DINING OUT
SECOND ACT
Four years after closing, ENOTECA EMILIA makes a comeback in Loveland. — A K S H A Y A H U J A
T
HE PAST FIVE YEARS HAVE BEEN A WHIRLWIND FOR MARGARET RANALLI, the owner of Enoteca Emilia. The first iteration of her restaurant opened in O’Bryonville in 2011 and had an enthusiastic following. Friends had recommended it to me back then, but I managed just one meal before Ranalli, for a variety of reasons, chose not to renew her lease and closed the restaurant in 2016. After moving to South Carolina for two and a half years, Ranalli was approached about a new space opening in Loveland. After seeing the spot, and what a vibrant place the neighborhood had become, she decided to come back to Cincinnati and revive Enoteca Emilia. Several other pieces fell into place: She brought back her original chef, Brittany Blodgett, along with much of the old menu. Then the pandemic hit. In Ranalli’s words, no matter how long a person might have worked in the industry, “none of your experience prepared you for this.” There were small issues (it was impossible to find linens with the right color of stripes); medium-sized issues (some of the wines on the all-Italian list were no longer available); and some truly substantial ones (Chef Blodgett changed her mind after the restaurant’s pandemic-related closure and was replaced by Chef Patrick Bresnahan, formerly of Nicholson’s). Enoteca Emilia has now returned with a slightly condensed menu focused on some of the classics, like pizzas and pasta, plus a few seasonal dishes with mostly local ingredients that will rotate periodically. It’s hard to imagine a more difficult time to be running a restaurant. But when you cannot do things exactly as you would like, certain blessings appear inside the situation that is forced upon you. 7 8 C I N C I N N AT I M A G A Z I N E . C O M N O V E M B E R 2 0 2 0
FYI
Enoteca Emilia 110 S. Second St., Loveland, (513) 583-0300, emilialoveland.com Hours Please call ahead for hours and services. Prices $12 (Margherita pizza)—$28 (grilled lamb with fingerling potatoes and Brussels sprouts) Credit Cards All major The Takeaway Worthy of the original iteration and doing lovely things in uncertain times.
PHOTOGRAPHS BY JEREMY KRAMER