Wendi and I were headed to Berlin, Ohio, in order to check into the Berlin Grande Hotel to enjoy some time away and celebrate 21 years of marriage. I had an idea: Find a nice burger place and surprise her for lunch. Wendi loves burgers; the messier the better. I settled on Blazin' Burgers in Strasburg. The intent was to go there on Friday, we ended up there on Saturday afternoon. After a great stay at the Berlin Grande Hotel and some time in downtown Berlin, we stopped at Walnut Creek … [Read more...]
East Meets (Mid)West: A Dinner for the Ages
On Friday, March 4, 2016, Wendi and I will be celebrating our 21st wedding anniversary. We have plans for the day: Head out to the Amish Heartland and enjoy a stay at the Berlin Grande Hotel. But, I was feeling good and wanted to cook Wendi a special dinner before our special day. I stopped at Buehler's on the way home thinking I would get some Certified Angus Beef top sirloin to cook and potatoes to bake. I picked up both of those items, but then I saw egg roll wrappers marked down. Then it hit … [Read more...]
In a Word, Rox Gastropub in Wooster Rocks
My wife, Wendi, and I love to watch Guy Fieri's "Diners, Drive-ins & Dives" and Michael Symon's "Burgers, Brews & 'Cue" on the Food Network. It was while watching one of these shows where we learned of the term "gastropub," which generally refers to a pub that serves quality food. The owners of Broken Rocks Cafe & Bakery brought that style of eatery and pub to Wooster, and we are better for it. Wendi and I decided to try out the Rox Gastropub with her sister, Randi Breese, and … [Read more...]
I Found New York-style Pizza in the Unlikeliest of Places
In Boston, most pizzerias make a New York-style pizza. This is the style I grew up eating, and it is the one I prefer. This style of pizza has a thin crust (not like Pizza Hut's thin, cracker-like crust), is hand-stretched, hand-tossed and baked in an extremely hot oven (one coal-fired oven in New York reaches 2,000 degrees). Because of the high heat, the pizza cooks in mere minutes. This browns the cheese, chars the crust and gives the pizza a nice flavor. Well, trying to find this … [Read more...]
Canton’s Table 6 Kitchen + Bar = 10
Wendi and I headed to the Canton area for the day. We wanted to take a tour of the Harry London Chocolate factory, visit the National First Ladies Museum and get a bite to eat at someplace that was not a chain and something different than what we can get in Wooster. We discovered Table 6 Kitchen + Bar. We learned about the restaurant from the Visit Canton website. While we live in Wooster, it is not like we are totally unfamiliar with Canton-area establishments. I thought Table 6 must … [Read more...]