Debt of Gratitude

Photo courtesy This Is Cleveland

This was the headline and subhead of a recent piece posted on citylab.com: "Restaurants Really Can Determine the Fate of Cities and Neighborhoods — A new survey shows how much food influences the vibrance of urban centers." We've experienced this firsthand in Cleveland. Just think about what's happened over the past few years in Ohio City, Tremont, Gordon Square, Flats East Bank, East Fourth Street, and Shaker Square and Lee Road in Cleveland Heights. And I think it would be appropriate to offer a loud, energetic communal thanks to all the visionary chefs, entrepreneurs and investors who made commitments to these areas that helped bring about their revival and resurgence.

 
Turns out, this is just the right moment to show appreciation. Cleveland Independents, an association of locally owned and operated non-chain, non-franchise restaurants — the true drivers of the culinary renaissance that has brought so much energy to both our food scene and and our communities — is celebrating its 10th anniversary. Now 90 members strong and spanning a geography that goes from Sandusky to Mentor and Canton, the organization sponsors year round efforts to get people's attention. There's Restaurant Week, the deck of discount cards for food purchases, and gift cards redeemable at any member restaurant. Promotions such as these are good for business and good for the neighborhood.

Almost half of those urban residents questioned for the above mentioned study revealed that new restaurants are a top reason for exploring different parts of their city. A whopping 82 percent included restaurants among the main things they appreciate about where they live and a majority cited food and restaurants when talking about the cities they love to visit. These numbers confirm what we've been learning here ever since Carl Quagliata brought dining to the Warehouse District and Michael Symon made it trendy to go to Professor Street to eat.

Cleveland's on the upswing and I believe a large portion of credit should go to our culinary community. A round of social media applause would be nice. Showing support by going out to their restaurants — even better.

Toasty Treats

Ice cream can be a tough sell in Cleveland this time of year. Spooning up a frozen treat doesn't seem so appealing after an hour spent shoveling snow that leaves you with numb fingers and toes. But Sweetie Fry, a Cleveland Heights ice cream shop that opened in 2011, had a plan from the start to keep customers coming even in the coldest months. Hot, crisp, deep fried potatoes are the shop's winter attraction.

Idahos and orange sweet potatoes are served with sides of chipotle mayo, honey mustard or barbecue sauce. They're wonderful on their own — but owner and culinary inventor Keith Logan has expanded the concept, and the shop's menu now includes entree fries. Get them topped with chicken tenders or chicken Parmesan, bacon and melted cheddar or a Chicago dog. There are even reuben fries, pepperoni pizza fries and chili fries. It's a great idea, like nachos reinvented. Logan also pairs the potatoes with his recreation of the locally loved Mawby's cheeseburger, complete with grilled onions and thin slices of pickle.

No matter what the temperature is outside, it's warm and cozy in Logan's little Lee Road shop. So you might be tempted to follow-up with a scoop of Brown Butter Walnut, Turkish Coffee — a personal favorite — or Mango sorbet. Or perhaps you'll crave something more seasonal, such as a chili chocolate or candy cane cone that will make you forget what awaits on the other side of the door.
 
Gift cards are available and there's still a week to score some before Christmas. Who wouldn't want to find that in their stocking?

The Right Spot

The Wine Spot is a new place in Cleveland Heights to buy wines not usually found in most supermarkets, craft beers, artisanal cider, sake and port. It’s also where you can go to taste these things, talk about them with owner Adam Fleisher, and even have a private beverage-centric book club meeting, birthday party or a girls-night out.

It opened in December, on Lee Road, in the former Seitz-Agin Hardware store. Walking in, I can’t quite believe it’s the same place I came to for plumbing and electrical supplies, odd sized nails and brass screws, and more than 30 years of home repair advice. The big space is airy, open and modern, outfitted with a six door glass fronted cooler, shelves filled with bottles sorted by continent and country, some hi-top tables, and a couple of couches. The area where guys once mixed paint and fixed broken windows is now a lovely tasting room. It’s also a gallery for work by students from Cleveland Institute of Art.

The building, dating back to 1926, originally housed two separate storefronts. Until the mid ‘40’s, one side was home to Bruder’s, a dairy business. When workers were doing the renovations, they found the original floor with the name spelled out in black and white tiles. It’s now part The Wine Spot’s décor. Fleisher recounts how an elderly woman walked by, saw it through the window, and came in to tell him that as a child she lived down the street and used to walk up the block with her sister to get an ice cream cone here.

Fleisher, who grew up in the neighborhood and is a Heights High alum, likes the idea of preserving this bit of the community’s heritage and keeping alive its tradition of small shops owned by locals that can offer a very personal kind of service. He gave up a corporate job- and lots of time spent on the road- to take this entrepreneurial leap in partnership with his wife Susan and is clearly happy about the changes in his life and livelihood. “I try everything I sell,” he says with a grin, “and enjoy turning people on to the things I discover and the stuff I love.”

The plan going in was to be a friendly unpretentious store where customers would find value priced choices and someone who could answer their questions, share the stories behind everything in stock and help them make choices, in fact the very sort of place he liked to frequent in his travels around the country. But this has morphed into more because people like to be here. Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights they pour flights of reds, whites, and brews (per person prices is very reasonable). They bring in distributors for presentations; create private custom tasting events (with food if desired); and host educational and themed sampling events-like 'em on facebook to stay in touch with what's scheduled. It’s a great addition to the street and to my side of town. In fact, I'd like to make a toast to that., but I'll have to ask Adam for a recommendation.