Nick Camino of WKYC offers favorite dining choices – Five for Friday

CLEVELAND, Ohio – Nick Camino has been a steady fixture for years anchoring sports in Cleveland. He gained a bit of fame at the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic when WKYC staffers broadcast from their homes. Camino talked sports from his kitchen.

And what a kitchen. It was spotless and minimalistic. A large shiny pot here, one or two tasteful pieces of décor there. But not one speck of, well, anything resembling dirt or grime.

Camino – who went to Solon High School and Cleveland State University – hosted sports talk shows for 13 years on WTAM 1100-AM and has been full time at WKYC as sports anchor/reporter since 2019. He and his family – wife Marissa and sons Giovanni and Rocco – live in Twinsburg.

Each week we survey a notable Clevelander about where they like to eat in Northeast Ohio. Here are Camino’s choices:

1. What’s your favorite restaurant and why?

This is a tough question, because we enjoy going out to eat at a variety of different places. I have to go with Angelo’s Nido Italia in Little Italy (12020 Mayfield Road, Cleveland). It’s the best Italian spot in Cleveland. Menu is fantastic, love the atmosphere, too. Angelo does an A+ job all-around from the appetizer to the dessert.

2. Favorite dish you have ordered from anywhere?

The Tuscan Ribeye from Bull & Bird Steakhouse (87 West St.) in downtown Chagrin Falls is the best steak I’ve had. It was part of Hyde Park Restaurant Group. But if you’re heading to Angelo’s Nido Italia from above, I highly recommend the Veal Tuscano. His potato gnocchi in tomato cream sauce is top-notch, too. (Note: Bull & Bird is now closed.)

3. Favorite dish to make at home?

OK, so I can’t cook. It’s embarrassing. But my wife Marissa is incredible in the kitchen. Right up there with Nana Camino and my mom. Obviously we do a lot of Italian in our house. Pizzas, pastas, meatballs, meatless meatballs (mushroom/bread crumbs), all that good stuff. But we do have variety. Recently Marissa started doing Chicken Tikka Masala over rice with naan bread, which is an Indian dish. We also enjoy good Chinese food. My wife makes fried rice a lot with homemade General Tso chicken and also a Bourbon Chicken.

4. What is your favorite brunch or breakfast spot?

Good question! Two places that actually remind me of each other. Old-school diners. Fresh Start Diner (9810 Ravenna Road, Twinsburg) is the first. Dan (Wyman) and his dad do a great job. I used to run into Les Levine there all the time. So you know if Les was there, it was a great spot. Another good place is Jim’s Open Kitchen (33779 Aurora Road, Solon).

5. Favorite drink or dessert in Northeast Ohio?

For good cocktails, M Italian (22 W. Orange St., Chagrin Falls). Fresh-squeezed Limoncello Mules are awesome. For dessert, you can’t go wrong at Red, the Steakhouse (200 Park Ave., Orange Village, Pinecrest development) with their fried dough. It’s like a fresh, Italian doughnut.

What do notable Clevelanders eat when they want some good chow? Welcome to Five for Friday – a weekly look at Northeast Ohioans and their favorite eats.

Previous Five for Fridays

Parma comic-book store owner Adam Barsa

The New Moon storeowners Dawn and Bob Bartos

Fox 8 news reporter Maia Belay

Sports radio duo Mark “Munch” Bishop and Chris “Beebs” Beeble

Rock Hall’s head of licensing and merchandising Diana Borcz

Global Cleveland executive director Joe Cimperman

Debra Darnall, The Bone Lady

Film producer Tyler Davidson

Andria Derstine of Oberlin’s Allen Memorial Art Museum

Music scene fixture (writer, producer, DJ) Teddy Eisenberg

LGBT Center director Phyllis ‘Seven’ Harris

Cleveland musician Chayla Hope

Buckland Museum’s Steven Intermill

Cleveland Gaming Classic founder Tom Jenkins

Great Lakes Science Center’s Robyn Kaltenbach

Little Birdie Wine Nest owner Robin Keenan

Cleveland musician Kyle Kidd

3News anchor Maureen Kyle

Singer Lauren Lanzaretta

Former Tribe pitcher Jensen Lewis

Akron Zoo events and marketing coordinator Caroline Lutz

WMJI radio host Jimmy Malone

Mason’s Creamery’s Helen Qin and Jesse Mason

Cleveland 19 News anchor-reporter Sia Nyorkor

SportsTime Ohio host Al Pawlowski

NASA Glenn Research Center Director Marla E. Perez-Davies

Beck Center for the Arts board chair Pat Oliver

Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse director of event and media marketing (and concert-industry professional) Carrie Samek

Karamu House President and CEO Tony F. Sias

Writer Michelle R. Smith

3News anchor-reporter Tiffany Tarpley

Former Cleveland Browns player Joe Thomas

Fashion designer Dru Thompson

Indians play-by-play announcer Matt Underwood

TV host, photographer Laura Wimbels

Cleveland filmmaker Johnny Wu

I am on cleveland.com’s life and culture team and cover food, beer, wine and sports-related topics. If you want to see my stories, here’s a directory on cleveland.com. Bill Wills of WTAM-1100 and I talk food and drink usually at 8:20 a.m. Thursday morning. And tune in at 8:05 a.m. Fridays for “Beer with Bona and Much, Much More” with Munch Bishop on 1350-AM The Gambler.

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