By: Jacob Kessler
THE VILLAGE REPORTER
jacob@thevillagereporter.com
A ribbon cutting was held for the newly opened Reelwood Kitchen in Wauseon this past week.
The event itself took place through the Wauseon Chamber of Commerce and was held at the new restaurant located inside the Skye Cinema Movie Theater.
The restaurant opened back on February 16th and has been serving customers since. Owners Matthew and Mindy Gleckler described the restaurant as somewhere between casual and fine dining.
A majority of the menu is homemade and made from scratch, all the way down to the sauces, dressings, cole slaw, freshly cut fries, hand-breaded perch, and mushrooms. Even the steaks are locally sourced from Pettisville Meats.
Plans are also underway for an herb garden, which will allow for these ingredients to be served fresh.
Mr. Gleckler also described the menu as American style, with sandwiches, pizzas, steaks, and pastas of different kinds.
“We are trying to do something different. We serve good quality food, not the back the truck up and dump it on a plate kind.”
Weekly and daily specials are also planned in order to allow people to try something new. Many of these ideas come from members of the kitchen, which is run by Chef Benny Box.
Box further explained that 90% of the recipes done at Reelwood are from scratch. Even all the way down to the seasoning, which Box says he made himself.
“Our steaks blast. We put a lot of passion behind what we do back there. To me, cooking is an art form. We are able to make beautiful things that are tasteful at the same time.”
“I have been cooking for 25 years. I love the pressure and I just love the art of it. I love making food that tastes good. When people look at the food and say, wow, that’s the goal.” Benny also explained that the kitchen serves food that is more “outside the box”.
“Anything outside the box that you wouldn’t normally see in the area is kind of what we’re going for.”
The creation of Reelwood Kitchen is part of a larger goal by the owners to modernize Skye Cinema. Renovations began last year when the theater changed out its auditorium chairs to plush recliners.
Half of the lobby was then partitioned for the new restaurant and construction outside took place for more space and the patio area.
Future renovations are still planned, with one auditorium expected to be changed into an All Sports Simulator. This is all being done in order to be Skye Cinema an all-encompassing entertainment destination for the area.