The Grotto is a two-week-old, expensively renovated wine bar in Shaker Square. The menu is Italian and looks interesting enough to reward repeat visits, but they seem to be aiming to serve more drinks than food.
The space used to be an Ann Taylor clothing store and a bank. The ceilings are about 30 feet high at a guess; about half the floor seating is at dining height and the other half are high-boys (bar tables). That's a bar-heavy mix, but they do bill themselves as "a place to start your evening, or to finish your evening". The ambience is lovely with dark wood paneling and stonework on the walls, though I thought the flat-panel TVs didn't quite fit in with the cave aesthetic.
We went for the beef cheek ravioli, but were told they couldn't get the beef cheeks. I believe them, because I spent last weekend asking every butcher in the West Side Market for them, and got a lot of blank stares. Alice had had Lola's beef cheek pierogies and raved about them, so we're looking forward to trying Grotto's version.
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ReplyDeleteReading the Sunday paper, & there's a feature article on the new restaurant of the newly-renovated & reopened Book-Cadillac hotel, Roast. Featured dish "Beef Cheek Pierogi". It's glowingly recommended in the first sentence of the review!
ReplyDeleteI tell ya, I have this thing that keeps happening to me - I find out what a thing is, and a week later, it turns up somewhere & I don't have to wonder what it is. Now I want to go there. I wonder if they have vegetarian dishes.
OK, I guess I missed if you mentioned that the recipe is from a famous Cleveland-born chef. Anyway, here's the article:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.freep.com/article/99999999/ENT08/90206033&template=theme&theme=ROY2009
Yeah, those would be the same pierogies Alice had. His restaurants in Cleveland are Lola and Lolita.
ReplyDeleteHe's famous for winning the Top Chef reality show. He's got a good TV personality - funny and humble.