A new Mediterranean-themed restaurant will open this April in the Tudor Arms, a landmark at East 107th and Carnegie Avenue that is undergoing a $22-million makeover to a Double Tree Hotel.

The restaurant will be owned by Samir Khouri, owner of Somer's restaurants in Cleveland, Bedford and North Ridgeville, and Serge Elias,  owner of Cedarland at the Clinic, a popular Middle Eastern Restaurant.

Tentatively called the Canopy, the restaurant will feature a menu offering both Mediterranean and American cuisine. It will serve hotel guests as well as the visiting public. It will also have a coffee bar, a party room, and a lounge that will stay open for late-night revelry.

"In addition to serving hotel guests and providing room service, we're marketing it as a meeting place for people who work in University Circle," says Khouri. "We will have valet service, and we're toying with the idea of offering a shuttle for Clinic employees."

The new restaurant offers a testament to the buying power of the University Circle area. With almost 40,000 full-time positions, the Circle is the second largest employment center in the region. A 2010 study by Real Estate Strategies Inc. showed the area is on track to produce about 10,000 new jobs between 2005 and 2015.

Although Cedarland may eventually close -- the building is slated to be demolished to accommodate the Cleveland Clinic's ever-growing appetite for expansion -- the timeline is uncertain, and Khouri says it will stay open at least another two years.

Source: Samir Khouri
Writer: Lee Chilcote