides that and the aforementioned Hot Sauce Williams Polish Boy, if I were to recommend sandwiches in Cleveland I might start with some of these:

1. Presto. Everything is good. Sandwiches, soups, sides. I wish it were closer.
2. Superior Pho. A very good banh mi.
3. Ferrara’s. Good cold cut and sausage and peppers subs. I used to make some substitutions when I ordered to get a sandwich that I really preferred but it’s been so long that I can’t remember.
4. Appetite. My experience there was mixed but I admire their dedication to fresh, from-scratch cooking. I really want them to do well. I had some good, house-made roast beef and now I understand they’re making more of their meats in house.
5. La Bodega. I meant to explore the large and interesting menu but while I’ve always been satisfied I was never wowed. Still, I hope to return.