Wild Mango

Wild Mango is one of my favorite restaurants in town.  Today, I realized that I hadn't written about it yet since I started this blog.   It's a fusion cuisine place.  They have things like Pepsi Shrimp and liquid pizza as appetizers.  Pictured above is the surf and turf Steve ordered.  It had sweet potato fires, shrimp, spinach, and steak.  It was delicious and just the right amount of food.

Today's complimentary appetizer was chicken clam chowder.  It had some corn in it.  It was creamy, smooth, and tasty.

I really enjoyed my sauteed sea scallops.  That's a creamy crab and tomato risotto in the middle with oyster mushrooms as garnish.   Again, this was just the right amount of food.

I really love Wild Mango, and I think if you're in the Cleveland area, it's worth the visit.  Just be aware that the traffic around the mall  it's in can be really busy.

Introducing People to Indian Food . . .

When I wrote about India Garden last time, I didn't have pictures.   We were introducing my family to Indian food for the first time, so I took the opportunity to get some images.  Pictured above is Saag Chicken, our absolute favorite dish.  We get it every single time we go there.   We always order our dishes at level 2 spicy.  It's just right, the flavor is absolutely perfect!

This is the bread basket.  It comes with plain naan, garlic naan, and Aloo Paratha.
 

This is the mussel curry with its sauce (front), and the sauce for the Tandoori Shrimp pictured below.  We really enjoyed the mussels!

The shrimp was good, but I think I would have enjoyed Tandoori Chicken more. 

A Taste of Cleveland, the B Spot Again

We were at the B Spot again yesterday before the movies, and we tried a couple of different things I hadn't written about before.   Pictured above is the Chocolate Banana Marshmallow shake.  It was tasty!   The Vanilla Bean Apple Pie Bacon shake is still our favorite though.

Pictured here is the Porky, a burger with pulled pork, bacon slaw, and Cleveland barbeque sauce.   Steve really enjoyed it.  Also we split an order of Lola fries, which have the rosemary and sea salt.  Extremely crispy.

I had the French Onion Burger, that comes with bacon, gruyere, griddled onions, shasha sauce and crispy onions.   I really liked it.  Just the right amount of food and extremely delicious. 

The Santaland Diaries

I just got back from seeing the Santaland Diaries by David Sedaris.   It's a one man show, recounting David's experience as an elf at Macy's in 1989.   It's funny, crass, and just well told.  I listened to the NPR recording in previous years, and I was expecting it to be very similar.  I was pleasantly surprised to see how much costumes and a set could do for the monologue. 

I was laughing out loud when David, as Crumpet the Elf, tells the little boy that if he's not good, Santa will take his stuff, at the mother's request.  You should see this show.  It's only an hour long without an intermission, but the laughs are frequent and hearty.  If you can't see it, I recommend searching the Internet for David Sedaris' reading on NPR.  

Wicked

We saw Wicked this afternoon.  I can't believe it's already been on Broadway for a decade!   Steve and I saw it in San Francisco in 2003.  I think I've seen it at least twice more after that, and then today.   The show has changed quite a bit since then, but for the good.   It's an amazing show. 

Two girls meet in the land of Oz in college, with intertwining destinies.  A friendship develops and political intrigue ensues.  You already know these characters from the Wizard of Oz, and this musical really portrays them in a more sympathetic light.

I really do love this show and will probably see it again in the future.   I just couldn't get into the book version.  Probably because I saw the show first, and really wanted the book to be as uplifting as the show.

The music, sets, and costumes are amazing!  I really have nothing bad to say about Wicked.   Just go see it!

Michael Symon's Lolita Restaurant

We went out and had dinner at Lolita tonight.  It had been on our list for a while, and it was nice to finally get to it.   Pictured above is the Crispy Chicken Livers with soft polenta, mushrooms, and bacon that we got for an appetizer.  Yummy.

Bread and olive oil, kinda baguette like.

Steve got the Fusilli pasta with lamb, mushrooms, bread crumbs, and orange agrumato.  It was tasty, and a little crunchy.   It contained three of Steve's favorite foods (pasta, lamb, and mushrooms).

I had the Potato pizza.  It had green olive, white anchovie, mozzarella, and lemon agrumato.  I like anchovies, but I have never had them with a lemony flavor before.  I think I'll be having leftovers for a few days.

I decided that dessert was a good idea.   I really liked this Milk Chocolate and Toffee Pot de Creme.  It was a sort of fancy chocolate mousse with toffee chips, almond financier, and winter melon compote.

Fears' Confections

 When I went out to Venus in Fur last night, I received an ad for Fear's Confections.  I was intrigued.   We called today, and they were out on our side of Cleveland for a Dr. Who event.   We bought lots of their brownies to try the different flavors.  I can't wait to try these, especially the After School Snack.

Venus in Fur

I saw Venus in Fur tonight tonight at the Cleveland Playhouse.  It was absolutely amazing!   The play has just two characters, and is about casting for a play, specifically, Venus in Fur, whose author is where we get the term masochism from.  It was intellectual.  You really had to think about the exchanges between the characters, which can be extremely quick.

You have a playwright (Thomas), who is adapting Venus in Fur, and extremely frustrated searching for a lead actress for his production.  Enter Vanda, an actress who just happens to share the name of the character from the play.  There is a lot of shifting of balance in the show, between male and female, fantasy and reality, and power and submission. 

The play twists in and over itself so many times!   You have to go see this!    It's smart and sexy, with superb acting. 

Once

This afternoon, we saw Once.  I haven't seen the movie that it was based on, but I definitely will pick it up in the future.  This is a musical about creating music.   Simple story, a guy is a musician, but the girl in his life left, leaving a him with a case of writer's block.  Enter the new girl, who then becomes his muse, and they create great works together.   Now, the way that it's told is amazing.

There is no orchestra for this performance.  All of the actors on stage play the music.  There were probably only a dozen people on stage, playing everything from violin to drums.   The setting is an Irish pub, and the production creates intimacy with the audience by having it serve as a real bar before the show and during intermission.  I think they served whiskey and beer.  Most of the performers were on stage and playing Celtic music as audience members meandered around.

Once is the type of a new genre of musicals that scale things down, rather than the traditional humongous Broadway shows that have lots of flash and bang.  This production really does a wonderful job telling the story and demonstrating how the music really works with it.

Potted Potter

We went out tonight to see Potted Potter.  Fun for the fan, and a funny Cliff notes version for people unfamiliar with the franchise.  It's two guys on stage going through all 7 Harry Potter books in a madcap romp!  Steve and I laughed pretty much the whole way through the show.   If you sit in the front section, beware of audience participation.

Voldemort and Harry clash wands.

Afterwards, we went to Starbucks and ordered something that tastes like a Butterbeer.  It tastes like the beverage at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, but with whipped cream.  Yum!

33 Variations

We just got back from seeing 33 Variations at the Beck Center.  It isn't a musical, but music is prevalent throughout the play.  The first thing you see when entering the theater is the grand piano at the side of the stage.  The pianist stays there through both acts and illustrates the musical work in the show.

We see two parallel stories in this show.  A musicologist struggling with ALS studies Beethoven's variations on a waltz, while we see the composer's struggles with hearing loss.   It is extremely well interwoven.  We see the musicologist and her daughter and their strained relationship, and we see the composer and his servant and the person who commissioned the variations mull over deadlines and expectations.  In fact, a good comparison is drawn between the daughter (in varied career choices that her mother is unhappy with) and the original waltz, which the original composer fears that Beethoven is mocking through variations.

I enjoyed this show because it touches two very important facets of my life, music and medicine.   I highly recommend seeing it.

Sweetest Day Cupcakes

Today I decided to use my birthday coupon at Main Street Cupcakes.  It also happens to be Sweetest Day.  From left to right we have Orange Float, Chocolate, Shirley Temple, and Mint Chocolate Cookie.  The store also had these over sized Sweetest Day Cupcakes for a dollar more, but we decided to go for the Sweetest Day Rose instead.

Reilly's

Ok, it's a little morbid, but we went out for meat pies before we went to see Sweeney Todd.   Reilly's at the West Side Market has the best savory pies I've ever had.   The crust is flaky and filling is tasty.  My favorite is the turkey and swiss pasty.  You can microwave them to keep them soft, or bake them for a more crispy taste.

Sweeney Todd

Just got back from Great Lakes Theater Festival's new production of Sweeney Todd!  Loved it!  Sweeney  Todd is probably my favorite Stephan Sondheim musical/operetta of all time.  The music is dark and evocative, and the anti-hero protagonists, you can't help but like them!

This production used 7 different types of stage blood!   In the pre-show talk, they said the different formulas were for dripping, spraying, or whatever special effects were needed for the gruesome killings.  The costuming was steampunk inspired.  Lots of black leather, buckled boots, and corsets. I particularly liked the red and gold dress that Mrs. Lovett wears in the second act.

They have added additional performances of this show because they keep selling out!  Go see it!

She Loves Me

I just got back from seeing She Loves Me at the Beck Center.  It was so romantic and dreamy cute!   I heard it was about a couple who hated each other in real life but found out they were one another's beloved pen pals. I thought, well, that's like that movie, You've Got Mail, with Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan.  In fact, the source material for the musical (a play) is the same play that movie was based on!

It takes place in Budapest, Hungary at a Perfumery.   It was absolutely delightful!  This year is actually the 50 year anniversary of the premier of the musical.  And remember, ice cream can make so many things much, much better.

Matthew Bourne's Sleeping Beauty

We just got back from seeing Matthew Bourne's Sleeping Beauty!  I am feeling intensely spoiled.   The show is straight out of London with the original cast.  It hasn't even been to New York yet!


It's a darker, Gothic take on the story of classic fairytale.  It uses Tchaikovsky's original score (which many of you may be familiar with due to the Disney version).   The choreography is amazing.  The costumes are beautiful.   Not a single stitch of dialogue and you know exactly what is going on.  It's extremely magical and sensual.

The show starts in 1890 and ends in modern times.  Princess Aurora is obtained by her parents with help of the evil fairy.  The baby princess is played by a puppet and is extremely energetic, climbing the curtains.  The king and queen forget to thank the evil fairy and the kid gets cursed to die, but the other fairies soften it to sleep.   The princess sleeps for 100 years, and how does her love stay alive until she wakes?  Vampires.

This was a wonderful interpretation of Sleeping Beauty.   I'm going to find more of Matthew Bourne's ballets on DVD.  He has a real gift for staging and choreography.

September Cupcakes

We stopped by Main Street Cupcakes today.  From left to right we have Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake, Lemon with a Twist, Caramel Apple, and Maple Chip.

Here is the view from the box when we got them home.

Merrily We Roll Along

We just got back from seeing Merrily We Roll Along: In Concert by Stephen Sondheim.  It was a collaboration between the Beck Center for the Arts, Baldwin Wallace University, and the Musical Theater Project.  I am a huge fan of Sondheim.  I had heard selections from this musical before, but I had never seen the whole show.  My mind is blown.

The story follows three friends, Charlie (a writer/lyricst), Frank (a musician), and Mary (a novelist) and their careers and friendship.  You might be puzzled that I have tagged this show as both a comedy and a tragedy.   The show starts in the most recent time period and goes backwards, similar to the movie Memento.  However, Sondheim produced this back in 1982, so this was ahead of its time.  It starts on a very destructive note, and ends on a very hopeful one where the characters first met.  It's a tragedy if the show is in chronologically ordered.  

This show contains a song that I really love, Not a Day Goes By.  Seeing it in its original context is incredibly powerful and moving. 

Also, note that this wasn't a fully staged show.  It was a concert.  All singers/actors (the senior music class of BW) have scripts and scores available in front of them on music stands.  It doesn't stifle the plot at all to not be fully staged.  I enjoyed the show, and left the theater feeling both happy and sad.

Melt Bar and Grilled's New Menu

Melt Bar and Grilled redid their menu!  Tonight we ordered takeout, because their wait time for dinner was an hour and a half.

Pictured above is one of my favorites, Peanut Butter and Banana.   It has caramelized banana, candied peanuts, peanut sweet cream cheese,  and mixed berry preserves.  The candied peanuts are a new addition.  The bananas before were plain, rather than carmelized.  I have half to enjoy tomorrow, as well as a large bag of fries.

Steve had the New Bomb Turkey.  It's basically Thanksgiving dinner in sandwich form.  It contains roasted turkey, mom’s sage stuffing, roasted butternut squash, homemade turkey gravy, cranberry orange jam, and muenster.  Yummy!  I hope it's a regular item from now on.

Melt has very large portion sizes.  One sandwich can easily serve two people.  I highly recommend splitting sandwich halves with a friend to experience the most variety.

TownHall Ohio City

We went out to TownHall two nights in a row this week!   It just so happened that two groups of people that I hang out with chose the same place for dinner and drinks.   It's a fairly new place in Ohio City.  They have a large selection of beer and wine, cupcakes as large as two fists put together, and decently quick food service.  Half of the restaurant is served by wait staff.  The quieter cafe side has a walk up bar for placing orders which are then delivered to your seat.

Pictured above is the Grilled Cheese Bars and Bisque.   The sandwich is artfully sliced into thirds and consists of sourdough bread, roasted Roma tomatoes, and cheddar and Gruyere cheese.   The tomato bisque has Gorgonzola cheese in it.  I found the soup a bit too tart for my taste.  I think they should have added more of the Gorgonzola to make it more creamy.   The sandwich was nicely crispy, but I'm not a big tomato fan.

Steve had the Spicy Curry noodles, which featured roasted chicken, lemongrass, snow peas, shallots, cilantro, a bit of lime, and a coconut milk broth.  It was filling and mildly spicy.

This vanilla milkshake was really tasty.   It featured Mitchell's ice cream and they give you the mixer container.  You basically get two shakes for the price.

Steve had the Citraberry shake.  It had tuaca, rumchata, fresh blackberries, fresh lemon juice, and vanilla bean ice cream from Mitchell's.  It was fruity and creamy at the same time, with just a kick from the alcohol.

I think one of the best things on the menu are the Matchstick Truffle Fries.  They have Parmesan cheese and truffle oil.  They are perfectly crispy.   The seasonings tend to fall to the bottom of the container though.   

I really like the fries and the milkshakes.  Overall, I'd have to try some different entrees next time.   
Maybe a dessert.