LFM: 614 Restaurant Week: Oliver's, Downtown

Well it seems like being behind on blogging is becoming all too common in my life, get it together Steph!  I hereby solemnly swear to step up my game!  Ok, now let's talk Restaurant Week, which was like forever ago but oh well!


With such a hectic summer its hard to make it to too many places during Restaurant Week but we at least made it to one with our friend Asha.  Oliver's is the newest member of the FAB Dining Group family, spearheaded by Yvonne Sarber, in good company with Manifesto, DeNovo and Fin (formerly Chez du Bon).  This was on my list to try since I heard about it this winter.  If nothing else I couldn't wait to see what the FAB team did to decorate this unassuming Lynn Alley spot.

Patio seating

In typical fashion they created an environment that's eclectic, unique and transforms your dining experience.  In as few words as possible, it's a classed up downtown sports bar.  Exposed brick, TV's everywhere with a mix of comfortable raised booths and high top tables, it's an urban chic place focused on good booze and good food with sizable portions.

the bar area

So first we started with cocktails, I got a dirty martini.  Since Oliver's prides themselves on their bourbon selection it seemed to make sense for Chris and Asha to get bourbons on the rocks.  I haven't quite ventured to the bourbon side of life, hence the martini.

None of us actually ordered from the Restaurant Week menu as the burgers caught our eyes instead.  I got the Sliders, a trio of short rib mini burgers topped with manchego cheese, lettuce and tomato.  To make the meal more substantial (not realizing the portion size) I ordered a side of the Mac and Cheese, six cheese blend, cavatappi noodles and sour cream bechamel.  The burgers were cooked perfectly, fabulously juicy and very flavorful.  Was a little turned off that they assumed I wouldn't want ketchup and it wasn't served with condiments (I practice safe eating, always use condiments!) but with quality beef and cheese I suppose it's not entirely necessary.  The Mac and Cheese was pretty disappointing, not very cheesey and committed one of the cardinal sins of mac and cheese making: being dry.  I want those noodles practically swimming in cheesey goodness please!

Sliders and Mac and Cheese

Asha got The Downtown Juicy Lucy, 1/2 pound short rib burger stuffed with cheddar and gruyere topped with caramelized onions and chipotle aioli with a side of garlic fries.  She said this was good but since the cheese was in the middle of the burger there was less cheese flavor throughout.  The garlic fries were really yummy (I snagged one to taste!).

Downtown Juicy Lucy

Chris got the BBQ Burger, 1/2 pound short rib burger topped with pulled pork, pickled onions, sweet slaw and the house blueberry BBQ sauce with a side of sweet potato fries.  He said it was good but nothing to write home about. 

BBQ Burger

Even though we were entirely stuffed from our meals we decided to splurge for dessert.  The guy who cleared our plates told us we couldn't order from the Restaurant Week desserts but then our waiter we had the whole time said we could, so a little discombobulated/misinformed but whatevs.  We each ordered different desserts and then passed plates around to try them all.

I ordered the chocolate cake with bourbon glaze.  This was pretty fabulous, the cake was very moist and fluffy and the glaze was just right.

Chocolate Cake with bourbon glaze

Chris got the Peaches and Cream.  This was okay, the shortcake was a little lack luster but the whipped cream was tasty with the peaches.

Peaches and Cream

Asha got the Banana Bread Pudding which was good, the banana was a nice change up from regular bread pudding.

Banana Bread Pudding

So after everyone tried all three we came up with the following verdict: Chocolate Cake was the best, Banana Bread Pudding next, Peaches and Cream last on a count of not very good shortcake.

Overall it's a good downtown spot with elevated flavors and atmosphere, although you'll pass it on High Street if you're not paying attention since it's tucked into the alley on Lynn.  Prices were reasonable for the generous portions.  The menu has some options other than burgers and bar food which gives it more depth.  Definitely a good spot to take in a game and some decent chow if you are downtown.

As previously stated, I'll be working to improve my blogging frequency in the coming weeks, lots of restaurants, recipes and shoes to share!

Cheers!
Steph

Local Foodie Moment: El Camino Inn

Alright and we're back!  How was everyone's Thanksgiving?!  Ours was hectic and fabulous!  We went to Chris' aunt and uncle's house for his family's Thanksgiving celebrations.  First everyone watched the Lions game, then we got gussied up and ready for family pictures, then a delicious dinner then grandkid Christmas gift exchange (phew a lot to pack in in one day)!  Over the weekend we celebrated my Momma's birthday too, 50 years young that amazing lady turned!  Here are a few pics of all the fun!

Chris and his godson, Noah, cheering on their Lions!

All the handsome Mutchler men in their new ties!

Lunch at Melt in Cleveland Heights, one of the many yummy meals we had to celebrate Mom's 5-0!

Delicious dinner made by Daddy with special guests Granny, cousins Jenn & Todd and their little one Logan!

Alright now that we're all caught up!  In our quest to try this year's new restaurants we checked another one off the list, El Camino Inn.  This restaurant is owned by the same restaurant group as The Little Palace, Club 185, Philco Diner and Rossi Bar and Kitchen.  El Camino is located downtown on South 4th Street (next to Little Palace and down the street from 16-bit).  I like this strip of restaurants and bars downtown, there's never a parking issue, there's always good eats and good drinks!  Going here actually rounded out my restaurant/bar visits for that block (Dirty Franks, Little Palace and 16 Bit).

We went for dinner on a Thursday and there was quite a few people but we still found a table right away.  The atmosphere is kind of cozy yet eclectic.  Music plays from a record player and a giant marlin (or maybe it was a swordfish?  I'm not really fish savvy) hangs over the mirrored bar.

As to be expected of a Mexican restaurant, El Camino's cocktail list specializes in tequila.  Neither Chris or I are tequila fans but I figured "When in Mexico" and ordered the Paloma which was on special for happy hour.  This was light and refreshing and went really well with my dinner.

Paloma

Chris ordered a bourbon cocktail that for the life of me I can't remember its name, something like Sweet Romance, not sure?  It was a little on the sweet side.  They have a good selection of beers, all of which are served either in cans or bottles which enhances that casual, cozy feel.

For dinner we each ordered tacos and I ordered the Chicken and Rice soup.  The soup was very good, had nice hints of cilantro giving it a really fresh taste.

Chicken and Rice Soup (little blurry, sorry!)

The tacos we're very yummy and were reasonably priced.  We tried each of the kinds of meat on the menu between us: chicken, chorizo, barbacoa, carnitas and carne asada.  These were all pretty good.  Chris' favorite was the chorizo and mine was probably the carne asada.  I liked that everything seemed very fresh and not greasy.

Carne Asada and Chicken tacos

Tacos Especial

What's nice about El Camino is that it's not pretentious, its casual but good food.  The service was great and the staff was very friendly.  The prices ($2 a taco, add 25 cents for especial style) were reasonable and the food came out relatively fast.  It's places like this that offer a fun atmosphere, sit down restaurant style but cut the waiting for food time practically in half.  They make it easy and accessible for you to get to your next event but they also make you comfortable enough that you don't really want to leave!

This review is featured on urbanspoon!

I definitely recommend El Camino if you are up for some simple and delicious Mexican food and drink.  The restaurant, although small, accommodates groups large and small (probably max. table size is for 6 to 8ish) so grab some amigos for a pitcher of margaritas and some tasty tacos!

Cheers!
Steph

Bourbon Chicken

Annnnnd we're back!  It has been a hectic couple of weeks with our trip to Winston-Salem for Andrea's (Chris' little sister) masters graduation from Wake Forest!  Then my little brother turned 21 this past weekend.  Mitch had a White Trash Backyard Bash themed 21st birthday, which was pretty hilarious!  We have been running around all over the place!  So now its time to play catch up!  First a few pictures from the recent celebrations.

The graduate and I!

All the kids!

Birthday boy and his beer cake!

White Trashin' it up!

Given that we were in the south two weekends ago and we had lots of alcohol consumption going on this weekend I thought maybe a bourbon recipe would be fitting to share!  When I first saw this recipe on Pinterest I thought "Oh I bet Chris would like this!  He likes bourbon so what a great way to incorporate it into cooking" so I planned to give it a try.  I looked at the ingredients and discovered there was no bourbon in it, only apple juice.  I felt a little betrayed (there's those foodie trust issues rearing their ugly heads, I blame oatmeal raisin cookies that look like chocolate chip for that).  I mean the reason I pinned this recipe was because it was monikered BOURBON chicken not apple juice chicken.  So I decided to set things straight in this culinary trial and share with you ACTUAL BOURBON chicken.

Bourbon Chicken
(This made enough for four servings but can be easily halved)

Ingredients:
- 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite sized pieces
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 3/4 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
- 1/4 c. bourbon
- 1/3 c. light brown sugar
- 2 Tbsp. ketchup
- 1 Tbsp. cider vinegar
- 1/2 c. water
- 1/3 c. soy sauce
- 1 Tbsp. flour (optional)
- olive oil
- salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:
- Heat a tablespoon or so of olive oil in a large pan.
- Add chicken and cook until no longer pink.

- Remove chicken and set aside.
- Add garlic, red pepper flakes, bourbon, sugar, ketchup, vinegar, water, and soy sauce (I mixed these in a bowl previously so I wouldn't have to fuss when it was time to add it to the pan), heat over medium heat, bring to a hard boil.

- Let sauce reduce then add chicken (this can take anywhere from 10 to 20 minutes to reduce) if you'd like it to thicken faster use 1 Tbsp. flour mixed with warm water as a thickening agent.
- Stir until chicken is well coated.

- Serve over warm rice.
- Enjoy!

This was well received by all diners, Chris, my dad and my brother.  I got the sauce a little too thick but overall I thought it was good as well.  You can pick up slight hints of the bourbon with very light spice from the red pepper flakes.  If you want it more spicy you can add some Sriracha sauce or hot sauce.

Well its Memorial Tournament week in Columbus so I'll be there for work then its time to get ready for Miami friends' nuptials!  But I hope to share my most recent cocktail treat with you before.  Happy short work week!

Cheers!
Steph

Crockpot Bourbon Baked Beans

With BBQ season upon us I wanted to share a fun recipe I made recently.  Chris is a baked beans fan through and through, often times there's no option of grilling burgers without them.  Something about it being sacrilegious or something?  And people say I have the flare for the dramatics, just talk to Chris about burgers without baked beans and tell me who the Emmy goes to.  Anyways, we were invited to a cookout at our friends Rob and Emily's place and instead of the standard canned beans I decided lets do it up and try from scratch!  I found this recipe on Pinterest from one of my favorite blogs and with Bourbon in the title I pretty much knew Chris would like it. 

You'll have to forgive my little scatterbrain because I have no end result photos!  How I let that happen I have no idea but its too late now!

Crockpot Bourbon Baked Beans
(this makes almost 8 to 10 side servings)
Ingredients:
- 1 lb. dry navy beans
- 10 slices thick cut bacon, chopped
- 1 medium sweet onion, chopped
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 2 c. water
- 3/4 c. preferred barbecue sauce
- 1 c. loosely packed brown sugar
- 1/4 c. ketchup
- 2 Tbsp. molasses
- 1 c. bourbon
- 1 1/2 mustard
- 1/4 c. apple cider vinegar
- 2 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce

Instructions:
- The night before cover beans in a bowl with water.  Drain the following morning.

- In a large pot of water, bring beans to a boil.  Let simmer for 30-40 minutes then drain.
- While beans are cooking, heat a large pan over medium heat, add bacon and cook until crispy.
- Remove bacon from pan onto a paper toweled plate.  Leave rendered fat in pan and reduce heat to medium low.

You could actually chop this up a little more when it cools these were a little large.

- Add onion and cook until soft (8-10 min).  Add garlic, cook for 30 seconds and turn off heat.

- In the crockpot, add water, barbecue sauce, brown sugar, ketchup, molasses, bourbon, mustard, vinegar and Worcestershire sauce then whisk to combine.

- Add beans, onions (plus bacon fat) and bacon to the crockpot.

- Cover, cook on low for 10-12 hours, stirring occasionally.
- After time is up, turn crockpot to warm setting or turn it off completely and let sit for 30 minutes to 2 hours.  This helps the sauce thicken up a bit.
-These are known to be thicker and more flavorful the next day.
- Serve warm and enjoy!

I didn't really love these, I'm not a huge bourbon fan so maybe that's why.  You can definitely taste the bourbon, that's for sure!  And I'm told the bourbon taste gets stronger over time in the fridge.  Chris, Rob and Emily all liked them though so maybe its a "me problem".  Anyways these take a little more thought beforehand since the beans need to soak and they cook in the crock for 10 plus hours.  I imagine you could maybe take a short cut and use canned beans just drain the liquid and rinse before adding.  This recipe could easily be halved for a smaller batch which I would highly recommend if only cooking for a small group as we had plenty of leftovers!

Well off to Wake Forest for Andrea's graduation!  Chris is already asking if we can go back to the place we had chicken and waffles.  In a recent conversation he listed discovering chicken and waffles and asking me to marry him as life changing events.  Again, I ask you who the Emmy goes to?  Have a great weekend everyone!

Cheers!
Steph