Congratulations, entry 26 – Franklin Mayse, for winning this giveaway!
Please reply to my email by the morning of 5/13 to confirm you can attend Silver Spoon.

Cleveland Magazine’s Silver Spoon Awards Party, May 14

When it comes to Cleveland food events, I like to prepare in advance. That means scouting which restaurants are going to be there, developing a game plan for the most efficient tasting route, and getting my appetite in shape.

There are some events I can get away with going in blind; however, if there’s anything I’ve learned from previous years, the Silver Spoon Awards Party is not one of those events.

I mean that in the best way.

When I’m asked for a list of my favorite Cleveland food events, a small handful come to mind. Year after year, Silver Spoon is consistently tops.

Photo via Silver Spoon CLE, by Lane Baldwin Photography

Each year, Cleveland Magazine readers vote on restaurants that are the best at what they do. Whether that’s pizza, brunch, sushi, Greek food, dessert, happy hour … the list goes on. The restaurant finalists are then invited to show off their signature dish in May to raise money for the Arthritis Foundation, Great Lakes Region, Northeastern Ohio.

Add on top of that, wine from eight international vinters, cocktails from Brown-Forman, a silent auction, late-night after-party in the VIP lounge, and loads of other surprises, and now you know why I prepare like I’m going to run a marathon. 

This year’s Silver Spoon Party promises to be bigger than  ever because  it’s the 20th Anniversary. On Wednesday, May 14, over 40 restaurants will take over 200 Public Square. 

20 Years of Cleveland Magazine’s Silver Spoon Awards

And today I’m happy to not only share a sneak peek at what this year’s restaurants have planned, but also 2 tickets for you to win!

Here are some of the dishes you’ll be salivating over:

• Aladdin’s Eatery: Jasmine’s Favorite and Lebanese Salata
• Blue Point Grille: Blue Point oysters
• Bubba’s-Q World Famous Bar-B-Q: De-boned baby back rib steak and Texas style brisket
• EDWINS Leadership and Restaurant Institute: Rabbit pie and ratatouille
• Felice Urban Café: Grilled Calamari Salad with New Potato Confit
• Great Lakes Brewing Co.: A tasting of a variety of beers and Bananas Foster Mousse Cups
• Humble Wine Bar: Chocolate towers and cheese cakes
• Jammy Buggars: PB&J Meatball Slider
• Luca Italian Cuisine: Sacchetti al Tartufata Bianco, white truffle and ricotta stuffed sacchetti, black truffle cream sauce, aged fig balsamic
• Lucky’s Café: Mini Reuben, corned beef, sauerkraut, on rye with Thousand Island dressing, all house made topped with swiss
• Master Pizza: Pepperoni, plain, sausage, and the award-winning “Popeye” pizzas
• Pacific East Coventry: Assortment of sushi
• Paladar Latin Kitchen & Rum Bar: Braised Beef Ropa Vieja
• Pearl of the Orient – East: Phoenix Salad (smoked shredded duck breast, chicken breast, agar agar, honeydew, cantaloupe, sesame seeds, sesame vinaigrette)
• Pearl of the Orient – West: Strip Steak with Hoisin Sauce and Crispy Wonton
• Phnom Penh: Vegetable Kuy Teav Chha Khmer; Chicken Preah Vihear
• Pier W: Crawfish etouffee and zucchini bloom fritter, fava bean emulsion
• Salmon Dave’s Pacific Grille: House cured wild salmon with citrus barbecue sauce and a mango poblano salsa
• Society Lounge: Ramos “Bathtub Gin” Fizz, Kegged and Carbonated Moscow Mule and Barrel Aged Woodford Manhattans
• Spice Kitchen + Bar: Seared Ramp Ravioli with green garlic sauce and micro greens
• Sweet Melissa: Chocolate covered strawberries, cannoli, chocolate cake, red velvet cake, NY style cheesecake, keylime tarts, cookies, and more
• Taki’s Greek Kitchen: Lamb chops w/mavrodaphine syrup, and spicy feta dip w/pita chips
• Toast: Pigs in a blanket
• Ty Fun Thai Bistro: Pad Thai
• Zoup! Euclid & East 4th Street: Lobster bisque and chicken pot pie

Check out the full list of participating restaurants to see who else will be there. Personally, I can’t wait to discover what Cork & Cleaver, DANTE/Ginko, Fired Up Tacos, Lolita, and Mama Roberto’s have up their sleeve.

Hungry yet? You can purchase tickets for the Silver Spoon Awards Party online for $150 (VIP) and $100 (general admission).  Or you can enter to win two general admission tickets right here!

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

1) Leave a comment telling me which dish or restaurant you’re most excited for.

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

3) Follow @ADHicken and @SilverSpoonCLE on Twitter and leave a comment letting me know you did both.

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

I want to win tickets to @SilverSpoonCLE! Enter @ADHicken’s #SilverSpoonCLE giveaway: http://wp.me/p2Ukr0-2uQ #CLE

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 Sunday, May 11 at 11:59PM to enter.  On Monday, May 12, Random.org will select a winner and I’ll announce the winner’s name on my blog.  Remember to leave a separate comment for each entry – good luck!

Disclosure: I was invited to attend Silver Spoon with a guest and give away 2 tickets on my blog. My opinions and the choice to post about this event are my own.

My favorite sign at this weekend’s C2E2

I wish every day could start with a Stormtrooper hug. Well, that and by giving away tickets to an event everyone is as excited for as the Silver Spoon Awards Party!

After removing a pingback and putting the remaining entries into Random.org, that winner is…

Entry #51. Congratulations, Jessica B, you’ve won 2 tickets to Cleveland Magazine’s Silver Spoon Awards Party on May 15! I will email you today to confirm.

There are still plenty of opportunities to win tickets. Check out Cleveland’s a Plum’s giveaway going on right now, WhyCLE’s giveaway starting later this week, and then Heather from Mile 26 and More.

You can also purchase tickets online to the 19th annual Silver Spoon Awards Party.

Bac’s guacamole and wonton crisps at Silver Spoon

Each year, the Silver Spoon Party not just celebrates Cleveland’s favorite chefs and restaurants, but also raises money for the Arthritis Foundation, Great Lakes Region, Northeastern Ohio.  Last year, it raised $116,000+ for local arthritis research, programs and services.

If you can’t make it to Silver Spoon, though, the Arthritis Foundation has a few other ways you can have fun while supporting their mission this Spring:

Arthritis Foundation Walk at Cleveland Metroparks Zoo – May 4

This Saturday starting at 8:30 a.m., join the Arthritis Foundation for a walk around the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo.

There’s both a 5K and one-mile course that participants can walk for friends and family with arthritis. Arthritis information and family activities will also be available.

The walk registration and donation will get you free entry to the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo for the day.

Learn more and register at arthritiswalkcleveland.kintera.org.

Cedar Point’s Ride for a Reason – June 15

I may change my tune after Gatekeeper opens next month, but Millennium Force is by far my favorite coaster at Cedar Point.  (It stills scares me a bit each time I sit down to ride!)

And now AF supporters and coaster enthusiasts can enjoy one hour of unlimited rides on it on June 15.

A $35 registration fee gets you Millennium Force ride time from 8-9am before the park opens, as well as a Ride for a Reason t-shirt.

For every additional $50 you raise, you’ll earn a raffle ticket for a 4-hour VIP tour of Cedar Point, 2 tickets to HalloWeekends, and a Cedar Point gift bag.

You can register for this exclusive ride time at 2013rideforareason.kintera.org (park admission is not included).

Cedar Point is also offering a special discount to Arthritis Foundation supporters that visit May 11 through June 30.

Visit www.cedarpoint.com, enter ARTHRITIS in the promo code box at the upper right of the page, and you can purchase a regular one-day adult admission ticket for only $37.

That’s over $18 off the regular price, plus three dollars from every ticket sale will go to the Arthritis Foundation.

Arthritis Foundation Save-the-Dates: Oct. 10 and Dec. 8 

While October and December seem far off, the Arthritis Foundation already has two of their best events lined up.

This year’s L’Amour du Vin takes place at Avon Oaks on Thursday, October 10, while the Jingle Bell Run/Walk for Arthritis returns to Legacy Village on Sunday, December 8.

I had a great time attending L’Amour du Vin and volunteering at Jingle Bell for the first time last year. So keep an eye on arthritis.org/ohio/neo in the coming months for more info about those events!

Disclosure: I was invited to give away 2 tickets to Silver Spoon and attend with a guest. My opinions and the choice to highlight these events are my own.

Silver Spoon 2013: May 15, 6-9pm

This May, Cleveland Magazine unveils their list of Northeast Ohio’s “Best Restaurants” as voted on by readers – from Best BBQ and Sunday Brunch to Best Small Plates and Wine List in the city.

The winning restaurants are then invited to showcase a signature dish at the Silver Spoon Awards Party on May 15.

I volunteered at Silver Spoon a couple years ago and I’m not exaggerating when I say it’s in my top 2 of favorite Cleveland tasting events.

And this year I’m downright giddy to host a
Silver Spoon Awards Party Giveaway!

Deagan’s at the 2011 Silver Spoon Awards Party

The chefs always go all-out in their dishes and 2013 is going to be the biggest one yet with 40+ restaurants and 8 international winemakers taking over the InterContinental Cleveland.

A special VIP Lounge features exclusive food from Spice Kitchen + Bar and Hodge’s Cleveland, cocktails from Brown-Forman, Great Lakes beer tastings, organic liquor tastings from Watershed Distillery and a late night snack from Angelo’s Pizza.

Bid in the Silver Spoon Silent Auction and you could leave with one of the impressive packages they’ve put together: like a trip to New York City featuring tickets to ABC’s The Chew, an afternoon tour of NYC with Michael Symon, and dinner at Bar Americain!

This much fun may wear you out. So new this year, Caruso’s Coffee will be providing a specialty tasting station of Zack Bruell’s line of coffees.

And all of it benefits the Arthritis Foundation, Great Lakes Region, Northeastern Ohio!

Sweet Melissa’s delicious dessert tower at 2011 Silver Spoon Party

Proceeds from Silver Spoon fund critical arthritis research conducted at Northeast Ohio institutions, as well as local programs and services for the nearly one and a half million Northeast Ohioans with arthritis.

When we were at the Silver Spoon Ticket Kickoff last month, a young family spoke about the effect arthritis has on their life. Many people think arthritis only affects older people. In this family’s case, their daughter suffers from Juvenile Arthritis.

As they explained, a simple tumble while playing can trigger major problems and the Arthritis Foundation has been there for them every step of the way.

Learn more about the Foundation’s impact:

Silver Spoon tickets cost $85 ($100 at the door), VIP tickets $135 ($150 at the door) and can be purchased online. You can also enter to win 2 tickets in my Silver Spoon Giveaway!

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

1) Check out the list of participating restaurants and leave a comment with your favorite.

2) Follow @SilverSpoonCLE and @ArthritisFouNEO on twitter and leave a comment on this post telling me you did.

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

4) Tweet: “I want to party at the @SilverSpoonCLE awards on May 15! Enter @ADHicken’s giveaway and you could win 2 tickets: http://wp.me/p2Ukr0-1Zj″. Get an extra entry each day for tweeting! (Each day you do this, you must leave a new comment.)

5) Subscribe to receive Clue Into Cleveland blog posts in your inbox or feed reader like Feedly and leave a 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, April 29 at 11:59PM to enter. On Tuesday, April 30, 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!

Disclosure: I was invited to attend the Silver Spoon Awards Party and give away 2 tickets on my blog. My opinions and the choice to post about this event are my own.

As can be seen from this snapshot of the recent Silver Spoon Awards, Cleveland is full of people hungry to sample the wide variety of skilled chefs that call Cleveland home.

UPDATE: Chris Hodgson’s Brick & Mortar Pop-Up has been rescheduled to July 11 and 13.

While there is certainly no shortage of amazing restaurants in Cleveland, there often seems to be a shortage in time to try them all out.

Fortunately, the Cleveland food scene has remedied the situation with culinary events that help the community more easily explore the chefs and restaurants that make their home here.

Below is a sampling of a few recent and upcoming food events. The events listed below – much like Chef Jam and Emerging Chefs – don’t just serve up delicious food but also provide unique access to our vibrant food community.

The team from Deagan's Kitchen serving up

Silver Spoon Awards

I’ve been meaning to write about this for awhile. The Silver Spoon Awards was an excellent strolling food event that kicked off the last couple of weeks of delicious dinners.  The event on May 26 benefited the Northeast Ohio Chapter of the Arthritis Foundation. Scott and I volunteered for the first couple hours of the night at the silent auction and then explored the restaurants that were there.

The restaurants that were featured included the winners of Cleveland Magazine’s Silver Spoon Awards. My favorites? Deagan’s Kitchen‘s shrimp tacos (can’t wait to try this restaurant out!), AMP 150‘s Vidalia onion soup (a superb seasonal alternative to their mushroom soup), bacon guacamole with fried wonton crisps from Bac in Tremont (I never want to eat guac with tortilla chips again), and pretty much every dessert at Sweet Melissa‘s table.

However, the best part of the evening was learning more about the Arthritis Foundation’s impact. While we sampled some of the dishes, we met a couple whose son was diagnosed with arthritis at only a few years old. They shared their story of how the Foundation has provided more than just access to health services, but more importantly a network of friends and family that have supported them over the last ten years. The conversation demonstrated the true value of this organization.

You can learn more about how to contribute to the Arthritis Foundation by visiting northeasternohio.arthritis.org, and for more reviews of the Silver Spoon Awards, check out WhyCLE and CLE Food and Brews.

Chef Jonathon Sawyer's latest project kicks off by hosting Chefs Chris Hodgson and Lee Anne Wong in Chef Sawyer's new Noodlecat space.

Brick & Mortar Pop-Ups

From the mad mind of food-obsessed Chef Jonathon Sawyer comes Brick & Mortar Pop-ups.  These pop-up restaurants are an avenue for chefs to experiment with different concepts and unique dining experiences in a temporary setting. The first two pop-ups will give a sneak peek to Chef Sawyer’s new space Noodlecat on 240 Euclid Ave. as it plays host to Food Truck Master of the Universe Chris Hodgson and Bravo’s Top Chef contestant Lee Anne Wong.

On July 11 and 13, Chef Hodgson will be serving up a menu of B.E.L.T. Steam Bun, Rib-Eye Taco, Peking Quail, and Orange “Chicken” (which is really going to include orange glazed crispy shortbreads). Chef Lee Anne Wong follows up on June 23 and 24 with Easy Japaneasy – a selection of “fingers, sticks and slurp.”

Tickets for these dinners are $50 each. Chef Hodgson’s tickets can be purchased via Eventbrite at the link above; to rsvp for Chef Lee Anne Wong’s dinner, email contact@brickandmortarpopups.com.

What I particularly like about this concept is Chef Sawyer opening up Noodlecat early and sharing it with other chefs – giving them an opportunity to be inspired by a new space and exposing new audiences to their creativity.

Michele Iacobelli-Buckholtz at Murray Hill Market introduces a selection of cured meats, fresh parmigiano-reggiano cheese, prosciutto wrapped figs, and turkey on pepper jack drizzled with cranberry mayonnaise at the second stop on NEO Food Tours' Little Italy event.

NEO Food Tours

The last NEO Food Tours in Little Italy wasn’t just fun, but a learning experience as I got to explore a neighborhood I had only scratched the surface of on previous visits. And who better to guide us through the streets than La Dolce Vita’s gregarious owner Terry Tarantino?

The menu included a delicious caprese, homemade charcuterie (my favorite being prosciutto wrapped figs), Michaelangelo’s tortellini and gnocchi with house Bolognese featuring duck and veal, and eggplant and white bean/tuna crostinis (my favorite dish of the entire night).

For a full review of the evening, read Hungry in CLE’s post Mangia! Mangia! You can also catch a glimpse from the coverage on NewsChannel5.

Although the next tour of Tremont on June 22nd is sold-out, tours will continue to be offered on the third Wednesday of each month with an exploration of E4th on July 20th. In addition to these signature dinners, NEO Food Tours will soon be offering gastro-bike events, market tours and brewery/wine tours.

More information can be found by following NEO Food Tours on Facebook or @NEOFoodTours.

***

I love these sort of events and definitely recommend them because they allow you to easily explore what’s out there — and as I’ve discovered the last few weeks there’s a lot!

Disclosures: Volunteers at the Silver Spoon Awards were able to attend the event for free and enjoy the food while not on their assigned shift.  Additionally, I volunteer with NEO Food Tours assisting in PR/community outreach.

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!