A "Green" Burger at Metro Burger

Metro Burger opened up several years ago in the then newly-built set of stores in Highland Square just 5 minutes from downtown Akron. Metro Burger's aim was to provide good quality food while shooting for a "greener" experience. All of the cups, packaging, and utensils are made from 100% corn and will completely biodegrade in just 80 days. I decided that I was in a "burger" mood tonight for dinner, so I stopped in.

Here is the sign on the outside of the building (this is completely visible from Market Street, so it's hard to miss):


There is ample free parking both on the street and in the back of the building. Once inside, there is a long counter where stacks of clipboards contain the menu order form. One form per person, please:


You mark what kind of meat you'd like, what size, what kind of roll, toppings, etc. It really is a pretty efficient way to keep the lines short and the decisions to a minimum. You can mark one of their already designed burgers or you can mix and match to your heart's content. Once you finish marking up your form, you approach the ordering counter:


and place and pay for your order. At that point, they'll hand you one of these guys:


You fetch your condiments, napkins, and drinks from the soda fountain area and retire to your table and wait for your meal to be cooked to order. Do note that the burgers are all cooked medium well. When your electronic notifier goes off, you go up to the pick-up area and grab the plastic tray with your order on it. Today I felt like a 1/3 pound ground beef cheeseburger with smoked gouda, bacon, and horseradish mayonnaise on a pretzel roll. Add an order of the sweet potato fries to that and you get this:


The pretzel roll was buttered and grilled before adding the rest of the ingredients. The horseradish mayonnaise is in the little cup in the front of the basket.

First up, the burger:


This is a wonderfully juicy and delicious burger. The smoke from the gouda and the bacon and the spiciness from the horseradish mayonnaise made a wonderful combination. The pretzel roll is highly recommended. It has such a unique flavor that the other buns are simply lacking. Instead of just being a vehicle to get the food into your mouth, it adds it's own distinct flavor and texture.

And, of course, my side of sweet potato fries:


I am notoriously critical when it comes to fries. They have to be crispy on the outside, creamy on the inside, properly seasoned, and not oily. These fit the bill beautifully. And to top it off, the natural sweetness from the sweet potato contrasted nicely with the added salt. They are so-so with ketchup, but I actually preferred them with the leftover horseradish mayonnaise that accompanied my burger.

Today was my fourth experience at Metro Burger and every single time I've really enjoyed the food. Spending your dining dollars here is a real winner for everyone; you're supporting a local Akron restaurant that is committed to helping reduce landfills and providing it's customers with delicious food. What's not to love?

Waffles That Nearly Float Off Your Plate

Any then there were two.

The food-related memories I have from my childhood are actually quite sparse. It wasn't until well into my adult life that I began appreciating chefs and restaurants who take the time to offer something unique and delicious to their customers. While there have been many times when I've returned to a cherished restaurant from my childhood only to discover that the food really isn't as good as I remembered it, it's a pleasure to find one where the current dining experience lives up to the halcyon days of my youth.

As a child, I remember eating at numerous Wally Waffle locations throughout the area. Unfortunately over the decades, this number has slowly dwindled down to only two remaining locations, one on Locust Street in downtown Akron by the hospital and the other just a five minute drive on the corner of Eastwood Road and Rt. 91 in Tallmadge. Google shows a third location on Marion Avenue, but I tried finding this location one time and concluded that it simply didn't exist.

Today I decided to go for a late lunch / early breakfast. Here is the sign at the Tallmadge location:


I arrived around 11:15 am or so only to be greeted by a number of people milling around outside the front door. This is very typical on the weekends if you go after about 10:30 or so. I had a 20 minute wait and since it was fairly pleasant outside, I didn't mind enjoying the sunshine and fresh air. Wally Waffle is only open for breakfast and lunch, so don't plan on going after 3 pm on the weekends.

Here is a shot of the front of their menu:


And a shot of the condiments at the end of the table:


As with most of the meals at Wally Waffle have consisted, I usually start out with a nice steaming cup of decaf and a glass of water:


The coffee always tastes exceptionally fresh when I go, and the refills are generous and quite often. The regular coffee does have a better flavor than the decaf, but living with an afternoon of the jitters wasn't my idea of a pleasant way to spend the afternoon.

The menu is broken up into typical breakfast fare and they offer luncheon items such as salads and sandwiches as well. But, I daresay that if you are going to go to a place that has "waffle" in its name, you can be pretty certain that the place has a specialty. Wally's offers three different waffle batters, the original using malted flour, the oat bran (which is what I normally get), and the better day. All batters are made at the locations, although the dry ingredients for the original batter come already pre-mixed. They simply add the wet ingredients, margarine, milk, and eggs on-site before service. I couldn't get my server to admit it, but I would surmise that they separate the eggs and beat the whites separately before folding it back into the batter. They'd have to in order to get a waffle to be this light.

You can get your waffle topped in a variety of ways, from simply adding margarine and syrup to going with fresh fruit and a little sweetened whipped cream. The thing about the original waffle that makes it so unique is how light it is. Not in terms of calories, but in terms of the sense of fullness you get from eating one. All the waffles that come out of the kitchen cover the entire plate, so it isn't like you are getting a smaller portion size. Obviously the oat bran and the better day waffles have a much heavier batter and thus will definitely fill you up.

Today I decided to go with the classic waffle topped with fresh strawberries and bananas and finished off with sweetened whipped cream:


This was heavenly. The waffle batter itself is just barely sweetened and the combination from the malted flour and the touch of vanilla make this a tasty dish even if it weren't topped with anything else. Between the mound of whipped cream and the fresh fruit, syrup wasn't even required to gobble this up. In fact, I think that adding syrup would've complicated the pure, sweet flavors that made this dish so good.

With my oat bran waffle, I normally get a side of bacon, extra crispy. Today, however, I decided to go with another favorite, Wally Fries "loaded":


"Loaded" Wally Fries are a wonderful combination of shredded potato hash browns that have been beautifully cooked and crisped on one side topped with grilled onions and peppers and finally finished with the cheese of your choice. Today it was Swiss. Perfectly seasoned, the textural combination of the crispy potatoes on the one side, the creamy potatoes on the other is a wonderful example of contrasts. This worked quite well in place of the bacon I normally would order.

I've tried many of the other menu items over the years and I can honestly say that I've never had a bad dish. But if you make the trip all the way down to Akron just to try Wally Waffle, you must at least try the classic waffle. It really is that good. My hope is that no additional locations close as that would truly be the loss of an Akron classic.

Mug 'o Root Beer Goodness

The first time I had a can of root beer, I was suddenly presented with an anomaly. All the root beer I drank as a youth had been at the local carhop drive-in places (like A & W). What surprised me so much was how hard it was to drink the soda without having to burp incessantly or the burning sensation that the overly carbonated soda caused when I swallowed. To this day, I have to let a newly opened can of soda sit for a few minutes to allow some of the carbonation to escape before I can drink it. The weird thing about my youthful root beer memories was that I remember the frosty cold mugs of sweet nectar having carbonation, but not so much that they weren't smooth and drinkable from the minute you got them.

Besides the nationwide chain A & W, a local Akron chain called B & K still has some drive up stands in the area. I choose to go today to the one on Monroe Falls Avenue in Cuyahoga Falls:


Once you pull in, as with most drive-in places, you turn your lights on for service and decide what you want from the menu posted on the wall:


They have your usual fare, burgers, dogs, and chicken sandwiches. Today I was in the mood for two things: a coney dog and a mug of frosty cold root beer. While perusing the menu, I also noticed that they sell kraut dogs. Well, damn, that sounded good, too! When my waitress hustled over to take my order, I got one of each.

Here is the window tray she brought back just a few minutes later:


Can't you just already taste that wonderful root beer?


Since I was doing the knee balancing trick for my photographs, I decided to take a swig out of the mug to make it a little more stable. Yummmm! Sweet and creamy, this brought instant memories of my youth to mind. Nothing in a can or 2-liter bottle can even come close to this. Next time I go back, I may just have to guild the lily even more and get a scoop of vanilla ice cream to make the ultimate concoction, the root beer float.

On to the dogs! I have to say that both hot dogs were very moist. When you keep meat in a hot water bath until service, sometimes that can actually dry out the dogs. Not in this case. Both versions of the dog were absolutely juicy and tender.

The coney dog was first:


The coney sauce was excellent, similar to a Sloppy Joe type consistency, but actually the meat was a bit more finely ground. It had a lovely saltiness and spiciness that worked well with the sweetness of the root beer.

Finally, the kraut dog:


When I first bit into it, I was surprised to discover the presence of black pepper in the kraut. The salt and acid of the kraut were well controlled. The overall balance on this dog was pretty darn good, given that it was just a hot dog with sauerkraut on it. Honestly, the thought of a coney dog was what brought me in to B & K, but I left equally as impressed with the kraut dog.

Next time you are in the mood for a really good coney or kraut dog or just want to indulge in a wonderful treat like the root beer, I recommend you check out one of the several Akron locations of B & K to get your fill. Nostalgia can sometimes make you overlook a mediocre experience, but in this case, it just proved how good it was all along.

Louie's Bar & Grille: Still The Best Burger?

In a recent posting on The Greenhouse Tavern, I mentioned how utterly delicious the Ohio burger they have on their menu is. Truth be told, it is probably one of the most soul-satisfyingly delicious burgers I think I may have ever had. Questioning her long held belief on who had the best burger, an astute Akron blog reader of mine decided to clue me in on another one of Akron's many local legends with a burger history of it's own, Louie's Bar & Grille. Started in 1992, only one year later it won the Akron Beacon Journal's Best Burger award and beat out a large number of other incumbent burger institutions.

So it was with great enthusiasm that I went there tonight for dinner. I actually remember seeing this storefront before when driving down Tallmadge Avenue, but had never paid much attention to it. Isn't that always the way?

Here is the front of the restaurant:


Once inside, I sat down at a table and started to peruse the menu:


The menu has your standard pub type food. Wings, sandwiches, soups, salads, sides, and a couple of entrees. All of the menu items are available on their website so you can get a feeling for the items they offer on their menu as well as their prices. I started out by ordering one of my favorite brews, a pint of Guinness:


I'm not about to review the actual Guinness, other than to say that Louie's has a carbon dioxide tap and not the nitrogen variety. You can tell by the way the bubbles fall in the pint glass (they do with nitrogen). No big deal, it was still creamy and delicious. After I placed my order with my waitress, I took a couple of random photos. Here is the condiment basket on every table:


Interestingly in the back is a small laminated leaflet containing various advertisements. Definitely an effective way to get some additional attention for your business. After about fifteen minutes or so (it was pretty busy when I got there), my burger finally arrived. A bacon cheeseburger with fresh cut fries:


All of Louie's burgers are 1/2 pound and made from fresh ground meat, never frozen. The fries are also made from scratch. The burgers are cooked to medium well unless otherwise requested. I decided to stick with what they suggested, so that was how I had mine cooked.

Here is a shot with the top half of the bun lifted off the burger:


Mine came with bacon, American cheese, several really nice slices of ripe tomato, lettuce and mustard and was served on a nice fresh Kaiser roll. I added ketchup tableside. This was a monster burger. And a messy one. I had ketchup and mustard squirt out of the burger every single time I took a bite. But it was GOOOD. Juicy, hot, and seasoned just right. The bacon added a nice salty bite and the tomato a wonderful sweetness.

Is this the best burger I've ever had in Akron? It's been a while since I've had a really good burger in Akron, so I feel safe in saying that it could possibly be the best burger in Akron. On a scale of 5, I'd give it a 4.5. How does it rack up against The Greenhouse Tavern? Sorry, fellow Akronites, The Greenhouse Tavern burger completely reshaped my concept of what it is like to eat a delicious, juicy burger. Yes, Louie's burger is juicy. But The Greenhouse Tavern's burger is unbelievably juicy. In some sort of Pavlovian epicurean curse, I actually salivate when I think of The Greenhouse Tavern's burger.

Finally, since they were in my basket, I should probably mention the fresh cut fries. Unfortunately, they were not particularly inspiring. In fact, they were the same limp, greasy, nasty mess of fried potatoes you get almost every time the words "fresh cut" appear on the menu. The "wetness" in the next photo wasn't from any liquid that I added:


It's a shame, really. I never knew it was so hard to make good fries. It seems to have infected quite a few of the restaurants in the Akron and Canton area. Except for Prime at Anthe's. They could teach Louie's a thing or two about what good fries should taste like.

Louie's Bar & Grille is highly recommended if you are in the mood for a really great burger. I'd just pay the upcharge and get a different side instead.

Culinary Alchemy at Parasson's?

Sometimes what we crave defies all logic and dictates that we eat certain foods or at certain restaurants that we normally wouldn't otherwise entertain. As a child, my mother would occasionally make what I can only imagine came from a 1950's recipe, tuna biscuit bake casserole. Generously spray your casserole dish with a layer of Pam. Then, using a can of biscuits, a can of tuna, a can of Campbell's condensed cheddar cheese soup, a can of Campbell's cream of celery soup, and some milk, layer this unholy concoction in the pre-greased pan, place in a 350 degree oven and wait for all sorts of processed food goodness to come out. And as a child, I loved it.

Over the years, I've tried re-inventing it to be leaner, healthier, less processed, but in the end, when I crave this dish, it is with all of the same ingredients that my mother used in her version. It just doesn't taste the same otherwise (and I'm sure some would say for the better). That reluctance to let go of a wonderful childhood memory is what drives me to return to Parasson's restaurant again and again. Parasson's is a local Akron chain that serves up what I would consider to be "ok" basic Italian fare. Pizzas, pastas, and subs make up most of their menu. They have four locations and over the many decades I've been going there, the food has always tasted the same.

Every once in a while I'll get that craving. And when I do, there just isn't any way to resist it. Tonight's craving was fulfilled at the Waterloo Road location. All the locations have both sit-down and take-out service, but tonight I felt like eating in. Here is a shot of the front of the menu (addresses and phone numbers are shown for each of the four locations):


And a shot of the condiment station on each table:


Almost any meal you order (except for maybe pizza), comes with the griddled garlic bread. It's your basic mix of butter, salt, garlic powder, and dried parsley. It is neither the best nor worst example of garlic bread that I've ever had, but there is something about it that I crave. They will refill the basket as you eat it, but whenever I dine out by myself, I always feel guilty if I eat more than the two slices they bring me.


The meal that I choose for my dinner also came with a garden salad. Parasson's uses a moderate amount of shredded mozarella cheese to top their salads. In my opinion it is just the right amount. You get the cheesy richness without it predominating.


I always order the French dressing on the side, for two reasons. First, I like to dress my salad minimally with the dressing. Most restaurants overdress salads. Second, and this is where culinarily speaking I may have just lost some of my gentle readers out there, the combination of the French dressing and the garlic bread is ... how to put this? Magical.

I feel like I should be standing up in a self-help group right now. "Hi, my name is Tom and I like to dip my Parasson's garlic bread in my leftover French dressing."

I don't know when this practice started. Maybe my server had taken away my finished salad plate and accidentally left the remainder of the dressing. And maybe while I was waiting for my pasta to come out, bored and with nothing but time on my hands, I thought, "Aw, what the hell!" and dipped for the first time. I've been doing it ever since. I'm always furtively sneaking dips in the dressing because I feel like if someone working at the establishment ever caught me, they'd certainly point out my unnatural ways to the rest of the guests there and throw me out as quickly as they could.

Now, this is not unusual salad dressing. In fact, I confirmed with my server that it is Marzetti California French dressing. Curious to know what this ingredient list consisted of, I stopped at Giant Eagle afterward for a little investigative work. You can read the list of ingredients here:


Basically most of the flavor is coming from tomatoes, sugar, vinegar, and some various spices. Equally as mysterious, the garlic bread is exactly as I described it before. But when you put the two together, the sweetness from the dressing and the saltiness from the bread makes an amazing flavor combination in your mouth. And the even more amazing thing? I taste flavors that exist in neither product by themselves: I get notes of both cinnamon and nutmeg. Every time I go back and try this experiment over again, I get the same result. Without fail.

As much as I come for the garlic bread/French dressing combo, the other lifelong draw for me has been their meat sauce. Made with pork and beef, it has a nice balance of sweetness, fattiness, and seasoning. But I would in no way consider this to be remarkable. Tasty, sure, but not remarkable. I will occasionally order something else on the menu, but that is a rarity. Today I decided to go with rigatoni for my pasta:


The large, at $10.49, is a good value because you will easily get two meals out of this. The one very positive thing about this dish is that I have never come across a plate of watery pasta from Parasson's. And I've eaten at all four locations over the last three decades. It's not so much that the pasta is all that spectacular, it's just nice when I don't end up with a bowl of rigatoni meat sauce soup, like I seem to experience at other places. I always end up dosing my meat sauce with a hefty hit of red chili flakes and grated parmesan cheese (I'm using a little 'p' for parmesan because I'm fairly certain this stuff comes out of the green can).

Sadly, even though they were advertising dessert:


None of their desserts are homemade. And honestly, the tiramisu pictured on the table advert just didn't look all that enticing. I was half tempted to have a scoop of the spumoni, but realizing that I was already pretty full, I opted to skip dessert entirely.

With as much food knowledge that I've gathered over the years by reading, cooking, and most importantly, eating, it still amazes me that sometimes you just want the comfort food of your youth. And I think it is healthy to occasionally let your ever-vigilant set of culinary standards lay by the wayside so you can revel in an experience that just makes you feel good for a little while.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I think it's time for another helping of that tuna biscuit bake casserole.

An Akron Classic: Swensons and the Galley Boy

If there's one place that anyone who is a transplant from Akron always asks about, it's Swensons. Swensons is a drive-in carhop joint that started in 1934 and has now grown to seven locations in North and West Akron, North Canton, Montrose, Stow, Seven Hills, and Jackson. While the original one on the corners of West Market Street and Hawkins has been demolished and rebuilt, any of the locations offer the same Swensons drive-in experience.

When I got out of work today at 6:30, it was 80 degrees Fahrenheit, sunny, and just gorgeous. Perfect weather for a trip to Swensons! And since there is a location on my way home, it made even more sense. When you pull in, find a parking spot and turn on your car's headlights. This indicates you need a server. On the wall is the basic menu:


Fortunately, I already knew what I wanted (since you can download a copy of their menu from the website), so I didn't have to ponder too long when my rather cute carhop ran up to my car to greet me. Pleasantries exchanged, I placed my order and as quickly as he ran up to my car, he ran back inside to turn my order in.

After about ten minutes, he returned with the classic "window hooking" tray with all my food on it:


On deck are my Galley Boy, an order of onion rings, and my cherry milkshake. The Galley Boy is one of Swensons signature items and the skewered olive on top is just a reminder that you can only get this here in northeast Ohio. Unfortunately, because of the odd angle that I was sitting in the car and trying to take pictures out the driver's side window, I decided to photograph individual items after they were brought inside the car.

First up, the cherry milkshake (and yes, I am actually balancing these things on my pants while I photograph them -- hey, you do what you gotta do):


They have three sizes, 12, 16, and 32 ounces. I went for the 16 ounce size and was pleasantly rewarded with a nice, thick, creamy milkshake that had a nice cherry flavor, but wasn't too over the top. I can't imagine ordering the 32 ounce size ... that would be a lot of milkshake! And while this milkshake was good (I'd order it again), I do think that Tommy's in Coventry sets the bar when it comes to amazing milkshakes.

Next up were the onion rings with ranch dressing as a dip:


These were fine, better than some other examples I've tried. The menu states that they are Swensons own recipe and they certainly are tasty. Nice and crunchy on the outside with a nice thick creamy onion on the inside. The ranch dressing dip was, well, ranch dressing. They didn't do anything to gussy it up. Which is kind of a shame since that could really add to the Swensons mystique.

Finally, a close-up of the Galley Boy. First, wrapped:


And then, unwrapped (after I ate the olive, of course!):


The Galley Boy is a double cheeseburger served on a grilled bun with two special sauces, tartar sauce and a sweet BBQ sauce. Now one might think, "Ack! That sounds awful!" But I can assure you this is one of those instances where the food gods have smiled upon mankind and allowed them to indulge in this really wonderful burger. Sweet, savory, grilled, cheesy, creamy, crusty. It's all there in one sandwich. Normally I like to alternate between bites of burger and whatever side I've ordered. Not this time. Before I realized what I had done, I looked down to discover that my Galley Boy was GONE. I looked over at my poor onion rings and realized I hadn't eaten a single one.

The final bill for my indulgence wasn't terribly expensive either, just a shade over $9, $12 with tip. They've got lots of other great items on their menu, but it's really hard to go wrong with the Galley Boy. As it is the start of summer, I can see myself going back many more times over the next couple of months. And having just as delicious a meal.

Phoenix Rising From The Ashes: Prime at Anthe's

The last time I attended the restaurant Anthe's in Akron, OH, I was sorely disappointed. The menu felt both old and bloated, the prices were inconsistent with the quality of the food, and quite honestly, the food was so hit and miss that I just couldn't in good conscience recommend it. Shortly after I went, I read in the Akron Beacon Journal that the previous Chef and Owner, Chef Uecke, had decided to sell to another Akron stalwart, John Bahas, already owner of the Waterloo Restaurant and to Chad Gano, another Akron native. I had stayed away from the "new" Anthe's purposely until tonight. I wanted them to live or die on their new menu, their new cooking staff, and their new approach.

While this awning is a reminder of the tradition that Anthe's has brought to the Akron area for decades:


It was this new signage that signaled a change had taken place:


The restaurant has been reborn as Prime at Anthe's. And WHAT a transformation. Not so much in the look or feel of the restaurant. Or even really the clientèle. Yet. But the new approach to the food and menu is extremely refreshing. The menu has been pared down to a front and back side and includes a half dozen each (roughly) of appetizers, salads, steaks & chops, seafood, and chicken & pastas. And all very reasonably priced. There are still some Anthe's staples that seemed to survive the revamping of the menu that don't feel like they fit in real well, such as the Asian Pierogies, but for the most part, the menu is much tighter.

As anyone who has eaten at Anthe's knows, every meal starts out with the ubiquitous bean salad, a wonderful melding of kidney beans, onions, celery, and a creamy dressing that has a nice tang to it.


I think that this dish is actually better than what I had the last time I ate there. Maybe it was just corrected seasonings, but this was actually tasty tonight, whereas before I remembered it being so-so.

The other Anthe's staple is the sourdough rolls. Now, I have fond memories of these rolls from my youth (my prom dinner was at Anthe's), but when I finally tasted them after 19 years the last time I was here, I wasn't as impressed. They are sour, yes, but taste unlike any sourdough roll I've had since learning more about making breads from scratch. I will say this, the taste this time was consistent with times previous. These aren't my favorite version of a sourdough bread, but the rolls were crusty on the outside, creamy on the inside, and nice and hot.


And an interior crumb shot:


I'll just chalk it up to the flavor either being something you either totally crave or something that you may never understand. While I am completely in love with the quality of the end product, it may take me a few more times to completely fall in love with the sourdough quality of the bread.

All entrees come with a garden salad and one side. They have several homemade dressings and I chose the homemade blue cheese dressing to garnish my salad. It should be noted that the croutons are also homemade and are quite good, having that lovely crunchy outside, flavored with olive oil and garlic, and a softer, chewier texture inside.


And, yes, there it is again in the photo, that single lone slice of pickled beet. I think I'm actually becoming a fan as this one was wonderfully sweet and tangy. The salad was a nice mix of greens, some bitter, some more herbaceous. Everything worked well together. The dressing wasn't quite up to par as some blue cheese dressings I've had in the past (most notably was the absence of those large chunks of blue cheese that are so delicious), but as a dressing, it worked well.

I decided to give one of the appetizers a try as well. The old stand-by, mussels in garlic, tomato, wine, butter, and fresh chiffonade of basil:


Also present in this dish (but not listed on the menu) were shallots. A squeeze of fresh lemon and we were off to the races. This was pretty close to divine. I was devouring my salad when my server brought this to the table and the heady aroma of the garlic just blew me away. The mussels were perfectly cooked, tender and juicy. The other ingredients only served to prop the mussels up. The only negative thing I will say about this dish, and please take this with a grain of salt, is that the tomatoes were April tomatoes, not August tomatoes. They just didn't give that wonderful sweetness to the dish that they should've. But I have to judge the dish based on the ultimate standard of what it could be, so I felt I should mention it. Given a better tomato, this dish should truly soar.

Finally, for my entree, I decided on the broiled chicken breast with sauce veloute and fine herbes. Like I mentioned earlier, it came with one side and I choose to stick with the menu and go with the garlic mashed potatoes.


A generous portion for sure. The garlic mashed potatoes had the perfect texture and were perfectly seasoned. The sauce was delicious (how couldn't it be when it had that much enrichment from heavy cream?). The chicken was perfectly seasoned. And it was cooked to perfection: nice and juicy on the inside and tender enough to cut with a fork. It is so easy to overcook chicken breast. This was literally perfection on a plate. The sauce went very well with the chicken, the fine herbes (traditionally chervil, chives, parsley, and tarragon) being used to garnish the plate. The sauce felt like it was more in the realm of a sauce Supreme category as opposed to a traditional sauce Veloute. However, it was delicious, unctuous, and rich.

I also decided to try another side, the fresh cut fries tossed with kosher salt and rosemary.


I know that I am a notoriously hard to please stickler for fries. They have to be crispy on the outside, creamy on the inside, and not at all greasy. Anthe's version was a home run! Seasoned with kosher salt and rosemary essense, these fries required no extra condiments. In fact, that would be an insult to the person who came up with this technique. The only thing I wish this side dish had was a more assertive rosemary flavor. Knowing from the menu that there was rosemary in the dish, I could definitely get the faintest aroma of it as I ate it. However, had I not had that knowledge, I might never have picked up on it. Potatoes, salt, and rosemary are a classic combination and I say to hell with the ketchup ... bring on more rosemary. Fix the rosemary issue and this will be, far and above, the best fresh cut fry I've ever had.

Finally, the best part of the meal came when I asked for the check. Everything I had above, including an iced tea, with tax, came to $28. Now I know that is still a lot of money for some people nowadays, but compared to the previous Anthe's, this is simply stunning. Hell, there were some entrees that were $28 alone on the previous menu.

And for those of you who are looking to dine out at a nice restaurant while still watching your budget, on Tuesday through Thursday, Prime at Anthe's offers a special menu where you and your dining companion can choose an appetizer to split, each choose your own entree, and each choose your own dessert all for only $40.


What was even more amazing is that at the end of my meal, I threw a few questions at my server and discovered that the head chef wasn't even there tonight. This meal, from beginning to end, was perfectly seasoned and the flavors were well balanced. The food was executed, more or less, to a very high standard, and I for one, know that I now have a restaurant in Akron that I can finally recommend to my friends in Cleveland, Akron, and Canton. The chef has done an excellent job finding and training his staff.

So, for those of you reading this post who might find themselves looking for a nice night out at a restaurant that has both a nice atmosphere and outstanding food, look no further than Prime at Anthe's. I think that the new owners have taken all the long-standing tradition from the previous generation, given it a much needed face lift and have come up with an outstanding dining experience. I know that I look forward to returning very soon.

Big Night at Lembo's?

I was feeling in the mood for Italian tonight and even more in the mood for something hearty and filling like lasagna. Considering my options between work and home, I remembered that there was a mom and pop style Italian restaurant close to where I live that I had never been to, Lembo's Italian Restaurant. After realizing that they also had an on-line presence, I decided to visit their website and was delighted to learn that they also had their menu on-line as well. I began looking through the menu and noticed that many of their menu items had the word "home made" in front of them: the sauce, the pizza dough, the lasagna.

And then it hit me. Right in the middle of the pasta section, Timpano was listed. I sat at my desk at work for a moment, stunned. I have only had timpano once in my life and it was never at a restaurant. Immediately my thoughts turned to Primo in the movie Big Night. This couldn't be the one and the same, could it? Seeing as the restaurant was on the way home, I figured I would find out for sure.

I was seated at a table just past the all-you-can-eat salad bar and by the entrance to the kitchen. When my waitress finally came over, I asked about the timpano and how it was constructed. The waitress explained that it was just rigatoni layered with cheese and marinara. I further questioned her as to what other layers were in the timpano and she kind of gave me that ok-what's-your-deal kind of look. I quickly apologized and pulled up the link to the timpano I made earlier in the post. I explained to her about Big Night and the true timpano that is layered and covered with a pasta sheet. She looked relieved that I actually wasn't some creepy stalker guy. She finally dashed any hope that I would be mind melding with Primo tonight with a "you know, the one you're showing me does look really good, but ours is definitely not that." Rats.

So, instead I went with my original inkling and ordered the cheese lasagna with meat sauce. Almost all of the meals come with the all-you-can-eat salad bar and I have to say, if you like choices on your salad bar, then this is the place for you. It was absolutely huge, two full-sized islands with greens, pasta salads, soups, desserts, and breads.

First up, I grabbed a couple of pieces of focaccia bread from one of the covered steam tables.


First the positives. It was nice and warm. It had a nice softness to it. The herb and olive oil on the crust added some nice flavor. Unfortunately some of the positives were also some of the negatives. Sitting on the steam table kept the bread soft, but ultimately robbed the bread of any of its integrity. There was no difference between the crust and the crumb. Secondly, a light dusting of kosher salt would've really elevated this bread. It lacked the fine tuning that just a little bit of salt could've brought out.

Next up, a trio of pasta salads:


On the left we had a farfalle pasta with carrots, red bell peppers, and a creamy Italian style dressing. In the middle are small shells with celery in a creamy sauce. On the right are a fettucine style noodle tossed in oil and dried parsley. All three were unremarkable. Clearly the "home made" aspect applied to the food on the menu, not these salads. And looking around at my other choices on the salad bar pretty much resulted in the same conclusion: if you're really into the standard salad bar, this is the place for you. If you're looking for something special, you aren't going to find it here.

Finally, my lasagna came out. It was freaking huge.


First, I tried the meat sauce surrounding the lasagna on the plate. It was ok, a good depth of tomato flavor, but a little sweeter than I would've normally liked it. I could also pick up a hint of anise, more than likely fennel seed. I then started in on the lasagna. The first thing I noticed was that overall, it was a nice cheese to sauce to noodle ratio. A lot of times places absolutely douse the top with mozzarella cheese and it becomes too much. This one was nice. It was nice and sliceable as well.

I sliced off a bite that had layers of the pasta and cheese and sauce and let the flavors roll around in my mouth. And suddenly it dawned on me as clear as day: nutmeg! I could taste nutmeg. Thinking back quickly to my cooking school courses, a bechamel is often finished with nutmeg. But then it dawned on me that most lasagnas don't use a bechamel sauce. I actually liked the nutmeg in this. It was present just oh-so-slightly, but wasn't too overpowering.

When the waitress came around to check on me, I asked her about both the fennel and the nutmeg. To the fennel question, she said that she wasn't entirely sure, but they do make the meat sauce from scratch in house. When I asked about the nutmeg, she got this stunned look on her face and admitted that yes, there is nutmeg in the ricotta cheese mixture layered between the noodles. She asked how I knew that and I simply answered that I could taste and smell it. She copped to the fact that only a handful of people have ever been able to identify the nutmeg. Who knew?


This is a shot of the side of my lasagna showing the layers of pasta, cheese, and sauce. The pasta had a lovely bite to it, not too soft, not too chewy.

Fortunately, I had more than enough left over at the end of my meal, so I brought it home and will have it tomorrow morning for a late breakfast before leaving for a small trip to Cleveland, OH to have a fabulous meal at L'Albatross.

While the salad and bread was eh, so-so, the lasagna was definitely a winner in my book and I'm definitely eager to get back and try some of the other homemade specialties, such as their gnocchi.