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Mac and cheese week in Cleveland
For those of you who follow this blog at Cleveland Nights, you know that I''ve mentioned the themed weeks a couple of times. This past week was "macaroni and cheese week". A group of about 15 friends decided that since macaroni and cheese is now the new hip dish and that so many restaurants have it, we had to make a whole week of it.... Wow, it was a heavy week. Allow me to run through each night.
Monday
Tremont Tap House in Tremont
We started the week off right in Tremont. The Tremont Tap House is the newest bar in the Tremont neighborhood just outside of Downtown Cleveland. It''s on the other side of I 90 away from other venues, so it''s easy to miss. They have a great selection of beers and their menu is a nice mix of upscale bar food "gastro pub" style as they call it. Their mac and cheese was very good. They had a light cream sauce with some herbs in it with figs. The figs made it very different and delicious. So far the week was off to a good start.
Tuesday
Wonder Bar on East 4th Downtown Cleveland
Wonder Bar was the scene of our second stop. I was running late that evening and as soon as I walked in, I could smell that something was not quite right. Our group of 12 had ordered the mac and cheese (of course) and it was busy baking back in the kitchen. What I smelled was the strong cheese which they used it in and the duck. First, I have found out that I''m not a huge duck fan. That doesn''t help when the dish is stuffed with it... The group was completely split on Wonder Bar''s mac and cheese: you either loved it or hated it. I was in the latter. Slow service didn''t help the situation either.
Wednesday
Cheddars in the Detroit Shoreway neighborhood in Cleveland
Cheddars is the old Snickers and is now going to be renamed Krazy Mac''s or something like that in the next couple months. Seems like there is a back story, but we''ll leave it be. Alright, for the middle of the week, we went to the palace of mac and cheese in Cleveland. Cheddars has 21! different types of mac and cheese. DID YOU NOTICE 21??! Awesome! The group got smart and ordered 5 different mac and cheeses and then we served them up buffett style. We had hamburger mac and cheese, buffalo chicken mac and cheese, lobster mac and cheese, south beach mac and cheese and their carolina mac and cheese with pulled pork on it. WOW, this was mac and cheese heaven. Several favorites from the group, but the buffalo mac and cheese got the most nods. This night was going to be touch to beat.
Thursday
Players on Madison in Lakewood
I''ve been to Players in Lakewood several times, but never had the mac and cheese. One of the members of the mac and cheese entourage swore by it, so of course we went there. I was impressed. Their mac and cheese had a sharp cheese mixed with chorizo. The dish was delicious and expensive. It was $17 for a serving. Everyone spilt their order with someone else which worked out great for our wallets and most still had some to take home. C''mon folks, almost $20 for mac and cheese??
Friday
Lolita in Tremont
Being the last evening of Mac and Cheese week, Friday was being built up especially because we were all going back to Tremont to Lolita''s. Lolita is one of superstar chef Michael Symon''s famous restaurants, so it had to live up to the hype. Everything we had that evening: appetizers, salads, drinks and bread were delicious. I wish I could say the same for the mac and cheese. The dish was made with goat cheese which I love, but for whatever reason, was the saltiest dish I had ever eaten. It was really a shame because the evening was perfect otherwise.
Alright, so now I''m 8 pounds heavier and $100 poorer for all the glory that was mac and cheese week. It is a delicious dish that has so much potential and it was an incredibly fun week with a great group of friends. It''s interesting and enjoyable to see that a lot of Greater Cleveland''s best restaurants are experimenting with dish. Next time you''re out, go ahead and try the old favorite.
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