Doug Katz's Amba opening in Ohio City

CLEVELAND, Ohio – The massive tiger mural which graces the outside of a building in Ohio City’s Hingetown neighborhood first drew in restaurateur and chef Douglas Katz. The tiger, painted by Michela Picchi in 2016, graces the entire side of the building at 1430 W. 28th St., its tail winding around three slit windows, its paws stretching toward a pink bird.

“I came here and I saw the tiger mural on the side, and that was speaking to me, saying ‘This has to be Amba,’” Katz said.

Amba once existed as a ghost kitchen Katz launched during the pandemic, alongside his other ghost kitchen Chimi.

Now, Amba has found its home. The restaurant is set to open to the public on Tuesday, May 24.

Don’t expect a continuation of Picchi’s tiger mural color palette inside Amba. Stepping inside the Indian-inspired restaurant, visitors are transported into a stylishly dark dining area, accented with a rope ceiling, handmade oversized bamboo light fixtures and thin windows of light illuminating artwork on display.

The design is a far cry from Katz’ Cedar-Fairmount restaurant Zhug, which is filled with airy designs and a blast of sunshine through its front window. Here, designer Kelley Shaffer played with what little light was available, striking a moody, almost goth atmosphere. She worked with local craftsmen Shred and Co. to create custom shelving, tables and other accents.

It’s a completely different vibe for the building, which used to be a printing press.

“This space had four walls of concrete block and they were light green, and there was a back entrance and a garage door and a front door, and that was it. There was nothing else here,” Katz said. “To think of it as a clean slate – that’s what it was.”

Doug Katz’s Amba is going from being a ghost kitchen in Cleveland Heights, to a sit-down restaurant in the Hingetown area of Ohio City on W. 28th Street. The restaurant in a former print shop in the “Tiger Building” will be opening on May 24th. The interior is intentionally dimly lit, but uses lamps and windows to spread the light to all the right places.David Petkiewicz, cleveland.com

A clean slate might have been welcome for Katz, who had an up-and-down few years prior to Amba. The restaurant owner was forced to close his longtime flagship Fire Food and Drink in Shaker Square in 2020 due to financial strains related to the pandemic, and he closed his fast-casual Van Aken District restaurant Chutney B. in 2021.

On the other hand, he saw success with his restaurant Zhug – noted as a top 2020 restaurant by Esquire magazine – and he served as a leader in the local restaurant scene’s shift toward takeout and ghost kitchen formats during the pandemic. Running both Amba and the South American-inspired concept Chimi out of his commissary on Lee Road in Cleveland Heights, Katz was able to keep playing with new flavors and to work out the bugs in both restaurant ideas. (Katz is looking for a brick-and-mortar location for Chimi, and hopes to open it in 2023.)

“It was about variety during the pandemic, where you could order these foods and have different experiences. It gave us an opportunity to explore the things that we were interested in making on this menu,” Katz said.

That being said, Amba doesn’t share much crossover with its ghostly predecessor. A central point in the restaurant’s offerings is in its name: “amba,” a type of Indian mango chutney sauce that can be served with many dishes. Organized from small plates to meaty entrees, Amba’s menu offers plenty of interesting highlights: a saag-like spinach dip, beetroot raita, lentil donuts, Turkish fried eggs, spicy sloppy joe keema, samosas, lamb kofta and more. Desserts include a kulfi freeze pop.

Katz said the menu, designed with Amba’s chef Cameron Pishnery, is meant to be mixed and matched with various flavors and sauces and shared among diners.

“Every bite that you take should be like a new bite and you should be able to come here 60 times and never have the same thing, because of what you ordered that time,” Katz said.

Katz gave a nod to friend and fellow chef Radhika Rajwade who first taught him flavors and techniques at Fire.

“If I cook only what I know and what I grew up with, it’s limiting in terms of where my passion is,” Katz said. “I love traveling and I love learning about different cultures, and the only way for me to do that is through preparing food and preparing experiences.”

On the drinks side of things, Amba serves plenty of variety, both in the restaurant and “Bar Amba,” which has its own entrance and seating area.

Cocktails designed by Noah Biddle play with spices like garam masala, green cardamom and amchoor (dried mango) powder. A highlight is the clarified milk punch, a flavorful, clear cocktail infused with spices.

“‘Indian-inspired’ gives me a lot of room to play with, which is excellent,” Biddle said. “We want to give to the Cleveland community of cocktails. We have a lot of great establishments here that people go to, to really be social, to enjoy the community, and we wanted to give that.”

Amba and Bar Amba are closely connected, but they’re separate concepts and will have separate hours. Katz said the bar will be open until midnight, Mondays through Saturdays, and the restaurant will be open until 10 p.m. on weekdays, and 11 p.m. on weekends.

That all begins on Tuesday, May 24, with reservation-only private dining this week to ramp up to the big day.

Katz said he’s excited to soon join the Hingetown and Ohio City community.

“I feel so excited to have a space like this in Cleveland, where I can become a part of this neighborhood,” Katz said. “This district in Ohio City, I think, is just so inspiring and so passionately created. There are so many independent businesses right in this district, there are just so many interesting opportunities through the arts and food and drink and neighborhood.”

Find more details about Amba at ambacle.com.

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