The Chubby Cook (3365 Richmond Road #225, Beachwood) offers grab-and-go lunches, catering and cooking classes

I headed out to my old Eastside stomping grounds this week to try a new food concept from Scott Groth – The Chubby Cook in Beachwood.

What started as a popular food blog featuring Scott’s photographs, reviews and recipes has transformed into a brick and mortar establishment for grab-and-go lunches, catering and recreational cooking classes.  Located at 3365 Richmond Road, Suite #225 in Beachwood, tucked away near Moxie’s and Hiroshi’s Pub, The Chubby Cook’s new kitchen is fully stocked, staffed and ready to go.

Here’s a sampling of what you’ll find when you head over there:

At The Chubby Cook's opening party, they put out a huge sampling of what you can get there including their awesome 'blt' tomato poppers, hummus, meats and cheeses.

Grab-and-go breakfast and lunch

Fresh juice and green lemonade every day, breakfast options coming soon, and a daily salad and sandwich option with an assortment of sides and desserts is what you can expect when you stop by their store. Like The Chubby Cook on Facebook or follow @TheChubbyCook to keep track of their daily specials.

Today’s sandwich (6/17): Pulled Pork Friday featuring a brioche bun, pulled pork, BBQ sauce and Carolina Coleslaw. They’re also dishing their Southwestern Salad with a Chipotle Vinaigrette.

Fresh, high-quality ingredients like those found in these salad cups are found in all of The Chubby Cook's 'Out-of-the-Box' catered lunches.

Catering

Scott and his team will bring their fantastic food to you. Their “Outside the Box” Lunches offer the same high-quality, seasonal ingredients you’ll find in their Grab and Go lunches — very much unlike what you think of when you get a boxed lunch.

And don’t let the name fool you, The Chubby Cook places a huge emphasis on healthy food using organic and local whenever possible. While at their grand opening, I talked with the team about alternatives for vegans, vegetarians and individuals who are gluten-intolerant — and The Chubby Cook will be cooking up a variety of options for these often-under-served markets as well.

The Chubby Cook's clean, organized and nicely-sized kitchen will play host to their cooking classes.

Cooking Classes

Starting this Summer, The Chubby Cook will present a series of recreational cooking classes in their commercial kitchen. Their motto is “Everyone cooks everything” – meaning, they not only offer programming for students of all levels, but each student will have an indepth experience cooking the entire dish.

The smaller curriculum for each class means you’ll walk away fully understanding the techniques and science behind what you just cooked. Upcoming classes including a pizza and flatbread workshop, grilling classes and a knife skills class where they also offer knife sharpening by Master Tradesmen.  I have zero confidence when it comes to cooking — so the last one is probably where I’ll be starting.

The winner for the evening: The Chubby Cook's homemade lemon ice cream with blueberry on top.

At this week’s grand opening, we got a taste of what The Chubby Cook will be offering. Large sandwiches with crisp bread and delicious meats and cheese, stuffed ‘blt’ tomato poppers, and a fresh salad with crisp noodles and a tasty dressing were some of my favorites. (By the way, if anyone knows what was in the dressing, please tell me — it was so good and I forgot to ask!)

However, the winner was Scott’s homemade lemon ice cream.  You typically find lemon ice or sorbet, but Scott switched up how he prepared the custard and other ingredients resulting in a truly creamy, lemon dream. Plus he placed fresh blueberry syrup on top. Now that he has a recipe he likes (and who wouldn’t like it – it’s good!), he plans on doing the same with other fruits like lime and maybe orange.

Although Beachwood is a little bit of a drive for me from the westside (lucky, Eastsiders!), a car ride is always justified when it’s for good food. And The Chubby Cook has plenty of it!

The Chubby Cook 411:

• Located at 3365 Richmond Road #225, Beachwood, Ohio
• “Never Trust a Skinny Chef”
• The Chubby Cook on Facebook
• @TheChubbyCook