This past Monday, February 6, I asked my husband, Bobby, for a favor. I had to go to downtown Cleveland to drop off a document for my company, so I asked him to drive me. I really dislike driving to Cleveland. Even though it is closer than Columbus, I would rather drive there than go north to Cleveland. Because Bobby is fully awesome, he only hesitated for a moment. He agreed to take me, if I would do the driving back to Wooster so he could work. I agreed. Whatever it took so I didn’t have to worry about driving there, finding a place to park and delivering the package alone.
As we were driving there on I-77 North, we went by Brecksville. I didn’t remember, but apparently Bobby did, Brecksville is where we went to Courtyard Cafe last summer. (You can read about that by clicking here.) It is also where Simon’s Restaurant and Delicatessen is located. (In the same plaza as Courtyard Cafe.) He asked me to find out how far it was off of the highway. By the time I had the info in the phone, it said 5 minutes away. Bobby figured it was less than that because we had already passed the exit.
So he gets me safely and on time to Cleveland. I drop off the thing and then we head back. Only he was still driving. It was at that point he said I can start driving after we stop by Simon’s for a couple of pounds of pastrami.
We got there sometime between 10:00 and 10:30. We asked the guy behind the counter for a couple of pounds of pastrami. Now I know that I told my readers that Monday we were going to get back on track with our eating, but there I was at Simon’s, waiting for Bobby’s pastrami and staring at the most delectable chocolate cake in their bakery case.
I asked the guy what kind it was. He said “Chocolate Suicide.” I confirmed that it didn’t have anything remotely like a coffee taste, which he assured me that it didn’t. Then what was I, a die hard chocoholic, to do? I ordered a slice to go.(Oh, I probably should mention that during the interchange, Bobby was using their “facilities.”)
When Bobby got back, the guy was putting my cake into the container and the pastrami was being wrapped up. That’s when Bobby told him about my blog, our previous trip to Brecksville and his past purchase of their pastrami. Turns out that the “guy” was Mike Simon. He and his brother Joe are the owners of Simon’s. It was started by their dad, George. George came from Brooklyn, New York.
Bobby said that must be why the pastrami was so good. Mike agreed. Turns out though, that the family is Lebanese and not Jewish like Bobby originally thought. Mike said his dad told him, “If you can’t beat them, join them.”
He and Bobby discussed what made their pastrami so good. I guess the cut of the meat is important. It is made from the brisket and not top round. They also talked about the Super Bowl (something Bobby has really enjoyed rehashing over and over and over with anyone who will listen). They even joked about how Cleveland helped the Patriots out by letting Belichick leave town.
Bobby and I left Simon’s Restaurant with both of us happy. He was happy to have some good pastrami like he would get from Boston. I was happy to have made the inconvenience of taking me to Cleveland worthwhile for him. Oh yeah, getting the chocolate cake didn’t hurt either. (Which, by the way, was very chocolaty and moist and delicious.)
