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REVIEW: Solon’s Redhead is inventive, charming

By LaDawn Edwards

I’ve been hearing good things about Redhead — ‘Second only to Lincoln Café, but less expensive and less crowded,’ said a Mount Vernon friend. Another food lover mentioned the inventive seasonal menu that features local food like bison. I gathered a posse of tasters and headed over for the 5:30 opening on a recent Saturday night.

When we found this lovely location across from the gazebo in mid-Corridor Solon we noted he fresh daisies in a vase on the table, original paintings on the walls and the same retro kitchen tables and chairs we’ve seen in other unpretentious restaurants that suggest “it’s all about the food.” Amen to that. (For what it’s worth, my companions reported that the kitchen chairs did NOT provide the level of comfort one normally expects during a two hour meal with a bill near $200, but I was so into my tastebuds that I personally didn’t notice.)

The restaurant’s recording suggested reservations, but warned against leaving a message on the answering machine, so we threw our party of six on them with no warning. The day’s specials were proudly chalked onto the wall, including French chicken soup (roasted, with lovely mushroom, carrots and other vegetables), desserts and three entrees.

Since my family arrived ahead of our friends we had the tough task of selecting appetizers as we settled in, while the waitress brought water in Mason jars. We asked about the paté, but it was unavailable. One server (who is likely one of the owners) explained that it’s been difficult to find a good quality source for the chicken livers. That’s the kind of disappointment caused by the chef’s high standards I’m happy to start the meal with.

We moved down the list to an asparagus Pecorino Romano bruchetta. That was a half dozen toasted baguette slices with fabulous shaved hard cheese and topped with so many tiny segments of roasted asparagus that I couldn’t pick it up without scattering them all over the table. I could complain that this appetizer is a little too “interactive,” but maybe I just don’t have the delicate manners to master it.

No fancy manners are needed for the Redhead fries, a mix of white and sweet potatoes, hand-cut, seasoned and served with a smile. They’re not for people who like their fries crisp, but filled with wonderful flavor that made us glad we got the large platter.

The bread basket had assorted slices with a pot of spreadable cheese spiced with raw garlic — delicious but potent—which the waitress refilled without prompting. The more tempting cheese appetizer involved creamy melted chevre goat cheese on a big wedge of corn polenta, smothered in a chunky marinara. It looked so tempting that the young lady who ordered it was somewhat reluctant to share. In exchange, she did get a taste of the pumpkin seed hummus, a smooth vegan dip that arrived with tantalizing triangles of hot pita bread.

My husband tried to keep the number of appetizers down, because “sometimes we eat so many that by the time our food arrives we have three bites and we’re full.” It was a lost cause with this hungry bunch, but at least I tried to compensate with a soup and salad instead of a heavy entrée, although the bite I had of his dreamy ribeye steak dripping with chive butter made me think about taking another one. His side of mashed potatoes were so good (dressed up with grated carrots, garlic and cream) I can see why the owner told us she sometimes makes a meal out of just that.

My salad was a fun collection of tender bib lettuce, oranges, cucumber slices and Redhead’s honey dressing (which is available by the bottle.) Dan got the roasted lamb pita with yogurt sauce — essentially a gyro, but the meat was more crumbly and instead of being wrapped it came sandwiched between two pitas and cut in fourths. It smelled heavenly. Amanda had the Redhead burger — 1/2 pound stuffed with mushrooms and bleu cheese. “’Wow!’ would be the operative word here,” she said.

The two young ladies ordered the Mahi-mahi with goat cheese and "adult grilled cheese sandwich." When their meals arrived each took one bite and said: “This is a little more of an adult taste than I like” for the fish and “Maybe I’m not as hungry as I thought” about the grilled cheese, which was a little too grilled for her preference. One daughter offered the other one her $22 special, to which the fish lover immediately responded “perhaps you’d like my sandwich, then” and everybody was happy.

Since there were six of us and five desserts we got one of each and plenty of spoons. The pineapple upside down cake (which we asked them to reserve as soon as we sat down) was much less sweet than typical with a crumbly gingerbread feel. The crème brulé was perfect — a smooth crust of hard caramel on top with creamy custard below. The bread pudding drizzled in caramel sauce (the only really sweet dessert offering) left me wondering if any particular bite had any bread in it, because it was all so rich.

We got the farmhouse cake in both chocolate and lemon and found it much more traditional (like the birthday cakes my mother used to bake from scratch) than the dense chocolate desserts most restaurants now serve. “Refreshing” certainly describes the lemon cake. But, just like with their other specials, who knows what you’ll find the day that you finally make the drive to Solon to explore Redhead’s many charms.