Visitors to Playhouse Square will soon have a polished new wine bar to add to their theater routine. Corks Playhouse Square, slated to open in early November, is a sister business to Corks Wine Bar in downtown Willoughby and Market Avenue Wine Bar in Ohio City — all co-owned by Greg Bodnar. Corks will occupy the former Hamilton's Martini Bar space at 1415 Euclid Avenue, next door to the Allen Theatre.
"This wine bar will be less rustic and more contemporary than our other locations, so it's a better fit for Playhouse Square," explains Bodnar. Following a gut job, the lounge will boast bamboo flooring, sleek granite surfaces, and glass pendants designed by a Cleveland Institute of Art grad. As with the other bars in the family, Corks will offer quick-service foods like cheese and meat boards, baked brie, pizzas, and bruschetta. Lunch may be added down the road.
One Red Door (49 Village Way, 330-342-3667, onereddoorhudson.com), chef Shawn Monday's new Hudson eatery, quietly parted its doors last week. Opened in the former Vue space, the restaurant features seasonal chef-driven comfort food in a smart, cosmopolitan setting. The menu is divided into sections titled Bites, Crusts, Shared, and Feast, with prices ranging from just $3 for shrimp-and-pork wontons to $20 for Ohio steak frites. In the Share department are smoked pork dumplings, crispy shrimp and calamari, and a charcuterie board. In addition to the steak, entrée options include seared walleye with lobster jus, roasted halibut with crispy chickpeas, and a grass-fed beef burger.
"With the closing of Darna, there are no more Moroccan restaurants in Cleveland," says Said Ouaddaadaa, referring to the recently shuttered Shaker Square restaurant. "I'm Moroccan, and a lot of my customers are Moroccan, and I got kind of sick of hearing about it." His solution? Transform his Cleveland Heights eatery Bodega (1854 Coventry Rd., 216-932-3060) from a Mediterranean-themed tapas lounge to a restaurant specializing in Moroccan cuisine. In addition to some cosmetic tweaks, Bodega has launched a new menu. Naturally, there are numerous couscous and tajine dishes, plus a festive Berber stew featuring prawns, scallops, and mussels. Ouaddaadaa is also thinking about changing the name to Casbah.
