Bac's banh mi vs Paladar's cubano

Ethnic favorites that are true to their roots

[ Bac ]

[ Paladar ]

The bahn mi is a classic Vietnamese sandwich with a French influence. "The word actually means 'bread,' but it also refers to the sandwich," says Bac Nguyen, owner of Bac Asian American Bistro & Bar (      ). "The classic style has some kind of pâté and a collection of different meats." Those meats usually include ham. The sandwich is a natural fit for Bac's authentic pan-Asian menu, but that's not the only place you'll find it. "It seems every gastropub has some version of it now," Nguyen says.

Brought to the states by Cuban immigrants, the cubano sandwich was originally a working-class favorite. "The basic components are Cuban bread, which is similar to a baguette, and some mustard," says Robert Cabrales, executive chef at Paladar Latin Kitchen & Rum Bar (      ). "Roasted and pulled pork is a major component, and you need to have cheese. After that, there is room for interpretation." Originally, Paladar had the cubano on just the lunch menu, but it was so popular, it stayed for dinner and happy hour.

What makes it true to the traditional preparation?

"This is the classic style, [but] the portion is a little bigger. ...It has the pickled carrots, cucumbers and cilantro. The sandwich is meant to almost have the characteristics of a salad. That's why all the crisp veggies are on there."

"We try to stay as close to the original as possible. We have braised and pulled pork shoulder. We chose to stick with ham. We found that people identify and recognize the version with ham more than the version with salami."

What makes it new?

"Nothing. I keep it pretty traditional. The whole point of my menu is to bring to Cleveland what I consider to be authentic Asian cuisine. I try not to mess with it too much."

"We use a honey mustard. We take some Dijon mustard and mix in some organic honey, and that's our Cuban mustard."

What will it remind me of?

"It's hard to compare to any other sandwich. ...It's similar to a cubano, although it's toasted, not pressed."

"It's unique in and of itself, which is a great thing. I can't draw a comparison to any other sandwich."

Jammy Buggars vs Deagan's Kitchen & Bar

Inventive bar food, great beer, another winner

[ Jammy Buggars ]

[ Deagan's ]

Jim Sprenger opened Jammy Buggars (      ) (British slang for "lucky guy") with the intention of creating a restaurant that was "just like being at your mother's house but with better beer." He has certainly done that, but the fact that our readers voted the Lakewood spot as this year's Best New Restaurant also speaks to the quality. "Instead of being just another bar on the corner with pub food, we decided to put a trained chef in the kitchen and take things up a notch," Sprenger says.

A gastropub with a solid reputation for its offerings of craft beer, Deagan's Kitchen & Bar (      ) — which was last year's Best New Restaurant — has a wide-ranging menu with an array of lunch and dinner specials that change daily. "We focus on buying local whenever possible," says owner Daniel Deagan. "We use a lot of stuff from The Chef's Garden in Huron, so the chef changes the menu seasonally." The place even has a good selection of vegan offerings.

What's your favorite dish on the menu?

"The cheese steak. Instead of it being your traditional, Philly-style cheese steak, we take grilled filet mignon and mix it with roasted shallots, wild mushrooms and aged provolone. You can't go wrong there."

"The crisp eggplant. ... It's thin-sliced eggplant, which we bread and then fry and then roll and fill with cheese. It comes on a bed of the chef's grandmother's roasted plum tomato sauce."

What's one dish here you'll find nowhere else?

"We get the meat for our burgers from Green Vista Farm in Wooster. ...We take the flank steak, brisket, sirloin, tenderloin — things you'd find at a fancy joint — and we ... turn it into a wonderful burger."

"Spicy shrimp tacos. It's the mix of the spiciness from the shrimp and the creaminess from the guacamole and the fresh bite from the micro-cilantro, which we get from The Chef's Garden."

What's your most unusual twist on a bar food staple?

"We do a half-inch, thick-cut fry. Everyone else's is smaller. ...The restaurant I grew up in — my dad's place — used half-inch-cut fries. ... We've recreated that, maybe with a hat tip to the old man."

"We sell a lot of chicken and waffles. ... The chef uses cayenne butter. The salt from the chicken breast mixes with the sweetness of the waffle and is finished with a local Ohio blackberry maple syrup."

Pura Vida's cauliflower toast vs Fire's asparagus salad

The stuff we hated as kids, reinvented

[ Pura Vida ]

[ Fire ]

Executive chef Scott Coffman says he spent two years perfecting the cauliflower toast on Pura Vida's menu. "We steam the cauliflower and turn it into a paste and fold in some flour to bind it," he says. "We put fresh ginger, coriander, lime and pine nuts to help it. We spread that on the bread and fry it in sesame oil and add scallion pesto. The result is crispy bread with a sweet and spicy sauce to go with it."

The asparagus salad at Fire Food and Drink is served with house-made pancetta, local greens and an egg-and-caper oil dressing. "[The pancetta] cures for a time and is sliced very thin and roasted and gets crispy," says owner and chef Doug Katz. "For this preparation, we'll blanch it and lay two crispy, sliced pieces next to the asparagus, which will be local when we can get it."

Why didn't we like it as kids?

"The reason mostly is because of the way people cooked it. ...You put it in a pot and boil it and put it on a plate. That's totally different than if you take the time to make the flavor of the vegetable work."

"It has some acidity sometimes that kids wouldn't like. Most of the reason why kids don't like food is because the preparation is not good. People either overcooked or cooked bad asparagus, so it was woody tasting."

As a chef, how did you overcome that?

"When you make it more interesting than steamed cauliflower...people are more likely to try it, especially when it is prepared to resemble something you might normally like."

"Peel the bottoms. You know if you're getting the best part because it will break where the woody part ends and the tender part begins. You blanch it in salty water for just a few moments, too."

What was the original inspiration?

"It's inspired by shrimp toast, which is one of my favorite things to eat. I wanted to make a vegan version of it because I love the flavor of cauliflower, especially with those types of Vietnamese flavors."

"Asparagus with hollandaise. Ian Thompson, who's my chef de cusine, came up with this dish, and it's a French classic, so I definitely give him credit for the preparation."

ABC the Tavern vs XYZ the Tavern

Two places, same ownership, opposite ends of the alphabet

[ ABC the Tavern ]

[ XYZ the Tavern ]

After buying Ohio City's ABC the Tavern in 2009, owners Randy Kelly and Linda Syrek set out to brighten up the joint. "The place was clean, it was just dark," Kelly says. It's since become a hipster hangout with an inventive menu that tackles tofu and deep-fried hotdogs alike. A long list of craft beers appeals to the discriminating drinker, but the place stocks plenty of the cheap stuff, too.

"If ABC is the corner beer joint, XYZ is the neighborhood tavern," Kelly says of the Detroit Shoreway establishment he and Linda Syrek opened a little more than a year ago. With a full kitchen that produces a diverse menu that stretches from pizza to pierogi, XYZ offers a wider food selection than its sister establishment in Ohio City. It has quite a few more beers on draft, too.

How's the beer selection?

"We have at least 80 craft bottles and nine drafts. ... With the hipsters, one day they want that dollar-and-a-half Black Label ... and the next day they want that $7 microbrew."

"I have 24 drafts, which are all craft drafts. We just had the Left Hand Brewing Co. reps here, and we have a Left Hand Milk Stout on tap with nitrogen in the beer."

What's your favorite dish on the menu?

"The Atomic Dog. ... We stuff [a hotdog] with fresh jalapenos, wrap it with bacon and then put it in the deep fryer."

"I like the buffalo shrimp, which is just a spin on buffalo chicken wings with hot sauce and blue cheese and celery."

What's one dish here you'll find nowhere else?

"The lamb quesadilla. It's just spiced up like the way a gyro would be, but this is so much better."

"The club turkey sandwich. We take turkey breast and shoot it with beer and spice and then roast it."

SoHo Pop-ups vs Brick & Mortar Pop-ups

One-night-only dining experiences to savor

[ SoHo ]

[ Brick & Mortar ]

Nolan Konkoski, chef and owner of SoHo Kitchen & Bar, staged his first pop-up restaurant at Momocho last August to build buzz for his then-yet-to-open restaurant. "It gave us great exposure, since we were tied to an established restaurant that was popular in the city," he says. Konkoski has since invited Cincinnati chef Ryan Santos to do the same at SoHo. Another pop-up with Santos is in the works.

Jonathon Sawyer hosted his first pop-up at Greenhouse Tavern in October 2010. "As chefs, we have coworkers and friends who we want to keep touching base with, and we do charity events, and a lot of times you plan a dinner around that to expose people to other people's foods," he says. Next up, Sawyer's Noodlecat is hosting a Pig to Plate event with New Zealand native
Jason Roberts on May 2.

What makes your pop-up concept different?

"What we're doing is working with one specific chef. This is kind of a favor and something we are very excited about doing."

"We bring in a chef that's been on television and has won awards. We want to educate people about this person's style."

What's the secret to a successful pop-up restaurant?

"Pop-ups are very exciting and popular. The most important part is to get the word out that it's happening. SoHo is not that well known, so we have an uphill battle."

"We offer a unique experience. ... It's like public art. We're offering a one-time showing of this chef's food interpreted through our cooks and with our ingredients."

How do you decide on which chefs to invite?

"I love the idea of helping out other people. Ryan has a very unique sensibility about food and a very nuanced approach, and he's very artistic. We're looking for people who are very talented."

"I look for someone that runs a similar operation to us. It's interesting to bring in the chefs from a Japanese restaurant in Manhattan or an Australian chef who cooks the entire pig."