The first Great Bear Mountain Pie is expected to open here in August.
The restaurant will occupy a space in the food court at , next to .
But the specialty won't be a regular pie. These are "mountain pies" -- the kind of sandwiches campers cook over an open fire.
"People have made these over a campfire for decades. I had an idea to commercialize them, because once you leave the campgrounds, you can't get them," said Gary Medved, who created the concept with his brother, Dave.
Medved has invented a type of grill that replicates -- on a large scale -- the tool campers use to make pocket sandwiches out of bread and fillings.
At Great Bear Mountain Pie, you'll be able to order one of about five specialty sandwiches, or create your own, similar to or , choosing from an array of ingredients.
Then it'll go into the grill for two minutes and comes out as a pocket, with the edges crimped, the outside grilled and the fillings warm and melted.
There will also be dessert pies like cheesecake-apple and cheesecake-brownie.
"It's a very unique product," Medved said.
The brothers worked wth Western Reserve Bread Company to design an artisan bread, and worked with the chef -- and with Gary's wife, Kim -- to figure out the ingredients and flavors.
There will be two kids' choices -- macaroni-and-cheese and hot dog and cheese.
"These will be higher-end mountain pie sandwiches than you make over a campfire," Medved said.
If their first restaurant is successful, the brothers hope to expand throughout the area.
Gary, who has a background in mechanical engineering, has applied for a patent for his grill design.
Gary and Dave Medved are both east-siders, but picked Strongsville for their first restaurant after visiting Westfield SouthPark and seeing all the crowds shopping at the mall -- and eating at the food court.
By the way, they named the company with a nod to their father -- Medved is Slovenian for "bear."
And if you look closely at the logo pictured above, you'll see some hidden symbolism. The top of the double-peaked mountain forms an "M," and below is the symbol for pi -- hence, Mountain Pie.
