For artist and entrepreneur Ian P.E., his new Palookaville Chili in Ohio City began with one bad pot of chili. He and his friends made a batch that suffered from too many ingredients and poorly chosen ones, such as bean juice. But that failure inspired a quest to invent the perfect recipe.
"I got totally obsessive compulsive and was cooking chili for a year straight," P.E. explains.
His efforts led him to Palookaville and chili that isn't just run-of-the-mill ground beef in sauce. The restaurant's menu has three mainstays and two rotating options, and recipes include chicken bacon, traditional Texas beef with cubed meat and vegan chili with barley. And alongside your chili, you can enjoy soul-food classics such as corn bread and slaw.
He aims to keep all these recipes as organic and local as possible.
"They're all made up fresh; we don't even have fried food on the menu," he says. "I didn't want to smell like a fryer."
A Richfield native, P.E. has returned to the city he loves after having lived in New York City and San Francisco. After editing his own magazine and running a film production company, P.E. felt it was time to act on his longtime dream of owning a restaurant, and he knew Ohio City would be the perfect location.
"I think it's improving more than I've seen any other neighborhood in the last five years," P.E. says. "To me, it's like there's so much opportunity here. ... Hopefully young entrepreneurs can get involved."
P.E. hopes Palookaville will become a favorite among locals for its modest prices and community atmosphere.
"I come from an entrepreneurial family; my dad is a coppersmith [and] small businessman," he says. "I guess he's always kind of pushed us to run our own small businesses."
His family will be involved in this venture, too: His mother, Phyllis Enggasser, is the sole shareholder in the corporation. Meanwhile, P.E. is running things at the restaurant. "I'm the president of Palookaville," he says with a laugh.
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