EATS

FOOD

& DRINK

Chef Jeffery Harris based Nolia on his New Orleans upbringing as well as his travels and other inspirations.

PHOTO: HAILEY BOLLINGER

Nolia Brings Elevated Southern Cuisine to Over-the-Rhine

BY SEAN M. PETERS

New restaurant Nolia adds some Southern air to Cincinnati’s foodie landscape. But while the restaurant serves unique dishes inspired by Chef Je ery Harris’ upbringing in New Orleans, the fare stays authentic to the chef himself rather than to his hometown’s traditional cuisine. Situated in the space formerly occupied by Please (famous for its sel e-friendly bathroom and James Beard Award-winning chef’s stellar o erings) in Over-the-Rhine, the dining environment is upscale yet approachable. Nolia’s menu is stacked with dishes like delectable smoked chicken slathered in Alabama white sauce, cider-stewed collard greens, red sh court-bouillon (pronounced co-boo-yon) and much more. All of the side dishes are vegan and, while you should not expect them to play zydeco or serve hurricane cocktails in novelty cups, the restaurant’s drink menu will truly laissez les bon temps rouler.

I meet with Harris and his team on a ursday morning as they prepare for the evening’s dinner rush. Stock simmers on the stovetop, giving the room a savory perfume, while sous chef Stephanie Gonzalez deep-frys some rice paper — the kind used for spring rolls and the like — to make vegan chicharrónes. e exact spice blend for this dish is kept secret, but it’s reminiscent of an elevated crab boil seasoning — similar to Old Bay, but heavier on the garlic. e one hint Gonzalez o ers is powderized black eyed peas — not something you’d likely be able to just guess, but on the palate it’s uncanny. e chicharrónes are a garnish for stewed okra with tomato, served over coarsely-ground Jimmy Red (a Southern corn varietal) grits, a simple side dish that borders on perfection. If you’re accustomed to instant grits, this is transcendental. Not a bad start to your meal.

“ is whole restaurant was put together from my childhood,” Harris tells CityBeat. “Stu that I love about my city, my hometown of New Orleans and my travels throughout the South — from Texas, to the Carolinas, to Georgia. We just tried to play on parts of the South and also give people a

Chef Jeffery Harris wants to give diners “a reimagining of what Southern food is” at Nolia.

PHOTO: HAILEY BOLLINGER

reimagining of what Southern food is.”

Harris also runs Jimmie Lou’s, named for his great-grandmother Jimmie Lou Green, to whom he credits his deep love for food and cooking. e menu at Jimmie Lou’s comes from the same heart and mind, but its restaurant location, inside Oakley Kitchen Food Hall, which could be compared to an upscale food court, lends itself more toward takeout for a really tasty picnic rather than Nolia’s ne dining environment that just begs you to sit at a table and savor the entire mealtime experience.

While Gonzalez works the front kitchen, chef de cuisine Nathan Penny tends to the chicken quarters smoking in the closed-o back courtyard behind the restaurant. He explains that when slow-roasting meats — especially chicken, which has particularly fatty skin that can get a bit gelatinous if cooked at a low temperature — you want to maintain the heat around 250 , or enough heat that the fat from the skin renders into crispy bliss rather than soggy leather. e menu o ers an assortment of seasonal dishes, including a raw bar lled at the moment with oysters with tasso mignonette (vinegar sauce with cured pork) and shrimp with cocktail sauce. Small plates run between the aforementioned transcendental grits with stewed okra and vegan chicharrónes, jerk fried oysters, sweet potato donuts, skillet cornbread and a country board laden with pork terrine and cured meats, cheese and seasonal pickles with toast from Allez Bakery. If you try any of the side dishes, you must go for the cider-stewed greens and, if you don’t drink up every last drop of the zesty braising liquor, there’s no hope for you.

“I tell all my sta there’s no ceiling, there’s no box, there’s nothing but space,” Harris says. “So how you ll that space is what’s going to become of it. So, if we want to be great, then we’ve got to think greatly, we’ve got to think bigger than all the restaurants we’ve worked in. Like, every single person on my team, from dishwasher on up, they have a voice.”

Harris’ open-mindedness in the kitchen is indicative of a larger trend in restaurants across the globe: chefdriven culture is on the way out. Gone are the days of celebrating the tyrannical chefs in ne dining. Like many facets of life, the results are proven to be better when the leader listens to their team rather than throwing a temper tantrum at the slightest challenge (that vanity-driven culture is not erased and likely never will be, but it thankfully has diminished over the years). What’s more important than one chef’s ego? A successful team that thrives in the workplace and is utilized to its fullest extent. While Harris must be commended for the phenomenal team he’s assembled, it seems what he’s most proud of at Nolia is the powerfully e ective menu he credits to his sta . Democracy in action.

Nolia, 1405 Clay St., Over-theRhine, noliakitchen.com.

Nolia’s dining environment is upscale yet approachable.

PHOTO: HAILEY BOLLINGER

Nolia’s Peel-n-Eat Shrimp

PHOTO: HAILEY BOLLINGER

THE DISH

BY CITYBEAT STAFF

Per usual, Cincinnati’s dining scene doesn’t stay stagnant for long. Here are some recent notable restaurant openings you may have missed, plus a couple of eateries that said goodbye.

Openings

GENKI RAMEN

Get ready to slurp away! Japanesestyle ramen restaurant Genki Ramen now has a third location in Oakley. e small chain’s newest spot opened April 18. Genki is expanding quickly, having opened its rst Greater Cincinnati location in Mason in June 2020 and the second in West Chester in November 2021. Stop by any of the spots and choose from more than 10 di erent types of ramen — like the shio paitan, which consists of an enticing blend of chicken broth, kikurage mushrooms, bamboo shoots, sh cakes, a soft boiled egg and barbecue pork. 3200 Vandercar Way, Oakley, genkiramencincinnati. com. (Maggy McDonel)

GIMENTII BAKING COMPANY

Giminetti Baking Company is getting a new life following the announcement of its permanent closure in March after 37 years of operation. A group of local businesses — including Pompilios, KHI Food Brand and Sweet Tooth Premium Ice Cream and Candies — say that after the closure, they got together and made moves to purchase the wholesale bakery.

Mike Mazzei, a co-owner of Pompilios, says in a release that next year Pompilios will be 90 years old and the restaurant has “basically been serving Giminetti’s classic Italian white bread since they got started.” He adds that once he heard previous Giminetti’s owners Jim Ciuccio and Richard Ferguson were closing up shop, “we knew we had to nd a way to keep their iconic bakery alive.”

Giminetti Baking, which is planned to be fully operational soon, will have a “customer-focused approach,” per the release from the owners. 2900 Gilbert Ave., Walnut Hills, giminetti.com. (MM)

HEYDAY

A new burger joint in East Walnut Hills is sizzling with promise. Hailing from the owners of O Pie O, Heyday opened in the former pie cafe location on April 6. Owner Lou Ginocchio tells CityBeat in an email that Heyday will serve a simple menu “using high-quality ingredients with employees who get

Heyday

PHOTO: PROVIDED BY HEYDAY

the respect they deserve.” Guests can dine in or carry out attop-smashed burgers and a side of Heyday’s unique hand-cut, dry-cured fries. Guests also can indulge in burgers and all of the xings in the restaurant’s dining room, patio space or across the street at e Growler House, where they can order the full Heyday menu and get it delivered to their table. 1527 Madison Road, East Walnut Hills, heyday.menu. (MM)

MAMA’S ON MAIN

Covington’s Main Street — the heart of historically designated MainStrasse Village — boasts one of the best assortments of restaurants in Greater Cincinnati. A lion’s share of credit for that abundance goes to a restaurant group informally known as Otto’s Restaurant Family, helmed by MainStrasse residents Emily Wol and Paul Weckman (Otto’s, Frida, e Standard, Larry’s). e duo opened Mama’s on Main on March 4 after renovating the space formerly occupied by Commonwealth Bistro.

Mama’s folded paper menu is unpretentious, displaying a handful of o erings under each heading: Appetizers & Salads, Pastas and Entrees. e goal is to provide the neighborhood with traditional red-sauce Italian fare, starting with basic spaghetti and meatballs. Simpler dishes include popular standards such as cacio e pepe, rigatoni with vodka sauce and risotto made with artichokes and lemon. If you’d like some protein with or instead of pasta, try pork milanese, salmon piccata or chicken parmesan. ose going meatfree can enjoy eggplant parmesan. Mama’s on Main, 621 Main St., Covington, instagram.com/mamas621cov. (Pama Mitchell)

NOLIA KITCHEN

Southern-style restaurant Nolia Kitchen opened April 19, serving unique dishes inspired by chef Je Harris’ upbringing in New Orleans. Situated in the space formerly occupied by Please (famous for its sel e-friendly bathroom and James Beard Awardwinning chef), the dining environment is upscale yet approachable, o ering a menu stacked with dishes like barbecue chicken, red sh courtbouillon and Hoppin’ John. All of the side dishes are vegan and, while you should not expect them to play ragtime or serve hurricane cocktails in novelty cups, the drink menu will truly laissez les bon temps rouler, non? See the Eats feature in this week’s issue for more info. 1405 Clay St., Over-the-Rhine, noliakitchen.com. (Sean M. Peters)

SOUL SECRETS

Entrepreneur Candice Holloway is bringing a taste of her grandmother’s cooking to Over-the-Rhine with Soul Secrets, a Southern-style comfort food eatery. e fast-casual restaurant, which opened at the end of April, focuses on soul food with a menu that includes family-recipe fried chicken, fried sh, cornbread, collard greens, Hoppin’ John and mac and cheese, plus a selection of meat-free dishes like vegan salisbury steak and vegan pot pie. Brunch will launch this summer with shrimp and grits, chicken and wa es and more.

For more than a decade, Holloway ran her own consulting rm focused on home healthcare and originally launched Soul Secrets “as a corporate catering service and way to connect with her teenage daughter,” says a release. When the pandemic hit, Holloway says she pivoted her focus away from her rm to work full-time on Soul Secrets.

“We had started doing pop-ups and we were receiving so many phone calls asking if we were open because people didn’t realize we were a catering-only business. I knew it was time to open a restaurant where we could share all our family’s recipes with anyone who wanted to try them,” she says. 1434 Vine St., Over-the-Rhine, soulsecretscincy. com. (Maija Zummo)

YOUYU AT HARD ROCK CASINO

Patrons of Cincinnati’s Hard Rock Casino now will be able to slurp some noodles in between sessions at the slot machines. e in-house YouYu Asian street food-inspired eatery opened its doors on May 3.

According to a release, “YouYu o ers Balinese, Korean, Taiwanese, Chinese, Japanese and Vietnamese dishes.” e menu includes sections dedicated to sushi, noodles, wok-fried items and more. Some highlights are Korean fried chicken, bulgogi fries, brisket and beef ball pho, Chinese roast duck and wok-fried tofu and broccoli. For drinks, there’s boba milk tea, Vietnamese coffee, sake and Asian beers from Lucky Buddha, Hitachino and Sapporo.

YouYu’s chef is Daniel Binghak, who was born and raised in Bali, Indonesia, according to the release. Binghak, who went to culinary school in Singapore, previously worked at Masa in New York, Morimoto in Philadelphia and the Golden Nugget in Biloxi, Mississippi. Hard Rock Casino, 1000 Broadway St., Pendleton, hardrockcasinocincinnati. com. (MZ)

Arcade Legacy: Bar Edition

PHOTO: HAILEY BOLLINGER

Closings

ARCADE LEGACY: BAR EDITION

Fans of pinball and PBR soon will have to say goodbye to a favorite Northside haunt. Arcade Legacy announced on its Facebook page that Arcade Legacy: Bar Edition will be closing e ective May 23.

But it’s not all bad news. e gaming group says it has found a large space in Sharonville and will be relocating Bar Edition and its existing arcade in Cincinnati Mall into this spot. Once home to Peg’s Pub, the storefront at 2241 Crowne Point Drive “is almost exactly the square footage of the Cincy Mall and Bar Edition combined,” reads the Facebook post.

“We will be keeping all business concepts when we move,” Arcade Legacy’s post continues. “We will have the admission based all-you-can-play arcade, pinball and consoles. We will have an expanded premium pinball selection. We will have a dedicated console and event room. We will have the media store where you can buy, sell and trade. We will have food and drink. We also have some other ideas up our sleeve and will see how they pan out.” e team will build out the new Sharonville space, which was once a billiards and darts bar, in June and July, with a tentative reopening in September. arcadelegacyohio.com. (MZ)

OTR CHILI

April 13 was the last day of operation for a popular Over-the-Rhine Cincinnati chili spot. OTR Chili announced on Instagram that it was o cially closing its doors. Owner Jim Cornwell wrote in the post that when his team set out to start OTR Chili, they wanted to create “the best Cincinnati chili possible” by using locally-sourced ingredients and working directly with Cincinnati-area farmers. He adds they also focused on creating the smallest environmental footprint as possible with their food. But fans of OTR Chili shouldn’t give up hope.

“We do not believe that this is the end of the dream though,” Cornwall writes in the Instagram post, stating that his restaurant may pop up somewhere else in the city, maybe with a new name and some new faces. “We hope to see all of you again in the near future.” instagram. com/otrchili. (MM)