


Serenite could be model for recovery
Chrostowski celebrated for cuisine, helping troubled others succeed
Brandon Chrostowski (left) and Chef Gilbert Brenot discuss a new culinary training program planned in the kitchen of the former Medina Steakhouse. Photos by GLENN WOJCIAK
Stephanie Robinson, Judge Chris Collier and Michael Flaherty (left) listen to a presentation about opening a restaurant and culinary training program in the Medina County Recovery Center. Robinson is director of operations at the center and Flaherty will be general manager of the restaurant Serenite.
MEDINA – A celebrated chef known as much for helping convicted criminals successfully reintegrate into society as he is for his gourmet food is planning to open a new restaurant in Medina.
Brandon Chrostowski told about two dozen people gathered for a press conference at the former Medina Steak House that he plans to reopen the facility in early spring as a French restaurant called Serenite.
The building is now the site for the Recovery Center of Medina County established with the help of justice officials and a government grant to help people break the cycle of addiction through a variety of support programs.
Chrostowski has agreed to work with county judges and probation officials to establish Serenite where some of those recovering from addiction can learn culinary skills and get gainful employment that can help them increase their self esteem and establish lifestyles and habits separate from the ones that led them to addiction.
Chrostowski brings a successful model to the new enterprise. That is Edwin’s Leadership and Restaurant Institute which he opened in Shaker Heights in 2013. Edwin’s graduates about 100 culinary students a year who were recently released from prison or are still in jail. He claims 97 percent of those graduates got jobs and only 1 percent have been convicted of new crimes.
His approach is simple: arm those re-entering society with a skill set and a reason to smile. The program provides training in culinary arts and hospitality skills. It also includes support in finding a job and other basic needs like housing, basic medical care and job coaching.
The success of this work and other initiatives led by Chrostowski has earned him dozens of awards, including the 2016 CNN Hero Award, The Richard Cornuelle Award from the Manhattan Institute for Social Entrepreneurship as well as Crain’s 40 under 40.
His proposal to create a restaurant that serves alcohol in a place where alcoholics are working on maintaining their sobriety has its critics, however. Rob Brant has withdrawn his name and support for the Medina Recovery Center saying he is firmly opposed to the presence of alcohol in a recovery center. He founded Robby’s Voice, a nonprofit dedicated to helping addicts recover and he helped establish and manage the Medina Recovery Center until the decision to establish Serenite was made last month.
Chrostowski said he got a “second chance” himself early in life which led him on a mission to “change the face of re-entry in the United States.” He trained at the Culinary Institute of America and afterwards worked in fine restaurants in New York, Chicago, Paris and Cleveland.
Along the way he met Gilbert Brenot, a Frenchman who also has an impressive resume in the culinary arts who is coming out of retirement to serve as executive chef at Serenite. He trained in Capbreton, France, worked on the Riviera, and then moved to New York before ending up in Cleveland.
Medina native Michael Flaherty will be the general manager at Serenite. He got interested in the restaurant business as a busboy at the former Grand Market Café in Medina and later worked with Chrostowski at L’Albatros in Cleveland. He, too, had an addiction problem which led him to jail and is now passionate about the power of a complete support system for those wishing to make the changes they need to retake control of what they lost.
The culinary program planned at Serenite will be eight months long and train students in various cooking techniques as well as dining room work. The program also includes weekly support programs covering such things as daily life management, relapse prevention and codependency.
About 12 students will be admitted into the initial class which is scheduled to start in coming weeks. Students will be paid for their restaurant work while they learn. Anyone interested in taking part in the program can pick up an application at the Medina County Recovery Center located at 538 W. Liberty St. in Medina.
Brandon Chrostowski told about two dozen people gathered for a press conference at the former Medina Steak House that he plans to reopen the facility in early spring as a French restaurant called Serenite.
The building is now the site for the Recovery Center of Medina County established with the help of justice officials and a government grant to help people break the cycle of addiction through a variety of support programs.
Chrostowski has agreed to work with county judges and probation officials to establish Serenite where some of those recovering from addiction can learn culinary skills and get gainful employment that can help them increase their self esteem and establish lifestyles and habits separate from the ones that led them to addiction.
Chrostowski brings a successful model to the new enterprise. That is Edwin’s Leadership and Restaurant Institute which he opened in Shaker Heights in 2013. Edwin’s graduates about 100 culinary students a year who were recently released from prison or are still in jail. He claims 97 percent of those graduates got jobs and only 1 percent have been convicted of new crimes.
His approach is simple: arm those re-entering society with a skill set and a reason to smile. The program provides training in culinary arts and hospitality skills. It also includes support in finding a job and other basic needs like housing, basic medical care and job coaching.
The success of this work and other initiatives led by Chrostowski has earned him dozens of awards, including the 2016 CNN Hero Award, The Richard Cornuelle Award from the Manhattan Institute for Social Entrepreneurship as well as Crain’s 40 under 40.
His proposal to create a restaurant that serves alcohol in a place where alcoholics are working on maintaining their sobriety has its critics, however. Rob Brant has withdrawn his name and support for the Medina Recovery Center saying he is firmly opposed to the presence of alcohol in a recovery center. He founded Robby’s Voice, a nonprofit dedicated to helping addicts recover and he helped establish and manage the Medina Recovery Center until the decision to establish Serenite was made last month.
Chrostowski said he got a “second chance” himself early in life which led him on a mission to “change the face of re-entry in the United States.” He trained at the Culinary Institute of America and afterwards worked in fine restaurants in New York, Chicago, Paris and Cleveland.
Along the way he met Gilbert Brenot, a Frenchman who also has an impressive resume in the culinary arts who is coming out of retirement to serve as executive chef at Serenite. He trained in Capbreton, France, worked on the Riviera, and then moved to New York before ending up in Cleveland.
Medina native Michael Flaherty will be the general manager at Serenite. He got interested in the restaurant business as a busboy at the former Grand Market Café in Medina and later worked with Chrostowski at L’Albatros in Cleveland. He, too, had an addiction problem which led him to jail and is now passionate about the power of a complete support system for those wishing to make the changes they need to retake control of what they lost.
The culinary program planned at Serenite will be eight months long and train students in various cooking techniques as well as dining room work. The program also includes weekly support programs covering such things as daily life management, relapse prevention and codependency.
About 12 students will be admitted into the initial class which is scheduled to start in coming weeks. Students will be paid for their restaurant work while they learn. Anyone interested in taking part in the program can pick up an application at the Medina County Recovery Center located at 538 W. Liberty St. in Medina.