Cincinnati Magazine - December 2019 Edition

THE MAN WHO CAME TO DINNER

by SUSAN ELIZABETH SHEPARD

THE MAN WHO CAME TO DINNER

by SUSAN ELIZABETH SHEPARD

Bundle up and celebrate

DECEMBER 2019 $5.95

AMBER GRAY GIVES BACK INSTEAD OF GIVING UP

by Jane Prendergast

THE MAN WHO CAME TO DINNER

by SUSAN ELIZABETH SHEPARD

ways to love Cincinnati

ARE STEM CELLS REALLY A MIRACLE CURE?

by Sarah Stankorb

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Y O UR C EN TER F OR I NS P I RAT I ON

Get Inspired!

When Karen Martin became a volunteer at the Sharonville Animal Shelter in 2016, she learned that opportunities to support animals extended far beyond run-of-the-mill dog walking. During her first month as a volunteer, Martin heard about the SPCA Cincinnati Fur Ball, the organization’s largest annual fundraiser that brings animal lovers together for a common goal.

“When else do you get to dress up in your finest, cuddle with adoptable puppies and kittens, and raise money for a wonderful cause?” Martin says.

The Fur Ball, now in its 18th year, offers an upscale gala experience where guests can enjoy fine dining, an open bar, and entertainment.

And we can’t forget the best part: the dogs! Guests have the chance to interact with the furry friends and adopt them the following morning at the Sharonville Animal Shelter.

“It’s truly my favorite day of the year,” says Martin, who now serves on SPCA Cincinnati’s Board of Trustees. “I make it my goal to cuddle every dog there.”

The fundraiser is critical in supporting the thousands of animals that SPCA Cincinnati shelters and cares for each year. More than 700 guests attended the 2019 Fur Ball, raising over $380,000.

A majority of the proceeds helped fund a construction project to increase the number of dog kennels by 50 percent—giving the dogs more space to eat, rest, and sleep.

The next Fur Ball takes place April 25, 2020, at the Sharonville Convention Center, where the staff and facility will continue to exceed expectations to ensure a VIP experience for all donors and sponsors.

Contact Lisa Hodge to reserve your date 513.326.6465 • lhodge@cityofsharonville.com 11355 Chester Road • Cincinnati, OH 45246 www.sharonvilleconventioncenter.com Now Open!

These three words have the power to comfort, support, and motivate, because they mean someone who truly cares is looking out for you. And at St. Elizabeth, we take this idea to heart because your care is very personal to us. That’s why we’re committed to being right here for you, with everything from sports medicine to world-class orthopaedic care.

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F E AT U R E S D E C E M B E R 2 0 19

ON THE FLY VISIT IFLY IN WEST CHESTER, WHERE YOU CAN EXPERIENCE THE THRILL OF SKYDIVING WITHOUT GOING UP IN AN AIRPLANE.

P.

58

BEST OF THE CITY We got you a present! It’s 117 of this area’s greatest treats, shops, experiences, people, services, and events, including a soccer phenom, vegan goodies, and beautiful jewels. Not an ugly sweater in the bunch.

MIRACLE CURE OR SNAKE OIL? P. 76

BETTER THAN SHE FOUND IT P. 80

BY SARAH STANKORB

BY JANE PRENDERGAST

In the world of stem cell therapy, a variety of treatments have captured the imagination of those who are ailing and desperate. There might be some hope, but stem cells aren’t a magic bullet, and they might even cause more harm than good.

PHOTOGR APH BY DUSTIN SPARKS

Amber Gray was a 19-year-old basketball star when a stroke nearly ended her career and her life. Her recovery has been a long road, but Gray is now trying to follow the advice of her famous Papa, civil rights leader Benjamin Hooks.

D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 9 C I N C I N N AT I M A G A Z I N E . C O M 9

D E PA R T M E N T S D E E C E M B E R 2 0 19

20 / LETTER FROM THE EDITOR 22 / FEEDBACK

RADAR

ON OUR SITE

38 / GIFT GUIDE Local goods to gift loved ones

40 / STYLE COUNSEL

FRONTLINES 25 / DISPATCH

A look at Cincinnati’s decade of growth

26 / SPEAK EASY François López-Ferrer on conducting the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra

26 / HOLIDAYS Lebanon’s Horse Drawn Carriage Parade

26 / ANTICIPATION METER How we feel about what’s next

A lively thanatologist

FOOD NEWS

42 / REAL ESTATE

An extra serving of our outstanding dining coverage.

A barn reno in Indian Hill

44 / STOREFRONT Made to Love, Hamilton

COLUMNS

46 / PERSON OF INTEREST The high school kids behind Sole Bros

BY LISA MURTHA

28 / HISTORY An out-of-this-world Cincinnati Museum Center exhibition

30 / HIGH PROFILE

52 / LIVING IN CIN

110 / FIELD NOTES

That time I briefly left Cincinnati

A vegan cookbook with creative adaptations

BY J AY G I L B E R T

113 / TRY THIS

128 / CINCY OBSCURA Parkour paradise

BY KARA HAGERMAN

DINE

Tuba Baking Co.’s flammkuchen

CITY NEWS

Decoding our civic DNA, from history to politics to personalities.

114 / DINING GUIDE Greater Cincinnati restaurants: A selective list

104 / DINING OUT Zundo, Over-the-Rhine

Professional ice sculptor Brady Lantz

108 / SNACK TIME

32 / DR. KNOW

109 / LUNCHBOX

Your QC questions answered

The Baker’s Table, Newport

Davis Cookie Collection

109 / TABLESIDE WITH… Margaret Ranalli, Enoteca Emilia

ON THE COVER

illustration by BRITTANY DEXTER

FOLLOW US

HOME + LIFE

Tracking what’s new in local real estate, artisans, and storefronts.

@CincinnatiMag Cincinnati Magazine @Cincinnatimagazine

110 / HOT PLATE BrewRiver Creole Kitchen, Linwood

SPORTS

Insight and analysis on the Bengals.

CINCINNATIMAGAZINE.COM PODCAST

LISTEN TO LEARN MORE On this month’s episode, we dive behind the scenes of our Best of the City package, plus other stories and events we’re excited to share. Subscribe and listen on iTunes, Spotify, and Stitcher.

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D E C E M B E R 2 0 19

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF John Fox DESIGN DIRECTOR Brittany Dexter

PUBLISHER Ivy Bayer

DIRECTOR OF EDITORIAL OPERATIONS

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ACCOUNT REPRESENTATIVES

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Tony Bannon, Paige Bucheit, Megan Hinckley, Eric Kappa, Julie Poyer

ASSOCIATE EDITORS Patrick Murphy,

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Kathleen Doane, Jene Galvin, Jay Gilbert, Alyssa Konermann, Polk Laffoon IV, Lisa Murtha, John Stowell, Linda Vaccariello, Kathy Y. Wilson, Jenny Wohlfarth, J. Kevin Wolfe EDITORIAL INTERNS Taylor D’Ambrosia,

Kelsey Graham, Billy Keeney, Kane Mitten, Allegra Thatcher DIGITAL INTERNS Keely Brown, Bryn Dippold SENIOR ART DIRECTOR Emi Villavicencio ART DIRECTORS Zachary Ghaderi, Jen Kawanari ASSISTANT ART DIRECTOR Stephanie Youngquist

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L E T T E R F R O M T H E E D I TO R D E C E M B E R 2 0 19

W

CONTRIBUTORS

JANE PRENDERGAST

WHEN DONE WELL , A CITY MAGAZINE IS AN INSTANT TIME CAPSULE OF THE “HERE and now.” If a future alien race wanted to understand human life in the Midwestern United States in the early 21st century—or our grandkids wanted to recall the good ol’ days—this issue of Cincinnati Magazine would be a great resource.

“Best of the City” (page 58) is a snapshot of this moment in time: our favorite places to eat, drink, and shop; local people who break through the clutter with fun ideas or interesting products; shows and diversions that entertain us; and trends that are either ramping up or coming to an end.

I do wonder how those aliens and grandkids will regard us when they gaze back at Cincinnati life in 2019. How many of the people, places, and institutions highlighted in this issue will resonate with future generations, and how many will become the forgotten answers to trivia questions? Looking elsewhere in these pages, will future readers be amused at our hesitance to embrace stem cell treatments (page 76)? Or will they be shocked that we almost made a huge mistake with an untested medical procedure? When Amber Gray runs for President in 2044, will they enjoy our profile (page 80) about her early struggles?

Will they be surprised that four high school friends providing shoes to poor kids (page 46) was such a novelty?

I also wonder if future Cincinnatians (and aliens) will look back at the decade now coming to a close as the city’s “new golden age” (page 25). That’s certainly how it appears to us today, given the incredible list of accomplishments this community has managed in the urban core. Ten years ago, we were trying to find our collective feet after the banking meltdown and recession, and we couldn’t have imagined the growth and development evident today from Over-the-Rhine to the riverfront and across to Northern Kentucky’s cities.

The city isn’t perfect, and we have a ways to go to solve our more intractable problems, but we deserve to celebrate how far we’ve come. Where we’re going is yet to be written.

J O H N F OX

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

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ILLUSTR ATIO N BY L A R S LEE TA RU

Jane Prendergast spent 25 years as a reporter at The Cincinnati Enquirer until she became a foster parent and adopted four kids. She met Amber Gray, the subject of her feature profile (“Better Than She Found It,” page 80), through her children’s babysitter. “[I] knew there was a story to be told about how a young, successful athlete survived an aneurysm and stroke at 19,” Prendergast says.

SARAH STANKORB “I mostly wanted to figure out what was happening,” Sarah Stankorb says of her reporting on the status of stem cell treatments in Cincinnati (“Miracle Cure or Snake Oil?” page 76). “If people were being hurt, or if there was some new treatment option that needs more research.”

The Wyoming, Ohio, native came across anecdotes both hopeful and heartbreaking, but no clear answers. Stankorb’s work has appeared in The Washington Post, The Atlantic, and more.

LANCE ADKINS When freelance photographer Lance Adkins moved with his band from Chillicothe to Cincinnati, a side job in a camera store blossomed into a career. While shooting images for “Handcrafting Education” (page 44), on Hamilton’s Made to Love, which sells Haitian handcrafts, he focused on lighting to highlight other artists’ creative output. Those images were digital, but Adkins also loves to shoot with film: “It’s really rewarding once you finally do get the images.”

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ROOT CAUSE Following a seven-game Bengals losing streak, we reposted Craig Fehrman’s September 2017 story “A Very Limited Player” on Facebook. The piece details owner Mike Brown’s forgotten playing days, which ended early at the behest of his father, Cleveland Browns cofounder and then–head coach Paul Brown, in favor of a coaching career. Though the article posits that Mike—a collegiate quarterback at Dartmouth—probably has more experience as a player than any other owner in the league, Elyse Lewis responded to the article, suggesting the team’s long-standing issues lie at Mike’s feet. “Take a company’s best employee, make them the head of the organization, sit back and watch DECADES of losses and a complete turnover of all other employees, and tell me who the problem is? No matter how good that person was in another role, it’s long past time for them to go.”

DO NO HARM Our October feature by Jim DeBrosse, “Justice Delayed, Justice Denied,” detailed the alleged criminal medical malpractice of spine surgeon Abubaker Atiq Durrani, M.D., who between 2005 and 2013 performed an estimated 4,000 unnecessary or botched procedures on his patients—more than 50 of whom died awaiting justice—at local hospitals. Dozens of readers took to social media to voice their outrage at the physician and those who enabled him despite warning signs. “All in the name of greed,” said Jo Fitzwater Oligee on Facebook. “[Cincinnati] Children’s is an awesome place, but there definitely needs to be a better system of background checks.” JanEllen Gitz said, “One can blame this doctor, but the bottom line is that the hospital[s] turned a blind eye while they were taking the bucks. This is disgusting.” Kate WeeNer said, “Sounds like the whistleblowers were effectively silenced in a monetized system where patients are the cash cows.” Others shared their personal experiences with Durrani, like Kelly Mozingo, who said, “He operated on my father, and my father never went home.” “Our daughter was referred to this [doctor],” said Joanne Walisch. “We are grateful she did not have surgery with him...glad to hear some of his patients may get restitution.”

CAN’T GOETTA ’NOUGH If anyone questioned the dedication of Cincinnatians (and Northern Kentuckians) to their beloved goetta, they were surely proven wrong by the feedback we received in response to our October review (“Goetta Galore”) of food etymologist Dann Woellert’s book Cincinnati Goetta: A Delectable His-

tory. On Facebook, Bob Barron said, “I just finished reading this...it has inspired me to create a variant using smoked beef short rib and smoked pork shoulder as the meats and half pearl barley and half pinhead oats as the grains.” Though she moved to Georgia 30 years ago, Kathy Geaslen said she still misses goetta. “Always pronounced ‘gutta’ in my house. I’ve seen recent recipes [and] need to make me some now that it’s cold here, too. And as a born and raised NKYian, I’ll claim goetta proudly.” Goetta runs in the family for Clara Poe, who said, “My dad gave me recipes for goetta, and over the years my granddaughter is now enjoying it. When I go back to [the] Covington area I always make it for my nephews.” The timing of the article was coincidental for Kate Hellmann Redden, who said, “Love seeing this right as I just got my Crock-Pot goetta going!”

CORRECTIONS In October’s Tableside interview with Erik Bentz and Elaine Townsend, we listed the wrong URL for Mochiko’s Instagram page.

The correct address is instagram.com/ mochikocincy.

In the November issue Dining Out review of Orchids at Palm Court, we spelled the name of the restaurant’s Executive Chef George Zappas wrong in a photo caption.

We regret the errors.

WRITE TO US:

Cincinnati Magazine, Carew Tower, 441 Vine St., Suite 200, Cincinnati, OH 45202-2039 E-MAIL: cmletters@cincinnatimagazine.com

A DAY TO SHOP O’BRYONVILLE

Saturday, December 14th 2–5pm RSVP for this free event at cincinnatimagazine.com/ourevents Check-in at 3009 O’Bryon Street, Cincinnati, OH 45208 The first 300 guests to RSVP and check-in will receive a Girls’ Day Out shopping bag

CSO’S NEW ASSISTANT CONDUCTOR P. 26

OUR NEW GOLDEN AGE?

A look at the past decade shows an explosion of growth for the Queen City. How will these years come to define us? K E V I N S C H U L T Z

A CARRIAGE PARADE P. 26

T

THE LUNAR LANDING P. 28

ACE ICE ARTIST P. 30

HIS IS IT. THE END OF AN ERA—OR THE DECADE AT LEAST. THE FINAL MONTH OF

the final year of the decade that saw the city of Cincinnati get a streetcar (barely), a world-class festival (that drew more than 1 million people downtown twice), and a Major League Soccer franchise (despite its abysmal first season). Spread over time, the achievements of the past decade may not seem like much, but the 2010s have arguably been the biggest period of growth for the tri-state’s urban core in the past century (or longer).

So how did we get here? A mix of ingenuity, planning, hard work, and some good ol’ fashioned Midwestern grit, perhaps. Who should we credit? It’s difficult to pin down exactly, but, as we outline below, a mix of placemaking, key players, and politics worked together over time to create an interconnected wave of forward progress that shows no sign of slowing down as we look ahead to the 2020s.

LUMENOCITY LIGHTS UP WASHINGTON PARK Cincinnatians seemed ready for a reason to celebrate downtown. And it showed.

More than 35,000 bodies packed the newly reopened Washington Park for music and projection mapping light shows onto Music Hall in 2013. The result was a series of events (Lumenocity grew into Blink) that would ultimately use art to draw millions to the city’s urban core.

THE CINCINNATI BELL CONNECTOR GIVES ITS FIRST RIDE After 65 years without a streetcar, Cincinnatians welcomed ILLUSTR ATIO N BY PETER G A M LEN

CONTINUED ON P. 26

D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 9 C I N C I N N AT I M A G A Z I N E . C O M 2 5

HOLIDAYS

HORSE DRAWN TRADITION

DISPATCH

Slow down with the family at the Lebanon Horse Drawn Carriage Parade and Christmas Festival. — G R A C E D E A R I N G

THE OVER-THE-RHINE DINING SCENE TAKES ROOT “This neighborhood is going to change over the next 10 years,” said Daniel Wright just before opening his first Gateway Quarter restaurant, Senate, in February 2010.

Jean-Robert de Cavel debuted his first independent restaurant, Jean-Robert’s Table, months later. While it was four blocks south, it was the first of his new empire, and, along with Wright’s Senate, on the leading edge of an explosion of independent eateries in the area.

CINCINNATI GETS A MAJOR LEAGUE SOCCER CLUB FC Cincinnati got its start as a United Soccer League club in 2016 and, after winning seasons and recordbreaking audience turnout, made it to MLS in 2019.

Despite a bleak first year, the franchise is a sign of new life in the city’s sports scene—with a controversial West End stadium set to open in 2021.

LOCAL MAKERS UNITE On a summer day in 2011, a group of 45 local makers gathered in a parking lot in Over-the-Rhine for an event called City Flea. The idea? Carve out a designated space and time for the marketing and sale of locally produced goods. Today, hundreds of independent vendors sell their products at seven almost-monthly City Fleas in Washington Park, marking a culture of “locally made” that seems here to stay.

REINVESTMENT IN CITY INSTITUTIONS In 2014, Hamilton County voted to fund the majority of the cost to renovate Cincinnati’s Union Terminal.

In 2016, the city, state, and private donors funded the renovation of our world-class Music Hall. Both projects illustrated the area’s commitment to preserving the historic and architecturally astounding CONTINUED ON P. 28

ORE THAN 30 years ago, leaders in the Lebanon community wanted to create a holiday event that couldn’t be found anywhere else in the tri-state. They decided to host a parade that features only horse drawn carriages.

The small community gathering started with just 13 carriages, but has since grown to feature more than 100, each accessorized with unique holiday-themed attire, colorful lights, and festive floral arrangements. The result is a magical experience that draws thousands of people from around the Cincinnati area. “To this day, our parade is the only one of its kind in Ohio,” says Angie

M

SPEAK EASY

MEET THE MAESTRO X Conductor François LópezFerrer (son of the late Jesús LópezCobos) follows in his father’s footsteps at the podium of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra. He joined in September, tasked with leading Young People’s Concerts and assisting with the CSO and May Festival. A CCM grad with several international conducting gigs under his belt, López-Ferrer talks forging his own path, his role, and what “classical music” actually means.

Why did you want the CSO role? I mean, it’s the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra.

It’s a major orchestra in the U.S. and the world.... It gives you a certain position in classical music, which is very difficult to make a career in...it’s a huge opportunity to learn, from Maestro Langrée, and then all the guest conductors and obviously the orchestra itself.

CONTINUED ON P. 28

Smith, executive director of the Lebanon Area Chamber of Commerce.

On December 7 from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., the historic streets of Lebanon will once again come alive for this year’s iteration of the festival. The first parade of decorative horse drawn carriages—pulled by minis, Clydesdales, Percherons, and more—begins at 1 p.m. with the second at 7 p.m. And with more than 80 antique and specialty vendors, costumed characters, strolling street musicians, and, of course, Santa and Mrs. Claus, there is certainly no shortage of entertainment to fill the time in between.

HORSE DRAWN CARRIAGE PARADE AND CHRISTMAS FESTIVAL, DEC. 7, HISTORIC LEBANON, LEBANON CHAMBER.ORG/CARRIAGE-PARADE/

ANTICIPATION METER +5 +4 +3 +2 +1 -1 -2 -3 -4 -5

Talk Time Fans of Ted Talks won’t want to miss TEDxCincinnatiWomen at Cincinnati Shakespeare Company Dec. 4. +1

Seeing Santas A sea of Santas swarm downtown Dec. 14 for the 12th annual Cincinnati Santacon. +1 Closing Up Shop The East Price Hill–based Cincinnati Christian University, founded in 1924, closes at the end of the fall semester. -2

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Hello, Hello, Dolly!

The four-time Tony Award–winning musical Hello, Dolly! takes the Aronoff Center stage Dec. 3–15. +1

Fond Farewell After 20 years, Hamilton County Commissioner Todd Portune announced he will leave office this month as he battles cancer. -2

CURRENT OUTLOOK

-1

PHOTO GR APH BY DAVID LONG

the Connector and its 3.6-mile loop through downtown in Fall 2016. Getting there wasn’t easy. The streetcar certainly still has its flaws (slow speed, a route to nowhere, frequent breakdowns), but its creation signaled that the city was once again reinvesting in itself to ensure a better quality of life downtown.

IN SCIENCE LIVES HOPE.

We are the authors of breakthroughs and ambassadors of hope.

Discover Jim’s journey at uchealth.com/discoverhope

HISTORY

public-facing institutions that put our city on the map.

A BRAND NEW RIVERFRONT While the seeds were planted long before the 2010s for what has become The Banks, the physical reality of our new riverfront emerged this past decade. The first phase of The Banks (high-end apartments, bars, and restaurants) opened in 2011. What we know as Smale Riverfront Park (fountains, play areas, and pristinely kept grassy fields) came into being in 2013. The rest is well on its way.

REVIVAL OF CRAFT BEVERAGES When Molly Wellmann helped open Japp’s in 2011, her approach to handcrafted cocktails spread through the city like wildfire. Around the same time, dozens of craft breweries, including Rhinegeist, MadTree, and Fifty West, opened, once again making Cincinnati a powerhouse craft-brewing city. This renaissance brought the city known for its bars and brews back to its roots, redefining the way we come together over drinks.

MUSICALLY ON THE MAP MidPoint Music Festival (launched in 2001) and MusicNOW (in 2006) injected life into Cincinnati’s independent music scene, undoubtedly setting the stage for Bunbury Music Festival (2012) drawing 50,000 attendees annually, and plans for not just one but two new huge state-of-the-art music venues along the Ohio River.

ENGINEERING A START-UP HUB Making the Queen City start-up friendly has been in the city’s long game for some time, but this decade saw defining moments in turning that dream into reality. Union Hall opened its doors on OTR’s Vine Street in 2015, serving as a physical gathering space for the region’s start-up community in addition to the permanent home for start-up success agents Cintrifuse and The Brandery.

Did your father support your conducting aspirations? He just wanted, as any father wants for a child, that they can support themselves in the future and have a nice, decent life. It is a very difficult life as a conductor.

It’s difficult to make the career and then sustain it. Also, the role of the conductor is being the responsible one, artistically, emotionally, and humanly, for the people around you. That’s something his passing [in 2018] forced me to do.

How would you describe classical music for someone who is timid about checking it out? Classical music only refers to a certain point in history. Basically, we’re an orchestra of orchestral music. It’s music of whatever kind of style written for an orchestra. What we did with Bryce Dessner’s concerto [performed in September]...was super, super cool.

That very easily could take place with the same two soloists at Northside Tavern. It wouldn’t be that big of a difference, and people would get super into it.

—LEYLA SHOKOOHE

2 8 C I N C I N N AT I M A G A Z I N E . C O M D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 9

SPACE CASE

Fifty years after man first set foot on the moon, Destination Moon: The Apollo 11 Mission lands in the Queen City, showcasing artifacts that made the historic 953,000mile journey possible. Check out some of the highlights below and see them for yourself at the Cincinnati Museum Center through February 17. — K E E L Y B R O W N

TH E C OM M A N D M ODU L E COLUMBIA This capsule—on display away from the National Air and Space Museum for the first time since 1976—was the only part of the Apollo 11 spacecraft to return intact to Earth. It was Neil Armstrong’s, Buzz Aldrin’s, and Michael Collins’s home for most of the mission.

ALDRIN’S SPACE VISOR This is the space helmet that hid Aldrin’s smile while he took his first steps on the moon. It provided protection from everything from physical impact to ultraviolet and infrared light.

ALDRIN’S SPACE GLOV ES These “extra-vehicular” gloves were specifically made for Aldrin (they were molded from a cast of his hands!) to wear while he explored the moon’s surface with Armstrong.

R U C KSAC K N O. 1 , S U R V I VA L K IT This is one of two survival kits provided for the lunar-landing mission in 1969. This kit held equipment that would allow the crew to survive for up to 48 hours after returning to Earth.

A R TIFAC T PH OTO G R A PH S BY ERI C LO N G , N ATI O N A L AIR A N D SPAC E M U SEU M , SMITH S O NIA N IN S TIT U TE / A S TR O N AU T S PH OTO G R A PH CO U R TE S Y N ATI O N A L AIR A N D SPAC E M U SEU M , SMITH S O NIA N IN S TIT U TE

DISPATCH

What exactly is the role of a conductor? [A] great orchestra will always play at a certain percentage on their own. And then the job of the conductor is to squeeze out that last 10 percent and make them play 110 percent.

So it requires a lot of imagination, sensitivity, communication, understanding, and getting to know their strong points, their weak points, and who needs you more than the other.

ICE BREAKER If you’ve ever watched the Super Bowl on TV or attended in person, chances are you’ve peeped the massive yet intricately detailed ice sculptures featured there.

Believe it or not, they have a Cincinnati connection: Brady Lantz, president of Artic Diamond. With more than 21 years of professional ice sculpting experience, Lantz has become an expert in the art of keeping things cool. — K E N D A L L C R A W F O R D ICE IS A VERY strong and a very delicate medium. Our 300-pound blocks of ice are strong—you couldn’t break one if you tried. But once you sculpt it, you weaken some of those points in the sculpture. You’re releasing stuff.

YOU HAVE TO exaggerate certain features of the sculpture, so you know that it will last throughout the melting process and still look like something five hours into the event.

WE GIVE OUR sculptures at least five to seven show hours.

They last longer than that, but a lot of details will be melted off and a lot of the edges will be rounded out after that five to seven hours.

IF WE ARE DOING an outdoor festival, you would like to have [temperatures] anywhere between 12 and 23 degrees. Not only are we battling

the temperature, but more so the UV rays and the elements.

MOST OF OUR stuff is ice fishing gear that we wear. It’s all very thick insulation and waterproof. So we’d look kind of silly if you were to come up to the studio in the middle of the summer and I’m working in the freezer and I walk out and it looks like it’s 10 degrees outside.

WE DROVE THE ice from our studio in Cincinnati all the way to San Francisco for Super Bowl 50.

You really can’t get much farther from our studio than San Francisco.

ICE IS temporary. It’s here, and then once we start it up and it starts melting, by tomorrow, it’s gone. That piece of art can never be recreated. It’s the nature of the medium that is incredibly satisfying to me.

Read a longer conversation with Brady Lantz at cincinnatimagazine.com

3 0 C I N C I N N AT I M A G A Z I N E . C O M D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 9

PH OTO G R A PH BY D E V Y N G LI S TA

HIGH PROFILE

Dr. Know is Jay Gilbert, weekday afternoon deejay on 92.5 FM The Fox. Submit your questions about the city’s peculiarities at drknow@cincinnati magazine.com

DR. KNOW

Q+ A

This matters to a firefighter, whose requirements are different when arriving at a fire inside, say, a small home versus a $60 million Indian Hill fire that settles out of court.

You are also correct that the streets of Hamilton are sporting many festively decorated hydrants. Artists at High Street’s InsideOut Studio have the blessing of the city to add this simple spark of beauty along its thoroughfares. It’s part of a larger mission by the Butler County Board of Developmental Disabilities and Easterseals Serving Greater Cincinnati that helps artists with disabilities create a wide variety of works to display and sell.

Hamilton’s Fire Department assures the Doctor that this poses no danger to the community’s firefighting needs. All of the community’s hydrants are just like people: Inside, they’re all the same, so there is no need to judge hydrants by their color; only by the content of their character. Sleep safe this holiday season.

I recently learned that fire hydrants have a color code showing differences in water pressure, which is important to firefighters setting up at a fire. But I live in Hamilton, where a recent local art project decorated many hydrants in many colors. Some look psychedelic. Was this a safe thing to do?

—WE DIDN’T STOP THE FIRE

DEAR DIDN’T:

False alarm. Hamilton’s fire hydrants stand ready, patiently awaiting any moment a truck may pull up and connect. You are correct about hydrant color-coding: water pressure can vary depending on a hydrant’s interior condition or the water system it’s connected to.

3 2 C I N C I N N AT I M A G A Z I N E . C O M D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 9

This year saw many 50th anniversaries in rock music, like Woodstock and Abbey Road, plus the Ludlow Garage locally. But I’ve seen no mention of a short-lived venue in 1969 called Panacea. It was in Oakley. Everyone seems to have forgotten this place.

Can you find some evidence?

—IT WAS 50 YEARS AGO TODAY DEAR AGO:

Once again, the Doctor is conscripted to locate the lost brain cells of Baby Boomers.

Far out. It is true that Cincinnati’s rock world of 1969 saw several venues survive only about as long as a lava lamp. Even the legendary Ludlow Garage was with us for only 18 months. But that was an eternity compared to the fruit-fly longevity of Panacea in Oakley: about three weeks.

Panacea looked promising. Its founders were already successfully operating the Black Dome in Clifton, and Panacea’s opening night started strong with the ILLUSTR ATIO N S BY L A R S LEE TA RU

James Gang, a rising Cleveland band.

(Attention, millennials: the James Gang was fronted by a guy named Joe Walsh. He later joined a band called The Eagles. The Eagles are a big reason why you change the radio station when you borrow your parents’ car.)

It is not clear why Panacea closed so quickly. Perhaps it was the lack of a nearby college population, or simply the fact that 50 years ago, Cincinnati’s “underground rock” population wasn’t big enough to support so many venues. The counterculture hadn’t conquered the world yet. Dude. Face the ugly truth: America’s biggest song of 1969 was “Sugar, Sugar” by the Archies.

Heavy.

I was so happy when the I-71 south corridor between Red Bank Road and the Norwood Lateral finally opened up. But just a week later, they ruined it going north! One of those infernal “contraflow” lanes. Is this anything more than just resurfacing? How long will this torture continue?

—GOING NORTH HAS GONE SOUTH DEAR GONE:

This torture will continue until the entire area becomes suitable for a new concert venue, or maybe a soccer stadium. The Doctor kids. The Ohio Department of Transportation feels your pain. They tell us that when the bandages are removed, I-71 will feature an additional lane from Norwood up to Red Bank, plus a new exit ramp to Kennedy Avenue, and best of all, spectacular dividends for investors in orange barrels.

As with any project of such magnitude ($36 million), its completion depends upon variables like the weather and the motivation of construction workers. Official completion is currently targeted for the summer of 2021. Assuming that date is accurate (cough, cough), this means we are likely to witness a tearful candlelight vigil organized by millions of cicadas, mourning the massive loss of trees.

GIVE THE GIFT OF

Broadway December 3 - 15

Jan. 8 - Feb. 2

JIMMY BUFFETT’S THE MUSICAL PHENOMENON

February 11 - 23 Set Your Mind on Island Time.

April 14 - 19

May 12 - 24

June 9 - 21

TICKETS START AT $31 • CincinnatiArts.org All shows at the Aronoff Center • Groups (10+) Save: 513.369.4363

D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 9 C I N C I N N AT I M A G A Z I N E . C O M 3 3

INSPIRE. SUPPORT. ACT.

PRESENTS

DECEMBER 2–12 , 2 019

Cincinnati Magazine announces

Cincinnati Gives an innovative online fund-raising challenge designed to raise awareness and funds for philanthropic organizations in Cincinnati this December 2–12, 2019.

4 Paws for Ability Inc | Abilities First Foundation Inc | Adopt A Class | American Sign Museum | Camp Jean Inc | Cancer Family Care Inc | Caracole Inc | Catholic Charities Southwestern Ohio | Charlottes Heart | Childrens Home of Northern Kentucky | Cincinnati Association for the Blind | Cincinnati Cares | Cincinnati Memorial Hall Society | Cincinnati Nature Center | Cincinnati Youth Collaborative | Circle Tail Inc | Clermont Senior Services Inc | Corporation for Findlay Market | County Community Action Agency | Elementz | Emmanuel Temple Apostolic Church Light House Ministries | Fii - National | Freestore Foodbank | Friends of the Harriet Beecher Stowe House Incorporated | Grant Us Hope Inc | Great Oaks Education Foundation | Greater Cincinnati Police Museum | Habitat for Humanity of Greater Cincinnati | Helping Hands in Christian Service Inc | Heroin Support Inc | High Achievers Aim High | Hopes Closet | Ignatian Spirituality Project | Isaiah 55 Inc | iSPACE Inc | Jewish Community Center | Joy Outdoor Education Center Foundation Inc | Leukemia & Lymphoma Society - Tri-State Chapter | Life Learning Center | Lighthouse Youth & Family Services | Lindner Center of HOPE | Living With Change Foundation | Matthew 25 Ministries | Mental Health America of Northern Kentucky and Southwest Ohio Inc | MORTAR | Most Valuable Kids Inc | Northern Kentucky Community Action Commission Inc | Northside Community Council | Ohio Humane Society | Over the Rhine - Kitchen | Over-The-Rhine Chamber of Commerce | Parental Hope, Inc. | People Working Cooperatively Inc | Pro Seniors Inc | pureHOPE | Ronald Mcdonald House Charities of Greater Cincinnati | Rotary Foundation of Cincinnati | Shared Harvest Foodbank Inc | St Francis Seraph Ministries | St Joseph Orphanage | Sustainable Medical Missions Inc | Tender Mercies | The Healthcare Connection Inc | The Wyoming Fine Arts Center | To by for Kids Foundation | Toolbank Usa Inc | YMCA of Greater Cincinnati | Ziegler Park

WITH SUPPORT FROM

VISIT CINCINNATIGIVES.ORG TO DONATE TO CINCINNATI CHARITIES IN NEED.

HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE P. 38

A LIVELY THANATOLOGIST P. 40

A BARN RENO IN INDIAN HILL P. 42

MADE TO LOVE P. 4 4

DEAR, SANTA Personalize your letter to Mr. Claus with this Smith Corona Cougar XL typewriter. Sold by Urban Legend Typewriters, all proceeds benefit WordPlay Cincy, a local nonprofit that empowers students through reading, writing, and storytelling. $195, wordplay cincy.org/urban-legend-typewriters P H O T O G R A P H BY A A R O N M . CO N WAY

D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 9 C I N C I N N AT I M A G A Z I N E . C O M 3 7

NECESSITIES

GIFT GUIDE

SHOP LOCAL THIS HOLIDAY SEASON WITH THESE 16 QUEEN CITY GOODS. FROM AFFORDABLE TO PRICEY, THERE’S A GIFT FOR EVERYONE ON YOUR LIST. LITTLE KIDS

HOMEOWNERS

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PRICEY

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ART AFICIONADO Gypsy vase, $85 Rookwood Pottery, rookwood.com

HIP PUP “Ain’t too proud to beg” dog bandana, $15 Grainwell Market, grainwell.com

LITTLE LEARNER Edison backpack bolt, $37 The Spotted Goose, thespottedgoose.com

BEER ENTHUSIAST Koch’s bar tray, $65 Deerhaus Decor, deerhausdecor.com

CLASSY CAT Ohio Stoneware Kitty bowl, $8.99; Pink Beco cat bowl, $5.99 Growing Trade Pet & Plant, growingtradestore.com

BEARD WINNER Muhle shave kit, $223 45/46 Fine Men’s Apparel, 4546finemens.com

DINO DEVOTEE Triceratops, $24.99; Carnotarus, $16.99 King Arthur’s Court Toys, kingarthurstoys.com

DECORATIVE DIVA Canvas pig pillow, $39 Elm & Iron, elmandiron.com

TREAT HOUND Barks Bakery dog treats, 99¢–$2.29 PetPeople, petpeoplestores.com/ hyde-park-store.html

STATEMENT MAKER Magenta Hues necklace, $30 Ellebrux, Ellebrux.com

PLAYFUL TYKE Cheengoo fox rattle, $14 Gumdrop, gumdroptots.com

PLANT PARENT Metal plant mister, $14.95 The Native One, thenativeone.com

LIVELY KITTEN Feather mouse rattle, $1.15 Argos, argospet.com

RIDE WARRIOR Scooter rocker, $150 Styled by Mama, styledbymama.com

SHOE FANATIC R.M. Williams Chelsea Boot, $495 Romualdo’s, customtailorcincinnati.com

AFFORDABLE

FASHION GURU Veda Baby Jane leather jacket, $525 Sloane Boutique, sloaneboutique.com

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PAPER WINGS 1. Citrus Hikigiri scissors, $20 2. Red ribbon, 50¢ 1207 Vine St., Over-theRhine, (513) 421-3500, shoppaperwings.com

P H O T O G R A P H BY A A R O N M . CO N WAY

POEME 3. Scarlet gift wrap, $4.50/ sheet 4. Rifle Paper Co. holiday cards, $18/set of 8 6. Gift tags, $8/set of 10 10. Gift bag, $5 3446 Michigan Ave., Hyde Park, (513) 3214999, poeme-online.com

JOSEPH-BETH 5., 7. The Gift Wrap Company gift wrap, $4.50/roll 11. The Gift Wrap Company red tissue paper, $2.50 2692 Madison Rd., Norwood, (513) 396-8960, josephbeth. com

PLAZA ART SUPPLY 8. Assorted Le Pens, $1.61 each 230 W. McMillan St., Clifton Heights, (513) 861-0667, plazaart.com/stores/ cincinnati-clifton

GRAINWELL MARKET 9. Cincinnati gift tag, $10 33 W. Pike St., Covington, (859) 261-6600, grainwell. com

D E CAEUMG BUESRT 2 0 1 93 C I N C I N N AT I M A G A Z I N E . C O M 3 9

STYLE COUNSEL

Cole Imperi OCCUPATION: Thanatologist; public health educator; and podcast host STYLE: Spirited with intention

You have a strong personal aesthetic.

What informs it? My work in thanatology—the study of death and dying—has actually taught me a lot about style, surprisingly. My view is that fashion is a body thing, and style is a soul thing. Style is what the soul likes to wear. We shouldn’t waste any of our time fighting against that. Because essentially that is pushing back against your own soul, against yourself. It really is an act of self-love and self-acceptance to embrace what it is that you like. There’s this idea that end-of-life stuff would be dour. But you and your style embody so much spirit and life. In the United States, we are death-avoidant. We have this really weird relationship to it, and that’s represented in media typecasts. But endings are actually beginnings. And beginnings are fresh. On New Year’s Eve, a lot of people like to wear sequins and things that reflect light and are sparkly. It’s the end of the year, but really we’re focusing on the beginning of a new one. And we need to apply that to all types of death.

If you had to choose one color palette for the rest of your life? The color lilac is really important to me. It’s representational of my work. After Victorian women were in full mourning and had to wear black every day for a whole year, the first color that was acceptable to wear to say, Hey, I’m not in the deepest darkest days, but I’m also not back to normal, was lilac or mauve. That is my primary color. And white, because of the new-beginning emphasis. Then a few other colors that I pair with that, which are chartreuse, a bright burnt fiery orange, and navy blue.

—A LYSS A KO N E R M A N N

4 0 C I N C I N N AT I M A G A Z I N E . C O M D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 9

P H O T O G R A P H BY A A R O N M . CO N WAY

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Orthopedics and Sports Medicine

REAL ESTATE

BARN AGAIN

CAROL SANGER SAYS SHE WAS “LOOKING FOR A PROJECT” WHEN SHE

read about a 1941 Indian Hill barn for sale in a December 7, 1997, Cincinnati Enquirer article. Sanger, who lived in an Anderson Township condo at the time, visited and purchased the 3-acre property later that month. “I had the most incredible sense of having come home,” Sanger recalls of her first visit. “I hadn’t even gone in yet. It was like I belonged here.”

In May 1998, Sanger tapped local architect Harry Sparks to renovate the barn, and by the following February, she and her younger brother Kenny moved in. Though the before and after photos are drastic, Sanger says Sparks stuck as close to the barn’s original footprint as possible and incorporated original materials throughout.

The first floor, which previously housed horse stalls, now features a living space, kitchen and dining area, solarium, study, full and half baths, laundry room, and master suite.

Except for the flagstone and tile floors, the majority of the first floor’s architectural details are original, including the shiplap ceilings, structural beams, and stone and shiplap walls.

4 2 C I N C I N N AT I M A G A Z I N E . C O M D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 9

Sanger even repurposed the stalls’ iron bars and wood doors to craft the dining and coffee tables.

Upstairs, the hayloft was converted into a second living space, with a cut out that overlooks the first floor, plus two additional bedrooms, two full baths, a loft area above the first-floor master, and a second master suite, which Kenny occupied. Our favorite part? The roof was strategically insulated from the outside, leaving the original rafters visible from both floors.

To preserve the rustic home’s history, Sanger installed two stained glass windows above the second-floor living space that depict a horse and read Highbarn 1999. She also widened the garage and added dormers, an inground pool, koi pond, three-seasons room, two terraces, and an interior sprinkler system, “because we’re dealing with wood from 1941.” The 6,300-square-foot home, which is classified as a historic landmark, sold within two weeks of being put on the market in August. Sanger, who with her brother has since returned to condo living in Mariemont, says, “If I were 10 years younger, I’d be here for 10 years longer.”

PHOTOGRAPHS COURTESY KARAN HEUER

TWENTY-TWO YEARS AGO, A LOCAL WITH A VISION TRANSFORMED A 1941 INDIAN HILL BARN INTO A STUNNING SINGLE-FAMILY HOME. — K A T I E C O B U R N

Greater Cincinnati’s volunteer ecosystem is recovering To keep the recovery going, donate now.

For more information about Cincinnati Cares, see the Cincinnati Gives special supplement delivered with this month's magazine, or go online to in.cincinnaticares.org.

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STOREFRONT

HANDCRAFTING EDUCATION MADE TO LOVE IN HAMILTON SELLS HANDCRAFTED ARTISAN GOODS WITH A DEEPER MISSION. — G R A C E D E A R I N G

After a catastrophic earthquake devastated Haiti in 2010, life for locals was completely turned upside down. Among the missionaries who set out to aid the country’s recovery was Hamilton firefighter and resident Tony Harris. While abroad, he met Kelly Crowdis, a long-term missionary who sold handmade Haitian goods as souvenirs to visiting missionaries.

This fair trade–style exchange inspired Harris, and, five years later, he and his wife, Christin, opened Made to Love, a fair trade storefront in downtown Hamilton that sells Haitian-made goods and donates all proceeds back to the artisans. The goal? To send as many Haitian children to school as possible.

“School [is] about $250 per year, so if you’ve got several kids, there’s no way you could afford to send a child to school,” says Shari Miller, Made to Love’s social media and marketing manager.

“What Kelly was doing in her house . . . was taking the profit from those souvenir sales and giving them to the parents [and] kids to help subsidize their education.”

Spearheaded by Christin, the store’s product developer, Made to Love curates a completely handmade and unique inventory ranging from jewelry to coffee. While she buys some of the products online, most are purchased in Haiti, where Christin and Miller try to visit at least once a

year. “We love to hear [the artisans’] stories, too, because why they started what they’re doing is such an amazing component to be able to tell a customer,” Miller says.

It’s these personal interactions that make Made to Love more than just a way to donate to the revitalization of Haiti. The Harrises, in collaboration with Miller and the store’s 10 volunteers, are dedicated to upholding the dignity of each donation. Not only does Made to Love help send more than 500 children to school every year, but it also offers the Hamilton community an easy way to help others.

Miller says she knows the community wants

to do more than just donate, but they don’t know how. Made to Love has changed that.

“If you throw money at something, how are you solving it? You’re not. You’re not teaching [people] dignity, you’re not showing them pride in a product . . . that’s something that’s been stripped from Haiti,” Miller says. “I think the most important thing that we can do for Haiti is [showing its communities] that what they do matters.”

MADE TO LOVE , 6 S. SECOND ST., HAMILTON, (513) 341-6231, MADE-TO-LOVE.ORG

Not sure what to look for among Made to Love’s expansive inventory? The shop’s coffee and metal art (made out of 55-gallon oil drums) are best-selling products.

GOOD TO KNOW

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PERSON OF INTEREST

BY LISA MURTHA

Heart and Sole HIGH SCHOOL KIDS, JUST TRYING TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE.

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THE IDEA CAME TO THEM ON THE WAY TO A polo match in 2015—a Dhani Jones–backed fund-raiser for underprivileged kids that 12-year-old Spencer Boyd II’s mom had asked him to attend with her. Being honest, “a polo match sounded boring,” says Boyd, so he asked if his friends Kellen Newman and Curtis Harrison IV could come, too; all three were eighth-graders back then, Boyd and Harrison at Seven Hills School and Newman at Walnut Hills.

In the car on the way, the conversation turned, as it can with boys that age, to gym shoes. “We were talking about shoes we like—well, me specifically, because I’m a sneaker head; I have at least 30-plus pairs of shoes,” says Harrison. “Miss Jackie, Spencer’s mom, told us about how she was in Jamaica and there were kids that had cardboard for shoes. That really hit me. I just couldn’t imagine there are kids out there who never had a pair of shoes to wear.”

Immediately, Harrison said they should all do something to help. Eighth-graders being eighth-graders, “we really shrugged it off” at first, says Newman, “but Curtis is kind of the heart of the group, so he reminded us that we have to give back to people who are less fortunate.” It’s a notion Harrison says he got from his parents, who instilled in him early on to “give back to your community and be grateful for what you have.”

When the group arrived at the polo fields, “we went in with this idea of giving

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: BREILAND ANDERSON, SPENCER BOYD II, CURTIS HARRISON IV, KELLEN NEWMAN

4 6 C I N C I N N AT I M A G A Z I N E . C O M D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 9

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PERSON OF INTEREST our shoes away that we outgrew,” says Boyd.

But people they met at the event encouraged them to think bigger and do more by collecting shoes from other people, too.

One week later, Newman, Harrison, and Boyd found themselves in a conference room at the Westin Hotel, supervised by Boyd’s mom, Jackie Taggart-Boyd (who works there), hashing out how exactly to develop this kernel of an idea.

Their first step? “Building a brand,” says Newman, which helped the group concretely define both who they were— high school scholar-athletes (with spots on football, basketball, swimming, track and field, baseball, and lacrosse teams)— and what they wanted to do: Collect and redistribute new and gently used sneakers to kids in need worldwide, starting with Jamaica. Next came the name, Sole Bros, a clever allusion to both shoes and friendship. Finding someone to distribute the shoes fell into place pretty easily, too, thanks to a connection Taggart-Boyd had

to the RuJohn Foundation, a nonprofit that donates school supplies and runs celebrity sports camps for underprivileged kids in Jamaica. The only hard part was figuring out how and where to get the 1,000 pairs of shoes they wanted to send.

In December 2015, they used Boyd’s birthday party as their “launch party,” asking guests to bring donations for Sole Bros instead of gifts. After that, they promoted their cause on social media and through speaking engagements. They also hosted their inaugural “Feet Fete”—a used-shoecollection party—at Corporate, a boutique sneaker store in Hyde Park.

Their parents were “very” involved at first, says Newman, driving the 12- and 13-year-olds to events, helping with website design and photo shoots, even opening a business banking account on their behalf since they weren’t old enough to open one themselves. But making all the organization’s decisions (both “good and bad,” Taggart-Boyd wrote via e-mail), getting other

kids involved, and collecting the shoes was the boys’ responsibility from the start.

Their classmates’ initial response “was really up and down,” says Boyd, but once people “started to actually see what we were doing, everybody got super into it [and] we ended up getting 1,200 pairs” of shoes.

THE SOLE BROS LEARNED QUICKLY THAT nonprofit work wasn’t all glitz and glamour, especially when dealing with used gym shoes, which can be a dirty and smelly business. “Ugh,” says Newman, remembering the group’s introduction to sneaker cleaning, a process involving 10 cans of Lysol and “plenty of cylinders of Lysol wipes” that lasted six months.

“We aren’t miracle workers,” he adds, “but we try to make it clean enough to where we’re proud of what we’ve done.”

They also realized they “wanted these kids to have the same experience that we feel” when opening a box of new shoes, says Boyd. Suddenly, the Sole Bros brand

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evolved from just donating things they’d all outgrown to thinking about the feelings of the people who’d be receiving them.

They also learned another major lesson that first year, about the realities of

with an emphatic yes.) The shipping giant “came up big time,” says Newman, agreeing to partner with Sole Bros from that point on to cover the cost of shipping shoes anywhere in the world they needed to go.

THE SOLE BROS BRAND EVOLVED FROM DONATING THINGS THEY’D OUTGROWN TO THINKING ABOUT THE FEELINGS OF THE PEOPLE WHO’D BE RECEIVING THEM. physically getting the shoes to a different country. Their first estimate for shipping costs on 1,200 pairs of shoes to Jamaica “was like $10,000,” says Boyd—an unfathomable amount of money for an “organization” essentially consisting of three eighth-graders, tons of used footwear, and minimal cash. Enter DHL Express. (Boyd had written the company’s U.S. CEO, Greg Hewitt, asking for help; Hewitt responded

In May 2016, the shoes went off to Jamaica; in June, the boys followed. They didn’t get to hand out any shoes themselves (RuJohn had already distributed them), but they volunteered at the sports camps and learned a lot about how the nonprofit operated. Armed with that knowledge, the trio of then–high school freshmen started prepping a few months later for their second shoe delivery mission, to

Ghana (partnering this time with a nonprofit called PLOG, which had reached out to the Sole Bros on Facebook).

With this trip, the Sole Bros “handled everything all on our own,” says Newman—a task “that was a bit more challenging but in some ways a bit more fun.”

Again, thanks to shoe donations from Feet Fetes and financial donations (plus some grants), the group collected or bought close to 1,000 pairs of sneakers. Again, they planned to send the shoes ahead of time. But when it came time to ship everything in the summer of 2017, the teens hit a bump. The shoes got stuck in customs for “months,” says Boyd, “so our parents were scared to actually send us.”

Even though the Sole Bros never got to go to Ghana, this—their hardest mission— was also the one that touched the group the most. When PLOG representatives sent them photos of newly shod children “smiling and forming kick lines,” the Sole Bros truly understood “why we do what we do,”

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PERSON OF INTEREST says Newman. Another photo of a group of little boys dressed up as each of the Sole Bros drove the point home. “It was, like, now you have to keep going,” says Breiland

from schools. Instead of just talking about their work, the Sole Bros pulled their audiences into the effort by having students hand-write inspirational notes—“a little

“I DON’T WANT SOLE BROS TO BE ANYTHING BUT HIGH SCHOOL KIDS MAKING A DIFFERENCE,” SAYS BOYD. “ONCE WE’RE DONE, SOMEBODY ELSE HAS GOTTA COME UP.” Anderson, a Lakota West High School student and longtime friend of Newman’s who became a Sole Bro in 2017, “’cause now you see who you’re inspiring.”

Soon enough, the Sole Bros—otherwise normal teens who eat a lot (per TaggartBoyd) and joke around with each other— found themselves amassing a significant fan base in Greater Cincinnati; local media outlets ran stories about them in print and on TV, and speaking requests poured in

message like ‘Just do it,’ or ‘Keep your head up,’ or ‘Dream big,’ ” says Boyd—that the teens now send out with every pair of shoes.

Even with four Sole Bros instead of three, balancing homework, classes, and sports with public appearances, fundraisers, and sneaker cleanings started getting harder. For one thing, “people forget all the time that we’re still high-schoolers,” says Newman, who now attends St. Xavier (Harrison and Boyd stayed at Seven Hills).

“We’re not perfect. We make mistakes.”

It’s also tough for them to tell whether the people who ask for shoe donations are valid organizations or “some old dude in his basement trying to get shoes to resell,” says Boyd. And it’s even harder to have to say no to groups like PLOG, who have come back asking the Sole Bros to help raise “countless amounts of money” so they can build a new school. “We’d love to help,” says Boyd, “but that’s not what we do.” In the end, says Newman, “it’s all part of the growth—learning more about life, learning more about business.”

IN 2018, AFTER BEING NUDGED BY ARMchair social media critics to focus their efforts stateside, the Sole Bros obliged and made their summer mission a shoe drive for victims of Houston’s Hurricane Harvey—in a single day, they collected 1,000 pairs of shoes. They also established a local “Sneaker Closet” at the Revelation Missionary Baptist Church in Cincinnati’s

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West End, a “shoe store” where disadvantaged kids can “shop” for high end sneakers for free. The closet no doubt appeased the Sole Bros’ critics, but it also addressed an issue close to the teen boys’ hearts.

“We know a lot of kids get bullied for their type of shoes in Cincinnati,” says Newman, recalling a junior high friend who got made fun of once for wearing off-brand sneakers. “They were perfectly fine and he liked them, it’s just not the name brand Nikes or Jordans that everybody expects you to have.” With that in mind, the Sole Bros decided to “put all of our higher-end or brand new shoes in sneaker closets so that these kids that can’t afford it can go in and get a nice pair of shoes.”

To date, the closet has handed out 300 pairs. But the bigger takeaway, says Revelation Associate Minister Todd Ingram, is how the experience puts kids who normally have to just accept whatever they get “in the driver’s seat,” giving them a choice in something that, at their age, really mat-

ters to them. Instilling that kind of pride in others is “one of the mantras of the Sole Bros,” says Ingram. It’s the difference between a giver “who looks directly at you, as opposed to looking down at you. Everyone walks away with their head up.”

That’s a profound accomplishment for anyone, let alone a group of high-schoolers.

But the Sole Bros didn’t stop there. They added a “tennis corner” to the Sneaker Closet in honor of Kyle Plush, an ardent young Sole Bros fan and Seven Hills student who died last year in a tragic accident.

They wrote a children’s book about their work, which is now their main source of fund-raising. They won a Martin Luther King Jr. “Keep the Dream Alive” award from Bond Hill’s Church of the Resurrection.

And they studied hard, held down summer jobs, overcame fears of public speaking, and stayed active in high school sports, too.

Now, four years and 5,000 pairs of donated shoes later, they’ve grown from boys with vision to young men with heart.

As this story goes to press, Harrison, Newman, Anderson, and Boyd are high school seniors sending out college applications, unsure where the future will lead. They’re also doing something they’d planned from the start—searching for the next generation of Sole Bros to take over what they began. “I don’t want Sole Bros to be anything but high school kids making a difference,” says Boyd. “That’s what we all agreed on. So once we’re done with high school, we gotta go. And somebody else has gotta come up.”

Handing off something you carefully built in order to grow in a new direction isn’t unlike passing along a cherished pair of gym shoes you’ve outgrown. In fact, it’s right in line with the selfless mindset that created Sole Bros in the first place. “At a time in life when most youth are thinking about What’s best for me, they took time out to think of someone else,” says Ingram.

“As my grandma would say, those are some good boys right there.”

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The Wrong Way Home THAT TIME I LEFT CINCINNATI, NEVER TO RETURN— AND TRAGEDY REMINDED ME WHERE I SHOULD BE. I HAVE NO ILLUSIONS ABOUT CINCINNATI. AS AN IMMIGRANT FROM PHILADELPHIA WHO’S now lived here more than half of my life, I think I see this place with clearer eyes than natives do. Hometown memories—positive or negative—blur objectivity. I mean, do you really think your opinions about Marge Schott are objective? How about the Kwik Brothers? Bob Huggins and Nancy Zimpher?

Not being born here means my Cincinnati perceptions and sensitivities are different. I only recently stopped having nightmares about the floor layout at Swallen’s. But I came to love this town, and now I want to share a story about how much. Let’s start with the short version: I lived and worked here for five years, started a family, and things felt settled, but then I unexpectedly got an attractive job offer to return to Philadelphia. That 5 2 C I N C I N N AT I M A G A Z I N E . C O M D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 9

was where the kids’ grandparents (babysitters!) lived, with the other grandparents in New York. After thinking it over, my wife and I made the decision to say goodbye to Cincinnati forever. And we left. One year later, we were back.

Don’t get cocky. The long version isn’t a tale about how I couldn’t bear to live without goetta and three-ways or how terrible the job turned out to be or how Philadelphia’s traffic was so much worse than Cincinnati’s (even though it was).

The job was quite enjoyable, working at a radio station similar to WEBN in its prime.

I’m still friends with the guy who hired me, despite having blindsided him with my two weeks’ notice. Likewise, the city of Philadelphia can’t be blamed for my crawling back to Cincinnati. The truth is simply this: I came to realize that 500 miles was the minimum safe distance I could live from my parents and siblings.

The world suffers no scarcity of family dysfunction stories. I tend not to share mine, because that often inspires competitive sharing, and I’m not good at sports. Let’s just say I wish all the best for the surviving members of my family of origin—them over there, me over here.

The following story will therefore skate lightly across family details. Besides, the other parts are more fun to share. The part about missing Cincinnati, well, that takes a wrenching turn.

MY YEAR IN THE WILDERNESS—THE EXACT year will become apparent as we go along—started in January with the move back to Philly. I now worked at WYSP, a typical FM rock station of the era. It had the obligatory sooper cah-raaazy morning show, plus the same rock songs that still annoy millennials today. The station was also famous for funny fake commercials, along with real ones that local clients let us have fun with. That was my job: Adding a continuous stream of amusing stuff between the songs and the DJs. The job was fun, and by springtime I’d made a national impact, single-handedly bringing Alvin and the Chipmunks back from the dead. This surprising development started with my fake commercial for Chipmunk Punk, a pretend album full of rock hits sung chipmunk-style. (Here’s the spoof commercial: tinyurl.com/ P H O T O G R A P H BY A A R O N M . CO N WAY

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y6lv98su) Public reaction was strong enough to reach the owners of the Chipmunks brand, who hurriedly made a real LP, bringing the then-moribund franchise back to life. My only remuneration was to have my name immortalized in a People magazine article about it.

By summer, things were going so well that I became a programming consultant to New York City’s top-ranked radio station. That station and WYSP were owned by the same company, and I was asked to join a team that developed ideas for keeping the New York station number one. Impressed? Then don’t read any further. I spent the first day learning about the station’s issues, the second day offering candid thoughts about what to do next, and then . . . there was no third day. Not only was I fired as a consultant, but my WYSP job was now in danger. Thanks to a sincere and well-faked apology, I managed to stay employed. Idiots.

I WASN’T IN CINCINNATI THAT NIGHT, BUT ONLY A FEW DAYS EARLIER I’D REALIZED HOW MUCH I’D BECOME SOMEONE FROM CINCINNATI. THAT NIGHT JUST MADE IT CLEARER. Job tensions settled down by autumn, but now the home front was in chaos. By that I don’t mean the marriage or kids, but the home itself. Actually, two homes. The pending sale of our Cincinnati house fell through, and our mortgage application on a house in Philadelphia was rejected—both on the same day. What a mess. I’d already flown back to Cincinnati over two weekends to do real estate paperwork and prepare our house for the movers, and seeing everyone again was really good. I realized I missed Cincinnati in a way I’d never missed Philadelphia.

It started to dawn on me that perhaps “home” was the place I’d left. Maybe I needed some ruby red shoes.

BY THANKSGIVING, WE WERE TALKING about coming back. I contacted WEBN to see if they were interested in rehiring

5 4 C I N C I N N AT I M A G A Z I N E . C O M D AU E CGEUM S TB E2R0 1230 1 9

me, but their staff was stable, so no. I got desperate enough to contact WEBN’s mortal enemy, WSAI, Cincinnati’s other FM rock station of the era. This was so evil that their program director had to secretly fly to Philadelphia for a clandestine meeting that never left the airport. It looked like my family might be able to return to Cincinnati and reestablish the life we’d abandoned, but nothing was confirmed; we’d have to wait a while.

December came, and on a Monday night my wife and I looked forward as usual to the latest episode of WKRP in Cincinnati. That show, as you know, featured absolutely nothing about the real Cincinnati—it was even worse at portraying the radio business—but we felt slightly more connected to the city when watching. The local station did one-minute news capsules between shows, and neither of us was paying full attention when the anchorman came

on. Maybe you’ve figured out where I’m going with this and exactly what year it was.

“A terrible, unimaginable tragedy reported tonight out of Cincinnati,” the anchorman said, “where 11 people at a rock concert were killed after the gates of the Riverfront Coliseum collapsed onto the crowd!” What? What?

We looked at each other, trying to choose which thing was harder to process: 11 deaths in Cincinnati, or the fact that Riverfront Coliseum had no gates, only a series of glass doors. That was just wrong. Maybe there was a chance that everything the anchorman said was wrong.

I picked up the phone and called a number I still remembered: WEBN’s private line in the air studio, a room that was always occupied. Whoever might answer just had to know more

than the doofus we’d seen on TV. Frank Johnson answered. He recently passed away after decades as a beloved presence on WGUC, our classical music station, but on this night he was a young parttimer at WEBN, stuck on the air while everyone else was at the Who concert.

Frank was understandably rattled and didn’t know much beyond the latest media reports, but he did tell me that some of the night’s early accounts had mistakenly included the word gatecrashers. That word, we guessed, had somehow morphed into the clueless Philadelphia TV report. Ever since that night, I have always waited before believing any details of a breaking news story. You should, too.

Events of that horrible night in 1979 have been exhaustively documented and debated; I have no standing to weigh in on them. I can only say that two months later, after WSAI ultimately brought me back, the Cincinnati I returned to was a changed place. Contradictory narratives and investigations about the Who concert were still swirling. In my professional world of rock radio, the swagger of on-air personas had become muted. A City Council member proposed a moratorium on all Coliseum rock concerts until a deep study was completed, and in fact there were no rock shows until the following spring. That councilman worried about rowdy behavior? Jerry Springer.

This month, we’ll all reflect on the 40th year since the Who concert. My heart holds something different about it than most: I wasn’t in Cincinnati that night, but only a few days earlier I’d realized how much I’d become someone from Cincinnati. That night just made it even clearer.

I spent one year working with my new colleagues at WSAI and competing against my old ones at WEBN. We tried hard, but the ratings never were very good. One day, the station suddenly fired everyone and changed the format to country music. The next day—literally, the very next day—I was back on WEBN. Here is the lesson: Never burn bridges. And never forget where you’re from.

D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 9 C I N C I N N AT I M A G A Z I N E . C O M 5 5

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INDOOR SKYDIVING

iFly Indoor Skydiving ACCORDING TO MOST SANE PEOPLE, SKYDIVING IS DANGERous. But that doesn’t mean you have to miss the experience.

At iFly, which opened in March, you put on a wind resistant suit and a helmet, and an instructor will coach you through how to float atop the breeze from two wind turbines in their 48-foot tall clear cylinder. Once your muscles stop tingling from fighting against that wind, watch your instructor make it all look easy by spinning, flipping, and diving before sticking the landing. 7689 Warehouse Row, Liberty Twp., (513) 901-4359, iflyworld.com

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URBAN HARDWARE STORE Woods Hardware

BAGEL SANDWICH The Lil, Lil’s Bagels

This two-level downtown shop is chock full of hand tools, kitchen and bath gadgets, paint, garden supplies, and yes, key-making and locksmith services, just a block from where owner Steve Woods’s grandmother ran the original Acme Lock store. Now under the family’s Woods Hardware umbrella with fourth-generation leadership, the shop combines the friendly service of a family business with a chain operation’s low prices. 125 E. Ninth St., downtown, (513) 241-2614, woodshardware.com

Cincinnatians looking for New York–quality bagels should look no further than this walk-up window just across the Roebling Bridge in Covington. Each bagel is hand-rolled, boiled, and baked with locally sourced ingredients. Even better? They offer sandwiches. The Lil is the rightful bestseller: A stack of lox, chive spread, red onion, dill, and capers, between the chewy but crunchy halves of a perfectly prepared everything bagel.

308 Greenup St., Covington, (859) 4126922, lilsbagels.com

WEDDING GOWN ALTERATIONS Tony King Alterations Brides and bridal shops know Tony King is the one to trust with wedding dress alterations. King, who works from a fourth-floor downtown studio, is highly recommended for his decades of sewing experience and meticulous attention to detail. Word is he’s outspoken, but still a delight to work with, whether you want to totally transform your grandmother’s gown or just need a few nips and tucks. You’ll have to call; King doesn’t have a website. 1403 Central Pkwy., Fourth Floor, downtown, (513) 481-4484

Birthday Suits The Cincinnati Reds celebrated their 150th anniversary season in a number of ways, but fans were especially interested in the 15 different throwback uniforms worn at select home weekend games. Here were our favorites:

SPLASH PAD Smale Riverfront Park The fun here comes in different sizes: Sure, the waterspouts near Joe Nuxhall Way are a good place to start, but check out the P&G go Vibrantscape. Pump H20 from a faucet into a series of cascading channels with release valves, manipulate those currents through rotating dams, and cause motion in a watermill by spinning a faux auger into the ground—all with the scenic Roebling Bridge in the background. 166 W. Mehring Way, downtown, (513) 352-6180, cincinnati parks.com

FOOD TOUR Riverside Food Tours – Ethnic Eats

P H OTO G R A P H S C O U R T E SY C I N C I N N AT I R E D S

Take a culinary tour around the world in the comfort of your own city.

Owner and tour guide Laura Noyes will take you and a small group to a handful of ethnic eateries in Over-theRhine, where you’ll sample the fare as she describes the dishes and tells tales of the neighborhood’s German heritage all along the way. Think you’ve been there, done that? Chances are there’s more to learn about your home city than you think. riverside foodtours.com

CANOEING EXPERIENCE Scenic River Canoe Excursions Scenic River Canoe Excursions offers the best bang-for-your-buck, family-friendly river outing experience. From May through September, you can float down the Little Miami via kayak, canoe, or tube for 2.1, 6, or 10 miles. Reservations are only required for the 10-mile trip, and prices range from $21 to $29. Every trip ends back at the livery and includes a life jacket,

1902 Uniform (worn May 4)

1961 Uniform ( July 21)

1976 Uniform (August 17)

The Reds didn’t reach all the way back to 1869 for the season’s first throwback look, opting instead for 1902, when the famous Palace of the Fans ballpark opened. We like the red stripe around the base of the white cap and the shirt’s fourbutton placket and collar, and how about that breast pocket? A real humdinger.

Three distinctive features make this set a classic: white pin-striped hats, the vest shirt, and a touch of blue in the shirt and cap logos.

The Reds surprised everyone by making it to the World Series in ’61, led by Frank Robinson, and Pete Rose would start his career two years later in this uniform. A lot of good feels.

The ultimate good feel among Reds fans is recalling the Big Red Machine, represented by this groovy ’70s look with a pullover shirt and elastic-waist pants.

Bench, Morgan, Perez, Rose, et al. had no time to fool with shirt buttons and belt buckles—they were too busy winning back-to-back championships!

river equipment, and a free ride to the starting point. Pro tip: Check their Facebook page before you go to confirm river conditions are safe. 4595 Round Bottom Rd., Terrace Park, (513) 576-9000, scenicrivercanoe.com

events. “I like bringing some femininity to a predominantly male sport,” she says. cincinnatireds.com

MASCOT WE LOVE Rosie Red When the Reds decided to add a Rosie Red character to their mascot roster 11 years ago, Amy Burgess was ready to step into the role—literally.

The actress and baseball fan had subbed for Mr. Redlegs and Gapper in previous seasons, but she was encouraged to create a new persona to connect with fans, especially women and girls. Burgess has become a hugely popular figure at Reds games and

St., Over-the-Rhine, (513) 263-6893, socialotr.com

DINING FOR A CAUSE Social OTR

DOG ICE CREAM SPOT Norwood Delite Creamy Whip

Among a seemingly endless roster of trendy dining options in Over-theRhine, Social OTR sets itself apart with its mission: Provide a communal dining experience for guests and hands-on job training for prospective chefs who would otherwise face barriers to entering the food industry.

Its atmosphere (hello, local artist Cody Gunningham’s enchanting mural wall), Findlay Market–adjacent location, and impressive take on New American food and beverage offerings make the experience all the better. 1819 Elm

This is your classic, cash-only, walk-up ice cream spot. Fried food, sundaes, cones, cups, slushies, and shakes (the creamy whip cones of the Dole and blueberry varieties are standouts). But what really makes this place worth the drive across town? You can bring your furry friend along for a free cone—if you’re the kind of pet mom or dad to let your pup indulge in a human dessert. 4490 Forest Ave., Norwood, (513) 841-1114, facebook.com/Norwooddelite creamywhip

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KENNER CAMEO Cincy Kids

ing to tossing scooters in the river or setting them on fire, as was done in other cities. Can we all get along and share the roads, at least until the next tech breakthrough wreaks havoc?

Bird: bird.co; Lime: li.me

Kristian Geer specializes in forcedperspective toy photography and “not so forced perspective” poetry on his Instagram, posing plastic toy characters in front of public landmarks around town and spinning a few lines of poetry with each photo. Inspired by the downtown ArtWorks mural celebrating Kenner Products, once headquartered here, Geer collected his work into a book of photos and poems, Cincy Kids. “The toys we grew up with, in the city we love,” he calls it. geersofchange.com

WALK-UP WINDOW Forty Thieves Chef and restaurateur Daniel Wright has had no shortage of success in Over-the-Rhine. Now he’s sharing the wealth at his fourth eatery, Mediterranean walk-up window Forty Thieves in OTR. In November, he began lending his kitchen to a rotating roster of aspiring chefpreneuers on Sundays in something of an incubator program. Wright and his wife Lana will also mentor participants on the nuanced business side of things, those make-or-break factors that include branding and service. 1538 Race St., Over-the-Rhine, (513) 818-9020, fortythievesgang.com

SMOKED SAUSAGE Cincinnati Sausage, Station Family + BBQ Call it a love letter to Cincinnati chili in sausage form. We call it utterly addictive. These pork links are made fresh daily: Wyoming Meat Market supplies the meat, and Chef-Owner Caitlin Steininger and crew toast and grind the seasonings—the same ones found in Cincinnati chili—mix with the meat, and then fill ’em, braid ’em, and smoke ’em. Top the sliced sausage with a drizzle of Station’s house Carolina gold–style mustard barbecue sauce, made with mustard, beer, and molasses, for a perfect pairing. 400 Wyoming Ave., Wyoming, (513) 6796797, cincystation.com

DOG PARK Summit Park Trips to Summit Park (Haven’t been? You’re way behind!) offer something for every family member— even four-legged ones. While the kids run around the futuristic playground or race along zip lines, take the pup to frolic in the fully fenced, 4.5-acre dog park. Hang in the shade when it’s hot, walk on surrounding trails, and grab a drink afterward on one of the restaurant patios. Your pup gets to run, but everyone else also has fun. 4335 Glendale Milford Rd., Blue Ash, (513) 745-8550, summitpark blueash.com

LOVE/HATE RELATIONSHIP Electric Scooters For almost 18 months now, adventurous Cincinnatians have hopped on Bird and Lime e-scooters to whizz down sidewalks (not OK!), cross traffic against the lights (another no-no), cross the river (a little scary), and creep slowly up city hills (gravity wins again). The rest of us have grudgingly accepted the invasion, without resort-

KITSCHY TIKI NIGHT Japp’s Since 1879

FESTIVAL REINCARNATION

Cincinnati Garlic Festival JIM TARBELL HAS HAD A FEW GOOD IDEAS. THE PRESent owners of Arnold’s Bar and Grill know this. They bought the joint from him in 1998, the same year he hosted the inaugural Cincinnati Garlic Festival. Owners Ronda and Chris Breeden got Mr. Cincinnati’s approval and busted the bulbs back out. Pairing with eight local businesses, they created a two-night extravaganza (May 31 and June 1) featuring a smorgasbord of one-off garlic-flavored concoctions: beers by 50 West, Listermann, and Rhinegeist; gelato

by Madisono’s; soup by La Soupe; bread by Sixteen Bricks; and sausage by Avril-Bleh. Breath mint, anyone? 210 E. Eighth St., downtown, (513) 421-6234, arnoldsbarandgrill.com

PLACE TO GET A CHRISTMAS TREE

Caracole at Findlay Market Caracole’s annual tree sale in Over-the-Rhine is a win-win-win during the holiday season, with all proceeds benefiting the local nonprofit that impacts lives in the fight against HIV/AIDS through prevention, housing, and care. Do a little grocery shopping at Findlay Market, grab a glass of wine or cup of hot chocolate, pick out your favorite blue spruce or Douglas fir, and help support a worthy cause. Cheers! caracole.org

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Ditch your stuffy workday vibes at the door. The city’s most famous barkeep, Molly Wellmann, is here to cure your midweek blues in a monthly island-style tiki party (on the first Wednesday of the month at 8 p.m.).

Sample a trio of exotic fruity cocktails, along with light bites and super chill tunes. You might feel a little cheesy wearing a Hawaiian shirt and lei out of the house, but you’ll feel right at home here among the diehard denizens of Tiki Night. 1134 Main St., Over-theRhine, (513) 381-1524, facebook.com/ japps1879

RESTAURANT CLOSING REVERSAL Hathaway’s Diner The internet was abuzz at the sudden announcement in January that Hathaway’s Diner (founded in 1956!) would shutter. Childhood memories of sipping milkshakes and tearing into a slice of warm apple pie (free with lunch on Tuesdays!) flashed before our eyes. Had we taken Hathaway’s for granted? The restaurant gods must have heard us pleading for forgiveness. About a month later the lease dispute between the diner and its landlord was resolved, the closing date was retracted, and order was restored once again. 441 Vine St., downtown, (513) 621-1333, facebook. com/hathawaysdiner

BOTANICAL JEWELRY SHOP

Lane & Kate

WHETHER YOU WANT TO DESIGN A CUSTOM ENGAGEMENT ring or refresh a family heirloom, Lane & Kate has you covered. In 2016, sisters Rachel Lane and Jessica Kate Pfeiffer relocated their Oxford jewelry shop to Vine Street, where Rachel and Manager Ellana Hagedorn now run the show. The duo teams with sustainable artists to create dainty, elegant pieces they call “barely there beauties.” As an added bonus, Hamilton-based Two Little Buds stocks the shop’s flower bar with fresh blooms each week.

1417 Vine St., Over-the-Rhine, (513) 381-0650, laneandkate.com

AIRPORT VENDING MACHINE SouveNEAR Launched in Kansas City five years ago, these airport machines serve up small, locally made items instead of mass-market souvenirs. Whether it’s pins, patches, or stickers from Band of Weirdos; jewelry from Circle Circle, Lynne & Lucille, or Ellebrux; chocolates from Maverick Chocolate Co.; or coloring cards and buttons from Visionaries + Voices artists, these gifts go beyond disposable trinkets. Local makers win, travelers win, and our region wins whenever someone says, “Oh, this? It came from Cincinnati.” souvenear.com

PLACE TO PLAY Play Library

WINTER BAR PATIO Rosedale OTR

For the littles, it’s like discovering the most amazing playroom ever. At Play Library’s bigger, brighter new space on Main Street, walls look like coloring book pages, swings hang from the ceiling, and toys and games are everywhere. The coolest part? It’s just like a library, so your kids can borrow their favorites (and you don’t have to buy a bunch of stuff). The volunteerrun nonprofit also recently launched Play It Forward: For every play date purchased, they donate one to a kid in need. 1306 Main St., Over-the-Rhine, (513) 407-7045, playlibrary.org

When the dead of winter leaves you feeling stifled with cabin fever, break free and cozy up on an outdoor bar patio. But wait! Not just any one will do. Rosedale OTR has a warming trifecta to ward off those three nasty stages of frostbite and keep your precious phalanges intact: Fire pits, check. Heaters, check. And, yes, even a full-blown tent—check! It couldn’t possibly get any bet—oh yeah, and bourbon. They’ve got a lot of that, too.

208 E. 12th St., Over-the-Rhine, (513) 864-5400, rosedaleotr.com

P H O T O G R A P H S B Y ( L A N E & K A T E ) A A R O N M . C O N W AY / ( E S S E N K I T C H E N ) M A R L E N E R O U N D S

Where to get the best vegan...

GOETTA Gramma Debbie’s

BBQ Lucius Q

Sold by the pound at her Findlay Market stall, this tofu-based goetta is bound with pinhead oats, quinoa, and flax seeds and is seasoned with white pepper, cloves, nutmeg, and cayenne.

It even sizzles, browns, smells, and tastes like the real thing. findlaymarket.org/merchants/ gramma-debbies-kitchen

The veggie ’cue at this Pendleton joint is an explosive umami bomb, made with trumpet mushrooms, cabbage, and onions cooked in the restaurant’s signature barbecue sauce. Even the meat eaters should give this one a go. luciusq.com

NORTH OF LIBERTY Essen Kitchen

SOFT SERVE Cone Zone

Around the corner from Findlay Market, Essen is a hidden gem and a real vegan’s vegan restaurant. Its totally plant-based menu features meat and dairy substitutions that make biscuits and gravy, mac and cheese, and even Reuben sandwiches possible. essenkitchen.com

From spring through fall, Cheviot’s your source for dairy-free vanilla soft serve. Smooth, indulgent, and made with almond milk, it’s as close as you can get to its dairy-based counterpart. cone-zone.com

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INDIE BOOKSTORE Roebling Point Books & Coffee

FLYING LESSON Lunken Flight Training Center

Currently housed in an 1840s building (formerly John Roebling’s office) Roebling Point has a lot to offer: children’s books, classics, best-sellers, new releases, poetry, and teen literature.

Each section is marked in chalk; nearly every room is lined with full bookshelves. Whether you’re grabbing a cup of coffee (roasted

by Seven Hills) or poking around the used books, any of the tables and chairs scattered throughout are the perfect spot to lose track of time. Keep your eyes peeled for a change, though. Owner Richard Hunt says the store is looking to move in 2020. 306 Greenup St., Covington, (859) 815-7204, roeb lingpointbooksandcoffee.com

The center’s explorer’s package is no joke. After a 30-minute introductory lesson about flight, a walk around your aircraft, and learning the important dials in the cockpit, you’ll take off with your instructor.

Once you’re in the air, you’ll have the helm (briefly). So go ahead— count out the seven hills and point out where you live. Then watch as your instructor demonstrates a few easy maneuvers that’ll show you what more you have to learn.

The hour spent in the air counts toward the 40 hours needed for a license, and you can even gift someone a lesson. 4500 Airport Rd., East End, (513) 321-3211, flylftc.com

LOCAL SELTZER Vive, Braxton Brewing Company

FRISBEE GOLF COURSE Mt. Airy Forest Disc Golf Course Despite nearly 30 area disc-golf courses to choose from, Idlewild, Lincoln Ridge, and Mt. Airy still reign supreme, based on local player reviews. Mt. Airy, however, deserves the most recognition.

With an on-site pro shop where you can buy discs and a nearby practice range where you can warm up, the course is great for beginners. Plus, plenty of long fairways mean you can really chuck that thing, with enough shots that require tight maneuvers sprinkled in to keep the 18 holes interesting. 4800 Lodge Rd., Mt. Airy, (513) 541-7305, thenati discgolf.com

PUPPET WORKSHOP

Madcap Puppets WE’LL BE THE FIRST TO ADMIT: PUPPETS CAN SOMEtimes be a little off-putting. But the folks at Madcap Puppets take any creepiness out of the art of puppetry and puppet-making. Their Westwood brick-and-mortar location opened in November 2018, and Madcap now offers on-site or remote puppet workshops, ranging from puppet creation to the art of puppet manipulation and storytelling.

It’s the perfect activity for your creative son or daughter’s group birthday party or class field trip. 3064 Harrison Ave., Westwood, (513) 921-5965, madcappuppets.com

INFANT SWIM LESSONS Infant Swimming Resource, ISR Self-Rescue Sobering stat for every new parent: Drowning is the No. 1 cause of accidental death in infants and toddlers under age 4. ISR SelfRescue teaches children as young as 6 months to save themselves from drowning. (If you don’t believe it, check out the YouTube videos.) Certified instructors, five in Cincinnati, provide 10-minute, one-on-one lessons where infants learn to hold their breath under water, roll onto their backs, and float unassisted. Talk about peace of mind for parents. isrcincinnati. com

ART SPACE FOR KIDS

Rosenthal Education Center, Cincinnati Art Museum It’s a dilemma: You want to expose your kids to great art, but “look, don’t touch” doesn’t go over well. Head directly to the Rosenthal Education Center at the Cincinnati Art Museum, where little hands can explore the current thematic exhibition (themes change in October and March) and make their own masterpieces. You can create right alongside them, and everyone will learn something about art. 953 Eden Park Dr., Eden Park, (513) 721-2787, cincinnatiartmuseum.org

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Getting in on the hard seltzer craze, Braxton takes the light, bubbly drink you already love from the national brands and makes it even better with natural fruit flavors, juice concentrate, and natural cane sugar. It’s available in four flavors (mango, lime, dragon fruit, and grapefruit)—plus special-edition collabs like a Bengals tailgate variety pack and cucumber mint for Hotel Covington. We don’t think this stuff will be going out of favor anytime soon. 27 W. Seventh St., Covington, (859) 261-5600, braxtonbrewing.com

PLACE TO GET A PASSPORT Hamilton County Title Division, Forest Park Making a trip to a government agency isn’t that bad, said no one ever. Long wait times and not-so-friendly service are always possible, but we have an office to recommend if you’re applying for a passport. Prepare all of the documentation before you go, like form DS-11, and bring proof of U.S. citizenship and a driver’s license (find details at usa.gov/passport) to the Auto Title office in Forest Park. You don’t need an appointment, it’s rarely jam-packed, and it’s a fairly quick and painless process. 1216 W. Kemper Rd., Forest Park, (513) 946-8161, courtclerk.org

SPORTS FACILITY EXPANSION Kids First Sports Center This children’s sports facility was already big—2.5 acres and two dozen programs under one roof—but a recent expansion, a 54,000-square-foot basketball-volleyball center in the works for eight years, takes Kids First to a whole new level. Ronnie Grandison Basketball Academy occupies the new space, which can be six basketball courts or eight volleyball courts. It adjoins the existing building, which offers gymnastics, tumbling, dance, swimming, karate, fencing, and summer camps. 7900 E. Kemper Rd., Sycamore Twp., (513) 489-7575, kidsfirstsports.com

LOCAL JAZZ SPOT (THAT ISN’T SCHWARTZ’S POINT) The Härth Lounge If Schwartz’s Point is the tightspaced, subterranean steward of cerebral jazz in Cincinnati, its polar opposite is The Härth Lounge. Polished, popular jazz in a sleek and spacious room is the perfect accompaniment to after-dinner drinks with friends on one of their sofas or at a high-top table.

The musicians keep things accessible Thursday through Saturday by giving modern popular songs a jazz-like flair and mixing in revered genre artists like Count Basie. Consider it Schwartz’s Point without a stick up its sax. 125 W. Fourth St., downtown, (513) 621-3473, bromwellsharth lounge.com

SPECIALTY MIMOSAS E+O Kitchen Take your #boozybrunch game to the next level at E+O Kitchen. Besides the eclectic selection of brunch entrées and small plates, all with E+O’s signature Asian fusion flair, you can pretty much build your ideal mimosa (or Bellini, for all those prosecco fans out there). Start with the base bubbles and then choose from the seemingly endless list of fresh juice mixtures: orange, pineapple, passion fruit, mango, grapefruit, peach, pear, or guava (our fave). 3520 Edwards Rd., Hyde Park, (513) 832-1023, eokitchen. com

LANGUAGE-IMMERSION PRESCHOOL PROGRAM La Casita Learning Center When Beth Prince was looking for a language-immersion preschool for her daughter Elena, she couldn’t find a single one. So she founded La Casita Learning Center, a preschool and childcare center where children understand, speak, and become literate in Spanish, Mandarin, and Arabic before they even enter kindergarten. La Casita provides engaging academics, meaningful play, and gross motor activity (including gymnastics class)—taught fully in Spanish. 5641 Union Centre Dr., West Chester, (513) 8893939, lacasitalearningcenter.com

WILD WEDDING VENUE Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden Our city’s beloved zoo only books 10 weddings each year, so you know they’re over-the-top. Imagine your guests mingling with an alpaca, mini pig, flamingo, penguin, or even a cheetah (animal appearance options vary) on the Africa Deck, a partially covered area overlooking the African Savannah exhibit, or in the Peacock Pavilion, an indoor space with a beautiful courtyard. Be sure to snap some portraits with giraffes or elephants in the background. 3400 Vine St., Avondale, (513) 475-6142, cincinnatizoo.org

RUM SELECTION

Longfellow’s Other Room BEHIND THE ALREADY SMALL LONGFELLOW IS THE OTHER Room, a jewel box space that feels like you’ve stepped into someone’s well-stocked mid-century rec room, where your knowledgeable, welcoming hosts hold court. They’ll help you navigate the 137 rums (sorted by country) on the list, whether you want them straight up or in a cocktail. We recommend the rum old fashioned, but here, you can definitely trust your bartenders. 109 E. 13th St. and Brackett Alley, Over-the-Rhine, (513) 549-0744, longfellowbar. com/other-room

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FERMENTED VEGGIES The Pickled Pig After making a name for their pickled and fermented veggies business at Newport’s Incubator Kitchen Collective and selling jars all over town, husband-and-wife duo Gary Leybman and Libby Power have opened a brick-andmortar deli in Walnut Hills. The fermented veggies are as good as ever, and we dare say the napa kimchi is the best in the city.

The mix’s cabbage, daikon, and carrots are lactofermented in the Korean tradition with red chiles, ginger, garlic, and fish sauce for a complex spicy, tangy, and briny flavor. 645 E. McMillan St., Walnut Hills, (513) 748-7114, smoked andpickled.com

Dance Classes for...

CELTIC KIDS McGing Irish Dancers Girls and boys—including several world champions in Irish dance—have been kicking up their heels here for 40-plus years. Make sure to clear your calendar around March 17. mcgingdancers.com

DROP-INS Planet Dance Founded by artistic directors of the Exhale Dance Tribe contemporary troupe, this studio is perfect for short attention spans. You’re able to drop into any class at any time without preregistering. planetdancecincinnati. com

FINDLAY MARKET BREAKOUT STAR The Budding Florist

EXERCISE JUNKIES DanceFix

Just 17 months after Ellie Wilke opened her plant and floral boutique at Findlay Market in November 2017, she moved into her first independent space on Elm Street. Here she offers tropical houseplants, floral arrangements, and a flower bar.

Her bouquets are the real stars, though. Each is crafted to have a wild, organic feel that’s “inspired

by Mother Nature,” meaning they’re not cookie cutter. Pair that with a knowledgeable and friendly staff, and you just found your new favorite plant shop. 1817 Elm St., Over-the-Rhine, (513) 562-7185, thebuddingfloristcincy.com

Daily cardio-intensive adult workout classes feature Heather Britt’s original choreography set to hip-hop, jazz, and Latin music. You’ll probably get to dance in a parade or flash mob, too. dancefixcincinnati.com

EXTROVERTS Salsannati Choose one of three experience levels, including beginner, and you don’t have to bring your own partner. Once you’re feeling confident, join the crowd at a salsa dance outing practically any night of the week. salsannati.com

BOLLYWOOD FANS Cultural Centre of India You’ll find private and group classes for ages 3 to adult and everyone from curiosity seekers to competitive dancers. You can also perform at public events and workshops. culturalcenterofindia.com

MUSEUM MOVE The Nancy & David Wolf Holocaust & Humanity Center They say the third time’s the charm. And that seems to be the case for the Holocaust & Humanity Center, which now tells the powerful story of the region’s Holocaust survivors at its new home in Union Terminal—the very site where many Holocaust survivors arrived in Cincinnati to start anew. The museum moved to its new home in January after opening at the Cincinnati Hebrew Union College in 2000 and a move to the Rockwern Academy in Kenwood in 2009. 1301 Western Ave., West End, (513) 487-3055, holocaust andhumanity.org/museum

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LIVING WALLS

Urban Blooms Cincy

PUBLIC ART, TECHNOLOGY, NATURE, AND ARCHITECTURE converge in the hydroponic living wall installations created

by Urban Blooms Cincy, as seen here at the zoo’s welcome center (left). The nonprofit, founded in 2014 by Tyler Wolf, partners with educational, civic, and municipal organizations—as well as corporate sponsors—to build sustainable, beautiful living walls throughout the Midwest that provide the benefits of improved air quality, lower stress, and reduced energy usage. 3895 Reading Rd., North Avondale, (513) 917-1111, urbanblooms.org

PUBLIC TENNIS COURTS Lunken Playfield The Lindner Family Tennis Center offers 16 lighted courts, both hard surface and crushed-stone clay, in the busy complex near Lunken Airport that includes a golf course, driving range, playground, softball fields, and running and bike trails. The Cincinnati Recreation Commission facility hosts high school matches, USTA tournaments, a variety of leagues, and lots of open play for you and your friends.

Memberships are available, or pay as you play. 4750 Playfield Lane, East End, (513) 321-1772, lindnertennis center.com

GOETTA PIZZA Trotta’s Pizza That pork and oats you smell doesn’t mean breakfast this time—it’s a pizza topping. And at Trotta’s eccentric drive-thru, you can get the Cincinnati delicacy on the notoriously large, fluffy-crusted Lotta Trotta, a dense Sicilian deep-dish, or a super thin crust. It’s pretty heavy on its own, but when you surround the spicy oats and pork topping with red onions, green peppers, and black olives? That’s a whole new reason to get a Lotta Trotta.

3501 Werk Rd., Westwood, (513) 4515555, trottaspizza.net

FUN SPOT FOR KIDS EnterTRAINment Junction Even if your little isn’t obsessed with trains, EnterTRAINment Junction is worth a trip. With two miles of train track and more than 1,200 train cars running through scenes depicting railway history, it’s the largest indoor display in the world (quite a sight, even for adults). You’ll also find cool replicas of Cincinnati landmarks. Kids P H O T O G R A P H S C O U R T E S Y ( O P P O S I T E P A G E ) C U LT U R A L C E N T R E O F I N D I A ( T H I S P A G E ) U R B A N B L O O M S

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can catch a ride on the outdoor train during warmer months, burn some energy at the interactive play area, and see Santa and Mrs. Claus during the holiday season. 7379 Squire Court, West Chester, (513) 898-8000, enter trainmentjunction.com

NEW DELI Peppe Cucina We’d visit Peppe Cucina for the fresh-baked bread alone, but there’s so much more to the five-month-old New York–style Italian deli and bakery.

Mainly a carryout joint, it serves sandwiches stuffed with hand-sliced meats and cheeses, Sicilian-style pizza by the slice, fresh pasta, baked goods, and side salads. We especially loved the sand dollar–sized ravioli filled with a creamy cheese blend, topped with meatball arrabiata sauce, and served with five ciabatta wedges. Trust us when we say you can’t order wrong and the portions are big enough for two. 39 W. Pike St., Covington, (859) 360-0045, facebook.com/peppe cucinacov

POWERLIFTING GYM RiverCity Barbell This unassuming warehouse in Dayton, Kentucky, carries a lot of weight— in the form of iron plates, Atlas stones, logs, and other super heavy things weightlifters like to pick up. You have to be a member to train here ($60/ month), and you have to “leave your ego at the door,” say co-owners and competitive lifters Jim Phillips and Zac Whalen. RiverCity hosts Revolution Powerlifting Syndicate meets and sponsors the Iron Asylum Strongman team for men and women. 1101 Second Ave., Dayton, Kentucky, rivercity barbell.com

FEMALE ENTREPRENEUR TO WATCH Anna Steffen

strawberry cake with lavenderinfused sugar, pineapple fritters with habanero glaze, and fudge cake with whipped chocolate cream cheese frosting. This sweet trend is so popular that Holtman’s recommends you place your order four to six months in advance. The largest order they’ve done is 45 dozen! 9558 Civic Centre Blvd., West Chester, (513) 755-1261, holtmansdonutshop.com

At 17, Anna Steffen launched an online women’s clothing and accessories boutique with a friend. At 20, she debuted her first solo online boutique, The Native One, which blossomed into a brick-and-mortar location on Vine Street within nine short months. Now 22, she oversees her wildly successful OTR shop, plus a second Covington storefront that opened in October.

All in all, she’s a stylish force to be reckoned with. 1421 Vine St., Overthe-Rhine, (513) 832-7133; 326-328 Scott St., Covington, (859) 360-6706, thenativeone.com

HOLIDAY POP-UP Overlook Lodge An over-the-top homage to the Overlook Hotel in The Shining, this neighborhood spot gets an all-out holiday makeover to become the Miracle pop-up bar through December 28. Try the holiday-themed cocktails with lots of cinnamon, chocolate, and peppermint, and revel in the kitschy decor, from fake snow to leg lamps, Red Rider BB guns, and other memorabilia from iconic movies like A Christmas Story and Elf. You’ll miraculously fall into the holiday spirit in no time. 6083 Montgomery Rd., Pleasant Ridge, (513) 351-0035, thatshiningbar.com

HEALTHY FOOD FOR ALLERGIC PETS Argos Like humans, your dog or cat can develop allergies to certain foods, resulting in stomach and skin problems (or worse). Argos custom makes several formulas of dry food once a month, without dairy, grain fillers, or chemical preservatives—all common sources for pet allergies. Buy it by the pound at the two Argos locations or at Clifton Market, Delhi Pet Center, and A Fortunate Dog Spa in Loveland. 2801 Woodburn Ave., East Walnut Hills, (513) 221-4451; 7713 Camargo Rd., Madeira, (513) 561-7966, argospet.com

NONPROFIT ARTS SPACE Wave Pool Gallery Camp Washington is the quirky residential and industrial neighborhood tucked between Spring Grove Avenue and I-75 that’s finally known for more than its chili parlor, thanks to artists repurposing old buildings into maker spaces and showplaces like the Swing House. Wave Pool, located in an old firehouse, functions as its community center, showing work by local artists, hosting woodworking and pottery classes, and teaching immigrants new job skills at its Welcome Project space across the street. 2940 Colerain Ave., Camp Washington, (513) 600-6117, wavepoolgallery.org

WEDDING DESSERT (INSTEAD OF CAKE) Holtman’s Donuts Doughnut walls (and displays, and favors, and, and, and...) are having a major moment at wedding receptions.

Here, brides skipping the cake look to Holtman’s, which can personalize flavors and frosting, even matching the day’s color scheme. They’ve done

WAY TO ENJOY MUSEUMS

Discovery Pass YOUR LIBRARY CARD CAN CHECK OUT A WHOLE LOT OF neon, Robert Duncanson murals, the great outdoors, and more—literally. With the Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County’s Discovery Pass, you can borrow a pass to The American Sign Museum, the Taft Museum of Art, the Betts House, Great Parks of Hamilton County, the Harriet Beecher Stowe house, and the Cincinnati Art Museum’s special exhibitions. Just use the online reservation system to print or pull up the pass on your mobile device. cincinnatilibrary.org/services/discoverypass.html

TROPICAL FISH SUPPLY

Monfort Aquarium and Pet Shop Holy mackerel—well, Monfort Aquarium and Pet Shop doesn’t have mackerel, but it has a lot of exotic fish. The black and white Heniochus butterfly fish with its graphic stripes and flash of bright yellow hovers at the high end of the scale, while the fluorescent (and genetically modified) Glo Tetra, in a wide variety of colors, is a more affordable option. When you consider the variety of underwater plants, decor, and tanks available, Monfort becomes your one-stop shop for building a bustling aquarium. 6520 Colerain Ave., Colerain Township, (513) 923-3369, monfortaquarium.com

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PHOTO SESSION The Simple Portrait Project Twelve years ago, photographer Jonathan Willis (also a Cincinnati Magazine contributor) had an idea: Create a family portrait session that was straightforward, fast, and affordable—and that captured the family’s real personality. The result: A yearly tradition and a devoted following of subjects who connect with Willis and his team of photographers each November. Join the mailing list at the website; signups start in September, and slots go fast. thesimpleportrait project.com

CHEESY DATE NIGHT The Rhined The Rhined offers the cheesiest (and we mean that in the best way possible!) way to impress a first date.

For $12, indulge in a plate of ham, potatoes, pickled veggies, mustard, and arugula smothered in melty cheesy goodness at Raclette Night, held every Wednesday evening October through March. Then, from April to September, Mozzarella Night takes over, featuring a fresh ball of hand-stretched mozz paired with toasted ciabatta from Allez and seasonal toppings for $10.

1737 Elm St., Over-the-Rhine, (513) 655-5938, therhined.com

ZOO COMPANIONSHIP

Kris & Remus

THINK CATS AND DOGS CAN’T GET ALONG? CHEETAH CUB Kris (born in July) and her companion rescue pup Remus (April) beg to differ. The duo has been inseparable since their pairing in September. As the sole survivor of her litter, Kris learns from and plays with Remus in ways she couldn’t with her human trainers. This spring, she will go on to represent her species as part of the Cincinnati Zoo’s educational ambassador program. As for Remus? The two will decide on their own when they part (typically after two years), and then he’ll move on to his forever home with a zoo staffer. 3400 Vine St., Avondale, (513) 281-4700, cincinnatizoo.org

NEW PARTY VENUE The View Funky’s Catering took The Celestial Steakhouse, scrapped everything but the crystal chandelier and the spectacular views, and created a new event space on the edge of Mt. Adams (literally). Since opening in April, The View has hosted weddings, family celebrations, and corporate gatherings in a modern, open floorplan space ringed by a wall of windows overlooking downtown, the river, and Northern Kentucky. 1071 Celestial St., Mt. Adams, (513) 8419999, theviewmtadams.com

GIANT CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES Salty Chocolate Chip, Brown Bear Bakery

ZOO PHOTOGRAPHS BY LANCE ADKINS

Four dollars for a single cookie seems steep. But this, friends, is a salty chocolate chip cookie from Blair Fornshell’s OTR pastry shop.

Thick, oversized (but not obscene), and a magical balance of crisp and chewy, it is packed with Graeter’sworthy slabs of 72 percent cacao dark chocolate. A few flakes of sea salt on top cut the richness.

This $4 cookie will make you feel like a million bucks. 116 E. 13th St., Over-the-Rhine, (513) 975-2142, brownbearbakes.com

AFTER-HOURS ADULT POOL PARTY Adult Swim, Ziegler Park What’s better than visiting the Ziegler Park pool with the whole family on a sunny afternoon? Visiting Ziegler Park pool after hours sans kiddos for Adult Swim. Once a month from May to September,

Ziegler hosts adult-only evenings, where guests 21 and older can pay $10 to swim from 7:30 to 10 p.m.

And because it wouldn’t be a party without alcohol and music, there’s a cash bar and DJ. The sunset makes for a pretty magical backdrop.

1322 Sycamore St., Over-the-Rhine, zieglerpark.org/series/adult-swim

TRUCK-BASED BUSINESS The Book Bus After 25 years teaching at inner city schools in St. Louis, L.A., and Cincinnati, Melanie Moore fulfilled her lifelong dream of opening a bookstore—it just happens to be on wheels. Housed in an adorable mint green 1962 Volkswagen truck, The Book Bus sells mint-condition adult fiction books at flea markets, pop-ups, and private events across the city. It also has a charitable mission: Moore uses her proceeds to buy books for children in need. facebook.com/cincybookbus

SUBURBAN PUBLIC SPACE Summit Park Built on the old Blue Ash Airport grounds, Summit Park borrowed from the best features of downtown jewels like Fountain Square (concerts, festivals, winter ice rink); Smale Riverfront Park (play areas, adjacent restaurants); and Washington Park (event lawn, dog park) to create a bustling multipurpose community center. When the first apartments and retail spaces open next door this summer, expect a whole new level of “bustle” to take over. 4335 Glendale Milford Rd., Blue Ash, (513) 745-8443, summitpark blueash.com

DUMPLING Momos, Bridges Nepali Cuisine Bridges Nepali Cuisine opened a second restaurant on Court Street this July, so you don’t have to drive to Northside for their best-selling momos. Marinated with Nepali spices, the bite-sized juicy dumplings are stuffed with a chicken or vegetable filling, steamed, and served with tangy and spicy sauces. (Go to Northside for fried or pan-seared momos.) All orders are 10 for $10; trust us, they’re plenty filling. 4165 Hamilton Ave., Northside, (513) 374-9354, bridgesnorthside.weebly.com; 133 E. Court St., downtown, (513) 978-9055, facebook.com/bridgesdowntown

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FRIED CHEESE

Taglio YOU’VE PROBABLY HEARD LOTS OF ADJECTIVES DESCRIBING this kid-friendly appetizer, but you probably haven’t heard refined. That’s what Taglio’s version feels like. Hot out of the kitchen, with a seasoned breading of garlic, onion, and cayenne encapsulating ooey, gooey cheese, this is a grown-up’s appetizer. The order of four sticks also comes with a side of classic marinara. It might actually make you feel like picking up a fork and knife. But don’t, because that’s ridiculous. 3531 Columbia Pkwy., ColumbiaTusculum, (513) 321-0454, eattaglio.com

NIGHT MARKET City Flea Holiday Market

SPOT FOR TEA PARTIES The BonBonerie

What could be more charming than Washington Park on a crisp December evening, aglow with string lights, packed with vendors and festive shoppers? Darn near nothing. It’s enough to get the Grinch in a giving frame of mind. There will probably be carolers, possibly some gift wrapping, and certainly warm drinks to keep your insides toasty. All you need are some flurries to imagine yourself in the center of your own personal holiday snow globe. December 14, Washington Park, Over-the-Rhine, thecityflea.com

Little guests who love tea parties don’t have to pretend at The BonBonerie. In the tea parlor at this beloved local pastry shop, kids can sip English breakfast, ginger peach, or cherry rose green flavors (even chocolate milk is served in a teapot) and snack on peanut butter and jelly finger sandwiches or buttery tea cookies from a fancy three-tiered stand. Characters like Elsa and Anna, Cinderella, and Belle sing, dance, read a story, and pose for photos.

Guests can also book the tea parlor for private parties. 2030 Madison Rd., O’Bryonville, (513) 321-3399, bonbonerie.com

WEEKLY GROUP BICYCLE RIDE Tuesday Night Ride, Reser Bicycle Outfitters If you’re into (or looking to get into) bicycling, this shop along Newport’s main drag is the spot for you. Each relatively warm-weathered Tuesday evening, bicyclists gather at Reser Bicycle Outfitters for four group rides. They vary according to levels of intensity, ranging from a casual 12-to-18 miles to a race-pace 25-plus.

Cyclists pedal off at 6:15 p.m. sharp.

So get there early, bring a friend, and don’t forget bottles of water. 648 Monmouth St., Newport, (859) 261-6187, reserbicycle.com

POP-UP TATTOO SALE White Whale Tattoo’s Flash Day

of thousands of dollars to date. 650 E. McMillan St., Walnut Hills, (513) 3740429, white whaletattoo.com

WEIRD NEW SPORT Fowling Warehouse After the sport gained a loyal following in Michigan, Loveland-based Joe Frank and four friends opened the first Fowling Warehouse in Oakley this May. Pronounced foe-ling, it’s part football, part bowling (hence the name), with hints of cornhole, beer pong, and horseshoes. The objective: Knock down—by throwing a football—10 bowling pins set up on a wooden platform 48 feet away before your opponents do. Take our advice and stretch before playing. Unlike cornhole, your arms will be sore after.

2940 Highland Ave. #230, Oakley, (513) 900-0959, fowlingwarehouse. com/cincinnati-oh

UTILITY PLAYER Karrikin Spirits Company We can’t stop singing the praises of this brewery/distillery/restaurant in Fairfax. Maybe it’s the food—Jared Bennett is clearly having fun at the wood-fired grill. His seasonal, shareable plates always include something unexpected. Or maybe it’s the booze—

the cocktail lineup features Karrikin’s housemade spirits and hard sodas to great effect, and you can choose the size of your pour. Or maybe it’s the whole package. If you haven’t been, don’t wait. And if you have, well, we’ll see you there. 3717 Jonlen Dr., Fairfax, (513) 561-5000, karrikin spirits.com

MUSEUM GIFT SHOP The Shop at the Contemporary Arts Center Packed with affordable jewelry, children’s toys, dishware, books, prints, and more, this is not your typical museum gift shop. The items, some of which are handmade by local independent artists and CAC staffers, are not only relevant to the museum’s exhibitions but also the community and changing world climate. The inventory rotates frequently, too, so you can expect to see new one-of-a-kind items often. And unlike the museum, the gift shop is open on Tuesdays.

44 E. Sixth St., downtown, (513) 3458400, contemporaryartscenter.org

SAND VOLLEYBALL Fifty West Brewing Company A handful of local spots offer sand volleyball leagues, but none are

BOARD GAME SHOP

Woodburn Games

It might not be the first fund-raiser option you’d think of, but White Whale Tattoo (the Walnut Hills-based tattoo parlor) inks people to raise funds for charities in Guatemala City during its annual flash day at the 21c Museum Hotel. Artists bring flash sheets full of predesigned tattoos. Guests check in on a first-come, first-served basis.

After a wait, guests pick a design and get inked up for a discounted price.

And it’s effective, having raised tens

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Board game stores are deep geek territory, where trading cards and collectibles make up most of the conversation. Nongeeks need not fear. The pros at Woodburn Games can take your preference for Monopoly and Cards Against Humanity and show you three other games you’d probably like. Maybe one of their suggestions will strike your fancy and you’ll end up taking home a new treasure to try out on your next family game night. 2803 Woodburn Ave., East Walnut Hills, (513) 206-8776, facebook.com/woodburngames

quite as fun as Fifty West Brewing Company’s. With four co-ed sessions running early spring through fall, the brewery’s six outdoor courts host six-on-six and four-on-four games Monday through Thursday nights.

Spectators (and their pups) can watch from the sideline or get a bird’s-eye view from the brewery’s second-floor balcony. And for just $15, you get a bucket of five Fifty West beers to carry out on the court. 7668 Wooster Pk., Plainville, (513) 834-8789, volleyball. fiftywestbrew.com/sport/Volleyball

STORYTIME LIBRARIAN Mr. Eric at the Clifton Branch At the Clifton branch of the Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County, children’s librarian Eric Davis becomes “Mr. Eric” twice a week, leading some extremely popular storytimes. Using songs and acting out characters in picture books, Mr. Eric introduces his small charges to the wonders of reading, books, and the library. Many parents say their littles go home and reenact what they heard.

Now that’s fun that keeps on giving.

3400 Brookline Ave., Clifton, (513) 369-4447, cincinnatilibrary.org

A S T U T E F U R N I S H I N G S P H OTO G R A P H BY B R I T TA N Y D E X T E R

OPERA TO COME OUT OF A HAPPY HOUR Blind Injustice, Cincinnati Opera When the young professionals of the Ohio Innocence Project and the Young Professionals Choral Collective got together, the latter found dramatic potential in the former’s stories. With help from librettist David Cote (who interviewed those wrongfully convicted), composer Scott Davenport Richards, and director Robin Guarino, an opera was born. The five premiere performances were sold out long before the Cincinnati Opera season started. We hope the opera considers bringing this one back to Music Hall soon. cincinnatiopera.org

CHICKEN TENDERS F&N Goode Chick’n Tenders

Where to Sell Your...

In our May issue we dubbed the tenders at F&N Goode Chick’n Tenders the tastiest in town. Our findings haven’t changed. Located in a small Westwood strip mall, the family-owned carryout and sit-down eatery serves perfectly portioned, juicy, hand-cut and handbreaded fried tenders. And although the chef won’t share the “proprietary blend of spices” he uses to make the crispy flour-based breading, he did reveal what makes their Awesome Sauce so awesome: a chipotle-ranch base.

5102 Crookshank Rd., Westwood, (513) 451-3000, fngoodechicken.com

PUSH PRESENT Postwell New moms rarely talk about the essentials they needed after giving birth, because let’s be real—postpartum recovery is not pretty. Oakley resident Jess Kerr created Postwell, a practical collection of must-have products you can order online and ship straight to a deserving new mama. The box, which has appeared in USA Today, is a perfect gift and total lifesaver—anything to prevent a postpartum trip to Target for sitz bath and cold packs. postwellbox.com

HIGH-END FURNITURE Astute Furnishings A go-to source for The Good Stuff, whether it’s a Danish modern stereo cabinet, Herendon console table, or Globe Wernicke barrister bookcase. Your midcentury pieces would be in good company here. astutefurnish ings.com

BEER COLLABORATION “Community” Coffee Pale Ale, Samuel Adams Made right here in Cincinnati, this amber-hued English-style pale ale with notes of caramel malt is the fourth iteration of the collaboration between Samuel Adams OTR Taproom and local roaster Deeper Roots. It’s brewed with the chocolate-and-caramel-forward Community coffee blend, boasting a bold roasty coffee flavor without losing its crisp, refreshing sip.

1727 Logan St., Over-the-Rhine, (513) 412-3300, facebook.com/samadams cincy

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HOUSEHOLD ITEMS This N That Consignments The back room, filled with housewares, caught our attention. Games, decor items, serving ware, tools, holiday decorations—consignment shops rarely take these items, so this is a boon for sellers. thisnthatconsign.com

CLOTHES Snooty Fox

KIDS’ STUFF Reruns for Wee Ones

There’s a reason this local consignment chain is king: dedicated shoppers, generous allowances, and multiple locations.

Plus stores accept women’s, men’s, and kids’ duds. Win, win, win. shopsnooty.com

Busy moms have no time to consign, so Reruns pays for your kids’ clothes, toys, and gear on the spot. Both the Fairfield and West Chester locations stock new goods as well. rerunsfor weeones.com

VEHICLE WRAPS Vivid Wraps

necessary. It’s great for dogs that would rather deal with their family member than a stranger, and—for an additional fee—you can add on services like a nail trim from the staff.

3022 Harrison Ave., Westwood, (513) 906-7115, facebook.com/fuzzybutts westwood

Have you seen a matte black Lamborghini coast through Cincinnati recently? There’s a good chance Vivid Wraps is responsible for your jaw dropping. The graphics shop can add a temporary new layer or design over a variety of products, from boats, motorcycles, and delivery trucks to an Xbox gaming console. Whether it’s a high-end vehicle wrap or a local business slapping its logo on a van, Vivid stays busy—most orders take a month and a half to get to. 12130 Royal Point Dr., Symmes Township, (513) 515-8386, vividwraps.com

HAND-PULLED NOODLES Fortune Noodle House There’s a reason almost no one else in Cincinnati makes hand-pulled Chinese noodles fresh daily. It’s hard work! Watch chef and co-owner Rachel Sun through the window into the kitchen as she kneads, then stretches the dough, swinging it through the air.

As it gets longer, it’s folded over, and the process is repeated until a bundle of long, thin noodles is all that’s left.

Take her husband and co-owner Steven Sun’s advice: Dine in to enjoy the noodles’ springy bite in all their glory. 349 Calhoun St., #1332, Clifton Heights, (513) 281-1800, fortune noodles.com

NEW THIRD PLACE Mom ’N ’Em Coffee Brothers Austin and Tony Ferrari created the perfect “third place” when they opened Mom ’N ’Em Coffee Shop in Camp Washington this spring. It’s in a completely renovated historic house that offers a physical space away from work (though, to be fair, it’s a great place to get stuff done) but not quite the social isolation of home. The result is a perfect environment to sit and talk with new friends—or old—over an excellent cup of coffee, flavor-packed small bites, or a carefully curated glass of wine. 3128 Colerain Ave., Camp Washington, (513) 390-7681, momnemcoffee.com

HIGH CLASS CREAMY WHIP The Bold Face Dairy Bar Company Have a sweet tooth and enjoy the finer things in life? You’ll love The Bold Face Dairy Bar Company’s inventive twists on classic ice cream offerings.

Flavors at this East Price Hill spot, which opened in April, range seasonally from dirty martini to bourbon barrel stout and gold-leaf covered chocolate to chai tea. Our favorite is a simple cone of cardamom with coconut flakes—taken from the walk-up window to the Incline District overlook (and its impressive view) just a short walk up the street. 801 Mt. Hope Ave., East Price Hill, boldfacedairybar.com

DOG WASH Fuzzybutts Dry Goods Don’t be mistaken; while Fuzzybutts offers all the doggie store basics (food, shampoo, classes), the main draw here is the self-serve dog wash.

Equipped with shampoo, towels, and dryers, all you have to do is bring your furry friend into the walk-in tub and get to scrubbing—no appointment

ALTERNATIVE INDOOR BAR ACTIVITY

Pins Mechanical Co. A RELATIVE NEWCOMER TO MAIN STREET IN OVER-THERhine, Columbus-based Rise Brands (the folks behind 16-Bit Bar + Arcade) opened its third Pins Mechanical Co. bar, arcade, and duckpin bowling entertainment hub in November 2018. Two floors of duckpin bowling—like regular bowling but with smaller balls, lanes, and pins—are the fun centerpoint, with a third floor full of arcade games and pinball machines and a fourth-floor rooftop patio perfect for warm summer days. 1124 Main St., Over-the-Rhine, (513) 964-7746, pinsbar.com/cincy

SKI AND SNOWBOARD MAKER Mortal Ski Company Over-the-Rhine isn’t exactly ground zero for outdoor winter fun, but it’s home to Mortal Ski, manufacturer of custom skis and snowboards. Since 2015, Ron Gerdes and Mark Branham have occupied an old OTR warehouse to hand-make skis specifically designed for Midwestern snow conditions and sell them via word of mouth and online orders. They begin producing snowboards this winter. It’s all downhill from here! mortalski company.com

DOGGIE POOL PARTY Coppin’s, Hotel Covington AUTHENTIC GERMAN PRETZELS

Tuba Baking Co. Inspired by his family’s deeply rooted German lineage, Drew Rath launched his wholesale Swabian pretzel business, Tuba Baking Co., in April 2018. He’s since opened a kitchen/bar space in Covington, which is open to the public on Saturdays. With skinnier arms and higher fat and hydration levels than the Bavarian variety, Rath’s pretzels are harmoniously crunchy and soft. Taste them at his shop or at local spots like Share Cheesebar, Streetside Brewing, Crafts & Vines, and more. 212 W. Pike St., Covington, (859) 835-2171, facebook.com/tubabakingco

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Coppin’s takes its courtyard brunch to the next level with a once-monthly summer pool party designed specifically for your favorite four-legged friends. Small pools of water line the outdoor patio area, along with vendors offering locally made treats, toys, and other gear to your dog’s delight. Nearby tables offer owners a spot to relax and indulge in omelettes and mimosas. And there’s a doggie brunch menu should your playing pup work up an appetite. Just be sure to make reservations; this event fills up fast. 638 Madison Ave., Covington, (859) 905-6600, hotelcovington.com/ dining/coppins

NORTHERN KENTUCKY CHILDREN’S BOOKSTORE

Blue Marble Books

FOR 40 YEARS, BLUE MARBLE IN FT. THOMAS HAS BEEN the source for kids’ books: board books for wee ones, Captain Underpants for new readers, and all the latest YA titles for your teen.

Teachers and collectors aren’t left out, with plenty of activity books and signed first editions available. An upstairs room honors Goodnight Moon (say good night, mittens and kittens!), so it’s fair to say that Peter Moore and the rest of the staff know their stuff. 1356 S. Ft. Thomas Ave., Ft. Thomas, (859) 781-0602, bluemarblebooks.com

NEW BREW BUS NKY Brewery and Distillery Bus Launched in April, this repurposed school bus helps you explore some of Northern Kentucky’s breweries and distilleries between 1 and 9 p.m. on Saturdays. Buy a $10 ticket online; from bartenders at Bircus Brewing, Darkness Brewing, Second Sight Spirits, and Wooden Cask; or on the bus at Braxton Labs, Hofbräuhaus, and New Riff. While there’s a posted schedule, there’s only one bus, so make sure you pack your patience. nkybrewshuttle. com

STREAMING RADIO STATION Inhailer Radio

NEW WINE BAR Ripple Wine Bar

The 2017 disappearance of WNKU from the FM radio dial alarmed local music fans and musicians alike, but instead of complaining, a few hearty souls launched the streaming service Inhailer Radio to fill the void. Two-plus years later, the station has opened a physical space inside Herzog Music, downtown’s record and musical instrument shop, and offers live DJs “spinning” indie pop and rock 16 hours a day. The beauty in a streaming channel? “As long as you’re on Earth, you can listen,” says Program Director Taylor Fox. inhailer.com

Matt and Kathleen Haws call Ripple a “juice joint,” and their cozy, quirky space lives up to that unpretentious description. With a 40-bottle Cruvinet system and half-glass pours of everything, it’s easy to explore. Chef Will Smith makes magic in a pocket-sized “kitchen”—no fryer, no grill hood, just a Merrychef oven and deliciousness in the form of crispy Brussels sprouts with anchovy vinaigrette or sweet potato gnocchi with Italian sausage, finished with sage and brown butter sauce. 4 W. Pike St., Covington, (859) 261-0004, ripplewinebar.com

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DOG TREATS Brewhaus Bakery This Madeira bakery makes ovenbaked dog treats out of spent barley sourced from area craft breweries like Braxton, Mt. Carmel, Nine Giant, and Rhinegeist. The grains are combined with peanut butter, eggs, and brown rice flour to produce treats that are easy to digest, with a lower allergen risk. The nonprofit also provides vocational training for young adults with disabilities, from food prep through order processing. Buy Brewhaus Dog Bones online (three 6-oz. bags for $25) and at local pet shops and dog

groomers as well as Jungle Jim’s, Party Source, and Marty’s Hops & Vines. brewhausdogbones.com

ADVOCATE FOR BEES Osmia Bee Company Of the 4,000 bee species native to North America (FYI: Honeybees are European), more than 700 face extinction due to habitat loss from increased pesticides. Hyde Park resident Justina Block is helping grow Cincinnati’s native bee population by selling sustainable bee houses through her two-year-old business, Osmia Bee Company. Crafted from cedar, each

GROWN-UP DANCE PARTIES CWC The Restaurant, Station Family + BBQ

house comes complete with nesting materials, live mason and leafcutter bee cocoons, and instructions. These super gentle, low-maintenance pollinators will make your garden flourish. osmiabee.com

NON-BEEF BURGER Turkey Burger, Bones’ Burgers You might already know that Bones’ serves up one of the best grassfed beef burgers in town. When your craving comes calling, you probably take one hasty glance at the menu, think why mess with a good thing? and

proceed to order. But we challenge you to fight your instincts and try the turkey burger. Mixed with fresh herbs, minced red onion, and a white- and dark-meat blend of locally sourced free-range turkey from Bowman & Landes farm, it’s incredibly juicy.

Customize it as you please or order it with one of the 15 specialty topping combinations. 9721 Montgomery Rd., Montgomery, (513) 407-2939; 3235 Madison Rd., Oakley, (513) 321-0369, bones-burgers.com

LOCAL ATHLETE HERO

Rose Lavelle

It all started with breakfast nachos, the morning entrée of your teenage dreams. Now the trio behind CWC and Station host dance parties that let your grown-up self live it up like back in the day.

On February 22, Station hosts a Spring Break ’98 Dance Party, with a DJ playing old school hip-hop tracks (“California Love,” anyone?)—because let’s be real, you’d really love to relive those college nights, just not at the club. CWC: 1517 Springfield Pike, Wyoming, (513) 407-3947, cwctherestaurant.com; Station: 400 Wyoming Ave., Wyoming, (513) 679-6797, cincystation.com

IT’S HARD NOT TO GET EXCITED ABOUT THE 24-YEAR-OLD Mt. Notre Dame graduate who snaked the ball past two Netherlands defenders to score a goal in the 69th minute of the Women’s World Cup finals, sealing the 2–0 victory for the U.S. In short, Rose Lavelle’s ball handling as a midfielder makes other players look stiff. And after earning the Bronze Ball at the FIFA Women’s World Cup awards, marking her as the third best female soccer player in the tournament, there’s no telling what heights she might reach. Is it too soon to rename Pete Rose Way?

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ASIAN BAKERY

Chako Bakery Café

HISAKO “CHAKO” OKAWA DOESN’T JUST BAKE SOME SERIously Instagram-worthy Japanese pastries (like the vibrant green matcha roll cake); she serves up inspiration galore. Before moving to America in 2015 and opening her startup bakery in 2017, she made a bold career switch after working as a nurse for 35 years—going all in, studying at the prestigious Le Cordon Bleu and Il Pleut Sur la Seine in Japan. Taste the dedication and passion she puts into each of her sweet and savory items (the pork katsu sando is a must try!), all made with fresh, local, and natural ingredients.

611 Main St., Covington, (859) 609-0166, chakobakerycafe.com

Mollie the Hound Doggie Since Mollie the Queen City hound dog was adopted in 2016, she has developed a cult following for her posed pics balancing on objects ranging from fire hydrants to boulders at notable Cincinnati sites and events. @molliethehounddoggie

Harrison Ford the Bulldog Harrison Ford is Cincinnati’s bulldog version of Grumpy Cat: He’s cute, seemingly always a bit of a curmudgeon, and a real charmer on the social networks, where he has garnered more than 44,000 followers on Instagram alone. @harrisonfordbulldog

Elmer the Basset Hound

P H O T O G R A P H S ( C A K E ) B Y A A R O N M . C O N W AY / ( D O G S ) C O U R T E S Y D O G O W N E R S

If you’re a sucker for a wrinkly face and floppy ears, this four-legged friend will win over your heart with Insta poses in scarves, a life jacket, Ray-Bans, and more. You wouldn’t be alone: Elmer has gained 10,000-plus Instagram followers since his birth in the summer of 2017. @elmer_the_basset

Vince Cincy Perhaps Cincinnati’s cutest French bulldog, Vince, a self-proclaimed “costume and glasses” model, boasts an Instagram account with 20,000 followers where you can peep the precious pup dressed as everything from a taco to a tiny Christmas elf. @vincecincy

Ellie Doodle Dog It’s difficult to believe a Cincinnati-based Irish goldendoodle has nearly 45,000 followers on Instagram, but one look at Ellie’s account and you’ll understand why. She models tiaras, a chef’s hat, and a broom-wielding witch Halloween costume in a way only an adorable doggo could. @elliedoodledog

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problems. One bioethicist the Cleveland news team interviewed called the stem cell treatments “snake oil.”

Despite the negative outcomes, these treatments are gaining popularity, with growing legions of former patients posting testimonials online. One count in 2017 found 716 clinics throughout the U.S. offering stem cell–based interventions; at least half a dozen clinics in the Cincinnati area now do them.

Web sites touting regenerative medicine—cell therapies treating or healing a person’s damaged or diseased tissues—and related stem cell treatments are littered with amateur YouTube videos of people describing alleviated back pain or no-longer-necessary knee replacements. One local clinic, StemCures, links to a quote from FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb in a 2017 news release describing “novel cellular therapies,” saying, “This is no longer the stuff of science fiction. This is the practical promise of modern applications of regenerative medicine.”

Yet if you follow the related links at the bottom of that FDA news release, you’ll find a new FDA warning about unapproved stem cell therapies posted in September 2019. At the top of the warning page, the FDA’s embedded video begins: “Have you seen ads or attended a seminar for stem cell therapies that claim to be able to treat diseases like chronic joint pain, Alzheimer’s, cancer, and more? Don’t believe it.” To further underscore the danger, and with ominous synth-Muzak trilling a “patient beware” melody, the FDA’s message continues: “You may be told stem cells, including those from fat, amniotic fluid, or umbilical cord, like cord blood or Wharton’s Jelly, are a miracle treatment. You may even hear they are FDA-approved. But that is not true. None are proven to work to treat these conditions, and worse, some may cause harm.”

So why are people willing to seek and receive these therapies? Often, they’re sick or in pain. They find message boards or Google reviews from other patients online about how much stem cell treatments helped. They see videos—some taken on a doctor’s cell phone—of people just like them

morning coffee with constituents and taking questions on a range of hot-button topics when Hamilton County Coroner Lakshmi Sammarco, M.D., raised her hand, changed the subject, and asked pointedly whether there was movement around regulating stem cell treatments.

The U.S. Food & Drug Administration, she noted, had issued warnings concerning treatments that were not FDAapproved but still being offered throughout the country and here in Ohio, in some cases leading to dangerous side effects. For his part, Brown was unfamiliar with the issue and said he’d look into it.

When I ask Sammarco why stem cell treatments concern her, she mentions that a friend of hers had spent around $60,000 on these treatments, traveling abroad to get them. Sammarco is aware of neurosurgeons offering stem cell treatments and other physicians claiming they can treat everything from blindness to back pain. “I’m pretty sure there are no long-term studies to show any of this to be the case,” she says.

A simple internet search about stem cell treatments yields a screaming debate. Warnings on Consumer Reports and PBS. A Washington Post story, “ ‘Miraculous’ Stem Cell Therapy Has Sickened People in Five States,” details how one company sold vials of umbilical cord blood solution contaminated with E. coli. A woman in Georgia went blind after receiving an injection of stem cells to treat her macular degeneration. Others suffered kidney failure and lower body paralysis. A Cleveland TV station’s hidden-camera exposé tracked sales pitches in restaurants and conference rooms where chiropractors told rooms full of mostly senior citizens that stem cell injections could treat back, hip, knee, and shoulder

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posted on a clinic’s web site, people who were willing to try something experimental and now feel better.

Maybe a physician told them it might help because it’s helped other people. And to be fair, there are populations of patients now who have had these treatments and who tell their doctors they do feel better, so the doctors hear anecdotal evidence that convinces them continuing to offer the treatments is the right thing to do.

When you’re desperate for a medical cure, that bright line of hope and the promise of advanced science are enough to get many to take a leap of faith—and pay thousands out of pocket to do so.

in the lab. Picture scientists using these organoids to study how medications work on human tissue instead of animals, or ultimately using lab-grown tissues in transplant surgeries. It’s not possible yet, but something scientists as close as Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center are working on.

That cutting-edge science has kept the promise of stem cell research in the news, but the treatments sweeping the nation aren’t derived from embryonic or iPSCs. There’s a third category, “adult” stem cells, that still hold the potential to become a variety of other cells and can be extracted from bone marrow, blood, or fat cells. We carry around a relatively easy-to-access supply of those cells, and with so much promise on other fronts in stem cell research, a new question seems to be driving a growing number of physibody—your organs, your cians and patients: Can adult muscles, your aching back— stem cells be used to make can be traced back to embryreplacement healthy cells onic stem cells that differenand fix what’s broken in a sick tiated, using what was coded body? If the answer is yes, it in your DNA at conception could represent a revolution to create the various tissues in medicine. that make up your body toBut there’s a raging debate within the medical comday. At one point in your munity around whether we body’s development, those stem cells could have become are, in fact, witnessing that any cell type. revolution or whether some Since scientists learned physicians—hawking the how to derive embryonic perhaps not-yet-achieved mouse stem cells nearly 40 promise of stem cell treatyears ago and grow stem cells ments—are offering said from human embryonic tistreatments, with little sciensue starting in 1998, a field of tific evidence of their efficacy research grew up questioning or safety, to patients desperwhether stem cells—with ate for help who don’t fully understand the limits of the their vast potential to becurrent research. come any cell in the body— could be “reprogrammed” to What further complicates treat the most puzzling ailthings is that some clinics SEEKING PROOF HAMILTON COUNTY CORONER LAKSHMI SAMMARCO, M.D., IS CONCERNED THAT MANY OF THOSE SEEKING STEM CELL ments, such as cancer or dehave web sites or seminars TREATMENTS FOR VARIOUS AILMENTS DON’T UNDERSTAND THE RISKS AND POTENTIAL SIDE EFFECTS. generative neurological disthat make blanket statements eases. Ethical questions were about years of stem cell reraised immediately, too, as the early studies depended on search, which strictly speaking is true—various aspects leftover embryos donated after in vitro fertilization. of stem cell research have been going on for years. “But reIn recent years, another arm of stem cell research has search for what reason?” Sammarco asks, adding that the sidestepped some of the ethical questions around embryresearch is relevant only if it demonstrates an ability to cure onic research, chemically reducing blood and skin cells in or treat a patient’s specific disease. the lab to their undifferentiated state, at which point they Part of what’s tricky here is the definition of certain can then form any of 200 cell types. These induced pluripowords. Is something experimental because it’s simply not tent stem cells (iPSC) are at the vanguard of stem cell rewell-tested or because it’s in the process of being tested search and can be used to grow tissue or organ cultures rigorously? What does it C o n t i n u e d o n pa g e 9 4

$

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P H OTO G R A P H B Y A A R O N M . C O N WAY

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r e t t e

Not many people get a second chance a er cheating death. Amber Gray did, and now is trying to follow the advice of her famous Papa, civil rights leader Benjamin Hooks.

By JANE PRENDERGAST Photographs by JEREMY KRAMER

P H OTO G R A P H S BY J O N AT H A N W I L L I S

Amber Gray, photographed on July 26, 2019

D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 3 C I N C I N N AT I M A G A Z I N E . C O M 8 1

She grew up knowing her Papa was an important man. She wouldn’t find out exactly how important until later.

her paternal great-grandfather, the man whose dinner table guests lingered for impassioned conversations about social issues, religion, and the importance of education. She was a toddler when he stepped down as executive director of the NAACP, a job he held for 15 years during some of the most challenging times for the national civil rights group.

Hooks marched with Martin Luther King Jr. in the 1960s and battled presidents Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush in the ’80s and ’90s over the federal government’s lack of effort fighting inner-city poverty. But to Gray, Hooks was the family patriarch who always asked if she was doing her best in school and if she was giving basketball her all. He told her to remember that all things are possible with God. They were close, the famous lawyer/judge/preacher and his “miracle child.” That’s what he called her after Gray survived a brain aneurysm and stroke her freshman year at the University of Tennessee in 2009. The aneurysm was discovered during what was supposed to be routine surgery on her shoulder, which she hurt playing for the Lady Vols.

She insisted from the minute she woke up after surgery that she would play again. First, she had to relearn to walk.

The last time Gray and her great-grandfather spoke, she was mostly recovered. But his health was declining. He told her, “Now it’s your turn.” She thought, My turn for what?

Almost 10 years after her Papa’s death, Gray is now 29 and playing professional basketball in France. She’s coaching and training young players and helps kids struggling to transition into adulthood without adult role models. She mentors two teenagers in foster care and launched a program to match other foster teens with mentors.

“I think I’m supposed to take the importance of education that was instilled in me and use it to bring others up,” Gray says. “[Hooks] fought for equality. I know that is exactly what I should be doing. I think I’m supposed to leave this world better than I found it.”

8 2 C I N C I N N AT I M A G A Z I N E . C O M D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 3

P H O T O G R A P H S (L E F T ) BY J E R E M Y K R A M E R / ( T O P) CO U R T E S Y A M B E R G R AY

Amber Gray knew Benjamin Hooks as

P H O T O G R A P H S CO U R T E S Y ( T O P) X AV I E R U N I V E R S I T Y AT H L E T I C S / (B O T T O M) A M B E R G R AY

Gray was a star athlete at Lakota West High School and was named a McDonald’s All-American and Nike first-team All-American basketball player as well as All Ohio Player of the Year her senior year in 2007–2008. Name a high school kudo, and Gray earned it.

She followed a dream to play for head coach Pat Summitt at Tennessee.

In a practice session after her freshman season, though, Gray tore her labrum, the cartilage that reinforces the shoulder’s ball-and-socket joint.

She rested and rehabbed, but something still wasn’t right. Surgery became necessary.

Unexpectedly, Gray suffered a stroke during surgery, and doctors found a brain aneurysm that had to be repaired. Her family wanted her transferred from Knoxville to Cincinnati, but the logistics were complicated and the costs high. With financial help from Hooks and Summitt, Gray was flown in a medical jet to the University of Cincinnati Medical Center.

Her surgery lasted more than 12 hours. Mario Zuccarello, M.D., an internationally known neurosurgeon, first had to restore blood flow to Gray’s brain by doing a bypass between the carotid artery at her neck and an artery inside her skull. He used an artery from Gray’s arm to bypass the damage, attaching it to her carotid and another healthy artery. He then clipped the aneurysm.

The doctor came out to the waiting room to speak to her parents and the room full of family and friends. “There’s still blood on him,” her mom, Tonya Carter, remembers. “All I can see is he’s covered in my child’s blood, and he’s saying her brain ‘exploded. It exploded.’ ” Zuccarello explained that he didn’t know what condition their daughter would be in when she woke up, or how long that might take. They would just have to wait and see, he said. It took 47 minutes.

Her parents ran, holding hands—they hadn’t done that in years—from the waiting room to her bedside. They didn’t know what to expect. Gray couldn’t open her eyes, so she reached with a finger and pulled up one eyelid and said, “Hey, Mom. Hey, Dad.” So began her months-long journey back to walking and basketball. After three weeks at UC, she transferred to the Daniel Drake Center for PostAcute Care in Hartwell. It was a tough place to live for a young person who, just weeks before, was a star athlete at the top of her game. Gray stayed positive in part by trying to boost others. In a wheelchair, she rolled into other patient’s rooms, her mother says, and cajoled them to get up, get busy, and do their exercises.

“It’s easy to feel bad for yourself and count yourself out when you’re living in a place like Drake,” Gray says.

“Don’t get me wrong, Drake is an awesome rehabilitation facility and their nurses, doctors, and therapists are among the best, if you ask me. But when I would roll down those hallways, it was easy to start questioning why you’re there: Why did this happen to me? Will I ever get back to playing ball again? So instead of focusing on the what-ifs, I focused on what I could control. That was having a good attitude and helping others as well.”

At first, Gray had to sit in a wheelchair and push herself down the hallway with her feet, heel to toe. She finally started lifting her legs over cones, and eventually graduated to a walker, then a cane.

Gray left Drake two weeks earlier than expected, AMBER’S TURN Amber Gray’s journey started as a young girl surrounded by role which doctors attributed to her youth, athleticism, models (opposite page, le to right) Patricia Gray, Tonya Carter, Benjamin Hooks, and determination. She walked out of the facility on and Frances Hooks; detoured to Xavier University (top); and resulted in her Where her own, but with a belt around her waist that some2Next Foundation (above) working with Cincinnati youth. one held onto in case she C O N T I N U E D O N P A G E 9 9

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mean—as these treatments are often described on clinic web sites—if something is not FDA-approved but is FDAcompliant?

Medicine and treatments the FDA approves go through a rigorous, evidence-based review process. Depending on how they’re used, stem cells can be classified as drugs, biologics, or medical devices, which would require FDA premarket approval, an FDA investigational new drug application, and studies approved by an institutional review board.

Bone marrow transplants, which are FDA-approved, are used to replace blood cells destroyed during chemotherapy.

These newer stem cell therapies, however, are not approved. Bone marrow or fat cells are reinjected into various body parts in hopes of regenerating new, healthy cells. But the research on these treatments is terribly thin. Yet many of the clinics offering stem cell treatments call themselves “FDA-compliant.”

A procedure might be FDA-compliant, meaning it doesn’t break any of the FDA’s rules around infectious disease or what can and can’t be injected into the body, but that’s not the same as going through a scientific review to demonstrate its efficacy, which precedes FDA approval. It’s a fine distinction. The former means your clinic handles tissues safely; the latter would mean the treatment showed itself to be effective through years of requisite scientific study.

So long as those cells aren’t contaminated or manipulated, you’re free to try it. And, for some patients, the treatments seem to work. One man, who I’ll call Doug (he has a public-facing job and would rather keep his medical treatments private), had his knee scoped three times for torn cartilage.

“It never did get really better. I still had

pain,” he tells me. Once his other knee started acting up and X-rays showed he’d need knee replacements, he was worried. What if surgery didn’t work?

A friend of his had a knee replacement, and it took nearly six months for him to recover.

Doug, who is 67, had heard about stem cell treatments and started researching. “The jury is still out on stem cells,” he says. “I mean, each article you read, one’s for, one’s against.” He went to a two-hour seminar offered by Elite Physical Medicine in Mason, where he was given examples of former patients who swore by the treatment. He figured What have I got to lose, other than a few bucks? because while his health insurance would have covered a knee replacement, he had to pay for the $14,000 stem cell treatment himself. Doug’s course included four injections: the first a stem cell injection, and the next three platelet-rich plasma. His doctor warned him it could take six months before he’d see a big difference—but to his mind six months of slow improvement seemed better than a six-month recovery from knee replacement.

So far, Doug says he’s less stiff in the morning. Before the treatments, he was taking ibuprofen twice daily for pain.

Now he doesn’t need to take any.

Leigh Turner, a medical ethicist at the University of Minnesota’s Center for Bioethics, has written extensively about stem cell treatments. He points to a study by Mayo Clinic orthopedic physician Shane Shapiro, published in The American Journal of Sports Medicine, of 25 patients suffering with arthritis pain who were given an injection of a stem cell treatment (bone marrow aspirate concentrate) in one knee and a saline placebo in the other. The patients didn’t know which knee received the stem cell treatment. Patients reported that not only did their pain decrease significantly in the knee given stem cell treatment, but the knee injected with saline also felt better.

No adverse effects were noted.

Shapiro concluded that the study indicated the treatment was safe and could relieve pain. While it couldn’t yet be conclusively recommended for rou-

PARMESAN GARLIC RICE WITH CHICKEN & SPINACH

10m

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CALORIES

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INGREDIENTS

Start with Zatarain’s® Garden District Kitchen Parmesan Garlic Brown Rice with White Beans.

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INGREDIENTS

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1 tablespoon butter ½ pound boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into thin strips 1 package ZATARAIN’S® Parmesan Garlic Brown Rice with White Beans 1 ½ cups water 1 cup baby spinach leaves

INSTRUCTIONS

Melt butter in medium skillet on medium-high heat. Add chicken; cook and stir 5 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink. Remove from skillet.

Stir Rice Mix and water into skillet. Bring to boil. Reduce heat to low; cover and simmer 10 minutes or until rice is tender and most of the water is absorbed.

Return chicken to skillet and stir in spinach. Cover. Remove from heat. Let stand 5 minutes.

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M I R A C L E C U R E O R S N A K E O I L? tine arthritis care, he wrote, the findings should be studied further as “bone marrow stem cell injection in one ailing knee can relieve pain in both affected knees in a systemic or whole-body fashion.”

Turner, though, instead notes that the intervention didn’t beat the placebo effect. The untreated knee might have felt better for the same reason the treated knee did: the psychological benefit of being treated at all. “Is that what’s happening at a lot of these businesses?

That people are having an intervention, they’re convinced that it’s helping them, and that’s basically all there is to it?” He adds, “It’s kind of like medical theater.”

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I FIRST MEET JEREMY GIRMANN, D.O., at a West Chester Starbucks. Blond, blue-eyed, with a sparkling smile, he’s often featured on Inertia Medical’s Instagram page referring people to company-branded joint treatments and protein supplements. I’ve also seen him listed as a physician at another clinic, Renew Medical, where his partners are twin brother chiropractors Paul Baker, D.C., and Patrick Baker, D.C., both of whom say they received stem cell treatments from Girmann that left them “amazed at how well it worked” and “100 percent better,” respectively.

Meeting Girmann, I expect a sales pitch. He instead first wants to clarify the limits of stem cell research and treatment. He underscores that he’s not working with embryonic stem cells, but rather adult stem cells. He focuses on a variety of regenerative treatments, including one type of adult stem cell, Mesenchymal Stem Cells (MSC), which maybe shouldn’t even be called a “stem cell.” MSCs have the ability to renew and differentiate into bone, cartilage, muscle, and fat cells. Girmann says the biologist who popularized MSCs, Arnold Caplan of Case Western Reserve University, wrote an editorial in Stem Cells Journals in 2017 saying Mesenchymal Stem Cells should instead be renamed Medicinal Signaling Cells.

“Instead of converting into all these different cell types” as embryonic stem cells can do, says Girmann, MSCs “secrete a number of growth factors and healing

chemicals and medicinal molecules that then allow for a coordination of the healing process.” Hundreds of companies have formed in recent years to exploit their regenerative, healing properties instead of inducing them to form into a variety of tissues. “Unfortunately, the fact that MSCs are called ‘stem cells’ is being used to imply the patients will receive direct medical benefit, because they imagine that these cells will differentiate into regenerating tissue-producing cells,” he says.

MSCs are readily available in adult fat tissue or bone marrow. If Girmann injects the knee of a patient with MSC, he says smaller case studies and his own experience show that “patients do seem to get a certain benefit. The reason for that, we’re still working out.” MSCs, he says, become activated in the body and release molecules that help heal, for example, a wound. By far and away, he thinks “the biggest reason in which some of these treatments are exerting benefits is from the molecules they secrete rather than by becoming a whole bunch of different cartilage cells and that sort of thing.”

In other words, it’s not likely that MSCs are behaving like embryonic stem cells would and becoming a new type of cell. Girmann believes they’re simply doing the healing work these cells do elsewhere, in a directed way where they’re injected.

Girmann says he prefers to start a discussion with patients about other treatments, such as platelet-rich plasma or growth factor allografts (tissue grafts), depending on their symptoms and what shows up on ultrasound. For some, surgery is a better option.

In other countries where the FDA’s rules don’t apply, a patient might have bone marrow taken, grown in a culture for a week or two, and be reinjected with 1,000 times the number of cells extracted. Here, Girmann extracts a person’s own bone marrow, runs it through a centrifuge to separate the MSCs, and reinjects a concentrate of the patient’s cells into the injured area.

For Girmann,“when you say ‘stem cell therapy,’ at least as it applies to what I do, it means a regenerative treatment and

potentially healing treatment, reducing symptoms and optimizing joint health.”

But what’s frustrating to him, trying to navigate a system where research is sparse and patients need help, is “shady things” like “providers making claims that stem cell therapy can help you, you know, cure MS or Parkinson’s. That is how you start to make a whole industry that has a lot of promise look really bad.”

Girmann voices frustration over the lack of large-scale studies. The company Regenexx, which manufactures a system for accessing bone marrow, does have a patient registry, “but you have to take all that with a grain of salt,” he says, “because here are patients who have paid for a procedure.” All of the patients know what they paid for, so it’s not double blind or randomized. “It’s frustrating as providers because, especially those of us who are science-based, we want to have that data.”

Sammarco, who remains unconvinced that there’s sufficient data to define what exactly, if anything, is occurring during stem cell treatments, notes how often the people who seek this treatment are particularly vulnerable, in pain, and desperate. “I don’t really have an issue with people who are legitimately trying these things, and it’s not too expensive for the patient,” she says. But the pricing for some treatments—like the one her friend had, at $12,000 out of pocket per injection—is ridiculously expensive and comes with big promises and little accountability.

Brian Grawe, M.D., specializes in orthopedics and sports medicine at UC Health. He does research in association with stem cell treatments, but he too clarifies that it’s “a therapy in terms of the advantages of growth factors and cells, but true stem cell [treatments] where you manipulate the tissue and stuff like that, that’s not really occurring in a lot of places.” The distinction is confusing for patients, he says, and that’s part of the problem. “You have a lot of patients coming in wanting a sort of ‘Hail Mary’ for a number of disease processes,” hoping stem cells will be right for them, even though “stem cell treatment” means a lot of different things.

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M I R A C L E C U R E O R S N A K E O I L? Grawe meets patients who want organogenesis—when a stem cell turns into something else. That process has to be guided and careful. You wouldn’t want, for example, an injection in a muscle turning into bone. “Blindly injecting a lot of these things or utilizing these things does not always come without consequences,” he says. He too takes bone marrow, rich in growth factors (that’s why when you break a bone it can heal nicely and regenerate), and injects it into the injured area.

But since there is so little regulation around these treatments and no licensure associated with it, a patient can have a difficult time knowing which physicians have medical training in the procedure and which are simply out for profit. For his part, Grawe has participated in various not-yet-published multicenter trials. The stem cell treatments he offers are used to augment healing in conjunction with another procedure— for example, meniscus or complex tendon repairs. “I’m already doing something that’s tried and true, and then this is additive,” he says, adding that patients are charged only for the cost of the stem cell kit—a few hundred dollars—rather than the thousands he knows some charge for the treatments. “That’s how we feel comfortable doing it from an experimental standpoint. We’re not charging the patient any extra money.”

IT’S ONE OF THOSE WEIRD AND MERCIlessly hot fall afternoons, and Renew Medical is offering a seminar about regenerative medicine: a slideshow in a small lecture hall about platelet-rich plasma, growth factor allografts, acid gel injections, and autologous stem cell therapy (“autologous” meaning cells obtained from the same individual). On my way in, the receptionist hands me a Renew Medical pen with the clinic’s number, 561-STEM. The lobby is heavy with the scent of eucalyptus.

In the lecture space, the audience consists of three men with silver hair, a man a decade or so younger, and a man and a woman hoping to learn about treatment options. Girmann is at the front synopsizing much of the same 9 8 C I N C I N N AT I M A G A Z I N E . C O M D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 9

information he told me over coffee. He highlights that he’s not just injecting willy-nilly but using ultrasound to target injections at a point of injury. Also, that stem cell treatment isn’t covered by most insurance plans.

As the audience asks about outcomes, Girmann rattles off a range. Those who feel better do so month over month, then eventually plateau. For some patients, feeling 80 percent better is enough to get on with life. Some patients will come back for follow-up treatment and their X-ray will show little physical change, but they say they feel great.

A taller man in the audience asks about intravenous injections. Girmann says that “people are doing all kinds of wacky things, and I think we’re just not there yet with the science.” He’s most comfortable focusing on orthopedic care and joint treatments. The audience member says he’s read about a 90-yearold man getting stem cell treatments for a bad hip with a stunning list of other improvements to vision, prolapsed heart valve, and erectile dysfunction.

At the end of the talk, Girmann’s medical partner Paul Baker steps up to explain that everyone attending that day’s session gets a $49 one-hour consultation with their doctors to see if they’re candidates for one of the treatments. “What does that include? That includes a history—a thorough history—an examination, and any and all X-rays for just $49,” he says.

Baker describes how he’s had five treatments himself in his hip, shoulder, and knee. He’s been a wrestler and a body-builder, and today is a stocky model of health in a room of patients with aching joints.“I’m getting regenerative treatments in my 50s, because, no offense, I know how my patients look when they are 70, 80, and 90,” he says. “I don’t want to be that person.” The tall guy in the audience asks Baker how he feels. He says he lifts weights six days a week and his body feels very young—something he didn’t feel before regenerative treatments.

On the way out, I drop the branded pen back in the cup at the front desk as audience members line up to schedule their $49 consults.

BETTER THAN SHE FOUND IT CONTINUED FROM PAGE 83

started to fall. Photos from that day appear to show her winking at the cameras, but she wasn’t winking—she still couldn’t open her left eye. And her eyes didn’t track together.

She reconnected with the physical therapist she’d used before when she had injuries, Marc Galloway, M.D., in Mason. He and his staff started rehabbing her shoulder, which had been put on the back burner after the stroke and aneurysm. They also continued strength and balancing work for her weakened legs.

Gray wore an eye patch because it bothered her, she says, to have her left eye “seeing in so many directions at the same time.”

At the end of every session, they would work on her eye, with Gray opening it and following the therapist’s finger. One day, Gray woke up and the eye was back to normal. She texted her mom a photo.

“Being 19 years old and having grandparents and family members sit with you because you can’t be alone was frustrating,” she says. “Your teammates are at school working out for the upcoming season, and you have people around you just happy to see you eat solid foods.” Having a goal of returning to basketball helped her get through the days when she didn’t want to do any more therapy sessions. “I knew if I couldn’t at least get to a point where I could take care of myself, I’d never get back to Tennessee and playing again.”

Gray’s mom told everyone to keep their doubts about a return to basketball to themselves. “Because if this is what’s driving her, we’re not going to stop that,” recalls Carter.

“When Amber said she wanted to play again, it was very reasonable to have doubts because she was saying it so early in her recovery,” says her father, Carlton Gray, a former professional football player. “I mean, she still had a sling on her arm, she still had a patch covering her eye that hadn’t

straightened yet. She still had a noticeable limp from the weakness in her leg. These were just the things I could see.”

Yet he felt he had no more important job than to be with her every step of the way and do whatever he could to help her return to the court. “If it wasn’t going to work out for her, I was determined to be there to see it so that we all could put our minds at rest if we ultimately had to say it was over,” says Carlton Gray. “The recovery really tested our patience because, early on, we were starting from scratch to where she was at an almost developmental stage again and not the athlete who was highly recruited by so many top colleges.”

When they first hit the gym together to start getting her strength and coordination back, Gray was playing at about the level she did when she was in fifth grade, her father says. She had to learn her body again, he says, and be honest about things that had changed. She could push herself only so much—not more than the heart-rate monitor she wore would allow. Once Gray passed a stress test and the monitor came off, they started to work harder.

Her mom believes recovering from the medical journey and fulfilling her dream of playing again gave an already confident Gray a different level of strength. “I think it gave her strength to say, ‘I’m going to be who I am,’ ” says Carter.

TONYA CARTER AND CARLTON GRAY were high school sweethearts in Forest Park.

She had an academic scholarship to Ohio State, and he had a football scholarship at UCLA. They had just headed in different directions when Carter found out she was pregnant. She left OSU and returned to Cincinnati. Their parents were disappointed, she says, but were remarkably supportive.

Carlton Gray became an All-American player at UCLA and was drafted in the second round of the 1993 NFL draft by the Seattle Seahawks. He also played for Indianapolis, Kansas City, and the New York Giants before ending his career in 2001.

“I was raised by a single mom,” Gray says. “I will never say that I had to struggle.

But my dad was gone, in college and then playing in the NFL. He was always in the picture, but it was my mom who raised me.”

She doesn’t hold a grudge, like many would,

against her dad for being absent. “Not at all,” she says. “Who wouldn’t go to the NFL if they had the chance?”

Carter finished her college education at home, first at the University of Cincinnati, then at Xavier University. At one point, when she was struggling financially, she went to the administration office to withdraw from school only to find that Hooks had paid her tuition. She is now vice president for human resources at Mercy Health.

Carlton Gray is a football coach at Lakota West High School and helps his daughter run her training sessions and camps.

Gray wants to do well to make her parents proud, but also to be a role model for her four younger sisters: Chance Gray is a sophomore at Lakota West; Alanna Carter is finishing her senior year at Mason High School and is headed to the University of Akron next year on scholarship to play basketball; Sierra Herrera is a professional dancer; and Skylar Herrera plays soccer for Oregon State University. “They’re the reason why I can never quit,” Gray says. “That’s by far my best title, my best job: big sister. I take that as my biggest responsibility.”

She also hopes she’s living up to the legacy of Pat Summitt, who was the winningest coach in college basketball history when she retired in 2012. She’d been diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s disease and died four years later. Gray and her family remember Summitt not just as a fantastic coach, but as the friend who stayed by Gray’s bedside during her recovery and rehabilitation.

Gray’s mother believes her daughter would have died were it not for Summitt’s support.

“Coach Summitt was more than just a basketball coach to us all,” Gray says. “She was a mom away from home, and she was a mentor and role model. She built a team of people who believed in not only preparing us for basketball games, but preparing us for life. That is the impact I want to have on the kids who I have the opportunity to work with, whether on the court or off.”

Gray would never play for Summitt again. After she recovered from her stroke and surgeries, her physicians cleared her to return to the court. But the University of Tennessee did not, a real blow. UT had been her dream school.

Gray briefly considered returning to the Knoxville campus to finish her degree

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BETTER THAN SHE FOUND IT without playing basketball. But after pushing herself so hard to become healthy again, she just couldn’t give up her dream of returning to the basketball court. Gray transferred to Xavier, which offered the added benefit of staying near her life-saving doctors and therapists for follow-up care.

Kevin McGuff, who was Xavier’s coach at the time, knew Gray from her time at Lakota West. But even though she had recovered, it was unknown whether she would ever play at the same level again. McGuff wanted her anyway.

“I knew I was adding a great person,” says McGuff, now the head women’s basketball coach at Ohio State University.

“She’s a wonderful human being. It’s how she was raised. I just thought that if she could come back from what she did to get back to the court, I want her. It’s a tremendous story of perseverance. She was just absolutely relentless in getting herself back to that court. This is just who she is.”

Gray returned to the court with her

skills mostly intact. Her first Musketeers team won the Atlantic 10 championship and a trip to the NCAA Tournament in 2010–2011. She led Xavier in scoring in her senior year, with 11.1 points and 6.1 rebounds per game, and earned Big East AllConference third team honors. She won the Wilma Rudolph Courage Award from the Greater Cincinnati-Northern Kentucky Women’s Sports Association in 2012.

After graduating from Xavier in 2013 with a communications degree, Gray moved to Atlanta as director of operations for women’s basketball at Kennesaw State University. She then joined Wright State University in Dayton as administrative assistant to the women’s basketball team.

People kept asking her the same question: Why aren’t you still playing? She liked what she was doing, but she missed playing.

So Gray and her family began interviewing agents, which in 2016 led to her joining a professional women’s league in France.

Gray returned there this summer to

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play for the same coach on a different team, Union Sportive La Glacerie. She’ll have a brief visit home at Christmas and return again to Europe through the spring.

IN ADDITION TO HER GREAT-GRANDFAther, Gray has a long line of strong women behind her: overcomers, educators, people who fought for change. Her great-grandmother, Frances Dancy Hooks, was an elementary school guidance counselor before she married Benjamin Hooks and worked as a civil rights activist alongside him. She helped organize Women in the NAACP, a revolutionary effort to boost leadership roles of women in the movement and in general. She cofounded The People Power Project, an advocacy group in Memphis for race relations and social justice.

“Of course, everyone knew my dad,” says Patricia Gray, the Hookses’ daughter and Gray’s grandmother. “But my mother was also very involved, very influential. So Amber is a product of all of this.”

Patricia Gray became a teacher too, both at the elementary level and in college, where she trained teachers how to teach kids to read. “You never know what a small child is going to be listening to,” she says. “But these are the kinds of people and conversations Amber has heard, all of this. She knows she was saved for a reason.

Some people act on what they’ve learned, and others don’t.”

Gray credits her mother and grandmother for raising her with everything she could possibly need, but also with a critical sense of “to whom much is given, much is expected.” She’s carrying on that education gene through basketball training sessions organized under her Where2Next Foundation. Gray’s overall goal remains to help teenagers find their “where to next,” believing that where they’re going is more significant than where they’ve been. One of her students, Reese Schwarz, was having some issues in school with confidence. Her mom, Brenda, says they appreciated Gray’s tal-

ent on the court but especially her message about being who you are, a strong woman.

Gray has developed a mentor relationship with DeAngel Davis, a young woman transitioning out of foster care and learning to live on her own. Gray has taken her to basketball games, of course, but also is working to help her plan for her future. Davis is interested in journalism, so Gray took her to visit a Cincinnati television station and has helped her think about where she might want to attend college.

Gray recently launched a mentoring program called This Is Me Project, so named because she wants adults to think about—and be—the kind of support they needed when they were teens. She’s matched her first few pairings and is excited to see how they work.

“Everybody has a story,” says Gray. “Everyone has gone through something. You can use it to motivate you, or you can let it hinder you. I can only grow from here.”

Her mom thinks Gray might be finished

playing basketball after this season. She sees that her daughter tires more easily than she once did. Gray has come a long way after brain surgery, but still suffers some minor reactions, including her legs feeling heavy when she gets fatigued.

As Carter watches her daughter begin to develop her legacy, her way of following in Hooks’s footsteps, she says she’s prouder of her now than she’s ever been. “She’s just driven in a different way,” says Carter. “As a parent, you can’t ask for more.”

There was a time after the stroke and aneurysm that Carter would sit in the front row of her daughter’s speaking engagements to help her remember what she wanted to say, to feed her the lines of her speeches. It was difficult to watch her firstborn struggle.

Carter admits that when Gray is home, she sometimes still checks on her when she’s asleep. “If anyone in this world deserves to live whatever life she wants,” she says, “Amber is it.”

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10827 Mongomery Rd. Cincinnati, OH 45242 (513) 489-4990

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MODERN, CREATIVE, ELEGANT ITALIAN CUISINE FRESHMADE PASTA & GELATO • STYLISH, COMFORTABLE AMBIENCE

OPEN DAILY Sunday-Thursday 11 AM - 9 PM • Friday-Saturday 11 AM - 10 PM

LOCATED

on the second floor of The Kenwood Collection next to Envision Cinemas 5901 E. Galbraith Road, Suite 200 Cincinnati, OH 45236

For Reservations:

Call (513) 792-2000 or visit www.olio-italian.com

D NE

BRUNCH IN NEWPORT P. 109

ENOTECA EMILIA’S RETURN P. 109

BREWRIVER CREOLE P. 110

GERMAN PIZZA P. 113

WHAT A FLAKE Tako yaki, broiled wheat flour balls filled with octopus and topped with bonito flakes, from Zundo.

PHOTOGRAPH BY JEREMY KRAMER

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DINING OUT

BOWLED OVER

ZUNDO shows what ramen can be beyond the Styrofoam cup. — A K S H A Y A H U J A

A

S A LIFELONG USER OF BOUILLON CUBES AND PASTES, MY HEART ALWAYS sinks when I see instructions like “Simmer for at least 4 hours, but preferably 10 to 12 hours.” (This is from a recipe for tonkotsu ramen from Danielle Chang’s Lucky Rice.) Who has time to do things like this? But on the rare occasion I attempt such feats—making chicken soup from actual meat and bones, for example, instead of paste or a packet of powder—the differences are so profound I wonder why I settle for anything else.

All of this is a preamble to explain why a ramen shop might be worth noticing and celebrating. Many of us associate this cuisine with Styrofoam cups and the need to fill one’s belly for a quarter. However, as served by Chef Han Lin at Zundo, these soups are a deep and exciting branch of cuisine, capable of subtlety, variation, and depth.

The backbone of the operation at Zundo is a constantly bubbling stockpot—filled either with pork bones or a medley of mushrooms and vegetables—with a thin, continuous stream of water that replaces what steams away. As it cooks, the broth develops the roundness and silkiness of good stock, the mysterious consoling quality that drives colds away and warms the heart, which can be imitated but never really duplicated by dashi powders and bouillons.

After the broth has simmered for half a day, it becomes a canvas on which many different soups can be painted. Unlike more formalized Japanese culinary traditions like sushi and kaiseki, ramen began its life as an import to which no rules applied, sort of like the burrito in America. Wheat-based ramen noodles 1 0 4 C I N C I N N AT I M A G A Z I N E . C O M D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 9

FYI

Zundo Ramen & Donburi 220 W. 12th St., Over-theRhine, (513) 975-0706, zundootr.com Hours Lunch Tues–Fri 11:30 am–2:30 pm. Dinner Tues– Thurs 5–9:30, Fri 5:30–11 pm. Lunch and dinner Sat noon–11 pm, Sun noon–9 pm.

Prices $5 (edamame)–$20 (una don donburi) Credit Cards All major The Takeaway Soulful and deeply satisfying—not just a hipster fad.

PHOTOGRAPHS BY JEREMY KRAMER

SOUPED UP (From left) The bar at Zundo; spicy miso ramen with mayu and a marinated soft-boiled egg; katsu donburi; and Chef Han Lin.

came to Japan from China, then developed a number of regional variations. Tonkotsu, for example, developed in the southern Kyushu region, and miso ramen came from Sapporo in the north. When ramen shops began sprouting up in urban centers in Japan, these regional elements mixed and evolved, gradually becoming a vehicle for the chef’s personality rather than a standardized product.

Chef Han Lin, like the ramen noodle itself, actually comes from China. He went to Tokyo as a student and says he fell in love with Japanese food. He started out in Cincinnati as a sushi chef at Jeff Ruby’s now-defunct Waterfront restaurant in Covington, then started Mei in Montgomery in 2000. A chef friend in Los Angeles, Hiro Oshima, got him interested in ramen and gave him some early pointers. Lin worked for three years on his recipes before opening Zundo in 2018.

The simplicity of the dish’s name hides a world of complexity.

Take the miso ramen. As Lin points out, there are miso pastes of every conceivable pungency, tone, and base ingredient (soy, rice, and barley, to name a few), all of which can be combined in different proportions to create the flavor and textural qualities of the soup, which can be salty or sweet or buttery or light, depending on the choices made. And this is just one possible element. Using the traditional Japanese building blocks of flavor—soy sauce, miso, sake, mirin—good ramen shops manage to create something simultaneously freewheeling and time-tested.

Zundo has an extensive menu, serving appetizers, ramen, and donburi, which literally means “deep bowl,” and generally contains

rice with protein and sauce. These sauces could be a Japanese katsu curry (which pushes the Indian flavors in a more five-spice direction, with anise and clove) or the familiar teriyaki. The other dishes, from the nongreasy, nicely seared gyoza to the tako yaki, with its gently waving bonito flakes, are solid, but for me, the truly extraordinary dishes on the menu at Zundo are the bowls of ramen: miso, spicy miso, tonkotsu, and shoyu.

Each of these bowls comes with a marinated soft-boiled egg half, Wisconsin-raised roast pork, green onion, and a healthy serving of noodles (sourced from a California establishment), but each has a distinct identity, like the milky richness of the tonkotsu, the rich and buttery miso, or the light and faintly sweet shoyu ramen. You can add extra noodles, egg, or meat, but the truly transformative add-in is the mayu, or black garlic oil, where garlic is gently fried until black and then pureed. Dripped on top of one of the subtler broths, like the shoyu or the vegetarian ramen, it adds a deep, mushroom-y richness, with the hint of burned flavor that makes barbecue so good. The spicy miso, meanwhile, is not blistering or overwhelming, just pleasantly warming and balanced. The tantanmen ramen, while good, was dominated by meat and noodles instead of broth, and was less deeply flavorful than other dishes.

Zundo is a place where attention is paid to detail. I even noticed what a pleasure it is to eat from their long-handled wooden spoons compared to the stubby plastic or ceramic ones generally found at other noodle soup joints. Servers are very helpful, especially for someone unfamiliar with the cuisine.

Ramen, as it deserves to, is spreading in Cincinnati. Kiki just opened in College Hill, and Zundo is set to open a second location in Mason. Go and see what the fuss is about.

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SNACK TIME

JUST RIGHT OPENING THE DAVIS Cookie Collection bakery in Bond Hill has been a dream of Christina Davis’s since she was little. In the early ’70s, her family ran The Club Safari, a Cincinnati jazz and rock venue that served home-cooked meals and hosted live music from the likes of B.B. King and Little Richard. “Hearing all those stories over the years is what inspired me to open a store,” she says. “I felt like if they were successful, I could also do it.” Starting at the MORTAR Entrepreneurship Academy and launching at Findlay Market, Christina and her husband Miles’s Davis Cookie Collection might just be the antidote to the crunchy-versus-soft cookie debate.

Whether you prefer your cookies slightly underdone and filled with melt-y goodness or a little on the harder side, providing a satisfying crunch, you’ll get the best of both worlds.

With a soft middle and crispy edges in more than 30 flavors, ranging from classic chocolate chip to rich red velvet sprinkle, cookie lovers of all types can rejoice.

—VICTORIA MOORWOOD Davis Cookie Collection, daviscookiecollection.com

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P H O T O G R A P H B Y A A R O N M . C O N W AY

TABLESIDE WITH...

MARGARET RANALLI

O’BRYONVILLE’S ENOTECA Emilia closed in 2016, but the restaurant’s former owner is bringing it back—in Loveland.

What can diners expect with the new Enoteca Emilia? We have replicated the concept, and we’ve got a team of people who worked in the O’Bryonville location. . .. Brittany Blodgett, my last chef at Enoteca Emilia, is back.

Why Loveland? I love the area. It’s just such a cozy hamlet in Cincinnati.

I didn’t really know the development that was going on there ...I was amazed at how it’s become not just a recreation area but an entertainment area.

What did you keep from the original? About 80 percent of the menu is what we always had, like our Bolognese, pizza, salumi, and formaggi boards. And 20 percent is seasonal and specials.

How does the new location differ?

The original in O’Bryonville was in an 1864 coach house. This [location] is brand new construction, so the challenge is to bring in the warmth and the coziness of [the original] location, but we’re [expressing] it in a very different way.

What are you looking forward to most? Seeing all the guests I used to see at my restaurant. I never thought I’d be coming back to Cincinnati and people would still be interested in this. — K E L S E Y G R A H A M Enoteca Emilia, 110 S. Second St., Loveland, emilialoveland.com Read a longer conversation with Margaret Ranalli at cincinnatimagazine.com

LUNCHBOX

Table Talk THE BAKER’S TABLE, A MOM AND POP OWNED BY HUSBAND-AND-WIFE TEAM CHEF DAVE Willocks, formerly of Allez Bakery and Salazar, and designer Wendy Braun, seems like a super-cozy place to enjoy espresso, housemade baked goods, and a book on a weekday morning. But if, like me, you show up for Sunday brunch, expect a bustling, vibrant scene (and an hour wait) with a roomful of fellow diners enjoying seasonal, farm-to-table fare in the charming one-room dining area. Like your brunch boozy? Try the bloody mary, spicy and stacked with pickled veggies, or the Pink Lady, a shiso hibiscus gin cocktail that was floral, fizzy, and proudly pink. The weekday lunch menu brims with savory dishes, such as Catalan seafood stew and a white cheddar–topped burger, but the weekend brunch menu’s gulf shrimp and grits—a bowl of creamy grits mixed with tail-on shrimp, summer squash, and a perfectly poached egg, topped with smoky tomato gravy—shines. My wife raved over her breakfast sammy, which is on both the brunch and weekday breakfast menu: a sunny-side-up egg The Baker’s Table, 1004 Monmouth sandwich with spicy aioli, pickled red onion, and arugula. Hers was St., Newport, (859) on a cheddar-scallion biscuit, but now it’s served on a brioche bun.

261-1941, bakers tablenewport.com.

I want to check out the weekday atmosphere and other menus soon, Breakfast and lunch but I’m already starting to crave another bowl of shrimp and grits (and Wed–Fri, dinner Wed– Sat, brunch Sat & Sun. round of cocktails) with that Sunday brunch crowd. — R O D N E Y W I L S O N

PH OTO G R A PH BY W E S BAT TO C LE T TE / ILLUSTR ATIO N BY C H R I S DA N G E R

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HOT PLATE

Creole Soul

BrewRiver reemerges with the flavors and flair of the Big Easy.

ORE THAN 800 MILES FROM NEW ORLEANS, BrewRiver Creole Kitchen may be as close as you can get to the real deal here in your own backyard.

After moving from its East End digs to its current outpost in Linwood and undergoing a rebranding (BrewRiver’s gastropub now lives within Mason’s Sonder Brewing) about a year ago, the menu fully leans into Chef Michael Shields’s penchant for cuisine from the Crescent City. His six years of training under NOLA’s own Emeril Lagasse comes through in a scratch kitchen menu that spans a range of the city’s classics. The enormous shrimp and oyster po’ boys— the former protein fried in a light and crispy beer batter and the latter in a hearty cornmeal breading— are served on fluffy French bread loaves and dressed with lightly spicy rémoulades. Tangy green tomato chow-chow relish and pickled ginger cut through the richness on each, respectively. The jambalaya, loaded with Andouille sausage, chicken, okra, tomatoes, and rice, was our favorite, packing all the heat of a late summer day in the French Quarter without masking a hint of its satisfying flavors. Paired with a Sazerac and BrewRiver’s nightly live jazz, you may just feel tempted to start a second line. — K A I L E I G H P E Y T O N

M

BrewRiver Creole Kitchen, 4632 Eastern Ave., Linwood, (513) 861-2484, brewrivercreolekitchen.com. Dinner Tues–Sun, lunch Fri–Sun, brunch Sat & Sun.

FIELD NOTES

GREEN PARTY A cookbook to make vegan food taste, well, not vegan.

—PATRICK MURPHY

Allyn Raifstanger doesn’t want the word veganism to scare you. Six years ago the chef-owner of Allyn’s Café in Columbia-Tusculum dove headfirst into veganism for its purported health benefits. In May, he released the vegan cookbook We Don’t Just Eat Lettuce to demystify the lifestyle.

Raifstanger breaks down in 25 recipes what a vegan diet looks like, spelling out creative adaptations so you don’t have to completely sacrifice familiar meals. Your hamburgers, spaghetti, and tacos are safe—just meat- and dairy-free. His signature Cajun flair appears in the jambalaya and chili recipes, but fans of his restaurant will instantly recognize the jackfruit BBQ sandwich; pulled apart and cooked with a Kansas City barbecue sauce until tender, the fruit has a similar consistency to its pulled pork cousin.

That’s not the only Allyn’s Café recipe that appears in the book. Raifstanger also tells you how to make his popular vegan cheesecake with graham cracker and chocolate crust. Now you have no excuse for not eating your vegetables. Available on Amazon

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uch like Drew Rath’s artisanal Swabian-style soft pretzels, the flammkuchen (flahm-koo-ken) at his recently opened Tuba Baking Co. storefront is an ode to his German roots. Following the lead of German bakers on the Alsace border who invented the pizza-like flatbread with on-hand ingredients, Rath uses leftover pretzel sourdough. The thinly rolled dough is topped with crème fraîche, super-fine onion slices, Swiss cheese, and Black Forest ham before going into a blazing-hot oven. He has to go a bit farther for the ham, but it’s worth it, he says (we agree), importing it straight from Tuba Baking Co., 212 Deutschland. The pie has a crispy-edged crust with a chewy center, the dairy tames the W. Pike St., Covington, facebook.com/tuba smokiness of the cured meat, and the onions complement the whole thing. — K A I L E I G H P E Y T O N bakingco M

PHOTOGR APH BY DUSTIN SPARKS

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WHERE TO EAT NOW

AMERICAN BARBECUE CAJUN/CARIBBEAN CHINESE ECLECTIC FRENCH INDIAN ITALIAN JAPANESE KOREAN MEDITERRANEAN MEXICAN SEAFOOD STEAKS THAI VIETNAMESE

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DINING GUIDE CINCINNATI MAGAZINE’S

dining guide is compiled by our editors as a service to our readers.

The magazine accepts no advertising or other consideration in exchange for a restaurant listing.

The editors may add or delete restaurants based on their judgment.

Because of space limitations, all

trasts of colors and textures belongs to someone who cares for food. 1000 Summit Place, Blue

AMERICAN

Ash, (513) 794-1610, browndogcafe.com. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner Mon–Fri, brunch and dinner Sat, brunch Sun. MCC, DS. $$

THE BIRCH

On any given evening, guests nibble at spicy hummus served with French breakfast radishes and pita bread while sipping slightly spumante glasses of Spanish Txakolina. And while the dinner menu reads strictly casual at first glance— soups, salads, and sandwiches—the preparation and quality is anything but. An endive salad with candied walnuts, Swiss cheese, crispy bacon lardons, and an apple vinaigrette surpassed many versions of the French bistro classic. And both the Brussels sprouts and Sicilian cauliflower sides refused to play merely supporting roles.

Both were sensational studies in the balance of sweet, spicy, and acidic flavors. 702 Indian Hill Rd., Terrace Park, (513) 831-5678, thebirchtp.com.

Lunch and dinner Tues–Sun. MCC. DS. $

BRONTË BISTRO

You might think this is a lunch-only spot where you can nosh on a chicken salad sandwich after browsing next door at Joseph-Beth Booksellers.

But this Norwood eatery feels welcoming after work, too. The dinner menu features entrées beyond the rotating soup and quiche roster that’s popular at noon. Fried chicken? Check.

Quesadillas and other starters? Yep. An assortment of burgers? Present, including turkey and veggie versions. Casual food rules the day but the surprise is Brontë Bistro’s lineup of adult beverages, which elevates the place above a basic bookstore coffeeshop. The regular drinks menu includes such mainstays as Hemingway’s Daiquiri, a tribute to the author who drank them (often to excess). 2692 Madison Rd., Norwood,

of the guide’s restaurants may not be included. Many restaurants have changing seasonal menus; dishes listed here are examples of the type of cuisine available and may not be on the menu when you visit.

To update listings, e-mail: cmletters@cincinnati magazine.com

COPPIN’S

COME HOME TO ROOST Pendleton restaurant CHX, operated

by Hickory Wald, closed its doors in October, just eight months after opening at 3 Points Urban Brewery.

The fast-casual chicken joint was known for its tender-nugget hybrid chicken pieces, dubbed “banties.” CHX lives on for special events and as part of the brewery’s growing catering business.

chxcincy.com

(513) 396-8970. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner seven days. MCC. $

BROWN DOG CAFÉ

If you haven’t had a plate of Shawn McCoy’s design set in front of you, it’s about time. Many of the menu’s dishes show his knack for the plate as a palette. A trio of stout day boat diver scallops—exquisitely golden from pan searing—perch atop individual beds of uniformly diced butternut squash, fragments of boar bacon, and shavings of Brussels sprout. The eye for detail and con-

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With wine on tap and an extensive local beer list, Coppin’s is an ideal place to meet for drinks. In addition to plenty of Kentucky bourbon, much of the produce, meat, and cheese comes from local growers and producers. House-cured meat and cheese from Kenny’s Farmhouse populate the “Grand Mother Board,” which dresses up the main attractions with apple butter, pickles, fig jam, and mustard. The mussels—made with Storm golden cream ale from the Braxton Brewing Company and chorizo from Napoleon Ridge Farms in Gallatin County—were served with a peppery tomato sauce, perfect for sopping up with bread. The braised short rib with smoked Gouda grits was fall-apart good, with roasted vegetables and a nice bright bite of horseradish. The strip steak with béarnaise, truffled potatoes, and green beans is a well-executed take on a classic. 638 Madison Ave., Covington, (859) 905-6600, hotelcovington.com/dining/coppins.

Breakfast, lunch, and dinner seven days. MCC. $$

COZY’S CAFÉ & PUB

On a visit to England, Jan Collins discovered the “cozy” atmosphere of London restaurants built in historic houses. She brought that warm, comfortable feeling back to the United States in opening Cozy’s. Though the atmosphere in the restaurant is reminiscent of Collins’s London travels, the food remains proudly American. The produce in virtually every dish is fresh, seasonal, and flavorful. The 12-hour pork shank stands out with its buttery grits and root vegetable hash, along with a portion of tender meat. And when it comes down to the classics, from the biscuits that open the meal to carrot cake at the end, Cozy’s does it right. 6440 Cincinnati Dayton Rd., Liberty Twp., (513) 644-9364, cozyscafeandpub.com. Dinner Tues–Sat, brunch Sat & Sun. $$$

CWC THE RESTAURANT

Founded by the sister duo behind the culinary multimedia platform Cooking with Cait-

KEY: No checks unless specified.

AE American Express, DC Diners Club DS Discover, MC MasterCard, V Visa MCC Major credit cards: AE, MC, V $ = Under $15 $$$ = Up to $49 $$ = Up to $30 $$$$ = $50 and up Top 10

= Named a Best Restaurant March 2019.

= Named a Best New Restaurant March 2018.

lin, this eatery makes comfort food feel a notch more au courant, imbuing a true family-friendly philosophy. Its burgers are topped with a generous ladle of gooey house-made cheddar sauce and served with hand-cut French fries that many a mother will filch from her offspring’s plate.

Portions—and flavors—are generous, eliciting that feeling of being royally indulged. Similarly, every item on the Sunday brunch menu virtually dares you to go big or go home. Make a reservation for parties of more than four and plan to be spoiled rotten. Then plan to take a lengthy nap.

1517 Springfield Pke., Wyoming, (513) 407-3947, cwctherestaurant.com. Dinner Fri & Sat, brunch Sun. MCC. $

THE EAGLE OTR

The revamped post office at 13th and Vine feels cozy but not claustrophobic, and it has distinguished itself with its stellar fried chicken. Even the white meat was pull-apart steamy, with just enough peppery batter to pack a piquant punch.

Diners can order by the quarter, half, or whole bird—but whatever you do, don’t skimp on the sides. Bacon adds savory mystery to crisp corn, green beans, and great northerns (not limas) in the succotash, and the crock of mac and cheese has the perfect proportion of sauce, noodle, and crumb topping. The Eagle OTR seems deceptively simple on the surface, but behind that simplicity is a secret recipe built on deep thought, skill, and love. 1342 Vine St., Over-the-Rhine, (513) 802-5007. Lunch and dinner seven days. MCC. $

EMBERS

The menu here is built for celebration: poshly priced steak and sushi selections are meant to suit every special occasion. Appetizers are both classic (shrimp cocktail) and Asian-inspired (beef satay); fashionable ingredients are namechecked (micro-greens and black truffles); a prominent sushi section (nigiri, sashimi, and rolls) precedes a list of archetypal salads; beersodden American Wagyu beef sidles up to steaks of corn-fed prime; non-steak entrées (Chilean sea bass or seared scallops with wild mushroom risotto and roasted beets) make for highstyle alternative selections. Talk about a party.

8170 Montgomery Rd., Madeira, (513) 984-8090, embersrestaurant.com. Dinner seven days. MCC, DC, DS. $$$

GREYHOUND TAVERN Back in the streetcar days, this roughly 100-year-old roadhouse was at the end of the Dixie Highway line, where the cars turned around to head north. The place was called the Dixie Tea Room then, and they served ice cream. The fried chicken came along in the 1930s, and they’re still dishing it up today. Families and regulars alike pile in on Mondays and Tuesdays for the fried chicken dinner. While the juicy (never greasy) chicken with its lightly seasoned, crisp coating is the star, the side dishes—homemade biscuits, cole slaw, green beans, mashed potatoes, and gravy—will make you ask for seconds. Call ahead no matter what night you choose: There’s bound to be a crowd. Not in the mood for chicken? Choose from steaks, seafood, sandwiches, and comfort food options that include meatloaf and a Kentucky Hot Brown. Or just try the onion rings. You’ll wonder where onions that big come from. 2500 Dixie Highway, Ft. Mitchell, (859) 331-3767, greyhoundtavern. com. Lunch and dinner seven days, brunch Sat & Sun. MCC, DS. $$

ORCHIDS AT PALM COURT For a restaurant that can feel like it was preserved in amber around 1920, Orchids has had a few years of rapid change. The current iteration of Orchids is not a reinvention: Executive Chef George Zappas began at the organization in 2006 and has worked as everything from butcher to director of purchasing.

As always, there is the service, which has never lost its theatrical flair. Chef Zappas makes many good decisions as he walks a tightrope between generations of diners. First, he has expanded the menu, so there are more three-course options along with lots of small bonus courses, where bigger chances are taken. In entrées, these adventurous touches—ethnic, tropical, intense—are generally confined to the margins, where they help enliven a more traditional palette of flavors, like the zingy sweet-and-sour mushrooms hidden in a buttery cauliflower soup.

IT’S ON LIKE DONKEY KONG...

LITERALLY!

35 W. Fifth St., downtown, (513) 421-9100, orchids atpalmcourt.com. Dinner seven days. MCC. $$$$

OTTO’S Chef/owner Paul Weckman opened Otto’s, named after his father-in-law, with $300 worth of food and one employee—himself. Weckman’s food is soothing, satisfying, and occasionally, too much of a good thing.

His tomato pie is beloved by lunch customers: Vineripe tomatoes, fresh basil, and chopped green onions packed into a homemade pie shell, topped with a cheddar cheese spread, and baked until bubbly. Weckman’s straightforward preparations are best. The sauteed tilapia in lemon caper butter sauce with fingerling potatoes and roasted asparagus is elegant in its subtlety; an apricot-glazed duck breast served with Brussels sprouts and a squash-prosciutto risotto summons the peasant comfort of the French countryside. This is, at its heart, a neighborhood restaurant, a place with its own large, quirky family. 521 Main St., Covington, (859) 491-6678, ottosonmain.com. Lunch Mon–Fri, dinner seven days, brunch Sat & Sun. MCC. $$

RED FEATHER KITCHEN Historically peasant-grade cuts of meat get the full Pygmalion treatment at Red Feather in Oakley, where there’s deep respect for the time and tending necessary to bring a short rib, pork chop, or hanger steak to its full potential. After a quick sear to lock in juices, the steak takes a turn in the wood-fired oven. While primal cuts play a leading role, the supporting cast is just as captivating. The hot snap of fresh ginger in the carrot soup was especially warming on a winter evening and the crispy skin on the Verlasso salmon acts as the foil to the plump, rich flesh. Service here only improves the experience. 3200 Madison Rd., Oakley, (513) 407-3631, redfeatherkitchen.com. Dinner Tues–Sun, brunch Sun. MCC. $$

RED ROOST TAVERN At its best, Red Roost Tavern—located in the Hyatt Regency, downtown—meets its singular challenge with verve: offering a locally sourced sensibility to an increasingly demanding dining public while introducing out-of-town guests to unique Cincinnati foods.

Over-the-Rhine + 16-BitBar.com

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Take the goetta, rich pork capturing the earthiness of the steel-cut oats, served as a hash with sweet potatoes and poached eggs. The seasoning added a restrained, almost mysterious hint of black pepper. But the kitchen’s talent seems straightjacketed. Chefs thrive on instincts not covered by the five senses; restaurants thrive by taking careful risks. Red Roost seems to be struggling to find its third eye, and sometimes the entrées don’t live up to their ambitions. 151 W. Fifth St., downtown, (513) 3544025. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner seven days. MCC,DS. $$

RON’S ROOST

They stake their reputation on their fried chicken, serving 10,000 pieces weekly. It takes a few minutes, since each batch is made to order. Ron’s also serves chicken 18 other ways, including pizza chicken quesadillas and chicken livers in gravy. It’s all about the chicken here, but that’s not all they have. The menu is five solid pages of stuff good enough to be called specialties: Oktoberfest sauerbraten, Black Angus cheeseburgers, fried whitefish on rye, hot bacon slaw, lemon meringue pie (homemade, of course), and the best Saratoga chips this side of Saratoga.

3853 Race Rd., Bridgetown, (513) 574-0222, ronsroost. net. Breakfast Sun, lunch and dinner seven days. MCC, DS. $$

SYMPHONY HOTEL & RESTAURANT

soup. Salads are interesting without being busy, and the sorbets are served as the third course palate cleanser. Main courses of almond crusted mahi mahi, flat-iron steak, and a vegetable lasagna hit all the right notes, and you can end with a sweet flourish if you choose the chocolate croissant bread pudding. 210 W. 14th St., Over-the-Rhine, (513) 7213353, symphonyhotel.com. Dinner Thurs–Sat, brunch Sun. $$$

TANO BISTRO

Gaetano Williams’s Loveland bistro is comfortable, with reasonably priced food and amenable service. The menu is tidy—25 or so dishes divided between appetizers, salads, and entrées, plus a chalkboard featuring two or three dishes—its flavor profile heavily influenced by a childhood growing up in a third generation Italian family. Most of Tano Bistro’s main courses lean toward the comfortable side of American. For instance, Williams serves a wellseasoned and flavorful seared duck and potato-crusted chicken. The simple roast chicken is also worth a trip to Loveland, sweetly moist beneath its crisp bronze skin.

204 W. Loveland Ave., Loveland, (513) 683-8266, foodbytano. com. Dinner seven days. MCC. $$

TELA BAR + KITCHEN

Classically conceived but casually executed comfort food, including mini-Monte Cristo sandwiches with tangy house-made pimento cheese stuffed into sourdough bread and fried crisp, mac and cheese topped with a Mr. Pibb–braised short rib, and steak frites.

Servers are slightly scattered, yet enthusiastic and friendly, with a good grasp of the beverage program.

1212 Springfield Pke., Wyoming, (513) 821-8352, telabarand kitchen.com. Lunch and dinner Tues–Sat, brunch Sun. MCC. $$

Tucked into a West 14th Street Italianate directly around the corner from Music Hall, this place feels like a private dinner club. There’s a preferred by-reservation policy. Check the web site for the weekend’s five-course menu, a slate of “new American” dishes that changes monthly. You can see the reliance on local produce in the spring vegetable barley

TRIO

Trio is nothing if not a crowd pleaser. Whether you’re in the mood for a California-style pizza or filet mignon (with side salad, garlic mashed potatoes, and seasonal veggies), the menu is broad enough to offer something for everyone. It

may lack a cohesive point of view, but with the number of regulars who come in seven nights a week, variety is Trio’s ace in the hole. A simple Roma tomato pizza with basil, Parmesan, and provolone delivered a fine balance of crunchy crust, sharp cheese, and sweet, roasted tomatoes. Paired with a glass of pinot noir, it made a perfect light meal. The service is friendly enough for a casual neighborhood joint but comes with white tablecloth attentiveness and knowledge.

Combine that with the consistency in the kitchen, and Trio is a safe bet. 7565 Kenwood Rd., Kenwood, (513) 984-1905, triobistro.com. Lunch and dinner seven days. MCC, DC. $$$

THE WILDFLOWER CAFÉ

Wildflower Café is not the sort of place that tries to wow anyone with feats of inventiveness. Its formula is simple but satisfying: lots of mostly local meat and produce, a menu that continuously changes with available ingredients, a nice selection of wine and beer, and well-made, homey food. The small, focused menu has a classic American quality (salads, steaks, burgers) with enough surprises to keep things interesting. Many of the dishes are designed with open spaces to be filled with whatever is available in the kitchen that day, an advantage of an unfussy style. You don’t go to Wildflower expecting a certain kind of perfection; you accept that your favorite dish from last time might be made differently tonight, or no longer available. Like the farmhouse that Wildflower occupies, the imperfections are part of the charm. 207 E. Main St., Mason, (513) 492-7514, wildflowergourmetcafe.com.

Lunch and dinner Tues–Sat. MCC. $$$

BARBECUE ELI’S BBQ

Elias Leisring started building his pulled pork reputation under canopies at Findlay Market and Fountain Square in 2011. Leisring’s proper little ’cue shack along the river

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serves up ribs that are speaking-in-tongues good, some of the zazziest jalapeño cheese grits north of the MasonDixon line, and browned mashed potatoes that would make any short order cook diner-proud. The small no-frills restaurant—packed cheek-by-jowl most nights—feels like it’s been there a lifetime, with customers dropping vinyl on the turntable, dogs romping in the side yard, and picnic tables crowded with diners. The hooch is bring-your-own, and the barbecue is bona fide. 3313 Riverside Dr., East End, (513) 533-1957, elisbarbeque.com. Lunch and dinner seven days. MCC. $

PONTIAC BBQ

Dan Wright’s BBQ dream comes to life in a honky-tonkish setting, delivering inexpensive barbecue that draws from multiple traditions—Kansas City, Memphis, and Texas—a few basic sides (bacon-and-pickled-jalapeño-topped white grits and a silky mac-and-cheese), and plenty of bourbon.

Snack on fried pickles or smoked wings, then move on to brisket (both fatty and lean), pulled pork, and smokedon-the-bone short ribs. This is ridiculously high-quality comfort food at a friendly price point. 1403 Vine St., Over-the-Rhine, (513) 579-8500, pontiacbbq.com. Lunch and dinner Tues–Sun, brunch Sun. MCC. $$

WALT’S HITCHING POST

A Northern Kentucky institution returns. Roughly 750 pounds of ribs per week are pit-fired in a small building in front of the restaurant, with a smaller dedicated smoker out back for brisket and chicken. Walt’s ribs begin with several hours in the smokehouse and then are quick-seared at the time of service. This hybrid method takes advantage of the leaner nature of the baby-back ribs they prefer to use. Each rib had a just-right tooth to it where soft flesh peeled away from the bone. One hidden treasure: Walt’s house-made tomato and garlic dressing. Slightly thicker than a vinaigrette yet unwilling to overwhelm a plate of greens, the two key elements play well together. 3300 Madison Pke., Ft. Wright, (859) 360-2222, waltshitchingpost.com. Dinner seven days. MCC. $$

CAJUN/ CARIBBEAN DEE FELICE CAFÉ

To call Dee Felice Café a jazz supper club would be too conventional. Though the waitstaff in white shirt and tie are more formally dressed than most of the diners, the atmosphere is decidedly casual. The music and menu are still true to the original spirit of Emidio DeFelice, a drummer and bandleader who opened the restaurant in 1984 to create a jazz venue that he and his fellow musicians could relax in and enjoy a meal. It made sense to feature cuisine from the birthplace of jazz, New Orleans, and the Cajun and Creole dishes of southern Louisiana still dominate the menu, though there are a few Italian dishes, as well as steaks (the most consistently well-executed dishes on the menu) and salads. The joint is most definitely still jumpin’.

529 Main St., Covington, (859) 261-2365, deefelicecafe.com.

Dinner Wed–Mon. MCC, DC, DS. $$

SWAMPWATER GRILL

At first blush, this place is a dive where homesick Cajuns can find a good pile of jambalaya. But thoughtful details like draft Abita Root Beer and char-grilled Gulf Coast oysters on the half shell signal its ambition. Bayou standards like jambalaya, gumbo, and fried seafood also make an appearance.

But the extensive menu also features amped up pub-style items for those who may be squeamish about crawfish tails (which can be added to just about anything on the menu).

You’ll also find a roundup of oyster, shrimp, and catfish Po’Boys, as well as a selection of hardwood-smoked meats.

3742 Kellogg Ave., East End, (513) 834-7067, swampwatergrill.com. Lunch and dinner Wed–Sun, brunch Fri–Sun. MCC. $$

KNOTTY PINE ON THE BAYOU

The Pine serves some of the best Louisiana home-style food you’ll find this far north of New Orleans. Taste the

fried catfish filets with their peppery crust, or the garlic sauteed shrimp with smoky greens on the side, and you’ll understand why it’s called soul food. Between March and June, it’s crawfish season. Get them boiled and heaped high on a platter or in a superb crawfish etouffee. But the rockin’ gumbo—a thick, murky brew of andouille sausage, chicken, and vegetables—serves the best roundhouse punch all year round. As soon as you inhale the bouquet and take that first bite, you realize why Cajun style food is considered a high art form and a serious pleasure. And you’ll start planning your return trip. 6302 Licking Pke., Cold Spring, (859) 781-2200, letseat.at/KnottyPine. Dinner Tues–Sun. MCC, DS. $$

CHINESE AMERASIA

A sense of energetic fun defines this tiny Chinese spot with a robust beer list. The glossy paper menu depicts Master Chef Rich Chu as a “Kung Food” master fighting the evil fast-food villain with dishes like “fly rice,” “Brocco-Lee,” and “Big Bird’s Nest.” Freshness rules.

Pot stickers, dumplings, and wontons are hand-shaped.

The Dragon’s Breath wontons will invade your dreams.

Seasoned ground pork, onion, and cilantro meatballs are wrapped in egg dough, wok simmered, and topped with thick, spicy red pepper sauce and fresh cilantro. Noodles are clearly Chef Chu’s specialty, with zonxon (a tangle of thin noodles, finely chopped pork, tofu, and mushrooms cloaked in spicy dark sauce and crowned with peanuts and cilantro) and Matt Chu’s Special (shaved rice noodle, fried chicken, and seasonal vegetables in gingery white sauce) topping the menu’s flavor charts. 521 Madison Ave., Covington, (859) 261-6121. Lunch Sun–Fri, dinner seven days. MCC. $

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CHINESE IMPERIAL INN

The chilies-on-steroids cooking here will have you mopping beads of garlic-laced sweat from your brow. The musky, firecracker-red Mongolian chicken stabilizes somewhere just before nirvana exhaustion, and aggressively pungent shredded pork with dried bean curd leaves your eyes gloriously glistening from its spicy hot scarlet oil. Even an ice cold beer practically evaporates on your tongue. Do not fear: not all the dishes are incendiary. Try the seafood—lobster, razor clams, Dungeness and blue crabs, whelk, and oysters—prepared with tamer garlicky black bean sauce, or ginger and green onions. The Cantonese wonton soup, nearly as mild as your morning bowl of oatmeal, is as memorable as the feverish stuff. Sliced pork and shrimp are pushed into the steaming bowl of noodles and greens just before serving. Think comforting, grandmotherly tenderness. 11042 Reading Rd., Sharonville, (513) 563-6888, chineseimperialinn.com. Lunch and dinner seven days. MC, V, DS. $

HOUSE OF SUN

Ask the gracious Taiwanese gentleman who welcomes you for the Chinese menu. He’ll gleefully grab the real menu, which commences a ballet of smoky, spicy sliced conch; thick handmade noodles soaking up rich, nostrilsearing beef stock; and crispy pork ears arranged like flower petals on the plate (think of fine Italian prosciutto).

The real stars of the menu are the chicken dishes: smoked with skin brittle as caramelized sugar; salty with ginger oil for dipping; and the popular Taiwanese “Three Cup” chicken made by cooking the bird with a cup each of soy sauce, water, and wine. Served with an audible crackle, it’s robustly flavored with ginger—at once subtle, bold, sweet, and superb. 11959 Lebanon Rd., Sharonville, (513)

769-0888, houseofsuncincy.com. Lunch and dinner Mon–Sun. DS, MC, V. $$

ORIENTAL WOK

This is the restaurant of your childhood memories: the showy Las Vegas-meets-China decor, the ebulliently comedic host, the chop sueys, chow meins, and crab rangoons that have never met a crab. But behind the giant elephant tusk entryway and past the goldfish ponds and fountains is the genuine hospitality and warmth of the Wong family, service worthy of the finest dining establishments, and some very good food that’s easy on the palate. Best are the fresh fish: salmon, sea bass, and halibut steamed, grilled, or flash fried in a wok, needing little more than the ginger–green onion sauce that accompanies them. Even the chicken lo mein is good. It may not be provocative, but not everyone wants to eat blazing frogs in a hot pot. 317 Buttermilk Pke., Ft. Mitchell, (859) 331-3000; 2444 Madison Rd., Hyde Park, (513) 871-6888, orientalwok.com. Lunch Mon–Fri (Ft. Mitchell; buffet Sun 11–2:30), lunch Tues–Sat (Hyde Park), dinner Mon–Sat (Ft. Mitchell) dinner Tues–Sun (Hyde Park). MCC. $$

THE PACIFIC KITCHEN

The monster of a menu can be dizzying. Ease in with some top-notch Korean Fried Chicken. These slightly bubbly, shatter-crisp wings are painted with a thin gochujang pepper sauce (a foil to the fat). It takes 24 hours to prep the Cantonese duck, between a honey-vinegar brine to dry the skin, a marinade of star anise, bean paste, and soy within the re-sealed cavity, and the crispy convection oven finish. Dolsot bibimbap had plenty of crispy rice at the bottom of the stone bowl, and the accompanying banchan were soothing yet flavorful, especially the strips of lightly pickled cucumber. Even dishes like a Malaysian goat stew resonated with rich, original flavors.

8300 Market Place Lane, Montgomery, (513) 898-1833, thepacific.kitchen. Lunch and dinner seven days; dim sum Sat & Sun. MCC. $$

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RAYMOND’S HONG KONG CAFÉ

It has all the elements of your typical neighborhood Chinese restaurant: Strip mall location. General Tso and kung pao chicken. Fortune cookies accompanying the bill.

The dragon decoration. But it is the nontraditional aspects of Raymond’s Hong Kong Café that allow it to stand apart. The menu goes beyond standard Chinese fare with dishes that range from Vietnamese (beef noodle soup) to American (crispy Cornish hen). The Portuguese-style baked chicken references Western European influences on Chinese cuisine with an assemblage of fried rice, peppers, carrots, broccoli, zucchini, and squash all simmering together in a creamy bath of yellow curry sauce. Deciding what to order is a challenge, but at least you won’t be disappointed. 11051 Clay Dr., Walton, (859) 485-2828.

Lunch and dinner seven days. MCC. $$

SHANGHAI MAMA’S

This 1920s Asian noodle house—complete with dark woodwork and bird cages—offers big bowls of noodle soups, rice bowls, and crunchy, traditional salads. The noodle bowl selections are the most popular, with everything from spicy chicken to Shanghai ribs, shrimp to tofu, and orange duckling to wild mushrooms. Try the Shanghai flatbreads, a “pancake” with different toppings and tangy dipping sauce. You’ll find the downtown professional crowd during the day, but come weekend nights Shanghai Mama’s is bright lights big city with after-theater diners, restaurant staff, and bar patrons socializing and slurping noodle soups until the wee morning hours. 216 E. Sixth St., downtown, (513) 241-7777, shanghaimamas.com. Lunch Mon–Fri, dinner Mon–Sat. MCC. $$

SICHUAN BISTRO CHINESE GOURMET

Like many Chinese restaurants that cater to both mainstream American and Chinese palates, this strip mall gem uses two menus. The real story here is found in dishes of pungent multi-layered flavors that set your mouth ablaze

with fermented peppers and fresh chilies and then just as quickly cool it down with the devilish, numbing sensation of hua jiao, Sichuan pepper. Its numbing effect is subtle at first: appetizers of cold sliced beef and tripe, as well as slices of pork belly with a profusion of minced garlic, lean toward the hot and sweet; mapo tofu freckled with tiny fermented black beans and scallions, and pork with pickled red peppers and strips of ginger root, progress from sweet to pungent to hot to salty—in that order. Alternated with cooling dishes—nibbles of rice, a verdant mound of baby bok choy stir-fried with a shovelful of garlic, refreshing spinach wilted in ginger sauce, a simply sensational tea-smoked duck—the effect is momentarily tempered. 7888 S. Mason Montgomery Rd., Mason, (513) 770-3123, sichuanbistro.com.

Lunch and dinner Tues–Sun. MCC, DS. $$

SUZIE WONG’S ON MADISON

A few items on the menu resemble those that were once served at Pacific Moon, such as laub gai and Vietnamese rolls, both variations of lettuce wraps. For the laub gai, browned peppery chicken soong (in Cantonese and Mandarin, referring to meat that is minced) is folded into leaf lettuce with stems of fresh cilantro and mint, red Serrano peppers, a squeeze of lime juice, and a drizzle of fish sauce. In the Vietnamese roll version, small cigar-sized rolls stuffed with chicken and shrimp are crisp fried and lettuce wrapped in the same manner. The Pan-Asian menu also includes Korean kalbi (tenderific beef ribs marinated and glazed in a sweet, dark, sesame soy sauce) and dolsat bibimbap, the hot stone bowl that’s a favorite around town. 1544 Madison Rd., East Walnut Hills, (513) 751-3333, suziewongs.com. Lunch Tues–Sat, dinner Tues–Sun. MCC, DS. $$

UNCLE YIP’S

Long before sushi somehow un-disgusted itself to the Western World, China had houses of dim sum. Uncle Yip’s valiantly upholds that tradition in Evendale. This is a traditional dim sum house with all manner of exotic dumplings, including shark fin or beef tripe with ginger and onion. As for the sea-

food part of the restaurant’s full name, Uncle Yip has most everything the sea has to offer, from lobster to mussels. The menu has more than 260 items, so you’ll find a range of favorites, from moo goo gai pan to rock salt frog legs. 10736 Reading Rd., Evendale, (513) 733-8484, uncleyips.com. Lunch and dinner seven days. MCC, discount for cash. $$

YAT KA MEIN

This noodle house caters to our inner Chinese peasant.

Yat Ka Mein offers humble, everyday Cantonese dishes of egg noodles, tasty dumplings packed with shrimp or pork, fresh veggies, and chicken broth. Almost begrudgingly the menu includes popular American-style Chinese dishes, like the ubiquitous sweet and sour chicken, Moo Goo Gai Pan, roast duck, and so forth. But what makes the place unique are less familiar dishes like Dan Dan noodles, a spicy, sweat-inducing blend of garlic, chili peppers, and ground chicken marinated in chili sauce. 2974 Madison

city’s restaurant scene. 1214 Vine St., Over-the-Rhine, (513) 421-4040, abigailstreet.com. Dinner Tues–Sat. MCC, DS. $$ Top 10

A little off the beaten path, this restaurant serves traditional-sized entrées, but its menu is dominated by smaller plates, meant to be shared. The primary ingredient here is time: The cook takes cheap, less desirable cuts of meat, plus fresh, plentiful, in-season vegetables, and then adds time and natural processes to make them delicious—think fermentation, curing, and braising. The restaurant aims to get most of its vegetables and meat from within 25 miles. Its spaetzle gratin—like a dreamy, half-dissolved mac-and-cheese—and currywurst paired with potato salad and housemade sauerkraut bring us back to our German roots. 435 Elm St., downtown, (513) 621-8555, bauercincinnati.com. Dinner Tues–Sat. MCC. $$$

Rd., Oakley, (513) 321-2028, yatkamein.biz. Lunch and dinner seven days. MCC. $

ABIGAIL STREET

From the saffron-infused bouillabaisse to the grilled octopus with merguez sausage, the dishes share strong Middle Eastern roots while remaining entirely individual. As the small dishes fill the table, a fascinating flavor conversation quickly develops. Try the housemade ricotta with thyme, honey, and bread—homey, simple, and yet so deeply satisfying that it’s hard to believe it’s not on every table in town. With brisk and knowledgeable service, consistently excellent wine (try the Paul Dolan sauvignon blanc!), and reasonable prices, this is the place to take out-of-town friends who remain dubious about the Top 10

BOCA

While the food and service remain in the spotlight year after year, Boca’s setting makes you feel like the star of the show. Nickel-thin double-fried pommes soufflés and a glass of Txakolina rosé or a frothy Estate Sale cocktail are a perfect overture while savoring Boca’s seasonal menu. Cacio e pepe risotto, a twist on Rome’s classic pasta dish, is full of savory pecorino and black pepper heat, but notes of mint and sweet pea ring through. Plank-cooked sea bass arrives tender and flaky beneath perfectly crisp skin. Bavette con bottarga, ribbons of pasta topped with salty dried fish roe, hits the umami button with robust flavor and subtle spice. 114 E. Sixth Top 10

ECLECTIC

BAUER EUROPEAN FARM KITCHEN

St., downtown, (513) 542-2022, bocacincinnati.com. Dinner Mon–Sat. MCC, DS. $$$

BOUQUET RESTAURANT AND WINE BAR

Cozy, off the beaten path, and with a menu touched with a lovable Southern drawl, right down to the bourbon-

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centric cocktails, it verily announces “Come on back, y’all.” You definitely want to start with the “motherboard,” a selection of five cheeses, four cured meats, and plenty of accompaniments— stuffed peppadews, warm olives, mustards, jams, pistachio relish, and seven (!) types of pickles.

Expect the highest quality cuts and wedges, all knowledgeably identified by the cheerful and attentive staff. Favorites include forest ham from Louisville’s Woodlands Pork, smoked picnic ham from Eckerlin Meats, and cheeses from Kenny’s Farmhouse Cheese near Bowling Green, Kentucky. Wild-caught blue catfish from Western Kentucky’s Lake Barkley had a meatier texture and stronger flavor than your average bottom dweller, and the sorghum-glazed Marksbury Farm pork belly was juicy and surprisingly light.

519 Main St., Covington, (859) 491-7777, bouquet restaurant.com. Dinner Mon–Sat. MCC, DS. $$

BRANCH

SIP AND SHOP Gorilla Cinema, founders of filminspired bars Video Archive and Tokyo Kitty, has opened restaurant and bar Golden Sparrow on West Benson Street in the Reading Bridal District. Though not specifically wedding themed, the concept arose from the need for a place for to-be-wed couples and their families to dine while browsing the neighborhood’s vendors. The menu includes wings, tacos, chili, and sandwiches. gorilla

cinemapresents.com

Located in a huge Art Deco building, formerly a bank, Branch has taken this potentially cavernous and impersonal space and made it intimate.

Diners might recognize the vibe from this restaurant group’s first venture, Northside’s The Littlefield. The chef, Shoshannah Anderson, cooks in a mode that we would call “international homestyle,” taking inspiration from the comfort food of many cultures. It maintains a balance between cooking to a higher price point and creating an atmosphere of refinement without losing the informal neighborhood feel. The shrimp and grits—served soupy in a big bowl with an addictively sweet-and-sour green tomato marmalade swirled into the creamy grits—are taken surprising heights. Another notable item is a dish that wouldn’t normally get a mention in a review: the french fries. They demonstrate that food that is usually mindlessly inhaled can be worth savoring if it is made with enough love. 1535 Madison Rd., East Walnut Hills, (513) 221-2702, eatatbranch. com. Dinner Mon–Sun, brunch Sat & Sun. MCC. $$

COMMONWEALTH BISTRO

quality that I can only describe as “good energy.”

of deep and satisfying flavors. 609 Walnut St.,

720 Sycamore St., downtown, (513) 246-4272, crgcincy.com. Lunch and dinner Tues–Sat. MCC. $$

downtown, (513) 578-6660, metropoleonwalnut. com. Breakfast and dinner seven days, lunch Mon– Fri, brunch Sat & Sun. MCC. $$

E+O KITCHEN The former Beluga space comes alive with a menu that conjoins minimalist Asian with gutsycum-earthy Latin. The results are hit-or-miss: while guacamole was pointlessly studded with edamame, the pork belly buns are especially tender. Taco plates are a safe bet, with the “sol” pastor—pineapple coupled with Korean kimchi, bulgogi pork, and cilantro—hitting all the right notes. More adventurous palates may opt for the nuanced ramen—the pork and soy broth teeming with cuts of both pork belly and slow-cooked shoulder, while a superbly poached egg lingers at the edge, awaiting its curtain call. Service is friendly but tends to sputter when it comes to the basics of hospitality. 3520 Edwards Rd., Hyde Park, (513) 832-1023, eokitchen.com. Lunch and dinner seven days. MCC. $$

6482, mitas.co. Dinner Mon–Sat. MCC. $$$

MUSE

Thunderdome Restaurant Group (The Eagle, Bakersfield, Maplewood Kitchen and Bar) relaunched Kaze after acquiring the Japanese gastropub this summer, with sophisticated interior refurbishments, a redefined menu, and a separate Wu-Tang Clan–themed bar, 36 Chambers. It still invokes the signature sense of fun and approachability for which it was known, but everything feels a little more social: dishes are small and sharable, and more communal seating was added to accommodate groups. If a free-for-all sharing session is what you’re after, the Omakase sampler is the best deal on the menu, feeding a multicourse meal to groups of six or more for just $25. Old favorites, the steamed pork belly buns and ramen are still on the menu and are as comforting as ever. Besides, no one says you have to share. 1400 Vine

Muse fills such a needed niche. Very few establishments offer a decent selection of vegan and gluten-free options; Muse not only has these dishes but they’re some of the strongest items on the menu. The restaurant’s philosophy is a version of Hippocrates’s famous remark that you should let food be your medicine and medicine be your food. In practice this means that Muse sources from local farms, serves mostly grassfed beef, has several vegan options, and puts lots of fresh veggies on the side (and sometimes the center) of the plate. In vegan dishes, flavor and depth are developed in creative ways, like in the stuffed charred leeks, where the tube of the leek is hollowed out and filled with a sweet and savory mix of raisins and cashew cream, combining beautifully with the smoky char of the leeks and a vegan Worcestershire foam. 1000 Delta Ave.,

St., Over-the-Rhine, (513) 898-7991, kazeotr.com.

Dinner seven days. MCC. $$

THE MERCER This Vine Street spot is the brainchild of Jon Zipperstein, owner of the steak and sushi mainstay Embers in Kenwood. The Mercer proves admirably that comforting staples—when prepared with precision and served with warmth—can send even the most curmudgeonly diner off fat and happy. Take the short ribs. Many places do a great short rib, but these are lovely, dutifully seared, braised slow and low until tender, and not overwhelmed by fatty gravy. It’s the polenta that really launches this dish into high orbit, the quicksand texture that ever-so-slowly absorbed the braising liquid, still suggestive of root vegetable sweetness. For dessert, try the savory cheesecake. It’s criminally rich, and worth saving room for the unique mix of four cheeses: blue, goat, cream, and ricotta. The slice relies on compressed grapes, crumbs of rosemary-infused walnut cookie crust and drops of a port and pear reduction to offer just a hint of sweet. 1324 Vine

Covington, (859) 916-6719, commonwealthbistro. com. Dinner Tues–Sun, Brunch Sat & Sun. MCC. $$

St., Over-the-Rhine, (513) 421-5111, themercerotr. com. Dinner Tues–Sun. MCC. $$

CROWN REPUBLIC GASTROPUB

METROPOLE

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By day, Mita’s feels smart, sophisticated, and oh-so big city. But by night, she’s something altogether different. Paper-thin slices of acorn-fed Iberico ham slowly melt on your tongue, as you struggle to decide between the boldly hued pozole verde or the paella for two. In the meantime, your dining companion is waxing effusive over a surprisingly simple salad of jicama, mango, and watercress with cilantro vinaigrette. Chef-owner Jose Salazar’s sophomore effort has been a runaway success (and garnered plenty of James Beard award attention), bringing us back with hyper-fresh flavors so pure that dinner feels simultaneously virtuous and decadent. 501 Race St., downtown, (513) 421-

KAZE

Everything from the old jukebox by the entrance to the sepia-toned rabbit-and-pheasant wallpaper exudes an appreciation for the antique. But rather than duplicating old recipes, Covington’s Commonwealth uses history as a springboard to create something elegant and original. Two dishes get at what makes this place special: biscuits and fried rabbit. Their biscuit, served with tart quince butter, is perfection— moist and flaky, without being coat-your-throat buttery or crumble-to-ash dry. The rabbit is crisp, light, and not at all greasy, with just the right touch of seasoning and a bright biz baz sauce, a cilantro and garlic sauce of Somali origin that tastes like a creamy salsa verde. Brunch offers the same sort of mashup, including salsa verde pork with pickled jalapeño grits made creamy with the yolk of a 75-degree egg and a smoky, spicy, not too salty Bloody Mary. 621 Main St.,

What makes Crown Republic special isn’t its handful of outstanding dishes. It’s the place’s sheer consistency. No single dish is absolutely mind-blowing or completely original, but when almost everything that comes out is genuinely tasty, the service is always friendly and attentive, and (stop the presses!) the bill is quite a bit less than you expected, you sit up and pay attention. The crab and avocado toast, served on grilled bread with lime juice and slivers of pickled Fresno chiles, is a prime example of what makes Crown Republic tick. The cocktails are equally unfussy and good, like the Tipsy Beet, made with vodka, housemade beet shrub, cucumber, mint, and citrus peel. Crown Republic has a mysterious

Top 10

Metropole has been remarkably stable since it opened in 2012. Even when chefs have left, the organization has promoted from within, kept popular dishes on the menu, and maintained a certain vibe. Its new chef, David Kelsey, has been with the business since 2014, and his menu will feel familiar, with a balance between sophistication and rusticity. Its vegetarian fare contains many of its most inventive and delightful creations. The chilled cantaloupe soup has a creamy note from coconut milk and a hint of spice floating in at the end of every bite to balance the subtle, melon-y sweetness. The fancy “candy bar,” with its light and crispy peanut filling and ring of cacao nibs and caramel, encapsulates Metropole at its best: fun and whimsical, but rooted in careful execution

Mt. Lookout, (513) 620-8777, musemtlookout.com.

Lunch and Dinner Wed–Sat brunch Sun. MCC. $$

NICHOLSON’S To remind local diners that they were here before those young dog-toting punks with their exposed brick and crafty ales in Over-the-Rhine, Nicholson’s branded themselves Cincinnati’s “first and finest gastropub,” and revamped the menu to include plenty of snacks and small plates for grazing, and not-quite-brawny, straightforward sandwiches and main dishes. Try the pumpkin crusted trout, bowl of cock-a-leekie soup, or check out the cranberry-apple or Scottish BBQ style burgers—each made with your choice of beef, turkey, lamb, or chicken patties. And the bar’s clubby intimacy makes it easy to belly up and enjoy their impressive collection of single malts or a Scottish stout.

625 Walnut St., downtown, (513) 564-9111, nichol sonspub.com. Lunch and dinner seven days. MCC. $$

PLEASANTRY With only 40 seats inside, Daniel Souder and Joanna Kirkendall’s snug but spare OTR gem— they serve breakfast, lunch, and dinner like a true neighborhood spot—features an engaging wine program aimed at broadening your palate alongside small plates that are equally ambitious.

Classic technique and fresh produce anchor an approachable menu—“everything” biscuits with cured salmon, burgers, and chicken salad sandwiches are available at lunch, and the cauliflower with sambal is a comforting mash-up of a rich cauliflower-and-coconut-cream schmear topped with a head of sambal-roasted cauliflower, grapefruit segments, toasted cashews, and cilantro. This is not to say that the proteins aren’t something special. Traditionally a much less expensive cut, the small hanger steak was decidedly tender, served with braised cippolini onions and sauteed mushrooms. 118 W. 15th St., Over-the-Rhine, (513) 3811969, pleasantryotr.com. Dinner Tues–Sat, brunch Fri–Sun. MCC. $

Top 10

PLEASE

Please began as a series of pop-up dinners created by chef-owner Ryan Santos. The menu is divided into four courses: cold appetizers, hot appetizers, main courses, and dessert. Much of Please’s inventiveness rises from its focus on local ingredients. There is a painterly sense in the composition of their dishes that rivals any restaurant in the city. And like all dyed-in-the-wool creatives, Santos and crew are constantly innovating and updating.

(Which means the menu is constantly changing, so the dishes mentioned here are merely examples.) Take the plate of de Puy lentils with beets and white asparagus.

The beet was sliced into thin sheets and rolled into tubes with the lentils inside. Each roll could be eaten in a single elegant bite, the dark, earthy lentils surrounded by the sweetness of the beets. 1405 Clay St., Over-the-Rhine, (513) 405-8859, pleasecincinnati.com.

Dinner Wed–Sat. MCC. $$$

SACRED BEAST Sacred Beast advertises itself as a kind of upscale diner, but the real gems are the oddball dishes that don’t quite fit the diner mold. The menu can be disorienting in its eclecticism: foie gras torchon is next to shrimp fries, and a haute cuisine watermelon salad with piped puffs of avocado mousse is next to a diner breakfast and deviled eggs. Winners are scattered throughout the menu in every category. On the cocktail list, the Covington Iced Tea, a lemon and coffee concoction made with cold brew, San Pellegrino, and vodka is oddly satisfying. The service is good, and there is some flair about the place—including vintage touches, from the facsimile reel-to-reel audio system to the mostly classic cocktails—even within its rather chilly industrial design. In short, go for the late night grub; stay for the elegant, shareable twists on classic snacks. 1437 Vine St., Over-the-Rhine, (513) 213-2864, sacredbeastdiner.com. Lunch, dinner, and late night seven days. MCC. $$

and seasoned fries inspire countless return visits.

1212 Vine St., Over-the-Rhine (513) 421-2020, senate pub.com; 1100 Summit Place Dr., Blue Ash, (513) 7690099, senateblueash.com. Lunch and dinner Tues–Sat. (Blue Ash only: Brunch, lunch, and dinner Sun.) MC, V, DS. $

TASTE OF BELGIUM Jean-François Flechet’s waffle empire grew from a back counter of Madison’s grocery at Findlay Market to multiple full-service sit-down spots. There’s more on the menu than the authentic Belgian treat, though it would be a crime to miss the chicken and waffles: a dense, yeasty waffle topped with a succulent buttermilk fried chicken breast, Frank’s hot sauce, and maple syrup. There are also frites, of course, and croquettes—molten Emmenthaler cheese sticks—plus a gem of a Bolognese. And let’s not forget the beer.

Six rotating taps offer some of the best the Belgians brew, not to mention those made in town. 1133 Vine St., Over-the-Rhine, (513) 381-4607, and other locations, authenticwaffle.com. Breakfast and lunch Mon–Sat, dinner Tues–Sat, brunch Sun. MCC. $$

ZULA For a restaurant whose name loosely derives from an Israeli slang term for “hidden treasure,” it seems apt that a dish or two might sneak in and stun—like the mussels Marseilles, with its bouillabaisse-style broth, rich with saffron, tomato, and fennel. But Zula is no one-trick pony. With a wood-fired oven on the premises, it’s incumbent on you to try the flatbreads.

One zula is the eggplant option, where caramelized onions and marinated red bell peppers pair well with subtly sweet fontina. Not every bite at Zula is a game-changer, but one is all you need. 1400 Race St., Over-the-Rhine, (513) 744-9852, zulabistro.com.

Dinner Tues–Sat. MCC. $$

SALAZAR A freewheeling tour through Korean, Moroccan, Italian, and French flavors—and that’s just on one iteration of the ever-evolving menu. Salazar turns out fresh, well-balanced dishes dotted with seasonal surprises: the cauliflower steak special (a Moroccan spiced, seared wedge of the cruciferous vegetable complemented by a strong hit of lemon), the chicken liver mousse (so good it deserves its own trophy), and the succulent chicken Milanese (with its musky, sweetand-sour notes of ground cherry). With its bustling bar and cheek-by-jowl tables, Salazar hums with energy at every meal. 1401 Republic St., Over-the-Rhine, (513) 621-7000, salazarcincinnati.com. Lunch Thurs–Fri, dinner Mon–Sat, brunch Sat & Sun. MCC. $$

SARTRE Complete with patina girders and paintings of existentialist philosophers Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir, this establishment possesses a French-inspired ethos without a hint of stuffiness. Elemental American favorites are utilized in dishes such as the tender short-rib entrée with creamed cabbage and celery root puree, or the soft, doughy sweet potato “beignets.” The cocktails, many of which are named after Sartre’s books, are elaborate and complex while often being anchored in classic combinations. Adjacent to Rhinegeist’s brewery and taproom, it serves exclusive craft beers—like the tart, refreshing grisette Being—that aren’t available in stores. Elegant, satisfying, and smart, Sartre succeeds at everything it sets out to accomplish.

1910 Elm St., Over-the-Rhine, (513) 579-1910, sartreotr. com. Dinner Wed–Sun, brunch Sun. $$$

SENATE Ever since it began dishing out its lo-fi eats, Chef Dan Wright’s gastropub has been operating at a velocity few can match. From the howl and growl of supremely badass hot dogs to the palate-rattling poutine, Senate has led the charge in changing the local conventional wisdom about what makes a great restaurant.

Consumption of mussels charmoula means either ordering additional grilled bread to soak up every drop of the herby, saffron-laced broth or drinking the remainder straight from the bowl and perfectly crisped

FRENCH CHEZ RENÉE FRENCH BISTROT Based on American stereotypes of French food—that it’s elaborate, elitist, and expensive—one might expect Chez Renee to fall on the chichi side.

Instead, it’s elegant in an everyday way, operating on the principle that it is better to excel at simplicity than to badly execute something complicated. The formula is not complex: Simple ingredients, generally fresh and from nearby, prepared without much fuss. Asparagus is beautifully roasted and perfectly salted, and the quiche Lorraine (yes, the old standby) has a nice, firm texture, and a fine balance of bacon, mushrooms, and oignons (to quote the menu, which is a charming hodgepodge of French and English). This is solid, tasty food, both approachable and well executed. It’s well on its way to becoming, as a good bistrot should be, a neighborhood institution. 233 Main St., Milford, (513) 428-0454, chezreneefrenchbistrot.com. Lunch and dinner Tues–Sat. MCC. $$

JEAN-ROBERT’S TABLE No other chef in town has as much presence as JeanRobert de Cavel, and no other restaurant is steeped in such a singular personality. Who else could conjure up a surf and turf tartare of steak and salmon, or try his hand at a luxurious “haute pocket” (a.k.a., a vol au vent), cramming obscene amounts of lobster and succotash into airy layers of buttery puff pastry? But these touches are more than mere outré Gallic insouciance. Always lurking in the background is a reverence for the classics: Filet mignon cooked so skillfully that the meat maintains that textbook tinge of sourness; frites so crisp that your burger blushes. De Cavel shows us how not to simply pay lip service to staid Old World traditions, but how to find vitalité in their modern antecedents. 713 Vine St., downtown, (513) 621-4777, jeanroberttable.com. Lunch Mon–Fri, dinner Mon–Sat. MCC, DS. $$

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the soul of a homesick immigrant, and fresh treasure for any American lover of this cuisine. 7791 Cooper Rd., #5, Montgomery, (513) 794-0000, bombaybraziercincy.com.

Dinner Mon–Sat. MCC. $$$

AMMA’S KITCHEN LE BAR A BOEUF

Jean-Robert de Cavel’s upscale alterna-burger-shack features bifteck haché, ground beef patties that are a mainstay of French family dinners, according to de Cavel. His “Les Ground Meat” is available in beef, Wagyu beef, bison, lamb, and fish (a blend of albacore tuna and salmon). Portions are eight ounces, taller than a typical burger, and seared on the kitchen’s iron griddle.

It’s easy to turn many of the generously portioned appetizers into dinner. Pair the open-faced beef tongue “French Dip” sandwich with a spinach salad and you’ll have one of the best choices in the house. Or go for macand-cheese. The lobster mac always sounds lush, but do consider the humble beef cheek version, enlivened by a touch of truffle oil, instead. 2200 Victory Pkwy., East Walnut Hills, (513) 751-2333, barboeuf.com. Dinner Tues–Sat. MCC. $$

301 Fourth St., downtown, (513) 760-5525, lcincinnati. com. Lunch Fri, dinner Tues–Sat. MCC. $$$$

BRIJ MOHAN

Order at the counter the way you might at a fast food joint, except the shakes come in mango and there’s no super-sizing your mint lassi. The saag, full of cream in most northern Indian restaurants, is as intensely flavored as collard greens in the Deep South—real Punjabi soul food. Tarka dal is spectacular here, the black lentils smoky from charred tomatoes and onions, and the pani puri, hollow fried shells into which you spoon a peppery cold broth, burst with tart cool crunch. Follow the spice with soothing ras malai, freshly made cheese simmered in thick almond-flavored milk, cooled and sprinkled with crushed pistachios. 11259 Reading Rd., Sharonville, (513) 769-4549, brijmohancincinnati.com. Lunch and dinner Tues– Sun. MC, V, DC. $

(513) 821-2021, ammaskitchen.com. Lunch buffet seven days (all-vegan on Wed), dinner seven days. MC, V, DS. $

BOMBAY BRAZIER

RESTAURANT L

From the moment you enter Restaurant L’s luxurious, silvery cocoon, you want for nothing—even your handbag gets its own tufted perch—with the staff geared to anticipate your every desire. Unbidden, an amuse-bouche arrives, an inspired combination of sassafras, fennel, and grapes that signals to your palate what your eyes have already registered: Somebody—no, everybody—here loves me. Sweet, succulent Jonah crab, tender squab with beurre rouge sauce, flaky snapper and silky foie gras are given seasonal treatment by JeanRobert de Cavel, who is in full command in the kitchen while Richard Brown holds sway in the dining room.

Top 10

Muthu “Kumar” Muthiah serves traditional southern Indian and Indo-Chinese vegetarian cuisine, but with a sizable Orthodox Jewish community nearby, Muthia saw an opportunity: If he was going to cook vegetarian, why not also make it kosher? Muthiah prepares every item— from the addictively crunchy gobhi Manchurian, a spicy Chinese cauliflower dish, to the lemon pickle, tamarind, and mint sauces—entirely from scratch under the careful eye of Rabbi Michoel Stern. Always 80 percent vegan, the daily lunch buffet is 100 percent animal-product-free on Wednesdays. Tuck into a warm and savory channa masala (spiced chickpeas) or malai kofta (vegetable dumplings in tomato sauce) from the curry menu. Or tear into a crispy, two-foot diameter dosa (chickpea flour crepe) stuffed with spiced onions and potatoes. 7633 Reading Rd., Roselawn,

Indian food in America is hard to judge, because whether coming from the kitchen of a takeout joint or from a nicer establishment, the food will rarely taste all that different.

It will generally be some twist on Punjabi cuisine. Bombay Brazier does it just right. Chef Rip Sidhu could serve his tadka dal in India, along with several other extraordinary dishes, and still do a roaring business—and this is not something that can be said of most Indian establishments in America. Try the papdi chaat, a common Indian street food rarely found on American menus, and you will see what sets this place apart. They do everything the way it is supposed to be done, from the dusting of kala namak (a pungent black rock salt) on the fried crisps to the mixture of tamarind and mint chutneys on the chopped onion, tomatoes, and chickpeas—having this dish properly made is balm to

I TA L I A N A TAVOLA

In 2011, Jared Wayne opened A Tavola Pizza with two friends just as OTR was blowing up. A Ferrara pizza oven was ordered from Italy; Wayne, a skilled woodworker, built custom tables; and the menu was fleshed in with trendy crowd-pleasers like charcuterie and craft cocktails. Fast-forward three years. Brother Nick is now a coowner, and the Waynes have opened a second pizzeria: A Tavola Madeira capitalizes on the menu from the Vine Street location, including the fresh and zesty asparagus, artichoke, and feta pizza on a Neapolitan crust; gooey mozzarella-filled arancini, or risotto fritters; and the unequaled Blue Oven English muffin eggplant sliders.

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Wash down your small plates with a glass of crisp and grassy Sannio falanghina or an ice-cold Peroni lager.

Not ones to rest on their laurels, they also fire up a third Italian import—an Italforni Bull Oven—for their take on Roman-style pies (with a thinner, crispier crust). They’re definitely going to need a bigger parking lot. 7022 Miami Ave., Madeira, (513) 272-0192, atavolapizza.com. Lunch and dinner seven days. MCC. $

BETTA’S ITALIAN OVEN

This Italian place hits the spot on all levels. It’s casual—we felt at home in jeans and a T-shirt—but not so casual to rule it out as a date-night spot. It’s friendly, with a staff that stays on top of refilling that Morretti La Rossa beer. And best of all, the food is amazing (especially for the price). We ranked their pizza the best in the city. Dubious? Their pizza Margherita will make a believer out of you. Their lasagna, spaghetti, and eggplant Parmesan will have you crying Mama Mia and other Italian-sounding phrases. Their dessert options (Cannoli! Tiramisu! Amaretto cream cake!) are all homemade, and delicious to the very last bite. 3764 Montgomery Rd., Norwood, (513) 631-6836. Lunch Mon–Fri, dinner Mon–Sat. MC, V. $$

FORNO

Cristian Pietoso’s second restaurant has all the bones of an upscale eatery, but the menu is infused with enough Italian soul to make nonna proud. In most instances, raving about a side of creamed corn wouldn’t bode well for the rest of the menu. Here, that side dish—kernels swimming in a pool of truffle-laced heavy cream that demands sopping up—is evidence that each component prepared by chef de cuisine Stefano Carne is purpose-driven. The red wine–braised honeycomb tripe, which carries a warning label (“Don’t be scared!”), and the pappardelle with spiced cinghiale (wild boar) ragu are examples of the elevated, adventurous comfort food that Pietoso strives for. 3514 Erie Ave., East Hyde Park (513) 818-8720, fornoosteriabar. com. Dinner Tues–Sun, brunch Sun. MCC. $$

NICOLA’S

Chef Jack Hemmer’s sophisticated comfort food reinventions have made Nicola’s a special place. Neither as traditional as Sotto nor as avant garde as some of the city’s other fine dining establishments, the new Nicola’s has settled into its own indispensable niche. Some things about the menu, Hemmer points out, will never change— nor should they: the basket of delicate housemade breads; classics like the gnocchi, the goat cheese salad, and the tagliatelle alla Bolognese. Of his creations, tuna crudo is a classic Italian antipasto, but Hemmer takes it in a surprising, almost Vietnamese direction. Bagna càuda hits a deep, rich note that is softened by dill crème to make a lovely broth for arctic char. Smoky and nutty charred Jerusalem artichokes are complemented by buttery shiitake mushrooms and a luscious corn flan. The ability to balance all these elements—sweet and sour, crisp and smooth, mild and intense—makes each of these dishes a panorama of technique. 1420 Sycamore St., Pendleton, (513) 721-6200,

a bird’s eye view of Cincinnati from the west side. The kitchen is equally comfortable with northern and southern regional specialties: a Venetian carpaccio of paper thin raw beef sparked by fruity olive oil; house-made fresh mozzarella stuffed with pesto and mushrooms; or artichoke hearts with snails and mushrooms in a creamy Gorgonzola sauce from Lombardy. Among the classics, nothing is more restorative than the pasta e fagioli, a hearty soup of cannellini, ditali pasta, and bacon. Most of the pastas are cooked just a degree more mellow than al dente so that they soak up the fragrant tomato basil or satiny cream sauces. The fork-tender osso buco Milanese, with its marrow-filled center bone and salty-sweet brown sauce (marinara and lemon juice), is simply superb. Desserts present further problems; you’ll be hard-pressed to decide between the house-made tiramisu or bread pudding with caramel sauce, marsala soaked raisins, and cream. 810 Matson Pl., Price Hill, (513) 251-6467, pvista. com. Dinner Tues–Sun. MCC, DC, DS. $$

nicolasotr.com. Dinner Mon–Sat. MCC, DC, DS. $$$

PADRINO

This sister restaurant to 20 Brix is also owned and operated by the Thomas family and their superstar Executive Chef Paul Barraco, who brings his passion for the slow food movement to the Padrino menu. Billed as “Italian comfort food,” Padrino offers the classics (like lasagna and chicken carbonara) plus hoagies and meatball sliders, an impressive wine list, seasonal martinis, and a decadent signature appetizer—garlic rolls, doughy buns smothered in olive oil and garlic. Best of all, Barraco’s pizza sauce, which is comprised of roasted tomatoes and basil, is so garden-fresh that one can’t help but wonder: If this is real pizza, what have we been eating all these years? 111 Main St., Milford, (513) 965-0100,

SOTTO

Rustic textures and approachable presentations are juxtaposed with sublime flavors in dishes like the tartare di fassone (beef tartar with lemon and bread crumbs) and house-made blood sausage with squash and mustard greens. For hearty appetites, there’s the one-kilo Bistecca Fiorentina, a massive porterhouse that arrives on a sizzling platter, but we recommend the small plates: the ethereally smooth chicken liver mousse, the grilled quail with seasonal vegetable, and the short rib cappellacci with thyme and browned butter. Only the most strict teetotalers will want to skip the wine. Grab a glass of Gavi or split a bottle of Vajra barolo with someone special. 118 Top 10

padrinoitalian.com. Lunch and dinner seven days. MCC, DS. $$

E. Sixth St., downtown, (513) 977-6886, sottocincinnati.com.

Lunch Mon–Fri, dinner seven days. MCC, DS. $$

PRIMAVISTA

VIA VITE

Besides offering the old world flavors of Italy, Primavista also serves up a specialty no other restaurant can match:

Cristian Pietoso serves up crowd-pleasing entrées, including the Pietoso family Bolognese, over penne, right on

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Ash, (513) 791-8687, andojapaneserestaurant.com. Lunch Tues–Thurs, dinner Tues–Sun . MCC. $$$

MAIN WHERE REVIEW TO EAT NOW

JO AN JAPANESE Fountain Square. (Add in a golf-ball-sized veal meatball heavy with lemon zest, and it’s an over-the-top comforting main dish.) The same applies to the risotto, where a few small touches add sophistication. Carnaroli rice results in a glossier, starchier dish. A puree of asparagus turns the risotto an eye-popping green, and the poached lobster garnish creates a nice back-and-forth between vegetal and briny flavors. Braised lamb shank over polenta is comforting workhorse, and the flavorful beef eye of rib atop an umami bomb of porcini-marsala gravy introduces an unusual garnish—a rich corn flan. 520 Vine St., downtown, (513) 721-8483, viaviterestaurant.com. Lunch Mon–Fri, dinner seven days, brunch Sat & Sun. MCC, DS. $$

J A PA N E S E ANDO

You don’t go just anywhere to dine on uni sashimi (sea urchin) or tanshio (thinly sliced charcoal-grilled beef tongue).

Don’t miss the rich and meaty chyu toro (fatty big-eye tuna), or the pucker-inducing umeshiso maki (pickled plum paste and shiso leaf roll). Noodles are also well represented, with udon, soba, or ramen options available. And don’t forget to ask about the specials; owners Ken and Keiko Ando always have something new, be it oysters, pork belly, or steamed monkfish liver, a Japanese delicacy that you’ll be hard-pressed to find in any of those Hyde Park pan-Asian wannabes. The only thing you won’t find here is sake, or any other alcohol. Bring your own, or stick to the nutty and outright addicting barley tea. 5889 Pfeiffer Rd., Blue

Once you get past the Muzak, fluorescent lighting, and vaguely clinical color scheme of the building it’s buried in, Jo An is a veritable garden of serenity—relaxing daffodil- and olive-colored walls, humble wooden tables, and a 10-seat sushi bar. The cuisine here is deeply rooted in tradition. Sushi is still the star, so put yourself in the hands of the chef and order the sashimi omakase (chef’s selection of sliced raw fish). White tuna was robust and meaty while the bluefin was more complex. Even the workhorse Atlantic salmon was a revelation. 3940 Olympic

radish, pickled mackerel or deep-fried oysters. You can depend on cucumber or seaweed salad, tempura shrimp, a grilled meat or fish, and of course, sushi—and sometimes even the colorful Bento box sampler. There’s a Nabemono—tableside pot cooking—section on the menu featuring shabu shabu: slices of prime beef swished through bubbling seaweed broth just until the pink frosts with white.

Served with simmered vegetables, ponzu sauce, daikon, and scallions, the concentrated, slightly sour flavor of the beef is vivid. 7149 Manderlay Dr., Florence, (859) 746-1199, matsuya-ky.com. Lunch Mon–Fri, dinner seven days. MCC, DC, DS. $$

MEI

ery Rd., Symmes Twp., (513) 583-8897, kyotosushibar.com.

Lunch and dinner seven days. MCC. $$

Mei’s menu is meant to represent traditional Japanese cuisine, appealing to the novice as well as the sushi maven.

It is divided into sections that encourage a progressive meal of small dishes: One each for hot and cold appetizers, noodles, sushi and sashimi, special rolls, soups and salads, sushi dinners (with miso soup), and combinations (such as tempura paired with sashimi). Deep-fried soft shell crab comes with ponzu sauce—a dipping sauce made of rice vinegar, soy sauce, mirin, and citrus juice—and the kind of yakitori that you can find on the streets of New York. Bento boxes—lacquered wooden boxes divided into compartments—offer the neophyte a sampling of several small dishes. Mei’s are lovely: deep red and stocked with tempura, cooked salmon, sashimi, stewed vegetables, and a fabulous egg custard with shrimp and gingko nut. Mei’s sushi—nigiri, maki, and handrolls—is exceptionally good with quality cuts of fresh seafood. The staff is knowledgeable, extremely efficient, respectful, and attentive, even when it’s at peak capacity. 8608 Market Place Lane,

MATSUYA

Montgomery, (513) 891-6880, meijapaneserestaurant.com.

Lunch and dinner seven days. MCC, DS. $$

Blvd., Erlanger, (859) 746-2634, joanjapanese.com. Lunch Mon–Fri, dinner Mon–Sat. MCC. $$

KYOTO

Owner Jason Shi seems to know everybody’s name as he chats up diners, guiding them through the extensive sushi and sashimi menu. Five young sushi chefs, all part of Shi’s family, work at light speed behind the bar, a choreography backlit by rows of gleaming liquor bottles. Dinner proceeds with glorious chaos as a feisty Carla Tortelli–like server delivers one dish after another—slivers of giant clam on ice in a super-sized martini glass, a volcanic tower of chopped fatty tuna hidden inside overlapping layers of thin avocado slices, smoky grilled New Zealand mussels drizzled with spicy mayo, and delicate slices of a samurai roll—all between shots of chilled sake. 12082 Montgom-

At this relaxed little sushi boutique, try ordering kaiseki, a traditional six-course meal that features a succession of small plates but plenty of food. You might encounter an entire steamed baby octopus or yellowtail with daikon

Top 10

MIYOSHI

For too long, Japanese cuisine in America has meant miso soup, sushi and sashimi, and vari-

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ous grilled meats with teriyaki sauce. Yes, you can get excellent versions of all of these at Miyoshi, but what makes this restaurant truly special is the revelation of the true panorama of Japanese cuisine. From ochazuke (tea soup) with umeboshi (a salty-sour pickled plum) to shime saba, marinated mackerel in a delicately pickle-y broth of cucumber and vinegar, there are a dozen items not seen elsewhere. Anyone who enjoys sushi or miso broth has built the foundation to appreciate the rest of this cuisine. Cha soba, green tea noodles with shredded seaweed, chopped scallions, and a sweet and soupy broth, has a satisfying umami note, even served cold, and a pleasing bite with wasabi mixed in. The kinoko itame, sauteed shiitake and enoki mushrooms, is surprisingly buttery and sweet, showing a voluptuous quality rarely associated with this tradition, but a perfect counterpoint to the more austere offerings. 8660 Bankers St., Florence, (859) 525-6564, miyoshirestaurant.com. Lunch and dinner Mon–Sat. MCC. $$$

KOREAN HARU

After the closing of Sung Korean Bistro, Haru is a welcome addition to the downtown scene.

Dishes are served along with the usual Korean accompaniment of pickles, kimchi, fish cakes, and other mysteriously delicious dainties. A favorite is the japchae, a traditional dish sporting silky sweet potato noodles with sesame-and-garlic sauce, matchsticks of assorted crisp vegetables, and behind it all a wonderful smokiness that pervades the whole meal. The accompanying pot of gochujang, a fermented Korean chili paste, adds its own sweet and spicy note. The result is a homey, soulful, and satisfying taste that appeals even to those who’ve never eaten a bite of Korean food before. 628 Vine

St., downtown, (513) 381-0947, harucincy.com. Lunch and dinner Mon–Sat. MCC. $$

RIVERSIDE KOREAN RESTAURANT

3456, surakorean.com. Lunch and dinner Mon–Sat. MCC. $$

Come for the jo gi mae un tang—a bowl of sizzling, happy hellbroth pungent with red pepper, garlic, and ginger, crowded with nuggets of fish, tofu, and vegetables. Come for the restorative power of sam gae tang, a chicken soup for the Seoul—a whole Cornish hen submerged in its own juices and plumped with sticky rice and ginseng, dried red dates, and pine nuts. Revered for their medicinal properties, both dinner-sized soups will leave your eyes glistening and your brow beaded with sweat. They’re a detox for your overindulgence, rejuvenation for when you’re feeling under the weather. Expect crowds on weekends. Expect too, that dozens of them have come for dolsot bibimbap, the hot stone pots filled with layers of rice, vegetables, meat or tofu, egg, and chili paste. Characterized by its electric color and addictive flavors, Riverside Korean’s version is a captivating bowl of heaven. 512 Madison Ave., Covington, (859) 291-1484, riversidekoreanrestaurant.com.

Lunch Mon–Fri, dinner seven days. MCC, DS. $$

SURA

tion of thick noodles and bits of flank steak floating in a umami-rich marrow broth that magically soothes the burn. 7876 Mason-Montgomery Rd., Mason, (513) 204-

This traditional Korean oasis has been flying well beneath the radar since 2010. Don’t let the pepper count on the menu deter you. Each entrée arrives with purple rice and assorted small bites aimed at cutting the heat—steamed broccoli, pickled radishes, soy-sauce-marinated tofu, panfried fish cake, and housemade kimchi. Korean barbecue staple osam bulgogi—one of only two items meriting a three pepper rating—swiftly clears sinuses with a flavorful duo of pork belly and squid lashed with Korean red pepper paste and served on a sizzling skillet. The twopepper kimchi jjigae stew marries fermented Korean cabbage with hunks of tofu and shards of pork in a bubbling tomato-based broth. Make sure to order a bowl of the bone noodle soup for the table—a comforting combina-

MEDITERRANEAN ANDY’S MEDITERRANEAN GRILLE

In this lively joint with a burnished summer lodge interior of wood and stone, even the food is unrestrained: rough-cut chunks of charbroiled beef tenderloin, big slices of onion and charred tomato turned sweet and wet in the heat, skewers of marinated and charbroiled chicken perched on rice too generous for its plate. Co-owner Andy Hajjar mans his station at the end of the bar, smoking a hookah pipe that fills the air with the sweet smell of flavored tobacco, while the friendly but hurried staff hustles through. 906 Nassau St., Walnut Hills, (513) 281-9791, andyskabob.com. Lunch Mon–Sat, dinner seven days. MCC. $$

CAFÉ MEDITERRANEAN

Chef-driven Middle Eastern cuisine leans heavily on Turkish tradition here. The baba ghanoush uses seared eggplant, which adds a pleasant smokiness to the final product. Börek is described as a “Turkish Egg Roll,” wrapping spinach, leeks, and goat cheese into phyllo dough, and baking it to brittle flakiness. The pastry arrives atop a vivid cherry tomato marmalade, which adds a welcome dimension of barely sweet fruitiness. While there is a smooth, simple hummus on the menu, you should go for the classic sucuklu hummus, which is spiked with sujuk, a common beef sausage popular all over the Middle East. 3520 Erie Ave., East Hyde Park, (513) 871-8714, cafe-mediterranean. com. Lunch Mon–Sat, dinner seven days, Lunch Sun. MCC. $$

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MAIN WHERE REVIEW TO EAT NOW

FLOYD’S Sure, you can go here for the great baked kibbeh, a blend of delicately spiced ground lamb, pine nuts, and onions, stuffed inside a shell of ground lamb, lamb fat, and bulgur wheat. Or you could visit for the vegetarian moussaka with eggplant, onions, tomatoes, and cilantro. But you’d be missing out on Floyd’s famous tendercrisp spit-roasted chicken and lima beans with chopped parsley, garlic, and olive oil. Not all of the specialties are the real Lebanese deal, but we’ll keep ordering them anyway. 127 Calhoun St., Clifton Heights, (513) 221-2434, floydsofcincy. com. Lunch Tues–Fri, dinner Tues–Sat. MC, V. $ Top 10

PHOENICIAN TAVERNA

To eat like a native, get lots of little plates and share. The baba ghanoush, smoky and creamy, is astoundingly good. Those who choose less familiar spreads like the muhammara, made from walnuts, red peppers, and pomegranate molasses, will also be richly rewarded. Whether you’re partial to standbys like falafel or tabbouleh, or willing to venture out a bit (try the tiny pine nut and lamb stuffed sausages called maanek), everything is reliably excellent. And with freshly made pita bread reappearing at the table like a magical maternal encouragement to eat just a little more, it will be hard to stop.

7944 S. Mason-Montgomery Rd., Mason, (513) 770-0027, phoeniciantaverna.com. Lunch Tues–Fri, dinner Tues–Sun. MCC. $$

SANTORINI

BURGER TIME The owners of Jefferson Social and Incline Public House are headed to Hamilton’s Main Street with Billy Yanks, set to open in spring 2020. The eatery is named after the 17-foot bronze statue of a Civil War Union foot soldier in the town’s Soldiers, Sailors, and Pioneers Monument known as “Billy Yank.”

The menu focuses on scratch-made burgers, with beef, chicken, salmon, and plant-based patties.

billyyanks.com

Steak, eggs, and home fries. Jumbo haddock sandwich with Greek fries. Chocolate chip hot cakes with bacon. Notice something wrong with this menu? Chicken Philly cheese steak sandwich with Olympic onion rings. Yep, it’s obvious: What’s wrong with this menu is that there’s nothing wrong with this menu. Greek feta cheese omelette with a side of ham. It’s been owned by the same family for more than 30 years. Santorini has diner standards, like cheeseburgers, chili five ways, and breakfast anytime, but they also make some Greek pastries in house, like spanakopita and baklava. 3414 Harrison Ave., Cheviot, (513) 662-8080. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner Mon– Sat, breakfast and lunch Sun. Cash. $

SEBASTIAN’S When the wind is just right, you can smell the garlicky meat roasting from a mile away. Watch owner Alex Sebastian tend to the rotating wheels of beef and lamb, and you understand how Greek food has escaped the American tendency to appropriate foreign cuisines. Sebastian’s specializes in gyros, shaved off the stick, wrapped in thick griddle pita with onions and tomatoes, and served with cool tzatziki sauce. Alex’s wife and daughter run the counter with efficient speed, and whether you’re having a crisp Greek salad with house-made dressing, triangles of spanikopita, or simply the best walnut and honey baklava this side of the Atlantic (often made by the Mrs.), they never miss a beat, turning more covers in their tiny deli on one Saturday afternoon than some restaurants do in an entire weekend.

lar Döner kebab (a.k.a. Turkish gyro), peppery ground lamb for the Adana kebab, or cubed and marinated for the Shish kebab. 7305 Tyler’s Corner Dr., West Chester, (513) 847-1535, sultanscincin nati.com. Lunch and dinner seven days. MCC, DS. $$

MEXICAN EL MESON The last place you’d expect to find a lively panLatin restaurant is among the stark concrete environment of gas stations and dollar stores in West Carrollton. Nearly two dozen tapas are featured throughout the menu, and ordering a handful is one of the best ways to experience El Meson. Gambas al Ajillo may be the best small plate: Sauteed shrimp swimming in oil brick-red from pepper, resonant with garlic, crisp-charred along the edges of the bowl. The house-made chorizo, smoky-dark and buzzy from good Spanish paprika, goes well with the “tapa mixta espana,” a sampler of roasted red peppers, olives, caperberries, crusty bread, and cubes of slightly tangy Manchego cheese.

Servers confidently make recommendations and patiently help you navigate the crazy-busy menu.

You won’t necessarily feel ignited by the blazing sun of the southern hemisphere, but El Meson is authentic enough to have you imagining a few chickens scratching around the parking lot. This is one family fiesta worth showing up for. 903 E. Dixie Dr., West Carrollton, (937) 859-8229, elmeson. net. Lunch Mon–Fri, dinner Mon–Sat. $$

HABAÑERO It’s easy to find a cheap burrito place around a college campus, but you’d be hard-pressed to find one as consistently good as Habañero, with its flavors of Latin America and the Caribbean wrapped up in enormous packages. Fried tilapia, apricotglazed chicken breast, hand-rubbed spiced flank steak, shredded pork tenderloin, or cinnamonroasted squash are just some of the ingredients for Habañero’s signature burritos. All salsas are house-made, from the smoky tomato chipotle to the sweet-sounding mango jalapeño, which is hot enough to spark spontaneous combustion. 358 Ludlow Ave., Clifton, (513) 961-6800, habanerolatin. com. Lunch and dinner seven days. MCC, DC, DS. $

MAZUNTE Mazunte runs a culinary full court press, switching up specials to keep both regulars and staff engaged. Tamales arrive swaddled in a banana leaf, the shredded pork filling steeped in a sauce fiery with guajillo and ancho chilies yet foiled by the calming sweetness of raisins. The fried mahi-mahi tacos are finished with a citrusy red and white cabbage slaw that complements the accompanying mango-habañero salsa. With this level of authentic yet fast-paced execution, a slightly greasy pozole can be easily forgiven.

Don’t miss the Mexican Coke and self-serve sangria (try the blanco), or the cans of Rhinegeist and MadTree on ice. 5207 Madison Rd., Madison-

5209 Glenway Ave., Price Hill, (513) 471-2100, sebastiansgyros.com. Lunch and dinner Mon–Sat. Cash. $

ville, (513) 785-0000, mazuntetacos.com. Lunch and dinner Mon–Sat, brunch Sun. MCC. $

SULTAN’S MEDITERRANEAN CUISINE

Mexican places seem to change hands in this town so often that you can’t get the same meal twice. Montoya’s is the exception. They’ve been hidden in a tiny strip mall off the main drag in Ft. Mitchell for years. It’s unpretentious and seemingly not interested in success, which means success has never gone to their head here. At a place where you can get Huracan Fajitas with steak, chicken, and chorizo or Tilapia Asada, the tacos are still a big item. 2507 Chelsea Dr., Ft.

The meze, a parade of small plates and appetizers—the refreshing yogurt dish with cucumber, mint, and garlic known as cacik, and its thicker cousin haydari, with chopped walnuts, dill, and garlic—is rounded out with flaky cheese or spinach boureks, falafels, soups, salads, and more, while baked casseroles or stuffed cabbage and eggplant dishes (dubbed “Ottoman specials”) augment the heavy focus on kebabs: chunks of lamb and beef on a vertical spit for the popu-

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MONTOYA’S

Mitchell, (859) 341-0707. Lunch and dinner Tues– Sun. MC, V, DS. $

NADA The brains behind Boca deliver authentic, contemporary, high-quality Mexican fare downtown. You’ll find a concise menu, including tacos, salads and sides, large plates, and desserts.

Tacos inspired by global cuisine include the Señor Mu Shu (Modelo and ginger braised pork) and fried avocado (chipotle bean purée). The ancho-glazed pork shank with chili-roasted carrots comes with a papaya guajillo salad (order it for the table); dreamy mac-and-cheese looks harmless, but there’s just enough of a roasted poblano and jalapeño punch to have you reaching for another icy margarita. 600 Walnut St., downtown, (513) 721-6232, eatdrinknada.com.

Lunch Mon–Fri, dinner seven days, brunch Sat & Sun. MCC, DS. $$

TAQUERIA CRUZ The menu at this four-table mom-and-pop welcomes you to “a little piece of Mexico.” The huaraches (spelled guarachis here), are flat troughs of thick, handmade fried masa dough the approximate shape and size of a shoeprint, mounded with beans and slivers of grilled beef or chili-red nubs of sausage, shredded lettuce, a crumble of queso fresco, and drizzle of cultured cream. Should you have an adventurous side, you can have your huarache topped with slippery tongue, goat meat, shredded chicken, or pork.

There are stews, carne asada plates, and sopes— saucers of fried masa much like huaraches, only smaller. 518 Pike St., Covington, (859) 431-3859.

Lunch and dinner seven days. Cash. $

TAQUERIA MERCADO On a Saturday night, Taqueria Mercado is a lively fiesta, with seemingly half of the local Hispanic community guzzling margaritas and cervezas, or carrying out sacks of burritos and carnitas tacos—pork tenderized by a long simmer, its edges frizzled and crispy. The Mercado’s strip mall interior, splashed with a large, colorful mural, is equally energetic: the bustling semi-open kitchen; a busy counter that handles a constant stream of take-out orders; a clamorous, convivial chatter in Spanish and English. Try camarones a la plancha, 12 chubby grilled shrimp tangled with grilled onions (be sure to specify if you like your onions well done). The starchiness of the rice absorbs the caramelized onion juice, offset by the crunch of lettuce, buttery slices of avocado, and the cool-hot pico de gallo. A shrimp quesadilla paired with one of their cheap and potent margaritas is worth the drive alone. 6507 Dixie Hwy., Fairfield, (513) 942-4943; 100 E. Eighth St., downtown, (513) 381-0678, tmercadocincy.com.

Lunch and dinner seven days. MCC, DS. $

SEAFOOD McCORMICK & SCHMICK’S The daily rotation here reads like a fisherman’s wish list: fresh lobsters from the coast of Maine, ahi tuna from Hawaii, North Carolina catfish, Massachusetts cod. But high-quality ingredients are only half the equation; preparation is the other. Flaky Parmesan-crusted tilapia, with a squeeze of lemon, makes the taste buds dance.

The spacious digs and attentive waitstaff bring a touch of class to Fountain Square, and make it a sophisticated destination. It’s likely to remain a favorite. After all, it’s right in the middle of things. 21 E. Fifth St., downtown, (513) 721-9339, mccormickandschmicks.com. Lunch and dinner seven days. MCC, DC, DS. $$

PELICAN’S REEF Over the years Chef John Broshar has developed his niche, inspired by the seasonal availability of fish obtained daily from one or more of the purveyors he uses. Malabar snapper and swordfish

from Hawaii, Australian triple tail, wild Alaskan salmon, wreckfish from South Carolina, Florida yellow tail, rainbow trout, and wild striped bass are just some of the varieties that rotate through the extensive features listed on a 10-foot by 2-foot chalkboard. The regular offerings are no slouch: Grilled grouper sandwich with chipotle tartar sauce, chubby fish tacos, perfectly fried piping hot oysters tucked into a buttered and toasted po’ boy bun with housemade slaw, and tart-sweet key lime pie. And of course, the damn good New England style chowder.

7261 Beechmont Ave., Anderson Twp., (513) 232-2526, the pelicansreef.com. Lunch and dinner Mon–Sat. MCC, DS. $$

STEAKS CARLO & JOHNNY

The stars of the menu are 11 delectable steaks that could sway the vegi-curious to recommit. Not sure which to choose? If you prefer brawny flavor over buttery texture, go for one of the three bone-in rib cuts. Or if it’s that melt-in-your-mouth experience that raises your serotonin levels, C&J features several tenderloin cuts, including the hard to find bone-in filet. There are the usual suspects of seafood, pork chops, et al, if you’re interested in nonbeef alternatives. 9769 Montgomery Rd., Montgomery, (513) 936-8600, jeffruby.com. Dinner seven days. MCC. $$$$

JAG’S STEAK AND SEAFOOD

Chef Michelle Brown’s food is deeply flavored, if occasionally a bit busy, her steaks of the buttery-mild variety, with not too much salty char crust. All seven cuts are served with veal demi-glace and fried onion straws. According to my steak-centric dining partner, his cowboy rib eye is “too tender and uniform” (as if that’s a crime). “I like to wrestle with the bone,” he adds, though that’s a scenario that, thankfully, doesn’t get played out in this subdued dining room. 5980 West Chester Rd., West Chester, (513) 860-5353, jags.com. Dinner Mon–Sat. MCC, DC. $$$

JEFF RUBY’S

Filled most nights with local scen esters and power brokers (and those who think they are), everything in this urban steakhouse is generous—from the portions to the expert service to the, er, cleavage. White-jacketed waiters with floor-length aprons deliver two-fisted martinis and stacks of king crab legs, or mounds of greens dressed in thin vinaigrettes or thick, creamy emulsions. An occasional salmon or sea bass appears, and there’s a small but decent assortment of land fare. But most customers, even the willowy model types, inhale slabs of beef (dry aged USDA prime) like they’re dining in a crack house for carnivores. The best of these is Jeff Ruby’s Jewel, nearly a pound-and-a-half of bone-in rib eye. This is steak tailor-made for movers and shakers. 700 Walnut St., downtown, (513) 784-1200, jeff ruby.com. Dinner Mon–Sat. MCC. $$$$

MORTON’S THE STEAKHOUSE

No one has replicated the concept of an expensive boys’ club better than Morton’s. Amid the dark polished woods and white linen, the Riedel stemware and stupendous flower arrangements, assorted suits grapple with double cut filet mignons, 24 ounces of porterhouse, pink shiny slabs of prime rib, overflowing plates of salty Lyonnaise potatoes, or mammoth iceberg wedges frosted with thick blue cheese dressing. Jumbo is Morton’s decree: Oversized martini and wine glasses, ethereal towering lemon soufflés, roomy chairs, and tables large enough for a plate and a laptop. Even steaks billed as “slightly smaller” weigh in at 8 to 10 ounces. 441 Vine St., downtown, (513) 6213111, mortons.com. Dinner seven days. MCC. $$$

THE PRECINCT

Part of the appeal of the Ruby restaurants is their ability to deliver deep, comfort-food satisfaction. And the steaks.

The meat is tender with a rich mineral flavor, and the peppercorn crust provided a nice crunch, not to mention blazing heat. The supporting cast is strong—the basket of warm Sixteen Bricks bread with a mushroom truffle butter, the addictive steakhouse-standard onion straws, the creamy garlic mashed potatoes, the crisp-tender aspara-

gus with roasted garlic and lemon vinaigrette—and dinner ends on a sweet note with a piece of Ruby family recipe cheesecake. Neither cloyingly sweet nor overwhelmingly creamy, it’s a lovely slice of restraint. 311 Delta Ave., Columbia-Tusculum, (513) 321-5454, jeffruby.com/precinct.

Dinner seven days. MCC. $$$$

TONY’S

He is a captivating presence, Tony Ricci. Best known for his 30 years in fine dining—including the Jeff Ruby empire while managing the venerable Precinct—Ricci has built a life in the hospitality industry. Much of Tony’s menu is right out of a steakhouse playbook: jumbo shrimp and king crab legs from the raw bar; Caprese, Greek, and Caesar salads; sides of creamed spinach, mac-and-cheese, asparagus, and sautéed mushrooms; toppings of roasted garlic or Gorgonzola butters to accompany your center cut of filet mignon. There are boutique touches, though, that make it stand out—a garlic herb aioli with the calamari, steak tartare torch-kissed and topped with a poached egg, a superb rack of lamb rubbed with aromatic sumac and served with mint pesto. 12110 Montgomery Rd., Symmes Township, (513) 677-8669, tonysofcincinnati.com. Dinner seven days. MCC, DS. $$$$

THAI GREEN PAPAYA

Inside this simple dining room, replete with soothing browns and greens and handsome, dark wood furniture, it takes time to sort through the many curries and chef’s specialties, not to mention the wide variety of sushi on the something-for-everyone menu. Have the staff— friendly, attentive, and knowledgeable—help you. When the food arrives, you’ll need only a deep inhale to know you made the right choice. The Green Papaya sushi rolls are as delicious as they look, with a manic swirl of spicy mayo and bits of crabstick and crispy tempura batter scattered atop the spicy tuna, mango, cream cheese, and shrimp tempura sushi—all rolled in a vivid green soybean wrap. 2942 Wasson Rd., Oakley, (513) 731-0107, greenpapayacincinnati.com. Lunch Mon–Sat, dinner seven days. MCC. $$

SUKHOTHAI

Nestled in the nearly hidden Market Place Lane, this tiny restaurant isn’t exactly slick. A chalkboard lists the day’s specials, usually spicy dishes worthy of an adventurous diner. But if it’s noodle dishes and curries you’re after, Sukhothai’s pad kee mao—wide rice noodles stir-fried with basil—is the best around. Served slightly charred, the fresh and dried chilies provide enough heat to momentarily suspend your breath. Pad Thai has the right amount of crunch from peanuts, slivers of green onion, and mung sprouts to contrast with the slippery glass noodles, and a few squeezes of fresh lime juice give it a splendid tartness. The crispy tamarind duck is one of the best house specials, the meat almost spreadably soft under the papery skin and perfectly complemented by the sweet-tart bite of tamarind. 8102 Market Place Lane, Montgomery, (513) 794-0057, sukhothaicincy.com. Lunch Mon–Fri, dinner Mon–Sat. DS, MC, V. $

THAI NAMTIP

Classic Thai comfort food on the west side from chef/ owner Tussanee Leach, who grew up with galangal on her tongue and sriracha sauce in her veins. Her curries reign: pale yellow sweetened with coconut milk and poured over tender chicken breast and chunks of boiled pineapple; red curry the color of new brick, tasting of earth at first bite, then the sharply verdant Thai basil leaves, followed by a distant heat. Tom Kha Gai soup defines the complex interplay of flavors in Thai food: astringent lemongrass gives way to pepper, then Makrut lime, shot through with the gingery, herbaceous galangal, all yielding to the taunting sweetness of coconut. Even the simple skewers of chicken satay with Thai barbecue sauce are rough and honest, dulcified by honey and dirtied up by a smoky grill. 5461 North Bend Rd., Monfort Heights, (513) 481-3360, thainamtip.com. Lunch and dinner Mon-Sat, dinner Sun. MC, V. $

WILD GINGER

Wild Ginger Asian Bistro’s ability to satisfy a deep desire for Vietnamese and Thai fusion cuisine is evidenced by their signature Hee Ma roll—a fortress of seaweedwrapped rolls filled with shrimp tempura, asparagus, avocado, and topped with red tuna, pulled crab stick, tempura flakes, a bit of masago, scallions, and of course, spicy mayo. It’s tasty, even though the sweet fried floodwall of tempura and spicy mayo overpowered the tuna completely. The spicy pad char entrée was a solid seven out of 10: broccoli, carrots, cabbage, succulent red bell peppers, green beans, and beef, accented with basil and lime leaves in a peppercorn-and-chili brown sauce.

3655 Edwards Rd., Hyde Park, (513) 533-9500, wildginger cincy.com. Lunch and dinner Mon–Sun. MCC, DS. $$

VI ETNAM E S E PHO LANG THANG

Owners Duy and Bao Nguyen and David Le have created a greatest hits playlist of Vietnamese cuisine: elegant, brothy pho made from poultry, beef, or vegan stocks poured over rice noodles and adrift with slices of onions, meats, or vegetables (the vegan pho chay is by far the most flavorful); fresh julienned vegetables, crunchy sprouts, and herbs served over vermicelli rice noodles (again, the vegan version, bun chay, is the standout); and bánh mì. Be sure to end with a cup of Vietnamese coffee, a devilish jolt of dark roast and sweetened condensed milk that should make canned energy drinks obsolete. 1828 Race St., Over-the-Rhine, (513) 376-9177, pholangthang. com. Lunch and dinner seven days. MCC, DS, DC. $

QUAN HAPA

The Nguyen brothers, Duy and Bao, along with partner David Le, have followed up on Pho Lang Thang’s success at Findlay Market by bursting onto the OTR scene with some of the boldest flavors in the city. A tuna ceviche makes use of the fiery sweetness of Malaysian sambal oelek and a banh mi steakburger gains crunch from pickled daikon and a side of Indonesian shrimp chips.

Or try the okonomiyaki, a traditional Japanese pancake topped with a choice of bacon, prawns, or vegetables. The Vietnamese coffee, a complex, chicory-forward blend, is an ideal way to end the meal. 1331 Vine St., Over-theRhine, (513) 421-7826, quanhapa.com. Lunch and dinner seven days. MCC, DS. $

SONG LONG

The menu does have a substantial Chinese section, but make no mistake, the reason there’s a line at the door on weekend nights is the fine Vietnamese specialties cooked and served by the Le family. Begin with the goi cuon, the cold rolls of moistened rice paper wrapped around vermicelli noodles, julienned cucumbers, lettuce, cilantro, and mung bean sprouts. Or try the banh xeo, a platter-sized pan-fried rice crepe folded over substantial nuggets of chicken and shrimp, mushrooms, and wilted mung sprouts. The phos, meal-sized soups eaten for breakfast, are good, but the pho dac biet is Song Long’s best. Crisp-tender vegetables, slices of beef, herbs, and scallions glide through the noodle-streaked broth. When you’re ordering your entrée, be careful: Mr. Le has a much heavier chili hand than Mrs. Le. Ask who is cooking and order accordingly if you don’t want your eyes to roll to the back of your head. 1737 Section Rd., Roselawn, (513) 351-7631, songlong.net. Lunch and dinner Mon–Sat. MCC, DC, DS. $ CINCINNATI MAGAZINE, (ISSN 0746-8 210), December 2019, Volume 53, Number 3. Published monthly ($14.95 for 12 issues annually) at Carew Tower, 441 Vine St., Suite 200, Cincinnati, OH 45202-2039. (513) 421-4300. Copyright © 2019 by Cincinnati Magazine LLC, a subsidiary of Hour Media Group, 5750 New King Dr, Ste 100, Troy, MI 48098. All rights reserved. No part of this magazine may be reproduced or reprinted without permission. Unsolicited manuscripts, photographs and artwork should be accompanied by SASE for return. The magazine cannot be held responsible for loss. For subscription orders, address changes or renewals, write to CINCINNATI MAGAZINE, 1965 E. Avis Dr., Madison Heights, MI 48071, or call 1-866-660-6247. Periodicals postage paid at Cincinnati, Ohio, and additional mailing offices. Postmaster: Please send forms 3579 to CINCINNATI MAGAZINE, 1965 E. Avis Dr., Madison Heights, MI 48071. If the Postal Service alerts us that your magazine is undeliverable, we have no further obligation unless we receive a corrected address within one year.

D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 9 C I N C I N N AT I M A G A Z I N E . C O M 1 2 7

CINCY OBSCURA

Test Your Limits

TURNS OUT DAREDEVIL STUNTS aren’t just for James Bond. Sure, leaping between build-

ings may be a little extreme, but any adrenaline junkie can practice parkour, a discipline in which you move quickly, typically in an urban environment, negotiating obstacles by running, climbing, and jumping. Hidden in an industrial building in Spring Grove Village, Swift Movement is a parkour training facility with equipment that mimics outdoor environments, such as ledges, bars, and boxes. Co-owner Matthew Peveley, who was skateboarding in the ’90s, saw a parkour video almost 20 years ago. From then on, he was hooked. He opened Swift Movement in 2015. “Training parkour is the act of learning different techniques—learning to fall, vault, jump, swing, climb—creating challenging combinations of all of the movements, trying to achieve mastery of your body and knowing your limits,” Peveley says. Developed in France in the late 1980s, parkour is gaining popularity with those looking for less conventional forms of fitness. Swift Movement also offers free running (which is more acrobatic-focused), tumbling, aerial arts, and open gym sessions. “Seeing the gym used by beginners and elite athletes simultaneously is extremely rewarding,” Peveley says. “Everyone is having fun and able to find challenges within their experience level.” — K A R A H A G E R M A N 1 2 8 C I N C I N N AT I M A G A Z I N E . C O M D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 9

PHOTOGRAPH BY JEREMY KRAMER

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