With the opening of Bistro 608 at the Grandview Golf Course, Traci Burzanko Holzheimer is cooking up a storm.Just a few months after being approached…
With the opening of Bistro 608 at the Grandview Golf Course, Traci Burzanko Holzheimer is cooking up a storm.
Just a few months after being approached to operate the kitchen at the refurbished Grandview restaurant, the chef is making plans to spice up the traditional offerings with her knowledge of international cuisine.
She and John Zivko, Bistro partner and owner of Chefs for Hire Catering in?Cleveland, also plan to enlarge the facility’s wine cellar to please diverse tastes.
“We will have one of the most extensive wine lists in all of the Cleveland area,” Holzheimer said, adding Zivko has a very strong background with fine wines.
The pair is dealing with a lot of moving pieces.
There is the upgraded dining room that can seat 90 diners inside and another 90 on the patio.
On the banquet side of the restaurant, a dance floor provides a great setting for receptions, while a big-screen television makes the space ideal for business meetings and conferences, Holzheimer said.
It also provides a casual atmosphere where golfers can wander in, have an informal lunch and watch a little TV while visiting.
“Golfers can still get that famous fried bologna sandwich they are all looking for,” she said, as well as burgers.
Although she has sampled and recreated dishes she enjoyed on her visits from Europe to Australia, fried bologna sandwiches are a fairly local delicacy — one she has improved upon, Holzheimer said.
She first approached the sophistication of a fried bologna sandwich when running her catering business, Dish Cuisine by Design, out of the Orchard Hills Caf at Patterson Fruit Farm in Chester Township.
After hours of research, Holzheimer developed a red bell pepper salsa to enhance the half-inch-thick slice of top-quality bologna and added fried onions on a Kaiser bun, creating a mouth-watering menu item her clientele loves.
“People come from all over. They tell me they’ve been waiting all winter for one of these,” she said, adding it was the top seller April 17 when Bistro 608 opened its doors.
As part of the Grandview Golf Course on state Route 608 in the southeast corner of Claridon Township, Bistro 608 is a short drive from Painesville, Middlefield or Chardon, so the location is not a problem, she said.
Holzheimer started her business with a meal delivery service. She gradually increased her catering clientele and relocating to Orchard Hill. For about 18 months she worked out of Zivko’s kitchen in Independence until this winter, when a relative of one of Grandview’s 10 owners asked if she would like to come back to Geauga County and take over the kitchen there.
“I met two of the owners here and instantly saw the potential,” Holzheimer said. “A lot has happened in a very short time.”
Partnering with Zivko was a natural progression for her once she took in the possibilities.
“I immediately called John. I knew this was something he and I could do together,” she said. “With John’s and my backgrounds and contacts,
we’re very confident.”
While Holzheimer’s catering instincts lean toward smaller, homemade, detail-oriented meals, Zivko’s larger operation provides a complementary set of skills and experience.
“We have the same vision — high quality food and customer service,” she said. “Our job is to create great food.”
Adding more food-related services to Grandview is among future plans, Holzheimer said.
The tennis courts off Durkee Road cold provide a fine venue for large tent events, and stocking a concession stand about half way around the golf course will make it easy for golfers to grab a bite, she said.
The Geauga Park District Maple Highlands bike path is expected to run through the golf course, sparking more opportunities for the restaurant as well, she said.
“I knew I needed to make a big change this year — I had no idea it was going to be this big,” Holzheimer said.
