For months now Doug has been hard at work with his associates at the Cleveland Museum of Art crafting an exciting new role for food service at CMA’s re-opened and expanded world class facility. Up until now things have been a bit hush-hush, but as of today, we are happy and proud to tell you about Provenance, the exciting new restaurant and the new cafe which Doug will direct. It has been a tremendous undertaking with hundreds of hours spent planning the kitchens and dining rooms, providing input on furniture and art for the space, designing the menus, and even reviewing the recipes. Below are highlights on the project from Doug. We can’t wait for the Museum’s re-opening this October. Till then we’ll continue to provide you with periodic updates. Please check back soon. A.V.
Dear Friends,
Provenance restaurant offers the museum visitor an exceptional dining experience in a contemporary space with floor to ceiling windows that highlight the western view of the museum and overlook a beautiful landscape of Wade Park and the Fine Arts Garden. The diner will enter the restaurant through the intimate bar space that provides a great respite or meeting place between visits to the world class collections in the Cleveland Museum of Art.
A full bar and drink specials will be available.
The food and beverage in our space will be artfully prepared using classic techniques, and presented utilizing the best seasonal and local ingredients available. The kitchen features an Indian tandoor oven, a Japanese robata grill, and a Mediterranean stone oven to roast a variety of meats, fish, and vegetables. These pieces of equipment will add world flavor to our cuisine and our house-made spices and sauces will enhance these flavors.
Local and regional dishes will also be represented and many of our ingredients will be purchased from local farms and artisans. Products and purveyors will be highlighted on our seasonal menus.
Each day, Provenance restaurant will feature a prix fixe menu that highlights the food and culture of a permanent or special exhibition in the museum. When we open our doors in late October, we will offer a Colombian prix fixe menu, highlighting the foods of this region in honor of Wari: The Lords of the Ancient Andes, an exhibition that opens on October 28, 2012.
As the Chef Partner of the foodservice operation, I am really excited to get my inspiration for the food and menus from the constantly changing exhibitions and popular VIVA! & Gala performing arts series, featuring music and performance from unique cultures around the world. This will give us an opportunity to match the best flavors from these cultures and communities in a one-of-a-kind dining venue.
Provenance Café offers the museum visitor a casual and quick dining opportunity in a simple and modern space that is located immediately west of the dramatic atrium. This experience provides a view into the museum kitchen to see food preparation first hand. Chefs will be tossing salads to order, making pizzas and flatbreads in the stone oven, skewering meats, fish, and vegetables in the tandoor oven, and grilling meats and fish on our robata grill.
The café offers grab and go items that allow for a quick stop or tray service at any of our three food stations. The food displays will highlight the best local and seasonal ingredients available and will be presented in a way to highlight distinctive food cultures. The café includes a salad, sandwich, and soup station which presents ready-made panini and cold sandwiches, beautiful salad ingredients selected by the diner, or special combinations tossed to order. The made-from-scratch soups will represent the best flavors and ingredients to highlight the season.
The hearth and hot food station is the centerpiece of the operation and will display beautiful food preparations with meat, fish, and vegetarian options representing Americas melting pot, and classic ethnic food preparations from around the world.
The bakery and beverage station will offer quality teas, coffees, espresso, cappuccino, and other specialty blended coffee drinks. The coffees will come from the best coffee cultures, roasted locally to our specifications. The visitor can enjoy beautifully displayed savory and sweet baked goods, in addition to smoothies, fresh squeezed juices, and sodas. This station may also provide afternoon snacks, and grab and go items for quick bites.
One of the best features of the café is the opportunity to graze through the stations, and enjoy your meal in the beautiful and grand atrium right outside the door. This allows the diner to immerse themselves in the museum experience, and to get a sense of place, while enjoying food that matches the highest quality represented in the museum collections.
Our foodservice operations display the most beautiful venues in Cleveland that are also available for special functions, meetings, and social engagements. We have a professional and friendly sales staff that is excited to discuss the many unique possibilities that combine artful food and beverage, and world class collections and exhibitions under one roof.
Douglas Katz
Chef Partner, Provenance
4 Comments
Sounds like this will be the place to be. Can’t wait to see the finished product. Good Luck, Doug.
Lookign forward to the new cafe. Best wishes Doug and team.
Can’t wait to see your website. Looking for a fabulous experience of visiting the museum and having a fine dinner.
We were there Sunday for the opening and what a treat! The menu, the food, the bar, the people-wonderful. Our museum, always great, now compares with any in the world. Thank you, Doug Katz.