As a Cleveland blogger, event planner and food lover, any time that I get to combine those three personal passions is an a-okay thing in my book. So when Amanda kindly offered me her media passes to attend the 15th Annual Taste of the Browns
on Monday, September 9, 2013, I couldn’t be more excited or ready to say “let’s go!”

One of the biggest food and wine events of the season, nearly 1000 guests attended the event at FirstEnergy Stadium to benefit the Cleveland Foodbank.  Upon our arrival and checking in, my husband Hans and I rode the escalator to head straight to the happenings – and good friends – awaiting us at the top.

With 25 restaurants participating, we had to be ready to make smart selections in our eating plan – and we were pretty pleased with what we found from our Cleveland restaurateurs.  Here’s – for the most part – what we sampled that evening.

Clockwise from top left:

• The Greenhouse Tavern/Sawyer’s Street Frites’ display
• GHT’s sweet chili peach confit wings
• Cleveland Browns Hospitality Group’s Pan Seared Lake Erie Walleye
• Little Devil Cupcakery’s assorted cupcakes

Clockwise from top left:

• El Carnicero y Momocho’s house smoked trout and pork belly guacamole
• A Brut/Chardonnay blend care of Vintage Wine Distributor
• Players on Madison’s Caribbean tuna tartar with spicy plantain chip
• Sans Souci’s Ohio City Rosemary Truffle pierogi

Clockwise from top left:

• Market Garden Brewery’s crab and corn salad
• Deagan’s Kitchen & Bar’s jerk chicken drumstick with pineapple mango salsa
• Lago Restaurant & Wine Bar’s potato and basil wrapped tuna
• Pier W’s Hawaii big eye tuna with local corn polenta and tomato jam

Our tip top favorites of the night?

For the lady: All of the tuna options, especially from Pier W and Lago.

For the gentleman: GHT’s confit wings, Cleveland Browns Hospitality Group’s Pan Seared Lake Erie Walleye and the chocolate peanut butter brownie from Little Devil Cupcakery.

Mutually? We both loved Deagan’s Kitchen & Bar’s chicken drumstick – and the super sweetness of their staff serving the food.

But I couldn’t forget to mention a PIP favorite – AMP 150 Restaurant and Bar  – and Chef Jeff Jarrett’s tasty offerings in the VIP Lounge:

Left to Right: AMP 150’s braised short rib slider with vegetable slaw and fresh tomato soup and salad combo

By this point, we were stuffed and ready to check out the other event features.

The Silent Auction featured 64 packages including unique Cleveland experiences, signed Browns memorabilia, vacation accommodations and more. Raffle prizes included club level tickets to an upcoming Browns game, and a “Tailgater” Dining Package for 30 people courtesy of a pretty well known Clevelander:

That would be from Browns legend Al “Bubba” Baker (not my husband, although Hans is gaining quite the NASA following these days).  Fans mingled with Cleveland Browns alumni and current players all night long, including event chair Joe Thomas, Alex Mack, Greg Little and more.  I might have got a bit excited when chatting with Bubba – sorry if I left a bruise on your arm, Mr. Baker! This opportunity is a very special feature of this event, making an extra delectable Taste of the Browns extra memorable.

LONG STORY SHORT: In the process of all the dishes being served and the pictures being taking, there was some serious money being raised for the Cleveland Foodbank.  For every dollar donated, the Foodbank provides enough food for four meals. That is going to allow the organization to serve thousands upon thousands of Greater Clevelanders. And that is better than any house-made, house-cured foodie favorite that I could buy. Congrats to the Foodbank for another successful fundraiser, and thank you for allowing me the opportunity to enjoy the experience!

Keep up to date with all the happenings at the Cleveland Foodbank by following the non-profit on Twitter and on Facebook.

Connect with Alicia from Poise in Parma on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest.

Disclosure: I was invited to attend Taste of the Browns in exchange for previewing the event and hosting a giveaway. I was unable to attend, but was able to give my passes to someone else in exchange for guest blogging about it.

Hanging out with Poise in Parma at Jump Back Ball 2011

While I take a vacation from, well, everything, I’m so happy to have Poise in Parma, WhyCLE, and HungryinCLE guest blog for me. Today we take a trip out to Parma with an expert on the neighborhood — Alicia from Poise in Parma, who clues us into her favorite places in this Cleveland suburb.

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HEY CLEVELANDERS! Greetings from your biggest suburb – Parma! So I know you’ve heard all the jokes: that we have pink flamingos in our yard, that we wear white socks with black shoes and that we eat a lot of pierogies (okay, so that one is true). We’ve had our share of controversial things go down over the years, but believe it or not, Parma’s quite the neat place to live.

While Amanda does quite the fabulous job cluing you all into the fabulous things going on around the Greater Cleveland area on a regular basis, I thought I would take this guest post as a chance to clue you into Parma. Gotta share the love on all those hot spots and hidden gems that I know and love!!

Little Polish Diner

If you read my blog regularly, you know that I’m gluten intolerant, so I cannot indulge in the well known Parma delicacy of pierogies. But if I wasn’t, I would be at the Little Polish Diner on a weekly basis! This little restaurant is known for their array of pierogi, pork chops, stuffed cabbage and other Polish dishes. The restaurant was kind enough to feed us runners after the recent Run for the Pierogies 5K in July:

(Digging into the post-run pierogies with WhyCLE?)

Stearns Historical Farm and Society

Yes, Parma has a farm and yes it is located across the way from Parmatown Mall. Get your Target shopping in then roll across Ridge Road to find this historical location.

(picture via their Facebook page)

I remember taking field trips here when I was young and always daydreaming about riding the horses that they kept in their pasture outside the barn.  In addition to being the current home of the Parma Historical Society, the location hosts a Farmers Market on Sundays from August through October. They even hold social events such as their ice cream social that was recently rescheduled for August 28th.

Mizu Sushi

You would never believe that my favorite Cleveland sushi joint is located in a small strip mall across the street from Sam’s Club on Brookpark Road. But there lies Mizu Sushi. With a wide array of all things “sushi”, there’s something for everyone – from the novice to the experimental.

I love also that they honor Restaurant.com gift certificates. Let’s just say it’s quite impressive how much sashimi, maki rolls and green tea two ladies can go through in two hours!

Rudy’s Strudel and Bakery

There are many fine bakery options in our suburb, but I’d like to introduce you to Rudy’s. Not only do they have some excellent pierogies, Rudy’s carries some of the best strudel around. This picture speaks for itself:

(picture from Rudy’s website)

In addition, they also carry some tasty kolachi, a type of cookie popular in central European cultures. The ones at Rudy’s are so good, my Aunt Linda requests we bring her some every time we come to visit her on the other side of the country.

The West Creek Preservation

Not a lot of people know about this portion of the Cleveland Metroparks. The West Creek Preservation was recently created in the West Creek Preserve, a 9-mile creek that travels through Parma, Brooklyn Heights, Independence and Seven Hills.  Last year, my hubby and I went on some fun trail runs in this area that is located right in our backyard.

Unfortunately now, the tricky thing is they are doing construction on the main entrance area on West Ridgewood Drive which won’t be completed until 2012. However, there are other entrance ways to still get your outdoor fix on in the Parma area.

Honey Hut Ice Cream

No Parma list is complete without a mention of the Southside’s most coveted frozen treat shop. I’ve been going to Honey Hut since I was a newborn. The location in Old Brooklyn used to have a life sized cow statue and all children in the neighborhood had been placed on it at some point in their youths. Now, our family frequents the State Road location in Parma for all our favorite flavors including their infamous butter pecan, banana peanut butter and coconut. SO GOOD.

So if you find yourself in Parma, check out one of these or any of our hidden gems. And if you need some help finding them, don’t be afraid to stop by Poise in Parma for some guidance!

About the Guest Blogger

Alicia is the happy blogger behind the healthy balance blog, Poise in Parma. She is a proud lifelong Clevelander, full-time event planner, gluten-free runner and golden retriever lover. For more of her love of all things in the Northeastern Ohio area, follow her on Twitter at @poiseinparma and “like” Poise in Parma on Facebook.

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Have you entered the giveaway for 2 tickets to Taste of the Browns? You have until Aug. 29 at 11:59 pm to enter!

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In honor of the International Children's Festival's theme, I was happy to share my experience from this weekend on PoiseInParma.com

This past weekend I was really happy to be able to volunteer at the 2nd Annual International Children’s Festival through PlayhouseSquare Partners.

So when blend (blogger friend) Alicia from Poise in Parma asked me to guest blog during her crazy busy May, I knew immediately I wanted to blog about my experience at the Festival and my involvement in Partners.

Read the post here: Guest Post: Clue Into Cleveland on PlayhouseSquare Partners.

One of the reasons Alicia is so busy this month is that as the Director of Special Events for the Northeastern Ohio Chapter of the Arthritis Foundation, she’ll be rocking out the 17th annual Cleveland Magazine Silver Spoon Awards Party, whose proceeds benefit the Arthritis Foundation.

The strolling food and wine tasting event on May 26 at the Cleveland Marriott Downtown will feature thirty of Northeast Ohio’s best restaurants and eight international wineries (check out the full list of participating restaurants).

General admission tickets are $85/VIP tickets are $135 which go to support local programs and services for the nearly one and a half million Northeast Ohioans with doctor-diagnosed arthritis and the critical arthritis research conducted at local institutions in Northeastern Ohio.

You can purchase Silver Spoon tickets here and should follow Alicia on Poise in Parma as she shares her journey to find balance in this crazy town between her family, career, food, fitness and one amazing golden retriever, as well as the discoveries she makes in Believeland along the way.

And, if you haven’t entered my Mini Golf Par-Tee giveaway, you have until 11:59pm on Wednesday.  Twitter users can get an extra entry each day for tweeting  so if you’ve already entered – you have 3 more chances to tweet it today, Tuesday and Wednesday. Good luck!