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Food Network star Guy Fieri raves about Cleveland's food scene: Restaurant Row

by Joe Crea/Plain Dealer Food and Restaurants Editor Source: Cleveland.com



Food Network"Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives" host Guy Fieri was in Cleveland last week, taping segments for his hit show on Food Network. Fieri will be back in town this November as one of the stars of the 2009 Fabulous Food Show.

Any good host wants to make sure a guest had a good time, right? So I checked in with Food Network's star (and, mega-madman) Guy Fieri to find out what he thought about last week's visit to Cleveland, filming segments for "Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives."

"Man, it was off-the-hook," Fieri said, on a break from filming two shows -- simultaneously -- at his home in California's Sonoma Valley. "It's not that often that after I leave a place, with all the stuff running through my life and through my head, that a week later great things still come to mind."
Well . . . such as?
"The Parmageddon [sandwich] you get at Melt [Bar and Grilled] is incredible -- I still think about it, one of the best sandwiches ever, and Matt [owner Matt Fish] is truly crazed!
"You've got some history there -- so when we went to Sterle's [Slovenian Country House], come on! That place is a fortress, and there's so much nostalgia behind it as well. Good food in a neat old building.
"Momocho! Wonderful! I also like that it's atypical -- outside-of-the-box Mexican, 'mod Mex' he [chef-owner Eric Williams] calls it.
"And down-home, homemade food at Lucky [Lucky's Cafe]. There's so much real energy behind it!" (Dig: Fieri talks in exclamation points, at a pace so exuberant his tempo can't be captured by anyone shy of a jazz percussionist.)

Fieri, a Columbus native, gets back to Ohio occasionally to visit his aunt, Polly Barrett, and cousins, the Langermeiers, who live in the Rocky River-Westlake area. "Every time I go to Cleveland, I've had a nice time," he says. "There's a cool energy going on -- Cedar Point, Put-in-Bay, and now my buddy Michael Symon and his places. It's just an awesome, awesome city. You guys have killer restaurants. I know you're known for the Indians, the Browns and the Cavs and the Rock and Roll Hall -- but you've got to be known for fantastic eateries."