Cool Cleveland (1)

Cleveland seems to have forgotten how its entrepreneurial immigrant population helped build this city around the turn of the century with innovative small businesses, hard work and creativity. We need to embrace the energy that immigration breeds.

Case in point: Jason Lin. The Chinese-born Vietnamese transplanted entrepreneur has owned seven restaurants and rehabbed an old factory on Fulton Road near Clark Avenue into Lin's Omni Center, a handsome commercial space that has attracted a medical-services company, insurance and travel agencies and a food couüt. Lin's life story should be an inspiration: He arrived in Cleveland with nothing following the fall of Saigon, suffered racial discrimination in the '70s and '80s and lost both legs above the knees in a car accident; yet, Lin has become a respected and successful businessman.

You can meet Lin and others like him at the third in a series of successful Art/Tech/Dance events on June 5, from 4 to 9 p.m. at Lin's Omni Center (3167 Fulton Road). The happy hour features music and performances by immigrant cultural groups, along with traditional ethnic food in the "most culturally diverse neighborhood in the state of Ohio" (according to the 2000 U.S. Census).

Presented by Cool Cleveland.com, in association with the Performance Art Festival+Archives, the event is part of Enterprise Development Inc.'s Innovations Week. Reservations (required) at www.coolcleveland.com.

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What's it called? The problem with a secret, underground club is that, eventually, everyone discovers it. So shhhh, I'll whisper it to you, but you gotta keep it to yourself. Maribeth DeVito Barabas, formerly of the Velvet Tango Room, has opened a new place that is so hip, so cool, it doesn't even have a name. It just goes by its West 25th Street address: 2527 (between the West Side Market and I-90). Check out the top-shelf entertainment. June 6: Cats On Holiday; June 7: Roberto Ocasio Latin Jazz Project; June 3, 10 and 24: Focus Motown Revue; June 17: Dallas, Coffee and Rob C; June 14: Moss Stanley. You didn't hear it here… (216) 771-2527

Thursdays In The Park. Ever notice how many people flee downtown and University Circle immediately after work every day? If we're going to grow as a city and a community, we need to mix it up more. This is how great partnerships begin. CWRU is making it easy by hosting Thursdays In The Park from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at Turning Point Park. June 5: Disco Inferno, June 12: Cletus Black, June 19: Carlos Jones and the PLUS Band, June 26: Slap. www.cwru.edu/events/thursdays

Muffler, bumpers and Bubble Tea. A group of Asian-American CWRU business students have opened up a combination teahouse and auto-parts store that caters to two obsessions: customizing their turbocharged Japanese cars and turning on Cleveland to the area's first Taiwanese bubble-tea house. Yes, you can pick up a chrome-plated muffler or a set of racing sway bars for your Toyota Supra, but don't pass up a cup of ice-cold, effervescent pearl-?ilk tea (or Bubble Tea as it's called) in flavors such as almond or coffee, made with green or black tea, sweet condensed milk and small, pasta-like pearls made from cassava root, meant to be chewed while sipping the tea. TurboFour, 3030 Superior, No. 8, (216) 589-9678, www.turbofour.com

For more information on any of these events or a free subscription to the weekly Cool Cleveland e-mail newsletter, visit www.CoolCleveland.com.