March 2017
Features
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Best Restaurants 2017: New Kids on the Block
A couple of new restaurants that have caught our attention.
Best Restaurants 2017: Bread Winner
The owner of Phoenician Taverna takes pride in his in-house pita.
This Is What Happens When A Librarian Moonlights As An OTR Restaurant Intern
Middle-aged librarian Holbrook Sample tied on an apron, rolled up his sleeves, and set about doing a six-month, unpaid stage at Salazar. He burnt a lot of bread, whipped up chocolate cakes on the fly, burnt his finger, ate a pig testicle (and liked it!), and almost forgot about his day job in the process.
Restaurant L
It’s a throwback that’s also ahead of the curve: at once a grande dame and an outlandish upstart, Hollywood regency glamour meets New York City kick-ass.
Mita’s
While chef-owner Jose Salazar’s sophomore effort has been a runaway success (and garnered plenty of James Beard award attention), what brings us back, time and again, are hyper-fresh flavors so pure that dinner feels simultaneously virtuous and decadent.
Sotto
There isn’t a better date night destination in town.
Salazar
Under the watchful eye of chef de cuisine Andy Hiner, Salazar has continued to evolve, turning out fresh, well-balanced dishes dotted with seasonal surprises.
Abigail Street
Few restaurants are as exceptional as Abigail Street while making zero fuss about it.
Metropole
We’ve crushed on Metropole’s signatures before: the roasted half chicken with Aleppo pepper; the Wagyu steak tartare; and the charcuterie board with selections like kantwurst, coppa, and rich, oozy-warm ricotta.
Boca
Few restaurants hit you with the operatic drama of Boca.
Miyoshi Japanese Restaurant
On the sushi front, Miyoshi more than delivers with exquisitely fresh, melt-in-your-mouth fish atop chewy, seasoned rice, and there are plenty of udon and soba iterations to choose from.
Phoenician Taverna
It’s impossible to guess from the outside that Mason’s Phoenician Taverna is a special place.
Local Women Hold Their Own in the Historically Male-Dominated Wine Industry
In the last 10 years, women have taken the wine world by storm—and Cincinnati is no exception.
Smooth Operator
Wary of tucking into a jar of liver? Fear not. This smooth spread is poised to become your best new drinking buddy.
Blessed Are the Cheese-Makers
Cheesemaking requires a level of care that might intimidate the most natural obsessives, i.e., chefs.
Theory of Evolution
Cincinnati’s dining scene has become quite a melting pot (or hot pot, if you prefer).
Where Have All the Line Cooks Gone?
In the rush to become the next Jamie Oliver, young line cooks are focusing less on fundamentals and jumping ship with more frequency. It’s enough to make a head chef cry for help.
Bird Is the Word
For a lot of chefs, chicken is the equivalent of a culinary cop-out. It’s an amateur order, for sure, but no menu would be complete without it, right? “Well, we always like to have some kind of poultry on the menu,” admits Sotto’s chef de cuisine, Danny Combs. “But we know that people also want […]
Best Restaurants 2017: The Art of Impeccable Service
“When I dine out, I want to be greeted right away. And when I’m ready to pay, I want to be able to pay. The worst is when you’re finished and your credit card is on the table and you’re waiting.”
Meet The Guy Who Convinced Us To Drink Charred Jalapeños
When the seasons change, Metropole beverage manager Chris Brown nerds out for a new lineup.
Recipe: Pozole Verde from Mita’s
When we called Jose Salazar to inquire after the recipe, he wasn’t surprised. “It’s definitely one of our most popular dishes,” he said. Whip up a batch and see why.
Remembering Pat Renick, Monumental Artist
Monster-maker, advocate for artists, force of nature—artist Patricia Renick’s greatest creation might have been herself.
Best Restaurants 2017: The Art of The Restaurant Build-Out
As a vice president with the Boca Restaurant Group, Fries is tasked with creating spaces that are as sumptuous as the food. We talked to him about creating the experience of dining at Boca.
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Frontlines
Secrets of a Sausage Queen
Of all the wonderfully weird rituals of Bockfest, the Sausage Queen coronation is the crown jewel. Before she helps lead the parade and anoint her successor at the festival’s 25th anniversary celebration this month (March 3-5), 2016 Queen Rachel Appenfelder reflects on her reign.
Orchids at Palm Court
If you want to feel—and dine—like Jay Gatsby for an evening, this is the place.
Dr. Know: Rude Tornadoes, Uptown Gas Prices, and Griffithus Savantus
One hundred years ago this month, stately Hyde Park did indeed experience the vulgarity, the insult to neighborhood propriety, the plain rudeness of a tornado.
Yes, “Midwestern” Is Kind Of An Accent
Michigander Edward McClelland looks at how Midwesterners sound—as well as various accents and the way they express themselves—and shows that strong regional distinctions prevail even today.
Constella Festival Rethinks Classical Music
Classical music is cool. That’s what the organizers of Constella Festival hope to convey through their weeklong music, fine arts, and dance festival this month.
The Pros and Cons of Infill Real Estate Development
The growing trend of luxury infill developments is changing the face of the city’s hottest neighborhoods—whether they like it or not.
Dark Asana Yoga is as Metal as it Sounds
The darkness and the music—we’re talking space doom; black, stoner, and atmospheric metal; drone, noise, and ambient—drown out distractions and make the whole thing deeply meditative.
CVG Has Landed Powel Crosley’s Super Station Wagon
Thanks to the Cincinnati Museum Center, airport visitors can now peek into one of Powel Crosley’s bygone creations—his personal 1951 Crosley Super Station Wagon—which will be on display in the baggage claim area though late 2018.
Manifest Drawing Center is Preserving the Art of the Darkroom
Get back to the business of film at the center’s community darkroom.
Radar
This 1854 Glendale Home Is Called “Ashlea,” But No One Knows Why
Twelve-foot ceilings, door-sized windows, and original white marble fireplace surrounds offer a peek into late 1800s domestic life.
The French Rendezvous is a Provençal Dreamland in Madisonville
Warning, Francophiles: Once you step inside The French Rendezvous, you may never want to leave.
Long Weekend: Austin, Texas
A confluence of old and new worlds in the Lone Star State’s capital.
Style Counsel: Michael Vinegar
“I’m not ready to give up the street side of me. That’s very important to me, that’s who I am. That’s just as important as the professional side.”
Six Ways To Wear Florals
There’s no better way to celebrate spring than by putting flowers on everything.
Columns
Letter from the Editor: March 2017
What makes a city a city? Is it the architecture? The roads and bridges? The hospitals, universities, factories, businesses, schools, and places of worship? The parks and hills and neighborhoods? All of these are components that make up the modern urban machine. But the thing that makes the machine go, the fuel, is people. Before […]
Goldsmith Cardel Curates The Good Life
For 30 Years, Tim Goldsmith, owner of Goldsmith Cardell in Hyde Park, has exhibited an eye for the finer things.
The Protein That Could Stop Cancer in its Tracks
Researchers at Children’s are studying how cancer spreads—and maybe how it stops.
The Cincinnati Archdiocese Archives Are Hiding In Plain Sight
The basement of the Civil War–era building behind St. Louis Church is filled with concrete to support the weight of it all.
Dine
Our Ten Favorite Butters from Jungle Jim’s
There really is butter for every occasion.
Fond: Lunch and Deli Is a Cult Favorite in Montgomery
It all started with hummus. But within a few months it became obvious that Fond’s clientele wanted more than just ground-up garbanzos.
Worth The Drive: Meadowlark
Sometimes a restaurant has an uncanny ability to teleport us back in time.
Q&A: Mary Thress and Carey Greiner of Nothing Bundt Cakes
First question: Why bundts?
Beer Collaborations Are Everywhere
As Cincinnati continues to cement its position as a growing mecca for craft beer, the connections and collaborations keep on flourishing. It’s no surprise that bakers, sausage-makers, even soccer teams want in on the action. Here’s a round up of beer collaborations that fall outside the standard six pack.