Local Food Economy
cleveland, the 'new portlandia'?
In his blog Burgh Diaspora, Jim Russell frequently covers the topic of reverse migration, where Rust Belt cities are seeing an influx of young residents thanks to a multitude of factors. Russell, a geographer studying the relationship between migration and economic development, calls the trend "Rust Belt Chic."
Recently, Russell, who lives in Pittsburgh, toured Cleveland to gather some on-the-ground research. He liked what he saw.
"I flew into Cleveland early last Saturday with the downtown rebound in mind. I wanted to see if the view from the sidewalk matched the data analysis. Leading up to the business trip, I was semi-joking with Richey that Cleveland was turning into Portland, OR. Investigating the West Side, I quipped that Cleveland was already Portland. I was (am) dead serious."
Read the rest of this and many other compelling posts here.
Recently, Russell, who lives in Pittsburgh, toured Cleveland to gather some on-the-ground research. He liked what he saw.
"I flew into Cleveland early last Saturday with the downtown rebound in mind. I wanted to see if the view from the sidewalk matched the data analysis. Leading up to the business trip, I was semi-joking with Richey that Cleveland was turning into Portland, OR. Investigating the West Side, I quipped that Cleveland was already Portland. I was (am) dead serious."
Read the rest of this and many other compelling posts here.
668 Euclid Avenue, a downtown apartment building with a months-long waiting list for its popular refurbished apartments, recently welcomed a new coffee house and cafe that aims to be a community hub for residents who have chosen the city center.
Operator Mickey D'Angelo says he co-founded Nexus Cafe with Gateway Church of Downtown Cleveland to act as a "third place," those spaces outside of work and home that bring people together. There currently are few options outside of bars, he says.
Although the evening coffeehouse has been slow to catch on, lunch business is booming. The full service menu includes grilled flat bread pizzas, wraps, sandwiches, salads and soups. The kitchen staff makes almost everything from scratch, and much of the food is sourced locally from area farmers.
"We make almost everything in house, down to the mayonnaise," says D'Angelo. "For example, the whole wheat flour that we use to make our pizza dough comes from a farmer in Ravenna, and then we finish the pizzas to order in our oven."
D'Angelo has traveled to Sumatra to buy coffee directly from farmers, and the church plans to reinvest profits back into the community. A 170-seat venue exists in the back of the cafe, and Nexus will begin hosting concerts there this month.
Source: Mickey D'Angelo
Writer: Lee Chilcote
Operator Mickey D'Angelo says he co-founded Nexus Cafe with Gateway Church of Downtown Cleveland to act as a "third place," those spaces outside of work and home that bring people together. There currently are few options outside of bars, he says.
Although the evening coffeehouse has been slow to catch on, lunch business is booming. The full service menu includes grilled flat bread pizzas, wraps, sandwiches, salads and soups. The kitchen staff makes almost everything from scratch, and much of the food is sourced locally from area farmers.
"We make almost everything in house, down to the mayonnaise," says D'Angelo. "For example, the whole wheat flour that we use to make our pizza dough comes from a farmer in Ravenna, and then we finish the pizzas to order in our oven."
D'Angelo has traveled to Sumatra to buy coffee directly from farmers, and the church plans to reinvest profits back into the community. A 170-seat venue exists in the back of the cafe, and Nexus will begin hosting concerts there this month.
Source: Mickey D'Angelo
Writer: Lee Chilcote
Spice of Life, the umbrella group that includes a restaurant, catering company, and farm-to-table garden plots, is installing new raised beds and a high tunnel hoop house behind its restaurant and offices at W. 58th and Detroit Avenue to satisfy demand for local food in its operations.
"I like the idea of people being seated on the patio and seeing chefs pick herbs, go back to the kitchen and make things out of them," says chef and owner Ben Bebenroth, who also has 10,000 square feet of gardens behind his home. Additional food is sourced on a weekly basis from 30 to 60 Northeast Ohio farms. The food is used at Spice Kitchen + Bar as well as for catering jobs. "My focus now is on transforming ornamentals into edible ornamentals."
Bebenroth, who says that he's always thinking about "what's in season," is building the hoop house to extend his growing season to nearly 10 months out of the year. He is now growing quick crops such as lettuces that he can replant every 45 days.
"I think it's really important to have a hoop house for the neighborhood and the neighborhood kids to see," he says. "It's a shining example of what's possible."
Bebenroth's main motivation for expanding his gardens is that regional farms often have trouble keeping up with Spice of Life's demands for top quality, locally grown foods. By hiring a farm manager and sourcing as much food from his own farms as possible, Bebenroth is better able to keep up with growing demand.
Source: Ben Bebenroth
Writer: Lee Chilcote
"I like the idea of people being seated on the patio and seeing chefs pick herbs, go back to the kitchen and make things out of them," says chef and owner Ben Bebenroth, who also has 10,000 square feet of gardens behind his home. Additional food is sourced on a weekly basis from 30 to 60 Northeast Ohio farms. The food is used at Spice Kitchen + Bar as well as for catering jobs. "My focus now is on transforming ornamentals into edible ornamentals."
Bebenroth, who says that he's always thinking about "what's in season," is building the hoop house to extend his growing season to nearly 10 months out of the year. He is now growing quick crops such as lettuces that he can replant every 45 days.
"I think it's really important to have a hoop house for the neighborhood and the neighborhood kids to see," he says. "It's a shining example of what's possible."
Bebenroth's main motivation for expanding his gardens is that regional farms often have trouble keeping up with Spice of Life's demands for top quality, locally grown foods. By hiring a farm manager and sourcing as much food from his own farms as possible, Bebenroth is better able to keep up with growing demand.
Source: Ben Bebenroth
Writer: Lee Chilcote
The term "Rust Belt Chic" has been bandied about in urban journalism circles for over a decade. But lately, the connotation and import of that catchy phrase seem to be taking on a welcome new identity. A book in progress from Cleveland-based writers aims to take ownership of the phrase and help define what it truly means to live in a recovering Rust Belt city.
Megan Meister chuckles as she thinks of the unlikely collision of worlds involved in planting four eat-everything-in-sight goats in the midst of Stockyards -- a neighborhood that long ago shed its past as the home of the city's slaughterhouses.
Yet to Meister, the ebullient director of the Stockyards, Clark Fulton and Brooklyn Centre Community Development Organization, the area's new "Mow Goats" program is about the re-greening of the neighborhood, teaching kids and families about urban agriculture, and possibly even saving the city some money.
"Kids in urban areas don't get the opportunity to be around farm animals very often," says Meister, who worked with residents, The County Line Farm in Geneva, Ohio and the City of Cleveland to pioneer the 25-day program. "This is a creative way to address the problem of vacant lots in our neighborhood."
The "ladies," as they're known at the office, have a regular 9-to-5 job mowing a lot at W. 61st and Frontier Avenue. When they're done with that -- soon, based on their seemingly unstoppable appetite for anything leafy and green -- they'll be rotated to another lot. Meister hired a full-time goat herder for the project.
The Stockyards office receives a slew of calls every season about mowing lots. The City of Cleveland mows lots a few times per year and attempts to collect from property owners, but lacks the resources to mow them more regularly.
Meister hopes the project can be replicated elsewhere. She estimates that it would cost about $9,000 to $10,000 per six-month season to rent four goats, which is actually cheaper than what the city typically charges property owners to mow lots. The excess goat poop is being used to fertilize neighborhood gardens.
Source: Megan Meister
Writer: Lee Chilcote
Yet to Meister, the ebullient director of the Stockyards, Clark Fulton and Brooklyn Centre Community Development Organization, the area's new "Mow Goats" program is about the re-greening of the neighborhood, teaching kids and families about urban agriculture, and possibly even saving the city some money.
"Kids in urban areas don't get the opportunity to be around farm animals very often," says Meister, who worked with residents, The County Line Farm in Geneva, Ohio and the City of Cleveland to pioneer the 25-day program. "This is a creative way to address the problem of vacant lots in our neighborhood."
The "ladies," as they're known at the office, have a regular 9-to-5 job mowing a lot at W. 61st and Frontier Avenue. When they're done with that -- soon, based on their seemingly unstoppable appetite for anything leafy and green -- they'll be rotated to another lot. Meister hired a full-time goat herder for the project.
The Stockyards office receives a slew of calls every season about mowing lots. The City of Cleveland mows lots a few times per year and attempts to collect from property owners, but lacks the resources to mow them more regularly.
Meister hopes the project can be replicated elsewhere. She estimates that it would cost about $9,000 to $10,000 per six-month season to rent four goats, which is actually cheaper than what the city typically charges property owners to mow lots. The excess goat poop is being used to fertilize neighborhood gardens.
Source: Megan Meister
Writer: Lee Chilcote
Cleveland's original artisan bakery, Lucy's Sweet Surrender, has finished its move from Buckeye Road to a larger, better situated space in the former Chandler and Rudd building in Shaker Heights.
The new, 3,500-square-foot space features a small retail storefront that opens up to a bakery where visitors can watch the scratch baking process. The traditional Hungarian bakery, a dying breed that once thrived in Cleveland neighborhoods, intends to ramp up its retail business. It will also continue to pop up at area farmers markets, make deliveries in Cleveland and ship orders by mail.
Owner Michael Feigenbaum says Lucy's is busy at its new, well-trafficked location. "This week, we'll be at four farmers markets and we're already well into wedding cake season," he says. "The growth of new, artisan bakeries in Cleveland has helped us by raising the bar on what our customers are looking for."
Feigenbaum is already dreaming of Phase II of his expansion plans, which may include re-launching a prepared foods business, creating a small cafe, or partnering with other vendors. The Chandler and Rudd building has an additional 3,500 square feet that offer a blank canvas for the owner's next creation.
The long-awaited reconfiguration of the Warrensville/Van Aken/Chagrin intersection will only help him by creating a more vibrant urban district that can compete with Legacy Village and other lifestyle malls, says Feigenbaum.
Source: Michael Feigenbaum
Writer: Lee Chilcote
The new, 3,500-square-foot space features a small retail storefront that opens up to a bakery where visitors can watch the scratch baking process. The traditional Hungarian bakery, a dying breed that once thrived in Cleveland neighborhoods, intends to ramp up its retail business. It will also continue to pop up at area farmers markets, make deliveries in Cleveland and ship orders by mail.
Owner Michael Feigenbaum says Lucy's is busy at its new, well-trafficked location. "This week, we'll be at four farmers markets and we're already well into wedding cake season," he says. "The growth of new, artisan bakeries in Cleveland has helped us by raising the bar on what our customers are looking for."
Feigenbaum is already dreaming of Phase II of his expansion plans, which may include re-launching a prepared foods business, creating a small cafe, or partnering with other vendors. The Chandler and Rudd building has an additional 3,500 square feet that offer a blank canvas for the owner's next creation.
The long-awaited reconfiguration of the Warrensville/Van Aken/Chagrin intersection will only help him by creating a more vibrant urban district that can compete with Legacy Village and other lifestyle malls, says Feigenbaum.
Source: Michael Feigenbaum
Writer: Lee Chilcote
cimperman profiled at length in spirit magazine
In a lengthy feature titled, "Power of One," Spirit magazine highlights a half-dozen people who discovered their calling. The in-flight magazine of Southwest Airlines devotes a majority of the ink to Cleveland Councilman Joe Cimperman.
"In his 16 years as a councilman, [Cimperman] has passed pioneering urban farm zoning legislation at a time when no other city in the U.S. had done so, and spearheaded a local food procurement ordinance that gives companies who do business with the city a bid discount for sourcing food locally. In 2009, he sponsored so-called “chicken and bees” legislation, which allows residents to keep up to six chickens and two beehives in their backyards or on vacant lots. He was ridiculed for it at the time -- colleagues did the chicken dance as they passed him in the hallway -- but today both raising hens and beekeeping are popular pastimes in Cleveland."
"In 2011, Cimperman, chair of the city’s public health committee, helped shape Mayor Frank Jackson’s “Healthy Cleveland” resolution, a series of audacious public health goals that was crafted in conjunction with four local hospitals, including the Cleveland Clinic. A handful of these have already been passed by City Council: outlawing smoking in public spaces and banning artery-clogging trans fats at restaurant chains and bakeries. Several other pieces of legislation -- including one that would improve food in public schools -- are in the pipeline. Though the trans fat ban was overturned by Ohio’s state legislature last June, the City of Cleveland is now suing the state for the right to reinstate it. Cimperman is leading the effort."
Read more about his good work here.
"In his 16 years as a councilman, [Cimperman] has passed pioneering urban farm zoning legislation at a time when no other city in the U.S. had done so, and spearheaded a local food procurement ordinance that gives companies who do business with the city a bid discount for sourcing food locally. In 2009, he sponsored so-called “chicken and bees” legislation, which allows residents to keep up to six chickens and two beehives in their backyards or on vacant lots. He was ridiculed for it at the time -- colleagues did the chicken dance as they passed him in the hallway -- but today both raising hens and beekeeping are popular pastimes in Cleveland."
"In 2011, Cimperman, chair of the city’s public health committee, helped shape Mayor Frank Jackson’s “Healthy Cleveland” resolution, a series of audacious public health goals that was crafted in conjunction with four local hospitals, including the Cleveland Clinic. A handful of these have already been passed by City Council: outlawing smoking in public spaces and banning artery-clogging trans fats at restaurant chains and bakeries. Several other pieces of legislation -- including one that would improve food in public schools -- are in the pipeline. Though the trans fat ban was overturned by Ohio’s state legislature last June, the City of Cleveland is now suing the state for the right to reinstate it. Cimperman is leading the effort."
Read more about his good work here.
Kim Jenkins of Rising Star Coffee traded his job overseeing 110 scientists and engineers at Lockheed Martin in Florida to move to Spencer, Ohio, and launch a new coffee roaster in Cleveland.
Given his background in driving technological innovation, it comes as no surprise that his approach to roasting the best possible coffee beans is, well, innovative.
"Specialty grade coffee is the top half to one percent of coffee beans on the market, and that's all we do," says Jenkins, who recently set up shop in the Ohio City Firehouse building on W. 29th Street. "Coffee is the second largest commodity trade after crude oil, and there's plenty of room for growth in Northeast Ohio."
Jenkins' plan is to sell beans wholesale while also marketing to individual consumers and selling coffee by the cup. He's capitalizing on rising consumer interest in the highest-grade coffee, he says. His model appears to be working, as his fledgling company is gaining at least one wholesale customer per week. (The retail operation is still in the works.)
Rising Star's coffee retails for about $14 to $18 per pound, with the higher end reserved for small batch beans produced on micro-lots in Brazil and other places he's visited. He has hired four young workers to assist him with his growing roster of accounts.
"The goal of Rising Star is to create a sustainable business model, make a little money and give opportunities to the young people who work here," he says.
Jenkins says the main difference between his coffee and others is flavor. "You'll be able to taste the coffee like it's supposed to taste, instead of it being weak, burnt or bitter," he says. "People describe it as sweet, nutty, fruity or tasting of cocoa. Most of the world drinks coffee that tastes like that. It doesn't even need sugar."
Source: Kim Jenkins
Writer: Lee Chilcote
Given his background in driving technological innovation, it comes as no surprise that his approach to roasting the best possible coffee beans is, well, innovative.
"Specialty grade coffee is the top half to one percent of coffee beans on the market, and that's all we do," says Jenkins, who recently set up shop in the Ohio City Firehouse building on W. 29th Street. "Coffee is the second largest commodity trade after crude oil, and there's plenty of room for growth in Northeast Ohio."
Jenkins' plan is to sell beans wholesale while also marketing to individual consumers and selling coffee by the cup. He's capitalizing on rising consumer interest in the highest-grade coffee, he says. His model appears to be working, as his fledgling company is gaining at least one wholesale customer per week. (The retail operation is still in the works.)
Rising Star's coffee retails for about $14 to $18 per pound, with the higher end reserved for small batch beans produced on micro-lots in Brazil and other places he's visited. He has hired four young workers to assist him with his growing roster of accounts.
"The goal of Rising Star is to create a sustainable business model, make a little money and give opportunities to the young people who work here," he says.
Jenkins says the main difference between his coffee and others is flavor. "You'll be able to taste the coffee like it's supposed to taste, instead of it being weak, burnt or bitter," he says. "People describe it as sweet, nutty, fruity or tasting of cocoa. Most of the world drinks coffee that tastes like that. It doesn't even need sugar."
Source: Kim Jenkins
Writer: Lee Chilcote
Communities in Cuyahoga County are recycling about 50 percent of their waste on average, Diane Bickett, Executive Director of the Cuyahoga County Solid Waste District, told the audience at the recent Cleveland Composting and Recycling Forum.
Austin, Texas has an ambitious goal of reaching zero waste by 2040, which means reducing the amount of trash sent to landfills by 90 percent.
The question now becomes: How does our region advance those goals while encouraging communities with dismal levels of recycling to raise the bar? That was the question that Bickett posed to the crowd during the one-day examination of recycling and composting in our region.
The City of Cleveland has one of the lowest levels of recycling in Cuyahoga County at about seven percent. Cleveland Heights and Lakewood hover around 60 percent, and Pepper Pike is over 70 percent. Bickett said that Cleveland and other cities could improve recycling rates by focusing on new, automated technologies, expanding organic collection, adding more recycling in public spaces, making citywide policy changes, and better educating residents and businesses.
Beyond the sustainability benefits, recycling also creates jobs. "For every job in the disposal industry, 17 are created in the recycling industry," Bickett said.
Given the prowess of the local food and urban agriculture movements in Cleveland, Bickett cited an opportunity to create composting facilities run by volunteers and community organizations that generate nutrient-rich soil.
Councilman Brian Cummins criticized the city's one-size-fits-all disposal fee and unambitious recycling goals (the city aims to recycle up to 25 percent of its waste by building a waste-to-energy facility and rolling out curbside recycling citywide).
Cummins also promoted the idea that recycling could generate local jobs, although he and Bickett acknowledged that recycling programs actually cost cities money.
City of Cleveland representatives were invited to attend the forum but declined.
Source: Diane Bickett, Brian Cummins
Writer: Lee Chilcote
Austin, Texas has an ambitious goal of reaching zero waste by 2040, which means reducing the amount of trash sent to landfills by 90 percent.
The question now becomes: How does our region advance those goals while encouraging communities with dismal levels of recycling to raise the bar? That was the question that Bickett posed to the crowd during the one-day examination of recycling and composting in our region.
The City of Cleveland has one of the lowest levels of recycling in Cuyahoga County at about seven percent. Cleveland Heights and Lakewood hover around 60 percent, and Pepper Pike is over 70 percent. Bickett said that Cleveland and other cities could improve recycling rates by focusing on new, automated technologies, expanding organic collection, adding more recycling in public spaces, making citywide policy changes, and better educating residents and businesses.
Beyond the sustainability benefits, recycling also creates jobs. "For every job in the disposal industry, 17 are created in the recycling industry," Bickett said.
Given the prowess of the local food and urban agriculture movements in Cleveland, Bickett cited an opportunity to create composting facilities run by volunteers and community organizations that generate nutrient-rich soil.
Councilman Brian Cummins criticized the city's one-size-fits-all disposal fee and unambitious recycling goals (the city aims to recycle up to 25 percent of its waste by building a waste-to-energy facility and rolling out curbside recycling citywide).
Cummins also promoted the idea that recycling could generate local jobs, although he and Bickett acknowledged that recycling programs actually cost cities money.
City of Cleveland representatives were invited to attend the forum but declined.
Source: Diane Bickett, Brian Cummins
Writer: Lee Chilcote
Cleveland is nationally known as a brewing mecca. While established breweries like Great Lakes and Buckeye Brewing continue to expand, smaller startups are popping up in their shadows. Nourished by home-brewing clubs and finding strong models in Cleveland’s prize-winning breweries, many of these entrepreneurs started by brewing small batches in their basements or garages.
cleveland among zagat's listing of hottest food truck towns
Zagat asked its readers to weigh in on the best cities to enjoy food truck fare. Cleveland was one of only 10 cities in the running.
Cleveland, OH
"Fairly recently, the City of Cleveland decided to renew a law that allowed food trucks to roam the city that 'rocks.' However, they can only operate with permission from their councilperson. A few dozen trucks and growing, residents have options like Streat Mobile Bistro (healthy, local, organic) and fig “burger” dealer Hodge Podge. Also, there's Umami Moto which serves Asian-fusion food -- inspired by LA’s Kogi Truck perhaps?"
Check out all the city scenes here.
Cleveland, OH
"Fairly recently, the City of Cleveland decided to renew a law that allowed food trucks to roam the city that 'rocks.' However, they can only operate with permission from their councilperson. A few dozen trucks and growing, residents have options like Streat Mobile Bistro (healthy, local, organic) and fig “burger” dealer Hodge Podge. Also, there's Umami Moto which serves Asian-fusion food -- inspired by LA’s Kogi Truck perhaps?"
Check out all the city scenes here.
When the Broadway Farmers Market in Slavic Village piloted a new program to offer a dollar-for-dollar match to Ohio Direction Card customers who purchase produce, it experienced a 191-percent increase in Direction Card sales in one year.
By offering incentives, the Produce Perks program helps to ensure that fresh, locally grown produce gets into low-income households where it's needed most. Many city residents do not have a grocery store with fresh produce within walking distance of their home. The program offers a dollar-for-dollar match up to $10.
This summer, the Produce Perks program is being expanded to 17 local farmers markets throughout Cuyahoga County. The program has been successful at helping lower-income residents to overcome obstacles that inhibit them from shopping at farmers markets and boosting their produce purchasing power, organizers say.
"We know that there are more people using local food assistance programs due to the economy, so how do we get them to local farmers markets?" says Erika Meschkat, Program Coordinator with the Ohio State University Extension. "This is about improving public health, boosting local food production and creating economic development opportunities at neighborhood farmers markets."
Meschkat says that the Produce Perks program helps farmers markets to profit from an untapped market. While many suburban market managers are shocked to realize that they have customers on food assistance, too, it benefits them as well.
The program is part of a regional push to address healthy food gaps by helping low-income residents to take advantage of farmers markets. Produce Perks is coordinated by the Cleveland-Cuyahoga County Food Policy Coalition with the support of several area foundations and Wholesome Wave, a national nonprofit organization focused on access to healthy, affordable foods in poor communities.
Source: Cleveland-Cuyahoga County Food Policy Coalition
Writer: Lee Chilcote
By offering incentives, the Produce Perks program helps to ensure that fresh, locally grown produce gets into low-income households where it's needed most. Many city residents do not have a grocery store with fresh produce within walking distance of their home. The program offers a dollar-for-dollar match up to $10.
This summer, the Produce Perks program is being expanded to 17 local farmers markets throughout Cuyahoga County. The program has been successful at helping lower-income residents to overcome obstacles that inhibit them from shopping at farmers markets and boosting their produce purchasing power, organizers say.
"We know that there are more people using local food assistance programs due to the economy, so how do we get them to local farmers markets?" says Erika Meschkat, Program Coordinator with the Ohio State University Extension. "This is about improving public health, boosting local food production and creating economic development opportunities at neighborhood farmers markets."
Meschkat says that the Produce Perks program helps farmers markets to profit from an untapped market. While many suburban market managers are shocked to realize that they have customers on food assistance, too, it benefits them as well.
The program is part of a regional push to address healthy food gaps by helping low-income residents to take advantage of farmers markets. Produce Perks is coordinated by the Cleveland-Cuyahoga County Food Policy Coalition with the support of several area foundations and Wholesome Wave, a national nonprofit organization focused on access to healthy, affordable foods in poor communities.
Source: Cleveland-Cuyahoga County Food Policy Coalition
Writer: Lee Chilcote
great lakes brewing jumps in craft beer rankings
According to beer sales volume calculated by The Brewers Association, a Boulder-based not-for-profit trade group that tabulates production statistics for U.S. breweries, Great Lakes Brewing Company is now the 18th largest craft brewery in the country. That is a jump from the #22 position the previous year.
According to the same stats, Great Lakes also is now the 27th largest American brewery overall, up from #31 previously.
Great Lakes produces over 110,000 barrels of beer annually and serves 13 states and Washington D.C. The company will celebrate its 25th anniversary in 2013.
See all the sudsy stats here.
According to the same stats, Great Lakes also is now the 27th largest American brewery overall, up from #31 previously.
Great Lakes produces over 110,000 barrels of beer annually and serves 13 states and Washington D.C. The company will celebrate its 25th anniversary in 2013.
See all the sudsy stats here.
Great Lakes Brewing Company is now the 18th largest craft brewery in the U.S. and the 27th largest overall. The company brews more than 110,000 barrels of handcrafted beer every year.
The brewing process takes place in a warehouse at Carroll Avenue and West 28th Street near the West Side Market. Visitors to Great Lakes Brewing Company's flagship bar and restaurant on Market Avenue often can catch a whiff of the beer brewing and fermenting as they walk in to grab a pint.
Recently, Great Lakes purchased and installed two new 300-barrel fermentation tanks to further expand its brewing capacity. The new equipment, which was hoisted in by crane through the roof of its Carroll Avenue tank farm, is on top of $7 million in capital improvements completed in 2010 to expand capacity.
Great Lakes beer is now available in 13 states and Washington D.C., and the company has a philosophy of supporting sustainability and natural, locally grown food. Owners Patrick and Daniel Conway have plans to deepen Great Lakes' presence in existing markets as they celebrate its 25th anniversary in 2013.
Source: Great Lakes Brewing Company
Writer: Lee Chilcote
The brewing process takes place in a warehouse at Carroll Avenue and West 28th Street near the West Side Market. Visitors to Great Lakes Brewing Company's flagship bar and restaurant on Market Avenue often can catch a whiff of the beer brewing and fermenting as they walk in to grab a pint.
Recently, Great Lakes purchased and installed two new 300-barrel fermentation tanks to further expand its brewing capacity. The new equipment, which was hoisted in by crane through the roof of its Carroll Avenue tank farm, is on top of $7 million in capital improvements completed in 2010 to expand capacity.
Great Lakes beer is now available in 13 states and Washington D.C., and the company has a philosophy of supporting sustainability and natural, locally grown food. Owners Patrick and Daniel Conway have plans to deepen Great Lakes' presence in existing markets as they celebrate its 25th anniversary in 2013.
Source: Great Lakes Brewing Company
Writer: Lee Chilcote
The Orlando Baking Company, which was founded in 1872 in Castel di Sangro, Italy and came to Cleveland in 1904, has received a $1.3 million Clean Ohio grant to clean up a brownfield adjacent to its facility at E. 79th and Woodland Avenue. Orlando plans to expand onto the property, retaining about 40 jobs and creating 15 new jobs.
The funds will be used to demolish and remediate the former Van Dorn property at 2700 E. 79th Street. The City of Cleveland is a partner in the cleanup project.
Orlando Baking sells bread throughout Northeast Ohio and around the country. Orlando recently introduced a probiotic bread that contains the same healthy microbes that exist in foods such as yogurt. The company has expanded several times in its Cleveland location, and currently employs about 300 workers.
Clean Ohio grants are provided through a competitive application process to allow for the reuse of commercial and industrial properties that are currently underutilized. Since its inception, 150 Clean Ohio Revitalization Fund projects have been awarded more than $295 million, leveraging $2.5 billion in private sector investment and creating and retaining more than 12,500 jobs.
Source: Ohio Department of Development, Orlando Baking Company
Writer: Lee Chilcote
The funds will be used to demolish and remediate the former Van Dorn property at 2700 E. 79th Street. The City of Cleveland is a partner in the cleanup project.
Orlando Baking sells bread throughout Northeast Ohio and around the country. Orlando recently introduced a probiotic bread that contains the same healthy microbes that exist in foods such as yogurt. The company has expanded several times in its Cleveland location, and currently employs about 300 workers.
Clean Ohio grants are provided through a competitive application process to allow for the reuse of commercial and industrial properties that are currently underutilized. Since its inception, 150 Clean Ohio Revitalization Fund projects have been awarded more than $295 million, leveraging $2.5 billion in private sector investment and creating and retaining more than 12,500 jobs.
Source: Ohio Department of Development, Orlando Baking Company
Writer: Lee Chilcote
As Yelp Cleveland community manager, native Northeast Ohioan Cara Lageson is a pro-Cleveland powerhouse. When she's not busy penning reviews -- she has logged in about 400 -- she connects "Yelpers" and local businesses by coordinating marketing outreach that extends well beyond the digital realm.
Last fall, when the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency held a hearing on the City of Cleveland's proposed waste-to-energy plant, hundreds of protesters turned out to decry the plans.
The gasification plant, which would turn trash into energy to be used by Cleveland Public Power, would result in unacceptable levels of pollution in urban neighborhoods, environmental groups said.
Since then, the city has terminated its agreement with its controversial consultant, Peter Tien. However, CPP says that it is still studying the waste-to-energy plant as well as other options to increase recycling, reduce costs and generate electricity.
To capitalize on the renewed interest in recycling and composting generated by the public meetings earlier this year, environmental groups are now pressing the city to develop a more comprehensive plan. Ohio Citizen Action, Earthday Coalition and other groups have organized the Cleveland Composting and Recycling Forum on Saturday, June 2nd at the downtown YMCA.
“Clevelanders have said loud and clear that they want stronger recycling programs,” commented Chris Trepal, Executive Director of Earth Day Coalition, in a news release. “The urban gardening and local food community in Cleveland creates hundreds of opportunities for the productive use of compost.”
"We're hoping to bring in good ideas from other cities," adds Sandy Buchanan, Executive Director of Ohio Citizen Action, who says that the local and national speakers attending the event will provide a litany of successful models.
The public forum takes place at a crucial time, as the city is gearing up to roll out its recycling program to additional neighborhoods over the course of the summer.
Brian Cummins, a Cleveland Councilman who represents the Brooklyn Centre, Clark-Fulton and Stockyards neighborhoods adjacent to the proposed gasification plant, says that the city's recycling program needs improvement.
"The city claims this is a comprehensive system, but they haven't been able to roll it out citywide due to budget problems," he says. "We need to look at incentives to recycle, such as 'pay as you throw' fees that other cities are now using."
The City of Cleveland has stated that its goal in the next few years is to roll out its recycling program to all neighborhoods. No composting program currently exists.
Source: Chris Trepal, Brian Cummins
Writer: Lee Chilcote
The gasification plant, which would turn trash into energy to be used by Cleveland Public Power, would result in unacceptable levels of pollution in urban neighborhoods, environmental groups said.
Since then, the city has terminated its agreement with its controversial consultant, Peter Tien. However, CPP says that it is still studying the waste-to-energy plant as well as other options to increase recycling, reduce costs and generate electricity.
To capitalize on the renewed interest in recycling and composting generated by the public meetings earlier this year, environmental groups are now pressing the city to develop a more comprehensive plan. Ohio Citizen Action, Earthday Coalition and other groups have organized the Cleveland Composting and Recycling Forum on Saturday, June 2nd at the downtown YMCA.
“Clevelanders have said loud and clear that they want stronger recycling programs,” commented Chris Trepal, Executive Director of Earth Day Coalition, in a news release. “The urban gardening and local food community in Cleveland creates hundreds of opportunities for the productive use of compost.”
"We're hoping to bring in good ideas from other cities," adds Sandy Buchanan, Executive Director of Ohio Citizen Action, who says that the local and national speakers attending the event will provide a litany of successful models.
The public forum takes place at a crucial time, as the city is gearing up to roll out its recycling program to additional neighborhoods over the course of the summer.
Brian Cummins, a Cleveland Councilman who represents the Brooklyn Centre, Clark-Fulton and Stockyards neighborhoods adjacent to the proposed gasification plant, says that the city's recycling program needs improvement.
"The city claims this is a comprehensive system, but they haven't been able to roll it out citywide due to budget problems," he says. "We need to look at incentives to recycle, such as 'pay as you throw' fees that other cities are now using."
The City of Cleveland has stated that its goal in the next few years is to roll out its recycling program to all neighborhoods. No composting program currently exists.
Source: Chris Trepal, Brian Cummins
Writer: Lee Chilcote
huffpo publishes mike symon's love letter to cleveland
"Cleveland, You have been my best friend for over 40 years," writes Symon, in a heartfelt love letter to his one and only native town.
"I hid from you like every other teenager with a skateboard and BMX, choosing to play in the suburbs, a wide world of vanilla filled with malls, chain stores and entirely too much mediocrity."
"It wasn't until I left you that I realized how amazing you are and all the great treasures you possessed. Whether it was the old world headcheese at The Sausage Shoppe, amazing pierogies at Sokolowski's or the perfect steak and steam at the Shvitz, you were -- history and culture aside -- loaded with old-world culinary traditions that most cities could only imagine."
Enjoy the rest of his ode here.
"I hid from you like every other teenager with a skateboard and BMX, choosing to play in the suburbs, a wide world of vanilla filled with malls, chain stores and entirely too much mediocrity."
"It wasn't until I left you that I realized how amazing you are and all the great treasures you possessed. Whether it was the old world headcheese at The Sausage Shoppe, amazing pierogies at Sokolowski's or the perfect steak and steam at the Shvitz, you were -- history and culture aside -- loaded with old-world culinary traditions that most cities could only imagine."
Enjoy the rest of his ode here.
Next time that your favorite barista etches a flower in your foamy mug of latte, savor it for a moment before you take a sip. He or she may actually be practicing for For the Love of Latte Art, an educational event and latte art throwdown that is being hosted this weekend by Cleveland-area coffee companies.
The event, which is being hosted by a new coffee collective called CLE Brews, will include skill-building workshops for professional and amateur baristas who are interested in learning the craft of latte art. It concludes with a "Latte Art Throwdown" in which participants will be judged on their latte art. All proceeds of the event will benefit the Asobagri Co-op Disaster Relief Fund in Huehuetenango, Guatemala, an area that was devastated by intense rainfall last year.
"Our goal is to build unity, share ideas and really push the coffee culture in Cleveland," says Nathan Lilly, a Manager and Trainer with Phoenix Coffee Company. "We've done events like this before, but never on this big of a scale. We'd like to make this an annual event showcasing coffee in Cleveland."
CLE Brews is a collective comprised of Phoenix Coffee Company, Erie Island Coffee Company, Caruso's Coffee and Red Cedar Coffee. The winner of the Latte Art Throwdown will receive a $4,000 espresso machine donated by Nuova Simonelli and entry into Coffee Fest Seattle's Latte Art Competition.
Competition should be fierce: Lilly says the local coffee scene has talented baristas who can sketch swans, clovers, rabbits and even tulips into a steaming cup of latte.
The event takes place this Saturday, May 12th at Cuyahoga Community College's Hospitality Management Center at Public Square in downtown Cleveland.
Source: Nathan Lilly
Writer: Lee Chilcote
The event, which is being hosted by a new coffee collective called CLE Brews, will include skill-building workshops for professional and amateur baristas who are interested in learning the craft of latte art. It concludes with a "Latte Art Throwdown" in which participants will be judged on their latte art. All proceeds of the event will benefit the Asobagri Co-op Disaster Relief Fund in Huehuetenango, Guatemala, an area that was devastated by intense rainfall last year.
"Our goal is to build unity, share ideas and really push the coffee culture in Cleveland," says Nathan Lilly, a Manager and Trainer with Phoenix Coffee Company. "We've done events like this before, but never on this big of a scale. We'd like to make this an annual event showcasing coffee in Cleveland."
CLE Brews is a collective comprised of Phoenix Coffee Company, Erie Island Coffee Company, Caruso's Coffee and Red Cedar Coffee. The winner of the Latte Art Throwdown will receive a $4,000 espresso machine donated by Nuova Simonelli and entry into Coffee Fest Seattle's Latte Art Competition.
Competition should be fierce: Lilly says the local coffee scene has talented baristas who can sketch swans, clovers, rabbits and even tulips into a steaming cup of latte.
The event takes place this Saturday, May 12th at Cuyahoga Community College's Hospitality Management Center at Public Square in downtown Cleveland.
Source: Nathan Lilly
Writer: Lee Chilcote
flee to the cleve: symon picks hometown faves
Where does chef Michael Symon send out-of-town visitors when they come to town? The New York Post asked and he answered, ticking off a list of 10 can't-miss stops.
#1 West Side Market
“One of the most special places where I bring all my chef friends when they visit," Symon says in the article. “Regardless of whether I bring in chefs from New York or San Francisco or another country, it just blows them away.”.
#2 Great Lakes Brewing Co.
“Microbreweries are very hot right now; this has been there [almost] 30 years and is arguably one of the best."
#3 Velvet Tango Room
“It was so ahead of its time,” he says. “It’s been open 18 years; they were doing all the cool things long ago."
#4 ABC the Tavern
Symon recommends this bar for its cheap drinks and great burgers.
Also mentioned: Banyan Tree, Beachland Ballroom, Big Al's Diner, Greenhouse Tavern, Happy Dog and Superior Pho.
Read the entire list here:
#1 West Side Market
“One of the most special places where I bring all my chef friends when they visit," Symon says in the article. “Regardless of whether I bring in chefs from New York or San Francisco or another country, it just blows them away.”.
#2 Great Lakes Brewing Co.
“Microbreweries are very hot right now; this has been there [almost] 30 years and is arguably one of the best."
#3 Velvet Tango Room
“It was so ahead of its time,” he says. “It’s been open 18 years; they were doing all the cool things long ago."
#4 ABC the Tavern
Symon recommends this bar for its cheap drinks and great burgers.
Also mentioned: Banyan Tree, Beachland Ballroom, Big Al's Diner, Greenhouse Tavern, Happy Dog and Superior Pho.
Read the entire list here: