Chef Zack Bruell is no stranger in the kitchen. With three of the most popular restaurants opening in Cleveland since 2004, Bruell has no plans of slowing down. This avid golfer and chef likes to walk on the edge. His colorful, yet simple menus contain classic staples as well as exciting blends of flavor and spice. His new restaurant, Chinato, is scheduled to open at the end of October. "I have to work and think about golf. Cooking just comes naturally. I don't even have to think about it," he says. In what is bound to become another Cleveland staple, Chinato will give patrons an Italian flair with more of Bruell's signature thrown in.
You started out at the University of Pennsylvania for business. What made you want to get into the restaurant business?
I am still trying to figure that out myself. I was going to school, and the first semester I was there I was on a meal plan and I had never eaten in a cafeteria. When I was in high school I always packed. I told my father the second semester just to give me the money. I had a kid that lived down the hall … he had a toaster oven and I had a hot plate and we had a refrigerator. We didn’t know what we were doing. We would cook roasts like three, four-course meals. I ended up getting drafted. This was the end of Vietnam. I transferred to the University of Colorado. I met somebody there. He had gone to Le Cordon Blue (the coveted culinary academy in Paris). This was 1973. I just said, “this is what I want to do.” I had a business I was supposed to take over. I was the only son … and I had to tell my dad I wanted to be a chef. I just knew if I was going to open a restaurant, I had to learn how to cook. I had to become a chef. I finished college and I went to a school in Philadelphia. It became what I do. I became a chef. It actually took 30 years to get to the point where I am now.
Your three restaurants, Parallax, Table 45 and L'Albatros are hugely popular. Why did you decide to open Chinato less than a year after opening L'Albatros?
It's all about timing. I knew that this could be in the works. They came to me when I was negotiating the deal on University Circle. I was like, “No, you are out of your mind.” I told them they had to blow my socks off and they did. I could see it was going to happen. I assembled a staff that I could split up and take to another restaurant. At L’Albatros, we are somewhat top heavy with the idea down the road some will go to the new place.
Why did you choose East 4th Street?
I am looking for the best locations in the city. I am the only one in the region opening multiple restaurants in the city. The demographic down there is what I am looking for. I did the suburbs in my past lifetime and, never say never, but I don't want to do that anymore. I've lived in cities and I've gone back to what I feel I am all about. It’s stuff I like to do.
Who would you say is your biggest influence when it comes to cooking?
There is no single person. The person I looked up to was Jean Louis Palladin. He had a place called Jean Louis at the Watergate Hotel in Washington, DC and he was considered the best in the United States. He was the real deal. Unfortunately he died. And he died destitute.
Out of your restaurants, do you have a favorite?
They are all good. Every one is different. Parallax is my baby. Table 45 evokes more of what I used to do. Parallax is modern. L'Albatros is my take on a classic brasserie. Dining is timeless. You can fast-forward 20 years from now and it is still relevant.
Chinato is opening in the fall. What can patrons expect?
An Italian version of more of the same. The idea is that you are walking into a sepia photograph. You are walking into the early 1920s in Italy. Style-wise, my vision is that it will be an Italian version of L'Albatros with similar price points. Everything I do I try to get a certain crowd. The idea is to create energy in the restaurant. You can't go hog wild and expect to fill a restaurant every night of the week. Most chefs are about what they did, I am more about what the customers are doing. What the menu is, I am not sure yet. I haven't gotten to that stage. The creative part is like writing. Sometimes you get writers block and wait it out. The hardest part about this time is I have to change the menu for Parallax because we do it seasonally. I also have to change the menu at Table 45. I have to do that twice a year. At Parallax, it is much more free. We just do it. We don't test, we don’t do anything. At Table 45, it is more corporate. They have to be tested and recipes have to be written. I don't follow recipes at Parallax. I have three menus that I have to do. Chinato, I am not sure what I am going to do. It's going to be casual but elegant.
Why Italian?
I don't want to compete with myself. What I am doing with all of these restaurants is offering another option to eat. It's hard to look at what you do and judge it. It's hard to judge whether it's good or bad or what. A lot of people seem to like what I do. All this food that I do has an intense flavor profile. This is just another option. I am out of my element with Italian. I don’t feel as comfortable. (Parallax) I can do in my sleep. If you are creative that can be really good. There is simplicity to real Italian. It's just fresh ingredients with Italian products. There is really no Italian downtown. All I need to do is sit in enough places and see it, soak it in and taste it and then I can figure it out.
If you could eat one thing for the rest of your life what would that be?
The type of food I would eat? Thai, believe it or not. Thai food has an intensity of flavor. They use a lot of fish sauce. It’s like this liquid that’s like soy. It’s fermented anchovy that’s pressed. The taste by itself is awful. It gives a balance to things. Thai food is this balance between salt and sweet and spice. It understands the balance.
