"Jazz is like the kind of man you wouldn't want your daughter to associate with." That might sound like a curious quote for a pastor to use in blessing a jazz bar, yet these were Mark Giuliano's words at the opening of the new Take 5 Jazz Club in downtown Cleveland. The quote comes from jazz legend Duke Ellington.

"We know how important live music is for gathering people; we're for that kind of community building," explains Giuliano, Pastor... Read more >

The once-dumpy strip mall in downtown Lakewood known as "Drug Mart Plaza" will no longer be boring. Dan Deagan, owner of the popular Deagan's Kitchen and Bar, plans to open a wine bar in the renovated plaza sometime this summer.

"Lakewood doesn't have any wine bars, and we sell a lot of wine here," says Deagan. "Lakewood has been good to us; I wanted to do something close."

Since Deagan named his firs... Read more >

This summer, the Tremont neighborhood will have a new gateway welcoming people to the neighborhood: Cleveland's first dedicated hop farm. Boasting 16-foot tall posts laden with vines, the parcel on W. 14th Street, just south of the I-490 bridge, will not only create a dramatic entranceway into the area, it will also be used to grow three to four different varieties of fresh hops.

"Shortly after opening, Cory Riordan [Director of Tremont West Development Corp... Read more >

"Ever dream of running your own restaurant as an executive chef, pastry chef or sommelier?"

That is the question asked by leaders of EDWINS Leadership & Restaurant Institute. Fulfilling that dream would be a challenge for most anyone, but what about a person reentering society after incarceration?

Hoping to provide the answer is Brandon Chrostowski, general manager, sommelier and fromanger at L'Albatros restaurant. ... Read more >

During a recent address at the City Club of Cleveland, Joel Ratner of Neighborhood Progress Inc. touted recent success stories that the nonprofit has invested in, including a new home for The Intergenerational School underway at the Saint Luke's campus.

Ratner believes that even though Cleveland has been hard hit by the foreclosure crisis, the city can stabilize its population and begin to grow again through promoting thoughtful, equitable, synergistic development tha... Read more >

As part of the city's 10-year initiative Sustainable Cleveland 2019, 2013 is being called the Year of Advanced and Renewable Energy. Evidenced by measures big and small -- both civic and private -- Cleveland continues to inch toward becoming a "Green City on a Blue Lake."

Cleveland has gained a reputation nationally for its vibrant local food culture. The city's foodie status has gotten quite a bit bigger - literally - thanks to Green City Growers Cooperative, a 3.25-acre greenhouse that celebrated its official opening on Feb. 25.

Size matters at the hydroponic, high-tech greenhouse, which aims to produce three million heads of lettuce and 300,000 pounds of herbs annually to vendors within a 50-mile radius from its location in Cle... Read more >

Cleveland is quietly transforming from a meat-and-potatoes to a beets-and-tomatoes kind of town -- at least at the edges. Not only are there more meat-free diners in Cleveland. But vegans are finding more meat-free dinners thanks to progressive new eateries and chefs, who are more than eager to please this growing faction of foodies.

Dan Malz is a science guy and a rum aficionado who always dreamed of making his own rum. Three years ago over a pint of Guinness, that dream was on the way to becoming a reality. That's when Malz and his three business partners, John Marek, Keith Sutton and Matthew Zappernick, founded Portside Distillery, Cleveland’s first distillery since Prohibition.
 
Portside Distillery produces small-batch artisan spirits and craft beers from its lakeside location on W.... Read more >

Within the past five years, the Kamm's Corners commercial district at Lorain Avenue and Rocky River Drive has transformed itself. This once-faded stretch of Irish bars and half-empty storefronts has become a diverse foodie destination, where you can as easily order a gourmet burrito as a pint o' Guinness.

The presence of restaurants like the recently opened Thai Elephant have created a buzzed-about cuisine scene that's a far cry from the West Park of recent me... Read more >

As news of the fire at the West Side Market spread, the Cleveland community was in disbelief. And then it got to helping. While untold amounts of food and product were lost, and 100s of employees continue to go without work, scores of loyal shoppers and fans are doing everything they can to ease the pain.

While spending his weekends crafting sauces and perfecting slow-smoked pulled pork, Bill Madansky used to joke around with his friends about quitting his day job to open a barbeque restaurant.

Five years after looking at an empty storefront on Waterloo Road, he's finally done it. Madansky has leased a space from Northeast Shores Development Corporation, which renovated a dilapidated building across from the Beachland Ballroom and Tavern, and recently opened Blitz Barb... Read more >