J. Kevin Wolfe

B.J. Kim is the sauce whisperer.

For 17 years, Tim and Ruthai Sanphasiri-Tansantikulatt have been serving up Thai treats like the mango fried rice with chicken, beef, pork, egg, peppers, and mangoes in roasted chili paste.

If you hit this Sharonville mainstay around lunch hour, there’s so much middle-aged testosterone in the dining room you’ll expect an arm-wrestling championship to break out any minute.

When someone floats a wistful “What a shame that Café de Vine is gone…” in my vicinity, I gently inform the well-intentioned that their favorite downtown lunch spot has just moved around the corner.

It all started with hummus. But within a few months it became obvious that Fond's clientele wanted more than just ground-up garbanzos.

Like all good dives, the Brew House claims to have the best burger in town.

The secret is, of course, the sauce.

Burgers and nachos share valuable menu real estate with upscale items like Prince Edward Island mussels and Cajun-style ravioli with homemade marinara.

It’s Puerto Rican, Cuban, and Mexican, all rolled into a taco wrapper, best carried out.

They're still out there, you just have to know where to look. And have a sense of adventure.