Although they met at a brew pub in Salt Lake City, that’s not the story. After absorbing techniques and skills from restaurants as varied as the French Laundry, Ad Hoc, JoLe and a little sushi joint in Springfield, Mo., plus scoring a pair of baccalaureates from the CIA at Greystone, Jenny Cleveland and Eric Heath hung a namesake shingle in Edwardsville four months ago. What is apparent at Cleveland-Heath is its small, simple menu; what’s not apparent is the level of quality and detail that goes into all that simplicity. And all you get from us is a peek and a nibble.
You’ve both worked at some acclaimed Napa restaurants. There can be a lot of rungs on that ladder.
Jenny: I began by bussing tables for my relatives at Josephine’s, a little place in Godfrey, then at a sushi restaurant with a culture and food I’d never seen before. If we ever have kids, I’m not sure I want them involved, because once you’re introduced, you’re in.
Eric: I accidentally fell into cooking it when I applied for what I thought was a bartender’s job. When I found out it was for a kitchen job, I put down the application and walked out. The owner, Rich Parrent, called me back, then rationally and eloquently talked me into it. Jenny: He’s the one who really taught us both to cook, at his brew pub in Salt Lake. You need a mentor and Parrent was ours.
A brew pub in Salt Lake? How does that work?
E: The alcohol rules have changed a lot. Salt Lake alternates from conservative to liberal, and right now it’s liberal. In the old days, food had to accompany alcohol.
J: As servers, our job was to force people to order food if they were drinking, which did wonders for our check average.
Jenny, how did you even get to Salt Lake?
J: I visited during summer during college because I loved the mountains. After college, I just moved there.
So when did you both decide to take it to the next level?
E: We knew the only way to open a restaurant was to get more basic training, and with the restaurants, the wine, and the CIA in Napa, that was the best place to get it.
Did you work during culinary school?
E: Jenny was at Ad Hoc and French Laundry, and I bounced around, but spent a lot of time at JoLe. And Cleveland-Heath embodies a bit of all of them.
Did you ever consider moving back to Utah?
E: After working in Minneapolis for a time, I realized the Midwest would be the best fit for us. Jenny probably already knew that.
What did you learn at the French Laundry that is applicable in Edwardsville?
J: They were masters at making guests feel comfortable, their wants, needs…at reading their guests. Some guests want to pour their own wine, others would be offended to have to do so, things like that. They do this better than anybody and make it look effortless.
E: Nothing is ever one certain way. J: And we had the training and knowledge to provide whatever their level of expectation.
What aspect of the Napa valley scene just would not translate here?
J: Most all of it would, except for the uniforms at the French Laundry. Tailored, Italian-designer suits for all floorstaff, with slightly different neckties to differentiate one’s position. But the difference is slight…you have to look for it to see it.
How hard is it to get a job at the French Laundry?
J: To be working at sister restaurant Ad Hoc helped. The techniques and quality were the same as at TFL.
E: And to be one of the most likeable people there is didn’t hurt either. J: Hmm, you might want to ask our staff about that. I used to be.
But why choose Edwardsville at all? St. Louis has a far bigger customer base.
E: We knew so little about St. Louis, and it looked crowded already. I had never even been there.
J: But he had seen Edwardsville. We agreed it needed a place like Cleveland-Heath and were able to find the space we wanted at a price we could afford.
Try to categorize Cleveland-Heath in one sentence. It reads like a gastropub.
J: Then it sounds like less of place for dinner. We serve sandwiches and beer, so we do look like a pub. It’s a pub and more… but that’s not much of a sentence.
E: We opened with the intention of changing. I never wanted to have to say “we are a pub” or “we are fine dining.”
Your staff does wear flannel shirts, though.
J: And that’s put some people off. They arrive blind, expect fine dining, then see plaid shirts. It’s strike one for them, and they just walked in.
So it’s comfort food that leans gourmet.
E: And so far it’s working. We cook what we like to eat and what we feel we can cook well.
What’s the biggest challenge?
E: Meeting the unexpectedly high demand. We converted an office into more kitchen space almost immediately. Knock on wood, we weren’t ready for the response we got.
J: And it’s a struggle to meet expectations with such a small menu.
But the beer menu is respectable and the wines look well-chosen.
E: Jenny devotes a lot of time sourcing great—but many times obscure—bottled beers and wines. The beverage menus change more than the food menu.
Do you charge a corkage fee?
E: Yes, and the $10 fee is given to a local charity, Edwardsville Neighbors in Need.
People have also commented that they love the music.
E: We like to think there’s a little bit of rock and roll to what we do, so it’s our personal choice there, too. The music is what we listen to at home, what’s on while we’re eating dinner, 70s, 80s rock—Talking Heads, David Bowie, Paul Simon. And there’s John Pryne and Black Keys. It’s willy-nilly, but by design.
What are you doing here that other new restaurant owners may have missed?
E: Neither one of us are very egotistical so we are willing to listen to anybody who might improve us. If I’m told I’m wrong (smiling), I at least consider it. We are surprised at our success and to improve or even maintain, we know we have to be good listeners.
You’ve had rabbit confit on the menu. How creative are you going to get?
J: You can risks like that if you make it sound approachable and unpretentious. If we can just convince you to try our pasta with confit, you will want it again. We have people who used to hate brussels now eating our brussels…
What’s that secret?
E: They’re blanched, fried, and tossed with lemon dressing, capers, shallots, and parmesan.
People love your kale salad. I’d venture to say the average diner has never tasted a kale salad.
E: Originally, it was a vegan and raw food dish–a chiffonade of raw kale, raw garlic, some crushed red pepper, a simple lemon dressing–then we added a parmesan crisp. It’s a intense, citrusy, garlicky salad that’s described that way. You will see more vegan/vegetarian items on the menu as their seasonality approaches.
Tell me about the street tacos.
E: It was there we hoped to make use of some of our excess trim. We never knew they’d catch fire. Brining all those proteins may have been the key. Now, of course, we are buying proteins just for the tacos.
What was your biggest surprise?
E: Kitchen staffing. We hired talented cooks who saw French Laundry on Jenny’s resume and didn’t think they’d be flipping burgers. But we do everything with a quality spin, so we do a burger the way we think Thomas Keller would do a burger.
J: It seems we are constantly training, training. The more time a chef must devote to line cooking and training, the less time there is for creating and customer contact. Sure, people want good food, but they want to schmooze with the chef, too.
You sell only Excel soda products.
J: They’re made locally with real cane sugar and every flavor I’ve tried is delicious. It’s quality soda, if there is such a thing.
E: [Smiles] I’m told they’re a great hangover cure.
What’s your take on social media?
E: Part of the reason kale salad became popular was old-fashioned word-of-mouth, but the bigger part was due to its popularity on Facebook. Then guests see kale salads all over the restaurant and we sell even more. It’s awesome.
J: And it’s shocking.
What’s your least favorite comment so far?
J: We really hate to hear of people making the trip over here and for whatever reason leaving unhappy, because sometimes it’s controllable and other times—like a misread of our concept—it’s not.
Let’s end with a pleasant story.
J: One night, a nicely-dressed couple drove here from across the river and loved it; as did another couple, but they ate here before heading up the street to get tattoos.
