November 21st, 2011 § 0
The WVIZ/PBS-produced documentary Artistic Choice tells the upbeat story of Cleveland’s artful legacy. The documentary shows a national audience that although the traditional ways of funding the arts have greatly decreased through the years, Northeast Ohioans have created an innovative way to continue to support her creative spirit and keep it alive and kicking for decades to come.
October 30th, 2011 § 0
“What ‘cha got?”
That’s the first question Raymond Bobgan, artistic director of Cleveland Public Theatre, asks the playwrights and directors he works with when he’s assembling a new season.
Instead of scanning lists of published scripts and hoping he can claim a show before another local theater, Bobgan and his staff often go directly to their sources in seeking out new, unseen material.
The result is a 2011-12 season in which CPT is mounting seven full productions of world premieres (out of a total of 11 shows). This is remarkable because, for most theaters in this region and around the nation, one or two premieres per season would be considered ambitious.
“We prefer to select directors and playwrights, instead of picking shows,” says Bobgan. “Then, they tell us what they’re working on that really excites them. That’s the stuff we’re interested in presenting at CPT.”
There’s also a payoff for Cleveland audiences.
As Bobgan explains, “Our new plays receive a great response here for one important reason: Invention and manufacturing are part of the Cleveland mythos, part of the city’s collective unconscious. So our audiences have an eager, natural curiosity. And that’s a perfect match for these shows.”
Ya Mama!
What: Cleveland Public Theatre presents the one-woman show written and performed by Nina Domingue.
When: Previews at 7 p.m. Thursday; opens at 7 p.m. Friday. Through Saturday, Nov. 12.
Where: 6415 Detroit Ave., Cleveland.
Tickets: $10-$25. Go to cptonline.org or call 216-631-2727.
The string of CPT premieres, which features many local creators, began with the just-closed “Monster Play.” Like many of the premieres, it was a devised production (one that is not pre-scripted but put together by the director and his cast).
Next up in the premiere procession is “Ya Mama!,” a solo work created and performed by Cleveland actor Nina Domingue, which opens a two-week run Friday.
“This play deals with my changing perceptions of motherhood,” says Domingue, “about how I decided to be present for my children.” Her play was first staged in January in CPT’s Big Box workshop series.
Big Box is just one part of the multilayered development structure that CPT offers to playwrights, directors and performers. The latest edition of this series, Big Box ’12, opens Thursday, Jan. 5, and is a multiweek showing of 11 works-in-progress.
Other CPT steppingstones include Springboard, staged readings of plays in their infancy (which just concluded), and Leap/Conceive (Thursday through Saturday), a series that helps creators polish work at a midpoint in their process.
Another premiere production that is going through CPT development is “13 Most American Dreams,” which will open in May. It is conceived and directed by local theatrical innovator Pandora Robertson.
As she describes it, “My show looks at the Internet as a worldwide dream catcher, so we want to incorporate social media. We’ll probably invite the audience to keep their mobile phones on during the show as we develop interactive portraits of people and our culture.”
Three other locals — Jill, Frank and Meredith Levin — will launch the premiere of “Not The Flying Stupendas” in April. This show is for families (something of a rarity at CPT) and involves a circus where the headlining acrobats are out of commission. So staff members are forced to perform in the acrobats’ place, as clown acts and songs mesh with various personal dramas.
Director Matthew Earnest, whose “Wanderlust: A History of Walking” ignited the CPT stage last season, is returning in March with his new “Lulu Project.” It is based on two plays by Frank Wedekind, who wrote the controversial “Spring Awakening.” That 1892 play was recently turned into an award-winning Broadway musical.
As Earnest says, “This show will include graphic sexuality, as we follow a young woman making her way in a violent and debauched world.”
Thinking about that subject matter, Earnest, who is based in West Virginia, adds, “I consider myself very lucky to make some of my work here in Cleveland, where audiences embrace edgy and challenging material.”
CPT kicks off the new calendar year in January with “At-TEN-tion Span,” which offers a collection of fully produced, 10-minute devised plays by local artists.
And CPT’s season of firsts ends in May-June with “Akarui” by Iowan Jen Silverman. It’s a fantastical journey involving a transgender boy, a rave cave and forces that can transform dead bodies.
While new shows are not always great shows, innovation is critical to assuring theater remains viable by attracting young, adventurous and diverse audiences. In that effort, the energetic and daring Cleveland Public Theatre is an acknowledged leader — here and around the country.
– Christine Howey
Freelance critic Howey’s blog is raveandpan.blogspot.com.
October 23rd, 2011 § 0
Have you been to XYZ the Tavern in Cleveland? Email us your review of the food, service and atmosphere. Include your full name and where you live. We’ll publish a sampling on Cleveland.com and in The Plain Dealer. Email food@plaind.com to sound off.
Every once in a while I’ll enter a restaurant and feel right at home. So it happened on a rainy Friday in September. The place: XYZ the Tavern, which opened in January.
I’m not completely certain why this rustic-looking eatery (sibling of Ohio City’s ABC the Tavern) felt so inviting that night. Chalk it up to my companion, our window table, and a boisterous, young crowd celebrating the end of the week.
As usual, we launched our meal with appetizers — Tomato Bruschetta Crostini ($6) and butternut squash soup ($3, cup).
The first involved a small glass chocked with fresh mozzarella and juicy grape tomatoes and pumped up with an infusion of good balsamic vinaigrette. You’re supposed to spoon the tomato-cheese mix onto slices of toasted French bread.
That’s the problem: Keeping the ingredients from teetering off the bread and onto your shirt requires the steady hand of a surgeon, not someone knocking back his second Irish whiskey. Hadn’t the kitchen thought of that? The soup was a passable version of the fall classic, though our cup had an unexpected acidic component (vinegar?) that nearly masked the squash’s flavor.
Both items display the main problem with food at XYZ the Tavern: It’s not that well executed.
That’s not entirely surprising, given the menu’s reach — from soba noodles, gnocchi, and cheesy grits to ratatouille, tempura, and fried chicken-and-waffles. Nothing wrong with such menus as long as they come off as authentic. This usually means using ingredients like buttermilk breading, Szechuan peppercorns, heirloom tomatoes, local cheese or house-made anything to give it credibility. Yet when XYZ makes the attempt — “house-cured pork belly” on its Club Turkey — the words are followed by “Swiss on Italian” instead of, say, “Ohio-made Gruyere on semolina.”
Or consider the “crostini” that came with Cured Meats and Cheeses — at $10, among the most expensive starters. They were fancy soda crackers, available at grocery stores. A multigrain flatbread would have been more appealing and added value.
Main courses, by the way, are handwritten on a large blackboard at the back of the restaurant. That’s a homey touch, but also a pain if you’re seated facing the windows. A paper list would be helpful, if less environmentally friendly.
Maybe that’s the point. The owners perhaps have calibrated XYZ to please the young and hip, who desire no more than trendy-sounding adult beverages and vittles after the work-day ends.
Thank goodness, then, for the thick Club Turkey ($9.75), combining house-roasted bird and fatty pork belly. And thanks for greasy goodness, too: The charred and dripping XYZ Burger ($7.75), ordered medium-rare, is an arterial-terrorist camouflaged with lettuce, tomato and yellow cheese ($7.75).
And what working stiff wouldn’t get mindlessly addicted to hot, homemade potato chips ($4), pulled from a deep-fat fryer moments after you’ve ordered them?
I’ll leave off by saying I can offer only mild enthusiasm for much of the food here, although there are winners.
Slices of succulent pork tenderloin ($13), a special one night, arrived on a rich bed of butternut-squash-spiked risotto, demonstrating the kitchen’s mojo for producing bold flavor and interesting textures. The aforementioned buckwheat noodles ($8), which come with diced vegetables, are bathed in an overly sweet sauce. Yet when savory grilled shrimp is added (for $5) the concoction is suddenly in delicious balance. Who knew?
Still, I wasn’t about to let a troubled dish or two mar the mood of this Friday night. Indeed, a square of lumpy cheesecake ($6) described as caramel-pecan (but resembling mutant mashed potatoes) elicited no complaint. I merely shoved in my fork and . . . mmm! I was right at home.
— David Farkas, Special to The Plain Dealer
TASTE BITES
XYZ the Tavern
Where: 6419 Detroit Ave., Cleveland.
Call: 216-706-1104.
Hours: 4 p.m.-2 a.m. Monday-Friday; 9 a.m.-2 a.m. Saturday-Sunday.
Prices: Appetizers and small plates, $4-$13. Salads, $5-$8. Sandwiches, $7.75-$9.75. Mains, $10-$14. Sides, $2.50-$4. Dessert, $6.
Reservations: Not necessary.
Credit cards: All major.
Cuisine: American Eclectic.
Kid-friendliness: There’s no children’s menu, but kitchen accommodates re quests for pasta, miniburgers, flat breads and the like ($4-$5).
Bar service: Full bar, with about 100 whiskies and 23 craft beers on tap. Small, reasonably priced international wine list (bottles and by glass).
Accessibility: Good throughout dining room, including bathrooms.
Grade: * *
Ratings: One star means fair; 2 stars, good; 3 stars, very good; 4 stars, ex ceptional. (Zero stars: not recom mended.) Plain Dealer reviewers make at least two anonymous visits to each restaurant and do not accept compli mentary meals. Read past reviews at cleveland.com/dining
David Farkas frequently writes about food and restaurants. Reach him at food@plaind.com.
October 9th, 2011 § 0
Lynn Ischay, The Plain DealerRaymond Bobgan, artistic director of Cleveland Public Theatre, on collaboration with Oberlin College: “This partnership benefits everyone. For students, there’s a real difference between working with other students in a university environment and working in a professional setting. It’s invaluable.”CLEVELAND, Ohio — When college students study abroad, the journey takes them across foreign borders and always requires a passport.
Passports won’t be necessary for a group of Oberlin College students who will spend the winter term of 2013 working at Cleveland Public Theatre and, if all goes as planned, living in the Gordon Square neighborhood. But borders of a different kind will be crossed in the monthlong artistic residency, which CPT artistic director Raymond Bobgan is calling “study abroad in Cleveland.”
The pilot program will begin in the fall semester of 2012, when the group of about 20 students will stay in Oberlin to study with Oberlin faculty and CPT artists, Bobgan said. Then, in January 2013, they will move to the Gordon Square area and spend the month working on a CPT production.
The program is part of a newly formed arts-education collaboration of Oberlin and the Gordon Square Arts District’s three founding partners — CPT, Near West Theatre and the Detroit Shoreway Community Development Organization. It will kick off on Saturday, Oct.15, with a benefit for the arts district’s $30 million capital campaign.
The benefit begins at 6 p.m. in a pop-up art gallery in the Near West Lofts, 6710 Detroit Ave., with an exhibit by Oberlin art students. Their work will be for sale that night and for 10 days following. Works by Oberlin faculty will be auctioned during the benefit, which is followed by a gala at CPT’s Gordon Square Theatre, 6415 Detroit Ave. Tickets for the art-show portion are $100; for the gala, $50. Go to gordonsquare.org/oct15 or call 216-961-4242, Ext. 222.
Beyond the benefit, the collaborative plans at this point all involve Cleveland Public Theatre. In April 2012, Oberlin students and faculty will be part of a CPT production of “Iphigenia 2.0″ by Charles Mee. Matthew Wright, associate professor of theater at Oberlin, will direct a cast made up of Oberlin students and CPT professionals.
“This partnership benefits everyone,” Bobgan said. “For students, there’s a real difference between working with other students in a university environment and working in a professional setting. It’s invaluable.
“For us, it gives us a connection to the incredibly talented students at Oberlin. We want them to stay here, not go off to New York and other places. We want them to realize, ‘Wow, I can stay in Cleveland and work on my art and have a home.’ ”
September 3rd, 2011 § 0
Thomas Ondrey, The Plain DealerCheck out the rich flavors at La Boca’s Margarita pizza. Get it for much less at happy hour.Have you been to La Boca Barrio in Cleveland? Email us your review of the food, service and atmosphere. Include your full name and where you live. We’ll publish a sampling on Cleveland.com and in The Plain Dealer. Email food@plaind.com to sound off.
Food surveys now call us a nation of snackers — not a bad thing, depending on what we’re nibbling. In Spain, snacking is a fine art, with tapas or “small plates” that fit deliciously into the slower-paced culture.
So we downshifted and pulled up some chairs on the patio at La Boca Barrio, a new (and old) tapas place a few doors down from Minh Anh and Latitude 41 North on Cleveland’s West Side.
La Boca was previously short-lived as Roseangel, a fancy taco joint (and before that, an Argentine-styled La Boca, and before that, Snickers, and before that, Krazy Mac’s, and before that . . .).
Then Roseangel co-owner (and founder of the original La Boca) Rosita Kutkut went solo again and back to her more traditional Hispanic roots.
I’d like to say summer weather borrowed from the Iberian Peninsula played no part of this review, but it sure does make things easy. We arrived at the patio on a warm, dry early evening and seated ourselves in the slanting rays of the sun under handsome, billowing greenery. It was a night-shifting companion’s rare weeknight off, and a chance to go to town.
“How are my beautiful ladies doing?” said our server. Without her warmth and Spanish accent, it might have sounded hokey and overworked. But her voice had an intuitive ring to it, like when hospitality is really kindness in a professional disguise. It was a shock to hear it, frankly, with the businesslike manner of most dining these days.
We settled in to the menu and found intuitive talent there as well. Spain’s traditional hallmarks are the comforts of the Mediterranean palate and the richness of essential flavors, rather than sparkly add-ons. Garlic is there, but more often as a layered cloud than a strike of lightning.
The list of tapas was staggering, even the somewhat abbreviated list offered during the smartly priced happy hour. The high points started with “Little Oranges,” freshly fried rice balls with peas served on roasted eggplant sauce ($5.50). They were as golden outside and as they were luxuriously creamy inside. Bet you can’t eat just two.
A Margarita flatbread ($15) outdid most things called pizza. I looked at the thin little thing and worried. But one bite and the tomato-based combo showed a piquant lift from cheese, capers and whatever magic dust the kitchen scatters. It’s not about the dough, but it’s one of the best.
Garlic shrimp with sweet pepper relish ($7.50) slapped tired shrimp cocktail out of the box. The kitchen knows how to maintain a fresh texture in shrimp, and with a steeping in garlic and a flashy sweet-hot-sour relish, it was almost candy.
Bacalao (salt cod) croquettes with garlic aioli ($6.50) were, like the Little Oranges, expertly fried. But I would have liked more rustic textures in the filling, and more fish flavor. Pepper-and-basil-dressed pan-seared artichokes ($5) could have used a sign of caramelization. Similarly, the flavor of the Manchego cheese with sherry and fresh thyme ($4.75) had a paleness to it.
Along with the trio of tapenades ($6.50), which were refreshing and varied — pickled vegetable, olive, white bean with thyme — but individually short on complex flavor.
Sandwiches and salads are also on the menu. While our well-endowed mixed greens ($4.50) had housemade dressing, deep green lettuce and garden-fresh tomatoes, it was served in a little bowl that made it hard to maneuver anything.
A Saturday visit turned up a couple of surprises. Salsa dancing takes place later in the evening, and a full entree is sometimes offered. We snatched up the chance to try the paella ($17), a saffron-seasoned rice dish bejeweled with seafood, sausage and chicken. All pieces and parts checked in, but we had a hard time detecting the warm, glowing look and flavor of the golden saffron. As a savory, dense, earthy looking pilaf, though, it had everything else going for it, including a layer of shrimp and fresh mussels.
The house makes a special effort to search out good wines from Portugal, Spain and Argentina, and dessert is no small dish. A silky ginger creme brulee ($8) topped the choices.
La Boca Barrio is named after a city in Brazil known for its nightlife. We didn’t stay for the salsa but were glad that people do. This is a place that reaches for a vibrancy that it sometimes grabs and sometimes does not. But the comfort level of everything on our visits was gracious, warm and dependable.
TASTE BITES
La Boca Barrio
Where: 5800 Detroit Ave., Cleveland.
Contact: 216-961-5800; website under construction.
Hours: 5-11 p.m., Tuesday through Saturday. Bar open until 1 p.m. through Friday, and until 2:30 a.m. Saturday for salsa dancing.
Prices: Tapas, $4.75-$9.50; flat breads, $14-$15; sandwiches, $10-$13; desserts, $8.
Reservations: Taken.
Credit cards: Most major cards accepted.
Cuisine: Spanish tapas.
Kid-friendliness: No kids menu but flatbread pizzas and sandwiches. High chairs and booster seats.
Bar service: Full.
Accessibility: Through back patio or, with an advance call, on ramp at front door. Restroom wheelchair accessible.
Grade: * *
Ratings: One star means fair; 2 stars, good; 3 stars, very good; 4 stars, ex ceptional. Zero stars: not recom mended.) Plain Dealer reviewers make at least two anonymous visits to each restaurant and do not accept compli mentary meals. Read past reviews at cleveland.com/dining.
[Cleveland.com Article] | [PDF]
August 1st, 2011 § 0
By Grant Segall 
Lynn Ischay, The Plain DealerRaymond Bobgan has helped to revive a traditional neighborhood with very untraditional plays.
The award-winning Bobgan, 44, leads Cleveland Public Theatre. He shared last year’s Cleveland Arts Prize not just for directing admired shows but restoring landmark buildings and helping to turn around Detroit-Shoreway.
He also helps urban youths and homeless people turn around their lives.
Tell us about your background.
I’m from Santa Barbara. My dad’s Armenian. My mom’s Swedish. She directed plays in our church. I created my first play in sixth grade.
How’d you end up in Cleveland?
Came to Akron in 1991 to do what I thought was a one- or two-year director’s apprenticeship. I drove by the beautiful Carnegie library on Fulton. I went to Pilgrim Church in Tremont and saw “Marat/Sade.” I couldn’t believe someone was doing “Marat/Sade” in Cleveland.
So have you learned to cope with Cleveland weather?
I love the snow. When I grew up, I’d see snow in picture books. To me, it’s magical.
You miss anything about California?
I miss the ocean, and I miss the mountains. But I feel so much more at home in Cleveland. Cleveland’s an awesome community.
Californians have a vibe of falseness. There’s such an emphasis on material and physical things. Not a real sense of community.
In Cleveland, people’s cousins live in town. I like being in a community where people have to be accountable because somebody knows somebody who knows their brother.
How else is the North Coast different from the West Coast?
Cleveland’s a great place for traveling to other cities. It’s central. You can get to New York in a seven-, eight-hour drive, depending how fast. You can get to Chicago or Toronto.
Low cost of living, too. We could afford a house. We were able to bring artists here, and they could live with us. We moved again, right by Don’s on Lake.
It’s incredible to have a kid in Cleveland. We’re members of the Natural History Museum, the Science Center and the Zoo. Edgewater’s across the street. I can go on a bike ride there with my son, Raziel, who’s 10.
I went to the downtown library a lot with my son in the winter. I’m very fond of the sculpture garden there, with the little guys.
I also love the guy I call the basketball player on Mall A.
You mean the war memorial?
Is that a war memorial? I think he looks like a basketball player going for the rebound.
So what brought your wife, Holly Holsinger, to town?
We were just friends at UC Irvine. Then she came here and played romantic leads with me at CPT.
Favorite local band?
I’m a big fan of Lost State of Franklin, which is this hybrid country rock band.
Local heroes?
Matt Zone, my councilman, is going to kill me, but Joe Cimperman is one of my heroes. He’s done so much for the arts. He’s one of those pols who does it for the right reason. For the partner registry, he had to go to bat time and time again and find a way to reach. Rather than create divisions, he furthered discussions.
Is Cleveland’s theater cooler than California’s?
The theater in Santa Barbara was incredibly conservative. The CPT style of theater is really wide. Most of the work I do personally, it’s devised theater. That’s like being in a band that doesn’t do covers. We collaborate. We’re working it out together.
Do Clevelanders go for it?
I love Cleveland audiences. The broader culture has no idea what’s going on at CPT and no idea of our national reputation. But audiences who come here get it.
Artists from other communities are blown away by the support here. I had two friends come from New York and Philadelphia. As usual, they were going on and on about why I should be making art in those cities. I asked, “In either of those cities, is there a county fund that gives artists $20,000 fellowships?”
Do people expect cutting-edge work on the supposedly humdrum West Side?
I continue not to understand the East Side-West Side thing. It’s one city.
Tell us about your programs with homeless people and urban youths.
Theater gives them a space. They can be themselves and feel safe here and have their stories championed.
Tell us a success story.
Years ago, a 16-, 17-year-old disappeared and showed up halfway through the third or fourth day. He looks horrible. Police had arrested him on a warrant for his dad, an addict, who had the same name. The next day, they realize the mistake. He goes home. His wallet and clothes are all gone. He’d been robbed by his own father.
I got an email from him the other day. “I’m 32 years old, I’m married and have a job and I’m doing good, all because of CPT.”
Tell us about CPT’s digs.
The Gordon Square Theater’s 100 years old. We also own the old West Side Irish American Club building and the 1907 home of the first Romanian orthodox church in the U.S.
Where do you go for food?
I never have to leave my neighborhood. I’ve got XYZ now and Latitude. I like the pizza at Luxe. They have a European-style pizza, with less sauce.
I get the falafel sandwich at Nate’s and the jambalaya at The Souper Market on West 25th. At the Liquid Planet on Clifton: a blues factor smoothie.
One of my favorite restaurants is Jaipur Junction out in North Royalton. It’s the best Indian food in Cleveland.
Where do you shop?
There’s amazing antique stores on the West Side: Sweet Lorain and the others. Flower Child is a cool antique store on Clifton.
Tell us more about Gordon Square’s boom.
Forty-seven new businesses in the district since 2006. The data proves again and again: The arts make a huge difference to the economy. Young, creative professionals are buying homes in Battery Park and other parts of the neighborhood because they want to be connected to the arts.
June 18th, 2011 § 0
By Steven Litt, The Plain Dealer 
Gus Chan, The Plain DealerPaul Ziemak of Strongsville gazes at an artwork in a recent exhibition at the 78th Street Studios while artist Jake Kelly’s “Smoking Skull Spider” appears to gaze back at him.Third Friday at 78th Street Studios
What: Multiple art gallery shows and openings, live entertainment, food and drink.
When: 5 to 9 p.m. Friday.
Where: 1300 West 78th St., one block north of Lake Avenue, Cleveland.
Admission: Free. Go to 78streetstudios.com or call 440-503-5506.
It could have been the carload of belly dancers pouring out of a slate-blue Honda Civic in the crowded parking lot.
Or maybe it was the dance music throbbing in the big smArtspace gallery, which was packed with visitors perusing artworks for sale at $50 apiece.
Or perhaps it was the spectacle of couples wandering, wineglasses in hand, through the hivelike recesses of a one-time auto factory now filled with galleries and artists studios.
Wherever the eye fell on a Friday evening a month ago at the West 78th Street Studios, the impression was the same: This out-of-the-way relic of the industrial past has reached critical mass as a vital new center of gravity in the Cleveland visual-arts scene.
Built as five interconnected brick buildings from 1905 to 1922, and at one time the location of the Baker Electric Car factory, Creative Studios has undergone a striking transformation.
Brecksville entrepreneur Dan Bush, who bought the complex for a price he described as “under a million dollars” in 2001, has turned it into a simmering bouillabaisse of artistic incubation, commerce and creativity.
Among the 20 artists with studios or galleries inside are Augusto Bordelois, Hilary Aurand, Eileen Dorsey and Susie Frazier. Dealers and galleries include William Scheele’s Kokoon Arts, William Tregoning’s Tregoning & Co., the Kenneth Paul Lesko Gallery and Rachel Davis Fine Arts.
Gus Chan, The Plain DealerPets allowed: Tony Ramos gives some love to his pet whippet, Sundae, as Julie Weir looks at paintings by Hilary Aurand at the 78th Street Studios.During the regular “Third Friday” events at the studios — the next of which is from 5 to 9 p.m. Friday — everyone throws open the doors to their spaces to welcome 1,000 visitors or more with art, food, drink and music.
The events, which have been rising in popularity over the past 18 months, are the best time to get the big picture at the studios, because only a handful of the resident artist and galleries hold regular hours.
Tonight, the 6,000-square-foot smArtspace gallery, which Bush rents for large events for $650 on a weekend night, will be silent because it’s set up for a wedding on Saturday.
But 11 galleries and studio spaces that flank the space will be open for visitors, along with a hefty collection of showplaces throughout the sprawling complex.
The scheduled offerings include a show of prints by artist and carpenter Nevada Smith at Survival Kit Gallery, followed by live music at 9:30 p.m.; textile art by Cleveland-born San Francisco artist Libby Chaney at Tregoning; and “Bazaarbeque,” a combination exhibition, potluck and barbecue showcasing artists from Cleveland and elsewhere at Forum Artspace.
Food will also be prepared by Touch Supper Club, which last month dished up Korean sliders, Vietnamese pork lettuce wraps and kimchi beef tacos.
“I couldn’t be more excited by what’s happened on its own momentum,” Bush says, sounding as if the West 78th Street phenomenon could have happened without him.
“There wasn’t any grand plan,” he says. “When people give me credit for it, I have a tough time taking it, but I will.”
Gus Chan, The Plain DealerA visitor enters the gallery operated by artist Augusto Bordelois at the 78th Street Studios.Bush, a 49-year-old native of Willoughby who lives in Brecksville, earned a bachelor’s degree in theater and communications at Miami University of Ohio before becoming a jack-of-all-trades stage carpenter, display designer, party planner and retail fixture installer.
He developed an interest in real estate as an investment a little over a decade ago. By chance, he connected with a broker representing Bruce Madorsky, president of the Roy Group, who wanted to sell the West 78th Street complex.
“My banker said, ‘Yeah, I can finance that,’ ” Bush said. “Should I pursue it? He said, ‘Immediately.’ ”
The studios earned the Creative Studios name from the longtime tenancy of American Greetings Corp., which based its operations there from the 1950s to the ’70s, Bush said, and continued to use the building for its design studios until 1989.
When Bush acquired it, the building had several substantial tenants, including a company that made Corian countertops. As Bush divided large spaces and marketed them to artists, the property took on the character of a studio complex.
The project has added to the nearby theater, retail and restaurant district managed at Gordon Square, several blocks to the east, by the Detroit Shoreway Community Development Corp.
At 170,000 square feet, Bush’s complex is five times the size of the new home of the Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland, now under construction in University Circle. It’s a sprawling labyrinth, with meandering corridors that lead to surprising discoveries.
A visit last month provided a sampler of what visitors might expect to find: fetish photography by Mark Gargiulo, collages and constructions made of scrap wood and driftwood by Frazier, Aurand’s moody nocturnal landscapes.
And of course, artists were at work. Dorsey, who earned a master of fine arts degree at Kent State University in 2006 and whose studio is located just off smArtspace, had her door wide open.
She stood at her easel and vigorously mixed oil paints on a glass palette with stand oil, which has a lustrous viscosity she prefers to the more commonly used linseed oil. She was working on a landscape of the Teton Mountains in Wyoming, based on a color photo she had propped in front of her.
“I’m determined to get a painting done, with all this racket,” she said. “It’s a challenge for me because I always work with the door closed.”
But not on Third Fridays.
© 2011 cleveland.com. All rights reserved.
June 10th, 2011 § 0
For more information regarding this weekend’s events please visit : discover.gordonsquare.org
May 18th, 2011 § 0
Love Letters
by Douglas Trattner
XYZ the Tavern 6419 Detroit Ave. 216-706-1104 xyzthetavern.com Hours: 4 p.m. to 2:30 a.m. daily
When we talk about catching lightning in a bottle, places like ABC the Tavern spring to mind. Here’s a joint that limped along in the shadows for decades until new ownership came along and renewed its lease on life. Within days of reopening, the former “old-man bar” with a funny name became the hottest perch in town, lighting up the Ohio City night.
The thing about catching lightning in a bottle is that it’s nearly impossible to do it twice. But that’s precisely what the team behind ABC is attempting to do with XYZ the Tavern. Owners Randy Kelley, Linda Syrek, and Alan Glazen even followed the same script, focusing their efforts on a neglected space in a budding urban neighborhood. This time around it was Perry’s Family Restaurant, a defunct greasy spoon on Detroit Avenue.
Since opening in late February, XYZ has performed as hoped, drawing thick crowds, steady buzz, and repeat customers. But while ABC may have been as easy as 1-2-3, XYZ is proving to be not without its challenges. The spare and boxy space is loud, the food can be spotty, and the entrée selection is more than a little limited.
These shortcomings aside, the restaurant has more than its share of enticements to keep folks coming back. As with ABC, the staff strikes that perfect tone between feisty and festive. We can’t say enough about the craft beer list and the jaw-dropping whiskey anthology. XYZ’s patio will undoubtedly join the ranks of Best Alfresco Watering Holes. And if you know where to look, there are more than enough gems on the dining menu to please even finicky palates.
If ABC is a dive bar with pub grub, then XYZ is its slightly upmarket brother. Generous table seating, a full suite of servers, and an elaborate menu will make this tavern more appealing to a broader audience. A placemat-size menu is loaded with small plates, salads, and sandwiches, while a chalkboard wall ticks off the night’s entrée specials.
Pub-perfect, a platter of house-fried chips arrives dark and brittle with a side of kicked-up onion dip. We can imagine digging into the spot-on chicken and waffles day or night, early or late, drunk or sober. In it, country-fried chicken is paired with fluffy waffles, maple syrup, and rich gravy. When doused with hot sauce, the soul food classic sings with sweet heat. As an alternative, the moo shu crêpe is a plump, eggy, meat-free burrito filled with mushrooms and shredded veggies.
Elsewhere, we gave the broccoli tempura two separate chances, but each resulted in limp defeat. Pale and spongy, the so-called tempura coating likely would send a Japanese chef into fits of apoplexy. The same floppy crust appeared on the battered Buffalo shrimp, but it had less of a detrimental effect on that dish overall. Even French fries that accompanied a sandwich managed to arrive crispless.
Billed as the “big brother” to the rightfully famous ABC burger, the XYZ burger is bigger, beefier, and equally dreamy. Like the original, this one is topped with lettuce, tomato, American cheese, and “frizzled” onion rings. Essentially a stuffed-cabbage sandwich, the Roly Poly fills a hoagie bun with meatball-size stuffed cabbage rolls and sauce. While nearly impossible to eat out of hand, the sandwich is a wonderful interpretation on the theme.
The entire back wall at XYZ is a chalkboard designed to list the day’s entrées, none of which are included on the printed menu. Thus far, the selection has been less than vast. On a recent visit, for example, we had a choice of one single entrée — or two, if you count steamed mussels. That sole main, priced at $12, was a very simple sauté of chicken breast, tomato, spinach, and artichoke hearts served on a fried polenta cake.
And a note to management: Please list prices on the board.
Nitpicking aside, we can’t think of a better addition to Gordon Square. Approachable, affordable, and fun as a barrel of bourbon, XYZ is another in a long list of reasons to live, work, and play in the burgeoning Detroit Shoreway neighborhood.
XYZ the Tavern
6419 Detroit Ave., Cleveland
216-706-1104
www.xyzthetavern.com
Hours: 4 p.m. to 2:30 a.m. seven days.
XYZ the Tavern The team behind the uber-popular ABC the Tavern moved west to Gordon Square for their second act. Generous seating, a full suite of servers, and an elaborate menu make XYZ more appealing to a broader audience. Eclectic and affordable pub-style comfort food is the name of the game, with great burgers, corned beef and chicken sandies filling the bill. Don’t miss the housemade chips and the killer chicken and waffles. Over 70 varieties of whiskey, scotch, bourbon and rye and a smashing craft beer list make this lively American pub a true neighborhood gem. 6419 Detroit Ave., Cleveland, 216-706-1104. $$
April 21st, 2011 § 0
When Jeffrey Moreau promised that his dessert shop would be unique, exceptional, and authentic, only he could truly comprehend the meaning of that pledge. Now that Sweet Moses has opened in the Gordon Square Arts District, we can all appreciate what he meant.
“It came out exactly as I had envisioned,” Moreau says via a post-launch phone call.
That vision — a 1920s-style soda fountain — had been percolating in the former ad man’s mind for decades. Over the past year, he and his team molded those mental images into reality, transforming an old Detroit-Shoreway storefront into one of the happiest places on Earth.
The heart of the elegant shop is the ornate soda fountain, made up of a handsome backbar, dipping and soda stations, and a marble-slab counter. Dating back to 1910, the backbar measures 10 feet tall by 12 feet wide, and features glowing stained glass and the original ice-chilled base cabinets. The true workhorse of the room, the 1940s dipping station is a shimmering sea of stainless steel, with chilled compartments for ice cream, sundae toppings, and sauces.
Moreau spent hours hunting, repairing, and restoring the graceful wire-backed parlor chairs that furnish the two rooms. Elsewhere, brightly drawn chalkboards, historic prints of Cleveland landmarks, and an old-timey root beer barrel complete the vibe.
But who gives a clap about the hardware, right?
It’s the software that matters, and this place is wall-to-wall with ice cream, chocolate, shakes, sodas, and malts — with a handful of crunchy popcorn tossed in for good measure. Sweet Moses sticks to traditional American favorites like hot fudge sundaes, chocolate malted milk shakes, root beer floats, and strawberry phosphates. Also on tap are chocolate cups, chocolate barks, and caramel corn — with or without nuts. Everything from the ice cream to the marble-slab fudge is made in house.
“It’s amazing the things you can do with just sugar, butter, cream, vanilla and cocoa,” says Moreau.
Order a root beer float ($4.50) and watch the well-trained soda jerk fill a frosted mug with root beer syrup, fizzy soda, and housemade vanilla ice cream. Cold, creamy, sweet, and bubbly, the drink satisfies all major food groups. Banana splits ($6), a popular item regardless of the decade, feature bananas topped with three scoops, hot fudge, whipped cream, and the requisite cherry.
Sweet Moses’ addictive caramel corn is a toffee-coated diet destroyer sold by the bag ($6). A late addition to the lineup, says Moreau, but surprisingly popular are the peanut butter sandwiches ($3.25), gilded with toppings that range from sliced banana to crisp bacon. The perfect pairing? Ice-cold whole milk, natch.
To say that folks have embraced Sweet Moses is like saying Augustus Gloop is fond of chocolate. Lines formed on Day One and have barely relented. “This isn’t McDonald’s,” Moreau points out. “These old-style methods take time.” But unlike McDonald’s, there is plenty of eye candy (and real candy too) to keep customers visually stimulated. Free samples don’t hurt either.
Moreau says he chose the Sweet Moses name because of its strong Cleveland — as in Moses Cleaveland — connection. Rather than build a franchise-ready unit suitable for globalization, the owner wanted to create a place that belonged nowhere else but right here.
And that’s the wonderful thing about Sweet Moses. Despite being worm-holed here from another millennium, the shop feels as though it has always been a part of the neighborhood: like there is no more natural thing in the world than to leave the Capitol Theatre or Luxe Kitchen and stroll down the block for a chocolate malted and two straws.
If that isn’t the true measure of a successful vision, what is?
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