Popovich Part II: What Good Is Money? Also the Recipe for Sokolowski's Stuffed Cabbages
Our Reward After Eating All Those Grilled Veggies in Last Weeks Post!
Welcome to Part II of a post honoring my greatest mentor, Steve Popovich!
When Steve Popovich wandered into my restaurant for the first time, I did think he was a little strange. He had a bit of a limp, and was wearing an ill fitting navy blue sweatsuit (in summer!) and a New York Yankees Ball Cap that did little to hide his disheveled hair and sweaty forehead.
He asked me about the ingredients in our Veggie Wrap and asked if we put oil in our hummus. “Of course. Really good olive oil!” I proudly answered. He did not smile, instead looked back up at the menu looking a bit disappointed, then stepped back and graciously allowed the next few customers to pass.
After a few minutes, I turned my attention back to him saying, “We may have a problem if you can’t have olive oil, it’s in just about everything!” That’s when he told me he was on a plant-based diet and couldn’t have any oil.
I had never heard of such a strict diet, and looking back, I am not surprised that Steve Popovich new about something long before any of us! I considered myself more knowledgeable than most, since writing a paper on the subject in Culinary School in 1997. After reading Dr. Atkins' New Diet Revolution, which had become a New York Times Bestseller, I wrote that chef’s could gain more customers by offering menu items that matched specific diets.
Atkins, South Beach, Weight Watchers, Zone, Vegetarian and Vegan diets were all gaining popularity when I started Tastebuds in 2001. I took them all into consideration when designing my menu and ensured there were multiple choices for each. Confident that I had everyone covered, I had a strict policy of not making anything to order, unless the customer called in their request and gave us a half hour to make it. It would have been impossible to feed as many people as we did and as quickly, if we didn’t have everything made and ready when we opened our door at 11:00.
I could tell Steve was in poor health and needed to adhere to this diet, but didn’t want to be treated differently than anyone else. He humbly asked, if it was possible to get a plate of grilled vegetables with balsamic vinegar. I was happy to oblige.
No one had ever asked so politely. More often than not, customers with dietary restrictions, allergies, or eating philosophies, approached the subject with gloves on, expecting a fight, without so much as glancing at a menu first. I understood where they were coming from completely. In the early 2000’s, the restaurant industry, was still a long way off from taking dietary restrictions seriously, although it had improved slightly from the days when restaurants touted risotto made with chicken or veal stock as a vegetarian option.
I cringe when I think of how many times Steve came in and we had used all of our grilled vegetables in our wraps, and he graciously took the wrap without a complaint, and then sat scraping all of the hummus off of the vegetables, before eating them.
I had no idea who he was until one night, sitting at the bar at Sokolowski’s University Inn, when one of the owners, Mike Sokolowski said, “You know who really likes your restaurant? Steve Popovich!”
When I said I didn’t know who that was, he said, “Look behind you!”
I turned to see pictures of Steve Popovich, some with famous musicians and I burst into laughter, saying “Oh God! I really like him, but I thought he was crazy or homeless or something!”
“He’s crazy all right, but he’s far from homeless, he just sued Sony for millions of dollars and won!” He went on to tell me all about his blue-collar roots and his career in the music industry.
In fairness, like a homeless person, Steve always carried blue plastic shopping bags, worn out and crinkled, that he would twist onto his wrist so he could carry his tray to his table. Once he sat down, he would take the contents out of the bags and line the little vials and bottles up and place the small packs on the table. My guess, looking back, is these were medications that needed to be taken with food.
By chance, both Steve and I ended up getting to know one another better when we ran into each other at Sokolowski’s University Inn of all places! After bonding over polka and pierogi, our conversations got way more interesting when he’d come into the restaurant and I’d linger at his table after our lunch rush and soak up whatever stories or wisdom flowed out of him!
Steve was always saying how proud he was of his grandsons. In fact, the ringtone on his cell phone was one of them saying, “Grandpa! Pick up the phone Grandpa!” in the adorable voice of a four or five year old, which would always prompt him to talk about them. He told me that one of his grandsons was showing great prowess as a baseball pitcher. I believe he was 9 or 10 years old at the time. As a birthday surprise, he said he wanted to fly in his grandson’s favorite pitcher, who played for Texas (not certain if it was the Longhorns or the Rangers), to give him some private lessons in Nashville, but that his daughter in law thought that was a bit over the top! He shrugged his shoulders, laughed and said, “What good is having money, if I can’t spend it on my grandkids?”
Looking back on my early relationship with Steve, I wish I’d done more. He asked if I’d consider preparing a plant based menu and hosting a dinner to showcase his friend, Dr. Esselstyn MD’s new book, Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease: The Revolutionary, Scientifically Proven, Nutrition Based Cure, (Penguin, 2006). Years later he asked if he could use my loft space to display some of his music memorabilia to a group of Chinese businessmen who were interested in acquiring part of his collection. I just never knew my worth or capability back then, and I said no to just about every opportunity that came my way, thinking I would fail or disappoint the person asking.
I still believed that the success of Tastebuds was a fluke, and that I got lucky somehow, and shouldn’t jinx it. But then, in 2008, Steve asked me if I would ever consider opening a Tastebuds in Nashville, Tennessee, stating that the need for healthy food is dire! He said, “You can’t exactly take Nicole Kidman to a Meat & 3!”
Finding myself single for the first time since I was 17 years old and feeling that seven year itch with Tastebuds, I was open to the idea. Steve would call me every now and then, gently nudging me to come to Nashville, so sure I’d be successful and happy. I told him once, that I was beginning to like the idea of starting over, so I can get it right this time. He responded “It’s perfect kid, don’t change a thing!”
In 2009, State Chemical, who employed over 1000 people just a few blocks away from Tastebuds, began moving their operation out of downtown Cleveland, taking the bulk of my favorite customers and nearly half of my catering business with them. I expressed my concern about the exodus I was seeing all around me to Steve and he said, “If you wanna know how a city is doing, count the cranes. The sky in downtown Nashville is full of them!”
I didn’t see many cranes in Cleveland at that time. What I saw was orange barrels, millions of them, closing main roads, freeway lanes, or entire bridges, and wiping out businesses along the way. So many construction barrels, that Cleveland must’ve appeared orange from outer space! They were inching their way toward my restaurant, getting closer every day, making it more and more difficult for customers to reach me quickly and easily.
In the spring of 2010, road construction had begun to really interfere with business and sales decreased for the first time in our 9 year history. When I was invited to attend the Oxford Symposium of Food and Cookery, I decided, if I was ever going to see Europe, this was my chance. The restaurant was slow enough to pass over the reigns, so I booked myself a three-week trip that began with a fourteen day tour of London, Paris and Rome, and concluded with the conference.
I returned ready for a change and I started making plans to move to Nashville. I had agreed to sell Tastebuds to one of my best friends, who I consider to be Cleveland’s best chef and his capable partner. They too, believed Tastebuds was perfect, and they wouldn’t change a thing, so I decided on a price that was more than generous and would ensure their success.
I was excited to tell Steve my news, and we began having wonderful late night phone conversations about food and he’d tell me over and over again how well I was going to do in Nashville and how much I was going to love it there. He’d always end the call thanking me, but I always felt like I was getting more out of our conversations than he was.
Then, in June 2011, I received a startling text from Mike Sokolowski, just as I had gone to bed. Steve Popovich had died. I don’t know if I responded, I just remember lying awake all night, unable to close my eyes and feeling numb.
At the time, I felt that only the Sokolowski family and Steve Popovich knew just how hard I worked, what I had accomplished and the strain it took on every other part of my life. I felt I had lost more than a friend and my greatest mentor, I felt that I had lost the only person in my corner willing to bet on me being victorious, no matter who or what I was to face in that ring. What got me through that dark dark time, was realizing that I was forgetting about someone. Someone who had been in my corner all along, and seeing him at Steve’s wake reminded me that I am not alone in the ring, Hank LoConti was there. He became my champion and biggest promotor, bringing me many new and exciting opportunities, all of which, I turned down, which became a running joke between us.
I had already agreed to sell Tastebuds, but the process was slow to move forward, even after money was put into an escrow account. In January of 2012, my friend’s business partner tried to negotiate a lower price, which infuriated and offended me deeply and I pulled the deal from the table.
Seeing me there in the ropes, caught between Cleveland and Nashville, not knowing if the fight was over or just beginning, Hank stepped in with a suggestion. He thought it would be good for me to go down to Nashville, see what Steve had wanted for me and get some closure on the subject. He suggested I meet with his son, saying, “It’ll be good for both of you. You guys should know each other!”
To Be Continued!
The Recipe for Sokolowski’s Stuffed Cabbages
Serves 6-8
INGREDIENTS
2 Medium Heads of Cabbage
2 Onions Chopped
1/2 lb Butter
1 1/2 cups Rice
1 lb Ground Veal
1 lb Pork
2 lbs Ground Beef
8 Eggs
2 tbsp Sugar
Salt & Pepper to taste
1/2 cup Parsley
4 strips Bacon, uncooked
3 tbsp Beef Base (Minor’s is good)
2 tbsp Granulated Garlic Salt
SAUCE INGREDIENTS
1 big can Diced Tomatoes
1 big can Tomato Soup
1 can Meatless Spaghetti Sauce
PROCEDURE
Combine all the sauce ingredients. Fill each can up with water and add. While sauce is cooking, sauté onions dry. When a little water comes out, add butter. Continue to sauté. Add 3 tablespoons of beef base. Core cabbage heads. Place in boiling water until tender (about 5 minutes). Remove when soft. Cut out the cabbage membrane so it’s easier to roll.
Cook rice. Rinse rice after it is done. Put onions together with rice, parsley and sugar. Mix well. Combine veal, pork and ground beef together with eggs, salt and pepper and garlic salt. Add rice mixture. Mix thoroughly.
In a large, ungreased roaster pan, crumble the cabbage cores. Place bacon strips (ham hocks are also okay) on bottom of roaster. Put a little sauce on bottom of pan. One cabbage will serve as liner. Arrange cabbage leaves so that they are hanging over sides of the pan. Take the other cabbage head. Place a cabbage leaf in one hand, a handful of meat in the other. Adjust the amount of meat to the size of the leaf. If you are right-handed put the cabbage in your right palm. Place the meat mixture toward the base of the cabbage leaf. Fold over, bringing both sides to the middle. Pick up the cabbage and roll tightly with your left hand. Turn it over a couple times to make sure it’s tight and stays sturdy. Put in pan. Cover with sauce. Make sure that any excess cabbage leaves are folded over into the middle. Any extra leaves should be placed in the middle of the pan. If you cook in a convection oven or even in a conventional one, these extra leaves will keep all the cabbages moist and tender.
Bake for 2 hours to 2 hours and fifteen minutes in a pre-heated 350’ oven. Cabbages are done when they are soft. Poke them a couple of times. Check top to see if meat is done. This recipe serves 10.
NOTES
Always cook immediately. Don’t roll up the cabbages, put them in the refrigerator and cook them later. This will cause discoloration.
For variety, you might add Parmesan cheese to the rice mixture.
Funny Story…
If you were looking for me on a Friday night in the early to mid 00’s, you could find me at Sokolowski’s University Inn, drinking some pre-dinner gin and tonics at the bar, then racing up the four stairs at 8:55 pm to catch dinner before they stopped serving food. I’d have a bottle of wine and dinner by the fireplace, then it was back to the bar for dessert (more booze)!
One Saturday afternoon, after a night of heavier then normal drinking, I found myself in my apartment, on the floor in a heap of pillows and blankets. I woke with a splitting headache, unsure how I got home, unsure why I slept on the floor, in fact the only thing I was sure of, was that I had to pee, badly!
When I sat up, I was shocked to see blood on the floor. I blinked again and again, trying to moisten the dried out contact lenses that I had accidentally slept in. I quickly glanced over my body, to see if I’d been cut and found nothing. Just then, I thought that someone else might be in my apartment, injured and bleeding, dead maybe. A scarier thought followed, maybe there was an ax murderer in the next room. My bladder decided, whatever it was, could wait until it was relieved!
As I crept to the bathroom, so as to not startle the ax murderer, I noticed that the blood appeared to be a footprint that lead to the bathroom. I was so confused, but as I sat down on the toilet I realized that it was my foot that made those prints. I could not investigate further because it was making me too dizzy to lift my bloody foot. Since my head hurt more than I could bear, I decided I needed a pillow under my head more than a bandage on my foot.
It took all my might to make it back to my bed. And as I pulled the blankets up off the floor and onto the bed, I discovered a half hotel pan containing the remnants of Sokolowski’s famous stuffed cabbages with one of their forks and knives laying beside it! I must have passed out on the floor after eating them, then accidentally stepped in the pan on an earlier trip to the bathroom!
With that mystery solved, I was left to ponder if perhaps I was an alcoholic. Thankfully, I remembered that I had been having such a good time at the bar that evening, that I forgot to eat. I didn’t have a drinking problem, I had an eating disorder! Whew, what a relief!
I discovered the next day at the bar, (because, well you know, hair of the dog and all that!) that one of the owners had made a little dinner for me and heated it up in that pan for me to take home, but that I had started eating it there, because I’m real classy when I drink, and never get the hint that it’s time to go!
And Finally…
Gaining the confidence to spend my money on life’s great experiences, knowing I can always make more, has truly made my life extraordinary. Lately, I feel that money, as well as time, is best spent on children. What a thrill it is, to play a part in forging memories that will last a lifetime, for Ari and his friends.
Ireland is experiencing a heat wave like never before. I’m told that being out late into the evening, without so much as a jumper on, was unheard of until now. And so you don’t find yourself wondering if you’d agreed to go on a blind date with a crossdresser, as I did back when I first arrived in Ireland. When an Irish man says, “I’ll be wearing an orange jumper,” he means sweater, not a sleeveless dress, like in the US!
This summer has been full of sunshine and record breaking heat. Ari and I are in heaven, but the natives aren’t fairing so well. So, we sprung into action, serving up good old-fashioned lemonade with plenty of ice cubes, trays of watermelon wedges and bowls of crisp veggies chilled in ice water!
My neighbor purchased an inflatable pool and he and his son filled it up in his front garden for all the kids to stay cool during some of the hottest weeks. One night, a night so gorgeous, no one wanted it to end, he fired up a chimenea in his rear garden and invited those of us who were still out marveling at the gigantic yellow-orange nearly full moon to join him. Ari and I brought over some extra chairs! Chairs are a great investment, by the way! 80’s music was playing on the radio in the kitchen, triggering conversations among the adults about first concerts, best concerts and favorite bands. The kids searched the clear sky for star constellations and sang songs and took turns doing Fortnite dances.
Everyone enjoyed it tremendously, and everyone got to know each other a little better. I had been looking to purchase a grill to make Tastebuds Veggie Wrap for my previous post, but after that magical evening, I decided to buy a fire pit with a grill rack instead.
I own a total of 12 outdoor chairs. If you were to stack them into rows in my front garden, I’m sure they would obstruct the view of my tiny Irish terraced home! I own 12 chairs, because I was born a host. I love to cook and entertain and while my clientele has changed, the feeling I get from feeding people has not.
The lads of Michael Collins Square are my new inspiration. The past three nights they have filed through the wooden gate to our rear garden, abandoning their bikes and scooters in the the alley that runs behind our house. Lured by the smoke or the laughter or the sizzle and smell of pork sausages on our new fire pit, all the children and a couple of parents have made their way to our place, and we couldn’t be happier.
Ari and I were amazed to discover, that many of our neighbors had never roasted a marshmallow and none of them had ever eaten a s’more! So we set out to change all that! We found marshmallows at our local grocery store advertised as Real Rocky Mountain Marshmallows; An American Tradition! No graham crackers here, so we bought the closest thing we could find, which wasn’t close at all! And unfortunately, the only Hershey bars we’ve seen have all been cookies and cream flavored.
Lucky for us, my sister Erin, whose generosity and thoughtfulness are legendary, just paid us a visit with her beautiful family. She surprised me with an entire suitcase, containing the ingredients, sauces, herbs and spices and candy I hold most dear and can’t find here, from Butterfingers to Bertman’s, Gallucis, Aladdins Bakery and Huy Fong Foods. She also included some Cleveland treats from Malley’s Chocolates!
Now, full disclosure; if Erin had brought just one Malley’s Chocolate Bar, I would have hoarded it and rationed it, luckily she brought quite a few, plenty to share! Ari got the bright idea to put a tiny slit in the marshmallows and insert a square of chocolate inside, so it would soften as the marshmallow roasted.
One of the boy’s mothers came to collect her son and I invited her in saying, “I have plenty of chairs!” and I popped into my shed to retrieve another one! Her son asked if he could roast a marshmallow for her, saying she would absolutely love it. “Of course!” I said.
She and I visited while he took great care to roast the marshmallow perfectly for her. When it was done, she took the smallest bite, then she licked her sticky fingers and lips and closed her eyes. Her shoulders went limp and her head rolled back. Then, returning her gaze to the fire, as if in a trance, she searched her mind for the perfect words and how to say them. Suddenly I felt as though I was sitting across from an experienced food critic, describing every sensation she was feeling as the marshmallow hit her lips, and the crackling exterior gave way to the gooey sweetness in the center.
What a feeling it was to watch her, in that moment of bliss and then to turn and see a hot sticky mess of boys, all in different stages of assembling the world’s most ridiculous dessert for the first time! To see marshmallows catching on fire, and the panic that ensued, as hot metal skewers came flying away from the fire, toward the mouths of the boys trying to blow out flames! Or to listen to the cries of a boy whose marshmallow plummeted into the fire or onto the ground, or a boy who was jabbed by a skewer accidentally or on purpose. And to look at those sweet smiling faces, full of black ash, sticky marshmallow, melted chocolate and cookie crumbs, and know that they will remember this night, as long as they live, is just incredible!
You wont see me in designer clothes, shoes or carrying even a knockoff handbag. I’ll never have the latest iPhone or computer, but I’ll be the one with all the stories to tell and memories to cherish and I can certainly offer you a chair and something good to eat! The amount of joy and the memories created by this fifty euro fire pit, made these last few days, some of the best days of my life! I think about all the things we build and buy in the pursuit of happiness, when really, all we need to be happy, is to build a fire and a family, where we are, as we are.
Thank You for being here once again my friend!
Cheers!
Bridget