When life gives you lemons, make lemon ice.
The family that owns Retz’s Laconi’s restaurant in Cuyahoga Falls is resurrecting another recipe from the files of the former Akron landmark, Ninni’s Italian bakery.
This time, it’s a refreshing frozen treat: Italian lemon ice, like that which was available for years at the old Ninni’s Italian bakery in Akron.
“This is the real deal,” said Steve Retzer, part owner of Retz’s Laconi’s whose grandfather and uncle, Vince and Frank Ninni, ran the bakery for years. “The homemade kind of lemon ice that actually takes some time to do.”
Lemon ice is essentially frozen lemonade. Made the traditional way, its primary ingredients are lemon, sugar and water. Steve Retzer, 37, doesn’t want to reveal all the ingredients in his family recipe.
Customers of Retz’s Laconi’s, an unassuming neighborhood place on Sackett Avenue, can get the lemon ice to go in a pint ($5.50) or quart ($8.50), or in a bowl to eat at the restaurant ($2).
Those 21 or older can add a scoop to booze, creating what the family calls “snowtinis.” Retzer encourages customers to come up with their own combinations, but says a mix of Absolut Citron lemon-flavored vodka, blue Curaçao and lemon ice is particularly yummy. (Trivia: Blue Curaçao gets its orange-like flavor from the dried peels of the laraha, a fruit grown on the Caribbean island.)
Retzer started making lemon ice earlier this summer, a couple of years after the restaurant introduced Ninni’s-style cannoli, the tube-shaped Italian pastry.
First, lemons are cut up and put in a mixer. The other ingredients are added, and then the mixture is strained to eliminate the seeds and peels. Then the mixture goes into a gelato machine. (Gelato — Italian ice cream — contains milk and cream, but lemon ice does not.)
“Friends and family are really excited we’re bringing the lemon ice back,” Retzer said. “When they were young, they used to come into my grandfather’s bakery and eat it.”
The original Ninni’s bakery building, on the corner of East Cuyahoga Falls and Howard Avenue, is no more. It was torn down earlier this year. The bakery moved to Tallmadge Avenue in 1997, where Tony Ninni — Frank Ninni’s son — ran the business until it closed at the end of 2013.
Retz’s Laconi’s menu now includes more salads and appetizers, Retzer said. He owns the restaurant with his father, Gary, and mother Vikki, whose father was Vince Ninni.
And the brick building — tucked in a residential area — is easier to spot these days. The family has spruced up the exterior, which now includes large stylized versions of the red, green and white Italian flag.
Retz’s Laconi’s is at 547 Sackett Ave. Phone is 330-945-4600.
Nuevo expands north
You can now drink waterside at Nuevo Modern Mexican & Tequila Bar.
On Monday, the Akron restaurant opened a sister eatery in downtown Cleveland, on the East 9th Street Pier.
It had a soft opening with friends and family over the weekend, and about a week earlier it was part of the welcome party for the Republican National Convention.
Rick Hirt, who handles marketing for Nuevo and is the father of executive chef and co-owner Zack Hirt, said he was surprised at the number of people who sat outside on the Cleveland restaurant’s patios, in the heat, during the soft opening.
“They just loved the views. You can see the skyline — the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the Great Lakes Science Center, and you can swivel around and see the sun setting over the lake.”
The two-story glass, steel and wood building, behind the Rock Hall, is the first phase of a new development with plans that include apartments, offices, a hotel, shops and other restaurants.
The ground level of the 9,000-square-foot structure is where the main dining area is, with seating for 100 inside and another 70 on a patio that wraps around three sides of the building.
The upstairs — with seating for more than 200 and its own patio — will be used for events, including business meetings and wedding receptions.
The menu is a modern twist on Mexican food, including tacos, grilled pork loin and pan roasted trout, similar to that at the Akron eatery that Zack and his wife, Lisa, opened in 2014. Dozens of tequilas are available at both.
Zack Hirt plans to offer a greater variety of seafood in Cleveland. And he hopes to find a menu from the old Captain Frank’s, which was on the pier, and create some dishes paying homage.
Cleveland Nuevo is a family affair. Erick Hirt, Zack’s twin brother, is the bar manager. The twins’ sister, Jennifer, who recently moved back to Northeast Ohio from San Francisco, plans to be the pastry chef and to help with catering. Jimmy Pintiello — not related to the Hirts — is the chef de cuisine. He previously worked at Crave in Akron and the Blue Door in Cuyahoga Falls.
Sue Hirt, Zack and Erick’s mother and Rick’s wife, is helping with the restaurants’ payroll.
The website is http://cleveland.nuevomodmex.com. The phone is 216-737-1000.
Buzz about new winery
Drivers by a corner in far north Richfield Township have been wondering about the construction at the southeast corner of Broadview and Boston roads. Some have heard it’s the site of a future winery.
Indeed it is, but it won’t be open until at least late 2017, said Matthew Ciocca, who is developing the winery with his brother Michael.
The Cioccas own the popular Michael Angelo’s Bakery in Broadview Heights.
“We’ve got a bakery to run and we’ve got to keep the quality across the board,” said Matthew Ciocca, 35, explaining they aren’t rushing the project.
The plan is to plant grapes on about four acres of the 13-acre site next spring. It will be four or five years before the brothers can begin producing wine from those grapes. Until then, they plan to make wine with grapes from Ohio, California and other states.
“We want to make it about the wine,” Matthew Ciocca said, and the brothers won’t offer a big menu. They plan on doing pairing meals and homemade pizza nights.
The architect for the 15,000-square-foot rustic wood building is FMD Architects of Fairlawn, which designed the structures at Gervasi Vineyard in Canton.
Butter sculpture
This year’s Ohio State Fair butter sculpture celebrates a team effort.
Along with the traditional cow and calf, the display features butter versions of Cleveland Cavaliers mascots Moondog and Sir C.C. Also carved out of butter is the Larry O’Brien NBA championship trophy the team won in June, ending a 52-year title drought in Cleveland.
Sculptors used about 2,150 pounds of butter to make the artwork, which is sponsored by the American Dairy Association.
The fair, off 17th Avenue in Columbus, begins Wednesday and runs through Aug. 7. The sculpture is in the dairy building, which is open from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. during the fair.
Restaurant week
This year’s Downtown Akron Restaurant Week, which features special promotions at eating spots, will expand beyond downtown’s borders and take on even more of a local flavor. It will run two weeks.
For this year’s event, which begins Sept. 25, the nonprofit Countryside Conservancy is working with Downtown Akron Partnership to bring together local farmers and chefs of independent restaurants to celebrate local fare.
Countryside is encouraging restaurants and chefs who already use local ingredients, as well as those interested in doing so, to sign up for the event. The conservancy — whose projects include organizing area farmers markets — will help chefs connect with local growers.
Downtown Akron restaurants and their fare made with local ingredients will be featured the week of Sept. 25-Oct. 1. Restaurants outside of downtown will be featured the week of Oct. 2-8. Downtown Akron Partnership began the annual Downtown Restaurant Week in 2011.
Chefs and restaurants can sign up at www.cvcountryside.org until Aug. 10. Call Beth Knorr at 330-657-2542, ext. 224 for information.
Quick bites
• A Jimmy John’s opened Tuesday in the Wallhaven area of West Akron. The sub shop is at 1 N. Hawkins Avenue, the space that previously housed a Quiznos sub shop, north of West Market Street. Tony Anzaldi, who owns Jimmy John’s on South Main Street in downtown Akron and in Jackson Township, is the franchisee. Call 330-400-4025.
• The Lebanese Food Fair at Our Lady of the Cedars in Fairlawn, offering an expanded food and entertainment lineup, runs 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Aug. 5 and 6. It includes children’s activities, raffles and a rummage sale. Food for pickup between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. can be ordered online at www.lebanesefoodfair.com. For information, see that website or the Our Lady of Cedars Food Fest Facebook page. The church is at 507 S. Cleveland-Massillon Road.
• The Kent Lions Sweet Corn Festival runs from noon to 5 p.m. Aug. 6 and 7 at Beckwith Orchards in Franklin Township, near Kent. On the bill are sweet corn, hot dogs, peach pie, children’s activities, music and more. Beckwith Orchards is at 1617 Lake Rockwell Road, off the Portage County Hike & Bike Trail.
Send local food news to Katie Byard at 330-996-3781 or kbyard@thebeaconjournal.com. You can follow her @KatieByardABJ on Twitter or on Facebook at www.facebook.com.