Thu 2/23 @ 7PM
Clevelanders’ nostalgia for long-vanished restaurants seems largely based on personal memories and associations rather than the quality of the food. By the earlier 1970s, with the city in steep decline, its culinary scene was decades behind other cities. But locals clung to their legacy eateries, many also in decline, recalling better days. New better days finally emerged in the late ’80s with the arrival of chefs such as Parker Bosley and Zack Bruell, who embraced fresh, local ingredients and vegetarian options, and the diversification of global cuisines available.
For those still pinning for what was, the book Lost Restaurants of Downtown Cleveland by Bette Lou Higgins, released in September 2021, will feed their nostalgia jones.
“You’ll get a sense of what it was like to sit in the Vogue room at the Hollenden Hotel to hear Dean Martin and the Sammy Watkins Orchestra in 1942,” the book’s promotion says. “You can visit the Alpine Village in 1955 and maybe catch owner Herman Pirchner deliver 55 beer mugs to his customers at one time. It’s a quick and delicious trip back to the past.”
If recalling these old places is your thing, come on down to the Music Box Supper Club where, I assure you, the food is a LOT better than you think you remember at those old places. Higgins will chat with Music Box owner Mike Miller as part of the Cleveland Stories series. If she tries to convince you the “brown sauce” at the New York Spaghetti House was edible or that Captain Frank’s served good food, argue!
Books will be available for sale and signing. You can come for the free talk or make a reservation for dinner to see exactly how much Cleveland restaurant food has improved. Doors open at 5pm for dinner; program begins at 7. Make a reservation here.