Best Chili in Greater Cleveland: Forest City Brewery lands top spot in readers’ poll

CLEVELAND, Ohio — It’s National Chili Month and as promised, we’ve got some hearty reading this week on the top three finishers in our Best Chili in Greater Cleveland readers’ poll.

And in first place, representing their widely appreciated “secret recipe” Tomahawk Chili is Forest City Brewery in Cleveland, which landed a whopping 49.62% of the vote.

We sat down with Forest City Brewery co-owner Jay Demagall and chef Carlos Polichuk (fellow University of Toledo history alums) to enlighten us on what makes a bowl of Jay’s Tomahawk Chili “a mystical experience,” as one reader called it. We left with more questions than answers, but we laughed a lot, ate well and, by the end, decided to let the mystery be.

Background: “I’m not that confident or cocky, but I’ve won about 80% of private bar chili competitions I’ve entered across several states,” Demagall said. “It wasn’t long before friends backed off on bringing food to potlucks and draft days and let me carry the ball.” He woke up one day to find he was some sort of de facto chili chef.

Construction: The main proteins are a fine mince chorizo from Czuchraj Meats at the West Side Market and kidney beans, along with onion, garlic, celery. That much we know for certain. After that, our further inquiry was somewhere in between an elaborate dance routine and a comedy happy hour: “The recipe is right here, man,” Demagall laughed, pointing to his temple. “And in the vault of a Swiss bank somewhere near the Alps. You know, we could tell but we’d have to kill you. Only Carlos and I know what’s in it, so if we go down in a plane crash, that’s all folks!”

Flavor Profile: “There’s probably a dozen ingredients in there,” said Polichuk. “Or more.” Ah. OK then. Where to begin? We gleaned a lot of the usual suspects, but we were also getting cumin, coriander, garlic and “warmth of hot peppers made into a paste and evenly distributed” they said, without giving up their blend. After that? “One of the ingredients is the boredom of every fantasy football draft I’ve ever been in.” Demagall said. “Colonel Sanders has got nothing on us.” We kept prodding. Cola? Molasses? Agave? To paraphrase the late Hunter S. Thompson, “we were somewhere around chocolate, on the edge of allspice and brown sugar, when the chili began to take hold…”

But Seriously, Folks: We tried to get the scoop from Polichuk, who has only been with the Brewery for about two years — about as long as Forest City has had a proper kitchen — when Demagall stepped away from the table for a minute. Judging from the Cheshire cat grin he gave us, he’s either sworn to secrecy or signed an NDA. “Maybe both,” he said. We all laughed, right up to the minute we started eating. We couldn’t stop. And when a hot dog done on the flat top with a toasted bun, Tomahawk Chili and cheese came to the table? Fuhgettaboudit. Game. Set. Match.

If Your Chili Had a Commercial: “It’s a good chili,” said Demagall. “I tinkered with the recipe for about ten years, and about 15 years ago I stopped tinkering because it was there. Once I landed on it, that was it. This is the recipe. You’re not going to burn your mouth, cry and not be able to taste anything for about a week. A little tangy, a little sweet, a little hot, a little spicy. It’s well-balanced, like our beers.” Polichuk agreed: “You’re not biting into heat, but it’s definitely not boring.”

Presentation: Traditional. “For the complexity of this bowl of chili, it’s the only way,” said Polichuk. No spaghetti four-way whatever, no sour cream unless someone asks for it. It comes with shredded cheddar cheese and chopped green onions on top, cheese on the side and crackers. “Old school,” Polichuk said.

Reflections: “The only thing better than our chili is our customers who voted for us,” said Demagall. “That’s what makes this win even more of a sweet surprise. We love our people.”

Sales: “It’s been summertime, so we haven’t been tracking it that much lately. But it’s a year-round item and the regulars love it. It’s a best-seller for them,” said Demagall. “We do have a chili dog, which is popular during baseball season. It will never be a seasonal-only dish.”

Verdict: Best of Cleveland’s Yadi Rodriguez & Peter Chakerian weren’t sure what to expect when Forest City Brewery charged out of the gate with a gigantic lead and never relented. Given its name by microbrewery regulars, we thought Tomahawk Chili might be combative, bombastic, larger than life — with components being almost cartoon-like in appearance. When our bowls arrived, we were surprised at how simple the chili looked in stature: an extraordinarily fine mince of protein and veg, intermingling with a brothy base that had a perfect amount of fat. The only “large” components were beans and kernels of corn, which were lightly interspersed in the body of the chili. All that changed with the first bite: an incredibly unctuous and complex mouth feel ensued, with layers of flavor crossing the palate like waves and a late-report slow heat to stick the landing. Complex but accessible. Old school meets new school. Just wow.

Forest City Brewery, 2135 Columbus Road, Cleveland, OH 44113 216-228-9116

forestcitybrewery.com

The bigger picture takeaway from visiting and sampling all three winners? Readers absolutely know their chili. Your foodie street cred remains intact, Northeast Ohio. Now get out there and hit a bowl.