The Plain Dealer, Published March 17, 2004
John S. Long

With the spate of recent restaurant closings, chefs jumping ship for greener pastures and complaints about chains taking over the market, there's finally some good news. Boulevard Blue, which rose like a phoenix from the debris of a collapsed building, is even better than it looks - and it looks pretty nice.

In case you don't remember the name, the restaurant, at 12718 Larchmere Blvd., Cleveland, was scheduled to open last July in a building once occupied by DiBella's Pizza Bazaar. A month before opening of the building, someone on the construction crew removed a critical support. The entire structure collapsed. There was no bringing it back. The remains were hauled off, leaving behind an empty lot.

Owner Andy Himmel didn't skip a beat. He had work begin on a new building almost immediately and headed to Put-in-Bay, where he and his chef, Scott Wuennemann, ran Dailey's Tavern.

Now, eight months after the planned opening, Boulevard is in business. Fans of great food, blues and jazz should be thrilled. Wuennemann began his career putting himself through architecture studies at Ohio State while working in the kitchens of Cameron Mitchell's Columbus-area restaurants. Sweating over a hot stove overtook his desire to become an architect. Wuennemann moved up the line in the kitchen, finally becoming sous chef at Mitchell's premier spot, M.

Wuennemann takes standard ingredients and turns them into unique dishes. A nice piece of salmon is seared crisp and placed atop a bed of Szechuan green beans, which rest on a pool of mirin sauce and sweet corn. Four steamed wontons filled with a ginger-accented sweet potato puree surround the entree. Wow: It is lip-smacking good.

His duck breast entree, as tender as soft butter, has a hoisin lime sauce. Duck confit, stir-fried rice and baby bok choy braised in an Asian spice-spiked liquid accompany it. It is one of the best duck breast dishes I've tried.

Appetizers are nearly as innovative as the entrees, and all I tried were excellent. The wine list offers nice selections, though some of the dishes scream for more eclectic offerings — bottles that complement the dishes and tease the palate with as much sensory pleasure as the food.

I plan to return soon for the Thai chicken pasta, a mix of chicken, udon noodles, sugar snap peas, mushrooms, peanuts, red onion and red coconut curry sauce. That dish joins six others on the restaurant's On the Boulevard menu (consisting mostly of pasta dishes and sandwiches) within the full dinner menu.

Overall, prices are reasonable: Entrees run in the $15 to $23 range and between $10 and $16 on the boulevard's menu-within-a-menu.

Jazz and blues are piped into the room Sunday, Tuesday and Wednesday. Live jazz or blues are featured 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. Thursday through Saturday. Boulevard Blue is closed Mondays. For reservations, contact the restaurant at 216-721-5500.