Zhug is a diamond in the rough — blink too fast, and you might miss the new restaurant from Douglas Katz tucked inside a long row of small storefronts alongside Appletree Books, Parnell’s Pub and Vero Pizza Napoletana on Cedar Road. This latest addition to Katz’ East Side cuisine focuses on small plates in a modern, intimate setting where there are no reservations. Within minutes, wait time can go from 45 minutes to 1 1/2 hours, so getting in might be tough, but the food is certainly worth the wait thanks to an abundance of spices and interesting cuisine meant to be shared and combined with other dishes. “If you can have a little bite of something with a drink, it’s more enticing to stop by on the way home from work or stop by after a concert,” says Katz. “The thought behind it was to allow people to come in multiple times a week.” Here are three things to know before taking in the new spot. 12413 Cedar Road, Cleveland Heights, 216-862-2508, zhugcle.com
Living Room
The minute you walk into Zhug, you’re in the center of the action. A small 10-seat bar greets you at the door, and the kitchen is right behind it with chefs bustling out small plates one after the other. Small tables are spread throughout the space in close quarters from one another, while a long bench lined with pillows wraps around the entire space. “The whole room is open, and you feel like you’re part of this whole experience,” says Katz. “I sort of look at it as a living room or a bar room, or just an urban sort of space.”
Spice Up Your Life
Over the last 18 years, Katz has been perfecting a number of spices at his first restaurant, Fire Food and Drink, in Shaker Square and his own Fire Spice Co. After a number of trips through Tel Aviv, Israel, Morocco and New Orleans, Katz returned to incorporate zhug into his new menu — a Yemeni serrano chili chutney that carries a front-of-the-tongue kick that makes your mouth water. Add it to nearly any dish, or spread it on the clay oven-baked bread that accompanies several dishes for an enhanced pick-me-up. “We’re really looking at each dish and trying to figure out how to maximize the flavor,” says Katz. “It’s something that really goes on everything if you like spice.”
Complimentary Flavors
Whether you come solo or preferably with a group, plan on grabbing several small plates and pairing them together — Zhug’s menu is small but mighty, with plates that pair well with each other. Take the smoked octopus ($14) for example: braised, smoked and sliced thin, it’s served with roasted potatoes, a creamy saffron aioli and olive tapenade that works great with spice roasted carrots ($7) or the mejadra ($7), a basmati and wild rice with black lentils and crispy onions. “[The smoked octopus] is sort of a mosaic on a plate,” says Katz. “I think it stands out because there is such a flavor pop and it’s unexpected in a way, with the smokiness and the texture.”
