For better or worse, natives of the North Coast can offer a lengthy discourse on the myriad character shaping emblems of their fair city. From lovingly antiquated memories to chic visions of modernity, from trivial to tragic, there's a lot of source material: The Terminal Tower, Lake Erie, Bernie Kosar, steel mills and smokestacks, a burning river, Municipal Stadium, Jordan over Ehlo.
Unaffectedly nostalgic, Matt Fish embraces the region's rich history - one need look no further than the Cleveland ephemera that fills the walls of his Melt Bar & Grilled in Lakewood. With the gut busting popularity of the eatery, Fish has become a bit of a local culture wunderkind, the Walker & Weeks of grilled cheese architecture, the Dick Goddard of comfort food forecasting. With the opening of Melt's second location in Cleveland Heights, Fish may have earned himself a seat in the annals of Cleveland dining history.
After years in the kitchen of Ohio City's Johnny Mango World Bar & Café, Fish took his grilled cheese concept to Lakewood in September 2006, rechristening a well-worn location that had been a bar since the 1940s. "I thought I was opening a unique little restaurant and bar," says Fish. "I was never thinking big and popular." In fairly short order, it became just that.
"I didn't have a timeline, where I'd be disappointed if I didn't hit my goals," says Fish. "My biggest goal was to get the office out of the basement of Melt." He hoped to have the apartment above the restaurant for his office within four years. He had it within four months. A patio came next, then his neighbor moved out, offering him the opportunity to expand Melt's dining and waiting area. The latter area is often crowded, as the kitchen regularly serves more than 500 people per day.
"I started looking at Cleveland Heights: the sister city to Lakewood, same type of demographic, same type of people," says Fish. "I came and looked at the building in 2008, and that was it."
Standing more than six feet tall, with a lanky frame, a kaleidoscopic array of body art – largely portraying a fascination with Kiss – and the ever-present Melt T-shirt, Fish is hardly the portrait of a classic chef. However, he speaks as passionately about food as any lifelong culinarian, and he is quick to give credit to his colleagues. He's proud of his accomplishments, but refreshingly humble. He's a Cleveland-type of guy.
The Cleveland Heights Melt, on the corner of South Taylor and Cedar roads, finds its home in a building built in the 1920s, and used as a bar since the 1940s - same as the Lakewood location. "I like going into old buildings, and taking the art and architecture, and working around what is there," says Fish, noting that it's impossible to manufacture such character. "It was in bad shape for a really long time. It had basically been abandoned for three years. Everything was falling apart, nothing worked. It was horrible. My contractor, who rehabs old spaces, he's seen hundreds of buildings, and he said this was the worst he's ever seen."
Weeks before opening, it has taken shape, with Fish's inimitable stamp. The new locale has two waiting rooms, 60 seats at the bar, a lounge with coffee tables, and a patio with 8 tables is in the pipe.
The expanded dining room will have 19 tables, and there will be a community table with seating for 15, which can be reserved for large parties. The capacity will increase to approximately 160 people - 50 more than the Lakewood location. The kitchen was built to accommodate. "We've got about 450 square feet in Lakewood, with 8 feet of cooking surface," says Fish. "Here, we have almost 1,200 square feet and 16 feet of cooking surface."
All of Melt's signature sandwiches will be present and accounted for, as well as 36 beers on tap and more than 70 by the bottle.
The walls are lined with an impressive collection of colorful nostalgia, from vintage photos of Euclid Beach Park and turn-of-the-century fire brigades, to P.O.C beer signage and a massive Dairy Queen beacon, which Fish was directed to via friend Steve Presser, owner of Big Fun. It fits, as the place is brimming with conversation starters.
"I'm into nostalgia... I can't imagine one person in the Cleveland area who doesn't have some memory of Dairy Queen," says Fish, who grew up near Brookpark Road, on the border of Cleveland and Parma. "At the end of my street there was a Dairy Queen, and during my adolescence, we lived in that Dairy Queen; all summer, we were in there everyday."
He gets many items from local collectors: "People started finding me, saying: 'Hey, I've got a lot of Cleveland stuff – want to come look at it?'"
Melt loyalists will recognize Fish's fondness for all manner of holiday and novelty plastic light decorations, of which there are many. Another Melt signature is the Cleveland-centric murals created by artist Jake Kelly. His work at the Lakewood location features 360 different Cleveland references. "This one is going to have about 1,000 Cleveland references," says Fish. "Each person in the mural has some sort of Cleveland connection, so it's pretty intense." Star-shaped light fixtures and blue pressed tin ceiling tiles are more Lakewood carryovers.
As a vegetarian for the past four years, Fish has developed countless meatless versions of the restaurant's sandwiches. "Now, I'm going a step further and trying to make more vegan. Each special we put out has a vegetarian and vegan version, if possible," he says. Most recently, he created a vegan prime rib sandwich, with house seitan replacing the meat, vegan horseradish sauce made from tofu, and vegan au jus. "The vegan au jus we have is better than the meat version. It has a really deep, real rich flavor."
As the opening date draws near, Fish's focus is squarely on making sure his two restaurants are running with delicious effectiveness. This time, however, there are goals. "I want to get at least one more in the greater Cleveland area," he says of future Melt plans. "I do want to go regional. I'm eyeballing Columbus and Cincinnati..."
