nemo grille at alten house, avon ohio

Kevin was called off of his Pizza Hut delivery job last Monday so after a quick phone call to procure babysitting services for the boys, we enjoyed an impromptu date night.

When we were blessed with Macy, Kevin received a bonus gift certificate to restaurants.com when he bought me a bunch of stuff at Motherhood Maternity.  We redeemed it online for Nemo Grille in Avon shortly afterward but just now got the opportunity to use it.

I had the 16oz. rib eye with garlic mashed potatoes and asparagus.  The steak was done to perfection.  I paired that with one glass on Pinot Noir and left the potatoes on the plate.  Between the second helping of asparagus I got from Kevin (non veg eater) and the 4 servings of beef on my plate, I didn't want the potatoes.  They did come with a paper thin waffle like fried potato sculpture protruding from them.  That was kind of neat.  Kevin opted for the New York strip and had no complaints about either the steak or the garlic mashed potatoes (though he did refuse mine.)

Nemo Grille is housed in a century old home.  We were in "our" room alone until a young couple and their child came in shortly before we left.  The service was terrific, the atmosphere is great and we would definitely go back.  It is a bit pricey so bring a coupon from restaurants.com if you decide to give it a try.  20% gratuity is added to your check when you use a coupon but if your service is anything like ours, leave a bit more.  Servers work hard for their money.

restaurant week

I met Kevin for lunch downtown today to take part in Downtown Cleveland's 4th Annual Restaurant Week.  I had a blankety-blank of a time finding parking.  Had to circle the entire self-park area twice before finding a spot(later Kevin informed me it was probably due to Obama speaking at the Wolstien Center.) 

After viewing the special restaurant week lunch menus online we selected the Greenhouse Tavern.  It was a short chilly walk from his office.  Even though we didn't have reservations we were slightly ahead of the lunch crowd so we were seated immediately.   The server took a lot of time explaining all the specials to us.  He wasn't quite thorough enough though.  We are the antithesis of foodies so we were left wondering about more than a couple of the items he described.  Cornichons, mignonette sauce, lardo, and fromage blanc were among the items we were ignorant of.

From it's description, I knew I wanted to try the fried Brussels sprout soup but wasn't sure how far to push the envelope.  I was going to opt for the burger but Kevin encouraged me to be brave so I ordered the Pâté Melt Sandwich w/ caramelized onions, two year cheddar & pâté maison.  I'm still not really sure what it was that I ate, and likely don't want to know.  It was quite tasty.  Somehow I already knew the pomme frites it came with were fried potatoes.  They were hair thin potato strands that took too much effort to eat.  Now that I think about it, maybe I was supposed to use my fork.

Kevin was VERY adventurous and went with the special.  House made ravioli stuffed with lardo, goat cheese, and apples.  The server just described the sauce it came in as "sweet and sour."  When his plate arrived I was surprised at the small size of the serving.  And the fact that it looked like it was garnished in tiny cubes of beets.  After a quick taste I confirmed to him that they were in fact beets so he worked his way around them.  He was so generous and let me taste one of the tiny pillows of deliciousness.  The lardo, goat cheese, apple combo was yummy.  The pasta dough was so thin and done to perfection. 
Our meal ended with ONE vegan chocolate chip cookie the size of a quarter.  He got one bite.  I got a bite and a half.  Yum!

This was a very fun lunch.  Once in a blue moon, there is nothing wrong with eating someplace where you have to google the ingredients before you order but I'm not making a habit of it.

I made sure there was a substanial dinner waiting for hubby.  With all the running he does he needs a ton of calories.