Most people never even realized that yesterday was Flag Day. Wile there was little celebration going on in most of the country, AMP 150 was grooving. In case you don’t know, AMP 150 is the restaurant at the Cleveland Airport Marriott. First off, while I am a foodie, I am not a food snob. Still, I probably would not have heard of AMP 150 except for a couple of reasons. First off, Chef Cooley introduced his restaurant at an E4S event. His goal is to create a great restaurant that will draw people from all around the region, and he is likely to do it. How? Local foods and fresh ingredients prepared with style. They are planning a local food farm right there on the hotels property, just so they can produce the food they want to serve right on site. Now THAT is local and fresh! The second way I found out about AMP 150 is the way they have learned to embrace social media. I read about the restaurant on Cleveland Foodie, a local blog, who reviewed the place and was intrigued. Then I was suddenly connected to them on social media. So when I heard about the Flag Day Tweet UP and Foursquare Party that they were planning I was all in! If you have ever wondered what the point of Foursquare is, AMP 150 is showing us how to leverage this social media platform. First off, they managed to get over 50 people there, which made them the first Cleveland restaurant to give out a Swarm badge. This is just some Foursquare nonsense that is only of interest to us techno-geeks and social media freaks. But they go on to offer special discounts for you for every time that you go there and check in on Foursquare. Your 5th check in will even result in 25% off your entire bill. When I talk to social media clients about how they need to be using their Foursquare and other accounts to reach out to clients, this is what I mean. Everytime someone checks in, it is like a little free shout out by clients to their friends. The ”mayor” of AMP 150 even gets 25% off their bill, every visit, until they are unseated-a move that will be causing a mini contest amongst us Foursquare fanatics.
Anyhow, I went to the event last night to taste the appetizers, check out the venue and taste some beer from Thirsty Dog Brewing Company. The beers were tremendous. Brewed locally at their Akron brewery, they are going to give Great Lakes Brewing a run for their money. As a lover of craft beers before moving to Cleveland (Portland was, and perhaps still is, the capital of micro brews), I am excited to see so many local beer lovers crafting such delicious products. The only wrong with the event was that I had to try all the beers. Normally this would not be a problem, except they were tasting 10 different brews. This is no simple 3.6 Budweiser kind of night. The beers ranged from light and fruity to dark and chewy and some had quite the high alcohol content. Luckily, I wasn’t driving. The only beer I didn’t care for was the Pumpkin Ale, but it may have something to do with the fact that it followed the Raspberry Ale. I especially liked the Siberian Night (a Russian Stout), the Old Leghumper (a porter) and the Twisted Kilt ( a refreshingly different Scottish Ale). The appetizers being passed were outrageous. Duck pate to die for, Artichoke stew, and even a gourmet hotdog with mustard and kraut. I can’t wait to go back and try the full menu!
Amongst the crowd were a lot of folks who are changing the local food scene: Chefs Chris Hodgson and Jeremy Esterly of Dim and Den Sum are the guys who introduced gourmet street food to the region with their cool food trucks; Chef Matthew Mytro and his buddies from Stove Monkeys are the folks who put on the molecular gastronomy event YUMM! at Mercury Lounge; Trevor Clutterbuck of Fresh Fork Market is taking the CSA to a whole new level. I also got to meet a lot of the social media buddies that I connect with mostly online, like Tony Ramos, and made some new friends, liek Janet Nguyen of Metromix. Overall, the event was a huge success, the crowds got to try some of Chef Ellis’s food, the beers were delicious, the company was super AND we earned our swarm badge…. jealous?
Glad you liked our beers! Drop by on a Thirsty Thursday with your friends sometime.
Yes, I will! I thought they were great. I just wish you were a little closer!
Thanks so much for sharring this, the 1onica Team