Cincinnati Magazine - March 2026 Edition

Is Filler In or Out for 2026?

It’s no secret that there’s a lot of negative coverage of cosmetic fi ller treatments in the media. Dr. Alexandra Bowles, board-certifi ed dermatologist at Mona Dermatology in Kenwood, shares her perspective on the growing concerns around dermal fi llers and what to consider if you’re thinking about getting treated.

Setting the Record Straight

If you’ve been scrolling through social media lately, you’ve probably noticed a shift in how people talk about fillers. What was once celebrated as the go-to anti-aging treatment now comes with a side of skepticism—and honestly, some of those concerns are valid. That being said, filler is still one of the most popular cosmetic treatments, and one that I perform and recommend to my patients daily! These are some of the most common concerns my patients bring up, and the advice I share so that they can make an informed decision.

1. Overfilled Features– Looking overly plump or overfilled is a natural and common fear, and, to be fair, it’s probably the number one reason my patients are second-guessing getting filler altogether. However, it is important to note that when this happens, it’s usually because product has been placed in the wrong area, or done by an inexperienced injector. The goal of filler should never be to change your face. Rather, it’s a helpful tool to enhance your natural features and restore volume that you’ve lost over time.

2. Looking Unnatural– Some of my patients come in concerned that they won’t look like themselves. I understand this, especially if they’ve had a friend or family member with this experience. But not all injectors are created equal—filler requires an in-depth understanding of facial anatomy, an artistic eye, and years of experience to get it right. It is important to listen to your patient and consider their individual characteristics and not use a “one size fits all” approach.

3. Migration– One of the hottest topics right now is filler migration—the idea that filler can move from where it was originally placed and end up somewhere else. While migration can happen, it’s relatively rare when filler is done properly. Migration typically occurs when too much product is used, placed in the wrong plane, or when the wrong type of filler is chosen for a specific area. With the right technique and appropriate product selection, your filler should stay exactly where it’s supposed to.

“The best filler results are the ones you don’t necessarily notice,” Dr. Bowles points out. “It’s about looking like yourself, just more rested and refreshed.” To learn more about filler or

Your Guide to Filler Success

If you’re interested in filler but want to avoid the pitfalls, here’s what to look for:

1. Find a Qualified, Experienced Injector– This is a non-negotiable. Your injector should be a board-certified dermatologist, plastic surgeon, or highly trained medical professional with extensive experience in facial aesthetics. Don’t be swayed by cheap deals or convenience—your face deserves an expert. Ask about their training, how long they’ve been injecting, and request beforeand-after photos of their work. Look for results that appear natural and balanced, not overfilled or dramatic.

2. Ask For a Full-Face Assessment– Cookie-cutter approaches don’t work when it comes to your face. A great injector will take time to understand your concerns, assess your facial structure, and create a personalized plan that enhances your unique features.

3. It’s OK To Start Small– If you’re concerned, ask to start with less. I always start conservatively, because it’s much easier to add more filler later than to correct an overfilled result. I’d rather see you back in a few weeks for a touch-up than have you leave with too much product. That being said, a treatment may require multiple syringes of product depending on the area we are treating.

4. Communicate Your Goals– Be honest with your injector about what you want—and what you don’t want. I love when my patients share photos with me and are honest about their goals as well as concerns.

5. Trust the Process (and the Timeline)– Great results don’t always happen in one session. Building volume gradually over time often leads to the most natural-looking outcomes. Be patient with the process, and trust your provider’s expertise on how to best use filler to give you the most natural results.

6. Other Options– If you are still wary of filler treatments, consider PRF Ez Gel, which uses your own platelet-rich plasma as an alternative to traditional filler. Although results may be more subtle and won’t last as long, it’s a nice option as well.

The Bottom Line

Concerns around filler are real, but that doesn’t mean filler is the problem—it’s how it’s being used and who is injecting it. When placed thoughtfully by a skilled injector who understands facial anatomy and prioritizes natural results, dermal fillers can be an incredible tool for looking like the best version of yourself. My goal is always for my patients to feel confident and beautiful in their own skin! Filler should enhance who you are, not change you into someone else.

Best Grub

Our Membership Sale is getting really wild.

CINCINNATI

WHERE TO EAT NOW

This Best Restaurants list highlights the places that keep us on our culinary toes and the people who satisfy our hunger for top-notch cuisine.

BY M. LEIGH HOOD

FOR WHOM TARBELL TOLLS P. 54

All of Cincinnati is connected through Jim Tarbell, as two new books make clear.

BY

GREG HAND, BUCK NIEHOFF, AND HOLLY BRIANS RAGUSA

THE MAGIC TOUCH P. 60

Abby Allen’s Sweetgum Manor creates a “social sanctuary” in North Avondale that breaks down the barriers to connection. Take off your shoes and stay a while.

Style, Value & Quality SINCE 1941...

What makes for the best furniture shopping experience? At Best Furniture Gallery, we believe it’s about building long-term relationships with our clients and working hard to earn their business year after year. Charlie and Eva Best understood this when they founded Best Furniture 85 years ago, and we are proud to serve many of the same families who have been supporting us for generations.

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FRONTLINES

16 / LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

19 / DISPATCH

Mystical shopping in Greater Cincinnati

20 / SPEAK EASY

Get to know Hood News 75

20 / EVENT

The 35th Cincinnati International Wine Festival

22 / NECESSITIES

Going green

24 / HOMEGROWN

Josh Jacob’s handmade watches

26 / HIGH PROFILE

A local teen track star’s Olympic dreams

28 / ON THE MARKET

Historic charm in Over-the-Rhine

30 / DR. KNOW

Your QC questions answered

COLUMNS

32 / WELCOME TO MIDDLEHOOD

DINE

92 / HOT PLATE

Chinese-Sichuan cuisine at Corner Dumpling House

92 / TABLESIDE

Byron Cochrum of The Winey Bride

93 / TA K E 5 Sweets for Eid Al Fitr

94 / FIELD NOTES

Tea service at Lytle Park’s Subito

95 / DINING GUIDE

Greater Cincinnati restaurants: A selective list

ON THE COVER photograph by CATHERINE GRACE

Extra servings of our outstanding dining coverage.

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

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

KETTELER

Remembering my brother, Paul BY JUDI

104 / OBSCURA

The power of the Ft. Thomas tower BY

CLAIRE LEFTON

Weekly coverage of the Reds and FC Cincinnati.

MORE THAN

Tim Mettey, CEO

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PEOPLE IN NEED HELPED EACH YEAR

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MATTHEW 25: MINISTRIES NAMED 2025’S TIME101 HONOREE

Every year, TIME releases the TIME100 list of the world’s most influential people. In 2025, Matthew 25: Ministries was honored to be named the TIME101 honoree, in partnership with P&G and Red Border by TIME, which honors an individual or group that is making an impact in the community.

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TTHIS MONTH FEATURES OUR ANNUAL BEST RESTAURANTS RANKINGS FOR THE first time in three years. Wait, what? Well, Cincinnati Magazine has published a Best Restaurants issue every March since 2003, mixing things up with an occasional Best New Restaurants list to document a noteworthy wave of openings and emerging chefs.

The pandemic did a number on the restaurant business, which operates on thin profit margins even in the best of times. A few long-term challenges have hung around, from the popularity of to-go orders and delivery to debates over staff pay and tips. Restaurant owners continue to adjust, re-evaluate, and (here comes that pesky COVID verb) pivot.

The magazine’s dining coverage has pivoted in recent years as well. We published a top 10 ranking in March 2020, and then everything went to hell. There was no point trying to judge restaurants when they were simply trying to keep the lights on, so we focused instead on restaurant families in 2021 and local classics in 2022. Returning to a top 10 ranking in 2023 and a new restaurants list in 2024 felt like a bit of normalcy again.

Our restaurant critic Brandon Wuske put those two rankings together and was poised to helm last year’s effort when he died suddenly from a short illness in August 2024. We were devastated. We tried to figure out a way to publish a top 10 list without him, but it didn’t feel right, so we pivoted to having local chefs interview each other about the city’s dining trends.

The magazine’s approach to ranking Cincinnati’s top restaurants is based on one person doing the research, evaluating his or her experiences, and writing the critiques. We’ve tried every possible method for comparing restaurants in other food packages: score sheets, blind taste tests, everyone eating together. For Best Restaurants, though, we’ve found that one person works best.

We welcome M. Leigh Hood, one of our veteran food writers, to the head of the table this year, and I hope you enjoy her journey through Cincinnati’s incredible dining scene (page 38). Pull up a chair and join her.

JOHN FOX EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

CONTRIBUTORS

In her six years of writing restaurant reviews, M. Leigh Hood has tried a little bit of every Cincinnati cuisine. For “Best Restaurants” (page 38), she’s narrowed that extensive list down to 10 favorites. To make the cut, these restaurants didn’t just need to have good food—they required a combination of exemplary service and exquisite atmosphere as well. Out of everything Hood tried, she says she’ll return again and again for Abigail Street’s housemade pistachio baklava or Sudova’s seasonal dumplings.

As a lover of kitsch and offbeat, illustrator and designer Sophia Ren captured the right vibe for “Mystic City” (page 19), a look at the area’s magic and metaphysical stores. Ren visualized her “dream shelf of colorful oddities” found at antique malls and markets to bring her vision to life—from vinyls and incense to taxidermy and tarot cards.

Manu Cunhas loves to see something that once existed only in her imagination come to life—a sentiment not unlikeAbby Allen’s dream to renovate the former residence of O’dell Owens into a social sanctuary, Sweetgum Manor. Also like Allen, Cunhas’s goal as an illustrator is to make people feel seen. In “The Magic Touch” (page 60), she hopes her illustration makes readers feel like they’re entering the manor itself, uniquely immersed in nature at the property.

The best restaurants earn their reputation through precision, consistency, and a commitment to extraordinary service. We bring the same principles to wealth management. As a Cincinnati-based team with 100+ years of combined experience, we help executives, business owners, retirees, and families navigate every stage of their financial journey — with the same care and craftsmanship you expect from the finest tables in the city.

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Warm Fires. Cool Nights.

As winter fades into spring, evenings at Hotel Covington invite you to slow down. Begin with seasonal dishes at Coppin’s Restaurant & Bar, linger fireside in our courtyard with a perfectly poured cocktail, and end the night upstairs in one of our thoughtfully designed guest rooms.

MYSTIC CITY

The rise of otherworldly, “mystical” shops fills a niche for our region’s most whimsical.

MACKENZIE MANLEY

GREATER CINCINNATI HAS ITS share of stores selling magical wares, enchanting decor, or weird odds and ends. While each is decidedly unique in its offerings and stylings, they provide a space where wonder thrives.

This year marks a decade of Hail Records & Oddities in Covington’s MainStrasse, and co-owner Neil Higginbotham says that he’s always evolving to meet what he calls his customer’s “weirdo” needs. Scan Hail’s space and you’ll see wet specimens in jars, taxidermized critters, skulls, collectible VHS tapes, fringe art, and more. Over the years, Higginbotham says people come in just to have a safe place to express their interests.

“That’s what I wanted when we opened: A place where people could congregate—not have to buy anything, but it certainly helps—and bring their friends in. Show them what you like.”

Another longstanding magical shop is Enchanted Moments in Milford, which first opened in 2004. Take a walk through Northside and you’ll find both Beardo’s Curiosities and Poppets & Potions. And while not explicitly a magic shop, Newport is home to Monmouth St. Mercantile, which co-owners Wendy Braun and Tatum Davis describe as CONTINUED ON P. 20

“ Practical Magic meets Gilmore Girls.” On a rainy December evening, MSM welcomed a small group into its storefront for Tea & Tarot.

Gathered around a table, attendees reached for homemade cookies and lavender-frosted doughnuts. A large crescent moon hangs above the space. Later in the evening, Braun circled around the table to do mini tarot readings. The event captures one of the store’s goals: Bringing enchantment to people’s lives.

The boutique opened in September 2024 in the former Baker’s Table Bakery space at 1001 Monmouth St. (The store still sells sourdough bread on Saturdays.) You can fi nd everything from tarot decks to stationary with woodland creatures to apothecary goods to an array of books.

“There are people who get really freaked out by tarot and witchy things,” says Braun. “We understand that. You can ignore that. There are other things [at the shop] for you. If your whimsy threshold is watercoloring, awesome. But if you want to talk about the other things, we’re here for that, too. It gives people the space of feeling hints of magic that are comfortable for them.”

shop also functions as an extension of themselves, down to its two feline inhabitants, Lt. Cmdr. Atramenta Murderpaws and Barones Belladonna Nightshade. When the store fi rst opened in 2021, Augur says that it was an effort to remind people that magic can be found wherever they look.

“We live in a world of social media. We live in a world of mortgages, health insurance, and everything feels like it is of the material world, and there’s no cause for hope,” says Augur. “For us, the world feels like it should be more than that. We have the opportunity to create any sort of fantasy world that we live in.”

What is bespoke arcana? Hierophany & Hedge refers to itself as such because of its magical goods, like wands and amulets.

Once the shop opened, Coil adds that they just hoped someone came. Since then, they have met hundreds of people, gained lots of friends, and played a lot of Dungeons & Dragons.

REPORTING REIMAGINED

As far as the decor, Braun and Davis say it’s an extension of their own homes. The store functions as an authentic look at not only their interests, but their tastes, lives, and friendship, too.

Located on Pike Street in Covington, Hierophany & Hedge’s shopkeepers operate under the monikers Coil & Augur—and the meticulously stylized

“The discovery that [Hierophany & Hedge] was not just the magic shop we had been looking for, but was the magic shop a lot of people were looking for, was a lot of fun,” says Augur, adding that most of the people who come into the store are also people they would invite to sit and have tea with them.

A Midwestern metro like Greater Cincinnati may not seem like the ideal market for such magic, spellbooks, and oddities. Yet, the rise of the area’s metaphysical and magic shops shows that there’s nothing wrong with having a little whimsy in your life.

WINE ABOUT IT

March 5–7, the Cincinnati International Wine Festival celebrates its 35th year with tastings of more than 700 wines from around the world, multiple-course meals and wine pairings, and silent auctions, all in support of local nonprofi ts. winefestival.com

Four years ago, Lamenuel Scales was trying to find his voice on social media any way he could. After posting a live weather report on a snowy day (clad in a wig from a costume store) for his Instagram comedy channel, the news reporter persona that Cincinnatians now know as Hood News 75 began to take form. Fast forward to 2026, and his online presence has exploded with more than 446,000 followers across platforms—but he’s just getting started.

What do you love about reporting as Hood News 75? There are no restrictions. I can go where I want, when I want. I don’t have a boss. Other reporters have rules on how they can report, but I can deliver the message however I choose.

Is this your full-time gig? Yes, this is my day job. I can’t say that it pays right now, but I’m giving it my all. I’m sacrificing everything to hopefully build this up and change my life.

Do you consider yourself an influencer or a journalist? Both? Neither? 50/50 influencer and journalist. I have a balance between entertainment and

serious content. When I’m documenting things, I make sure to have the facts.

What kind of research are you doing? When people on social media reach out about a crime that happened, I’ll listen to the police scanner to make sure I have the right information. I use several apps, watch live cameras of the city, and research people who are addressed at the scene. You have to be legit. No fake news.

How has Hood News 75 shaped your feelings about Cincinnati? Cincinnati is crazy, but I love it. In every city there is going to be BS that goes on. I want to know how we can make it better. People will complain online for clicks and likes, but how are they helping people?

What’s next for you? I’ve made a name for myself locally, but I want to go bigger. Imagine if I had some Ford Explorers with the Hood News 75 logo and field reporters in different cities. I want to talk about real, human stories across America.

—BRIANNA CONNOCK

READ A LONGER INTERVIEW WITH LAMENUEL AT CINCINNATIMAGAZINE. COM

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Inspired by spring blooms, the rustic floral candlestick holders at Wildfire come in various heights and flower varieties: hydrangeas, tulips, and king proteas. $37.95 each, Wildfire Hygge Goods, wildfirehamilton.com

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125 matches, each four inches long, come included in this tigeradorned matchbox. It’s the most aesthetic, yet functional, way to light up your space. $15, Simply Zero, simplyzero.co

FAUX REAL

JOSH JACOB CUSTOMIZES EACH ONE-OF-A-KIND TIMEPIECE HE CREATES. —JACLYN YOUHANA GARVER

IIT STARTED SIMPLY ENOUGH: HIS FRIENDS started to buy fancy watches.

Josh Jacob, of Newport, hadn’t seen a Rolex or Omega before, and he became enamored with, of all things, the second hand. On a mechanical watch, it sweeps smoothly, compared to a quartz watch, where it ticks with staccato, batterypowered movement. “It’s this whole little engine inside this case on your wrist,” he says.

Jacob is the brains—and the watchmaker—behind Faux, which specializes in one-of-a-kind watches. Buyers can customize everything from the watch face to that mesmerizing little second hand. He sells Faux at fauxwrist.com or on Instagram under @fauxwrist; customers can message him, and he will work with them through the personalization process. If a buyer lives nearby, he’ll even hand-deliver.

He first got the idea to make a watch

about four years ago, right after COVID, when he saw a build-your-own-watch kit.

“I think the first thing I ever built [said], ‘This should take you about an hour,’ and I think it took me four hours,” he says.

Around the time Jacob bought that first kit, he was in AA, and found that working with his hands helped ensure he wouldn’t relapse. It also gave him a place to put his grief. In summer 2023, Jacob’s mother died of aphasia, a type of dementia. The decline is slow and then, at the end, very fast—she had the disease for about seven years. During that time, she lost the ability to speak.

Three months before her death, Jacob lost his dog King, whom he’d had for 14 years.

Between COVID and the deaths of his mother and his long-time pet, Jacob saw his drinking grow out of control. When he tried to stop on his own, he had a seizure. He fell and broke his humerus, a bone in the upper arm. He was in the hospital for a month. He started to go to AA meetings and work on his mental health. And he turned to a hobby, something to pass the time. “Because you notice, when you’re not drinking yourself numb, time moves way slower.”

Hence, the watches. He incorporated black designs, to mirror black armbands worn to acknowledge tragedy, and he named a line of watches the King series.

“It was this beautiful, weird hobby that was there in my life exactly when I needed it to be,” he says.

OLYMPIC DREAM

Local track star Conner Sherman is one of the nation’s fastest teens. Now, he’s aiming for the Olympics.

—ELIZABETH MILLER WOOD

MANY DAYS,

Conner Sherman wakes up at 4 a.m. He lifts weights, then heads to Princeton High School, where he’s a sophomore honor roll student.

When school lets out, Sherman’s father drives him 90 minutes to Capital University in Columbus, where he’ll train in a specialized program for two hours. He gets home around 10:30 p.m.

This is the life of an Olympic-bound teenage track athlete.

“It’s all worth it for me,” says Sherman, a young man with deep faith and big dreams.

“I’ve always just loved running.”

In 2022, Sherman won silver and bronze recognitions at the AAU Junior Olympics Games in North Carolina, attracting the pride of his Springfield Township hometown, which declared Tuesday, August 9, 2022, as Conner Sherman Day.

In March 2025, at the Adidas Track Nationals in Virginia Beach, Sherman not only won the 60-meter dash in the freshman division—he tied the meet record. The elite annual meet attracts entrants from all over the country and requires competitive qualifying times to enter.

Astoundingly, Sherman has been running competitively for only four years. But the instinct to move fast was always there. As a young child, he loved the superhero The Flash, and he would race the cars that drove past his home.

This spring, Sherman will run the 60-meter and 200-meter races for Princeton against runners sometimes two years his senior. He’ll also likely participate in 4x100, 4x200, and 4x400 relays. Sherman seeks to win state this year, as well as qualify for the Junior Olympic Games in Des Moines, Iowa, in the summer—his gold medal placement in the event in 2024 deemed him the fastest athlete in his age group across the U.S.

Beyond that, he hopes to run for an elite college in a few years as well as represent his country in the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles. But when asked how he defines athletic greatness, Sherman doesn’t mention medals, money, or fame. Instead, he says, “You’ve got to have dedication, and just stay positive and stay humble.”

At just 16 years old, it’s a self-fulfilling prophecy he’s already mastered.

BLAST FROM THE PAST

THIS RARE OVER-THE-RHINE HOUSE BLENDS HISTORIC CHARM WITH MODERN AMENITIES AND PROXIMITY TO A BUSTLING NEIGHBORHOOD. —MICHELLE MASTRO

EVERY HOME HAS A TOUCH OF HISTORY, BUT 1302 Main St. offers a truly restored piece of Over-the-Rhine architecture. The house was built in the 1850s, serving as a bank and later, a church, before being thoughtfully converted into a residential home. “The craftsmanship, original architectural details, and impressive scale tell a story you truly feel once you walk through the space,” says real estate agent Ingrid Correia Williams, who listed the property alongside Heather Herr.

The property is a rare mix of modern amenities with historic architecture, featuring an expansive rooftop deck, a private elevator, and a one-car attached garage— “amenities that are exceptionally uncommon in Over-the-Rhine,” Williams says. But that’s not all: The house is full of his-

torical details offset by modern comforts. Case in point: The living room features a functioning gas fireplace accented with beautifully detailed Rookwood pottery tiles.

Nearby properties are smaller condos or partial renovations, but this residence delivers an actual single-family living experience with preserved historic details, Williams says. “From a value perspective, it presents a rare opportunity to own a substantial landmark home in a premier location.”

Home buyers looking for walkability, culture, and an active urban lifestyle will also love this house. Located in the heart of Over-the-Rhine, the property offers immediate access to award-winning restaurants, local breweries, boutique shopping, and cultural destinations, all within a few blocks, Williams says.

“The home is just steps from Ziegler Park and the Ziegler Pool, offering green space, community programming, and outdoor recreation right outside the front door.” Washington Park and Findlay Market are also nearby, and “the Cincinnati streetcar offers effortless access to downtown, The Banks, and major employment centers, making daily commuting and entertainment seamless,” Williams says.

Dr. Know is Jay Gilbert, radio personality and advertising prankster. Submit your questions about the city’s peculiarities at drknow@cincinnati magazine.com

Fortunately, such a dystopian scenario has not yet arrived. Yes, Google Maps is sprinkled with countless icons that are now obligatory expenses for every commercial establishment on, um, the map. But the endlessly-patient voice that directs you to your destination, even when it must recalculate your dumbass wrong turn, cannot be bought! The voice will occasionally point out a well-known commercial landmark when giving directions (“Turn left at the Starbucks”), but this is merely a way to ease your experience and not a product placement that Google sells. Local places like Gold Star and UDF get a freebie for being such familiar Cincinnati roadway signs. Google Maps may soon have the ability to be as specific as “Bear left after damaging your suspension in the upcoming pothole.”

A guest at my home noticed the large street sign on my wall I’d “liberated” from a corner in Cheviot back in the 1980s (it has my name). She told me that Cincinnati now actually sells old street signs at a local store. Is that true? If so, where? And please don’t reveal my Cheviot street name!

—BLAND LARCENY

DEAR MR. GLENMORE:

The Doctor always protects his sources, so even though you decided to illegally Carrie away the Cheviot street sign, your confession is a safe Gamble. Your guest, however, was only partially correct when she said you don’t have to Robb a street sign to own one.

—MAKE MINE A WHOPPER

I was far from home and asked Google Maps for directions to the nearest Burger King. When I got close, the voice said, “Turn right just after the Gold Star Chili.” What?? Does Gold Star Chili pay Google to program my GPS to say that? Do they expect me to change my mind?

DEAR WHOPPER:

The nerve of some people. Or, more accurately, the nerve of some apps pretending they’re people. It’s like every driver now has a digital gang of noisy kids in the back seat: Oh, wait, don’t go here! Let’s go to [other franchise]! They’ve got [this month’s cardboard toy that I’ll leave on my bedroom floor forever after tonight]!

There was a time when any Alex, Jane, or Herbert from Cheviot—or anywhere— could shop at a store called City Works. It opened in 1992, where the Ludlow Garage had once been (and would later be again). City Works peddled Cincinnati’s old street signs, parking meters, police helmets, office furniture, and much more. Items confiscated and impounded by the cops were not included.

City Works lasted for just a short time.

There apparently wasn’t enough demand for things like ratty old dummies the Fire Department used for teaching CPR. The city of Cincinnati is back to auctioning off its old paraphernalia in batches. Be careful next time a Cheviot street sign seems to be calling your name; don’t raise a Ruckle.

I collect old comic books. The June 1948 issue of Batman has an ad featuring “High School Champs of America,” and that month it was Tom Denhart from Cincinnati, Ohio. Assuming this was a real person, I’m curious how Tom’s life turned out and if he’s still alive.

—HOLY BIOGRAPHY, BATMAN

DEAR HOLY:

Yes, Tom Denhart was an authentic “Outstanding Boy” who was profiled in Batman #47 as part of the ad campaign for Thom McAn Shoes. He graduated from Hughes High School in 1948 and died in 2011. The ad described him as a truly outstanding student, athlete, orator, and capitalist (“Tom’s hobby pays a profi t! He traps muskrats and sells their fur!”). Of course, he also wore Thom McAn’s sturdy, rich-grain leather shoes. (“They give you real grownup styling and quality!”)

It was the capitalist Tom who prospered through the 1970s and into the 2000s as Cincinnati’s largest owner of Over-the-Rhine rental properties. Some credit massive federal Section 8 subsidies with helping him off er reasonably wellmaintained apartments for thousands of low-income tenants. Others say the federal money turned him into our version of Fred Trump, cashing in as a slumlord. Whatever your perspective, the High School Champ of America became the Rental Champ of Over-the-Rhine. And to think he could have opted to become the Muskrat Fur Moneybags of the Midwest.

BY JUDI KETTELER

The Paul Stories

EVEN THOUGH

HE’S GONE, THE STORIES WE TELL

ABOUT OUR BROTHER STILL CONNECT US TO HIM.

W

WHEN THE KETTELER SIBLINGS GATHER FOR DINNER, THE PAUL STORIES CAN START ANY time. I find they pair best with dessert. Cookie in hand, someone will say, “Remember when Paul…” and what follows is one of the many absurdities my brother executed at some point in his life of 49 years.

Remember when he was arrested in our driveway after he drove by the police station and yelled obscenities at them? Remember when he got remarried and didn’t tell us and Mom found out only because she randomly saw them at the grocery? Remember when he had that car accident early on Thanksgiving morning and sat at dinner with his face all busted up? Remember when he showed up on Easter and asked what happens if you don’t file your taxes and he and Dad sat at the kitchen table all night working on them?

Remember, remember, remember?

It quickly becomes a round-robin, with us all sharing the memories. There’s a kind of a “Top 10” list of stories—the ones we can tell over and over that will never not be darkly funny—and then sometimes a more obscure story will emerge that I haven’t heard in a while, like when Paul gave my sister and brother-in-law a “deal” on roofing work by stealing most of the materials and then not finishing the whole job, all while drinking as much of their beer as he could.

We often do live fact-checking, like, “Remember when he drove his green Chevelle into a lake…” and someone will correct, “Actually, he loaned the car to a friend and he was the one who let it roll into the lake,” and then someone else will correct, “No, the friend actually stole it.”

With Paul being gone for these past 16 years, the stories are what we have left. It’s such an interesting thing that happens with an unexpected death, how one timeline ends and freezes and the other one keeps going. Like an unfinished book that’s been returned to the library. The loan is up, but you’re left with so many questions. And so, month after month, year after year, dinner after dinner, our sibling book club winds its way back through the chapters.

During the recent holiday season, I laughed so hard as we told our Paul stories. This time, I noticed how the next generation took in the tales. The curiosity in their eyes. Crazy Uncle Paul, almost more myth than real. While the older nieces and nephews (in their 20s and 30s) have memories of him, my kids, 15 and 17, are the youngest of their family cohort. They never even met him.

I could see them thinking, Who was this person? I’ve spent most of my life wondering that myself.

THE SECOND OLDEST OF SEVEN KIDS, Paul was born in July 1960. I wasn’t born until 1974, so you could say I’ve been relying on the Paul stories from the start. It all goes something like this: He was the one unlike all the rest of us. Antagonizing. Attention-driven. Mischievous. He was mean to my two oldest sisters, calling them names and picking fights.

According to my oldest brother, if he wanted something from you—say your

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last cigarette or your last dollar—he’d wear you down until it was easier to simply give in. He dropped out of high school (though he did earn his GED) and eventually started working for a company that put up billboards. At 19, he fell off one, badly injuring his back and knee, setting up an issue with pain pills that would fol-

girl he’d been dating since high school, and they had a son. They divorced after 10 years of tumult (screaming matches, police called, holes in walls, phones broken from being slammed). He somehow convinced another woman to marry him in the early 2000s.

He was funny but crude. Frustrating as hell, but hard to truly dislike. There was a

THE STORIES WE HAVE OF THE DEAD ARE MOSTLY ABOUT US, NOT THEM. WE MEMORIALIZE THEM TO REMEMBER OR UNDERSTAND SOMETHING ABOUT OURSELVES.

low him the rest of his life. He worked as a roofer after that, which further beat up his body. And he drank. A lot.

His entire life was his friends, who called him Buck. (When he died, I realized some of them didn’t actually remember that his real name was Paul.) In 1985, he married the

lot to his life, sorrows and triumphs and moments when he was strangely protective of his sisters, but the Paul stories have primarily developed around his many narrow escapes, cars totaled, money borrowed, schemes attempted, and the way he’d appear when you least expected with

Modern Stay Made for Cincinnati.

a bottle in a paper bag and a cigarette in his mouth. When Paul showed up at a family gathering, it was immediately going to be a different kind of time.

Then, in November 2009, he died. As far as we understand it, he went to sleep one night and didn’t wake up the next morning, not on purpose but because his body had had enough. Our parents were out of town at the time, and his wife didn’t have our phone numbers. My siblings and I learned about his death in various and convoluted ways, and it took the better part of an afternoon to confirm the story. It was all so Paul.

In the few years before his death, we’d seen him just a handful of times. My wedding. Our parents’ 50th anniversary. A Thanksgiving or Father’s Day. I wouldn’t say he was estranged, because it feels like there’s something willful and dark about estrangement. It wasn’t like that with Paul.

Rather, it was more like a fade out. A few months before his death, my mom and dad had visited him at his apartment. It

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- Keith Pandolfi, Cincinnati Enquirer/USA Today Network

“It’s a scene stopper and a conversation starter.”

- M. Leigh Hood, Cincinnati Magazine

was a good visit, my mom said. She had the sense he was starting to find peace. There really are no Paul stories from this stretch of his life, except, of course, the last headline. Game over.

RECENTLY, I INTERVIEWED A MAN ON Long Island about his knee replacement surgery. I write patient stories for various hospital publications and websites, and while I enjoy talking to people and hearing their stories, it’s generally the same information over and over. I was typing away, asking my usual questions about hobbies and how joint replacement has helped him enjoy life again. (Seriously, if you’re in massive pain every day, don’t wait.) He played guitar professionally, he said, and had just played a tribute to Harry Chapin because they’d been friends before he died.

Wait, what?! You were friends with Harry Chapin? I immediately had a million questions for my subject. Forget your knee, tell me about Harry, I wanted to yell!

I was absolutely obsessed with Chapin’s music in high school and college. His brand of social justice found me right as I was awakening to the fact that we lived in an unfair world. There was no internet, but I remember learning a lot about him and his mission to feed the hungry, so I think I must have researched old magazine articles at the library? That sounds like nerdy me.

After that interview, I found all my favorite Harry Chapin songs on Spotify. Sure, “Taxi” and “Cat’s in the Cradle” were great, but the more obscure ones, like “Story of a Life” and “There Only Was One Choice,” really took me back.

What I realized with his music in my ear over several weeks of running was that the stories we have of the dead are mostly about us, not them. We memorialize the dead to remember or understand something about ourselves. My Harry Chapin stories—especially the one about how I would listen to his music in my room on my boombox in the dark, thinking about all the change I was

going to make in the world—remind me of the 16-year-old idealistic girl I was, the one who shaped the person I am now who still believes words are one of the most powerful forces on Earth.

If mythologizing Harry Chapin gives off How it started/how it’s going vibes, mythologizing Paul is We’re in it together vibes. Our Paul stories seem to serve this collective purpose of linking us siblings in the battle of life, in the struggle to understand how people from the same family can be as different as night and day.

We all get to play parts in the Paul stories. The Innocent. The Foil. The Accomplice. He’s gone, but we’re still alive in the stories. I’m so glad humor is what’s left. What a blessing it is, this thing we share.

One of us starts, “Remember when he said he was going to teach the phone company a lesson?” Another one of us answers,“He stopped paying his bill.” And then someone delivers the punchline, “He sure showed them.” And we laugh and laugh and laugh.

MONDAY, MARCH 9, 2026

VIP Admission: 5:30 p.m.

General Admission: 6:00 p.m.

MONDAY, MARCH 9, 2026

VIP Admission: 5:30 p.m.

General Admission: 6:00 p.m.

ACINCINNATI M A GAZINE EVENT

311 Pike Street Cincinnati, OH 45202

(513) 621-4500 www.subitoatlytlepark.com

YOUR DATE NIGHT DESTINATION AWAITS

Set the scene for your perfect date night at Subito, inside The Lytle Park Hotel, where you’ll enjoy handcrafted Italian dishes, an expansive wine collection, and expertly orchestrated service. The glow of the lobby bar and the rich sounds of live music are the makings of your date night Exactly Like Nothing Else

PHOTOGRAPHS BY CATHERINE GRACE

Where to Eat Now

This Best Restaurants list highlights the places that keep us on our culinary toes and the people who satisfy our hunger for top-notch cuisine.

BY M. LEIGH HOOD

APPLE OF OUR EYE

Boca’s pomme d’amour is a dessert you’ll want to eat first; airy pommes soufflées and Beef Wellington (opposite page).

BOCA

RELIABLE EXCELLENCE IS RARE, BUT BOCA CONSISTENTLY exceeds expectations. Chef/Owner David Falk conducts a masterful orchestra behind the famed red door on Sixth Street. Every meal is a symphony, and every note of the performance is planned and executed to perfection. You can’t talk about the restaurant without mentioning the pommes soufflées (spiritually ascended French fries). They demonstrate how elevated technique can serve up an astonishing experience, and these proud, puffed potatoes double as a homage to the long-lost Maisonette, a restaurant whose figurative shoes and literal footprint Boca has filled since the latter took over the former’s address.

Boca doesn’t rest on its laurels. The classics—like chicken with mushroom truffle risotto—remain as comforting and rich as ever, but Falk always leaves space for cultivated twists on trending dishes. Refined takes on popular flavors include the Corn Elote R.A.D. Cappellacci. This is comfort food dressed in finery. The pasta shapes the bite, but there’s no containing the filling’s brightness. The sauce plays on the sweet corn’s role at center stage, and the delicate heat from slivered peppers makes it a party.

It’s a challenge to save room for dessert when the menu whispers sweet promises of diver scallops, lobster bisque, and crudo, but it’s always worth the wait. Dessert is never an afterthought; first impressions matter but so do farewells. Again, the classics that made Boca famous, like the Candy Bar 3.0, will always make the heart sing, but if you haven’t stopped in for a while, go for a seasonal dessert.

The pomme d’amour looks and tastes like the dream of a caramel apple. Falk understands guests eat with their eyes first, and this dessert is a piece of art. The autumn fantasy hides apple namelaka flesh and a Dulcey caramel core inside candy skin. It’s an adventure to crack open and a delight to taste. It’s creamy without feeling heavy, and the blend of tart apple, lush caramel, and salty peanut clusters is immaculate. It sums up Boca as an experience very well: thoughtfully inventive, ambitiously designed, and always memorable.

114 E. Sixth St., downtown, (513) 542-2022, bocacincinnati.com

WILDWEED

READER, I DOUBTED. WHEN MY FIRST COURSE arrived, a seasonal roasted squash salad, I looked at the chunks of vegetable sitting on dollops of quark and lowered my expectations. While pretty, it looked like the kind of overpriced, overhyped dish for which fine dining (sometimes rightfully) gets lampooned. Then I had my first bite, and I believed. The second made me a Wildweed convert.

When the plate was empty, I could’ve cried. A little heat, subtly sweet squash, and the delicate cheese produced an enchanting opener. Magic like this grows slowly, and Chef David Jackman has had time to perfect it on the long road between Wildweed’s first pop-up and today’s brick-and-mortar location. The venue honors those roots with old posters and menus from previous incarnations. Bar seating rings the countertop that separates the worlds of service and prep, providing a glimpse into the artistry behind each meal. It’s the exact opposite of the old adage about seeing how the sausage is made.

Wildweed capitalizes on fresh flavors that push beyond expectation. Striped chicken tortelli is the restaurant’s poster child, a role it handles with grace and a taste like no other. The chicken dances with the shrimp, fried shallots, coriander, and n c ch m-inspired vinegar in a complex tango that might be mistaken for a choreographed riot at a distance. There’s always another layer to taste, another texture to enjoy, and another chance to wonder how it all works so well. This is the kind of dish that makes you want to lick the plate.

The unexpected thrives here. Where else can you find a rib eye steak sporting umeboshi, seaweed jelly, and fermented crab? The menu sparks curiosity as much as appetite, listing ingredients and letting your imagination run a little wild. You may think you know what to expect, but as I found out, guesses are fallible, especially in the face of the Jackmans’ innovation. Sometimes being wrong is humbling, but at Wildweed, it just makes you hungry.

301 Walnut St., Over-the-Rhine, (513) 246-4274, wildweedrestaurant.com

THERE’S NOTHING QUITE LIKE

Sotto, the Boca Restaurant Group’s pastaforward speakeasy. Getting there is an adventure. It’s easy to overlook and difficult to find if you don’t already know the way, but beside Boca’s red door, a staircase leads below street level. Sotto lies down those steps, and there are a lot of steps, which gives you the perfect excuse to indulge with less guilt when you arrive.

Taking notes from Boca’s dedication to excellence, Executive Chef Jacob “Woody” Wood took over the kitchen after the departure of Chef Danny Combs in 2022 and continues the good work with owner David Falk. They aim to bring Italy’s rustic charms to the city. That translates to a lot of Italian table wine and food made by hand with love. Like any good antipasti menu, Sotto’s will challenge your self-control. Surrender is inevitable, but the grilled bread with goat cheese, hazelnuts, and honey will make it sweet. It contrasts the bulk of savory entrées perfectly.

If you’ve never visited Sotto during truffle season, you’ve never tasted heaven. Available only when the prized mushrooms are at their best, the tajarin con tartufo is a superb demonstration of masterful Italian technique. The silky pasta, made with egg yolks, is a decadent base for the star of the show: a mound of shaved black truffle dusted with parmigiano. The textures melt together, and the truffle absolutely shines. It isn’t an add-on or afterthought. It’s simply perfect, which could be Sotto’s motto.

NOLIA KITCHEN

AS THE NAME SUGGESTS, EXECUTIVE CHEF AND

Owner Jeffery Harris’s restaurant is all about the kitchen. Food prep is up front, in the open, and the entire team moves through the space like it’s home. They’re comfortable. They want you to be comfortable, too.

Nolia nails the often-intended and rarely successful “refined casual” atmosphere. Maybe it’s the southern charm Harris can’t quite shake from his boots, or maybe it’s pure, unpretentious confidence. The plating is elegant and thoughtful without extravagance. The servers wear branded T-shirts and sweatshirts instead of formal attire. All of this comes wrapped in exposed wood, bare brick, and muted tones of green. It’s downright cozy.

The food is creative and nourishing. Intentional or not, there are few menus that can claim to be entirely gluten-free. Nolia’s autumn 2025 menu, however, made it feel almost accidental. It was like Harris put together the season’s menu and got too excited experimenting with turnips, grits, and squash to give plain old wheat the time of day. Without the note on the menu—along with a list of local providers—you might not even notice.

That isn’t to say Nolia is above carbs. On the contrary, the skillet cornbread is the restaurant’s darling, and servers only fail to recommend it when they’re asleep. It’s a decadent experience, arriving hot from the oven with a ridiculously large scoop of butter whipped with Steen’s Cane Syrup left to melt on top. The center is lushly textured, and the edges are perfectly crisp.

Every night, the cut of lamb and type of fish on the menu are subject to change. This keeps things literally and figuratively fresh, and the servers are prepared to guide you through each night’s options with a foodie’s heart and a chef’s eye. They’ll also help you choose the best hot sauce for your meal.

1405 Clay St., Over-the-Rhine, (513) 384-3597, noliakitchen.com

The little hot sauce bottles (and their contents) tip Nolia from a great spot to a real delight. There are a few options, all made from scratch, and only one will have you fanning yourself like a sinner in church.

BAYOU BEST

Crudo with rotating fish, citrus, pili pili oil, and buttermilk (far right); the Louisiana sheepshead fish special with blood orange buerre blanc (near right)

Jackson Rouse

The former Bauer Farm Kitchen chef takes the helm at Hamilton’s Carmagnola Trattoria. —KENNEDY DUDLEY

What elements from your life in previous kitchens did you bring with you to Carmagnola? I really love to cook within a traditional element, but then I’m not confined by the traditional part. I like to use it as a base then step out just a little bit to keep it unique.

What drew you to Italian cooking at this stage in your career? I have a background in Italian cooking, but it’s been a long time. I really like the tradition of it. I love that the Italians really focus on high end ingredients, that’s kind of our focus [at Carmagnola], too. Our mission is to showcase these beautiful products and not manipulate them too much, just really respect what they are.

What’s inspiring you these days when creating new dishes? The primitive art of cooking on an open fire. We have this beautiful handcrafted grill. Every day we’re evolving and learning how to use it. It’s a living thing so you have to respect it. You can’t tell it what to do; it tells you what to do.

Is there a dish on the menu that you feel best represents what you’re trying to do at Carmagnola? The Picanha [in Steak Jess’s Way]. We soy cure it, sous vide it, then we hold it in a CVap [warming cabinet], then we smoke it. This simple cut of meat, we tinker with it so we can show it off properly.

Are there any similarities between German, American, and Italian cooking that made the transition to this style of cooking easier? When I was at Bauer, I loved to take old-school classic dishes, give them the proper respect but modernize them a little or add an ingredient that makes it unique. That’s how we’re doing it with the Italian [cooking] process, too.

SUDOVA

CHEF SARAH DWORAK, CINCINNATI’S BELOVED pierogi queen, shuttered Wódka to open this expanded haven for Eastern European cuisine on Court Street. Don’t worry, all her dumpling prowess—and the vodka—came, too.

With several dishes pulled directly from her Baba’s cooking, Dworak built the menu to foster the timeless nostalgia of good food, with recipes that tell a story, made by people who love you. It may not look like your grandma’s idea of fine dining, especially when the Halushki arrives, but she’d definitely approve. The servers are excited to be there, every dish hits the table hot, and notes of Old World mystique threaded through the design never overstep into something kitsch.

A few carefully selected antiques—including the stained-glass windows around which the entire bar was designed—set the tone without overcomplicating the space. Everything is intentional, creating a uniquely timeless space. While Sudova is enchanting at any time of day, sunlight brings out its best features, particularly the generous skylights, which leave you with the impression of dining al fresco while seated indoors. And Dworak takes particular pride in her curated partnerships with other woman-owned businesses. For example, Dark Wood Farm, run by Annie Woods, provides all the lovely dill Sudova prizes.

Seasonality brings new colors to the menu. Besides specials and limited-time dishes, like squash pelmeni or stuffed peppers, core dishes adapt to the time of year. The medovik climbs into a chrysalis and emerges with flavors every few months. In 2025, it transformed from strawberry to lemon poppyseed to apple cardamom. The menu as a whole has expanded, too, adding a third regular item to the dumpling menu (beef pelmeni), and serving up a variety of ways to enjoy your khachapuri, when available.

22 W. Court St., downtown, (513) 407-7974, sudovaoncourt. com

Sudova excels at being the friendly, welcoming space you want to revisit, and the intriguing seasonal shifts call to you like beautiful Rusalki. Sometimes, you just need to take a seat at Baba’s table.

BABA KNOWS BEST (Clockwise) The popular Axe of Perun packs a punch; white borsch soup with beef, root vegetables, and dill smetana; Ukrainian bread pampushky.

Heather Brady

The co-owner of Etxe talks about the Spanish steakhouse culinary residency’s impact on the local dining scene.

—AIESHA D. LITTLE

How did you come up with this concept? Etxe was born from our travels together [Brady co-owns Etxe with Executive Chef David Matern]. We regularly vacation abroad, and we kept finding ourselves drawn back to Spain, especially the Basque region. The simplicity of the cuisine, the respect for ingredients, and the immense warmth and hospitality we experienced there made a deep impression on us.

Why a culinary residency? We’ve watched friends across the country launch culinary residencies as a way to test ideas and build momentum for a future brick and mortar. The model has always fascinated us—it creates a unique opportunity to get your feet wet with a concept while minimizing risk.

How has the local foodie community responded? We’ve been blown away by the support. Seeing guests return three, four, even five times during the residency has meant more to us than any metric could. That kind of enthusiasm tells us the story we’re sharing is resonating.

Which menu items are customers connecting with? The Ibérico Pluma has become a standout. It’s such a beautifully grilled cut of pork, and guests are amazed by how tender and flavorful it is. Chef David’s Basque cheesecake has also taken on a life of its own. It’s rich, delicate, deeply authentic, and absolutely holds its own against the versions we’ve tasted in San Sebastián.

Do you have plans to expand the concept into a brick-and-mortar location soon? That’s the ultimate goal. We hope to remain in Walnut Hills. The neighborhood is becoming such an exciting culinary destination, and we’d love to help continue that momentum.

ABIGAIL STREET

THE DOOR IS EASY TO MISS AT Abigail Street, but the experience is hard to forget. The place keeps food fun, which seems counterintuitive when broccoli is one of its bestsellers, but that isn’t the contradiction you may imagine.

Heavily inspired by Mediterranean flavors, techniques, and ingredients, the tapas-style menu is full of surprises. When was the last time you had broccoli fried and dressed with Moroccan spices and elevated with notes of miso and tahini? It’s devastatingly good.

Each small plate is a picture of decadence. Scallops are served on a bed of spectacularly seasoned maftoul, the stuffed dates are swaddled in bacon, and the woodfired octopus plays in a hummus garden. The “Well Provisioned” hummus draws diners on its own. The dish changes daily, featuring incredible imported olives, seasonings, fresh herbs, and more. It’s a regular exercise in creativity for the team and a revolving excuse to stop in for guests.

There’s no pressure to stop for a full meal, which is a big part of why the hummus draws so many. Enjoying fresh pita and drinks is a brilliant way to start an evening out without committing past cocktail hour. Abigail Street’s relaxed atmosphere welcomes such informal approaches to dining, and this isn’t the only trick up the menu’s sleeve. There are as many ways to enjoy a visit here as there are items on the

1214 Vine St., Over-the-Rhine, (513) 421-4040, abigailstreet.com

menu. If hummus can start an evening, then the baklava and Turkish coffee welcome stragglers at the end of the night. There’s no reason you couldn’t stop in at any hour to catch up with a friend over dessert, of course, and the housemade pistachio baklava could be a meal of its own. Like the broccoli, it defies expectations. In this case, the expectation is a ratio. Traditional baklava is mostly pastry with a thin filling of walnut, pistachio, almond, or hazelnut. Abigail Street packs a good inch of pistachio mix between sandwich-sized triangles of pastry, and the servers cackle in delight at diners’ gobsmacked reactions.

DIP IT GOOD

Abigail Street’s “wellprovisioned” hummus is changed out daily— this version features Merguez-spiced lamb, zhug, Fresno peppers, and extra virgin olive oil—but never loses its flavor.

MITA’S

MITA’S ALWAYS FEELS LIKE IT’S ON THE CUSP OF BREAKING INTO a party. Chef Jose Salazar’s treasured tapas spot isn’t just a place you stop for a meal. It’s culinary entertainment. The Spanish- and Latin American–inspired menu invites indulgence at a bite-sized pace. It’s easy to lose yourself in the cheerful parade of embutidos, cheeses, vegetables, and olives. Then there are fish, shrimp, and chicken dishes to contend with, to say nothing of dessert.

Like all of Salazar’s properties, the servers are essential guides. They stand ready to curate your experience based on allergies, preferences, and curious questions. Apart from the paella, everything on the menu is a small plate, and balancing volume with timing is an art, so you can order a couple dishes at a time or place your order all at once and servers will pace the meal accordingly. They know the best wine pairing for everything the kitchen dreams up, and they’ll cheer you on as you try something new. They’re just as happy to hunt down something a little more familiar if that makes you comfortable. It’s a friendly, supportive twist on the traditional role of waitstaff, and without it, Mita’s wouldn’t be half as much fun as it is.

Even the simplest dishes shine. The blistered shishito peppers are so tasty you’ll be excited to eat your vegetables, but there are two complex and essential dishes lurking at the tail end of the dinner menu. The paella and its vegetarian alternative are busy spreads of deep flavor and prized heritage. Each 10-inch dish is a full meal for two, and you’ll likely take home leftovers if you don’t dine with a larger party, but if you don’t order at least one small plate to enjoy while it’s prepared, your server may cry.

The tarta de queso crowns the dessert menu, the rich Basque cheesecake as far removed from the New York variety as New York is from the sunny Spanish countryside. The velvety texture will bless your dreams, and dessert may be the first thing that comes to mind the next time you choose the venue for a night out.

SEE FOOD

The ceviche de camarones is served with poached rock shrimp, jicama, cucumber, passion fruit de tigre, and corn nuts.

COLETTE

COLETTE IS SO UPBEAT, IT’S downright perky. The colorful, eclectic design brings to mind a sunny grandma’s kitchen, or maybe a stylish wine aunt’s domain. Light-hearted pop and jazz— some French, some not—set the rhythm, and dinner at Colette becomes a whirlwind of laughs and rapid-fire service.

Chef Danny Combs’s darling, the “mostly French” eatery fits well in its vibrant neighborhood just across the street from Washington Park. While absolutely qualifying as an elevated dining experience, the restaurant leans away from the formal ambiance traditionally associated with European cuisine in the States. Instead, the space blooms, staying fresh, friendly, and bright.

One of Colette’s most charming

touches is the secondhand china. Repurposing antique serving ware has become a bit of a trend but pulling it off demands a studious eye and an innate understanding of a brand’s minutiae. It works here, on walls and tables alike, and it’s a clever way to keep things relaxed without ever compromising standards.

The poulet frit à la moutarde is enormous and arrives dressed in greens. The roasted beets blend rather than bury the sweet root, and the fish swims onto the menu by seasonal availability. Of course, the proof of good French cuisine is in the baking as much as the cooking, and, happily, this is where sunny Colette shines brightest. Pastry is a serious matter, and

Best Things

I had no idea how much I loved mushrooms, that ramen can cure most (emotional) ills, and that drinking alcohol from delicate porcelain is a publicly acceptable pastime. The culinary scene in 2025 was an adventure, and here are my highlights from just off the beaten path.

—M. LEIGH HOOD

Carmelo’s Mushroom Marsala and Tiramisu

Picking two favorites from a single restaurant feels like cheating, but here we are. The mushroom marsala is a transcendent, umamiforward experience. The stock used for the sauce is made in house with a whole cast of mushrooms, and there are enough friendly fungi swirling in the pasta to make a hobbit cheer.

The tiramisu haunts me. Lush with creamy indulgence, sharpened with an espresso concentrate, it’s a divine treat that has spoiled me forever. It’s sized to split, but I always wonder how much I love my friends when the time comes to put a knife to these ladyfingers. 434 Madison Ave., Covington, (859) 287-4700, eatatcar melos.com

Colette’s sautéed sweetbreads and morels are stuffed with a chicken sweetbread mousse and served over a horseradish watercress puree.

it’s the perfect way to bookend a meal.

Start with the pain maison, Colette’s fresh milk brioche. It’s so light and fluffy, it might float away without the weight of the seasonal butter with which it’s served.

When the sun sets, and your appetite wanes, turn your attention to the choux au craquelin and the mille-feuille. The first is for choux fans who like their cream iced. The second is for anyone and everyone tempted by the sensuous allure of caramelized puff pastry and crème légère. If the choux fits, eat it. If your tastes diverge, Colette won’t leave you in the cold.

1400 Race St., Over-the-Rhine, (513) 381-1018, coletteotr.com

Osaka Ramen House’s Tonkatsu Ramen

This is a beautiful bowl of noodles. Osaka Ramen House is a hidden gem in the Beechmont corridor, but the melt-in-your-mouth pork is worth the jaunt. The broth is so rich it sings, and the generous portion size feeds the soul. 8084 Beechmont Ave., Cherry Grove, (513) 914-5005, osakaramen house.com

Marigold’s Hot Toddy Service

The ritual of it all is half the fun, and the service arrives in pieces, which a server assembles and refreshes at your leisure. It’s the coziest thing you’ll ever drink while pretending you aren’t half so tickled as you are to be drinking liquor from a teacup like a proper little deviant. 60 W. Sixth St., downtown, (513) 996-0210, marigoldcincy.com

PHOENICIAN TAVERNA

SAMPLER PLATTER

Phoenician Taverna’s menu is packed with Middle Eastern flavors like grilled meats, tabbouleh, and arnabeet.

LIKE EVERYTHING AT THE PHOENICIAN TAVERNA, THE complimentary housemade pita bread comes to the table warm with enthusiasm. If you’ve never had fresh, authentic pita bread, you’re missing out on something beautiful. It’s different than what you’ll find in a grocery store or sandwich shop. Of course, there are a lot of things in the Taverna that defy standardized American ideas of Lebanese cuisine.

Prepare to be lost in the menu. It’s clearly laid out, but it’s all too easy to order more appetizers than you planned. To be fair, the hot and cold mezza menus make amazing stand-ins for a tasting menu if you’re dining in a group. Yes, the hummus is mandatory, but have you ever tried arnabeet (fried cauliflower with tahini)? You’ve never had falafel like Taverna’s, and how will you ever decide on your favorite dip if you don’t try them all?

The classically prepared kebab and shawarma selections dominate the entrées, but there remain one or two vegetarian options, and anything that comes off the grill is a masterwork. Like the pita, the meat’s depth of flavors and variety of textures may surprise you. Nothing is done quickly if it cannot be done well, and the full experience is layers of sides, sauces, and seasonings.

Owner Wassim Matar epitomizes hospitality. Even after years of success, he remains hands-on, quite literally, welcoming diners at the door and stopping to converse with each and every table. He has tips for what sauces and sides on your plate pair best with each part of the entrée. Come back often enough, and he’ll greet you by name. He’s always glad to see you. There are no customers here, only guests.

To finish your meal as it was meant to be enjoyed, order some baklava and Lebanese coffee. Savor these delicacies with slow, easy conversation, and they’ll warm you up from the inside out, starting with the soul. The Taverna isn’t in a rush, and you shouldn’t be, either.

7944 Mason-Montgomery Rd., Mason, (513) 770-0027, phoeniciantaverna. com

Fabio Viviani

The TopChef alum opens his Italian restaurant concept in Madisonville this spring. —ELIZABETH A. LOWRY

Tell us about Zingaro. Zingaro will be a traditional Italian restaurant. Next door will be Viaggio. The two places together take you on a journey through the food and drinks of Italy and beyond. Go to Zingaro for a phenomenal, affordable Italian meal and go to Viaggio to experience craft cocktails, handpicked wine, and a smaller bar menu.

Describe your menu. Think of it this way: You get kidnapped by five people—two grandmothers, a butcher, a fishmonger, and a wine and cocktail expert. The only way out of it is to try all the best dishes, cocktails, and wine that they have had throughout their lives. The menu is a compilation of all the greatest hits of my career as well as some of the most beloved Italian dishes.

Is there a signature dish? So many. We’ll have a one-pound meatball, a 38-ounce porterhouse (like a Florentine steak, cooked over charcoal). We’ll shave the parmesan in front of you and make the pasta in front of you all day on an open pasta counter.

Why Cincinnati? Fabio Viviani Hospitality Group is a national hospitality development group, and we were called to give our thoughts [on the development]. They liked what we offered so we teamed up as a joint venture with Medpace. They love the Cincinnati community, and they are committed to making it a true lifestyle center.

What do you like most about Cincinnati? It’s an up-and-coming city from a food perspective. If you go to L.A., Chicago, New York, you’re a dime a dozen with a lot more costs and a lot more headaches. A secondary market is more relaxed, so we can focus on what we do best.

SALAZAR

CHEF JOSE SALAZAR’S NAMESAKE RESTAURANT

REturned to the culinary landscape in new digs (right across the street from Mita’s) at the tail end of last year, with a fresh menu full of style. Everything comes with an unexpected pop of color or a twist on traditional presentation. Salazar keeps its creste di gallo very, very green, and it keeps its kimchi very, very red. There are some classics from the old venue, but Salazar’s vision for this new, larger space features fresh, joyful ambition you can see, smell, and taste. The decor features clean, relaxed color combinations and carefully chosen accents to spark conversation. The most notable of these is a set of custom Rookwood pieces displayed over the window to the kitchen, but there are many little treasures hidden throughout the dining area.

Servers patrol, hands behind their backs, looking for opportunities to preemptively refill glasses or spirit away used cutlery. The team is also happy to introduce newcomers to the Jose Salazar style of dining, where you order everything all at once and your server paces it out in courses. It’s a tapas restaurant in soul if not body.

The Little Fried Oyster Slider is a microcosm of the Salazar experience as a whole. It’s inventive, colorful, and surprisingly playful. Everything is made with love and obsessive attention to detail, from the housemade brioche bun to the artfully arranged greens that bloom just so around the sandwich’s periphery.

Much of the food’s vibrance is due to the emphasis on seasonality. While there hasn’t been an opportunity to see what the summer and early autumn will bring, the opening menu’s use of winter root vegetables is laudable. The creste de gallo merges umami-rich wild mushrooms with spinach cream to create a unique, well-rounded bite made whole, but not carried by, the cheese.

Little polishing touches to the menu, like loose leaf tea from Churchill’s, underline the reborn Salazar’s investment in honing a unique, but entirely comfortable, dining experience.

Alfio Gulisano

The Noche chef zeroes in on pasta, cocktails, and a more intimate dining experience. —TIFFANY LUCKEY

Where did the concept for Noche come from? Many years ago, we started to look for a second location [Gulisano also owns Alfio’s Buon Cibo in Hyde Park]. It took us a little too long, but we found a place where we thought a concept like Noche would thrive on its own pastas. Alfio’s has a much bigger menu. We wanted to have something smaller than that, a little more approachable in price and casual when you walk in, but still feel great inside.

Why did you choose this location in Covington? I had been scouting areas all over town, and we went there to check it out. Everything there was beautiful; the area, the corner, everything. It felt really good when I walked in. My partners [Jennifer Birt and Michelle O’Brien] and I all agreed that it was a good move for us.

How is the atmosphere at Noche different from Alfio’s? It’s a little more sophisticated, but also more approachable. You feel casual but still hot and trendy. I think we achieved that.

Noche’s dishes blend different cultures. Was that intentional? We always wanted to make a bridge between one culture and the other. We have a pulled brisket bourbon burrata, and I think that’s a great bridge between the American and the Italian side. There’s always a bridge in what we do.

If someone orders just one dish, what should it be? If it’s an entrée, I would tell them the short rib penne. It represents us at Noche.

ALL OF CINCINNATI IS CONNECTED THROUGH JIM TARBELL , AS TWO NEW BOOKS MAKE CLEAR.

Everyone in Cincinnati knows Jim Tarbell. He is the city’s most beloved merrymaker. He has produced concerts with the biggest stars; organized extravagant galas and celebrations; welcomed with open arms customers to his restaurants, Arnold’s and Grammer’s; and spent his career on City Council talking to folks on the street. But he is much more.

He is a dedicated urban pioneer who understands what is necessary to make cities exciting places to live. Using his talent at bringing people together, he helped to transform Cincinnati’s historic Over-the-Rhine neighborhood from a slum to a thriving community. He has proven that with hard work and commitment one person can make a difference.

—From Tarbell, by Buck

Niehoff

BY

In our swirling world of clashing opinions and competing views of reality, one of the few facts we can all agree on is this: Jim Tarbell has made a difference in Cincinnati. He became the city’s mascot of sorts over a 50-plus-year public life. Fusing civic pride and historical knowledge with whimsy and bombast, he’s made living here more interesting and more fun. His boundless “Why not?” energy inspired countless numbers of us to agitate against Cincinnati’s traditional reluctance to change.

Two new books published in December attempt to describe Tarbell’s motivations and legacy. Buck Niehoff’s Tarbell (Orange Frazer Press) collects lunch conversations between them over the years à la Tuesdays With Morrie. The other, Tarbellpalooza! , is a series of appreciations and recollections from local writers curated and self-published by Greg Hand. Both titles are available at area independent bookstores.

We’ve selected two chapters from Tarbellpalooza! to excerpt here: One about Tarbell’s contributions to launching Bockfest in 1993, the other a charming tale of Bart, the house dog at Arnold’s Bar & Grill, the historic downtown restaurant Tarbell resurrected in the 1970s. Bockfest, now a staple on Cincinnati’s social calendar, returns to Over-the-Rhine this month; the parade featuring goats, monks, Sausage Queens, and other pranksters steps off from Arnold’s at 6 p.m. March 6.

Excerpts reprinted by permission of the authors.

BOCKFEST BEGINNINGS

AS TOLD TO

“

Everybody knows Jim Tarbell,” says Julie Fay, community activist, investor, and owner of Iris BookCafé and Gallery on Main Street. “Most people anyway, and many people know him from Arnold’s Bar & Grill. But I really got more involved with Jim when he was the president and one of the founders of the Over-the-Rhine Chamber of Commerce in the late 1980s.

“Jim had Grammer’s at the time, and it had gone through a couple of ups and downs, probably because it was too far into Overthe-Rhine to be successful then. We proceeded to have a number of meetings—Danny Dell, who owned Rhinos on 12th Street at the alley; Mike Markiewicz and Sonya McDonnell, who owned Kaldi’s, the coffee shop and bookstore at 1202-04 Main Street; Ken Cunningham and John Spencer with Liberty’s in the 1400 block of Main just around the corner from Grammer’s; me; and Tarbell, who was the most established of any of the entities there. There were representatives from Franciscan Home Development and several German mass attendees from Old St. Mary’s Church, including Heide Lucie. We were all just getting started in business in 1992 when the occasion came to launch Bockfest.”

Fay recalls that Terry Carter from Neon’s Bar came to one meeting and said there was an opportunity to roll out a Christian Moerlein Bock, which was being revived from an old recipe. Hudepohl-Schoenling was deciding if it would be in Mt. Adams or Over-the-Rhine. Fay says the group decided to form a nonprofit to secure the opportunity. Cunningham stood up and said,“We should become the Merchants of Main Street, like the Merchants of Venice!” Fay says everyone applauded. Ben Grossheim, an attorney for St. Mary’s, put together a state of Ohio nonprofit filing so that the new organization could accept funding.

“Everyone around the table had ideas,” says Fay. “There would be the running of the goats, a parade with floats, select food, and Lucie advised us to incorporate the Middle Ages, harkening back to when monks developed bock beer, saying that people get tired of that ‘Oomp-pa-pa stuff.’ There weren’t enough bars yet in Overthe-Rhine, so Carter rented a vacant building at 12th and Main streets and called it Bockfest Hall. Merchants of Main Street got a liquor license for the weekend, and by the next year the building was on the way to becoming a new business, Main Street Brewery.

“For quite a few years afterwards, Bockfest Hall was moved to a different vacant building and by the following Bockfest it would be occupied. This was part of the appeal to Tarbell: getting people into OTR to see the value and the possibilities of the vacant historic buildings and revealing the past embodied in each building.

“Once Tarbell was on board, Arnold’s became the starting point for Bockfest. We decided to add a bock beer blessing at

Old St. Mary’s Church, and Grammer’s was another stop. As for timing, it was the earliest parade of the year. Who has a parade in Cincinnati in February or early March? Similar to Mardi Gras, the date depended on when Lent started. The hearty bock beer was developed by monks to get them through the Lenten fast. They could drink but not eat during the season of fasting.

“We decided that the bars involved in Bockfest would have to have three things to participate: They’d place an ad in The Cincinnati Downtowner newspaper, have a float in the parade, and have a monk in the bar either as bartender or bouncer who could sell the T-shirts. These early floats were very simple, and the band was composed of SCPA students. Avril-Bleh butchers added a Bockfest bockwurst sausage that Tarbell would carry on a silver platter during the parade.”

When asked about the barrel-goat wagon that now accompanies each Bockfest parade, Keith Baker re-

members the story clearly. “That came about when some friends and I had a workshop at the end of Clay Street that had been occupied by Michael Frasca, a potter and sculptor who created the

book fountain at the downtown Public Library. Spring Street Pottery was the name of his shop, and he was friends with Jim Tarbell and Dick Ernie, who was an English potter as well. After Frasca moved down to Shaker Village in Kentucky, I took over that space on Clay Street. We all went to lunch at the BarrelHouse Brewing Co. one day, which was one of the early microbreweries in Cincinnati, and owner Mike Cromer had approved Jim Effler’s poster for the 2000 Bockfest, which was a Trojan goat being pulled through the streets of Cincinnati. Mike looked at us and said, ‘Can you build that?’ We said, ‘Of course!’ ” It seemed that within this Over-theRhine group creativity knew no bounds.

“We built it to look like the poster. Michael Bath and Randy Bailey brought in some other local theater people to help us, like Cliff Jenkins, Jenny Jones, Sarah Johnson, Joseph Schneider, and others I have forgotten, especially a CCM teacher who was a real ‘wood wench.’ She often walked in front of the parade with a 12-foot bullwhip, whipping. She built sets and was a tremendous asset in

building that goat. Mike sent up a quarter barrel of beer to our shop, and we just built this thing. It’s a theater piece, and it’s lasted all these years.”

Fay recounts the details of that first Bockfest in 1993. “Mayor Roxanne Qualls read a proclamation for Bockfest, and Tarbell wore a Renaissance outfit—one that I have continued to rent for him for the past 30 years since they won’t sell it to us. After the first year, everyone was so happy with the business it had brought that we decided to do another the following year. Twice after Jim locked the sausages in the trunk of his car, Marge Hammelrath, who was then president of the OTR Chamber, was given the platter to hold. That was the start of the Sausage Queen. To commemorate her important early role, she was named Bockfest Grand Marshal in 2020, tapping the first keg of the season.

“Friday night was the blessing of the bock beer, and everyone would be dispatched to ‘Eat, Drink, and Be Merry.’ On Saturdays at Bockfest Hall, we would have educational things, tours, and lectures so that the public could become more familiar with OTR. Since the hall was always an abandoned building, we had to have a fireman at the door to monitor occupancy and also rent [portable toilets].”

Fay’s own history in Over-the-Rhine and Pendleton spans four generations, and when considering what drew the group to commit such time and energy to the area, she says, “Most of us were interested in that architecture and in saving those beautiful buildings and turning their abandonment around. And, of course, Tarbell and the rest of us are still committed to doing those same things.

“Jim is quite an asset and interesting character, which permeates his whole being. I am so happy that the mural [Mr. Tarbell Tips His Hat, at 1109 Vine St.] is on the side of that building as such a welcoming sight as he tips his hat and welcomes all to Over-the-Rhine. It’s the perfect tribute to him and his love for our city.”

OF BART

BY

The motley eccentrics who patronize Arnold’s Bar & Grill downtown have always been as integral to the atmosphere of that fine establishment as anything on the menu. During the early years of Jim Tarbell’s ownership, one of the most eccentric regulars was Bart, who had the distinction of possessing four legs. Bart adopted Arnold’s and Arnold’s accommodated Bart, a bona fide dog.

Bart was most definitely not a seeing-eye dog. Let’s get that out of the way right at the start. He had estimable directional skills and was apparently irresistible to ladies of the canine persuasion. He knew no doggie tricks or, if he did, he resolutely refused to demonstrate them. Bart made himself at home wherever he damn well pleased, often in a warm spot behind the bar at Arnold’s on Eighth Street. That’s where he was when the health inspector came calling.

“Esquire magazine designated Arnold’s one of the best bars in America, and they sent someone to Cincinnati to do a story about it,” Tarbell tells me. “It just so happened to be the day when the health inspector dropped by unexpectedly. This guy had a reputation. He had kind of an Officer Krupke demeanor. He was pretty strict. No nonsense. And there’s Bart in his usual spot, lying on his back with his wanger hanging out and the inspector points at him and asks, Is that a seeing-eye dog? The bartender at the time, God bless him, puts his hand over his eyes and comes stumbling out from behind the bar, bumping into things as if he was blind.”

Tarbell confesses that Bart had a congenital disrespect for authority. He nipped a meter reader on the fetlock one day and was hauled off to the hoosegow. The gang at Arnold’s raised a $40 bail fund and got Bart paroled, with enough left over to procure the pooch some dinner at Wendy’s.

Bart was not Tarbell’s dog. He was, without a doubt, nobody’s dog. He was never registered, never tagged, never owned by anyone. Bart chose who he would associate with, and it was often one of the residents on Spring Street in Pendleton, especially Tarbell or the potter Michael Frasca. Tarbell found himself on Spring Street because of St. Paul’s Church. The parish population had dwindled to nothing, and the magnificent church and associated buildings gobbled repair funds. There were plans to demolish everything for a parking lot.

Tarbell convinced the Archdiocese of Cincinnati to let him live on the premises while he searched for a buyer to preserve the edifice. His legendary Frezznafrail Follies dinners relocated to the rectory. After much effort, including a benefit concert headlined by Indian sitar master Ravi Shankar, the Verdin Company purchased the property to be used as their headquarters and an event center.

“After I finished my tour of duty at St. Paul’s and the Verdin Company was moving in, I had to find a place to live, and both me and my

crazies wanted a garden,” says Tarbell. “I found a house for $500 on Spring Street. It was condemned, falling apart, but it had a yard. The house had one working cold-water faucet, and I dug up a woodburning stove somewhere and moved in. And that was our garden. One midwinter night I must have left the door open, and these two hound dogs slipped in and sat beside me at the stove. That was Bart and his brother Art.”

Art was a gourmand and a homebody, quite the opposite of his wastrel sibling. Tarbell said Art “finked out” on Bart after being lured into the kitchen of a woman on Main Street who somehow thought Art was the reincarnation of her previous dog, Trixie.

“Of the two, Art is the one who would settle for a leash,” Tarbell told The Cincinnati Post’s Lew Moores back in 1982.“He’s living the life of Riley. He gets ground chuck every day. After he was dognapped, someone cut a hole in the lady’s fence and let Art out, but he went back in. She still has him, and she’s been real good to him. Art has stayed with her by choice.”

To the contrary, Bart was a rolling stone. In his heyday, Bart sightings became an enduring entertainment for the folks who lived around the downtown area. Tarbell is convinced Bart was able to read. It’s the only logical explanation for his uncanny navigational talents that took him from downtown to Mt. Adams and as far afield as Dillonvale. Bart was spotted in Clifton one day, just chilling at a bus stop. When the downtown-bound coach pulled up, he hopped aboard as if he knew exactly where he was going.

Bart’s travels sprang from one consistent motivation: He was looking for love. Bart, Tarbell says, was an incurable romantic and somehow had girlfriends all over the city. A long-term relationship with a lady friend near Union Terminal kept him wandering the far reaches of the West End, and Bart seems to have considered Findlay Market his own private singles bar. He must have had some game.

Whatever attracted the female attention, it wasn’t Bart’s looks. Moores effectively served as Bart’s press agent, but even he acknowledged Bart’s limitations. At various times, Moores called Bart “a log on wheels,” “a sausage of a dog,” “a ci-

gar-shaped mixed breed,” and “hapless.” Given his ungainly physique, his success with the females confused a lot of people, but Moores offered two theories, each somewhat plausible: “Some claim it’s his tenacity; others say it’s pity.”

“Bart is not Old Yeller,” Moores wrote in The Post . “He’s never saved anyone from a pack of rogue boars, never barked to alert a sleeping family of a house on fire, never tugged on a shirt sleeve and led a forest ranger to a kid neck-deep in quicksand.”

Although he would never win any dog show medals, Bart had a real flair for empathy. Frasca told Moores, “He hangs around with a lot of different people. Old people, drunks, kids. And when he’s with

week. Arnold’s customers got together a $25 reward for information about their unofficial mascot, and all sorts of theories emerged to explain Bart’s disappearance. No one believed that Bart had settled down or that someone had managed to fence him in.

“Bart was too smart,” says Tarbell. “Einstein would’ve had a hard time keeping him in one place.”

them he adapts to them. If Bart is walking with an old man, he just pokes along. If he’s with a kid, he’s at a gallop. If it’s a drunk, Bart staggers.”

Although Tarbell continually insisted to anyone and everyone that Bart was not his dog, Bart was such a regular at Arnold’s that neighbors would often check in there if they hadn’t seen him for a while. Those inquiries reached a fever pitch in the late summer of 1982 when Bart’s absence stretched into a third

One day, a man out in Finneytown telephoned Tarbell to say, “I think I’ve got your boy.” Sure enough, there was Bart, canoodling with the man’s basset hound, Hazel. Bart’s rediscovery only ramped up the conspiracy theories. How did he manage to travel to Finneytown? Although his bus rides were well known, he would have had to transfer to arrive at Hazel’s house and few were willing to acknowledge that Bart’s comprehension of the Queen City Metro system was that detailed.

Many celebrated Bart’s return, but not Jim Tarbell. “Bart is back and on the loose in Pendleton,” Moores wrote in the newspaper. “That he’s making his rounds, Tarbell says, has had one drawback. Because a $25 reward was offered for C

The

Magic

Touch

by

Abby Allen’s Sweetgum Manor creates a “soci sanctuary” in North Avonde that breaks down the barris to connection. Take off your shoes and stay a while.

On a crisp day in October, about a dozen people gather outside Sweetgum Manor in North Avondale and begin walking single file down a wooded trail. Mostly strangers, the group follows instructions and keeps enough space between one another to focus on their own individual paths, taking in the forest’s sights, smells, and sounds.

Before stepping outside, Pam Lowe Cho explains to the group— gathered here on a Sunday afternoon for an introduction to “forest bathing”—that the activity began in Japan in the 1980s as a way to improve people’s health and well-being.

“Shinrin-Yoku is the practice of reducing stress by immersing oneself in a nature-inspired environment such as a forest, park, or indoor space inspired by nature,” says Cho, who is certified by the Association of Nature and Forest Therapy. “It has positive effects on the mind and body, including reduced stress, anxiety, and blood pressure, as well as strengthened immunity, focus, and energy.”

Along the path, Cho pauses the group and invites them to join in a few simple activities. Close your eyes, she asks. Carefully turn in a circle. When you get the urge to stop, do so. Open your eyes. What do you see? Next, reach down and pick up an object from the forest floor. Examine it. Bring it to your face. How does it smell?

At points of the guided walk, participants are invited to share their thoughts. They laugh together when Sweetgum’s resident dog, Thor, gets

the zoomies, and the experience ends with a gratitude tea ceremony, as is tradition, before the group makes its way past warm fires burning in large hearths on either side of the living room and into a yoga studio for a restorative class led by Sweetgum founder Abby Allen.

Allen began imagining this place—what she calls a “social sanc-

tuary”—more than a decade ago. An expression of her life experiences and skills, she says the pieces fell into place when she purchased the 4.5-acre property on Washington Avenue, former residence of the late physician and public health trailblazer O’dell Owens, M.D.

“There was a visceral feeling when I got on the land,” says Allen. “I felt like I could exhale up here.” Her resolve deepened upon learning that Civil Rights leaders Coretta Scott King and Rosa Parks and poet Maya Angelou had visited Owens there. He died in 2022 after holding multiple leadership roles in Cincinnati, including Hamilton County coroner, president of Cincinnati State, and CEO of the health education nonprofit Interact for Health.

“O’dell Owens was so committed to the health of the Cincinnati community,” says Allen, a New York City native who moved to Cincinnati in 2019 after coming here for more than 20 years to meet with clients at Procter & Gamble. “It felt important to get a chance to be a steward of this place.”

She opened Sweetgum, named

ed in Sweetgum’s kitchen making blueberry muffins with local baker Joana Kemper. There was a social gathering called Fried and Fancy, where guests enjoyed conversation and fried chicken from Richie’s, the casual Avondale restaurant, paired with Champagne.

“I wanted to make retreating and coming together offline more acces-

“Magical things happen when you step out of what you know.”

for native trees on the property, in October 2024 and has since offered a carefully curated blend of classes and events, including yoga, forest bathing, crystal bowl sound baths, and all-day digital detox retreats she calls Present Day, where groups of up to 25 people move through grounding practices like breathwork and guided reflection, share a seasonal meal, and have spacious time to “rest, connect, and simply be.”

Driven by her belief in the transformative power of beauty, nature, and community, Allen likes to showcase local businesses and individual creators and creatives, with special events like last summer’s Berries & Baking Weekend, which began with the group picking blueberries at McGlasson Farms in Hebron and end-

sible,” says Allen. “I want to encourage people to step out of what they know, because magical things happen when you do.”

Latondra Newton played a big role in creating the Sweetgum Manor. She initially met Allen after hiring Allen’s branding company, Neon Butterfly, to work on a project for Newton’s then-employer, the Walt Disney Company.

Before establishing Neon Butterfly, Allen had earned a history degree from Columbia University and spent two decades working for well-established global advertising and branding agencies Saatchi & Saatchi and J. Walter Thompson (now Thompson). “I have always

been fascinated by people and why they do what they do,” Allen says, “and I always thought, I’m going to use media to do good. I’m going to learn to work with the best marketers and the best ad agencies.”

Growing up in the Upper East Side of New York City, Allen says her parents made her and her brother meditate often, and they were raised vegetarian before that was a popular thing to do. In her 20s, after her father died, she began a spiritual quest that led her to yoga, became a yoga teacher, and studied many lineages, including Tibetan Buddhism. She’s spent more than 300 hours in solitary retreat, practicing and learning under a variety of teachers around the world, including India and Peru.

Allen stepped away from her corporate job and created Neon Butterfly in order to amplify brands, businesses, and individuals with inclusive storytelling. She’s done work for Procter & Gamble as well as for StoryCorps, Disney, and other highprofile clients.

“My first impression of Abby was that she was very smart about the business she was doing and the service she was providing for my company,” Newton says. Finding they had similar values and interests, they became friends, and when Newton decided to end her decades-

JOHNSON INVESTMENT COUNSEL

PICTURED

LEFT TO RIGHT: ANDREA ERNST, CFP ® , LIA REECE, CFP ® , SANDY HIMMELSBACH, CFP ® , CHSNC ® , ELIZABETH SCHAEFER, CIMA ® , LAURA MATTERN, CFA, CFP ®

At Johnson Investment Counsel, professional credentials represent more than technical expertise—they reflect a deep commitment to trust, integrity, and lifelong learning. Our advisors pursue these credentials not for recognition, but to better serve clients with clarity, confidence, and care. We believe that investment advice should instill confidence and peace of mind. Our passion is twofold: educating to give you confidence in your financial decisions while also helping you navigate and prepare for all the stages and experiences of your life. This shared dedication strengthens our firm and the communities we serve, reinforcing a culture grounded in excellence and accountability. Our leadership demonstrates why professionalism, perspective, and purpose matter—helping shape the future of wealth management and delivering lasting peace of mind.

7755 Montgomery Rd., Suite 400, Cincinnati, OH 45236, www.johnsoninv.com

DERMATOLOGY SPECIALISTS OF GREATER CINCINNATI

PICTURED LEFT TO RIGHT: ARIANA NIVER, NP-C ; AMANDA CRONE, MD, FAAD ; TIFFANY PICKUP, MD, FAAD ; GITTE

Originally established in the 1970s, Dermatology Specialists of Greater Cincinnati is committed to delivering exceptional, patient-centered care. Owner and board-certified dermatologist Dr. Tiffany Pickup blends decades of clinical excellence with a modern philosophy focused on education, prevention, and empowerment. Dr. Pickup's highly skilled, all-female clinical team provides advanced medical and cosmetic dermatology care for patients of all ages. Highly individualized treatment plans address a wide range of concerns—from acne to long-term dermatologic health. The practice has a dedicated focus on cancer prevention, early detection, and personalized treatment planni ng. Committed to thoughtful innovation, the practice recently introduced a non-surgical skin cancer treatment, offering an effective alternative for certain nonmelanoma skin cancers. Through compassionate care, clinical leadership, and forward-thinking solutions, Dermatology Specialists of Greater Cincinnati continues to exemplify the impact women-owned businesses are making across the region

7794 Five Mile Rd., #240, Cincinnati, OH 45230, (513) 231-1575, https://derm-specialists.net/

GILMAN PARTNERS

MARCI PFEIFER, COO | ANGEL BEETS, CEO

Angel Beets and Marci Pfeifer lead Gilman Partners, a Cincinnati-based executive search and leadership development firm with a legacy of helping organizations build strong leadership teams. Gilman Partners is majority woman-owned, with four of its five partners being women, and the firm values the strength that comes from diverse perspectives and collaborative leadership. Gilman Partners works with clients in the Greater Cincinnati region and across the U.S. to identify, attract, and develop top talent, specializing in executive and senior-level searches in the top third of the organizational chart. The firm also runs GP Elevate, a leadership development program with more than 150 graduates prepared for executive roles. As Women Who Move Cincinnati, they believe strong leadership strengthens organizations—and strong organizations strengthen communities.

3960 Red Bank Rd., Suite 200, Cincinnati, OH 45227-3421, (513) 272-2400., https://gilmanpartners.com

ROSE GYNECOLOGY

MADELEINE ROSE, M.D., FACOG (SEATED); KYLLE WITTER, OFFICE MANAGER ; KARA ALLEN, ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT ; DANIELLE OLDENDICK, WHNP ; AMY HERTZENBERG, CLINICAL ASSISTANT (STANDING LEFT TO RIGHT)

At Rose Gynecology, they are committed to caring for women through every stage of life with compassion, respect, and medical excellence. Led by Dr. Madeleine Rose, a board certified gynecologist with over 20 years of experience, the practice reflects her dedication to thoughtful, patient-centered care. Dr. Rose brings deep clinical expertise and a commitment to advancing women’s health, whi le guiding a team that shares her values of professionalism, empathy, and excellence. Together, the team offers a full range of gynecologic services including preventative health visits, advanced diagnostics, and surgical treatment. They believe that women deserve care that feels safe, supportive, and truly personal. That is why they focus on building trusting relationships with their patients and creating a comfortable environment where women feel safe asking questions and sharing their concerns. Their goal is to make high quality gynecologic care accessible, approachable, and empowering for every woman who walks through their doors. At Rose Gynecology, your health matters, today and for years to come.

2567 Erie Ave., Cincinnati, OH 45208; 437 Commonwealth Ave., Erlanger, KY 41018; (513) 321-ROSE (7363); www.rosegyn.com

RICKELL HOWARD SMITH

PRESIDENT AND CEO, YWCA GREATER CINCINNATI

YWCA Greater Cincinnati is a catalyst for women’s leadership, pairing professional development with the personal support women need to lead well and sustainably. Through the Rising Star Equity Leadership Program, early-career women gain executive skills, equity-centered training, and access to mentors and peers, while building confidence and resilience in high-pressure professional environments.

Since 1980, the Career Women of Achievement program has honored trailblazing leaders whose success is matched by their commitment to lifting others. Proceeds from the annual celebration directly support YWCA programs that advance equity and economic stability.

Central to this work is the YWCA’s commitment to mental health and healing. Through trauma-informed services and education, the organization supports women navigating violence, instability, and systemic barriers. Together, these efforts create a leadership pipeline grounded in achievement and long-term impact. Help support the mission. Donate today at ywcacincinnati.org.

898 Walnut St., Cincinnati, OH 45202, (513) 241-7090, https://ywcacincinnati.org

Profile presented by OLLY

DR. MARIA BUSTAMANTE

OWNER, SEVEN STAR DENTAL

As the provider and owner of the only female solo-dental practice in the heart of downtown Cincinnati, Dr. Maria Bustamante built her practice, Seven Star Dental, around a clear and unique vision: redefining adult general and cosmetic dentistry through exceptional care and a unique experience. Designed as a spa-like setting, her practice prioritizes comfort while delivering high-quality dental care that is patient-centered, using cutting-edge technology. “I have dedicated my 20+ year career to advancing my education, continually investing in world-renowned hands-on workshops to bring the most modern techniques and treatments to my patients. Every detail of my practice reflects my commitment to personalized care, excellence, and serving the diverse needs of our beautiful Cincinnati community, one that I am very proud to be part of and represent.”

7 W. Seventh St., Cincinnati, OH 45202, (513) 241-7827, https://sevenstardental.com

CHRISSY DUNN DUTTON

SHAREHOLDER, FAMILY LAW, DIVORCE, AND LITIGATION, BHMK LAW

Chrissy Dunn Dutton, Shareholder Attorney at Buechner Haffer Meyers & Koenig Co., LA (BHMK Law), practices primarily family law across Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana. With over 20 years of experience, she handles divorce, dissolution, custody, adoption, and pre- and postnuptial agreements. She also handles civil litigation matters. She uses the collaborative divorce process where appropriate, to help families transition smoothly into their post-divorce lives, but is also a strong courtroom advocate. Caring, compassionate, and empathetic, Dutton seeks to lessen the stress and emotional toll of divorce for clients and guides them through each step of the process.

BHMK Law, 221 E. Fourth St., Ste 2300, Cincinnati, OH 45202, (513) 538-2680, cdutton@bhmklaw.com, www.bhmklaw.com

LILIANA JAIME ESTRADA

RESTAURANT OWNER | ENTREPRENEUR | CEO, MI COZUMEL GROUP

The visionary founder and CEO of Mi Cozumel Group, a thriving restaurant group known for celebrating authentic Mexican cuisine, culture, and hospitality. Her journey began in 2005 in her family’s restaurant business, where she gained a deep understanding of every aspect of the industry. In 2018, Jaime opened the fi rst Mi Cozumel location alongside her husband. What started as a dream quickly grew into a successful brand recognized for its vibrant atmosphere, creative cocktails, and commitment to authenticity. Under her leadership, Mi Cozumel Group has earned numerous awards and recognitions. Now with six locations, Jaime continues to build not just restaurants, but spaces where culture, unity, and community thrive. Dedicated to uplift ing the Hispanic community, mi casa es tu casa.

https://micozumel.com

PLK COMMUNITIES

THE WOMEN OF PLK COMMUNITIES

At PLK Communities, we fi rmly believe that when passion and drive intersect, success inevitably follows. Our unwavering commitment to our core values results in employee and resident satisfaction. Th is group of dedicated women leaders represents the many professionals within our organization driving PLK forward! PLK helps build a better future for those who live in one of our 7,000+ apartments in Cincinnati, NKY, Dayton, Orlando, Naples, and who work alongside our growing team. Our forward-thinking mindset, community involvement, and philanthropic-focused ideas connect us with our residents, our team of professionals, and our local neighborhoods. LIVE PROUD. LIVE PLK.

2700 Park Ave., Norwood, OH 45215, (513) 561-5080, www.plkcommunities.com

JAMIE M. POWELL, CFP ®

CAPITAL ADVISORY SERVICES, LLC

In a world of growing financial complexity, we serve as trusted partners to women, young individuals, and anyone planning for the future. For more than 35 years, we’ve guided clients through every stage of life, building strong foundations for lasting financial security.

We take the time to understand your priorities, helping you navigate everything from managing market risk to preparing for long-term care costs. We focus on what matters most—so you can move forward with confidence.

Registered Representative of and securities offered throughBerthel Fisher & Company Financial Services, Inc. (BFCFS). Member FINRA/SIPC. Investment advisory services offered through Capital Advisory Services, LLC. Capital Advisory Services, LLC is independent of BFCFS.

8240 Beckett Park Dr, Ste B, West Chester, OH 45069 (513) 942-7000 CapAdvisor.net

ALYSSA SUTTLES

FOUNDER AND CEO, WOMEN REAL ESTATE AGENTS OF SOCIAL MEDIA

As a Cincinnati-based real estate agent and entrepreneur, Alyssa Suttles is redefining how women show up in the real estate industry. She is the founder of Women Real Estate Agents of Social Media (WRSM), a platform built to elevate women agents through education, exposure, and community. Launched alongside her own thriving real estate career, she turned a simple idea into a North America–wide community that helps agents build confidence and stronger personal brands online. Alyssa’s work reflects her passion for empowering women entrepreneurs to succeed by showing up as themselves—both in business and in life.

4680 Cooper Rd., Cincinnati, OH 45242, (513) 535-8368, www.officialwrsm.com, @alyssaincincy

URBAN SITES

THE WOMEN OF URBAN SITES

Urban Sites is a full service real estate development fi rm dedicated to enhancing the fabric of urban living in the Greater Cincinnati area. Specializing in apartments, office, and retail spaces, Urban Sites brings over three decades of expertise in construction, market-rate and affordable housing development, as well as property management.

With upcoming developments in Newport, Covington, OTR, and Downtown, Urban Sites is expanding its footprint and impact throughout the region. The team at Urban Sites values curiosity, doing the right thing, taking ownership, and creativity. They strive to uplift neighborhoods by creating authentic spaces, experience, and lifestyles.

The fi rm is represented here by women across the development, property management, accounting, and construction teams.

1140 Main St., Cincinnati, OH 45202, (513) 621-6246, http://urbansites.com

The city’s most respected and award-winning magazine, highlighting the region’s most interesting people, cultural issues, food, arts, fashion, and history.

CINCINNATI HOME

Verbarg’s Furniture is a family-owned business serving the greater Cincinnati area since 1978.

With decades of experience, our commitment to excellence ensures that every piece we offer meets the highest standards of craftsmanship and durability.

of your personal style, and our diverse range of furniture and accessories is designed to cater to all tastes and preferences — whether you are seeking classic elegance or contemporary chic. We’re dedicated to bringing you an unparalleled selection of highquality furniture. Shop our convenient Amelia location for great

House Hunting

We asked local experts what to expect in the real estate market this year.

ising interest rates and shrinking inventory have made home shopping difficult in recent years, no matter what side of the transaction you’re on. Luckily, 2026 is shaping up to be more balanced and stable. “I am very optimistic that this is going be a robust selling and buying year,” says Sibcy Cline Realtors President Robin Sheakley. While some neighborhoods continue to experience strong demand—driving higher home prices—conditions overall are becoming more predictable. Interest rates have fallen substantially from this time last year and are predicted to dip even lower. Sellers can expect steadier demand, and existing home sales are projected to rise as inventory continues to improve. Sheakley believes “this is a great time to buy and sell” based on all those factors.

“Those who sat on the sidelines due to lack of inventory or fear of the pace of the market are ready to move,” she says, adding that consumers are feeling more confident with falling rates.

That’s showing up in the luxury market, says Ovation’s Director of Residential Sales Amy Kennedy. The Boardwalk Residences at Ovation in Newport are attractive for buyers seeking elevated urban living. “Homeowners here enjoy unparalleled walkability to the region’s premier arts venues, professional sporting events, dining, and riverfront recreation,” Kennedy says. Turnkey living remains a top priority for high-end buyers, and The Boardwalk Residences delivers with

services that cover landscaping, exterior care, and snow removal, supported by an in-house property management team that knows homeowners by name.

This spring, buyers will have access to finished, market-ready homes at Ovation’s unique riverfront community, showcasing expert craftsmanship, unmatched views, and a lifestyle centered on convenience. Wherever your next move takes you, experts at Sibcy Cline and Ovation can help.

Trend Spotting

MAKE A PLAN

Lisa T. Meeks, CEO of locally owned remodeling company Rock Island, says, “Customers need to know that there are dozens, if not hundreds, of interrelated decisions that go into a remodeling project.” Rock Island can help you get a grip on your project with a free estimate that helps align your dreams with your budget. And the full-service design team will help you navigate construction and design decisions every step of the way. www.rockislandrealty.com, (513) 608-8795

GET ORGANIZED

Whether it’s a closet that makes mornings effortless, a pantry that inspires home cooking, or a garage that finally has room for the car, each space Closets By Desing creates brings balance, beauty, and practicality to your home. Experienced designers from the locally owned and operated service work with you one-on-one, turning cluttered corners into customized solutions that fit your life perfectly.

Local experts weigh in on what’s new and most popular in home design, repair, and maintenance.

Schedule your free in-home design consultation at https://cincinnati.closetsbydesign.com or call (513) 469-6130

FULLY FURNISHED

Verbarg’s Furniture and Design Owner/ Vice President Sheri Mitchell says she’s seen a trend toward more color and away from gray in the home furnishings space. “Most of our furniture pieces can be customized to achieve your own unique style,” she says, adding that Verbarg’s offers design services that can do as much or as little as you need. “We charge a small fee for the service, but with a purchase, that fee is waived.” With hundreds of fabrics on-site to choose from, a personalized approach, and a dedicated warehouse and delivery staff, Verbarg’s is one of the last independently owned furniture stores in the area, proudly representing Cincinnati for almost 50 years. www.verbargsfurniture.com, (513) 797-5000

Bart’s return, people keep picking him up as he makes his neighborhood jaunts, returning him to Tarbell and trying to claim the reward.”

In addition to his amorous escapades, Bart made a few formal appearances, notably in the St. Patrick’s Day parade, in which he pranced along every year as if he’d been voted Grand Marshal. Each year, Bart pranced a tad slower. The storied manager of the New York Yankees, Casey Stengel, was once asked if sex really affected a player’s performance, and Stengel admitted it wasn’t the sex but the chasing after it that dulled the team’s abilities. And so it was with Bart. Only 9, middle-aged in dog years, his sybaritic lifestyle had taken its toll. He leaned toward roly-poly, and his gallop had drifted into a canter.

One day, Bart wandered into Arnold’s looking more bedraggled than normal. “I will swear he had tire tracks on his back,” says Tarbell. Later that afternoon, some kids found Bart’s body at the curb on Liberty Street. In his last fatal dash at rush hour across that thoroughfare, he wasn’t able to dodge a reckless driver.

“So why was he crossing Liberty Street in the first place?” Moores asked in a follow-up Post piece. “Bart may have been an old dog, but he had not resigned himself to a life without romance. He was, as usual, on his way to visit yet another new main squeeze, a dog who lives down on Main Street.”

That was certainly in character, Tarbell recalls. “Still right on target, right to the end.”

Tarbell gathered up the earthly remains of the dog that was most definitely not his dog and saw that Bart was properly buried in the garden of that house on Spring Street, where the two mongrels had met one midwinter night almost a decade earlier.

long career as a corporate executive, Allen called and said she had a big project cooking. She thought Newton should be involved.

Newton invited Allen to her primary residence in Pasadena, California, to talk things through. Upon seeing Newton’s home, Allen asked if she would spearhead Sweetgum’s interior design. Newton had designed a line of jewelry and sometimes gave design advice to friends and family, but she’d never taken on this kind of project.

She agreed, Newton says, “because Abby really cares about people. She just wants them to be well. It’s not something she says

in the foyer, which Newton took apart and redesigned with local artisan Celene Hawkins, who fabricated the showpiece hanging there now. The cabinetry in a new mudroom was modified from the original kitchen cabinets.

Allen and Newton endeavored to create a feeling when you walk into Sweetgum: welcoming yet upscale, luxurious yet approachable. “Because I and you deserve that feeling,” Newton says. Shoes always come off when you walk through the door.

Allen says she wants people to feel cared for and safe when they’re at Sweetgum. “I wanted to create this place, honestly, to be what I feel like I needed and wasn’t seeing in Cincinnati, or frankly in a lot of places,” she says. “A place that feels like you’re coming home to yourself, and you’re literally coming into a home.” (Allen lives in a private section of the house.)

She’s excited about ongoing projects, including the “speakeasy,” an entertainment space in the basement with a full

“IT’S A PLACE WHERE YOU CAN GO TO THINK, TO BREATHE, AND TO REENGAGE,” SAYS SWEETGUM MEMBER ANDREA DYLEWSKI. “IT WILL RECHARGE YOU IN A DIFFERENT WAY.”

because it’s on trend. She feels it. Abby and I are unafraid to try new things and kind of go big, because at the very least we know we’ll learn a whole lot.”

The six-bedroom home and surrounding property, with pool and tennis court, needed a lot of work, Newton says. Unoccupied for several years, it had fallen into disrepair and was a hodgepodge of styles and tastes, having been expanded several times since the house was built in 1925.

Originally from Indiana, Newton has a second home in downtown Cincinnati and found herself at Sweetgum often during the year-long renovation. They hired contractors to knock down walls, raise ceilings, expand the kitchen, and construct the yoga studio in the space where an outdoor grilling station had been.

To preserve bits of its history and character, they repurposed some features of the house, like a glass chandelier

banquet room, bar, and wine cellar, and more outdoor gardens so that Sweetgum can start producing food, herbs, and flowers and add gardening to the list of possible activities.

Allen off ers individual and corporate memberships, with various levels of access to the property, including use of the pool and discounts on classes and events. Andrea Dylewski, a member who moved to Cincinnati around the same time as Allen, calls Sweetgum a breath of fresh air. “It’s a place where you can go to think, to breathe, and to reengage,” she says. “You could go get a different massage, a bucket of ice cream, or a hug from a friend, but it’s different when you spend time around people who aren’t necessarily your best friends. They’re your neighbors, members of your community, and that’s going to recharge you in a very different way by enrichening your personal experience.”

COMMUNITY IS SOMETHING THAT HAPpens spontaneously, Allen says. It can’t be forced, but you can create places where it’s more likely to happen.

Like on a Saturday evening in November, when 10 guests gather at Sweetgum for the second event in a series called Joy of the Table. Participants paid $300 each to share a meal prepared by Jeffery Harris, owner and executive chef of acclaimed Over-the-Rhine restaurant Nolia (serendipitously named after the Magnolia tree).

Guests trickle into the kitchen, and Harris’s wife Heather offers each a glass of red or white wine, a sparking non-alcoholic option, or water and presents a set of handwritten recipe cards for everything on the night’s menu: shrimp and andouille gumbo, a charred cabbage salad with Tasso vinegarette, and Harris’s beloved skillet cornbread, an item that has never left Nolia’s menu.

Harris is a James Beard Award semifinalist for Best Chef Great Lakes, whose restaurant was named among the 50 Best New Restaurants in 2024 by Esquire magazine. He prepared the gumbo ahead of time, because, he explains, it’s always better the second day. The group works on the rest of the meal together in the kitchen.

Harris shows how to char a head of cabbage and passes around the buttermilk, an ingredient for the cornbread, for everyone to smell. A stickler for quality local ingredients, he shares his secrets and techniques, like how to make a perfect roux—the base for a gumbo and many other Southern dishes—not on the stovetop but in the oven.

“It’s done when it smells like popcorn,” says Harris, who is also a transplant to Cincinnati, arriving on a bus a couple of weeks after Hurricane Katrina ravaged his hometown of New Orleans in 2005. He lost his home in the Ninth Ward to the flood waters, along with his job at the time, as sous chef for celebrity chef Emeril Lagasse. He chose the Cincinnati region to start over because his ex-wife had family here.

As Harris cooks, he shares with his guests, who are a variety of ages and races, that everyone cooked in his family but it was the women who taught him, starting around the age of 4. His great grandmother Jimmy Lou is his greatest inspiration.

“We didn’t have computer tablets with recipes back then, so for me it was peeling

shrimp, it was putting the chitlins in the sink and letting the water run through them, it was putting butter in to grease the cornbread pan,” Harris says.

When the food is done, everyone joins the Harrises to pile their plates with cornbread and salad, fill their bowls with rice and gumbo, and take a seat together at the large dining room table, designed by Newton and constructed by local artist Peter Griffin.

Conversation—interrupted by “mmmms” and “this really is the best cornbread”—turns to what people cooked for Thanksgiving the week before, then where to get authentic New Orleans food in Cincinnati. After everyone finishes eating, Allen and the Harrises pack up servings of roux and homemade Tasso for guests to take home and use in their own kitchens.

“I could have easily done this at my own restaurant, but this is different,” says Harris. “You get to get a little bit more intimate, talking to the people, letting them know, Yeah, I’m from Nolia but this isn’t Nolia.”

Harris and Allen have teamed up for another pop-up dinner collaborative they’re calling The Chef Series, rooted in Southern storytelling, seasonal ritual, and “Cincinnati’s creative landscape,” she says. The first dinner will be held this month featuring foods inspired by the African diaspora, including Haitian and Creole food. Additional dinners are planned throughout 2026.

“This,” Harris says,“is putting culture on the plate.”

ALLEN SAYS WHAT SHE’S TRULY INTERested in is re-imagining what home and community mean. “We have become so disconnected from ourselves and each other,” she says, which is partially why she chose to move to the Midwest. “Life on the coast becomes very siloed in terms of thinking, and you’re in an echo chamber. I wanted to be around more regular Americans, if you will.”

Allen is biracial, which has fueled her lifelong desire to bring people together, having had to learn to navigate different worlds herself.“I think it’s important to understand as many different kinds of people as possible,” she says.

Cincinnati had always appealed to her, and she’d made some important connections here. It felt like a big city, but smaller and more intimate. Her hope is that Sweet-

gum can support people coming together and help create a compassionate future.

Asa Featherstone IV has felt that support. The two were introduced by a mutual friend, and he immediately recognized Allen’s drive and passion for building community. “Honestly, she made me want to sharpen up what I was doing,” says Featherstone, an artist and full-time digital content creator for Great Parks of Hamilton County, who also puts together a photography magazine called Midtones featuring work by and about communities of color across the Midwest and the Rustbelt. Allen hosted a popup exhibition and panel discussion for the magazine’s first volume last year.

Featherstone calls himself a friend of Sweetgum, attending events and supporting Allen when he can. He appreciates the environment she’s created there: casual but intentional, deep but not overly serious.

“There’s no pressure to perform or look a certain way,” he says. “You’re not here to be seen, you’re here to connect with people. And people are massively stressed out. Everybody’s lying to each other on the internet, and so nobody really knows what’s real. People need spaces where they can be in front of other people and just talk and hang out. We put on a front that we don’t care about each other, but we really do.”

Alena O’Donnell says Sweetgum provides opportunities for a much-needed pause to feast together, to stretch together, to have dialogue together. She learned about the place from a friend who suggested O’Donnell sit on a panel being held there during Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month called “Reclaiming Our Roots.”

O’Donnell, who is adopted and “by blood am half Hawaiian and half Black and Mexican,” joined the panel, enjoyed the conversation, and made new connections. After attending a few more events and classes at Sweetgum, she decided to become a member. “It really gives you the opportunity to find out who your fellow human citizen is,” she says. “Whether race or gender, no matter how we are cast or classified, we are not a monolith. We’re breaking down stereotypes, and that’s important.”

O’Donnell lives in North Avondale, and her daughter goes to school there. Her mother was principal at one of Owens’s

childhood schools. “Being able to connect with and find Sweetgum just down the road from where I live is a joy,” she says. “What Abby is doing is creating intentional spaces to create opportunities for these pockets of community that can really ripple out.”

To spread her ethos further, Allen has formed a nonprofit, the Sweetgum Manor Foundation. This winter the nonprofit accepted a $53,000 Safe and Clean grant from the city of Cincinnati, administered by Keep Cincinnati Beautiful, to establish the Washington Wellness Triangle, “a youthled initiative that responds to what Avondale youth have asked for,” Allen says.“Calm, safe spaces [in which] to breathe, belong, and heal.”

The project will engage youth ages 15–24 in paid year-round training that combines gardening, art-making, and mindfulness to transform the Washington–Clinton Springs–Harvey Avenue corridor into a restorative wellness district. Working with local partners, Allen says young people can learn to regulate stress, cultivate leadership, and design environments proven to reduce anxiety and depression.

“The project goes beyond cleaning and greening,” she says. “It creates the psychological conditions for lasting wellness and community resilience.”

Returning to Allen’s October restorative yoga class, participants are lying on their backs in the final resting pose, Shavasana. Some wrap themselves in a blanket or put a bolster under their knees for comfort. Allen reads from When Things Fall Apart, a book by Buddhist writer Pema Chödrön.

“ This very moment is a perfect teacher, and it’s always with us, is really a most profound instruction,” Allen reads. “Just seeing what’s going on, that’s the teaching right there. We can be with what’s going on and not disassociate. Awakeness is found in our pleasure and our pain, our confusion and our wisdom, available in each moment of our weird, unfathomable, ordinary everyday lives.”

Sweetgum isn’t about becoming Buddhist or about being part of a particular race or political persuasion, Allen says. It’s not about one thing. It is about rest, beauty, and belonging. “Community will save us,” she says. “The more we understand our shared humanity, the better the world will be.”

April 14–17 at Hard Rock Casino

This spring, Cincinnati Magazine invites you to four unforgettable nights of indulgence. Local chefs collaborate on exclusive multicourse menus, perfectly matched with wine. Lavish, lively, and Limited tickets available.

CINCINNATIMAGAZINE.COM/SAVOR

SPONSORS

BENEFITTING LOCAL CHARITIES

D NE

DUMPLINGS IN THE ’BURBS P. 92

SWEET DREAMS

Colette’s choux au craquelin (profiteroles filled with vanilla ice cream and drizzled with chocolate) are the perfect end to a dazzling meal at the “mostly French” restaurant.

Hot Pockets

CORNER DUMPLING HOUSE OPENED QUIETLY IN SYMMES TOWNSHIP IN JULY 2025, THE kind of neighborhood spot you might miss if you weren’t looking for it. But word travels fast when the menu centers on something as simple yet well executed as dumplings. Yes, the restaurant serves the expected Chinese-Sichuan comfort staples, from fried rice to lo mein. But it’s the baskets of delicate, handmade dumplings that keep the dining room buzzing and the takeout bags stacked by the door.

BYRON COCHRUM

THE WINEY BRIDE EXECUTIVE chef/partner says “I do” to good food in the Reading Bridal District.

Who taught you how to cook? My passion for food began with my mother and grandmother. But professionally, I have to say Chef Chris Prince of Primavista deserves the credit. He’s like my Yoda.

What’s your food philosophy? I’m big on energy. I try not to cook when I’m upset. I feel like people can taste it.

How are you engaging with customers who might be in the area for wedding-related activities? We have several wedding-themed cocktails, and we have sort of organically become the place to celebrate people finding their dress. It’s romantic. We’re small, so when one table is celebrating, the whole dining room is celebrating. I really love that.

What sets The Winey Bride apart? We have a lot of great pubs and restaurants around us. Great places to meet friends and watch the game. We’re a little more elegant, I feel. We are a scratch kitchen. Our wine list is pretty extensive.

What’s your favorite dish to make and why? That’s a tough one. I think more than one particular dish, it’s our specials and soup du jour I enjoy most. They afford me the opportunity to be creative with my team.

– AIESHA D LITTLE

The Winey Bride

Corner Dumpling House, 11371 Montgomery Rd., Symmes Twp., (513) 975-2555, cornerdumplinghouse.com

At six pieces per order, the dumplings come steamed or pan-fried, with each method highlighting a different texture, the soft dough puffing with steam or swimming in savory broth. Fillings range from classics such as pork, beef, and chicken to unlikely combinations like crab meat and pork. Vegetarians aren’t left out, either, thanks to the earthy mushroom and cabbage pairing that feels substantial rather than obligatory. While the dumplings are the highlight, other dishes on the menu stand out on their own, including the pan-fried pork buns, fried Japanese shrimp shumai, dry pot, and drunken noodles. The dining area is compact yet somehow spacious, with warm lighting, a variety of spirits, and a friendly, accommodating staff. Weeknights are lively and weekends are a little hectic, but it’s worth a trek to the ’burbs for a place that proves great dumplings don’t need downtown buzz to shine. —TIFFANY LUCKEY

218 W. Benson St., Reading, (513) 679-5172, thewineybride.com

Read a longer interview with Byron at cincinnatimagazine.com

SWEET TOOTH WANTED

EID AL FITR IS THE ISLAMIC FESTIVAL OF SWEETS that marks the end of fasting for Ramadan, but you don’t have to be Muslim to enjoy these baked goods.

AIESHA D. LITTLE

1 BAKLAVA

You’ll find different versions of this pastry around town, but they all have the same things in common: flaky phyllo dough, crushed nuts (typically pistachio or walnut), and an aromatic drizzle of simple syrup. Café Mediterranean, 3520 Erie Ave., Hyde Park, (513) 871-8714, mediterranean-cafe.com

2 HALVA

At $28 per pound, this dense, flourless cake has a base of tahini and boiled sugar—supported by flavors like orange chocolate—for a sticky, crumbly texture that’s worth a try. Dean’s Mediterranean Imports, 108 W. Elder St., Over-the-Rhine, (513) 241-8222, mediterraneanimports.com

3 KNAFEH

This sweet treat (also known as kunafa) is made with layers of shredded wheat dough and cream cheese filling for a crunchy outer shell and a creamy center. Baladi Restaurant & Bakery, 3307 Clifton Ave., Clifton, (513) 221-7222, baladirestaurant bakery.com

4 KHALIAT AL NAHL

The name translates to “beehive” or “honeycomb” in English, which is apropos for this pillowy bread that’s stuffed with cream cheese, covered in sesame seeds, and topped with honey. Moka & Co., 7307 Tylers Corner Dr., West Chester, (513) 644-2106, mokanco.com

5 MALAWAH

Also known as Adeni bread, this flatbread is a cross between a pancake and a tortilla, served with a side of Adeni chai and drizzled with honey. Cincy Café, 2702 Short Vine St., Corryville, (513) 383-3000

TEA TIME

YOU CAN NOW indulge in full tea party vibes on Saturdays and Sundays at Subito. The downtown restaurant rolled out its “Lytle Park Tea Tradition” service in October, which features sweet and savory finger foods for the “ladies who lunch” crowd. “The Lytle Park Tea Tradition is a natural extension of Lytle Park Hotel’s role as a gathering place for the city,” says Leo Bringas, the hotel’s food and beverage director.

“[The] afternoon experience enhances Subito’s offerings while celebrating Cincinnati’s culture of connection and reinforcing the hotel as a premier city destination.” At $50 per person ($30 per child under 10), it includes macarons, biscotti, cannoli, and more as well as selections from Churchill’s Fine Teas, like Southern White Peach and English Breakfast—perfect for a girls’ get-together or a Mother’s Day outing. You’ll feel like you’re in the tea party scene in Alice in Wonderland (without the psychedelics, of course).

—AIESHA D. LITTLE

Subito, 311 Pike St., downtown, (513) 621-4500, thelytleparkhotel.com/ dining/subito

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

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

AMERICAN

BOOMTOWN BISCUITS & WHISKEY

Boomtown leans hard into the Gold Rush theme and the dense grub isn’t for the faint of heart. Arrive with an empty belly, ready for a carbo load. The biscuits are all they’re cracked up to be, and the gravy’s not playing around, either. Sample its biscuits and gravy styles with a gravy flight. Or try The Yukon, an anytime breakfast sandwich, featuring fried chicken on par with the best the city has to offer. By the end of the meal, you’ll feel a little out of place without your own denim getup. 9039 U.S. Route 42, Ste. H, Union, (859) 384-5910, boomtownbiscuitsandwhiskey. com. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner Wed–Sat. Breakfast and lunch Sun. MCC. $$

GREYHOUND TAVERN

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

2500 Dixie Highway, Ft. Mitchell, (859) 3313767, greyhoundtavern.com. Lunch and dinner seven days, brunch Sun. MCC, DS. $$$

MR. GENE’S DOGHOUSE

Cumminsville is home to arguably the best hot chili cheese mett and chocolate malt in Greater Cincinnati. A family-owned business that began as a simple hot dog stand more than 50 years

NOW WE’RE COOKING

In December, David Willocks, owner of Baker’s Table in Newport, released his first cookbook, Baker’sTable Sourdough:UnlockingtheSecrets ofArtisanBread atHome, giving readers the 13-step method for making the restaurant’s beloved bread. bakerstablenewport. com/sourdough-1

KEY: No checks unless specified.

AE American Express, DC Diners

DS Discover, MC MasterCard, V Visa

ago, Mr. Gene’s still attracts lines of loyal customers at its windows. Can’t stand the heat? Order the mild chili cheese mett—more flavor, fewer BTUs. And if you still haven’t embraced Cincinnati-style coneys, try the Chicago-style hot dog with pickles, onions, relish, mustard, tomato, sport peppers, and celery salt; a pork sandwich; or wings. Although the chocolate malt is the biggest seller, we love the $4.75 pineapple shake, made with real pineapple. 3703 Beekman St., South Cumminsville, (513) 541-7636, mrgenesdoghouse.com. Open Feb–Oct for lunch and dinner Mon–Sat. MC, V. $

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. All steaks are premium and hand-selected, the star player being the Japanese A5 Wagyu. The Ultimate Surf & Turf is a date night favorite with a 34-ounce Angus Tomahawk, four shrimp, four scallops and two lobster tails. Bluefin tuna steak is complemented by cilantro lime rice, a vegetable medley, chimichurri, and a soy ginger vinaigrette. Confit duck leg, an Ivory House specialty, is served with parsnip mash, confit beets, and berry gastrique. The cocktails are ones you’ve probably seen before, but everything—from the Death Valley Farm Old Fashioned to the Best West Lemon Drop—has an extra dash of liveliness from a house-made element, like the rosemary syrup.

2998 Harrison Ave., Westwood, (513) 3890175, ivoryhousecincy.com. Dinner seven days, brunch Sun. MCC. DC. $$$

SOUL SECRETS

You no longer need an event to celebrate with a fish fry. At Candice Holloway’s restaurant, Soul Secrets, fried chicken and fish are always on the menu. Servers wearing T-shirts that read “my ancestors sent me” introduce guests to a trim menu full of the best soul food. You can’t go wrong with the fried fish platters. The whiting is good, but the catfish is divine. The cornmeal breading is so perfectly seasoned you won’t need salt, and the light crunch it adds doesn’t hide the star of the show. So soft it’s nearly fluffy, the catfish melts in your mouth. Each catfish platter

delivers two enormous pieces of fish along with two sides and a cornbread muffin that may be the best in Cincinnati. This is the kind of meal you take home with you—not just in your heart but in a box—because chances are low you’ll conquer all the fish and sides in one go. 1434 Vine St., Over-the-Rhine, (513) 721-7685, soulsecretscincy.com. Lunch and dinner Wed–Sun. MCC. $

TANO BISTRO

This Loveland bistro is comfortable, with reasonably priced food and amenable service. The menu is tidy—25 or so dishes divided between appetizers, salads, and entrées, plus two or three specials—its flavor profile partially influenced by a childhood growing up in a third-generation Italian family. Most of Tano Bistro’s main courses lean toward the comfortable side of American. For instance, Tano Williams serves a stuffed salmon and an allegiance pork chop. The sprout & snout appetizer is also worth a trip to Loveland, combining crispy Brussels sprouts, garlic, and lemon aioli with sliced pork belly.

204 W. Loveland Ave., Loveland, (513) 6838266; 150 Riverfront Plaza, Hamilton, (513) 795-8654, foodbytano.com. Lunch Thurs–Sun, dinner Mon–Wed, brunch Sun. MCC. $$$

THE WILDFLOWER CAFÉ

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

207 E. Main St., Mason, (513) 492-7514, wildflowermason.com. Dinner Mon–Sat. MCC. $$$

BARBECUE

BEE’S BARBEQUE

You’ll want to get to Bee’s early if you want to avoid the line of friendly regulars. The restaurant’s smoker churns out a variety of meats—including brisket, pulled pork, rib tips, turkey breast, and two kinds of sausage—so it’s easy to see why they keep coming back. If you enjoy the spicy grease that oozes out of a good chorizo, you’ll love the Cincinnati Hot Link, which tastes like the delicious love child of a chorizo and a hot mett. Word to the wise: Bee’s opens at 11 a.m. and closes when they run out of meat. Understandably, this doesn’t take long.

5910 Chandler St., Madisonville, (513) 561-2337. Lunch and dinner Tues–Sat; 1403 Vine St., Over-the-Rhine, (513) 721-2337, beesbarbecue.com. Lunch and dinner Tues–Sun. MCC. $

ELI’S BBQ

Elias Leisring started building his pulled pork reputation under canopies at Findlay Market and Fountain Square in 2011. Leisring’s proper little ’cue shack along the river serves up ribs that are speaking-in-tongues good, some of the zazziest jalapeño cheese grits north of the MasonDixon line, and browned mashed potatoes that would make any short-order cook diner-proud. The small no-frills restaurant—packed cheek-by-jowl most nights—feels like it’s been there a lifetime, with customers dropping vinyl on the turntable, dogs romping in the side yard, and picnic tables crowded with diners. The hooch is bring-your-own, and the barbecue is bona fide.

3313 Riverside Dr., East End, (513) 533-1957; 133 West Elder St., Over-the-Rhine, (513) 533-1957, ext. 2, elisbarbeque.com. Lunch and dinner seven days. MCC. $

WALT’S HITCHING POST

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

3300 Madison Pke., Ft. Wright, (859) 360-2222, waltshitchingpost.com. Dinner seven days. MCC. $$$

CAJUN/ CARIBBEAN

SWAMPWATER GRILL

At first blush, this place is a dive where homesick Cajuns can find a good pile of jambalaya. But thoughtful details like draft Abita beer and char-grilled Gulf Coast oysters on the half shell signal its ambition. Bayou standards like jambalaya, gumbo, and fried seafood also make an appearance. But the extensive menu also features amped-up pub-style items for those who may be squeamish about crawfish tails (which can be added to just about anything on the menu). You’ll also find a roundup of oyster, shrimp, catfish, and alligator po’boys, as well as a selection of hardwood-smoked meats.

3742 Kellogg Ave., East End, (513) 834-7067, swampwatergrill.com. Lunch and dinner Wed–Sun, brunch Sat & Sun. V, MC, DS, AMEX. $$

KNOTTY PINE ON THE BAYOU

The Pine serves some of the best Louisiana home-style

food you’ll find this far north of New Orleans. Taste the fried catfish filets with their peppery crust, or the garlic sauteed shrimp with smoky greens on the side, and you’ll understand why it’s called soul food. Between March and June, it’s crawfish season. Get them boiled and heaped high on a platter or in a superb crawfish etouffee. But the rockin’ gumbo—a thick, murky brew of andouille sausage, chicken, and vegetables—serves the best roundhouse punch all year round. As soon as you inhale the bouquet and take that first bite, you realize why Cajun-style food is considered a high art form and a serious pleasure. And you’ll start planning your return trip.

6302 Licking Pke., Cold Spring, (859) 781-2200, theknottypineonthebayou.com. Dinner Tues–Sun. MCC, DS. $$

CHINESE

GREAT TANG

Although the menu features classic dishes in every style, the specialty at Great Tang is the refined coastal cuisine of Zhejiang. If you like spice, you can get still the Sichuanese and Hunanese classics. One dish will hint at the surprises in store for people who are mainly used to Chinese takeout: the lovely Xian cold noodle. The dish is exquisitely layered: the creamy and nutty undertone of sesame paste, mixed with notes of tang and spice, topped with the bright pop of cilantro. The combination of textures is also delightful, with crunches of cucumber and sprouted mung and the softness of the flat noodles. Be as brave as you are in the mood to be. Ask for some suggestions and prepare to be astonished.

7340 Kingsgate Way, West Chester, (513) 847-6097, greattangohio.com. Lunch and dinner Wed–Mon, dim sum Sat & Sun. MCC, DS. $$

THE PACIFIC KITCHEN

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

8300 Market Place Lane, Montgomery, (513) 898-1833, thepacific.kitchen. Lunch and dinner Mon & Wed–Sun, dim sum lunch Sat & Sun. MCC. $$

SICHUAN BISTRO

Like many Chinese restaurants that cater to both mainstream American and Chinese palates, this strip mall gem uses two menus. The real story here is found in dishes of pungent multi-layered flavors that set your mouth ablaze with fermented peppers and fresh chilies and then just as quickly cool it down with the devilish, numbing sensation of hua jiao, Sichuan pepper. Its numbing effect is subtle at first: appetizers of cold sliced beef and tripe, as well as slices of pork belly with a profusion of minced garlic, lean toward the hot and sweet; mapo tofu freckled with tiny fermented black beans and scallions, and pork with pickled red peppers and strips of ginger root, progress from sweet to pungent to hot to salty—in that order. Alternated with cooling dishes— nibbles of rice, a verdant mound of baby bok choy stir-fried with a shovelful of garlic, a simply sensational tea-smoked duck—the effect is momentarily tempered.

7888 S. Mason Montgomery Rd., Mason, (513) 770-3123, sichuanbistro.com. Lunch and dinner Tues–Sun. MCC, DS. $$

UNCLE YIP’S

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

than 160 items, so you’ll find a range of favorites, from moo goo gai pan to rock salt frog legs.

10736 Reading Rd., Evendale, (513) 733-8484, uncleyips.com. Lunch and dinner seven days. MCC, discount for cash. $$

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. Offerings like the lamb spaghetti with grana padano feel just as accomplished as old favorites like the falafel. 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–Sun. MCC, DS. $$

ALCOVE

Alcove lives up to its name, the embodiment of a green oasis where lots of care goes into the space’s bright, floral design. Equal care and attention goes into its seasonal farm-to-table menu. It’s an uncomplicated affair featuring exceptional-but-approachable dishes. As one might expect from a restaurant where plants cover most of the walls, vegetables are done very well here. The beet and goat cheese salad stands out as does the buffalo cauliflower. Like the produce, much of the meat is sourced from local and regional farms. Among other local vendors, Rich Life Farms, Urban Stead Cheese, and Eli Settler (a.k.a. “Eli the Farmer”) all contribute to Alcove’s menu. This is a restaurant that takes sustainability seriously, and sustainability has a funny way of going hand-in-hand with quality.

1410 Vine St., Over-the-Rhine, (513) 371-5700, madtree. com/locations/alcove-bar-restaurant. Brunch Fri–Sun, dinner seven days. MCC. $$

Top 10 BOCA With its grand staircase, chandelier, and floorto-ceiling draperies, Boca has an atmosphere of grandeur and refinement. There is a sense of drama not only in the decor but in everything it serves. In some dishes, there is a painterly sense of contrast and surprise, like the maple tuile served with the maple mascarpone cheesecake. In others, there is a dramatic suspense, like the whole egg yolk quivering in the center of the beef 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 with extraordinary creativity and flair.

114 E. Sixth St., downtown, (513) 542-2022, bocacincinnati.com. Dinner Tues–Sun. MCC, DS. $$$

BOUQUET RESTAURANT

Normally diners aren’t pleased when a restaurant runs out of something. At Bouquet, though, surprise changes to the menu are simply a sign of integrity. The restaurant is serious about using seasonal ingredients, and if the figs have run out or there is no more chicken from a local farm, so be it. The flavors at Bouquet are about doing justice to what’s available. Preparations are unfussy, complexity coming from within the vegetables and proteins themselves. A spring salad—wonderfully fresh and vibrant, so you know the strawberries included have just come off a nearby vine—is dressed with candy-striped beets and whipped goat cheese. This determination to make something delicious out of what’s on hand, to embrace limitations, gives the food at Bouquet a rustic, soulful quality.

519 Main St., Covington, (859) 491-7777, bouquetbistro. com. Dinner Tues–Sat. MCC, DS. $$

FIVE KITCHEN & BAR

The fifth venture from Anthony Sitek and wife Haley Nutter-Sitek’s Crown Restaurant Group, Five on Vine achieves

TAP IN

The Mt. Washington LaRosa’s shuttered just prior to the opening of LaRosa’s Taphouse at the Big Ash Brewing space at 5230 Beechmont Ave. The renovated space includes a full dining room/ beer hall with Big Ash Brewing craft beers, wine, and hard seltzers on tap, and an outdoor beer garden. larosas.com

excitement through comfort food with meticulous attention to detail: the meat is butchered in-house, the bread and pasta are made from scratch, and the bacon is house-cured. Thick, cleanly acidic fried green tomatoes make an appearance, as does a bountiful cioppino, a tomatobased seafood stew created by Italian American fisherman in San Francisco. Some of the dishes are pulled straight from Sitek’s own childhood, in New Jersey. “Gracie’s Meatballs,” named in honor of his grandmother, use her unique blend of raisins and pine nuts.

1324 Vine St., Over-the-Rhine, (513) 246-4301, fiveonvine.com. Dinner seven days. MCC. $$

THE GOVERNOR

This Milford restaurant playfully elevates diner classics. Sandwiches get an inventive twist here. The “Governor Tso’s chicken”—a crispy, glutenfree fried chicken breast glazed with a General Tso’s–inspired sauce, topped with apricot slaw and served on a toasted brioche bun—is a gigantic, happy mess of a sandwich, but the sweet glaze faintly evokes the namesake “General” while letting the sublimely fried chicken lead the charge. Order a side of bowling alley fries and ask for the red dip. (You’ll thank us later.)

231 Main St., Milford, (513) 239-8298, governordiner.com. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner Mon–Sun. Breakfast and lunch Sun. Brunch seven days. MCC. $

MARIGOLD

To understand what this restaurant offers, you must first learn what it does not. It isn’t a replacement for your favorite Indian take-out or an Irish pub repainted with the Union Jack. This is the fusion of Anglo and Indian cuisines that grew from multicultural neighborhoods, where immigrants from colonized nations served meals that appealed to all of their new neighbors. The English curry is more sweet than spicy. Try the butter chicken (a mellow reflection of tikka masala with tender, cubed chicken) or the vegetarian korma chickpea and squash. If you aren’t feeling terribly adventurous, don’t worry. The Marigold burger is a blend of tenderloin, rib-eye, and striploin dolled up with Welsh rarebit (imagine a very thick, very cheesy roux), and served on a house-made English muffin.

60 W. Fifth St., downtown, (513) 996-0210, marigoldcincy.com. Dinner seven days. 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. Showcasing housemade pastas, house-cured meats, and more, the menu honors the region’s ingredients for a fun and whimsical meals rooted in careful execution of deep and satisfying flavors. 609 Walnut St., downtown, (513) 578-6660, metropoleonwalnut.com. Breakfast, lunch and dinner seven days. V, DS, MC, AMEX. $$

MITA’S

Top

10

It’s fitting that Chef/Owner 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 and Latin-American tapas, it always feels, in the best possible way, like elevated home cooking. Its sophistication is modestly concealed. The flavors are bold and direct, like the spicy freshness of the ceviche de camarones with poached gulf shrimp, sour orange, fava beans, and jalapeños. The tacos de lengua, which come in pairs, are made with beef tongue, watermelon pico de gallo, watermelon radish, salsa roja, and mint, and are served on housemade corn tortillas. But what mainly comes

through is the warm-hearted affection a grandmother might have put into a meal for a beloved grandson. It’s the kind of big hug everyone needs from time to time.

501 Race St., downtown, (513) 421-6482, mitas.co. Dinner Mon–Sat. MCC. $$$

Top 10 NOLIA KITCHEN

Chef/Owner Jeffery Harris, a New Orleans native, prepares the cuisine of his beloved city with sophistication and flair, drawing on all the influences that have contributed to the cuisine of the Big Easy—from West African to French to Japanese to Haitian. The menu changes seasonally, with almost a complete overhaul each time. If classic New Orleans dishes do show up on the menu, they’re likely to get delightfully unexpected touches. The smoked chicken, for example, comes with peach Alabama barbecue sauce, greens, mirliton, and charred peach. It’s exquisitely prepared food served in a funky, laidback atmosphere.

1405 Clay St., Over-the-Rhine, (513) 384-3597, noliakitchen.com. Dinner Tues–Sat. MCC,DC. $$$

PENNYFLOWER BISTRO & BAR

While Pennyflower Bistro & Bar celebrates Fountain Square’s past life as an open-air market with its name, the restaurant offers farm-to-table goodness with its menu. Chef/Owner Jacob Benavides and his team butcher proteins in-house, make sauces from scratch, and even shred their own hash browns, but also work with local businesses to source bread (Sixteen Bricks), gin (Northern Row Distillery), and microgreens (Fort Thomas Microgreens). These and other details are showcased in dishes like the carbonara croquettes, the sweet house pickles on the hot Nashville chicken sandwich, and the Amish chicken pressade. 701 Broadway St., downtown, (513) 904-4149, pennyflowerbistro.com. Lunch Mon–Fri, dinner seven days. MCC. $$$

RUTH’S PARKSIDE CAFÉ

The spiritual successor of Mullane’s Parkside Café, Ruth’s brings back the vegetable-forward menu with a few concessions to contemporary tastes. Dinner options now include steaks and heavier entrées. But the stir-fries, beans and rice, pasta, and the traditional option to add a protein to an entrée (tofu, tempeh, chicken, or local chorizo) for an upcharge are all old standards. While dishes are generally hearty, they are rarely too rich, leaving room to freely consider dessert. There is a small selection of baked goods, including a gooey butter cake, homemade fruit pies, and Madisono’s Gelato. 1550 Blue Rock St., Northside, (513) 542-7884, ruthscafe.com. Lunch Mon–Fri, dinner Mon–Sat. MCC. $$

Top 10 SUDOVA

Sarah Dworak packed a lot into her latest venture. She began introducing fresh takes on eastern European cuisine to the dining scene via the now-defunct Wodka Bar, and while everyone loved its pierogi window, Dworak wanted to offer more. Sudova gives her the literal space to spread her wings with far more seating and a built-out kitchen. Recipes for the halushki (caramelized cabbage and onion, brown butter, and Linnea’s spaetzle), holubsti (stuffed cabbage rolls and tomato sauce), and rye varenyky (potato, sauerkraut, caramelized onion, and dill sour cream) come straight from Dworak’s baba and they are the jewels in the restaurant’s crown. Most small plates arrive dressed in herbs from Dark Wood Farm and culinary flower petals, deepening the illusion that you’ve stopped for dinner at some grandmother’s cottage deep in the woods, and she’s just picked something fresh from the garden. You should feel grateful that you don’t have to

go over the hills and through the woods to get it.

22 W. Court St., downtown, (513) 407-7974, sudovaoncourt.com. Dinner Tues–Sat. MCC. $$$

TASTE OF BELGIUM

Jean-François Flechet’s waffle empire grew from a back counter of Madison’s grocery at Findlay Market to multiple full-service sit-down spots. There’s more on the menu than the authentic Belgian treat, though it would be a crime to miss the chicken and waffles: a dense, yeasty waffle topped with a succulent buttermilk fried chicken breast, Frank’s hot sauce, and maple syrup. There are also frites, of course, and Brussels sprouts—served with pancetta and sherry vinaigrette—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.

16 W. Freedom Way, downtown, (513) 3965800, and other locations, authenticwaffle. com. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner Tues–Sun, breakfast and lunch Mon, brunch Sun. MCC, DS. $$

TERANGA

West African cuisine consists of mostly simple, home-style dishes of stews and grilled lamb with just enough of the exotic to offer a glimpse of another culture. Be prepared for a few stimulating sights and flavors that warm from within. An entire grilled tilapia—head and all—in a peppery citrus marinade and served on plantains with a side of Dijon-coated cooked onions is interesting enough to pique foodie interest without overwhelming the moderate eater. Stews of lamb or chicken with vegetables and rice are a milder bet, and Moroccan-style couscous with vegetables and mustard sauce accompanies most items. The dining room atmosphere is extremely modest with most of the action coming from the constant stream of carryout orders.

8438 Vine St., Hartwell, (513) 821-1300, terangacinci.com. Lunch and dinner seven days. MCC. $

Top 10

WILDWEED

Before it opened as a restaurant, Wildweed developed a loyal fan base through the hundreds of pasta pop-ups that Chefs David and Lydia Jackman held around the city. Even today, it retains some of the freewheeling quality from its pop-up era with a palpable sense of restlessness in the food. Part of the menu changes from week to week, based on what’s available in the woods and from local farms. What makes Wildweed a place to return is its sense of adventure. This place is always pushing itself to try something different. 1301 Walnut St., Over-the-Rhine, (513) 246-4274, wildweed-restaurant.com. Dinner Tues–Sat. MCC. $$

FRENCH

CHEZ RENÉE FRENCH BISTROT

Based on American stereotypes of French food— that it’s elaborate, elitist, and expensive—one might expect Chez Renée 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. Warmed brie is served with thyme, almonds, fruit, and bread, and the chicken risotto is served with creamy mushrooms. 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 Fri & Sat, dinner Wed–Sat. MCC. $$

Top 10

COLETTE

At this “mostly French” restaurant, which occupies the former Zula space across from Washington Park, Chef Danny Combs has built a more laid-back home for his focused, pristine cooking. While there is classic bistro fare, like steak frites, on the concentrated menu, there are also less familiar but equally classic French dishes, like the poulet frit a la moutarde (chicken with Dijon and crème fraîche) and the tagliolini aux champignons (egg yolk pasta with ragout and Parmesan). One can turn to the extensive drink menu (also “mostly French”) to find a wine or cocktail to go with any dish on offer. Like Zula, Colette would function just fine as a wine and cocktail bar, though we can’t imagine coming to a place this good and not eating something. 1400 Race St., Over-the-Rhine, (513) 381-1018, coletteotr.com. Dinner Tues–Sat. MCC, DC. $$

LE BAR A BOEUF

If it’s been a couple of years since you’ve been to Le Bar a Boeuf—the late Jean-Robert de Cavel’s fun-yet-refined French bistro located on the first floor of the Edgecliff Private Residences in East Walnut Hills—it may be time for a revisit. The formerly burger-centric menu now approaches the full repertoire of bistro classics. The menu reads like a greatest hits list of bistro fare, with escargot, beef tartare, duck leg confit, steak frites, and French onion soup all making appearances. As France’s influence on American fine dining has waned, it’s refreshing to see a restaurant committed to not only preserving the French classics but reinvigorating them.

2200 Victory Pkwy., East Walnut Hills, (513) 751-2333, decavelgroup.com. Dinner Tues–Sat. MCC. $$

LUCA BISTRO

This unabashedly French restaurant, with its French posters, bright red outer paneling, and chalkboard menu proclaiming its specials to passersby, fits into its Mt. Adams environs so perfectly that it’s hard to imagine Hatch Street without it. That, combined with warm service, timeless French fare, and relaxed joie de vivre makes this a true neighborhood establishment. Chef Frederic Maniet grew up in the south of France and has done an excellent job transporting his native cuisine to a quiet corner of Cincinnati. These are the dishes that culinary Francophiles often crave, prepared in a straightforward, time-honored way. The Bouchées à la Reine, a buttery, flaky puff pastry filled with chicken, mushrooms, peas, Gruyère cheese, and béchamel sauce, is so warm and comforting it makes chicken pot pie seem aloof by comparison. It’s a warm, gentle reminder that French food can be convivial and affordable. 934 Hatch St., Mt. Adams, (513) 621-5822, lucabistro. com. Breakfast and lunch Tues–Sun, dinner Tues–Sat. MCC. $$

INDIAN

AMMA’S KITCHEN

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

crepe) stuffed with spiced onions and potatoes. 7633 Reading Rd., Roselawn, (513) 821-2021, cincinnati. ammaskitchen.com. Lunch buffet (all vegan on Wed) and dinner seven days. MCC, DS. $

BRIJ MOHAN

Order at the counter the way you might at a fast food joint, except the shakes come in mango and there’s no supersizing your mint lassi. The saag, full of cream in most northern Indian restaurants, is as intensely flavored as collard greens in the Deep South—real Punjabi soul food. Tarka dal is spectacular here, the black lentils smoky from charred tomatoes and onions, and the pani puri, hollow fried shells into which you spoon a peppery cold broth, burst with tart cool crunch. Follow the spice with soothing ras malai, freshly made cheese simmered in thick almond-flavored milk, cooled and sprinkled with crushed pistachios.

11259 Reading Rd., Sharonville, (513) 769-4549, brijmohancincinnati.com. Lunch and dinner Tues–Sun. MC, V, DC, AMEX. $

ITALIAN

AL-POSTO

Al-Posto is an upscale southern Italian spot that reflects the same commitment to quality ingredients and delicate preparation that made its predecessor Dear such a gem. Appetizers include classic sharables like marinated olives (prepared with orange zest, rosemary, and Calabrian chile) and burrata with grilled focaccia, but it’s the pasta (which can be ordered as an entrée or a first course) that’s not to be missed. We recommend the cacio e pepe, a seemingly simple dish comprised of bucatini (similar to spaghetti, but thicker), black pepper, and a sharp pecorino Toscano. Since you’re probably wondering, “Al-Posto” roughly translates to “at the spot.” Located in the middle of Hyde Park Square, this eatery seems poised to become the culinary focal point of the neighborhood.

2710 Erie Ave., Hyde Park, (513) 321-2710, al-posto.com. Dinner Tues–Sat. MCC, DC, DS. $$

CARMELO’S

Every great Italian eatery needs its classic entrées, and this restaurant delivers. The 101-Layer Lasagna actually looks like it has 101 layers of pasta, cheese, and sauce. The shareable meatball appetizer—which consists of two enormous veal, pork, and beef meatballs that crumble with a little elbow grease— is the solution for diners craving a protein with their pasta. The oxtail ragu, with rich gravy-like osso buco ragu, incorporates subtle tomato and robust seasoning with the dish’s shredded meat and Parmesan. Portions are large, and the staff is ready to stow your leftovers the minute you raise the white flag. Remember, there’s no shame in surrender.

434 Madison Ave., Covington, (859) 287-4700, eatatcarmelos.com. Dinner Tues–Sun. MCC. $$

NICOLA’S

Chef/Restaurateur Cristian Pietoso carries on the legacy of his father, Nicola, as the elder Pietoso’s Over-the-Rhine eatery celebrated 25 years in business in 2021. 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 aged balsamic and lavender honey on the Italian cheese board to the staff’s wine knowledge—is going to put out special meals. 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, DS. $$$

PADRINO

Billed as “Italian comfort food,” this sister restaurant to 20 Brix offers the classics (like lasagna and chicken carbonara) plus hoagies and meatball sliders, an impressive wine list, seasonal martinis, and a decadent signature appetizer—garlic knots, doughy buns smothered in olive oil and garlic. Best of all, Barraco’s pizza sauce, which is comprised of roasted tomatoes and basil, is so garden-

fresh that one can’t help but wonder: If this is real pizza, what have we been eating all these years?

111 Main St., Milford, (513) 965-0100; 14 N. Grand Ave. Ft Thomas, (859) 957-4082, padrinoitalian.com. Lunch and dinner seven days. MCC, DS. $$

Top 10 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. The wood-fired branzino with broccolini, matched with the warm, smoky taste of the Calabrian pepper, offers a flavor that you could go on eating forever. From the texture of the chicken liver mousse to the citrusy lemon aioli on the tartare di fassone, most of the food has some added element of soulfulness.

118 E. Sixth St., downtown, (513) 822-5154, sottocincinnati.com. Lunch Mon–Fri, dinner seven days. MCC, DS. $$$

VIA VITE

Via Vite serves up crowd-pleasing entrées—including the Pietoso family Bolognese, over tagliatelle—right on Fountain Square. This is where small touches add sophistication. Golf-ball-sized veal meatballs are heavy with lemon zest, an over-the-top comfort dish. The same applies to the risotto frutti di mare, its soffritto, shrimp, lobster, mussels, and Boston bay clams creates a nice back-and-forth between vegetal and briny flavors. Braised lamb shank over polenta is a workhorse, and the flavorful Faroe Island salmon with roasted carrot puree, caramelized Brussel sprouts, and truffled brown butter balsamic vinaigrette is a delight.

520 Vine St., downtown, (513) 721-8483, viaviterestaurant.com. Dinner Mon–Sat. MCC, DS. $$$

JAPANESE

ANDO

You don’t go just anywhere to dine on uni sashimi (sea urchin) or tanshio (thinly sliced charcoal-grilled beef tongue). And when it’s on the menu, don’t overlook the buttery amberjack collar marinated in a Japanese citrus infused soy sauce and grilled over charcoal. Noodles are also well represented, with udon, soba, or ramen options available. Owners Ken and Keiko Ando always have something new, be it kamo negi maki (grilled duck breast stuffed with organic green onions) or a chocolate crepe and matcha parfait, delicacies that you’ll be hard-pressed to find in anywhere else, so don’t forget to check out the specials. 11255 Reed Hartman Hwy., Blue Ash, (513) 954-0041, andojapaneserestaurant.com. Dinner Tues–Sat. MCC, DS. $$$

KIKI

Your best bet here is to share plates or simply order too much. Start with the edamame and the chicken karaage. The selection of sauces (from tare to ponzu to chili oil) makes each dish better. And, of course, the ramen is the main reason for visiting. The shio features pork belly and tea-marinated soft-boiled egg, but the kimchi subs in tofu and its namesake cabbage for the meat. Be sure to try something from the sushi bar which offers nigiri, sashimi, and roll options.

358 Ludlow Ave., Clifton, (513) 706-8902, kikicincinnati. com. Lunch and dinner Tues–Sat. MCC. $$

KYOTO

Owner Jason Shi seems to know everybody’s name as he chats up diners, guiding them through the extensive sushi and sashimi menu. Four 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—combination of crab, fish, shrimp, scallop, and vegetable tempuras, a volcanic tower

SQUARE UP

In December, Skyline Chili announced that it had signed a lease to open a Fountain Square location in the former March First space. The new restaurant is set to open in the spring and will feature a beer and wine bar and a private party room. skylinechili.com

of chopped fatty tuna hidden inside overlapping layers of thin avocado slices, crispy chicken katsu with a mayo sauce,, and delicate slices of a samurai roll—all between shots of chilled sake. 12082 Montgomery Rd., Symmes Twp., (513) 583-8897, kyotousa.m988.com. Lunch and dinner seven days. MCC, DS. $$

ZUNDO RAMEN & DONBURI

A stark contrast to Styrofoam cup soup, chef Han Lin’s ramens are a deep and exciting branch of cuisine, capable of subtlety, variation, and depth. The simplicity of the dish’s name hides a world of complexity. Zundo uses the traditional Japanese building blocks of flavor—soy sauce, miso, sake, mirin—to create something freewheeling and time-tested. Bowls of ramen come with a marinated soft-boiled egg half, roast pork, green onion, and a healthy serving of noodles. Each has a distinct identity, like the milky richness of the tonkotsu, the rich and buttery miso, or the light and faintly sweet shoyu ramen. A transformative add-in is the mayu, or black garlic oil. Dripped on top of one of the subtler broths, it adds a deep, mushroom-y richness, with the hint of burned flavor that makes barbecue so good.

220 W. 12th St., Over-the-Rhine, (513) 9750706, zundootr.com. Lunch and dinner Tues–Sun. MCC. $$

KOREAN

RIVERSIDE KOREAN RESTAURANT

Come for the jham bong—a seafood soup with flour noodles in a spicy broth with pork, shrimp, squid, mussels, and vegetables. Revered for its medicinal properties, the dinner-sized soup will leave your eyes glistening and your brow beaded with sweat. It’s 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. Dinner Tues–Sun. MCC, DS. $$

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.

906 Nassau St., Walnut Hills, (513) 281-9791, andyskabob.com. Lunch Mon–Sat, dinner seven days. MCC. $$

FILLO

This modern Greek restaurant has a menu composed of mezedes, the small, shareable plates that serve as the binder to a great Greek meal. Take the saganaki, for example. True to Greek tradition, Fillo’s version is served without a tableside flambé. But what the dish lacks in spectacle, it makes up for in spectacular flavor. The layering of ingredients and flavors defines Fillo’s most fill-

ing entrée: moussaka. The classic dish appears on several local Mediterranean menus, but for pure comfort, Fillo’s combination of eggplant, potato, tomato-y beef ragu sauce, and béchamel can’t be beat.

1505 Race St., Over-the-Rhine, (513) 873-1995, fillomoderngreek.com. 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 continuously arriving from the ovens, and a table of quickly multiplying meze (hummus, falafel, muhammara), there is a warmth and depth to the cooking that envelops you. With such traditional cuisine, you may think there isn’t much left to discover beyond simply executed classics prepared according to time-tested methods. But there are always new discoveries, like 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. $$

SANTORINI

Steak, eggs, and homefries. Jumbo haddock sandwich with Greek fries. Chocolate chip hotcakes with bacon. Notice something wrong with this menu? Chicken Philly cheese steak sandwich with Olympic onion rings. Yep, it’s obvious: What’s wrong with this menu is that there’s nothing wrong with this menu. Greek feta cheese omelette with a side of ham. It’s been owned by the same family for more than 30 years. Santorini has diner standards, like cheeseburgers, chili five ways, and breakfast anytime, but they also make some Greek pastries in-house, like spanakopita and baklava.

3414 Harrison Ave., Cheviot, (513) 662-8080. Breakfast and lunch seven days, dinner Tues–Fri. MCC. $

MEXICAN

MAZUNTE

Mazunte runs a culinary full-court press, switching up specials to keep both regulars and staff engaged. Pork tamales arrive swaddled in a banana leaf, the shredded pork filling steeped in a sauce fiery with guajillo and ancho chilies yet foiled by the calming sweetness of raisins. The fried fish tacos are finished with a citrusy red and white cabbage slaw that complements the accompanying mangohabañero salsa. With this level of authentic yet fastpaced execution, a slightly greasy pozole can be easily forgiven. Don’t miss the Mexican Coke, the margaritas, or the non-alcoholic horchata.

5207 Madison Rd., Madisonville, (513) 7850000, mazuntetacos.com. Lunch and dinner seven days. MCC. $

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. The Pork Al Pastor tacos, zesty with salsa verde and sweet with grilled pineapple, are definite crowdpleasers. If you’re biased against Brussels sprouts, Nada just might convert you. The crispy sprouts, served with chipotle honey and candied ancho pepitas, are a deliciously intriguing starter. 600 Walnut St., downtown, (513) 721-6232, eatdrinknada.com. Lunch and dinner seven days. MCC, DS. $$

TAQUERIA MERCADO

On a Saturday night, Taqueria Mercado is a lively fiesta, with seemingly half of the local Hispanic community guzzling margaritas and cervezas or carrying out sacks of burritos and carnitas tacos—pork tenderized by a long simmer, its edges frizzled and crispy. The Mercado’s strip mall interior, splashed with a large, colorful mural, is equally energetic: the bustling semi-open kitchen; a busy counter that handles a constant stream of take-out orders; a clamorous, convivial chatter in Spanish and English. Try camarones a la plancha, 12 chubby grilled shrimp tangled with grilled onions (be sure to specify if you like your onions well done). The starchiness of the rice absorbs the caramelized onion juice, offset by the crunch of lettuce, buttery slices of avocado, and the cool-hot pico de gallo. A shrimp quesadilla paired with one of their cheap and potent margaritas is worth the drive alone.

6507 Dixie Hwy., Fairfield, (513) 942-4943; 100 E. Eighth St., downtown, (513) 381-0678, taqueriamercado.com. Lunch and dinner seven days. MCC, DS. $

SEAFOOD

MCCORMICK & SCHMICK’S

The daily rotation here reads like a fisherman’s wish list: lobster tails from Australia and the North Atlantic, ahi tuna from Hawaii, clams from New England. But high-quality ingredients are only half the equation; preparation is the other. Herb-broth sea bass, served with roasted fingerling potatoes, makes the taste buds dance. The spacious digs and attentive waitstaff bring a touch of class to Fountain Square and make it a sophisticated destination.

21 E. Fifth St., downtown, (513) 721-9339, mccormickandschmicks.com. Lunch and dinner seven days. MCC, DC, DS. $$

STEAKS

CARLO & JOHNNY

The stars of the menu are 12 delectable steaks that could sway the vegi-curious to recommit. Not sure which to choose? If you prefer brawny flavor over buttery texture, go for one of the three bone-in rib cuts. Or if it’s that melt-in-your-mouth experience that raises your serotonin levels, C&J features several tenderloin cuts, including the premium six-ounce Wagyu filet. There are the usual suspects of seafood, pork chops, et al, for non-beef alternatives.

9769 Montgomery Rd., Montgomery, (513) 936-8600, jeffruby.com/carlo-johnny. Dinner seven days. MCC. $$$$

JEFF RUBY’S

Filled most nights with local scenesters and power brokers (and those who think they are), everything in this urban steakhouse is generous—from the portions to the expert service. Waiters deliver two-fisted martinis and mounds of greens dressed in thin vinaigrettes or thick, creamy emulsions. An occasional salmon or sea bass appears, and there’s a small but decent assortment of land fare. But most customers are there for the slabs of beef (dry aged USDA prime). The best of these is Jeff Ruby’s Cowboy, 22 ounces of 70-day dry-aged bone-in rib eye. This is steak tailor-made for movers and shakers.

505 Vine St., downtown, (513) 784-1200, jeffruby.com. Dinner seven days. MCC, DC. $$$$

LOSANTI

A bit more upscale than its sister restaurant, Crown Republic Gastropub, meals here feel like

special occasions, but prices and atmosphere are right for, say, a date, rather than a wedding anniversary. The filet mignon, rib eye, and New York strip are cut to order for each table (there are a few available weights for each). The steaks themselves are totally irreproachable, perfectly seasoned, cooked to precisely the right point. Losanti even makes the steakhouse sides a little special. Sweet and smoky caramelized onions are folded into the mashed potatoes, a nice dusting of truffles wakes up the mac and cheese, and the sweet corn is at least freshly cut off the cob and recalls elote with lime and chile.

1401 Race St., Over-the-Rhine, (513) 246-4213, losantiotr.com. Dinner seven days. MCC. $$$

THE PRECINCT

Part of the appeal of the Ruby restaurants is their ability to deliver deep, comfort-food satisfaction. And the steaks. The meat is tender with a rich mineral flavor, and the signature seasoning provided a nice crunch, not to mention blazing heat. The supporting cast is strong—the basket of warm Sixteen Bricks bread with a mushroom truffle butter, the addictive baked macaroni and cheese, the creamy garlic mashed potatoes, the crisp-tender asparagus with roasted garlic and lemon vinaigrette—and you can end dinner on a sweet note with a piece of Ruby’s cheesecake, a lovely slice of restraint.

311 Delta Ave., Columbia-Tusculum, (513) 321-5454, jeffruby.com/precinct. Dinner seven days. MCC. $$$$

the restaurant’s re-emergence on the scene, it’s probably best to consider it a reimagining rather than a reopening. While long-time favorites show up on the menu, prepared by many of the same kitchen staff members from Mt. Adams, some adaptations have been made to better meet expectations of modern diners. Letting go of preconceived notions about Teak will serve you well. With a two-sided, standalone sushi menu and a wide variety of main plates ranging from small bites to signature dishes, you have plenty of room to craft your own dining experience.

1200 Race St., Over-the-Rhine, (513) 421-8325; 110 S. Second St., Loveland, (513) 583-8325, teakotr.com. Lunch and dinner Tues–Sun. MCC. $$

WILD GINGER

The ability to satisfy a deep desire for Vietnamese and Thai fusion cuisine is evident in Wild Ginger’s 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 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, wildgingeroh.com. Lunch and dinner seven days. MCC, DS. $$

VIETNAMESE

TEAK SUSHI & THAI

Owner Chanaka De Lanerolle has said that he decided to bring back Teak’s take on Thai food because of the renewed vibrancy in Over-the-Rhine. But for all of the hype around

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

QUAN HAPA

The Nguyen brothers, along with partner David Le, followed up on Pho Lang Thang’s success with some of the boldest flavors in the city at Quan Hapa. This small restaurant features a mash-up of Asian street foods—okonomiyaki, turmeric chicken skewers, and hearty noodle bowls—inventive cocktails, and glass garage doors that roll up to the vibrant Vine St. scene. 1331 Vine St., Over-the-Rhine, (513) 421-7826, quanhapa.com. Breakfast, lunch and dinner Wed–Sun. MCC. $$

CINCINNATI MAGAZINE, (ISSN 0746-8 210), March 2026, Volume 59, Number 6. Published monthly ($19.95 for 12 issues annually) at 221 E. Fourth St., Ste. 130, Cincinnati, OH 45202. (513) 421-4300. Copyright © 2026 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.

Tower of Power

DESPITE BECOMING the literal symbol for the city of Ft. Thomas, most people have no idea what this tower is—at least according to Ft. Thomas Museum Director Deanna Beineke. “It was never a defensive fort,” says Beineke. “But it is probably the most beautiful water tower I’ve ever seen.”

The Ft. Thomas Water Tower (or Building 16) was built in 1890 to cover a 100,000-gallon steel water tank. It stands 102 feet tall and is made of granite and Kentucky limestone.

One of its two large plaques memorializes the Spanish-American War— the one on the south side honors Colonel Harry C. Egbert and the one on the west honors men from Ft. Thomas’s Sixth Infantry who died in Cuba. “At the time [the west plaque] was created, it was one of the largest bronze plaques ever cast in the country at 10 feet high, eight feet wide, and just under 1,500 pounds,” says Beineke. While the tower hasn’t provided water to the city since the mid-20th century, it still serves as the area’s focal point. The adjacent park is named after the tower and hosts special events/tours every year around the Fourth of July. —CLAIRE LEFTON

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Rising From the Ashes of Vesuvius

A STORY OF TRIUMPH OUT OF TRAGEDY

Miami University professor and historian Steven L. Tuck is settling a debate that has raged for centuries. Did the catastrophic eruption of Vesuvius in 79 CE really leave no survivors? In “Escape from Pompeii: The Great Eruption of Mount Vesuvius and Its Survivors,” he uncovers the stories of the people who fled and the lives they rebuilt afterward, changing the narrative from one of death and loss to one of survival and lives restored.