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| Dominic Armato |
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Time to get this train back on the tracks.
The upside to having a crazy month with little time for blogging is that it leaves a nice backlog of subjects to cover. I'm mostly excited about the dual posts I'm working up for Charlie Trotter's (one on a tasty dinner, the other on the night I spent on the line as a "guest chef"), but for today I turn my attention to the land of Cleve, from whence my ladylove hails.
We spent Labor Day weekend with her family as we usually do: sleeping late, sitting on the sofa and playing video games. Our trips to Cleveland are generally seen as opportunities to hang out, do nothing in particular and spend some time with the folks. As such, much to my chagrin, I haven't even begun to explore what tastiness the city has to offer. But on this particular trip, I insisted on leaving the house just once to check out the West Side Market. Though I adore my city, dotted with a number of rather nice temporary markets as it is, it's both puzzling and a true shame that we don't have anything like this.
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Dominic Armato |
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The West Side Market has been around for a spectacularly long time, dating back to 1840, though the current landmark building has only been around since 1912... a piddling 96 years. Though the main building with its huge clock tower is the most obvious part of the complex, it's actually half the story. The main building houses enough stalls for roughly 100 vendors, but there's also a long produce arcade that flanks it on two sides.
It was a rainy Saturday on a holiday weekend when we stopped by, so the place was predictably packed. And by packed, I mean packed. The photo on the left belies the crowd's true size. We started off in the produce arcade, which was more impressive in terms of scope than quality, but was rather nice nonetheless. There were piles and piles of beautiful fruits and vegetables, but I thought they left a little to be desired by farmers' market standards. There were some finds, to be sure, but many of the stalls seemed to be stocked with fresh but unexciting high-end grocery store fare rather than items that had been pulled from local fields that morning. Among the exceptional, however, were some monstrous, succulent heirloom tomatoes that made the transition to a chilled tomato and bread soup rather nicely.
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The main building is absolutely stunning. It has the look of a converted train station with vaulted brick ceilings and tall frosted glass windows on either end. And it's huge. If Cleveland Browns Stadium collapses, I'm fairly certain they could clear out the stalls, roll out some astroturf and barely miss a beat. But while the building is a sight to behold, the real beauty of the place is in the bustle and the energy. The West Side Market isn't a grocery store in stall format. It
feels like a market, successfully maintaining a style of food shopping that has sadly fallen by the wayside. Though there are a few stalls that sell prepared foods, the market mostly contains meat and seafood purveyors, bakeries, dairy stalls and other basics. Pork was plentiful, and looked quite nice. I was underwhelmed by most of the beef we saw, though we managed to locate a few decently-marbled porterhouses at Larry Vistein's which grilled up nicely. The lamb at Hartman's, on the other hand, looked absolutely stunning, thereby cementing my cooking plans for the next trip. A surprisingly large number of stalls were selling all manner of smoked meats, which makes me wonder if this is a regional specialty. Seafood was passable, but unexciting.
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Dominic Armato |
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Unfortunately, I didn't get a good look at the cheese stalls, but Vera's struck me as one of the better-looking bakeries. And the selections went beyond the basics as well. There was a penny candy stall, one selling fresh popcorn, another with all manner of freshly-ground spices, cakes and other baked sweets, pickled vegetables, hordes of pierogies and a fresh pasta establishment that particularly piqued my interest. The Ohio City Pasta stall was well-stocked with beautiful piles of all manner of fresh pastas, including assorted ravioli and gnocchi, many (if not most) of them flavored in some manner. While I tend to be a pasta purist who's suspicious of all but the most simple and traditional flavored pastas, their product looked so nice that I'll give them the benefit of the doubt until I have a chance to sample on a future trip. In the interim, I'd love to hear if anybody has had any experience with these guys. I generally make my own fresh pasta, but if these guys are good, there's something to be said for just picking up a tangle or two and throwing together a quick sauce.
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As mentioned, unlike many other permanent "farmers' markets", the West Side Market focuses on purveyors of raw goods rather than eating establishments, but there certainly are a few of the latter. There was a Middle Eastern sandwich stand that I understand is quite excellent, though I didn't have a chance to sample, myself. Johnny Hot Dog sells exactly what you'd expect, as does Steve's Gyro, and tucked away in a corner is Kim Se, which sells assorted Southeast Asian dishes. On this particular day, however, it was Frank's Bratwurst that got its hooks into me, much to my benefit. It was just a lightly seasoned, juicy sausage on a fresh hard roll with a simple sauerkraut and spicy mustard, but it absolutely hit the spot and seemed more than appropriate to the surroundings. Apparently I wasn't the only one who thought so. As I walked the market with my bounty, I was stopped by no fewer than three other marketgoers who wanted to know the source. With my face full, I was reduced to a simple grunt and point, but I think the message got through.
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