Tupelo Honey restaurant in Euclid is operated by General Manager Lindsay, Owner Matt Quinn and Chef James Foreman.
Photo by Paris Wolfe
EUCLID, Ohio – Restaurateur Matt Quinn quietly opened Tupelo Honey, Euclid, a fine-dining restaurant and craft cocktail bar in mid-June. The restaurant is not part of a chain by the same name. It gets its name from Quinn’s affection for the rare and expensive sweet stuff from limited parts of Georgia and Florida.
Those curious about the legendary flavors of tupelo honey, made famous in the Van Morrison song, can sample it on the restaurant’s charcuterie board. It’s been described as having bourbon characteristics.
The Euclid restaurant’s 54-seat dining room has been a long time coming. Quinn started gutting the former Jim’s Tavern just before the Covid shutdown in 2020. He took the 102-year-old building down to its shell and rebuilt the interior as well as adding an 84-seat patio with a heated floor. Today it’s open seven days a week with brunch on Sunday.
Quinn wants the Tupelo Honey, 805 East 222nd St., Euclid, to become a significant “third space” or anchor for locals. By that he means communal space distinct from home (first space) and work or school (second space). The menu defines “third space” as “a place that promotes and fosters creativity, where family, friends and companions gather to celebrate sharing time together, at the same time being a pillar and steward of the community.”
“I’ve always known there was a fine-dining void between Brahtenal and Timberlake,” says Quinn, who grew up in Euclid and graduated from the all-boys St. Joseph High School on the Euclid border. “I’ve been here my whole life. Amazing people live in Euclid.”
If some menu items look familiar that’s because he’s reproducing dishes like the Brussels sprouts from places like The Standard, 779 E 185th St., Cleveland, which he built out and then sold. He even has one of The Standard’s early chefs – Tim Bando – working in the kitchen on busy weekends.
Overall, Quinn describes the menu as classic American dining, fine-tuned for the Cleveland audience.
Chef James Foreman agrees and adds that it could be considered an “elevated country club” with influences of French techniques. That still translates to comfortable, not snobby.
“We want it to be elegant without intimidation,” he says. “We want customers to feel part of the space.”
Foreman, who started his career as a teenage busboy at Borelly’s party centers in Richmond Heights, rose through the kitchen ranks and has been cooking and catering in Northeast Ohio and elsewhere for more than three decades.
Controlling quality is key to great results. That means stocks, soups, sausage and more are housemade. The blue cheese is Maytag. And juices are freshly pressed for handcrafted cocktails.
Among the items on his menu are steaks, short rib stroganoff, chicken Milanese, roasted cauliflower, seared jumbo sea scallops, lobster rolls and more.
The signature dish is the Brew House Chop, a blackened bone-in pork chop. It’s injected, not just marinated, with flavor for 48 hours. The results are juicy and toothsome.
The signature dessert is the beignet. A New Orleans staple, Foreman has adapted it using a dough that’s half croissant and half doughnut.
“I tweaked it because we’re in Cleveland,” he says. His dough is made fresh daily and deep-fried to order. It comes to the table as five rectangular puffs, dusted with powdered sugar. Of course. Three homemade sauces – raspberry, chocolate and caramel — up the decadence factor.
The craft cocktail list is complemented by a limited, but elevated, wine list. Bottles include Far Niente Chardonnay and Caymus Cabernet Sauvignon as well as Veuve Clicquot Chardonnay.
Quinn gives credit for the decor to his wife Sherry. His restaurant concepts have come a long way since he opened a simple Quinn’s Bar in his early career.
