In a lengthy and thoughtful piece in the Sunday Buffalo News, writer Andrew Galarneau visits Cleveland and is blown away by our food scene, and outlines the five factors he thinks are responsible:
During an afternoon snack at Noodlecat, a downtown Cleveland purveyor of noodles and Asian-style steamed buns, reality smacked home like a chuteless skydiver. This bowl of noodle soup was making me jealous. It was not only delicious, but thoughtful in its production.
Here are some of the reasons he thinks Cleveland is the bomb: Bob Jones’ farm The Chef’s Garden; Michael Symon’s high standards; the boomerang effect that brought chefs back to Cleveland; social media savvy diners who love LOCAL.
The Symon effect is outlined by food writer Doug Trattner: “He [Michael Symon] made it cool to be a Cleveland chef. He made it cool to be a Cleveland diner. He made it cool to be a Cleveland tourist.”
Others who get a shout out in this lovefeast : Karen Small from Flying Fig, Michael Ruhlman, Dante Bocuzzi, Erik Williams, the Happy Dog, Steve Schimoler at CROP, the West Side Market, Jonathan Sawyer and Greenhouse Tavern, Nolan Konkoski’s SOHO, and others.
Galarneau goes on to list some of the right moves that the Buffalo region is making, including , but he admits,
So while there’s lots of interesting signs of ferment, Buffalo has a long way to go to match Cleveland in national restaurant buzz.
Dig it, Cleveland. You’ve earned it.