Earlier this summer, Kevin O\u2019Connell pulled the plug on Le March\u00e9 Clifton, the all-day caf\u00e9 next door to his two-year-old French brasserie, Le Ville Lumi\u00e8re (10427 Clifton Blvd.) in the Edgewater neighborhood of Cleveland.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a really cute idea and it was a really cute space, but there was no foot traffic there,\u201d he explains. \u201cMy thought of playing it off of the restaurant next door was a good idea, but they were never open at the same time.\u201d<\/p>\n
After letting the space sit idle for the rest of the summer, the chef and owner took a trip to Boston and returned with a bright idea.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe success of LVL is because it\u2019s a good product but it\u2019s also because it filled a void; there\u2019s not really a French restaurant on our side of town,\u201d O\u2019Connell adds. \u201cSo when we were thinking what are we going to do, I thought to fill a void. Everybody loves a seafood idea, everybody loves an oyster bar. There really isn\u2019t anything like what I\u2019m trying to do over here\u201d<\/p>\n
After reconfiguring the Le March\u00e9 space, O\u2019Connell will open Brine Bar in October. Inspired by his trip to Boston, the chef set about creating a \u201cfun New England-style oyster bar.\u201d He describes the concept as super-casual, walk-in only, and ideal for small groups in search of a great time.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s more of a gathering place than anything else,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
A raw bar will stock a daily selection of oysters, clams, red prawns, snow crab, and lobster-crab salad. There will be a small selection of crudo and tartare dishes, hot and cold lobster rolls and crab cake sandwiches. From the kitchen will come bowls of clam chowder, steamed mussels, swordfish skewers, crab-stuffed shrimp and steak frites.<\/p>\n
Brine Bar isn\u2019t the only new concept that O\u2019Connell has planned for the block. In an adjoining space formerly used as Le Ville Lumi\u00e8re\u2019s private dining room, he will open La Porta Rossa, an Italian-style sandwich shop.<\/p>\n
\u201cPorta Rossa is a real version of a Naples street sandwich place,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
The largely carry-out venture will offer a limited menu of Italian sandwiches made-to-order on house-baked schiacciata, a thin, crisp and airy Tuscan bread.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen they\u2019re out, they\u2019re out,\u201d says O\u2019Connell, referring to the small loaves.<\/p>\n
The sandwiches will feature prime Italian ingredients such as prosciutto de Parma, mortadella, porchetta, stracciatella and burrata. There is a vegetarian sandwich as well starring mushrooms and pesto. <\/p>\n
La Porta Rossa is also expected to open some time next month. When it does, it will be open every day but Sunday from 11 a.m. until sold out. Brine Bar will be open every day but Sunday from 4 p.m. until midnight.<\/p>\n
Subscribe to CLE Bites, Doug Trattner\u2019s weekly food newsletter.<\/p>\n
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\n\tRelated<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Earlier this summer, Kevin O\u2019Connell pulled the plug on Le March\u00e9 Clifton, the all-day caf\u00e9 next door to his two-year-old French brasserie, Le Ville Lumi\u00e8re (10427 Clifton Blvd.) in the Edgewater neighborhood of Cleveland. \u201cIt was a really cute idea and it was a really cute space, but there was no foot traffic there,\u201d he<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":33183,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[28389,12524,28390,28391,28392,2833,2831,2829,2832,2830],"class_list":["post-33182","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ohio","tag-brine-bar","tag-edgewater","tag-kevin-oconnell","tag-la-porta-rossa","tag-la-ville-lumiere","tag-ohio","tag-ohio-dining","tag-ohio-food","tag-ohio-grocery-stores","tag-ohio-restaurants"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/vive.im\/@dc\/117340184534610079","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33182","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33182"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33182\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/33183"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33182"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33182"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33182"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}