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.

This article appears in Mar 29 – Apr 4, 2017.

For 25 years, Douglas Trattner has worked as a full-time freelance writer, editor and author. His work as co-author on Michael Symon's cookbooks have earned him four New York Times Best-Selling Author honors, while his longstanding role as Scene dining editor has garnered awards of its own.

3 replies on “Chef Steve Schimoler Pens Heartfelt Confessional Regarding Abrupt Departure”

  2. they told us that crop rocks and crop sticks closed because the flats failed. i’ll choose to believe that instead of steve. i am a lemming.

  3. When you come to a fork in the road…go around it, don’t step on it, and do something else with your life.

    The food industry is notorious for burning people out, burning up their capital, and eating places (I refuse to say eateries, bistros, gastro-pubs, or restos…sorry, hipsters) that open too quickly and close even faster.

    Entrepreneurs always believe they are going be hugely successful and have a license to print money. Instead, the dog-eat-dog (couldn’t resist) world of food simply…dare I say it?…chews them up and spits them out.

    The failure rate has to be pretty high. Also the burn-out rate. Better to get out of the kitchen when it gets too hot… before they carry you out in a box. Life is too short.

    Chuckles the Clown

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