Green is welcoming two new locally owned eating spots that fit different foodie moods.
One is Whiskey Ranch CAK, a barbecue, bourbon and country music mash-up set to open on St. Patrick’s Day near the Akron-Canton Airport (hence CAK).
The other is 35° Brix, scheduled to open next month. 35° Brix features an extensive wine list and a menu boasting grass-fed hanger steak and crab stuffed mahi mahi, as well as fish and chips.
Whiskey Ranch — in the former 356th Fighter Group restaurant near Akron-Canton Airport — will open at 11 a.m. March 17 and keep the doors open until 2:30 a.m. Those will be the regular hours, seven days a week.
General manager Jill Geier said that should appeal to travelers staying in hotels near the airport, as well as workers at other nearby restaurants who want a place to go after their shifts.
“We’d love to attract those people [working at nearby spots] and give those people a place to stay until 2:30 … many of those places close earlier.”
Whiskey Ranch Partners Inc., as previously reported, bought the building that housed the World War II-themed Fighter Group for $123,500 last year; the airport owns the land on which it sits. The group is led by Mark Norris, who owns various Portage Lakes businesses.
They invested heavily in fixing up the 14,000-square-foot place at 4919 Mount Pleasant Road NW, installing a craft beer bar with 20 taps as well as a Sports Saloon with more than 20 TVs.
A separate bar features whiskey, bourbon, scotch and rye — more than 100 varieties. The dance hall’s hardwood floor says the place is serious about country line dancing. There are indoor and outdoor stages, and eight fireplaces that remain from the Fighter Group days.
Geier, who was general manager at the Baxter’s in downtown Akron before joining Whiskey Ranch, said she made sure to include brews from Akron’s Hoppin’ Frog and Thirsty Dog, as well as liquor from Cleveland Bourbon and Watershed Distillery in Columbus.
The food menu has a lot of barbecue and burgers, as well as salads, soups and salmon cooked on a wood-fired grill.
Geier said music will be a mix of DJs and live performances, heavy on the country, though the opening weekend lineup includes party-circuit favorite LaFlavour on March 20.
See Whiskey Ranch’s website, www.whiskeyranchCAK.com or its Facebook page for a music schedule and complete menu. Phone is 234-347-0825.
35º Brix offers plenty
The new 35° Brix restaurant in Green had me at Niagara Escarpment.
The website for the fine-dining eatery in the Heritage Crossings complex off Massillon Road says, “The Ice Wines of the Niagara Escarpment are where our love of wine and our name originate.”
Kerry Janke, who is planning on a mid-April opening, explained the escarpment is a land formation that results in a microclimate around Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario. It “creates great grapes,” perfect for white and ice wines — the dessert wine made from grapes that have been frozen before being picked.
35° Brix, though, will offer a lot more wines than white and ice wines. (Before we go farther, brix is a measure of the sugar content in wine; ice wine has a sugar level of 35° brix.)
Janke, 53, who owns the place with his wife, Amy, said 35° Brix will offer hundreds of wines, most of them rated 90 points or more, in addition to beer and liquor and a menu boasting “North American comfort food — steak, chops and seafood.
“Chef wants to do meatloaf for lunch,” Janke said, referring to Brooke Kilpatrick, who cooked at West Point Market in West Akron before it closed last year.
Janke, who previously was involved with a restaurant franchise operation, said 35° Brix will have seating for 150 people inside its 4,600-square-foot space, which includes a private dining area. The patio will seat 35 to 40.
The restaurant is in the Heritage Crossing retail complex anchored by Acme Fresh Market at 3875 Massillon Road. To see the menu, go to www.35brix.com. Pictures of the eatery taking shape are on its Facebook page. Phone will be 330-899-9200.
Job fair at Grill + Bar
The Game Grill + Bar at Canal Park stadium in downtown Akron will host a job fair from 4 to 7 p.m. Monday.
Available positions at the restaurant, operated by the Akron RubberDucks at the city-owned stadium, include host/hostess, bartender, server and cook.
The job fair, organized by the minor league baseball team the RubberDucks, will be inside the restaurant, near the corner of South Main and West State streets. Candidates should bring resumes.
The Game Bar + Grill struggled to attract patrons year-round, and at the end of last season, management decided to open it on game days only.
The street-level restaurant, with a wall and patio at Canal Park’s right-center corner, opened in April 2014 as a seven-day-a week, year-round operation. Ken Babby, owner of the RubberDucks, touted the eatery as a key part of his more than $6 million investment in the stadium.
Also in RubberDucks food news, the team will reveal its Extreme Menu lineup later this month. New offerings will join other buzz-creating items, including a 5-pound sundae called “The Screamer,” served with a 1-pound brownie in a real batting helmet with 21 scoops of ice cream.
West Point update
You asked for it, and I was curious too. So here’s a West Point Market update.
The building on Akron’s West Market street is no more. This newspaper and many Facebook users documented the demise of the structure, which was torn town to make way for a Whole Foods grocery.
But as leaders of the food emporium have been saying for months, West Point will rise again.
This week, Rick Vernon, third-generation owner of the nearly 80-year-old Akron grocery that closed at the end of last year, told me he still expects to build a new store at a yet-to-be-disclosed location. It would be a smaller version of the roughly 25,000-square-foot original store, featuring the “best of West Point,” including prepared foods, baked goods and a healthy wine and cheese selection.
And in further re-working of the West Point business model, satellite stores would open, possibly in spots such as Medina and south of Cleveland. A single large kitchen would supply these stores with prepared items.
Vernon said negotiations over possible sites have taken longer than expected. He said he’s well aware that the longer fans go without West Point the more likely they are to change their shopping habits for good.
The plan is now to open a permanent spot downtown — Vernon said that because of ongoing negotiations he can’t say where — in a space that already has a kitchen. That would supply a Fairlawn location; again Vernon wouldn’t disclose specifics.
He hopes to get both open later this year, and notes that he is keeping managers on the payroll. And there’s no longer talk about “interim” or temporary sites.
“That’s our plan,” Vernon said. “It’s three tiers — we open downtown, then Fairlawn and then satellites.”
Sandwich Poll 2016
Niko’s Sandwich Board at 1947 W. Market St. in West Akron is hosting what owner Niko Manolis has simply dubbed the “Sandwich Poll,” in which customers can cast culinary votes for their picks in the Democratic and Republican presidential primaries.
The Republican ballot, Manolis said includes the “Donald Trump,” a “YOOOGE” ham and cheese. Customers also can pick from the “John Kasich,” roast beef and cheese on an onion roll, the “Marco Rubio” turkey reuben, and the “Ted Cruz,” salami and cheese on nine-grain bread.
On the Democratic ballot, customers can choose between the “Bernie Sanders,” pastrami on rye (a nod to Sanders’ roots in Brooklyn, home of many a deli) and the “Hillary Clinton,” a chicken salad sandwich.
Winners will be revealed the evening of March 15, primary day. Manolis said he’s an undecided voter as of now.
Final chili cook-off
The 10th and final Lauren Audrey Braman Memorial Chili Cook-Off and Dessert Bake-Off will be held at Copley High School, 3807 Ridgewood Road, 5:30 to 9:30 p.m. March 19.
The event is in memory of Lauren, who was 16 when she died of a rare leukemia in 2006. Her Copley classmates started the event, and this year members of the Copley High School Honor Society and Key Club are presenting it. It will include a bag raffle and entertainment, and recognition of winners of the chili and dessert cook-offs.
Entries are still being accepted. Judge’s choice and people’s choice awards will be given in various categories.
To register for the cook-off, for tickets and more information, contact Cristine Braman at 330-618-7814 or cabraman@roadrunner.com.
The Healthy Communities Healthy Youth Copley-Fairlawn nonprofit is the sponsor.
TCRA fundraiser
Sample food from 40-plus members of the Tri-County Restaurant Association at the Celebrity Cuisine fundraiser, which will run from 5:30 to 8 p.m. Tuesday at the Canton Memorial Civic Center.
The event benefits Community Harvest, and includes a silent auction and music by Ryan Humbert. Tickets are $30. Phone 330-493-0800 or 330-499-7007 or go to www.thetcra.com, click on “Purchase” and then “Celebrity Cuisine Ticket.”
Crave dinner
Crave, 57 E. Market St. in downtown Akron, will host a Hall + Walt Wine Dinner at 6 p.m. Monday, featuring five wines paired with five courses and what Crave is calling a “sixth bonus wine.”
The food that will be paired with the California wines looks fairly exotic. Two courses and their pairings: crab and plantain tamale with poblano coulis and smoked peach pico, served with a Hall 2012 sauvignon blanc; and a salt and pepper scallop with quail egg, avocado vinaigrette, fried noodles and micro cilantro, served with a Walt 2012 La Brisa pinot noir.
For reservations, call 330-253-1234.
Small bites
• The Women’s Chavurah Sisterhood at Anshe Sfard Synagogue will host its annual hamantashen sale in time for Purim. The kosher pastries sell for $12 a dozen, available in prune, apricot, raspberry, poppy seed or chocolate flavors (or an assortment).
Prepaid orders must be placed by Friday, and can be picked up at Anshe Sfard, 646 N. Revere Road, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Sunday. An order form is available at www.akronshul.com. A limited supply will be available Sunday for walk-ins.
• The Maple Sugar Festival returns to Hale Farm & Village in Bath Township Saturday, Sunday and March 19 and 20.
Folks at the 19th century village/museum in Bath Township will offer a pancake breakfast. Visitors can participate in tree-tapping and learn about the process of making syrup. Crafts and trades, such as glassblowing and blacksmithing, will be demonstrated throughout the day. The Marketplace will be open, selling Ohio-made maple syrup and other locally produced items.
The festival will run from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Admission for breakfast and activities is $15 for adults, $10 for children ages 3 to 12, $5 for members of Hale Farm. Pancake breakfast only is $5. Reservations are not necessary. For more information, call 330-666-3711 or visit www.halefarm.org.
• The annual Spring Bake Sale at Annunciation Greek Orthodox church in Akron will be March 23-24, the Wednesday and Thursday before Western Easter, which is March 27.
The sale is a major fundraiser for the church’s women’s board, the Ladies Philoptochos Society. The society raises money for local, national and international charities.
Katie Byard can be reached at 330-996-3781 or kbyard@thebeaconjournal.com. You can follow her @KatieByardABJ on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook at www.facebook.com.