Angie Schuelke has brought Mediterranean dining to downtown Cleveland
"I created the restaurant I wanted to go to that Cleveland didn’t have.”
That is how Angie Schuelke explained the inspiration behind Indigo Cafe, her new restaurant at 166 First St., NE.
But Ms. Schuelke is no stranger to the downtown Cleveland restaurant scene, having served as the general manager at Cafe Roma since 2003.
“After 20 years at Roma,” she said, “I decided it was time to do my own thing.”
Indigo Cafe serves food inspired from the countries that border the Mediterranean Sea.
“I have always tried to base my eating habits in clean eating, healthy eating,” Ms. Schuelke said. “And the Mediterranean diet focuses on greens, vegetables, and meats, as well as plant based diets, fruits, beans, and nuts.
“And what’s really neat about the Mediterranean is there are 22 countries that surround the Mediterranean Sea. So we can pull from Greece, Italy, France, Spain, Turkey, Morocco and base it on that healthy, clean diet.
“Whenever we can, we use things that are in season from local growers — since we’re a local business — we want to support other local businesses.
“One of the things we’ve done is partner with local (and regional) growers — Chanterelle Farms, Greater Omaha for our beef, Springer Mountain for our chicken, Big Sycamore Farms, Hobo Cheese, Hissing Possum, Abundance Farms.”
Like all her neighbors, Ms. Schuelke wants downtown Cleveland to continue evolving into a destination area.
“It’s nice to be a part of the downtown community where we’re not in competition with other restaurants, and people can come downtown as a destination.”
She explained the restaurant serves from their carnivore and vegan menus during lunch, 11 a.m.-4 p.m., and offers dinner menus from 4 p.m.-9 p.m.
“We also focus on gluten-free options for so many people who are celiac or choose not to have gluten. At so many restaurants, gluten-free is an afterthought. We wanted to create something where they can feel like they can come in and have a full menu of options, not just one or two things.”
The bar at Indigo Cafe is another unique aspect of the upstart eatery.
“We spent a lot of time creating craft cocktails. We smoke a lot of things in our house smoker, so we have a smoked old fashioned. We smoke oranges and cherries. It brings in that scotch smoky element in the whiskey with the old fashioned,” she said.
“We have tried to find some unique spirits to do something a little different than other restaurants so people can come in and try something new and fun.”
As its name implies, the colors inside Indigo Cafe revolve around a deep blue color palette, with interesting decorations at every vantage point.
“We have so many chains in town,” Ms. Schuelke said. “And to be able to come in and have a unique atmosphere — you know we can open the garage door and have fresh air where you have that open air feel kind of like a European cafe.
“And when you come in you know you’re getting healthy sustainably-sourced food. I’m a big environmentalist. So as many things as I can do to promote that I have tried” she said.
“I was raised vegetarian, so I knew how much you’re limited on your choices dining out. I didn’t want to do a strictly vegetarian restaurant so that’s why we have beef, we have fish, chicken, scallops. We’ve got plenty for the carnivore as well.”
Ms. Schuelke pays homage to some of the businesses that occupied the building before her. “When Five Point Square was here, they had a wonderful goat cheese fritter. So we put a goat cheese fritter on the menu,” she said.
“Stack Southern Bistro was burgers, so we have our veggie burger and our smash burger at lunch, and at dinner our 8-ounce burger.”
The building was originally a Ford dealership some 100 years ago.
“This was the service area for the Model As when they came along. I’ve got some Ford pictures from the building back in the ‘20s. My grandfather is a photographer, so I have all these pictures of his Model Ts and Model As.
“So I’m going to do a nice collage with that. I have tried to honor the things that came before us in this spot.”
Indigo café is open from 11 a.m. until 9 p.m., Monday through Saturday. It is available for private parties on Sundays.