So it’s only fitting that my first post of 2012 wrap up my 11 in 2011 Restaurant List, right?

The final tally:

1. Lolita
2. Ponte Vecchio (closed down)
3. Dante
4. Umami Asian Grill
5. Chinato
6. L’Albatros
7. Happy Dog
8. Flying Fig
9. Sokolowski’s University Inn
10. La Cave du Vin
11. Three Birds

I went to 8 out of my 11 restaurants (I could be greedy and say 9 out of 11 since Ponte Vecchio closed, but that would just be cheating.)

Not too shabby for my first attempt at a year long restaurant list.

Now, allow me to tell you about my final stop on the 2011 tour.

It just happened to be THE restaurant I was most anxious to go to. We actually had plans to go in March for my birthday, but then something came up and we had to cancel. 

But alas, thanks to fabulous friends like Michelle and Suzanne (and Katrina in spirit!) – I managed to get my butt to L’Albatros with exactly 1 day left in 2011.

It was cold, wet, and blustery on the day we went, so I very thoroughly enjoyed the warm, soft ambience of the restaurant, AND the fact that we got put in the far back room, right by the fire place.

While Suzanne and Michelle opted for wine – I went the drink route and ordered a signature cocktail:

And I actually can’t tell you what was in it! It was one of their specials so it isn’t on the regular menu!   It was very good – I believe it had St. Germain and some Hendricks Gin – so while my description of it may be lackluster, I promise it was delicious!

If you don’t know about L’Albatros – I’ll let you in on the secret.

They are known for their cheese.

Wonderful, amazing, phenomenal cheese.

Cheese – as in – they have an official expert dedicated to it (cheesmonger? fromager?). A person whose SOLE job is to present and recommend cheese (!!!!!) – I think I chose the wrong profession.

We ended up choosing 14 (yes, 14) cheeses to sample:

- and it was amazing. I already know where I want to go for my birthday dinner this year.

And then, as if I hadn’t had enough cheese already – I went ahead and ordered the Croque Monsieur (a sandwich with french ham, cheese, and bechamel sauce)

I’m smiling just thinking about it.

The whole meal was so amazing, and I’m mad at myself for delaying my trip to L’Albatros for so long.

If you try ONE new restaurant in Cleveland this year – my recommendation to you would be: “It MUST be L’Albatros!”

With three left and only two days remaining in the year – I don’t think I’m going to make it, but I’m going to put in a good effort.

Tuesday, I texted Suzanne “any desire to go to Sokolowski’s?” – and much to my delight – her answer was “yes”!

Sokolowski’s is a family owned restaurant that has been around since 1923.

Sokolowski’s is also the most shameful restaurant on my list. Shameful in the – I-can’t-believe-I’ve-lived-in-Cleveland-my-whole-life-and-never-been-to-this-Cleveland-staple – sort of way.

It’s surprisingly huge inside – there is a bar area as well as two large dining rooms.

One cool thing about the restaurant is that they serve all their food cafeteria style, which is a fun change of pace.

I had a really hard time deciding what I wanted because I had my heart set on stuffed cabbage but they were out – and then all of the other options looked so delicious – how was I supposed to pick just one?!

I ended up going with the pierogi dinner – which came with my choice of two sides – so I went with cabbage and noodles, and sauerkraut.

Sure – that might be a lot of beige and carbs on one single plate – but let me tell you. Every. Single. Bite. Was. PHENOMENAL!

Amazing!

Suzanne got the stuffed pepper dinner with corn and mashed potatoes – and I do believe she was also VERY pleased!

The serving size really is ridiculous. Both of these plates only cost $7.95, and while we ate lunch at noon – we were both full until well after “dinner time”!

So yeah – the final verdict is…I’m love Sokolowski’s (it totally lives up to the hype!!) and I’m very sad I wasted 29 years of my life NOT going to Sokolowski’s. Especially because it was one of my Grandpa’s favorites, and I won’t ever be able to go with him. I can’t get those years back, but I can try to make them up, moving forward.

Here’s to a 2012 full of Sokolowski’s visits.

So get this …

…I’ve lived in Cleveland my whole live, and I’ve never once been to Pittsburgh.

Weird, seeing as it’s only 2 hours away – right??

Well this weekend we fixed that – and headed off to Pittsburgh to celebrate our friend Brian’s birthday!

We checked into our hotel (that we snagged for $59 a night thanks to Priceline-Name-Your-Price – I just LOVE that option!) – and found the 20 foot ceilings in our room quite intriguing.

After a quick change of clothes we started our trek across the city to happy hour at our friend’s hotel, which was right next to the Consol Energy Center (which was totally happenin’ since there was a hockey game that night).

Once everyone was ready to hit the town – we took a cab over to Jerome Bettis’ Grille 36 – the birthday boy’s restaurant of choice.

This place gets major props in my book – they were able to seat us immediately! (a party of seven, at 7:30pm on Saturday, no reservations)

The menu had a ton to choose from so my friend Stephanie and I just split to appetizers since we were having trouble with the decision.

The Korean bbq beef tacos – which were disappointing (you can see them in the background of the picture below).

And the nachos. Which were insanely huge, and equally delicious.

Nachos before: (the picture really doesn’t even do it justice!)

Nachos after (and the boys even jumped in and helped us out too):

When we finished – we were close enough to the casino (The Rivers Casino) to just walk, so walk we did.

Not without letting the birthday boy, a die hard Cleveland Brown’s fan, have a little fun first.

I dislike the Steelers like any good Clevelander should – but I will say – Pittsburgh at night, near the water? VERY PRETTY!

Once we got the casino – most of the boys went off to gamble, which left me, Mike and Stephanie to go in search of some beverages.

We got very excited when we saw the non-crowded “select-a-pour” wine tasting tour! (That should have been our first indication we were in trouble!)

Not quite sure WHAT we were thinking – the wine was crazy over priced, the cards malfunctioned three out of the five times we used them, and the wine was so stale I poured my last two selections out.

You win some, you lose some – right?

Since we weren’t impressed with the wine – we headed over to “Drum Bar” which had an amazing view of the water, good music playing, and decent drink prices.

The three of us were even able to snag a seat at the bar!

The best part? They had Great Lakes Christmas Ale on draft

Things got a little hazy from there – I just know that by the end of the night, my feet hurt so bad from walking around in heels, I was so grateful that we were able to snag a cab back to our hotel.

All said and done – I have to admit – Pittsburgh was pretty decent I’d definitely go back again!

EarthFare Gift Card Winner:

Nichole!  Send me your info!!

Once every few years there’s usually a rumor – like – “Did you hear Whole Foods in going in where the old Target it?” – and then the rumor slowly dies down (and no Whole Foods ever goes in )

But alas – our dreams have come true! There is now a healthy grocery store on the west side!

Even better? It’s 5 minutes from my house!  WOOOOHOOOO! Welcome to Fairview Park, EarthFare!

EarthFare invited me to come check out their new digs, and I very happily and eagerly accepted!

What sets them apart from other grocery stores is their food philosophy.

• They won’t call a food “LOCAL” unless it came from within 100 miles of the specific store it’s sold at
• If the item is stocked in EarthFare – it is guaranteed to have:
  • No high fructose corn syrup
  • No artificial fats or artificial trans fats
  • No artificial colors
  • No artificial flavors
  • No artificial sweeteners
  • No artificial preservatives
  • No bleached or bromated flour
  • No antibiotics or synthetic grown hormones (in meat or dairy)

That’s a pretty tough list to be stacked up against!

The even cooler part?

If you find a product in their store that breaks one of those rules? You can send them an e-mail, they will investigate, and if you are right – they will send you a gift card! Isn’t that awesome?

The store has so much to offer – I was totally giddy the whole tour! (Imagine that!)

From bulk nuts, candy, grains, coffee and tea…

…to fresh nut butters and raw honey, maple syrup and agave by the pound!

One neat thing (especially since I think, as do many others, that some healthy supermarkets are way overpriced) they have their own brand/line – so that they can offer quality products at a competitive price.

There’s TONS of beer and wine to choose from (which always makes a girl like me happy!)

And lots of delicious looking prepared foods:

Fresh baked bread and bakery treats:

AND a salad bar, hot foods bar, Mediterranean bar, and a juice/kombucha bar!

I had never tried kombucha – but since they have it “on tap” – I was able to taste test it!  Surprisingly good! (I was always terrified based on the pictures and reviews I had seen on some blogs!)

NOW HERE’S THE BEST PART!!! You can win a $50 gift card to EarthFare!

If you live near an Earth Fare and want a $50 gift card to shop for yourself:

1. Leave a comment telling me which Earth Fare is nearest you.
2. Tweet the following message: I want to win a $50 gift card from @greendogwine and @earthfarecle  (Be sure to post a comment letting me know you tweeted.)

You can post one comment and one tweet per day. I will randomly select a winner on Monday, December 19, 2011. Winners will be notified and need to provide me with their mailing address to receive the gift card.

*Disclaimer: I was invited to tour the new EarthFare to learn more about their brand and philosophy. I was supplied with a $50 gift for myself, as well as a $50 gift card to give away to my readers in exchange for showing up. As always – the thoughts and opinions in this post are very much my own.

Sarah from Both Sides Now!

Sarah – send me an e-mail with your mailing info! Thanks to everyone who entered!

Stay tuned – tomorrow I have another awesome giveaway for you!

1. Lolita
2. Ponte Vecchio (closed down)
3. Dante
4. Umami Asian Grill
5. Chinato
6. L’Albatros
7. Happy Dog
8. Flying Fig
9. Sokolowski’s University Inn
10. La Cave du Vin
11. Three Birds

Apparently I don’t want to cross Zack Bruell off the list since he still has two restaurants remaining…

This Friday I was able to cross off La Cave Du Vin – thanks to my lovely friend Michelle! She knew I was running out of time in 2011 and kindly offered to help me pair down my list.

(c/o – La Cave Du Vin website)

All of the pictures in this post are from La Cave’s website – because let me tell you – it is VERY dark in there. Which is definitely fun, and gives the whole place a laid back, almost sort of “secret club” vibe – but it is NOT conducive to good pictures.

(c/o – La Cave Du Vin website)

We ate down the street at Pacific East – then headed to La Cave for drinks. I started with a glass of Rosé (from their huge wine list) – and it was absolutely fabulous. I wish I could tell you what it was – but I can’t remember.

(c/o – La Cave Du Vin website)

I wanted to make sure to try both a wine and beer offering, so after my Rosé, I headed over to their beer cooler where they have tons of selection. You just pick your own bottle, and then the bring you the bottle opener and the appropriate glass.

(c/o – La Cave Du Vin website)

I picked a bottle of Three Philosophers (Ale with Cherry Lambic) based on a recommendation from Michelle – and it was TOTALLY. AWESOME. So awesome – in fact – I looked for it at three different stores this weekend to try and buy some for my fridge at home, and I couldn’t find it.

(c/o – La Cave Du Vin website)

We didn’t try any of the appetizers they had to offer since we had eaten right before – but it wouldn’t have mattered.  There’s no way the food could have been a make or break deal. I absolutely loved La Cave, and wish it was closer to my house.  Or maybe not because that would mean I’d go to happy hour a lot more often.  

Bottom line – if you have the opportunity – I highly recommend you stop in to La Cave and grab a drink – you won’t be sorry!

Now who wants to take bets? How many more restaurants can I check off in the last half of December?

PS – Don’t forget you still have about 30 hours to enter the coffee robot giveaway!

Cool, I thought so.

In September – I was invited to attend a blogger dinner, sponsored by Nescafe Dolce Gusto, at The Greenhouse Tavern.

We started with delicious food and drinks (mmmm frites!), and then headed down to watch a live demo by Chef Sawyer on how they make their beef tartare.

It was amazing. Holy, serious, amazing.

Then we headed back upstairs and watched another live demo, this time by the lovely Dolce Gusto girls, and saw how wonderful the coffee robots can be.

As if we already weren’t grateful enough for the delicious food and demos – we each got to go home with a Dolce Gusto machine to test out!

Fact: I love it.

It’s adorable (and not clunky at all on my already small countertop!) – and it makes a ton of different drinks!

Dear Coffee Robot,

I love you. Don’t ever leave me.

Here’s the best part – you can have your very own coffee robot to love forever and always!!!

You can enter to win the above Titanium model by simply:

1. Posting a comment telling me your favorite coffee drink.

2. Tweet the following message: I want to win a Dolce Gusto machine from @greendogwine & @DolceGustoUS #DolceGustoFTW http://bit.ly/rWc7b1

(Be sure to post a comment letting me know you tweeted.)

You can post one comment and one tweet per day. I will randomly select a winner on Wednesday, December 14, 2011. Winners will be notified and need to provide me with their mailing address to receive the machine.

*Disclaimer: I was invited to attend the Foodie Feed-Up event to learn more about Nescafe Dolce Gusto. While there, we were treated to food and a cooking demo from The Greenhouse Tavern, and coffee tastings from Dolce Gusto. Additionally, every blogger was surprised with their own Dolce Gusto machine. As always – the thoughts and opinions in this post are very much my own.

So when I heard about the Fall Classic Half Marathon – I thought – MIKE AND I SHOULD SIGN UP FOR THAT!

Great idea/goal – right?

Wrong.

The problem for both of us is it’s something we’ve done before. We knew we wouldn’t have enough time to add speed work in to our training to try to PR – so – slowly and steadily we just sort of threw caution to the wind.

My longest training run was 7 miles, Mike’s was 6 – and those both happened over 2 weeks ago.  Mike actually only ran three times: 3 miles, 6 miles, and 6 miles.  I think I managed to log a total of 35 – way too few for me.

So we deemed this our fly-by-night half marathon. We knew we hadn’t put in the training so we figured we’d just go out and run – and see what happened.

I had high hopes because the weather today was unseasonably warm – but got a bad feeling when I saw I had an ODD numbered bib (don’t you know?!?! Odd numbers are bad!)

(yes, I’m crazy, I know. Ain’t no thang.)

We got to the starting line (CLE people – the race was in the Metroparks) with time to spare, so we hopped in line for the port-o-potties…

…which caused us to cross the starting line 6+ minutes after the gun had gone off.

Normally it wouldn’t be a very big deal, but this race was low budget so there were no chips to track our time (and no clocks on the mile markers which made it hard to pace yourself if you weren’t wearing a Garmin – which I wasn’t!) .  Therefore – any delay in your start wasn’t subtracted from your finish time.

This is the finish line – can’t you tell?

While this really is the finish line – I’m just teasin’. To be fair – the race fee was only $40 so I thought they did a great job. It was just a very bare-bones race compared to some of the bigger ones out there. It was a nice change of pace!

So yeah we finished.

Mike’s time: 2:09:47 (PR during his marathon – 2:08)

My time: 2:37:41 (PR – 2:26)

And while we didn’t PR – we are both perfectly happy with it.

Sometimes you have the most fun just wingin’ it.  

Goals are great but you have to be flexible to succeed – right?

The first anniversary we need to talk about – Green Dog Wine turned 3 – and I didn’t even remember until a month later. (cue sad trombone noise) – how sad is that?! So – happy belated 3rd birthday lovely little blog of mine!

The second anniversary we need to talk about – Mike and I celebrated our 4th anniversary this October 27th. We’ve been married for 4  years. That’s just crazy town.

To celebrate – Mike surprised me with a trip to Chicago!

I’d never been there and ALWAYS wanted to go – so I was super excited about it!

Very first on our list? Hit up Hot Doug’s – The Sausage Superstore and Encased Meat Emporium!

This place is apparently “the place” famous chefs & foodies go when they are in town – and I knew we were in for some delicious food when I saw the line wrapped around the building.

The inside was tiny, but they have the whole process down to a very efficient science!

We each got two dogs – one from the standard menu, and one from the “weekly specials” menu.

(Sorry the picture isn’t better – we were starving – I snapped it and then we started shoveling! )

Regular

• Mine: The Brigitte Bardot – Hot Andouille Sausage (which was good, just not as hot as they lead me to believe! )
• Mike’s: The Sal Tessio – Italian Sausage

Special

• Mine: Rosemary and Garlic Smoked Chicken Sausage with Chipotle Dijonnaise and Carrigaline Smoked Farmhouse Cheese. (I’ve been having dreams about it – that is how amazing it was!)
• Mike’s: Wild Boar with special cheese and some sort of special port wine soaked dried cranberries (it’s not on the special list anymore hence the sub par description – it’s all from memory!)

I urge you – if you are ever in Chicago – GO TO HOT DOUG’S! I don’t care how long the line is – it’s totally worth the wait.

Afterwards – we checked in to our hotel and then set off to explore the city. We were super close to Navy Pier, so we headed over to check that out (and ride the ferris wheel!)

The ferris wheel was fun (and the view was amazing) – but Navy Pier itself wasn’t that impressive for me. Lots of kid stuff – but I’m glad we got to check it out anyway!

Once dinner time rolled around – I knew just where I wanted to go. I wanted to try C-House (and C-View) based on recommendations, and the fact it was right down the street from our hotel!

I wanted a “fun” drink (i.e.: not wine) – so I opted for the “Lively and Floral” – St. Germain Elderflower, Vodka, Lavender Syrup and Verjus Blanc, which was ABSOULTELY delicious!

My meal was the Hay Roasted Half Chicken, with sweet potato, kale, and fall root vegetables – and it was really disappointing. The chicken was very average, and the root vegetables were gross, I ended up eating only about 1/4th of my meal.

We went up to C-View (the rooftop bar) afterwards for a drink and that was phenomenal! I wish we should have just eaten up there! Oh well – lesson learned!

The rest of our night out on the town consisted of Grape Street Piano Bar and Murasaki Lounge.

Grape Street Piano Bar was an awesome gem of a place we stumbled on because it was right next door to our hotel. They had live piano playing – just the right amount of people so it was fun-but-not-packed, and a martini list of over 100 martinis! Yeah – that’s my kind of place!

Murasaki was right across the street from our hotel & Grape Street – and had an AMAZING selection of sake – including sake flights (!!!!) which we totally took advantage of!

All in all – Friday we got to see a ton of the city and had a very fun/successful first night out on the town.

Maybe a little too much fun out on the town – because Saturday morning – I. WAS. HURTING! Friday night – I drank like I was 21 again, Saturday morning – I remembered very quickly that I’m almost 30. Ouch.

Saturday was devoted to more site seeing and deep-dish comparison testing!

We were outside the doors of Gino’s East at 11:00, waiting for them to open – and placed our order as soon as we sat down. One small Gino’s East Supreme (pepperoni, onions, peppers, and mushrooms)

Verdict: Meh. Not very good at all. The flavor was very bland – big disappointment.

Late lunch/dinner was spent just a few blocks down the street at Giordano’s:

Where we opted for one small Tropical Delight Stuffed Pizza (Canadian bacon, and pineapple):

Verdict: WAY better than Gino’s! This pizza was cheesy deliciousness at it’s best!

Obligatory Chicago-visit-Bean-pic:

It was a whirlwind 48 hours – but it was so much fun to just get away for a weekend with Mike! We had fun on the ride up and back, and really did get to see a lot in the short time we were there!

I will say though (I know a lot of people aren’t going to like this) – Chicago’s got nothing on Cleveland.  It was a nice city – but way over-hyped.  I’d pick my beloved CLE over CHI any day.   (feel free to discuss!)

A month ago (once all of my friends were good and addicted as well) – I came up with the idea of having a Pinterest Party. 

A party involving ALL things Pinterest – if it’s not “pinned” – it’s not welcome.

So we invited our friends “The Weigels” up this past Saturday and had an awesome spread of phenomenal drinks, appetizers, snacks, and such. ALL of which I took pictures so I could show you!

My contribution to the party was: 3 appetizers, 1 specialty cocktail, and 1 fun adult beverage treat!

The appetizers were:

1: Baked Club Pinwheels from Plain Chicken:

Which turned out super tasty – and was so super simple to make! This will definitely be a go-to-party-appetizer for me!

They were totally gone by the end of the evening – that says it all – right?

2: Buffalo Chicken Meatballs:

Can I just tell you how hard it is to find ground CHICKEN?

Very hard.

So I subbed ground turkey – and everyone was still happy! These were also a hit that were gone by the end of the evening.  A little more time consuming than the other dishes – but definitely worth it!

3: Jalapeno Popper Dip:

OHHH. EMMM. GEEEE was this amazing! Like – knock-your-socks-off-steal-the-bowl-from-everyone-else-at-the-party-and-keep-it-all-to-yourself awesome.

This is the second dip I’ve made from Closet Cooking – and I’m convinced he’s a genius.

Specialty Cocktail:  I really wanted to try out this recipe, which just sounded so deliciously “Fall”!

I ended up using a slightly different ratio – going with 2 parts ginger ale to 1 part cider.

Final product – refreshing fall goodness

“Fun adult beverage drink”?

Not just gummy bears – VODKA SOAKED GUMMY BEARS!

Have you ever seen a more gorgeous plate in your life?

Served with toothpicks to keep hands out of the plate-o-goodness:

And of course – being the resourceful lady I am – I couldn’t just let the vodka that the gummies had been soaking in go to waste.

No-sir-ee! That would have been sinful.

Instead – I strained it into a Ball jar using a coffee filter to make drinks out of.  Talk about making my Momma proud…

All my contributions in one shot:

If you can believe it – that’s only HALF of the deliciousness that was there!

The Weigel’s brought 3 appetizers/snacks and a specialty cocktail TOO!

Weigel Dish 1:

Any idea what this is?

Yep – that’s a Tater Tot Covered Chili Casserole!

Even Harv was all “WHAT?!?! YOU CRAZY!” when she saw that sitting on the stovetop.

Here’s what you need to know – the chili was homemade, and it almost came to blows when the leftovers were being divvied up.

I was ready to draw blood if I didn’t get some.

Weigel Dish 2: Rotel Dip

I’m convinced this dip could turn any vegetarian back into a carnivore in one. single. bite.

Weigel Dish 3: Corn Dog Muffins

Is that not the best of both worlds?  Corn dogs – in MUFFIN form? Win, win

Weigel Specialty Cocktail: The Seductive Swan

Hands down my most favorite drink of the evening. These things are DANGEROUSLY delicious.  Extremely, extremely, dangerously delicious!

All in all – Pinterest Party 2011 was a huge success, we had an absolute blast hanging out with friends while eating and drinking fabulous things that we’d never tried before!!!!!  

I can’t wait to do it again!

Does this make you want to have your own Pinterest Party?  DO IT! I know you’ll love it and I want to hear all about it!