Greenhouse Tavern

Greenhouse Tavern in Cleveland is the first certified green restaurant in Ohio and believes in farm-to-table food - a great place to eat over the holidays. I started with the creamy turnip soup, a perfect dish for freezing winter days.

The hand-ground beef tartare with pommes frites, a 2minute egg, jalapeno and mayo was really tasty.

The pork sandwich - on a pig shaped plate (below) - is a huge sandwich stuffed with roasted pork shoulder, thousand island dressing and onions, with awesomely thin and crispy shoestring fries.

Flying Fig

I spent a few days in Ohio over the holiday, and was happy to spend one evening at Flying Fig. They've been supporters of local, sustainable food for years. This seared walu was fantastic over basmati rice in a yellow curry broth and served with greens and a citrus fennel & cumin relish.

The chicken confit, while not as crispy as expected, had great flavor and came with spaetzel, braised cabbage, haricot vert and a tarragon jus.

Lilly Handmade Chocolates

I'm loving these handmade chocolates from Lilly, an artisan chocolatier in Ohio. This is the Mike - creamy milk chocolate with chunks of Neuskes bacon and organic maple butter.

The chocolates are stunning - like the above Cinn-a-bunny with Vietnamese cinnamon, ginger, sea salt, clover honey and vanilla. I can't wait to try the rest, with flavors like Rocco (black truffle honey) and Chomp Monster Bar (black mission figs and walnuts)!