The appetite for independents grows

On the menu for Cleveland Independents: raising profiles of local restaurants

Cleveland Independents’ “The Deck” is a deck of playing card-size discounts to nearly 50 Northeast Ohio restaurants. PHOTO | Michael C. Butz

Cleveland Independents’ “The Deck” is a deck of playing card-size discounts to nearly 50 Northeast Ohio restaurants.
PHOTO | Michael C. Butz

By Jonah L. Rosenblum

PHOTO | Bill Beck Photography | Red, the Steakhouse’s ribeye.

PHOTO | Bill Beck Photography | Red, the Steakhouse’s ribeye.

A year ago, Travel + Leisure ranked Cleveland the seventh-best food city in the United States. That might have been hard to believe a decade ago, when Cleveland was best known as a meat and potatoes town and its suburbs were witnessing a proliferation of chain restaurants.

That was the backdrop years ago for Brad Friedlander, an owner of Red, the Steakhouse, inviting 40 of his fellow restaurateurs in for a meeting at Moxie, his original Beachwood location.

“With the chain restaurants, all the money leaves town,” Friedlander says. “With the independent restaurants, the money stays in town.”

That concern drove Friedlander; Douglas Katz, owner of fire food and drink; and the late Sergio Abramof out of town – to a convention in Chicago discussing such problems. They left the meeting with the goal of installing the organization that would eventually become Cleveland Originals and later Cleveland Independents.

“The main goal of the organization is to educate the public about why they should be dining local,” says Myra Orenstein, Cleveland Independents executive director. “When the organization first started, there was a major influx of chains coming to Cleveland, which we’ve hopefully held back.”

When Orenstein joined the organization, it was two years old with 30 members. Within two months, that total increased to 60, and now the organization fluctuates between 80 and 95 members.

“I never realized we’d become as big as we did,” Friedlander says.

One could say the same about Cleveland’s food scene.

“Cleveland has become a really good food town,” Friedlander says. “I eat all over the country and the world, and I’ll tell you something: I’m hard-pressed to find food better than Cleveland’s.”

Ruth Levine, owner of Bistro 185 in Cleveland’s Collinwood neighborhood, credits the city’s work ethic and a “neglected middle child” persona that forces it to work hard to get its due attention.

Friedlander credits the sophistication of Clevelanders as well.

“Clevelanders, I find, are sophisticated, knowledgeable diners who are well-traveled and have a good palate – and they’re just great customers and they appreciate good food,” Friedlander says. “They really know a lot about food, so they can appreciate what we can do and you don’t find that in every town.”

Cleveland Independents’ role

PHOTO | Bistro 185 |Gravlax from Bistro 185’s menu: House-cured salmon, two potato pancakes, capers, chopped red onion and sour cream.

PHOTO | Bistro 185 |Gravlax from Bistro 185’s menu: House-cured salmon, two potato pancakes, capers, chopped red onion and sour cream.

Cleveland Independents also deserves some of the credit.

The group is probably best known for its popular program in which diners can purchase $25 gift certificates to some member restaurants for $17.50 and $50 gift certificates to other member restaurants for $35.

How popular is it? Levine says devoted Cleveland Independents consumers track the website very closely. By 10 a.m. the day of a sale, Bistro 185 is sold out.

“It entices people to try new restaurants,” Orenstein says. “It also solidifies relationships with existing customers or existing guests to let them know that they’re important.”

It’s also how Cleveland Independents members pay dues. Dues cost in the thousands, but that’s paid for by selling 13 $35 certificates or 26 $17.50 certificates per quarter.

“They’re well worth it,” Levine says.

What are they paying for? A number of programs that help independent restaurants market themselves and expand their customer base.

It starts with the directory the group creates twice a year, 20,000 copies in total, according to Orenstein. Each restaurant is given 200 to distribute, with the hope that customers might look at the book and try other member restaurants as well.

There’s also the recipe book the group created a couple of years ago, which allows the chefs to showcase some of their dishes.

The group also sells a popular deck of cards – with each card representing a discount to a Cleveland Independents restaurant. All told, the deck offers perhaps $500 in discounts at a cost of $29.

There are also Cleveland Independents gift cards. Unlike most gift cards, which restrict the recipient to a certain store or restaurant, a Cleveland Independents gift card allows the recipient to choose between approximately 85 locations.

“It’s the only gift card I’ve ever heard of that is redeemable at 80 or something independent restaurants,” Orenstein says. “Those are incredibly popular.”

Finally, there’s the social media aspect. Cleveland Independents, by grouping a wide number of popular local restaurants together, has a strong social media following, with more than 6,000 Facebook likes and nearly 5,000 Twitter followers. While the independent owner likely lacks time to maintain a successful social media page, Cleveland Independents is already branching into videos featuring its chefs and restaurants.

And recently, Orenstein has gone after the Republican National Convention, coming to Cleveland in July.

For one, they’re distributing Cleveland Independents directories to area hotels, so local guests, who otherwise might not know these small places exist, can consider them. They also provided the Republican National Convention planners with a list of which restaurants have private rooms to rent and which restaurants are willing to close down for the night to accommodate a gathering.

Beyond the tangible, there’s a social benefit to joining the group as the chefs take advantage of the opportunities they get to network, such as photo shoots.

“There’s that saying, ‘There is strength in numbers,’” Levine says. “That’s exactly it. You’re not out there by yourself. You’re out there as a group,”

She says members bring up problems and discuss best practices.

“That is really an integral part of Cleveland Independents,” Levine says. “It just gives you a community to be a part of, and I think that’s really important.”

Many of the relationships formed extend well beyond the group. Levine says she has gained a number of valuable contacts that she can dial up at any time.

“It’s almost like having an introduction without having an introduction,” Levine says. “It’s a conversation amongst peers and that’s really invaluable. You don’t feel like the only fish out there in the lake.”

This isn’t the way it works in every town, according to Friedlander.

“I’ve operated in cities where (other restaurant owners) don’t want you to do well,” he says. “They want to hurt you.”

As for membership, Orenstein says Cleveland Independents is open to anyone, provided they meet the organization’s bylaws, including how many tables they have, that they’re devoted to food (thus ruling out bars that simply serve snacks) and that they’re locally owned and operated.

“As long as they meet the criteria, they’re in,” Orenstein says. js

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