One of the many varieties of butterflies lands at the Cleveland Botanical Garden. Photo Provided

“Cleveland? You’re what? You’re going to ... Cleveland?” Yes. Positively Cleveland. I don’t know why the city gets such a bad rap. Maybe because Pittsburgh and Cleveland are such sports rivals. But Cleveland wins in some other areas, that’s for sure. Restaurants for one. I am of the opinion that there are more world-class restaurants in Cleveland than in Pittsburgh. By way of example: Pittsburgh does not have any restaurants owned by a Food Network Iron Chef. Iron Chef Michael Symon owns several eateries in Cleveland. There is an incredible restaurant community in Cleveland made up of chefs who are very supportive of one another, noted Samantha Fryberger, director of communications for Positively Cleveland, the Convention and Visitors Bureau of Greater Cleveland. This trip to Cleveland was fueled by the desire to dine at Lola Bistro, one of Symon’s restaurants After having opened a couple of successful restaurants in New York City, the Cleveland native decided to come home and spice up the dining scene. Our meal at Lola is up there in our top five best places we’ve eaten, I believe. My only complaint was the lighting — it was a bit too dark at our table. But the food — incredible. And the bar scene was hopping. I saw Symon sitting at the bar during the afternoon the day before we dined there. We started with beef cheek pierogi with wild mushrooms and horseradish creme fraiche.