Ohio Wanderlust

Two weeks ago Dave and I visited the Portside Distillery and Brewery in Cleveland, in part thanks to a LivingSocial deal my friend Sara had gifted us. The deal was good for a brewery and distillery tour complete with a sample of beer and rum at the end as well as a Portside growler to take home (beer to fill the growler not included). We arrived just before the first tour of the day started, so we decided to grab lunch and go on the second tour. I'm not a beer person, so I chose the Seasonal Cider Cocktail which was being made with Christmas Spirit, but Tess said that the cider mixed with the Vanilla Maple Rum was an option and that it was a good combo. I went with the cider + Vanilla Maple Rum topped with dried cherries rehydrated in Vanilla Maple Rum. I thought this drink was really good, the cider paired nicely with the Vanilla Maple Rum, but the drink wasn't too sweet overall. Definitely a nice lunch cocktail.  Dave ordered the Winter Sampler which included ...

Last Saturday we made the mistake of trying to go to dinner in Canton without any reservations. Every where I called couldn't get us in for several hours, and we really needed to find somewhere to eat prior to an event starting at 8:00. Luckily, the Canton Brewing Company only had about a twenty-minute wait for a table and none of us had been there before, so we were happy to try something new as well. During the wait we went downstairs to explore the Speakeasy Tap Room.... The four of us were impressed with how large the Speakeasy space is, there were quite a few people down there enjoying pizza and even a large birthday party group that had set themselves up in one of the corners.  The restaurant upstairs also is a lot bigger than most places we've been in downtown Canton, but with the addition of the Speakeasy downstairs the space is absolutely huge.  Overall, twenty minutes was probably a pretty accurate estimation of how long we w...

Friday evening Dave and I took a trip up to Cleveland to celebrate our anniversary. We had a gift card to the Greenhouse Tavern located on East 4th St (thanks Sara and Matt) and thought it looked like a wonderful restaurant for date night. I made a reservation one week prior to us going out and was already impressed with the staff. I received a phone call Thursday afternoon to confirm my reservation and to find out if we had any food allergies, aversions, or dietary restrictions. They also asked if we were having dinner there to celebrate anything. When we arrived Friday evening our server, Kevin, was prepared to guide us through the vegetarian menu items and was already aware that we were there to celebrate our anniversary. Those special touches really help to elevate the dining experience. Greenhouse Tavern's menu is divided in five courses, you can choose to work your way through all five courses for a set price or mix-and-match items. The course that an item falls into is...

Last Sunday I woke-up really craving good brunch food -- our friends Kaley and Jon go out to brunch dates every weekend and I'm slightly jealous of the gorgeous photos that Kaley posts of the food from their brunch dates. Blue Door Cafe had been recommended to me by Kaley and another friend, so we decided to take a drive out to Cuyahoga Falls around noon. The Blue Door Cafe and Bakery updates their menu weekly, so although none of the items we ate are currently available, I just took a peek at the menu that was posted March 3 and there are several items that look superb, like the French Waffle with peanut butter and blood orange jelly. For brunch last week, I selected the Blood Orange Crepe served with white chocolate mousse, caramel vanilla macroons, and candied orange. This was incredibly divine, the crepes were cooked to perfection, the blood orange came through nicely, and the caramel sauce added just enough sweetness.  Dave ordered a more savory item and c...

Popped! is one of the places that we miss now that we live further away from downtown Kent. This summer we spent a lot of time enjoying restaurants and events downtown and we would always stop by Popped! for a bag of popcorn before we left. I love that their business has expanded to include a wide array of chocolate items as well as ice cream and I think that their popcorn and confections make for wonderful gifts. Dave and I stopped by Popped! last Saturday, because we were in town. We picked-up some popcorn to enjoy (Black Squirrel Crunch -- Peanut Caramel Popcorn with Kettlecorn and Milk Chocolate Covered Peanut Brittle), a box of milk chocolate assorted acorn treats (a nod to the Tree City), and some chocolate bars for a party that we were hosting that evening.  You can see in the background of this photo that there's a little sitting area if you'd like to enjoy ice cream. There is also a nice patio area right outside of Popped! which features tables...