Cent's Pizza & Goods is trading its Ohio City patio for the deck of a cruise ship this year, marking five years in business with a floating party on Lake Erie. The pizzeria's signature Le Sweat series returns Sunday, Sept. 6, this time aboard the Lady Caroline dining vessel for a night mixing pizza, wine, fashion and music. Tickets are limited and moving quickly.
According to Cleveland.com, boarding for the anniversary cruise begins at 7 p.m. at the ship's dock at 1153 Main Ave., with departure set for 8 p.m. and a return to the dock by 11 p.m. — organizers are urging guests not to miss the boat's departure time. The $75 tickets, sold online while they last, include a wine glass, a glass tote and access to a food buffet, and riders will take in views of the Cleveland skyline as the ship cruises the Cuyahoga River and Lake Erie.
Sailing the Cuyahoga and Lake Erie Aboard the Lady Caroline
The Lady Caroline is a 15,000-square-foot luxury dining vessel with three climate-controlled interior levels topped by an open-air sky deck and covered bar, according to Destination Cleveland. The ship can hold more than 200 guests across its decks, with room for a dance floor and full catering service built in. Beyond private events like Cent's cruise, the vessel also runs public dinner cruises, tours and private charters.
The Lady Caroline was christened in May 2023 as the successor to the Nautica Queen, a dining vessel that had cruised Cleveland's Cuyahoga Riverfront and Lake Erie for 42 years since 1992, per FreshWater Cleveland. The ship is owned by Jacobs Entertainment Inc. and named after the chairman's daughter. It docks in the Nautica Waterfront District on the Flats West Bank, a riverfront hub also home to Jacobs Pavilion, Globe Iron and the Greater Cleveland Aquarium, according to the Nautica Waterfront District.
Five Years From Streetwear Studios to Wood-Fired Pies
Cent's has become one of Cleveland's favorite spots for pizza and wine since opening, and the pizzeria often hosts collaboration and pop-up events around Greater Cleveland, the outlet's report notes. Le Sweat itself got its start on Cent's own Good Garden patio before growing into an event large enough to require a chartered ship.
Owner Vincent Morelli, a Cleveland native, opened the pizzeria in July 2021 after returning home in 2018 with a résumé built in New York City's streetwear world, including a stint as a production coordinator at 10 Deep, according to Cleveland Magazine. He modeled the concept in part on New York's Roberta's Pizza, blending a wood-fired pizzeria with a retail lifestyle shop.
The building at 5010 Lorain Avenue previously housed PM Security before Cent converted it, undergoing extensive renovations that produced its now-signature pink-hued interior and outdoor patio, according to Scene. The business runs on a hybrid model, pairing the pizzeria and natural wine bar with a front retail space called Goods, co-developed with general manager and sommelier Varun Sharma, per Xhibition.
Natural Wine, Screenprints and a Detroit DJ Headline the Party
This year's Le Sweat is presented in collaboration with Time Change Generator, the Cleveland-based creative studio run by artist Daniel Isaac Bortz, who specializes in hand-screenprinted textiles and apparel, according to Cool Hunting. Bortz operates the studio out of Cleveland after stints in Oakland and Los Angeles. Co-presenting the cruise is Voyager Beverage, an independent importer and distributor of low-intervention natural wine, cider and sake founded in 2021 that serves Ohio and Kentucky, with its Cleveland operations led by sales representative Khloe Zolgharnain.
Music comes from Cleveland's own Hot Take and Detroit-based DJ Tammy Lakkis, who is known for all-hardware live sets blending bilingual English and Arabic vocals, per the Detroit Institute of Arts. Lakkis, who is based in Hamtramck, Michigan, earned national attention for her 2021 debut EP Notice, which landed a spot on NPR Music's 100 Best Songs of 2021.
Part of a Growing Lorain Avenue Business Corridor
Cent's sits along the Lorain Avenue corridor spanning Cleveland's Ohio City and Detroit Shoreway neighborhoods, a stretch that has grown into a bustling small-business district alongside independent spots like Forest City Shuffleboard and Heart of Gold, according to Cleveland Magazine. Five years after opening in a former security company building, Cent's chartering an entire Lake Erie cruise ship for its anniversary marks how far the pizza-and-retail concept has traveled from its Lorain Avenue storefront.
