Zack Bruell To Open Innovative Restaurant In PlayhouseSquare

Zack Bruell, chef and restaurateur of four celebrated Cleveland restaurants, and Art Falco, President and CEO of PlayhouseSquare, announces plans for Cowell & Hubbard, a modern French-American restaurant in a surprisingly traditional setting. Slated to open for lunch and dinner in the fall of 2011, Cowell & Hubbard will feature contemporary American cuisine with a French twist - a style Bruell calls "Cuisine Vanguard."

Bruell's latest restaurant concept is named after the fine jewelry store that occupied the space at 13th and Euclid from 1920 to 1981, selling high-end watches, jewelry, silverware and notions to its well-established clientele. Today, the building is part of Cleveland's thriving PlayhouseSquare District, which includes 10 theaters and, coming this fall, the Cleveland Play House and Cleveland State University's dramatic and visual arts programs.

"We are delighted to welcome Zack Bruell to the neighborhood," said Falco. "Our search to add a premier chef and restaurateur to our portfolio led us to Zack, and we are confident that Cowell & Hubbard will quickly become a destination dining choice for our growing number of theater guests, tenants, students and residents. Having him here also greatly complements PlayhouseSquare's not-for-profit mission of creating a dynamic, economically-thriving area of downtown Cleveland."

The 130-seat restaurant will incorporate unique design features that evoke the space's former occupant - 18-foot ceilings, brilliant lighting, and even some unusual elements. Bruell and architect Ron Reed envision the old jeweler's vault space as an intimate, private dining experience.

Despite the grandeur and formality of the Cowell & Hubbard space, Bruell envisions the restaurant and its menu to have a casual, approachable feel. "The restaurant's signature ‘Cuisine Vanguard' will be my personal interpretation of modern French cuisine - layered, innovative dishes, with a unique artistic touch," said Bruell.

Bruell currently has four successful Cleveland restaurants - Parallax in the city's Tremont neighborhood, Table 45 at the InterContinental Cleveland, L'Albatros in University Circle and Chinato on East 4th Street. "Each restaurant provides its own, unique experience, where no detail is overlooked," said Bruell. "Cowell & Hubbard will be no exception."

About Zack Bruell
More than 25 years ago, Cleveland Magazine credited chef and restaurateur Zachary Bruell with introducing the area to an emerging west-coast trend of bistro dining and fusion cuisine. Today, Bruell is the only chef in Cleveland to have four successful restaurants within the city limits. In 2004, Bruell opened his signature restaurant - Parallax - in Cleveland's Tremont neighborhood, focusing on fusion seafood and featuring a sushi bar. Two years later, Cleveland Clinic CEO Toby Cosgrove asked Bruell to take over the main restaurant at the InterContinental Cleveland. Bruell created Table 45 - an award-winning World Cuisine concept. In 2009, Bruell opened L'Albatros on the campus of Case Western Reserve University, returning to the classic French roots of American bistro dining. Bruell opened his fourth restaurant, Chinato, in 2010. Set in Cleveland's East 4th Street neighborhood, Chinato takes modern cultural cuisine to a new level with a simple, yet modern, Italian menu and décor.

About PlayhouseSquare
PlayhouseSquare is a not-for-profit performing arts center-the largest in the nation outside of New York City-that presents and produces over 1,000 performances annually and strives to advance arts education while focusing on area development activities in order to strengthen the economic vitality of the region. With eight performing spaces, PlayhouseSquare welcomes over one million visitors per year and still represents the world's largest theater restoration project, as five of the eight spaces were restored to their original 1920's condition. In 2005, the Idea Center at PlayhouseSquare, opened as a joint partnership between PlayhouseSquare and ideastream. It houses the studios, technical facilities and offices of ideastream's WCPN (90.3 FM) and WVIZ (Channel 25) as well as the classrooms, dance studio and rehearsal space for PlayhouseSquare's arts education programs. The PlayhouseSquare Real Estate Services division is focused on area development and enhancement projects that surround The PlayhouseSquare District as well as property/asset management consulting and services for areas outside of the District.

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