Who: Dana C. Crawford, PhD
What: Lolita
Where: 900 Literary Rd, Cleveland, OH 44113
Finishing your PhD is a big deal, so let’s treat it as the accomplishment that it is! As you might have guessed, my recognition of a student’s accomplishments always involves food. Good and plentiful!
Schedule permitting, I invite my student and his or her plus one out for a dinner of their choice. My latest graduating PhD chose Lolita, a popular restaurant in Tremont. Lolita is one of several Michael Symon restaurants in Cleveland. This James Beard Foundation Award-winning American and Cleveland-native chef self-describes his culinary style as “meat-centric.”
You had me at meat.
Figure 1. A good start: pork rinds, octopus, and bone marrow.
Figure 2. Carnivorous Crawford strikes again! New York strip steak, medium rare.
Seriously, I do love a good piece of beef. Lolita, on this matter, did not disappoint. But, if you are trying to hit all food groups at the appropriate daily servings, you might have been hard-pressed at this restaurant. On this outing, we were lucky to be dining with somewhat adventurous eaters. For starters, we had the roasted bone marrow, the housemade spicy pork rinds, and the octopus (Figure 1). We wanted to try the fried pigs’ ears, but they were out and waiting for their suppliers. Of course, for the main course, I had to try the New York strip steak (Figure 2). Others had the scallops and gnocchi (Figure 3). We finished with, what else? A round of desserts and port, a Crawford lab signature (Figure 4).
The overall experience was good. The starters actually didn’t wow (the bone marrow was a little dry) and the service was a bit fussy (Why do you want to always take my plate? Can’t you see I am still eating?!?). But, this is all a moot point. Lolita has been closed for a few months due to a fire. And, it seems that today’s article in the Cleveland Scene makes Lolita’s closing permanent. Oh well, I suppose we’ll never have a chance to try those pigs’ ears.
Figure 3. Others dared to order non-meat: scallops (background) and gnocchi (foreground).
Figure 4. A Crawford lab tradition: port. Oh, and dessert.a chance to try those pigs’ ears.
