Chef Kevin O'Connell, whose high-piled sammies at Cleveland Sandwich Co. earned him a Best of Cleveland nod in 2022, is expanding and focusing his Cleveland footprint.
With his Cleveland Sandwich Co. thriving in the new Tower City Center food hub, O'Connell has decided to close the original location in the Superior Building, effective immediately. Tucked away in the lobby of the building on Superior Avenue and East Ninth Street, the original location's lease was up and O'Connell felt the proximity of the two outposts caused unnecessary competition.
"I am taking this measure to focus on our location at Tower City, which has outperformed my initial expectations," says O'Connell. "We're going to expand the offerings from burgers and dogs to include salads and everything we were doing on Superior Avenue new dishes and focus on our location at Tower City, which has outperformed my initial expectations," says O'Connell.
The chef also told Cleveland Magazine about a new project opening later this year in the former home of Clifton Wine Bar at 10427 Clifton Blvd.
The new concept is a traditional French brasserie from Michael Goerlich's Ginger Grey Hospitality, where O'Connell will serve as executive chef. This is the first restaurant from Goerlich, who owns a manufacturing company and a marketing company. Goerlich and O'Connell hope to open this project in late summer or early fall.
"It's going to be like nothing Cleveland has ever seen before," says O'Connell. "We're very excited."
O'Connell is a native of Buffalo, where he helmed the acclaimed American Bistro. In 2008, he was arrested for fraud at a restaurant he was running in Montana. He then opened restaurants in Los Angeles, which flamed out. But in 2022, O'Connell told us that he felt that he'd been welcomed and found redemption in Cleveland. Why Cleveland? “There’s an evolution happening here, and I wanted to get in right on the ground floor,” he told us.
The Clifton building where he hopes to open this French concept housed Clifton Wine Bar for 11 years before its unexpected closure in October 2021. Since that incident, caused by a dispute between the landlord of the building and the restaurant owners, the space has sat vacant.
O'Connell hopes the new concept can take advantage of the spacious dining room as well as the front patio.
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