I got calls and emails asking if I’d seen the storefront in Akron’s Merriman Valley announcing that a La Loma Mexican Restaurant was coming.
People wanted to know if the place at 1682 Merriman Road, the former Monica’s, was related to the popular one in Akron’s Ellet neighborhood.
Yup, La Loma in the Valley — it could be open Feb. 9 — is owned by the same folks who run the modest place on Darrow Road that grew from a taco truck, and last year made an online list of favorite taco joints in the state. Fans insist it serves the best authentic Mexican in the area, like street-style tacos, featuring various meats in soft tortillas, and other items you might find being served from a food truck.
Co-owner Blanca Saucedo told me this week that she had been thinking about expanding for a while.
“I just didn’t know that it would happen this fast,” she said, noting she heard from an employee in December that Monica’s might be for sale. She visited the place and struck a deal that night with owner Monica Alatorre, who will stay on as manager.
“The restaurant [in the Valley] is going to be ours, our food, and here we’ll have a full bar,” Saucedo said, noting the Ellet location serves beer only.
German Guijosa, Saucedo’s husband and co-owner, will be the head cook and the limited menu will be similar to that at the Darrow Road La Loma. Street-style tacos ($2.00) are made with small corn tortillas that Saucedo drives to Columbus to fetch. Tacos and other dishes come with choice of meat: al pastor (marinated pork cooked on a large vertical rotisserie), barbacoa (marinated beef), chicken, chorizo, tongue, ground beef and diced grilled steak.
Other items include flautas (four, with rice and refried pinto beans for $9.95), quesadilla ($6) and chimichangas (two, with rice for $10.25). Sides such as beans, rice and guacamole also are on the menu.
Saucedo and Guijosa have replaced a dated, dark wood bar at the Valley site with one boasting a bright red stain. Employees are all from the former Monica’s.
The Ellet location includes a jam-packed Mexican grocery that features fresh meat, but the new place will not have a market. Hours for the Valley La Loma will be 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday and 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday.
La Loma will use Monica’s phone number: 330-836-1167.
Brunch at 35° Brix
I got an email recently touting Sunday brunch at 35° Brix in Green, which will celebrate its first year in April.
That’s cool, I thought, thinking the locally owned eatery with the quirky name and decor had added Sunday brunch. Um, no, I realized as I read an article I wrote last year; the place in the Heritage Crossing complex on Massillon Road has served brunch since the beginning.
But Kerry Janke, who owns the place with his wife, Amy, told me there have been quite a few menu changes, including more options for the 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday brunch.
The brunch continues to feature items such as eggs Benedict, waffles and stuffed French toast, as well as fare from the regular lunch menu. Now it boasts some newer lunch items, such as a Reuben with house-made corned beef, and a meatloaf sandwich with red onion marmalade, bibb lettuce and “buttermilk soaked French fried onions.”
Late last year, 35° Brix changed up its vegetarian offerings, adding vegetable risotto and squash mezzaluna — pasta pockets filled with squash, roasted root vegetables and toasted pine nuts, with a butternut squash and apple cream sauce.
Kerry Janke, who is not a vegetarian, said vegetarian friends have influenced the menu.
A newish appetizer is honey lime Sriracha glazed cauliflower wings. Yup, wings. Janke says, “They almost look like chicken wings … [they] are fantastic.” The faux wings are $8, $6 during happy hour.
For the carnivores, items include braised short ribs and a surf and turf. Typically served for dinner on Fridays and Saturdays, it will be available all Valentine’s week.
About the name: Brix is a measure of the sugar content in wine; ice wine has a sugar level of 35° brix. The Jankes are fans of ice wine. And the decor: The place features stained glass pieces and other glass art, some of which was made at Studio Arts & Glass in Jackson Township.
35° Brix is at 3875 Massillon Road, 330-899-9200, www.35brix.com.
Cleveland in spotlight
Wanting to try a new or not-so-new Cleveland restaurant? This offer could be for you.
Downtown Cleveland Restaurant Week will celebrate 10 years Feb. 17-26, with restaurants offering fixed-price menus for $15, $30 or $40.
Diners can vote for awards, such as Best New Restaurant, for the second year. Voting will take place at www.downtowncleveland.com/restaurantweek. Voters will be entered into a drawing for a year of dining.
Go to the website to see participating restaurants and their specials for the week. At least two restaurants are offering $30 meals for two; some are touting lunches for $15. Many of the dinners are $30 or $40 for a single diner.
There will be a kick-off party Feb. 16. The main sponsor of the event is Downtown Cleveland Alliance.
Market opening
Chicago-area Fresh Thyme Farmers Market, a grocery specializing in organic and natural items, will open its first store in Northeast Ohio at 7 a.m. Feb. 8 in the Golden Gate shopping center in Mayfield Heights.
The first 250 shoppers age 18 and older in line on the morning of Feb. 8 will receive a free bag of groceries. The store will hold a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 3:45 p.m.
Fresh Thyme has been described as a cross between Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods, with prices often lower than Whole Foods, and more fresh foods than Trader Joe’s. They’re designed to draw customers from a fairly large area.
The store, south of Mayfield Road and west of Interstate 271, is in a former Office Max. It’s the 11th Ohio Fresh Thyme; there is one in Toledo and others in the Columbus and Cincinnati-Dayton area.
For information, go to http://freshthyme.com/go/mayfield-heights.
Bob Evans denies rumors
Bob Evans wants you to know that its more than 500 restaurants are open for business, and rumors to the contrary are “alternative facts.”
The New Albany chain issued a cheeky news release last week in response to rumors that it is closing its restaurants, which are in Ohio and 17 other states.
The company said the rumors flew on social media after Bob Evans Farms announced last week it was selling its restaurant division to a private equity firm. “Don’t let fake news mislead you,” Bob Evans Restaurants President John Fisher said in the news release, using the term that cropped up in this year’s presidential election.
The news release included some of the erroneous tweets and labeled them “Alternative Facts Tweets.” The release noted that the company has released a video (https://youtu.be/J9KZ84jJRU4) featuring Fisher reading some of the posts about the rumored closings.
Bob Evans Farms said last week it was selling its restaurants to a private equity company for $565 million, splitting the restaurant part of the company from the division that makes sausage and other foods.
Valentine’s Day dinner
This sounds like a mighty interesting, tasty way to celebrate Valentine’s Day: Blue Door Cafe & Bakery in Cuyahoga Falls, never one to lack adventure and creativity in its food offerings, promises dinner courses similar to what was served in Roman times.
The folks at Blue Door explain, “Apparently, the origins of this special day lie in Roman times.”
The menu — featuring four-, five- and six-course menus — is for Feb. 10 and 11. Four courses without wine is $55.
Each course features a vegetarian option. Appetizers are lentil soup or Roman porridge, with pork belly, spelt and other ingredients. Another course is a choice of hazelnut finished pork chops with braised apple, baked potato and roasted garlic and dried apricots; or baked turnips with farro stew, caramelized onions and leek vinaigrette. Items also will be available a la carte. To see the full menu, go to the Blue Door’s Facebook page.
The Blue Door Cafe & Bakery, now open seven days a week for breakfast and lunch, is at 1970 State Road in Cuyahoga Falls. The phone is 330-926-9774.
Here’s some Valentine’s Day history thanks to Pam Frese, a College of Wooster anthropology professor who studies holidays. Frese told me in a 2006 interview (time flies!) that historically there have been a number of St. Valentines. The day is usually connected with the St. Valentine who died around 270, a martyred Roman priest. His feast was Feb. 14. He is popularly considered the patron of lovers and the helper of those unhappily in love.
Bourbon Dinner
Celebrate Valentine’s Day a little late at 7 p.m. Feb. 16 at a five-course Bourbon Dinner at Ken Stewart’s Lodge, 1911 N. Cleveland-Massillon Road in Bath Township. Courses — each paired with a bourbon-centric drink — include shrimp and grits, pulled pork and five-cheese polenta cake, and flat iron steak.
Cost is $75, plus tax and tip. Reservations required. Call 330-666-8881.
Italian wine dinners
Two biggies of the Italian wine world will make appearances at separate dinners at Papa Joe’s in the Merriman Valley.
The first is 6 p.m. Feb. 27 with Giorgio Pelissero, the owner of Pelissero, with vineyards in the Barbaresco zone of Piedmont in northwest Italy, known for red wines. The second is 6 p.m. March 15 with Franco Pasetti. More on him later.
Cost for each dinner is $85. Call 330-923-7999. The restaurant is at 1561 Akron-Peninsula Road in Cuyahoga Falls.
Food fundraiser
You can get tickets at the door for a creative food fundraiser at 5 p.m. Friday at Woodridge High School, 4440 Quick Road in Cuyahoga Falls.
The Empty Bowl benefits Family Promise of Summit County, which works with area congregations to provide shelter and other services to homeless families.
This is the third year for the event, for which Woodridge High School arts students make pottery bowls. Cost is $25 for dinner and a bowl, $10 for dinner only. (This event is not to be confused with the sold-out Empty Bowl Project fundraiser in March that will benefit the Good Samaritan Hunger Center in Akron.)
Spaghetti dinner
This Sunday is the annual spaghetti dinner featuring homemade meatballs and sauce at Queen of Heaven Catholic Church, 1800 Steese Road in Green, to benefit Boy Scout Troop 334.
Yeah, it’s Super Bowl Sunday, but organizers point out the dinner runs noon to 2 p.m. and will be long over before kickoff at 6:30 p.m. (You can eat in or take out.)
The meal includes two meatballs, spaghetti, salad, bread, punch and coffee for $8, $6 for ages 65 and older and $5 for children ages 5 to 12. Free for children under 5.
Norka soda available
Some folks have noticed that Norka soda — the iconic brand that Michael Considine revived in 2015 — is available at Cracker Barrel locations.
Under a deal revealed late last year, the Norka’s signature flavor, cherry-strawberry, is available in more than 630 Cracker Barrel Old Country Stores.
The soda (Norka is Akron spelled backward) is made and bottled at contract packaging facilities, including one in Pennsylvania. Considine touts that cane sugar is used — no high fructose corn syrup — along with natural flavorings.
Crain’s Cleveland Business reported this month that the deal allows Cracker Barrel to add other Norka flavors.
Katie Byard can be reached at 330-996-3781 or kbyard@thebeaconjournal.com. You can follow her @KatieByardABJ on Twitter.