First Look: Cordelia’s Splashy “Midwest Nice” Concept Opens Today on East Fourth Street
The massive new restaurant from owner Andrew Watts and chef Vinnie Cimino, one of the most anticipated openings of the year, is a testament to Midwest eating and Ohio tenacity.
A few dozen gold frames line the wall leading downstairs to the basement of Cordelia. The collection of “Cleveland family photos,” as the restaurant calls them, features homegrown stars like Kid Cudi, Michael Symon, Steve Harvey and Harvey Pekar. The downtown restaurant even nods to Cordelia’s culinary “friends and colleagues” (what others might call competitors) like Juneberry’s Karen Small and even chef-operator Dante Boccuzzi, who owns the neighboring Goma.
Like the photo wall along the staircase in owner Andrew Watts' great-grandma’s house (just like the one in my Nona’s house and likely yours, too), the shrine is a symbol of family pride.
“The best thing about Cleveland is that we all cheer for one another, ya know?” says Watts. “It takes a little extra grit to get noticed when you’re from here. We wanted to honor the folks who’ve done it.”
Cordelia, both Watts' grandma and the East Fourth Street restaurant that carries her name, is a monument to Midwest hospitality, grit, hard-fought success and, of course, culinary delight. More simply put: it’s “Midwest Nice,” says Watts.