The mission seems simple enough: to eat well and to do good. Sérénité Restaurant & Culinary Institute on West Liberty Street in Medina not only brings a new choice for locals to eat at a fine, quality restaurant, but also an incredible program for their employees.
Sérénité was founded in March of 2018 by restauranteur Brandon Chrostowski–who is also the founder of EDWINS Leadership & Restaurant Institute in Shaker Square in Cleveland. The restaurant and culinary institute works with the Recovery Center of Medina County (RCMC) to provide long-term culinary training to those in the recovery community. Their goal is to instill leadership skills in men and women who are recovering from drug and alcohol addiction through an education in the culinary arts.
Student enrollment is open to anyone in the recovery community and students are paid and have full access to all of RCMC’s programs, case management, support systems and life-skills training. A key component to Sérénité’s mission is to change the face of recovery by providing essential on-the-job training for students while generating revenue to support the recovery center and help offset the costs of education.
Sérénité Restaurant is located at 538 West Liberty Street in Medina. Some popular dishes on their menu include roasted chicken, scallops, grilled duck breast, rack of lamb, salmon and a number of other traditional French entrees.
During a previous visit to the restaurant for dinner with my family, I had the local greens with warm goat cheese salad, sautéed sea scallops and an out-of-this-world French mac and cheese. Not only was the food delicious, but the service was superb as well. Our waitress was pleasant and professional and we were welcomed by two managers who stopped by separately to check on us and talk briefly about the program and the work that they are doing at Sérénité. It was a memorable dinner.
Bradford Toth, General Manager at Sérénité, says, “Obviously we are fine dining, French cuisine and white tablecloths and linens…but most importantly, before everything else, we always want to put the students first. That’s the most important part of what we do here.”
During my visit with Bradford and Kip Erwin, Recovery Center Administrator and co-manager of the restaurant, I couldn’t help but recognize the passion and commitment they have for the program. At one point during my conversation with the two of them, Kip tracked down an informational card placed on every table at Sérénité and on it there was a statement that read, "While dining, you will witness the power of a second chance and help change the perspective of what successful recovery looks like."
As I mentioned earlier, I have witnessed Sérénité personally with my family and it’s pretty amazing. When we walked into the restaurant, we had no idea of its mission or the program and training offered for the employees. We simply picked Sérénité that day because we had driven by it several times and we wanted to try something new. The story behind Sérénité Restaurant is truly a “feel good” story that I recommend you experience for yourself. Not only will you be able to enjoy a wonderful dinner, but more importantly, you will be able to support others in our community who are working hard on making a better life for themselves and their families.
For a full menu and more information about Sérénité Restaurant & Culinary Institute, visit their website at SereniteRestaurant.com or call 330.952.2611 to make a reservation.
