eyehrtfood

Congrats to Cordelia Chef Vinnie - as of today a James Beard Award finalist - as well as to business partner Andrew and team. Great, great, great people - and the best restaurant in town - and in many towns around. I've had dozens of great meals there in their 1.5ish years - I cant stay away - simply because they keep things new, fresh, and inventive on each version of the ever-changing menu. Almost unbelievably, it's meeting the high bars set by the legendary Lola, formerly in this space, and the formerly adjacent Greenhouse Tavern. I've got my res for this weekend! https://www.clevescene.com/food-drink/cordelias-vinnie-cimino-is-clevelands-sole-james-beard-awards-finalist-44040496

New leasing map for Eton posted yesterday on Stark site. Still says "lease pending" for old Bravo space. Mabel's no longer showing.

Yes. Very good, if not yet great, food on day 8 of RH Rooftop Restaurant operation last Saturday night. Place was booked solid, same for the coming weekends (I tried...) - and folks really, really dressed up for dinner for once. Dinner food ranges from $8 fries, to $28ish (very good) lobster roll to $32 steak sandwich (great) to $38ish "grilled avocado with caviar" (delicious) up to, I think, $56 or so steak. Wine and beer only, no hard liquor or tradional cocktails. Butterscotch creme Brule was a highlight. Service and pacing still a bit off. Dinner for 2 w/2 drinks each and tip... $300, with no item over $40, so not cheap - but could grab sone charcuterie and wine and sit for much less, in th elegant space. If you go, perhaps avoid tables on South side of rooftop - as the view for out-facing diners (me) is of Harvard Rd and 271 - while interior-facing diners (wife) have a beautiful view of trees and a fountain in middle of space, the star attractions. Outdoor rooftop terraces - ringed by shrubbery - will be great Summer spots with fire pits and $$$ furniture. 1st amd 2nd floor furniture showrooms are plentiful, oversized, and very nice. Many people milling about store with wine etc. Open daily 10-9

Michael Symon's Mabel's BBQ at Eton - "temporarily closed" (as discussed above) since at least October/November - now has a "Mabel's BBQ has closed" sign on the door and "New Restaurant Announcement Coming Soon" stated below... though seemingly from the Eton development, not the Symon team. Related: Symon's business partner, Doug Petkovic's, adjacent Heritage Steak - announced in 2021 and opened 4 months ago - is still without signage of any sort, temporary or permanent, on the building exterior (save for, maybe, a paper sign on door.) Really, really odd for any restaurant, let alone one with $80+ steaks, in planning for 2+ years - from an experienced restaurateur.

From people I know there and visits, it is clear that mid-sized Grand Rapids is a city with pride that thinks it is much bigger and that strives to be taken seriously and will do anything to project a bigger image. Cleveland is a territorial city that thinks it's small, 300K and declining - not a 3MM+ region - that will value what councilmen can get for its neighborhoods over the region and botch or bargain-engineer the CLE expansion since who cares about an airport and the image it projects?... just watch.

Has anyone heard anything about this, below, from the Brookfield Properties' (Beachwood Place's owner) site? The mall needs a boost and this would be one - "Beachwood Place is currently undergoing redevelopment which will bring our cutting-edge Iconic Collection luxury leasing program to this dynamic Cleveland shopping center, transforming it into a destination for the next generation of diverse luxury consumers who reflect this great city. We will create a specialized district within the center — with a dedicated valet entrance, new finishes, and enhanced lighting — where the modern luxury customer can find classic brands and current trendsetters, beautiful community gathering spaces, and vibrant entertainment." The rumored, local Gucci store would certainly align - as would a dedicated Louis Vuitton, which is missing in a market this big. Other Brookfield centers that are "Iconic" include some of the highest revenue shopping centers in the US, including major DC, Chicago, and Hawaii locations. https://iconiccollection.com/

Now Mabel's at Eton has updated their website today to say temporarily closed 12/12-01/01... so IF they ever reopen it seems more than just getting Heritage on its feet. It'll have been 6-8 closed weeks.

Covid really changed their business. They never got back to normal hours, which is either their choice or what business allowed.

I wondered if this might be the case - but, still, unusual. Doug Petkovic is a partner in Mabel's but Michael Symon is not an announced partner in Heritage - but Heritage jobs were being advertised as from "Michael Symon Restaurants' - amd the GM is a Michael Symon Restaurants veteran, so. (Note: The Hanger steak (served with bone marrow),the pork chop, and the incredible hash browns at Heritage were pretty world class on first visit, IMHO.)

I love great local places like Cordelia and cookie cutter - but delicious- upscale chains. I don't personally believe consumers as a whole are off chains, but I do believe Cleveland habits have kept many away

Interesting offshoot of Covid. I live in Chagrin Falls and restaurants here including 17 River ($6MM/year in revenue), Jojo's, M Italian, etc.. have never been busier. Crazy busy many nights. I'm admittedly staying closer to home myself than before - except for Cordelia in downtown CLE.. CAN'T stop going to Cordelia...

I check regularly nothing I can see yet.

And closed in PIT and have closed twice in Indy - and peaked in the '80s/90s, but....

Then that is news but not normal - yesterday it said closed Nov 14-19 but obvi still closed. Do successful restaurants close for periods like this for no apparent reason? No! Doubt they'll reopen unless something up their sleeve (back to B Spot?) Perhaps the UO post caused them to update. Odd.

Fair - but so many of the upscale chains have died here in recent years - some due to corporate-wide issues (Bravo!, Paladar, etc...) and some for others reasons - like Maggiano's (12 years), to J Alexander's (24ish years), to Mitchell's (20 years) - and some for short periods 1-2 year periods (Ruth's Chris 2.0, City Works, Cantina Laredo) that can't bode well for more upscale chains that are here or could be coming... - restaurants which are signs of sucessful, prosperous shopping areas - and supportive clientele.

Now, California Pizza Kitchen has closed at Legacy Village after 20 years. What in the actual heck is going on? Will there be any restaurants left in this town, chain or otherwise, a year from now? And I can almost bet more closings coming soon based on empty parking lots. Is this happening everywhere or just Cleveland?

Paladar and Bravo closings at Eton were part of major, chainwide closings for both of those, B Spot was the last in its chain when it closed - and Mitchells shrunk from about 2 dozen restaurants at its max to 7-8 now - so mst of these involved troubled restaurants t groups. With that said, closings aren't great to see - but neither is a landlord, in Stark, continuing to allow Covid-like hours for the retail stores at Eton. (No lack of diners tonight at Heritage - where 5 of their 7 steaks run $70-$86, a la carte. Wow!)

After a great meal at the new Heritage Steak at Eton tonight, I passed by Michael Symon's Mabel's BBQ space at Eton - which never seemed to be busy - and appears it has, seemingly, closed - with social media account removed, etc... If so, it made it only about 18 months - at a time when the downtown location seems to have never been stronger. If gone, that's 3 high profile restaurant closings at Eton in just a few months. The early store closings every night, post-Covid, sure don't help the foot traffic.

The opening of the 50,000-ish square foot RH / Restoration Hardware mansion showroom and restaurant at Pinecrest has been pushed back from Fall 2023 to Winter 2024. Construction work ongoing 6-7 days a week and job interviews available throughout December. (6-figure salaries advertised for several restaurant jobs If anyone qualified and looking...) Here's a rendering of the revised look of the Pinecrest RH mansion... with a new white exterior color vs the original grey planned

Published reports and Orange Village council records had Chuy's originally looking at locations where BJs's and Coopers Hawk are now across from Pincrest. Columbus restaurant manager told friend, earlier this year, "Cleveland in 2024" or similar but TBD. True Food in original leasing plan for a Pinecrest where Kitchen Social is now.l, but no further word.

I'm not sure there are many remaining, thriving, mid-large sized indoor malls in the downtowns of any city in the US... (Boston is probably one on the short list...) Many cities tried - including CLE, Columbus, Indianapolis, Seattle, and others. Some exist in altered forms. Some were torn down. Tower City is not unique in its decline

Geiger's downtown - what a shame how it ended. I overheard a Geiger last year explaining that they tried but "there's nobody down there" to shop - despite their valid attempt to make it work - though the looters killed it in the end.

Would love that, but they've been closing (Seattle, The Grove/LA) not opening in recent years. North Italia is the expanding brand I'm thinking of.

New Eton brochure on Stark site shows pending for this space.. 7,100 sf vs 5,500 for former Paladar, 6,800 for new Heritage, etc... I have only a hunch that it is a new-to-market Italian or Southern restaurant - or one previously announced for Beachwood. It may also be a restaurant in Stark's existing Crocker Park.