What is in this article?:
- Jonathon Sawyer named 2013 MenuMasters Innovator
- Branching out
Sawyer's Greenhouse Tavern is the first restaurant in Ohio to be certified as green by the Green Restaurant Association.
Jonathon Sawyer is the 2013 MenuMasters Innovator.
Branching out
That restaurant is now the flagship of a growing company of foodservice and retail operations. Those include two-unit Noodlecat, which serves Sawyer’s interpretations of steamed buns, noodles and Asian-inspired entrées; Sawyer’s Street Frites, selling French fries at Cleveland Browns Stadium; and SeeSaw Pretzel Shoppe at the Quicken Loans Arena, home of the Cleveland Cavaliers, where he’s making signature Bavarian pretzels in flavors such as roasted Ohio garlic & Parmesan with pimento cheese, and cinnamon toast with cinnamon icing, as well as sausages and other signature items.
In addition, Sawyer operates a firm called Brick & Mortar pop-ups that specializes in opening temporary restaurants, and he’s selling his own line of vinegar through his Tavern Vinegar Co. He plans to open an Italian restaurant called Trentino in Cleveland later this year.
It was at Bar Cento that Sawyer first captured the attention of NRN sister publication Restaurant Hospitality, which in 2008 named him a “Rising Star Chef,” and described his food as “elbows-on-the-table grub; big and small plates of things like salumi, rustic cheeses, thin-crust pizzas, baked ziti, mushroom ragù and whole grilled fish” — the sort of food that became de rigueur at trendy restaurants in the years that followed.
In 2010 he was named one of the country’s 10 “Best New Chefs” by Food & Wine magazine.
“We pride ourselves on being ahead of the curve, and it's an awesome honor to be recognized with this award as an innovator in the culinary world," said Sawyer.
Sawyer will be honored along with the other MenuMasters winners at the annual gala in Chicago at the Drake Hotel on May 18.
"We are all more enriched because of the boundless creativity of Chef Jonathon Sawyer's work. His contribution adds an element of excitement for all of us in the foodservice industry," said Chris Furman, President and Chief executive of Ventura Foods, sponsor of the Nation's Restaurant News MenuMasters Annual Award Program since its inception.
Contact Bret Thorn at bret.thorn@penton.com.
Follow him on Twitter: @foodwriterdiary
