Ohio Archives - Hungry Travelers

Ohio

World on a Plate: Pastitsio’s immigrant life as Cincinnati chili

Posted on October 10, 2020October 9, 2020 by Pat and David

In our last post, we ended our exploration of Greek cooking with a recipe for pastitsio, the hearty dish of layered meat sauce, noodles, and béchamel. As we made the cinnamon-laced meat sauce, we realized it tasted hauntingly familiar. We hadn't encountered in it Greece, but in Cincinnati at Camp Washington Chili (3005 Colerain Ave., Cincinnati; 513-541-0061; campwashingtonchili.com). It turns out that Cincinnati chili is actually a New World adaptation of Greek pastitsio. Greek immigrants opened the Empress restaurant in Cincinnati in 1922 and began serving the deconstructed pastitsio. It became such a huge hit that other restaurants run by Greek immigrants began making their own versions. Unless you are an aficionado, they all seem pretty similar, though Cincinnatians are always ready to debate the...Read More

Restaurant L: approachable French haute cuisine

Posted on October 22, 2019June 6, 2020 by Pat and David

Restaurant L in Cincinnati is the kind of dining treasure we always hope to find in a mid-sized city but rarely do. The most formal of chef Jean-Robert de Cavel's empire of French eateries in the Queen City region, L bills itself as a “Parisian-style restaurant, with a little New York attitude and an abundance of Cincinnati charm.” That pretty much nails it. The elegant dining room in the rather new Queen City Tower is the culmination of de Cavel's decades-long saga as Cincinnati's leading proponent of French cuisine. If we lived in Cincinnati, we'd probably eat more often at Frenchie Fresh (his casual bistro) or Le Bar au Boeuf (his beef-oriented bistro), and treat ourselves to lunch at the bar at the swanky Jean-Robert's...Read More

Deco decadence at The Bar at Palm Court

Posted on October 18, 2019June 6, 2020 by Pat and David

Even if we didn't enjoy a good cocktail or a nice glass of wine, we would find an excuse to visit the Bar at Palm Court. It occupies a prime spot in the Hilton Cincinnati Netherland Plaza Hotel. One of the most glamorous buildings in the city, it's at 35 West 5th Street. The hotel, which opened in 1931, oozes French Art Deco style. There's barely a surface that's not embellished with a lotus pattern, a bird, or a sun. One of the best places to admire the masterful mix of rich woods, polished marble, frescoes, and ceiling painting is from a padded fan-shaped banquette in the bar. (The wooden bar itself, by the way, was originally a ticket booth at Union Terminal, the city's...Read More

Getting a well-designed sandwich at Cheapside Cafe

Posted on October 15, 2019September 20, 2019 by Pat and David

Selecting the single best sandwich in every state is a pretty tall order. But when People magazine published its list in May of this year, they made a great selection for the state of Ohio. First of all, Cheapside Cafe (326 East 8th St., Cincinnati; 513-345-6618, cheapsidecafe.com) is not an obvious choice. The stylish little place, with a long counter made of wood from an old paper mill, sits a bit off the beaten path in a design-oriented neighborhood. It's open every day, but for breakfast and lunch only. Jon Mouch and his partner Joseph Creighton opened Cheapside in May 2014. “We've been offering the same menu since day one,” Mouch told us when we stopped in for breakfast. Chief among those menu items is...Read More

Sixteen Bricks Bakery makes Cincy’s daily bread

Posted on October 11, 2019September 19, 2019 by Pat and David

Ryan Morgan is not a man you can easily forget. Neither is the bread that he creates at Sixteen Bricks Bakery (sixteenbricks.com). We'd been eating our way around Cincinnati for a couple of days before we had the chance to tour the bakery that supplies bread to many of the city's restaurants—both casual and high end—that insist on a high-quality product. Morgan revels in his role as the most unlikely of bakers. He left a career as a mechanic making medical equipment at Johnson & Johnson to help his mother in her struggling bakery. Not one to pull any punches, Morgan told us that the bakery turned out “some of the most garbage bread.” He shakes his head at the memory. “I don't know why...Read More

Cincinnati chows down at Montgomery Inn Boathouse

Posted on October 8, 2019September 19, 2019 by Pat and David

Not many people noticed when Ted and Matula Gregory opened the homey Montgomery Inn in Montgomery, Ohio, in 1951. But when Matula started serving her barbecued ribs a few years later, people began to pay attention. You might even say that a dynasty was born. Ted and Matula eventually became known as the king and queen of ribs. Those hand-spiced, slow-roasted ribs are still the foundation of the Gregory family's two-restaurant empire. One of those restaurants is in downtown Cincinnati on the banks of the Ohio River. The Montgomery Inn Boathouse (925 Riverside Drive, 513-721-7427, montgomeryinn.com) is an impressive curved building with a wall of windows overlooking the river. The interior walls are covered with sports memorabilia which seems fitting since athletes have been known...Read More

Cincy specialty hits apex at Camp Washington Chili

Posted on October 4, 2019September 19, 2019 by Pat and David

There's one resource we always turn to first when we're looking for a welcoming place to eat with lots of local character. That's the listing of eateries designated as America's Classics by the James Beard Foundation. The late chef and cookbook author appreciated homey diners just as much as he relished temples of haute cuisine. The America's Classics shine a light on these usually family-run establishments that play a big role in their communities. If we're lucky, we'll discover one or more Classics at an upcoming destination. That was the case on our recent visit to Cincinnati, where Camp Washington Chili (3005 Colerain Ave, Cincinnati; 513-541-0061; campwashingtonchili.com) has been a neighborhood fixture since 1940. Maria Papakirk was there to welcome us with a big smile,...Read More

Ohio winemaking springs from Skeleton Root

Posted on October 1, 2019June 6, 2020 by Pat and David

We tasted American wine history at The Skeleton Root (38 McMicken Ave., Cincinnati; 513-918-3015; skeletonroot.com), a micro-winery in the Cincinnati's Over-the-Rhine neighborhood. From the 1830s into the 1860s, Cincinnati was America's wine country. Pioneer vintner Nicholas Longworth was shipping sparkling Catawba all over the world as the American riposte to champagne. And a good bit of it was being sold in Paris. Catawba? Over the years, we've been served some truly awful wine made from Catawba grapes. The native American green grape is vitis labrusca—the foxy cousin of the European vitis vinifera wine grapes. Since Longworth's winery folded in 1870 (seven years after his death), most American winemakers have used Catawba in icky sweet wines with a pronounced foxy flavor. Hey, some people like chilly-chilly...Read More