“The people who live there need to be able to come down and relax,” Dragich acknowledges. “But we also want it to be a place where people are proud to bring their family in for a meal at the holidays or on special occasions.”
Italian food, he says, seemed like the perfect fit. The couple was especially inspired by the food they ate on their month-long honeymoon in Italy — fresh shrimp aqua pazza in Sicily, the simple sophistication of a perfectly made cacio e pepe in Rome. Plus, Alexa’s father, Ray, and older sister, Lauren, have long run Severino’s in Eastlake, which inspired the Dragiches to choose the name Sorella. Italian for “sister,” it represents a family connection between the two restaurants. (Ray is also a partner in Sorella.)
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They felt lucky, Dragich says, not to have to turn far to find the right chef for their new venture. Though they interviewed a few candidates, they ultimately landed on Kipper Kendzierski, a veteran chef who knew the space well: He’d worked at both The Bistro and Americano, the two restaurants that preceded Sorella in the first floor of One Bratenahl Place.
“We really hit it off with him, and we were very much aligned on big, bold flavors,” Dragich says. “Alexa and Ray and I collaborate with him on a lot of the ideas of what we want to do on the menu.”
Dining and Cooking