I’m about to show you how amazingly ugly our kitchen is.  Brace yourselves.

When we moved to Cleveland almost 2 years ago, it was a whirlwind.  We had about 5 weeks from my job offer for Mark to find a job (which he did quickly because he is brilliant at what he does), find a place to live and sell our Toledo house.  We were heartbroken over leaving our awesome 1912 bungalow in the best neighborhood ever, but it was on to bigger and better things.

Oh Stratford house, we miss you!

We looked to the inner-ring eastern suburbs because we like old houses and it was close to both our offices.  Plus we had friends here whom we had been close with when they lived in Toledo.  The prospect of carrying 2 mortgages was scary and we knew our budget that would allow us to do so would limit our buying options.  But we looked to purchase over rent just to see what we could find.  3 all-day visits later and we thought we found our house.  It was astonishingly like our old house and close to our friends, schools, grocery stores and the library.  The same day we decided to bid someone else also bid and, knowing our limited budget, we knew we would lose a bidding war.

So my thoughts kept circling back to a house our realtor showed me on a whim – it was just a few houses down from the dream house and way, way underpriced for the neighborhood.  The house was in severe need of cosmetic updating and Mark had only seen the dozens of photos I had snapped during my walk through.  Apparently the previous owners lived here for 35+ years and I think the last time they updated anything was during the Carter Administration. Inspections showed that although ancient, the mechanicals were in good shape so we took the plunge.  The thought was that we would hopefully sell the Toledo house within 6 months (hoping only to break even, given the market slide at the time) and then get an equity loan and update this house.  So before we moved in we removed all the nasty carpet and wallpaper with the hopes that within a few months we could afford to have professionals come refinish the unfinished but nice wood floors.  We also planned to have the plaster re-done on the first floor and have the whole interior professionally painted.

Looks pretty cute from the outside, right?

Then the market started to tank.  We sold our Toledo house after 5 months but took a 5-figure hit to do so.  Paying off that debt took about a year, which meant no updates to this house.  Now, another year later and really the only update we’ve made was to install a dishwasher in the kitchen (when we bought the house it had a portable dishwasher, the kind you have to roll over to the sink, hook up to the faucet and plug in.  After a few months it started to leak all over the place).

Anyway, I’m not someone who can’t/won’t do a bit of work in the name of updating a house.  We painted most of our old house and did several other small projects.  However the scope of what this house needs (new plaster, sand and re-finish floors, woodwork stripped and repainted, etc) is best left to professionals. Trying to tackle projects with a kid is drastically different then without one.  Plus, if I stay up to midnight or so painting one night, I’m wrecked for a week – I need my sleep.  So this house has sat basically untouched for almost 2 years.

The worst offender has always been the heinous kitchen.  It’s something we looked past because of it’s size (our Toledo kitchen was tiny).  It’s done in 1981-era country and it hurts your eyes just to look at it.  2 counters are faux woodgrain and the other has an atomic pattern on it.  Besides the aforementioned portable dishwasher it also has crappy (original?) cabinets painted country-blue with wallpaper in the insets.  Plus one wall is covered in faux brick wall paper.  It’s U.G.L.Y.  But it functions and there are other things on the list to be done before we sink tens of thousands of dollars into a complete remodel.

But, there was one thing I couldn’t take anymore.  The refrigerator wasn’t in the kitchen.  It was in the adjacent back entry/mudroom (but it’s really to small to call a mudroom, it’s more of a mud cubby).  This has always drove me crazy.  And it doesn’t make any sense.  Here – I’ll show you pictures so you can laugh at my ugly kitchen:

Behold the lovely blue cabinets and faux brick wall.  Note the portable dishwasher next to the stove.  We got rid of that about a year ago and since then M’s art easel has occupied that spot. The green box on the wall is an electric knife – klassy.

The assault of country-blue continues into the back mud cubby.  The back door is just to the left outside of the frame. This area is only about 3-feet wide and in addition to the refrigerator also houses the basement door and the smallest half-bath you’ve ever seen.  This area tends to get overrun with too many coats and shoes, not to mention that there are FOUR doors opening into this space. It’s an architectural wonder.

So, Friday night I mentioned to Mark that maybe we could fit the fridge in the space that the old dishwasher used to occupy thus opening up some real space in the mud cubby for coat and boot storage.  I wasn’t prepared for him to tackle the project Saturday morning but that’s what he did.  It involved removing one door, both fridge doors, an amazing amount of found dirt and grime behind the fridge and help from a neighbor to install a new outlet.  But by mid-afternoon it was in it’s new location.  It’s not ideal set up, and we had to really squeeze everything together so we could still open the dishwasher.  But it works and it’s so nice to actually have the refrigerator IN the kitchen.  What a novel idea.

Three appliances all in a tidy row.  Kitchen designers are falling off their chairs right now, but it works…and it will need to work for another few years (or until we win the lottery).  Maybe I should just take that damn knife down already.

The new mudroom area.  I need to find a bench with storage baskets that fits in this nook and will put coat hooks just under the cabinets.  This makes the entire entry feel so much bigger.  And believe it or not, Mark scrubbed that wall with bleach; that’s just how disgusting it was behind the fridge.

It’s small, but it’s one of the few things we can do to make things more livable until we have the money to really tackle the other projects (a new boiler has been added to that project list but we can’t do that until we have the entire electrical system updated – old houses = money pit).

Sorry for the delay on this post – my wonderful hubby is working on some new design stuff for the blog and we’ve spent our evenings (my writing time) working on that. You will see the new design very soon! Without further ado, here is the 4th and final post containing updates and reviews from our Restaurant Week. You can read other posts on this great week here, here and here.

One of the first rules we had established when we came up with our Restaurant Week was to only go to places we had not yet tried. But as we finalized our list we kept circling back to The Greenhouse Tavern, even though we have been there before. The truth of the matter is that while we enjoyed our first visit, eating out with a 2-year-old hardly makes for an evening to savor the food. So after much deliberation we broke our only rule and made Greenhouse Tavern the conclusion to our week. It was hands down the best night of them all. If you live in NE Ohio and have not heard of Greenhouse Tavern you must live under a rock as they have been featured in numerous publications. And if you have never endeavored to eat there – what are you waiting for? I really do think it is the best restaurant in Cleveland.

I arrived on the rainy night and was seated in the rear mezzanine with a great view of the activity below. As I waited for Mark to park the car the Hostess with the Mostess, Chefs Widow, stopped by to chat. She is just as sweet as they come. Her blog is one of the first I started reading when we moved to Cleveland and was the catalyst for my interest in the Cleveland food scene. It’s been pretty amazing to read as her and her Chef-husband work their tails off to make GHT a reality and how involved they are with the local “farm to table” movement. If there is a food event in town, they are a part of it and it’s inspiring to see a young couple who have invested so much of themselves into this city. Anyway, I digress…

When Mark joined me we were served the GHT’s pork rillette and crusty bread while we pursed the menu. We started out with the House Made Fromage Blanc with grilled bread which was creamy, rich and just slightly tart and heavenly when spread on the crispy bread.

Mark ordered those ethereal Crispy Chicken Wings while I moved on with my apparently cheese-themed dinner by ordering the Goat Cheese Tart with Heirloom Tomatoes. The Sawyers should really come up with another name for the chicken wings because when most people think of “wings” they conjure up an image of overcooked chicken drenched in sauce and these wings are anything but that. They are crispy outside and perfectly fall-off-the-bone juicy inside with a nice kick of heat and not a drop of sauce in site. I knew Mark had been looking into that dish all week. While Mark enjoyed his wings I dug into my tart which was a beautiful plate of colorful sliced tomatoes topped with an herb salad and accompanied by a dish of sorts made of dough with yummy Lake Erie Creamery goat cheese tucked inside. I am impressed how the kitchen at GHT can make something as simple as these fresh ingredients taste so spectacular. There is a real art in making simple food that allows the favors and freshness show off. This dish proved to me that Chef Sawyer is a master of this art because the overall dish was more then the sum of its parts – the acid of the tomatoes played off the creaminess of the goat cheese while the herbs infused everything with fresh, bright flavor.

By this time I was pretty full so I ordered the Blue Crab Gnocchi from the “Halfs” menu and Mark dove into the Ohio Beef Burger. We had heard great things about both items and they did not disappoint. My gnocchi was incredible – I really wanted to lick the plate clean! Nice chunks of blue crab paired with the sweet crunch of fresh corn and the tender pillows of pasta beneath. I’m not sure what all went into the sauce but the entire dish was amazing and I ate it very slowly not wanting it to end. I could have happily eaten 2 orders had I not already stuffed myself with all things cheese. Mark’s burger was exquisitely cooked to medium rare – no overcooked beef here! It was juicy, flavorful and was one of the best burgers he’s ever eaten.

At this point we were both happily full and still talking over how much we love the GHT not only for its amazing food but lively atmosphere and affordable prices when our server told us that Chef Sawyer was sending up a dessert for us. We were excited to taste the work of Keri Garcia, the GHT Pastry Chef and were wowed by the Pot of Chocolate Mousse For Two that Chef Sawyer personally delivered to our table. He also poured us each a glass of a 26-year-old port which he said paired nicely with the chocolate mousse. I’m not a connoisseur of port and in fact most of those I’ve had in the past were overly sweet and sticky. But this was seductive, silky and supple and when paired with the mousse was downright sexy. It really was a perfect ending to a fantastic meal.

We left GHT totally enamored with the place. You really can’t find better food for such great prices anywhere else in the city. And to see both Chef Sawyer and Amelia working the tables, greeting guests and delivering food was wonderful to see. You can tell they are both passionate about the restaurant and want to make sure everyone has a wonderful experience. It was an ideal finish to what started out as a frustrating week. And if you are in the area doing your own Restaurant Week or just want a night out, make sure Greenhouse Tavern is at the top of your list.