Dear Michael, One restaurant/chef that deserves mention is Matthew Mathlage at The Leopard restaurant, in the Bertram Inn and Conference Center in Aurora, Ohio. While kind of obscure in Aurora, they've been named AAA four diamond for four years in a row and in my opinion, he is really pushing the envelope for food being done in NE Ohio. At the recent wine dinner I attended featuring Burgess wines, two of the dishes that were fantastic were olive cured antelope with red currant oatmeal, Ohio apple cider and mint menthol coulis or how about twice cooked sturgeon with a creamy artichoke puree wrapped in crisp red pepper with a strip of crispy fried zucchini, and topped with a frozen olive oil and herb de provence sorbet, which was GREAT with the bread. Having been there numerous times and feeling they are a hidden gem, someone of your culinary stature should surely check them out!
