[Fiamma Soft Opening Tonight!] Michael Symon Can’t Take The Heat Of Mendel’s KC BBQ, Mendel Is Now Opening A New Restaurant In Symon’s Old Location!

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Disclosure: I have no investments in any of Mendel’s restaurants or products, I just love to have great kosher food in my hometown, where my kids are 7th generation Clevelanders! Want to open up a restaurant in our rapidly growing Jewish community? Send an email to dan@dansdeals.com and I’d be happy to chat!

Update: I went to 2 preview nights at Fiamma by Mendel earlier this week and as I told Cleveland.com, Mendel has completely changed the kosher scene in Cleveland!

The dishes we tried at Fiamma were all incredible, which is no surprise considering how great Mendel’s KC BBQ and Mendel Dogs and Deli at Progressive Field are!

Fiamma by Mendel is located inside the Eton Chagrin Boulevard mall, in the summer it will feature outdoor seating:

You can also enter through the mall, with additional seating and bar seating in the mall area:

Inside, the restaurant is tastefully decorated, with comfortable seating and artwork that will transport you to Italy:

The cocktails served were very elevated, and I’m excited to try out all of their creations!

The violet gimlet was out of this world:

A great Caesar salad, but the dishes themselves are also a work of art!

The Arancini was perfectly crispy with delicious risotto and truffle:

The Chilean Sea Bass on a bed of cream was a home run, it melted in your mouth and popped with flavors:

Sweet corn risotto was cooked to perfection, another amazing dish that everyone loved:

Beet Carpaccio with whipped goat cheese was unexpectedly amazing as well:

The wood fire roasted spaghetti squash made with brown butter, fresh mozzarella, and pecorino romano cheese has to be tried to be believed. I’m not generally a fan of spaghetti squash, but this another incredible dish!

And of course the pizza, made in a custom Marra Forni brick pizza oven that pumps out the heat:

Now this is one delicious pizza! All I was missing was the Calabrian chili oil that Abaita serves with their pizzas.

One bite, everyone knows the rules. This slice had perfect leoparding on the bottom and no flop whatsoever:

Here is the soft opening menu, which will change over the coming weeks:

Exciting times for Cleveland’s kosher scene indeed!

Originally posted on 4/18/24:

Related post: Cleveland Kosher Food And Activity Guide

Cleveland’s Jewish community has been growing exponentially over the past several years. That’s thanks to its low cost of living, warm and friendly community, safe suburban neighborhoods, excellent schools, short commute times with low traffic and plenty of parking, a revitalized core on the water with several sports teams and world class museums, and private school tuition vouchers.

One sore subject has been Kosher restaurants. DDF admin Chaikel Kaufman, Josh Bennett, and myself brainstormed for several years how to correct that, working to bring a proven concept and operator to town.

That search culminated with Mendel Segal opening Mendel’s KC BBQ last January, which has been a game-changer, serving up excellent food in an upscale environment. And it’s done phenomenally well, bringing in some $2 million in sales in its first year. That proved the naysayers, who said Cleveland couldn’t support a higher end kosher restaurant, wrong. It’s the best kosher food that you’ll find anywhere in flyover country.

I’ve been enjoying Mendel’s food since he worked at Kansas City’s Hen House grocery store kosher counter. He was cranking out the best pulled beef and fried chicken that I’ve ever had there, from when I got married to a KC girl back in 2008 until 2011, long before opening any restaurant. He followed that up with working at the KC Kosher Vaad from 2011 to 2017, while operating awesome kosher BBQ competitions in Kansas City, before opening Mendel’s Backyard BBQ, his first restaurant, located in Surfside, FL. He is no longer associated with that restaurant.

Hardware at the 2013 KC BBQ Competition:

Enjoying the afterparty at the 2016 KC BBQ competition:

Mendel’s KC BBQ is managed by Shua Lurie, who catered the 2018 DansDeals kosher cruise to Antarctica.

And then after a multi-year hunt, I was able to connect Mendel and Shua with the Cleveland Guardians to open a kosher stand, which was last there in 2018. Mendel’s Dogs and Deli (It can’t be called KC due to the division rivalry and it can’t be called BBQ due to another BBQ joint with ballpark exclusivity) opened last July and has blossomed into the best kosher stand in sports!

No other park offers up specialities like the pastrami dog loaded with house smoked deli and caramalized onions, the Po Girl sausage, loaded with cole slaw, pulled beef, potato sticks, and Mendel’s award winning BBQ sauce, the c-town dog (who still remembers the ctownbochur days here?), a dog topped with delicious chili, or delicious knishes.

And now Mendel is doing it again!

Late this summer, Fiamma by Mendel will open at Woodmere’s Eton Collection, at 28699 Chagrin Blvd, 3 miles down the road from Mendel’s BBQ. The 2,800 square foot Italian Fusion dairy restaurant near Trader Joe’s will boast a clean, rustic, and trendy ambiance perfect for any occasion.

It will be located in the space where Iron Chef Michael Symon’s Mabel’s BBQ was previously located. Mabel’s BBQ closed down earlier this year. I guess Michael just couldn’t take the heat from Mendel’s KC BBQ down the street? 😀

Fiamma (flame in Italian) will feature Wood-Fire pizza, handmade pasta, fresh seafood, and delectable salads, all meticulously crafted with an emphasis on quality and freshness. Mendel promises a top quality food and drinks and a cultural journey with the new restaurant.

The restaurant will be certified kosher/cholov yisroel/pas yisroel under Cleveland Kosher.

Every time I dine at Mendel’s, I bump into people visiting from near and far who stop to chat with us. It’s great to see Mendel putting Cleveland on the culinary map!

Read more about Cleveland’s kosher scene and activities here and start planning a trip to one of the fastest growing Jewish communities in the country!