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A BETTER KIND OF BUFFET
For South Indian and thalis, Annapurna in Parma is worth the trip and time
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By Douglas Trattner
Photo by Doug Trattner
IF YOU OBSESS OVER FOOD
and travel Instagram like I do, then you’ve probably seen people enjoying Indian thalis, those large circular platters containing myriad smaller vessels filled with a dizzying array of food. Like a personal tabletop buffet, the thali offers diners variety in place of monotony, with all the components of a full meal neatly arranged on a sparkling stainless disc.
Unfortunately, it’s easier to find thalis on social media than it is in Cleveland because almost none of our Indian restaurants offer them. Annapurna in Parma does, presenting two different versions of the popular South Indian meal. When asked why thalis are such a rarity in Greater Cleveland, owner Hemant Amin bluntly responds, “Because this is too hard.”
He added that thalis take time to prepare in the kitchen and time to enjoy in the dining room, time that many modern diners simply elect to spend elsewhere. For many local Indian food fans, it’s the allyou-can-eat lunch buffet, quick takeout, or bust. Scour the numerous Google reviews of this five-yearold restaurant and you’ll observe a common thread: the food is exciting and delicious but the service is slow.
With only two people in the kitchen, there’s no getting around it.
Amin opened Annapurna to showcase homestyle South Indian foods. Made to order from scratch, the food here tastes fresh and compelling, not one dimensional. Dishes are packed with the flavors of ginger, garlic, tamarind, turmeric, curry, mustard seeds, cardamom, cumin and cloves. Nearly every bite nails that delicate balance of sweet and sour, salty and bitter, spicy and pungent.
Like all thalis, the two served at Annapurna contain fundamental and unwavering elements like curries, flatbread, rice, pickles, salad, chutneys, raita and dessert. Within this framework are dishes that are fermented, deep-fried, steamed,
boiled and stir-fried, which reveal the kitchen’s range. What you won’t find is meat of any sort as the restaurant is 100-percent vegetarian.
The Gujarati ($19.99) and Punjabi ($19.99) thalis offer diners an exciting variety of foods that change with the seasons. The former features a starter snack, yogurt soup, lentil soup, a variety of vegetable curries, flatbreads like papadum and roti, pickles, chutney and raita, and a sweet dessert. The latter swaps the roti for buttery naan and mixes up the snacks and curries. Either way you go, the reward is a bountiful selection of lovingly prepared foods.
If you don’t go the thali route, maybe start with a crispy-fried samosa or pakora. The flying saucershaped idli ($5.49) served here are appropriately light, airy and melt-inyour-mouth. They are served with sambar and chutney for dipping.
Diners can make a feast of the chaat alone, street-food style foods at which Annapurna excels. The pani puri ($5.99) are predictably crispy, savory and tart, especially when doused with the mint water. I tried my first bite of khaman ($4.99) here and I am completely hooked. A chickpea-based batter is steamed and cut into spongy, light-as-air wedges. Served on an old-school lunch tray, the pav bhaji ($7.99) is a savory vegetable curry that gets spooned, Sloppy Joe-style, onto a soft hamburger bun. If a riot of colors, flavors and textures sounds tempting, order the bhel puri ($5.99). This rowdy jumble of puffed rice, crispy sev, fresh cilantro, tangy tamarind and vibrant chutney is simultaneously sweet, sour and spicy.
Annapurna’s lengthy menu lists more familiar Indian dishes like masala dosa, aloo gobi, saag paneer and vegetable biryani. But there also are sections for Punjabi, Gujarati and Indochinese specialties, such as the rightly popular gobi Manchurian ($9.99), deep-fried cauliflower tossed in a sweet and spicy sauce. In addition to the well-known chana masala, the restaurant makes kala chana ($9.99), an earthy, creamy curry starring black chickpeas, a smaller and firmer variety. Included in the price is a pair of perfectly puffed puri.
Annapurna is a boon to home cooks thanks to the adjacent Indian foods grocery. The market stocks fresh produce as well as a complete inventory of pantry staples like spices, flours, grains and snacks. This is where you come when you need to score a small bag of puffed rice or an 11-pound chunk of jaggery. I picked up a bag of black chickpeas and a spice mix to attempt kala chana at home.
The market seems to bleed into the dining room, where boxes are stacked here and there in the large informal space. A display cooler that stocks a selection of housemade desserts is seeing increased activity in light of seasonal Diwali celebrations.
ANNAPURNA INDIAN FOOD
7464 RIDGE RD., PARMA 440-253-8311 ANNAPURNAOHIO.WIXSITE.COM/ANNAPURNA
dtrattner@clevescene.com t@dougtrattner
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long-time dream of mine,” adds Friedlander. “The idea is to create a space that celebrates exceptional food, high-end service, and compelling cocktails while honoring and modernizing upscale dining.”
BITES
Primo brings West African food to the heart of downtown Cleveland
By Douglas Trattner
FOR THE PAST YEAR, THE
former 2nd and High space has been undergoing a pretty extensive makeover. Two weeks ago, the doors opened to the public for the first time in approximately two years when Primo African Quisine (2123 E. 2nd St., 216-400-6207) debuted. The restaurant is a showcase for West African foods, making it a rarity in Northeast Ohio.
“This is the first West African restaurant downtown,” says coowner Prince Marouane. “There are a lot of Africans in Cleveland and before, most of them have been going to Columbus to get some African food.”
Marouane says he and his partners were attracted to the property because its location. While tucked away on a back alley, the restaurant is steps from Progressive Field, Rocket Mortgage Field House, Jack Casino and East 4th Street.
“This is a prime location, and people want to try something different,” he adds.
Marouane, who hails from Benin in West Africa, says that the goal is to faithfully recreate the foods of his homeland.
“We try and stay authentic to our dishes,” he explains. “We aren’t trying to compete with American food. Even if some dishes look American, our seasonings are completely different.”
He points out dishes like Nigerian egusi soup, thickened with melon seeds, and peanut soup. Thiep, “the national dish of Senegal,” consists of fish, rice and vegetables. The seasoned red snapper already is a popular menu item, he notes, and there’s a street food version of spaghetti called diallo that comes topped with an omelet. Of course, there’s plenty of waakye, jollof rice and fufu.
The restaurant seats 85 guests and has a full bar and wine list. For now, Primo is dinner-only, but plans call for adding lunch service down the road.
Brad Friedlander’s Cut151 Revives the Supper Club Spirit in Beachwood
Cut151, which is being described as a supper club, will make its debut on Thursday, November 4. The restaurant is owned by Brad Friedlander and is located adjacent to Blu, in the former Red/Rosso space at 3355 Richmond Rd. in Beachwood.
Cut151 marks the return not just of the space or supper club concept, but of chef Donna Chriszt, who has played more of a behind-the-scenes role lately. Chriszt burst onto the Cleveland food scene back in the mid-1990s, when she was tapped as executive chef of Marlin by owner Marlin Kaplan. She went on to open Jeso, her own spot, before embarking on a long, fruitful culinary career.
“The chance to create a new restaurant with a supportive crew that possesses such considerable experience, depth of palate, and knowledge was a once-in-a-career opportunity,” says Chriszt. “Building this community from the ground up, alongside long-time restauranteur Brad Friedlander and his team is the perfect scenario.”
Cut151 is being billed as a modern take on the supper club concept. The star of the show will be the spice-rubbed prime rib, which will be sold in 12-, 16- and 22-ounce portions along with natural jus and creamy horseradish. The prime rib will be joined on the menu by a few steaks, veal and lamb chops, shrimp scampi pasta, potato-crusted cod, twin lobster tails and a few other selections. To start, there are oysters on the half shell, shrimp cocktail, prime rib tartare, salmon crab cakes and wedge and Caesar salads. All of the above can be paired with sides such as onion rings, rosti potatoes, creamed spinach and asparagus with béarnaise.
“Cut151 Supper Club is a
Forward Hospitality Partners With Country Music Star Chase Rice to Open Live-Music Venue Welcome to the Farm in Flats East Bank
Courtesy Primo Forward Hospitality Group has announced a partnership with country music star Chase Rice to open Welcome to the Farm, an entertainment venue that will debut in the Flats East Bank. The 5,250-square-foot space, which will be located in the same building as Smokey’s BBQ and Saloon and is expected to open in December, features a center stage, capacity for 280 people, and garage doors that open up to a patio on the banks of the Cuyahoga River.
The venue will join other Forward Hospitality Group properties in the neighborhood such as Good Night John Boy and FWD and will become part of a diverse portfolio that also includes Garden City, Kindred Spirit, Bell & Flower, 3 Palms and SeeSaw.
“We’ve been working on this for a while and I’m excited to finally let everyone in on the secret,” says Rice, whose late father grew up in Grove City. “Not only is Ohio special to me as an artist and because of my dad’s connection to the area, but Cleveland itself is also a really inspiring city as a musician. It’s awesome to know that we’ll be just a mile down the road from the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, which is home to people like The Rolling Stones, Bruce Springsteen, Nirvana, Tom Petty and so many more who have all had a huge impact on my career.”
With more than 2 million albums sold, Rice has established himself as a rising star in the country music scene. Before he was a performer, the Nashville-based singer was a college football athlete, NASCAR pit crew member and “Survivor: Nicaragua” contestant. With his latest release, the autobiographical “If I Were Rock & Roll,” Rice shows off his expanded musical range.
In a video that the multi-Platinum entertainer shared, Rice says, “We’re bringing a little bit of my farm in Tennessee to Cleveland, Ohio. My dad’s from Grove City, so Ohio has always been a very special place to me.”
dtrattner@clevescene.com t@dougtrattner
