PHOTOGRAPH BY CATHERINE VIOX
Luca Bistro opened in October 2022, but it feels like it has been around for decades. The unabashedly French restaurant, with its French posters, bright red outer paneling, and chalkboard menu proclaiming its specials to passersby, fits into its Mt. Adams environs so perfectly that it’s hard to imagine Hatch Street without it. That, combined with warm service, timeless French fare, and relaxed joie de vivre makes this a true neighborhood establishment.
PHOTOGRAPH BY CATHERINE VIOX
Chef Frederic Maniet grew up in the south of France and has done an excellent job transporting his native cuisine to a quiet corner of Cincinnati. These are the dishes that culinary Francophiles often crave, prepared in a straightforward, time-honored way. Some dishes are more familiar to the American palate, like the peppery steak frites, cooked to order and served with thin, crunchy fries.
As with Colette, some dishes are more familiar in France, though if there is any justice, they will gain serious traction here. One dish I’d certainly love to eat more of is Bouchées à la Reine, a buttery, flaky puff pastry filled with chicken, mushrooms, peas, Gruyère cheese, and béchamel sauce. It’s a dish so warm and comforting it makes chicken pot pie seem aloof by comparison.
PHOTOGRAPH BY CATHERINE VIOX
Luca Bistro is a warm, gentle reminder that French food can be convivial and affordable. Freed from the hushed restraints of haute cuisine, this is the perfect meal for an animated post–art museum conversation. And there is plenty of approachable French wine to be had, as well as an espresso machine for those looking to live the café life. Walking out of Luca Bistro, you can’t help but feel like you’ve just left a homey French café. For a brief second, Mt. Adams feels like Montmartre.
934 Hatch St., Mt. Adams, (513) 621-5822, lucabistro.com
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