1.21.2010

Cleveland: B Spot by Michael Symon

I'll confess straight out. I'm a wuss. I happened upon B Spot for lunch in Cleveland. It's Food Network's Next Iron Chef star Michael Symon's burger/brat/bologna/beer/BLT joint - and he was there... and I just sat at the bar engrossed in my foodgasm until it was too late, and he left.

But, after I was served up the Lola Burger (burger with fried egg, red onions, bacon, cheddar & mayo)...


... I plum forgot my the foodie celeb in my midst. Some of you know, I've stopped eating factory farmed meat, so I rarely get burgers. But Symon sourced his beef right there on the menu, which was like waving a red cape in front of this burger loving babe. Melt in your mouth is a trite thing to say about food, but it seems to have been invented for my first bite.

To add insult to injury, I passed up the fries and partnered Lola up with a chocolate marshmallow shake...


This bad boy came with a straw that could suck up the Hoover dam and a spoon, that was put to good use scraping every last marshmallow from the glass.

Now, eating alone can sometimes be lonely, but not at B Spot. The bartender was smiling, friendly and helpful in steering me to the right order. My neighbor to the right was a burly Trader Joe's employeer and to the right, my new friend, Jim Wallace. This 80 something gent and I struck up a great conversation about the delicious food at B Spot, social media, family, travel, and (sigh), the antics of Washington, DC.

Now, if I had just stepped up and said hi to Michael...

6 comments:

Olga said...

I've just read about this place somewhere (probably SeriousEats). How cool you got to try it out.

Too bad you did not say hi to the chef: I think he's uber cute :)

Cleveland Entertainment Reporter said...

Don't feel bad, I get super shy like that too! I would have definitely chickened out!

By the way, thanks for making me want a burger even though I'm not even hungry. I can't wait to check out B Spot now! Love you hun!

Your fellow Blondie via CLE,
Cara

Nancy Heller said...

Tammy - were you there 1/21 or 1/20? I was there 1/20 (while Michael was there) - wouldn't that be funny if you were at the bar at that same time? BTW - Michael is totally approachable, so no need to be shy.

I have several B Spot posts on my blog. But now, I have to try that banana-marshmallow shake.

Anonymous said...

Michael Symon is great; love his book (A History of Cooks and Cooking).

But he's the winner of Food Network's Next Iron Chef. I don't believe he's appeared on Top Chef.

Tammy Gordon said...

Oops - I'll fix that!

EJH said...

I HAVE to try that place out :) Maybe I'll treat myself to dinner if I finish the entire section on Wills tonight... in case I encounter heaven early as a result of those burgers. Can'r wait to read about NOLA!