Ohio Wanderlust

Last night we made a spur of the moment decision to drive up to Willoughby to enjoy the once a month five course wine dinner offered at Pranzo Bistro. Once a month Cleveland Wine Tastings hosts a five course wine dinner featuring a different winery and themed menu. Dave and I are both vegetarians and it's not often that we see a multiple course dinner that's all vegetarian. We were pretty excited and although Willoughby is about an hour away, we drove up after work. All of the wines were from Luca Wines an Argentinean Winery with high elevation grown grapes. Luca is a family owned winery and is named for owner Laura Catnea's eldest son. Laura combines Luca's grapes grown from old vines and oak aging to create one of a kind wines which were the subject of our pairings last night. Course 1 : Green Bean Salad tossed with toasted walnuts and house made vinaigrette paired with Reginato Rose of Malbec . It was fun to start with something bubbly, the  Reginato Rose of Mal

Dave and I recently checked out the Mustard Seed Cafe in the Highland Square neighborhood of Akron. The Mustard Seed is the largest locally-owned retailer of natural and organic products in Ohio. Located above the Akron store is the Mustard Seed Cafe which serves breakfast, brunch, lunch, and dinner. There is a fully stocked bar as well as a juice and smoothie menu. We weren't entirely sure what to expect during our visit, but we knew that the Mustard Seed maintains strict standards regarding the food they sell/serve meaning free from things like chemical preservatives and artificial coloring among other things. When you enter the Mustard Seed Cafe, you order all of your food at the counter. We went while the weekend brunch menu was available, so we opted to order from that. Once you've ordered you choose your seat, there are quite a few seating options ranging from high top tables to the outdoor patio. It was chilly, so no patio for us. I

I'm surprised that I haven't reviewed Crave yet, because we've been there several times since I started Ohio Wanderlust and it was one of our favorite Akron locations pre-blog. Crave is a great place for dinner in Akron with a menu that rotates with the seasons -- some items are staples though, so you can usually go back for your favorite (guilty) or try something new instead. I highly recommend making a reservation through their website, especially on a weekend during dinner. We've dropped in later in the evening and had success getting a table for four quickly, but for a group larger than that a reservation is best. For my cocktail I ordered the Crave a Mule "Blood Orange Vodka. House Made Orangecello. Lime Juice. Ginger Beer" For an appetizer Dave and I split the Fried Green Tomatoes served with a Purple Potato Cake, Guajillo Chile Aioli, Hard Boiled Egg and Kalamata Olives. This is also served with a crab salad, but we had that left off ou

35° Brix is the newest restaurant in Green, their grand opening was April 13, 2016. They serve lunch and dinner Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday as well as brunch and dinner on Sunday. We made reservations for the third night 35° Brix was open -- at this point reservations are a must, they use open table and have reservation times for all meals.  The decor at 35° Brix is really great, very bright and modern with pops of color. We ordered two drinks. Dave selected the Planters Punch made with Captains Morgan rum, Grand Marnier, orange juice, pineapple juice, lime juice, simple syrup, bitters, and grenadine. There are four drinks on the cocktail menu highlighted, those drinks come with a glowing ice cube that you're able to take home. I think he really just wanted that glowing ice cube. There were quite a few cocktails on the menu (about 25-30), as well as a wide selection of beer and wine, so there's something for everyone. I ordered t