Cleveland Chefs

[Michael Ruhlman]

In a recent article I had a chance to mention cleveland chefs who I liked and my knee jerk reaction was to mention three I always do. but it's since been bothering me that I didn't think more about it.

I wish I'd mentioned Paul Minnillo at Baricelli Inn in Little Italy. He was one of the front runners of chefs in this city putting out excellent individualized food, food done the right way, and has since gone on to begin importing some of the worlds best cheese.

Down the street at Battuto are Mark and Giovanna Daverio. Mark's an akron native, and he and Giovanna worked at some of the bay area's finest restaurants before moving back here and taking over a Little Italy restuarant in the finest chef-owner tradition. I really admire what they do and love their food and wish I'd mentioned them.

I had the best short rib of my life off the grill (the grill!) at Flying Fig on the near west side and I don't even know the chef's name--what is her name?! Shameful.

So I wanted to start this thread to ensure that clevelanders who care about good restaurants know about chefs, importantly, chefs who own their restaurant or work their own food at independent restaurants.

Basically I don't know enough about the chefs in my own town. With kids, I don't get out enough, I'm an incredible tightwad (a writer after all), and the amount of wine i drink at dinner can be prohibitively expensive, so this is in a way an attempt to educate myself about who's out there in clevelandtown and what they're doing.

thanks.

[jjj23jjj]

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!

[LaurieB]

Michael, Where was your article and whom did you list? I'd like to see it.

Flying Fig's chef is Karen Small -- and the food is great.

Michael Fadel and Nick DeCoco at Sage are phenomenal.

Laurie

[ronnie_suburban]

Michael, Where was your article and whom did you list?  I'd like to see it. . .

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Soul Kitchen by Elaine T. Cicora at Clevescene.com

Today, while Ruhlman will gladly sing the praises of local chefs like Symon, Parker Bosley (of Parker's New American Bistro), and Doug Katz (Fire), he has little good to say about the overall caliber of the Cleveland scene. "Like the economy, we're about 10 years behind," he says, contending that Cleveland lacks a sufficient number of diners sophisticated enough to encourage chefs to experiment.

=R=

[Fat Guy]

Cleveland is an "emerging market" as far as restaurants are concerned, which is actually an exciting thing. You could pretty much get as good a meal in New York ten years ago as you can today. In an emerging market, you see real progress. That progress needs support in order to sustain itself, and I think that's what Michael is getting at here -- it's something he can do, as a journalist, to encourage excellence.

There are a lot of other things that can be done to nurture an emerging market. For example, if it doesn't already exist, someone can found an organization -- even if it's informal and just gets together once a month for a drink -- of the serious chefs in town. Not the kind of phony group that the a local tourism board is likely to put together, where the members are the chefs from all the bad hotel restaurants, but rather something exclusive to those who display true individuality and are moving the scene forward.

[stuart_s]

Cleveland is an "emerging market" as far as restaurants are concerned, which is actually an exciting thing. You could pretty much get as good a meal in New York ten years ago as you can today. In an emerging market, you see real progress. That progress needs support in order to sustain itself, and I think that's what Michael is getting at here -- it's something he can do, as a journalist, to encourage excellence.

There are a lot of other things that can be done to nurture an emerging market. For example, if it doesn't already exist, someone can found an organization -- even if it's informal and just gets together once a month for a drink -- of the serious chefs in town. Not the kind of phony group that the a local tourism board is likely to put together, where the members are the chefs from all the bad hotel restaurants, but rather something exclusive to those who display true individuality and are moving the scene forward.

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Emerging market? That's very interesting. My crystal ball is on the fritz. What are the possibilities for Cleveland's future development? I assume you're making your analysis based on the histories of other cities with similar characters? What are some of their success stories.

Cleveland does have a restaurant organization. There are no bad hotel chefs because membership is limited to local businesses. Cleveland Originals is a local chapter of the Council of Independent Restaurants of America. Moxie, Flying Fig, Battuto, fire and Sage are all members. In 2004 they had a "Dine Originals" week which, personally, I felt was very successful. I was so excited that I added my own unofficial preview week and I managed to get seven local meals. Unfortunately for some reason they didn't manage to hold the promotion in 2005. I asked and was told that they're planning to revive it for 2006. *crosses fingers*

Sage really is wonderful. Go for the charcuterie plate. I'm looking forward to a meal at Flying Fig this weekend. I remember a salad I had there in 2004. That's got to say something about their commitment to quality. Parker's is fantastic. Look into their monthly vegetarian dinners. The next one is March 8th and they're at least as good as any omnivore's menu in the city.

Battuto is on my list but this new recommendation is jumping it right to the top. Thanks Michael.

How about Siam Cafe (Chinese food but also Vietnamese and, obviously, Thai)? Cleveland's Slow Food convivium had their 3rd annual Chinese New Year celebration last night. Ten courses each more wonderful than the last. I've had a (very) little taste of some well regarded West coast Chinese food and Siam Cafe is at least on par. Yesterday's meal was fabulous.

[Fat Guy]

I assume you're making your analysis based on the histories of other cities with similar characters?

It's a current trend. National culinary awareness is rising as a result of multiple converging trends ranging from food on TV to better products in supermarkets to more graduates from the culinary schools. This isn't affecting the restaurant scene much in places like New York and San Francisco because these places have long been on the leading edge and the leading edge isn't moving forward as much as the middle. It also doesn't affect very-small-population areas because there's just not the critical mass for restaurants in those places. It's the mid-sized cities that are seeing the most in the way of relative culinary advancement right now.

[Michael Ruhlman]

FG is correct. I'd love not only to encourage excellence here, but also to recognize it when it shows up and to support it.

I've known about Cleveland Oringinals and wish they did more to educate the consumer about the difference between chains and indies.

[rockandroller]

FG is correct.  I'd love not only to encourage excellence here, but also to recognize it when it shows up and to support it. 

I've known about Cleveland Oringinals and wish they did more to educate the consumer about the difference between chains and indies.

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Popping in as a new member/poster and wanted to throw my 2 cents into the mix on this topic. I agree with Michael that many (not all) of the good indie places are v. expensive for people living on the average Cleveland wage. When people ask me for recommendations of great local places, it's a shame that many of them that I mention are places I myself either can't afford to visit or which must be "special occasion" type places. I've been to Johnny Mango for excellent, cheap local eats maybe 100 times and have yet to visit Parker's or Three Birds because I'd feel I was blowing 2 weeks worth of dining out dollars on one meal. We had an excellent dinner at Lolita (once) but with wine (only 2 glasses per), small plates and a big board to make up our dinner we were well over $100 when I can get away with less than half than that at a place like Mango with a full pitcher of margaritas to split (made with fresh lime juice, and they have one of the best tequila selections in town), or even less at Minh Anh, etc. I know it's the "experience" but if we visit a nicer place we have to plan to have no more than 1 drink or no drinks if we want to afford the food and a very nice tip.

I love to support the locals but one area where the locals and the chains are in completely different places seem to be response to customer complaints/customer service. I'm not talking about silly cr*p like oh, I left 1 bite of steak but by the way, I didn't like it, but visits where there were problems significant enough for me to take the time to write a well thought-out letter. I can think of at least three local places off the top of my head where in recent years I visited and had major problems with service or food (or both), wrote a letter and NEVER got a response. Every chain I write to gets passed quickly down to the local manager who contacts me within 48 hours to get to the bottom of the problem, talk to me in depth about it, apologize and usually offer a discount if we return. I don't write *because* I expect a discount, but to be frank, if I've had a bad experience and complain, that is what will make me return, and I don't see the local places offering it to me if they even do respond, and I don't go back. I have developed a relationship with managers at 2 chains close to me and I talk to them each time I go in as they are working on fixing the holes in their service and want to know how *each* experience I have with them has gone, and they pass on my thoughts, suggestions and comments about the menu to the corporate office. I know the money I spend there doesn't go local but the people who work there are locals and the manager of Damon's and Buca seems just as interested, if not more, in getting me to return than some of the local places I've visited.

I notice some of the higher priced local places are starting to get that we don't all have tons of $. I have heard recently of Saucy Bistro's new "cellar" where they offer lesser priced, nicey-nice pub type food and that's on my short list, and I've otherwise never bothered to venture there thinking it's out of my price range. I'd never been to Carrie Cerino's til they joined Cleveland Originals and started offering the discount gift certificates. Not that they're out of my price range but until this incentive to go I thought they were just a place that did wedding receptions.

I've rambled, sorry, but I wanted to point out the disconnect between customer service in the locals and chains as something I think needs improvement, as well as to back up Michael's earlier comments about the cost of dining out here.

[ronnie_suburban]

Thanks for the comments, rockandroller, and welcome to the eGS.

You bring up a lot of good points. It's interesting about the chain managers fine-tuning the service elements of their operations. That's got to be one huge advantage for the chains -- their larger pool of resouces, which ultimately allow them to focus more on the finer points of service, wait time, turnover, etc. while other people in the organization -- some not even at the same location -- pull the actual levers pertaining to areas for which the store manager isn't even responsible. I imagine that in most instances, the indies have a much harder time managing all these details with the same efficiency, since it's usually fewer people attending to more details in those venues.

=R=

[Michael Ruhlman]

I wanted to point out the disconnect between customer service in the locals and chains as something I think needs improvement, as well as to back up Michael's earlier comments about the cost of dining out here.

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Both great points, ron's too Re infrastructure.

Amateur service may be the main obstacle preventing Cleveland from being a higher tier restaurant city. And what an interesting and scary point, the chains may win out not because of food but because they were smart enough to realize that service, ultimately, is more important than the food. Few restaurants with great food and shitty service survive; many, too many, with shitty food but excellent service do.

As for cheaper eats, also a good point and reminds me I forgot to mention an excellent indy called Marrotta's on Lee Road in cle hts. Excellent pizza and other higher end fare but reasonable.

[cbarre02]

had the chance to stop in at the flying fig the other night... i think it is a chef you should put on the list. A note on service... Attentive, clean, and quick. The place was packed on a saturday night, but service didn't miss a beat.

[Bobby 2 Shakes]

I wanted to point out the disconnect between customer service in the locals and chains as something I think needs improvement, as well as to back up Michael's earlier comments about the cost of dining out here.

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Amateur service may be the main obstacle preventing Cleveland from being a higher tier restaurant city. And what an interesting and scary point, the chains may win out not because of food but because they were smart enough to realize that service, ultimately, is more important than the food. Few restaurants with great food and shitty service survive; many, too many, with shitty food but excellent service do.

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Sounds like a business opportunity. Somebody with the resources (lure Bigfoot out of NY?) could fill the demand for a "service chain" that would provide well-trained supplemental servers. Whoever undertakes this should first watch "Office Space" as a cautionary tale of how not to go about it. (You "flair" peddlers know who you are)

Esprit is the key de corps.

[edsel]

Hey Michael,

Since you're judging the Chili Cookoff Benifit on Wednesday, you'll have a chance to meet some of the more interesting chefs in Cleveland. Rocco Whalen (Fahrenheit in Tremont, just down Professor Street from Lolita), Jonathan Bennett (chef at Moxie and Red noisy Flash warning!), Brandt Evans (Blue Canyon in Twinsburg), and Dominic Cerino (there's a thread about CC in the Heartland forum). Ask Chef Cerino about his love of salumi.

With kids, I don't get out enough, I'm an incredible tightwad (a writer after all), and the amount of wine i drink at dinner can be prohibitively expensive, so this is in a way an attempt to educate myself about who's out there in clevelandtown and what they're doing.←

Carrie Cerino's has a very affordable wine list, and is certainly kid-friendly as well. The first Friday of the month they serve the hand-made egg-yolk ravioli that we've all raved about on the CC thread.

[Michael Ruhlman]

fyi to cleveland folks, there's a chili cookoff tomorrow to benefit autism organized by chef brian doyle at great lakes brewery. i'm a judge along with a few others including cheese maven, continental chef, baricelli chef, chef chef, awesome chef, and voted cleveland's second sexiest chef paul manillo.

6 pm, fifteen bucks recommended donation.

Edited April 4, 2006 by Michael Ruhlman (log)

[Michael Ruhlman]

Driving through little italy last week i saw that Battuto has a huge new facade--there had been scaffolding there forever. at a glance it looked great. has anyone been. i'm a huge fan of mark and giovanna and hope the inside is as dynamic as the out.

recently had good food at Fahrenheit, rocco whalen's shop—he bagged the chili cookoff judging when the 30 minute maven came to town—and was happy to see a packed house.

also had a slew of interesting aps at sergio's new place on shaker square--a sprawling restaurant--maybe too big for it's own good. The bar area seemed to be rocking but the farther to the northwest, it retained a kind of bookstore cafe feel. i admire sergio, loved that he serves a toad in the hole, and really want this restaurant to help anchor the square.

[rockandroller]

Mmm, toad in the hole. I will have to get over there soon. It's so far out of my way but continues to sound like it's worth the drive.

[torakris]

also had a slew of interesting aps at sergio's new place on shaker square--a sprawling restaurant--maybe too big for it's own good.  The bar area seemed to be rocking but the farther to the northwest, it retained a kind of bookstore cafe feel.  i admire sergio, loved that he serves a toad in the hole, and really want this restaurant to help anchor the square.

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This one place I was definitely going to try on my trip home this summer, thank you for reporting on it. Finally someone mentions a good place in my neighborhood.....

[Michael Ruhlman]

and there's a new place on coventry, the bad karma corner of hampshire, a thai place called mint, favorably reviewed in the free times. haven't been but eager to.

[rockandroller]

I've heard of that place too. Sounds like it's time for an eGullet dinner.

[torakris]

and there's a new place on coventry, the bad karma corner of hampshire, a thai place called mint, favorably reviewed in the free times. haven't been but eager to.

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Oh I know that corner well....

Nothing does seem to last there very long....

Another place to check out this summer.

[Improvchef44]

Thanks for posting about this here. I'm just finally getting the hang of Egullet. We raised over $10,000 at our first annual chili cook-off for Autism. It was a fabulous event considering we started planning it 2 months before. Next year will be even better.

Cheers,

Chameleon Chef