A cut above
Grandview Heights’ new Cleaver sets high bar with advanced eight-course meals on weekends
They went from zero to cheffy in a little more than a month.
Tony Tanner and Matt Evans have opened Cleaver in the former Old Spot site, 1097 W. First Ave. in Grandview Heights.
In some ways, it’s a steep departure from the luxury gastropub fare of Old Spot, which lasted about a year under the ownership of Tanner, Evans and chef Rick Lopez, founder of Lupo and La Tavola.
That restaurant closed June 30, with Lopez departing amicably. Tanner and Evans, meanwhile, reworked the concept and the menu with executive chef Jay Kleven.
“We had to figure out a way to get people in the door for an experience they can’t get anywhere else,” Tanner said.
Faced with COVID-19 seating restrictions, Tanner and Evans kind of worked in the opposite direction: Instead of attempting another shot at casual contemporary fare, they ratcheted up the food and limited the capacity to two seatings of 10, at 4:30 and 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays. Cleaver opened Aug. 7.
The eight-course degustation menu is $100 per person or $150 with wine pairings. The menu changes monthly, Tanner said. Reservations can be made at Eventbrite.
The August menu offers dishes such as wheat berries, mushrooms and farro; smoked chicken wings with rhubarb butter and a corn fritter; and salt-baked lamb with marmalade.
“You’re having an experience in a restaurant,” Tanner said. “You’re not sitting in plexiglass and shower curtains.”
All meats, sausages included, come from the Butcher & Grocer, Tanner’s boutique grocery store located a few storefronts down from the restaurant.
Tanner said most of his ingredients come from Ohio producers, whom he lists on the back of the menu.
Cleaver is balanced by the patio and bar, which is open 1 to 8 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday.
The restaurant reclaims some of its laid-back vibe in that area, which offers its own menu of sandwiches, salads and assorted odds and ends such as the five-step fries: cut, soaked in water for 24 hours, boiled, fried and fried again.
Tanner personally favors the sausage and peppers sandwich, an oldschool favorite that gets a touch of smoked mustard and giardiniera, all served on a ciabatta bun.
He also recommends the lamb meatball served in a tiny crock with tzatziki and radishes.
The steak salad, at $18, is the most expensive thing on the menu.
Food from the bar is available for carryout only.
Cleaver has a full bar, with all-ohio brewed beer, wine and Prohibitionstyle cocktails, but nothing too fancy.
“We’re not trying to be scientists behind the bar,” Tanner said.
For more information, 614-914-8057. call