Posts tagged focus on foodies

Focus on Foodies: Joe Gramc



Happy New Year!  For our first Focus on Foodies of 2012, we sat down with Joe Gramc.

Joe, who ventured out with us on last Spring’s tour of Tremont, is an avid explorer of Cleveland’s restaurants, neighborhoods and night life.

You can follow his adventures on Twitter @JoeG2001, where you may see a tweet or two about the unusual but delicious dishes found in many of Cleveland’s restaurants.

 

What’s your favorite food or local restaurant?
There are so many great restaurants spread throughout Cleveland it’s hard to pick just one. I love the creative and unique. The restaurant I most frequent is the Greenhouse Tavern, which is home to my favorite dish, the Fifth Quarter. Next time you are in there, ask about it.

Why do you love Northeast Ohio’s food scene?
Many of the chefs and restaurants in the area recognize and appreciate the bounty of goods available to us locally. There are tons of local farms within 100 miles of Cleveland, growing not just fruits and vegetables but producing pork, beef, and all kinds of food products made with local ingredients. I also find many of the chefs very passionate about their work. They are often very willing to share their experiences and their passion for food, just ask.

How do you spread the “culinary gospel” of Northeast Ohio’s great food scene?
I love Twitter, it is a great tool for both finding and sharing information about everything from great restaurants to breaking news. Some people seem to enjoy when I share the food I’m eating and the restaurants I go to, probably because I’ll try just about anything. Think
of it as a version of the TV show from the Travel Channel Bizarre Foods, but my
own Cleveland edition.

What’s your favorite Northeast Ohio neighborhood?
Ohio City is becoming a great night life spot. And East 4th is home to my favorite restaurant but I’d say that Tremont to me is the best mix of restaurants, shops, and walkable space with a neighborhood feel. Hopefully soon my place of residence as well.

What’s your favorite non-food aspect of Northeast Ohio?
The weather, believe it or not, and the history. As nice as it might be to live in San Diego, the change of seasons is always something to look forward to. I wouldn’t mind a shorter winter but I enjoy the snow.

Cleveland was once a great city and has many great historical landmarks to prove it. While I don’t expect Cleveland to ever return to being one of the 5 largest cities in the country again there are plenty of great things happening and hopefully it will get Cleveland off the bottom of all those ridiculous lists Forbes likes to put out.

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Focus on Foodies: Alicia Hansen



This month, NEO Food Tours is happy to spotlight Alicia Hansen from local lifestyle blog Poise in Parma.

Her site chronicles her journey to maintain a healthy balance while enjoying all that Cleveland has to offer. After learning more about Alicia in this month’s Q&A, check out her review of our recent tour of Public Square.

What’s your favorite food or local restaurant?
Since I’m gluten intolerant, dining out can be tricky. Because dietary restrictions are something restaurants are dealing with more regularly, the higher awareness makes it easier to find options without much hassle. Several places like Deagan’s Kitchen & Bar and Aladdin’s Eatery have gluten free menus on request.

I also find properly trained servers are an even better resource than a printed off menu. The good ones are willing to find out whatever information you need to have a successful meal. I’ll never forget our server at Dante who guided me to one of the best dishes I’ve ever eaten – the Black Quinoa Risotto with confit tomato and rosemary toasted pine nuts – completely gluten-free!

What’s your favorite Northeast Ohio neighborhood?
I’ll always have a soft spot for my hometown and blog namesake, Parma.  It’s a quirky, random, magical place: where churches and bars share street corners and patrons within the same day, where pierogies are the town’s customary tool for spreading joy, and where you can access other parts of Greater Cleveland within 30 minutes or less. Plus my having my family so close by is important to me – my dad’s side of the family all live less than three miles away!

Why do you love Northeast Ohio’s food scene?
There is truly something for everyone as their culinary tastes and dietary needs change.  Growing up as a child of a caterer, I was introduced to an array of dishes that might have scared off your average kid. All my mom asked was that we try one bite and I found there were rarely things that I would never eat again.

Now that I’ve been eating gluten free for the past year and a half, I feel like a kid again as I’m exploring new-to-me foods that weren’t in my wheelhouse before. I’m also learning new techniques from other NEO foodies – the community is so supportive and full of knowledge.

How do you spread the “culinary gospel” of Northeast Ohio’s great food scene?
It’s one thing to just blog about what the area has to offer – it’s another to get others out there and enjoy it. I try to take my non-foodie friends to my favorite culinary spots whenever possible.

They have gotten used to me providing a list of options for our dinner dates! Getting them to try a new spot usually gets them interested to try more hidden gems.

What do you do when you’re not enjoying food?
I enjoy leading an active life as I work to maintain my weight loss. I’m a team member at Nishkama Yoga in Independence and hope to complete yoga teacher training in 2012. As a “part time runner,” I plan to participate in my 3rd half marathon in Spring 2012.

When not working out, I spend my free time with my husband Hans, my golden retriever Grady (AKA the PIP VP of Fuzz) and my loved ones. Staying connected to my family and friends is an important part to my overall happiness, so I do my best to make it a priority.

What’s your favorite non-food aspect of Northeast Ohio?
The insistent “anything is possible” attitude. One of my personal mantras is “what you believe, you create” and I feel that Clevelanders embrace that fully. Hard times come and go, but we don’t let those define us. Now we just have to start believing that we are champions on the football field!!

***

NEO Food Tours understands the challenges that Alicia and others face due to a gluten intolerance. Because of this, we’re happy to announce that our 2012 season will include a Gluten-Free Tour.

Keep an eye out in your inbox or follow us on Facebook and @NEOFoodTours for more information about our upcoming events!

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Focus on Foodies: Eat*Drink*Cleveland



For our debut Focus on Foodies, we’re featuring Crystal Welsh. Crystal loves to explore Northeast Ohio in search of great food, wineries, farmers markets, and festivals and has been an avid supporter of NEO Food Tours since the beginning.

Crystal blogs about her culinary adventures at Eat*Drink*Cleveland.  We knew we couldn’t think of a better person to kick this feature off after she blogged: “I think I have a problem.  I just might be addicted to NEO Food Tours!”

1) Favorite food or local restaurant

As you can imagine, this question is EXTREMELY difficult for me!  I love pretty much all food but some of my favorite are authentic Italian (from Italy, not Olive Garden), Southeast Asian (Thai, Cambodian and Vietnamese) and Indian.  Some of my favorite restaurants are Chinato, Greenhouse, Fat Cats, Mekong River, and Minh Anh.

2) Favorite NEO neighborhood

Gosh!  I’m so indecisive!  I will give you my top 4: Ohio City, Tremont, Chagrin Falls and Gordon Square.  Love them for their extensive list of awesome restaurants and bars in an authentic setting. 

3) Why do you love Northeast Ohio’s food scene?

I love the diversity and quality!  We have access to top notch celebrity chefs, authentic ethnic joints and an incredible network of farmer’s markets and CSAs that rival those found in much larger cities.  I also like how our chefs are supportive of, and encourage the success of, each other. 

4) How do you spread the “culinary gospel” of Northeast Ohio’s great food scene?

One of the reasons I started my blog is because my family, friends and co-workers would always ask me where to go and what to order. I’m happy to spread the word!  I love helping people make a better choice that meets their needs (cuisine, pricing, location) and helps them think outside the box. 

5) What do you do when you’re not enjoying food?

Traveling is my favorite thing in the world!  I’ve been all over the USA and western Europe and still have a list a mile long of places I want to go.  I never ever get homesick or want to come home. 

That being said, I’m head over heals in love with my cutie pie Maltese – Shih Tzu Buffy and now that I have her, I miss her when I’m gone and have even taken her on a couple of trips.  Animal welfare is a big issue for me – animals are precious and I hate when they are neglected and mistreated. 

I’m green and am a huge advocate for recycling and caring for our planet.  Cooking (a lot!), gardening (not so much anymore thanks to the deer), hiking, and photography are my other loves. 

6) What’s your favorite non-food aspect of Northeast Ohio?

The list of my favorite things is long.  I love Lake Erie!  It’s a really unique feature and one that I wish we capitalized on much more than we do.  I think most people take it for granted or don’t even realize how lucky we are to have such a great natural source of water. 

I also really love how easy it is for us to get to really cool places!  The Metro Parks rock and are within easy reach of every neighborhood.  We are a short drive away from Niagara Falls, Pittsburgh, the Lake Erie Islands, the Kentucky Bourbon Trail, the Finger Lakes, Chautauqua, Toronto, Presque Isle State Park, Falling Water, Niagara-on-the-Lake, whitewater rafting at the New River or Ohio Pyle, and so on. 

Last but not least is the people  – my family and friends are the best (yes, I’m biased!) but the whole community is really friendly.  That’s something that people always comment on and it’s true.    It’s one of the perks of living in a mid-sized Midwestern city!

 

Focus on Foodies is a new monthly feature where we’ll spotlight a local foodie or fan of NEO Food Tours. One of these months – it could be you!

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