Eat

DAN DEAGAN’S BRUSH WITH DEATH

Dan Deagan and Jackie Ramey

Owner of Deagan’s, Humble Wine Bar and local food truck parks tells the story of his Fourth of July home fire for the first time.

By Douglas Trattner

AFTER GOLFING WITH buddies, Dan Deagan returned home to help his girlfriend Jackie Ramey prepare for the following day’s Fourth of July festivities. To celebrate the holiday, the couple was hosting friends at their new “dream house” in Westlake, which they had moved into one month prior. Deagan loaded a Yeti cooler with beer and ice while Ramey brined a pork butt and pork loin bound for the smoker. It was still early – around 10:30 p.m. – when Deagan went upstairs to bed and Ramey took the dogs with her to the basement to shield them from the fireworks.

“I don’t remember waking up, but my first thought was, this is a really terrible dream,” Deagan recalls. “It’s so hot and I can’t see anything, and I can’t breathe. Then I burnt my hands and remember realizing, Oh my god, this isn’t a dream. This is happening.”

While Deagan was sleeping and Ramey was oblivious in the dark, quiet basement, a small fire started in a trash can on the back porch. It might have been an errant spark from the firepit or a slow-smoldering ember from days prior. The small fire spread to the Yeti, which created a blaze intense enough for the neighbor to dial 911. Within minutes, the flames climbed up the backside of the home and quickly engulfed the attic directly above Deagan’s bedroom.

“I couldn’t see a foot in front of me because of the thick smoke,” Deagan says. “I was just trying to find my way out. I would have gladly jumped out of a window if I could see one.”

When the windows on the house blew out from thermal stress, Ramey awoke in the basement still clueless to the events taking place upstairs. It was only when she climbed to the main floor and saw the smoke that she comprehended the danger and managed to flee unharmed through the front door.

Deagan recalls crawling around on his hands and knees to escape but he was blind from smoke, searing with heat and depleted of oxygen. The police were the first to arrive on scene, but it was too dangerous for them to attempt a rescue. The first fireman entered the house while he was still pulling on his second glove, which exposed his flesh long enough to sustain a severe burn. As he climbed the stairs, the fireman thought to himself that there was no chance anybody could survive the blaze. And then he heard a muffled, “I need help in here.”

Given that all the outlet covers in the bedroom melted from the heat, the firemen pegged the temperature around 350-400°F. But at six feet – human height – those temperatures would soar to 600-700°F.

When the fireman wrapped Deagan in a fire blanket and carried him out of the house, Ramey feared the worst. But Deagan thought he escaped major trauma. Chalk it up to adrenaline or shock or whatever, he didn’t feel any pain. In truth, 50 percent of his body was covered in 2nd and 3rd degree burns and survival was anything but a certainty. His hands, knees and tops of his feet were roasted from crawling on scorching tile, while everything from his neck down to the bottom of his butt literally broiled from the intense heat above.

Deagan awoke to find his wrists restrained and a breathing tube down his throat. He was at the MetroHealth Burn Care Center, where he would remain for a full month. If he mistakenly believed that he escaped severe pain earlier, the patient quickly was disabused of that notion thanks to daily debridement procedures.

“Every morning they have to come in and change your dressings,” Deagan explains. “Even before that, you’re sitting in your room and you hear people screaming and crying while getting their dressings changed. It’s not just the worst pain I have ever felt, it’s the worst pain I can ever imagine.”

Deagan endured that and more yet managed to maintain a positive attitude throughout it all – or at least most of it. His spirit was buoyed by daily visits from Ramey and his 11 brothers and sisters. His youth, health, strength and proximity to MetroHealth all greatly increased his odds of survival and long-term success.

“We lost stuff, and I lost skin,” he says matter-of-factly. “Jackie is alive and unharmed. The dogs are fine. I would go through this 50 times before I’d want her to go through it once.”

It’s been three months since the tragedy. Deagan still wears compression sleeves over most of his body for all but one hour a day, his and Ramey’s dream house is a total loss, and the couple lost pretty much all of their personal possessions. But if you think Dan Deagan has lost his sense of humor, you’d be mistaken.

“When we bought the house, I would say to my friends that this is the house I plan on dying in,” he quips. “I didn’t mean it literally.”

dtrattner@clevescene.com t@dougtrattner

EAT

Jaja’s dining looks like nowhere else in town.

Photo by Marina Goldi

BITES

Jaja, Intro’s new “shared-plate steakhouse” to open Oct. 12

By Douglas Trattner

The Home Pantry Debuts at West Side Market with Expanded Product Line

INTRO, THE NEW NINEstory apartment complex across the street from the West Side Market, already has unveiled Edda Coffee Roasters, the all-day café; Pioneer, the wood-fired sports bar; and Truss, the rooftop event space. Next up for the team at Harbor Bay Ventures is Jaja, which is described by president of hospitality Dan Whalen as a sexy shared-plate steakhouse with Latin American and Mediterranean influences.

When guests exit the elevator on the second level, they will be immersed in a drama-filled space that was designed to foster a fun, casual, free-spirited vibe.

“The idea was to create something that is sensory overload,” Whalen explains. “We want to transport people. We want people to walk out of that elevator and feel like they are somewhere else, in a place that doesn’t really belong in Cleveland.”

That vibe is achieved thanks to a combination of plush fabrics, natural stone, ornate decorative details, jawdropping views and lots of greenery. Above a light-trimmed lattice ceiling is a retractable glass roof that opens to the skies. With the push of a button, the airy second-floor space takes on the feel of a rooftop patio.

Unlike the spacious 175-seat Pioneer one floor down, Jaja is smaller by design, accommodating about 75 guests indoors.

“We wanted it to be intimate and to always feel full,” Whalen notes.

Executive chef Brian Whalen has devised a wide-ranging menu that is divided into categories for vegetables, meat, fish and seafood. A large majority of the foods will be coming off the massive live-fire cooking suite at Pioneer. The 20foot wood-fired grill was designed to be large enough to support both restaurants.

Everything from the smallest snacks to the meatiest large-format steaks are built for sharing. The goal is to prepare and present high-end steakhouse fare while maintaining a relaxed, festive atmosphere.

“We want people to let their hair down and have a good time but while still serving upscale food,” adds Whalen. “We want to encourage a social, convivial dining experience.”

In the vegetable department are plates like savory spinach flans, burrata with charred bread, “burnt’ carrot with whipped goat cheese, and chanterelle pasta with Pernod cream sauce. Fish options include grouper crudo with candied blood orange, grilled head-on prawns with chili aioli, and whole split lobster with chimichurri butter. Meat eaters can start with braised and grilled pork belly and roasted marrow bones before moving on to a choice of eight different cuts of beef. They range from a small filet on up to 44-ounce dry-aged tomahawk, with prime hangars, picanhas and porterhouses in between.

The stars of the menu might just be the parilladas, large mixed platters devoted either to seafood or grilled meats. Each features a variety of items served with plenty of accompaniments and grilled bread.

An exceptional cocktail list will be joined by wines from around the globe, including less familiar gems plucked from South America, Argentina, Chile, Spain, Slovenia and Croatia.

When it opens on Wednesday, Oct. 12, Jaja will serve dinner every night but Monday and Sunday brunch.

Now Open: Cocky’s Bagels in the Flats

Since launching Cocky’s Bagels as a food-trailer concept about five years ago, partners Keene Cockburn and fiancé Natalie Bata have since added two brick-and-mortar locations. The first, in North Olmsted (26703 Brookpark Ext.), opened in 2019. The second, located in the heart of the Flats East Bank neighborhood (1127 Old River Rd.), opened yesterday. With each new location, the concept and offerings seem to expand in various ways.

This latest shop in the Flats is a far cry from the modest food trailer that launched the venture. The spacious new restaurant has indoor and outdoor seating and a bar. Guests can find classic bagel sandwiches like the Wake ‘N Bacon, starring bacon, egg, cheese and garlic herb cream cheese, the Lox, with smoked salmon, cream cheese, tomato and onion, and the signature Cocky’s, stacked with grilled turkey, salami, egg, cheese, lettuce and tomato.

Sandwiches are joined by sides like fresh-cut fries, deepfried macaroni and cheese bites, and Buffalo chicken dip served with bagel chips.

New at this location is a bevy of adult beverages. The Big Mama Mary is a bloody mary garnished with bacon, sausage and a hash brown. The rim is dipped in everything bagel spice. There are mimosas, spiked coffee drinks, beers and mixed drinks like the Bees Knees and Ranch Water.

Another big win for Flats barhoppers is the addition of late-night food offerings, which will run well past 2 a.m. on weekends.

The Cocky’s team isn’t slowing down now. Already in the works is a location on S. High Street by The Ohio State University, which expected to open in early 2023.

For the past five years, Alaina Caruso has been crafting highquality jams, soup and baking mixes, and spice blends under The Home Pantry label. Items such as Strawberry Rose Jam, Blackberry Lavender Jam, Spicy Black Bean Soup, Vegetable Barley Soup Mix, Classic Chocolate Chunk Cookies, Lavender Rosemary Salt Blend and Orange Bourbon Sugar Blend, which are made in a certified production space in Old Brooklyn, can be found online and at retailers and purveyors like Ohio City Provisions, Old Brooklyn Cheese, Cleveland Bagel, Heinen’s and Market District.

As of late last month, you’re also able to find Home Pantry products at the West Side Market. Caruso’s new stand (D2) is located between Coffee and Crepes and Ohio City Pasta. This new retail space will allow Caruso to expand her product line, with prepared foods being the main extension.

“My love and passion for food are found alongside the superfan I am for our city and community,” she explains. “Putting these elements together has found its place in the West Side Market all while being able to curate seasonal and rotating dishes we as Clevelanders want, and in many places need. You’ll find a variety of salads, weekly wraps and soups, grilled cheese Mondays, and a display of quick-to-go grabables like our parfaits, quiche, and some fun rotating options!”

dtrattner@clevescene.com t@dougtrattner