CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Calling all Cleveland chefs: Have you always wanted to own your own restaurant, but didn't have the capital? Here's a chance to run your own kitchen, relatively risk-free.
The Galley Group, founded in Pittsburgh two years ago, is bringing its restaurant-incubator concept to Cleveland next year, with space for four aspiring chef-owners. The eatery - it doesn't have a name yet - will be part of the Quarter development, under construction at the corner of Detroit Avenue and W. 25th Street in Ohio City.
It will occupy the first floor of the historic Forest City Savings and Trust Building, built in 1890s and currently occupied by Massimo da Milano, which will close later this month.
The building is being reconfigured with four small kitchens and communal seating space for about 250. The four-in-one food hall is expected to open in late summer.
The concept works like this:
- Chefs are given their own small kitchens, rent free, for one year. They create their own menu, hire their own staff, and supply small equipment.
- There's a bar and communal dining area for all four mini-restaurants. Visitors order at the counter and their food is brought to them.
- Chefs share 30 percent of their revenue with the Galley Group, which manages and markets the complex.
Tyler Benson and Ben Mantica, co-founders of the Galley Group, operate two restaurant incubators in Pittsburgh, the Smallman Galley in the Strip District and the Federal Galley in North Side. Cleveland will be their third location, with a fourth set to open later in 2018 in downtown Detroit.
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Mantica, a Pittsburgh native, said the company is looking to grow in relatively inexpensive cities on the upswing. "The trajectory of Pittsburgh is pretty exciting," he said. "We see the same thing in Cleveland."
He said they were particularly interested in the Ohio City neighborhood - already established as a food and beer hub, with a young and growing population, plus the West Side Market. "People there are already excited about local food and local beer," he said.
Interested chefs have until Feb. 1 to apply (see galleygrp.com). Finalists will be invited to present their ideas, and some menu items, to a panel of industry insiders.
Applicants don't need to be from Northeast Ohio to apply, but "we'd like to have as many people from Cleveland as possible," said Benson. Former Clevelanders, working elsewhere, are also encouraged to participate.
"It's a low-risk opportunity to come back to your hometown," said Mantica.
The project is being developed by the Snavely Group, based in Chagrin Falls, and is part of a $60 million redevelopment of several blocks at the busy West Side intersection. A complex with 194 apartments is under construction across the street.
Also part of the development: A West Side outpost of the Music Settlement, a second location for The Grocery, and a co-working space called the Beauty Shoppe, which also is headquartered in Pittsburgh.
The Beauty Shoppe and the restaurant incubator will be located in adjacent spaces, and should complement each other, said Peter L. Snavely Jr., vice president of development for the Snavely Group.
"When you combine these two, it creates a unique working and playing experience," he said. "I think Ohio City is the perfect neighborhood for this concept."
Plus, he said, "It solves the age-old battle of where you should go to eat. You've got four options in one."