Although Mad Men will end its seven-season run next year, the popular AMC show has made the 1960s cool again. From bourbon to swing dresses, nods to the era have popped up in today's culture and how we eat isn't an exception. The idea of restaurant showmanship — think elevated tableside classics such as flambeed desserts and carved roasts — are trending across the country and Cleveland isn't holding back. Read on for three highlights of our city's tableside meal revival.
Bananas Foster
Flambeed desserts are popular tableside dishes, but they typically putter out with a split-second flash of flames. Not at the Velvet Tango Room, though, where old-school presentations are an art. "It's quite a dramatic show," says owner Paulius Nasvytis. He starts by searing bananas in a very hot, elongated pan, then adds sugar, rum, pecans, fresh lemons and banana liqueur. "When you ignite it, [it] goes up almost all the way to the ceiling," he says, which both caramelizes the sugars and wows diners.
$15, 2095 Columbus Road, Cleveland, 216-241-8869, velvettangoroom.com
Caneton de Rouen a la Presse
This meal at Edwins Restaurant goes all the way back to the early 1800s in Rouen, France. Starting with a whole roast duck, the chef separates the legs and breast from the bones tableside. What's left gets placed in an antique press to release the extra blood and cartilage, which is then cooked into a sauce. "Some people are enamored by it," says CEO Brandon Chrostowski of the process. "[For others], it might be too barbaric."
$125 for two, 13101 Shaker Square, Cleveland, 216-921-3333, edwinsrestaurant.org
Dover Sole
At the nearly 40-year-old Italian restaurant Giovanni's, guests can choose from several tableside desserts as well as a classic Dover sole presentation with accompanying potato puree and French beans. "We cook the whole Dover sole and present it tableside, then we filet it and serve it," says owner Carl Quagliata. It's a tricky technique due to the fish's delicate flesh and odd shape, which resembles a flattened football. But he's had the time to get it right. "We've done the same thing ever since we opened."
$55, 25550 Chagrin Blvd., Beachwood, 216-831-8625, giovanniscleveland.com
