Dishes from Bistro 83, one of the restaurants at L’Amour du Vin

Update: Parker’s Grille and Tavern in Avon Lake is no longer participating in L’Amour du Vin (9/27/2013)

Working downtown, I’m a short walk away from a wealth of dining choices. However, the restaurants opening more and more frequently in Lorain County and Cleveland’s west side have me eating (and eating well) close to home.

Nearby I can find tempting Greek food at Taki’s, an intimate Italian dinner at Fratello’s, and BBQ at Bubba’s Q. And as I blogged earlier in the year, I can never go wrong at Cafe Melissa.

Last night we tried one of the area’s newest restaurants Bistro 83.

Stopping in for dinner after work, we enjoyed their Lump Crab Mac-n-Cheese and the Smoked Mozzarella Red Pepper Ravioli. Small touches like the pesto-cream on the mac and edamame on the ravioli added fresh, intense flavors to the dishes. A long list of wines and brews, as well as a very well-priced brunch menu have Scott and I planning a return trip this weekend.

At the 16th annual L’Amour du Vin on Thursday, October 10, Bistro 83 and other Cleveland West side restaurants will be showcasing their talent in the kitchen.

Whether you’re a longtime westsider already clued into our local restaurants, or live downtown/on the eastside and want to explore more of the region’s cuisine, enter my giveaway for two tickets to the Arthritis Foundation, Great Lakes Region, Northeast Ohio’s fundraiser.

L’Amour du Vin on Oct. 10 at Avon Oaks Country Club

Presented by EMH Healthcare at the Avon Oaks Country Club, L’Amour du Vin is Lorain County’s premier wine and food tasting event.

From 6:00 pm – 9:00 pm, attendees will enjoy hearty samplings from Ahern Catering, Aladdin’s Eatery, AMP150 Restaurant & Bar, BIstro 83 (VIP Lounge), Fazio’s Restaurant, Gatherings Kitchen, Kiedrowski’s Simply Delicious Bakery, La Campagna, Legacy Restaurant & Grille, Little Devil Cupcakery, Red Gables Mesquite Grill, Seryrell’s Salsa Products, and Your Deli.

In addition to the food, the fundraiser features:

• A selection of wine from around the world curated by Heidelberg of Lorain
• An exclusive KeyBank VIP Lounge with Brown Forman barrel-aged cocktails, cuisine from Bistro 83, and free spa services from EXHALE: The Spa at EMH
• Live music from the Oberlin College Conservatory of Music Jazz Ensemble, a silent auction, and the chance to win a 5-day, 4-night Western Caribbean cruise at the Wine Bottle Raffle.

General Admission tickets cost $60 per person ($75 at the door, night-of the event) which includes your food and wine.  VIP tickets, which include access to the general party and the VIP Lounge, are $90.

Tickets can be purchased at http://lamourduvin2013.eventbrite.com or by calling Alicia at (216) 285-2822. Funds raised at L’Amour du Vin will support local programs, services and research for the nearly 1.3 million Northeast Ohioans with arthritis.

Gatherings Kitchen at last year’s L’Amour du Vin

You can also enter my giveaway for a pair of general event tickets. How to enter: Do one, some, or all five of the entries. A separate comment is needed for each.

There are 5 Easy Ways to Enter the Giveaway
**You must leave a separate comment on this post for each entry**

1) What’s your favorite Lorain County or Cleveland West side restaurant? Leave a comment on this post with your pick.

2) Follow @ArthritisFouNEO and @ADHicken on Twitter and leave one comment on this post telling me you did both.

3) If you’re a fan of Clue Into Cleveland and The Arthritis Foundation, Northeast Ohio Chapter on Facebook, leave one comment on this blog post letting me know. If you’re not yet a fan, you can become one here and here.

4) Tweet the following and leave one comment letting me know you tweeted:

Raise a glass to @ArthritisFouNEO at #LAmourduVin. Enter @ADHicken’s giveaway for your chance to win tickets: http://wp.me/p2Ukr0-2em

You can tweet once per day for additional entries. Just leave a separate comment each time you tweet.

5) Subscribe to Clue Into Cleveland via a feed tracker like Bloglovin’ or Feedly and leave one comment letting me know you did. This can also include signing up to receive email notifications in the top-right “Subscribe” section of this page.

You have until Monday, September 30 at 11:59 PM to enter. Random.org will select the winner, which I will announce on Tuesday, October 1. Remember to leave a separate comment for each entry – good luck!

Disclosure: I was invited to attend L’Amour du Vin with a guest in exchange for hosting a giveaway. My choice to post about this event and opinions are 100% my own. .

Oct. 18 at Avon Oaks Country Club

After last weekend’s trip to the Put-in-Bay Island Wine Festival, I thought I’d be all wined out. Ha! What am i talking about? I could never be tired of wine.

Good thing, since next Thursday, Oct. 18, there’s a local event whose name is literally all about embracing our love for the grape. And I have a pair of tickets to give away for it:

L’Amour du Vin is Lorain County’s premier wine and food tasting event featuring not just wines from around the world, but also some of the best restaurants from Cleveland’s western suburbs – my side of town!

From 6:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m. at Avon Oaks Country Club, guests can taste their way through 15 local eateries including AMP150, 87 West at Crocker Park, Oberlin Inn, Wood & Wine, Aladdin’s, and Kiedrowski’s Bakery (among many, many others).

A recent addition to the list of restaurants includes Tom’s Country Place; plus Wood Fire Grille and Flavor The Town Catering just announced they’ll be hosting a tasting table on the main floor in addition to L’Amour du Vin’s VIP Lounge.

Bonus! Whiskey, bourbon and vodka tastings in the VIP Lounge

Speaking of the VIP Lounge, if you need a break from wine tasting, check out that ticket option because besides exclusive dishes and specialty drinks, VIP ticketholders will be able to enjoy whiskey, bourbon and vodka tastings from Brown-Forman and  Watershed Distillery.

I’ve always found that great food and wine can only be made better when paired with good music, which will be provided throughout the evening by the Jazz Ensemble at the Oberlin College Conservatory of Music.

Celebrating its 15th year, L’Amour du Vin – presented by EMH Healthcare – is one of the key fundraisers for the Arthritis Foundation of Northeastern Ohio.

In our region alone more than 1.5 million people suffer with arthritis. But because of the funds raised through events like this, the Arthritis Foundation is able to support research and educate the public about the prevention, early diagnosis and treatment of this disease which affects one in five Americans and nearly 300,000 children.

The Arthritis Foundation has made it their mission to empower people to Take Control of their arthritis and lessen its impact through such efforts as the Arthritis Answers help-line and Aquatic and Walk with Ease fitness programs.  Here’s a bit more about the Arthritis Foundation’s impact across the country:

Click image for larger version

Tickets for L’Amour du Vin are $60 for general admission and $90 for VIP admission. You can purchase tickets by clicking here.

In addition to the funds raised through ticket sales, L’Amour du Vin’s silent auction and raffle will go to support the Arthritis Foundation of Northeastern Ohio.

Auction highlights include a number of spa and vacation getaways and packages for local restaurants and entertainment. I think the wine bottle raffle is what’s calling my name the most, though:

For $40, guests have a chance to win a five-night/four-day Western Caribbean cruise out of Miami, FL. However, no one goes home empty handed as each person who enters will win a bottle of white wine.

With L’Amour du Vin being only one week away, I’m excited to give away a pair of tickets to one lucky reader:

There are 4 Easy Ways to Enter the Giveaway

**You must leave a separate comment on this post for each entry**

1) I’m allergic to red wine (I know – worst Italian ever!) so I’m always in the market for a new white wine to try. For one entry in the giveaway, leave a comment on this post sharing your favorite white wine (type + winery or brand if you know it).

2) Facebook users: Share this link http://wp.me/pPIgG-1yF on Facebook then leave a comment letting me know you did (good for one entry).

3) Follow @ADHicken and @ArthritisFouNEO on Twitter and leave a comment letting me know you did both (good for one entry).

4) Twitter users can also get an extra entry each day for tweeting the giveaway with a link to this post. Sample tweet you can use: “I want to raise a glass to @ArthritisFouNEO at #LAmourduVin. Enter @ADHicken’s giveaway for your chance to win: http://wp.me/pPIgG-1yF”  (Each day you do this, you must leave a new comment.)

You have until Tuesday, Oct. 16 at 11:59PM to enter. On Wednesday, Oct. 17, I will select a winner using Random.org and will announce the winner’s name on my blog.  Remember to leave a separate comment for each entry – good luck!