Cleveland Finds: One Red Door

One Red Door

Fans of "Cleveland Finds" have probably noticed my predilection towards more casual eateries. This will be different.

Cleveland is actually home to a great deal of wonderful higher end dining experience. Off the top of my mind, Lola, Dante and L'Albatros are all fantastic restaurants worth trying. However, my personal favorite place for higher end dining in the Cleveland area has been One Red Door. I think it doesn't get as much press as these other restaurants because it's located in the beautiful town of Hudson, about 40 minutes away from downtown Cleveland. But I think the ambiance and quality of the food is competitive with these other restaurants, if not superior. Also, the prices are better than the afore mentioned restaurants. 

One Red Door offers two ways of eating: you can construct a meal simply from the many appetizers and small plates. Or you can just go for a larger plate. Jane and I split the difference, starting with an appetizer before getting a huge main plate.

 

Crispy Manchego Cheese - So freaking good... Possibly one of the best things I've eaten so far this year. The honey and paprika on top really elevates this dish to incredible heights.

Ribeye - This contends with the rib-eye at Lola as the best steak I've had in Cleveland. Crusted with a porticini mushroom crust and cooked absolutely perfectly, it had a crispy crust and a melt in your mouth tenderness. Moreover, since Jane and I were sharing, they split it in the kitchen, a touch I appreciated. (the pic is of half a steak!!!) Sides of fried brussell sprouts and cannellini beans only added to the greatness of this dish. If you like beef, order this.

The menu changes seasonally, so there's no guarantees these dishes will stay on the menu (though they should). If you find yourself with a bit more cash or wanna impress some special someone, I highly recommend One Red Door. 

- JK

The rest of San Francisco.

Here are some other things I ate in SF.

Quick note: I had no pictures, but Comstock Saloon is excellent. It is an old school saloon that harkens back to the gold rush days. It serves excellent cocktails and has a really cool indoor balcony that has a live ragtime band. Food was OK, but expensive for what it was.

Boulevard

We, being the Khwargs, actually celebrated Jueyoung's graduation with two graduation meals. Celebratory meal #2 (aka Khwargs like eating) was held at Boulevard, a delightful French restaurant with an absolutely gorgeous French Deco interior. 

 Beet salad - served with a local goat cheese that was absolutely delightful.

California Lamb Prime T-Bone - served off bone after being roasted in a wood-fire oven, the lamb was perfectly cooked but lacked the gamy flavor I love in lamb. The ravioli, stuffed with rapini and shredded lamb shoulder, was amazing. Bursting with flavor, I wish they had a dish of just the ravioli!

Warm Maple Sugar-Crusted Angel Food Cake - My favorite dish of the meal. Usually, when the dessert is considered the best course, it doesn't say good things about the overall meal. But in this case, the food was fabulous, but this dessert was one of the best desserts I've ever eaten. Crispy on the outside and silky on the inside, the cake was mind-blowingly good, especially when combined with rhubarb.

Cocobang

Apparently, during his tenure in SF, Jueyoung has become quite the connoisseur of Korean bars. This was one of the establishments that he frequented, and I can understand why. An intimate room with a wall dedicated to screening Korean music videos, this place specializes in crispy, spicy Korean fried chicken that is the perfect thing to accompany the free-flowing soju and makgeoli (Korean moonshine). An awesome late night spot.

 Industrial Light & Magic

George Lucas's studios responsible for the special effects of everything from Star Wars to the Avengers, ILM, in Presidio, has a cafeteria with the best views possibly in SF. With its expansive windows, you can see the Golden Gate Bridge and Palace of Fine Arts as you enjoy one of the many dishes from the cafeteria. 

Thanks Frankie-hyung for hooking up us!

 

Pixar Studios

While perusing the internets, I noticed that an old friend from church was working for Pixar, the studio responsible for some of the best films made in the past decade, including two of my personal top 5 of all time. (Guess which ones?)

I wrote a message of congrats and was surprised with Tim offered me a tour. Of course, I pounced on the possibility. Tim, by the way, gives probably the best tours of all time. The guy's a pro.

Also, quick story... my sister in law almost got run over by John Lasseter, probably the most influential storyteller since Disney. We were a little upset she didn't bite the bullet and get hit lightly so we could meet the guy! (sorry Deborah).

Anyway, here is the fabled fridge filled with milk next to the cereal bar, stocked with about 30 different types of cereal. This is available for employees any time of the day while they are hard at work on the latest instant classic.

And here is a family portrait. I am so excited for Brave!!!

Thanks Tim!

-JK