The Daily Balance

Remember when I told you that Cleveland is a pretty big deal when it comes to food? Here’s more proof that I wasn’t lying. Yep, the well respected Food & Wine Magazine recently awarded “Best New Chef” to Greenhouse Tavern’s Jonathon Sawyer. (Michael Symon won the award back in 1998)

Certified as the first Green restaurant in Ohio, the Greenhouse Tavern uses environmentally friendly ingredients and utilizes recycled materials, highly developed models of composting and alternate sources of energy. In addition, the restaurant promotes the farm to plate movement by working with local farms and farmers to provide the freshest, local produce.

Check out those lights and how they’ve utilized bicycle tires!

Everyone at the table decided to take advantage of the tasting menu. The tasting menu allows you to pick a 1st course, a second course, a main course and either a side or dessert. You get all of this for only $39! Yes, it can seem a bit pricey for one person, but look at just how many different dishes you get to try! And when you go with a big group it’s even more fun- as long as your crowd is OK with sharing

For my first course, I chose the breakfast radishes, which were served cold with butter, lemon zest & sea salt. These were so refreshing! Incredibly crispy. The heat of the radish was balanced out nicely by the smooth, creamy butter and salt.

My next dish was grilled artichokes and sauteed mushrooms. I’m not sure what sauce or seasonings were used, but they were incredible! I had a hard time sharing this dish with outhers.

My main dish was… interesting. I had absolutely no idea what to expect. The dish was called Puttanesca. Puttanesca is a type of sauce made with tomatoes, capers and OLIVES. Call me insane, but I HATE olives. Of course that would have been nice to know before I ordered the dish. To be fair, I did not ask if the dish had olives in it. And at this point I should probably mention the amazingness that is The Greenhouse Tavern staff. They were all so incredibly helpful and also brought over a few complimentary dishes to make sure our table got the full tasting experience. Anyway, back to my Puttanesca. Aside from the fact that olives make me want to heave, I enjoyed this dish as much as I could. The roasted tomatoes were cooked perfectly and created sweet explosions with every bite. Those few bites alone made the dish worth it. Best dish I tried (and sadly don’t have a photo of): Half Roasted Chicken in Brioche Bread.

Oh dear. There are no words. I will be going back to order this dish for myself. And there will be no sharing, I assure you.

Instead of ordering dessert (the horror!) I ordered beluga lentils. Best decision I made. Why? Because these were addictingly succulent. Well, and everyone else was pretty much full by this point, so I had most of their dessert. They don’t call me a genius for nothing. Oh wait, they just don’t call me a genius at all.

Unfortunately I don’t have photos of the incredible desserts — which is probably a good thing, since you all think I’m a pig already – why add fuel to the fire?

One of the things I loved so much about this meal was the fact that I WAS NOT uncomfortably full afterwards! How nice to enjoy so many different dishes and not feel sick! I chalk this up to The Greenhouse’s perfect portions – just right for tasting and enjoying, without over doing it.

This was an incredible meal, enjoyed with my beautiful family set to a soundtrack of laughter and great conversation. I really can’t think of a better way to spend an evening. Too bad my Mister had to miss out. Oh well, now we get to go again

Have you taken advantage of a tasting menu before? What was your experience like?