In a post titled "Less is More," chef Steve Schimoler shares the painful backstory to his rise — and recent fall — as one of Cleveland's most illustrious and colorful chefs. Schimoler exploded onto the local scene in 2007 when he opened Crop Bistro at its original location in the Warehouse District. That restaurant later moved to its current spot in Ohio City.
Future restaurants were added - Crop Kitchen, Crop Rocks and Crop Sticks. All except for Crop Bistro (now under new management) would be abruptly shuttered within months of each other, leaving diners to wonder as to the causes behind the crisis. Now we have a much better idea.
"I finally hit a tipping point that made me realize I didn’t have many choices," he writes. "The pressure, stress, worry, loss, and mental anguish wasn’t worth the gain anymore. The saying, “What else do you have than your health?”, started to make sense. Losing my two brothers within 6 months just 4 years ago, started a reality check that I should have heeded more closely. I needed to understand what should be important in life and what my own pursuit of happiness could be. I finally made the commitment to finding a way to get there. As Yogi Berra said, “when you find a fork in the road, take It”. Well I arrived at that fork and took it. I’m not sure yet if it was the left or right direction, but I did it."
Read the rest of the statement here.
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About The Author
Douglas Trattner
For 20 years, Douglas Trattner has worked as a full-time freelance writer, editor and author. His work on Michael Symon's "Carnivore," "5 in 5" and “Fix it With Food” have earned him three New York Times Best-Selling Author honors, while his longstanding role as Scene dining editor garnered the award of “Best...
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