May 18th, 2011 §
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. $$
[Original Article][PDF]
March 25th, 2011 §
10:09 am, March 24, 2011
The already-bustling Gordon Square Arts District is getting a little busier with the addition of three new retail businesses.
Wednesday marked the official opening of Sweet Moses, a soda fountain and treat shop at 6800 Detroit Avenue, one block west of the Gordon Square Arcade.
The owner is Jeff Moreau, who’s offering a turn-of-the-century soda shop experience. Sweet Moses serves homemade ice cream dishes and handmade confections. Coming soon will be peanut butter sandwiches that can be topped with options including bacon, marshmallow cream, Nutella, sliced bananas and potato chips.
In addition, two women’s boutiques soon will open at the West 65th Street and Detroit Avenue intersection.
One of the businesses, Turnstyle, will sell a mix of vintage and contemporary items. The other business comes from “Project Runway” fashion designer Valerie Mayen, who is creating a “pop-up” store of her fashions next to the Capitol Theatre on West 65th Street.
[Original Crain's Cleveland Business Article][PDF]
March 23rd, 2011 §
Published: Tuesday, March 22, 2011, 10:59 AM Updated: Tuesday, March 22, 2011, 11:19 AM
New enterprises keep adding to the unfolding tapestry of the Gordon Square Arts District. And it’s especially cool that the latest opening brings something sweet to the mix.
Sweet Moses Soda Fountain & Treat Shop, 6800 Detroit Ave., Cleveland, is holding its grand opening Saturday. And it is just the right addition to Gordon Square. Vanilla-colored walls hung with vintage posters and oversize postcards, handsomely restored booths and dozens of other old-time touches — including a vintage root-beer barrel and a grand 1940s-era Bastion-Blessings soda fountain fronted by a 16-foot marble counter — lend a welcoming throwback feeling to the place.
“I really wanted to create an experience here, and I knew the feeling I wanted guests to take away — a multigenerational experience,” says Jeff Moreau, who operates Sweet Moses with his wife, Ellen.
“I want people to walk in here and feel glad that it’s in the neighborhood, happy that it’s in the city,” says Moreau, a veteran of the advertising business who wanted to try his hand at something different. “I want my 83-year-old mother to walk in with her friends and say ‘Wow, this reminds me of my childhood,’ but also have a 20-year-old appreciate the fact that it’s cool, it’s not a chain and it’s not in a ‘lifestyle center.’ It’s something that a lot of them will be experiencing for the first time.”
With treats like these, there should be plenty of smiles and memories in the making. House-made classic flavors of ice cream, cookies, brownies and chocolates — barks, fudges and filled “cups” — made with Belgian dark, milk and white chocolate are among the treats. By the way, don’t miss the great white cheddar popcorn and caramel corn.
Those confections and others were showcased during a pre-opening party this past weekend. Guests were invited to sample traditional fountain fare that shares names with area landmarks, such as the Gordon Square (a large homemade brownie topped with house-made Bananas Foster ice cream, hot fudge and warm homemade real-butter caramel), the Shoreway Sundae (hot fudge-topped coffee ice cream showered with almonds and toffee pieces) and the $25 Terminal Tower (a scoop of each of Sweet Moses’ 10 classic flavors, draped in a landslide of marshmallow cream, hot fudge, warm caramel, pecans, candy sprinkles and cherries).
The Moreaus intend to eventually maintain late closing hours, making the shop a stop for after-theatergoers and others who “want something sweet but don’t want to eat it out of a cup in a parking lot,” Jeff says. If you want a sneak peek before Saturday, the shop will be open noon to 9 p.m. through Thursday, and noon to 5 p.m. Friday. 216-651-2202.
[Cleveland.com Article] [PDF]
December 15th, 2010 §
The former creative director of a Cleveland ad agency is putting the finishing touches on Sweet Moses, a 1920s-style soda fountain that will open in late January in the Detroit Shoreway neighborhood west of downtown. “This will be unique not only for the Gordon Square area, but for all of Cleveland,” he says.
Lamenting the loss of the neighborhood soda fountain, Moreau hopes to revive the tradition in grand style. The 2,500-square-foot space at 6800 Detroit Ave., just down the block from the Cleveland Public and Capitol theaters, will be filled with authentic equipment and furnishings. The focal point of the room is the actual soda fountain, featuring antique mirrors, back-lit stained glass, a restored dipping and soda station, and Tennessee-marble countertops, all rescued from defunct shops.
Moreau describes the feel as less ’50s-style malt shop and more ’20s- and ’30s-era soda fountain.
“I didn’t want this to look like a Disney version of a soda fountain that you’d find in a lifestyle center,” he explains. “I wanted it to look and feel authentic, like it belongs in the neighborhood.”
Moreau will stick to “classic, traditional American favorites,” made with quality ingredients, he says. “It’s amazing the things you can do with just sugar, butter, cream, vanilla, and cocoa.” Ice creams, fudge, chocolates, and caramel popcorn all will be made on-site. Turtles will be made with Belgian chocolate and sundaes topped with homemade caramel, fresh hot fudge, and house-roasted nuts. From the soda fountain will flow root beer floats, chocolate phosphates, and ice cream sodas.
Moreau settled on the name Sweet Moses, he says, because of its Cleveland — as in Moses Cleaveland — connotations. “I wanted a name that is grounded in old Cleveland, one that you wouldn’t find anyplace else.”
Seth Kaspy has taken over as executive chef at Hudson’s North End Market (7542 Darrow Rd., 330-656-1238, northendwinefoodfun.com), replacing outgoing chef Jeff Jarrett. Formerly chef at the Chagrin Valley Hunt Club, Kaspy is busy instituting a menu of his own.
[Cleveland Scene Article][PDF]
November 6th, 2010 §
Published: Friday, November 05, 2010, 4:42 PM Updated: Friday, November 05, 2010, 4:55 PM
Cathy Brown with, from left, the Latitude Attitude Sicilian, sweet and russet potato fries, the Island of Lesbos pizza, fried dough with honey-cinnamon butter, and the Twisted Cobb salad.
Latitude 41 gallery (5 photos)
Cathy Brown is a believer in business begetting business, and as the owner of Latitude 41 N, she is in the right place.
Since opening the casual restaurant in 2008, the Detroit-Shoreway neighborhood and Gordon Square Arts District that surround it on Cleveland’s West Side have seen dramatic growth. It is now one of Greater Cleveland’s destinations, offering everything from live theater at Cleveland Public Theatre, to movies at the renovated Capitol Theater, to live bands at the Happy Dog. There are also many spots to grab a drink or get a good meal.
This is all music to Brown’s ears.
“I have always been watching this neighborhood,” she said, and her restaurant is now a solid part of it.
Latitude 41 N follows Brown’s last restaurant venture, Snickers, a popular spot also on Cleveland’s Near West Side that she opened in 1994 and sold in 1998.
The attitude at Latitude 41 N is laid back. Customers order and pay at the counter, and food is then delivered to the table. The staff makes regular passes through the two dining areas to top off your coffee and keep your table clean. It’s a system designed for expediency, but things can get a little slow and confused when the restaurant is exceptionally busy.
Note, too, that Latitude 41 N offers free Wi Fi, and Brown has no problem if you want to spend the afternoon there updating your Facebook profile and enjoying a glass of wine.
“I have had people tell me that this place feels like home,” she said. “That’s what I am going for.”
Latitude’s busiest hours are during breakfast, lunch and Sunday brunch, but Brown hopes to make dinner just as popular with the upcoming addition of new pastas and other Italian fare.
The menu, however, is already interesting and extensive, comprising breakfasts, soups, salads, sandwiches and calzones, pizzas, and pasta bakes.
“This is very Cleveland-American, this restaurant,” Brown said describing the food.
The fact that breakfast is so popular is easily explained by offerings like the Cure for a Hangover pizza ($10), a winner no matter what state you are in. The 10-inch pizza’s herb-y crust is topped with tangy red sauce, potatoes, house-made sausage, tomatoes, fresh mozzarella and two sunny-side-up eggs. The pizza can serve two diners of even the heartiest appetites. Easily.
The Menage a Trois breakfast ($3.95) is the classic combination of two eggs, bacon, sausage, home fries, toast and a cup of coffee. Little wonder that it is Latitude’s most popular breakfast.
Those looking for omelets will find no shortage. Latitude’s menu features five (each $8.50), all huge, and all served with breakfast potatoes and toast. The Midwest omelet is stuffed with ham, sweetened fried apple, and cheddar cheese. It’s a creative combination of ingredients that prompted a friend to say, “I am not even hungry anymore, but I can’t stop eating this.”
Ever popular, pizzas at Latitude are no exception. A favorite is the Island of Lesbos ($11.50 four-cut, $16.50 “polite” eight-cut, $20 “sloppy” eight-cut). The pie is topped with pesto; mozzarella, provolone, parmesan and feta cheeses; oven-dried tomatoes; grilled artichoke hearts; spinach; and Italian seasonings.
Latitude 41 N is at 5712 Detroit Ave., Cleveland. Hours are 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday, until 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday. Call (216) 961-0000 or log onto eatatlatitude41n.com.
Contact Zickefoose at jzickefoose@sunnews.com.
[Original Cleveland.com Article] [PDF]
September 25th, 2010 §
Join us for the 4th Annual West Clinton Historic Haunts Walking Tour
Friday October 1st and Saturday October 2nd
Cleveland’s original family friendly guided tour by latern through the storied past of Cleveland’s cool Gordon Square Arts District in the historic Detroit Shoreway Neighborhood.
Now Departing from Parish Hall 6205 Detroit Ave, Cleveland 44102
6PM – 8:45PM
September 24th, 2010 §
Published: Friday, September 24, 2010, 1:24 PM Updated: Friday, September 24, 2010, 1:42 PM
Into the freshened night life of Cleveland’s Detroit-Shoreway neighborhood alights Roseangel, an upscale taco place calling itself “A Moderne Tacqueria.” The vintage storefront has been redone in a Fashion Week version of a Mexican “Day of the Dead” palette. The room dances in orange and cherry walls in alligator-skin textures and white tabletops with black polka dots. It’s serious, candy-colored fun.
The menu? Tacos. Mostly tacos. And why not? Across the street is Happy Dog, the hot-dog emporium. A few blocks away are notable spots for Vietnamese (Minh Anh), Hispanic (Rincon Criollo) and Irish pub food (Stone Mad). New American joints (Luxe, Gypsy Bean, Latitude 41 N) attract their own loyal crowds.
If any neighborhood can handle fancy tacos, this one can, especially as a dinner-and-a-show stop for Cleveland Public Theatre, the refurbished Capitol Theatre or any one of the downtown venues several minutes away.
It helps that these are out-of-the-ordinary tacos. Chef and co-owner Marlin Kaplan, an artful conceptualist in Cleveland’s dining scene, already is in the neighborhood with Luxe. Portion-size options are one of Luxe’s draws, something tacos wrap around easily, too. Not too hungry? Order one taco. Really hungry? Go for more. Roseangel offers bread-plate sizes of these hand-held specialties, most at $4.25 each, and in slightly discounted trios ($11.75) or a platter of four pairs ($30). It’s up to you and your merry band to mix and match flavors from more than 12 well-selected versions.
WE WANT YOUR REVIEW
Have you been to Roseangel in Cleveland? E-mail 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. E-mail food@plaind.com to sound off.
Tacos come with soft or hard shells, with soft recommended for the neatest sharing. That’s the easy part. The list of fillings is long and sometimes frustrating. We’d go back in a second for the hanger steak taco with crispy onions and chipotle mayo, or the spicy lobster with cucumber and green chile cream (add $2.50). Everything we had was fabulously fresh and nicely matched in texture, making us think the kitchen turns on a dime. Witness the bronzed edges of fried eggplant, plushly crisp breading on the perch and just the right chew for the steak and the grilled pork. Taco choices also include duck confit, potato-crusted chicken and tofu, among others.
What was sometimes missing was a vibrancy implied by the word taco. We don’t mean chile-pepper hot. (When they say spicy on the menu here, they hardly mean it.) But more of a pungent, pepper or herbal counterpoint would do for a younger or more adventurous palate. It’s all there on the menu, with nine different salsas offered. An extra dab of the right one on the plate — or at least a recommendation from the menu — would give an option to customers wanting complexity, not just comfort. That’s true, too, for side dishes of rice and beans, which tasted a little more reserved than necessary.
Nothing is missing from the guacamole, a must-order appetizer with avocado, onions, cilantro, lime and jalapenos in just the right balance. Among salsas, we loved the zesty red picante and enjoyed the sweet aftertaste of the pineapple and roasted chile. To finish, don’t miss the house caramel custard, a cumulus cloud of creamy sweetness ($7).
One confession here. Kaplan knows us and spotted us on the first visit — even when we arrived at the end of the trailing group, wearing sunglasses. Service that night seemed to be provided by a seemingly stressed-out staff. Kaplan wasn’t there for our second try, when everything worked at a fine pace but was marred by a promise of fresh-squeezed lemonade. That substance turned out, we were later told, to be a “mix” that the bartender “dumped” after we complained of an off-flavor. The offending drinks were taken from the bill.
Roseangel has a staggeringly long list of margaritas, specialty drinks, wine and beer. We can testify only to the Rosita, a hibiscus-infused Rosangel tequila with pomegranate, lemon and a great need to be sipped slowly. It was a $9.50 pleasure. And easier than asking for lemonade.
TASTE BITES Roseangel
Where: 5800 Detroit Ave., Cleveland.
Contact: roseangel-cle.com, 216-961-5800.
Hours: 5-11 p.m. Monday-Wednesday, 5 p.m.-midnight Thursday, 5 p.m.-1 a.m. Friday and Saturday, 5-10 p.m. Sunday.
Prices: Starters, $5.50-$12.50; salsas, $2.50; tacos, $4.25 (with discounts for three or eight); desserts, $7.
Reservations: Taken for parties of six or more.
Credit cards: Most major cards ac cepted.
Cuisine: New American, Mexican
Kid-friendliness: Taco onesies will do it.
Bar service: Full.
Accessibility: Full.
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 2nd, 2010 §
Joe Crea, The Plain Dealer
Restaurateur Marlin Kaplan insisted that his latest restaurant would open in July. Apparently, skepticism crept into my voice when I pressed the point — remodeling and openings are capricious undertakings — because Kaplan was all “No, no, watch me.” You win, Marlin. His Roseangel — the down-priced reinvention of partner Rosita Kutkut’s former La Boca, not only opened close to target, it pretty much hits the bull’s-eye. It’s at 5800 Detroit Ave., Cleveland, on the edge of Cleveland’s Gordon Square area, across from Happy Dog, if you need a cool landmark.
Tacos, salsas and a modest selection of sides are the big deals here. Order one of each and it’ll set you back under $11 (though you’ll probably want seconds, and maybe a beer; brews range from $2 to $5.50). Tacos, built on hand-shaped and griddled tortillas, are heaped with tasty fillings, including a hauntingly delicious seared tuna with artichoke hearts and a just-fiery-enough grilled hanger steak version topped with crisp onions and a smoky chipotle mayo — to name just two of the 17 varieties. They are small but hefty hand-to-mouth fare, $4.25 each, but bring along friends and order a platter of eight for $30. There are good chips and really good salsas (one evening a cunning cantaloupe-and-cucumber combo) plus fine guacamole (at $7, a splurge). Oh, and very seductive Sauza and triple sec margaritas.
The rooms are equally seductive, from the sexy bar to the center room tarted up in magenta croc-print wallpaper, and the expanded patio. Tacos, grandparents to today’s “wraps,” are eminently tactile, and Kaplan wanted to carry that sensuous style into the environment.
“I feel there should be a seamlessness between where you eat and what you eat,” he says. “And I was going for a way different feeling here. I wasn’t really building a restaurant, per se. This is a hybrid, a lot like Happy Dog isn’t your usual neighborhood bar.”
True on both counts. Here’s to fitting neighbors. Coolness now reigns at West 58th Street and Detroit Avenue. 216-961-5800.
[Cleveland.com Article] [PDF]
July 16th, 2010 §
June 18th, 2010 §
Photos from June 12th, Discover Gordon Square Arts District Day Gallery
Photos from June 11th, ‘Made in the 216′ 2010 store opening & ‘Out of Place’ Midnight Show
View and share these photos on Gordon Square Arts District Facebook page.
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