CLEVELAND, Ohio — What is better than dinner and a movie?
How about dinner followed up with a live show?
A beloved, national-award-winning Cleveland restauranter is taking his talents directly to Playhouse Square.
Brandon Chrostowski, Founder of Edwins, is serving up food, faith and community all under one roof.
He helped create the recently opened "The Friars' Table" along East 13th Street and Euclid Avenue.
The concept is simple and clean.
The team behind The Friars' Table says the food and the entire aesthetic will fill your heart and soul...
It's all in an effort to dish out an experience that is admittedly "divine" or perhaps something more depending on who you ask.
"You can say divine intervention happened many times along the way," Br. Philip Bernier, OFM Cap/Pastor of St. Peter Church, said.
"Playhouse Square offered us this opportunity here and it was like a no brainer. Couldn't turn it down," Bernier said.
"It just looks so atmospheric and beautiful and we were like of course, please do, come on in," Craig Hassall, CEO of Playhouse Square, said.
The Friars' Table has a 25 foot long table where you can sit down and dine at with your friends and family.
A serious transformation is complete inside the once-vacant space.
"The designers just did an incredible job of here in the Monastic Court Yard, the bar area was closed off so you can have an experience there too. It's all just remarkable," Bernier said.
The restaurant's mission-based concept emerged roughly five years ago thanks to a unique partnership between Bernier and Chrostowski.
"You walk into the office and a Friar calls, it's like the beginning of some sort of Broadway show or something. A punchline, right? The punchline was change and service," Chrostowski said.
Faith and a second chance are at the core of the restaurant's mission.
Chrostowski says The Friars' Table will help mold those who made a mistake or are looking to jumpstart a new journey in life—finding their purpose in serving others.
"This is a place where people can start over again. Where people can begin an experience in the U.S.—immigrants and refugees," Bernier said.
"Food is a way to express our lives and it's also the perfect vessel to be able to change a life," Chrostowski said.
Chrostowski says the food is simple, clean and filling and the location speaks volumes to the true character of Cleveland.
"The downtown aesthetic. We have art. We have shelters. We have people. It's a beautiful thing," Chrostowski said.
Fresh fish, pork, lamb shoulder, mushrooms, borscht and caramelized turnips are all on the menu.
The restaurant aims to be affordable.
But it's also a jumping-off point to a much larger conversation.
"It's a place where people are treated with respect, with dignity. We don't look at the past. We look at the future," Bernier said.
"You look at Brandon and his model and Brother Phil—and both of them just ooze community. Community is what they're all about," Hassall said.
The Friars' Table at Playhouse Square is officially open for lunch and dinner.
They are actively hiring and creating countless programs in the process.
For more information, click here.
