L’Albatros is Zach Bruell’s newest restaurant. It follows Parallax and Table 45 in addition to a string of defunct restaurants that many Clevelander’s still remember fondly. It’s opening today. (It’s Monday as I’m composing this.) Or rather, it’s “soft opening.” It looks like soft openings are no longer unusual. Frank Bruni wrote a very interesting blog post about this phenomenon back when it was less common. I wonder when, or whether, they’ll have a formal opening.
(It’s Wednesday as I’m revising and posting this so I can add this link to the article in the Pee Dee’s Taste section. Lots of info about the interior design and kitchen staff. I can’t help but comment on the other big news in that article. Lockkeeper’s is coming back. Dante is moving to the Third Federal building at Professor and Literary in Tremont.)
I also notice they have a selection of rotating, weekly specials. That will look familiar to you if you’re a patron of Bar Cento and it seems of a piece with another national trend. Michael Bauer lists a few San Francisco restaurants with similar theme nights. Hey Moxie, are you reading this? If Ad Hoc can have fried chicken nights, then so can you.
Only one item on the menu climbs above $23 and that’s a dish that serves two. There are several chicken dishes. Most things seem like home-y classics with a heavy emphasis on French cuisine. This could be a wonderful addition to Cleveland dining. These flavors are comforting and satisfying. I expect the dishes will feel familiar even though they represent a gaping hole in Cleveland’s current dining scene and consequently my personal eating history.
I’m approaching this opening with cautious optimism but completely unadulterated desire. I would be absolutely thrilled if L’Albatros pulls of their menu. There are too many exciting dishes on the menu for me to even try to highlight the ones that interest me most. Look it over and decide for yourself.
The L’Albatros website is apparently still under construction. The menu is online but there’s no link to it from the home page.
You can make the display bigger by clicking the button in the upper right corner. It looks like one rectangle inside another rectangle. Click the “X” to return to this post. Click the text link above the embedded PDF to view it at scribd.com or click here to view it at albatrosbrasserie.com. (Requires PDF reader. Boo!)
Incidentally, there are apparently several different types of albatross and they’re each beautiful in their own way.
Actually, after mating and albatross will fly away for months or years. They can stay aloft continuously for years, sleeping in the air.
19 of 21 types of albatross are endangered making them one of the most endangered birds in the world.
"Thalassarche bulleri "
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