Chef and restaurateur Kevin O'Connell plans to open two businesses in Cleveland's Edgewater neighborhood in October: Brine Bar, a New England-style oyster bar, and La Porta Rossa, an Italian sandwich shop, according to Cleveland Scene. The concepts will take different approaches to service, with Brine Bar planned as an evening destination and La Porta Rossa focused on daytime, mostly carry-out sandwiches.
Brine Bar is planned as a walk-in-only restaurant centered on a raw bar, according to Cleveland Scene. Its expected offerings include oysters, clams, red prawns, snow crab and lobster-crab salad, along with crudo and tartare.
The menu is also expected to include chowder, mussels, swordfish, crab-stuffed shrimp and steak frites, as well as lobster rolls and crab cake sandwiches. Brine Bar is slated to open every day except Sunday, from 4 p.m. until midnight.
An Italian Sandwich Counter Moves Into an Old Private Dining Room
La Porta Rossa, the second concept, is also expected to open sometime in October. It's an Italian-style sandwich shop centered on made-to-order sandwiches served on house-baked schiacciata, described in the report as a thin, crisp, airy Tuscan bread.
The planned fillings include prosciutto de Parma, mortadella, porchetta, stracciatella and burrata, with a mushroom-and-pesto option for vegetarians. The shop will use the former private dining room at Le Ville Lumière. Cleveland Scene reports it is expected to operate primarily as a carry-out business, open every day except Sunday from 11 a.m. until it sells out.
The Chef Behind Le Ville Lumière and a Café That Didn't Make It
O'Connell owns and leads Le Ville Lumière, a French brasserie that opened two years before the Cleveland Scene report. The two planned concepts are also set to open in the area around the brasserie, according to Cleveland Scene.
O'Connell previously closed Le Marché Clifton, an all-day café next to Le Ville Lumière at 10427 Clifton Blvd. in Cleveland, saying it did not have enough foot traffic. He attributed Le Ville Lumière's success to filling a void in the area, a contrast that provides context for his plans for the two new businesses.
Edgewater’s Commercial Corridors
Northwest Neighborhoods CDC describes Clifton Boulevard and Detroit Avenue as historic commercial districts, with many locally- and LGBTQ-owned businesses. That broader neighborhood setting provides context for the planned openings along Clifton.
