RESTAURATOUR CLE

Cleveland will be the birthplace of a bi-annual digital tourism guide, launching its premier issue in Fall 2024. Because culinary content is often driven by advertisers or populated by non-residents using outdated online information, this project will bring more timely and relevant recommendations direct from a diverse panel of local restaurant owners who are both patrons and producers of the best cuisine in the city. Issues will be complimentary and recommendations authentic, increasing culinary arts accessibility to a wider audience while boosting the ventures of vetted businesses.

Video recorded restaurant features of panel contributors will give readers behind-the-scenes experiences with top chefs from the community, and family-friendly pop-up events like tastings and tours will expand awareness to a new generation of culinarians. With the belief that eating well should be a pleasure for all, not just a privilege for few, social media channels will include empowering chef tutorials using budget-friendly ingredients. Grant funding, revenues from food events and sponsorship dollars from like-minded brands and hospitality partners in the areas of accommodations, entertainment, recreation, and transportation will ensure the project’s production quality and sustainability without sacrificing the integrity of food and beverage suggestions. 

Restauratour will provide trustworthy endorsements while promoting widespread community accessibility to the culinary arts. Panelists will be exclusively independent restaurateurs, among them, individuals representing marginalized groups including LGBTQIA+ and immigrants.

Ten percent of tickets for the Restauratour Food Festival on October 3, 2024, will be earmarked to give free admission to individuals who would otherwise be unable to afford attendance.   

1. Production of Restauratour premiere guide begins: March 1, 2024

• Trademarking the Restauratour name will be finalized with assistance from ECDI's Women's Business Center of Northern Ohio
• Cleveland muralist and illustrator Lisa Quine will create the cover art and logo for Restauratour
• Upon acquisition of the necessary funding, Cleveland Vibes will be hired to provide videography and social media promotion

2. Solicitation of Advertisers for the Restauratour CLE guide and Food Festival sponsors begins: May 1, 2024

3. Restauratour Food Festival Planning Meeting with Tri-C Leadership: Mid-Summer (precise date TBD)

4. Promotional campaign and ticket sales for Restauratour Food Festival begins: July 1, 2024

5. Volunteer Meetings for Restauratour Food Festival: July 24, August 21, September 18, 2024.

6. Restauratour premiere guide published in an online flipbook at Issuu: September 1, 2024

7. Restauratour Food Festival will be held at Tri-C Hospitality Management Center at Public Square: October 3, 2024

My initiative will focus on a twofold goal of improving quality food accessibility and enhancing small business success in Northeast Ohio.

According to the Greater Cleveland Food Bank’s President and CEO Kristin Warzocha, GCFB and its 1,000 program partners throughout six counties are addressing a level of food insecurity at an all-time high. “We just ended our most recent fiscal year on September 30th having provided food and support to 401,000 unduplicated people in the previous twelve months. It’s almost 1 in 4 people in our service area,” she said. This record-setting figure surpasses the COVID-19 pandemic -- a 50,000-person increase over last year. Rising costs of housing, fuel and food have resulted in an increase of more than 90,000 first-time recipients this year.

Outside of coverage for his Food Network appearances, Eric Williams, proprietor of Momocho and El Carnicero, laments that local media attention is infrequent for established businesses like his, where restaurant reviews tend to lean toward opening features and closing roundups. In an article published by SCENE on October 6 entitled “All the Cleveland Restaurants that Have Closed in 2023” only one of the 29 eateries mentioned was a national chain. Similarly, just one of the 23 shuttered restaurants on the magazine’s December 2022 list was not a local business. Substantiating Williams’ complaint, many of the closures were seasoned independent restaurants. The aim of my project is to showcase a vetted mix of establishments inclusive of affordable options, with recommendations derived from consistent quality versus novelty and robust advertising budgets.