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photo by Deana Petersen
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photo by Deana Petersen
A 3,000-plus crystal horse-shaped chandelier — with LED color-changing lights — crowns a newly opened bar. An English garden-inspired terrace with a green living wall, surrounding a rectangular electric white-hexagonal-tiled fireplace, adds vibrance. Hand-painted in gray over books and recipe pages, a world map sets the tone for international inspiration. Twinsburg restaurant Blue Canyon’s complete renovation blends rustic and modern elements with bright colors and whimsy to redefine its atmosphere. It’s a stark contrast to the 20-year-old spot’s formerly dim, brown log cabin interior. Now, the contemporary American menu with global influences suits the eclectic, striking environment.
“Sometimes it felt weird to be served a dish that might be a Japanese preparation of tuna or maybe a Caribbean preparation of a lobster tail and eat that in a log cabin,” says culinary director Scott Coffman. “They wanted the decor to match the food.”
A wall came down to open up the tavern, complete with a large, blue-toned quartzite bar. Patrons can now sink into cozier, more inviting booths, helmed by industrial cage lamps.
With floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking treetops, the adjoining terrace brings the outside in with hand-painted birch log walls, supports and beams. White quartz tables with black-and-white French bistro chairs are complemented by black-and-white striped awnings trimmed with lime green. Robin’s egg blue-painted window frames add playful color.
“The different colors, especially the lighter colors and textures, really brighten the place up,” Coffman says.
A seating area, facing an open kitchen, captures a market feel — a mounted wall art piece, featuring monochromatic painted utensils, surrounds a blue neon “This Must be the Place” sign. Varied woven basket lights shine over weathered seating. The adjoining great room is adorned with three impressive gold leaf chandeliers — made of real oak leaves imprinted on metal — and new booths and banquettes, with muted blue and green cushions. Blue Canyon’s event spaces are refreshed, including its bolder porch that now features distressed, white-painted wood walls. Its sophisticated lodge is capped with a new, blue-veined quartz-topped bar.
Coffman is influenced by Asian, Italian and southern cuisines — and the menu is infused with those flavors. Savor the baseball-sized corn bread crab cake, served with lemon dill mayo and roasted corn and poblano relish ($19.50). In this rich dish, corn bread crumbs complement sweet crab. The bang bang calamari ($19.50) plays on Asian-style bang bang shrimp, using cornstarch breading instead of flour to avoid greasiness and add crunchiness. It’s topped with green onions, a Thai chili mayo-based bang bang sauce for spicy tang, lime zest and lime juice for a tart citrus punch, nutty sesame seeds (mixed with coarse salt and granulated garlic and onions) for more crunch and, finally, Fresno chiles — pickled in-house.
“When we pickle them, it tends to tame down the heat,” Coffman says. “They’re pickled in rice wine vinegar, sugar and salt, so that’s the acid we use to balance out the dish but also create a good spice.”
The hibachi tacos ($19.50) also offer a twist on Asian flavors. Thinly sliced flank steak is marinated in tamari sauce, ginger, orange juice, Sriracha, salt and pepper. It’s then stuffed in flour tortillas with jasmine fried rice, house yum yum sauce and a salad of red cabbage, carrots and green onion. Marinated in rice wine vinegar and spices, these vegetables add bright acidity to the mouthwatering dish.
“It tastes like eating a really good hibachi stir-fry but on a taco,” Coffman says.
A spin on shrimp and grits, the chicken and shrimp ($27.50) begins with a boneless chicken thigh. Slow-cooked and char-grilled, it’s slathered with a Korean barbecue sauce made of gochujang, pineapple and ginger. The dish is served with creamy pickled jalapeno cheddar garlic herb grits, crispy shrimp with a sweet chili aioli and garlic spinach.
“First you’re going to get sweet, then you’re going to get acid from the pineapple juice and barbecue sauce and then a little spice from the pickled jalapeno grits,” Coffman says. “It’s a good balance of sweet and savory.”
Blue Canyon classics are mixed into the menu as well, including lighter fare like a grilled, marinated flank steak romaine salad ($25.50) with a hard-boiled egg, cucumbers, tomatoes, crispy onions, grilled bread and a unique, creamy blue cheese tarragon dressing. The pretzel-crusted trout ($21-$32) has been on the menu for the entirety of Blue Canyon’s two decades — and for good reason: the distinct flavors pop. Butterflied Idaho rainbow trout is breaded with crushed pretzels, creating a crunchy, salty crust that contrasts with the tender fish. It’s served with whipped Yukon gold potatoes, garlic green beans and a Dijon mustard caper butter — adding strong flavors.
“There’s a bit of lemon and whole-grain mustard in the sauce. But there’s also capers, which are briny and salty — it all goes together really nice,” says Coffman.
With a livelier space and a menu to match, customers are raving about the revamp.
“The way the place is now gives a lot more flexibility to approach more flavors,” he says. “We could be a bit more outside of the box and less traditional.”
8960 Wilcox Drive, Twinsburg, 330-486-2583, bluecanyonrestaurant.com