Rosy, the New Restaurant From the Cordelia Team, To Open in Ohio City in January

After months of anticipation, Cordelia chef-partner Vinnie Cimino and proprietor Andrew Watts have unveiled the name of their next restaurant, Rosy, set to open in the former Alea space in Ohio City’s Hingetown neighborhood at the end of January.

Since opening on East Fourth Street three summers ago, Cordelia has become known for its warm, family-style hospitality and a blend of Midwest and Southern cooking. Rosy, which will replace Alea, builds on that philosophy but looks further back in time, drawing from older Central European and coastal influences across Italy, Slovenia, Croatia and the Istrian peninsula.

Alea was a Mediterranean-inspired restaurant known for its live-fire cooking. Despite opening just three months before the pandemic, the eatery from chef Athan Zarnas earned Best Restaurant status in 2023 before quietly closing. Cimino and Watts hope to rekindle that flame with Rosy’s hearth-centered menu.

Cimino describes the cooking as ancestral European cuisine that reflects Cleveland’s melting pot while spotlighting the best of what local farms and producers are offering. Early menu ideas include celery with preserved lemon, mint and green chili ricotta; olives with peppers and anchovies; cotechino with bravado, mayo and lemon; pork neck with sage, brown butter and guanciale; monkfish with paprika, tomato, dates and citronette; and a playful bread-and-butter soft serve.

“The opportunity to cook with open fire allows us to explore these old-world dishes and techniques in a completely fresh way,” Cimino said in a press release. “You’ll truly taste where you are, our region, our season, our moment, through the best local ingredients that also connect to something timeless.”

The menu leans into a communal dining style built around shared centerpiece dishes, either protein or plant-based, scaled to the size of each group and served in multiple courses. Those experiences will rotate every couple of months, with hyper-seasonal supporting dishes designed to evolve alongside them. For diners seeking more flexibility, Rosy will also offer roughly 10 to 12 small, shareable plates, allowing guests to build a full meal or supplement the centerpiece option. The goal, Watts says, is connection, with plates passed, shared and discussed in a relaxed, conversational setting.

Operating at roughly 20-25% of Cordelia’s volume gives Rosy the freedom to work with smaller, more limited products that would be impractical at a higher-volume restaurant, while remaining highly responsive to local farmers and purveyors.

Rather than honoring a person, like Cordelia, Rosy reflects a viewpoint. Watts describes it as an appreciative, grateful and celebratory outlook on life, paired with a space meant to feel bright and fun.

The space itself reinforces closeness. Rosy will seat about 50 guests, making it noticeably cozier than Cordelia. Instead of a traditional bar, a kitchen counter serves as the focal point, with about 16 stools positioned so diners can watch the cooking unfold. Larger tables are placed close together, and the layout ensures that nearly every seat has a view of the hearth and kitchen activity.

The front windows and door have been reworked so the windowsill can double as indoor or outdoor seating when weather allows, blurring the line between the dining room and the neighborhood outside. Watts describes the contrast simply. Cordelia feels like a big family dinner party. Rosy is more like an intimate backyard cookout with close neighbors.

Shred and Co. softened the former space with warm wood and banquettes, anchored by a concrete hearth and custom tile, resulting in a minimalist, refined aesthetic.

Rosy will be open for supper Thursday through Monday, complementing Cordelia’s schedule. Cordelia is closed on Mondays and serves brunch, not dinner, on Sundays, allowing Rosy to fill that Sunday and Monday supper gap.

“We are absolutely thrilled to come into such a beautiful neighborhood. Everyone’s been so welcoming. We want to complement it,” Watts says, noting that the team is excited to join the Ohio City community alongside neighbors like Larder, Jukebox and Harness Cycle.

If Cordelia is about honoring where Cleveland has been, Rosy looks to celebrate how those roots continue to shape the city today.

“We want it to feel like a neighborhood backyard cookout, built around live fire,” Watts says. “It’s more intimate, but still upbeat, appreciative and grateful, and very much rooted in Cleveland.”

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