All the ingredients

Chefs, Tri-C collaborate for Cleveland Eats, a food festival debuting downtown

A culinary festival of epic proportions with prices everyone can afford will transform downtown Cleveland into a giant dining room Sept. 15 and 16 when Cleveland Eats takes over the grassy rooftop above the Huntington Convention Center.

The rooftop, otherwise known as Mall B, will showcase food from the area’s top chefs along with locally brewed craft beers against a backdrop of on-stage music and culinary demonstrations. It’s between St. Clair and Lakeside avenues.

Cleveland Eats, organized by a group of local chefs with the Hospitality Management Center at Cuyahoga Community College, has been developed to celebrate the region’s food culture.

“Cleveland stands out because of inventive chefs who have turned cooking into an art form,” said Michael Huff, the college’s dean of hospitality management. “We want to give people a taste of what makes the city a leader in cuisine.”

The Culinary Council guiding the planning process is a real “Who’s Who” of the Northeast Ohio food scene.

Members include Ben Bebenroth, Dante Boccuzzi, Zack Bruell, Brandt Evans, Matt Fish, Heather Haviland, Chris Hodgson, Christopher Kafcsak, Douglas Katz, Karen Monath, Chris Poplin, Jonathon Sawyer, Karen Small, April Thompson, Eric Wells, Rocco Whalen, Eric Williams and Zdenko Zovkic.

Mentor native Whalen, owner-chef of Fahrenheit in Cleveland’s Tremont neighborhood, is excited to be part of it.

“Now that the (Fabulous Food Show) at the IX Center is no more, Cleveland Eats will show the world what a great food city Cleveland has become,” he said.

His Fahrenheit restaurant began 17 years ago in Tremont. He established a popular Fahrenheit in Charlotte, North Carolina, and has a presence as ShortRib1 food truck plus outlets at JACK Cleveland Casino and professional sports venues.

“All of us embrace food festivals and know well how they run,” Whalen said. “There’s a lot of culinary energy going into Cleveland Eats.”

The restaurateurs all turn to Tri-C for filling many of their

staffing needs and are aware of the well-prepared graduates the school turns out, he said.

The festival will showcase the hospitality industry’s impact on the local economy while highlighting Tri-C’s vital role in training the skilled workers needed to continue Northeast Ohio’s restaurant renaissance.

More than 15,000 people are expected to attend, so early ticket purchase is a good idea to avoid long lines to enter. Sept. 16, a Saturday, is anticipated to be the biggest day, although the event actually begins at 6 p.m. Sept. 14 with a benefit dinner called Small Bites Big Dreams at Tri-C’s Hospitality Management Center at 180 Euclid Ave. on Public Square. For that dinner, 16 of the city’s top chefs will be paired with culinary students from Tri-C to prepare and serve dishes at food stations. Tickets are $150, with money raised designated for scholarships in the college’s Hospitality Management program.

A free street party from 4 to 9 p.m. Sept. 15 will be framed around the city’s most popular food trucks, accented by a trio of bands and local brewers presiding over a happy hour that will last until sunset. That’s also when students and instructors will collaborate to create the world’s largest pierogi, a potato-filled dumpling weighing about 150 pounds. Plenty of free tastes will be available after the weigh-in.

The festivities on Sept. 16 take place from noon to 10 p.m. with admission of $5. Kids will be admitted for free. Food from the top chefs will be offered in 3-to-5-ounce tastes priced at $5 each.

The menu is not yet complete but will include dishes such as shrimp and smoked scallops over glass noodles, Cajun shrimp and grits, Greenhouse Tavern Wings, and jerk chicken soft tacos. The choices won’t be easy. Consider, for instance, choosing among a bison meatball slider with curry red onion marmalade; Spice Acres harvest noodle cup with kohlrabi, peppers, nuoc cham chicken and peanuts; or a seared scallop with watermelon, fig, prosciutto and green goddess dressing. Less-adventurous tastes likely will be satisfied by the likes of five-cheese mac and cheese, served with homemade applesauce or roasted ears of corn.

“We want to give people a taste of what makes the city a leader in cuisine.” — Michael Huff, the Cuyahoga Community College’s dean of hospitality management

SUBMITTED This crispy chicken tacos with sriracha aioli, greens and tomato salsa is available on the Fahrenheit food truck, ShortRib1. It’s typical of the foods available at the upcoming Cleveland Eats event in downtown Cleveland.

FAHRENHEIT Shown from left to right are most members of the Culinary Council planning Cleveland Eats: April Thompson (Wild Thymez Personal Chef Service), Douglas Katz (fire food & drink and Fire Spice Company), Karen Monath (Tri-C Hospitality Management Center),...