CLEVELAND — Before I moved to Pittsburgh, I worked in a Florida newsroom where a fellow journalist and a dear friend often wore her favorite T-shirt that read, “Cleveland is my Paris.” She’s not even from there, but had grown to love the city.
Fast forward a few years and here I am in Pittsburgh, just over 100 miles from Cleveland: close enough for a long day trip or an easy overnighter.
While equating Cleveland to Paris may be a stretch — especially for residents of this rival city — Cleveland offers riches that will please travelers who plan trips motivated by food and drink.
While Pittsburgh has its proud mom and pop restaurants, a burgeoning restaurant scene and scrappy DIY culture, Cleveland has risen in a different manner, with established chefs laying the foundation for what’s becoming an interesting place to dine.
It starts with Michael Symon, who opened Lola Bistro in the Tremont neighborhood nearly 20 years ago (Pittsburghers may be familiar with a sample of his offerings through Bar Symon, a restaurant in the airside terminal of Greater Pittsburgh International Airport).
As Mr. Symon’s fame grew through Food Network appearances, a restaurant in New York (now closed) and strong national connections, he moved his flagship to a larger, fancier Downtown Cleveland space in 2005 and christened the original Tremont space Lolita.
“Michael Symon was a rebel chef,” said Douglas Trattner, the dining critic and food editor for alt-weekly Cleveland Scene. Mr. Trattner has also authored three of Mr. Symon’s cookbooks.
By challenging the fine dining archetype in the late ’90s, he said, Mr. Symon made an eclectic dining room and open kitchen mainstream, along with casual dishes elevated by local ingredients.
While Lola Bistro (2058 E. Fourth St., 1-216-621-5652) is credited with jumpstarting the Downtown renaissance with its sexy bar, high design and a turbo-powered kitchen, Lolita (900 Literary Road, 1-216-771-5652) retains a neighborhood feel in walkable Tremont, perched on a corner across the street from a Polish club.
A decade after its rebranding the small space is jammed. I snuck in for a solo seat at the bar for a few small plates: bresaola with an elegant pear and apple salad; ceviche with citrus, jalapeno and cilantro; a classic roast chicken and root vegetables.
Also around for 20 years has been North Union Farmers Market (northunionfarmersmarket.org), a producer-only, organic market with eight locations. It’s been a bedrock for chefs and conscientious home cooks.
I crave this for Pittsburgh because it ensures that vendors are selling what they grow, it supports farmers’ businesses, it stabilizes prices and it doesn’t give the same credence to purveyors who grow non-organic produce or buy at auctions and otherwise undercut competition. It is key to improving a city’s food community.
The combination of Mr. Symon’s restaurant and this market system have given rise to the second generation chef owners such as Jonathon Sawyer, who worked under Mr. Symon when he had a Greek restaurant, Parea, in New York; it has since closed. Mr. Sawyer moved back to Cleveland in 2007.
The winner of last year’s James Beard award for “Best Chef: Midwest,” Mr. Sawyer is the chef owner of The Greenhouse Tavern (2038 E. Fourth St., 1-216-443-0511), a place for a convivial meal with house-made jerky and dishes like foie gras-steamed clams, or crispy hominy with pork skin and pickled ginger.
His follow-up, Trentina (1903 Ford Drive, 1-216-421-2900) has cut a reputation for a tasting menu experience with a dining room that’s more like a gilded altar to foraged ingredients and fire.
When I was there for lunch, I tried the ash-roasted vegetables with local cheese, whey, smoked almonds and herbs; a trio of breads served with an edible (lard) candle, cultured butter and fine olive oil; and a pizza with shavings of wild mushrooms foraged locally and on display on a cutting board in the center of the dining room.
A stone’s throw from Trentina is the Cleveland Museum of Art (11150 East Blvd., 1-216-421-7350) a knockout building with a fine collection and the current exhibition, “Painting the Modern Garden: From Monet to Matisse,” which runs through Jan. 5. The full-service restaurant Provenance and the grab-and-go Provenance Cafe offer lovely minimalist spaces for a bite or a glass of wine. It’s a vision of what’s to come in Pittsburgh, with chef Sonja Finn taking over the restaurant at the Carnegie Museum of Art by the beginning of next year.
Dining critic Mr. Trattner also recommends Spice Kitchen & Bar (5800 Detroit Ave., 1-216-961-9637) as the pinnacle of dishes made with local ingredients, with chef-owner Ben Bebenroth tending to his farm in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park. The menu offers plates like chickpea fries, mushroom beignets, grilled squash and yes, a 42-day, dry-aged burger on brioche.
For those in search of new-new, there’s the Alley Cat Oyster Bar (1056 Old River Road, 1-216-574-9999) in the Flats, by the Cuyahoga River. Part of the Zack Bruell restaurant group, it opened in late summer with a menu of more than a dozen types of raw oysters from British Columbia Kusshis to Virginia Misty Points. More substantive dishes range from clam chowder and lobster rolls to fried chicken.
If you’re looking for something more unusual, there’s EDWINS Leadership & Restaurant Institute (13101 Shaker Square, 1-216-921-3333), a well-regarded French bistro that employs ex-cons. Sokolowski’s University Inn (1201 University Road, 1-216-771-9236) stands as one of the city’s oldest restaurants, serving homestyle Polish and Eastern European fare. If you’re lucky, you’ll be there when a guy is playing the piano.
Should you visit on a Saturday, be sure to hit West Side Market (1979 W. 25th St., 1-216-664-3387) which, with so much of the market indoors, is a bit warmer than shopping in the Strip District. Opened to the public in 1912, with major renovations in 2004, the market today houses more than 100 vendors, from butchers and bakers to fish stalls and cheesemongers.
This is also a good neighborhood to drink, with the go-to Great Lakes Brewing Company (2516 Market Ave., 1-216-771-4404). The taproom’s tiger mahogany bar — where Eliot Ness once sat, according to the company’s website — is usually mobbed.
For people who like their cocktails, Mr. Trattner suggested The Spotted Owl (710 Jefferson Ave., 1-216-795-5595) where you can enjoy a well-made cocktail in a 160-year-old space that’s framed by stunning stained glass. He also recommends The Wine Spot (2271 Lee Road, 1-216-342-3623) as the bar for people who don’t like bars. Housed in a former hardware store, the Wine Spot offers a growler station and an interesting selection of wine and spirits, along with live music and visits from out of town brewers such as Brian Strumke, gypsy brewer of Stillwater Artisanal Ales from Maryland who will be at the shop in mid-November.
Cleveland may not be Paris. But plan your trip right, and it could be delicious.
Melissa McCart: 412-263-1198 or on Twitter @melissamccart
First Published: November 1, 2015, 4:00 a.m.