Cincinnati Magazine - September 2021 Edition by Cincinnati Magazine

Walk This

Step up your next stroll with these 31 trails, stairs, bridges, and tours.

Way PATH FINDERS Exploring at Caldwell Nature Preserve

EASTERN KENTUCKY UNIVERSITY 521 Lancaster Ave. • Richmond, KY 40475 (859) 622-1000 • www.eku.edu

Eastern Kentucky University, centrally located just 90 minutes from Cincinnati in Richmond, Kentucky, is a student-centered comprehensive regional university dedicated to high-quality instruction, service, and scholarship. Underscoring the University’s legacy as a “School of Opportunity,” many of Eastern’s successful alumni were the ﬁrst in their families to attend college. Even today, nearly 40 percent of EKU graduates are ﬁrst-generation college graduates. At the same time, EKU attracts more of the best and brightest students. Approximately 14,500 students come from every state, and thousands of alumni worldwide have distinguished careers. Approximately 62 percent of the University’s bachelor’s graduates are employed in Kentucky three years after graduation—the highest rate among Kentucky’s public institutions. Many EKU graduates are employed in service occupations vital to any community’s quality of life: education, health care, and public safety.

THE STATS YEAR FOUNDED: 1874 // CURRENT ENROLLMENT: 14,465 // STUDENT-FACULTY RATIO: 15:1 // UNDERGRADUATE DEGREES OFFERED: 86 // MASTER’S DEGREES OFFERED: 47 // DOCTORAL DEGREES OFFERED: 6 // SUBJECT MATTER EXPERTISE: American Sign Language (English Interpretation), Animal Studies, Athletic Training, Aviation, Criminal Justice, Education, Fire and Safety, Forensic Science, Interactive Multimedia (Game Design), Nursing, Occupational Therapy, Professional Golf Management, Social Justice Studies // DISTANCE FROM DOWNTOWN CINCINNATI: 105 miles // IN-STATE TUITION: $9,452 // OUT-OFSTATE TUITION: $10,500 // PERCENTAGE OF STUDENTS ON FINANCIAL AID: 81% // TOP AWARDS/RECOGNITIONS: U.S. News & World Report • Forbes • Military Times // AFFILIATED COLLEGES/SATELLITE CAMPUSES: Regional Campuses in Corbin, Hazard, Lancaster, and Manchester, Kentucky

FIND OPPORTUNITY AT EASTERN KENTUCKY UNIVERSITY Choose from more than 100 in-demand degree programs, including aviation, criminal justice, education, nursing and more! Plus, with EKU’s discounted out-of-state tuition rate, you can go away to college for less and still be within an hour-and-a-half drive of Cincinnati.

1 year after graduation, 79% of EKU bachelor’s grads are employed within Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio or Tennessee.

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F E AT U R E S S E P T E M B E R 2 02 1 STEP IT UP THE FAIRVIEW PARK STEPS ARE NUMBERED WITH MOSAICS TO HELP YOU COUNT YOUR CLIMB ALL THE WAY TO 204.

WALK LIKE A CINCINNATIAN

Take a hike and try these urban stairs, park strolls, walking and running paths, riverfront trails, guided tours, running clubs, family events, and walkable Ohio River bridges.

SEEKING CURES FOR OHIO’S BUNGLED MEDICAL MARIJUANA SYSTEM P. 52

The ﬁght to include autism as an approved condition for medicinal cannabis typiﬁes the slow rollout of Ohio’s two-year-old system.

MR. BENGAL IS MR. BELOVED P. 56

Dave Lapham is a former player, a long-time broadcaster, and—best of all—a full-time Bengals fan. Just like the rest of us. BY ROBERT WEINTRAUB

BY CARRIE BLACKMORE SMITH

PH OTO G R A PH BY B R IT TA N Y D E X T E R

S E P T E M B E R 2 0 2 1 C I N C I N N AT I M A G A Z I N E . C O M 5

D E PA R T M E N T S S E P T E M B E R 2 02 1

ON OUR SITE

128

FOOD NEWS

14 / LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

FRONTLINES

18 / SPEAK EASY

128 / CINCY OBSCURA

Oktoberfest Zinzinnati’s Cynthia Oxley

Owl Creek Bison

Victoria Morgan opens her ﬁnal season with Cincinnati Ballet

18 / FILM

17 / DISPATCH

BY BEBE HODGES

A Nancy Rexroth documentary and Q&A at the Esquire

DINE

20 / STYLE COUNSEL

Repertoire, Florence

Bartender Aerin Cox

22 / HOMEGROWN 50 years of Wild Berry Incense

24 / GREAT ROOM A peek inside Covington’s Hearne Mansion

26 / DR. KNOW Your QC questions answered

COLUMNS

28 / WELCOME TO MIDDLEHOOD How to live to be 86 BY JUDI KETTELER

114 / DINING OUT 116 / HOT PLATE Inkazteka, Deer Park

116 / TABLESIDE WITH…

CITY NEWS

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

Joe Henke, Henke Winery

118 / TAKEOUT HERO Kanji, Over-the-Rhine

118 / FIELD NOTES Farm to Hangover grows a great Bloody Mary

119 / PANTRY Morsel & Nosh, Northside

120 / DINING GUIDE Greater Cincinnati restaurants: A selective list

HOME + LIFE

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

32 / CITY WISE Walking Cincinnati’s neighborhoods BY ANNETTE JANUZZI WICK

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ON THE COVER

photograph by JEREMY KRAMER

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Cincinnati Magazine

@Cincinnatimagazine

SPORTS

Insight and analysis on the Bengals, Reds, and FC Cincinnati.

PHOTOGRAPHS BY (TOP) CHRIS VON HOLLE / (BOTTOM) ANDREW DOENCH

14 / CONTRIBUTORS

The latest news from our reemerging dining scene.

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Is it painful? No. You will only feel a slight cooling on your toes during the procedure.

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Smart Guide to Local Schools

Current studies show a benefit in 89% of patient’s nails. The laser treatment usually takes a few months before you begin to see healthy nail growth.

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OFF THE MARKET Nick Greene and Tamia Stinson met in 2017 and got to know each other while exploring downtown and Over-the-Rhine. In June, they welcomed family and friends to a cocktail party at The Columns in Findlay Market, where they exchanged their vows.

PHOTOGRAPH BY LARRISON PHOTOGRAPHY

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Local Love Album Take a peek inside eight couples’ special days, and learn about the local vendors who made it all possible.

1 0 C I N C I N N AT I M A G A Z I N E . C O M S E P T E M B E R 2 0 2 1

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WHITNEY/STRONG’S

A NIGHT FOR LIFE R E F L E C T I O N S O N S U R V I VA L Saturday, Sept. 25

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F E AT U R I N G S T O R Y T E L L I N G T H R O U G H l o c a l a r t i s t s WITH featured survivors

WHITNEY AUSTIN

DION GREEN

SARA BENNETT

Co-Founder and Executive Director of Whitney/Strong

Founder of the FUDGE Foundation

Teacher at Teays Valley Local Schools

Survivor of mass shooting on

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Survivor of mass shooting in the Dayton

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Sister of Danielle Leedy who died

PEGGY HARRIS Mother Mother of John Harris who was murdered in Cincinnati in 2007

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about WHITNEY/STRONG The Whitney/Strong Organization is made up of gun violence survivors, gun owners and advocates who are concerned about lives lost to all forms of gun violence. Whitney/Strong was founded by Whitney and Waller Austin weeks after Whitney survived a shooting on Fountain Square in Cincinnati in 2018.

For more information or to purchase tickets, visit whitneystrong.org/a-night-for-life.

S E P T E M B E R 2 02 1

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF John Fox DESIGN DIRECTOR Brittany Dexter

DISCOVER HEALTHY, BEAUTIFUL SKIN

DIRECTOR OF EDITORIAL OPERATIONS

Amanda Boyd Walters

PUBLISHER Ivy Bayer SENIOR ACCOUNT MANAGERS

Maggie Wint Goecke, Julie Poyer ACCOUNT REPRESENTATIVE

SENIOR EDITOR Aiesha D. Little

Hilary Linnenberg

DIGITAL EDITOR Sam Rosenstiel

SENIOR OUTSIDE ACCOUNT REPRESENTATIVE

ASSOCIATE EDITOR Lauren Fisher

Laura Bowling

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

SENIOR MANAGER, SPONSORSHIP SALES

Chris Ohmer SPECIAL PROJECTS MANAGER

Cecilia Rose SALES INTERN

Emily Hoskins

EDITORIAL INTERNS Emma Balcom,

Abby Bammerlin, Jorja Butt, Sam Cioffi, MacKenzie Tastan DIGITAL INTERNS Joí Dean, MC Miskuly,

Annasoﬁa Scheve SENIOR ART DIRECTORS Jen Kawanari,

Emi Villavicencio ART DIRECTORS Zachary Ghaderi,

Stephanie Youngquist ASSISTANT ART DIRECTOR Carlie Burton

BUSINESS

OPERATIONS DIRECTOR Missy Beiting BUSINESS COORDINATOR Erica Birkle

CIRCULATION

DIRECTOR OF AUDIENCE DEVELOPMENT

Michelle VanArman CIRCULATION MANAGER Riley Meyers

JUNIOR DESIGNER Logan Case 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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L E T T E R F R O M T H E E D I TO R S E P T E M B E R 2 02 1

CONTRIBUTORS

ROBERT WEINTRAUB

I T H I N K W E RU I N E D WA L K I N G W H E N W E D EC I D E D I T WAS A G R E AT FO R M O F E Xercise. Low impact, aerobic, cardio, weight loss, endorphins, stress buster, mental health boost, $200 shoes, treadmills—walking has gotten pretty complicated in recent years. And being told something is good for you takes some of the fun out of it, as far as I’m concerned. Think about how simple, enjoyable, and useful walking is. It’s one of the ﬁrst things we learn to do in life. You really don’t need expensive equipment; in fact, you don’t even need shoes. You can walk alone or with others. It’s the world’s cheapest and greenest form of transportation. If you’re in a hurry you can speed things up and run. Walking efficiently gets you from point A to point B, but it also allows you to discover points C through Z along the way. The intention behind this month’s “Walk Like a Cincinnatian” (page 38) is to remind us how much there is to appreciate around us when we walk—natural and man-made beauty, history, community, and companionship. It’s available with a ridiculously low barrier to entry, too; just put one foot in front of the other and move. Cincinnati’s earliest citizens walked because they had no other options, and they built stone staircases to conquer the hills. We can still use some of them today. After the automobile took over, we developed entire suburbs without sidewalks so we didn’t have to walk anywhere, which seemed like progress. And now we reclaim abandoned railroad tracks and unused riverfront space to build walking, running, and biking trails that connect neighborhoods, towns, counties, and states. “Pedestrian access” is how we measure progress these days. I have a framed knickknack on my mantel at home that says “Not all who wander are lost.” I’m a strong believer in the idea that life’s about the journey, not the destination. Here’s a riff on that saying regarding this month’s issue: Not all who walk are trying to go somewhere. Cincinnati is ﬁlled with people out for a walk and a journey; just don’t tell them it’s exercise.

J O H N F OX

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

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ILLUSTR ATIO N BY L A R S LEE TA RU

Despite never having lived in the Queen City, sportswriter Robert Weintraub has been a lifelong Bengals fan. And his passion for the team made it a “natural thing” for him to want to spend time with Dave Lapham. In “Mr. Bengal Is Mr. Beloved” (page 56), Weintraub dives deep into what makes the modest sports broadcaster such a cherished ﬁgure for Cincinnati football fans.

DAMIAN DOTTERWEICH After 30 years in Cincinnati, contributor Damian Dotterweich was eager to see the city from a new perspective. In “Walk This Way” (page 40), he documents a journey through the neighborhoods along Wasson Way. “You drive past these places and it’s just interesting to see them from a different point of view,” he says. “There are some areas of town I never would’ve known existed and I actually got to walk through them.”

JAMES YAMASAKI San Francisco–based James Yamasaki spent time watching videos of Dave Lapham to capture the spirit of the Cincinnati sports celebrity for “Mr. Bengal Is Mr. Beloved” (page 56). What stood out most was Lapham’s enthusiasm, which Yamasaki recreated in his comicinspired style. “Even though he’s a broadcaster,” Yamasaki says, “he’s also a big fan.”

OKTOBERFEST RETURNS P. 18

AERIN COX’S MOVEABLE STYLE P. 20

MAKING MOVES

Cincinnati Ballet and its outgoing artistic director, Victoria Morgan, look to their next chapters. L E Y L A S H O K O O H E

PHOTOGRAPH BY JEREMY KRAMER

OXFORD’S INCENSE KING P. 22

INSIDE THE HEARNE MANSION P. 24

HE DREAM CAME TRUE. THAT’S WHAT VICTORIA MORGAN, DEPARTING ARTISTIC

director of Cincinnati Ballet, wrote on the cement subflooring of the company’s new $35 million studios in Walnut Hills. “It’s covered now, but I know that my signature is right there,” she says. “That was really moving. It’s just phenomenal.” Morgan has presided over the company for almost 25 years, leading it through a true renaissance. First hired as artistic director in 1997, she took on CEO responsibilities when the company was on unsure footing financially in 2008. Since then, the ballet has returned to solvency, established an endowment, and emerged on the national stage, with tours to Alaska, the Joyce Center in New York, and the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. Morgan flourished in the 2010s, introducing new choreography for the beloved holiday staple The Nutcracker and for the story ballet Cinderella and creating an entirely new ballet, King Arthur’s Camelot, with original choreography, music, costumes, and sets. She returned to exclusive artistic leadership in 2017 with the arrival of Scott Altman, now president and CEO, and together they’ve relocated the company from the West End to Walnut Hills, where the Margaret and Michael Valentine Center for Dance opens to the public this month. The new headquarters has been tailored to suit a growing ballet company’s every need, with 57,000 square feet of space and nine studios, including the 3,650-squarefoot Rhonda and Larry A. Sheakley Premier Studio that looks out over downtown Cincinnati. “When I was giving my retirement speech, the one CONTINUED ON P. 18 S E P T E M B E R 2 0 2 1 C I N C I N N AT I M A G A Z I N E . C O M 1 7

DISPATCH

FILM

MEET CINCINNATI’S IMAGE MAKERS

The Esquire Theatre hosts local ﬁlmmaker Ann Segal’s documentary about photographer Nancy Rexroth, Light on IOWA. A post-ﬁlm Q&A features Segal, Rexroth, and Cincinnati Art Museum Curator of Photography Nathaniel Stein. Sept 19, esquiretheatre.com 1 8 C I N C I N N AT I M A G A Z I N E . C O M S E P T E M B E R 2 0 2 1

SPEAK EASY

OKTOBERFEST IS BACK (AND BIGGER) X Oktoberfest Zinzinnati will have an even higher proﬁle this month, says Cynthia Oxley, who directs the fest for the Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber: Munich canceled its (mostly indoor) original due to COVID-19 concerns. After its own year off, Cincinnati’s (all outdoor) version returns to downtown September 16–19 with Thursday hours for the ﬁrst time. Are the expanded hours a one-time decision for 2021? We’ve been thinking about this for a couple of years, based on requests from visitors and vendors. People know that Munich has a twoweek-long Oktoberfest, but we’re using public streets versus Munich having dedicated festival grounds. We’re kicking off on Thursday evening now, and we’ll stay open an extra hour to midnight Thursday through Saturday. How have vendors reacted to Oktoberfest coming back and to the new schedule? We know restaurants have been struggling with staffing and food costs over the past year, but our longtime vendors are ecstatic to be back. Almost all of them signed up for the extra day. One

of our beer distributors said they saw a 20 to 30 percent increase in sales at outdoor festivals this summer, so there deﬁnitely seems to be pent-up demand from the public. What goes into the decision to have or not have Oktoberfest? There are lots of moving pieces, but we’ve put this plan in place and will continuously monitor pandemic news. We’ll follow whatever safety measures the city and the state announce, so we’ll adjust as we go. You used the Taste of Cincinnati event brand to support a $4 million grant program for area restaurants. What were your takeaways? I’m so grateful to the restaurant community here for hanging in despite their pandemic hardships, and we were proud to support them. We estimate that the grants were able to help food and beverage businesses save about 3,000 jobs. We’re hoping to partner with the city of Cincinnati to do another grant round and include food trucks, walk-up windows, and Findlay Market vendors in addition to restaurants. —J O H N F OX OKTOBERFESTZINZIN NATI.COM

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

I L L U S T R AT I O N S B Y ( B A L L E T ) E M I V I L L AV I C E N C I O / ( S P E A K E A S Y ) Z A C H A R Y G H A D E R I / ( F I L M ) N A N C Y R E X R O T H ’ S “ M Y M O T H E R . P E N N S V I L L E , O H I O .” ( 1 9 7 0 ) C O U R T E S Y T H E 1 9 8 8 R E X R O T H FA M I LY T R U S T

place that really choked me up expand on all of those adult programs, was describing standing in the children’s programs, and community interactive programs here.” Sheakley Studio and looking out to see that skyline of Cincinnati,” says Morgan, The Valentine Center officially who announced her retirement in June. “I opened in August as the company dancwas thinking about how the city loves us ers returned from their summer layoff. and has taken care of us. People found a Altman says plans are being ﬁnalized way to make this building possible for us for grand opening festivities the week through their generosity and their belief of September 15, including a block party, in what this art form can offer and what a ribbon-cutting, a thank-you gala for we can become.” donors, and an Academy open house. Cincinnati Ballet also The search for a new arowes much of its recent tistic director kicked off in success to the Otto M. BuJuly, with the goal of havdig Academy, founded in ing someone designated by 1997 to offer ballet training spring 2022. Morgan remains at every level for kids and 2021–22 Season on board through July 2022 Cincinnati Ballet’s students from age 2 through to ensure a smooth handnew season kicks 18—including the Profesoff. “It’s very important to off with Kaplan New sional Training Division for her and to all of us that Vic is Works (in the Park) dancers on the cusp of proable to partner with the new September 23–26. fessional careers—as well cballet.org person to introduce her or as adult dance and fitness him to the community and help with that transition,” says Altman. classes. “We were never really able to accommodate for the impressive growth “Cincinnati Ballet will always be near of our Academy and training programs and dear to my heart,” says Morgan. “But at Central Parkway and Liberty,” says you know, I just turned 70. This position Altman. “We were maybe 600 families is intense, joyous, and passionate, and I strong there. This building gives us the can’t even imagine the kinds of things capacity to triple in size who we serve, I’m going to be missing. And yet a new just in our dance training.” life beckons.” The operative word is dance. The new What does that look like? “I want it to building is intentionally named a “censtill be movement, because movement ter for dance” to be inclusive of the wide has always been a part of my life, and I’m spectrum of dance that exists—and that thinking it’s movement for people more people pay to participate in. “It’s really my age,” she says. “With all of these wonto embrace the vocational and avocaderful connections and relationships, tional opportunities in the art of moveI’m a Cincinnatian now, even though I ment,” says Altman. “We will be able to didn’t go to high school here.”

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STYLE STYLE COUNSEL COUNSEL

Aerin Cox OCCUPATION: Host at Pampas, bartender at The Birdcage STYLE: “Whatever moves me” How do you describe your style? I don’t want to say “eclectic.” One day, it can be an 18th century look. The next day, I’m rocking some David Bowie, 1970s vibes. I would say my style is very universal. It’s whatever moves me or I’m in the mood for. Have you always been interested in fashion? I have been this way since I was a child. Even at a very, very early age, I was making dresses out of my father’s T-shirts. If I didn’t have it, I created it with a sheet or a curtain or even paper. I would literally put on every single necklace my mother owned, and I was like, This is a look. Your Instagram feed (@aerincharles) is gorgeous. Where do you get your clothes? It’s a hodgepodge. Most of it is thrifted, or I’ve been fortunate enough [to receive] vintage hand-me-downs, or I design it, or I make it. I Frankenstein it. I go out and get an oversized prom dress from the ’80s and make it up as I go. What’s your favorite piece in your closet? My all-time favorite piece is this 1980s sequined matador jacket. It feels like wearing an 8-pound baby. I hardly ever get to wear it, but I pull it out sometimes when I’m just schlepping around my apartment. It’s a great lightcatcher. It’s my favorite piece to wear out if I’m going to go dancing or something, ’cause Mama wants to snatch all that light. The last time I wore it was Halloween 2019—I went as Columbia from The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Do you work in fashion? I style my friends, or I stage their houses or their apartments. What I ﬁnd fashionable is not everyone’s cup of tea, but I’ve always been good at dressing people’s bodies for them: What color looks good on them? What ﬁt looks good on them? —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

MODERN LUXURY IN MT. ADAMS

Voltage offers modern, European furniture, lighting and accessories. This month’s furnishings combine warm colors with sleek, straightforward design that match the contemporary, California aesthetic of this Mt. Adams custom home.

2 4 3

1 Commenting on B&B Italia’s Ray modular sofa, Jeff Hinkel from Voltage points out that a blanket stitch adds an element of “handcrafted character” to the cushions. Another key feature is the die-cast, U-shaped foot.

2 The Lithos collection of tables – from designer Antonio Citterio’s Maxalto collection – can command attention in the center of a room.

3 The Frank side table can be drawn as close as possible to sofas and chairs, giving it a desired element of versatility.

voltagefurniture.com (513) 871-5483 @voltagefurniture

4 Paola Paronetto’s bowls show slight variations in shape, color and size which guarantees authenticity. Her most recent artistic endeavor is paper clay, a blend of paper pulp, natural ﬁbers and clay that creates a unique texture.

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HOMEGROWN

MAKING SCENTS

OXFORD INCENSE TITAN WILD BERRY CELEBRATES A HALFCENTURY IN BUSINESS.

“It’s a pain in the neck to make incense,” says Marc Biales, the founder of Wild Berry. “You’re dealing with liquids. The sticks are dusty. Then you have to clean up. If you didn’t have to do it, you wouldn’t do it.” The Miami University grad, descended from a long line of small-biz entrepreneurs, came to believe just that: He had to do it. He turned the homemade fragrance sticks, which he concocted in the back of the quirky college-town gift shop he had opened in 1971, into what is probably the nation’s largest manufacturer of incense. Half a century later, Wild Berry still crafts its products in-house (albeit now in a 69,000-square-foot facility in Oxford, Ohio), and exports many of its 100 scents worldwide. “I was trying to get out of it,” explains Biales. “I wanted to ﬁnd somebody else to make it, to sell it at my store. But I was going to all the trade shows and no one had a product as good as mine.” A light bulb went off in his head: If his incense was so superior, why not lean into the category? So lean he did. He

SMELLS LIKE SUCCESS 1: Making Wild Berry’s traditional incense sticks. 2: Founder Marc Biales. 3: Working at the Oxford factory.

—LAURIE PIKE

perfected the selection of raw materials; put more fragrance on a stick than his competitors; and devised a way to make the product stay fresh for months, even years. This year, the Wild Berry boutique on Oxford’s Main Street celebrates 50 years in business, having evolved from an emporium of domestic hippie handicrafts to a one-stop shop for esoteric international goods. Today the offerings range from gongs to bongs—there are pot-leaf leggings, musical instruments, vintage kids’ toys, candies, and nostalgic posters. Behind a beaded curtain in back is perhaps the only sex- and head-shop nook that could be called “cute,” with its

pink-fur handcuffs and one-hit pipes. What holds it all together, though, is the smiles that the merch elicits from shoppers. A handful of regional stores came and went in the ’70s and ’80s. But today, just the original store, plus a satellite housed in the factory compound, are what maintain the peace-andlove ethos. The ﬂagship

product—classic incense with offbeat scents such as Fairy Dust, Dragon’s Blood, and Love Shack— hasn’t just endured. It’s driven business to new heights. And at 25 cents a stick, it’s an inﬂationresistant, affordable luxury. The half-century mark does not signal a winding-down. “I could retire,” Biales says. “But why? I’m still having fun.”

2 2 C I N C I N N AT I M A G A Z I N E . C O M S E P T E M B E R 2 0 2 1

WILD BERRY INCENSE , INC ., WILD-BERRY.COM

PHOTOGRAPHS BY LANCE ADKINS

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DIAMONDS IN THE ROUGH The vases lining this alcove may 1 look priceless, but Lehman has a secret: They’re actually upcycled pieces from second-hand stores like Goodwill, transformed by local artist and model Laura Cianciolo.

PUT YOUR RECORDS ON 2 Guests at the Hearne Condo can take full advantage of the record player in the living room, which has been stocked with a curated collection of vinyls from the ’60s and ’70s, plus a few modern hits.

2 4 C I N C I N N AT I M A G A Z I N E . C O M S E P T E M B E R 2 0 2 1

SWING FROM THE CHANDELIER Pairing a funky chandelier with 3 a century-old ceiling medallion may seem counterintuitive, but this ﬁxture from Modern Forms breathes fresh, unexpected life into the space.

THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS “We left the [mirror] in the living 4 room gold so the space felt elevated and regal and painted the one in the bedroom black to make it a little more sexy and dramatic in there,” Lehman says. PHOTOGRAPH BY ROBBIE BARNETT

RENOVATE and Love Where You Live Again GOLD STANDARD

AN 1800S LIVING ROOM GETS A FACELIFT FIT FOR MODERN ROYALTY.— L A U R E N F I S H E R I

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that brought Mandy Lehman to the Hearne House. Before the designer got her hands on the space, she and her husband actually considered buying it. Lehman, the brain behind design agency MANMAN Studios, jumped at the chance to turn a section of the historic Covington mansion into a sophisticated condo that pays loving homage to its past. When she first arrived, the living room walls were painted a hodgepodge of colors that distracted from the finer details of the space, like the original plaster ceiling medallion. Her 21st century solution? Whitewash everything, save for a stripe of gold to bring out the detail in the crown molding. Lehman also kept the focal point of the room—the home’s insanely cool mantel mirror—painted gold to instantly lift the space and draw the eye all the way up the mile-high ceilings. The stately Victorian was built in 1874 by Jonathan David Hearne, who was instrumental in the construction of the John A. Roebling Suspension Bridge. Today, it’s available to rent through Cincinnati-based Neat Suites. Despite its historic prestige and white-gold color palette, the space is far from stuffy. Lehman’s eclectic fingerprints are all over, from the cow-hide rug under the coffee table to the pink arrangement blooming from the bar cart.

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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

by something as puny and ﬂeeting as an automobile. The house’s current owners do have a master strategy, and we are pleased to report that it’s based upon Cincinnati courtesy. Motorists can see their vehicle nosing out at the driveway’s edge, and it’s never long before someone slows down and allows them a safe exit. Returning home from downtown, however, is something else entirely. It’s a left turn, and it’s Columbia Parkway. The owners report that three vehicles have been lost to rear-enders. The Pitman House has a few neighbors, meaning that the tally of casualties could be even higher. But the current residents say the beauty of their view and of their home is worth everything. We’ll check in with their attitude after the next landslide.

Q+ A

My dad went to a Jimi Hendrix concert at Xavier Fieldhouse in 1968. It was the high point of his youth. He saved everything—ticket stubs, newspaper articles, etc. Years later he even found pages from Jimi’s diary mentioning the show. Are they worth anything? Who locally might be interested? — INEXPERIENCED

On Columbia Parkway near Kemper Lane, there’s a large old house halfway up the hill. How in the world do the people living there get out of their driveway into the steady 50 mph traffic? It must be a death-defying experience every day. Do they have a special strategy? — DIE ON THAT HILL

DEAR DIE:

The house you pass is the magniﬁcent Benn Pitman House, built circa 1880 above a slim horse path called Columbia Avenue. After witnessing the transformation from path to Parkway and surviving more than 150 years of landslides (see my Living in Cin column in the August 2019 issue, which details the hillside’s history of slips and slumps), this rock-solid home (and its residents) would hardly be intimidated

2 6 C I N C I N N AT I M A G A Z I N E . C O M S E P T E M B E R 2 0 2 1

DEAR INEXPERIENCED:

The Doctor regularly receives inquiries about the value of Boomer ephemera. Such a task is, to borrow from today’s youth lingo, “venturing beyond the boundaries of one’s lane.” We feel confident, however, that the image you provided of Mr. Hendrix’s diary—simply a photo of the authentic diary that resides in Seattle’s Museum of Pop Culture—will most certainly not excite a collector. But wait. Other images you have provided might interest social researchers. To wit, your March 8, 1968, copy of Xavier News mentioning the upcoming Hendrix concert. There were no bigger fans of the band known as the Jimi Hendrix Experience in 1968 than college students, so a ILLUSTR ATIO N S BY L A R S LEE TA RU

sociologist may wish to learn how a college newspaper came to discuss their appearance as “The Jimmy Hendrix Explosion.” On another page, a nonprofit establishment is described as “a non-prophet place.” Who produced such horrible journalism? ’Scuse me while I diss this guy.

" ąĖĨ - ĤĚ ĒĝV ù Ě ĘV HĦ geV

I recently got stuck waiting at a railroad crossing in Silverton. It’s a few hundred feet from a UDF, and while waiting I saw two cars behind me quickly veer left into the UDF, come right back out and go the other way. Is this legal? Seems like a dangerous thing to do. — ALL THE LIVE LONG DAY DEAR LONG:

Getting stuck at a railroad crossing in the 21st century feels like a lightning bolt of why-me annoyance. Trying to outrun it is, of course, a terrible idea, but other quick moves to avoid getting trapped can also be dangerous. Sudden U-turns in traffic are illegal anywhere, anytime; don’t do it. Likewise, dashing through corner gas stations to avoid a red light is verboten. But entering a UDF parking lot via a proper left turn, turning around safely, and exiting in the opposite direction? This seems like a legal maneuver regardless of a train’s presence. The Doctor is using the verb “seems,” because while various people answering the phones at the Silverton and Cincinnati District Four Police Departments were in agreement, they were not actual officers able to give official answers, and such actual officers were not able to return the Doctor’s inquiry by press time. Why, it’s almost as if these people had more important things to do. Please drive carefully.

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WE LCO ME TO MIDDLEHOOD BY JUDI KETTELER

How to Live to Be 86 SEARCHING FOR WISDOM WHILE NAVIGATING BETWEEN TWO VERY DIFFERENT GENERATIONS.

AT MY MOM’S HOUSE ON SUNDAY AFTERNOONS, I WORK ON MY LIST. IT’S CALLED “HOW TO live to be 86.” My two sisters are there, as always, because we spend almost every Sunday afternoon at her house—a ritual we’ve kept for 10 years. We talk about politics, history, jobs, husbands, everything. When we started, our dad was still alive but declining, and it seemed important to spend as much time together as possible. My kids were 1 and 3, and I remember those Sundays as very difficult, because Dad was cranky and my kids were wild and I felt exhausted all the time. It’s so different now. It’s just the adults, though my daughter, now 10, will often tag along. She comes mostly for the pit stop at Finke’s, the little market full of snacks and fountain drinks just down the street from Mom’s house in Ft. Wright. She alternates 2 8 C I N C I N N AT I M A G A Z I N E . C O M S E P T E M B E R 2 0 2 1

between eavesdropping on the grown-up conversations and FaceTiming with her friends in my old bedroom while eating her Finke’s chips. Mom has outlived just about everyone in her circle. My dad. Nearly all of her in-laws. Several of her friends. It’s occurred to me lately that I should be paying more attention to this feat and mining her longevity secrets. “So, Mom, let’s talk more about how you’ve lived to be 86,” I ask, rummaging around in her kitchen for a pencil. I find one in the magnetic memo pad holder that’s been a fixture on the fridge forever. It’s dull white with little green flowers and a dried-up eraser. “Wait a minute, I remember buying this pencil at Card Station at Tower Hill Plaza when I was, like, 11.” “Well,” Mom says, with her characteristic head tilt, “it’s still a good pencil.” “Add it to the list: Take care of your things,” my sister, Laura, quips. In fact, more than one artifact from my childhood peeks out. I spot the plastic yellow colander in the drain board, the same one I remember from when I was a kid. It has a hole in the corner from when it must have caught the edge of a burner before someone poured boiling pasta into it. I remember that you always had to pour the pasta a little askew so it didn’t fall through the hole. Mom could have bought a new one long ago. But this one still works well enough, she says, so why throw it away? As a middle-class white woman from a family with no significant history of the diseases that tend to claim lives early, Mom has plenty of advantages in the longevity game. She’s made good choices, too, like eating healthy, taking walks, quitting smoking back in the 1970s, and staying social through friends and volunteering. “And water,” says my sister, Nancy. “Make sure you put the thing about water on the list.” The joke is that a glass of water was always Mom’s go-to first aid. We laugh as I start jotting down notes. And though I agree about the water—my kids have bruised knees but are well hydrated—I’m not actually after a prescriptive list. I’m searching for something less tangible. On one hand, Mom hasn’t strayed far from her Depression-era upbringing that said Make do with what you have. But she’s managed to balance those formative influences with the idea that you have to stay ILLUSTR ATIO N BY D O L A SU N

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WELCOME TO MIDDLEHOOD current and not be seduced by the notion that your generation was the only one that knew anything. Sure, she holds on to old pencils, but she has an ever-rotating stack of library books on topics ranging from voting rights to religious conﬂicts. We trade book recommendations and read many of the same novels. She was the ﬁrst person I knew who listened to NPR, and her radio is still permanently tuned to WVXU. Her coffee table holds the

to pontiﬁcate but to learn. That ability to balance the essential part of you with the ability to evolve how you think is what I want to capture on my list. How do you do that over a lifetime? AT MOM’S HOUSE ON SUNDAYS, I’M THE youngest of my generation. I’m the baby of the family, at the tail end of seven kids. But on Tuesday nights, at our neighborhood book club and equity action

I SEE HOW PEOPLE GET OLDER WITHOUT GETTING ANY WISER. I WANT TO LIVE A LONG LIFE, BUT NOT A STALE ONE. I WANT MORE THAN YEARS. I WANT WISDOM. daily paper every day. She may not want to read it digitally, but she’s not ﬁghting the modern world. She’s eager to participate in conversations about culture and politics, not

group, I’m often the oldest person. I didn’t expect this when I joined with some neighbors a little over a year ago to read books and have honest conversations

about racism, ableism, sexism, LGBTQ issues, and other equity topics. I didn’t even notice the age gap in the first few meetings—we were meeting via Zoom, after all. It wasn’t until we were able to start gathering in person that I looked around one night and thought, Oh, this is new. I might be the oldest one here. I think about my age a lot, but not because I’m worried about wrinkles or holding on to youth. I’m trying to make it to 86, remember? No, I think about it because I’m always trying to figure out how I fit in. I’m a bit of a generational outlier, raised by Silent Generation parents who had mostly baby boomer children and then, in 1974, Generation X me. I waited until my mid-thirties to have kids, which means I’m one of the older parents. I have a mother who remembers when FDR was president and a daughter who will vote in her first presidential election almost 100 years after FDR was first elected. So in this group of mostly (but not all) millennials I’m hyperaware that our cul-

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tural markers aren’t the same. It’s not just that I remember using a typewriter to do papers in college; I also remember when Cincinnati was not a gay-friendly city at all. I grew up with messages about colorblindness I thought were good until only a decade ago. I’d already voted in six presidential elections before I understood that gender identity wasn’t a ﬁxed thing. And concepts like sexual consent have markedly evolved since I was a teenager. As months have gone on and we’ve read books and had great discussions in person and over social media, I realize how much I don’t know. How I thought I was one of the progressive ones. But you don’t get to keep that identity if you don’t continue to progress. I see how the presence of younger people with unfamiliar ideas can throw a person and trigger their fragility in all kinds of ways. And how it’s tempting to lash out at the younger generations. Call them a bunch of snowﬂakes. Retreat into the idea that your generation had it right

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

or at least deserves a break. I see how people get older without getting any wiser. I want to live a long life, but not a stale one. Not one where I think my cultural and historical markers are truer or earn me anything. I want more than years. I want wisdom. So I go back, month after month, to our Tuesday meetings. I don’t compare my Gen X sensibilities to their millennial ones so much any more. Those divisions aren’t helpful or particularly interesting. We’re all just learners. THE OTHER DAY, MOM AND I WERE TALKing about someone we both know from her social circle who’s a little younger than Mom but seems to have suddenly aged beyond her years. “She doesn’t have what I have, with you girls coming every Sunday,” Mom said. It’s not just as simple as the cliché that we keep our mom young; it’s that our presence forces her into action. “You know I clean up the house every

Sunday when you’re coming,” she says. “I don’t want you to think I’m some old lady who can’t manage.” I laugh, because that’s so Mom. No one would ever mistake her for someone who couldn’t manage. But there’s a gem in there. Something that deﬁnitely needs to be on my list. One of the best things my mom has taught me is to just keep showing up for people. You show up for you and you show up for them, and it creates a beautiful blend of mutual wisdom and accountability. Gen X is so angsty, but I’ve realized how lucky I am to inhabit this particular generational sandwich. I think about the book we just read in my group, Redeﬁning Realness, by Janet Mock; it’s her story of being a Black Hawaiian transgender woman who grew up in poverty. I did the newfangled thing all the kids are raving about and got the audio book. I listened while running. It was so good, the miles dropped away. I can’t wait to recommend it to my mom.

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CITY WISE BY ANNETTE JANUZZI WICK

Up Close & Personal

A GREAT WAY TO LEARN THE CITY IS TO WALK (OR RUN OR BUS) ITS 52 NEIGHBORHOODS.

I VENTURED OUT IN THE COLD IN DECEMBER 2016 ON A WHIM. I HAD THE VAGUE IDEA OF getting to know Cincinnati better via my feet, my curiosity, and my words. Given the city’s 52 neighborhoods, I could walk one each week across a year, right? I was raised in a small Ohio town where neighborhoods were defined by elementary schools or whatever friend lived nearby. Moving to Cincinnati in the late 1980s changed my definition. Work required driving through East Price Hill and Mt. Washington. I rented an apartment in Hyde Park and socialized downtown. Years later, relocating to Over-theRhine, I finally paid attention to the norths and souths, the easts and wests, and the many mounts I wasn’t familiar with. I’d drive through East Walnut Hills and look for the man who carves walking sticks. Or a craving for Mr. Gene’s Dog House in South Cumminsville would hit me mid-afternoon. Or 3 2 C I N C I N N AT I M A G A Z I N E . C O M S E P T E M B E R 2 0 2 1

I’d be fascinated by young students standing on Colerain Avenue at Hawaiian Terrace, one of the city’s most crime-ridden streets, smiling while waiting in the cold for a bus. Earlier this year I began driving across the city on food rescues for La Soupe. Notiﬁed of pickups and drop-off locations, I rarely check the map, and I credit my year of walks (and many since then) for this insider knowledge. It turns out I wasn’t the only person getting to know Cincinnati’s neighborhoods by walking them. While their methods and lessons varied, one thing remained constant: Like me, they found that what was relevant in their lives also resonated for others separated by highways, parkways, and three-ways. MIKE MOROSKI On January 6, 2020, Mike Moroski was still recovering from elbow surgery. Unable to do push-ups and weighing 240 pounds, he’d walk his downtown apartment’s stairways from the eighth floor to where his car was parked on the second, then back again. He graduated to the stairs, aiming for 10,000 steps a day. A few months later, quarantined, he bundled his 1-month-old son, James, into the stroller, walked across the Purple People Bridge, and returned via the Taylor-Southgate Bridge. Moroski hasn’t stopped since. Every morning at 5 a.m., father and son walk the streets of Cincinnati. “We listen to music,” says Moroski, “and I talk about live concerts as if his mom and I were there together.” He never set out with a plan to walk to all 52 neighborhoods from downtown; he set small goals instead. “I wanted to walk to Mt. Echo. Then, could I make it to the Crow’s Nest on West Eighth Street? How cool would that be?” Moroski went on to walk at least 76 half-marathons. His objectives centered on being a better dad and husband. But the alone time also impacted his work as Cincinnati Public Schools board member and policy and partnership manager at Cradle Cincinnati. “I walked the streets of our schools,” he says. “There’s a dramatic change passing Rothenberg [in Over-the-Rhine], traveling up Reading Road to Dana and Observatory and then passing Hyde Park schools. I notice what kind of trash is on the sidewalk. I notice newer sidewalks in gentriﬁed parts I L L U S T R AT I O N BY P E T E R RYA N

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CITY WISE of town. I might see a crack that got fixed, but there’s another crack that will always be there.” SANDY AND RICK LINGO “The whole walking thing was a matter of desperation,” says Rick Lingo, a former teacher at Oak Hills High School and an amateur photographer, about walking Cincinnati’s neighborhoods during quarantine. “We needed to fill the hours of retirement.” Five years ago, Sandy bought Walking Cincinnati and offered to join him on the book’s routes—though it took the pandemic shutdown to finally get them going. They began their walks by discovering the boundaries of Cincinnati’s neighborhoods, soon seeing additional layers to each neighborhood due to closed businesses and summer protests. They’d turn a corner and suddenly experience a different side of the city. “Community whiplash,” says Rick, 71, who grew up in Deer Park. Mansions in Evanston lined the streets leading to the Academy of World Languages, where cars queued waiting for food giveaways. “You can only feel that from walking,” says Sandy, 68, who was born in Finneytown. After completing the city neighborhoods covered in the book, they explored more obscure ones like Lower Price Hill and South Cumminsville. “In comparing those areas with others, you can’t find hope,” Sandy says. “You don’t see mothers pushing strollers. Kids don’t have the resources. Maybe there’s church. Sometimes you just couldn’t discern any community.” One day they neared the former St. Aloysius Orphanage in Bond Hill. Sandy pulled on its doors. While Rick joked about getting caught, she knew that if the sirens came they’d be fine, while a young man from the neighborhood might not. “We were really understanding white privilege on the ground,” she says. KAYLA CAMP AND DONNIE WARNER On New Year’s Day 2013, Kayla Camp and Donnie Warner conceived of a running project to take them through more of the city they loved. The duo had met while working on a Navajo reservation in New Mexico. After relocating to Cincinnati for Warner to pursue creative writing at UC,

they took jobs in sectors that exposed them to the city’s neighborhoods. Camp recalls being struck by “the profound differences” between high-income households in Mt. Lookout, where they lived, and residents living in poverty in Lower Price Hill, where she worked. Working later for the city’s Department of Community Development, she often pondered the ways in which the allocation of resources stratified neighborhoods. Camp and Warner ran at least three miles in each neighborhood, working in alphabetical order, and mapped routes to ensure they’d pass historic or memorable sites. “I was able to indulge my inner history buff,” says Camp, including writing a blog to document their trail. Warner was thrilled “to find more public art, especially the murals.” During their last run in Winton Hills, a friend met up with them when she could have “easily bailed given the weather.” She died several years later, and the connection to her made Winton Hills memorable for the couple. Camp was surprised to discover Fernbank Park in Sayler Park, with its paved trails along the Ohio River. They found Pleasant Ridge so much to their liking they lived there for five years. They believe city leaders should emphasize connecting the “combined assets of all our neighborhoods, and not just one or two,” says Warner. “Safe streets and interconnected trails are a sound approach that can help everyone.” CAM HARDY Cam Hardy’s mother would take the bus to work downtown when he was young, and he learned how to ride it as well. One summer, Metro offered bus fare for 50 cents and transfers for free. “My mother gave me a dollar,” he says. “I could ride the bus all day and get out of her hair.” Hardy would ride to Clifton, close his eyes, and wait for the 53 to take him home, touching all of Cincinnati’s 52 neighborhoods before he knew that many existed. He was an explorer because he had to be. “But my mom turned bus riding into a fun thing,” he says. “We used to take the bus down to Findlay Market every Saturday, and I loved it. I’ve carried that with me.” Where some see the lack of a place to congregate in a neighborhood, Hardy finds

a replacement on the bus. “There’s a community on every bus, like Miss Mary, who was like an unofficial auntie,” he recalls. “She would give me spending money. And if she knew I was gonna be at that bus stop, she would wait.” These days, living and working downtown, Hardy has become president of the Better Bus Coalition, a transit advocacy group. His lifetime project of discovering and rediscovering neighborhoods continues, and he enjoys going to every part of town and “getting a different vibe. This city can be weird, but in a cool way.” GEORGE AND DEIRDRE BELUAN George Beluan’s family emigrated from the Philippines to Cincinnati and first laid down roots in Fay Apartments, now known as the Villages of Roll Hill. When he returned as an adult to walk through the neighborhood, he experienced a wave of emotion, recognizing the hardships his parents endured when they ﬁrst arrived. While George and his wife, Deirdre, both 48, were born and raised here, they began strolling through various city neighborhoods on Saturday afternoons after meeting in their twenties. The couple took to the sidewalks again two decades later once their children were old enough to stay home on their own. “We never lost the appetite to explore our city’s neighborhoods and the architecture and business districts,” says George, a teacher at St. Xavier High School. “When the pandemic hit in spring 2020, these walks gave us something to look forward to on the weekends.” They’ve lived in Clifton, Avondale, Westwood, and in Pleasant Ridge since 2004. Venturing across the city, George says a highlight for him was Hartwell. “You’d be hard-pressed to ﬁnd more beautiful Victorian homes in a concentrated area,” he says. “You get a sense of how much thought was put into building a neighborhood.” He and Deirdre agree that South Fairmount, with the newly developed Lick Run Greenway gurgling along stone pavers past updated playgrounds and picnic areas, is going to become an attractive city neighborhood again. “If both housing and business development are done thoughtfully there,” he says, “this could be a truly diverse and vibrant community.”

S E P T E M B E R 2 0 2 1 C I N C I N N AT I M A G A Z I N E . C O M 3 7

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Step up your outdoor game with these park strolls, walking and running paths, riverfront trails, guided tours, and urban stairs. Plus, gear up at local shoe stores, train with running clubs for every level, explore family events, and crisscross the Ohio River’s walkable bridges. Way-oh, way-oh!

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PHOTOGRAPH BY JEREMY KRAMER

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n g i d You n i r Way F Assessing Wasson Way’s joys and challenges so far. —DAMIAN DOTTERWEICH

I’m used to hearing people tell me to “take a hike,” but this is the ﬁrst time it was for a writing assignment. I was happy to oblige, and not just because I needed to reach my 10,000 steps goal for the day. As much as I’d love to tell my kids that Wasson Way is arduous and uphill both ways, it’s actually quite relaxing other than the “traffic jam” section (more on that later) and relatively easy due to the ﬂat terrain.

Xavier to Rookwood I start my trek at Montgomery Road near Dana Avenue, which is close to my old stomping grounds at Xavier University (Class of 19-something). I suppose I could have worn the rental shoes that I “forgot” to return at Stone Lanes after a late evening of alcohol-abetted bowling back in my carefree/careless undergrad years, but they weren’t exactly comfortable on the bowling lanes more than 30 years ago. I doubt they’d hold up well during a ﬁve-mile walk. Montgomery Road is currently the western terminus of Wasson Way, but future plans call for extending it through Xavier’s campus, behind the old King Records building and into Avondale. Projected completion: spring 2024.

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PHOTOGRAPH BY JUSTIN SCHAFER

STAIR MASTERS

Ohio Avenue Steps These steps run in two sections, from Ohio Avenue near UC down to Van Lear, and then from the lower jag of Ohio and Clifton avenues to an alley behind Philippus United Church of Christ. They remain a valuable connection to bus routes and include branches to Bellevue Park and Vine Street. — CEDRIC ROSE

The first leg of my eastern journey takes me to Tamarack Avenue on the opposite side of I-71. This stretch definitely has a city feel to it, passing two large parking lots (one abandoned, the other operational) and several businesses. There’s a very cool Where the Wild Things Are–style mural running the entire width of the Duke Energy Dana Operations Center building that’s worth studying. And kudos to the volunteers who planted trees and flowers along this section; it’ll feel even better when the trees mature. The bridge sections (a small one across a Dana Avenue ramp and a larger one that spans I-71 North and South) can subject your ears to a full-on aural assault as dozens of cars and trucks whiz by on the freeway below you. Someone has used chalk to create thought-provoking text and poetry on the side railings of the bridge across I-71, a welcome distraction from the car cacophony. The section from Tamarack Avenue to Madison Road was the first phase of the project to be completed, and it’s quite nice. The path opens up a bit behind Withrow High School, and there’s a short gravel walkway that runs parallel to the paved section, with more trees planted alongside, many with small markers indicating they were donated by an individual or business. (To get details about donating a tree or bench, e-mail wassonway@gmail.com). You’ll see signs for the Wulsin Play Area, but getting there is a bit tricky; look for a narrow walkway between two houses on the left. Abutting streets have easy, well-marked access to the path. As I get closer to Madison Road, I’m tempted to take the steps down to the Rookwood complex and maybe pick up new hiking gear at REI and some granola from Whole Foods. Then I realize I’m strolling through Hyde Park, which isn’t exactly like hiking Mt. Rainier.

Madison Road to Oakley God bless the countless dedicated volunteers and public officials who have made Wasson Way a reality. It’s a lovely car-free option for folks from all walks of life, from stroller-pushers to sportos to senior citizens. The stretch from Madison Road to Paxton Avenue is a bit challenging, though, as it offers several opportunities for pedestrian/vehicle interaction—and we know who wins those contests. C O N T I N U E D O N PA G E 4 2

PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY KERRY LEE

When Pigs Fly Kerry Lee on running while sad, happy, hopeful, and hopeless. —LAUREN FISHER

It took six straight years of top-three placements, but in 2017, Kerry Lee finally finished first in the Flying Pig Marathon (which returns in October). And the Anderson High School math teacher hasn’t slowed down, passing along her love of the sport to the next generation by coaching the school’s cross-country team.

WHEN DID YOU FIRST CATCH THE RUNNING BUG? I started running when I was 13. I started because of my dad, who was always a runner [even] before I was born. And then it was something we did together. I grew up watching him run and the lifestyle he had because of it.

WHAT WAS YOUR TOUGHEST RUNNING MOMENT? I tore 85 percent of both of my hamstrings from the bone at the same time I found out I had breast cancer. I faced three surgeries and treatments in a short amount of time. It was scary and painful. I carried the initials of the people I needed to help me get through it to every surgery and treatment. It’s no coincidence that all seven of those people happen to be runners. KERRY LEE IN 2017

WHY DO YOU RUN? Running has gotten me through many phases of my life. It helped me ﬁgure out who I was and who I wanted to be. It led me to my job. It was something I did to challenge myself and humble myself. I ran when I felt happy, sad, angry, hopeful, hopeless. Almost every single time I ﬁnished I felt better than when I started.

WHAT THREE TIPS WOULD YOU GIVE NEW RUNNERS? One, consistency. Showing up every day is key. Make a commitment and ﬁnd a running/walking partner to hold you accountable. Two, write down multiple goals. Make the ﬁrst one pretty easy and the last one something out of your comfort zone. Three, spend money on a good pair of shoes and gear. Having the right pair of shoes is an especially easy way to help prevent injury.

The crossing lanes on Madison and Edwards roads are clearly marked, with push buttons to activate the “walk” signal. Then you’ll confront several “yield” signs for the Hyde Park streets that intersect with Wasson Road. And the contentious new Wasson Tower apartment complex at Michigan Avenue will add more cars to already congested streets. If you’re looking to beat your personal record in the mile run, this is not the stretch for you. Just be patient, gather your wits, and keep your head on a swivel at every intersection. The silver lining? Busken Bakery has opened a walk-up window with a few booths for seating smack dab in the middle of the Madison/Edwards traffic triangle. It may be counterproductive for those looking to walk off some calories, but it’s a stroke of pure marketing genius since most of us can’t resist the siren song (and smell) of a fresh glazed doughnut. This stretch also could beneﬁt from a few landscaping enhancements; the chain-link fence from Drake to Paxton roads feels rather industrial. The good news is volunteers will be adding trees, shrubs, vines, grasses, and native groundcover plants this fall. Once you cross Paxton, you can let down your guard and enjoy the scenery. Even though the always-busy Hyde Park Kroger is on your left, there’s enough of a vegetation buffer that you don’t really notice it and plenty of mature trees near the fenceline of Portsmouth Avenue homes on the right. The trail currently ends before you reach Marburg Avenue.

Next Phases Wasson Way is a welcome addition to this east-central section of Cincinnati. It’s sure to get more folks out of their cars and onto their feet (or bike or skateboard) to walk, to shop, and maybe even to commute to work. But the real game-changer is coming this winter, when Phases 4 and 5 create another 1.25mile stretch under Marburg and Erie avenues into Ault Park and east to Old Red Bank Road in Fairfax. No streets to cross, and more of a walk-in-the-woods vibe. On my Way way back, the street crossings feel like less of a hassle. There’s always an adjustment period—for both walkers and drivers—as we learn to peacefully co-exist. I also notice a few things I missed while walking east: the artwork at Tamarack, the houses near Withrow with newly installed back gates to access the trail, and a doggie doo-doo station and trash receptacles to help keep things tidy. I even spot my old apartment on Wasson Road on the second ﬂoor of the building that now houses R.P. McMurphy’s. The round trip walk is roughly ﬁve miles. Enough time to listen to a few podcast episodes, commune with nature, see other human beings, and even ponder the pointlessness of pilfering used bowling shoes. Thank you, Wasson Way, for showing me the error of my youthful folly.

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STAIR MASTERS

Main Street Steps These are Cincinnati’s ﬁrst concrete steps, poured as a WPA project in the 1940s, and longest, at 355 risers. Built into the right-of-way of the defunct Mt. Auburn Incline, they rise from the corner of Mulberry, Main, and Antique streets and are a workout—but well worth it for the views at the top. —C.R.

y p Feet p a

Find your next shoes here before hiking, running, creek stomping, or anything else outdoors. —JOHN FOX

Fleet Feet

JackRabbit

The local franchisee opened its fourth area shop in the summer in the Fifty West complex near Mariemont, just steps from the Little Miami Scenic Trail. Join any number of running clubs, and expect tie-ins with Fifty West beer and food events and on-site bicycle shop. Multiple locations including 7667 Wooster Pke., Mariemont, (513) 272-0555, ﬂeetfeet.com/s/cincy

Five years after Bob Roncker sold his local running shoe stores, the Denver-based owner rebranded all of its U.S. shops as JackRabbit. You’ll ﬁnd the familiar excellent customer service here, along with online ordering and store pickup, scheduled ﬁttings, and a product review and running tips blog. Multiple locations including 1993 Madison Rd., O’Bryonville, (513) 321-3006, jackrabbit.com

PHOTOGRAPH BY JEREMY KRAMER

Delamere & Hopkins Known as the city’s hub for ﬁshing gear, classes, and guided trips, this venerable shop feels miles away from Hyde Park Square once you step inside. They’ll help you gear up for your next outdoor adventure with waterproof leather or rubber hiking boots and other apparel. 2708 Erie Ave., Hyde Park, (513) 871-3474, dhoutﬁtters.com

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e g o n fM a R otion TOM JONES COMMONS

GLENDALE Building a new suburb from scratch on the Cincinnati-Dayton railroad line in the 1850s (one of the ﬁrst U.S. planned communities), village founders designed curved streets to give residents the sense of living in a park. Meyer recommends walking Fountain Avenue for its architectural splendor and “amazing vibe.” glendaleohio.org

EASY

A newcomer to the local walking scene, this play area opened inside Eden Park’s original reservoir footprint in late July. A ﬂat, paved walking loop connects a playground, shelters, and demonstration wetlands while retaining the earlier space’s basketball hoops and climbing wall. cincinnatiparks.com/central/ eden-park

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LUDLOW

BELLEVUE

Meyer added Ludlow to the second edition of Walking Cincinnati after getting to know the small town better. “I really love the cute, quirky business district, and the riverfront is very cool,” she says, singling out Bircus Brewing and Second Sight Spirits as creating buzz just minutes from downtown Cincinnati. ludlow.org

Streets reach up from Bellevue’s riverfront like ﬁngers gripping the hillside, and all make for wonderful walks. Meyer suggests taking Van Voast Avenue, mostly so you can cross the footbridge built over railroad tracks around 1900 and rehabbed in 2003. She says it’s one of just two iron footbridges still operational in Kentucky. bellevueky.org

Looking for an easy stroll, a challenging hike, or something in between? Let Walking Cincinnati coauthor Katie Meyer be your guide. — J.F. TOWER PARK

MT. ADAMS

Remnants of Ft. Thomas’s history as a U.S. military barracks and training center abound in Tower Park and nearby streets, from restored officer homes to the Ft. Thomas Military and Community Museum. “The city keeps the walking paths green and clean, and they’re a great DIY history tour,” says Meyer. ftthomas.org

Often reminding visitors of San Francisco, Mt. Adams’s narrow, hilly streets provide incredible views of downtown and the Ohio River. If the walk isn’t strenuous enough, try the steps up to Holy Cross-Immaculata Church. “One of my favorites,” says Meyer, “especially when you add Eden Park to your itinerary.” mtadams cincy.org

CHALLENGING

BUTTERCUP VALLEY PRESERVE This hilly natural escape is accessible from quiet residential streets off of Hamilton Avenue as it rises from Northside’s busy business district. “The dirt trails and wooden bridges feel isolated from the city,” says Meyer. “It’s really an untouched piece of old-growth forest.” cincinnatiparks.com/west/ buttercup-valley-preserve

WALKING CINCINNATI Katie Meyer and Danny Korman released the second edition of Walking Cincinnati in 2019, describing and mapping 35 do-it-yourself walks in the region. Published by Wilderness Press, which specializes in outdoor hiking guides, it’s available at Roebling Point Books & Coffee and other local stores. wildernesspress.com; roebling pointbooksandcoffee.com

P H OTO G R A P H S ( TO M J O N E S ) C O U R T E SY C I N C I N N AT I PA R K S / ( B O O K ) W I L D E R N E SS P R E SS / ( B U T T E R C U P ) BY B R I T TA N Y DEX TER / (ALL OTHERS) BY CHRIS PASION

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The Call of the Wild Get adventurous at the Great Outdoor Weekend, offering nearly 100 free events for families this month. —SAM ROSENSTIEL FARM ENCOUNTERS WALK You’ll receive a farmer’s education at Gorman Heritage Farm while tasting veggies fresh from the garden, seeing animals in their pastures, feeding chickens, and exploring historic buildings. Come dressed and ready to walk the farm paths 10:30 a.m.–noon September 25. 10052 Reading Rd., Evendale, (513) 967-0058

SENSES IN THE DARK Explore Rentschler Forest MetroPark at night during this interactive nature walk. You won’t need to bring a ﬂashlight, as you’ll be using your own “night vision” to spot nature peeking out in the dark. Open to all ages 7:30–9 p.m. September 25 (registration is required by September 24). 5701 Reigart Rd., Hamilton, (513) 867-5835

STAIR MASTERS

Fairview Park Steps Connecting Fairview Park with McMicken Street below, the steps are bright with tile mosaics created by folks from the West McMicken Improvement Association. Pause at the top to admire the view of the entire Mill Creek Valley. —C.R.

WINGED NATURE WALK Hiking boots? Check. Water bottle? Check. Wings? Kids and adults alike will don wings from birds, butterﬂies, fairies, and other favorite creatures for a creative outdoor trail walk hosted by YourGo2Girl Youth Entertainment. A picnic follows (bring your own basket and blanket) 10 a.m.–2 p.m. September 26. Civic Garden Center, 2715 Reading Rd., Avondale, (513) 406-7680 GREATOUTDOORWEEKEND.ORG

• Riverside Walks •

Side Trips on the Tributaries — Urban trails along the Licking River and the Mill Creek deliver a taste of what fully connected pathways could offer. —C.R.

COVINGTON’S LICKing River Greenway trail, which will eventually stretch 12–14 miles to Taylor Mill and Wilder, features several paved riverside paths and nature trails along the levee. They’re great spots for birdwatching—can you ﬁnd the elusive cuckoos nesting along the river?—and for looking out over the rooftops of the city’s historic Austinburg neighborhood. The trail connects with three parks along the way (Austinburg, Clayton-Meyer, and Randolph). You’ll also come

across 17 ArtWorks murals painted on various river regulation structures to celebrate wellness, recreation, connectivity, community, and the natural environment. On the Cincinnati side, it’s time to check out Mill Creek, the waterway the Shawnee called “Makatewa,” meaning It is black. The Mill Creek Greenway Trail includes a wooded, natural section in Carthage and a 3.5-

mile stretch through Northside. That portion of the trail offers an interesting juxtaposition of urban and natural, where Great Blue and Black-Crown Night Herons stalk riffles below rail embankments and highway overpasses. There’s a scale model of the solar system along the trail, beginning at The Old Timber Inn (Home of the Fish Log!) on Spring Grove Avenue, and a lush urban orchard

planted with apples, pears, and other fruits. Trail enthusiasts hope the Northside section will eventually follow the Mill Creek south to the Ohio River and connect with Cincinnati’s Riverwalk pathways. It would eventually form the western arm of the proposed CROWN (Cincinnati Riding or Walking Network) trail system around Hamilton County.

Tour de Force

Get your steps in and do a little time traveling during these walking tours. —AIESHA D. LITTLE

HOMETOWN HAUNTS

WHERE ART THOU?

BREWHAHA

GUIDED BY VOICES

Everywhere you look these days, there’s a new mural covering a once-blank brick wall, many courtesy of ArtWorks. You can purchase a ticket for the nonproﬁt’s guided weekend mural tours of downtown, Pendleton, and Over-the-Rhine through October, or download a map from the website to create your own route. artworks cincinnati.org

If there’s one thing Cincinnati knows extremely well, it’s beer. Let the Brewery District Community Urban Redevelopment Corp’s guides tell you all about the beer barons of yore during the Brewing Heritage Trail tour. You’ll learn about the industry’s evolution over the years and even visit an underground beer cellar or two. brewingheritagetrail.com

Whether you’re into history, horticulture, or architecture, Spring Grove Cemetery and Arboretum’s self-guided walking tour allows you to explore the 733-acre National Historic Landmark at your own pace. Snag a brochure and make your way over 44 miles of paved roads, accented by a waterfall and 15 lakes. springgrove. org

One of American Legacy Tours’s signature events, “Queen City Is Haunted” gives you the lowdown on the city’s grisliest murders and spookiest venues, including well-documented ghost sightings at Music Hall. True crime buffs and wannabe paranormal investigators will love the history packed into this 3/4-mile walk. americanlegacytours.com

P H OTO G R A P H S BY B R I T TA N Y D E X T E R / I L LU S T R AT I O N S BY ( TO P ) E M I V I L L AV I C E N C I O / ( L E F T ) M AT T J O H N S TO N E

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Over the River

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Rating downtown’s bridges by walkability, views, and what they connect. — J.F.

TAYLORSOUTHGATE BRIDGE

ROEBLING SUSPENSION BRIDGE

PURPLE PEOPLE BRIDGE

CLAY WADE BAILEY BRIDGE

Walking Surface

Concrete sidewalks on both sides

Pock-marked and patched asphalt sidewalks on both sides

Two concrete decks include a wide one on the west

Concrete sidewalk on the east side

Best View

Into Great American a Ball Park P k through th h the th outﬁ o tﬁeld ld opening

Covington’s new riverfront plaza

Newport p t on the Levee,, Mt.. Adams

The Bengals practice ﬁelds next to Paul Brown Stadium

Ohio Side

GAPB, Heritage Bank Arena, Serpentine Wall

Smale Riverfront Park, The Banks

Sawyer Point, Artistry apartments under construction

PBS, Smale Riverfront Park

NKY Side

Newport p on the Levee, Levee v thee new O Ovation concert r venue

Downtown Covington

Downtown o Newport

Covington MainStrasse

Fun Fact

Newest of the walkable bridges, built in 1995

Opened in 1866 as a prototype for John Roebling’s later Brooklyn Bridge

Converted to pedestrianonly in 2006

Named after a Northern Kentucky journalist

Note

Clean l and efficient. e

The best connections on both sides.

Only accessible from m the K Kentucky side after a stones fell e from the northern pier..

The train bridge side desperately needs painted.

I L LU S T R AT I O N BY M AT T J O H N S TO N E

• Riverside Walks •

Walk It Back — Riverfront parks link Cincinnati history with modern amenities. — C.R.

CINCINNATI’S RIVERwalk is the crème de la crème of our region’s riverside strolls, stretching from Theodore M. Berry International Friendship Park (with its towering sculptures, symbolic earthworks, and majestic upriver views) through Sawyer Point and the Serpentine Wall to the city’s front porch, Smale Riverfront Park. Along the way, cool off on Smale’s river-facing swings or splash pads or at Armleder Memorial Spray Park, and soak up the rich history of a bustling waterfront that first put Cincinnati on the map. You can access all four walkable Ohio River bridges along the way (see more on the opposite page). But history runs even deeper here. It begins 450 million years earlier, as seen on the quartermile-long geologic timeline embedded in the sidewalk running from the ruins of the original water works to the Cincinnatus statue. You’ll ﬁnd historic markers nearby for the Black Brigade of Cincinnati and the explosion of the Sultana, among others, as well as the new statue dedicated to Marian Spencer. The past is still visible even on Smale Riverfront Park’s sloping lawn, where the foundation of an 1800s ediﬁce, from the days

when our riverfront teemed with boat trade, can be seen. There are plans afoot for the Ohio River Trail to ultimately connect this river walk west to the Indiana border and—via the Oasis Rail Line trail, which the city will develop after acquiring the railroad right of way in the spring—east to Lunken Airﬁeld and on to New Richmond. Until then, Cincinnati’s riverfront will help burn off lots of calories and engage a few brain cells.

P H OTO G R A P H S BY C O R R I E C A R S W E L L , C I N C I N N AT I PA R K S

STAIR MASTERS

Devou Park Steps Built in 1914 to help create a park from the former Devou family estate, these steps tunnel down through thick woods below the main overlook to Western Avenue and Devou Drive. They reward the walker with a rare, hushed immersion in nature just a stone’s throw from the urban hustle below. —C.R.

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STAIR MASTERS

Cincinnati Art Museum’s Art Climb The city’s newest stairs feature white and light gray risers and landings zigzagging like madcap piano keys grown from the hillside itself above the Baldwin Building on Gilbert Avenue. They invite the neighborhood up to the museum’s front door in a functional and welcoming manner, surrounded by sculptures and some fresh perspectives. —C.R.

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P H OTO G R A P H BY J U S T I N S C H A F E R / I L LU S T R AT I O N BY E M I V I L L AV I C E N C I O

• Riverside Walks •

Filling Gaps — Covington’s new riverfront plaza and paths keep momentum going in Northern Kentucky’s pursuit of a unified Ohio River trail. —C.R.

WITH THE OPENING OF COVINGTON PLAZA IN JUNE, progress moves ahead on Northern Kentucky’s Riverfront Commons, a planned 11.5-mile walking, running, and biking trail that will eventually connect Ludlow to Ft. Thomas’s riverfront through Covington, Newport, Bellevue, and Dayton. Paths now wind around an amphitheater and massive compass at the foot of Madison Avenue, reaching up and down river under the Roebling Suspension Bridge with stunning views of Paul Brown Stadium and the Cincinnati skyline. New development projects hope to finish out the full path length, including on the footprint of Covington’s former IRS processing facility, Newport’s Ovation project inside the newly refurbished Newport floodwall, and the Manhattan Harbor housing project in Dayton. Many sections are already in place, including lengths along the top of the Newport floodwall, which is an easy stroll east from Covington Plaza via Riverside Drive, then cutting up Garrard or following the Licking River to the Fourth Street bridge, where a catwalk connects to the floodwall above Newport’s Riverboat Row. Continue east, and new pedestrian spans link up with Newport on the Levee and both the Taylor-Southgate Bridge and the Purple People Bridge. Keep heading east, and you’ll be diverted through Bellevue’s business district until reaching the splendid paved path on Dayton’s floodwall. The Ft. Thomas section is expected to eventually reach I-275, with connections up to Tower Park.

Group Mentality If you want company while walking or running, check out these clubs. —JUDI KETTELER

TRI-STATE RUNNING Targeted groups are geared toward training for certain races, but there’s also a full-year training group that you can dip into and out of as needed. The Edgewood group meets Wednesdays at 6:30 p.m. and Saturdays at 7 a.m., and the Mariemont group meets Tuesdays at 6:30 p.m. and Saturdays at 7 a.m. tristaterunning.com

AVONDALE RUNNING CLUB

BREWRUNNERS OF CINCINNATI

The club dates back to 1984, is associated with the National Black Marathoners Association, and has a history of supporting community organizations and giving out scholarships. All are welcome for 8 a.m. Sunday walks/runs alternating between Winton Woods, Glenwood Gardens, and other locations. avondalerunningclub.com

Because running and beer go hand in hand, this half-marathon training group meets at different breweries for runs and then socializes afterwards. Runs are Wednesdays at 6:30 p.m. and Saturdays at 9 a.m. They’re currently training for the Flying Pig Half Marathon and will pro-rate dues for those joining mid-season. facebook. com/brewrunners

SEP. ’21

Seeking Cures for Ohio’s Bungled

Medical Marijuana System story by:

Carrie Blackmore Smith

prescription

The fight to include autism as an approved condition for medicinal cannabis—allowed in nearly two dozen other states—typifies the slow rollout of Ohio's two-year-old system. illustration by:

Gary Neill

T T

ton, D.C., and two U.S. territories. All but three states (Idaho, Nebraska, and Kansas) have some sort of medical cannabis program—although some, like Kentucky, allow only cannabidiol (CBD) or low tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) products. In June, Michigan surpassed $1 billion in total sales in its recreational program after less than two years. Other shifts are occurring as well. Procter & Gamble removed marijuana from the company’s post-job-offer drug screen in 2019. Amazon, the second largest U.S. employer, did the same in June for all positions not regulated by the U.S. Department of Transportation. Last year, the University of Cincinnati began offering a five-course Cannabis Studies certificate, described as a “multidisciplinary foundation for understanding the cannabis plant and the cannabis industry, enabling [students] to more readily gain employment in one of its many subfields.” In a growing number of cities, including Cincinnati, marijuana possession has been decriminalized. Since 2019, anyone possessing 100 grams (3.52 ounces) or less of marijuana within the city limits is issued a warning, with no criminal charge or fine. Those with past pos-

Tiffany Carwile wants to give her 7-year-old son marijuana. Diagnosed at 2, Jaxsyn has severe autism. He’s nonverbal, sometimes hurts himself in violent outbursts, and is a picky eater who’s prone to gastrointestinal issues. Carwile and her family live in the northwest corner of Ohio, about 50 miles west of Toledo. If they lived another 20 miles north in Michigan—or in any of nearly two dozen states that that now allow pediatric use of medical cannabis to treat autism—she could try a drug that studies have shown to help some autistic children become more social, better eaters, less edgy and frustrated, and even more communicative. “I wish I could eradicate that word marijuana, because it carries such a stigBridget Williams, M.D. ma,” says 30-year-old Carwile, who has petitioned the State Medical Board of Ohio three years running to add autism to its list of conditions allowed in the Ohio Medical Marijuana Control Program. “We’re not giving kids marijuana. We’re not getting kids high. What we’re giving them is medication.” Ohio’s medical marijuana law was approved on September 8, 2016, by the Republican-led state legislature. Sales began roughly two years ago. Proponents say the law is just hitting its stride, while critics, including Carwile, call it limited, biased, expensive, and a long way from helping everyone who could beneﬁt from the medical uses of cannabis. Around the country, more and more states are snuffing out the stigma and prohibition of marijuana. Today, adult recreational use is legal in 18 states—including neighboring Michigan and nearby Illinois—as well as in Washing-

session charges under 100 grams can apply to get their record expunged. The federal government is considering changes related to cannabis, too. Three pieces of legislation are currently on the table: the Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement Act, which would deschedule marijuana from the Controlled Substances Act and enact various criminal and social justice reforms; the Secure and Fair Enforcement Banking Act, which would provide a safe harbor for banking institutions providing services to cannabis clients; and the Clarifying Law Around Insurance of Marijuana Act, which would guarantee that businesses in legal states get access to things such as workers’ compensation and title insurance. “We have this really weird system where something is illegal federally and legal in a majority of states,” says Kristopher Chandler, an associate attorney in the Benesch law firm’s Columbus office. He’s represented several clients in the cannabis industry, including helping Cresco Labs, one of the country’s largest vertically integrated multistate cannabis operations, obtain its licenses in Ohio. Marijuana’s listing as a Schedule I drug by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration creates a lot of challenges for the industry, Chandler says. Schedule I, by definition, is a “drug with no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse.” Because of this classification, things like banking and medical research have been stymied. Financial institutions and research funders opt not to risk working with a drug that’s still considered illegal by the feds. “The rationale for why it’s federally illegal,” says Chandler, “is slipping away more and more.”

tiffany Carwile thinks medical marijuana would help treat her son Jaxsyn's autism, but she can't legally try it yet in Ohio.

ing his wife to her appointments. Williams could tell he was suffering, leaning heavily on a cane. “I just asked him, What’s up with you?” she recalls. His hip really hurt. A doctor had prescribed him Percocet, a combination of acetaminophen and oxycodone, but had recently discontinued his prescription. On a pain scale of 1–10, he said he was living with a constant 8 to 10. “I asked, Would you consider cannabis?” Williams says.“He said, Oh my god, what would people think? Oh my god, no! I asked him how many Percocet was he taking a day? Eight to 10, he said. That’s a huge amount! I said, What do people think of that? Why was that OK? And why do you care what other people think if you feel better, if you’re able to do things?” About 15 years ago, a patient asked Williams about medical cannabis, something she hadn’t given much thought to. “I’m a Reagan kid, so I was all about Just say no!” she says. “But I was shocked by the C O N T I N U E D O N PAG E 1 0 4 amount

Marijuana’s listing as a Schedule I drug by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration creates challenges for the industry. Bridget Williams, M.D., registers nothing but shock on the man’s face after suggesting he consider medical marijuana. She had watched him hobble into her family clinic in Cleveland a couple of times, accompany-

PHOTOGR APHS COURTESY (LEFT) BRIDGET WILLIAMS / (RIGHT) TIFFANY C ARWILE

MR. BENGAL

MR. BELOVED Dave Lapham is a former player, a long-time broadcaster, and—best of all—a full-time Bengals fan. Just like the rest of us.

By Robert Weintraub

Illustration by James Yamasaki 56

Bengals fan since around the time Dave Lapham ﬁrst joined the team as an offensive lineman in the mid-1970s, but I’ve never laid eyes on the man himself. So when I meet “Mr. Bengal” at last, it’s in a way that is almost too perfect—he’s in a men’s room wiping a Skyline stain from his white polo shirt. A man of the people, indeed. I’ve come to talk to Lapham at the venerable Maketewah Country Club, where he’s cohosting (alongside his Bengals roommate for nearly a decade, Ken Anderson) a charity golf tournament staged

by the Down Syndrome Association of Greater Cincinnati. The chili is doled out in heaping portions, and the “coolers of cheer” are ﬁlled to overﬂowing. DSAGC is an organization Lapham has worked with closely for many years. “As a teenager I worked at Camp Wakanda with many kids with handicaps and challenges and really enjoyed it,” he says. “I always responded to them, and they responded to me.” “Dave is totally committed, and he goes to every meeting and lines up the sponsors,” says DSAGC Executive Director Jim Hudson. “The kids have grown up with him, love him, know he isn’t just a face but a friend.” Moments later, Robert

MAN OF THE PEOPLE Dave Lapham has been part of the Cincinnati Bengals organization (and a fan favorite) for almost 40 years, ﬁrst as a player (opposite page) and then a broadcaster. Radio partner Dan Hoard (above left) says Lap is “beloved” everywhere he goes.

Hunt, who has Down syndrome, walks up and reminds Lapham that the two of them once appeared on a billboard together. “I’ve known you since you were 6, right?” Lapham says with a tone of wonder to Hunt, now 24. As Hunt walks away, Lapham relates that through connections made at previous charity golf outings Hunt now works at Huntington Bank. It’s an overcast day in June, the longest day of the year, and Lapham will be out here well into darkness, shaking hands, chatting up friends, playing the host, and generally doing what he does best—making everyone feel comfortable and welcome. The course is crowded with philanthropic golfers, though Lapham isn’t playing due to a recent shoulder injury he sustained while working out. Instead, he grabs a cart and follows his son, David, a slightly smaller, bespectacled version of his dad. Lapham Jr. played football at Moeller High and Miami University, and his athletic grace is easily discernible as he golfs with three colleagues from the ﬁnance company where he works. Occasionally, Mr. Bengal hops out of the cart and pulls a putter from a bag adorned with a Lapham-esque pair of knitted club covers—one a Bengal tiger, the other Fred Flintstone. He’s ﬂuent in guy talk, asking if one player has tired shoulders from carrying his foursome in the scramble that morning. “Want to learn off of me, guys?” he booms as he hobbles out to try to knock one in from

P H OTO G R A P H S C O U R T E SY C I N C I N N AT I B E N G A L S / H A N D R AW N M A R K S BY O L EC H K A A R T / STO C K . A D O B E .CO M

I’ve been a Cincinnati

“We’re not broadcasting on NPR, we’re doing it for the team and the die-hard fans,” says former Bengals broadcast partner Ken Broo. “Dave is animated, and so are the fans.”

25 feet away. His giant ham hock calves support his frame as he curls over the ball like a question mark. He lets it ﬂy. “Slow down, baby,” Lapham yells. “Hit something! Hit a house!” Alas, the putt goes hurtling past the hole. “Tough one,” he mutters as he heaves his bulk back into the cart.

PHOTOGRAPH BY PHOTO 78441242 © JERRY COLI | DREAMSTIME .COM

Dave Lapham’s football acumen, good cheer, and boundless enthusiasm for Cincinnati’s NFL franchise have endeared him to Bengals fans like few others. He’s been employed by the team as a player and a broadcaster for nearly four decades—the striped equivalent of Joe Nuxhall, the former Reds pitcher turned longtime color commentator. Lapham shares Nuxy’s approachability and common touch. At the golf outing he’s constantly greeted with a familiar Hey Lap! and a fist bump or back slap. It’s pretty certain Lap would get a similar familiar welcome outside the walls of Maketewah in Bond Hill or in the dorms of nearby Xavier University, at a Northern Kentucky backyard BBQ, at a gas station in Joe Burrow’s old stomping grounds of Athens, at a pilot’s fly-in in Dayton, or anywhere the Bengals radio network can be heard. “I can’t express how highly I think of Dave,” says Bengals owner Mike Brown in a telephone interview. “I just think the world of him.” My first memory of Lapham is from 1988, when the Bengals secured a playoff bye with an overtime strip sack of thenWashington quarterback Doug Williams. “He lost the ball!! Bengals ball!!! Bengals ball!!!!” Lap yelled over and over. I recorded that NFL Films highlight on the trusty VCR in our home and played it over and over. As a Bengals fan growing up in suburban New York City, long before internet message boards and social media

tribalism, Lapham was pretty much the only one who understood me. His naked passion was reminiscent of a local Big Apple legend, longtime Yankees playerturned-broadcaster Phil “Scooter” Rizzuto, only Lap didn’t seem to be talking about cannoli all the time. A more recent favorite Lap moment came in September 2013, courtesy of another fumble. The Bengals defeated Green Bay thanks in large part to a fourth down stop and fumble returned for a score by cornerback Terence Newman. For LapPhiles, it’s become a classic of the form: Dan Hoard: Rodgers has it, gives to Franklin, he dives, I don’t… Lapham: No!! No!! Hoard: …think he got it… Lapham: Ball’s out!!! Ball’s out!!! Hoard: The ball is out! Lapham: Ball’s out!!!! Ball’s out!!!! Hoard: The Bengals have scooped it up! Terence Newman’s running it back… Lapham: Yeah!!!!! Yeah!!!!! Yeah!!!!! Hoard: …to the 30, the 20… Lapham: Yeah!!!!!! Yeah!!!!!! Yeah!!!!!! Hoard: …the 10, the 5… Lapham: Oh baby!!!!!!! Hoard: Touchdown! Lapham: Woooooooohhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!! Oh baby!!!!!!!! Woooooooohhhhhh!!!!!!!! Which was pretty much what all of us fans were yelling, too. “That’s Mr. Bengal,” says the man Lap yells over on a regular basis, Hoard, the team’s play-by-play voice since 2011. “He’s endlessly enthusiastic, sure, but also incredibly knowledgeable. His love of the Bengals sometimes overshadows how good his analysis is.” Hoard has a cubicle at Paul Brown Stadium next to Lapham’s, and the two are basically joined at the hip during the season and peak offseason times. So he’s seen Lapham’s relationship with Bengals Nation up close. “He’s just great with people,” Hoard says. “They approach him

with no hesitation at a grocery store or gas station, and he never gives a one-word answer. I’ve seen that play out dozens and dozens of times. I think beloved is just the right word to express the relationship Lap has with Bengals fans.” Nationally, Lapham is at times cynically regarded as the ultimate homer in the booth, even by local radio standards. But as Ken Broo, who did play-by-play with Lapham in the woebegone Lost Era of the 1990s, points out, Lap also did plenty of college football broadcasts for Fox Sports, mainly Big 12 games, during which he shelved the slanted calls. “You have to remember that the people who actually listen to games on the radio are big fans of the Bengals,” says Broo. “We’re not broadcasting on NPR, we’re doing it for the team and the die-hard fans. He’s animated, and so are the fans.” Lapham has knocked heads with a few players over the years, perhaps most memorably in 2014, when tight end Jermaine Gresham interrupted a live interview Lapham C O N T I N U E D O N P A G E 1 0 8

Proud Supporter of the

Barrett Cancer Center at UC Working together to make Cincinnati the best place to live, work and celebrate life.

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Cincinnati, Ohio. Cris Collinsworth, Western & Southern spokesperson. WS-40093-A 2001

i incinnat C g n i k Ma gether o T t a e Gr

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T H G I N E C I L S T H G I N E SL IC T H G I N E C I L S T H G I N E C I L S T H G I N E C SL I

ANN 8TH

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TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 28

5 : 0 0 – 9 : 0 0 P M , Y E AT M A N ’ S C OV E

AT TH

ABOUT

All-you-can-eat pizza and fundraising event that benefits cancer research at the University of Cincinnati Cancer Center.

Photograph by TK

Purchase tickets at cincinnatimagazine.com/slice

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We are so grateful for your support of Slice Night and the University of Cincinnati Cancer Center. We live in the greatest community in the world and it is so important that those living here have the opportunity for the healthiest, happiest, and longest lives possible. We are diligently working to minimize the burden of cancer in our community—for Greater Cincinnati to have both the lowest rate of cancer and the best possible outcomes. At the UC Cancer Center, we have many individuals and teams working to prevent this disease whenever possible, diagnose it at a curable stage, and treat it with the best possible approaches. We are excited to return to return to Yeatman’s Cove for our eighth year of Slice Night. It’s sure to be a great night and we are most thankful for all of you being part of our team in fighting this disease. SYED AHMAD, MD

Co-Director, UC Cancer Center

WILLIAM BARRETT, MD Co-Director, UC Cancer Center

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Photograph courtesy University of Cincinnati

DEAR FRIENDS,

SQUEEZ E IN S O M E

GOOD TIMES WITH G R E AT F R I E N D S .

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KNOW YOUR PIZZA fWhile Cincinnati doesn’t boast a definitive regional pizza style, our pies tend to offer a sweeter sauce, and provolone prevails as the cheese of choice at many local pizzerias. (Some regions, such as New York, go heavy on the mozzarella, for example.) Here’s how to tell all the different styles apart. CALIFORNIA

NEAPOLITAN

ST. LOUIS

In the 1980s, West Coast chefs and restaurateurs such as Ed LaDou, Wolfgang Puck, and Alice Waters began riffing on the pizza by replacing standard components with unusual or exotic ingredients. Think hoisin sauce and duck breast. Traditionalists cringed, rebels rejoiced, and California pizza was born.

These artisan pizzas feature a thin, charred crust, with basil and buffalo mozzarella accenting the sauce rather than hiding it. The Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana— the world’s foremost pizza watchdog organization—has set specific guidelines for kneading the dough (by hand) and cooking the pie (in a wood-fired oven).

These circular pies are often cut into many tiny squares (sometimes called a “party cut”) rather than triangular slices. The super thin crust is unleavened and cracker-like, and the trademark gooey cheese is a mixture called provel—white cheddar, Swiss, and provolone.

NEW YORK

In Palermo, these pizzas are served with classic ingredients like anchovies and onions, but the American version is known mostly for its rectangular shape and thick, chewy crust. As with deep dish, the sauce is occasionally placed on top of the cheese, possibly to prevent it from soaking into the doughy crust.

Cooked in a pan (a deep dish, you might say), these pizzas have a stout, biscuit-like crust. The toppings and cheese usually go under the sauce, though this is a point of minor contention. Regardless of the order, all three should be piled high. A fork and knife are required.

Most ordinary American pizzas— thin-crust pies topped with tomato sauce and mozzarella—are cousins of this style (and descendants of the Neapolitan). But authentic New York pizzas stand out from the crowd with large, foldable slices; fresh, greasy cheese; and a crust that somehow manages to be both crunchy and chewy. (Is it magic?)

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SICILIAN Photograph by TK pavel Pixel-Shot / stock.adobe.com

CHICAGO

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W WELCOME TO SLICE NIGHT

Photographs by Catie Viox and Lance Adkins

We’re thrilled to be back together at Yeatman’s Cove eating pizza and raising money for the UC Cancer Center.

ONE SLICE, TWO SLICE, THREE SLICE, MORE! Chinet® products keep the party going.

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UA L

C I L S

ANN H T 8

T H G I N E

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 28

5 : 0 0 – 9 : 0 0 P M , Y E AT M A N ’ S C OV E All-you-can-eat pizza and fund-raising event that benefits cancer research at the University of Cincinnati Cancer Center. Purchase tickets at cincinnatimagazine.com/slice

f General admission tickets are $20 in advance/$25 at the gate and include all the pizza you can eat. Children 10 and under are $5. f VIP tickets are $75 and include a parking pass, open bar, and access to the Western & Southern tent featuring seating, a private bar, and pizza sampling.

f 10+ participating pizzerias and pizza trucks. f Beer, wine, cocktails, soda, and water will be available for purchase. f Music provided by Q102 and DJ Toad.

Photograph by pavel siamionov / stock.adobe.com

f All proceeds benefit the UC Cancer Center.

f Parking for Yeatman’s Cove is near the intersection of East Pete Rose Way and Eggleston Avenue. After parking, follow directional signage.

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Cincinnati’s Most Preferred Cancer Care THIS IS SCI ENCE . Thank you for your support! Your support of Slice Night helps improve the lives of cancer patients in our community. Together, we can create even better outcomes.

Discover more at uchealth.com/cancer

September 28, 2021 Yeatman’s Cove 5-9 p.m. All proceeds beneﬁt cancer patient care at the University of Cincinnati Cancer Center.

NRC Health, Market Insights, Cincinnati-Middletown, FY20

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Î Seven years ago, Tina Singler woke up and began her busy August weekday—getting her children to their first day of school, then heading to work at the Colerain Township beauty salon she’s owned for 14 years, called SHAGZ A Salon. She knew she had a midday eye exam scheduled; what she didn’t know was that her life was about to be flipped upside down. Singler was searching for a treatment to fix her right eye, which was irritated and watery for several months. She took a break from wearing contact lenses on the advice of her optometrist, but symptoms continued. She was referred to a dry eye specialist who said the problem likely stemmed from heavy eyelids and that she might need surgical correction.

Singler was sent to Jeffrey A. Nerad, M.D., an ophthalmologist at Cincinnati Eye Institute specializing in eyelid, cosmetic, and reconstructive facial plastic surgery. “Dr. Nerad said I needed to immediately get a CT scan and come back the next day with the films in hand,” Singler says. “It didn’t concern me at the time because I’d seen so many doctors, and this was just another step to fixing the eye issues.” Nerad brought Singler back into his office and delivered news that would forever change her life: The CT scans revealed a brain tumor. He referred Singler to Yash J. Patil, M.D., associate professor in the Department of Otolaryngology at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, director of

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the Adult Airway Reconstruction Program, and a UC Health physician. Patil performed Singler’s biopsy, which came back as sinonasal undifferentiated carcinoma (SNUC), a rare cancer of the nasal cavity and/or paranasal sinuses. Only about 2,000 people are diagnosed with SNUC in the U.S. each year. Sinus and nasal cancers are rare; SNUC is a subgroup of an already uncommon tumor. “There is no known cause or prevention for this cancer. The reality is that several cancers are caused by random chance—a bad mutation happened, the cell was able to invade the immune system, and in Tina’s case, that’s what we determined,” says William Barrett, M.D., co-director of the UC Cancer Center and professor

Photograph courtesy Tina Singler

A New Treatment for SNUC Revolutionizes Sinus Cancer Survivorship

WE THINK WE’D BE BETTER ON A PIZZA THAN PINEAPPLE. JUST SAYING. Available at

and chair of the Department of Radiation Oncology at the UC College of Medicine. “Tina’s tumor was very infiltrative; the tumor had grown through the bone of her skull and was pushing against her brain—if it had been found later, it would have invaded her brain and that’s rarely curable.” SNUC is usually treated by surgically removing the tumor, but Singler’s tumor was in such a delicate area Barrett didn’t believe surgery would be satisfactory. An adequate cancer surgery involves removal of the tumor and surrounding tissue in case it holds remnants of cancerous cells. SNUC is too close to vital tissue: the brain, the cranial nerves, the eyes, and the optical nerves. The UC Cancer Center is one of the first centers to treat SNUC without surgery. Instead, a unique multimodal therapy approach was applied. Singler was treated with a

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nonsurgical combination of chemotherapy and radiology. She underwent 35 rounds of radiation and every three weeks in between had chemotherapy, both infusions and seven days’ worth of chemotherapy pills to take at home. “It’s a lot to go through as a patient, but Tina was able to work her way through it all,” says Barrett. An outpouring of support helped keep Singler going. “We had to buy an answering machine because of the number of calls from family and friends. I’m blessed to have so many caring people on my team,” she says. After seven weeks of radiation and chemotherapy, Barrett ordered CT, MRI, and PET scans for Singler to see the local extent of the tumor and if it had spread anywhere else. Fortunately, this wasn’t the case. According to Barrett, “Tina continued to be monitored with

regular exams and imaging, and thankfully, her scans are clear. At this point, she’s far enough out that it’s highly likely she’s considered cured of cancer.” “Dr. Barrett is the most amazing human being. Before my first radiation treatment, he popped down to make sure I was OK,” Singler says. “I told him if he couldn’t promise me that I’d get through this, then I didn’t want all the treatments. I said someday my kids were going to get married, and I needed to be there. Dr. Barrett said, ‘Tina, you will.’” Singler was joyfully present as her eldest daughter, Cati, got married. Recently, Cati gave birth to a baby boy, Singler’s first grandchild. His name is Barrett, in honor of Dr. Barrett. “We did not pick this journey, we didn’t have a plan for this, but it couldn’t have unfolded more perfectly—God led us to miracle workers at UC Health,” Singler says. }

Photographs courtesy (left) UC Health, (right) Tina Singler

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SS P P EE C C II A A LL A AD DV V EE R R TT II SS II N NG G SS EE C C TT II O ON N

Smart Guide to Local Schools INSIDE

Illustration by Ardea-studio/stock.adobe.com

Proﬁles and stats for some outstanding schools around the region.

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Bethany School Open House: November 14, 2021, 2–4 p.m. Bethany School is a 123-year-old independent, K-8 Episcopal school located in Glendale, Ohio. Bethany has a long history of nurturing the whole student with outstanding results. Known for its campus like setting, the school encourages spiritual growth, academic excellence, and character development. As a result of a 2014 strategic plan, two new academic buildings were constructed and welcomed students through their doors at the opening of school 2019

and 2020. The Bethel building is a one-of-a-kind LEED certiﬁed Platinum energy efﬁcient school building and has an equally amazing natural playscape. The new playscape will foster activity and risk-taking in a safe environment. The new buildings are both beautiful and inspiring for the staff and students. Join us for our Open House on November 14th from 2 to 4 p.m. For more info visit www.bethanyschool.org

THE STATS YEAR FOUNDED: 1898 GRADES SERVED: K–8 CURRENT ENROLLMENT: 180 STUDENTFACULTY RATIO: 10:1 GRADUATION RATE: N/A UNIFORMS REQUIRED? Yes TUITION: $10,350 555 Albion Ave., Cincinnati, OH 45246 • (513) 771-7462 • www.bethanyschool.org

Bishop Fenwick High School Bishop Fenwick High School is a coed, Catholic community located in the heart of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati since 1952. Today, over 500 students come to Fenwick from 32 zip codes, 27 parishes, and 52 grade schools. Classes are offered at varying academic levels, including Advanced Placement and College Credit Plus, which allow students to earn college credit during high school. Students have the unique opportunity to complete Birkman Method Testing, which assesses how a student’s personality may influence their social and professional motivations, better ensuring success in college and beyond. More than 92 percent of students participate in extracurricular activities, through

either the 27 athletic programs or our clubs. Campus Ministry provides programming in Service and Faith Formation. Each year students volunteer at various locations in Cincinnati and Dayton; a typical Fenwick student completes over 100 hours of community service during their four years. Students explore faith through retreats, mission trips, and liturgical ministries. To know Bishop Fenwick is to know our students and graduates, young men and women of faith, knowledge, and character, learning and leading with purpose, and serving others as a bold Christian community. Fenwick students are built for greatness. We encourage families to explore that greatness by visiting www.fen wickfalcons.org or calling (513) 423-0723.

THE STATS YEAR FOUNDED: 1952 GRADES SERVED: 9–12 CURRENT ENROLLMENT: 500 STUDENTFACULTY RATIO: 14:1 GRADUATION RATE: 100% UNIFORMS REQUIRED? Yes TUITION: $11,275 4855 State Rt. 122, Franklin, OH 45069 • (513) 423-0723 • www.fenwickfalcons.org

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Cincinnati Country Day School Individual appointments available in-person or remotely. Evening appointments also available in the fall (October–December). Learn more at www.countryday.net We are Cincinnati Country Day School. Few schools are better equipped to connect students both academically and personally, whether in the classroom or outside on our 62-acre campus. We are one family united to help grow students, ages 18 months to 18 years, to become exemplary citizens, conﬁdent leaders, and the best versions of themselves.

We ensure families that their children will be inspired, known, and nurtured. We provide students with an exemplary, characterdriven, and innovative academic experience that will guide them to be the future leaders of the next generation. Graduates will be fully prepared for ﬁnding success in the next phase of their lives with purpose, conﬁdence, and character. We are Country Day.

THE STATS YEAR FOUNDED: 1926 GRADES SERVED: Early childhood (18 months)–Grade 12 CURRENT ENROLLMENT: 840 STUDENT-FACULTY RATIO: 9:1 GRADUATION RATE: 100% UNIFORMS REQUIRED? Yes, K–grade 4; dress code grades 5–12 TUITION: $7,570–$27,730 TOP AWARDS/RECOGNITIONS: Students matriculate to top colleges nationally and internationally • #1 Cincinnati area high school for sending students to Harvard, Princeton, and MIT (PolarisList) • $11.4 million awarded in college grants and scholarships • A top K–12 school by Niche for 2021 • Member of Cum Laude Society • Nation’s ﬁrst 1:1 laptop computer program • Advanced Placement Scholars • National Merit Recipients, Scholars, and Scholarship winners • Scholastic Art and Writing Award winners 6905 Given Rd., Cincinnati, OH 45243 • (513) 979-0220 • www.countryday.net

Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy CHCA ’21–’22 Open House Schedule: November 13, 2021, 10 a.m.–1 p.m. (all campuses); January 20, 2022, 8:30–10:30 a.m. (PK–K Symmes Township); February 26, 2022, 10 a.m.–1 p.m. (all campuses); April 7, 2022, 8:45–10:30 a.m. (all campuses); in-person and virtual tours available. Step into CHCA and you will discover an extraordinary Christ-centered education unlike any within the city, where students have countless opportunities to Choose More—to ﬁnd their place, pursue their gifts, strengthen their faith, and make a meaningful impact on our world. Whether you are a preschooler, an Upper School student, or anywhere in between,

you will experience high levels of engagement intellectually, spiritually, and relationally. It’s where innovative programming, theological integration, hands-on learning, and countless extracurriculars all come together to result in unique and exciting learning experiences.

THE STATS YEAR FOUNDED: 1989 GRADES SERVED: PK2–Grade 12 CURRENT ENROLLMENT: 1,300 STUDENT-FACULTY RATIO: 12:1 GRADUATION RATE: 100% UNIFORMS REQUIRED? Yes, through Grade 6 TUITION: $3,590–$18,500 TOP THREE AWARDS/RECOGNITIONS: 8% of students from the Class of 2021 were National Merit Finalists • CHCA is ranked by Niche as the #1 Christian High School in Ohio • Only school in the region offering an Entrepreneurship and Sustainability Program with student-run businesses, a greenhouse, multiple learning gardens, and a teaching kitchen PK2–Gr 3: Edyth B. Lindner Campus, 11312 Snider Rd., Cincinnati, OH 45249; Gr. 4–8: Founders’ Campus, 11300 Snider Rd., Cincinnati, OH 45249; Gr 9–12: Martha S. Lindner Campus, 11525 Snider Rd., Cincnnati, OH 45249; PK3–Gr 6: Otto Armleder Memorial Education Campus, 140 W. Ninth St., Cincinnati, OH 45202 • (513) 247-0900 • www.chca-oh.org

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Cincinnati Waldorf School Open House: November 6, 2021, and February 5, 2022, 10 a.m.–1 p.m. Personal tours available by appointment; e-mail enrollment@cincinnatiwaldorfschool.org The Cincinnati Waldorf School provides active hands-on academics infused with nature, community building, and the arts. CWS students learn compassion, resilience, creativity, balance, problem solving, and independent thinking—exactly what our world needs most right now. Waldorf teachers are experts in outdoor education, and our students spend a lot of time outside. This year we are continuing to spend as much time

outdoors as possible to provide a safe and joyful learning environment for our students. Waldorf High School students work closely with teachers who are experts in the subjects they teach. The high school curriculum is extremely diverse and gives students the opportunity to engage in a wide assortment of classes, allowing them to dive deeply into academic subjects that are integrated with art, music, drama, community building, and more!

THE STATS YEAR FOUNDED: 1973 GRADES SERVED: Preschool–Grade 12 CURRENT ENROLLMENT: 275 STUDENT-FACULTY RATIO: 10:1 GRADUATION RATE: N/A UNIFORMS REQUIRED? No TUITION: Varies by program TOP AWARDS/RECOGNITIONS: Voted “Best Private School in 2020 and 2021” by CityBeat readers Preschool–Gr 8: 6743 Chestnut St., Cincinnati, OH 45227 • (513) 541-0220; Gr 9–12: 6703 Madison Rd., Cincinnati, OH 45227 • (513) 386-7974 • www.cincinnatiwaldorfschool.org

Great Oaks Career Campuses Great Oaks is a public career-technical school district serving 36 school districts in southwest Ohio. Each year, thousands of area high school students prepare for a career at a Great Oaks Career Campus—Diamond Oaks in Dent, Laurel Oaks in Wilmington, Live Oaks in Milford, or Scarlet Oaks in Sharonville. Professional certiﬁcation is available in a wide range of career ﬁelds, from health care to high-tech manufacturing

to cybersecurity to construction trades, culinary arts, agriculture, cosmetology, and more. Great Oaks offers over 30 different programs on campus as well as satellite programs in 28 of the region's 36 afﬁliated school districts. Career training, ESOL, HSE, and personal enrichment programs are also available for adults. Partnerships with local business, education, and community agencies help shape the programs offered.

THE STATS YEAR FOUNDED: 1970 GRADES SERVED: 11–12 and adults on campus; middle school and high school satellite programs in partner schools NUMBER OF STUDENTS CURRENTLY ENROLLED: 3,058 high school students on campus; over 21,000 in satellite programs STUDENT-FACULTY RATIO: N/A GRADUATION RATE: N/A UNIFORMS REQUIRED? Yes TUITION: N/A for high school; adult program tuition varies TOP AWARDS/RECOGNITIONS: Top Workplace as designated by The Enquirer for eight years • 155 students earned national recognition in career skill competition last year • The Great Oaks Project Lead the Way engineering program at Indian Hill High School was named as a Distinguished STEM School. 110 Great Oaks Dr., Cincinnati, OH 45241 • (513) 771-8840 • www.greatoaks.com

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Purcell Marian High School For more information about visiting our campus, Please contact Dawn Ellington, Admissions Director, at dellington@purcellmarian.org or (513) 751-1230 ext. 128. At Purcell Marian, we cultivate the best in each for the beneﬁt of all. We take pride in our richly diverse co-ed student body and the unique paths we offer our students, including the rigorous International Baccalaureate Diploma Program. Purcell M arian challenges our students to be open-minded risktakers and engaged global citizens,

and our 3E Guarantee ensures that all seniors are Employed, Enlisted, or Enrolled at the time of graduation. Visit our campus in the hear t of vibrant East Walnut Hills to meet our passionate team of educators and see for yourself how we foster faith, hard work, and service to others in everything we do.

THE STATS YEAR FOUNDED: 1928 GRADES SERVED: 9–12 CURRENT ENROLLMENT: 350 STUDENTFACULTY RATIO: 18:1 GRADUATION RATE: 100% UNIFORMS REQUIRED? Yes TOP AWARDS/RECOGNITIONS: Authorized International Baccalaureate World School • Voted Secondary/High School of the Year by Cincy Magazine 2020 Greater Cincinnati Nonproﬁt of the Year Awards 2935 Hackberry St., Cincinnati, OH 45206 • (513) 751-1230 • purcellmarian.org

Seton High School Open House: Thursday, November 4, 2021, 4:30–8:30 p.m. In the tradition of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton and through the mission of the Sisters of Charity of Cincinnati, Seton High School develops a diverse population of young women for a life of faith, service, and leadership and engages them in achieving academic excellence in a college-preparatory environment. Our strong Catholic faith is intertwined in every aspect of the school. The young women at Seton High School are challenged to be critical thinkers in an individualized, supportive, and experiential learning envi-

ronment. Seton offers an Honors Program, a variety of both AP and dual college credit courses, and an inclusive and collaborative support services program. Our students are leaders in the classroom, on a sports ﬁeld, in extracurricular clubs and activities, on stage, and in their communities. The mission and values of Seton High School, strong academics, and a true sense of spirit and sisterhood are why thousands of young women have chosen to become a Seton Saint.

THE STATS YEAR FOUNDED: 1927 GRADES SERVED: 9-12 CURRENT ENROLLMENT: 636 STUDENT-FACULTY RATIO: 16:1 TUITION: $12,000 (plus $1,000 in fees) TOP AWARDS/RECOGNITIONS: Elizabeth Ann Seton Award • Alumnae Spirit Award • President’s Awards • Principal’s Awards • 99% of graduates go on to pursue a four-year postsecondary education with 80% of students receiving college scholarships. • Students have an exclusive opportunity to take part in the Seton-TriHealth Summer Employment Program. • Seton offers a flexible, modified block schedule that includes an ACT test prep program. • Seton is the first all-girls school in the city to embrace the House System as its form of student government. 3901 Glenway Ave., Cincinnati, OH 45205 • (513) 471-2600 • www.setoncincinnati.org

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Springer School and Center Open House: Call (513) 871-6080 ext. 211 for a private meeting or an open house. Monthly open houses happen during the school year and are scheduled by the Associate Admission Director, Jill Wieging. Students struggle in school for many reasons. A learning disability is one of them. Since 1971, Springer has been devoted to the mission of empowering students with learning disabilities to lead successful lives. That mission is realized through a research-based curriculum, individualized and explicit instruction in strategies and tools that help students manage their

disability, and social/emotional support that encourages the whole child to ﬂourish. As ADHD often co-occurs with LD, we are expert at addressing the needs of students with attention and organizational challenges. “Our son is experiencing success for the ﬁrst time in a long time, thanks to Springer.” Success Starts Here.

THE STATS YEAR FOUNDED: 1971 GRADES SERVED: 1–8 CURRENT ENROLLMENT: about 200 STUDENTFACULTY RATIO: 6:1 GRADUATION RATE: N/A UNIFORMS REQUIRED? No TUITION: Call the admissions office to discuss the Peterson Scholarship, the potential for ﬁnancial aid, and how to apply for admission. TOP AWARDS/RECOGNITIONS: Accredited by Independent Schools Association of the Central States, Springer is a Jon Peterson Scholarship provider. Educators are trained in the Wilson Reading Program. 2121 Madison Rd., Cincinnati, OH 45208 • (513) 871-6080 • www.springer-LD.org

Saint Ursula Academy Open House: Sunday, October 24, 1–3:30 p.m. Since 1910, Saint Ursula Academy has offered a best in class education to girls in grades 9–12. This dynamic Catholic educational community is known for academic excellence, whole-person formation, innovation, service, and student success. Graduates are women of faith, integrity, and courage committed to building a better world. They are conﬁdent in their roles as thinkers, leaders, nurturers, and prophets.

Saint Ursula seeks cultural and socioeconomic diversity by drawing students from the entire tri-state area to its campus in East Walnut Hills. Families call SUA a good value and investment based on consistent graduate success. Visit Saint Ursula Academy this fall and learn why students from across the Greater Cincinnati region choose Saint Ursula Academy each year.

THE STATS YEAR FOUNDED: 1910 GRADES SERVED: Girls 9–12 CURRENT ENROLLMENT: 645 STUDENTFACULTY RATIO: 13:1 GRADUATION RATE: 100% UNIFORMS REQUIRED? Yes TUITION: $14,555 TOP AWARDS/ RECOGNITIONS: 9 students recognized by the National Merit Corporation for 2020–2021 (97 recognized in last 10 years) • Ohio Success Award winner for COVID-19 Response 2021 • Newsweek’s Best STEM High Schools in America 2020 • Recipient of the ﬁrst College Board AP Computer Science Female Diversity Award for achieving High Female Representation in AP Computer Science Courses 1339 E. McMillan St., Cincinnati, OH 45206 • (513) 961-3410 • www.saintursula.org 8 0 C I N C I N N AT I M A G A Z I N E . C O M S E P T E M B E R 2 0 2 1

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TAMIA STINSON & NICK GREENE JUNE 12, 2021

A chic yet casual OTR rooftop cocktail party brought Tamia and Nick back to where they ﬁrst met and fell in love. Findlay Market and Cincinnati-area vendors—connections from the bride’s work in the creative industry— completed their 513 love story. PHOTOGRAPHY: Larrison Photography VENUE: The Columns WEDDING PLANNER: Rachel Murphy, Mindsettings FLOWERS: Rachel Murphy, Mindsettings CAKE: Tres Belle Cakes GOWN: Rebecca Valance RENTALS: Prime Time Party & Event Rental, Collective Charm Vintage Rentals BRIDE’S HAIR: Brittani Gray, The Hair Kitchen BRIDE’S MAKEUP: Jasmine Cotton, BRIDEface CATERING: The Rhined, Maverick Chocolate Co. OFFICIANT: Kathryne Gardette BRIDE’S PROFESSION: Creative director GROOM’S PROFESSION: Software developer COUPLE’S CURRENT HOME: St. Bernard CELEBRITY CAMEOS: Nick used the app Cameo to collect video messages from some of the couple’s favorite celebrities. Among the appearances were rapper RZA, Bootsy Collins, and Danny Trejo. MUSIC LOVERS: The couple curated playlists to soundtrack each part of their special evening. Nick and Tamia walked down the aisle to Stevie Wonder and Solange and partied the night away with Dua Lipa and Ghostface.

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Good taste. Beautiful gatherings. Enduring memories. Elegant Fare is at the heart of creating the most treasured experience of your lifetime. ÉĩƃĤɠŕƌųɠǠǜɋƫĈÝųɠÝƥÝųÿɋƥĩŋŋĩŋĝɠľĈĝÝùƫȷɠ.ľĈĝÝŋƃɠ@ÝųĈɠŕƹĈųźɠÿĩźƃĩŋùƃĩƤĈɠ ňĈŋƌźȷɠÿĈľĈùƃÝöľĈɠÿĩźĤĈźȷɠÝŋÿɠĩňůųĈźźĩƤĈɠźĈųƤĩùĈȶɠ ŕƌŋƃɠŕŋɠŕƌųɠ planning experts to guide you with an array of options and special ƃŕƌùĤĈźȷɠÝźɠƥĈľľɠÝźɠůųĩùĩŋĝɠľĈƤĈľźȶɠyƌųɠĝŕÝľȸɠƫŕƌųɠůĈÝùĈɠŕěɠňĩŋÿɠÝŋÿɠ a delightful wedding day. .ľĈĝÝŋƃɠ@ÝųĈɠĤÝźɠźĈųƤĈÿɠųŕƫÝľƃƫȷɠ°ȶ ȶɠůųĈźĩÿĈŋƃźȷɠźůŕųƃźɠÝŋÿɠźùųĈĈŋɠ ùĈľĈöųĩƃĩĈźȷɠÝŋÿɠ@ŕųƃƌŋĈɠǝǜǜɠ .yźȶɠNƃɠƥĩľľɠöĈɠŕƌųɠůľĈÝźƌųĈɠƃŕɠźĈųƤĈɠƃĤĈɠ ňŕźƃɠĩňůŕųƃÝŋƃɠÈN źɠŕěɠÝľľȸɠƫŕƌɠÝŋÿɠƫŕƌųɠŋĈƥɠźůŕƌźĈȶ

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MARIELLE MURPHY & NICK TRO A J U LY 3 , 2 0 2 1

An ethereal garden in Nick’s parents’ backyard provided a cozy and meaningful backdrop for a night ﬁlled with special touches— and even a few surprises. PHOTOGRAPHY: Casey Burns Photography VENUE: Nick’s parents’ backyard WEDDING PLANNER: Emily McKeehan and Narnia Soles of Blush and Bowtie Wedding Planning & Design FLOWERS: Katie’s Blooms DESSERT: Busken Bakery, Holtman’s Donuts, and Peace, Love and Little Donuts GOWN: Made with Love Bridal, from Hyde Park Bridal TUX: Indochino RENTALS: Blush and Bowtie Wedding Planning & Design BRIDE’S HAIR: Abbey Hillesheim BRIDE’S MAKEUP: Tamra Berry Beauty CATERING: Eli’s BBQ BRIDE’S PROFESSION: Communications GROOM’S PROFESSION: Hospitality COUPLE’S CURRENT HOME: Hyde Park SOMETHING BLUE: The bride had a heart-shaped piece of one of her late father’s blue shirts sewn onto her dress to keep him with her on this special day. Her sister had the same idea and surprised the bride with a bouquet holder made from his monogrammed shirt cuff. FRIENDLY FACES: The couple’s friends arrived at the familyonly wedding after dinner as a surprise planned by Nick for Marielle. They joined in on the festivities with Cincinnati classic eats from Skyline, White Castle, and LaRosa’s.

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KIANA JAMES & CAMERON CUNNINGHAM AUGUST 23, 2020

Rolling hills, a white gazebo, and a pictureperfect summer day set a fairytale scene for these two childhood sweethearts. PHOTOGRAPHY: Images Photography and Video VENUE: Magnolia Estate WEDDING PLANNER: Angela’s Premier Event Designs FLOWERS: Hollon Flowers CAKE: Sam’s Club GOWN: David’s Bridal TUX: Macy’s INVITATIONS: 6KXWWHUÁ\ BRIDE’S HAIR: Morgann Calhoun BRIDE’S MAKEUP: Prince Tempting CATERING: Creatif Catering BRIDE’S PROFESSION: Full-time VWXGHQW ZRUNV IRU D JDVWURHQWHURORJLVW RIÀFH GROOM’S PROFESSION: Truck driver COUPLE’S CURRENT HOME: Dayton, Ohio YOUNG LOVE: 7KH FRXSOH ÀUVW PHW DW WKHLU PLGGOH VFKRRO bus stop, when Kiana was in eighth grade and Cameron in seventh. It was there that Cameron popped the question: “Will you be my girlfriend?” Kiana, who already had a crush on Cameron, agreed to the proposal. BLINGED-OUT: Kiana’s obsession with Crocs, the classic foam clogs, was on full display during her big day. She even had a pair of bedazzled shoes custom-made, just so she could wear them while getting ready with her bridal party.

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KATLYN VARNER & ANTHONY PIPER OCTOBER 24, 2020

Katlyn and Anthony’s classic black-andwhite wedding featured breathtaking views of the Cincinnati skyline from the hilltop of Mt. Echo Park. PHOTOGRAPHY: Sarah Giacin Photography VENUE: Mt. Echo Park FLOWERS: The Secret Garden by Roses and More CAKE: Let It Shine Delights GOWN: Made With Love, from Hyde Park Bridal LIGHTING: Cincy Entertainment Services RENTALS: Premier Park Events INVITATIONS: Shine Wedding Invitations BRIDE’S HAIR: Jordan Higgins, from BRIDEface BRIDE’S MAKEUP: Leyla Raizk Shay, from BRIDEface MUSIC: Big Daddy Walker Productions CATERING: Chef’s Choice Catering TRANSPORTATION: Hotel Covington BRIDE’S PROFESSION: Administrative assistant GROOM’S PROFESSION: Mortgage consultant COUPLE’S CURRENT HOME: Bellevue BEST FRIEND TURNED BRIDE: When Anthony and Katlyn met in WKH VL[WK JUDGH KH DOZD\V PDGH VXUH WR PDNH KHU KLV ÀUVW pick in neighborhood games of baseball or basketball. The EHVW IULHQGV YRZHG WR EH WHDPPDWHV³DQG HDFK RWKHU·V ÀUVW picks—for life. LOVE FOR GENERATIONS: Amid the challenges that COVID-19 presented, Katlyn was overjoyed to have her grandmother Ruth by her side on her big day. She walked down the aisle with her grandmother’s ring sewn into a pocket of her dress to commemorate the love they share.

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LAUREN AMYX & MARIO MERRILLS OCTOBER 24, 2020

The couple hosted about 50 of their closest relatives and friends at Lauren’s parents’ home for a cozy celebration of their love and a night ﬁlled with laughter. PHOTOGRAPHY: The Brothers Martens VENUE: Matt and Cindy Amyx’s home WEDDING PLANNER: Ann Travis Events FLOWERS: Robin Wood Flowers CAKE: The BonBonerie GOWN: Brandon Maxwell TUX: M. Weil Custom Clothing RENTALS: All Occasions Event Rentals INVITATIONS: Poeme BRIDE’S MAKEUP: Megan Kramer, Blend Artistry CEREMONY MUSIC: On a Limb CATERING: Eat Well Celebrations and Feasts OFFICIANT: Montgomery Mayor Chris Dobrozsi BRIDE’S AND GROOM’S PROFESSION: Medical device sales COUPLE’S CURRENT HOME: Marriottsville, Maryland MAKING THE DISTANCE: /DXUHQ DQG 0DULR ÀUVW PHW DW D MRE WUDLQLQJ FRXUVH LQ 1HZ Orleans and remained close friends afterward, despite living in different states. Years later, circumstances changed and the two began their relationship. PIECE-BY-PIECE: The couple strayed from the traditional for their ceremony, opting to write the entire thing themselves. After researching different IRUPDWV WKH\ SLHFHG WRJHWKHU SDUWV WKDW IHOW VLJQLÀFDQW WR WKHLU relationship, creating a completely personalized ceremony.

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GRETCHEN JUNKER & CONOR PARDO OCTOBER 3, 2020

The wedding of Gretchen’s and Conor’s dreams panned out beautifully, with an elegant meal, an Art Deco backdrop and perfectly placed bow ties courtesy of the groom. PHOTOGRAPHY: Jen Saner CEREMONY: Old St. Mary’s Church RECEPTION: Hilton Cincinnati Netherland Plaza WEDDING PLANNER: Elegant Events by Elisa FLOWERS: Floral Verde LLC GOWN: Sareh Nouri TUX: Folchi’s Tuxedos & Menswear RENTALS: All Occasions Event Rentals INVITATIONS: M. Hopple & Co. BRIDE’S HAIR AND MAKEUP: BRIDEface RECEPTION MUSIC: Jim Cerone TRANSPORTATION: Jimmy’s Limousine Service BRIDE’S AND GROOM’S PROFESSION: Pharmacist COUPLE’S CURRENT HOME: Columbus COVID CUISINE: The food-loving couple GLG DZD\ ZLWK D GDQFH Á RRU DQG FRFNWDLO KRXU LQVWHDG WUHDWLQJ JXHVWV to an unforgettable six-course dinner. LOVE LETTERS: Photographer -HQ 6DQHU GLG D WZLVW RQ WKH ´À UVW ORRN µ FDSWXULQJ WKH FRXSOH·V UHDF tions to letters they wrote one another.

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MARA LEYENDECKER & CODY ERNST APRIL 23, 2021

This Phantom of the Opera–loving couple opted for a masquerade-themed wedding. PHOTOGRAPHY: Bambino International CEREMONY: St. Martin of Tours Catholic Church RECEPTION: Bell Event Centre FLOWERS: Forever Floral and Rustic Sweethearts CAKE: Spoon Fulla Sugar GOWN: Eve of Milady, from Bridal and Formal RENTALS: Bell Event Centre BRIDE’S HAIR & MAKEUP: Reign Beauty Studio RECEPTION MUSIC: CSC Special Events CATERING: Bell Event Centre VIDEOGRAPHY: New Horizons Films TRANSPORTATION: A Savannah Nite BRIDE’S PROFESSION: Doctor GROOM’S PROFESSION: Nurse practitioner COUPLE’S CURRENT HOME: Mt. Lookout FAMILY MEANS EVERYTHING: The couple exchanged vows at St. Martin of Tours, the same church where funeral services were held for Mara’s late grandmother, who became a nun after her husband passed away and her children left home. KEEPING TRADITIONS ALIVE: Mara used the cake topper from her parents’ wedding and wore her mother-in-law’s wedding tiara.

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ALEXANDRA WINTERS & CHRISTOPHER BICKEL DECEMBER 11, 2020

Alex and Chris planned an intimate affair, leaving space for genuine connection with every guest who attended their magical wintertime ceremony. PHOTOGRAPHY: Alison Ford CEREMONY: St. John Church RECEPTION: Four Bridges Country Club CAKE: Cakes by Jerri Deeter GOWN: EddyK SUIT: Folchi’s Tuxedos & Menswear INVITATIONS: Penelope’s Paper Pantry BRIDE’S HAIR AND MAKEUP: Rollers & Rouge RECEPTION MUSIC: Rob D’Agostino BRIDE’S PROFESSION: Attorney GROOM’S PROFESISON: Service delivery manager COUPLE’S CURRENT HOME: Middletown MOST WONDERFUL TIME OF THE YEAR: 7KH FRXSOH À UVW met around the holidays, so nothing seemed more natural than a Christmas wedding. HANDMADE WITH LOVE: As Alex decorated the church before her wedding, she remembers feeling grateful for the handcrafted decorations. “It was the coolest thing to be surrounded by all these things that my mom and godmother made,” she says.

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The fight to include autism as an approved condition for medicinal cannabis—allowed in nearly two dozen other states—typifies the slow rollout of Ohio's two-year-old system. illustration by:

Gary Neill

of information and the possibilities. I had no idea people were using it for so many medicinal uses.” Ohio now allows people with certain medical conditions, upon the recommendation of an Ohio-licensed physician certified by the State Medical Board, to purchase and use medical marijuana. The state currently lists 25 qualified conditions, which include cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, epilepsy, and inflammatory bowel disease. Pediatric use is allowed for all of these conditions, Williams says.

cannabis products and offer free followup appointments for a year. There are now two Green Harvest Health clinics in Columbus and one in Cleveland, while Williams operates her family practice one day a week. She says she’s seen improvement in all sorts of people with all sorts of conditions. One of her most memorable cases is a woman in her 30s with a severe case of fibromyalgia, a disorder characterized by widespread musculoskeletal pain often accompanied by fatigue, sleep, memory, and mood issues. The woman came in for her follow-up appointment and teared up almost immediately. Oh no, Williams thought, the cannabis hadn’t worked. “No, she said, this is the first time in 15 years I’ve been pain free,” Williams says. The biggest misconception from patients about medical marijuana, she says, is that people use it just to get high. “What I hear is they’re terrified of opioid addic-

EVERY STATE PROGRAM WORKS IN ITS OWN SILO BECAUSE IT’S ILLEGAL TO TRANSPORT MARIJUANA OVER STATE LINES. EVERYTHING FROM GROWING TO TESTING HAPPENS IN-STATE. Once the legislation became law, Williams considered working at a card clinic. “Some people call them card mills, because all you have to do is prove—or maybe prove—you have a legal diagnosis and they give you a card,” she says. “They’re 10- to 15-minute visits.” Williams sees herself as a holistic doctor who wants to get to the root of an individual’s health problems. She asks things like, What changed in your life that brought about the weight gain that brought about your hypertension? What changed in your life that brought about the diabetes or the high cholesterol? She opted to open Green Harvest Health, where every patient gets a personal consultation and treatment plan. Williams makes a recommendation (doctors can’t prescribe marijuana because of its illegal federal status) for a medical marijuana card, if the patient qualiﬁes. Her clinics help them navigate available

tion and medicines that ruin their liver or their kidneys or their stomach,” Williams says. “They don’t want medications that will make them zonk out or not interact with the world. We can create combinations with CBD and THC that will not give you a high feeling at all.” IT’S A TUESDAY MORNING, AND THERE’S a steady flow of customers coming and going from the Verilife Medical Cannabis Dispensary across the street from Aldi on Ridge Avenue in Columbia Township. It’s one of 54 dispensaries operating in Ohio as of July. The location serves 400 to 500 patients a day, says Jamie Gallaspie, Ohio district manager for parent company PharmaCann, who has driven down from Wapakoneta to give me a tour. “A lot of patients come in looking like a deer in the headlights with lots of questions,” says Gallaspie, who has a doctor of pharmacy degree from Ohio Northern

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University. Prior to her position with PharmaCann, she managed pharmacies for Mercy Health, Kmart, and Rite Aid. Unlike Williams’s patients, Gallaspie says most people who come in haven’t really talked much with the doctor who recommended their card. Verilife is happy to assist and holds consultations in private meeting rooms to talk about the differences between edibles, beverages, capsules, creams, patches, and sublingual tinctures. Staff members explain that Ohio law doesn’t allow people to ignite or “smoke” marijuana in a pipe or rolled in paper. The only legal way to inhale Ohio’s medical marijuana is to vaporize it. Employees show customers how to vape at speciﬁc temperatures to get the marijuana to release its medicinal properties and achieve the effects they desire. Flower—marijuana plant matter—is the most popular product, Gallaspie says. Patients are advised to “start low and go slow.” The largest populations they serve by medical condition are pain, post-traumatic stress disorder, and cancer, she says. One of the biggest complaints with Ohio’s system has been the distance many people travel to a dispensary, but the Board of Pharmacy approved licensing of 73 more dispensaries in April, Gallaspie says. Every state program works in its own silo because it’s illegal to transport marijuana over state lines. In Ohio, every part of the industry and control program, from growing to processing to testing, happens in-state. “I’m just so excited to be from a state that’s growing its program by adding new medical conditions and opening more dispensaries,” says Bonnie Rabin, founder of the Cincinnati Medical Marijuana Meetup group, which gathers monthly at MadTree Brewing in Oakley and has grown from only a handful of members in 2019 to more than 300 today. After a career in social work, community organizing, and education, Rabin opened Cincinnati-based Medical Marijuana Patient Care to educate patients, caregivers, and doctors on the intricacies of Ohio’s law and system. Tripling the number of dispensaries and adding new cultivation and processing facilities should help lower the cost of medical marijuana, another big gripe,

MEDICAL MARIJUANA Rabin says. The state charges an annual $50 registration fee per patient and a $25 fee per caregiver, with a 50 percent discount for veterans and those with indigent status. A doctor’s appointment for a card recommendation should cost between $150 and $250, though rates fluctuate, Rabin says. Then there’s the cost of the cannabis products themselves, which aren’t covered by insurance. In July, onetenth of an ounce of medical marijuana retailed for $31.56. “An example is sleep medication,” says Rabin. “You pay $4 a month for medication with health insurance. To move to a cannabis remedy, which you might be interested in trying, would be $150.” LEGALIZING MARIJUANA—FOR WHATever use—requires a reckoning with our past, says Cincinnati Vice Mayor Christopher Smitherman. “There are people who literally went to jail for marijuana and did like five, six, seven, 10 years for it,” he says. “Not cocaine. Not crack. Marijuana. We’ve come a long way from where we were incarcerating people for marijuana and ruining their lives.” In 2018, marijuana-related arrests accounted for more than 43 percent of all U.S. drug arrests, according to a study by the American Civil Liberties Union. The same study also found that, on average, a Black person is 3.64 times more likely to be arrested for marijuana possession than a white person, even though Black and white people use marijuana at similar rates. Smitherman works as a licensed financial planner, and he began to see marijuana companies become publicly traded and knew some investors were making a lot of money. At the same time, he says, “I’m watching predominantly African American men be locked up for small amounts of marijuana or given a citation creating a criminal record that then stops them from getting a job.” The councilman, who officially serves as an Independent and recently announced his bid for the Hamilton County Commission in 2022, worked with now-suspended Councilman Jeff Pastor on the 2019 legislation that decriminalized possession of 100 grams or less of marijuana within city limits. The measure passed 5–3 with one ab-

stention. Between October 2019 and April 2021, the Cincinnati Police Department issued 1,254 marijuana warnings to adults. If someone is caught with marijuana outside of the city, in Hamilton County or another part of the state, local authorities follow local laws or fall back on state law, which is a criminal misdemeanor charge and $150 fine for 100 grams or less. Cross the river into Kentucky, and possession of less than 8 ounces (226 grams) can result in a misdemeanor possession charge, a $250 fine, and up to 45 days in jail. Smitherman’s wife Pamela, the mother of his five children, died from cancer in 2019. He asked her if she wanted to try medical cannabis during her treatments. She didn’t. “But if I had wanted to get it for her, I would have liked to have access to it and not have this stigma when I’m out buying marijuana,” he says. BACK UP IN NORTHWEST OHIO, CARWILE vows to continue fighting to get autism listed in Ohio’s control program. Meanwhile, there’s talk of a much wider overhaul to Ohio’s marijuana law at the Statehouse in Columbus. Sen. Steve Huffman, Republican of Tipp City, co-wrote Ohio’s current law. An emergency room physician, he told The Columbus Dispatch in April that he and fellow Republican Sen. Kirk Schuring, of Canton, were working on a new bill to make sweeping changes, including oversight of dispensaries and how new medical conditions get approved. “We made it too cumbersome,” Huffman told the newspaper. The push for covering pediatric autism is an example, the lawmakers have said, of the current law’s downfalls. Any Ohioan has the ability to petition the state medical board to add a condition, as Carwile has done, but all three times the board sided with Nationwide Children’s Hospital and its Center for Autism Spectrum Disorder in Columbus, which opposed the petition. Given what they’ve seen and heard from their constituents, some legislators are now working to go over the heads of the State Medical Board to add autism as a covered condition. One of those legislators is Rep. Bill Seitz, a Green Township Republican representing portions of western Hamilton County.

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“I have been at the forefront of efforts to increase treatments for autism, which affects an alarmingly high number of children these days,” Seitz said at the hearing for House Bill 60, which he co-sponsored. “I worked with Governor Kasich and the General Assembly to ensure that autism treatment was included as an essential health benefit under Medicaid expansion. . . . How is [marijuana] any more injurious than addicting the patients to Ritalin or other expensive drugs that are now used for this purpose? Passing this bill does not require any patient or parent to ingest medical marijuana. It just gives them a choice, in consultation with their doctor, to try.” In testimony, Nationwide Children’s Hospital leaders countered that it “would be not only negligent but also unethical to approve medical cannabis as an indication of autism spectrum disorder and anxiety prior to the completion [of] several welldesigned, randomized, double-blind placebo-controlled trials currently underway.” “In our view, there is little rigorous evidence that marijuana or its derivatives is of benefit for patients with autism and anxiety, but there is a substantial association between cannabis use and the onset or worsening of several psychiatric conditions,” wrote the Center for Autism Spectrum Disorder’s medical director and Nationwide’s director of quality improvement in neurology and division chief of developmental and behavioral pediatrics. Carwile, who also testified, pointed out that Nationwide was the only opposition to attend any of the bill’s four hearings. Supporters included parents, doctors, and autism organizations. Since the March 23 hearing where she and Seitz gave their testimonies, 11 more states have created a legal pathway to give medical marijuana to children with autism. Will she move out of the state if this effort fails? “There are 44,000 kids with autism in Ohio, and that’s just the statistics, not the undocumented ones and those misdiagnosed or undiagnosed,” Carwile says. “I look at my son and I see suffering, but I see hope, too. He’s a survivor. His story is a testament as to why we need to listen to all science available and why I won’t stop fighting.”

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The warm and calming fall breeze. The vision of palm trees swaying under a late afternoon sky. And the vivid orange rays of the sunset stretching for miles over the horizon. And here you are, on America’s Best Beaches, pristine white sand underfoot. This is St. Pete/Clearwater, here to help you renew and rejuvenate. Your senses never felt better. VisitStPeteClearwater.com

MR. BENGAL IS MR. BELOVED CONTINUED FROM PAGE 59

MR. BENGAL

MR. BELOVED Dave Lapham is a former player, a long-time broadcaster, and—best of all—a full-time Bengals fan. Just like the rest of us.

By Robert Weintraub

Illustration by James Yamasaki 56

was conducting with head coach Marvin Lewis to angrily confront Lap over some choice pregame comments. Gresham, who missed the game that day with an injury, thought Lapham said he’d quit on the team,

horror of football’s ultraviolence, the brain damage and other afflictions that have ruined the lives of so many from his era. “Other guys my age tell me they feel the same way I do, and they never played football,” he says. Lapham has certainly come a long way since his days as a prep athlete in Massachusetts, where he starred in basketball and track in addition to football. He grew up in Wakeﬁeld in suburban Boston, one of four kids born to a sports-loving mother and a father who wasn’t as keen. “My dad was a technical illustrator and sketch artist,” Lapham says. “He had this incredible

“HE SAID, I’M GOING TO DO THAT ONE DAY,” SAYS DAVE’S BROTHER, ROGER. “I ASKED IF HE MEANT PLAYING OR BROADCASTING, AND HE SAID, BOTH. BUT HE DID IT.” which Lapham heatedly denied, telling him they’d “Run the tape!” later. It mostly made news because few could remember the affable Lap ever getting that angry, certainly not while on the air. An earlier mishap almost ended his career prematurely. Back in the (almost) Dream Season of 1988, Lap’s third as radio analyst, he watched from the broadcast booth while the Steelers (as usual) took multiple cheap shots at Bengals players, notably his pal Anthony Muñoz, who was getting hit late by a Pittsburgh defensive end. “I called him a ‘turd’ on the air,” says Lapham. “Phil Samp, the play-by-play man, asked me with a straight face, ‘How do you spell that?’ I replied, ‘I don’t know if it’s TU-R-D or T-E-R-D, all I know is that guy sure is one.’ Samp waited a beat, then said, ‘Well, it was nice working with you.’ ” Lapham managed to keep his gig. He hasn’t used that epithet, by either spelling, on the air since. LAPHAM SHUFFLES ALONG WITH A LIMP, favoring his left leg, remnants of damage sustained playing in a dozen NFL seasons. It’s a couple of days before his 69th birthday, and you can sense the impact he absorbed when watching him move around. But he points out that he avoided the true

handwriting. He could write the Gettysburg Address on the head of a pin.” While athleticism wasn’t handed down, the penmanship apparently was. “He takes meticulous notes in this amazingly tiny handwriting hieroglyphics,” Hoard tells me. Football captivated Lapham as a kid, as did the former players calling the games. “In those days the Giants, not the Patriots, were mostly on in our area,” Lapham says. “That meant Pat Summerall and Tom Brookshier calling the games on CBS, who were greats.” “We were watching football on TV one Sunday, and he pointed at the screen and said, I’m going to do that one day,” recalls Lapham’s youngest brother, Roger. “I asked if he meant playing or broadcasting, and he said, Both. I mean, he might as well have said, I’m going to walk on the moon. But he did it. His focus and drive are really admirable.” Lapham studied other announcers, citing Curt Gowdy and legendary Celtics radio man Johnny Most as his favorites. When I mention Most was also known for his enthusiastic lack of neutrality when calling games, Lap nods. “I never really thought about that, but I get that connection.” Like many aspiring broadcasters, Lapham would pretend to call games while watching

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them on TV. “He would also interview me,” Roger tells me from his home in Nashua, New Hampshire. “He was always excitable. Look at that! he’d shout, even when we were watching casually. He would watch the line play even then and know all about the personnel and the formations and what they meant, while I was just watching the quarterback.” The hero worship remains apparent in Roger’s voice, even with both brothers in their 60s. “I could get away with murder around the neighborhood because of who my big brother was,” he says with a laugh. While slow to anger, there was at least one sure way for a pesky little brother to arouse Dave. “He had a paper route,” Roger remembers, “delivering The Boston Globe, Boston Herald, and Boston Record American. I knew he kept his tip money in his top drawer, all the quarters and dimes and nickels very neatly stacked. The way to get him mad was to sneak in and shake up his change. You could never admit to it, of course, because of his size.” Lapham was no meathead, though; he was a good enough student to be accepted into Harvard, Yale, and other Ivies. “I was interested in law,” he says. “I was going to be Perry Mason.” Instead, he chose the school he felt gave him the best chance to become a pro football player, Syracuse University, a decision that was noticed by Bengals ownership. “That impressed me,” says Brown. “It’s typical of him. He’s not impressed by reputation or standing or inﬂuence.” Syracuse was coached at the time by the legendary Ben Schwartzwalder, a World War II veteran and no-nonsense disciplinarian. An older player named Joe Ehrmann had a huge impact on the wideeyed freshman. “Joe was an All-American defensive tackle who went on to be drafted by the Colts,” says Lapham. “I was on the freshman team, he was on the varsity, and we went head-to-head in scrimmages. He took the time to show me what you need to do to be successful. That was really big for me.” Lapham became Schwartzwalder’s last team captain at Syracuse and willed himself to become an NFL prospect. When he wasn’t on the football ﬁeld, Lapham took a wide range of classes at the Newhouse School, Syracuse’s communications department, which has produced its

MR. BENGAL IS MR. BELOVED fair share of broadcast legends, including Marv Albert, Bob Costas, Dick Stockton, and Dan Hoard. (Full disclosure: I’m a Syracuse/Newhouse alum, too.) “I took a broadbased approach,” he says of his curriculum. “Newspapers, marketing, public speaking. I wanted to be covered in case football didn’t work out.” It did work out, though being drafted in 1974 was a bit different than today’s wall-to-wall TV coverage and red carpet treatment. Lapham had to hang out next to his college dormitory pay phone, shooing away fellow students in order to keep the line clear for NFL teams to call. He waited only until the third round, when “Tiger” Bill Johnson, Bengals line coach (and future head coach) rang to let Lap know he was coming to Cincinnati. “He said, Congratulations, you made it. Enjoy it. There’s no other job like it in the world.” “The first time I saw Lap was at the Blue-Gray college all-star game in Alabama,” Brown remembers. “He was sitting

Lapham has spent just two years outside of Cincinnati in the near half-century he’s been associated with the Bengals. Those came in 1984 and 1985, when he took Donald Trump’s money to jump to the New Jersey Generals of the nascent USFL. “They guaranteed my contract,” Lapham says.“I missed the guys, but they understood that business was business.” He says the former president was “a heck of an owner in terms of treating his players well.” The demands of playing back-to-back NFL/USFL seasons hastened Lap’s exit from pro football, which happened after the 1985 season, just before Trump destroyed the spring league by pushing an illfated lawsuit against the NFL. Lapham always held an offseason job— as a substitute teacher and in the marketing department of a savings and loan company—and he took a full-time gig with the Texo Corporation, an adhesives company run by former Bengals center Bob Johnson. Brown called him out of the blue, wondering if he’d be interested in spending his

“DAVE KNOWS WHAT MAKES A PLAYER TICK AND WHAT’S FUN ABOUT THE GAME, AND HE CONVEYS IT SO WELL,” SAYS BENGALS OWNER MIKE BROWN OF LAP’S STYLE. on a training table in the locker room, and I thought, Jeez, he sure looks the part.” Nevertheless, Cincinnati also drafted another guard in the fourth round, an All-American from Nebraska named Daryl White. “We battled to the end,” Lapham says. “If you made the team you had a chair in the meeting room with your name taped to it. I couldn’t find mine. I thought Oh shit, I’m cut. Then Stan Walters, a tackle and fellow Syracuse alum, came over to me with a big smile. Hey, you dumbass rookie, you made it! he said. He’d hidden my chair in the closet.” Wearing number 62, Lapham established himself as a key member of the line that protected Anderson on the way to Super Bowl XVI, mostly alongside the great Muñoz at left guard, though Lap played all five line positions in his career. He was a Sunday fixture, missing just a dozen games in 10 years.

Sundays in the team’s radio booth. “He was well-spoken as a player, intelligent, and knew how to explain the game,” recalls Brown when asked what he saw in Lap. “He knows what makes a player tick and what’s fun about the game, and he conveys it so well.” Brown was surprised at first when Lap would yell excitedly over a good play or groan at failure, but he insists he’s never talked to his longtime employee about the on-air product. Lapham confirms that to be true. “I’m not gonna say the sky is green when it’s blue,” he says. “Mike agrees with that approach. He’s told me that, so long as the homework supports your take, then it’s fine.” Not that the two don’t chat. They eat breakfast together at 7 a.m. on the morning of most road games, along with Hoard (UC broadcast commitments permitting), Brown’s daughter and son-in-law Katie

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and Troy Blackburn, and Brown’s close friend, Jack Schiff. “It’s the Lap and Brown story hour,” Hoard says. “They trade stories about team history. Mike has an infectious, whole-body laugh, and Dave gets him going more than anyone.” According to Brown, one of their favorites is about the “hat drill” instituted by Coach Johnson. “Tiger would put a ball cap seven yards deep, and the linemen would go one on one, with the defender trying to get to the cap,” Brown says. “We had a great defensive tackle, Mike Reid, who was wonderful, so quick and strong. But he didn’t like to practice. And a very young Lapham was taking it to him in the hat drill. Reid complained, and Dave, a ﬁrst-year player, answered that he was just ‘trying to keep my job.’ Reid responded with some unprintable words about the ‘stupid rookie’ and proceeded to embarrass him in the drill.” EVEN INTO A LIFE AS BLESSED AS Lapham’s a little rain must fall, and the golf tournament is interrupted by an epic thunderstorm. “It looks like there was one cell that stalled over us for a while,” Lap says, apologizing to the cigar-smoking crowd gathered for shelter under the country club’s lodge courtyard. The rain stops eventually, and while the course dries we talk a bit about the team he covers. His former position group has dominated all conversation this offseason, of course, with the protection of quarterback Joe Burrow, the franchise’s top player, at the forefront of discussions. Lapham beneﬁtted as a player from excellent teaching; he cites head coach Forrest Gregg (a Hall of Fame offensive tackle) and line coach Jim McNally as a “really powerful combo” who helped him immensely. He speaks highly of current offensive line coach Frank Pollack, who did a good job in Cincinnati in 2018 and has returned to lead a potentially demoralized and nationally criticized group. “Frank is talented, he teaches good techniques, he’s adaptable, and he has credibility with the guys because he played in the league,” Lapham says. All eyes will be on Pollack as he works with second-round pick Jackson Carman, a former Clemson tackle who’s transitioning inside to guard. “Most guys would say it’s easier to move inside,” says Lap, “but the

action can be quicker inside. Outside at tackle you know for the most part who you’re blocking—the edge rusher. Inside it can be any number of defenders. So to me it’s an adjustment. Carman needs to be a knee-bender. If he gets his shoulders going forward, that’s bad news.” Lapham describes Carman, who played at Fairfield High, in familiar terms. “He’s very intelligent. He’s a pretty good cook, a well-read guy, so it’s not just about football with him. He can absorb a lot, and good football intelligence usually goes along with that.” Lapham, like everyone else, has nothing but good things to say about Burrow. Remarkably, though, when we talked in June Mr. Bengal had yet to actually meet Burrow in person due to COVID-19. Let’s hope by now the two are the tight buddies you’d expect. Nevertheless, Lap has had no problem gauging the quarterback’s abilities even in the interpersonal domain. “His leadership is second to none, and his people skills are unbelievable. He has that ‘it’ factor. He’s like [former Bengals QB] Boomer Esiason—he makes everyone feel important and that he or she is critical to the total group effort.” Lapham recently signed on to call Bengals games for the next three seasons. “I look at it as three one-year deals,” he says as we relax in a golf cart. “I think back to my ﬁrst broadcast partner, Phil Samp, who said he knew he’d lost something in his on-air delivery but wanted to leave before it was obvious. It can fall off a cliff and be unforgiving when it does. You lose the ability to see things, and I’m approaching that time. Years ago I could look at a roster and know everyone instantly—the numbers, the colleges, everything—and digest it quickly. Now?” Lap trails off, gazing down the fairway of his future. For the ﬁrst time in a very long time, it’s tinged with uncertainty. “I don’t want him to wind down,” Brown says. “He sends a message we want out there, that we’ve got good people doing their best and patience is appreciated. It’s not easy to win in this league, and there’s no need to be harsh. Dave puts all that in perspective while never being bitter or sharp. Just fun.” S E P T E M B E R 2 0 2 1 C I N C I N N AT I M A G A Z I N E . C O M 1 1 1

UNTIL NEXT YEAR !

EatPlayGive, The Friends & Family SIDS Brunch, has become a culinary staple in our community, and you’re a vital piece of it! While we won’t be gathering until 2022, we can’t wait to see you for the best event yet. DON'T FORGET: You can always get a taste of the experience by dining with any one of our restaurant partners!

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D NE

DEER PARK’S PERUVIAN PARADISE P. 116

JOE HENKE OF HENKE WINERY P. 116

SUSHI IN OTR P. 118

BODEGA LIFE IN NORTHSIDE P. 119

STRIP TEASE Repertoire’s 14 oz. NY strip steak is served with toasted crostini, sticky onions, roasted bone marrow, and asparagus.

PHOTOGRAPH BY JEREMY KRAMER

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DINING OUT

REP UP

This Northern Kentucky restaurant explores the many regions of New American cuisine. — B R A N D O N W U S K E

F YOU VEER SLIGHTLY OFF ROUTE 42 IN FLORENCE, YOU’LL FIND REPERTOIRE, IN THE corner of a secluded strip mall on Haines Drive. It sits on a slight hill, overlooking the taverns and chain restaurants of Florence’s main drag. This, it turns out, is fitting. Repertoire is both a familiar neighborhood spot and an outlier. Chef/owner Chris Baulo says as much on the restaurant’s website: “We are saturated with chain restaurants and ‘hole in the wall’ bars. All of this is great, but what if you don’t want to bring the kids or want a better experience without going to the city?” Repertoire is decidedly not a family restaurant. Traipsing as it does from Kentucky to the Southwest, the menu cuts across America’s flavor-rich regions. This is the stated goal of the restaurant, which was inspired by Baulo’s travels. Baulo’s path to Repertoire was an eclectic one. He grew up in New Jersey, savoring the flavors and aromas of his grandmother’s Italian cooking (he started making meatballs at age 8 and graduated to the “gravy” at age 12), began his culinary career in New York City, worked for a few Michelin-starred restaurants in Puerto Rico, did a stint in Vegas, and traveled the country as a restaurant consultant for Harrah’s/ Caesars, all before landing in Florence. It’s hard to imagine a better résumé for a chef devoted to exploring the depth and breadth of American fine dining, and while Repertoire doesn’t turn the cuisine’s conventions inside out, it does playfully alter them. The sleekly antique interior—shelves of old books at the entrance, obsolete card catalogues behind the bar, a rotary phone at the host table—features modern touches, such as comfortable neo-mod chairs, industrial light fixtures, and, in the back of the restaurant, a full-length mirror with water cascading over 1 1 4 C I N C I N N AT I M A G A Z I N E . C O M S E P T E M B E R 2 0 2 1

FYI

Repertoire 8645 Haines Dr., Suite A, Florence, (859) 817-0146, repertoirenky.com Hours Lunch Thurs & Fri 11 am–2 pm. Dinner Tues–Thurs 5–9 pm, Fri & Sat 5–10 pm. Brunch Sat 10 am–2 pm & Sun 10 am–3 pm. Prices $2 (Grilled Artisan Bread)– $37 (14 oz. NY Strip) Credit Cards All major The Takeaway A playful, mostly successful journey across America’s ﬁne dining landscape.

PHOTOGRAPHS BY JEREMY KRAMER

REPERTOIRE , Y’ALL (From left ) The restaurant’s main dining area; pan-seared diver scallops with sweet pea and summer truffle risotto; Chef Chris Baulo; one of Repertoire’s “desserts of the week.”

it. It’s a lot for such a small space to absorb, but it works to dramatically underscore Repertoire’s vintage aesthetic. These juxtapositions are most fully realized with the first courses. It manifests in simple ways, like the addition of toasted pine nuts and little shallots to a crisp blue cheese salad. Or take Exhibit B: the diver scallops. Soft and meaty enough to stand on their own, Baulo enhances them with apple butter and vanilla oil, creating a kind of sweet, toasted sea cake that could almost be served at the end of the meal. My favorite appetizer (in fact, my favorite dish on the entire menu) was the roasted quail. Wine-red split quail is served with a soft-boiled egg, potato crisp, bacon, and corn vinaigrette. The salty bacon and egg perfectly complement the tender, sweet quail, which was redolent of a good port wine. It’s the kind of appetizer you wish you didn’t have to share. Like the appetizers, the entrée selection is small and focused. Curiously, there were no vegetarian entrées available on my visit. This was surprising because Baulo is something of a vegetable wizard. In fact, the vegetable sides often outshone the meat itself in many dishes. The “dirty” Brussels sprouts served with the petite filet mignon were slightly charred while soft and earthy, and left nothing to be desired. Same for the smashed potatoes, which were salty and crispy like skin-on potato pancakes. The pork tomahawk, a hefty chop with a brown sugar brine and bacon jam, was almost as soft and juicy as the filet. Whether this speaks well for the chop or poorly for the filet is up for debate, but I would direct all hardcore carnivores to this entrée forthwith. As

good as the chop was, the real star of the plate was the southern style greens. When I say they tasted like bacon, I don’t merely mean that they were bacon flavored; they were so savory and unctuous you wouldn’t be surprised to hear a telltale sizzle while eating them. They were a delightful surprise, and a lip-smacking example of the subtle whimsy of Baulo’s menu. Repertoire does best while at play. The fish entrées were not as impressive (the Chilean sea bass and the Patagonian fish had promising premises but lacked in execution) but the “Young Chicken” was exceptional. Sweetened with a dollop of caramelized onion gravy, the chicken was crisp and cleanly fried, providing a satisfying crunch with each bite, one the roasted potatoes intensified. The roasted broccolini side was, like the Brussels sprouts, charred to perfection. Between the chicken and the quail, one wonders what other flavors Baulo can coax from a bird. Repertoire doesn’t have a dessert menu, but it does have a selection of sweets that change weekly. The coconut cheesecake was light and creamy, with toasted coconut being the most pronounced flavor. It was a satisfying end to a savory meal, one that made me wish the restaurant had a full-fledged pastry program. It’s a place that seems destined to evolve, given Baulo’s apparent obsession with tinkering. The beauty is in the slight alterations, whether it’s a vanilla infusion in the diver scallops or a bacon fat bath for the collards. While some dishes miss the mark, the ones that hit, hit boldly. The restaurant, with its cocktail hour vibes, might not be a place to bring the kids and, in a way, that’s a shame. For anyone looking to move their kids out of the cozy confines of chain restaurant dining toward the tastier fringes of American cuisine, Repertoire would be a fine place to start. S E P T E M B E R 2 0 2 1 C I N C I N N AT I M A G A Z I N E . C O M 1 1 5

TABLESIDE WITH...

JOE HENKE

HOT PLATE

THE OWNER OF WESTWOOD’S Henke Winery, now at the corner of Epworth and Harrison, celebrates 25 years in business. How did you get interested in making wine? In 1973, my sister’s family sent me a batch of Grenache to try as a home project. For the next 23 years, I worked with many great winemakers who fanned my passion. In 1996, we opened Cincinnati’s ﬁrst urban winery. What have you learned from being in business this long? That you will experience joy, tears, and a lot more work than you can imagine. What’s the best part about running your business? The interaction with our guests. Seeing the smiles, hearing the laughter, and making the guests feel special for that time they are with us.

Ink Tank INKAZTEKA, IN THE DILLONVALE SHOPPING CENTER, IS A TRUE FAMILY RESTAURANT. Mary Bell Condori Diaz and her sister, Karin, from Arequipa, Peru, make the food while various other family members—husbands, sons, brothers-in-law—lend a hand at this colorful Peruvian/Mexican restaurant. The Incas ﬁrst domesticated the potato and that legacy is evident here. There’s the Papa a la Huancaina appetizer, boiled potatoes under a sweet, yellow Peruvian cheese sauce. Spuds accompany the meat-lover’s go-to appetizer, the anticuchos (beef heart kebabs). Other ﬂavors date back to pre-Columbian days, such as the plump-kernelled Peruvian corn, choclo, served on the cob with a creamy white cheese. While the traditional Mexican plates are good, the Peruvian dishes pop. The caldo de gallina (a nest of thick noodles in a lightly spiced broth with a whole egg, a chicken leg, and potato) is chicken noodle with soul. But the real stand-out is that most quintessential of Peruvian culinary exports, the ceviche de pescado. The tangy tilapia cured in citrus, red onions, and cilantro pairs beautifully with the sugar, spice, and starch of sweet potatoes and toasted corn. Spice lovers, don’t be shy. They’re more than happy to hook you up with their high-voltage green salsa. Then cool off with a cinnamonInkazteka, 3920 E. sweet horchada or an aromatic chicha morada, brewed with Peruvian Galbraith Rd., Deer Park, (513) 979-4630, purple corn. And don’t miss Mary Bell’s homemade alfajores, dulce inkazteca-restaurantde leche cookies, on your way out the door. — C E D R I C R O S E llc.business.site 1 1 6 C I N C I N N AT I M A G A Z I N E . C O M S E P T E M B E R 2 0 2 1

How do you pick a favorite wine? They are like children—one day one shines and the next day [another] takes the spotlight—so the best wine in the world is the one you like. Is there any advice you’d give to young vintners just getting started in the wine business? Find a winery and volunteer; you will learn a lot by cleaning a man’s barrel. Talk to as many vintners as you can. Get their approach on making different wines. You will ﬁnd them very open to share their knowledge with you. Lastly, decide what path is best for you and go for your dream! – A I E S H A D . L I T T L E Henke Winery, 3077 Harrison Ave., Westwood, (513) 662-9463, henkewine.com Read a longer conversation with Joe at cincinnatimagazine.com

PH OTO G R A PH BY L A N C E A D K IN S / ILLUSTR ATIO N BY C H R I S DA N G E R

Handcrafted forr speccial occasiions and evveryday moments

1895 BILTMORE'S STORY BEGINS IN ASHEVILLE, NORTH CAROLINA

1970s FIRST VINEYARD PLANTED AT BILTMORE

1985 BILTMORE WINERY OPENS

BI LT MOR E W I N E S .C OM

1992 BILTMORE WINES EARNS 1ST DOUBLE GOLD MEDAL

#B i lt mor eWi ne s

TODAY THE STORY CONTINUES #BILTMOREWINES

TAKEOUT HERO

Sushi for All

This Over-the-Rhine spot is on a roll. ANJI, WITH ITS CLEAN DESIGN AND OPEN space, dark wood, and live plants, is a peaceful lunch spot when you need alone time, but the menu also suits groups seeking shared dining experiences. Start with the miso soup. Neither bland nor oversalted (capital offenses of bad miso), it doesn’t overshadow the star of the show—sushi. Kanji serves three types: regular rolls, specialty rolls, and nigiri (rice usually topped with raw fish or roe). The spicy salmon roll (with cucumber, avocado, and spicy mayo) delivered a gentle kick powered with flavor while the creamy crunch of the Tokyo roll (crab, cucumber, tempura flakes, sesame seeds, and Japanese mayo) set it apart. Don’t forget to peruse Kanji’s collection of sake, wines, and draft and imported beers. Above all, cocktails come bold and sweet with names like Elm St. and Minto Saketini. Although nonalcoholic options are limited, teetotalers can sip tea from bejeweled mugs. While we didn’t get past the appetizer and sushi menus, the entrées include treasures like Korean-style ramyun (complete with egg), Galbi (Korean BBQ), and three different kinds of katsu (tempura-battered meat). It takes more than one trip to enjoy Kanji’s range of cuisine, and you’ll be happy for the excuse to visit again. — M . L E I G H H O O D

Kanji, 1739 Elm St., Over-the-Rhine, (513) 873-8350, kanjiotr.com

FIELD NOTES

HAIL MARY Farm to Hangover has everything you need for a bloody good Bloody Mary. –AIESHA D. LITTLE

In the middle of Dayton, Kentucky, you’ll find Susan Beresford growing copious amounts of vegetables for Bloody Marys. The Cincinnati native and owner of Farm to Hangover started experimenting with growing different varieties of tomatoes in 2018, a few years after she moved back to the area. However, she considers this year the business’s official launch with the construction of her urban farm on land she’s leasing from the city. She’s currently growing 140 tomato plants, 162 pepper plants, and an assortment of other veggies, which she uses in her “top-secret” recipe. As of this summer, you can catch her peddling her wares at area farmers’ markets. Beresford, whose business is classified as a home-based processor under Kentucky’s cottage law, hopes to keep expanding her business with the Farm to Hangover, community’s help. “I see the farm expanding and the Bloody Marys flowing,” Search Farm to she says. Hangover on Facebook

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PHOTOGRAPH BY ANDREW DOENCH / ICON BY JEN K AWANARI

PANTRY

JUST NOSHIN’ NORTHSIDERS, REJOICE! THIS NEIGHBORHOOD DELI OFFERS MORE THAN CHEESE. — M A R I E L L E M U R P H Y

It ain’t easy being cheesy. Or maybe it is if you’re Northside’s Morsel & Nosh. You might recognize the name from M&N’s fiveyear stint as a catering company, but after a whirlwind 2020, the brick-and-mortar location officially opened in February. “Our original vision was a simple cheese shop,” says Michael Heerkens, who owns the shop with his husband, Mark Dreibelbis. “At that point, we were already well known for our meat and cheese trays, but as we did research and talked to our neighbors, people kept mentioning a bodega-type deli deal.” The pandemic slightly derailed their plans, but the shop prevailed, fitting right into Northside’s eclectic business district. Step in from the hustle and bustle of Hamilton Avenue and you’ll feel as though you’ve just walked through the doors of a proper New York City deli. “We have glutenfree, vegan, vegetarian, dairy-free, you name it,” Heerkens says. “We know Northside is home to all sorts of people and we want to cater to our customers.” You’ll find more than 50 kinds of fine cheeses, numerous cured meats, deli options like coleslaw, tabbouleh, Michael’s famous chicken salad (they go through 16 pounds every other day), and an extensive menu of hot and cold sandwiches. This one-stop shop also carries a range of products that make it easy to host your next

gathering, put together a unique gift, or just pop in for a quick trip to stock up on goodies for yourself. And Heerkens and Dreibelbis love to support as many local vendors as possible. On Morsel & Nosh’s shelves you’ll ﬁnd spices from Spice Spice Baby, Urban Stead cheese, CinSoy products, waffles from Taste of Belgium, Nectar Springs water, Skinny Piggy Kombucha, 80 Acres Farms produce,

16 Bricks baguettes, Klosterman Baking bread, and more. The attention to detail in both their aesthetic and assortment of items shows. This charming bodega is bound to be your new go-to spot for lunch on the run, dinner party essentials, and everything in between. “We want people to be caught off guard by how much we have and how affordable it is,” Heerkens says.

Morsel & Nosh, 4183 Hamilton Ave., Northside, (513) 873-7399, morselandnosh.com

The most popular sandwich is the Moline Club, a BLT with turkey and avocado on fresh white toast, but there are plenty of options for the non-meat eaters and veggie lovers. ’WICH WAY?

P H O T O G R A P H S BY D E V Y N G L I S TA / (M E AT T R AY ) M A R K D R EI B E L D I S

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WHERE TO EAT NOW

AMERICAN CHINESE ECLECTIC FRENCH ITALIAN JAPANESE KOREAN MEDITERRANEAN MEXICAN THAI VIETNAMESE

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DINING GUIDE CINCINNATI MAGAZINE’S

dining guide is compiled by our editors as a service to our readers. The magazine accepts no advertising or other consideration in exchange for a restaurant listing. The editors may add or delete restaurants based on their judgment. Because of space limitations, all

but everything—from the bourbon rhubarb sour to the Queen City’s Bees Knees—had an extra dash of liveliness from a house-made element, like a rhubarb honey syrup or the raspberry shrub. Even when an ingredient seems out of left ﬁeld, like the burnt grapefruit hot sauce on the pork belly and tenderloin, it never tastes as unusual as it sounds. Tthe hot sauce is just a hint of sweet citrusy spice that melts into the grits—a softly intriguing element rather than a slap in the face. Ivory House also has an excellent brunch.

AMERICAN BRONTË BISTRO You might think this is a lunch-only spot where you can nosh on a chicken salad sandwich after browsing next door at Joseph-Beth Booksellers. But this Norwood eatery feels welcoming after work, too. The dinner menu features entrées beyond the rotating soup and quiche roster that’s popular at noon. Fried chicken? Check. Quesadillas and other starters? Yep. An assortment of burgers? Present, including turkey and veggie versions. Casual food rules the day but the surprise is Brontë Bistro’s lineup of adult beverages, which elevates the place above a basic bookstore coffeeshop. The regular drinks menu includes such mainstays as Hemingway’s Daiquiri, a tribute to the author who drank them (often to excess). 2692 Madison Rd., Norwood, (513) 396-8970, josephbeth. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner seven days. MCC. $

THE EAGLE OTR The revamped post office at 13th and Vine feels cozy but not claustrophobic, and it has distinguished itself with its stellar fried chicken. Even the white meat was pull-apart steamy, with just enough peppery batter to pack a piquant punch. Diners can order by the quarter, half, or whole bird—but whatever you do, don’t skimp on the sides. Bacon adds savory mystery to crisp corn, green beans, and 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.

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

FOWL PLAY

The team behind DOPE! Asian Street Fare is opening a Korean fried chicken joint in Walnut Hills’s Paramount Building this fall. At press time, the eatery, which will be next door to Esoteric Brewing, didn’t have a name.

1342 Vine St., Over-the-Rhine, (513) 802-5007. Lunch and dinner seven days. MCC. $

IVORY HOUSE The menu here generally doesn’t reinvent dishes or introduce outlandish ﬂavors, but simply pays attention to enough little things to make the results unusually good. The Wagyu Frisco is basically a cheeseburger, but the exceptional tomme from Urban Stead gives it that extra something. The cocktails are things you’ve probably seen before,

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2998 Harrison Ave., Westwood, (513) 389-0175, ivoryhousecincy.com. Lunch Tues–Fri, dinner seven days, brunch Sat & Sun. MCC. $$$

SYMPHONY HOTEL & RESTAURANT Tucked into a West 14th Street Italianate directly around the corner from Music Hall, this place feels like a private dinner club. There’s a preferred byreservation policy. Check the web site for the weekend’s five-course menu, a slate of “new American” dishes that changes monthly. You can see the reliance on local produce in the spring vegetable barley soup. Salads are interesting without being busy, and the sorbets are served as the third course palate cleanser. Main courses of almond-crusted mahi-mahi, flat-iron steak, and a vegetable lasagna hit all the right notes, and you can end with a sweet flourish if you choose the chocolate croissant bread pudding. 210 W. 14th St., Over-the-Rhine, (513) 721-3353, symphonyhotel.com. Dinner Thurs–Sun, brunch Sun. $$

KEY: No checks unless specified. AE American Express, DC Diners Club DS Discover, MC MasterCard, V Visa MCC Major credit cards: AE, MC, V $ = Under $15 $$$ = Up to $49 $$ = Up to $30 $$$$ = $50 and up Top 10

= Named a Best Restaurant March 2019.

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

SUZIE WONG’S ON MADISON

Five blocks from the Newport riverfront, Terry and Betsy Cunningham have created the sort of comfortable, welcoming environment that encourages steady customers. A dependable menu and quirky atmosphere appeal to a broad range of diners, from non-adventurous visiting relatives to non-attentive children. Desserts have always been one of the stars: ﬂourless chocolate hazelnut torte, bittersweet, rich and moist; butter rum pudding that would be equally at home on a picnic table or a ﬁnely dressed Michelin-starred table.

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

738 York St., Newport, (859) 261-9675, yorkstonline.com. Lunch and dinner Tues–Sat. MCC, DS. $$

1544 Madison Rd., East Walnut Hills, (513) 7513333, suziewongs.com. Lunch Tues–Sat, dinner Tues–Sun. MCC, DS. $$

YORK STREET CAFÉ

ICON BY ZACHARY GHADERI

WHERE TO EAT NOW

ECLECTIC Top 10

ABIGAIL STREET

Most people who’ve eaten at Abigail Street have favorite dishes that they order every visit: the Moroccan spiced broccoli, for example, or the mussels charmoula, with its perfect balance of saffron, creaminess, and tomatoey acidity. Many of the new items on the menu have the same perfected feeling as these classics. Working within a loose framework of Middle Eastern and North African flavors, Abigail Street has never fallen into a routine that would sap its energy. New offerings like the duck leg confit, with spicy-sour harissa flavors, firm-tender butternut squash, and perfectly made couscous, feel just as accomplished as old favorites like the falafel, beautifully moist and crumbly with a bright parsley interior. The restaurant is always watching for what works and what will truly satisfy, ready to sacrifice the superficially interesting in favor of the essential. 1214 Vine St., Over-the-Rhine, (513) 421-4040, abigailstreet.com. Dinner Tues–Sat. MCC, DS. $$ Top 10

BOCA

With its grand staircase, chandelier, and ﬂoor-to-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, bocacincinnati.com. Dinner Mon–Sat. MCC, DS. $$$

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

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2702, eatatbranch.com. Dinner Mon–Sun, 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. $$

METROPOLE Metropole has been remarkably stable since it opened in 2012. Even when chefs have left, the organization has promoted from within, kept popular dishes on the menu, and maintained a certain vibe, a balance between sophistication and rusticity. Its vegetarian fare contains many of its most inventive and delightful creations. The chilled cantaloupe soup has a creamy note from coconut milk and a hint of spice ﬂoating in at the end of every bite to balance the subtle, melon-y sweetness. The fancy “candy bar,” with its light and crispy peanut wafers and ring of ﬂourless chocolate cake and caramel, encapsu-

DRIVE IN, DRIVE OUT

Attention, Swenatics: The ﬁrst Cincinnati Swensons Drive-In location is on its way. The Akron-based chain plans to open one of its restaurants in the old Scallywag Tag spot in Anderson Township in late fall/ early winter.

swensonsdriveins.com

ICON BY ZACHARY GHADERI

lates Metropole at its best: fun and whimsical, but rooted in careful execution of deep and satisfying ﬂavors. 609 Walnut St., downtown, (513) 578-6660, metropoleonwalnut.com. Breakfast and dinner seven days, lunch Mon–Fri, brunch Sat & Sun. MCC. $$

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. $$$

system to the mostly classic cocktails—even within its rather chilly industrial design. In short, go for the late night grub; stay for the elegant, shareable twists on classic snacks. 1437 Vine St., Over-the-Rhine, (513) 213-2864, sacredbeastdiner.com. Lunch, dinner, and late night seven days. MCC. $$

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, senatepub. 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. $

TASTE OF BELGIUM

SACRED BEAST Sacred Beast advertises itself as a kind of upscale diner, but the real gems are the oddball dishes that don’t quite fit the diner mold. The menu can be disorienting in its eclecticism: foie gras torchon is next to lobster poutine, and a king salmon is next to a diner breakfast and deviled eggs. Winners are scattered throughout the menu in every category. On the cocktail list, the Covington Iced Tea, a lemon and coffee concoction made with cold brew, San Pellegrino, and vodka is oddly satisfying. The service is good, and there is some flair about the place—including vintage touches, from the facsimile reel-to-reel audio

Jean-François Flechet’s waffle empire grew from a back counter of Madison’s grocery at Findlay Market to multiple full-service sit-down spots. There’s more on the menu than the authentic Belgian treat, though it would be a crime to miss the chicken and waffles: a dense, yeasty waffle topped with a succulent buttermilk fried chicken breast, Frank’s hot sauce, and maple syrup. There are also frites, of course, and croquettes—molten Emmenthaler cheese sticks—plus a gem of a Bolognese. And let’s not forget the beer. Six rotating taps offer some of the best the Belgians brew, not to mention those made in town. 1133 Vine St., Over-the-Rhine, (513) 381-4607, and other

locations, authenticwaffle.com. Breakfast and lunch Mon– Sat, dinner Tues–Sat, brunch Sun. MCC. $$

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

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

PUMPKIN SPICE is always nice. A Fall Favorite! Signature caramel and white chocolate chips nestled between layers of blonde brownie folded with fresh pumpkin purée, warming spices, and crunchy pecans.

DORO TH Y L ANE M ARK ET Specialty grocer in Dayton , Ohio S H OP. D O RO T H YL A N E . CO M

PHOTOGRAPH BY TK FREELANCER

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WHERE TO EAT NOW

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. $$

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. 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. McMillan St., Clifton Heights, (513) 281-4344, adriaticosuc.com. Lunch and dinner seven days. MCC. $ Top 10

NICOLA’S

Nicola’s has entered a new era of exuberant creativity under the leadership of chef Jack Hemmer. You can still get the old Italian classics, 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. $$$

PEPP & DOLORES As with all of Thunderdome’s restaurants, you get a sense that they want to deliver a meal that satisfies many different kinds of people. The prices are reasonable, with pasta entrées about $15. The dishes are familiar in their flavors, but everything feels balanced and modulated and gradually perfected. There is lovely variety: the limone pasta is zippy with lemon and chili flakes, and just the right mixture of tart and creamy; the deep meaty flavors on the mushroom toast are balanced with a nice acidity; and the heat in dishes like the eggplant involtini is just enough to wake up the sauce without overwhelming the flavor. The menu has a wealth of excellent vegetarian and pasta-alternative options. 1501 Vine St., Over-the-Rhine, (513) 419-1820, peppanddolores.com. Lunch Sat & Sun, dinner seven days. MCC. $$

Top 10

sausage comes in a buttery, lightly starchy broth with a kick of spice that you could go on eating forever. From the texture of the chicken liver mousse to the tart cherry sauce on the panna cotta, most of the food has some added element of soulfulness. 118 E. Sixth St., downtown, (513) 977-6886, sottocincinnati.com. Lunch Mon–Fri, dinner seven days. MCC, DS. $$$

VIA VITE Cristian Pietoso serves up crowd-pleasing entrées, including the Pietoso family Bolognese, over penne, right on Fountain Square. (Add in a golf-ball-sized veal meatball heavy with lemon zest, and it’s an over-the-top comforting main dish.) The same applies to the risotto, where a few small touches add sophistication. Carnaroli rice results in a glossier, starchier dish. A puree of asparagus turns the risotto an eye-popping green, and the poached lobster garnish creates a nice back-and-forth between vegetal and briny ﬂavors. Braised lamb shank over polenta is comforting workhorse, and the ﬂavorful Faroe Island salmon with butternut squash puree, caramelized Brussel sprouts and truffled brown butter balsamic vinaigrette. 520 Vine St., downtown, (513) 721-8483, viaviterestaurant.com. Lunch Mon–Fri, dinner seven days, brunch Sat & Sun. MCC, DS. $$

SOTTO

There are certain books and movies that you can read or watch over and over. Eating at Sotto is a similar experience: familiar, but so profound and satisfying that there is no reason to ever stop. Unlike other restaurants, where the techniques are often elaborate and unfamiliar, the magic at Sotto happens right in front of you, using ordinary elements and methods. When you taste the results, though, you realize that some mysterious transmutation has taken place. Penne with rapini and

J A PA N E S E KIKI Kiki started as a pop-up at Northside Yacht Club, then leapt into brick-and-mortar life in College Hill. Your best bet here is to share plates, or simply order too much, starting with the shishito buono, a piled-high plate of

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roasted shishito peppers tossed in shaved parmesan and bagna cauda, a warm, rich blend of garlic and anchovies. Add the karaage fried chicken, with the Jordy mayo and the pepe meshi, conﬁt chicken on spaghetti and rice that somehow works. And, yes, the ramen, too. The shio features pork belly and tea-marinated soft-boiled egg, but the kimchi subs in tofu and its namesake cabbage for the meat. 5932 Hamilton Ave., College Hill, (513) 541-0381, kikicincinnati.com. Lunch (carryout only) and dinner Thurs–Sun. MCC. $

KYOTO Owner Jason Shi seems to know everybody’s name as he chats up diners, guiding them through the extensive sushi and sashimi menu. Five young sushi chefs, all part of Shi’s family, work at light speed behind the bar, a choreography backlit by rows of gleaming liquor bottles. Dinner proceeds with glorious chaos as a feisty Carla Tortelli–like server delivers one dish after another—slivers of giant clam on ice in a super-sized martini glass, a volcanic tower of chopped fatty tuna hidden inside overlapping layers of thin avocado slices, smoky grilled New Zealand mussels drizzled with spicy mayo, and delicate slices of a samurai roll—all between shots of chilled sake. 12082 Montgomery Rd., Symmes Twp., (513) 5838897, kyotosushibar.com. Lunch and dinner seven days. MCC. $$

MEI Mei’s menu is meant to represent traditional Japanese cuisine, appealing to the novice as well as the sushi maven. It is divided into sections that encourage a progressive meal of small dishes: One each for hot and cold appetizers, noodles, sushi and sashimi, special rolls, soups and salads, sushi dinners (with miso soup), and combinations (such as tempura paired with sashimi). Deep-fried soft shell crab comes with ponzu sauce—a dipping sauce made of rice vinegar, soy sauce, mirin, and citrus juice—and the kind of yakitori that you can ﬁnd on the streets of New York. Bento boxes—lacquered wooden boxes divided into compartments—offer the neophyte a sampling of several small dishes. Mei’s are lovely: deep red and stocked with tempura, cooked salmon, sashimi, stewed vegetables, and a fabulous egg custard with shrimp and gingko nut. Mei’s sushi—nigiri, maki, and handrolls—is exceptionally good with quality cuts of fresh seafood. The staff is knowledgeable, extremely efficient, respectful, and attentive, even when it’s at peak capacity. 8608 Market Place Lane, Montgomery, (513) 8916880, meijapaneserestaurant.com. Lunch and dinner seven days. MCC, DS. $$

KOREAN HARU After the closing of Sung Korean Bistro, Haru is a welcome addition to the downtown scene. Dishes are served along with the usual Korean accompaniment of pickles, kimchi, ﬁsh cakes, and other mysteriously delicious dainties. A favorite is the japchae, a traditional dish sporting silky sweet potato noodles with sesame-and-garlic sauce, matchsticks of assorted crisp vegetables, and behind it all a wonderful smokiness that pervades the whole meal. The accompanying pot of gochujang, a fermented Korean chili paste, adds its own sweet and spicy note. The result is a homey, soulful, and satisfying taste that appeals even to those who’ve never eaten a bite of Korean food before. 628 Vine St., downtown, (513) 381-0947, harucincy. com. Lunch and dinner Mon–Sat. MCC. $$

RIVERSIDE KOREAN RESTAURANT Come for the jo gi mae un tang—a bowl of sizzling, happy hellbroth pungent with red pepper, garlic, and ginger, crowded with nuggets of fish, tofu, and vegetables. Come for the restorative power of sam gae tang, a chicken soup for the Seoul—a whole Cornish

PHOTOGRAPH BY TK FREELANCER

hen submerged in its own juices and plumped with sticky rice and ginseng, dried red dates, and pine nuts. Revered for their medicinal properties, both dinner-sized soups will leave your eyes glistening and your brow beaded with sweat. They’re a detox for your overindulgence, rejuvenation for when you’re feeling under the weather. Expect crowds on weekends. Expect too, that dozens of them have come for dolsot bibimbap, the hot stone pots filled with layers of rice, vegetables, meat or tofu, egg, and chili paste. Characterized by its electric color and addictive flavors, Riverside Korean’s version is a captivating bowl of heaven. 512 Madison Ave., Covington, (859) 291-1484, riversidekoreanrestaurant.com. Lunch Mon–Fri, dinner seven days. MCC, DS. $$

SURA 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, pan-fried 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) 871-8714. Lunch Mon–Sat, dinner seven days. MCC. $$ Top 10

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 con-

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tinuously 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 wal-

nut 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, sebastiansgyros.com. Lunch and dinner Mon–Sat. Cash. $

up in enormous packages. Fried tilapia, apricotglazed chicken breast, hand-rubbed spiced ﬂank steak, shredded pork tenderloin, or cinnamonroasted squash are just some of the ingredients for Habañero’s signature burritos. All salsas are house-made, from the smoky tomato chipotle to the sweet-sounding mango jalapeño, which is hot enough to spark spontaneous combustion.

SULTAN’S MEDITERRANEAN CUISINE

358 Ludlow Ave., Clifton, (513) 961-6800, habanerolatin.com. Lunch and dinner seven days. MCC, DC, DS. $

The meze, a parade of small plates and appetizers—the refreshing yogurt dish with cucumber, mint, and garlic known as cacik, and its thicker cousin haydari, with chopped walnuts, dill, and garlic—is rounded out with ﬂaky cheese or spinach boureks, falafels, soups, salads, and more, while baked casseroles or stuffed cabbage and eggplant dishes (dubbed “Ottoman specials”) augment the heavy focus on kebabs: chunks of lamb and beef on a vertical spit for the popular Doner kebab (a.k.a. Turkish gyro), peppery ground lamb for the Adana kebab, or cubed and marinated for the Shish kebab. 7305 Tyler’s Corner Dr., West Chester, (513) 8471535, sultanscincinnati.com. Lunch and dinner seven days. MCC, DS. $$

NADA The brains behind Boca deliver authentic, contemporary, high-quality Mexican fare downtown. You’ll find a concise menu, including tacos, salads and sides, large plates, and desserts. Tacos inspired by global cuisine include the Señor Mu Shu (Modelo and ginger braised pork) and fried avocado (chipotle bean purée). The ancho-glazed pork shank with chili-roasted carrots comes with a papaya guajillo salad (order it for the table); dreamy mac-and-cheese looks harmless, but there’s just enough of a roasted poblano and jalapeño punch to have you reaching for another icy margarita. 600 Walnut St., downtown, (513) 721-6232, eatdrinknada.com. Lunch Mon–Fri, dinner seven days, brunch Sat & Sun. MCC, DS. $$

MEXICAN THAI HABAÑERO It’s easy to find a cheap burrito place around a college campus, but you’d be hard-pressed to find one as consistently good as Habañero, with its flavors of Latin America and the Caribbean wrapped

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GAME ON

Gorilla Cinema’s Jacob Trevino plans to open a lounge/comic shop called Cosmic Gorilla near Findlay Market this fall. It’ll be the ﬁrst of three bars with Chris Bergman, founder and CEO of the local video game company Gylee Games.

GREEN PAPAYA Inside this simple dining room, replete with soothing browns and greens and handsome, dark wood

ICON BY ZACHARY GHADERI

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. $$

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. $$

VI ETNAM E S E

THAI NAMTIP Classic Thai comfort food on the west side from chef/ owner Tussanee Leach, who grew up with galangal on her tongue and sriracha sauce in her veins. Her curries reign: pale yellow sweetened with coconut milk and poured over tender chicken breast and chunks of boiled pineapple; red curry the color of new brick, tasting of earth at first bite, then the sharply verdant Thai basil leaves, followed by a distant heat. Tom Kha Gai soup defines the complex interplay of flavors in Thai food: astringent lemongrass gives way to pepper, then Makrut lime, shot through with the gingery, herbaceous galangal, all yielding to the taunting sweetness of coconut. Even the simple skewers of chicken satay with Thai peanut sauce are rough and honest, dulcified by honey and dirtied up by a smoky grill.

PHO LANG THANG Owners Duy and Bao Nguyen and David Le have created a greatest hits playlist of Vietnamese cuisine: elegant, brothy pho made from poultry, beef, or vegan stocks poured over rice noodles and adrift with slices of onions, meats, or vegetables (the vegan pho chay is by far the most ﬂavorful); fresh julienned vegetables, crunchy sprouts, and herbs served over vermicelli rice noodles (again, the vegan version, bun chay, is the standout); and bánh mì. Be sure to end with a cup of Vietnamese coffee, a devilish jolt of dark roast and sweetened condensed milk that should make canned energy drinks obsolete.

5461 North Bend Rd., Monfort Heights, (513) 481-3360, thainamtip.com. Lunch and dinner seven days. MC, V. $

1828 Race St., Over-the-Rhine, (513) 376-9177, pholangthang.com. Lunch and dinner seven days. MCC, DS, DC. $

WILD GINGER

QUAN HAPA

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 seaweed-wrapped 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

The Nguyen brothers, Duy and Bao, along with partner David Le, have followed up on Pho Lang Thang’s success at Findlay Market by bursting onto the OTR scene with some of the boldest ﬂavors in the city. A tuna ceviche makes use of the ﬁery sweetness of Malaysian sambal oelek and a banh mi steakburger gains crunch from pickled daikon and a

PHOTOGRAPH BY TK FREELANCER

side of Indonesian shrimp chips. Or try the okonomiyaki, a traditional Japanese pancake topped with a choice of bacon, prawns, or vegetables. The Vietnamese coffee, a complex, chicory-forward blend, is an ideal way to end the meal. 1331 Vine St., Over-the-Rhine, (513) 421-7826, quanhapa. com. Lunch and dinner seven days. MCC, DS. $

SONG LONG The menu does have a substantial Chinese section, but make no mistake, the reason there’s a line at the door on weekend nights is the ﬁne Vietnamese specialties cooked and served by the Le family. Begin with the goi cuon, the cold rolls of moistened rice paper wrapped around vermicelli noodles, julienned cucumbers, lettuce, cilantro, and mung bean sprouts. Or try the banh xeo, a plattersized pan-fried rice crepe folded over substantial nuggets of chicken and shrimp, mushrooms, and wilted mung sprouts. The phos, meal-sized soups eaten for breakfast, are good, but the pho dac biet is Song Long’s best. Crisptender vegetables, slices of beef, herbs, and scallions glide through the noodle-streaked broth. When you’re ordering your entrée, be careful: Mr. Le has a much heavier chili hand than Mrs. Le. Ask who is cooking and order accordingly if you don’t want your eyes to roll to the back of your head. 1737 Section Rd., Roselawn, (513) 351-7631, songlong.net. Lunch and dinner Mon–Sat. MCC, DC, DS. $ CINCINNATI MAGAZINE, (ISSN 0746-8 210), September 2021, Volume 54, Number 12. Published monthly ($14.95 for 12 issues annually) at 1818 Vine St., Suite 301, Cincinnati, OH 45202. (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

Ranch Roamers

GREG RUTER PULLS UP TO SCORES OF MAJESTIC BISON ON A CAMOUFLAGE-PRINT FOUR-

wheeler. Following the sound of their grunts, he drives through the pasture of his ranch, Owl Creek Bison, passing orange newborn calves nestling with their moms and a huge, hunchbacked bull trudging up a hill. Although the ranch is in Frankfort, Ohio (about 100 miles from downtown Cincinnati), the scene feels better fit for the Great Plains. Between rides, Ruter, 63, says that he and his wife moved from Finneytown 10 years ago after he passed bison ranches out west while working as a cross-country mover. The couple started Owl Creek with 22 bison, pledging to raise them on an all-grass diet and on shaded land. Today, meat from the herd of 125 is sold at local farmers’ markets, restaurants, and the ranch itself. The best part of the gig? Spending time outdoors, Ruter says. With that thought, he slowly drives down the dirt road as raindrops pitter-patter on his face. — B E B E H O D G E S 1 2 8 C I N C I N N AT I M A G A Z I N E . C O M S E P T E M B E R 2 0 2 1

PHOTOGRAPH BY CHRIS VON HOLLE

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Cincinnati Magazine - September 2021 Edition

Articles inside

DINING GUIDE

PANTRY

HOMEGROWN

DINING OUT

WELCOME TO MIDDLEHOOD

DR. KNOW

GREAT ROOM