CLE Foodcast

This episode is a special collaboration with UH Seidman Cancer Center. Thanks to Five Star Sensation for the opportunity to highlight this important event and its mission.Five Star Sensation, a food-focused fundraiser supporting UH Seidman Cancer Center, will take place Saturday, June 28, (2025) uniting chefs and vintners from across the country to lend their talents and time to raise critical funds for cancer research and patient care. This episode features three local participants: Host Chef Vinnie Cimino of Cordelia, Douglas Katz of Edgewater Hospitality (Zhug, Amba, Kiln) and Venoy Rogers of Certified Angus Beef, who shares his story as a current Seidman Cancer Center patient. I also speak with Dr. Theodoros (Ted) Teknos, president and scientific director of UH Seidman Cancer Center, about the incredible advances attributed our region's only comprehensive cancer center. UH Seidman offers cancer patients the most advanced technology available, dedicated and skilled clinicians, and participation in hundreds of clinical trials.I find that chefs, and members of the restaurant community as a whole, are some of the most generous people. Please check out this list of Five Star Sensation participants and support them locally or on your travels.Since its inception in 1987 Five Star Sensation has raised more than $23 million for UH Seidman Cancer Center. For more information on this event, visit UHGIving.org.

This year Malley's Chocolates celebrates 90 years as Cleveland's homegrown candy company and I sat down with Mike Malley, a third-generation family member to talk about this iconic and beloved brand. Started by his grandparents, Malley's is a celebrated part of Cleveland culture. We talked about growing up in a candy-making family (so fun, right?) and review some memories about family life, the business over time, and get some sweet scoops on your favorite Malley's treats.

In early 2023, Chris and Katie Wolf opened Wolf Pack Chorus, a bold, beautiful restaurant in the Little Italy neighborhood of Cleveland. It was intentionally different from the red sauce and meatball spots along Murray Hill, with a diverse menu and an upscale ambiance. After the struggle of the pandemic, it was kind of a celebration and a sign that things were back to normal and "finer dining" was here to stay. It was a "must dine" spot on all the lists for 2023.Two years in, the story changed. Chris had to make the difficult decision to close. It's all top easy for all of us on the outside to speculate and comment, which is why I asked Chris to share the story from his perspective. He talks about some of the hard decisions and how he faced the eventual reality of a closure and the ending of a long-held dream.This episode is presented with support from Edgewater Hospitality and Kate's Fish, at the West Side Market.

This is a story of two locally-grown kids who met, fell in love, started a family, and embarked on the project of their lives. Jimmy and Kimberly McCune Gibson are building The Hive at Honey Hill, an incredibly ambitious destination spot in Geauga County.Owners of the successful Hungry Bee Catery, the two culinary pros wanted something more for their community. Inspired by their love and appreciation for Ohio and Chip and Joanna Gaines of the Magnolia brand, the couple is transforming an old theatre complex into a lifestyle center of food, goods, music and gathering space opening in late 2026.We talk about the inspiration behind their big dream project their Ohio roots, and their commitment to put their family first as well as everything we can look forward to enjoying at The Hive at Honey Hill. Thanks to Edgewater Hospitality and Kate's Fish for supporting this episode.

It's about the time of year I am ready to go all crazy on spring vegetables (a "rumspringa" of sorts) so I grabbed my friend Farmer Lee Jones from The Chef's Garden and Farmer Jones Farm to learn more about some of the lesser-known springtime veggies and to catch up on what's new at the Erie County regenerative farm he runs with his brother Bob.In the episode we talk about vegetables, soil health, food as preventative medicine, and hear about some upcoming public events and activities at the market and farm.The CLE Foodcast is supported Edgewater Hospitality and Kate's Fish.

If we look hard enough, or far back enough, we are all connected to an immigrant story. Businessman and restaurant owner Andrew Revy drew upon his Hungarian roots to name his successful Lakewood brewery and restaurant, Immigrant Son Brewery. In this episode we talk about how our upbringing and family stories inform and drive us to create and share what we love. In a few weeks ISB will have a sister restaurant called Sofia's Kitchen and Bar (named for his daughter) that will expand on the warm hospitality and good food for which he is known. We talk about award-winning beer, collaborations with other locals, Hungarian food, and the importance of a gathering place open to all.This episode is made possible with support from Edgewater Hospitality and Kate's Fish, two of my "pod partners" and businesses I respect and patronize.

Some of the best modern Chinese food in Cleveland is found in a silver retro diner car in Cleveland Heights where Liu Fang and husband Carl Setzer have found a home for Abundance Culinary. Moving here just as the pandemic started to rage in the US, Fang found comfort cooking dumplings and other foods that felt familiar to her. After finding her footing through pop-ups at Larder and relishing the abundance of local, fresh ingredients, meats, herbs, spices and other resources, she eventually built out an exciting and evolving menu so big that she needed her own place. Her pre-America story is largely unknown. From working the coal mine industry to running China's largest craft brewery, she shares her incredible journey in this episode. This episode is supported by Kate's Fish and Edgewater Hospitality.

Matt Fish approached the literal zenith of a restaurant career with his concept Melt Bar and Grilled. With 14 stores at its peak, discussions for more, featured tv segments on The Food Network, Melt became one of the "must see" attractions in Cleveland, holding court with the Rock Hall and the West Side Market. And then, over the course of a few years, fueled by changing tastes, a pandemic fallout, labor shortages, and wave after wave of economic challenges, it all ended in December 2024. In this episode, Matt painstakingly chronicles the events, and decisions he had to make to stay afloat and preserve the brand. As you will hear, Matt is starting to look forward and he's thinking about future projects, and also how he can use this experience to help others. This episode, and the CLE Foodcast, is presented with support from Edgewater Hospitality and Kate's Fish.

When we think of restaurants our minds tend to go right to the food on our plates, but they are important ecosystems that contribute so much more. Restaurant owners Karen Small and Jillian (Jill) Davis created restaurants that became our favorites—Flying Fig in Ohio City, and Toast, in the Gordon Square district. Less talked about are how these successful destinations spurred neighborhood growth around them, contributed to tourism, and put Cleveland on the culinary map. Their joint venture, Pearl Street Wine Market and Cafe closed unexpectedly earlier this year prompting introspection about the last few, very hard years. Karen still owns the very successful Juneberry Table, but prioritizes time to be with family and travel. Jill practices law and is focused on spending time with the people who matter most. The theme of this episode? Life happens. Good friends help. This episode is presented in partnership with Edgewater Hospitality and Kate's Fish.

Friends don't let friends drink bad booze. And that's the premise behind River Roots Barrel Co, an intimate tasting room and storehouse of curated spirits, including some of the best whiskey, bourbon and rye you'll find in the US. Inspired by a love for whiskey and seeing the need for a high-quality Midwest brand, the group set out on a journey to find the best spirits in the world to satisfy any whiskey enthusiast’s palate. River Roots bottles and sells exceptional "orphan barrel" spirits— largely higher proof, single barrel statement products from big name, familiar producers that will surprise and delight casual drinkers and collectors alike. This episode is presented with support from Edgewater Hospitality and Kate's Fish.