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...