No Reservations in Cleveland

Some highlights and things I really liked from this week's Cleveland episode of No Reservations with Anthony Bourdain:

• Many shots in the show were done in a comic book style. Very cool!

• Anthony hung out with his pal Michael Ruhlman, a Cleveland native. Tony took him to Skyline Chili just to piss him off. Mission accomplished. It should be noted, however, that Skyline is not a Cleveland thing, more of a Cincinnati thing, according to posters on Travel Channel's boards.

• Anthony and Ruhlman observe some Lake Erie wintertime surfing. The people who do this are crazy - Lake Erie isn't exactly the healthiest water around.

• Tony and Michael get the privilege of hanging out with one of Cleveland's biggest celebrities - Harvey Pekar. He's quite a character. One of his voice-over lines was "I wonder if I can get some bread out of these people."

• Tony, Michael and Harvey head to Zubal books, apparently one of the world's largest bookstores. Tony can hardly contain his excitement from finding a book about the opium trade in 19th century Indo-China. After browsing some autographed first editions, Tony and Michael check out the old pipes filled with Twinkie filling - the place used to make them. Tony takes a taste and proclaims it good. This may perhaps be the most dangerous taste he's ever taken. Who knows what is in those pipes along with the filling?

• Tony, Michael, Harvey, a guy named Toby, and the camera guys head to a place called Sokolowski's University Inn for some down-home Cleveland cooking. On the menu, just for Tony and gang, is head cheese. Harvey gets a free pass from trying it because he's a vegetarian. Ruhlman uses a swear word and gets reprimanded by Harvey and Toby.

• Tony makes an appearance at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, a place he's not exactly thrilled about seeing. He is outraged that smoking is not allowed in the place - smoking is in the rock and roll spirit! he argues. He does, however, get to meet up with Markey Ramone of the Ramones. They take a quick look at the Ramones wall of the HofF and then head out for some eats prepared by the ever-laughing Chef Michael Symon. Markey eats a whole lot more than Tony, which confuses Tony greatly.

• More food stuff - a visit to a sausage shop, a dying breed; a visit to a local farmers' market to pick up some veggies and pork for a future meal prepared by Tony and Mr. Ruhlman. Then, finally, meal-making time comes. Tony is happier than a pig wrapped in paper, because that's exactly what he's doing - wrapping a pig in paper. Michael and Tony make some French pork dishes that I can't pronounce or spell and eat them with the rest of the Ruhlman family. The kids don't quite like the strange new dishes, but Tony is happy with the meal. He declares his visit to Cleveland a success.

Next week, Tony is in Hong Kong. He apparently gets to do some kung-fu movie stunts, so that should be a blast to watch!

I have to say that Cleveland looks like a pretty old, depressed city. However, it also appears to have character, which is something you can't say about fancy suburbs where all the lawns are perfect and the houses all look the same.