Yesterday the grand opening of Planet Donut & Ice Cream in West Park at Lorain Ave. & West 119th began. They’ve got some great specials going on through Sunday.

They’re a very welcome addition to the neighborhood. Having been a business owner myself, I admire any business that decides to slug it out in a neighborhood on that’s on a steady decline (although the new, sorry George, Target has brought back some signs of life).

I’ve personally tested Planet’s coffee and donuts and approve several times. I hope you’ll drop by to support them. Be sure to bring your laptop because they have FREE WIRELESS INTERNET (another welcome addition to the neighborhood).

I’m gonna be busy for a while, looking thru the archives of a new food blog I just found…

101 Cookbooks - Recipe Journal

Just so happens that there’s a great post by Laura Taxel on the Feast Magazine blog about Cafe Marika:

So here’s a title you’ve got to love: Eat This!: 1,001 Things to Eat Before You Diet. For goal-oriented foodies, this is a must-have book, a detailed guide to all things delicious in cities and towns all around the United States. The author, Ian Jackman, is blessedly unafraid and proudly non-PC when it comes to what he puts in his mouth. He doesn’t discriminate on the basis of calories, cholesterol or the latest dietary bugaboo. Instead, he eats and enjoys. A committed taste-tester, he doesn’t just travel and talk to local experts — he samples their best and tells you all about it.

I’m happy to report that it includes one of our own: Michael Feigenbaum, the baker behind Lucy’s Sweet Surrender on Buckeye and the proprietor of the new Café Marika, named after his wife, in Collinwood. Jackman’s rave about this Cleveland culinary treasure starts on page 127 of the book with a bit of bio and business history, and finishes on page 129 with shout-outs to the seven-layer Dobos Torte, zserbo (a jam filled pastry), the Hungarian nut-and-poppy-seed rolls, and a personal favorite of mine, pogasca, a flaky little breakfast biscuit made with bacon.

He gives surprisingly little attention to Michael’s amazing strudel, which features ultra-light and flaky hand-stretched dough, considering that it’s what truly set the bakery apart from all others, especially his savory versions featuring roasted vegetables, cabbage or pork and mashed potatoes…

I was there Sunday for brunch with Patti Choby (soon to be launching her own blog), and the roasted beet salad with walnuts and bleu cheese…. mmmmm.

Food Without Fear

Mmmm, Korean food:

A few co-workers and I headed down to the Seoul Hot Pot at lunch today. I have been on the Korean food kick lately, and this place was chosen as Best Korean Food in Cleveland 2006. Well, it is not like there is too much competition.

As we pulled up I began to worry, but once inside I felt more relaxed. We took a seat at one of the habachi tables, but we did not cook our own food. We placed our orders of kimchi fried rice, japchae, bibimbop and kimchi with pork. As our dishes were presented to us, along with our order was an assortment of dim sum. This was a very pleasant surprise and had a lot of refreshing small bites…

Northcoast Lifestyle : Interactive Life of Kyle Roth, Interactive Web Designer, Cleveland Ohio

Not sure what other cities you can do this in, but Cleveland’s a small world network. From Michelle:

I thought it would be cool to get to know our local chefs a little better and feature a new Q&A every few weeks. I sent an e-mail with 10 random questions to a bunch of chefs to see if they would be game. Within 20 minutes of sending my e-mail, Michael Symon was the first one to respond! Seriously, how cool is that? Thanks, Michael, for being the first. Hopefully you won’t be the only…!

cleveland foodie: michael symon rocks

Sounds good enough to try myself:

The meatballs are made of ground pork, scallions, leeks, ginger, chopped hot chiles and sesame oil (along with a bit of flour and cornstarch and salt and pepper), browned in olive oil. They smelled exactly like pot stickers: so much so that Sienna The Dog came in to the kitchen to investigate.

The meatballs were then cooked in a sauce of soy sauce and coconut milk, with Foodgoat ramping up the Indian flavor with his own curry mix, which leans Bangladeshi. He also added tomatoes, fresh ginger, and, because everything he cooks has them, paprika and sour cream.

I think some wine must have gone in too because when I went to refill my glass the bottle was empty.

And instead of serving them on cabbage or lettuce, Foodgoat served them on Hungarian dumplings…

Foodgoat … something tasty every day: Sometimes Foodgoat Amazes Even Himself