Beard foundation names new culinary classics in the Midwest

The James Beard Foundation announces finalists for its annual culinary awards Tuesday at The Publican, but five restaurant operators already know they are winners.

The foundation's America's Classics honor favors destinations across the country that involve more cooks than chefs, diners than bistros and ethnic than eclectic cuisine.

If this were the Oscars, the honor would be a lifetime achievement award for character actors whose long and steady careers avoid split personalities and outlandish costume changes. The Midwest is well represented in this elite group, which tends to favor blue-collar sensibilities and decor that is vintage.

Consider these past Chicago winners: Calumet Fisheries in 2010, Tufano's Vernon Park Tap in 2008 and The Berghoff in 1999.

Now another Midwestern restaurant takes its place among the Classics winners (see sidebar). Sokolowski's University Inn in Cleveland is a cafeteria-style restaurant that began as a tavern in 1923 and started serving Salisbury steak to bridge construction workers in the 1950s. That entree and Polish foods pierogi, kielbasa, stuffed cabbage rolls still are served and recipes are shared online.

"We've seen the neighborhood change and the city change," said co-owner Mike Sokolowski of the third-generation business. What began as an ethnic mix of Poles, Ukrainians, Russians, Greeks and Slovakians as neighbors today is "more artsy, kind of yuppie," yet full of the same customer devotion, he added.

"A lot of people have been good to us," Sokolowski said, and it doesn't seem to matter that the business sticks with cafeteria-style service. "We're a dinosaur in that regard. If I had to do it again, I'd do it again."

Sokolowski's University Inn is at 1201 University Road in Cleveland, 216-771-9236; sokolowskis.com.

Earning a Classics award doesn't guarantee an easy future, however. The Berghoff closed in 2006 then reopened. The same happened at Pickwick Restaurant & Pub in Duluth, Minn., an America's Classics winner in 2007 and sold by the founding Wisocki family in 2010.

The Pickwick began serving simple grub as a beer brewer's pub 100 years ago. Now it is known for char-grilled steaks, seafood and pastas. The setting shows off locally crafted, ornate woodwork and murals of brewing and immigrant life.

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Beard foundation names new culinary classics in the Midwest