In this month’s Five Questions column (p. 50), Jennifer Cleveland told us about the restaurant she recently opened in Edwardsville: Cleveland-Heath. She talked about how she is applying what she learned at Thomas Keller’s Ad Hoc and The French Laundry to her own menu, how it is both living and working with her boyfriend and why she chose Edwardsville for her first restaurant. Now, in the second part of this interview, she reveals a little more about her new restaurant: the concept, the menu and the mysterious method she followed for finding a name. Did you consider other names for the restaurant before you settled on using your last names? Oh, we considered a ton of names, half of them serious and half kinda joking. One was The Potted Pig, and there were lots of other cheesy ones. One of the names we considered seriously was to use my grandfather’s name, which was Lee Wyatt. Finally someone suggested Cleveland Heath and it was getting close to when we had to pick a name, so we went with it. It doesn’t sound like it reflects any sort of trend, so 10 years from now it can still hold up, whereas The Potted Pig might sound even cheesier than it already does in 10 years.
What’s the concept behind Cleveland Heath? The initial concept was to do original, diner-style food. We wanted to do very basic stuff, like the BLT I grew up with. Some of that is present, but we have more of a casual-upscale feel. It’s evolved into that. The space itself from the restaurant here before [Fond] was beautiful, with the bamboo floors and solid wood banquettes, so we changed our concept a bit. Also, a diner doesn’t lend itself as much to the nighttime experience, and we’re a bar as well. We serve dinner late, too – ’til 10 on the weeknights and 11 on the weekends.
How would you describe your menu? Well, it’s still evolving, for sure. A lot of people come in and think it’s just a lunch menu, with the pulled pork sandwich, the burger, the salads, but as our kitchen grows into itself, we’re adding entrees – good food that’s approachable and fun to eat. Ed and I just really like to eat. Our food is modern American. We would call it comfort food, but then people would think we just had country-fried steak and potatoes.
What are “street tacos?” Those are corn tortillas, and the meat is usually roasted chicken with onions and cabbage and a spicy aioli on top. It changes – sometimes it’s braised pork, or rib-eye, or whatever looks good. They come with a small green salad with lemon dressing.
What is the price range of entrees? Entrees run from $9 to $23
Did you have much contact with Thomas Keller? Not a ton, but he’s there, he lives in town very close to The French Laundry. He’s in and out of the kitchen working, and he would eat at Ad Hoc if he was in town. He’s a very good person and a very good person to work for.
What is your drink? The Moscow Mule. I love ginger beer – it’s ginger beer, vodka and lime. I love a Greyhound, too.
What was your favorite food growing up? Cherry pie. It’s on our menu, old-fashioned cherry pie with tart cherries. My grandfather used to have a tree in his backyard, and we would pick them and my mom would make pie. We use a very similar recipe. My crust is a little bit different, though.
Are you having fun? We’re having fun, and I never could have imagined how much we’re learning. We’ve learned a ton in the last couple of months, it feels like.
How does it feel when the kitchen is humming, and everything is coming out on time and plated beautifully? Unreal. How’s that for honest? (laughs) There are moments like that, as impossible as it can seem.
This article appears in February 2012.