There's Moe To Come At Moe's
The ambiance could not be moe simple. The bar room is a kind of funky ‘50s place with booths and tables topped with aqua laminate. The dining room is way more white tablecloth upscale. Everything is in rust, black and white, with pictures of eggs in sequence (first one, then two, then three, etc.) on the walls around the room. The menu used to be only on chalkboards, but patrons complained they couldn’t read them, so there has been a concession to paper. The menu changes moe often than the seasons in NE Ohio, reflecting what’s available and what the staff feels like cooking that week. Lately, I've noticed a lot less salt and a lot more spices...think southwest and middle eastern notes...as this tony Cuyahoga Falls restaurant keeps expanding its offerings.
"Moe" is well-known caterer Moe Schneider, and the Executive Chef is celebrity cook Jared Kirby. We decided to present them with moe of a challenge, and asked for a “tasting dinner”. What is usually done is several courses of the chef’s choice in small portions (like our slide show), but Moe’s responded right back by challenging us to order anything off the menu, and they would prepare small plate versions. OK, so this resulted in moe food than the three of use could possibly eat…we still got to taste just about everything, from fresh Canadian Cove oysters with Asian salsa, to bread pudding with whiskey and vanilla sauces. It just doesn’t get moe diverse than that!
Let’s see…a chunky version of tomato bisque, pot stickers, risotto with mushrooms (a truly indulgent hit!), a perfect Diver Scallop, and Calamari tossed with green papaya salad and somtom dressing. Moe may keep the decorations simple, but the food is amazingly complex. Try a salad composed of a poached egg hidden beneath Frissee lettuce with bacon lardoons and sherry grain-mustard vinaigrette. Or special twists on Jared’s Caesar, and the more adventurous tomato/mozzarella tower. Nice work on the Caesar, Jared…very different, with more anchovy than usual, and caramelized pancetta.
On to entrees and moe entrees. Sunflower crusted rainbow trout. Lobster Rossini. Lemon Sage Chicken. Papperdelle Pasta with braised Lamb Shanks. The fish was presented on a sweet potato pancake with pineapple and smoked bacon brown butter. It is interesting to note that individual components of this dish by themselves were kind of dull, but the entire combination of all those flavors was magic. I’ve had a thousand versions of Rossini, beef being the usual. This was our first lobster version…a butter- poached tail with seared foie gras and black truffle, napped with a Madeira sauce, and nested on creamy mashers. It was expensive, luxurious, and moe over the top than anything else on the menu. We couldn’t remember more tender chicken from a spectacular towering presentation. The same could be said of the lamb.
On subsequent visits, we spent more time with the tavern menu. This features all the appetizers, as well as soups, salads and sandwiches offered for lunch but available in the dining room. We tried zucchini fritters with cucumber sauce, duck tacos, barbecued short rib sliders with sharp cheddar, and the most excellent scallops wrapped in salmon fried tempura style and served with a wonderful orange reduction sauce. A couple of recent dinner entrees were quail rubbed with Mediterranean spices and grilled, and a strip steak topped by two large shrimp and rosemary pan sauce.
Moe's is located at 2385 Front Street in Cuyahoga Falls. There is limited on street parking, and a small lot on the side, but there is a very large parking lot behind the building. Both lunch and dinner are served. During lunch, the tavern menu is available, plus a soup and sandwich special and a couple of entrees. The tavern menu, which features the appetizers, is also available in the dining room during dinner hours. Cost ranges from very reasonable for the soup and sandwich lunch special all the way to...well, remember that Lobster Rossini? Call 330-928-6600 for reservations.