New fine-dining pizza spot plans to unleash unique flavors, décor in spring

by Ashley Herzog

After months of extensive restorations, new Broadview Heights restaurant Salted Dough is planning for a spring opening at 9174 Broadview Rd., said head chef Jeff Fisher.

“We’re aiming for the end of April or beginning of May,” Fisher said. “We’re opening a fine dining menu focused on pizza.”

He said he’s in the process of developing menu items now.

“We’re going to start with 60, then whittle it down to 30, then 15,” Fisher said.

Choosing the dishes involves an elaborate test-tasting process.

“We taste the menu items like people taste wine,” he said. “I’m very big on flavor profiling. So we will test each item and say, ‘Maybe it needs rosemary. Maybe it needs crushed red pepper for a little heat.’

“We love to make our customers feel special, so we want the flavors to jump out at customers when they taste our food. We strategically place all of our pizza ingredients.”

Fisher described Salted Dough as a 100-percent scratch kitchen, and the restaurant plans to use locally sourced ingredients.

“We’re planning to even make our own sausage in-house,” he said. “We will support local farms and businesses by purchasing their meats and other products. I plan to rotate fresh ingredients and develop specialty menu items weekly.”

Nothing bores Fisher more than cooking the same items repeatedly, he said.

“I love getting a mystery basket of ingredients and saying, ‘What can I do with this?’” he said. “We want to keep our chefs’ creative juices flowing.”

In addition to making exceptional pizza, Fisher said the team at Salted Dough plans to give back to the community.

“As a team, we are going to volunteer,” he said. “I’ve already thought of a couple volunteer programs I’d like to start. First, if there’s a death in the community, we would like to bring that family free pizza. We want them to know we’re thinking of them.

“We’d like to connect with the fire department and do the same thing with families that have a house fire. In a tragic situation like that, the last thing you feel like doing is cooking. I’ve been there, and we want to bring them to a better place.”

For now, Fisher is focused on restoring furniture and tables recovered from old barns and antique stores, among other places.

“We’re doing a ton of restorations,” Fisher said. “I’ve become an amateur carpenter. So far, I’ve refinished 95 chairs and 30 tables. I absolutely love our tables, and I know our customers will love them too. All our big-top tables are different. They’re unique, and we want the dining experience to be unique, too.”

For more information, visit Salted Dough on Facebook.

Featured image photo caption: Salted Dough owner Jeff Fisher treats the repurposed wood tables for his new restaurant. Photo by J. Kananian