This post is a reprise of a delicious memory from many years ago, when my husband and I were celebrating the 36th anniversary of our meeting, and Fire Food & Drink in Shaker Heights, Ohio, my favorite restaurant, was still open. You might think of this entry as a tribute: To a man, a marriage, and a memory. 

I met my husband-to-be on a snowy, romantic February 18th many, many years ago. And it may sound corny, but it was, in fact, love at first sight. Or at least first weekend. So when I heard that Doug Katz was making a “Meatless Monday vegan dinner” the same week as our “meet-iversary,” my sweet husband cleared his schedule and I made a reservation right away!

You may or may not know that I am not a vegan. I’m not even a vegetarian. But I love real food, and I love creative cooking, so that’s why I wanted to spend an evening at Fire food & drink. It was going to be a special night.

Once everyone had been seated and the restaurant was full, Doug came out of the kitchen and told us a story about how times have changed: Maybe eight years prior he had decided to make a vegetarian dinner, but three weeks later there were only 18 reservations. It took a long time to get up the nerve to try something like that again, he said, but this time the dinner — no longer vegetarian, but now vegan — sold out in days! And we were ready to eat!

It was a great celebration. Drinks were passed first; I chose a champagne-gin concoction with a sugar cube and a thick slice of orange peel. Platters of fritters made with mung beans, scallions and parsnips were placed before each diner, and we spooned over them the tamarind, coriander, and mint chutneys already set out on the tables and whose fragrances I appreciated the moment I stepped into the restaurant.

A salad of roasted chioga beets (these may have been the best beets I’ve ever eaten), leeks, pomegranate seeds, walnuts, and baby greens, all tossed with a spicy walnut vinaigrette, was my favorite of the evening. 

Chickpeas, roasted tomatoes, dry cured olives and almond couscous came in warm bowls and were a perfect choice for a very cold, windy, snowy February night.

The fourth course was a sweet potato-black bean cake decorated with a smoked chili adobo sauce with a watercress salad dressed with cilantro and lime vinaigrette. Sweet, sour, spicy and earthy, all at the same time. By now I was waaaaay full.

Dessert was called “dark rum baba, cherry compote, almond nougatine granite, candied orange.” I didn’t see any left overs anywhere.

So…thank you to Doug Katz and the staff at Fire for making the magic happen once again that night, and for all the magic you continue to create throughout Cleveland. 

And happy anniversary #46 to my very wonderful husband.