Thanks for joining me in a new episode of Dine and Dish. I'm looking forward to reading about your many fabulous meals. I hope my account will be an inspiration for your own new dining adventures.
Episode Six of Dine and Dish has taken the theme of small plates. To satisfy this theme I chose to eat at the Flying Fig. I'd also heard that they had recently added small plates to their menu and that had already put them back on my to-eat list. It's a long list so it wasn't until Dine and Dish that I finally got around to it. (
Yes, there's actually a list.)
Welcome to the Flying Fig:
Despite the amatuer photography, it's a charming and attractive restaurant in a fabulous food neighborhood. It's just across from Cleveland's amazing
West Side Market. It's in the
Ohio City neighborhood which is home to great
Lebanese, Puerto Rican,
Greek and soon Vietnamese restaurants in addition to Cleveland's local champion of sustainable agriculture,
Parker's. Flying Fig is right at home here. It's a good, local restaurant that emphasizes fresh, simple cooking.
Gnocci and scallop:
Tapas, as you are no doubt now aware, are a centuries old Spanish tradition. Their origin lies in a law designed to control the drunken behavior of carriage drivers. Tapas were required so that they wouldn't drink on a full stomach. Bar keepers served light snacks on small plates that their patrons would carry around on top of their drinks. Hence tapas from the Spanish for top(
1). Or they were used to keep flies out of your wine(
2). I guess no one really knows. In any case, their original purpose may be long forgotten but in their modern incarnation they're a carefully evolved solution to the problem of what hat your wine needs to wear.
Fast forward several hundred years and tapas are one of the latest answers to the never-satisfied modern search for What's Next? Instead of a carefully evolved repetoire of items whose tastes are well suited to small portions you have chefs serving their own ideas just like before - only smaller. (Wikipedia:"
They are often very strongly flavored with garlic, chillis or paprika, and sometimes swimming in olive oil." Sounds like something well suited to being enjoyed in small portions, no?) Instead of a munching on a snack while socializing with friends and throwing back some booze, diners are stacking up plates to make room and racing from dish to dish before they get cold.
Tapas, like mezze, izakaya snacks and dim sum are all delicious but each one has evolved inside of its own traditional service and when they're served some other way they're not likely to be enjoyed as much. Of course, Flying Fig has a bar so it's my fault for sitting in the dining room and eating six small plates while nursing a coke with my nonagenarian grandmother and her lonely big plate of cod. It's my fault but I don't think I'm the only one and I imagine there may be people wondering exactly why they aren't having fun like the lithe Andalucian model shown on the cover of Gourmet magazine holding a plate of olives perched on a wine glass. I've left Lolita on several occasions with a similar feeling but it's only after this recent meal that I think I've identified the problem. Restaurants, many at least, are struggling to adapt snack cuisines to the dining room and unfamiliar diners are confused.
I've only had small plates type meals a couple times and there are only a few restaurants that offer it in Cleveland so I'm speculating wildly. I welcome your correction or corroboration in the comments. Tapas and izakaya are certainly drinking snacks; however, what are the traditions that surround mezze?
Beef Carpacio and Braised lamb:
None of these dishes share any connection to any nation's traditional small plate cuisine that I'm aware. This isn't to say that they weren't very good. The short rib, for instance, was delicious.
Braised short rib and Fried tofu:
Next time I go, or when I try the small plates at
Firefly, I'll get a couple small plates instead of an appetizer and then I'll order a regular entree. The short ribs are a regular entree at Flying Fig and I highly recommend that you go there and try them.
Molten chocolate cake:
Miles Farmers Market is not a gourmet shop. It's a grocery store but it seems to be the area's go-to spot for exotic or premium foods. 
I first resolved to explore Miles Market when I heard that they carried Zingerman's gelato . I finally did explore Miles Market after I heard that they carried H&H bagels. A chance to particpate in Food Destinations #4 may have provided just a little extra bit of motivation, too.
How about beurre d'Isigny? Plugra? Goat butter? Ghee? All available, amongst several others. Chocolate? I've grown accustomed to seeing Scharfen-Berger but I was pleased to see Vosges Haute Chocolate. 
I'm only sorry that I didn't document the mind-boggling array of salts, olive oils and honeys. 
Galangal is another important component in this dish and another common Thai ingredient. It was difficult to locate. The evening's organizer had to arrange to have it mailed by a family member.
Fish sauce is made from fermented anchovies. Squid brand is a strong flavored brand and is recommended.
Tracking down kaffir lime leaves is frequently another chore for USian cooks. But our host fixed that problem. This little fellow is a kaffir lime tree.
Palm sugar
These kaffir lime leaves weren't from the tree pictured above. The chef remove the stem that runs through the center out of habit. The leaves are removed before serving.
The lemongrass is bruised to release the flavor.
This is the plated soup. It was delicious. There are very few restaurants in the US that give Asian food the type of treatment that's given to French or Italian food. Unfortunately, there doesn't appear to be an audience prepared to pay a premium for fresh, quality ingredients. But whenever and wherever some courageous restauranteur is willing to the lead the way then I'll happily seek them out. This soup demonstrates that the results are worth the effort.
The beef cheek pierogi is one of Chef Symon's whimsical tributes to the hearty ethnic culinary tradition of Cleveland. We like our pierogis. This beef cheek pierogi was full of beefy flavor.
Chef Symon spent time studying with Mario Batali and has since featured charcuterie at Lolita and now at the new Lola. This lamb was delicious. Very light and very lamb-y. Isn't the bread adorable? I want to see a whole loaf. It's also delicious.
This grouper was fantastic. It was as good as any fish that I've ever had: crispy outside, moist and buttery inside, full of flavor.
French toast with bacon ice cream? Yup. It was very nice with more of that delicious tiny bread. I don't know whether this is an intentional tribute to Heston Blumenthal. The pastry chef is Cory Barrett whose resume includes Tribute in Chicago.
lobster corn dogs. mustard creme fraiche.
pork sausage, pickled fennel.
A great salad is a sign of a great restaurant. It shows that no part of the meal is considered as an afterthought. Nice peppery arugula, flavorful nuts, creamy cheese.
Ordering poultry is a risky proposition even, I've found, at very highly regarded restaurants. And recently I've grown wary of foie gras. It's so wonderful that it's hard to pass up and equally disappointing when it isn't prepared to the standards that it deserves. This squab was moist and full of flavor. The squab is corned - rubbed with salt and spices and allowed to absorb these flavors for a while before it's cooked. I first read about this technique in relation to Zuni Cafe. Salting prior to cooking is important for flavor but it can draw moisture out of the meat. But Chef Rodgers at Zuni salts the meat hours or days before which allows time for the moisture to be redistributed back to its natural place. Chef Symon uses this technique on the lamb, squab and steak. I can vouch for the results on the squab, I've heard raves for the lamb and personally, I'm very excited about trying the steak. Yet one more thing I've grown hesitant to order.
Delicious pear sorbet with brown butter pear and gorgonzola and walnut cake.
lola-pops. chocolate, hazelnut and sea salt.
