Cleveland may suffer from brain drain in the industrial and financial fields, but in the restaurant arena, many of the region’s top chefs sing the mantra, “There’s no kitchen like home’s kitchen.”
The restaurant world’s gains here aren’t new. Twenty-three years ago, when chefs weren’t superstars, Zack Bruell bolted from his job as chef at Michael’s in Santa Monica, Calif., to return home and open Z. Years later, other native sons made a similar pilgrimage: Doug Katz from Colorado to head Moxie’s kitchen before opening his own place, fire, Rocco Whalen from California to open Fahrenheit in Tremont and James Bell from Wyoming to open Three Birds.
There are many more, including Dante Boccuzzi, who came home to transform Lockkeepers into a namesake restaurant, Dante. The executive chef brought along quite a résumé, including years working with Charlie Palmer (the past five were as executive chef at Palmer’s four-star restaurant Aureole), and a stint as opening executive chef at Nobu in Milan.
Check back Feb. 1 for the complete review.
