Though I had been looking forward to this little excursion all month, I was loathe to break my raw diet. I was feeling so good - both phyisically and mentally smug - I didn't really want that to end. Thankfully, it didn't really have to.
I spent Friday afternoon before getting on the road packing food for the weekend. Being raw (and to a lesser extent, vegan) is a serious time commitment. I never really feel put out by it, though, which I guess is a good indicator that it's the lifestyle for me. If you're not willing to carry a cooler full of raw veggies into the Ritz or use jars of homemade salad dressing at Easter brunch while everyone else chows down danish, lamb with mint jelly, and hash browns covered in melty cheese then this might not be the diet for you.
Anyway, Friday night we met up with my mom, sister, aunt, and uncle at Flannery's on Prospect in downtown Cleveland. **funfact! Prospect used to be where to go when you wanted a 'good time' nudge nudge wink wink; and what was for sale was always very, shall we say, prominently displayed. Now it's a happening, hip, legal night spot. Go fig.** I had a bag of raw almonds in my purse and since I consider all forms of alcohol raw, I was feeling pretty set. Plus, the waitress was very accomodating. She brought me a side salad covered in all the raw veggies they usually use to garnish. Day one was a raw success. Even if the Indians did lose.
Saturday I had Green Lemonade for breakfast (pre-made the afternoon before) and had plenty of raw fruits (my aunt makes a kick-ass fruit salad) and veggies (my cousin Annie likes to lick one of each kind of vegetable after asking what they are) during the day. I also learned how to play Lego Star Wars. It was the first time I ever played a video game using a joystick controller. It's probably a good thing I don't have the means to purchase an X-Box 360. I would never get any work done.
Saturday night, Roomie and I got dolled up (translation: I curled my hair and put on some boobs) and walked over to Lola. Accompanying the dolling up and boob attachment, was a California Zinfandel from Starry Night Winery. You haven't truly lived until you have had a glass of wine with you in the shower. It also makes blow drying a mess of thick, wet hair and having to wear a bra all night far more tolerable.
Once at Lola's, the first order of business was cocktails. Roomie got his usual - a dirty Sapphire martini, shaken with dry vermouth-seasoned ice, three olives. I wanted to try one of their signature drinks. The menu definitely leaned toward the trendy, (lots of in-house infusions and muddled herbs) but a quick sub of Tanqueray Ten for Ciroc (blech! Vodka from grapes? P. Diddy approved? No thanks.) Turned their "Ginger Gimlet" into a delicious, ginger-tinged "Greyhound."
Lola was really nice. The ambiance wasn't great (it was a little cramped) but it'd been so long since I had been at a restaraunt where the wait staff puts your napkin on your lap for you, I was willing to overlook the boisterous diners around me.
The first course for Roomie was Beef Cheek Pierogie. I can appreciate the concept, and the presentation was superb, but the phrase 'beef cheek' gives me the willies. I ordered the Shaved Baby Root Veggie salad. It was served with mint infused cider vinegar and feta (which I obviously had them hold). So far, so raw.
Second course was squab served with foie gras and a cranberry-mustard reduction for Roomie. For those of you who don't know, squab is the meat from a young, domestic pigeon that has never been allowed to fly; kinda like the fowl equivalent of veal. Foie gras is meat from the liver of a duck or goose that has been force-fed corn. That I sat across from him while he ate and thouroughly enjoyed my evening should illustrate exactly what kind of vegan I am.
I ordered the Pear & Apple salad (sans bleu cheese). It was good - but very sweet. This lead to a conversation about the taste of vegetables. I am a vegan in large part because I LOVE the way veggies taste. I don't need dressing or dips; I could eat a plate of raw veg with nothing on them. Roomie and I hypothesized that all restaraunts should have a vegan or raw foodist on staff to test the salads and veggies. It's easy to forget how good plain spinach tastes if you are always using it to augment meat- or dairy-based dishes. For example, the salad I ate would have been even better if the pecans hadn't been candied. The apples were sweet-sour and the dressing and squash were mellow-sweet. The sugar-sweet pecans were over-kill. Even the raddichio wasn't a strong enough flavor to stand out over the sweet. The taste of raw pecans would have better served the salad. Perhaps this would have been a moot point had I eaten it with the bleu cheese, but I really don't think tang is what this salad needed.
Culinary criticisms aside, the meal was spectacular. We paired the second course with a bottle of 2007 Domaine de la Griveliere Cotes du Rhone. Not too dry, a little jammy, and well-priced. Even more importantly, of course, is that it went well with raw veg and Roomie's meat. A tall order for any wine, but especially difficult for a red.
Dessert was a carmelized pineapple tart with kiwi couli (vegan and almost completely raw!) and the sweet potato s'more sundae. A spoonful of graham ice cream with marshmallows, sweet potato cream, and fudge brownie was totally worth breaking the raw fast.
We took the afterparty back to the hotel lobby for more cocktails and dessert. Many places in Cleveland since the birth of the Rock Hall of Fame have music-themed specialty menus. The cocktail list in the Ritz lobby lounge was no exception. I had a "Hendrix Experience": Hendrick's gin, St. Germain, tonic, cucumber, and lime. If nothing else, this weekend solidified my membership in the "Gin Drinkers 4 Life" club. Roomie had his dirty martini (3 olives, seasoned ice, we're so particular about our cocktails) and we ordered the Snickers parfait and an apple tart. Nothing special but quite tasty. Like the song says, after the lobby we took it to the room and...well, yeah. There's that :)
Easter Sunday, like all Sundays really, was all about church and brunch. I packed my own food so it was pretty much buisness as usual. I have gotten to the point where I don't even feel weird or embarassed or guilty about pulling out a Ziploc container of raw veg and my own dressing. The family was fun. Not a veg among them, but I still love 'em.
And yes, I realize that my sister and I look like stow-aways at a blonde convention, but I'm related to everyone in this picture. I swear!
The day ended with a bucket of popcorn at the Cav's game and a Bunny Bar from Malley's. There's at least a chance the popcorn was vegan. Soy-based "buttery" topping is far cheaper than the real thing. And no matter how raw I go, I steadfastly refuse to give up popcorn. I have gone several days eating nothing but raw veg and popcorn dusted with various herbs and spices. Furthermore, I challenge anyone to sit in a gigantic arena full of exciting basketball, smelling of popcorn and not eat a whole bag for yourself. I may have curiously strong will power but I'm only human.
The Bunny Bar, on the other hand, was abso-tively not vegan. Milk chocolate and crispy rice and what I can only assume is black-tar heroin. This chocolate spanks the pants right off of Cadbury or Hershey or Dove. I have been eating Malley's chocolate for Easter for as long as I can remember. I used to buy a box of their peanut butter Royales (chocolate-covered, super-creamy peanut butter covered in chocolate, shaped like various Easter characters, lambs, bunnies, what have you) and parcel them out over next few months. When I went vegan, I swore off Malley's for 364 days of the year. But come Easter, you bet I'll have my pockets full of Royales and Bunny Bars and Billy-Bobs.
And now I'm back in Athens, back in the raw, and busy trying to catch up on all the work I put off while enjoying Cleveland. Stay tuned for my adventures with the cheap dehydrator, homemade nut-milks, and other catastrophes waiting to happen.
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I love Flannery's (but not as much as the Great Lakes Brewery). And what a Cavs game to get to see! I am so looking forward to moving back in a month.
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