Foodies

Chris and I admit that we like to think of ourselves as foodies but really we're just food snobs. Or maybe it's just me. Chris will try just about anything and he has an amazing instinct for choosing the best thing on the menu. We like to eat at good places and love to read good writing about food. Our humble beginnings in Medina, OH and Okemos, MI may not lead you to think so, but living in Ann Arbor, home of the famous Zingerman's among other good eats, sparked our interest. Then we lived in Cleveland and made regular outings to the West Side Market, Lolita, and Sage Bistro (until it closed). Too bad it took us until our last two months in Cleveland to find Parallax and its really good sushi!

Living in Cleveland (Heights) also had another perk: we discovered Michael Ruhlman. For those of you we haven't raved to, Michael Ruhlman is a really good writer born and raised in Cleveland Heights. I discovered him in the local interest section in the bookstore. I was looking for something that represented Cleveland for a friend. I found 2 autographed books by Michael Ruhlman called The Making of a Chef and "The Soul of Chef" and bought them. I got a little delayed on my flight to Salt Lake City and started reading. And never stopped. Sorry Vince! I made Chris read them after I got back and we quickly started reading the rest of his books. If you enjoy reading about food and/or good writing, try Ruhlman. He also has a website and blog that's fun to read. He's also good friends with Anthony Bourdain who likes to comment on the blog. Ruhlman dared Bourdain to come to Cleveland and check out the food scene, which Bourdain did! They recently aired an episode of No Reservations from that escapade!

Michael Ruhlman's chef trilogy is:
- The Making of a Chef
- The Soul of a Chef - helped us become fans of Michael Symon and we are dying to go to the French Laundry
- The Reach of a Chef

He also wrote about Cleveland based things:
- House - Renovating his century old home in Cleveland Heights. We discovered afterwards that it was within walking distance from our apartment in Cleveland Heights!
- Walk on Water - Exploring the world of pediatric cardiothoracic surgery at the Cleveland Clinic. Not a fan of the Clinic but I respect the writing and the players in the book.

There are a couple more books we haven't gotten to yet but it's only a matter of time.

So why the blog? Well, book suggestions for one. But, what's much more exciting is that we are going to meet Michael Ruhlman this weekend! He's coming down to the Triangle to meet with some bloggers, check out his old stomping grounds, and check out the local food scene. Since Chris regularly checks out the ruhlman.com blog, he found out about it and now we get to have dinner with Michael Ruhlman and check out some of the great food around here! This is good as we've really only been exposed to the North Carolina barbeque and Bojangles fried chicken (so good!). So exciting!