Over the past few days, Cleveland Facebook users have been catching glimpses of a cheeky noodle-slurping feline. The mascot is heralding the opening of a new Japanese noodle shop, Noodlecat, but the real mystery has been the identity of the owners behind the Cheshire-like grin.
Well, the cat is out of the bag.
“We wanted to have some fun with this,” explains chef and owner Jonathan Sawyer. “We love the [Greenhouse] Tavern, but everything about it is huge, romantic, intense. With this we didn’t want to take ourselves too seriously. It’s noodles in a bowl for $10 to $13.”
Billed as a Japanese-American mash-up, Noodlecat takes its cues from the popular quick-casual noodle bars in New York City and elsewhere. Much of the menu is built around filled steamed buns, noodles in broth with garnishes, and Asian-tweaked starters, salads and sides.
“The idea was to do the same thing we did for Roman pizza at Bar Cento for Japanese noodles here,” explains Sawyer. “To present hyper-traditional dishes exactly how you would see them in Japan alongside modern versions with clever twists and seasonal ingredients.”
This article appears in Apr 6-12, 2011.
