Fresh Water toured some of Cleveland's lesser-known places for authentic ethnic eats at an affordable price and found bibimbap, tandoori chicken and smoked brisket, just to name a few.

Just in time for Australia Day today, Tuesday, Jan. 26, Cleveland Coffee Company yesterday introduced a new coffee blend in honor of Australian native and Cavs point guard Matthew “Delly” Dellavedova, called G’Day Mate.

Created by Delly himself, the blend is of Sumatra and Peruvian coffees – Sumatra, which borders Australia, and Peruvian, which is known for its velvety texture, create a rich aroma and bold flavor.
 
After going through the chain of command, Cleveland Coffee owner Brendan Walton first invited Delly to come to his roaster back in December, after taking note of the basketball player’s love for coffee during the NBA Playoffs.
 
“It seemed to be his beverage of preference before, and sometimes during, the game,” says Walton. “So I invited him to our warehouse to do coffee roasting 101, which was cool because he’d never seen it done before. He was very interested and asked a lot of questions, so we had him do one of the roasts.”
 
Walton says Delly, who drinks his coffee black, prefers a dark roast with bold flavor. So after tasting a few blends, Walton and Delly developed a suitable flavor profile in G’Day Mate.
 
Walton delivered the new blend to 40 area retailers yesterday. The G’Day Mate blend will be available through the end of June in stores, online and at Walton’s cafe in A.J. Rocco’s, 816 Huron Road.
 
Furthermore, Walton announced that Cleveland Coffee Company will donate 10 percent of the proceeds from G'Day Mate sales to All Faiths Pantry, a non-profit organization in Old Brooklyn that works with the Cleveland Food Bank to deliver groceries to seniors and other people with limited mobility.
 
“I think it will go over well, and Delly was very receptive to that,” says Walton. “[Executive director] John [Visnauskas], he’s a good soul working to help people out. I’m sure it will sell.”
 
The Cavs played their first "Australia Day" game last night against the Minnesota Timberwolves and wore their gold uniforms to honor Australia’s colors, gold and green. The Cavs won, 114-107.

A lot has happened this year in Cleveland. From new businesses to innovative ideas,  Fresh Water looks back at the top 10 stories of 2015.

Whether they grew up here and left or are just experiencing Cleveland for the first time, five residents share why they came here and what they love about the city.

Vita Urbana, a multi-service convenience store, is scheduled to open in mid-January in the Shoreway Building, 1260 West 76th St., overlooking Edgewater Park.

Designed with a sense of community, the compact, 4,000 square-foot space will pack a host of services for residents of the Shoreway Building and the entire Battery Park neighborhood.
 
“Vita Urbana will combine the convenience of a coffee shop, an artisanal grocery store, and a full service bar bistro,” says entrepreneur Mike Graley, a 35-year veteran of the grocery business.
 
A native west sider, Graley opened his first venture -- the wine bar, YOLO (now Cha Spirits & Pizza Kitchen) – right next door in the Battery Park Powerhouse.  
 
In addition to his own operations, Graley’s been a wine buyer at the Rocky River Heinen’s for 25 years. Graley got his start at A&P and then worked for Rego’s in his early days. These experiences, along with an opportunity to travel abroad, have led him to Vita Urbana.
 
The coffee shop will rely on local roasters to produce a specially brewed, house-blended dark roast, along with assorted flavored coffees. Graley is also planning a simple breakfast menu with added emphasis on fast, friendly service.
 
The artisan grocery store will offer a variety of necessities while emphasizing quality and uniqueness; a place cooks will want to shop.
 
The full-bar bistro will specialize in an array of gourmet selections that will showcase many of the exquisite products sold in the store. The bar will provide a variety of wine, beer and specialty cocktails.
 
Vita Urbana brings convenience to the center of the Gordon Square neighborhood. It will be open seven days a week, from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sundays.
 
Graley will hire 10 to 15 people to staff Vita Urbana and envisions opening two additional locations in other Cleveland neighborhoods over the next two years.

The concept of saving compostable food from landfills, and instead putting it to good use, is a notion that is starting to catch on in Northeast Ohio.

The aromas of fresh baked bread and pastries will soon waft through the streets of Cleveland when Bloom Artisan Bakery and Café opens two locations next year. In a social enterprise venture, Towards Employment, a non-profit organization dedicated to helping low income and disadvantaged adults achieve self-sufficiency through employment, announced last week that it will open bakeries in both Public Square and on the Cleveland State campus.

“The Towards Employment board of directors set out to start a social enterprise a couple of years ago,” says Logan Fahey, Bloom’s general manager. "We looked at different industries – manufacturing, lawn care – and then we found this crazy bakery idea. It met a need in downtown Cleveland and it’s an incredible training opportunity for our students.”
 
Bloom will hire and train 12 to 14 employees through Toward Employment for both locations in its first year, with a vision of expanding into additional locations, corporate catering and wholesale. “We wanted to create a business that is scalable,” says Fahey. “The hope is that once they graduate from the bakery they will move on to jobs with higher wages and use the skills they’ve learned.”
 
Before being hired by Bloom, potential employees will go through Towards Employment’s four-week career readiness course.
 
Once hired, employees will be learning baking skills from the best. Internationally-renowned artisan baking specialist Maurice Chaplais will personally train the staff on the art of making pastry and bread with locally-sourced ingredients.
 
Menu items include items such as the Great Lakes Beer bread, house white bread, assorted dinner rolls and croissants, pies, cookies, cakes, brownies and tarts. If that wasn’t enough, Bloom will also serve a lunch menu of sandwiches, sides and soups.
 
The CSU location at 1938 Euclid Ave. will house the production facility in addition to the retail shop. “It will have full commercial kitchen with glass windows so you can see the bakers making the product,” says Fahey.
 
Training starts in January and Fahey says they expect to open in February or March. In the meantime, Bloom Bakery is looking for an experienced executive head baker. Interested candidate can email their resumes to Fahey.
 

This weekend, Space is the place: take a cosmic journey with The Sun Ra Arkestra and visit SPACES for their out-of-this-world Galaxy Annual Benefit. Don’t miss flower-infused fun at CMA’s MIX, a live broadcasted podcast with Belt at the Beachland and more. 

As much as she likes to show off her ceramics, artist Gina DeSantis wanted a new way to highlight the works she creates in her studio at the Screw Factory in Lakewood. “I hate showing my work in galleries,” she declares. “It just sits on a white pedestal and it’s like, ‘oh look, a mug.’”

Then DeSantis started thinking about the whole farm-to-table movement, and the practice of sourcing food locally. She thought, why can’t that practice apply to the plates people use to eat their local food?
 
So DeSantis contacted her friend Jillian Davis, owner of Toast restaurant, about a showing her work in the restaurant. Davis loved the idea, and with that Kiln to Table: An evening of fine craft and fine dining was born.
 
DeSantis designed 50 three-piece place settings – a salad plate, a dinner plate and a soup bowl – for the restaurant. Diners have the option to buy their place settings after dinner (the setting will be cleaned and packed up for pick up on Friday). Of course, guests are not obligated to buy their settings.
 
"I came up with rustic, simple dinnerware for Toast,” DeSantis says. “It accentuates the food and doesn’t distract from it.”
 
Kiln to Table is a one-night exhibit. But DeSantis would like to see restaurant shows become a regular thing. “It’s one night only, but hopefully it will be more,” she says. “I might get other artists involved and we’ll hop around the city. “
 
DeSantis adds that she wants to continue the trend of buying locally. “There’s this frenzy for everything local,” she says. “We’re growing and sourcing everything locally and then throw it on a 50-cent Ikea plate.”
 
She encourages people to take the trend a step further and buy their dinnerware locally as well.  We’re so concerned about sourcing everything local, but we get from A to Y,” DeSantis explains. “It may be more costly, but if you’re really concerned about sourcing local, it’s worth it.”
 
 Kiln to Table is scheduled for Thursday, November 5 from 4:30 pm to 11 pm. Reservations are recommended.