PHOTOGRAPH BY CATHERINE VIOX
Five on Vine serves as an extended rebuttal against the tired argument that American food is bland and boring, proving that there can be excitement in comfort. The restaurant—the fifth venture from Anthony Sitek and Haley Nutter-Sitek’s Crown Restaurant Group—achieves such excitement through meticulous attention to detail. The meat is butchered in-house, the bread and pasta are made from scratch, and the bacon is house-cured.
House-butchered beef and house-made pasta come together beautifully in the pappardelle stroganoff, served with chunks of short rib as tender as the noodles themselves. Beef stroganoff was one of my favorite childhood dishes, an almost certain spirit lifter. And Five on Vine’s version brought me back home, grown-up palate in tow.
PHOTOGRAPH BY CATHERINE VIOX
I’m convinced many diners will have a similar experience with at least one of Five on Vine’s dishes. And that’s the point. The Siteks envisioned Five on Vine as a way of reintroducing Cincinnatians to long-beloved dishes, whether that relationship began at a kitchen table or in a restaurant booth. These love letters to classics literally plaster the walls—the restaurant is adorned with local restaurant menus going back to the 1940s and newspapers that date back to the 1880s.
PHOTOGRAPH BY CATHERINE VIOX
But that doesn’t mean the menu, which Anthony Sitek and Corporate Chef David Bever rework every few months, is limited to the confines of southern Ohio. Thick, cleanly acidic fried green tomatoes make an appearance, as does a bountiful cioppino, a tomato-based seafood stew created by Italian American fishermen in San Francisco. “Gracie’s Meatballs,” named in honor of Sitek’s grandmother, uses her unique blend of raisins and pine nuts.
PHOTOGRAPH BY CATHERINE VIOX
Service is as warm and comforting as the food. You have Nutter-Sitek, as well as Director of Operations Brenna Alderman and Food and Beverage Director Alex Stevens, to thank for the fascinating display of historic menus. If, decades from now, I see an old Five on Vine menu gracing the walls of some local eatery, I’ll take a moment to look back fondly.
1324 Vine St., Over-the-Rhine, (513) 246-4301, fiveonvine.com
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