Ask Me Anything, Part 2: What to Eat in Cleveland
Also this week, I talk about '90s movies, late-night snacks and what type of summer corn is "best."
Hello and welcome to a special Part 2 of Ask Me Anything. Yesterday I talked about my work in Zambia, and today I’m answering the rest of your great questions. If you have Prague dining advice for Stephanie (and for me), please leave a comment or hit me up on Notes. (And if you’re in an advice-giving mood, as I mention in the video, I’m still looking for a better name for this recipe.)
When I say “ask me anything,” I mean anything. People have asked about my favorite Filipino dishes, whether or not I use measuring cups and spoons when I’m cooking and Rhode Island Coffee Milk.
Housekeeping: Here’s my YouTube channel. Here’s where you can find my advice about how to reverse-sear a steak for Father’s Day. Here’s the first video in my Zambia series.
Cleveland links! Rood Food and Pie. LBM. Il Rione. Astoria Cafe & Market. The Judith. Cent’s Pizza. Juneberry Table. Alea. Patron Saint. Larder. Bright Side. Jaja. Acqua di Luca. Mabel’s BBQ. Cordelia.
This week’s questions
Stephanie:
Heading to Prague and I hear there are some good restaurants- any you suggest?
Renee:
In your Hong Kong Style Soy Sauce Noodles, can you use rice noodles? For gluten free?
Mike:
I want to make my dad a really good steak this weekend. Any tips?
Nikki:
More favourite movies! Any fave ’90s movies?
Mal:
Are there any ingredients you’ve found in your travels in the last few years that you incorporate into a lot of your home cooking?
Adam:
How do you stay feeling healthy on the road? When I travel, I never have enough time to exercise, and I rarely eat all that great.
Wizzy:
The Whataburger taquito is my favorite late night snack. What do you like to buy or whip up when hunger strikes at odd hours?
Tony M:
Any ideas what I should eat in Cleveland?
Amber:
Did you read the Eater article about the people who steal things from restaurants? Do people who take stuff from restaurants make you as furious as they make me?
Marie:
What’s the difference between white, yellow and bicolor corn? Which one is best?
Tune-In Alert!
Watch my new YouTube series: Paving the Way to Zero Hunger. The first episode is here.
This week, together with World Food Program USA and the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP), I launched a five-part YouTube series, Paving the Way to Zero Hunger. Over the last decade, Zambia has experienced the devastating impacts of the climate crisis. Prolonged dry spells, extreme high temperatures and floods have devastated crops and deepened food insecurity. In Paving the Way to Zero Hunger, you can join me on my first field visit as a WFP Goodwill Ambassador as I travel to Zambia to explore WFP’s climate resilience solutions in action.
In this series, we share the inspiring stories of smallholder farmers who with WFP’s support have leveraged climate-smart techniques to improve their lives, livelihoods, and food security. We’ll also meet some dynamic students who are running a school-based hydroponics garden that enhances the nutrition and diversity of their school meals. In Episode 1, we’ll learn more about the food security challenges Zambia faces and WFP’s programmatic priorities in the region. Please tune in each week as I drop a new episode! To learn more about WFP’s work in Zambia, click HERE.
For Stephanie, we were in Prague in 2018 and dined at Field just after they earned their Michelin star. The tasting menu was delightful, not pretentious, fussy or mannered as tasting menus can sometimes be but creative and thoughtful. What was really revelatory was the accompanying nonalcoholic drinks menu, each nuanced complex beverage carefully crafted to match its accompanying dish
We saw the chef sketching his menus in the foyer, like a game developer making a mind map. Really fascinating!
I had a consulting contract to help a company in Prague organize to sell to American tech companies. I stayed on the downtown end of the Charles Bridge. 2nd night out I found a Belgian restaurant specializing in mussels. Next night my hosts took me to a Czech restaurant that was designed to look like it was in a cave. The food was very good , but a little heavy. The wine was blood red and a little thicker but very good with the heavy meat meal. The fourth night I was on my own and went to a Thai restaurant near the end of teh bridge and downtown. Dessert was being invited to the table next door with ex-head of government Vaclev Havel, his wife and another couple. No secret service just great food and conversation about the transformation from Communism to Democracy for about 3 after dinner drinks. A great city to wander in and view history, mostly untouched by WWII.