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350 savor flavor of Valley’s past
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Carlos Ramirez of Casa Ramirez Mexican restaurant in Youngstown shows off a chicken dish called pollo michoacano at the Memorable Meals Mahoning Valley. More than 350 attended the event.
By Bob Jackson
YOUNGSTOWN
If the response to Sunday’s Memorable Meals Mahoning Valley event downtown was any indicator, it seems that area residents have a fierce appetite for nostalgia as well as delicious food.
The sold-out inaugural event at the Tyler History Center on West Federal Street was deemed a huge success by organizers and attendees alike. The Mahoning Valley Historical Society and Grow Youngstown sponsored the event and benefitted from its proceeds.
“We got the last three walk-up tickets,” said Brynna Fish, 57, who’d come from Cleveland with her son, Shiah, 29, and daughter-in-law, Sarah, 24. “I made sure we were here right at 2 o’clock because I didn’t want to be left out.”
Fish said she was born and raised in Youngstown, but moved away in 1979. During her teen years in the Valley, she worked at Plaza Donuts on Belmont Avenue, which was among the 31 local food and beverage vendors whose wares were sampled by visitors Sunday.
“But it was the Spinning Bowl Salads that drew me here,” Fish said. “When I heard they were going to have those here, I was coming.”
She was referring to salads made popular at the former 20th Century restaurant, once located on the North Side. It has been closed for years, but former owner Blondie Levy and longtime employee LaRue Brown were persuaded by event organizers to set up a table and re-create the restaurant’s signature salad.
Brown’s face lit up as she talked about the 25 years she spent working at the 20th Century, starting as a waitress and working her way up to manager.
“I put three girls through college by working there,” she said.
Brown said the Spinning Bowl Salad got its name because restaurant staff would mix the salad at the table for its diners, with the salad bowl placed inside a larger bowl of ice.
“We would talk to our customers while we tossed the salad, and as we were doing that, the bowl would spin on the ice,” Brown said, noting that they’d already served 275 bowls of the signature salad within the first hour of the event. “People really remember it, and it’s so nice to hear them say it tastes just like it used to back then.”
For Fish, the experience was a nostalgic palate pleaser.
“I bit into it and said, ‘Yes! Yes, this is it,’” she said. “It was wonderful. I think this [event] is amazing and fantastic. I’m elated that it’s so successful.”
Bill Lawson, executive director of the MVHS, said all 350 tickets for the event were sold, with most of them going in advance, and the remainder sold within 15 minutes of the doors opening. He said 31 local food vendors, wineries and breweries had their specialties sampled by visitors.
Most of the participating restaurants are still active, but some, like the 20th Century and The Dog House, are no longer in business but brought back their recipes for the special event.
“I imagine all these people will be here until the food is gone,” he said.
Elsa Higby, director of Grow Youngstown, said the groups wanted to create a connection between local foods and local memories.
“Our memory of food often has to do with memories of different events and the people we were eating with at the time,” she said. “That becomes something that we crave and seek out.”
Jack Kravitz is owner of Kravitz Deli on Belmont Avenue and served as event coordinator. He beamed as he looked at the throngs of people who’d come out to savor the flavors.
“It’s a win-win for everybody,” Kravitz said, noting that patrons could get a taste of foods from the Mahoning Valley’s past, as well as from restaurants still operating. He said the restaurant owners were all enjoying the event as well, and shared a spirit of camaraderie.
“We’re not big chains,” Kravitz said. “We’re mostly smaller, mom-and-pop type places, so we’re really having fun with this.”
He pointed to vendors such as Plaza Donuts, that don’t often participate in such events, but were on hand Sunday to dole out samples of their signature creamsticks.
Michael Froomkin, who owns Plaza Donuts with his brother, Howard, said it was Kravitz who persuaded them to take part.
“Jack and I are good friends,” Froomkin said. “We grew up together.”
Likewise, Fish said it was her friendship with Kravitz that helped her find out about the event. The two had gone to high school together, she said.
Mary Vallas, 46, of Canfield, said she appreciated the way generations blended at the event with the mixture of restaurants from Valley days gone by and current businesses.
“It’s a very nostalgic thing,” she said. “I’ve heard my parents talk about some of these places and dishes they had there, but I never had a chance to experience them until today.” The Spinning Bowl Salad was one such dish, and Vallas said it was excellent.
“Next year I’ll come earlier and snag a table to sit at,” she said, laughing. “Lesson learned.”
Sean Giblin, 55, of Ellsworth, said he and his wife, Kathleen, came to the event after friends had told them about it.
“This is phenomenal,” he said. “I can’t say enough about it.”