The owners of 17 Public Square are Medina natives, and that hometown pride shows up in their restaurant on Medina’s historic square. The stuffed banana peppers dish ($13) is an homage to the one served at the previous restaurant in its building, Main Street Cafe. It features Asiago and pecorino Romano cheeses instead of the typical mozzarella and Parmesan.
“These are a little sharper, stronger flavor,” says Ryan Kasson, chef, general manager and partner. What’s different about the dish is that Kasson makes Italian sausage using pork from Keller Meats in Medina. His recipe calls for more fennel seeds than usual and to toast them, adding crushed pepper, paprika and black pepper for an equally sweet and salty bite with a little heat. He grinds the sausage in-house.
To make the rest of the filling, Kasson sweats onions, browns the sausage and bakes it in the oven and then adds the cheeses. Here moves the seeds and piths from the banana peppers, stuffs them and puts them in the convection oven until they’re golden brown.They’re served with marinara topped with tomato and parsley and a roll to sop it all up. Many have called the stuffed peppers the best they’ve had, and some regulars come in once a week just to drink a beer and eat them.
“You got contrasting flavors,” Kasson says. “It’s a sweeter tomato sauce with the salty spiciness of the peppers, stuffing and cheese.”
A tribute to Medina schools’ bee mascot and beeswax Medina-based Root Candles, a house honey vinaigrette accompanies many salads, including the arugula, bacon and fig salad ($13). Simply, cider vinegar, olive oil, honey, salt, pepper and a little bit of Bertman Original Ball Park Mustard for emulsion create a dressing that’s not too sweet or tangy. Kasson candies pumpkin seeds with sugar, salt, pepper, cinnamon and nutmeg to add more crunch to the organic arugula salad that’s also topped with blue cheese, dried figs and hickory-smoked bacon. The dish showcases the classic pairings of fig, blue cheese and bacon with unique garnishes.
“It’s a good balance of flavor because you’re getting the sweetness of the honey vinaigrette with the sweetness of the figs, the slight peppery flavor of the arugula and the sweet saltiness and smokiness of the hickory-smoked bacon,” Kasson says
Eating at 17 Public Square means you can enjoy dining in the historic 1800s building and tasting satisfying dishes.
“I believe in Midwestern portions,” Kasson says. “You’re gonna get a good meal here."
17 Public Square, Medina, 17publicsquare.com; Next Stop: Chill Ice Cream, 11 Public Square, Medina, chill-icecream.com
