Foodie News You Can Use

Salazar is closing, Companion partners with The Rhined, spend Christmas Eve weekend at The Lempicka, and more.

Salazar to Close at End of December
Chef Jose Salazar recently announced in an Instagram post that the final dinner service at his eponymously named restaurant in Over-the-Rhine takes place on New Year’s Eve. “We’ve known for some time now that we have outgrown this space,” the post reads. “And as our 10-year lease is expiring, we’ve begun to search for a new, larger, more efficient location for Salazar 2.0.”

New Pizza Collab at Oakley Wines This Weekend
Pizza pop-up Companion and specialty cheese and wine shop The Rhined will debut a new holiday pizza collaboration from 2 to 8 p.m. (or until it sells out) this Sunday, December 3, at Oakley Wines. It’s your chance to snag the Chestnut pizza, which features roasted chestnut cream sauce, The Rhined’s raclette cheese, chestnut mushrooms (from Rich Life Farm & Funghi), a blackcurrant agrodolce, fried sage, and nutmeg. Companion’s full menu and Oakley Wines’ all-day happy hour menu will also be available during the event. For more information, visit oakleywines.com.

Spend Christmas Eve Weekend at The Lempicka
The Lempicka By Jeff Ruby will offer a five-star prix fixe menu for Christmas Eve weekend. The event venue—which opened in the old Jeff Ruby’s space on Walnut back in June—is hosting this inaugural meal from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. on December 23 and 24, and it includes menu items such as carved prime rib, roasted Scottish salmon and creamy whipped potatoes, and The Lempicka’s signature blue cheese gougères. The cost is $1,600 for a table of eight. For more information, visit jeffruby.com/lempickachristmas.

Young Buck Delicatessen Launches Breakfast Pop-Up
Brian and Caitlin Young of Young Buck Delicatessen are hosting a sandwich pop-up at Crown Republic Gastropub from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on December 5, 12, and 19. The curated menu combines traditional deli favorites with innovative flavors, including “The New Deal” (gabagool, mortadella, smoked pork loin, shredded lettuce, pickled red onion, fresh ricotta, and red wine vinegar on Italian grinder bread) and “The Vermonter” (smoked turkey breast, Brussel sprouts, cider vinegar slaw, apple butter, and melted raclette cheese on a caraway roll). For more information, follow Young Buck on Instagram (@youngbuck_delicatessen).

Yoli’s Expands Lunch Hours
Under the direction of its new executive chef Zachary Barnes (formerly of Metropole), Yoli’s Pool House expands its lunch hours, starting December 1. The taco and margarita joint will be open from 10:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday, and offer all-day brunch, featuring items such as chorizo shrimp and grits, churro-dusted French toast, and a grilled breakfast burrito. For more information, follow Yoli’s on Instagram (@yolis.otr).

Nolia Kitchen Named Top Restaurant
Earlier this week, Nolia Kitchen, which specializes in New Orleans cuisine, was named to Esquire’s 2023 “Best New Restaurants in America” list. “This is no bullshit second-line tourist romp down Magazine Street,” writer Joshua David Stein says. “[Chef Jeffery] Harris’s cooking bundles convention and invention into a restless, ever-evolving menu.”