Hot Stuff: Fahrenheit
by Carl Musacchio
Cleveland Magazine

A trip to Fahrenheit, chef Rocco Whalen's restaurant in the Tremont area, could leave diners of a certain age humming a popular tune from the '50s: "Little Things Mean a Lot." This is a place where the tiniest details have been carefully considered. As a result, the food, the presentation, the service, the decor, even the graphic design of the menu and wine list, click together to produce a total dining experience that is more than the sum of its parts.

Though relatively new -- Fahrenheit opened last May -- the restaurant has quickly built a substantial local following. Even at midweek the bar and dining room are likely to be filled with a mostly young, mostly attractive crowd. And its reputation has spread: Whalen and Fahrenheit were recently featured in Gourmet Magazine "Guide to America's Best Restaurants" and Esquire listed him as an up-and-comer.
 
Whalen, whose résumé includes tours of duty with Wolfgang Puck in California and locally at Blue Point Grille and Lockkeepers, worked with partners Kim and Kelly Repas and interior designer Connie Turski to develop Fahrenheit.

It's a smart, stylish setting done mostly in warm burgundy tones, gleaming woods and vintage brick. In the main dining room you'll be seated either at one of the roomy, well-spaced tables (specially designed for Fahrenheit) or on the multicolored velvet banquette on the upper level. After you've admired the decor, watching the hustle-bustle of the partially open kitchen and the comings and goings of the stylish crowd at the huge bar will keep you amused.

Menus, echoing the Fahrenheit theme, group dishes by cooking temperature. Find pastas under the 212-degree heading, pizzas at 600 degrees, grilled items at 1,000 degrees. The wine list groups vintages by serving temperatures: reds at 65 degrees, whites at 55 degrees, champagnes at 45 degrees.

Whalen values quality more than quantity, thus his portions tend to be adequate rather than overpowering, and he limits the menu to a half-dozen or so each of appetizers, pastas, pizzas and entrees. This isn't one of those places with a menu that makes promises the kitchen can't always deliver.

Here, every dish is a showcase of quality ingredients and cooking skill. As Whalen puts it, "I like to limit myself to items that I know I can turn out perfectly. We change the menu frequently and offer specials only when top-quality ingredients, that deserve to be spotlighted, become available."

Whalen learned well from his mentor, pizza maven Wolfgang Puck. Choose one of his designer pizzas as a shared appetizer, a light meal or bar snack. Selections range from new takes on old standards, such as the pizza margarita with sweet oven-roasted tomatoes and fresh basil, to the exotic: Check out the pie sporting a topping of spinach, bleu cheese and wild mushrooms. Prices range from $11.25 to $13.75, the last for a four-cheese combo anointed with truffle oil.

The chef finds Cleveland diners a bit more conservative than his California customers, "so my pizzas don't go quite so far over the top as some of Wolfgang's creations," he says. All are tasty, though we felt our margarita with roasted tomatoes needed a few more minutes in that 600-degree oven to develop more crispness.

Even the salads and the breadbasket, items that may get short shrift in a lesser house, are treated with care and respect here. The breadbasket includes a nice selection of rolls accompanied by lusciously sweet honey butter and a ramekin of savory tapenade. Salads (a la carte, priced from $5 to $6.50) are artistic arrangements of fresh greens with interesting accompaniments and garnishes that may include such surprises as roasted beets, goat cheese, cashew candy or hazelnut vinaigrette.

Our server informed us the most popular Fahrenheit appetizers are the Chinatown spring rolls ($7.50). No wonder. What a combination of flavors and textures. There's the crunch of crisply fried spring-roll wrappers against the tenderness of the well-seasoned chicken filling. The dipping sauce neatly marries hot with sweet, and the accompanying salad juxtaposes cool cucumber with spicy pickled ginger.

Another contender for top honors, Fahrenheit's rare beef roll wraps rosy slices of beef tenderloin around a filling of mushrooms and greens, adds a shower of crisp fried potato strings and seasons the dish with apple syrup and a whiff of horseradish ($7.75). Other great starters include stuffed Hungarian peppers with roasted garlic ($6.50) and a gorgeous shrimp cocktail ($9).

Entrees include beef, pork, seafood and poultry selections; all deliver bold -- often surprising -- flavors. A good example is the Java- and mustard-crusted pork tenderloin ($18). Slices of high-quality pork are marinated in an unlikely combination of ground coffee beans, mustard, honey and mustard oil, then grilled until perfectly done. The meat is fork-tender, infused with a smoky, spicy, almost fruity flavor. It's served on a bed of puréed sweet potatoes flavored with maple syrup and cinnamon, concealing yet another surprise: a sprinkle of crunchy roasted macadamias.

Rocco's Famous Chicken ($15.50) is a generous portion of the bird, all white meat, grilled to moist and succulent perfection and served with rosemary-scented potatoes, asparagus and lemon vinaigrette. Roasted grouper, cooked just to translucence and perfectly moist, is served with a lobster-infused reduction of vermouth with notes of citrus and herbs. The bed of fingerling potatoes and peppers provides the perfect simple, homespun backdrop to the richness and subtlety of the fish ($19.75). Hanger steak and shoestring fries -- a bistro standard -- gets more than the standard treatment at Fahrenheit with a luscious reduction of red wine, shallots and a hint of roast garlic ($16.75).

Don't leave without sampling dessert (all $6 to $7). On the lighter side, there's a selection of superpremium Woo City ice creams. All are excellent, but try the vanilla malt for a real treat. Got a little more room? Go for the banana cheesecake or raspberry-chocolate bombe. For a real caloric splurge that's worth every sinful bite choose the chocolate-coconut pot de crème. It's a satiny custard flavored with bittersweet chocolate in a chocolate-coconut crust, topped with whipped cream. Way too good to pass up.

The wine list offers a good selection of fairly priced bottles, mostly Californian. There's a surprisingly deep selection of champagnes, ranging from a Chandon Brut Classic at $30 to pricier bottles of Dom Perignon and Taittinger. The restaurant offers full liquor service, including a collection of drinks for people who hate the taste of liquor, starring such aberrations as chocolate or cappuccino "martinis." (It is a young crowd.)