Menu of Memory: Cincinnati's Table August 2022

menu of memory · cincinnati’s table · august 7, 2022 · the annex gallery

Artists and Communities Remaking the World Together

Wave Pool is a socially-engaged art center that acts as a conduit for community change through artist opportunities and support. Pairing communities’ knowledge of their needs with artists’ sense of possibility, Wave Pool provides a structure whereby contemporary art and artists can be integral contributors to the fabric and success of our city, country, and beyond, by helping us build relationships and collective knowledge around complex issues, centering the insights and experience of those most intimately affected.

Cincinnati’s Table

Cincinnati’s Table is a series of dinners held in different communities around the city. The series aims to bridge relationships within neighborhoods, including but not limited to helping immigrants connect with each other and their new neighbors through shared meals. Each meal has a theme introduced by an artist through an interactive artwork or installation. Meals are prepared by an immigrant or refugee in order to start conversations across many groups and to bridge divides within our city. It started in 2018 when The Welcome Project was chosen as a partner organization for a pilot project entitled ‘Cincinnati’s Table,’ with United Way’s ‘The Shift’ program. The Welcome Project organized one meal per month for a year. The dinners were held in neighborhoods where immigrants and refugees have settled. Welcome invited the local neighbors to be part of the meal, and this allowed everyone a chance to get

to know each other, to build friendships, and to highlight the neighborhood.

After one very successful and delicious year of free community dinners that introduce and empower immigrant home chefs from around the city, Welcome are excited to continue and expand this program. Cincinnati’s Table is brought to you by Wave Pool, funded by Greater Cincinnati Foundation’s Giving Circle. Stories and images about all of the chefs, artists, community partners, and events can be found on our blog.

The Welcome Project is a social enterprise that empowers marginalized and at-risk refugees and immigrants in Cincinnati by providing jobs, education, and community. The Welcome Project is a project of Wave Pool. More information can be found at www.welcomecincinnati.org

Wave Pool is a contemporary art fulfillment center where experimental art connects community and creates change. wavepoolgallery.org

The Welcome Project empowers Cincinnati’s refugee and immigrant communities while connecting, assisting, and inspiring all through art and food.

Christopher Leitch offers warm acknowledgement and keen appreciation to: at Wavepool, Diane Fishbein, Board of Directors; Cal Cullen, Co-Founder and Executive Director; Erika NJ Allen, Interim Manager of The Welcome Project; Maria Seda-Reeder, Director of Exhibitions/Artist Support Initiatives; Elan Schwartz, Executive Assistant; Thi Tran, UC Fine Arts Co-opt; Muna Adhikari, Welcome Project Americorps Member. At The Annex Gallery, Jens G Rosenkrantz jr. For the chef’s photos: Asa Featherstone IV. Erin Billingsley for her astute visual guidance. Stuart Hinds because, really, he is the better cook. At The Littlefield Group, Eli Meiners, Chief Operating and Marketing Officer; Alessandro Urbisci, Executive Chef, Branch, Andrew Huska, Executive Chef, The Littlefield [pictured on following pages.]

Cincinnati’s Table & The Littlefield Group

The Littlefield Group is a hospitality company based in Cincinnati, Ohio, whose organization includes the Littlefield, Second Place, Branch, and Drop. The group emerged from the Cincinnati arts community as a result of a shared love of fine food and bourbon. We have a passion for adaptive reuse architecture, contemporary art, and supporting our community. All of which are an integral part of each of our drinking and dining establishments.

It’s that last part that brings us together with the Welcome Project and Cincinnati’s Table. Their work to empower Cincinnati’s refugee and immigrant

populations through art and food speaks to us not only because they are using our native language - cooking! - but because of what they are saying with it. Many of our team members have immigrant stories in their families, some only one generation away. For that reason we are thrilled to partner with Christopher Leitch and play a small part in exploring the way food and culture have moved through, and improved, our city.

Eli Meiners, The Littlefield Group

Ingredients

Whole squid Garlic Ginger Mirin Sake Soy Sauce

My personal connection to food starts with my family. My hippie conservationist parents put an emphasis on knowing where your food comes from and exploring cultures through food. Of equal importance was and is joy and an attention to craft. My mom taught me at an early age that understanding how to make food that is as nourishing as it is tasty is one form of independence. To that end she made me start cooking for myself at 12. I cut my teeth on my favorite food at the time, fried chicken. Fast forward a couple decades and I have attempted to provide the same sense of independence and curiosity about food for my children. I have chosen to share a dish that my oldest son and I made for his 18th birthday, BBQ squid. The most enjoyable part of this wasn’t even the finished dish but the experience of learning how to clean and break down the fresh squid.

Eli Meiners

Chief

Operating & Marketing Officer of The Littlefield Group

Meiners brings ten+ years of hospitality experience to this role. Previously he was Director of Museum Operations for 21c Museum Hotels, an organization that taught him genuine hospitality. Prior, he was an Exhibit Designer for the Cincinnati Art Museum and taught at the U. of Cincinnati School of Architecture / Interior Design. He was Project Manager at Brashear Bolton Architects on award winning projects.

Meiners is degreed from the School of Architecture and Interior Design at the U. of C.’s College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning.

Chef Andrew Huska, The Littlefield

Ingredients

Ground Lamb

Bulgur Wheat

Minced Pickled Turnip Cornichons

Nicoise Olives

Crispy Shallot Chives

Toum(Lebanese Garlic Sauce)

Zaatar Pita Chips (Served Cold and Raw)

When I was a little boy growing up in Cleveland, Ohio I had a lot of exposure to all kinds of cultural foods. One stands out more than the rest: my Teta’s (greatGrandmothers) kibbeh. I've had all kinds of kibbeh over the years: baked, fried, stuffed and poorly made from a downtown food cart. But she would do something that honestly gave me the creeps: she would eat it raw. As a kid I never understood the complexities and flavors the way I do now, as a cook. This dish is my fancy adaptation, dedicated to my teta. I hope this dish can even hold a flame to her amazing cooking and reflect her talent and passion which still gives me drive to this day.

Andrew Huska

Executive Chef, The Littlefield

Huska is known for blending his own Polish and Lebanese heritage with the thriving Eastern European food scene from his native Cleveland. The techniques learned in his fine dining experience, blended with his laid-back approach to the cuisine from his upbringing, have given him a knack for making accessible and inclusive food that doesn’t feel like a compromise.

Before coming to The Littlefield, Andrew worked under Chef Michael Symon at Lolita in Cleveland and locally with Chef Jackson Rouse at Bauer Farm Kitchen.

Chef Alessandro Urbisci, Branch

Ingredients

Polpettone

Summer Caponata Golden Raisin Agrodolce Pine Nut Crumble

This dish is a culmination of two of my favorite things I grew up eating.

On one hand, I was taught how to make polpette di olive from my nonna. These are essentially small olive and beef meatballs. Crunchy castlevetrano olives are tossed with milk-soaked bread and seared ground beef, breaded and then fried. The aroma was amazing! I immediately became hooked.

On the other hand, my mom's caponata: a braised stew of sorts, consisting of San Marzano tomatoes, tender eggplant and crispy toasted pine nuts. Usually it’s made as a side but quickly turned into my main dish! I grew up eating these two delicious meals,and I came up with this dish. Polpettone being the larger cousin of the polpetta, think something akin to a meatloaf. This became the star of the dish with the caponata accompanying it with warm summer flavors of local squash and eggplant. Typically golden raisins are added in the south of Italy. Instead this became an agrodolce, something sweet and tangy to be drizzled on top, followed by a smoky, crunchy finish with the pine nut crumble.

Alessandro Urbisci Executive Chef, Branch

Alessandro is a firstgeneration American whose parents come from the Abruzzo region of Italy. He graduated from Cincinnati State’s Culinary Arts Program and sharpened his skills at fine dining establishments including Forno, Via Vite, and Zula. He’s well-known for his hand made pastas. Urbisci’s is a familiar name in Cincinnati with experience in several notable kitchens. Most recently he served as Executive Chef at the Emery in Mariemont and before that at 20 Brix, Hunter Thomas’s wine bar and restaurant in historic Milford.

Cake Preheat oven to 350 F.

1/2 cup cocoa powder

1/2 cup unsalted butter – 1 stick – cut into pieces

1 cup boiling water – substitute coffee or espresso

2 cups white sugar

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1-1/2 tsp baking soda (may substitute powder)

1/2 cup soured milk – may substitute yogurt or buttermilk, room temperature

2 eggs – room temperature, beaten

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Pour water over butter and cocoa powder, stir until mixed, let come to room temperature.

Combine dry ingredients, stir to mix.

Combine milk, eggs, vanilla, stir to mix. Combine with cocoa mixture. Combine wet into dry ingredients, mix well.

Pour into greased/floured 9 x 12” metal pan. Shimmy pan to distribute evenly.

Bake 30-35 minutes, somewhat less for rounds or cupcakes.

- Leave the cake in the pan. Cool completely before icing.

Icing

1 cup white sugar

2 tablespoons cocoa powder

3/4 stick butter –cut into pieces

Matie Harley Thomas, c. 1915

1/8 cup boiling water – substitute coffee or espresso

1/2 cup evaporated milk, room temperature

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Combine butter, sugar, cocoa in a heavy sauce pot, over low heat. Pour over the hot water. Stir until sugar dissolves, then add milk. Stir constantly as it thickens. This may take 30 minutes or more. Do not rush this process. Stir CONSTANTLY and do not allow to bubble or scorch. Move away from heat for a moment if bubbles appear.

As the icing thickens it will become a bit gooey. Watch it closely, once it starts to gather together as you stir, like a caramel, you are nearing the finish. Let it get thicker… thicker… then, when like a soft candy, remove from heat and add the vanilla. Mix thoroughly. Pour onto the center of the sheet cake and then pour around the sides and tilt back and forth for even coating. It will begin to set immediately, there is no “frosting” to be done.

- Wait for icing to set / solidify before serving.

This is Grandma’s special occasion cake for birthdays and celebrations. It is an old recipe, perhaps her mother’s, and it took us some time to standardize what was meant by ‘a lump of butter’. It’s a rich, dense cake that beautifully soaks up melting vanilla ice cream when they are served together. Her flat cake pan had a sliding metal lid which was a novelty for us – hers was the only one we knew about. The family universally concurs that the corner pieces are best, where the icing pools into a thick fudgy crust.

Wave Pool and Christopher Leitch profusely thank Jens G. Rosenkrantz, Jr, owner and curator, for hosting this month’s Cincinnati’s Table dinner. The gallery is located in the Annex Building of the Pendleton Art Center compound. The annex is a 4,000 square foot gallery hosting timely and socially relevant exhibitions of local and international artists. Since 2017 they have hosted a popular Cuban art exchange project.

informative text and captions take viewers on a journey back to the 1920s, 30s and 40s.

Currently showing: Art Deco Architecture of Cincinnati: Photographs by J. Miles Wolf. Wolf is partnering with Cincinnati Preservation Association (CPA) and FotoFocus to present more than 100 photographs of Cincinnati’s amazing Art Deco buildings. The large scale color photographic prints,

“The art of art Deco is what keeps me coming back. I love the way architects worked with artisans to bring a unique style and message to each of their buildings. I am drawn to these details that give the buildings character. Through various photographic techniques including large format film, high-res digital capture, long telephoto lens and the use of drone cameras, I have been able to capture unique views of these amazing buildings.” J. Miles Wolf, 2022

The Annex Gallery 1310 Pendleton Street Cincinnati OH 45205 annexgallery.org

“Cooking from Memory” is a 2022 community exhibit project at Wave Pool’s Welcome (M)Art storefront gallery space. Visiting artist Christopher Leitch invites folks living in Cincinnati to share their culturally-specific memories about cooking and food in a brief story or drawing that he included in the installation “Where are we from? What do we eat?” The installation and events explore subtle and profound powers of engagement with food to translate and transmit personal and public history, culture and identity, especially for people in new places.

For the project Leitch has installed a small companion exhibit, “Christopher Cooks from Memory.” Here he has shared images and stories, and cookware, from his own family’s food history and has produced recipe cards to share some longtime favorites.

Leitch has produced this chapbook to accompany Cincinnati’s Table as part of his Welcome exhibition project. Watercolor paints are supplied so that participants / readers may capture their memories of and reflections upon an evening of sharing food and stories.

christopherleitchstudio.net