Two Shaker grads open businesses in their hometown.
By Joe Miller | Photogtaphy by Jason Miller
Dylan Fallon
Ninja City
With the opening of his latest Ninja City location at the Van Aken District’s Market Hall this summer, restaurateur Dylan Fallon’s career
has just about come full circle.
The 2003 Shaker Heights High School graduate got his start in the restaurant business just around the corner when he was still a teenager, working at local favorites Matsu and Elsner’s Steak and Steam on Chagrin Boulevard. Those eateries have since closed, but his childhood home in the Sussex neighborhood is still there, as are old friends, former co-workers, and more than a few influential teachers.
“I have an awesome history with Shaker and I love this opportunity to get back and get connected with the community,” Fallon says. “It’s really cool to be home and be able to bring something unique and new to Shaker.”
Ninja City is as unique as it comes. Like the restaurant’s other locations around Cleveland, the Market Hall spot features a decor influenced by hip-hop culture and comic books and — more importantly — an eclectic menu focused on urban and traditional Asian cuisine as well as “pub grub.” The dishes range from the very popular Pho noodle soup and steam buns to spicy mac and cheese and loaded fries.
It’s a theme Fallon and partner Bac Nguyen developed together when they opened the original Ninja City restaurant and bar in University Circle in 2014. Their mission since the beginning, according to Ninja City’s website, has been to “serve awesome food and drinks you love — in a space full of your favorite stuff — with people you love.”
Fallon has been interested in bringing the restaurant to Shaker Heights for a while. When Van Aken District developers started hosting weekend beer gardens to build interest in the concept, Ninja City was one of several restaurants that participated. But when it came time to claim a spot in the upcoming Market Hall, Fallon says he was preoccupied with relocating their original restaurant to Cleveland’s Gordon Square neighborhood.
“We ended up not being able to commit,” says Fallon.
Since then, Ninja City has continued to keep him busy. Once the Gordon Square location was up and running, he and Nguyen opened another Ninja City at Cleveland’s Huntington Convention Center and then signed on as the official backstage caterer at Jacobs Pavilion and The Agora. Still, Fallon kept looking for a way into the Market Hall. That possibility finally emerged late last year.
“Everything fell into place at the right time,” he says.
The Market Hall location will initially have about a dozen employees and feature most of the same menu as Gordon Square, minus any items that directly compete with Ninja City’s new Van Aken District neighbors. And although the new location lacks an in-house bar, Fallon is using that as an opportunity to add a variety of bubble teas — also known as boba — to the menu. Eventually, he says he’ll add bubble teas at Ninja City’s other locations.
Although Fallon and his wife and kids now live in Brecksville, he has found time over the years to come back to town at the invitation of past teachers to talk to High School classes about his career. Now, with a restaurant in Shaker Heights, Fallon looks forward to being even more involved in his hometown.
“We’ve only been able to be successful by being a part of the communities and having a connection to those communities we’re in.”
Contact:
Email Ninja City
216-338-8490
Mayne Attraction
Sharmayne Freeman
With 3,500 square feet of space, Mayne Attraction’s new home at 3685 Lee Road not only gives it bigger dance floors than its old 2,500-square-foot location in Cleveland Heights, but it will also allow the school to add community areas such as a kitchen, a little library, study nooks, and even a dance apparel store.
“I really want it to be a welcoming space, not just for the dancers, but their families as well,” Freeman-Sellers says. She is availing herself of the City’s Storefront Renovation Program for new business signage to convey that welcome.
The rented building — most recently used as a daycare center — will also help Mayne Attraction expand beyond its current curriculum which focuses mainly on ballet, jazz, tap, and hip-hop for kids. Freeman-Sellers wants to add more adult dance and fitness offerings, including an “aerials” class where students can explore movement while hanging from the ceiling from a harness and fabric straps.
“I’m hoping we’ll be here for a while,” the 2003 Shaker Heights High School graduate says. “I don’t see us outgrowing this building anytime soon,” she adds with a laugh.
Still, Freeman-Sellers’ crystal ball has failed her before. In fact, when she offered her first dance class in 2013 — with rented space at a Beachwood ballroom and just five students — she thought it was a temporary summer gig. Ten years later, Freeman-Sellers and four other dance instructors are teaching about 65 kids.
More recently, the school has found success with its first adult dance class. The drop-in course, which has attracted about 40 students, focuses on teaching women how to dance in high heels. “There’s a specific technique to it that’s sassier and kind of sensual,” she says.
The class also gives students an opportunity to talk about the things they face as women. “It’s about building that camaraderie and sisterhood while also dancing and getting a really good workout,” she says. “So it’s a really holistic health experience.”
That may not sound like a typical dance class, but Freeman-Sellers isn’t your typical dance instructor. Although she studied dance as a college undergraduate, she went on to earn master’s degrees in school counseling and school psychology. When she’s not at the studio, she works as a counselor at three charter schools.
Freeman-Sellers believes her experience in education, combined with her passion for dance, helps her bring a more comprehensive approach to Mayne Attraction. With that in mind, she has pulled together a staff with similar educational backgrounds who can help families navigate more than just the dance floor.
“My focus has always been the holistic health of children,” she says. “I tell the parents, I am part of your village. I’m here if you need me, even if it has nothing to do with dance.”
Freeman-Sellers, who grew up just one street away in the Lomond neighborhood, is also driven by her experience as an African American girl in Shaker Heights. Although she has been dancing since she was nine, Freeman-Sellers says she wasn’t exposed to traditional styles until high school.
“I’m very intentional in serving children who look like me, because when I was younger I didn’t have these opportunities,” she says.
Contact:
Email Mayne Attraction
216-269-3829
