Friday Salmagundi (Buckeye Beer Engine, Sapore, Culinary Vegetable Institute)

fried cod sandwich with cajun tartar sauce

The Buckeye Beer Engine recently sold burger #48324. You may remember when I made note of their announcement for #40000. I goofed on the calculation in that post. They’re now around their two year anniversary so that’s about 66 burgers every day. There were 113 days between announcements so the pace has picked up to around 74 burgers per day. I imagine that the promotion will drive the burger rate even higher. I know I’m definitely going to have one or two.

The prizes are substantial gift certificates: $500 for ordering #50000 and $200 for ordering #51000. At a pace of 74bpd, 1676 burgers will take 22-23 days. My guess for the jackpot winner is March 22 and I will be there. You can sign up for their mailing list to receive an announcement for #49200.

In other Beer Engine related news, they’re having a beer dinner on March 24th, they debuted some Lenten specials and their brunch garnered some very positive remarks on the Cleveland.com food forum. I enjoyed my cod sandwich. I’m looking forward to trying the fish tacos and then it’s back to enjoying the Beer Engine on non-weekend days. I’m also really eager to try the brunch. Together with The Flying Fig’s new brunch, it gives me hope that there may be some relief from the brunch wasteland that is Cleveland. I think I’m going to arrange my Film Festival schedule so that it coincides with a visit to the Fig for brunch.

(beer dinner listing at upcoming.org)

The old Kan Zaman space has a temporary sign announcing that “Kasablanca Cafe” is coming soon. I drove past and noticed that the neon “Open” sign was lit. I’m not sure in what way this new place will be any different from the old, unremarkable Kan Zaman. Still, the cuisine itself is so appealing that I’m sure I’ll check it out. Apparently, what seemed like a slump along W 25th was only a very temporary phenomenon. The book store is being replaced by a different book store. Something called Ohio City Blooms (neighborhood development or flowers? I hope flowers.) threw up a sign. I guess Dish and The Monastery have yet to be replaced but it’s nice to see the new life.

There’s still a website for Kan Zaman. Did they move to another location?

There are two upcoming events involving Sapore’s Matt Anderson. One is Sapore’s own wine dinner.  “Join Chef Matthew Anderson and Cline Cellars, Keith Morris, for a wonderful evening of food and wine.  $75 per person.  Tax and gratuity not included.  Reservations”(Here’s my posting on Upcoming.org)

The other is a benefit for The Culinary Vegetable Institute’s Veggie U.

beets at a Culinary Vegetable Institute Earth to Table dinner

I’m not exactly sure what Veggie U does but the event features more of my favorite chefs: Chef Jonathan Bennett of Moxie , Chef Jonathon Sawyer of The Greenhouse Tavern and the Culinary Vegetable Institute’s own Chef Johannes “Johnnie” Klapdohr. I’ve only eaten Chef Klapdohr’s food once but after that meal I know I’ll make the hour+ drive out to the Culinary Vegetable Institute again sometime soon. He was also exceedingly gracious and seemed genuinely enthusiastic when he offered to let me take pictures of the preparation and cooking at the next event I attend. He obviously takes great pride in his craft. I may not know much about Veggie U, but I know it’s affiliated with Lee Jones’ The Chef’s Garden and their reputation for produce is unparalleled. Virtually all of the very best restaurants in the country use some of his products. I’m a little more interested in the other chef participants merely because they’re affiliated with the Chef’s Garden.