Cincinnati Magazine - June 2021 Edition by Cincinnati Magazine

E W Y WH E M O H CA M E IT ’S B O O M T IM E F O R S BOOMERANG

WALKING ON SUNSHINE Drew and Lea Lachey enjoy one of ArtWorks’s downtown murals.

PAMPAS FIRES UP O’BRYONVILLE PAGE 82

Supporting Young Parents in Need BY L ISA MURTH A

Thea Tjepkema Is Music Hall’s Muse BY PO L K L AF F O O N IV

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Introducing The James Cancer Diagnostic Center At The James at Ohio State, we understand that cancer is a complex disease that when detected early has more opportunities for successful treatment and cure. That’s why we have opened The James Cancer Diagnostic Center. Our experts provide patients who may have cancer with direct, expedited access to diagnostic testing. The center offers a ﬁrst step in determining each patient’s speciﬁc type of cancer delivered by the experts who study and treat cancer every day. To make a same-day or next-day appointment, visit cancer.osu.edu/diagnosticcenter or call 800-293-5066.

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BOOM TIME FOR BOOMERANGS

We update the classic Cincinnati story of young people moving away only to return later in life. Was the grass greener somewhere else? Why did they come home? Why do they stay now? P. 50

P. 54

MUSIC HALL’S GUARDIAN ANGEL

IT TAKES A VILLAGE

BY POLK LAFFOON IV

BY LISA MURTHA

When Thea Tjepkema talks (and researches, writes, lectures, leads tours, and generally enthuses) about Cincinnati’s temple of arts and culture, everyone listens.

PHOTOGRAPH BY LANCE ADKINS

Rosemary’s Babies Company and Cincinnati Scholar House surround young parents with the support they need to raise their children and achieve their own dreams.

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D E PA R T M E N T S J U N E 2 02 1

ON OUR SITE

FOOD NEWS

12 / LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

FRONTLINES

16 / SPEAK EASY

96 / CINCY OBSCURA

Brood X makes its appearance loud and clear

Peter Bronson on the Beverly Hills Supper Club ﬁre

The world’s largest horseshoe crab, in Hillsboro

16 / FAMILY FUN

BY BEBE HODGES

15 / DISPATCH

Krohn’s Butterﬂy Show

18 / STYLE COUNSEL Danielle DeLaine is a hat lady

20 / FIELD GUIDE New plant shops

22 / REAL ESTATE

DINE

82 / DINING OUT Pampas, O’Bryonville

84 / HOT PLATE

Coastal style in Hyde Park

Pata Roja at Saeso, Pendleton

24 / DR. KNOW

84 / FIELD NOTES

Your QC questions answered

“Sip and Seed” parties

COLUMNS

28 / LIVING IN CIN Making these old walls talk

CITY NEWS

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

86 / TAKEOUT HERO K&J Seafood, Clifton Heights

86 / TABLESIDE WITH… Tony Lavatori of Cincinnati COOKS

BY J AY G I L B E R T

88 / DINING GUIDE

32 / PERSON OF INTEREST

Greater Cincinnati restaurants: A selective list

HOME + LIFE

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

Ryan Atkins rebuilds with faith BY LISA MURTHA

ON THE COVER

photograph by OUSSMANE FALL , NOIR MEDIA

6 C I N C I N N AT I M A G A Z I N E . C O M J U N E 2 0 2 1

Cincinnati Magazine

@Cincinnatimagazine

SPORTS

Insight and analysis on the Reds and FC Cincinnati.

IMAGES BY (BOTTOM) LANCE ADKINS / (TOP) COURTESY COLDWELL BANKER

12 / CONTRIBUTORS

COVID-19 reopenings, tweaks, and pivots.

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PAGE 69

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8 C I N C I N N AT I M A G A Z I N E . C O M J U N E 2 0 2 1

Cincinnatians are one-of-a-kind. For us, “Cincy” is a place, our personality and who we are. We take pride in everything from our chili to our children. And we’re resilient, never letting a bad loss get us down. Recently, it felt like the world had been on a string of losses. But now, things are looking up.

Let’s safely show our love for this area. Let’s support local shops, restaurants and hotels every chance we get. Let’s return the tumultuous into the triumphant in a way only we can. Follow the guidelines and play it safe, but still play.

Cincinnati still needs our help, and we’re not the type to turn our backs on our community.

GET YOUR MASK ON AND GET YOUR CINCY ON.

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J U N E 2 02 1

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF John Fox DESIGN DIRECTOR Brittany Dexter DIRECTOR OF EDITORIAL OPERATIONS

Amanda Boyd Walters SENIOR EDITOR Aiesha D. Little ASSOCIATE EDITOR Lauren Fisher CONTRIBUTING EDITORS Jim DeBrosse,

Kathleen Doane, Jene Galvin, Jay Gilbert, Alyssa Konermann, Polk Laffoon IV, Lisa Murtha, Kevin Schultz, John Stowell, Linda Vaccariello, Kathy Y. Wilson, Jenny Wohlfarth, J. Kevin Wolfe EDITORIAL INTERNS Jenna Calderón, Charlotte Caldwell, Emily Chien, Devan Marr DIGITAL INTERNS Nailah Edwards,

Bebe Hodges, Joe Weiner

PUBLISHER Ivy Bayer SENIOR ACCOUNT MANAGERS

Maggie Wint Goecke, Julie Poyer ACCOUNT REPRESENTATIVE

Hilary Linnenberg SENIOR OUTSIDE ACCOUNT REPRESENTATIVE

Laura Bowling SENIOR MANAGER, SPONSORSHIP SALES

Chris Ohmer SPECIAL PROJECTS MANAGER

Cecilia Rose SALES INTERN

Katherine Finley

BUSINESS

OPERATIONS DIRECTOR Missy Beiting SENIOR ART DIRECTORS Jen Kawanari,

Emi Villavicencio ART DIRECTORS Zachary Ghaderi,

Stephanie Youngquist ASSISTANT ART DIRECTOR Carlie Burton PHOTO INTERN Christopher Pasion CONTRIBUTING ARTISTS Lance Adkins, Ryan Back,

Wes Battoclette, Aaron M. Conway, Chris Danger, Devyn Glista, Chris von Holle, Jeremy Kramer, Ryan Kurtz, Lars Leetaru, Marlene Rounds, Dola Sun PRODUCTION DIRECTOR & IT SYSTEMS ADMINISTRATOR

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BUSINESS COORDINATOR Erica Birkle

CIRCULATION

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Michelle VanArman CIRCULATION MANAGER Riley Meyers

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CONTRIBUTORS

KATIE COBURN

I M OV E D TO C I N C I N N AT I I N T H E L AT E 19 8 0 S B EC AU S E A CO M PA N Y R EC RU I T E D me. The first time I ever visited here was the job interview; the second time, I was driving a U-Haul truck with my brother. People came and went a lot in the marketing and advertising agency business, my career field then, so there were plenty of nonnatives in the office, and we had fun discovering Cincinnati together. As I met the friends of coworkers who were lifelong locals, I always sensed they were a little amused and perplexed by my arrival. More than one asked, Why would you move to Cincinnati on purpose? I loved Cincinnati right away, and my new friends were always welcoming. But I wasn’t a Reds or Bengals fan, and I didn’t go to their high school or a rival school, so there was a lack of connection. Over the next few years the city was gripped by the Mapplethorpe art exhibit controversy and the passage of antigay laws, and criticism from “outsiders” like me was not especially appreciated. I remember the palpable tide of a Love it or leave it attitude rising here through the ’90s. I know a few natives and newcomers alike who left Cincinnati during those years. People still leave today, for a new job, for college, for an adventure, for love. Anywhere, U.S.A. is often more appealing than Hometown, Ohio, especially for young adults. For many, getting out of Cincinnati was and is Goal No. 1; everything else is TBD. Over the years I learned that “boomerangs” were a thing here—a current of people leaving and then moving back years later. There was sometimes a feeling that the return was sort of Plan B, that the escape from Cincinnati had been a triumph and the return a failure or, at least, a surrender to reality. This month’s “Boom Time for Boomerangs” (page 36) resets that dynamic, I think, by interviewing 20 Cincinnatians who left for greener pastures and returned. Being home is anything but second choice, though some aren’t ready to commit to staying forever. To them I’d flip the script of my earlier experience and ask, Why would you leave Cincinnati on purpose?

J O H N F OX

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

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ILLUSTR ATIO N BY L A R S LEE TA RU

Contributor and former staffer Katie Coburn ﬁrst arrived in the Queen City in 2013, as a student at UC. Now Coburn, who talked to successful newcomers and returning natives for “Boom Time for Boomerangs” (page 36), says she’s even more in love with the city. “It seems like there are new restaurants, people, and cultural events to experience every day,” she says. “Simply put, Cincinnati rocks.”

OUSSMANE FALL As a child, Oussmane Fall turned to his camera as a way of documenting life. After moving from Senegal to Cincinnati, his desire to uplift the Black community through his art inspired him to create Noir Media. For Fall, who photographed “Boom Time for Boomerangs” (page 36), portraiture is about revealing the subject’s true personality. “I don’t push people, but instead try to photograph naturally so their true selves shine through,” he says.

POLK LAFFOON IV Contributing editor Polk Laffoon IV has two qualifications for profiling someone: They have to be experts in their field and they have to be interesting. Thea Tjepkema—Music Hall’s number one fan—checked both boxes. “When Thea talks, people listen,” Laffoon says. In “The Guardian Angel of Music Hall” (page 50), he details how Thea’s combination of expertise and circumstance led her to be the building’s champion.

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LOUD AND PROUD

After silently growing underground for 17 years, Brood X cicadas are looking to make an impression. CHRIS PASION

HAT DID YOU SAY? THOSE RUGS

are enjoying? I really can’t hear you over the cicadas! This daily conversation marks the emergence of Brood X, a generation of periodical cicadas that’s been feeding and growing underground since 2004. Once the ground temperature reached a toasty 64 degrees, they started pouring out from their holes by the billions. With 17 years’ worth of pent-up energy, they’re looking to get busy. Brood X comprises three species of cicada that are characterized by large black bodies, dark red eyes, and a signature ear-splitting rattle. The sound—or “song” if you’re an entomologist—is a mating call from the males. To humans, the sound is piercing, annoying, and sometimes anxiety-inducing; to cicadas, it’s an invitation. Females respond by snapping with their wings, which attracts a swarm of males toward them. While you may not be ecstatic to be surrounded by these loud, invasive bugs, cicadas are ﬁne ignoring you and pretty much everything else. Due to their large numbers, predators simply can’t eat them all—though cicada years are bountiful for a lot of animals, from turkeys and chickens to songbirds, opos- CONTINUED ON P. 16

ILLUSTR ATIO N BY L AU R E N T H RY BY K

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DISPATCH

FAMILY FUN

THE BUTTERFLY EFFECT

The Krohn Conservatory has reopened with its 25th Anniversary Butterﬂy Show. Timed tickets must be purchased in advance; only 40 people can be inside each hour to interact with the butterﬂies. Masks are required for ages 6 and up. cincinnatiparks.com/krohn 1 6 C I N C I N N AT I M A G A Z I N E . C O M J U N E 2 0 2 1

SPEAK EASY

THE FIRE THAT STILL BURNS X One of the deadliest nightclub fires in U.S. history destroyed the Beverly Hills Supper Club in Southgate on May 28, 1977, killing 165 people. Former Enquirer editor and columnist Peter Bronson’s new book, Forbidden Fruit, connects the tragedy to Northern Kentucky’s history as an organized crime hotbed. How was the 1977 fire connected to Newport’s “Sin City” past? A mob arson burned out the first club on that Southgate hilltop in 1936. Pete Schmidt refused to sell his popular Beverly Hills Country Club to the Cleveland Four mob, which controlled Ohio and Kentucky, so they torched the place late at night. When Cleveland boss Moe Dalitz later became known as “Mr. Las Vegas,” he said he learned everything about casinos at the Beverly Hills Country Club. Was organized crime involved with the Beverly Hills Supper Club? Most have forgotten that the club was also burned in 1970 as it was being remodeled by Dick Schilling, who bought the boarded-up landmark to build a new “Showplace of the Nation.” The local fire chief said it was clearly arson. When his Supper Club burned in

1977, there had been regular mob-style arsons of nightclubs and restaurants in the Newport area. Yet the authorities immediately insisted it was an accident and destroyed any criminal evidence by bulldozing the scene. What kind of long-term effect has the ﬁre had on Northern Kentucky? Thousands of guests narrowly escaped and hundreds more were burned or severely injured. The aftershocks of trauma and grief of our region’s worst tragedy emerged again last year in a battle over the site’s redevelopment. Who besides George Ratterman deserves credit for trying to change “the ways things were” here? I was surprised to discover how much Attorney General Robert Kennedy was involved in Newport in the early 1960s. He sent a top deputy to go after the mob and help when Ratterman was drugged and framed in bed with April Flowers. I found transcripts of illegal FBI wiretaps on mob leaders with conversations about the Beverly Hills club and talk of killing the Kennedys. —J O H N F OX READ A LONGER INTERVIEW WITH PETER AT CINCINNATIMAGAZINE. COM

PH OTO G R A PHS BY J O N ATH A N W I LLI S

( FA M I LY F U N ) P H O T O G R A P H C O U R T E S Y C I N C I N N AT I PA R K S / ( S P E A K E A S Y ) P H O T O G R A P H C O U R T E S Y P E T E R B R O N S O N

sums, and raccoons. “Scientists them. In fact, Kritsky wants you to run toward them—for science, of course. will note a population boom in He’s been crowd-sourcing research other animals because they’re so well fed,” says Sarah Kent, a community outon Brood X for decades, which is one of reach manager at Great Parks of Hamilthe most efficient ways to collect a lot of ton County. She adds that after the last data on them. He started in 1987 with a 17-year cycle, “Cincinnati had a really cicada hotline and, he says, “calls came in booming rat population.” so fast it broke my answering machine.” Critters aren’t the only ones who He continued in 2004 with the technobenefit from the cicadas’ presence. Perilogical advancement of e-mail, and on odical cicadas spend most of their lives the first day of the emergence he received buried roughly a foot unan e-mail a minute. Now derground, where they feed he’s created a free mobile on the roots of trees until app, Cicada Safari, which turns everyday people into ready for mating season. citizen scientists. If you After emerging, they leave encounter a periodical cibehind tunnels that lead cada out and about, snap a back down to tree roots, There’s an App for That picture on the app and log it directing rainwater in and Share photos and for scientists to study. “We acting as natural aeration. data about your need more boots on the Female cicadas lay eggs in cicada sightings at ground,” Kritsky says, “and twigs and small branches cicadasafari.org. that’s what the app is dothat eventually break off, ing.” The data collected will providing trees with a free pruning. help create more detailed maps of Brood Greater ecosystem benefi ts aside, X and will also contribute to a hypoththe bugs are certainly going to freak esis he’s testing with colleagues about how cicadas know which year to emerge. out a lot of people. Gene Kritsky, an entomologist at Mount St. Joseph UniBrood X’s emergence is a rare event versity and the region’s resident cicada that comes around just once in a generaexpert, offers consoling words: “They tion, and this year is vital for collecting don’t spread disease, they won’t carry data and learning more about them. Sciaway your children, they don’t bite, and entists have been studying them for nearthey don’t sting. If your dog loves gulply 200 years and still don’t really know ing down food and doesn’t know when why they break ground when they do. to stop, limit their access to the bugs, So now that cicadas are finally out in because too many cicadas could lead to full force, pick up your phone, download bowel obstruction.” Other than that, Kritsky’s app, and start chasing some cicadas are harmless, so don’t run from bugs. You heard me!

TREASURES FROM THE TAFT Coming July 3, 2021 Assembled nearly 100 years ago, does the Taft’s collection hold relevance today? Join us as we look at our city’s celebrated art collection through a 21st-century lens.

Timed tickets available now at taftmuseum.org

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STYLE STYLE COUNSEL COUNSEL

Danielle DeLaine OCCUPATION: Owner, Chapeau Couture STYLE: Chic, sophisticated, daring

Of all the areas where you can specialize in fashion, why hats? I naturally gravitated to the design of hats because of a strong heritage link in church. I’ve always seen strong, proud women come to church dressed to the nines, and I was so fascinated and drawn to the way they were carrying themselves. The person who made the most impact was probably my grandmother, who is 87, and watching her over the years. Did you admire any of your grandmother’s hats in particular? Her favorite color is blue. Every time I saw her in a blue hat, I just saw a vibration of beauty that came off of her. She felt that she was looking her best self. Growing up, I heard stories about her raising 13 children, so this was the time where she could actually focus on herself. How many hats do you own? If you’re counting storage and things that are here and there—garages, my mom’s house—I would say, in total, probably a little less than 100. What are some hat styles you like the most? I love a cowgirl hat. It’s sporty. You can dress it up. You can dress it down. I love a good sunhat. My most favorite is a wide brim. It’s this ultimate epitome of conﬁdence, when you can put on a widebrimmed hat and just slay it. You’ve been in business for 16 years. Tell me about one of your biggest successes. We still do a collaboration with Lilly Pulitzer because of our seasonal showcases in Kenwood Towne Centre. They came over to us one day and said, “How would you like to do a collaboration with us for Kentucky Derby for spring?” What makes a great Derby hat? Bringing out your own personality and allowing your style to shine through. For some, that’s a classic look. For others, it’s more vibrant and boisterous. They want all the attention, “Look at me. Here I come.” Others, they just want to be there looking poised. —J AC LY N YO U H A N A G A R V E R

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

AVAILABLE AT

FIELD GUIDE

foliage, vary in size from large-scale installations to smaller DIY projects. Pothos walls, Fairman says, are especially popular. 320 W. Fourth St., downtown, (513) 287-7867

COMING UP ROSES THESE FOUR LOCAL PLANT SHOPS ARE READY TO BRING THE GREAT OUTDOORS INSIDE YOUR HOME. — J A C L Y N Y O U H A N A G A R V E R

If you want to bring some of the outdoors in and perk up your kitchen table, office, or bedroom, four of our favorite plant shops can help. Now’s the time to step up your greenery game. 1. PHILO

Specializing in local pottery and tough-tofind and tropical plants, Philo is your stop for rare and exotic treasures. Owner Savannah Chambers, who started collecting years ago, is a self-proclaimed “foliage person.” “I wanted to make harder-to-find species available at a local level,” she says. “I love the leaf differences, sizes, and species available.” Recently, customers have been on the lookout for rare aroids (some of which feature spiky, colorful flowers) and hoya (a climbing or sprawling evergreen shrub), which Chambers says are incredibly popular. And, of course, there are those that require not-so-much care, like pothos or hanging philodendron. “Both sell as soon as they hit the store,” she says. 1411 Main St., Over-theRhine, (513) 407-8844 2. LEAF & LIMB

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Looking for an eyecatching houseplant?

4. THE BUDDING FLORIST 3

An interesting tabletop cactus? Maybe a quirky planter in the shape of a head? For all of the above and more, look no further than Leaf & Limb on the Levee, which opened in May 2020. Cofounders Leah Couch and Jessica Sullivan are childhood besties whose mutual love of plants started as a casual hobby before evolving into a small business idea. “I had been into houseplants for many years,” Couch says. “I killed a lot, bought some more, and got better.” Couch used to dream of opening her own plant shop in the far-off future—maybe when she retired. But when she saw the perfect spot open up at Newport’s Bridgeview Box Park, her timeline quickly changed. At Leaf & Limb, shoppers can ﬁnd indoor plants and goods from artists both local and global. Some of Couch’s favorite items in the shop are the “head planters”—especially the one shaped like Juno, the Roman goddess of love and marriage. With the right plant, the sprouting leaves or blooms can look like hair. 1 Levee Way, Bridgeview Box Park, Newport, (513) 886-7052

Plants for the people. “Through the building of our community, we also realized that there was a piece of the plant life that seemed to be missing: plant education,” says owner Jamie Fairman. “So we filled that void and made it part of our core values to always educate our community through our own experience with plant care.” Forage— which is connected to its sister store, sustainable goods and refillery shop Koko—specializes in houseplants and planters. It also creates custom projects, including large-scale rentals for conferences, festivals, and other events; home and office plant installations; and living walls for homes and offices. Those living walls, typically filled with moss or tropical

Bridal bouquets may be Ellie Wilke’s first love, but there’s plenty more in store for plant parents at the OTR florist’s brick-andmortar location. While Wilke, who owns The Budding Florist, specializes in bountiful boho arrangements, she also has plenty of the standard house plant offerings in store, from easy-to-care-for ZZ plants to notoriously tricky fiddle leaf figs. Looking for flowers in a pinch? The Budding Florist also offers graband-go bouquets and a by-the-stem flower bar where you can let your creativity run wild. 1817 Elm St., Over-the-Rhine, (513) 562-7185

3. FORAGE

Sustainability and education are at the heart of Forage, a downtown plant shop with a simple motto: PHOTOGR APHS BY CHRIS PASION

ON THE MARKET

ADDRESS: 2544 OBSERVATORY AVE., HYDE PARK LISTING PRICE: $1,195,000

ALL IN THE DETAILS

AS A DESIGN TREND, COASTAL STYLE HAS GONE THROUGH THE RINGER.

Do it wrong, and it can be bland, if not downright kitschy. But done right? It can be perfectly timeless. That’s the case with this Observatory Avenue gem, just blocks away from Hyde Park Square. At face value, it feels a bit out of line to call this home coastal. This is Hyde Park, after all, not the Hamptons. (Though really, isn’t Hyde Park the Hamptons of Cincinnati? We digress.) There are no seashell motifs in the wallpaper or faux-rattan cabanas in the backyard. The interior color scheme and woven window treatments are undoubtedly a tad nautical, but nothing about this house is trying to fool you into believing you’re just a walk to the beach. Instead, the New England–style charm shines through in the details: wainscoting in the hallways, crown molding throughout, old-school double doors in the den, custom built-in book2 2 C I N C I N N AT I M A G A Z I N E . C O M J U N E 2 0 2 1

cases, and a delightfully airy window seat in the informal dining room. It’s traditional with just a touch of coastal modern, dressed up in sunshine yellow siding and crowned with a bay window. Even when the home—which was built in 1905—underwent a ﬂurry of updates to bring it into the 21st century, it relinquished virtually none of its charm. The fresh, white kitchen, complete with new appliances and a perfectly tucked away butler’s pantry, exudes major Nancy-Meyers-movie magic. In the study, French doors lead the way to a summer-party-ready deck, looking out over a tree-lined backyard that feels worlds away, despite being just a stone’s throw from busy Observatory. In the front yard, set back from the street by a wraparound driveway, you’ll ﬁnd a spacious, covered front porch that’s practically begging for some cushy patio furniture, a quiet evening, and a good book.

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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

he even that man’s son—just his nephew. He was not from Cincinnati but New Jersey, and lived in these parts only in Newport and Hamilton. But Mr. Symmes was most accomplished, by far, at not being a scientist. He printed circulars espousing his theory of Earth having a hollow center accessible at both poles and received wide recognition from the scientific community, mostly in the form of laughter. Symmes has now added one more “not” to his biography: not receiving credit for the dubious scientific underpinnings of Godzilla vs. Kong. If only the film’s producers had mentioned his insights, the movie could have added that sure-fire audience booster, “based on actual events,” and made their story so much more believable.

Q+ A

On Main Street in Newtown is the Newtown Feed and Supply store. I’m curious about the large built-in Star of David at the second-ﬂoor window. Their website doesn’t explain the star, it just says the building is a former Odd Fellows lodge. That just confuses me even more. —FUNNY, IT LOOKS JEWISH DEAR FUNNY:

The movie Godzilla vs. Kong includes a trip to “Hollow Earth.” I think a past article of yours mentioned someone from Cincinnati who promoted that idea. He gave lectures in the 1800s insisting our planet is hollow. Please remind me of this “brilliant” scientist. —YOU HAD ME AT HOLLOW

DEAR HAD:

Since we’re entering the season of summer reruns, and since Godzilla vs. Kong reruns every possible monster-movie cliché, the Doctor shall indulge your request to re-summarize Cincinnati’s hollow-headed hollow-earth advocate. John Cleves Symmes Jr. was most notable for the things he was not. He was not the man for whom Symmes Township is named, nor was

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As you point out, the six-pointed star— the hexagram—is today assumed by most people to mean the Star of David (insert joke about Jewish lawyer defending trademark). But that geometric symbol appears throughout human history and all over the world (insert joke about Jews wandering for 40 years, not asking directions). In addition to being a religious symbol for Hindus and pre-Islamic Arabs (insert “oy vey”), the star was once regularly displayed in Medieval Europe as a protection against ﬁre and then as a symbol for a saloon or brewery. In fact, you’ll ﬁnd that same star at Cincinnati’s old Clyffside Brewery at 244 W. McMicken Ave. (again with the directions). Newtown Feed and Supply’s charming building was constructed in 1900 as a lodge for the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. Through the centuries, the ILLUSTR ATIO N S BY L A R S LEE TA RU

Odd Fellows have gone through many schisms and symbols. Sadly, the Doctor must report that he has failed to ﬁnd a direct link between the Newtown building’s star and any other Odd Fellows symbology (insert joke about just not studying hard enough and disappointing your mother). He’ll keep trying.

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As Covington’s old IRS Center ﬁnally comes down, everyone is predicting what will go there next. But I’m curious about what was there before. Countless people must have been thrown out of their homes and businesses. Can you tell us who they were and what happened to them?

SAVE THE DATE

—IMMINENT DOMAIN

DEAR IMMINENT:

You are pulling on a scab. In 1964, those 23 acres in Covington included companies that were not, to put it mildly, environmentally enlightened. No eyebrows shot up when the new IRS facility was plunked directly atop properties that made atomic radiation detectors, X-ray equipment, carbon paper, and other materials that were far from gluten-free. Not to mention the underground gas station tanks and generous quantities of asbestos. Everybody cares about these thorny issues now; they are currently being addressed most prudently and expensively. Then there were the neighborhood’s homeowners, mom-andpop shops, and churches. Let’s guess what happened to them. Just snap your ﬁngers, say the magic words, urban renewal, and suddenly they are all “slums!” Most people went quietly, accepting government offers, while some pushed back and won more money. At least a few of those former Covington residents must still be living nearby; they probably can’t wait to hear the promises being made now, compare them with what ultimately gets built, and laugh.

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With a Push from the Pandemic, Outpatient Joint Surgery Delivers Safe Outcomes Beacon Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine sees improvements in patient care with their treatment protocols—and an assist from technology.

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN THE procedure that’s the No. 1 surgical cost for Medicare meets a pandemic? In the case of total knee replacements performed by Michael Lawson Swank, M.D., orthopedic surgeon with Beacon Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine, an improvement in patient care. COVID-19 was “an accomplice I didn’t expect to have,” says Swank. “It set the stage for people to rethink how they view health care and risk.” Almost overnight, Swank discovered a change in his patients. Before the pandemic, most people wanted to stay in the hospital longer—only 50 to 60 percent of joint surgery patients went home the same day, when fully 80 to 90 percent could have safely been discharged. Swank saw that change rapidly. “[Most patients were] literally going home within three to four hours post-surgery and this includes patients up to 80 years old.” And Swank views that as a good thing. “If we can do these things out of the hospital in an outpatient setting, we’re saving Medicare millions of dollars a year,” says Swank, who is the medical director of Cincinnati Orthopaedic Research Institute. It’s not just the pandemic that’s led to the change. Beacon’s treatment protocols, developed to ensure patients get the best outcomes, paved the

way. It starts before the surgery, with “prebilitation,” making sure patients are in good shape before the procedure. In the operating room, Swank’s muscle-sparing techniques—he doesn’t cut muscle—can help ease post-operative pain. As well, the use of spinals and lo-

“Patients need to walk 30 minutes a day and do simple stretches in order to take care of their joint and keep themselves out of my office,” says Swank. cal blocks instead of full anesthesia reduces nausea. Avoiding those complications eases a patient’s transition back home. But the work is not over. “Your joint is not the same as it used to be,” Swank cautions. “It requires maintenance just like your car requires maintenance. It’s not a passive process.” That’s where the app-based software program the multidisciplinary Beacon team uses comes into play. During the ﬁrst

six weeks post-surgery when patients are working on restoring range of motion, Beacon’s nurse navigators, anesthesiologist, and therapists use the app to communicate with their patients about their care, whether that’s seeing therapists, getting lab work done, logging daily steps, or seeing a primary care physician. Therapy visits are limited in this phase, but extended past the first six weeks to support patients as they work to rebuild strength. “We can track these patients using a multidisciplinary, real-time record of what’s happening,” says Swank. “We’ve added this tracking and monitoring system so we can broaden our outreach even though we’re seeing people less frequently.” Swank estimates that since COVID-19 started, he has performed between 500 and 600 outpatient joint surgeries, and he believes that some of the changes wrought by the virus are actually positive. “Many of my patients [who had the outpatient procedures] have come back and said, ‘Man, this is way better than I thought!’” says Swank. “It goes back to the idea that the goal is not to fix something but rather to get someone back to walking so they can maintain an independent lifestyle and experience overall health benefits.”

500 E Business Way Sharonville, OH 45241 www.beaconortho.com Dr Swank: (513) 530-3027 Schedule an appt: (513) 354-3700

LIVING IN CIN

This (Very) Old House THESE WALLS CAN’T TALK, SO I’M DOING IT FOR THEM.

I ANSWERED THE DOORBELL. “HI,” SAID THE WOMAN, “I WANT TO SHOW YOU A PICTURE I’ve had for a long time. I think it’s your house.” She handed me a faded picture postcard showing a home that almost matched the one where we stood, but the living room window was smaller. Not a deal-breaker; it may have been upgraded at some point. A much bigger difference, though, was the roof—it was almost gone. And every window was shattered. Rubble covered the entire front yard. The dwelling next door was barely there at all. Surrounding details in the photo conﬁrmed that this was deﬁnitely my house, having its worst day ever. It had been, the woman explained, one of the luckier victims of the Hyde Park tornado on March 11, 1917. She then produced a whole series of postcards with more 2 8 C I N C I N N AT I M A G A Z I N E . C O M J U N E 2 0 2 1

images of devastation; her grandparents had kept them. I was stunned, but also angry. This explained everything! Now I knew why this place was such a nonstop money pit—the damn house had PTSD! I’d only recently had to winch up the front porch to prevent its collapse. My damn house (I’ve never stopped calling it that) had been our ﬁrst mortgage. First home to our first-born, in 1976. Our years there as a young family were wonderful, but those endless repair bills? Don’t get me started. I was angry, yes, but at least I wasn’t Edwin Bevitt Stephens angry. He’d moved into my house way back in 1895, soon after it was built. Oh, this guy had some kind of anger. Maybe it was the stress from his job as Sunday School Superintendent at Mt. Lookout Methodist Church. I mean, SunPH OTO G R A PH BY D E V Y N G LI S TA

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LIVING IN CIN day School kids, right? I can’t assess Stephens’s breaking point, but I’m extremely grateful that he held it all in during the time he lived in my house. He waited until after he’d moved away to murder his wife and all ﬁve of his children, one by one as they slept. Thanks, Ed. THAT GRUESOME DETAIL IS BUT ONE OF several interesting facts I discovered after deciding to research the full history of my damn house and its occupants. Turns out that my family may be the least interesting people who ever lived there. Before we go any further, though, I want to emphasize that the house has, in the years since I lived there, become thoroughly undamned. Several rounds of Zillow photos show that its subsequent owners have addressed the issues I mostly shook my ﬁst at, while also making some impressive improvements. Should anyone in the future come upon this article while considering the home’s purchase, please be assured that all of its demons have moved on—some to the house where I live now. We’ll get back to the 1800s, but for now let’s jump to 1952, when my house was converted into a two-family. Years later this had consequences for me, because the upstairs and downstairs utilities were separated. Two gas furnaces and two water heaters were installed down in the medieval dungeon some might call a basement. When the house converted back to a single family just before we bought it, the utilities did not. We received two bills every month. Either one could cause a heart attack, thanks to the pair of Chryslers down in the dungeon. Yes, Chryslers. Maybe you didn’t know that Chrysler used to make furnaces. Each of ours was as big as a 1952 Imperial two-door and just as fuel-efficient. To be fair, the two furnaces turned out to be a blessing. January 17, 1977, was the coldest day in Cincinnati history (minus 24 degrees), and that was the day one of our Chrysler Imperials broke down. Luckily, we had a spare. We lived upstairs for two days until a repair crew showed up ($$$). While I’m being fair, I should mention another incident that repeated itself years later in a different house, so maybe it’s more common than I think. Have you ever sat calmly in your home as a family mem3 0 C I N C I N N AT I M A G A Z I N E . C O M J U N E 2 0 2 1

ber showered upstairs, and then suddenly watched water rain from the ceiling fixtures and dribble out of the electrical outlets? Is that a thing? Or is that just one possibility in the great raffle of homeowner disasters, like termites? (By the way, we had those.) The latter-day ceiling rain happened because a shower curtain had been left outside the tub and the floor flooded. But at my damn house there was no such error—a large drainpipe inside the kitchen ceiling had simply cracked open. When the plumber tore open the ceiling ($$$), a huge soggy blob fell out. Somebody had just crammed a large wad of absorbent material up there instead of replacing the pipe. Our first-mortgage naiveté meant we hadn’t looked at things closely enough, and shoddy workmanship became a running theme. We considered legal action against the house-flipper who’d prettied up the place and bolted, but decided against it. How satisfying it was many years later, then, when we saw that guy on the news being sentenced to four years in prison for real estate fraud. Yes! Dude should have just fixed our pipe, and maybe propped up the front porch. I haven’t even mentioned our miniature Sunlite Pool that formed in the basement during spring rains, when literal trajectories of water would spurt from the walls ($$$). OK, BACK TO THE 1800S, AS PROMISED. In 1897, after Edwin Bevitt Stephens left with his doomed family, the next occupant to call my house home was a local celebrity: John S. Highlands, freshly and honorably retired after 50 years as a Cincinnati teacher and principal. He moved into my house with the Perkins family—his daughter was the young missus—and so he probably used the smaller front bedroom. He was there, dressing for church in 1900, when he had a stroke and died a few hours later. That kind of inhome death at my house doesn’t bother me, especially considering the possible scenario of a shorter fuse on Mr. Stephens. A parade of occupants came and went after the Perkins family, suggesting that the place was rented for a while. But in 1906, my damn house got its first solid, we’restaying-put homeowners: the Andridges. All eight of them. They had moved from Tusculum Avenue, where teenaged daugh-

ter Mabel had recently suffered a stalker. He followed her to and from school, serenaded outside her window, attempted suicide after getting arrested, and swore that “ten thousand fathers cannot prevent me from marrying Mabel Andridge!” So, once again, the people occupying my house had their most newsworthy experiences while living somewhere else. Well, that’s true only if you rank a crazed stalker higher than a crazed tornado. Yes, the Andridges were the ones who got hit in 1917. Dad was injured, and the house took a beating. They lived there another six years; maybe I should blame them for not fixing things up enough. Or maybe I should blame the Ornes family, the next-longest curators of my future damn house. Starting around 1930, Conrad and Mildred, her mother, and three kids somehow went 20 years with absolutely no tornados, murders, or stalkers. They had plenty of time to address the porch (just sayin’). From here up until the chapter of me, my home’s biography gets blurry. Official records after 1950 are harder to come by. Newspapers also stopped including the home addresses of everyone in a local story. I couldn’t find much, therefore, about how my home dealt with the Cold War, Watergate, or Uncle Al. This entire project of mine, while rather pointless, is not unique. Many Cincinnatians want to know the history of their homes; local people charge fees for doing the digging. I’ve learned how to do most of it myself in my other identity at this magazine (Dr. Know), and it’s been fun. In yet another identity as a radio guy, I was delighted to discover that Cincinnati’s first radio religious broadcast (WLW in 1922) came from the church just a few doors from my damn house. A standard quip begins with If these walls could talk, but any handyman or rehabber knows that walls—and ceilings and floors—often shout when opened up. Even more conversations emerge from official documents, newspaper stories, etc. If you live, or once lived, in a musty old Cincinnati money pit, check out its history. It will be a comfort getting to know the other people who slept there, as long as they didn’t kill anybody.

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PERSON OF INTEREST BY LISA MURTHA

Moving Forward WITH FAITH, AND HIS WIFE STEPHANIE BY HIS SIDE, RYAN ATKINS BUILDS AND REBUILDS HIS LIFE.

RYAN ATKINS GRADUATED FROM UC IN 2015, GOT MARRIED ONE YEAR LATER, AND MOVED into his first home—a suburban bungalow just north of Cincinnati—shortly after that. When he published a book in 2020, “I felt like I could take a breath,” Atkins says. “But then it was like: OK—now what?” So he set his sights on a business career, and will soon sit for the Investment Advisory Representative exam; next, he’s planning to become a certified financial planner. None of these things seem like unusual achievements for a young man from suburban Cincinnati. At 20, in fact, Atkins—a lifelong Bearcats fan—had a full-ride scholarship to UC’s exclusive Carl H. Lindner Honors-PLUS business program, was planning to run for president of his fraternity, and was interning as an accountant. Running on the fast 3 2 C I N C I N N AT I M A G A Z I N E . C O M J U N E 2 0 2 1

track was Atkins’s modus operandi. But on November 19, 2009, the trajectory of his life changed in an instant, when he became paralyzed from the neck down after a devastating car accident. Atkins spent much of the following decade struggling to adapt to an existence so suddenly and painfully altered. He faced excruciating trials of the body and mind. But he also fell in love, and unexpectedly found new meaning and purpose in life. Throughout it all, he worked hard and prayed harder for miraculous healing. When that didn’t happen, he hit rock bottom and nearly gave up. But in a spiritual reckoning that shook him to his core, Ryan Atkins learned what mattered most. Now, at 32, his life seems once again to be starting over—a second chance at a clean slate, albeit from a very different point of view. Today, he studies diligently for his licensing exams and launches a new career while simultaneously navigating a world of home healthcare nurses, facing physical challenges with the aid of a high-tech wheelchair he manipulates with his breath. The one thing he’s not doing anymore? Putting things off. “Whether graduation or getting engaged to get married or my career—I always had this hesitation: I have to wait for my perfect scenario to come to fruition, then I can move forward,” says Atkins. True enlightenment came when he realized: “I need to take action now.” WHEN HE BEGAN USING VOICE SOFTware to write his memoir, One Step Closer, in 2012, Atkins was certain the story would end something like this: “I’ve ﬁgured out life at 23 years old; this is how I prayed and got a miracle and life’s perfect.” Along the way, he learned that’s not how it works. For nearly a decade after the accident, in fact, Atkins struggled to understand who he was and what his place in this world should be after losing the physical ability and vitality that once deﬁned him. He tried heading back to school just months after the accident only to realize he didn’t have the strength or stamina he needed to thrive in the classroom. He wrestled with the stigma of not only having to move back home with his parents, but of needing their help with even the most basic tasks, like eating and getting dressed. He PHOTOGRAPH BY JEREMY KRAMER

PERSON OF INTEREST watched, heartbroken, as his friends traveled, got internships, graduated, and got jobs—all things he’d planned, too, before the accident. “There have been many days I want to escape,” he writes in One Step Closer. “I want to shake my ﬁst at God.” But after years of frustration and prayer, he also began to understand something else. “What if instead of merely looking for a way out,” he writes, “we allowed trials and frustration to teach us we are not in control?” This profound realization changed Atkins’s life in meaningful ways. “The more I began to venture out in public,” he writes, “the more I realized my wheelchair was a blatant symbol to others that affirmed ‘You’re not alone. My life hasn’t gone as planned, either.’ I began to notice people were much quicker to open up to me. My glaring affliction gave even strangers the courage to share struggles and heartaches, disappointments and fears.” He began blogging about his experiences and speaking at retreats and other

events. He started mentoring a group of boys from his alma mater, Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy, through weekly sports-and-bible study sessions. In 2015, he earned his undergraduate degree from UC. Along the way, he reconnected with Stephanie Perry, a former classmate from second grade whom he hadn’t seen for 13 years. Strangely enough, she, too, had gone to UC, but had left after freshman year. She was attending massage therapy school, in fact, when she’d heard about Atkins’s accident. She quickly reconnected with him, offering him massages to help alleviate the pain and tension that accompanied uncontrollable muscle spasms he’d been having. The therapy helped, and the pair eventually became friends, hanging out on weekends with others and even taking a class together. When Stephanie told Atkins she was interested in dating him, he was caught completely off guard, awkward and ﬂus-

tered; eventually, though, he asked her out. After dating for roughly two years, the pair married on the weekend of the seventh anniversary of the accident—November 19, 2016 (a way of trying to “redeem that challenging season,” says Atkins). Initially, he’d thought of Stephanie as “a silver lining to this season of life.” Later, he’d realize she was pure gold. EVEN AS HE FOUND LOVE AND NEW PURpose, Atkins spent much of the past decade resolved to conquer his paralysis. He was determined that he would eventually live and move independently. When that didn’t happen—despite signs that it might—his hope plummeted and he began experiencing a gradual, negative transformation of his body and soul. Before long “I was spiraling,” he says, in “a very dark place and just dealing with frustration [and] depression, thinking: I really thought my life was going differently than this.” In 2019, Atkins ended up in the hos-

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pital—seizing on and off, barely able to speak and largely unconscious—for nearly a month. He was suffering from mysterious physical ailments for which doctors could ﬁnd no cause, and becoming more hostile and despondent by the day. He ﬂoated in and out of consciousness and often emerged paranoid, speaking in a strange tone of voice. He insisted Stephanie didn’t love him and shouted that he was a failure and his life had no purpose, yelling at one point: “I should have just died in the accident.” Finally, Stephanie took matters into her own hands and began praying fervently by his bedside and enlisting friends to do the same. His response was both terrifying and promising. “One moment,” he wrote, “I would express feelings of self-loathing and remorse, in the same strangled voice as earlier”; the next, he’d be quoting inspirational Bible passages. Eventually, though, over the course of that long, dark night, Atkins

emerged from a conﬂicted state unquestionably transformed, with Stephanie by his side. One day later, he was able to swallow solid food for the first time in weeks. Shortly after that, he was discharged to go home. In fact, he writes, “this miraculous healing allowed for a sense of freedom I had not experienced in years.” He began sleeping better, his voice returned to normal and he grew more energetic and animated. “I began to feel a sense of peace about my situation unlike anything I had experienced previously.” TO THIS DAY, NO ONE IS EXACTLY SURE what happened to him during that time in the hospital. After reading Man’s Search for Meaning, though, by late psychiatrist and Holocaust survivor Victor Frankl, Atkins realized “experiencing a drastic loss of hope can lead to a diminishing will to live. From here,” writes Atkins, “our bodies will simply follow suit.”

Now, he and Stephanie focus, no matter what, on living life fully in the here and now, and ﬁnding meaning in everyday life, challenges and all. Their one true choice (and ours), he notes, “is to decide how we will respond to the situation.” What gave him the will to keep going during that dark time in the hospital? Stephanie’s intervention for sure, but also a vision he’d had at that same uncertain moment, of what his life would have been like without the accident—“prestigious job title, overﬂowing bank account, palatial house, promotions, awards, travel, golf, leisure” and all. “For a moment,” he wrote, “it seemed like heaven on earth. But suddenly I noticed something else. Other aspects of my life were missing,” he says—most importantly his rock-solid, newfound faith and Stephanie, “the person I loved more than anything in the world.” In one very profound glimpse, he saw, as his book’s subtitle notes, Everything I Almost Missed.

CONTINUE YOUR LIFE S TORY

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WE UPDATE THE CLASSIC CINCINNATI STORY OF YOUNG PEOPLE MOVING AWAY AND THEN RETURNING LATER IN LIFE. Was the grass greener somewhere else? Why did they come home? Why do they stay? PHOTOGRAPH BY LANCE ADKINS

Cincinnati as the Good (Enough)

“WE NEED A STORY ABOUT CLEVELAND,” MY EDITOR AT A Hollywood-based magazine told me by phone in 2016. I was from there, right? “I’m from Cincinnati,” I said. “I’ve never even been to Cleveland.” I could almost hear her waving her hand. “Same thing, whatever. Can you file next week?” In Los Angeles, my home from 1994 to 2014, I brushed off such ignorance about the Midwest. The dinner-party dismissal of “flyover country.” The characterizations of gun-toting Bible thumpers. I love Cincinnati, I would tell people. Admittedly, one of the reasons is because I left right after college. Absence made my heart grow nostalgic for our skyline and our Skyline. It was easy to appreciate Cincinnati from my succession of apartments in New York, Paris, and London. In my jet-set years, I wore my down-home origins as an exotic feather, prompting quizzical looks when I dropped expressions like “pop” or “pony keg.” The differences between the locations could be stark: In L.A., I sometimes had trouble finding designer boutiques carrying nonactress sizes. Back here, a store clerk described my 10-medium frame as “scrawny.” No longer my home but forever my hometown, Cincin-

nati was where one day in the far future I would (maybe) ease into my sunset years. But then in 2014, before gray hair set in, Cincinnati offered me something unexpected: excitement. I had come to buy a modest rental property as an investment. It was something I could never afford in L.A., and it would ensure I’d return often for family visits. The house needed work, so I stuck around for the summer, sleeping on a borrowed futon and ferrying paint to the contractors. OTR blew my mind. Northside felt like hipster camp. Hometown hero Jim Obergefell was becoming the face of marriage equality. Cincinnati seemed, I don’t know, cool? One night I stayed out dancing so late with a friend—at the kind of dive that’s been gentriﬁed out of so many coastal cities—that I crashed on his couch. I hadn’t done that in years. The city rejuvenated me; the impromptu nights out and slower-paced days, with less clock-watching, made me feel younger. It was like being in love. I REMEMBER THE MOMENT I DECIDED TO COMMIT. A COL lege friend invited me to a concert. I had expected warmed-over rock but was bewitched by virtuoso Middle Eastern music. I had never been to such a show. “Lots of people from the poly community here,” my friend mused

I L LU S T R AT I O N BY S O P H I E M E L I S S A

Place

and a Realtor, Reiber earned enough to live large in L.A., buying a house in the coveted West Hollywood neighborhood.“Los Angeles was my home,” he says.“Cincinnati was just where my parents lived.” But the Queen City started to loosen up as Tinseltown was tightening. “As I got older, I wanted a change,” says Reiber. “The traffic started to drive me crazy. Cincinnati offered the opportunity to work less, travel more, and have a better quality of life without so much stress.” From his new home in Walnut Hills, he divides his time between working remotely, globetrotting, and volunteering. Kok and Reiber are the new breed of urbanites ushering worldly sophistication into Cincinnati’s core neighborhoods. That tide, in turn, draws in like-minded people. The area’s cost-of-living advantage is, as the kids say, redonk. In addition, the pandemic has shone new, positive light on secondtier cities where people, who are increasingly working from wherever, can inhabit larger living spaces in greener settings. Cincinnati’s population is stable, perhaps even growing, as more denizens seek work/life balance and start families here. Of course, Cincinnati isn’t the only affordable hamlet in the country. There are myriad other reasons people are choosing it over, say, Nashville or Philadelphia. The appeal is not just tangible goodies like affordable symphony tickets, insanely lush parks, and our darling Fiona. It’s the cumulative je ne sais quoi, where geography meets ethnicity—a soft Southern-adjacent body with a sturdy Teutonic backbone.

SEEKING CONNECTEDNESS, BEAUTIFUL SURROUNDINGS, AND KIND PEOPLE, I MADE MY HOMETOWN HOME AGAIN. By Laurie Pike

as we settled into the intimate venue. I cocked my head like a perplexed puppy. “Polyamorous,” she explained. “People who engage in shared open relationships.” That, too, was new to me. As I pondered the concept, two men approached our table and started to chat us up. Unlike the hippie-ish, middle-aged poly posse, they were clean-cut and young, maybe still teenagers. Holy Porkopolis, I realized. They’re Amish on Rumspringa! That was that. I was moving back to Cincinnati. The city was deﬁnitely stimulating and weird enough for me. To the surprise of my colleagues and friends, I ﬂew back to L.A., packed up my old Volvo, and drove across the country. I’m not the only one who unexpectedly ricocheted. “There’s more to do in Cincinnati now than there was when I left it,” says James Kok, a 41-year-old management executive who moved to Manhattan in 2001. He returned in 2015 after a telecommuting job opened the possibility of being on hand to help his parents run the Blue Gibbon restaurant in Paddock Hills. “Findlay Market reminds me a bit of New York,” he says. “And when I saw that a place downtown had hung lanterns for a Chinese New Year, I thought, Things have changed.” As an Asian American, he was abundantly aware of being a minority in Cincinnati. Less so in New York, of course, and he brought a newfound self-assurance back home with him. “My three nephews here in Cincinnati are not teased for being Chinese the way I was in grade school,” he says. “I was called Fortune Cookie. They get love notes!” Unlike Kok, another recent boomerang, Tom Reiber, 53, says he Cincinnati offered could not have returned during the me something ascending years of his career.“I was unexpected on my ashamed to be from Cincinnati,” visit home: excitehe says, citing the Robert Mapment. So I packed plethorpe art show controversy up my old Volvo of 1990 and other things that in L.A. and drove underscored the city’s puritanical reputation. As a lawyer back here to live.

“CINCINNATI HAS GREAT ENERGY,” SAYS ABBY ALLEN, WHO runs the brand strategy and marketing agency Neon Butterfly. “Spiritual energy,” she adds, referencing Serpent Mound. A self-described “New Yorker through and through” with an Ivy League degree, Allen would parachute in from the coasts for meetings with Procter & Gamble. Her colleagues would deride the destination as a backwater. “I remember wondering, Why is Cincinnati the butt of all these jokes?” she says. Though the city felt “foreign” to her on business trips, she sensed something different in Cincinnati when she looked through the lens of possible residency—the respite she’d been seeking from the rat race and the opportunity to make a bigger impact in local and even national politics. (“As Ohio goes, so goes the nation.”) She worked on Kate Schroder’s campaign for Congress last year, while her fiancé, Ethan Perry, became president of the North Avondale Neighborhood Association. Perry, a Southern California native who works in tech, was visually seduced by Cincinnati. “The juxtaposition of the old architecture with public art, like the murals, plus all the revitalization were signs that good things were happening.” Cincinnatians he met were almost suspiciously enthusiastic about the city. “There’s a stereotypical Midwest politeness that I was not used to.” Allen and Perry are not without their reservations about Cincinnati, and neither am I. We all find it hard to make friends. Social circles seem less fluid here. The slower pace can be frustrating; Allen was pulled over by a cop after honking at a motorist camped at a green light. Much more seriously, everyday racist remarks and microaggressions are C O N T I N U E D O N P A G E 4 0 39

horrifying and embarrassing. (Allen is mixed race, as are some members of my family.) She’s perplexed by the number of people she meets “who have no desire to experience anything beyond what they already know.” As for Perry, he feels that nostalgia for the past is keeping the city needlessly stuck there. I have to admit guilt on his last point. I don’t like to see buildings razed, even when they’re beyond saving. I panicked when Hathaway’s Diner in the Pogue’s Arcade—I literally don’t know what that space is called now—was in peril of closing. I’ve gotten indignant when a store clerk doesn’t ask me, sincerely, how I’m doing. Though Cincinnati needs to get a move-on in many areas, it isn’t trapped in amber. In the quarter-century I was gone, it modernized and plugged in more directly to the rest of the world. Concurrently, I myself was growing dizzy with too many options in a megalopolis. As another big-city transplant to the Queen City puts it, “Do I need 4,000 restaurants to choose from?” My daily geographic imprint in Cincinnati is, in fact, larger than it was in L.A. or New York. I am not forced, for the sake of time and sanity, to patronize only businesses within a ﬁve-mile radius of my home, neurotically checking traffic status before any outing. I buy plants in White Oak and tires in Bridgetown, drop dry cleaning in Dillonvale, and ransack thrift shops in Bellevue, Crescent Springs, and Florence. Beyond convenience, though, my change in patterns and my move back to Cincinnati overall stem from a shift in what’s meaningful to me: family, a feeling of connectedness, and beautiful surroundings inhabited by kind people. I am among the many folks contemplating what is “authentic” in our lives and mulling choices à la Marie Kondo: How much of everything do I really need? Not for a minute in my seven years back have I regretted the decision to return. Like Kristen Bell’s character says in the pilot episode of the TV series The Good Place, “I should get to spend eternity in a medium place! Like Cincinnati.”

NAME:

Susannah Tisue

AGE: 37 WHO IS SHE: Artist and founder of SKT Ceramics AT WHAT AGE DID YOU LEAVE CINCINNATI, AND WHEN DID YOU RETURN? I grew up in

in Queen City Clay in Hyde Park until we were ready to move into our new space on Gilbert Avenue in Walnut Hills.

Prospect Hill and graduated from Walnut Hills High School in 2002. I decided to apply to New York University because New York is such an art center. I took my ﬁrst ceramics class, and that got me a residency at Greenwich House Pottery in the West Village. I returned in 2016.

HOW IS CINCINNATI THE SAME AS BEFORE? Generally, it’s a friendly Midwestern city. A big little city. We live two blocks from where I grew up.

WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE NEW DISCOVERY SINCE RETURNING? I would have to say

WHY DID YOU RETURN? For years we rented a studio in Brooklyn. My husband [woodworker Michael Miritello] rented on the same block, and our son’s daycare was around the corner. But when the building was sold to be developed as a condo, we started looking at property in Cincinnati. The main draw was affordability, to be able to purchase a building.

Findlay Market. I never thought of it as a place where we could do business until we set up one Saturday and realized what a great community it was to be part of.

WHAT KEEPS YOU HERE NOW? The space we’re in now, a theater building from 1910, is a place we wouldn’t have been able to own in New York. Being close to my family has been a bonus, and using my dad’s expertise [her father is building rehabber Ron Tisue] has made owning this building possible. —As Told to Linda Vaccariello

WERE YOU EXCITED TO RETURN, OR HESITANT? A LITTLE OF BOTH? I think we were excited. But the move itself was very exhausting; I think it took me a year to recover. We rented temporarily

PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY SUSANNAH TISUE

NAME:

Drew and Lea Lachey

AGE: Both are 44 WHO ARE THEY: Drew was famously a member of 98 Degrees with his brother Nick and continues to perform; Lea is a choreographer, director, and teacher.

AT WHAT AGE DID YOU LEAVE CINCINNATI, AND WHEN DID YOU RETURN? Drew: I left almost immediately after graduating from the School for Creative and Performing Arts (SCPA) in 1994. I was 17. I returned in December 2009. Lea: I left in 1994 at age 18 to go to Marymount Manhattan College in New York City and came back in 2009.

WHY DID YOU RETURN? Drew: We wanted to give our kids the same kind of Midwestern childhoods we had, close to family and friends. Lea: We wanted both of our children to be around their grandparents regularly. But also we missed Skyline Chili and Graeter’s! WERE YOU EXCITED TO RETURN, OR HESITANT? A LITTLE OF BOTH?

Drew: Both. We were excited for the idea of a new chapter but hesitant because we’d been away so long, and the industry we work in is very focused on Los Angeles and New York City. Lea: We’d been gone for all of our adult lives, so moving back was a big change, but it turned out to be the best decision we ever made. We are ﬁlled with so much love and community here.

HOW HAS CINCINNATI CHANGED SINCE YOU FIRST LEFT? Drew: There were deﬁnitely changes while we were gone, and there have been many since we returned, Over-the-Rhine being the biggest change. Lea: I love all of the new restaurants and new places to see in OTR, all of the new murals all over the city, and of course BLINK. HOW IS IT THE SAME AS BEFORE? Drew: Cincinnati still has the “big small town/small big town” sensibility to it. People are still more interested in where you went to high school than almost anything else. Lea: My favorite is still the east side vs. west side battle! That will never go away.

WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE NEW DISCOVERY SINCE RETURNING? Drew: After we came back we launched Lachey Arts, our performing arts nonprofit, which quickly became our passion. So the new thing I discovered is my love and passion for teaching young artists. Also FC Cincinnati. Lea: I definitely realized my true passion for teaching after returning. I love working with Cincinnati youth. WHAT KEEPS YOU HERE NOW? Drew: How many cities the size of Cincinnati have a thriving arts community; pro baseball, football, and soccer teams; feature films being shot; fantastic restaurants; good schools; affordable cost of living; and goetta? Lea: The life we’ve created for our family. We’re fortunate to live in a place that affords us the benefits of a small town but the opportunities of a big city. —As Told to Elizabeth Miller Wood

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NAME:

Vanessa Miller

AGE: 32 WHO IS SHE: Executive Chef, Metropole at 21c Museum Hotel AT WHAT AGE DID YOU LEAVE CINCINNATI, AND WHEN DID YOU RETURN? I left to go to college at Tufts University in Boston, where I studied economics and political science. I fell in love with cooking while in Boston, and I became a chef at restaurants in Cape Cod and New York City. I returned in August 2020 to work at Metropole.

WHY DID YOU RETURN? I was working as director of culinary operations for an Australian company based in NYC when the pandemic hit, and things got really hard and scary there, so I started to think about the longevity of my career in New York. I was standing on a street corner in SoHo one day and just thought What if I went home? On a whim, I looked at a job posting website for chefs and 21c was seeking an executive chef in Cincinnati. WERE YOU EXCITED TO RETURN, OR HESITANT? A LITTLE OF BOTH? My family still lives here, and as I’ve gotten older I’ve relished the opportunity to see them more often. But what made it an easy choice was the big boom in Cincinnati’s restaurant scene over the last 10 to 15 years. I’d been really lucky to kind of have a bird’s-eye view when I visited, so I know that this is a city where I can push my culinary career forward instead of feeling like it’s going to be stagnant.

WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE NEW DISCOVERY SINCE RETURNING? It’s difficult to say since I returned during the pandemic, but I can’t wait to go to a Reds game again. I’m just so excited to just be in a stadium again when the time is right. That feels very nostalgic to me, like I’m very much at home.

WHAT KEEPS YOU HERE NOW? I see lot of potential for myself here, both within the restaurant scene and personally. I’m looking to buy a house and be here for the foreseeable future. —As Told to Kaileigh Peyton

Gary Griffin

AGE: 69 WHO IS HE: Worked 41 years in California as keyboardist with Jan & Dean and The Beach Boys. He’s still in the Brian Wilson Band, which is planning a 2022 European tour. AT WHAT AGE DID YOU LEAVE CINCINNATI, AND WHEN DID YOU RETURN? I left in 1977 just before turning 26, and we came back on June 1, 2019.

WHY DID YOU RETURN? First, the nature of the business now is you can work remotely with people, so I didn’t have to be in California anymore. Second, living in L.A. got really tedious with the traffic and all the people. Then there’s family here, and my wife has two kids in this half of country. Maybe I’m retired? I don’t know. WERE YOU EXCITED TO RETURN, OR HESITANT? A LITTLE OF BOTH? We’d come back here almost every year to visit family and always loved it. My wife is actually from South Carolina, but she loved coming here. But I’d lived in my L.A. house for 41 years and there was so much stuff to go through. It was overwhelming.

HOW IS CINCINNATI THE SAME AS BEFORE? It seems to me like it’s a lot more the same as different. People are still friendly. It’s easier to live here. And, of course, it’s still about the chili, isn’t it?

WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE NEW DISCOVERY SINCE RETURNING? One thing that stands out is a concert we went to in Memorial Hall. What a beautiful place, and the sound was wonderful.

WHAT KEEPS YOU HERE NOW? Now that I’ve been vaccinated, I plan to go to several Reds games and get back to playing tennis and softball. I really love being back, but there’s an asterisk there that says I really don’t know how much I like being back yet. We haven’t been able to fully experience the city during the pandemic. —As Told to John Stowell

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NAME:

Tina Gutierrez

AGE: 55 WHO IS SHE: Photographer, musician, creator of the COVID-19 Wearable Art Response Project. AT WHAT AGE DID YOU LEAVE CINCINNATI, AND WHEN DID YOU RETURN? I left for college at 18 and returned four years later, in 1987.

WHY DID YOU RETURN? I studied classical guitar in college, and Cincinnati was a great place to return to as a guitar player. I was so inﬂuenced by Clare Callahan, guitar professor (emerita) at CCM. Seeing a woman guitar professor in what is and/or was a traditionally male instrument was really important to me.

WERE YOU EXCITED TO RETURN, OR HESITANT? A LITTLE OF BOTH? Deﬁnitely both. Most of my earlier friends had moved away, so I was starting everything from scratch.

HOW HAS CINCINNATI CHANGED SINCE YOU LEFT?

I’ve been back a while, but I love the arts renaissance we’re still in. I feel lucky to live in a progressive neighborhood, Northside, where you don’t have to conform and which, in fact, nurtures independence.

NAME:

WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE NEW DISCOVERY SINCE RETURNING? The FotoFocus

Keith Pandolﬁ

AGE: 51 WHO IS HE: Food and dining writer for The Cincinnati Enquirer

biennial has been such an important part of my life. It’s helped me form strong friendships and ﬁnd my artistic voice.

AT WHAT AGE DID YOU LEAVE CINCINNATI, AND WHEN DID YOU RETURN? I left initially in 1998 for New Orleans when I was 28, and I came back for a year to take a job in Dayton in 2000. I went back to New Orleans in 2001, then moved to New York in 2003, and returned here in 2019.

WHAT KEEPS YOU HERE NOW?

WHY DID YOU RETURN? I always planned on returning, I just didn’t think it would take so long. As much as I loved New Orleans and New York, they always seemed temporary to me. By the time I moved back here, I was a freelance writer, so I could work anywhere, and my wife Amy was working for Scripps, which is headquartered here. So that gave us the option of moving back. It was kind of perfect timing because we’d just had a daughter.

I met my husband, Larry, who is an instrument builder and photography enthusiast, and we’ve formed strong friendships within the local music and FotoFocus communities. —As Told to Damian Dotterweich

WERE YOU EXCITED TO RETURN, OR HESITANT? A LITTLE OF BOTH? I wanted to get on with my life, and I always knew I’d come back here. I was worried that, like many people who leave New York, I’d end up having regrets. But I think I would have lost my mind if I’d been in New York during COVID.

HOW HAS CINCINNATI CHANGED SINCE YOU LEFT? I could easily pretend that it’s exactly the same, since most of the places I loved are still here and most of the friends I love are still here. In other ways, of course, there’s Over-the-Rhine, which as a food writer I can’t ignore. That’s a major change. I love the chefs and talent in OTR, the vibrancy it has now. But I also want to focus on places like Tucker’s, where you see families that have been living in OTR for 50 years or more. I feel like we need to always keep that in mind. P H O T O G R A P H S C O U R T E S Y: ( T O P ) K E I T H P A N D O L F I / ( B O T T O M ) T I N A G U T I E R R E Z

HOW IS IT THE SAME AS BEFORE? My mission during my ﬁrst six months at The

Enquirer was just to remind people that there are a lot of restaurants that are still going despite everything that’s been happening, places like the Blind Lemon or Highland Coffee House or Arnold’s that have been there forever. I don’t want those places to ever be overlooked because they’re what give the city its personality.

WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE NEW DISCOVERY SINCE RETURNING? The west side. I grew up on the east side and never explored over there, which is where you’re going to ﬁnd all the old bakeries and butcher shops and these great restaurants like Sebastian’s, Maury’s Tiny Cove, and Trotta’s Pizza.It’s like a whole new city over there to me, even though it’s probably the most Cincinnati part of Cincinnati.

WHAT KEEPS YOU HERE NOW? I’ve left home several times, and I really don’t want to do it again. I love our east Hyde Park neighborhood where we bought our ﬁrst house. I’ve never experienced home ownership before. I love having a garage. —As Told to Cedric Rose

NAME:

Molly Wellmann

AGE: 48 WHO IS SHE: Owner of Japp’s OTR, well-known mixology expert

AT WHAT AGE DID YOU LEAVE CINCINNATI, AND WHEN DID YOU RETURN? It was in the 1990s, and I was in my twenties. My best friend was going to school out west, and while I was visiting her one of her roommates moved out and my friend said, You should move in. I thought I’d be there for six months. I came back in 2008.

WHY DID YOU RETURN? My family was changing, and I was getting nieces and nephews. I was a cocktail waitress in San Francisco at the time, and I was like, OK, it’s time to go. I’m getting too old for this, and these club people are driving me crazy.

ERIC AVNER GETS STUFF DONE Eric Avner didn’t plan on staying in Cincinnati for long when he moved here in 1996 to manage Newport’s Main Street Program. “I thought it was just going to be a stop,” he says. “But then I realized you can actually get stuff done here. I’ve been lucky to be in positions where I’m able to do that at an increasingly growing scale.” Avner has had a profound impact as vice president of the Carol Ann and Ralph V. Haile Jr. Foundation, through which he launched People’s Liberty in 2014 to award grants to individuals with big ideas. Cincinnati has become his home, and people who choose to live here, he says, “bring an enthusiasm we’ve really just started to appreciate.”

CRISTIAN PIETOSO CHASES A DREAM Cristian Pietoso’s father emigrated from Italy to the U.S. 35 years ago and opened restaurants, ﬁrst in St. Louis and then his namesake Nicola’s here in 1996. With his help, Pietoso secured a green card to move to Cincinnati in 2004, and over the next ﬁve years they worked together. Pietoso dreamed of a restaurant of his own, eventually opening Via Vite and Forno Osteria + Bar. “The beauty of Cincinnati is that people who come from outside can make a greater impact because it’s a smaller place,” he says. “Landing somewhere you know they can embrace you is a win-win for the newcomer and for the community.”

SHARMILI REDDY EMBRACES A SAFE HAVEN Sharmili Reddy was working at an architecture ﬁrm in India when colleagues told her about the DAAP master’s program in community planning at the University of Cincinnati. She came in 2000, and after graduating and working in other cities, she returned to settle in Ft. Mitchell with her husband; it’s where their son was born. Reddy has dedicated her career to ensuring Northern Kentucky is a welcoming, safe, and supportive haven for others, including her current role as executive director of Kenton County planning and development services. “I feel like I live in an inclusive community,” she says, “and I want everybody who moves here to feel the same.” 44

WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE NEW DISCOVERY SINCE RETURNING? I’ve been digging into the history of drinking in Cincinnati from the very beginning to Prohibition and trying to put a book together, but it’s taking forever because we drank a freaking lot back in the day.

WHAT KEEPS YOU HERE NOW? I want somebody to read about me and tell my story 100 years from now. I want to make some history here in Cincinnati. —As Told to Katie Coburn

P H O T O G R A P H S : ( L E F T ) B Y D E V Y N G L I S T A / ( B O T T O M ) C O U R T E S Y M O L LY W E L L M A N

THE VALUE OF NEWCOMERS

When nonnatives embrace Cincinnati as their home, we’re all better for it. —Katie Coburn

HOW HAS CINCINNATI CHANGED SINCE YOU LEFT? I used to live on 14th Street and Central Parkway, and I would walk to work through Washington Park and Vine Street down to Eighth and Main. I remember I always had to make sure I was home by dark, because, you know, a blonde-haired, blue-eyed white girl walking through Over-theRhine in the ’90s was not the safest thing in the world. It just wasn’t. I was working at Neons in 2009, the same year it opened, and then I partnered with the owners to open Japp’s in 2010, and being part of the growth of Over-the-Rhine has been the coolest thing ever.

NAME:

Ashley and Austin Heidt

AGE: 36, 33 WHO ARE THEY: Owners of Dear Restaurant & Butchery in Hyde Park

AT WHAT AGE DID YOU LEAVE CINCINNATI, AND WHEN DID YOU RETURN? Ashley: We were both born and raised here, and I went to UC and got my ﬁrst job at American Financial Group. I met Austin and took on this restaurant venture with him. Austin: I went to Denver University for hotel restaurant management, then graduate school in New York and California. I went to Boulder, Colorado, to work at Frasca Food and Wine, one of the better neighborhood restaurants in the country. I moved back in 2017.

WHY DID YOU RETURN? Austin: I was in San Francisco at the time, considering opening up a restaurant, but it just didn’t feel like the right place to do it. I wanted to go somewhere where I could do something that wasn’t exactly being done yet. Thinking about home and Ashley made that decision very easy. WERE YOU EXCITED TO RETURN, OR HESITANT? A LITTLE OF BOTH? Austin: I really fell in love with Cincinnati in a way that was totally different than what I appreciated during childhood. At the same time, it linked to what I loved about growing up here and coming to Hyde Park Square and going to the classics like Graeter’s and the restaurants I grew up with.

NAME:

Gregory Kornbluh

WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE NEW DISCOVERY SINCE RETURNING? Austin: I’ve been hiking a lot and have

P H OTO G R A P H S : ( TO P ) BY O U S S M A N E FA L L , N O I R M E D I A / ( B OT TO M ) C O U R T E SY AU S T I N & A S H L E Y H E I DT

AGE: 41 WHO IS HE: Owner of Downbound Books in Northside AT WHAT AGE DID YOU LEAVE CINCINNATI, AND WHEN DID YOU RETURN? I was gone for a couple of years after high school, back at 20, then left again in 2005. I came back in late 2018.

WHY DID YOU RETURN? Things took a turn toward rotten at the publishing house where I’d spent a decade, so I decided to leave the company. This was in the Boston/Cambridge area, where I’d been since 2006. I headed home to Cincinnati without a solid plan; I ﬁgured I’d spend some time here while ﬁguring out what to do next. Opening a bookstore

was something I’d thought about for quite a while, but I had some fairly strong ideas about what I wanted it to be: small space, politically committed, community-minded, focused strongly on books and not much else. That isn’t something every town can support.

WERE YOU EXCITED TO RETURN, OR HESITANT? A LITTLE OF BOTH? Both, deﬁnitely. The excitement was about people; I have a bunch of great friends here, many of them boomerangs themselves. The hesitance may well have applied to any place outside of Cambridge.

I lived and worked and played in some pretty speciﬁc bubbles, and I just wasn’t sure which ones I’d miss and which I was ready to pop.

HOW HAS CINCINNATI CHANGED SINCE YOU LEFT? There are lizards everywhere now! Those little dudes weren’t here before. There’s been plenty of change, I’m sure—some of it the sort of cyclical cooling and uncooling of different neighborhoods, some of it probably more widespread and durable.

WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE NEW DISCOVERY SINCE RETURNING? There’s a palpable

that’s really energizing and inspiring. People just make stuff happen, you know? Thanks largely to social media, even for all its ﬂaws, you can tap into it even if you’re an introvert who’s far more inclined to be home with a book than out at an art gallery opening.

WHAT KEEPS YOU HERE NOW? Grass is green, houses handsome, the hills still roll, and I’m trying to see what we can build with this little bookshop. —As Told to Akshay Ahuja

creative energy here 45

discovered natural places out toward Eastgate. There is a big preserve around Milford and Indian Hill and a lot of horse trails that are just gorgeous, creeks and rivers, lots of waterfalls, and the Little Miami.

WHAT KEEPS YOU HERE NOW? Ashley: Deﬁnitely family. I’m pregnant, actually! We are here for good and plan to travel a lot. And Dear is now our family. —As Told to Kaileigh Peyton

Jacob Lutz

AGE: 30 WHO IS HE: Medical student at the UK College of Medicine’s Northern Kentucky campus

AT WHAT AGE DID YOU LEAVE CINCINNATI, AND WHEN DID YOU RETURN? After graduating from Xavier University in 2013, I moved to Los Angeles and worked at United Talent Agency and Village Roadshow

Pictures in Beverly Hills to pursue a career as a movie producer and screenwriter. I moved back to Cincinnati in December 2014.

enough connections here that people would be helpful.

HOW IS CINCINNATI THE SAME AS BEFORE? We still haven’t won the World Series, and the Bengals haven’t won the Super Bowl. And, boy, you still get the same chili at Camp Washington Chili and Chili Time in St. Bernard.

NAME:

Lauren Worley

WHAT KEEPS YOU HERE NOW? I take comfort in

AGE: 42

the fact that Cincinnati will always be here for me if or when I return. And, hopefully when I do come back, construction on I-75 will be complete. —As Told to Steven Rosen

AT WHAT AGE DID YOU LEAVE CINCINNATI, AND WHEN DID YOU RETURN? I grew up

WHO IS SHE: Global Newsroom Leader at P&G

in Adams County and went to college at Kent State in 1997. I later lived in Washington, D.C., working for NASA in communications. I came back in 2017.

WHY DID YOU RETURN? I decided I wanted a more 46

WHY DID YOU RETURN? A wise person said to me, If you ﬁnd your people, you’ll ﬁnd your purpose. That hit me right square in the face, because I was like, I think my people are at home. I didn’t come back with a job, but I felt like I had

WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE NEW DISCOVERY SINCE RETURNING? One of the hidden gems that I had no idea about was King Records. I like to say Cincinnati is the most sampled city, whether you eat our chili once or a bunch of times or you’ve ever heard the Isley Brothers sampled in songs. Whether people outside realize it or not, we are on the map. —As Told to Kaileigh Peyton

PHOTOGRAPHS: (TOP) BY OUSSMANE FLAL (NOIR MEDIA) / (LEFT) COURTESY JACOB LUTZ / (RIGHT) COURTESY LAUREN WORLEY

NAME:

fulﬁlling career as a physician. I returned home to Cincinnati to take my prerequisites in order to apply to medical school. Another reason for my return home was my family; my parents, older brother, and two younger sisters are all major inﬂuences in my life. I also discovered I didn’t need to be in L.A. to become a screenwriter.

NAME:

Gabe Davis

AGE: 36 WHO IS HE: Executive Director, City of Cincinnati Citizen Complaint Authority AT WHAT AGE DID YOU LEAVE CINCINNATI, AND WHEN DID YOU RETURN? I went off to college

HOW IS IT THE SAME AS BEFORE? It feels like we have a lot of the same racial segrega-

to Yale in 2003, at age 18. I came back for a year and worked for the AmeriCorps Public Allies program and left again for law school in 2008. I worked at the Manhattan DA’s office right out of law school, then moved to Washington, D.C. to work as a federal prosecutor for the civil rights division. I moved back in June 2018.

tion that existed here when I was a kid, and some of the same divisions and tensions that exist in our society still exist in our neighborhoods. We’re still ﬁghting some of those old battles and haven’t quite gotten it right. But the city made commitments to working on those problems since 2001, and the fact that there was space for making progress made me feel like I could come here to make a difference.

WHY DID YOU RETURN? Primarily, our daughter was a few months old at that time and my wife and I wanted to be closer to family, in a place we thought of as home. My wife went to Xavier, and we met through Public Allies, so we both considered this place home, and she has family in Columbus. We wanted to be able to buy a house and have a neighborhood we could raise our daughter in that was safe but also had a lot of neighborhood pride, and Cincinnati has a lot of those, which isn’t the case in other parts of the country.

WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE NEW DISCOVERY SINCE RETURNING? It’s awesome that we have Smale and Washington parks and green spaces that are inviting and facilitate communal space sharing, where we can bring our daughter and have a picnic or kick a soccer ball and see a cross section of the city. We have an amazing worldclass zoo that’s usually not too crowded, and traffic isn’t as prohibitive as the east coast.

WERE YOU EXCITED TO RETURN, OR HESITANT? A LITTLE OF BOTH? We liked living in D.C.,

WHAT KEEPS YOU HERE NOW? We have real opportunities here to be leaders in the

so it’s not like we were running away from anything. Being in the center of the political universe had some appeal, but we were excited to begin the next chapter in our lives here. In D.C. we were kind of on our own and isolated, but in Cincinnati we had support and could be more plugged into our community.

community. Back east we had jobs that we enjoyed, but here I manage the Citizens Complaint Authority and can pour my ideas and energy into it instead of just being one of many people working for a company. It’s not perfect, but I really love Cincinnati. —As Told to Katie Coburn

HOW HAS CINCINNATI CHANGED SINCE YOU LEFT? It feels like a more exciting place now than it was when I was a kid. We live in Pleasant Ridge, and I grew up in Kennedy Heights next door and that felt like a sleepy part of town; now it’s hard to get a house there. Almost every neighborhood has a brewery and restaurants, and they’re walkable.

NAME:

Pamela Myers

AGE: 73 WHO IS SHE: Actor and singer who was the very ﬁrst graduate of CCM’s musical

theater program in 1969. She started on Broadway in Stephen Sondheim’s Company, a performance that earned her a Tony nomination and ushered in a career that took her from New York to Los Angeles.

AT WHAT AGE DID YOU LEAVE CINCINNATI? My senior

P H O T O G R A P H B Y R YA N K U R T Z

year at CCM I was not required to give a recital, but I decided to anyway, just for fun. A visiting Broadway conductor came to it and said, “This is a girl who should be in New York.” My parents didn’t have money to send me to New York, believe me, but I got there.

I had decided to leave L.A. We realized we’d never be able to buy a house, and our son was little. We ﬁgured we’d stay with my parents, save some money, then go to east. But my parents were really enjoying having Max here, my husband changed his entire career, and we stayed.

WHEN AND WHY DID YOU RETURN? It was spring 1989,

HOW HARD WAS IT TO FIND OPPORTUNITIES TO PERFORM ONCE YOU SETTLED HERE? I

I think. We were driving cross-country from L.A. on our way to New York and came to stay with my parents for a while. My [then-husband] and

did whatever work was available, but it was hard because I had to do union work. There’s a lot more professional work here now, but

back then it was hard. I taught from time to time in the prep department at CCM, and I’ve taught and directed at Xavier. When I did the Broadway revival of Into the Woods in 2002, my son was in high school and we were able to pull it off. But it was a nine-month run. See how difficult that would have been when he was little? The great part is that my son was brought up here with my parents. Now I’m in my 70s and again doing all these things. What a varied career I’ve had, and what wonderful friends I’ve made here.

WHAT NEW THINGS DO YOU ENJOY ABOUT THE CITY NOW? I think the new Music Hall is wonderful, and I’ll enjoy going back to that when things reopen. I’m glad they have touring shows and I love 47

Ensemble Theatre, the Playhouse, and all the little theaters. And I’m thrilled that some of the money we’re supposed to get because of the pandemic will go to the arts. People don’t

realize how much the arts contribute to the economy, how many people work in the arts. It’s a huge industry in the city—in any city. —As Told to Linda Vaccariello

COMING AND GOING There’s no data (yet) to track how many boomerangs come home to Cincinnati each year, but we know 294,348 people left the area and 280,189 moved in between 2012 and 2018. Here’s a snapshot of the top places that send us and take us. Note: Numbers represent migration into and out of the 16-county Cincinnati Metropolitan Statistical Area of southwestern Ohio, northern Kentucky, and southeastern Indiana.

NET MIGRATION GAINS Rest of Ohio: 9,673 Nevada: 1,109 Rest of Indiana: 955 Georgia: 674 Louisiana: 584

NAME: 10000

8000

6000

4000

2000

AGE: 32 WHO IS SHE: Freelance event producer at No Standing LLC

NET MIGRATION LOSSES

AT WHAT AGE DID YOU LEAVE CINCINNATI, AND WHEN DID YOU RETURN? I left at age 18 and

Tennessee: -5,091 Florida: -4,770

returned in 2015 at age 26.

Texas: -4,598

WHY DID YOU RETURN? After living in NYC for almost a decade, I hit a wall. It’s hard to control your direction when you have to constantly hustle all the time and make compromises. I was ready for the next chapter, the next challenge, and that was, Who am I outside of this life I’ve built out of necessity? Cincinnati was an easy option to come back to and ﬁgure out what my next steps were.

North Carolina: -2,453 Virginia: -1,441

-2000

-4000

Cleveland: 2.3%

HOW HAS CINCINNATI CHANGED SINCE YOU LEFT? I never expected that moving back would actually feel more like moving to a new city that my family just happened to live in. Living downtown is completely different than if I’d moved back to the suburb I grew up in. I like being a part of the building and evolution and growth here.

Washington, D.C. 1.1% San Francisco: 1% Atlanta: 1% Los Angeles: .9%

Chicago: 3.1%

HOW IS IT THE SAME AS BEFORE? It’s having my family here. It’s having Music Hall and Union Terminal still around. Bars like The Comet, Northside Tavern, and City View Tavern that my parents used to go to when I was kid are still here, and they’re still the best bars in town.

Columbus: 3.3%

WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE NEW DISCOVERY SINCE RETURNING? The people here are serious doers. I meet new people doing great things in this city all the time. More literally, I love places like Tucker’s Restaurant on Vine Street that’s been around forever, Bockfest, the work the Q-Kidz Dance Team is doing in the West End. I have such respect for community institutions that have been taking care of their own neighborhoods for decades.

ALL OTHERS COMBINED: 42.1%

CINCINNATI: 41.5%

WHAT KEEPS YOU HERE NOW? It isn’t that hard to meet the right people or get connected to the people you need to make your vision happen. I’ve been able to build my business here and really choose what kind of work I want to do. I’ve found great clients who want to create progressive and inclusive community/ arts events. I love being able to contribute to Cincinnati culture in that way. When I was younger, I wanted to live in a cool city. Now I get to help build the kind of city I want to live in. —As Told to Jaclyn Youhana Garver

Source: Cincinnati Chamber Center for Data & Research. Migration data is a compilation of IRS tax records 2012–2018, and college graduate data is compiled from Emsi proﬁle analytics software.

PHOTOGRAPH BY LANCE ADKINS

-6000

-8000

-10000

WERE YOU EXCITED TO RETURN, OR HESITANT? A LITTLE OF BOTH? I was absolutely hesitant to return and thought my move back would be only temporary. I spent so much of my youth trying to get out and make something of myself. Leaving home was a big part of that narrative.

WHERE LOCAL COLLEGE GRADUATES LIVE Dayton: 1.8% New York City: 1.9%

Megyn Norbut

Bryan Devendorf

NAME: AGE: 44

WHO IS HE: Drummer for The National and leader of the band Royal Green, which released its debut album in 2020. AT WHAT AGE DID YOU LEAVE CINCINNATI, AND WHEN DID YOU RETURN? I left at age 18 and came back at age 37 in February 2013.

WHY DID YOU RETURN? After a while living in Brooklyn, it had become too expensive to justify living there anymore. The rest of my bandmates in The National were more or less leaving New York City, plus we were new parents with two babies. After ﬁring blanks on ﬁnding an affordable apartment there, I became obsessed with the Sibcy Cline website where entire houses in Cincinnati (with yards) were beautifully photographed and reasonably priced vis-à-vis the East Coast.

WERE YOU EXCITED TO RETURN, OR HESITANT? A LITTLE OF BOTH? Excited. Maybe a bit bummed that the kids wouldn’t grow up in NYC, but I got over that. We’ve taken them back many times over the years for shows. They love the Staten

Island Ferry and the pizza.

HOW HAS CINCINNATI CHANGED SINCE YOU FIRST LEFT? I left in 1993 as a clueless kid from Anderson Township and returned as an adult with a different perspective and different ideas of what matters in life. So really everything here seems changed, only the locations remain the same. And there’s a beer bar inside the Hyde Park Kroger now. Why?

HOW IS IT THE SAME AS BEFORE? Sports are still a really big deal here.

WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE NEW DISCOVERY SINCE RETURNING? Cincinnati Parks, the Krohn Conservatory, and Fortune Noodle House in Clifton Heights.

WHAT KEEPS YOU HERE NOW? Inertia and Graeter’s. —As Told to Rodney Wilson

PHOTOGRAPHS (TOP) BY GRAHAM MACINDOE / (BOTTOM) COURTESY JULIE COPPENS

AT WHAT AGE DID YOU LEAVE CINCINNATI, AND WHEN DID YOU RETURN? I was born and raised on the west side, left in 1990 for college, came back for my ﬁrst job, left in 1998 for another job, returned in 2008, left again in 2012, moved back in 2019. When in Cincinnati I’ve lived in White Oak, Clifton Gaslight, Over-the-Rhine near Music Hall, and now Pendleton, so a southeastern trajectory.

NAME:

Julie Coppens

AGE: 48 WHO IS SHE: Serial boomeranger, most recently living in Alaska; currently works as Educational Outreach Coordinator for Cincinnati Public Radio (she runs WVXU’s Democracy & Me project).

WHY DID YOU RETURN? The pattern has been that I leave when opportunity knocks (new job, relationship) and return when disaster strikes (divorce, downsizing, death). I’m currently in recovery mode, after losing my Alaskan husband to cancer in 2017 and com-

ing back to help care for my mom at the end of her life; she passed away in February. My son was also starting high school and really wanted to get back to the School for Creative and Performing Arts after spending his early grades there.

WERE YOU EXCITED TO RETURN, OR HESITANT? A LITTLE OF BOTH? Not excited per se, but grateful to have a good place to return to and siblings here who always have my back. I hated to leave Juneau. I still feel part of the special community up there. But I knew this was where I needed to be again, for now.

HOW HAS CINCINNATI CHANGED SINCE YOU LEFT? There’s been a lot of displace-

ment, a lot of unequal suffering, a deepening of the dividing lines. Or maybe this has always been our city, and I’m the one who’s changed.

HOW IS IT THE SAME AS BEFORE? It’s still very clannish and still a city built more for cars than for people.

WHAT KEEPS YOU HERE NOW? I’m soul-searching around that question as we speak. The pandemic has really gotten in the way of reconnecting with family, rebuilding my Cincinnati friendships, and enjoying all the arts and culture here. But I’ll hang in and see how things go before plotting my next escape. —As Told to Judi Ketteler

50 50

Music Hall’s Guardian Angel WHEN THEA TJEPKEMA TALKS (AND RESEARCHES, WRITES, LECTURES, LEADS TOURS, AND GENERALLY ENTHUSES) ABOUT CINCINNATI’S TEMPLE OF ARTS AND CULTURE, EVERYONE LISTENS.

BY POLK LAFFOON IV | PHOTOGRAPH BY AARON M. CONWAY

THEA TJEPKEMA KNOWS MORE ABOUT

Cincinnati Music Hall—its architecture, its history, its past performers, its recent renovation, and its status as a National Historic Landmark—than anyone on the planet. She calls it “my obsession.” She writes about it, lectures about it, gives tours of both its interior and exterior, and, through her Friends of Music Hall (FMH) board position, pushes hard to see that the restoration so well begun in 2016 doesn’t stop. If all goes according to schedule, she will see the sandstone finials, including a sculpture of an outsized lyre below the rose window, restored this summer on the building’s front exterior— approximately a century after they last appeared without damage. Thea can tell you that the bricks on the west side of Music Hall along Central Parkway are orange common brick because the architect, Samuel Hannaford, wanted them to glow in the sunset. Bricks on the east side, by contrast, are cherry red and pressed in Philadelphia, which is why we think of the building as red brick. How many bricks in all? About 4 million, she says, lugged by hod carriers, mostly Irish. Inside, she will remind you, the building’s second-floor ballroom, first known as the Greystone, opened in 1928 and was America’s largest dance floor for a time. Nine years later, catering to the nation’s big band craze, it became the Topper Ballroom, the name it carried until 1993. Encouraged by her husband, Cincinnati Pops Conductor John Morris Russell, to find out which singers or musicians have performed in Music Hall, in the ballroom, or on the main stage, Thea has developed long lists with specific dates. One of them,

reflecting her particular interest in the Hall’s African American heritage, includes Billie Holiday, Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Sarah Vaughan, Don Shirley, and Ella Fitzgerald as well as Marian Anderson, Sissieretta Jones, Mamie Smith, and Sister Rosetta Tharpe. Tjepkema’s and Russell’s initial arrival here in the 1990s piqued Thea’s interest in her husband’s workplace venue, and after moving to Canada and returning again to Cincinnati, she joined the board of the Society for the Preservation of Music Hall, recently renamed the Friends of Music Hall. The city, which owns the building, established the Music Hall Revitalization Corporation in 2010 to ﬁnally kick-start a multi-year restoration project. With a BFA in historic preservation from the Savannah College of Art and Design and a master’s in arts administration from the University of Akron, plus a background curating at the Owens-Thomas House and Slave Quarters Museum in Savannah, Thea came to Cincinnati with solid preparatory credentials. “She takes John’s passion for the Pops and directs it to the building,” says Ed Ryder, a fellow archivist

who serves with her on the FMH board. “They’re a great team for promoting Cincinnati music and Music Hall.” Paul Muller, president of the Cincinnati Preservation Association, agrees. “Thea is one of the most rigorous researchers I’ve come across,” he says. “If you can’t justify a date, she won’t pretend it’s out there. She sees life and joy in historical facts and shares them with others. I’ve gained appreciation for historical aspects of Music Hall I wouldn’t have otherwise because Thea opened it up for me.”

HER FULL NAME IS THEA TJEPKEMA

(TAY-uh CHEP-ke-muh), but because pronunciation of her last name can be difficult to discern, she’s known across Cincinnati simply as Thea. Her speaking style is informal, and she has a friendly face bracketed by a striking mane of silver-gray hair. She wears glasses with translucent frames, smiles frequently, and sometimes lapses into a laugh over something she’s said. Two high-proﬁle lectures—one to the Cincinnati Preservation Association’s fall

PHOTOGRAPH BY JOANNE GRUETER

ATTENTION TO DETAIL Thea Tjepkema examines a damaged sandstone ﬁnial on the front of Music Hall. (Previous spread) Tjepkema, photographed with a replacement ﬁnial model (made by Arya Design in the West End), on April 19, 2021.

forum on “Muses: The Women of Music Hall” and the other at the Cincinnati & Hamilton County Public Library called “Under One Roof: the African American Experience at Music Hall”—showcased her accessibility, echoed by substantial positive feedback. Each lasted a good hour and chronicled in considerable detail the many women and African Americans who have had outsized impact on Music Hall, either by performing in it or playing a role in shaping it. Thea recalled for her library audience, for example, that at the formal opening of Music Hall in 1878, building chairman Julius Dexter praised Reuben Springer and his peers who had contributed funds, then said,“Others may have given as much; possibly in proportion to their means, more.… Who may say the contribution of the colored barber is not equal in liberality with any $1,000, or even larger sum, given?” But who was that barber? Did he really exist? Over a period of six years, countless hours of digging, and help from a library friend, Thea found an old newspaper article about the city’s Black barbers. She matched it to a list of Music Hall’s original contribu-

tors and, sure enough, there was the name of Fountain Lewis with his contribution of $20 noted (about $500 in today’s money). She also found a quote from Lewis made some 20 years later about his gift: “And you can depend on it, I’m mighty proud of that fact now.” Digging further, she learned that Lewis and his peers earned most of their livelihoods cutting the hair of white men. One of his clients was Reuben Springer. “Thea’s research is incredibly thorough,” says fellow FMH board member Joanne Grueter. “During the restoration of Music Hall, she uncovered photographs of the original tracery patterns in the windows reclaimed during work in Corbett Tower. She worked with EverGreene Architectural Arts to replicate the stenciling and colors in the Tower. The black bricks, an important design detail intended by Hannaford, were her discovery. And we now have those back on Music Hall’s facade.” Thea reads everything she can find about Music Hall, causing her to become intimately familiar over the years with the Cincinnati & Hamilton County Public Library, the History Library at Union Terminal, the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and Society for the Preservation of Music Hall’s archives, the Ohio Memory Collection in Columbus, the Kenton County Public Library in Northern Kentucky, the University of Cincinnati’s rare book archives, and the Library of Congress. Tips from fellow Cincinnatians, she says, also have been of immense help. Judy Williams, a Columbus-based consultant on historic preservation, calls Thea a research detective.“Because of her enthusiasm, her training, her deep love of history, and her personal connection to the building, I felt when I was working with her that her information was wonderful, behindthe scenes material that people wouldn’t know,” says Williams. “Sometimes, working with volunteers, you’re not so sure.”

BORN IN NORTHERN MICHIGAN OF

Dutch descent, Thea moved to Gainesville, Georgia, when she was 2 so that her father, a poultry manager, could work in what was then “the poultry capital of the world.” When she was 15 and looking for

volunteer work, her mother—who held a master’s degree in education with a focus on chemistry and was an early feminist— suggested she become a Candy Striper at a local retirement home. There she befriended a resident named Alex, who, while they played checkers, liked to talk about early times in Gainesville, the buildings that had been there, the houses and stores, and the horses and buggies. Sometimes he’d ask Thea if such and such a building were still standing, so she began to look. And she realized, she says, “that buildings had stories and, taken together, can tell the history of a community.” Not too many years later, she spent a year in the Netherlands,“where I saw really old buildings,” she says, including a windmill owned by the Tjepkema family. By the time she returned, she knew she loved art and historic architecture but didn’t know what she was going to do about it. At the Savannah College of Art and Design she tried a course in architecture but says she didn’t feel welcome with so many men crowding the classroom. She thought about painting and graphic design, but nothing seemed quite right until, by chance, she met a professor who taught an introduction to historic preservation. Persuading her to give it a try, he introduced her to her life’s work. “I signed up, and I quickly knew it was exactly what I wanted to do,” she says. “I looked at the old newspapers on microfiche, I learned how Sanborn Insurance maps documented buildings, and I discovered how to ﬁnd things using city directories.” Thea’s ﬁrst jobs out of college were at house museums in Savannah: the Telfair Museum, the Owens-Thomas House, and the birthplace of Juliette Gordon Low, founder of the Girl Scouts. She left Savannah to become a museum technician at Yosemite National Park, where she catalogued historic photographs, many of them of Theodore Roosevelt. “I hiked a lot,” she says.“I’m an outdoor person. But I decided I wanted to get a master’s in arts administration and manage a house museum.” Only a handful of schools offered the kind of arts administration program she was looking for, including the University of Akron, where she received a full scholarship and an C O N T I N U E D O N P A G E 7 4

Village By Lisa Murtha Illustration by Olivia Waller

Rosemary’s Babies Company and Cincinnati Scholar House surround young parents with the support they need to raise their children and achieve their own dreams.

It Takes a

It’s a clear winter day when I meet Ty-Asia Marshall, a petite 19-year-old with a soft voice and bedazzled facemask, at the nonprofit Rosemary’s Babies Company.

time soon. The road has not been easy. “I didn’t think there would be a lot of people to support me,” Marshall says, “until I met Miss Rosemary.” “For decades,” a 2019 Pew research study noted, “the share of U.S. children living with a single parent has been rising, accompanied by a decline in marriage rates and a rise in births outside of marriage.” That same year, in fact, 40 percent of all U.S. births were to unmarried women. Here in Ohio, the numbers match up; CDC data shows that roughly 43 percent of births statewide are to unmarried mothers. Add in the fact that in 2015, 43.1 percent of Ohio single mothers lived in poverty and the vast majority of those mothers were mixed race, Hispanic, or Black (in that order), and you begin to get a big-picture view of the trend. Making things even more complex? In 2018, 31 percent of all Ohio births were specifically to unmarried teen parents, ages 15–19. It’s one thing to cite statistics; it’s another to meet the people behind them and try to figure out how to help each one. Pro-life and pro-choice advocates envision very different big-picture solutions, but the facts remain: Significant numbers of unmarried women—oftentimes poor and/or underage—are having babies here in Ohio, and they need help. Sometimes they need tangible things like car seats, cribs, diapers, clothes, food, or transportation to doctor’s appointments. Maybe a computer to help finish their online classes. Other times they need help with childcare or finishing their education, or finding places to live, as many are either unwelcome or unwilling to stay at home. But the things they seem to need most are

emotional support, guidance (sometimes on a near 24-hour basis), and help mapping out a future in a way that feels attainable. Here in Cincinnati, two organizations—Rosemary’s Babies Company (RBC) and the Cincinnati Scholar House (CSH)—are working overtime to deliver all of that and more. RBC focuses on helping single parents ages 13–19 navigate life and high school; the Scholar House focuses on getting single parents ages 19 and up through college. Both organizations are helping impoverished single parents change the trajectory of their lives, and their children’s lives, by breaking the generational cycles that keep them undereducated, impoverished, and essentially trapped. This is no small task, and there is no easy, one-size-ﬁts-all solution.

Now 41 years old, Rosemary Oglesby-Henry founded RBC ﬁve years ago, but she’s been living with the effects of teen pregnancy her whole life. Like so many young women she serves, OglesbyHenry grew up with a stressful and unstable home life. Her relationship with her dad, an addict who taught her to value education and work hard “hustling Icees” in summers, made things even more complex. She started out attending Walnut Hills High School, but, after a family move, ended up at Withrow. She had always planned to attend college, and was looking forward to “getting away from the ’hood, from my situation,” but she got pregnant at 16. “I remember being so depressed,” says Oglesby-Henry. “I felt alone.” But “one day, when I was about six months pregnant, my daughter kicked,” says Oglesby-Henry, and suddenly, “my

P H OTO G R A P H S C O U R T E SY O F R O S E M A R Y ’ S B A B I E S C O M PA N Y A N D C I N C I N N AT I S C H O L A R H O U S E

She and her boyfriend arrived via Uber, courtesy of the program’s founder, Rosemary Oglesby-Henry. Here, in a cheerful space overﬂowing with clothing racks, boxes of diapers, disassembled high chairs, and every kind of baby paraphernalia imaginable, Marshall talks about what life is like as a new parent. She was 16 years old, working as a cash register attendant at the Walnut Hills McDonald’s and heading into her sophomore year of high school, when she found out she was pregnant. “I was stressing,” she says, and afraid. “My mom was mad because of my age.” Things got better, though, when a teacher connected her to “Miss Rosemary,” who gave Marshall a crib and a car seat, and “told me it was going to be OK.” Marshall moved in with her boyfriend, his mom, and several half-siblings before giving birth to a son, Prince Amauri La’Monte Marshall, on October 15, 2019. Two weeks later, Marshall was back at work at McDonald’s, but school was another story. “I felt like they were rushing me to graduate,” she says. It was too much pressure, so she stopped going. When the pandemic hit just months later, the fact that Marshall doesn’t own a computer made virtual school impossible anyway. Today, she’s working evenings at UDF, still living with her boyfriend and his mom. Prince Amauri has grown into an active toddler. And, thanks again to Oglesby-Henry, Marshall now has her own computer and is back at school, focused on graduating from Dohn Community High School’s Keeping Teen Moms in School program. She is also adamant that she won’t be having more children any

driving goal was to give my daughter the life of stability that I did not have.” Even though she knew she was already a statistic in many people’s eyes, a thirdgeneration teen mom whose siblings were also teen parents, she was determined. She told herself, “My daughter’s not gonna be a teen parent.” Her path was complex, but OglesbyHenry kept her vow and then some. She graduated high school at 17, met her future husband at 19, and gave birth to a second child (a son). She pursued a lucrative 17year career at the post office, moved from income-based housing to being a homeowner at 25, completed her undergraduate degree over a 10-year span, and earned a master’s degree while simultaneously working two jobs. Neither her daughter, Jaliah, nor her son, Qua’ron, now ages 25

and 20, became teen parents. It wasn’t easy—“I look back over my own life and I’m like, How did I do that?” says Oglesby-Henry today—but through it all, she found herself wanting to help other teen parents achieve their own goals. In 1990, just before she’d come of age, teen pregnancy peaked in the U.S., when nearly 1 million girls ages 15–19 found themselves pregnant. So in grad school, “I spent two years just researching generational poverty [and] programs that were available,” says Oglesby-Henry. She soon realized there were not enough programs in place to help the teen parents who’d already had babies, and nobody actually looked at the longterm outcomes of how pregnancy impacted second and third generations of teen parents. C O N T I N U E D O N P A G E 7 5

“Significant numbers of unmarried women—oftentimes poor and/or underage—are having babies here in Ohio, and they need help.”

CHILD’S PLAY Cincinnati Scholar House in Walnut Hills (left); Rosemary OglesbyHenry, Ty-Asia Marshall and her son, Rainie Moody, Felicia Sullivan, Danielle Wagoner and her children, and Cierra Jones (top to bottom).

WHEN OUR PERSPECTIVE IS LIMITED—

WE MISS THE BIGGER PICTURE.

The full image depicts hundreds of individuals coming together to learn and grow in the wake of bias-motivated events. We are relentlessy committed to driving our company and our industry toward a greater collective awareness. To learn more about Turner’s commitment to Diversity and Inclusion, view our 2020 Community Impact Report.

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neepwaantiinki

We learn from

EACH OTHER The Myaamia word is a rich interpretation of the reciprocal relationship between Miami University and the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma

The story of our shared place, the Miami Valley, is one of both immeasurable loss and burgeoning revitalization. The Myaamia people, who have called these lands home since time immemorial, were forcibly removed beginning in the 1840s to what would become Kansas and later to Oklahoma, passing a mere 13 miles from Miami University’s campus. With their community fragmented by relocation, forced assimilation, and mounting pressure to be English-speaking-only Americans, the Myaamia people and their way of life became relegated to the pages of history.

More than a century later, Miami Tribe Chief Forest Olds traveled to Cincinnati for a conference and decided to make a trip up to Oxford to see ﬁrst-hand the place bearing the name of his people. Few could have predicted the transformational change that would occur in the decades following his visit in 1972.

The Myaamia Center, located on our Oxford campus, was created in 2001 as the institutional home for the Tribe’s research and educational development eﬀorts. Myaamia students participate in the Miami Heritage Program, supplementing their major and Miami Plan curriculum with heritage courses where kinship ties are strengthened and Myaamia ecological perspectives, history, language, culture, and contemporary tribal issues are explored.

By the end of this year, 100 Myaamia students will have graduated from Miami University since 1991 – a testament to the continued growth and vitality of the Tribe. Born out of a chance visit and bolstered by community need from the Myaamia people, the relationship between the university and the Tribe is a ﬁre we tend together. We are partners in learning, in healing, and in community building. In recognizing and addressing our shared history, we’ve created a space to repair relationships, foster greater resiliency, and respond to the challenges of our time in ethical and eﬀective ways.

MiamiOH.edu/miami-tribe-relations

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CHAMPIONS OF DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION

BETHANY SCHOOL

WHAT SETS YOUR ORGANIZATION APART IN TERMS OF ITS DIVERSITY, EQUITY, AND INCLUSION EFFORTS? Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion, what we call JEDI, is a vital part of the fabric of Bethany School going back to our earliest days almost 125 years ago! Our community opens its doors to people from many different walks of life rooted in the belief that we are all God’s children and that we all belong. Good learning involves interacting with people from different backgrounds, identities, and points of view. When this happens, learning grows exponentially. We are nurturing and empowering students to thrive in a diverse world. Our JEDI Committee implements programs and opportunities for members of our community to learn from each other with the goal of creating the best educational experience in Cincinnati. Visit us and see our community in action. Come and be a part of something that is truly unique and transformative!

Bethany School 555 Albion Ave., Glendale, OH 45246, (513) 771-7462, https://bethanyschool.org

The many faces of Bethany School

A diverse private school education focused on Justice Equity Diversity and Inclusion 555 Albion Avenue | Glendale, Ohio 45246 www.bethanyschool.org | 513.771.7462 6 2 C I N C I N N AT I M A G A Z I N E . C O M J U N E 2 0 2 1

SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION

CHAMPIONS OF DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION

CINCINNATI STATE

WHY ARE DIVERSITY, EQUITY, AND INCLUSION IMPORTANT TO YOUR ORGANIZATION? Cincinnati State has one of the most diverse student populations in our region. The result is a wonderful mix of different ages, ethnicities, countries of origin, and even types of schooling, including home schooled students and veterans with knowledge gained through their service. We honor diversity and the richness it adds to the student experience, not only in classrooms. And that is a great plus for our community and for employers. Our co-op students and graduates are instrumental in creating a diverse and highly skilled regional workforce—in health care, advanced manufacturing, business, aviation maintenance, information technology, culinary, and other essential industries. Many students also go on to earn further degrees at universities. The possibilities for students at Cincinnati State, like our student body itself, are diverse, and without limits.

Cincinnati State 3520 Central Pkwy., Cincinnati, OH 45223, (513) 861-7700, www.cincinnatistate.edu

J U N E 2 0 2 1 C I N C I N N AT I M A G A Z I N E . C O M 6 3

S P SE P C IEACLI AALDAVDE V R ET R I STIINSGI NSGE CS TE ICOTNI O N

CHAMPIONS OF DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION

EPISCOPALNAME GOES COMPANY HERE RETIREMENT SERVICES

WHY ARE DIVERSITY, EQUITY, AND INCLUSION IMPORTANT TO YOUR TO YOUR ORGANIZATION? ORGANIZATION? aliam Diversity utati rehas doluptate long been sit part fugiaofveliquat the Ihictem Episcopal explab Retirement inum imoditati Services (ERS) coneste organization. niet, ut laSeveral vollorem years esedit ago laceatecto our staff identified blaceri onsecae "inclusion" esequamet as a core value dolupta of ERS. eseditatinum We value colea pedipis laboration sunderio and diversity eum quatur of thought, alitatiis experiences, esci quundant and autescid perspective. eicidunt In a world hillabo seemingly reprehendis more volorepe divisivevolentem over racialquam differences, hilit iuscit, to we've temresolved doloribero to celebrate blantiosaeour natSequis diversity,volupta and fundamentally tiassunt ea que vendaes reject all sequae. manifestations Inum unt of eat racism. volut eaquam quo mo et lacipsuntur?We Beatem recently rat fugiae began laut a series exerore of conversations lat harcit erione exploring lab ipsae racial net quo injustice optatia andeosam racismcor called, aut fuga. “We Can Dolupietur, Do Better. eumque ” Maya Angelou preriam has sandici said, "Do isimaximpore the best youlacan dolupture, with what quam you know. volorem Then daewhen preptaq you uiasinu know better, sandes you accume do better." verem volupta erumquo vendi alibustem facessi For magnam this series,sita ERSdebis provides nobitiusam a forumadit, for staff nihiligent members lam volum to volupta share their eaquis personal dolorehenisi and professional demporestories preicidtoipicil create mi, underendae voluptat. standing and Tam challenges voluptas repedi ourselves que net to find restinv biases eligend that may antorio. hinder Nequiat our staff's hillatur, development sitist, ariand unt well-being. harum, unde volo modipsapidel int hilles Please eosam join sera us quasin as we seek comnimo to make ipsandit, a brighter future in our corner of the world at ERS.

Episcopal Retirement Services Company GoesOH Here 3870 Virginia Ave,Name Cincinnati, 45227, 513-123-4567, (513) 271-9610, websiteurl.com/moreinformation www.episcopalretirement.com

6 4 C I N C I N N AT I M A G A Z I N E . C O M J U N E 2 0 2 1

S P SE P C IEACLI AALDAVDE V R ET R I STIINSGI NSGE CS TE ICOTNI O N

CHAMPIONS OF DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION

FIFTH THIRD COMPANY NAME BANK GOES HERE

WHY ARE DIVERSITY, EQUITY, AND INCLUSION IMPORTANT TO YOUR TO YOUR ORGANIZATION? ORGANIZATION? aliam Asutati an inclusive, re doluptate diverse sit fugia and thriving veliquat Ihictem organization, explabwe inum wantimoditati each employee, coneste and niet,each ut la customer vollorem esedit to feel laceatecto valued, respected blaceri onsecae and understood. esequamet Employees dolupta at eseditatinum Fifth Third are ea pedipis encouraged sunderio to bring eumtheir quatur authentic alitatiisselves esci quundant and best autescid thinking into eicidunt the workplace hillabotoreprehendis take full advantage volorepeofvolentem the power quam of both hilitour iuscit, to diversity tem doloribero and our commonality. blantiosae natSequis We are all volupta One Bank. tiassunt ea que vendaes Inclusion sequae. andInum diversity unt in eatthe volut workplace eaquamare quo essential mo et lacipsunto living tur? our Core Beatem Values: rat fugiae serving laut ourexerore customers, lat harcit delivering erionefilab nancial ipsaepernet quo formance, optatiaand eosam being cor recognized aut fuga. Dolupietur, as a leader in eumque building preriam an engagsandici ing workplace, isimaximpore a strong la supplier dolupture, base, quam andvolorem vibrant dae communities. preptaq uiasinu We are sandes committed accumetoverem attracting volupta anderumquo fosteringvendi diverse alibustem talent facessi at everymagnam level of the sitaCompany, debis nobitiusam from ouradit, Board nihiligent of Directors, lam volum to our volupta Enterprise eaquis Leadership dolorehenisi Committee, dempore to our preicid nearly ipicil 20,000 mi, endae employvoluptat. ees in ourTam markets. voluptas Further, repedi weque are net committed restinv eligend to transparency. antorio. Nequiat We demonstrate hillatur, sitist, that commitment ari unt harum,byunde publishing volo modipsapidel our inclusionint hilles and diversity eosam sera practices quasin and comnimo demographic ipsandit, data on an annual basis in our Environmental, Social & Governance Report.

Fifth Third Bank 38 FountainCompany Square Plaza, Cincinnati, OH 45263, Name Goes Here (513) 534-4287, www.53.com 513-123-4567, websiteurl.com/moreinformation

Together we can make a difference.

Together we can drive change. As our nation confronts racial inequality and injustice, the time to change the narrative is long overdue. At Fifth Third, we are committed to establishing a more inclusive and diverse reality, particularly for our Black employees, customers and community members. We are committed to being part of the solution and we will not waste this moment.

Learn more and download our Inclusion Toolkit at: 53.com/racialequity.

Kala Gibson

Kevin Lavender

EVP, Chief Enterprise Responsibility Officer & Head of Business Banking

EVP, Head of Commercial Banking

Stephanie A. Smith

Shawn Manns

SVP, Chief Inclusion & Diversity Officer

Fifth Third Bank, National Association. Member FDIC.

SVP, Director of Financial Planning & Analysis

Equal Housing Lender. CS 21-04

J U N E 2 0 2 1 C I N C I N N AT I M A G A Z I N E . C O M 6 5

S P SE P C IEACLI AALDAVDE V R ET R I STIINSGI NSGE CS TE ICOTNI O N

CHAMPIONS OF DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION

THE E.W. SCRIPPS COMPANY NS COMPANYME GOES HERE COMPANY

WHY ARE DIVERSITY, EQUITY, AND INCLUSION IMPORTANT TO YOUR ORGANIZATION? aliam utati re doluptate sit fugia veliquat Ihictem “As aexplab national inum journalism imoditati andconeste entertainment niet, ut la company, volloremitesedit is our laceatecto job to reflect blaceri and portray onsecae the esequamet voices, faces dolupta and lives eseditatinum of all thoseea in pedipis our audiences. sunderio That eum work quatur startsalitatiis by hiring esciemployees quundantwith autescid diverse eicidunt outlooks hillabo and backgrounds reprehendis and volorepe creatingvolentem and airingquam programs hilit iuscit, that to aretem inclusive doloribero of all Americans. blantiosae It natSwevuis is only withvolupta the right tiassunt peopleea that que vendaes we can dosequae. the right Inum thing—for unt eat our volut viewers, eaquam ourquo communities, mo et lacipsunour tur? employees Beatemand rat our fugiae business. laut exerore ” —Adam lat Symson, harcit erione Scripps labpresident ipsae net quo and CEO optatia eosam cor aut fuga. Dolupietur, eumque preriam sandici isimaximpore la dolupture, quam volorem dae preptaq uiasinu To successfully sandes accume deliver verem on this volupta commitment, erumquowe vendi must alibustem underfacessi stand and magnam reflectsita thedebis valuesnobitiusam and perspectives adit, nihiligent those around lam volum us volupta embody.eaquis That process dolorehenisi beginsdempore by looking preicid inward. ipicil mi, endae voluptat. Tam voluptas repedi que net restinv eligend antorio. Nequiat At Scripps, hillatur, our sitist, efforts ari unt are harum, currently unde focused volo on modipsapidel four areas ofint hilles representation: eosam sera Racial quasin and comnimo ethnic diversity; ipsandit, Gender representation; LGBTQIA; and Veterans. Learn more about how we activate these pillars at Scripps.com.

The Company E.W. Scripps NameCompany Goes Here 513-123-4567,https:/ websiteurl.com/moreinformation /scripps.com

6 6 C I N C I N N AT I M A G A Z I N E . C O M J U N E 2 0 2 1

S P SE P C IEACLI AALDAVDE V R ET R I STIINSGI NSGE CS TE ICOTNI O N

CHAMPIONS OF DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION

XAVIER UNIVERSITY

WHY ARE DIVERSITY, EQUITY, AND INCLUSION IMPORTANT TO YOUR TO YOUR ORGANIZATION? ORGANIZATION? aliam At utati Xavier, re we doluptate proudlysit serve fugiaa veliquat student Ihictem body that explab is 22% inum students imoditati of color coneste and aniet, campus ut la vollorem that consists esedit laceatecto of over 20 religions. blaceri onsecae Our Offiesequamet ce of Institutional doluptaDiversity eseditatinum and ea pedipis Inclusion, sunderio along with eumour quatur Center alitatiis for Diversity esci quundant and Inclusion, autescidpush eicidunt for the equity hillabo and reprehendis empowerment volorepe of underrepresented volentem quam hilit groups iuscit, to and tem individuals doloribero within blantiosae every aspect natSequis of the volupta university, tiassunt including ea que vendaes enrollment sequae. and employee Inum unt recruitment. eat volut eaquam quo mo et lacipsuntur?While Beatem we’re rat far fugiae fromlaut finished, exerore we’ll lat harcit continue erione striving lab ipsae for a net quo deeply optatia diverse, eosam inclusive, cor autand fuga. anti-racist Dolupietur, community. eumqueOur preriam unwavsandici ering effisimaximpore orts in this formidable la dolupture, arena quam are what volorem givedae us the preptaq hearts uiasinu of champions sandesfor accume change. verem Aftervolupta all, as Xavier erumquo Musketeers, vendi alibustem the facessi reason magnam we are ALL sita FOR debis ONE, nobitiusam is becauseadit, we are nihiligent ALL ONE. lam volum volupta eaquis dolorehenisi dempore preicid ipicil mi, endae voluptat. Tam voluptas repedi que net restinv eligend antorio. Nequiat hillatur, sitist, ari unt harum, unde volo modipsapidel int hilles eosam sera quasin comnimo ipsandit,

Xavier University 3800 Victory Parkway, Cincinnati, OH 45207, Company Name Goes Here (513) 745-3000, www.xavier.edu/all-one 513-123-4567, websiteurl.com/moreinformation

CHAMPIONS

of Diversity and Inclusion

CHAMPIONS for Change

xavier.edu/all-one J U N E 2 0 2 1 C I N C I N N AT I M A G A Z I N E . C O M 6 7

Building a world that works for everyone At GE, we are committed to continuing to build a more diverse workforce and a more inclusive workplace.

2021 FIVE STAR WEALTH MANAGERS

Who will be named? Find out in a special section inside the October issue. To share your opinion, go to fivestarprofessional.com/wmconsumerfeedback

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assistantship to the director of art galleries. “I drove from Yosemite to Akron, Ohio, and I cried, What have I done? But it was a great program. I loved it.” Returning to Savannah upon graduation, Thea was hired to work at the OwensThomas House, and after just a few weeks, she says, she “began bumping into” John Morris Russell, associate conductor of the Savannah Symphony Orchestra. Finding herself at an event where he was speaking about the symphony, she soon found herself

married, they moved here. Thea’s first impression of Music Hall was “amazement at the sheer scale,” she says. She started reading about its history and did what she could to support Russell, who was trying to diversify his audiences by reaching out to local Black churches. As background, she began researching African American involvement in the building, first the boxers—Ezzard Charles was one of the earliest to fight there—and then the basketball players, the bands in the Greystone Ballroom, and the musical performers. She thought she was on to something, a story that Cincinnati didn’t tell very well. “I said to myself, This is a small history of America going on right here,” she says.“It was amazing how many bands wanted to play here, hoping to make it to Harlem, partly on the strength of the WLW radio signal, or WSAI or WNKY. You wanted to come to Cincinnati to get on the radio.”

AS FINAL EXTERIOR DETAILS ARE RESTORED, MUSIC HALL WILL COME CLOSE TO THE ALMOST FANTASTICAL APPARITION ITS FOUNDERS IMAGINED IN 1878: A WELCOMING TEMPLE OF THE ARTS AND EXPOSITIONS. thinking, I could marry that guy. He’s such a dynamic speaker! “Somewhere along the way, John heard me say that I’d just moved back from Akron, and it turned out that he’d been the assistant conductor of the Akron Symphony,” she says. “Like we were following each other around. He said to me, You had classes in Guzzetta Hall. We dated for a year or so in Savannah.” Russell auditioned with the Cincinnati Symphony in 1995, and Thea enthusiastically accompanied him north for a look around. During her summer between semesters in graduate school, she had worked at the William Howard Taft National Historic Site in Mt. Auburn, and from that experience had developed strong positive feelings for Cincinnati. Russell got the job, working under Eric Kunzel for the Pops and Jesús López-Cobos for the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, and a year later, officially 7 4 C I N C I N N AT I M A G A Z I N E . C O M J U N E 2 0 2 1

THEA BECAME PASSIONATE ABOUT MUsic Hall’s history and future possibilities, but she was also busy with two children— son Jack, who is now a sound engineer at a Chicago recording studio, and daughter Alma, currently taking a gap year before she starts college. Once they were up and out and she could devote more time to Music Hall, she began developing tours on her own, pointing to places of interest on the facade and sharing interesting historical facts. By 2015, she caught the attention of Peter Koenig, president of what was then still the Society for the Preservation of Music Hall, and board member Don Siekmann, who insisted she join them. Not long afterwards, she was on the architecture and planning committee, displaying photographs she’d unearthed from the distant past, asking, Can we do this? Can we do that? Preservation is our middle name! Soon enough, when Thea spoke in those

board meetings, others listened. She had a presence that, in a comfortable way, radiated authority; she had a vision, and documentation to back it up. “She is a dynamo and a whirling dervish,” says Koenig. In a May 2016 memo sent to others on the board to make her case for re-creating the original look of Corbett Tower, the nononsense specifics of her vision become clear: “Talk to architects about exposing as much of the cove ceiling, stenciling, and original room shape as possible (46 feet wide by 112 feet long by 30 feet high); talk to the lighting crew and make sure of specs and needs; paint analysis: date our stenciling to decide the target restoration date; paint analysis for the walls, so that they are the same date to match the stenciling; most likely the cove trim and crown molding and plaster cove will need repair; hire a restorationist for the stenciling preservation and restoration. Thea.” Today, the renovated Music Hall is a case study in what taste and money, along with a reverence for the past and confidence in the future, can accomplish. Anyone who knew the old building—with its sandblasted outer skin, tawdry marquee, and brickedup windows—can rightfully marvel at what stands there now, a monument to the High Victorian Gothic aesthetic, polished and programmed for contemporary needs. Thea, it seems fair to say, is primarily responsible for much of that new look. She discovered the black bricks on the Elm Street front and Central Parkway back that were integral to Hannaford’s original concept. Having read numerous articles about them, she learned that Hannaford had seen the pattern on a trip to England. She pored over old photos and concluded that he’d wanted this intentionally bold pattern so that people could see the building through the smog of the era. She recognized that beneath the hall’s sandblasted brick exterior, lost through the decades, a pattern of black bricks had indeed been essential to the way Music Hall first looked in 1878. She wondered if the design team could replicate those bricks during the renovation. The Society for the Preservation of Music Hall had money— not limitless funds, by a long shot, but enough to satisfy the request. The board eventually agreed that the black brick de-

IT TAKES A VILLAGE CONTINUED FROM PAGE 57

It Takes a

Village By Lisa Murtha Illustration by Olivia Waller

tail would make a critical difference and agreed to bear the extra cost. Thea also lobbied for the tracery in the three windows below the all-important rose window on Music Hall’s front facade. They’d been covered over in brick for decades, hiding a dropped ceiling in Corbett Tower containing heat and air conditioning. Now they were going to be opened, and that alone was a giant step forward by altering and improving what visitors see as they approach the building. But Thea knew that the Victorians would not have left those windows as simple glass panes; they were all about flowers and ornamentation. They had demanded a tracery design to complement the rose window pattern in the 1870s, and so would she. Again, there was cost. Again, SPMH was able to underwrite it. Again, the board agreed. And, finally, Thea investigated the exterior lyre sculpture and 10 sandstone finials, each a decorative element at the peaks of the gables. In their original form, the finials referenced the leaves of a plant, leading to a geometric interpretation of a flower with an acorn on the top. Like so much else, they were critical to the building’s design but corroded by time. Thea found dozens of historic photographs to help her make the case to restore them. Once more, she brought the board along, and now new finials made from glass fiber reinforced concrete will be installed by early July. She will then start encouraging the Friends of Music Hall to restore the missing metal ornamentation, almost like lace, that once upon a time ran the length of the rooflines between Music Hall’s gables. With those eventually in place as well, the appearance of Music Hall will come close to the almost fantastical apparition its founders imagined 143 years ago: a joyful, welcoming temple of the musical arts and expositions, filling all who approach it with anticipation. “Music Hall feels like a sanctuary,” Thea says. When you see it through her eyes, “with the rose window and the three other windows below it, and the light pouring in through them to Corbett Tower,” you know what she means. And you want her to keep fighting for it.

Rosemary’s Babies Company and Cincinnati Scholar House surround young parents with the support they need to raise their children and achieve their own dreams.

As she struggled to understand her own life and build a program that could help others in the same boat (roughly 3,000 children are born to teen mothers each year in Hamilton County, the RBC website says), she realized something else crucial: why this kept happening to Black families like her own. “Most minority families are taught: What happens in this house stays in this house,” she says. “It all boiled down to the family. At what point did a person in that family identify it as a problem? And what I was finding was most families don’t identify it as a problem because this is what that looks like—it’s generational.” That realization not only helped her understand how to fix her own family’s life—“I went back and taught my sister and my brother: This is how we’re all gonna raise our kids so they’re not teen parents. We’re gonna be the first to open conversations. We’re gonna be the first to learn to communicate in a way that is not yelling and screaming and cussing”—it made her understand how to help others do the same. Between the extensive research she’d done and using her own family as a sort of pilot program, the foundation for RBC was almost fully designed and ready to implement by the time she’d earned her master’s degree. Oglesby-Henry officially opened the nonprofit in 2016 and initially focused on offering 24-7 confidante care. “Teen parents can contact us through any social media platform or text whenever they are in need of support,” she says, whether that’s mental support, a car seat, a breast pump, diapers, or even an Uber to a doctor’s appointment. To date, the program has grown exponentially. Confidante care is still part of RBC, but so is a United Way–funded Leadership and Legacy program, which teaches life skills and

goal-setting and includes a one-to-one mentoring program, and weekly Seeds to Inspire meetings (peer-to-peer learning sessions that focus on helping teen parents with relationship, parenting, and communication skills). Oglesby-Henry also offers STEM programming for kids and has started up a consignment shop for clients; soon, she’s hoping to open Holloway House, an emergency and transitional housing site where young moms like Marshall can live with their kids when they can’t live at home. All of it, she says, is aimed at teaching her teen clients responsibility, accountability, and that “nothing in this world is free.” The numbers show a clear need for so much of Oglesby-Henry’s programming. RBC works with more than 200 clients per year (almost 900 total since the program’s inception); 90 percent of them, she says, are single mothers of color and 30 percent are homeless. To date, 99.7 percent of RBC clients report no repeat pregnancies and 100 percent have been guided toward the resources they need—be it daycare, technology, workforce development, or emotional support—to complete high school, find jobs, and move forward in a positive way. WHILE IT’S CRUCIAL TO HAVE OGLESby-Henry focused on stabilizing teen parents, it’s equally important to have organizations in place that can pick up where RBC leaves off. Enter the Cincinnati Scholar House (CSH), which targets single parents age 19 and up who have graduated high school and are serious about earning a college degree but don’t have the financial, emotional, or childcare support they need. On its most basic level, CSH—which is open to both single moms and dads—is a 44-unit apartment building with an onsite, five-star-rated Step Up To Quality daycare. Parents who are accepted into CSH can live there and utilize the daycare as long as they are full-time students pursuing either an associate or bachelor’s degree, with a minimum GPA of 2.0. Right now, 40 mothers and 64 children live at CSH. (Some dads showed interest initially but so far none have enrolled.) In return, CSH offers parents a safe

F EJ U BN RU 4 CCI N I NNCAT I NINMAT E A2R0Y2 12 0C 1I N A GI M A ZAIGNAEZ. CI NOEM. C O7M 5

IT TAKES A VILLAGE place to raise their families. “The majority of our parents were one step away from being homeless,” says Director of Family Support Services Felicia Sullivan, “or they were living in the attic with somebody else.” It also offers an extraordinary support system, including access to internship opportunities; job readiness training; head-of-household classes; workshops about ﬁnancial literacy, cooking and nutrition, and home ownership; and even social activities. Most of all, residents receive extensive academic support, including monthly meetings with Sullivan to assess their goals and accomplishments through each semester at school. As with RBC programs, teaching personal responsibility is a big part of CSH. Both Danielle Wagoner, a 34-year-old mother of two (a 1-year-old and a 7-yearold) who’s studying graphic design at Cincinnati State, and Cierra Jones, a 31-yearold mother of two (a 9-month-old and a 5-year-old) studying business administration at Strayer University, say it makes

them feel supported and that they grow stronger when Sullivan holds them accountable for grades. But they also caution that single parents considering joining the program need to understand, as Jones says, “You’re gonna have to work for it.” The CSH is an affiliate of Louisville, Kentucky’s Family Scholar House, which operates five main campuses in Louisville, says Family Scholar House President and CEO Cathe Dykstra; the other affiliates, including Covington’s Lincoln Grant Scholar House, are all in Kentucky. The CSH opened in June 2020, but was roughly seven years in the making—a collaborative effort between Model Group, Christ Church Cathedral (especially now-deceased parishioner Mark Sackett), and Cincinnati Union Bethel (CUB). Today, CUB runs CSH with significant volunteer and financial support from Christ Church Cathedral. A day in the life of a single parent who lives at CSH looks something like this: On days she works, Wagoner wakes up at 6

a.m., gets herself ready and packs her baby’s bag, makes breakfast, and drops her oldest off at St. Clement School by 7:30. After that, she drops the baby off at CSH daycare and drives to Springdale to work as an aide, cleaning and running errands for an elderly client, by 8:30. When she gets off work at 11:30, she attends online classes until 1 or 2 p.m., picks her kids up from school and daycare, goes to the grocery, comes home, cooks dinner, helps her daughter with her homework, gives her kids showers, tucks them in at 8 p.m., and starts her own homework. After that, she says, “I go to bed and do it all over again.” On the side, she designs custom T-shirts. Her ultimate goal is to attend UC’s DAAP to study fashion design. Wagoner’s schedule is grueling, but much more manageable with the support of Sullivan and Managing Director Rainie Moody. In fact, says Wagoner, just knowing “we have somebody who actually cared about where we were going, who actually cared about our studies” goes a long way to-

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ward keeping single parents focused on their end goals. Sure enough, says Dykstra, most single parents who enroll quickly realize that the Scholar House is “an environment richly focused on their success.” AS WITH OGLESBY-HENRY’S CONFIDANTE Care program, Sullivan and Moody are highly accessible to all of the parents enrolled in the CSH program.“They e-mail us all times of day and night because they know we will respond and hear them and tend to their needs as they arise,” says Sullivan. It’s the challenges of the different age groups each program targets, though, that largely differentiate the way the programs work. The 13- to 19-year-olds Oglesby-Henry works with are not quite as focused, as any parent of a teen will attest. In fact, says Oglesby-Henry, “Kids hate programs,” so she works hard to ensure that “teens don’t look at us as a program. They’re like: ‘Oh, that’s [just] Miss Rosemary, not Rosemary’s Babies. She’ll send you an Uber.

They answer a call in the middle of the night. They text. She cool.’ ” Younger parents are also often still struggling with their own parents, who— like Marshall’s mom—are frustrated they got pregnant in the ﬁrst place, or who expect them to immediately know how to act like full-blown adults just because they’ve had a baby. And ﬁnding child care at any age when you make little or no money, don’t know where to look, and rely almost solely on public transportation is easier said than done, she adds. Fitting school into an already crammed parenting and work schedule when you’re still navigating high school is tough as well, especially because many single parents living in poverty are inadequately prepared for higher-level classes. Even in college, this is a problem. “I graduated from Withrow with honors so I assumed I’m smart,” says Oglesby-Henry. “When I went to Cincinnati State, I tested below the state standard in mathematics, so I spent two semesters

having to take remedial math before I could even begin my college-level courses.” Add in the fact that “not every teen wants to go to college,” says Oglesby-Henry—a selfdescribed admirer of CSH—and it can be tough getting teen parents to focus on what comes next. Meantime, over at the Scholar House afﬁliates, their major challenge is not a fear of programs. Dykstra says they have more than 800 families on the waiting list for their four established Scholar House programs alone. The bigger obstacle: Clients who are hesitant to commit because they don’t know anyone who went to college. Once they’re in, a whole new slew of challenges pops up. CSH administrators have found that getting program participants to stick to the rules can be tough. (“I had to learn to be responsible—get up a little earlier,” says Jones, on trying to get to daycare by the 8 a.m. cutoff time.) And “sometimes the past becomes a challenge,” too, says Moody, who notes that the “No overnight guests” rule can be

Over the Rhine & Through the Street Outdoor Music Hall Tours Return

DISCOVER THE ARCHITECTURAL MAJESTY AND HISTORY OF CINCINNATI MUSIC HALL AND HER SURROUNDING OTR NEIGHBORHOOD Did you know Cincinnati has a National Historic Landmark in our own backyard? If you are seeking a local, safe outdoor activity this spring, summer and fall, Friends of Music Hall invites you to our 60 minute outdoor walking tour with knowledgeable guides. Tours follow all COVID-19 safety protocols. April through November. Thursdays at 4 pm and Saturdays at 10 am Tickets: FriendsofMusicHall.org or call (513) 621-ARTS.

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IT TAKES A VILLAGE

y wi t h u t r a s

2021 EVENTS CALENDAR MARCH BEST RESTAURANTS APRIL SPRING SAVOR CINCINNATI JUNE PRIDE HAPPY HOUR JULY SUMMER FOOD FEST SEPTEMBER SLICE NIGHT OCTOBER DOWNTOWN LIVING TOUR NOVEMBER FALL SAVOR CINCINNATI DECEMBER BEST OF THE CITY CINCINNATIMAGAZINE.COM/OUREVENTS

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especially tough to follow, because “that cycle is still trying to go on,” even while participants are trying so hard to focus on finishing school. EARLY ON, WHEN RBC WAS JUST UP and running, Oglesby-Henry recalls a meeting with another nonprofit representative who told her: “You know why people don’t do what you do? It’s too hard.” Her response? “If we continue to do the same thing, then we will never change the generations and we will never get anything accomplished. So I’m OK with the hard.” A few things that make dealing with “the hard” easier? “Every person needs at least one win,” says Oglesby-Henry, and “you definitely need one person in your corner,” a role that she, Sullivan, and Moody work hard to fill every day. In addition, notes Oglesby-Henry, these single parents need the help of various social service resources and tools, especially at first, when they are just getting up on their own two feet. OglesbyHenry, Sullivan, and Moody are also seasoned pros at directing clients to services that can help meet their needs; included in that are resources to help these parents “move past their trauma,” adds Oglesby-Henry, who notes that half of RBC clients accessed mental health care through the program. But anyone working closely with these issues also knows that social service programs alone aren’t the solution. “You’ve got to be working for your stuff, too,” says Jones. “You have to help yourself to be helped.” Having a strong spiritual grounding helps, too, says OglesbyHenry. (Jones, as an example, reports spending time in prayer every day.) So does making sure fathers are involved in their children’s lives. In fact, RBC was originally just for teen mothers, but once Oglesby-Henry graduated, she realized “there was no support really for teen fathers, and that these relationships between the teen parent and their significant other/boyfriend/child’s father were broken because nobody taught them how to communicate.” So last year, OglesbyHenry sponsored a panel for Black teen fathers, “Show Me How To Love,” featur-

ing Urban League CEO Eddie Coen, Bryant Insurance Group President Ronald Bryant, and Cincinnati Police Department’s Deon Mack, all three former teen fathers themselves. And RBC also welcomes dads to weekly Seeds to Inspire learning sessions, too. Another thing both Oglesby-Henry and CSH administrators know is that lifting yourself up is something few people are able to do alone. “I know where I came from,” says Jones. “I probably could have worked hard to get where I am right now by myself, but it probably wouldn’t have happened this fast or I probably wouldn’t have been this focused.” Bottom line? “I wouldn’t be where I’m at today without them,” she says of Sullivan and Moody. That, in a nutshell, is how OglesbyHenry, Moody, and Sullivan all operate—meeting clients where they are and supporting them through countless challenges, but also gently pushing them, one step at a time. Because behind every woman like Rosemary Oglesby-Henry, there was once a girl like Marshall— young, inexperienced, and sometimes overwhelmed. Even as she works to complete her high school credits, Marshall has found herself thinking differently now that she’s a mom. She worries about Prince Amauri being neglected or mistreated when she’s not around. She worries, too, about needing to leave school or work if something happens to him, and about how she will keep him off the streets as he grows older, “away from negativity” and involved instead in something fulfilling, like sports. Thinking about college or a career for herself right now seems like a far-off dream; it’s been hard enough to just get through high school math classes and find her own apartment. Her advice to other teens who find themselves pregnant and stressed out? “If somebody’s rushing you, take your time. Do everything at your pace,” because managing two lives instead of one is harder than you think. Most of all, find someone like Oglesby-Henry to lean on for support. “Miss Rosemary helps a lot of teenage parents,” says Marshall. “She’s the mother of doing that.”

PROMOTION

15 MINUTES

SPRING SAVOR CLASSIC

SAVOR CINCINNATI DISHED UP FOUR NIGHTS OF INCREDIBLE FOOD & DRINK AT PINECROFT AT CROSLEY ESTATE In April, 500 Cincinnati foodies joined Cincinnati Magazine for the sixth Savor Cincinnati dinner series at the Pinecroft, the former home of Powel Crosley Jr. This year, participating chefs were nominated by our readers. Each evening, two of the city’s most celebrated chefs were challenged to create a multi-course collaboration, along with curated wine pairings. Thank you to all of our sponsors, who made this experience such a success! THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS: Presenting Sponsors: Kroger, Funky’s Catering Events Major Sponsors include: FIJI Water, Hornitos Supporting Sponsors include: KMK Law, Nothing Bundt Cakes, Strategic Benefits PHOTOGRAPHS BY HARTONG DIGITAL MEDIA

RED, WHITE & SMOOTH M A D E W I T H W A T E R . ENR ICHED B Y PA CIFIC MINER A L S

AL PASTOR TACOS P. 84

D NE SIP AND SEED PARTIES P. 84

CLIFTON HEIGHTS CAJUN P. 86

CINCINNATI COOKS DIRECTOR P. 86

SMOKE BREAK Dry-rubbed slow smoked chicken from Pampas in O’Bryonville.

PHOTOGRAPH BY CHRIS VON HOLLE

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DINING OUT

PLAYING WITH FIRE

PAMPAS brings its smoky style to O’Bryonville.

—A K S H AY A H U J A

UAN IMERONI ACQUIRED THE PROPERTY THAT NOW HOUSES PAMPAS IN FEBRUARY 2020. That particular corner of O’Bryonville has long housed restaurants, but there seemed to be a touch of bad luck surrounding it—two very good restaurants, Enoteca Emilia and Eighth and English, both opened and closed there within the span of a few years. This time, the bad luck struck before the restaurant even opened, and on a global scale. Two weeks after Imeroni bought the building, the pandemic shut everything down. The many months of delay gave him extra time to work on the decor and buildout. Pampas ﬁnally opened for take-home meals during the week of Thanksgiving, and for indoor dining in December. Imeroni is an established restaurateur in the city’s dining scene, and two of his restaurants—Ché in Over-the-Rhine and Butcher and Barrel downtown—dip into his Argentine heritage. A glance at either menu, though, will show dishes like gnocchi Bolognese and milanesa napolitana, plus burgers, steaks, and wings. Much like American food, Argentine cuisine is a melting pot shaped by some fairly recent immigration, particularly from Italy and Germany, and with plenty of meat on the plate. The menu at Pampas resembles these other restaurants—and even has some of the same dishes, like the provoleta, which is a big slab of grilled cheese. Pampas is more upscale, though, and eschews casual dishes like the empanadas that are served at both of its sister restaurants. Also, Pampas puts parrillada, the Argentine method of cooking over an open ﬂame, at the heart of its menu. The name of the restaurant comes from the enormous grassland that stretches across Argentina, Uruguay, and Brazil. With the region’s focus on cattle ranching and fairly sparse human population, it has some 8 2 C I N C I N N AT I M A G A Z I N E . C O M J U N E 2 0 2 1

FYI

Pampas 2036 Madison Rd., O’Bryonville, (513) 321-0863, pampascincinnati.com Hours Dinner Wed & Thurs 4–10 pm, Fri & Sat 4–midnight, lunch and dinner Sun 10 am–10 pm Prices $8 (Squash Soup with Ancho Crema)–$32 (Marinated Skirt Steak with Chimichurri) Credit Cards All major The Takeaway Rustic ﬂame-infused Argentine cooking with surprisingly elegant desserts.

PHOTOGRAPHS BY CHRIS VON HOLLE

BURN, BABY, BURN (Left to right)

Dulce de leche cheesecake; the Pampas dining room; provoleta, baked provolone cheese with fennel and chile-churri, and an Argentine G&T, made with Los Apostoles Mate gin; the cozy bar.

similarities to the American idea of the Old West, with the Argentine gaucho taking the place of our cowboy—self-reliant, and with a rough-and-ready attitude toward things like food and personal comforts. Imeroni has fond memories of visiting his grandparents in this area and took inspiration from the rustic meals he used to eat there. Today, most people grill with gas or wait for the charcoal to burn down and have an even glow. We actually aren’t used to a lot of flame directly on our food. At Pampas, though, almost all of the dishes go up against the fire, and there is a penetrating smokiness that pervades the whole menu. You can taste it intensely in everything. You can even find it in the drinks, where a simple syrup made out of charred orange appears in the popular Gaucho del Camino cocktail along with lime and an ancho liqueur. It might be a bit much for some people—I found the burnt flavor too pronounced in dishes where there wasn’t an assertive flavor to stand up to it. (For example, in the burger, with its fairly ordinary combination of cheese, bacon, and onions, or the salmon with Israeli couscous, which is dominated by the taste of butter.) However, in dishes where the smokiness is matched by equally intense flavors, the parrillada style works nicely. As might be expected, the chimichurri at Pampas—the Argentine herb and vinegar sauce, one of their great contributions to world cuisine—is excellent. Luckily, it appears throughout the menu, and does wonders wherever it goes. Spicy, tart, and filled with the flavor of oregano, it wakes up dishes like the marinated skirt steak and adds a lovely depth of flavor to the dish of French fries, one of my favorite finds

at Pampas. Something like an Argentine poutine, Pampas covers the fries with lamb gravy, smokes the cheese curds, adds minced thyme and rosemary along with the chimichurri, and then lightens things up with some spicy leaves of watercress. The highlight of the meal at Pampas, though, rather surprisingly, is dessert. These are made by Chef Barbara Tome, who recently came to Cincinnati from Argentina and deserves special commendation for the three dishes she adds to the menu, all of which are magnificent. The cabernet pears are cooked in a complex spiced wine reduction that beautifully sets off the sweetness of the pears. A cinnamon crumble adds texture and a touch of vanilla whipped cream rounds out the whole dish. The dulce de leche cheesecake, with its crispy chocolate base and marshmallow-y top, is almost as good, as is the chocolate tart, with its delicate fruit sauce and anise-tinted cream. All of them are impeccably balanced and totally delicious. With the pandemic in full force, Pampas had to open with a fairly stripped-down menu of four entrées. The restaurant planned to significantly revamp things in the spring, so by the time this review appears there should be more dishes, including more small plates, more seasonal offerings, and more proteins—particularly more cuts of beef, as befits an Argentine restaurant. There are also plans to expand its outdoor space beyond the small patio currently out back. Pampas is quite beautiful inside, filled with mosaic tile and old wood and wall hangings. As suits its name, it manages to be both rustic and elegant. Even with masks and the tables a bit farther apart, it is lovely to have this building in O’Bryonville humming with life again. Hopefully, this corner’s bad luck—along with all of ours—is finally coming to an end. J U N E 2 0 2 1 C I N C I N N AT I M A G A Z I N E . C O M 8 3

HOT PLATE

Taco Paradise

This pop-up stand ﬁnds a permanent home in Pendleton.

ERRICK BRAZIEL’S TACO STAND, PATA ROJA, only recently sprouted up in the parking lot outside of Bar Saeso, but its roots run deep—it is the delectable culmination of Braziel’s 13 trips to Mexico and his month-long stint at a taqueria in Mexico City. Each dish at Pata Roja reﬂects his team’s commitment to authentic, regional Mexican food. You can order tacos à la carte for $4 apiece or buy three for $10. I went with the meaty trifecta: bistec (steak), pollo (chicken), and al pastor (marinated pork)—each served on a soft corn tortilla with shredded cheese griddle-fried into it (for extra deliciousness), then topped with onion, cilantro, and a creamy, bright orange salsa. Each taco was ﬁlled to its edges with meat; Pata Roja doesn’t skimp. As a food writer, I’m supposed to slow down and savor each dish, but the juicy, lightly charred pork and pineapple of the al pastor, the chopped chicken with its BBQ-like sweetness, and the soft, savory steak broke through my futile attempts at decorum and professional responsibility. Ditto for the side of smoky arroz rojo (Mexican rice). After my meal, Braziel told me that one of his missions is to make regional Mexican food more accessible. Thanks to stands like this, it’s sure to happen.

—BRANDON WUSKE

FIELD NOTES

FARM LIFE Quiwi Produce’s “sip and seed” parties help your garden grow. —AIESHA D. LITTLE

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Nadia Ruffin, a.k.a. Urban Farm Sista, has made it her mission to get more people into urban agriculture. The owner of Quiwi Produce and founder of Agricademy Inc., Ruffin has undergraduate and master’s degrees in agriculture and entomology from Ohio State University and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, which she uses to create programs on Black empowerment through agriculture for kids and adults. “Many people think agriculture is just farming,” Ruffin told the podcast Cultivating Place back in 2019. “Agriculture is a huge industry. There are so many components that people aren’t even aware of.” And she’ll teach you all about them when you schedule one of her “sip and seed” parties. Party topics include garden Quiwi Produce, types and plant requirements, and she’ll even supply the seeds you’ll need to quiwiproduce.farm/ get your garden started at home. seedparties

PHOTOGRAPH BY LANCE ADKINS

ICONS (FIELDNOTES) BY JACARTOON & SPIRAL MEDIA/ STOCK.ADOBE.COM

Pata Roja (at Bar Saeso), 1208 Sycamore St., Pendleton, patarojatacos.com

F I N D F RES H

SUMMER FAVORITES

! W E N

Now at Your Local

TABLESIDE WITH...

TAKEOUT HERO

TONY LAVATORI

The director of Cincinnati COOKS celebrates nine years with the culinary training program. You used to be an acting partner and restaurant and culinary manager at Bonefish Grill. Why did you make the switch to nonprofit work? Before my time in the restaurant industry, I worked for nonprofits and government agencies as a wildlife biologist. In the summers, I worked as an adventure education specialist, elevating self-esteem and self-efficacy through the use of the outdoors. COOKS is a return to raising self-esteem through experiential education.

FOR A TASTE OF NEW ORLEANS IN THE MIDWEST, CHECK OUT K&J SEAFOOD. THIS TASTY seafood shack (which also has a Findlay Market location) runs a takeout window a block from UC’s main campus. You can place an order at the window, but it’s better to order through the website or call ahead to save time. As a sign near the entrance states, this is not fast food. Here, you get slow-cooked, made-with-love Cajun comfort food. I opted for that classic New Orleans sandwich: the shrimp po’ boy. The shrimp po’ boy at K&J is served on a fresh, hefty sub roll that provides the perfect sourdough chew. I’ve met many a po’ boy that fell apart after two or three bites. Not so at K&J. Better still, this place does not skimp on the shrimp: I counted six hefty pieces, lightly fried so all that briny shrimp flavor stays intact. Add lettuce, tomato, pickles, and “grenade” sauce (a sweet remoulade), and you’ve got a filling sandwich that feels like a bite out of the bayou. In addition to the crinkle cut fries that come with the sandwich, I ordered sides of spicy sausage and corn. The spicy sausage (think Cajun kielbasa) brought the right amount of heat and snap, while the corn had a K&J Seafood, spicy seasoning that evoked Mexican street corn, elote. In a neigh2516 Clifton Ave., Clifton borhood stacked with craveable, portable meals, K&J Seafood is a Heights, (513) 873-8727, kjseafood.com definite standout. — B R A N D O N W U S K E 8 6 C I N C I N N AT I M A G A Z I N E . C O M J U N E 2 0 2 1

How has the pandemic affected the program? We had to scale back on training numbers and put in place social distancing measures. We started back with half-size classes [this year] and restructured the program to work with a smaller number of students. We are hoping to get back to full class sizes in July. What’s your ultimate goal for Cincinnati COOKS? Our goal is to not only provide excellent, relevant kitchen training and skills, but to help our students be successful in life long term. — A I E S H A D . L I T T L E Cincinnati COOKS, freestorefoodbank.org/cincinnati-cooks

PH OTO G R A PH BY L A N C E A D K IN S / ILLU S TR ATI O N BY C H RI S DA N G ER

Bayou Beauty

Is there anything you learned during your time in the restaurant business that you use now? What’s really needed to be successful in a kitchen setting. Skills like using a knife properly, sense of urgency, mise en place. Other important skills that we teach include being on time, problem solving, time management, and more soft skills.

Celebrate Ohio Wines Hanover Winery

Heineman’s Winery

Located in Ohio’s SW corner between Hamilton and Miami University Oxford. International award-winning wines, live entertainment and catered food. Enjoy outdoor seating with scenic views and beautiful sunsets. Hanover Winery Festival August 6th & 7th 2021 Open all year. Visit our website & Facebook for all the info!

Heineman Winery, now in its 5th generation is Ohio’s oldest familyowned winery. Take a ferry trip to Putin-Bay and enjoy a bottle of wine and a cheese plate in our beautiful wine garden. We are also home to Crystal Cave, the world’s largest Celestite geode! Tours daily, early May-end of September. Call the winery for more details.

2165 Morman Rd. Hamilton, OH 45013 (513) 863-3119 hanoverwinery.com

978 Catawba Avenue Put-in-Bay, OH 43456 (419) 285-2811 heinemanswinery.com

Skeleton Root We are a full working winery located in historic Over the Rhine, in downtown Cincinnati – located one block from Findlay Market. Focused on minimal intervention winemaking with heritage grapes, all wines are made on-site from grape to glass. Tasting lounge open Friday through Sunday. Enjoy Summer on our patio!

www.skeletonroot.com 38 West McMicken Ave. Cincinnati, OH 45202

Visit us today, order your free Ohio Wine Guide at (614) 728-6438

WHERE TO EAT NOW

AMERICAN 88 BARBECUE 88 CAJUN/CARIBBEAN 90 CHINESE 90 ECLECTIC 91 FRENCH 92

DINING GUIDE CINCINNATI MAGAZINE’S

INDIAN 92

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

ITALIAN 94 KOREAN 94 MEDITERRANEAN 94 MEXICAN 95 STEAKS 95

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

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 2020.

THAI 95

spiced mayonnaise, are wonderfully addictive. The restaurant demonstrates that what we now consider “fast food” can be awfully good if someone makes it the old-fashioned, slow way. 1800

AMERICAN 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 contrasts of colors and textures belongs to someone who cares for food. 1000 Summit Place, Blue Ash, (513) 794-1610, browndogcafe.com. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner Mon–Fri, brunch and dinner Sat, brunch Sun. MCC, DS. $$

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 edamame (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-

Race St., Over-the-Rhine, (513) 579-8400, goose andelder.com. Lunch Tues–Fri, dinner Tues–Sun, brunch Sat & Sun. MCC. $$

THE NORTHSTAR CAFÉ

PARK IT

If you’re still leery about eating indoors, grab a package from the Terrace Café’s new “Picnic in the Park” menu, all of which come with a reusable CAM tote bag and a picnic blanket. (Personally, we’d opt for the cheeseand-wine themed “Van Gogh To-Go.”)

cincinnatiartmuseum. org/visit/shop-dine/ terrace-café

5007. Lunch and dinner seven days. MCC. $

GOOSE & ELDER The third restaurant from chef Jose Salazar, Goose & Elder is a more everyday kind of joint compared to his others. The prices are lower, and most of the dishes, from burgers to grits, are familiar. Salazar’s menus have always hinted that the chef had a fondness for, well, junk food. But junk food is only junk if it is made thoughtlessly. Everything here is made with little twists, like the cumin-spiced potato chips and delicate ribbons of housemade cucumber pickles with a sweet rice wine vinegar. Even the fries, crinkle cut and served with “goose sauce,” a mildly

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In Northstar’s ﬁrst outpost beyond the Greater Columbus area, the space itself reflects the ethos of the food: warm and comfortable, but still modern and fresh. The dinner and cocktail menus are fab, as is the large bar. But breakfast is worth waking up early for. Take the mushroom frittata, made with meaty mushrooms, caramelized sweet onions, and Gruyère. The portions are no joke—that frittata comes with potatoes and a dense, perfectly crumbly-but-moist housemade biscuit—yet it doesn’t feel gluttonous or excessive. In large part that’s due to the freshness (e.g., the sausage made in-house daily) and the abundance of healthy options. One of our favorites: the shooting star juice, a balanced blend of carrot, ginger, orange, and lemon. 7610 Sloan Way, Liberty Township, (513) 759-0033, thenorth starcafe.com. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner seven days. 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. $$

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 two or three specials—its flavor profile partially 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 stuffed salmon 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. Lunch and dinner Mon–Fri, brunch and dinner Sat & Sun. 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 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 cheekby-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, elis barbeque.com. Lunch and dinner seven days. 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 housemade tomato and garlic dressing. Slightly thicker than a vinaigrette yet unwilling to overwhelm a

Love is natural Today and every day, we celebrate love in all its shapes and colors.

MAIN WHERE REVIEW TO EAT NOW

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

CHINESE

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

BREWRIVER CREOLE More than 800 miles from New Orleans, this may be as close as you can get to the real deal here in your own backyard. 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. The jambalaya packs 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 nightly live jazz, you may just feel tempted to start a second line. 4632 Eastern Ave., Linwood, (513) 861-2484, brew rivercreolekitchen.com. Dinner Tues–Sun, brunch & lunch 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 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, Manila 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.,

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Take a gander at the authentic Chinese section of the menu. There you’ll find a ballet of smoky, spicy sliced conch; thick handmade noodles soaking up rich, nostril-searing brown sauce; and crispy pork ears arranged like flower petals on the plate (think of fine Italian prosciutto). The popular American-Chinese chicken dishes are there, too, including General Tso, sweet and sour, and sesame chicken. 11955 Lebanon Rd.,

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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. $$

ECLECTIC Top 10

BOCA

With its grand staircase, chandelier, and floorto-ceiling draperies, Boca has an atmosphere of grandeur and refinement. There is a sense of drama not only in the decor but in everything it serves. In some dishes, there is a painterly sense of contrast and surprise, like violet-derived purple sugar beside the pain de Gênes (French almond cake). In others, there is a dramatic suspense, like the whole egg yolk quivering in the center of the Fassone tartare waiting to be broken. While staying mostly grounded in the fundamentals of Italian and French cuisine, Boca has an air of international sophistication that sets its food apart. The hamachi crudo, an old standby on the menu, takes Japanese flavors and gives them new dimensions with grapefruit suprêmes and slivers of shishito pepper. This is food of extraordinary creativity and flair.

114 E. Sixth St., downtown, (513) 542-2022, bocacincin nati.com. Dinner Mon–Sat. MCC, DS. $$$

Top 10

BOUQUET RESTAURANT AND WINE BAR

Normally diners aren’t pleased when a restaurant runs out of something. At Bouquet, though, surprise changes to the menu are simply a sign of integrity. Chefowner Stephen Williams is serious about using seasonal ingredients, and if the ﬁgs have run out or there is no more chicken from a local farm, so be it. The ﬂavors at Bouquet are about doing justice to what’s available. Preparations are unfussy, complexity coming from within the vegetables and proteins themselves. A tomato salad—wonderfully fresh and vibrant, so you know the tomatoes have just come off a nearby vine—is dressed with chopped shiso, a crimson herb that tastes like a mysterious combination of mint and cilantro. This determination to make something delicious out of what’s on hand, to embrace limitations, gives the food at Bouquet a rustic, soulful quality. 519 Main St., Covington, (859) 491-7777, bouquetrestaurant.com. Dinner Mon–Sat. MCC, DS. $$

CHÉ This Walnut Street spot draws on authentic Argentine recipes, including the empanadas. Choose from more than a dozen different crispy, perfectly cinched dough pockets, with ﬁllings ranging from traditional (a mixture of cumin-spiced beef, egg, and olives) to experimental (mushrooms, feta, green onion, and mozzarella). There are also six different dipping sauces to choose from, but you need not stray from the house chimichurri. It complements practically every item on the menu, but particularly the grilled meats, another Argentinian staple. Marinated beef skewers and sausages are cooked on an open-ﬂame grill, imparting welcome bits of bitter char to the juicy meat. 1342 Walnut St., Over-the-Rhine, (513) 345-8838, checincin nati.com. Lunch Tues–Sun , dinner seven days, brunch Sat & Sun. MCC. $$

CROWN REPUBLIC GASTROPUB 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 quality that I can only describe as “good energy.” 720 Sycamore St., downtown, (513) 246-4272, crgcincy.com. Lunch and dinner Tues–Sat. MCC. $$

E+O KITCHEN The former Beluga space comes alive with a menu that conjoins minimalist Asian with gutsy-cum-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) 8321023, eokitchen.com. Lunch and dinner seven days. MCC. $$

THE LITTLEFIELD Inside a modest 1,500 square-foot space on Spring Grove, just south of Hamilton Avenue, at least 70-odd bourbons behind the bar drive this little restaurant’s philosophy. The

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menu is meant to be limited, the better to support and celebrate the bottled flavors up front. There are surprises: a faint hint of curry powder deepens the moody cauliflower fritters; skewered golf-balls of mild, peppery ground lamb get a faint crust from the final sear. You’ll also want to order the smoked pork katsu. Panko crusted cutlets of pork, topped with tonkatsu sauce, served with sesame ginger slaw and kewpie mayo. The signature chicken and corn chowder is exactly what you need on a cold winter’s day. 3934 Spring Grove Ave., Northside, (513) 386-7570, little fieldns.com. Lunch Mon–Sat, dinner seven days, brunch Sun. V, MC. $

MELT REVIVAL In this Northside sandwich joint, the restaurant’s name pretty much dictates what you should get. Diners have their choice of sandwiches, including the vegetarian cheesesteak—seitan (a meat substitute) topped with roasted onions, peppers, and provolone—and the J.L.R. Burger, a black bean or veggie patty served with cheese, tomato, lettuce and housemade vegan mayo. For those who require meat in their meals, try the verde chicken melt: juicy pieces of chicken intermingle with pesto, zucchini, and provolone. Not sure you’ll want a whole sandwich? Try one of the halvesies, a halfsalad, half-soup selection popular with the lunch crowd. 4100 Hamilton Ave., Northside, (513) 8188951, meltrevival.com. MCC, DS. $ Top 10

MITA’S

It’s ﬁtting that chef Jose Salazar named this restaurant after his grandmother, because there is something deeply homey about the food at Mita’s. With a focus on Spanish tapas, it always feels, in the best possible way, like elevated home cooking. Its sophistication is modestly concealed. The ﬂavors are bold and direct, whether the smoky depths of the chimichurri rojo on skewers of grilled chicken or the intensely bright sourness of the pozole verde. In dishes like the mushroom soup, the chef hits every register: the acid of red piquillo peppers to balance the earthy mushrooms, the crisp fried leeks against the delicately creamy soup. But what mainly comes through is the warm-hearted affection a grandmother might have put into a meal for a beloved grandson. It’s the kind of big hug everyone needs from time to time. 501 Race St., downtown, (513) 421-6482, mitas.co. Dinner Mon–Sat. MCC. $$$ Top 10

ORCHIDS AT PALM COURT

The food at Orchids isthat is wonderfully complex, diverse, and surprising. A dish of parsnip soup has a quinoa chip and apple butter, along with salty duck prosciutto, notes of smoke and spice from the espelette pepper at the base of the bowl, and a touch of acid that crept in on the roasted parsnip. In a few dazzling bites it all comes together like a highly technical piece of music. A Southeast Asian–inspired halibut dish, with its green curry paste, adobo, and peanut brittle, shows how Zappas can break out of the restaurant’s traditionally European comfort zone. Aside from the food, part of the pleasure is simply being in the space, enjoying the jazz band, and watching the grace and assurance of the staff as they present the meal. 35 W. Fifth St., downtown, (513) 564-6465, orchidsatpalmcourt.com. Dinner seven days. MCC. $$$$

THE QUARTER BISTRO The Quarter Bistro has multiple personalities: one part clubby neighborhood joint, one part dinner and a movie with a dash of lusty romance. The Bistro Burger, a half-pound of black Angus beef, is seasoned but not overly so, with a sturdy-but-not-too-chewy bun. The 18-hour short ribs are the star, and reason enough to skip the movie next door. Braised into a ﬂavor bomb of

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meat candy, it’s served with papardelle pasta, roasted vegetables, and onion straws. With the no-lip service, The Quarter Bistro could be well on the way to making middle age look sexy. 6904 Wooster Pke., Mariemont, (513) 271-5400, qbcincy.com. Dinner seven days. MCC, DS. $$

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 and seasoned fries inspire countless return visits. 1212 Vine St., Over-the-Rhine (513) 421-2020, sen atepub.com; 1100 Summit Place Dr., Blue Ash, (513) 769-0099, senateblueash.com. Lunch and dinner Tues–Sat. (Blue Ash only: Brunch, lunch, and dinner Sun.) MC, V, DS. $

THE SUMMIT This “laboratory restaurant” staffed by Midwest Culinary Institute students features a limited but eclectic menu. Soft shell crab goes Latin with black beans, avocado, lime, and chiles. Spanish mackerel is given a Mediterranean twist with yogurt, cucumbers, pickled red onion, and chickpeas. A more traditional pasta dish of hand cut pappardelle with prosciutto, peas, and Parmesan makes an appearance alongside a Kurabota (the pork equivalent of Kobe beef) “hot dog.” Some dishes work better than others: There is redemption in a rustic combination of morels with cream, shallots, and tangy, smoky Idiazábal sheep’s milk cheese. The complex ﬂavor of earth, wood, and char makes this a classic dish for enjoying, not for analyzing. That’s exactly what culinary students should be striving for. 3520 Central Parkway, Clifton, (513) 569-4980, midwest culinary.com. Dinner Thurs–Sat. MCC, 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) 3814607, and other locations, authenticwaffle.com. Breakfast and lunch Mon–Sat, dinner Tues–Sat, brunch Sun. MCC. $$

TERANGA West African cuisine consists of mostly simple, home-style dishes of stews and grilled lamb with just enough of the exotic to offer a glimpse of another culture. Be prepared for a few stimulating sights and ﬂavors that warm from within. An entire grilled tilapia—head and all—in a peppery citrus marinade and served on plantains with a side of Dijon-coated cooked onions is interesting enough to pique foodie interest without overwhelming the moderate eater. Stews of lamb or chicken with vegetables and rice are a milder bet, and Morrocan-style couscous with vegetables and mustard sauce accompanies most items. The dining room atmosphere is extremely modest with most of the action coming from the constant stream of carryout orders. 8438 Vine St., Hartwell, (513) 821-1300, terangacinci.com. Lunch and dinner seven days. 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, zulabis tro.com. Dinner Tues–Sat. MCC. $$

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, chez reneefrenchbistrot.com. Lunch and dinner Tues– Sat. MCC. $$

LE BAR A BOEUF Jean-Robert de Cavel’s upscale alterna-burgershack 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 mac-and-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. $$

INDIAN AMMA’S KITCHEN 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

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

BOMBAY BRAZIER 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 dal tadka 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 pappadi 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 the soul of a homesick immigrant, and fresh treasure for any American lover of this cuisine. 7791 Cooper Rd., #5, Montgomery, (513) 7940000, bombaybraziercincy.com. Dinner Mon–Sat. MCC. $$$

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BON VIVANT

Mochiko Pastry Chef Elaine Townsend’s pistachio and mango sans rival was a featured recipe in Bon Appetit’s May issue. You can also ﬁnd a video of her making the Filipino dessert on the magazine’s Instagram feed.

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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) 7694549, brijmohancincinnati.com. Lunch and dinner Tues–Sun. MC, V, DC. $

I TA L I A N ADRIATICO’S Everything about this place says it’s about the pizza: the herbed sauce, the assault of the cheese, the toppings. It’s all evenly distributed, so you get a taste in every bite. Adriatico’s still delivers the tastiest pizza in Clifton. On any given night the aroma wafts through every dorm on campus. It’s that popular because it’s that good. Being inexpensive doesn’t hurt either. 113 W.

quattro formaggi a particular highlight—and the prices on these items, along with the wine, were quite reasonable. 110 S. Second St., Loveland, (513) 583-0300, emilialoveland.com. Lunch Sat & Sun, dinner Wed–Sun. MCC. $$

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, fornoosteri abar.com. Dinner Tues–Sun, brunch Sun. MCC. $$ Top 10

NICOLA’S

Chef/Restaurateur Cristian Pietoso carries on the legacy of his father, Nicola, as the elder Pietoso’s Over-the-Rhine eatery celebrates 25 years in business. You can still get the old Italian classics at Nicola’s, and they’ll be as good as ever, but the rest of the menu has blossomed into a freewheeling tour of modern American cuisine. Any establishment paying this level of attention to detail—from the candied slice of blood orange on the mascarpone cheesecake to the staff’s wine knowledge—is going to put out special meals. Rarely have humble insalate been so intricately delicious, between the perfectly nested ribbons of beets in the pickled beet salad or the balance of bitterness, funkiness, and creaminess in the endive and Gorgonzola salad. Order an old favorite, by all means, but make sure you try something new, too. 1420 Sycamore St., Pendleton, (513) 721-6200, 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) 9650100, padrinoitalian.com. Lunch and dinner seven days. MCC, DS. $$

McMillan St., Clifton Heights, (513) 281-4344, adria ticosuc.com. Lunch and dinner seven days. MCC. $

KOREAN

ENOTECA EMILIA Margaret Ranalli revives her O’Bryonville restaurant in a new Loveland space. The menu makes the most of seasonality—which is apparent in the shrimp spiedini. The star of the dish is not the grilled shrimp; it’s the salad of ﬁrm diced peaches on which it is served. It is pure summer on a plate. The dish may be off the menu by the time you’re reading this, but any chef who can celebrate an ingredient like this can carry the whole year. Simple presentations of exquisitely fresh ingredients appear throughout the menu, from the the oyster mushrooms served with Brussels sprouts to the roasted sweet corn on the pizza. Enoteca Emilia does the classics well—the crust on both pizzas we tried was just right, the

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who’ve never eaten a bite of Korean food before. 628 Vine St., downtown, (513) 381-0947, haru cincy.com. Lunch and dinner Mon–Sat. MCC. $$

SURA 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 two-pepper 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 combination 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) 2043456, surakorean.com. Lunch and dinner Mon–Sat. MCC. $$

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 green pepper 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 feta and fresh and dried herbs into phyllo dough, and frying it lightly 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) 8718714. Lunch Mon–Sat, dinner seven days. MCC. $$ Top 10

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

PHOENICIAN TAVERNA

No matter how much restraint you go in with, meals at Phoenician Taverna quickly become feasts. There is just too much that’s good, and everything is meant to be shared. With fresh pita bread continuously arriving from the ovens, and a table of quickly multiplying meze (hummus, falafel, muhammara), there is a warmth and depth to the cooking that envelops you. With such traditional cuisine, you may think there isn’t much left to discover beyond simply executed classics prepared according to time-tested methods. But there are always new discoveries as the ﬂavors mingle from plate to plate: the tabbouleh with the hummus, mixed with a touch of harissa, or the smoky baba ghanoush spooned onto

falafel. Phoenician Taverna keeps taking these classics a little further. 7944 Mason Montgomery Rd., Mason, (513) 770-0027, phoeniciantaverna.com. Lunch Tues–Fri, dinner Tues–Sun. MCC. $$

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. 5209 Glenway Ave., Price Hill, (513) 471-2100, sebastians gyros.com. Lunch and dinner Mon–Sat. Cash. $

MEXICAN 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., Madisonville, (513) 785-0000, mazuntetacos.com. Lunch and dinner Mon–Sat, brunch Sun. MCC. $

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. $

STEAKS CARLO & JOHNNY The stars of the menu are 12 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 raw bar, seafood, pork chops, et al, if you’re interested in non-beef alternatives. 9769 Montgomery Rd., Montgomery, (513) 936-8600, jeffruby.com. Dinner seven days. MCC. $$$$

LOSANTI A bit more upscale than its sister restaurant, Crown Republic Gastropub, Losanti is also more conservative in its offerings. Service is friendly and informal, and though the meal feels like a special occasion, prices and atmosphere are right for, say, a date, rather than a wedding anniversary. The ﬁlet mignon, rib eye, and New York strip are cut to order for each table (there are a few available weights for each). The steaks themselves are totally irreproachable, perfectly seasoned, cooked to precisely the right point. Losanti even makes the steakhose sides a little special. Sweet and smoky caramelized onions are folded into the mashed potatoes, a nice dusting of truffles wakes up the mac and cheese, and the sweet corn—yes, totally out of season, but still good—is at least freshly cut off the cob and recalls elote with lime and chile powder. 1401 Race St., Over-the-Rhine, (513) 2464213, losantiotr.com. Dinner Mon–Sat. MCC. $$$

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

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 scenesters and power brokers (and those who think they are), everything in this urban steakhouse is generous—from the portions to the expert service. 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, jeffruby.com. Dinner Mon–Sat. MCC, DC. $$$$

MORTON’S THE STEAKHOUSE 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) 621-3111, 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 signature seasoning 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 baked macaroni and cheese, the creamy garlic mashed potatoes, the crisp-tender asparagus 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

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. $

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, wildgingercincy. com. Lunch and dinner Mon–Sun. MCC, DS. $$ CINCINNATI MAGAZINE, (ISSN 0746-8 210), June 2021, Volume 54, Number 9. Published monthly ($14.95 for 12 issues annually) at P.O. Box 14487, Cincinnati, OH 45250. (513) 421-4300. Copyright © 2021 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.

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CINCY OBSCURA

Land Legs NEARLY 600 MILES FROM THE ATLANTIC COAST, “THE WORLD’S LARGEST HORSESHOE

Crab” resides not in water, but on a well-mowed lawn in Hillsboro. The foam-and-fiberglass arthropod—which measures about 67.5 feet long, 33 feet wide, and 10.5 feet high—lures tourists from State Route 124 to the small Highland County town. “It has put Hillsboro on the map,” says Ben Sexton, who recently sold the crab to his brother, Jim. “People travel from everywhere to see this crab.” Before anchoring outside Ben’s home, the oversized sea creature traversed the country. Built in 1997 for a Baltimore biotechnology research institute, the crab was purchased for the Creation Museum in Kentucky and later donated to a creationist church in Blanchester. Ben visited the crab during business trips and, in 2015, purchased the burnt-orange piece of Americana to complement his vintage-camper rental company. Since then, the iconic crab has reeled in thousands of visitors, estimates Ben’s neighbor, Harrison Gallaugher. And the Sexton brothers plan to keep it that way. “I don’t know what the future holds for the crab,” Ben says, “but I know [Jim] has no plans to move it.” — B E B E H O D G E S 9 6 C I N C I N N AT I M A G A Z I N E . C O M J U N E 2 0 2 1

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