// Do you often leave your grandmother’s house in what can only be described as a food coma? Well Cordelia will leave you “belly up”. //
Horrible food puns aside, Cordelia deserves multiple posts for each time we have had the pleasure of enjoying ourselves at their tables. Nestled in a sea of sports bars and “copy and paste” cuisine, Cordelia is the shining star of East 4th Street in Downtown Cleveland. Cordelia gets its name from one Sarah Cordelia (Delia) Smith. Sarah became an adept cook and provider for her family and inspired her grandson Andrew Watt’s to open a restaurant inspired by her roots in clean, simple, farm to table cooking.
Now to the good stuff!
THE FOOD (que applause)
Tip: If you have a small group, sitting at the chef’s counter is an unmatched experience. If you are looking for an intimate and meaningful conversation a table works just fine, but there is something both interactive and southing about watching the magic unfold in the kitchen. We were left routing for some dishes and debating how others came to be.
When dining at Cordelia, there are very few ways to go wrong with what you order. Cordelia is set up as a tasting menu with sharable plates so you are encouraged to share mix and mingle. Though if you’re looking for a sure fire dining experience and to loosen your belt a notch or two, we highly recommend their curated tasting menu. Aptly named, the “Belly Up”, will give you a wide range of Cordelia's tried and true as well as their new and now. They tout a limit of 6-7 courses; however, in our experience they enjoy over indulging (we average 12 typically).
Tip: The Belly Up is proportional to your group size so don’t fret if the first courses only result in an individual taste. The frequency and quantity will soon overwhelm if you are not careful. If the food will keep and reheat and your table is still early in the evening, we recommend having your waiter box as you go. This will ensure you can try and enjoy everything while also remaining comfortable.
We hope that you will find Cordelia’s rotating seasonal menu as innovative and whimsical as we do. Cordelia manages to capture the comfort of the familiar, the curiosity of youth, and the vision of their head Chef Vinnie Cimino.
Some of our highlights and most memorable dishes include (if we get their names wrong, apologies, hopefully the vibes will compensate for our inaccuracy):
“Lamb-urger Helper” (absolute nostalgic gluttony) - a lamb Bolognese sauced, large in-house made noodle masterpiece
“Golden Arches” (love their play on words) - steak tartar that (and we are not exaggerating) tastes like the essence of a Big Mac
“Cannibal Sandwich” (don’t let the morbid name turn you off) - a beef tartar that is to DIE for
The Carrot Humus (we confess to not knowing the name of this appetizer) - however, it is an explosion of flavor and the perfect way to start off any meal
The “Steak Cordelia” (was included for a large group and on a birthday) - an mouth watering, buttery steak that had the group fighting over who could have the bones
Any Dessert that kitchen puts out (special shout-out to the Miso ‘Dirt’ Desert, a play on the Midwest favorite by the same name, gummy worms and all)
This post could be never ending and will likely be updated and amended as more visits crop up; however, to summarize, we can give nothing but five out of five forks to Cordelia. They are truly the inspiration for the creation of this food blog as their food inspires conversation. Cordelia’s approach to presenting locally sourced produce, in innovative and exciting ways gives you space to pause and reflect on old favorites, memories, and gain a perspective on where familiar food can take you.
“We will be back…hungry for more.”