A well-traveled culinary path leads to Venezia
By Cynthia Schuster-Eakin
Insights
Published Jan. 17, 2007

Chef Moha Orchid displays some of the desserts available at the Venezia restaurant in Lakewood. (Photo by Larry Bennet)

The path that has led Chef Moha Orchid from his childhood home in Morocco to Cleveland, Ohio, has been a long and interesting one.

Orchid, proprietor of the recently-opened Venezia restaurant at 16300 Detroit Avenue in Lakewood, said he began cooking at the age of six, helping his mother prepare meals for their large family. Growing up in a small oasis village in the Atlas Mountains on the northwest coast of Africa, Orchid said his family raised real organic food. His Berber ancestors farmed the land by irrigation, growing a hundred palm trees with a dozen varieties of dates, olives, plums, almonds, peaches, apricots and figs.

“I was a hustler as a child,” Orchid said. “I would lead visitors to our village on tours, and then bring them home to enjoy our hospitality and my mother’s cooking.” His friendly and inquisitive nature gained the attention of an American Peace Corps volunteer, who taught him English. After high school, Orchid journeyed to France, where he studied English literature and polished his chef’s skills. His well-traveled culinary path led him to apprentice with some of the finest pastry chefs in Austria. Along the way, he learned to speak six languages.

Orchid came to the United States in 1985 on an exchange program and landed a job at the newly-opened Union Square Café, working alongside Chef Ali Barker. In 1999, he opened his own restaurant, Cookies and Couscous, in Greenwich Village. Orchid said family and the need for a quieter, less harried life led him to Cleveland, where he now lives with his wife and two-year-old son. “In New York, my little restaurant had to clear $15,000 a month just to break even,” he noted.

Venezia, his latest restaurant, features Italian fare with a Moroccan twist. Orchid said he focused on Italian food because of its popularity. He sees Cleveland as mainly a meat-and-potatoes town, but said people are learning to become more adventuresome in their tastes. “People know good food when it is out there,” he said.

Orchid describes his dishes as “honest, good food that is ethically prepared.” His first rule is that, “No fried food is served in this house.” The chef does his own shopping for locally produced ingredients and prepares everything from scratch, by hand, including the pasta, pizza dough and signature Caesar salad dressing.

Pizzas include the Mediterranean with roasted eggplant and chicken, and the Vermont with roasted peppers, goat cheese and pesto ($14 for a small pizza, and $16 for a large).

A favorite dish is the tagliatelle pasta with demi-glazed shredded pork and Parmigiano Reggiano cheese ($14). Savory Moroccan chicken pie, or bestilla, is made with eggs, onions, cinnamon and almonds in a flaky phyllo crust ($18). Nova Scotia salmon is served with eggplant salad and a berry sauce ($18). A prix fixe dinner, available nightly, includes soup, salad, choice of entrée and dessert for $30.

Desserts are worth the extra calories at Venezia. Light and creamy ricotta cheesecake is subtly sweetened. “If you use too much sugar, you lose the flavor and texture,” Orchid pointed out. Heavenly chocolate mousse tops a dense brownie truffle cake, while warm plum tart glistens with apricot glaze ($6).

Venezia is open for dinner from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. Thursday through Saturday. Major credit cards are accepted. The restaurant is wheelchair accessible. Phone (216) 226-0006 for reservations. Catering is available. Orchid takes orders for birthday and specialty cakes, and offers afternoon cooking classes for groups of 10 or more. Venezia does not yet have a liquor license, but patrons are welcome to bring their own wine.