Landerhaven eyes expanded offerings to attract b’nai mitzvahs, Jewish weddings
By Lillie Askari
Chris Hodgson, president of Driftwood Restaurants and Catering, says that Driftwood’s 90,000-square-foot Landerhaven event space is focusing 2025 on celebrating the Jewish community – kosher-style.
“There was a need for kosher, and there was a need for a venue and a different style of kosher,” Hodgson, who grew up attending b’nai mitzvahs at Executive Caterers at Landerhaven – the event space’s predecessor owned by Harlan Diamond, says. “And so we spent the winter (of 2023-24) considering it.”
With an investment of more than $50,000 dedicated to new kosher plates, silverware and utensils, and upgrades to the on-site, kosher kitchen, Hodgson says Landerhaven is ready to grow its kosher service with a “heavy focus” on hosting b’nai mitzvahs and Jewish weddings.
Hodgson also said he hopes to turn heads with a newly-curated, contemporary style of kosher food at Landerhaven at 6111 Landerhaven Drive in Mayfield Heights.
“We wanted to be more of a contemporary kosher cuisine, and so you’ll see more international flavors come in,” Hodgson says, citing that the expansion of dairy and meat substitutes increase “our ability to make kosher food unique, different, creative and more chef-centric.”
Hodgson says with more access to a variety of new kosher ingredients – like several variations of vegan cheese – about 90% of Landerhaven menus can now be translated into kosher menus, including Indian, Japanese, Nigerian and Chinese cuisines.
“So our ability to actually make (meals) that don’t scream that they’re kosher has grown significantly,” Hodgson says.
According to Hodgson, quality produce and kosher meat, paired with attention to detail, are also key to kosher success, “so we go looking for the best product that we can possibly find.”
Rabbis oversee and monitor everything, from food delivery to prepping, cooking and serving kosher meals.
“There (are no) ingredients that go in the kitchen without (a rabbi’s) blessing,” Hodgson says.
Driftwood Catering items – which are prepared at Landerhaven – can travel to just about anywhere and transport food in kosher hot boxes and kosher coolers, Hodgson says.
Landerhaven has multiple kitchens serving its three ballrooms that can be split into six event spaces, but the kosher kitchen with its own dishwashers and updated ovens can be locked off and is restricted when non-kosher and kosher events occur on the same night, Hodgson says.
Hodgson, who grew up in Shaker Heights, and Driftwood partner and CEO Scott Kuhn wanted to maintain Landerhaven’s legacy and name, when they purchased it in 2021 from Diamond, the innovative caterer of Cleveland with a strong reputation, Hodgson says, adding that Diamond, who died Feb. 27 at 90, was ready to retire and Driftwood needed the facility, when the parties entered into negotiations.
“You know, you can go anywhere in the country, and if people have been to Cleveland, they’ve probably been to Landerhaven,” he says. “And so, that was really important for us to be anchored down in a community we were familiar with, and to have a have a legacy that we had to carry on.”
Hodgson says he and Kuhn make a good pair, with Hodgson being a culinary creative and Kuhn an “operations person,” who met and became friends about 14 years ago.
In addition to Landerhaven, Driftwood owns five restaurants: Bin 216, Cibreo, Green Rooster Farms, Republic Food and Drink and the Welshfield Inn and runs concessions, including at Playhouse Square in downtown Cleveland.
While running a thriving catering and event business has not been without challenges and costs, including increased prices due to inflation and advertising expenditures, the employees have helped the business thrive, Hodgson says.
“There’s very few restaurant groups that didn’t just survive, but thrive during COVID, and that’s nothing short of the people that we had working with us,” he says, noting that his employees are like family and, when in a pinch, they can bring their children to work.
Hodgson says Driftwood looks forward to Landerhaven’s next chapter.
“We’re just reaching back out to the community, becoming a part of it again,” he says. “It’s important, and as the world is changing and shifting, it’s just important that we all have good relationships and can support each other, and that’s what I think we need.”