Brassica, a casual Mediterranean-focused concept, reached its tenth anniversary this past April and celebrated by revealing their plans for major expansion in the coming years. The Ohio-based restaurant first opened its doors in 2015 in the vibrant Short North neighborhood along North High Street in Columbus and has since continued its expansion over the past decade to other areas of Ohio: Bexley, Upper Arlington, Shaker Heights, Westlake, and Easton. They recently announced their expansion plans to enter the Cincinnati market, where they have an already established presence with their sister concept, Northstar Café, as well as launching in new markets out of state in Indianapolis and Houston. This will be the first concept from founders Kevin, Katy, and Darren Malhame, to expand outside of Ohio, opening new opportunities to develop in different markets.
Spouses, Kevin and Katy Malhame, began their restaurateur careers from Katy’s background in the Columbus-based Cameron Mitchell empire and Kevin’s experience working for several prestigious restaurant groups. A notable position for Kevin was his time as General Manager for a Columbus Chipotle location, which was eventually ranked the #1 location in Ohio and #4 nationwide in 2002. In 2004, the couple opened their first concept, Northstar Café, a modern kitchen and bar concept, and now have seven locations across Ohio. Their second concept, Third & Hollywood, a neighborhood American bistro concept, followed in 2009 and was opened alongside Kevin’s brother Darren in Grandview Heights, Ohio. Once Northstar Café and Third & Hollywood quickly gained momentum in Columbus, the Malhames wanted to introduce a simpler concept with the same principles from their sister restaurants of exceptional service, atmosphere, and quality ingredients, integrated with their experience with the Chipotle service model. Brassica emerged from this plan and eventually opened its doors in 2015, earning Best New Restaurant by Columbus Monthly one year later.
Brassica’s continued success in the last decade caught the attention of Chipotle as they were actively seeking concepts through their $100 million Cultivate Next venture fund. Chipotle announced in October of last year that it would become a minority investor in Brassica, a full circle moment for the Malhames. While they claim they had expansion in the works for Brassica before this investment, having Chipotle’s stamp of approval will help the brand gain credibility as they challenge new markets out of state. Brassica has revealed that the restaurant has three more locations coming soon to existing markets, following the upcoming three in Cincinnati, Houston, and Indianapolis.
Richard Edelman, Senior Vice President/Principal at Goodman Real Estate Services Group LLC, helped with the Ohio expansion of Brassica and Northstar Café for their Shaker Heights locations, as well as their Brassica location in Westlake. For opportunities with Brassica and Northstar Café in Columbus and Cleveland, please contact Richard Edelman.