Nick and Giovanna Kustala have sold their eight-year-old Lure Bistro (38040 Third St., Willoughby, 440.951.8862) to chef Jaret Havanchak. The Kustalas are devoting their time and attention to a new project (more on that venture in the coming weeks). Havanchak, who is 26, has worked for the past year as Lure's chef de cuisine. Before that, he was executive chef at the recently shuttered Sawyer House. "Lure is an established restaurant known for seafood and sushi, and I am going to keep it that way," says Havanchak. "But I'm a different chef, so my menu will be tailored around who I am." Look for more seasonal specials, like house-made duck ravioli stuffed with duck confit, wild mushrooms and butternut squash. Other signature items include graham cracker-crusted calamari and black cod fish and chips with white truffle pomme frites.
Gary Thomas and his crew from Ohio City Pasta have opened a new stand at the West Side Market. Located across the aisle from OCP, Side Show (F-3, no phone) exclusively deals in prepared side dishes. Vegetarians and vegans likely will be pleased with the selection, which includes numerous vegetable, starch, grain and legume-based sides. "We'll have some featured items that are always on hand, but most of the dishes will be seasonal," says chef Matt Jozsa, who teamed up with Thomas for this venture. Recent items include roasted brussels sprouts with cumin and honey, hazelnut asparagus, curried spaghetti squash and twice-baked potatoes.
Get to Momocho (1835 Fulton Rd., 216.694.2122, momocho.com) on Sunday nights for the affordable Sunday night supper. Couples can enjoy a three-course meal with chips, salsa and guacamole, chicken or veggie enchiladas, and vanilla bean flan, all for $30. A group of four can enjoy the same deal for just $60.
Congrats to former Scene restaurant critic Elaine Cicora, whose tantalizing depiction of the weekly pig roast at Lolita's (900 Literary Rd., 216.771.5652, lolabistro.com) landed her in this year's Best Food Writing (Da Capo Press). A taste: "Crisp, crackling and sizzling hot, my soon-to-be-dinner stares up at me from its final resting place ... It's a thought-provoking moment, actually. On the one hand, this beautifully roasted critter, fresh from a field in Wayne County, could be the very Poster Pig for the 'farm-to-table' movement. On the other hand, with those fixed blue eyes, tiny hooves and curly tail still intact, he looks considerably more like Babe than a blue-plate special."
