Kiln — Restaurant in Shaker Heights

My husband and two adult children visited Kiln last night for my 50th birthday. The space is very reminiscent of Katz's Fire restaurant, although much noisier---we arrived at 8:30 pm and it wasn't until tables started emptying out around 9 that we were able to hear each other speak without raising our voices above normal conversational levels.

We tried nine savory dishes: the popovers, broccolini, chicken, chicken livers, meatballs, scalloped potatoes, pork belly, bibb salad, and croquettes. Our favorites were the potatoes, the croquettes, and the popovers (if you're a party of more than 3, note that the meatballs, popovers, and croquettes come in threes, and that due to the oozy nature of the croquettes they can be difficult to split). The chicken was moist and the beans and carrots that came with it had a great flavor. Our least favorite was the meatballs; they were hard and dry, maybe from over-processing? We loved the chicken livers at Fire, but this version was a little stingy with the cherry compote--there wasn't enough to have some with each bite.

We ordered three desserts: the cheesecake, baked Alaska, and berries. They were fine but not outstanding; I was surprised that on the berry plate the strawberries (which have been out of season locally here for weeks) were the hard, mostly-white-inside variety that I avoid buying at the grocery store. I was a little disappointed in the presentation as well, which was pile of blueberries, pile of strawberries, pile of cream. I've had similar desserts that were styled more appealingly.

Service was spotty. After initially asking for a few minutes to peruse the drinks menu, the server disappeared for more than ten minutes and we had to wave her down to put in our order. The server was helpful when it came to deciding how many dishes to order, but forgot about our popovers until we were almost done with everything else (we had to ask her if they were coming out) . I felt badly for the couple at a neighboring table whose food order she had bungled. She was also a little slow to refill our water---the water glasses are the size of rocks glasses and so require refilling twice as often. Not a big deal if you have another beverage (the rest of us had cocktails/beer), but for my husband, who was sticking to tap water only, it meant having to ask for his glass to be refilled fairly frequently.

Upon receiving the bill we also received a little dish of tiny cookies. They're a nice touch but by that time none of us had anything left to drink with them and we kind of...

I have thoroughly enjoyed eating at both Zhug and Amba so it was fitting to complete Doug Katz's trifecta with Kiln. Upon our entrance, we were greeted by two staff members who were incredibly kind and hospitable. They offered to take our heavy winter jackets, to which we accepted. The first floor was full so we were escorted to the second floor via elevator. The elevator doors open and you enter a moody, yet open room with a wrap-around bar and various booths & table options. The restaurant design is very minimalist and clean with touches of earth tones. Our waiter offered us various water options. We just went with classic tap water. I also ordered a daquiri, which was very good. Not overly sweet, with a clean and crisp taste. It was very refreshing. We decided to order three dishes for the table - eggs with mayonnaise, spoon bread, and the pan roasted chicken. The eggs came out first. They were cooked perfectly with the yolk still retaining some moisture. The mayo itself didn't have much flavor. However, the crisp radishes offered a nice textural element to an otherwise soft and chewy dish. The dill gave some life to the mayonnaise, however I find it to be a little overpowering (personal preference). I think it would be better to incorporate the flavor of dill in the mayonnaise through an infused dill oil or an emulsion of dill, honey, and lemon. The spoon bread was a perfect choice for this cold weather. It was like a warm hug from your mother. The pops of sweet corn and spice from the jalapeños were a great duo for this wonderful bread casserole. Lastly, the pan roasted chicken came out. The simplicity of the dish could scare some away at first glance as we are used to chicken drowned in some sort of sauce or condiment. The taste of the chicken was the star of this dish and boy was it packed with flavor. The rich chicken taste came through with such power it almost shocked me. Can chicken by itself really taste this good? At Kiln, it sure can. The chimichurri offered a really nice balance of sweet and acid that worked really well with the rich salty taste of the chicken. Perfect dish. Will have again. Overall, Kiln is a great standout addition to Katz's holy trinity of Cleveland restaurants. I'm excited to try new dishes as I will definitely be making a...

Not a great experience for vegans

I love Amba but the experience at Kiln was extremely disappointing. Granted we were there on a Friday however we were seated right away w/o reservations so it wasn’t crazy busy and it was 6pm when we put our orders in. The food took forever to come out, which our server acknowledged and apologized for (it was bad enough we didn’t make a comment on it since we aren’t that type but she still acknowledged how poor the wait was), despite this there was no offer of a desert or drink at a discounted price or any accomadation. Normally I wouldn’t care but this was a $180 meal.

Getting to the food, the options you have as a vegan are extremely limited. The server asked us our dietary restrictions at the beginning of the meal and we informed her we were vegan. On the vegan tasting menu they list the potatoes as part of it, however the potatoes on the normal menu weren’t vegan - so we asked about this and she said it was the aioli - so we ordered it without. When it finally came, there was the aioli — which we then asked about and weren’t given an apology or anything considering the fact we were literally asked about allergens and dietary restrictions, again at a normal restaurant I wouldn’t care but the price of a dish here is $18-26. Extremely surprising these would have been put on the vegan tasting menu without a sauce to begin with. The other vegan dishes were dry and felt like Thanksgiving sides (not terrible but as vegans who will take every special event opportunity to.go to Amba, these were definitely not worth the price).

Again, normally I wouldn’t complain but this was a $180 meal for two people and despite the fact the restaurant acknowledged the poor service there wasn’t much to make up for it. I’m not someone that complains to a restaurant so I didn’t and let it go, but thinking about the quality of the food, the price, and the service it felt like it would be good to give a warning to other vegans who might be excited so they can atleast get a more realistic set of expectations.

Was excited for this, but sad to say I won’t be back. I’ve yet to go to Zhug but it makes me nervous I’d have a...