The Arcade: No Pennies

     The other night my daughter had concert tickets for Capital Cities at House of Blues in Cleveland and a car problem. So I told her we would give her a ride into the thriving metropolis of Cleveland and grab a bite and enjoy ourselves By pretending to be city folk for a night. She invited her sister to the concert so it was a foursome for dinner. Since their concert was at the House of Blues, we decided to eat there as well. We sat down and got our menus. They were changed, and a little selections were a little disappointing. After a minute I thought of suggesting we go somewhere else. Everyone else seemed okay with it, so I decided to just roll with it. The menu might have been disappointing, but the food itself was fantastic! This is so much better than a great menu with disappointing food.

     The girls left through the magical door and we sat for a while talking about the things we talk about these days while my husband had his coffee. After that we walked down 4th street until we got to the point where the wind attacks, and turned around and walked back the other way. We decided to go to Chocolate Bar, which people say is fantastic. I ordered the chocolate lava cake and my husband ordered cocoa. I have to say, for all the hype about the Chocolate Bar, I was wholly underwhelmed. My chocolate lava cake was probably bought froze and prepared on site, it was served with half a strawberry, a chocolate straw with a few chocolate shavings, some whipped cream which may or may not have been from a can, and a little frozen chocolate eclair identical to the ones from the freezer at Sam's club. So basically, I think they make nothing themselves. I could have had the same stuff at home. I have a membership to Sam's club. My husband didn't finish his cocoa. It is difficult to disappoint us with chocolate, but I have had better desserts at Don Pablo's. 

     The best part about having had dessert in the Chocolate Bar was the little door leading into the Arcade. I told my husband we should walk around in there, where it would not be windy and cold. We thought we might find a comfortable place to sit, as well. The Arcade is pretty neat, as we were about to find out.

     The Arcade was opened on Memorial Day in 1890. It was financed By John D. Rockefeller, among others, as one of the earliest indoor shopping malls in the United States. Ladies and gentlemen, it is pretty awesome. 

The Arcade, Cleveland Ohio

The staircase is beautiful. The whole thing reminds me of being on a ship, somehow. Old fashioned, elegant, and full of razzle-dazzle!

Starbucks at The Arcade

 The Starbucks at night is not big and bright... deep in the heart of the Arcade.

The Arcade

     Isn't she lovely? We walked around for a good long time, inspecting, window shopping, and taking pictures. It's a good thing we stopped in at the Chocolate Bar, because the entrance to the Arcade is locked at night. As soon as we got outside we realized why. We stepped outside and were approached by a man, who sounded a lot like Gary Busey sometimes sounded on The Apprentice. He eventually got down to asking for money. Which, of course, we did  not have because we had given our last few dollars to the valet. Sorry, man, we just don't have any cash at all. I had even removed all the coins from my purse earlier in the day. On the walk to our valet stand we were intercepted two more times by people asking for money. It's such an uncomfortable thing sometimes, being a human being.

Bob's Hamburg, Akron Ohio

Bob's Hamburg, counter seat. Right in the middle of the action!

     The other day I had to make a run to Akron, which I never enjoy. I am a country mouse, not a city rat. I am also not sure I should be mentioning mice and rats when I am about to tell you about an eatery, but such if life. Since I was in Akron with our youngest child I thought I would pull up Urbanspoon on my phone and see what was close. Bob's Hamburg was 1.7 miles away! 

     Bob's Hamburg is an Akron legend. They have been around now for over eighty years - that's a long time for a family owned diner to stay in business. I think they have six booths and a counter to seat another six or so. It's tiny. See the photo above? We sat at the counter so we could be right where the action is. The grill is small, I think about 2 feet by 4 feet. The place was packed when we arrived, right at the end of breakfast service. When they switched over to lunch I contemplated staying and eating it too, but the breakfast was so giant I had to take half of it home already. 

     Did I mention the food? It's sublime! I have had their hamburgers and they are special. The fries and onion rings are the real thing. The omelet I had I think was three large (burger sized) sausage patties fried and cut up into what I think was three eggs and cheese. And of course, I had to order some of their amazing hash browns. They are some of my favorite hash browns ever. And a cup of gravy, which had the equivalent of another sausage patty in it. If you are in Akron, go check them out. 

     Bob's Hamburg is doing fish fry Fridays right now for lent and they are staying open until 8:00PM. Lake Erie perch, people! Plus oysters and crab cakes. Call (330)253-02627  for carry out or go save me a seat at 1351 East Avenue in Akron. The cook the orders in the order they come in, so you may get anxious thinking it is taking longer than you expected, but that's because of phone in orders. They will not forget you and it will be worth the wait. 

*UrbanSpoon has them listed as cash only, but I was able to use my Discover. Maybe they used to be cash only, but now they definitely take cards. 

Charlie's L'Etoile Verte

  

     I have no idea why they only gave themselves a green star. Clearly they were being modest because we give them a gold star and four enthusiastic thumbs up! We went for lunch on Wednesday and tried to go for lunch again on Friday, but they were closed. This broke our hearts. No, really, it did. The lunch menu was quite impressive. Even more impressive was the food when it was delivered to our table. Amazing. The freshest of the fresh. They do not ignore a single detail at Charlie's. 

     Their sweet tea was right on the money, they brought fresh lovely bread to the table, the mixed greens with a champagne vinagrette was fresh and lovely, the duck was perfect and the fish was yummy. The sides were prepared with so much love and attention to quality that I cleaned my plate. Garden fresh peas and carrots - this from a girl who understands 'garden fresh'.


     Charlie's writes their menu daily. Daily! They do it to give you what's fresh and good each day. Isn't that lovely? Shouldn't everyone do this? Top this off with a price you will not believe. Also, if you're a wino? They have you covered! We could have paid at least this much for lunch at any casual dining chain.

     When I am in Hilton Head I would like to have lunch here daily.

Bluffton Family Seafood House

     Nothing fancy meets fresh seafood of your dreams! Go to Bluffton to eat here, you want to do that anyway - especially on Thursdays when they have the farmer's market. This place has only been open a few months, but they've been running the seafood factory forever. They know what they are doing. This place is owned by the people who own the seafood factory in Bluffton. Let them fry you up a basket of your favorites. It will make you happy, I promise. It's small and nothing fancy, but it's worth the trip. Check out the big table in the bar, it's interesting. Prices are amazingly low. You're going to love it!

The Melting Pot Gives You The Cheesey 411! Free Fondue For Two!

Okay my little cheese loving piglets, here's the day we were all waiting for, but we didn't even know it. Cheese fondue for FREE from THE place to go for Cheese Fondue - The Melting Pot. You don't even have to buy anything else, that's how free it is!

As you know, we ate at The Melting Pot just last weekend.  It was so good, I am ready to go again. I could eat there once or twice a week.

Call today and make your reservation, you know you want it!

And Then We Ate At The Melting Pot

     After the Cleveland Auto Show we really needed lunch. We checked out the restaurant week lunch menus and then I remembered I had a $50 gift certificate I won from Melting Pot Cleveland on their facebook page. And I actually had it with me! We were so excited we shot right over to Westgate Mall. Before going in I told my husband to stop me from eating the salad. Even though it's the best Caesar salad I've ever had in my life. It didn't work. We shared a salad and brought the other one home with us.

     First we had the traditional Swiss cheese fondue. I didn't take pictures because we were so hungry we attacked it. The cheese course had already been removed from the table before I even realized I had not taken pictures. But to redeem myself, here's a picture of the world's best Caesar salad:

World's best Caesar Salad - with pine nuts!

      I will not bore you with all the details, but the meat course was splendid. They gave me the best mushrooms with my filet. I could have just had those mushrooms and left happy. I still ate a lot of other stuff. My husband had the steak/shrimp/chicken combo. I think they call this the land & sea. They bring out red potatoes, broccoli, mushrooms, two breading dips, and four sauces. The dipping sauces are out of this world! Three out of four of them were my favorite. Because when I am at The Melting Pot I am eight years old. I wanted to exclaim "This is the best day of my WHOLE life!"

Meat Course, of course!

Dessert Menu - because we dove into dessert and this was all I had left to photograph.

      We took the milk chocolate dessert fondue, like we always do. It's fantastic, why change? I asked them to pass on the marshmallows and cheesecake and give us extra pound cake. Did you know you can substitute pretty much anything during any course at The Melting Pot? 

     The people who took care of us were very friendly and attentive. The hostess even noticed and refilled drinks twice. We have been to this location before and we had excellent service that time, also. 

     Now, can I get you guys to enter into a letter writing campaign with me so we can convince them to open one closer to my house? I can see going in a couple of times a week for different courses.

SOHO South Cafe in Savannah, GA

Food: Above and beyond expectations!
Price: $8.50 - $12.50 per person
Service: friendly and attentive
Atmosphere: 'relaxed eclectic'

     I feel very fortunate to be able to tell you about SOHO South Cafe in Savannah. I highly recommend you visit this place before other more touristy places. The first and best reason is the food.

     Mom ordered their signature sandwich, a lump crab-cake sandwich. It looked so perfect I was even jealous of her roll! You could tell it was freshly baked with love and beautifully buttered and toasted. The greens on her salad were perfect and dark and lovely, the tomato was dark read and juicy. She declared it the best meal she'd had the whole vacation! Not only that, she also declared it the best seafood she has ever had. I was, frankly, just a lot jealous. Until I bit into my sandwich. I had a grilled cheese sandwich and tomato soup. How exciting could it be, right? Quite exciting, actually. The bread is fantastic, the cheeses were lovely, it was perfectly done, and the giant bowl of soup was amazing. I thought I was ordering a plain lunch. Instead I got something delicious well beyond my expectations.

     As I looked around the restaurant all the meals looked as if they were prepared with the same amount of love as ours. You do not see pictures on a menu then get served something which sort of looks like it might be the same thing. You get no pictures on the menu. Any meal they serve, picture taken, would do any menu justice.

  
     Beautiful, delightful, four thumbs up!

Way To Go, Bravo!

Bravo restaurant wants health code violations?

They must, they just emailed me asking me to, and I quote; Love my Valentine at Bravo.

Some people are just looking for trouble.

Final Game of the World Series - Thank You Pepsi!!

Luis Velez  Tammi Velez - World Series 2007

Pepsi took us to the final game of the World Series!!

We rode to the hotel with another winner from Pepsi. He had read the posts Jacqueline and I had made at Sweepsheet and knew who I was.

We got to the hotel hungry so we walked across the street to Jose O'Sheas. They served potato tacos, so of course I had to try one. And a raspberry margarita. The food was great. According to our shuttle driver it's the local favorite. I can see why. We ate a week's worth of food and went back to our room for a while.

The hotel shuttle took us to an outlet mall which is a circular mile. I found Spanx in NM and found Jelly Belly beans in Dr. Pepper and A&W rootbeer for Mike and Zack. Then we went to eat at the Keg. http://www.kegsteakhouse.com/ We've had steaks as good - but never a meal better than this. It wasn't even crazy pricey like some steakhouses. The bill for the two of us was just under $90 before tip. The bread was great, the Caesar salad was great, the salmon spring rolls were amazing and the steak and potato were fantastic. They do a cheddar cheese butter on the potato which made me even more stuffed than usual.

We went back to our hotel for the night after dinner.B y the end of this day we'd eaten 3 meals = about enough to feed a family of 4 for a week.

Sunday was game day and we had to meet downstairs at 2:00. I woke up at 5 a.m. starving. I never eat breakfast. The altitude or something made me ravenously hungry. I stared at my husband until he woke up. He wasn't ready to get up and eat so I paced around, read, and went crazy. Finally, we went downstairs and ate breakfast.

We stayed here .

There was a china convention going on in the hotel. The old ladies were interesting.

After breakfast we went back upstairs and got ready to go. We went down to the desk to ask for a shuttle and they said we had to wait an hour. So we went to the internet cafe and used some computers for 20 minutes. We met other Pepsi winners at the front desk. We were able to help them with their reservation information. The hotel didn't have a room ready for them so they offered us a ride to the outlet mall and we left with them. On the way back they showed us some sights we wouldn't have seen otherwise. They live about 40 miles away from the Denver.

I bought another pair of Spanx, and so did Linda, and I bought candy from Harry & David's and we went back to the hotel. We pretty much grabbed our bags to take to the game and went downstairs to meet the group in the lobby.

In the lobby we met the grand prize winner. She was a 22 year old girl who didn't realize she'd entered. This was one where everyone who used their supermarket card and bought Pepsi products was entered. She didn't believe it was real when the people called her so took three days calling Pepsi, etc. to verify it was legitimate. She took her father with her to throw out the ceremonial first pitch. When the MLB reporter interviewed him he cried.

The bus gave us a little tour of downtown and took us to Via for the pregame party.
We were here in the red room for our private party. There was a grand prize winner, 8 first prize winners, and the winning Pepsi sales guy. They had door prize drawings and Jacqueline and I each won a $50 Dick's gift certificate. Other people mostly won baseball caps, except for the grand prize winner, who won $100 gc to Dick's.

Speaking of Pepsi swag, they had lots of Aquafina sent to our room, and frito lay chips. They sent them up in a nice Pepsi messenger bag with a World Series t-shirt, cap, official ball with a serial number, a high quality golf shirt with a Pepsi logo, and some Quaker snack bars. We also got a $250 Visa gift card.

We all took coats, scarves, layers of clothes in our Pepsi bags because the weather was supposed to be even colder than the night before. We didn't end up needing the extra gear. A coat alone was enough.

Via is a block away from the stadium so we walked over and went in for the game. We found our seats, which were all the way to the top (2nd to last row) on the first base line and directly across from the jumbo screens.

I cannot begin to tell you how emotional it was. I wasn't expecting it to be emotional at all. From our seats we could see the jumbo screen, the city behind it, and the mountains behind that. Beautiful. We got in our seats about 20 minutes before sunset. Our guy threw out the Pepsi ceremonial first pitch, Hank Aaron presented an award, they brought out the biggest flag I've ever seen, they told about two police officers assisting at a scene where another motorist crashed into them and both police officers were hit. The little boy they were trying to help and one officer died. The other was in critical care for a while. He was at the game in a wheelchair. That officer, the 7 year old son of the officer who was killed, and the father of the little boy who was killed all threw out another pitch and I started welling up with tears. After that Air Force fighter jets flew over the stadium in formation and tears started streaming down my face. Trisha Yearwood sang the Star Spangled banner while I wept and watched the sunset.

Some time during the game Lonestar performed America the Beautiful. I rooted for both teams.

When the Rockies would score they'd shoot off fireworks When the Red Sox WON THE WORLD SERIES - nothing. No music, not fireworks, nothing. There were Red Sox fans there cheering, but that was it. I cheered along with them. It seemed strange there would be no fanfare, but there wasn't.

On the one block walk to the game we'd been asked to sell our tickets quite a few times. We joked about selling them to get $$ to take a cruise together. (Luis and I/Jacqueline and Dave) On the way out people were trying to buy our ticket stubs. I guess there really is a market for everything!

We went back to the restaurant and waited a few minutes and boarded the bus again. The driver showed us more sights and even stopped the bus at one point when people asked to get out and take pictures of the big bear at the convention center.

When we got back to the hotel I packed our stuff. Our flight was leaving at 10:05 and our ride was arranged for 6:00 am. We got up at 5:00 and got ready and left. We got to the airport, checked in, went through security, and had breakfast at a little bistro. It was wayyyyy better than the hotel restaurant. After breakfast I got a 20 minute massage from a giant man and we went to our gate - B82. Yes I said EIGHTY-TWO!

We didn't have to wait too long for our flight to leave.

When we arrived in Cleveland the girls and Tony Blair were waiting for us!!!

Thank You Pepsi!!! We had the time of our lives.

Mmmm Mmmmm Machu Picchu Restaurant - Cleveland, Ohio

After walking around the auto show all afternoon, we were ready to eat. We had decided to try Machu Picchu restaurant in downtown Cleveland. We'd enjoyed Peruvian food in Caracas at El Tizon, and missed it.

We started with "Papa a la Huancaina" (thick slices of boiled potato topped with a Peruvian yellow cream sauce. Served cold with a slice of egg and an olive) Then, we had this great dish called "Lomo Saltado". It's a big plate with a bed of french fries (the kind where you take fresh potatoes and cut them by hand and fry them) Then, on that bed of french fries there's stir fried beef, peppers, onions and tomatoes. And a big beautiful scoop of white rice in the middle. It's perfection! Anyone who chooses to eat fries and great rice at the same meal wins my love. The presentation itself was so pleasing I decided to actually use the camera in my phone. If I can figure out how to get the picture to my computer I'll post it here later.

Oh, I almost forgot to mention the lovely little rolls they brought us! They were so good we ordered a dozen to bring home.

Thanks Peru, for offering us such tasty treats!

Update: I managed to get the picture sent from my phone to my email. The picture doesn't do it justice, sadly. It was much more colorful than this picture shows. In order to be fair, we'll go again soon - when we have birthday dinner for my daughter in a couple of weeks.

4D - Best Ice Cream Ever!

The best ice cream I've had anywhere in the world is in Venezuela at 4D. Since it's pronounced in Spanish it sounds to my ears like "Quatro Day". The yummiest, most flavorful ice cream anywhere. Great berry, hazelnut to die for, and I wouldn't throw a stick at their chocolate either. The whole family was always happy to stop and grab some 4D. If you're ever in Venezuela, don't miss this wonderful treat!

Miss Molly's Tea Room in Medina, Ohio

Miss Molly's Tea Room and Gift Shop in Medina, Ohio is a quaint place for mothers and daughters and favorite dollies. It's for Red Hatters and a day out with the girls. It's for going alone and observing. If you have a truly romantic husband, it's for couples.

Sometimes you'll get a great waitress like Michelle, other times you're waitress will be more of a character than a waitress. They're always nice, and the food is always interesting and good, so you can't go wrong.

The lovely attached gift shop is worth the trip all by itself. As a matter of fact, I know many people who have shopped in the gift shop many times, but never had lunch at Miss Molly's. Lunch at Miss Molly's is a treat. I'm not sure how many varieties of loose tea they have, but the list is a full front and back of a menu long, so my guess is somewhere around 50 varieties of loose tea, along with a few varieties of tea bags, gourmet coffees and cocoas, iced tea, lemonade, and the typical soft drink fare.

Miss Molly's will even open up special just for your group of 25 or more. Children's parties are Saturday mornings or Friday evenings. Reservations are recommended, but not required.

The Ritz, Paris France

The Ritz in Paris is a dining room heard of all over the world. Royals eat there, movie stars eat there, men doing business eat there.When I was there I saw couples and men in business suits. I dont think any of them were royalty or movie stars.

If you sit in one of the rounded red booths in the center of the restaurant, like we did, you feel like your'e in a fish bowl - and everyone's staring at you. They do stare. I tried to convince myself they were just trying to figure out what movies we'd starred in. It's a bit overwhelming for my standards to be stared at by strangers the whole time I have my meal. Especially when I managed to make a sugar cube do circus tricks, although I'm sure that wasn't the fault of the oglers.

Be sure to take a trip to the ladies/gents, as even the restrooms are worth a look. If you want to say you've been to the Ritz, go ahead and go. I'd never try to dissuade you. It's an experience worth having. But I'd vote for Le Train Bleu if I had a choice between the two.

The Restaurant at Hotel Italo, Maracay Venezuela

One of my two favorite spots to eat in Maracay is the restaurant at Hotel Italo. They have a great menu, wonderful waiters, and the place was always clean and neat. My husband didn't seem to mind their wine list, either. I used to choose their salmon a lot, with a side of fettucini Alfredo, and a lemonade frappe. Their calzones and pizzas are a treat, too. They have a nice kids menu, with a Mickey Mouse pizza generous enough to feed two children.

To see the Hotel Italo website click here: http://www.hotelitalo.com.ve/indexeng.htm

Chanterelle Restaurant, NYC

Dress for Dinner.

Yes, I know it's expensive, but I'd rather go to Chanterelle once a year than McDonalds 25 times a year. The cost of either alternative is the same. They treat you like you are special from the moment you walk in the door. The whole place feels like it's lit with special lights made exclusively for the Waltucks. It's magical.

The people at Chanterelle have a masters degree in presentation. On top of being delicious, everything is wonderfully arranged and adorned.

To buy me their dessert cookbook go here: http://www.chanterellenyc.com/store.htm

Pink Elephants? No. Blue Elephants? Yes!

You go to a different country and you expect to eat different cuisine, right? How about going to London and getting awesome Thai Food?

That's The Blue Elephant. Leave it to graceful Aunt Margot to takes us to such an exquisite place. She's transplanted to London for some 30+ years now.

This was a fabulous restaurant. It's the kind of food that makes you lose your self control and eat way more than you normally would. It's so worth it.

Everything about this place is exquisite, right down to the ladies room. The hand towels are adorned with the elephant design above.

So You Think You've Had Good Chocolate Mousse?

Have you been to Le Bistro Romain? They have the best chocolate mousse anywhere. They present it in this big chunky dish resembling a candy dish on a candlestick. It's awesome. It's abundant. It's delicious. Check it out:

Right there at 73 Champs Elysées75008 Paristel: 01.43.59.67.85. There's another one further down the avenue at 122 Champs Elysées75008 Paris. The meal must have been good too, but honestly, who can remember? It was like a bowl full of the best brownie batter ever.

Laduree, Otherwise known as Laa-Dee-Daa!

If you like your waitstaff as cold as your ice cream, with less sugar, try Laduree at 75 Champs Elysees. They are said to be quite a treat, but a real chocolate connoisseur like myself can find good chocolate in almost any city.
This place was all show and no manners. The chocolate was okay, but not fabulous. The artistic presentation is good, but the French got their reputation for being rude because too many tourists frequent this establishment. It was the only place in Paris where people were downright rude.
The service was as friendly as their webpage, with spinning picutres which wont slow down for you to choose which one to click. Want to see what I mean? Click here: http://www.laduree.fr/public_en/maisons/champs_accueil.htm
If you want a chocolate fix that will fix you I reccomend Bistro Romain, on the Same avenue. The chocolate mousse there is worth the trip!

Where To Go, But Not Eat, In Paris

The Louvre. Go to the museum. Stand in awe of the Venus de Milo. Adore the Mona Lisa. Dining in the Louvre, however, leaves much to be desired. The people are well dressed, as they are many other places, but the decor and food are just so-so. It's missing that special something, both in the kitchen and in the dining room. Even the chocolate mousse was disappointing.

The gift shops, on the other hand, are almost worthy of a whole day themselves. There are fantastic things for sale downstairs, but especially upstairs.

The day we went to the Louvre, the museum workers were on strike, so we didn't have to purchase tickets, and the lines were moving at warp speed. The most unusual thing about it was all the people using flash photography in there, with nobody on duty to stop them. Are you surprised the museum was open for visitors with nobody to protect everything? I was.

If You Require Fried Cheese In Your Salad, Go Here

If you require fried cheese in your salad, this is THE place to go.

This place was funny, because the table linens, the food, the waitstaff were all impeccable, but the place was grand in such a funky sort of way. It was far from stuffy. Another great meal in Paris was had at 4 Boulevard des Capucines. From the first bite of the salad until the last of the dessert, this place served up great food. There was a lot of mmmmmmimg going on at our table.

Forgive me for not having a better picture, the place is hard to find online. You can go here to see a 360 view: http://www.toptable.co.uk/details.cfm?spos=22&rid=2178&showMoreReviews=1#ratings