The Hippest Parking Garage In Town

When you're planning your Saturday night, a parking garage is usually just a place to put your car. This Saturday, the Cleveland Urban Design Collaborative hopes to change that. For one night, the parking garage at 740 Euclid Avenue will transform into the Hipp Deck, an open-air performance venue.

From 6:30 to 9:30 p.m., Hipp Deck will host performances by electronic musician Freeze-Tag, local band Tastycakes and opera students from the Cleveland Institute of Music dressed in historical garb. A huge inflatable art installation by Jimmy Kuehnle may be visible from the street.

The event is also a book release party for the CUDC’s publication Cleveland Stories: True Until Proven Otherwise, which tells the narrative history of Cleveland’s architecture. The book will be available for half-price, $10. Food vendors such as Campbell’s Popcorn Shop and Tremont Scoops will serve treats.

The garage was built on the site of the historic Hippodrome Theater, nicknamed “The Hipp,” a nationally renowned venue demolished in 1981.

Hipp Deck is part of the CUDC’s Pop Up City initiative, which looks to use vacant or unusual spaces around Cleveland in inventive ways. The CUDC has been looking to do an event in a parking garage for some time, says David Jurca, a senior urban designer with CUDC.

“They’re kind of these spaces that are underused and maybe under-appreciated,” Jurca says.

The CUDC hopes to inspire others to hold events in surprising places.

“There’s a lot more potential here than we’ve really explored,” Jurca says. “There’s so much parking. Maybe we can collaborate with it instead of fighting it.”

Lake Erie Monsters Look To Start Season Hot

Wednesday at the Q, the silence between pucks tinking off the goal posts and clacking onto sticks was filled with the sound of fans. These fans were whirring, though, not cheering.

I was the lone spectator for the Lake Erie Monsters’ morning practice, and while there were some nasty glove saves and wrist shots, I would have felt awkward cheering.

The Monsters, Cleveland’s American Hockey League team, are returning to the ice this weekend after the four-year-old franchise’s best season. From their first-round playoff loss last year, they are moving forward—and with great speed.

Center Ryan Stoa says the coaches have been “harping on us to do everything fast.” Shooting and passing drills were so rapid that by the time I located the puck, it had already visited five players and been kicked by a left pad.

Stoa, drafted in 2009, has played 37 games with the Monsters’ parent club, the Colorado Avalanche. The 24-year-old is one of the 12 players from last year’s Monsters roster to stay with the team for the start of this season. When more than half of your 22- or 23-person roster is made up of guys the veterans haven’t played with before, it takes some adjusting.

Trevor Cann, in his third season goaltending for the Monsters, says the team is “jelling” during practices. As the players work on power plays, breakouts, faceoffs, defensive and offensive zones, coaches are developing the lines and seeing who works best together.

This kind of team development led to a standout 2010-2011 season. The Monsters finished second in the North Division with a franchise-best 44 wins. The team’s popularity among Clevelanders grew. The Monsters had an average attendance of 6,568, sixth out of 30 AHL teams, and a league-best average playoff attendance of 8,069.

Players say they’re excited for the season opener against the Abbotsford Heat Friday night. “There is no better feeling than getting a win and hanging out with the guys afterwards,” says Cann.

After two hours of practice, some stragglers were still skating and taking turns shooting at one of the goalies. Team communications manager Sarah Jamieson told them it was time to quit.

Like the child who doesn’t want to come in at dusk, a player skated up to the bench and pleaded, “Just one more drill?”

The Monsters start their season at Quicken Loans Arena on Friday night. The puck drops at 7:30 p.m.

Restaurant Scene-Ery

In terms of settings to eat and drink, the landscape has gotten much more exciting in the past week. Dante Bocuzzi and Steve Schimoler, the bold, visionary impresarios of these two new restaurant productions, each deserve a round of applause. I'm not talking about the food. What has me so jazzed at the moment are the places, not the plates. Both are something special and they couldn’t be more different.

I got my first view of Ginko, Bocuzzi’s Tokyo-style sushi lounge in Tremont, at a kickoff event last Wednesday night. I was last in here over a year ago, when construction upstairs was still in progress. This was a dark, dirty basement with a toilet in the corner. It’s hard to believe the transformation. The look is not like anything else in the town and hard to describe. My best shot: bento box, the tidy little Japanese compartmentalized container, meets Dr. Seuss … in the 22nd century. The small underground spot, tucked under Dante Restaurant, suggests a futuristic fantasy funland. One wall features irregularly shaped and back-lit glass panels in bright reds, blues and creams. It was designed by Giancarlo Calicchia, a multi-talented sculptor and painter and Bocuzzi’s business partner, and fabricated by Streets of Manhattan, a local studio. Another is covered in textured red paper that looks lacquered with black trim. Other areas are done in glossy white and black subway tile for a sort of uber-modern yin and yang effect. A couple of flat screens showed a steady stream of anime.

The room is dominated by a curving concrete sushi bar where water flows under glass. Suspended above it is a silvery drop ceiling in what I call a “fish breath” motif. It’s dotted with bubbles like the surface of a lake when the residents are biting. More counters and stools rim the perimeter. There are two spacious booths. A panel in the table can be removed and a hibachi set in the opening for on-the-spot cooking. That should make for a good time.

Over in Ohio City, at the corner of Lorain Avenue and West 25th Street, Crop, the next generation of Schimoler’s popular Warehouse district bistro and bar which closed in the spring, begins serving tomorrow night. I was there on Monday for a “housewarming” party. Housed in a former bank, built back when they were housed in palatial digs, it is without a doubt the grandest, most imposing and striking dining room in the city. My reaction on walking in midway through the remodeling was a deep inhale and an “oh my god” exhale.

The scale is over-the-top awesome. A high and ornate coffered ceiling, huge arched windows, fat columns and 1925 mural dominate. The restoration work has been meticulous, and the redesign inspired. There’s a bar at one end and space for a coffee shop and artisinal foods mini-market and wine store at the other where you can buy some of the products you taste. In between is an open kitchen with chef’s table seating at a counter. Theater lighting adds drama. Downstairs, the former vault, with its “don’t-even-think-about-breaking-in steel doors (one weighing 70,000 pounds, the other 90,000) and bronze gates, will be used for private (and surely memorable) gatherings.

And after long waits and more work than most of us can imagine, Ginko and Crop are ready for guests. So go and see what I’m talking about for yourself. Both are pretty much guaranteed to knock you out before the first bite.

Critical Mass Spins through City Streets Friday

Friday night I’m going to ride my bicycle from Public Square to North Collinwood — and I’m going to do it with more than 300 of my closest friends.

This is Cleveland Critical Mass.

In 1992, a few dozen San Francisco bicyclists decided to get together once a month and simply ride their bikes. Critical Mass has since become a worldwide phenomenon. In more than 300 cities spanning the globe, people grab their bikes and just ride.

This ride will be my fourth — which makes me still a newbie by Critical Mass standards. The rides usually begin in Public Square and end at a bar in one of Cleveland’s many hip neighborhoods, where you get to chat with other pedalers. I ended up on Larchmere, in Ohio City and on Whiskey Island after my first three treks.

I realized Critical Mass’s epic scope within the first few minutes of my initial ride in June. We were a mass of bikes taking up the entire eastbound lane of Lakeside Avenue. With hundreds of people around me, and the buildings of the city encompassing us, I immediately understood the ride’s appeal.

The rides begin with a destination in mind, but the route is never predetermined. The organizers just go with the flow. Veterans of past journeys will rush to the front to “cork” intersections and let the mass of bicycles pass through safely.

Every ride has gone through some of Cleveland’s poorer areas — and this has been the most rewarding part. People come out and cheer us on. There are no pretenses to Critical Mass, so when someone asks what we’re doing this for, several riders often shout back:

“For fun!”

Laura Likes Luna

I believe in bakeries like some people believe in saints and saviors. I need what they provide, and I’m convinced that living a good, happy life depends on their proximity. I am blessed to make my home in Cleveland Heights, a place that has and is close to multiple bakers of fine artisinal breads, pastries, cookies and cakes. Now I can add another to the list: Luna Bakery Café in the Cedar-Fairmount shopping district, just up the hill from University Circle.

The cases are filled with jewel-colored macaroons, crisp fruit filled galettes, trays of scones and plump croissant, sugar cookies almost too pretty to eat, nut bars and cupcakes. There’s an amazing 25-layer crepe cake and an almond meal “Luna” cake that’s so good you’d never believe it’s gluten free. These treats are the work of Bridget Thibeault and her kneading, stirring and whipping staff. Formerly known as Flour Girl, the name of the custom cake business she ran out of her home kitchen, Thibeault partnered with Tatyana Rehn and John Emerman of Stone Oven to launch this shop.

The café side of the operation has been getting lots of attention, and customers, since the place opened in June. In addition to lattes and all manner of beverages hot and cold, they serve prepared-to-order crepes and paninis. But there aren’t many seats here, and thinking of it primarily as a place to eat misses the point. This is first and foremost a high end Euro-style bakery.

They pack up pastries and cookies in bags and utilitarian by-the-dozen boxes or in beribboned gift-ready packages. Show up at dinner with one of these, and you’re sure to be invited back. Thibeault, with the heart and eye of an artist, designs special-occasion cakes, does entire dessert tables for events and caters meetings.

I work at home, alone, so there’s no stopping by for breakfast goodies to bring to the office for my co-workers. But you should. It would definitely boost morale. And I’m thinking my spirits could use a little lift, so I’m putting on my walking shoes and heading to Luna right now to get myself a biscotti. Or two. And some flourless chocolate mini-cakes for tonight’s dessert. I see a very happy husband in my future.

Chris Hodgson Finishes Close Second in Great Food Truck Race

Cleveland chef Chris Hodgson, of Dim and Den Sum fame, and his newest truck, Hodge Podge Truck, made it to Sunday's finale of Food Network’s “The Great Food Truck Race.”

Dishing out lunches and dinners in cities from Vegas to Miami, competing against trucks from all over the country, Hodgson came in second against the Lime Truck from Orange County, Calif. Hodgson represented Cleveland and its burgeoning food truck scene well. We caught up with him today to hear about his cross-country journey.

Cleveland Magazine: What was the experience like, outside of what made the air?

Chris Hodgson: A lot of us were actually friends. We were all hanging out together. Jason and Jesse from the Lime Truck were absolutely stand-out characters and phenomenal chefs. It was a lot of work.

CM: Show host Tyler Florence referred to you as a fierce competitor. What is it about being from Cleveland that made you such a fierce competitor?

CH: We’re Midwesterners; we don’t ever quit. Clevelanders never quit. When they asked me what would winning mean, I said I’d finally get to bring home a championship to Cleveland. It wasn’t “I want money.” I wanted to do something great for my city. Cleveland’s got unbelievable people with unbelievable drive who are going to do everything in their power and keep fighting to the end. I love this place.

CM: The way the show was edited, it looked like you guys lost by such a slim margin. Was that how it went down?

CH: We actually made the money faster. We just couldn’t get there before them. We were parked about 45 minutes away. They were parked about 10 minutes from the beach.

CM: The other trucks were run by people who were either friends, or business partners. A few of the trucks even had two chefs. You had your sister and your girlfriend. What made you decide to take them?

CH: Oh, I didn’t.

CM: Who did?

CH: The Food Network — I applied with my chefs, yo! (laughs)

CM: Are you glad they decided to send them along with you?

CH: Absolutely, because my girlfriend and my sister are huge supporters for me. Not just on the truck, but emotionally.

CM: Aside from not coming out on top, would you change anything?

CH: Nothing. I was a winner, baby. I was a winner. I went 3,500 miles with the two girls that I love the most.

Check out our story on Hodgson from the May 2011 issue here.

My Cleveland

This mini musing on the interesting and exciting things that happen in, and come from, Cleveland begins at a gallery and ends at a bar. Last week the husband and I went to the 78th Street Studios for Third Fridays. The sprawling repurposed industrial building is a hotbed of creative activity, and tenants throw open their doors to welcome visitors one night, every month. The first thing I noticed when we pulled into the parking lot was the new Touch Supper Truck. It’s hard to miss: The vehicle is garishly painted with cartoonish females and red-orange flames. It’s the mobile side of Touch Supper Club and just rolled out in August. There was a guy performing doing DJ duties so folks chowing down on tacos and sliders had some musical entertainment.

We didn’t stop, too full from an excellent dinner at home and in a hurry to get to an opening at Tregoning and Company, an art gallery. The show, called Spiritus, is a collection of compelling black and white photographs made by Elizabeth Sunday in Africa. (It's up through November and shouldn't be missed.) Though she now lives in California, Sunday was born here and has deep Cleveland roots: Her grandfather Paul B. Travis was a painter who taught at CIA for more than 30 years, and her father, Douglas Phillips, a renowned designer of stained-glass windows, had his studio here. We met James Wyman, curator, gallerist and fine arts consultant, who helped organize the show. He’s recently relocated to Northeast Ohio and is brimming with ideas and energy for the local arts community. No doubt we’ll be hearing more about him.

I ran into someone from my book club at the show. She wanted to know if I’d read The Paris Wife , the new novel by Paula McLain about Ernest Hemingway, his first wife Hadley and the six years they lived together among the literary greats who flocked to Europe in the 1920s. I’d just finished it the night before. We’ll be discussing it at our next gathering, and McLain, who lives in Cleveland Heights, will being joining us.

Next stop was the Velvet Tango Room for a nightcap, and there’s no place in this town, or any other, that better evokes the glamour and style of pre-war watering holes. Coincidentally, the last time I had a cocktail here, it was a Hemingway Daiquiri. The temperature was 40 degrees warmer, and it proved to be just the thing for a sweltering summer evening. This visit, we arrived just minutes ahead of a fill-the-house crowd and snagged the last two seats at the bar. The chill in the air prompted me to order an apple brandy sour. As always, it was perfectly made, the delicate balance of alcohol and acid achieved with just a whisper of sweetness. The husband had the potent Widow’s Kiss. We sat and sipped for a pleasant hour, talked about Sunday’s photographs and went home happy. It was a good night in Cleveland.