Dinner, drinks and movie: L'Albatros Brasserie and Bar, Bloom at Lux & `Seven Samurai'
L'Albatros Brasserie and Bar
11401 Bellflower Road, Cleveland
216-791-7880
Zach Bruell's talent for cooking fish, a hallmark of his Tremont restaurant, Parallax, arrives intact with his grilled salmon with lentils and a spanking bearnaise sauce ($16 dinner, $13 lunch). The caramelized top of his slender skate wing ($18 dinner, $14 lunch) cracked to reveal a perfectly plumped and sweet fish below. And expect a celebratory richness from the pecan-crusted trout ($19 dinner, $14 lunch), finished with truffle butter. Soups, salads, desserts all had a surprise to offer, from the braised beef tucked into the classic French onion soup ($7) to the chocolate Napoleon ($7), a stacking of impossibly thin wafers with ice cream and custard sauce. -- Debbi Snook
Braised leg of lamb with pasta risotto, feta cheese, and rosemary jus is served as an entree at L'Albatros Brasserie and Bar.
DRINKS
Bloom
Luxe
6605 Detroit Road, Cleveland
216-920-0600
Spring is in full bloom -- finally. Why not celebrate with a Bloom ($7) at Luxe? The hip eatery on the near West Side offers an impressive array of house-made cocktails. The Bloom is an ideal seasonal choice, a flowery-but-not-perfumey mix of lavender, blueberry, house-made lemonade and citrus vodka. Even better, Luxe visitors soon will be able to enjoy their Bloom on Luxe's upcoming ultra-chic patio. -- Laura DeMarco
MOVIE
"Seven Samurai"
Not rated. 207 minutes.
Director Akira Kurosawa made a slew of excellent films -- "Rashomon," "Ran," "The Hidden Fortress" -- but his best known is probably "Seven Samurai," starring Toshiro Mifune. The highly influential 1954 film, about villagers hiring free-lance samurai to protect them from bandits, was remade as the classic Western "The Magnificent Seven." Starting Friday, May 8, the Cedar Lee Theatre in Cleveland Heights will present a one-week run of a restored version of "Samurai" to mark its 55th anniversary. In Japanese with subtitles. -- Clint O'Connor