'Iron Chef' winner to open 2 Cleveland restaurants

'Iron Chef' winner to open 2 Cleveland restaurants

CLEVELAND — “Iron Chef” winner Michael Symon is planning to open two new restaurants on his home turf in northeast Ohio.

The menus at Symon’s new suburban places will be different from those at Lola and Lolita, his two upscale restaurants in Cleveland.

What’s being described as a casual and comfortable tavern called Bar Symon is scheduled to open in June in Avon Lake, about 20 miles west of Cleveland. It will feature rotisserie items ranging in price from $9 to $18.

A later opening is planned for The B Spot in the eastern suburb of Woodmere. Symon says the emphasis will be on good, simple food, including burgers, fries and salads. Symon was crowned the “Next Iron Chef” in a Food Network competition that ended in November 2007.

Thumbs up for Ebert home

URBANA, Ill. — Film critic Roger Ebert’s boyhood home is getting the thumbs up. Officials in Urbana, Ill., decided to honor the Chicago Sun-Times critic by placing a bronze plaque on the sidewalk in front of 410 E. Washington St. That’s where Ebert lived with his parents from his birth in 1942 until 1961.

The 66-year-old Ebert and his wife, Chaz, were in Urbana for Wednesday’s ceremony. Ebert became film critic for the Chicago Sun-Times in 1967.

Today's birthdays

Actor David Birney is 70. Actor Lee Majors (“Six Million Dollar Man”) is 70. Actress Blair Brown is 61. Actress Joyce DeWitt (“Three’s Company”) is 60. Actor James Russo is 56. Director Michael Moore is 55. Actress Judy Davis is 54. Actress Jan Hooks is 52. Actress Valerie Bertinelli is 49. Comedian George Lopez is 48. Actress Melina Kanakaredes is 42. Actor Kal Penn (“House M.D.,” “Harold and Kumar”) is 32. Actor Dev Patel (“Slumdog Millionaire”) is 19.