Food is Fabulous in Cleveland

The Fabulous Food Show held this past weekend proved once again that Cleveland is a food town. Over 250 exhibitors, a 2,500 seat main kitchen theatre, 300 wines, spirits and beers to sample, and of course, lots of great food from many local purveyors make this event one that you must attend if you love food and can find a way to get here.

Being that this is a food blog, almost any food show is a good food show. But when there is one in your town, with some of your favorite chefs, vendors, restaurateurs, and foodies, it makes it all the more special. Some of the Cleveland area restaurants exhibiting were Blue Canyon, with Chef Brandt Evans, Swingos with Chef Matt Swingos, and San Souci. But what I love most about a show like this is how many local vendors make a great showing. These are people you’ll see at local farmer’s markets and in specialty stores that offer local products. You’ll also find their products in use in some of Cleveland best restaurants.

Two of my favorites are The Olive Orchard and Mackenzie Creamery. Not only are their products terrific, they’re really nice people, too.

Sisters Patricia Hajifotiou and Sue Kluchar founded The Olive Orchard to offer carefully selected, high quality olive products that you won’t find anywhere else in North America. They offer everything from olives and oils to body care and gift sets. I had the pleasure of interviewing them on Cleveland Business Radio and it’s always great to see them doing well.

Head to one of the North Union Farmer’s Market venues and you’ll likely find Jean Mackenzie at the Mackenzie Creamery booth. Jean produces fresh artisan goat cheese that come in nine incredibly rich and smooth flavors. Mackenzie chevre goat cheese received Best of Show, Reserved Best of Show, two first place and one second place at the American Dairy Goat Association National Cheese Competition in October 2007. Great stuff from a great lady.

We ran into some other local favorites, too, like Loretta Paganini, who always has a smile and makes you feel like family every time you see her.

And of course we (okay, mostly me) drooled over the Wolf stoves and Sub-Zero refrigerators and sets of MAC Knives. There were beautiful handcrafted pepper mills, salt grinders, vessels, bowls, lamps, bottle stoppers, and chopping blocks from G3 Studios. I almost traded Ali for one of their pepper mills, but they decided they didn’t want her. Maybe next year.

Of course the highlight was seeing Cleveland’s very own Michael Symon close the show with a presentation on the Main Kitchen theatre stage. Having interviewed Michael for Cleveland Business Radio and talking with him at Lola and Lolita I can tell you that with Michael what you see is what you get. He’s just as funny, smart, and personable as he seems. He’s also a fantastic ambassador for this city and is helping to bring well-deserved attention to the food scene in a part of the country that many a misinformed gastronome considers fly-over territory. Even with his mom and dad in the audience, he didn’t pull any punches when talking about the horror of dried herbs saying that his mom still had the same jar of dried parsley that she had when he was in high school. It was a fun show as he invited people up on stage to help cook, or help eat. When Guy Fieri and Curtis Stone bounded up on stage and led the crowd in a chant of “chug, chug, chug” to get Michael down what was surely a highly alcoholic beverage, it was clear these guys had a good time hanging out in C-town.

So if you don’t live in Northeast Ohio, that’s okay. Come for a visit. We’ll take you to some great restaurants. You never know who you might run into!

Tagged as: Cleveland Business Radio, Curtis Stone, Greater Cleveland, Michael Symon