Sofia's Kitchen + Bar in Lakewood has a new executive chef, and it's a homecoming of sorts: Emily Campion, who was voted the No. 1 Local Chef in Northeast Ohio for her work at Birdietown, is now leading the kitchen at 17625 Detroit Ave., the same building where she trained under chef Jill Vedaa years before it became Sofia's.
Campion's arrival was reported by Cleveland Scene, which noted that owner Andrew Revy called her “a chef of tremendous skill and character” who will carry forward and elevate Sofia's cooking. Campion most recently ran the kitchen at Birdietown, also in Lakewood, a restaurant that landed at No. 2 New Restaurant in the region in Cleveland Magazine's 2026 Silver Spoon Awards, the same reader poll that crowned her the region's top local chef.
She takes over from Andy Strizak, who has left Sofia's after serving as its opening chef when the restaurant launched a year and a half ago. Revy said Strizak had been part of Sofia's story since the doors opened, per the Cleveland Scene report, and Strizak's résumé includes stints at Cleveland dining institutions like Parker's American Bistro, Lolita, Spice Kitchen & Bar, Flying Fig, and Lucky's Cafe, according to Cleveland Magazine's first-look coverage of the restaurant.
A Return to Familiar Ground on Detroit Avenue
The building itself carries history that predates Sofia's. Before Revy opened Sofia's Kitchen + Bar on April 15, 2025, the space at Detroit and Rockaway avenues was home to Salt+, an acclaimed small-plates restaurant co-owned by chef Jill Vedaa and sommelier Jessica Parkison that closed permanently at the end of August 2024 after eight years in business, as reported by WKYC. Vedaa earned a James Beard Award semifinalist nomination for Best Chef: Great Lakes in 2018 while cooking in that same kitchen, per FreshWater Cleveland, cementing the address's reputation for serious culinary talent.
Campion herself has ties to that legacy. She worked for Jill Vedaa at the Detroit Avenue kitchen as early as November 2019, when it still operated as Salt, sharing prep techniques on local news broadcasts at the time. According to the Cleveland Scene report, Sofia's has developed a tradition of women at the helm, and Campion's promotion continues that thread in the same physical space where she once learned the craft under Vedaa.
From Dante's Kitchen to Fried Chicken in Willoughby
Campion's résumé also includes a run under Michelin-starred chef Dante Boccuzzi. She worked for Boccuzzi at his flagship Tremont restaurant Dante before serving as head chef at Dukes 'n Boots, his Southern-inspired fried chicken concept in Willoughby, according to Cleveland Magazine's coverage of that opening. That background, paired with her time under Vedaa, gives her a mix of fine-dining technique and comfort-food sensibility that Revy is banking on as Sofia's moves into its next phase.
Outside the kitchen, Campion has also taken on humanitarian work. She joined Brandon Chrostowski, founder of EDWINS, on a mission to Ukraine, and launched a fundraising campaign in October 2025 to support the trip, which included providing culinary aid and raising money for repairs at a children's hospital in Stryi, Ukraine, per her GoFundMe page. As part of that effort, she hosted a Ukrainian-inspired family-style dinner at Birdietown to help fund the relief trip.
What's Coming to the Menu This Fall
Campion will craft a new fall menu at Sofia's, set to roll out in mid-September, that blends the restaurant's house favorites with inventive new dishes and daily specials, according to the Cleveland Scene report. Revy said she will guide the restaurant's next chapter, a task that comes as Lakewood's dining scene continues adjusting to a wave of closures. Cleveland Magazine has noted that 2024 alone saw the exits of long-running spots including El Carnicero after 11 years, Melt Bar and Grilled's original Lakewood location after nearly two decades, and Salt+ itself.
Revy is no stranger to building out Lakewood's food and drink landscape; he also owns Immigrant Son Brewery on Sloane Avenue, which he opened in 2021 drawing on his Hungarian family heritage to serve globally inspired food alongside craft beer, per Cleveland Magazine's review of that spot. Sofia's, which Revy named after his oldest daughter, exclusively pours Immigrant Son beer on draft. Sofia's Kitchen + Bar is located at 17625 Detroit Ave. in Lakewood and can be reached at 216-635-9222.
