If You Lived Here, You'd Be Home Now

Piero's Pasta House
5367 Lake Road East
Geneva-On-The-Lake, OH 44041
(440) 466-2498

NO SOUND IS more comforting than the crashing of waves washing up on the shore of Lake Erie, and there is no better time to hear them than first thing in the morning as they wash you out of sleep. Of course, nothing makes their wake-up call more worth heading than the knowledge that a blue and white-striped box of Madsen's Donuts awaits you downstairs. Madsen's Donuts, as has been previously noted, sells the finest creme sticks, jelly sticks, cinnamon sticks, chocolate-glazed, cinnamon-sugared, and powder sugar-dusted doughnuts this side of anywhere (sorry, Peter Pan). The frosted and sprinkled varieties aren't half-bad either. Get 'em $8.20 a dozen, and just try to not eat more than one a day.

For dinner, aside from doughnuts (which, rest assured, is a side dish), we stopped by Piero's Pasta House. This place has been written up by several Cleveland-area newspapers (that a local paper would recommend its readers make an hour's drive is no small accomplishment) and alongside Alessandro's is one-half the dynamic Italian duo of Geneva-On-The-Lake. The pasta is suspiciously fresh, the sauces light but rich, and there always seems to be a crowd inside, even in the town's off-season when the Lake Road strip is eerily deserted.

Dessert, a peach bread pudding made by my mother, was so good I've asked for the recipe so I can make it and pass it along. It was the perfect way to cap off a day of delicious treats, even if the Indians couldn't cap it off with a trip to the World Series. There's always tomorrow?

{The Menu - 10.20.07}

Morning
Coffee + Madsen Donuts, Geneva-On-The-Lake, OH

Noon
Spinach Salad w/ Feta & Apples

Night
Piero's Pasta House, Geneva-On-The-Lake, OH +
Peach Bread Pudding

{The Menu - 10.19.07}

Noon
Pumpkin Bread + Coffee + Triscuits + Pita w/ Hummus & Tomato

Night
Whole Wheat Pasta + Red Sauce + Veggies + Garlic Bread

NYC to Cleveland in 7 Hours

Hibernia Diner
9 Green Pond Road
Rockaway, NJ 07866
(973) 625-3255
thehiberniadiner.com

WITH CLEVELAND UP three games to Boston's one in the best-of-seven American League Championship Series, and my ma holding a handful of seats to game five at Jacobs Field, there was really no choice but to pack up my aunt's car, wake up my cousin and take off for Cleveland.

As the story goes, upon hearing that mother had a pair of tickets to the game leftover after our family had snapped the rest up, my cousin Adam decided that if he could skip school for a couple days, I could skip work. Turns out he was right. So, Adam journeyed to Brooklyn last night, met me at work late this morning, and around Noon we set off through the Lincoln Tunnel headed for I-80 West.

We stopped, briefly, at the Hibernia Diner in Rockaway, NJ. It seemed like a good time to break for brunch. Adam grabbed an omelette, and I grabbed potato pancakes. I'm not sure how that omelette turned out, but the pancakes were perfect little ovals of starch, deep fried to a golden glow. They were awful, at best mildly satisfying, and everything I expected them to be. I gladly chowed down on Swedish Fish for the rest of the ride.

We hit the Ohio border around 6:00 that evening and caught a glimpse of the Cleveland skyline off in the distance about an hour later. We parked downtown a little after 7:30 and found our seats at 8:10. The opening pitch was ten minutes later. Nothing like good timing.

Dinner? Cheese pizza from the fine servicefolk at Jacobs Field. The game? Not so good. A few runs here, a few runs there, and suddenly the Indians found themselves far from clinching the series. There's always Saturday night, but we're definitely not driving to Boston to watch the game.

MIKE EATS NEXT TIME: Hibernia? Maybe, maybe not; Jacobs Field, well, there's always next year.

{The Menu - 10.18.07}

Morning
Coffee + Bagel w/ Cream Cheese

Noon
Pumpkin Bread + Hibernia Diner, Rockaway, NJ + Sweedish Fish + Peanut Butter Crackers

Night
Cheese Pizza, Jacobs Field, Cleveland, OH

{The Menu - 10.17.07}

Morning
Coffee + Oatmeal

Noon
Peanut Butter Sandwiches

Night
Pizza + L&A's, Brooklyn, NY

{The Menu - 10.16.07}

Morning
Coffee + Oatmeal

Noon
Cafe 54, New York, NY

Night
Paloma, Brooklyn, NY

{The Menu - 10.15.07}

Morning
Coffee + Oatmeal

Noon
Leftover Pad Thai

Night
Sido, New York, NY

{The Menu - 10.14.07}

Morning
Coffee + Bagel w/ Cream Cheese

Noon
Egg Sandwich + Pretzel Sticks

Night
*erb, Brooklyn, NY

Mint's Birthday: Putting On the Ritz

Regional
2607 Broadway
New York, NY 10025
(212) 666-1915
regionalnyc.com

Mint passed by Regional's wide open windows a week or so back and immediately dubbed it as her birthday brunch spot. The menu seemed reasonable, but Mint knew it would take more than pancakes and nice prices to draw even a few friends to the Upper West Side. Unlimited mimosa refills? Yup, that'll do it.

Joined by Ms. Reeves, Ms. Fader and Sir Hitchcock, things got off to a shaky start--ordering took forever, the mimosas were apparently stuck in weekend traffic at the bar, and the first plate to emerge from the kitchen (less than a minute after ordering, mind you) was a five-inch plate with six pieces of bacon lumped together in a hilariously disgusting log of lukewarm pork. At this point, fearing how things might possibly go worse, we called over a manager who, mimosas in hand, scowled at our bacon log, apologized, and disappeared with it into the kitchen for we assume was a little pep talk. It must have been a good one. From that point on everything was top notch.

After strolling around Central Park for a few hours (pictures above by Ms. Reeves), a squealing Mint was presented with tickets to Young Frankenstein. With curtains going up in less than two hours, it seemed like a good time to grab a light dinner. Bello Giardino more than sufficed.

The show, a Mel Brooks adaptation of his classic film starring Gene Wilder, was faithful to its silver screen forbearer (or so I'm told) and charged with plenty of tongue-in-cheek asides and sexual escapades. This is Mel Brooks, after all. The elaborate sets were changed up frequently and disappeared entirely for a rousing rendition of "Putting On the Ritz," which showcased the comically ernest vocals of a muttering, stuttering Frankenstein and a chorus of boot-clad, Franken-faced tap dancers.

The evening was capped with an obligatory candlelit cupcake, chocolate, with Entenmann's Halloween-orange frosting and candy corn. And in case you were wondering, zero trans fat.

MIKE EATS NEXT TIME: Any place that sets a pitcher of mimosa on your table free of charge is okay in my book.