Cincinnati Magazine - August 2023 Edition

GAME ON!

Dr. Bowles grew up in West Union, Ohio, about an hour southeast of Cincinnati. For her undergraduate studies she attended the University of Cincinnati, where she earned a bachelor of science in biology. She then attended medical school at Ohio University. Most recently, she completed her dermatology residency in Miami, Florida, where she served as chief resident and trained with some of the best medical and

cosmetic dermatologists in the nation.

“I am very excited to be moving back to Cincinnati with my family and to begin my career with Mona Dermatology!” shares Dr. Bowles.

In her free time, she enjoys spending time with her fiancé, Yousef, and her cat, Poppie. She enjoys being active, traveling, trying new foods, watching Netflix, and going to the movies.

BE A WARRIOR ALL WEEK LONG

Are nagging injuries keeping you on the sidelines? Beacon Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine offers comprehensive care for athletes of all levels and ages. And we partner with more high school, college, club, and professional teams than any other orthopaedic practice in Greater Cincinnati.

Whether you’re dealing with a sprain, strain, or more serious injury, we have the experience and expertise to help you get back in the game. Beacon uses the latest technology and techniques to prevent and treat injuries with minimally invasive therapies and customized treatment plans.

If you are a student athlete, professional, weekend warrior, or an active retiree, don’t let sports injuries keep you from living your best life.

Visit beaconortho.com to schedule a consultation and learn more about how we can help you stay healthy and active. Experience the Beacon Difference.

P. 34

SPORTS CENTER

Watching, playing, and loving sports in Cincinnati has never been more exciting than right now. Here are dozens of ways to join the fun.

WRITE

A web of Cincinnati-based literary journals and zines connect writers and readers in a thriving do-it-yourself community. And they really want you to submit.

BY MACKENZIE MANLEY

OF LOREN LONG WE SING P. 50

The children’s book illustrator grounds his work in a Cincinnati and Midwest aesthetic that authors from Barack Obama to Madonna to Amanda Gorman love being associated with.

BY KELLY BLEWETT

PRESENTED BY

LISTEN TO LIVE MUSIC MEET CELEBRITY BARTENDERS

MINGLE IN THE TASTING LOUNGES

VIP 1:00 pm

GENERAL ADMISSION

2:00 - 5:00 pm

SPONSORED BY

PORTION OF THE PROCEEDS BENEFIT

“A CELEBRATION OF SPIRITS AND COCKTAILS”

14 / CONTRIBUTORS

14 / LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

FRONTLINES

17 / DISPATCH

Lionel Messi brings his worldwide fame to town

18 / SPEAK EASY

C.W. Goodyear on James Garfield’s legacy

18 / THEATER

Shakespeare in the park(s)

20 / REAL ESTATE

A Hans Nuetzel home in Anderson Twp.

22 / ESCAPE

Revisiting the camping scene in Gatlinburg

24 / STOREFRONT

Koch Sporting Goods, downtown

26 / DR. KNOW

Your QC questions answered

COLUMNS

30 / LIVING IN CIN

Remembering the other Jerry Springer

BY JAY GILBERT

120 / CINCY OBSCURA

Vent Haven Museum, Ft. Mitchell

BY LAUREN FISHER

DINE

104 / BAR BITES

Playing around with National Sandwich Month

106 / HOT PLATE

Fifty West Brewpub, Columbia Twp.

106 / TABLESIDE WITH…

Zachary Barnes of Metropole

108 / SNACK TIME

Happy Pies, Bethel

110 / TRY THIS Tsaocaa, Sharonville

111 / DINING GUIDE

Greater Cincinnati restaurants: A selective list

ON

FOOD NEWS

An extra serving of our outstanding dining coverage.

CITY NEWS

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

HOME + LIFE

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

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

SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTIONS

College Guide 2023

Learn about programs at select local and regional colleges and universities with these statistical profiles.

Western & Southern Open 2023

The Western & Southern Open hits the Lindner Family Tennis Center, showcasing some of the sport’s best and brightest.

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF John Fox

DESIGN DIRECTOR Brittany Dexter

DIRECTOR OF EDITORIAL OPERATIONS

Amanda Boyd Walters

SENIOR EDITOR Aiesha D. Little

ASSOCIATE EDITOR Lauren Fisher

DIGITAL EDITOR Sam Rosenstiel

SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGER Kane Mitten

CONTRIBUTING EDITORS Jim DeBrosse, Kathleen Doane, Jay Gilbert, Lisa Murtha, Laurie Pike, Kevin Schultz, John Stowell, Linda Vaccariello, Jenny Wohlfarth, J. Kevin Wolfe

EDITORIAL INTERNS Ashley Caudill, Willow Downs, Laura Gomes, Kate Mauer, Ethan Nhek, Olivia Rohling, Kate Shields

DIGITAL INTERNS Caroline Kammerer, Lily Ogburn, Henri Robbins, Melina Traiforos

SENIOR ART DIRECTORS Jen Kawanari, Emi Villavicencio

ASSISTANT ART DIRECTORS Carlie Burton, Jessica Dunham

CONTRIBUTING ARTISTS Lance Adkins, Wes Battoclette, Aaron M. Conway, Chris Danger, Andrew Doench, Devyn Glista, Chris von Holle, Jeremy Kramer, Ryan Kurtz, Lars Leetaru, Marlene Rounds, Dola Sun, Catie Viox

PRODUCTION DIRECTOR & IT SYSTEMS ADMINISTRATOR Vu Luong

PUBLISHED BY CINCINNATI MEDIA, LLC

CEO Stefan Wanczyk PRESIDENT John Balardo

PUBLISHER Ivy Bayer

SENIOR ACCOUNT MANAGERS

Maggie Wint Goecke, Joe Hoffecker, Julie Poyer

SENIOR OUTSIDE ACCOUNT REPRESENTATIVE

Laura Bowling

SENIOR MANAGER, SPONSORSHIP SALES

Chris Ohmer

SPECIAL PROJECTS MANAGER

Cecilia Rose

EVENT COORDINATOR

Whitney Gordon

BUSINESS

OPERATIONS DIRECTOR Missy Beiting

BUSINESS COORDINATOR Erica Birkle

CIRCULATION

AUDIENCE DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR Geralyn Wilson

CIRCULATION MANAGER Riley Meyers

EDITORIAL/ADVERTISING OFFICES

1818 Race St., Suite 301 Cincinnati, OH 45202 (513) 421-4300

E-MAIL cmletters@cincinnatimagazine.com WEB cincinnatimagazine.com

SUBSCRIPTIONS

1-866-660-6247

E-MAIL Cincinnati_Service@hourmediagroup.com

BEST MAGAZINE IN OHIO

2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2016, 2017, 2020, 2021, 2022 Ohio Excellence in Journalism Awards

IMAGE: Motorcycling ensemble, 1930s. Photo: Brian Sanderson © FIDM Museum, courtesy American Federation of Arts

and F.R. Luther Charitable Foundation, Fifth Third Bank, Trustee

THERE’S A SAYING AMONG SPORTS FANS THAT, AT OUR CORE, WE ROOT FOR laundry. Any player wearing a Cincinnati Reds uniform on the baseball diamond, for instance, is our hero. Trade him to another team, especially a hated rival, and he’s a bum. Bring someone over from the Cardinals or the Dodgers, a player we’ve always booed at Great American Ball Park, put him in a Reds uniform, and we’ll cheer every time he steps to the plate.

It’s the red hat with the white C that links us together. Or the black and orange tiger stripes, the blue and orange crown, the black and red C with claws, the blue and white X. Any player wearing those uniforms is “our guy,” and everyone wearing different-colored laundry and trying to beat him is the enemy. Check out our guys and gals in “Sports Center” (page 34), and see if you feel the same way.

Following a particular team creates community in the same way other life choices do—from your high school or college to your neighborhood or church. All of those institutions generate loyalty and bonds among those with similar experiences, even if you have little else in common. If two people went to the same school a few decades apart, they still share a connection. It’s similar if people root for the same team—you’re brothers and sisters in arms. Think of how many strangers you hugged when the Bengals beat Kansas City to reach the Super Bowl.

You pick up that feeling when you play sports as well. The folks knocking around on the next pickleball court? They’re our kind of people. Fellow skateboarders, double-Dutch rope jumpers, kickball players, wiffleball crazies? They get us!

Let’s hang out!

Quite a bit of my own laundry is tied to my love of sports, I have to admit, because wearing a team shirt or hat is a great way to feel part of something. To announce, This is who I am and where I’m from. Are you with me? Sports can be magical that way.

JOHN FOX EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

CONTRIBUTORS

SAM ROSENSTIEL & KANE MITTEN

CM Social Media Manager Kane

Mitten (right) and Digital Editor Sam Rosenstiel spend lot of time discussing the Cincinnati sports scene, so it’s fitting that the duo teamed up to create the ultimate homage to the city’s sports (“Sports Center,” page 34). “We wanted to focus on the stories that Cincinnati sports fans are passionate about,” Rosenstiel says.

KELLY BLEWETT

In “Of Loren Long We Sing” (page 50), contributing writer Kelly Blewett dives into the colorful world of Loren Long, an illustrator who weaves his Midwestern roots into children’s literature. Blewett had no idea that the illustrations in Amanda Gorman’s Change Sings were done by a Cincinnatian. “I was stunned that Loren Long had illustrated it and that I didn’t know about it,” she says.

RAFA ALVAREZ

Spanish illustrator Rafa Alvarez takes his inspiration from comic books and animation—even when he’s illustrating real-life sports stars like Joe Burrow and Elly De La Cruz for our cover. “The style happened to fit the sports and music projects I am mostly involved in,” Alvarez says. “It’s a lot of fun.”

CORRECTION

In June’s issue, we stated that the spiny softshell turtle is an amphibian. Turtles are reptiles. We regret the error.

THEY BRING NEUROSURGICAL EXPERTISE TO YOUR HOMETOWN

It’s no secret that all roads to the highest-level neurosurgical care lead right here to Cincinnati. That’s because the UC College of Medicine physician-scientists in the Department of Neurosurgery are recognized experts and thought leaders. From coveted fellowships and respected presentations at international conferences, to the most complex and successful treatments for brain tumors, spinal diseases, aneurysms, and traumatic brain injuries, UC Physicians delivers. It’s innovative care that you don’t have to leave home for. Or, as we like to say:

Indispensable medicine, right here in Cincinnati.

Left to right: Laura Ngwenya, MD, PhD; Joseph Cheng, MD, MS, professor and chair; and Jonathan Forbes, MD.

MESSI MANIA IS COMING

The world’s best soccer player is on track to play at TQL Stadium this month. Can we handle the hype?

GRANT FREKING

THE BIGGEST CULTURAL STAR to grace Cincinnati this summer is Taylor Swift? Not in your wildest dreams, Swifties! I present to you the global phenomenon that is Lionel Messi.

He’s the greatest soccer player in history. The second team sport athlete ever to surpass $1 billion in career earnings. Author of the mostliked Instagram post ever. Messi’s fame is such that he’s known by a single moniker, much in the same way that LeBron, Serena, and a select few others are recognized in even the smallest population centers around the globe.

Nineteen years after his professional debut, the best player in soccer history remains a dominant force, scoring seven times in seven matches to lead Argentina to World Cup glory last winter. And now one of the top athletes to ever walk the planet is scheduled to play at TQL Stadium on August 23. And he won’t be suiting up for FC Barcelona, Paris Saint-Germain, or the Argentinian national team CONTINUED ON P. 18

JAMES GARFIELD MATTERS P. 18 SAYING GOODBYE IN ANDERSON P. 20 GATLINBURG REVISITED P. 22 KOCH STILL COOKS P. 24

(groups that helped him make his fortune) but for Major League Soccer club Inter Miami.

One of the most prolifi c goal scorers and creative players in soccer history, Messi has scored more 800 senior career goals for club and country—including more goals in Europe’s “big five” domestic leagues than anyone else. He’s also accepted a record seven Ballon d’Or awards, a yearly honor bestowed upon the best men’s player in the world.

Messi’s fame alone would be enough to captivate American sports fans, but despite his advancing athletic age—he turned 36 in June—he showed no signs of slowing down in claiming player of the tournament honors at the recent World Cup. When he announced his departure from European club football for Inter Miami, secondary ticket prices soared for the remainder of its home matches. Messi will bend box offices much more than David Beckham did with LA Galaxy; when he makes his MLS debut—expected well before the August 23 match here—it will be the most expensive ticket in league history. All of the hype comes with a cost: Unless you’re a FC Cincinnati season ticket holder, witnessing the Messi(ah) in person at TQL Stadium will be Taylor-Swift-times-10 difficult.

Cincinnati has spent most of the season atop the Eastern Conference standings. Attacking midfielder Lucho Acosta, another Argentine, is a Most Valuable Player candidate; he, wingback Álvaro Barreal, and center back Matt Miazga were named MLS All-Stars last month. Barreal’s creativity in the final third has replaced the void left by the star striker Brenner, who departed earlier this summer for Europe. Miazga has shepherded a defense unrecognizable from the unit that was once the league leader in goals conceded. FC Cincinnati makes a habit now of winning a lot of 1–0 games.

WHY JAMES GARFIELD STILL RESONATES

fccincinnati.com

The grandeur of Messi sells itself, but the Cincinnati match intrigue also lies with him facing off against one of Major League Soccer’s top units. FC

Apart from Messi’s fi rst trip here—the first of many, we hope—the match doubles as a U.S. Open Cup semifinal, one of three parallel competitions FC Cincinnati is playing in this summer. The most important task is the league championship, a goal that would have been laughable after the club fi nished dead last in MLS from 2019 to 2021. It’s firmly within reach this season, though. Second in importance is the U.S. Open Cup. A win over Messi and Miami, plus a triumph in the championship on September 27, would earn the franchise its first trophy. The third track is the Leagues Cup, a new month-long tournament between MLS and Liga MX, Mexico’s professional soccer league. Teams in both leagues will play a total of 77 matches across the U.S. and Canada through August 19 in a World Cup-style tournament.

OUTDOOR SHAKESPEARE

Cincinnati Shakespeare Co. presents The Comedy of Errors (for free!) at 23 outdoor locations this month from Richmond, Indiana, to Maysville, Kentucky. Or catch it at Washington Park, Spring Grove Cemetery, and Eden Park. cincyshakes.com/event/park

In his new biography of Ohio’s own, President Garfield (Simon & Schuster), C.W. Goodyear offers a vivid account of a leader better known for his 1881 assassination than his policies. The book’s “From Radical to Unifier” subtitle hints at something else in James Garfield’s life, though: lessons for our turbulent times.

Who was Garfield the radical? During the Civil War and after, James Garfield was one of the most socially progressive members of the Republican Party. He went from being one of the youngest U.S. Brigadier Generals to the one of the youngest members of Congress. His motivation in both fields was the same: He wanted to be part of this liberating crusade into the South to end slavery.

What about Garfield the unifier? He was also this pathologically reasonable person in an irrational time. He helped solve some of the crises of those decades, including the first presidential election that was perceived as fraudulent, in 1876. That’s why he ended up being elected president in 1880. Garfield was the only person all Republicans could stand to be in a room with.

How did Ohio shape him? He was born in the Western Reserve in 1831, the last U.S. president to be born in a log cabin. But he always had a volcanic ambition—not just for what he could become but for what the union could become, too.

What lessons can we take today from his radical and unifying streaks? You hear a lot today about how the debates we’re having are unprecedented, but what Garfield experienced—the Civil War, Reconstruction, the Gilded Age—shows that our crises really aren’t that new. It’s reassuring in many ways that the country came out of that period intact. But when you have a pathologically reasonable person trying to solve every single issue and keep the country together, you end up with a lot of ugly deals and compromises. And those create complicated outcomes. His legacy also tells us that, while compromise is a valuable political tool, it can also defer the solution of some of our great problems to future generations.

—CRAIG FEHRMAN

Messi Around FC Cincinnati hosts Inter Miami at 7 p.m. August 23.

Being a business owner can be difficult. Financial Planning doesn’t have to be.

Business owners are a unique breed. You put everything into building and maintaining your business and keeping it on a strong financial footing. With so much on your plate, you deserve the peace of mind of knowing your financial future is in the hands of local people who understand you, your goals, and what you want out of life. For us, there’s no such thing as being too available. You need us, we’re there.

Yellow Cardinal Advisory Group, a division of First Financial B ank, provides investment advisory, wealth management, and fiduciary services. Yellow Cardinal Advisory Group

A FOND FAREWELL

A MID-CENTURY MODERN ENTHUSIAST POURED HER HEART INTO THE HANS NUETZEL HOME OF HER DREAMS. SAYING GOODBYE ISN’T EASY. —LAUREN FISHER

MARILYN ZAYAS HAS CALLED 7306 RIVERBY DR. HOME FOR MORE THAN a decade. But, if she’s being honest, she’s never truly felt like the owner. “I’m the custodian of the house,” she says. “And it’s time for me to allow another family to be custodians of the house.”

It’s a bittersweet farewell for the longtime Hamilton County Court of Appeals judge, who purchased the nearly 4,000-squarefoot Hans Nuetzel masterpiece in 2010. An avid admirer of all things Mid-Century Modern, Zayas is a member of Cincinnati Form Follows Function (cf3), a local collective of modern design enthusiasts. In June, just days after the house went under contract, cf3 gathered at the Anderson Township home for a special viewing that was, maybe unintentionally, also a bit of a goodbye party for the homeowner.

The home may have been imagined by Nuetzel, but it was the judge who meticulously maintained it, doing the bulk of the remodeling—including all of the wood refinishing— herself. Throughout the process, she was adamant about staying true to the home’s original

character, which meant skirting the advice of friends who tried to convince her to swap classic Mid-Century details, like the entryway floor tile, for more 21st century finishes.

The space unfolds in what Zayas likes to call “vistas”—largely unobstructed views both inside and out. Nuetzel designed the home in consultation with its first owner, an engineer, incorporating bold asymmetry and sharp angles that guide the eye both up and out. Thanks to the floating staircases, each room on the first floor bleeds seamlessly into the next. Many of the windows open up to 180-degree views of the Ohio River below. Occasional restoration projects (and the primary bathroom, which was completely reimagined) aside, Zayas intentionally left much of Nuetzel’s work alone, opting instead to simplify and enjoy what the architect created. Letting it go isn’t going to be easy. She’s saved the original blueprints and photos of the home for the next owners. Ahem, custodians. “I feel like this house gives me a warm hug when I need a warm hug,” Zayas says. “I love the house. But it’s time.”

GATLINBURG, REVISITED

IF YOU CAN MANAGE TO IGNORE THE SHINIEST DISTRACTIONS, GATLINBURG OFFERS A RELAXING FAMILY CAMPING DESTINATION. —ALEXANDRA FROST

I’ve avoided Gatlinburg like the plague for all 35 of my years until now, despite seeing other families with young kids make the fivehour journey (OK, six hours with pit stops). It seemed to be a massive tourist trap, with shiny lights and fake attractions crowded into a few major streets, creating a traffic nightmare. But with a little planning and forethought, a camping trip to Gatlinburg was actually the perfect family getaway. And I was pleasantly surprised to real-

ize how much of a mountain town it really is in the end.

WHERE TO STAY

Much of what made our visit to Gatlinburg special was our stay at the quaint but activity-packed Pigeon

Forge/Gatlinburg KOA

(Kampgrounds of America)

Holiday campground and cabin resort, located in the heart of all the action but still nestled in the mountains. The main feature was a heated lazy river/pool and nearby hot tub, situated close to a

GO NUTS FOR BUC-EE’S

The iconic Southern pit stop—and another place to take a break. —A.F.

bonfire pit surrounded by colorful Adirondack chairs, where the adults hung out while the kids swam.

I’ve been camping for nearly a decade, and this was one of the most ideal setups I’ve seen. The KOA also has a huge playground, jumping pillow, kid zipline, and more. We honestly could have just stayed in the campground all day, and friends without campers headed down with us and stayed in the cabins.

WHERE TO EAT

We fueled up for our adventure at Espresso

Yourself, a must-visit coffee shop in Pigeon Forge with exceptionally friendly staff and top-notch lattes. If you’re looking for something a little more substantial, you can enjoy Southern classics at Old Mill Pottery House Café and Grill, a charming working mill that’s been around since 1830. Everything at Pottery House is made from scratch, from the loaves of bread made from grain ground at the mill to the plates, which are created in-house on the pottery wheel.

WHAT TO DO

When you do venture into town, you better have a plan—or you’ll be immediately overwhelmed by the sheer number of options. On our rainiest day, the Ripley’s Aquarium was a crowdpleaser, with a multi-story playground inside, a walkthrough shark tunnel, and all the go-to aquarium favorites. Fair warning: Almost every Gatlinburg attraction makes you exit through the gift shop. Prepare your kids, unless you want to end up with a

$50 stuffed shark.

The one downside of Gatlinburg is you have to be ready to spend some money on things that are probably much cheaper at home, like arcades, go-kart tracks, and putt-putt. Some are generic and not worth the splurge, while others have unique features justifying the cost. Hillbilly Golf, for instance, is a putt-putt course carved into the side of a mountain where you have to ride a gondolatype contraption up to the top and work your way back down. The kids loved being up high, but watch out for flying golf balls.

The best way to navigate a trip to Gatlinburg is to in-

TENNESSEE TREASURE:

1: Campfire s’mores at the Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg KOA.

2: Old Mill Pottery House Café and Grill’s Hot Brown.

3: Family fun at Ripley’s Aquarium of the Smokies.

tentionally pick one or two attractions per day, determine the cost ahead of time to avoid sticker shock, and stick to the plan. The shiny lights and other attractions can be overwhelming if you don’t.

Pigeon Forge/ Gatlinburg KOA Holiday koa.com

Old Mill Pottery House Café and Grill old-mill.com

Ripley’s Aquarium of the Smokies ripleyaquariums.com

THERE ARE TWO PIT STOPS ALONG THE WAY THAT OFFER MUCH MORE THAN A MERE BATHROOM break. Between Richmond and Berea, Kentucky, give Buc-ee’s convenience store a try for its eclectic T-shirts, knickknacks, and serious snacks and lunch options (we like the Beaver Nuggets, corn puffs with a brown sugar caramel coating). Beware: You will leave with more than you expected to buy.

If you’re traveling with little kids who need a contained place to play, eat, and run, there’s a magical McDonald’s with its own kid room and playground off exit 29 on I-75 in Corbin, on your way home. Sure, it’s just McDonald’s. But the setup makes it so doable for families with little kids—tables are located right near the playground, but in a separate area from the rest of the restaurant so they can run wild without bothering anyone.

ALL IN THE FAMILY

It started with curtains. Well, it started with sewing. But theater curtains were huge for Koch in the 1880s.

That might not seem to fit with today’s selection of jerseys, sports equipment, and custom uniforms at Koch Sporting Goods, Cincinnati’s oldest sporting goods store, but the timeline makes sense.

Koch was founded in 1888 by Edward Maximillian Koch. The middle name is important because the store, which is still run by Kochs, has employed a lot of Edwards—including Edward Greg, or simply Greg. He’s a current Koch at the store and the one sharing this history. That first Edward apprenticed for a man in the sewing industry. Many of his siblings left Cincinnati, but he stuck around and opened his own retail store.

Eventually, Edward’s son stepped in: Edward Victor, or Eddie. Eddie, his brother, and other family members joined the business, which eventually began specializing in bowling shirts. In the 1930s, Greg says, bowling became huge nationally, and it was the gateway trend to transform Koch from a sewing store to a sports store. Local breweries would sponsor teams, who wore bowling shirts promoting their brewery sponsors. Koch embroidered the shirts.

After Eddie came his son, Edward Martin, or Sonny, a.k.a. Greg’s father. Greg’s first memory of Koch is about those shirts: When he was 8 or so,

he would remove dress shirts from their plastic bags and remove the pins at the shirt tops, at the shoulders. Each custom order had five or six shirts—four bowlers per team, plus an alternate or two. The tedious work was easy for little 8-year-old hands.

“I got a soda pop for doing it. I was happy,” Greg says. “A 7-ounce bottle of Coke. I was excited. Or orange Fanta.”

In 1968, when the Bengals formed, Koch supplied the team with whatever they needed; by 1970, that included jerseys. The team was a major customer through the ’80s, Greg says, in part because you never saw Nike on the field; this was before

national companies had contracts with the NFL. Similarly, however, fan merchandise wasn’t popular either. “We’d sell 24 Bengals T-shirts a year,” he says.

Today, there are five Kochs at Koch: Greg (who’s there part time these days, spending most of the year in Florida) as well as his brother Chris, nephew Ryan, niece Kassie, and son Edward Eric, who goes by Eric.

Whose son is—you guessed it—also an Edward.

THE CITY’S OLDEST SPORTING GOODS STORE GOES BACK FIVE GENERATIONS OF KOCHS.

—JACLYN YOUHANA GARVER

GOOD TO KNOW While Koch still works with local pro teams, youth sports is a huge part of its business. “For every NFL athlete, there are 300 school football players,” Greg says.

KOCH SPORTING GOODS, 131 W. FOURTH ST., DOWNTOWN, (513) 621-2352, KOCHSPORTS.COM

Smooth Moves

How figure skating shaped Dr. Kristen Mendoza’s approach to ophthalmology.

Kophthalmologist at MidWest Eye Center, where she specializes in cataract and glaucoma surgery—but she didn’t always spend her days in the operating room. Dr. Mendoza traded her ice skates for a scalpel when she decided to pursue a career in ophthalmology. Today, she treats patients who have experienced deterioration in their eyesight, but she draws parallels between lessons learned on the ice and her work in the operating room. Asure skater through high school, the sport taught her about hard work, perseverance, and

teamwork. In medical school, it all came full circle when she was shadowing a family friend who was an ophthalmologist. She was struck by the precision and beauty of cataract surgery. “Every incision and every movement is so meticulous and intentional—you’re working with fractions of millimeters,” Dr. Mendoza says. “This reminded me of your edges, your body position and alignment, and the smoothness of all of your moves.”

help her patients regain their eyesight and do what is meaningful to them, such as seeing to interact with their detail hobbies such as woodworking and crocheting. Her approach to being a doctor was inspired by her father, who specializes in internal medicine. She remembers patients coming up to their family in the community to say hello and express their gratitude for her father, and those interactions made an impact on how she treats patients today. “I am my patients’ teammate,” she says. “[It’s my

them,” says Dr. Mendoza. “The doctor is your advocatepowered.” Her teammates in the MidWest Eye Center being surrounded with supportive colleagues and fellow surgeons who take excellent clinical care of patients and contribute to developing innovations in ophthalmology through research.

Dr. Mendoza and her husband, who is also a surgeon, moved to Cincinnati to build their careers and be near

Schedule an eye exam

Patients who are concerned with their eyesight should speak to their doctor about regular screening for eye diseases and goals for their vision. Conditions such as high blood pressure and diabetes can be caught in an eye exam along with other indicators crucial to eye health.

I live near Lick Run Greenway, the South Fairmount project that turned a disgusting sewage swamp into beautiful parks and playgrounds. Dozens of homes were razed for the project, but a single house—just one—is still standing. Everything else is gone. There’s got to be a good story there. —HOME ALONE

DEAR ALONE:

It depends on what you mean by “good story.” A 1987 comedy movie, Batteries Not Included, featured an elderly couple who saved their home from the wrecking ball with the help of adorable creatures from outer

space. If that qualifies as a “good story,” you may wonder if space aliens also helped to save the lone house in South Fairmount. They did not.

Dozens of homes on Queen City Avenue were purchased and demolished by the Metropolitan Sewer District in order to build the Lick Run Greenway. They were old and dilapidated, so few tears were shed over their demise. But one house—the one you see remaining, built in 1890— had been kept in relatively good shape. Its owner simply declined the offer, wishing to stay. Happily, there was no years-long legal battle that often happens (see: Rookwood Exchange, Norwood, 2008).

The home survived, MSD completed its project, and everyone won—especially South Fairmount. The neighborhood today enjoys an area that was literally sewer-infested but that’s now a beautiful and useful treasure. Sorry, space aliens not included.

Mt. Lookout Square has a new Italian café called VV. The ZIP code on its menu says 45208, which the server said is correct, but isn’t that the ZIP code for Hyde Park? Mt. Lookout is 45226! Is Mt. Lookout Square secretly in Hyde Park? Have we been lied to for generations? —OH, THE HORROR

DEAR OH:

Brace yourself. Almost every establishment along Mt. Lookout Square is ZIPcoded as Hyde Park—without even one store wearing Prada. Yet the Square itself is squarely within the community of Mt. Lookout. What happened?

Blame Hitler. Post office workers of the early 20th century just plain knew where everybody lived, but when the U.S. suddenly entered World War II, all that institutional memory got shipped overseas. Replacement workers needed a better way to get that postcard to Aunt Liz (every American back then was assigned an Aunt Liz). Postal Zones, created in 1943, didn’t necessarily match the borders of a neighborhood—hence your confusion. Cincin-

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

nati’s Hyde Park station was Zone 8. No Mt. Lookout Post Office existed at the time, just the East End station (Zone 26), so Hyde Park mail carriers had to drag their sacks all the way to Mt. Lookout Square. They still do. Zones 8 and 26 got the 452 prefix slapped on them in 1963, and Aunt Liz is still waiting to hear from you.

Our family has a very old ornate sword inscribed with our grandfather’s name (he died in 1916). It also says “Knights of St. Edward.” We found only a little about that group, and nothing at all about the sword. Can you investigate? Our grandfather lived in Mt. Adams and went to Immaculata Church. —TAKE A

STAB

DEAR STAB:

Genealogy is something that’s difficult to research, and worse to spell; the Doctor normally avoids such bother. But since you went to the trouble to send several high-resolution photos of your grandfather’s sword (it does look magnificent), we took the plunge—to a point. We found plenty of information about your grandfather, the sword, and the Knights of St. Edward but, alas, nothing that connected them.

Theodore Weber and wife Alma moved in 1914 from Fairmount to Mt. Adams near Immaculata Church, but about a year later, Theodore died suddenly at age 24. Two months after that, your father was born. Records show that the family promptly moved back to Fairmount. Neither neighborhood was close to Cincinnati’s Knights of St. Edward, who were based in the East End. Therefore, as the Bible says, “From whence cometh my sword?” Well, it was forged by the Chas. Svendsen Company on Court Street, a nationally famous manufacturer of military regalia. How did your grandfather get it? And God said, “It’s a mystery. You figure it out.”

BUILDING ON HARD ROCK

CINCINNATI’S

SUCCESS

New Hard Rock Cincinnati President Justin Wyborn plans to strengthen community ties as he sharpens the focus on entertainment.

Anative of Australia, Justin Wyborn comes to Hard Rock Cincinnati with plenty of hospitality experience under his belt. After opening and managing Nobu restaurants across the world, Wyborn made the jump to the casino industry. He fell in love with his work at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino Hollywood in Hollywood, Florida, and his hospitality background makes him the perfect fit for his position as President of Hard Rock Cincinnati. Wyborn looks to build a connection with the community in Cincinnati, which he feels will only enhance the guest experience at Hard Rock Cincinnati.

“People don’t tend to talk about Cincinnati outside of the Midwest; the arts, the culture, the entertainment—it’s a smaller city with a big-city mentality and big-city culture,” says Wyborn. “Everything here

is like living in a massive, massive city—Cincinnati is one of those gems and [I want to] celebrate everything that Cincinnati has.”

The casino’s existing success is a strong foundation to build upon, he says, outlining plans to enhance the food and beverage program and add more entertainment offerings. His admiration for the city underscores the excitement he has

city as I can and driving more notoriety to this hidden gem,” Wyborn says. One of the first steps in that direction is programming live music at Hard Rock Cincinnati’s outdoor performance space. This summer brings acts including The Steve Miller Band; Ludacris, Ashanti, and Flo Rida; and KC and The Sunshine Band to Hard Rock Cincinnati’s 4,000-person amphitheater-like space. Wyborn

for what’s next for Hard Rock Cincinnati.

“I’m looking forward to getting involved in the community, meeting as many people in the

says that adding live music will add to the casino’s excitement and provide guests with a unique and intimate experience.

His admiration for the city underscores the excitement he has for what’s next for Hard Rock Cincinnati.

BY JAY GILBERT

Jerry & Me

on Earth. (Infamous, many would say.) Most Americans still know nothing of the earlier Jerry, and never ask. Only Cincinnati remembers his years as a politician and news anchor, committed to helping the marginalized and the voiceless. Everywhere else, the name Jerry Springer has meant the exact opposite—a guy who treated the marginalized and voiceless like circus animals.

Maybe, like me, you are a Cincinnatian who’s recently found yourself explaining the other Jerry to non-locals. In this town we say “the other” instead of “the former,” because we always knew that the Cincinnati version of Jerry Springer was still in there, trying to get out—desperately wanting the outside world to know that he was more than just Jerr-EE! Jerr-EE! He tried several times to break free of that perception, and mostly failed.

One of these doomed attempts included me. I first met Cincinnati Mayor Springer when he was a twice-weekly contributor of commentaries on WEBN radio, where I worked. WEBN was, in fact, the birthplace of his famous on-air essays. They later became his signature “Final Thoughts” during his years anchoring the Channel 5 newscast, and then they pretended to be a respectable closing segment for his TV show.

I saw Jerry only occasionally after his time at WEBN, but in 2005 I was invited to join a new project he was starting. For the next two years I worked with him almost every day.

IF YOU WATCHED THE ORIGINAL, TAME VERSION OF THE JERRY SPRINGER SHOW MORE than once, there’s something wrong with you. It sucked. Not because it was outrageous, but because it was boring.

Recruited to be the next Phil Donahue, Jerry had copied Donahue’s high-road playbook and was getting his ass kicked by the edgier low-road competition (Maury, Montel, Sally Jesse, etc.). Things changed when a new producer arrived, bringing a strategy that can best be described this way: “Everyone is racing for the gutter. Let’s get there first.” The Donahue playbook was trashed, and trash itself became the show’s source material. You know the rest. The Jerry Springer Show ran for 28 years, many of them as daytime TV’s highest-rated show.

By the time Jerry Springer died in April, he’d become one of the most famous people

SPRINGER ON THE RADIO WAS A THREEhour syndicated talk show based here. It was structured much like the Rush Limbaugh-type shows dominating talk radio, but was a rare exception that leaned liberal politically—just like Jerry. Pause for a moment and let this career decision sink in: Jerry did his daily radio show simultaneously with his daily television show.

For two years he flew back and forth from Chicago to Cincinnati in his private jet, spending about $10,000 each way, to work two jobs. When he started appearing on Dancing With the Stars, he worked three jobs. That’s how committed he was to convincing the world that Jerry Springer wasn’t just Jerr-EE! Jerr-EE!

The radio show’s approach was to act as

I SPENT TWO YEARS WORKING WITH ONE OF THE WORLD’S MOST FAMOUS PEOPLE, BUT BOTH OF US WERE MOSTLY INVISIBLE.

if the TV show didn’t exist. The plan was to start in Cincinnati, where “the other” Jerry was known and loved, and then as the show got picked up by radio stations around the country, the rest of America would get to know the warm and often funny Jerry, the issues-oriented Jerry, the proud liberal Jerry even conservatives could fi nd appealing.

jobs in two cities, I could handle two jobs in one building.

My contribution to Springer on the Radio was to provide the kind of material I’d been creating for WEBN’s rock format: comedy sketches, song parodies, and fake commercials. For Jerry’s talk show, though, the content would focus much more on political themes and much less

I cranked out one comedy module per hour in each of the show’s three hours. Not wanting to work myself to death, I shared part of my salary with my favorite writing partner, Don Goldberg, a long-ago WEBN alumnus and friend who’d moved to Seattle. Out of our long-distance but close collaboration (a nicer phrase than “constant arguing”) came some of the best work of our careers. Stand by for a link that will play several examples.

The show originated from the Kenwood media complex that included WEBN, so when I was asked to join Jerry’s team it was no problem to say yes and continue with my weekday-afternoon radio gig. Hey, if Jerry could handle two

on dick jokes. I even got a budget to hire outside performers and to license karaoke tracks for song parodies. Jerry himself sometimes played Gerald Fearmong, the fake news anchor for “Crock News,” a Fox News satire. He enjoyed that.

At our team’s first meeting, I got a sense of what happens when you become as famous as Jerry Springer. Discussion got around to how we’d communicate with Jerry online, and he mentioned that he was eager to upgrade his Mac laptop. I said, “Hey, you’re in luck. The Apple Store is at Kenwood Towne Centre three blocks away. I’ll take you there, and you can choose whatever laptop you need.” Jerry shook his head and said, “Oh, no, I can’t go into a mall.” Hmm. Someone else got the laptop.

I CAN SAY THAT JERRY SPRINGER, BY FAR THE MOST FAMOUS PERSON I’VE EVER KNOWN, WAS BY FAR THE PERSON LEAST IMPRESSED WITH HIS OWN FAME.

WHEN YOU’VE SPENT TIME WITH AN honest-to-God world-famous celebrity, you’re inevitably asked, “What’s he really like?” I’ve met and interviewed many well-known people, and some of them were so full of themselves they could explode. I can say that Jerry Springer, by far the most famous person I’ve ever known, was by far the person least impressed with his own fame.

At his memorial event in June, a staffer on his TV show said, “I didn’t work for him, I worked with him. He made everyone feel that way.” Same here.

Jerry was all in on his radio show, committing both time and money. He was rich by then, sure, and could burn through as many dollars as he wanted, but extra hours in a day? Those were not available at any price. Still, he somehow got his show prep done each day and spent hours with top radio consultants, getting pointers for a medium that requires vastly different skills than television. He said at one point

that he’d had no idea how much work a radio show required.

Despite the show getting a daily slot on Air America, the short-lived liberal talk radio network, Springer on the Radio never achieved enough of an audience to be sustainable. Then, after Jerry said yes to joining the 2006 season of Dancing With the Stars, he was absent from our show for long stretches. It was clear we couldn’t continue. Everything shut down in December.

Since hardly anyone has ever heard the comedy that Don Goldberg and I worked on, I hereby order you to check out a few examples at youtu.be/rqclmA7IvIQ.

Ironically, Jerry’s good humor about his bad moves on Dancing With the Stars was just the thing that fi nally got Americans to notice his lovable side. Surges of fan votes helped him survive for seven excruciating weeks, which were quickly followed by multiple offers to be a favorite guest, judge, or host on many popu-

lar shows. The trash-TV version of Jerry had never gotten offers like that, but they never stopped after he danced into the nation’s hearts.

In semi-retirement last year, Jerry started one more Cincinnati radio show, his last project before the diagnosis of his fi nal illness. On Sunday mornings he became a DJ, playing 1960s-era folk music. Before that, he hosted a podcast from a coffee house in Ludlow for several years, which he did for the same reason he did the folk music show: He enjoyed it.

Jerry’s biggest dreams never came true, but other, smaller ones did, by way of several astonishing detours. Some say that life’s small things turn out to be the big things.

Is Jerry Springer resting in peace, or is Satan throwing chairs at him for all eternity? You, I, and everyone else will someday know the answer to that ultimate question. Until then, take care of yourself...and each other.

The definitive guide to living well in Greater Cincinnati

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

SPORTS

Watching, playing, and loving sports in Cincinnati has never been more exciting than right now.

Here are dozens of ways to join the fun.

Photograph by Jeremy Kramer

CENTER

First Things First

FC Cincinnati’s winning culture is led by (from left) Nick Hagglund, Lucho Acosta, and Álvaro Barreal.

Photographed on June 29, 2023.

HIGHLY SELECTIVE ANSWERS TO FIVE SPORTY QUESTIONS.

We can’t school you on all the rules of every game, but we can answer a few foundational headscratchers that might help out the next time someone says, “How about those Reds?”

Why is Opening Day such a big deal? Cincinnati claims the first all-professional baseball team, and we like to believe that earned us the right to start each season at home, but it’s more a function of geography—for many years, Cincinnati was the southernmost city in the National League, meaning better weather for early-season games.

What the heck is an NIL? Name, image, and likeness. In 2021, the NCAA changed its rules—effectively allowing college players in all sports to be paid. The explanation is simple, but the effect is not. Lawsuits are pending, the NCAA is pushing for federal legislation regulating the NIL marketplace, and athletes can be on their own in a confusing landscape.

So what if UC moves conferences? For UC, joining the Big 12 means joining a Power Five conference. Those groups of schools are at the top of the money-making (and attention-getting) food chain. In 2022, these conferences generated over $3.3 billion in revenue—and member schools get a cut. That means up to an extra $45 million per year for UC.

Who is Bailey?

The Bailey isn’t a who. It’s a place: The sections on the north end of TQL Stadium where supporters of FC Cincinnati sit—er, stand—during matches. Why is it called that?

As FC Cincinnati’s Twitter account explained it: “The Bailey is a term used to describe the stronghold of a castle...much like our supporters are FCC’s stronghold.”

Boyd Walters

What’s The Pit? According to StadiumTalk.com, The Pit is Ohio’s best high school football stadium. Home of the Elder Panthers, The Pit was designed in the 1930s by students Robert Bange and John Hurst and built with the help of students, coaches, and parents.

Dedicated in 1947, the concrete bowl holds 10,000 fans.

Taking a Leap of Faith into the Big 12

Head football coach Scott Satterfield’s whirlwind move from Louisville to UC was not anyone’s Plan A, but his past success with transition bodes well. J o h n S t o w e l l

—John Stowell

Scott Satterfi eld sat in his new offi ce above UC’s Nippert Stadium and watched his old team, the Louisville Cardinals, beat his new one, the Bearcats, on TV. He’d just finished his fourth season as UofL head coach, and Louisville was matched against UC in the Fenway Bowl just before Christmas.

Several weeks before, Luke Fickell had announced he was leaving UC for the Uni-

versity of Wisconsin. UC Athletic Director John Cunningham reached out to Satterfield while the coach was in Miami scouting Florida high school players, and UC President Neville Pinto followed up with his own call. The next day, Satterfield stood in the shadow of Nippert as Cunningham introduced UC’s 43rd head coach to a packed room. Satterfield was excited, energized, and ready to go…but his thoughts drifted back to the Louisville locker room of young men he loved.

It’s not exactly the lead-in to the 2023 football season anyone would have preferred, especially with UC finally attaining Power Five status by joining the Big 12 Conference. At least Satterfield had been through this routine before.

In 2018, he decided to leave his first head coaching job at Appalachian State University to join Louisville just hours before coaching the Mountaineers to the Sun Belt Conference championship and a bid to the New Orleans Bowl. It was a tough job to leave abruptly. App State was his alma mater, and he’d been the star quarterback and coached there for most of the next 20 years.

“In the coaching business, you take the job on faith and the vision of the A.D. and, in this case, the president of the university,” says Satterfield. “You don’t even get to visit the campus. You maybe call a few people and then make your decision fast.”

Satterfield brought some trusted friends with him to UC: Five assistant coaches and several players from his Louisville squad have joined him in Clifton. He retained Kerry Coombs, the veteran high school, college, and NFL coach who led UC in the Fenway Bowl on an interim basis.

UC enters the 2023 season with a mostly new coaching staff, just one returning wide receiver, a new (albeit experienced) quarterback, those Louisville transfers, and several new interior linemen. Satterfield jokes that, before he gets everyone on the same page, players need to learn each other’s names.

That goes for the coaching staff as well. Satterfield, as most coaches do, talks about establishing a “culture” beyond simply winning football games. It’s about how to deal with unique

personalities, openness to new ideas, accountability, lines of authority, and accessibility. “Some coaches don’t want their players up here,” he says as he waves his arms around his vast office, “and I don’t understand that. I want them to feel comfortable coming up here.”

Satterfield calls himself a risk-taker when it comes to game management. “I’m prone to go for it,” he says when asked about his tendencies in fourth down situations. “I have an aggressive mentality, and the analytics play a big role in that thinking. When you go for it, you’re telling your offense you have confidence in them while also telling your defense that, if we don’t get the first down, you have confidence in them to stop the other team.”

He’ll take that aggressive approach into UC’s first Big 12 season. He says he hasn’t circled any game on his calendar as special, but he admits that September 23, when football juggernaut Oklahoma visits Nippert Stadium, will be electric. “I’m also looking forward to some of the fun places where we’re going to play, like Oklahoma State and West Virginia, and playing a night game at BYU will be awesome,” he says. “I can’t wait for this season. Being able to coach and play in a stadium like Nippert is going to be incredible.”

Satterfield is used to transitions. He helped lead Appalachian State from its status as a member of the Football Championship Subdivision, where it had won three national championships, to the top-ranked Football Bowl Subdivision and the Sun Belt Conference. And he was the quarterbacks coach for App State’s 34–32 win over Michigan in 2007, considered by many to be the greatest upset in college football history.

“We drove back to Boone, North Carolina, through Ohio,” says Satterfi eld, laughing, “and wherever we stopped, Ohio State fans were buying our guys a meal or a soft drink or something.”

Satterfield will feel that same kind of warm reception from Bearcat fans and UC administrators if he can navigate another successful transition this fall. Especially if he finds himself back on the sideline at a bowl game.

THE NEXT bengals STAR

The Cincinnati Bengals are associated with flash and dash, but controlled violence remains an integral part of professional football. That’s what cornerback Cam Taylor-Britt brings to the table, along with top-end speed, smarts, and competitive fire. CTB was thrown in as a rookie last season when injuries hit and not only held his own but was a crucial cog in the team’s run to the brink of the Super Bowl. Under Lou Anarumo, Taylor-Britt should ascend another level to top-of-the-league status over the next season-plus.

Weintraub

Read Robert’s weekly Bengals columns at cincinnatimagazine.com

OLD SCORE (BOARD)

Breaking down Crosley Field’s iconic scoreboard and how its legacy lives on in Blue Ash.

FROZEN IN TIME

The last pitch at Crosley Field was thrown on June 24, 1970 (the Reds beat the Giants 5-4 in that final game). The scores from around the league and sponsor signs on the board that day are dutifully included on the replica.

YOUR AD HERE

Original sponsors PNC Bank, Swiss watchmaker Longines, and a little-known pop brand that you might recall are all still alive and kicking today.

NEW DIGS

The field at Blue Ash Sports Center, reconstructed using blueprints from the OG Crosley Field, has the same field and outfield wall dimensions, the same grass infield, and the infamous 15-degree outfield slope nicknamed the “terrace.”

THE PRIZE IS RIGHT

The Reds have since traded Webber’s Sausage’s “Hit this sign Reds win $100” placard for a new giveaway. If a Reds player manages to hit the Toyota sign, one lucky fan drives away in a new Tundra pickup.

WHO’S ON “1ST”

When the Reds played a doubleheader at Crosley Field, the score from the first game would appear under “1st.”

P’S COMPANY

The number under the big “P” indicates the uniform number of the player on the mound. The little “P” on the out-of-town scores also lists the pitcher, but not his jersey number. Those numbers came from printed programs, where players’ names were listed alphabetically.

A Field of Dreams

Mason’s new adaptive baseball diamonds will make room for players of every ability.

—Lauren Fisher

Since 2012, athletes with physical and developmental disabilities have played baseball in the Mason Challenger League. But for players with mobility issues, including those who use wheelchairs and walkers, navigating the diamond and dugouts can be next to impossible. That’s why the city of Mason, along with its parks foundation, is working with the Challengers to build more accessible ballfields that will let kids and adults enjoy the sport without worry.

The Challengers are slated to debut

Reds

Familiar voices and faces include the Cowboy, Jeff Brantley, and Chris Welsh in his 31st year in the booth.

TV: Bally Sports Ohio, Radio: WLW (700AM)

Bengals

Dan Hoard and Dave Lapham are the city’s new Marty & Joe, as beloved as the team.

BAM! Coffin nails! TV: Local12, Radio: WLW (700AM)

their 2024 spring season on two brand new diamonds made from synthetic turf, outfi tted with special pads that make for a smooth, hazard-free surface. Extra-wide dugouts will accommodate mobility devices, while fully fenced-in fields will give peace of mind to parents whose players might be at risk of running off. And just outside the ballfields, players can keep the fun going at neighboring Common Ground Playground, a one-of-a-kind playground for kids and adults of all abilities.

FCC

Tom Gelehrter has announced every single FC Cincinnati match, joined by the excitable Irishman, Kevin McCloskey. TV: AppleTV, Radio: WCKY (1530AM)

XU Hoops

Ex-Muskies Joe Sunderman and Byron Larkin return for their 25th year together. TV: CBS/ Fox, Radio: WLW (700AM)/WKRC (550AM)

F O L LO W YO U R T E A M S FOLLOW YOUR TEAMS

THE NEXT reds STAR

Elly De La Cruz is a spellbinding future star, a switch-hitting 6-foot-5 shortstop with light-tower power, blazing speed, and a cannon for an arm. Only 21, he’s already a force on the big league roster and a national media darling. Ranked by ESPN as the No. 1 prospect in all of baseball, he’s the most exciting young Reds talent since Eric Davis—and, if you can believe it, De La Cruz may be even more athletic than Davis. Yeah, he’s that good.

C h a d D o t s o n —Chad Dotson

Read Chad’s weekly Reds columns at cincinnatimagazine.com

OXCan’t make it to the games in person? Here’s how to catch the action on your devices. J o h n Fo x —John Fox

UC Hoops/ Football

Dan Hoard is the voice of the Bearcats. Big 12 TV games are on ESPN/Fox. Radio: WLW (700AM)

NKU Hoops

Horizon League TV games are on ESPN+.

Radio: WSAI (1360AM)/WCKY (1530AM)

Cyclones

Online TV and radio coverage is accessed on their website: cycloneshockey. com/media/ broadcast

Y’alls

Online TV coverage is accessed on their website: florenceyalls. com/schedule

Cupin the Air

Two local soccer players compete in the FIFA Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand this month.

Rose Lavelle won’t be the only Cincinnati native defending the U.S. Women’s National Team’s World Cup title this year. She’s joined by World Cup first-timer Aubrey Kingsbury, the 31-year-old goalkeeper out of St. Ursula Academy who currently plays with the Washington Spirit.

The ninth iteration of the Women’s World Cup kicked off July 20, with 32 teams split into eight groups of four. By the time you read this, the U.S. will have already played its Group E counterparts Vietnam (funny enough, they’re set to play at Auckland’s Eden Park) and the Netherlands. Team USA faces Portugal on August 1, so set your alarms for 3 a.m. The two highestscoring teams in the group after three matches advance to the round of 16. The quarterfinals run August 10–12, semifinals on August 15 and 16, and the final on August 20.

ROSE LAVELLE

TA K ES O N T H E WO R L D AGA I N TAKES ON THE WORLD AGAIN

Cincinnati’s soccer superstar returns to the World Cup looking forward to repping the USA with her teammates.

—Caroline Kammerer

F

rom playing for Cincinnati United to the U.S. Women’s National Team, Rose Lavelle is a well-known hometown hero. As a Xavier basketball fan and Skyline Chili enthusiast, it’s no secret she’s proud of her roots.

Long before bringing home a World Cup victory for the U.S. in 2019 and a bronze medal at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, Lavelle made a name for herself as a high school soccer star playing for Mt. Notre Dame High School, with The Cincinnati Enquirer naming her 2013 Player of the Year. She grabbed international attention after scoring three goals in the 2019 World Cup, including the second goal against the Netherlands in the final, earning her a ranking as the sixth-best women’s soccer player in the world by FIFA. She currently plays professional club soccer for OL Reign in Seattle alongside USWNT teammate Megan Rapinoe.

As the 2023 FIFA World Cup approach-

es, Lavelle looks forward to a second appearance with her U.S. teammates. “Every World Cup is different, so you never know what to expect, but after going through it in 2019 I can say that you experience every emotion possible,” Lavelle told Cincinnati Magazine in July. “It’s just a special time in a player’s career, so I’m going to do my best to enjoy every minute.”

Competing alongside Lavelle is fellow Cincinnati native Aubrey Kingsbury, making her World Cup debut. “She’s one of the few who really understands how much I love Cincinnati, so we have that bond,” says Lavelle. “She’s a great person and player and just a wonderful member of our team.”

And what’s next for Lavelle after the World Cup? Some sleep, she hopes, plus a few days to spend with her family and dog, Wilma Jean Wrinkles, before more soccer and the NWSL club season’s final stretch.

THE BEST SPORTS GEAR

I N T O W N IN TOWN

You’ve probably purchased a jersey at a team shop before. You may have even been to the city’s most famous store, Koch Sporting Goods (see page 24). But you don’t wanna look like every other fan. You wanna stick out.

1 // CINCY SHIRTS // If Ja’Marr

Chase has an electrifying catch, it’s on a Cincy Shirt the next day. The screen-printer is known for having apparel ready to wear by the time you can utter “Joe Burrow.” // 2709 OBSERVATORY AVE., HYDE PARK, CINCYSHIRTS.COM

2 // CONCUSSION SPORTS //

You’ve seen it on bumper stickers, in memes, and just about everywhere. A horribly drawn Bengal tiger with the words “Cinati Bengos” has been popping up all over town. It shouldn’t be funny, but somehow it is. // ONLINE ORDERS ONLY; CONCUSSIONSPORTS.NET

3 // HOMAGE // Homage is best known for quirky tees that combine sports and pop culture, like a combined Reds x Grateful Dead tee or an FCC shirt with a Naughty By Nature pun on it. (We’ll leave you to guess that one.) // 1232 VINE ST., OTR,. HOMAGE.COM

4 // RIVERTOWN INKERY // Want the vintage look without vintage resale prices? Rivertown’s your bet. Crosley Field tees, retro Bengals logos—they even have posters of Cincinnati in 1929. // 1808 RACE ST.,OTR; 3096 MADISON RD. OAKLEY, RIVERTOWNINKERY.COM

5 // RALLY HOUSE // OK, yes, we just said that this list has unique gear. And yes, on first glance, Rally House is indistinguishable from a team shop. But it succeeds thanks to its sheer variety. // VARIOUS LOCATIONS; RALLYHOUSE.COM

THE NEXT fc Cincinnati STAR

You know about Lucho Acosta and Brandon Vázquez. You might even know about Roman Celentano and Matt Miazga. What about Álvaro Barreal? Major League Soccer defenses know all about the creative wrath generated by FC Cincinnati’s left wingback. Barreal, who turns 23 this month, transitioned from attacking winger early in the 2022 season and wound up second on the team in assists (nine) while contributing five goals. He’s on track to top those totals in 2023, racking up MLS Team of the Matchday honors along the way. European clubs will start calling about Barreal if they aren’t already.

G ra n t Fr e k i n g —Grant Freking Read Grant’s weekly FC Cincinnati columns at cincinnatimagazine.com the real deal

With more than 60 courts in our area and more coming, here are great places for pickleball newbies and near-pros.

Nine courts at The Pickle Lodge ’s massive indoor complex, the secondlargest in the U.S., have been open for play since mid-June. Eight more courts, a bar, and a restaurant are slated to open in late summer. The complex features a cushioned Novaplay Surface, 91 new LEDs for night play, and garage doors to let in fresh air and natural light. 7373 Kingsgate Way, West Chester, (513) 252-2579, thepicklelodge.com

Also among the largest pickleball centers around is a sprawling outdoor complex of 18 lighted courts run by Pickleball at Sawyer Point, a nonprofit offering new player lessons, clinics, leagues, and tournaments. Free to use and always open, they even host an online feed so you can check if your favorite court is available before you head out. 815 E. Pete Rose Way, downtown, pbatsp.com

Thanks to Stanley and Marcia Volkens and the Middletown Pickleball Association, Lefferson Park has 16 dedicated pickleball courts open seven days a week and host-

—Sam Rosenstiel

ing tournaments, including its 16th annual citywide pickleball tournament on August 5 & 6. 2145 S. Breiel Blvd., Middletown, mpa27.wildapricot.org

Planes taking off overhead are sure to get the blood pumping. The Lindner Tennis Center at Lunken Playfield has 12 hard surface pickleball courts you can reserve at the outdoor complex. No guarantees a Goodyear blimp will fly over to film your match, but anything’s possible. 4750 Playfield Ln., Linwood, (513) 321-1772

A frosty beverage makes everything better. The Pickleball Ranch at Freedom Brewing Company will combine cold brews and hot shots at a 12,000-squarefoot indoor/outdoor brewery and six pickleball courts in spring 2024. A finished lower-level patio will offer an outdoor entertainment space and views of the pickleball action, plus an outdoor concert stage for live entertainment. Coming soon to Florence near Thomas More Stadium

the Court

The most obvious differences between pickleball and tennis are the equipment and court sizes. Pickleball ditches heavy rackets and fuzzy balls for lighter paddles and plastic balls similar to Wiffle balls. Pickleball courts are also smaller than tennis courts; you can play singles or doubles, though doubles matches are more common.

Going by USA Pickleball’s rule book, balls can be served underhand or via “drop serve” (look it up if you like). Scoring points is like table tennis, but notably only the serving team can score—no points for you if your opponent sends the ball out of bounds or into the “kitchen,” that sevenfoot space on either side of the net. That would be a fault, which results in teams switching off serving and returning. The first team to 11 points wins if they have a two-point lead. Otherwise, the game continues until one team gets two points ahead.

This is far from every rule you’ll need to play a proper game, so visit usapickleball.org to see all official regulations.

S R —S.R.

Before you hit the court, understand pickleball rules and how they differ from tennis.

Service,

Please: Like tennis, your first volley must travel diagonally over the net.

The Kitchen: Doesn’t matter if you can stand the heat, you can’t play in the kitchen. The first 7 feet from either side of the net is a non-volley zone.

A Game of Inches: Pickleball nets measure 36 inches high at the sideline and 34 in the center, while tennis nets hang a bit taller at 42 inches at the sideline and 36 in the center.

Size Matters: Pickleball courts are 44 feet long and 20 feet wide, a good bit smaller than a 78-by-36foot tennis court.

VIRTUAL REALITY

eMLS All-Star Cissé Diop plays for FC Cincinnati, but you won’t see him on the pitch.

SPORTS FOR ALL

Alex Yeazel runs HOTMess Cincinnati, an intramural sports league for LGBTQ+ players K M —K.M.

DERBY DAYS

Krysten Lapid has forged strong bonds and found community with the Cincinnati Rollergirls.

Ka n e M i t t e n —Kane

Mitten

What What’s your preferred team to s your preferred team to play as? play as? In the competitive world, we only play on FIFA’s Ultimate Team mode, where you create a team of your favorite players. It’s based off personal preference to choose which players work best for your style and who you’re up against. But if I had to pick one player who’s always in my team regardless, it’s Kylian Mbappé.

What What’s your best memory with s your best memory with FC C i n c i n n at i ? Cincinnati? On the virtual pitch, my favorite was placing top eight this past season at eMLS League Series 1. As an FCC fan, I was able to attend their away game last year versus New York Red Bulls. I just remember the fans going absolutely crazy and thinking, “I’ve never seen anything like that in my life at any game.”

Y o u You ’ r e o r i g i n a l ly f r o m S e n - re originally from Senegal , where football is huge Do f C C fa n s m e as u r e u p to wo r l d - fCC fans measure up to worldw i d e f o o t b a l l fa n s ? wide football fans? Definitely. The people are so kind, and everyone is so passionate. There’s even a guy who follows me on Twitter in Ghana with his own FC Cincinnati fan club. Every match day, him and his friends pull up to one place to watch the games together. It’s amazing the way FCC impacts people’s lives not only in Cincinnati itself, but all over the world. Who would have thought people would be cheering on FCC all the way in West Africa? mlssoccer.com/emls

Was the league’s start in 2021 spurred by everyone coming out spurred by everyone coming out o f t h e pa n d e m i c ? of the pandemic? I had just moved back to Cincinnati during COVID and was looking to make friends. Most LGBTQ+ spaces are at night in clubs and bars, primarily because it wasn’t safe for a queer space to be out during the daylight until very recently. HOTMess provides that opportunity with kickball, dodgeball, flag football, cornhole, bowling, and grass and sand volleyball.

Why do you think a space like Why think a like this is important for queer peo- this is important for people? I grew up playing sports, so I’ve always been an athlete. I once had a coach who sat my whole football team down and told us that if we didn’t play well that we’re just a bunch of sissies like all the homosexuals who weren’t going to inherit the kingdom of God. So, one, it can be healing for people who had distasteful experiences playing sports. Two, it’s important to be able to make friends, and a kickball game is a very different atmosphere from a bar.

What What ’ s your favorite memory s your favorite memory with the league? Before I was commissioner, playing here was the first time I’d been able to do anything without having to come out—it was already an assumed part of my identity. I credit HOTMess with giving me the strength and the courage to fully come out to everyone I knew. hotmesssports.com/cincinnati

S a m Ro s e n s t i e l —Sam Rosenstiel

Why do you love roller derby? Why do you love roller derby? I really fell in love with derby because of the community it brought around. I’m also on the competitive side, so derby helps me get out a little aggression. We have a phrase in derby: I love hitting my friends. It’s a term of endearment.

D o y o u r e m e m b e r y o u r f i r s t Do you remember your first time on the track? time on the track? My first game in 2019 was pretty memorable because I was scared to go out in my first jam. You know, fresh meat. It was very comforting to have the players I had around me at that time. They were like, It’s OK, you got this. We’re going to do this. It’s just comforting to be around my teammates, and I always just think about that every time I go out.

What inspired the toothy face What inspired the toothy face pa i n t y o u w e a r d u r i n g j a m s ? paint you wear during jams? I wanted to bring in some of my Filipino culture. The Philippines was conquered by Spain for about 300 years, and precolonization we were known as a tattooed people. There was a lot of face painting, face tattooing, and body tattooing. I wear the crocodile teeth, because crocodiles were revered as spiritual creatures.

W h at w e r e yo u r favo r i t e m o -

What were your favorite mom e n t s f r o m t h e l a s t s e a s o n ? ments from the last season? This was our full season after COVID. I won back-to-back MVP blocker awards. cincinnatirollergirls.com

Cincinnati Looks to Become a Real Great Cincinnati Sports Calls

ROLL MODEL

Anyone can give skateboarding, roller skating, or scootering a try and roll casually down the street for leisure or to run errands, head to a local skatepark to meet new people and get some practice in, or repurpose architectural and infrastructural fixtures to pull off a new trick. The versatility of roller sports is vast, and Cincinnati has welcoming communities that can equip you with the knowledge, resources, and skills needed to immerse yourself.

All you really need to get started with a roller sport are wheels and a surface to roll them on. Getting that equipment is an investment, though; asking experienced skaters and skate-oriented businesses is a good place to start.

Evan Walker, founder of the Cincinnati Skatepark Project, suggests heading to one of the city’s local skateboard shops—including Galaxie Skate Shop, Blacklist Boardshop, and Craft Skate Shop—to get advice on shopping their inventory. Occasionally they’ll donate used equipment to help beginners with the initial investment.

Clifton Recreation Center held an after-school Learn to Skate program in the spring, for which Blacklist Boardshop donated 12 gently used complete boards for participants, says Rec Service Area Coordinator Collin Fitzpatrick. Every board was put to use, he says, allowing kids to build foundational skills like fi nding a stance, balancing, pushing, and falling safely.

SEPTEMBER 11, 1985 // Pete Rose Hits 4,192 // Marty Brennaman // “Hit number 4,192, a line drive single into left center field, a clean base hit. And it is pandemonium here in Riverfront Stadium.”

Want to take up roller sports? Parks and advocacy groups welcome

newcomers.

Baarlaer

Hanging out where skaters skate is also good way to get your hands on some advice and gear. Cincinnati Skate Collective, a roller skating group that hosts educational clinics and community events, has resources to help newbies acquire skating equipment. The Over-the-Rhine Recreation Center is central to Cincinnati’s roller skating community today, serving as an affordable venue for roller skating with a convenient inner city location. 3CDC’s ongoing Findlay Community Center project includes a rec center renovation that will feature a roller rink, thanks to community input.

For people looking to take up skating, Social Push Cincy hosts weekly routes where “all wheels are welcome.” Just arrive at the meetup location announced on social media and embark on a roll around town for an active outing with new friends.

Skateparks are abundant across the Cincinnati region, including locations in Florence, St. Bernard, Anderson Township, Newport, Delhi, Loveland, Hamilton-Fairfield, Ludlow, and Colerain. But the Cincinnati Skatepark Project continues to push for building one within city limits, an area currently without a skatepark. Cincinnati Mayor Aftab Pureval recommended on May 26 that the Cincinnati Recreation Commission be allocated $250,000 to build it, with the advocacy group providing matching funds through a fund-raising campaign.

JANUARY 27, 1992 // Calling His Shot // Terry Nelson // As quoted in The Cincinnati Post: “Xavier doesn’t really have a chance. The fact that they’re at home [doesn’t mean much]. I feel it’s not like their home game because it’s not on their campus. I think we should go in there and blow them out.”

NOVEMBER 26, 1996 // Xavier Beats No. 1 // Andy MacWilliams // “The UC Bearcats are number one in the country, number two in their own city!”

DECEMBER 18, 1999 // Xavier Beats No. 1, Take Two // Dick Vitale // “It’s upset city, baby!”

JUNE 5, 2008 // Cyclones Win 2008 Kelly Cup // John Hamel // “The game is

SOMETHING EVERYONE

Australian Rules Football

“Aussie Rules” uses a rugby-like ball on an oval field with four goalposts at each end. Cincinnati’s club was formed in 1996 by Australian ex-pats and has won eight national titles. Home matches are held at Kellogg Fields near Four Seasons Marina in the East End. cincinnatifooty.com

Gaelic Football

This Irish game is played with a soccerlike ball that can be caught, kicked, and hand-passed. Founded in 2014, the club plays home matches at XU’s intramural field. This year’s Midwest Championships are in Cleveland August 5 & 6, followed by the national tournament in Denver. cincinnatigaa.com

for

Polo

The Cincinnati Polo Club might be the grandaddy of all area “alt sports,” forming in 1913. All matches are held at Chatsworth Farm in Loveland, with entry fees ($25/car) going to local charities. There are home matches at 2 p.m. August 12 and 26, as well as in September and October. cincinnatipoloclub.com

over! The Cyclones have knocked off the Wranglers 3–1. The series is over! The Cyclones claim it, 4 games to 2. The season is over, and for the first time in Cyclones history the Kelly Cup, all 25 pounds of it, is gonna be on display here in Cincinnati for the next year! How about that one?”

DECEMBER 5, 2009 // Cincinnati 45, Pitt 44 // Dan Hoard // “Touchdown! Touchdown! Touchdown! Armon Binns!”

SEPTEMBER 28, 2010 // Reds Clinch NL Central // Marty Brennaman // “He hit it a ton, and it’s gone! And the 2010 Central Division championship belongs to the Cincinnati Reds!”

MARCH 7, 2017 // Norse Go Dancing // Jim Kelch // “Northern Kentucky

Double Dutch Club for Women 40+

Give yourself enough rope, and you can learn new tricks from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Mondays at Roberts Academy in South Fairmount. The national organization promotes mental and physical health and female empowerment. 40plusdou bledutchclub.org

Wiffle Ball

The Greater Cincinnati Wiffleball League was formed 10 years ago in someone’s backyard, where great ideas are often hatched. The founders built a replica of the Reds’ famous Palace of the Fans stadium at Bellevue Vets, where league play is now held. The upcoming fall league is open to all. facebook.com/cincywiffleball

fans, pack your dancing shoes! For the first time in the Division I era, the Northern Kentucky Norse are going to the NCAA tournament!”

JUNE 28, 2017 // Mitch Says No // Tom Gelehrter // “Three saves on four PKs and FC Cincinnati has set off the biggest party Nippert Stadium has ever seen! They are dancing in the Bailey tonight!”

JANUARY 16, 2022 // Bengals Wildcard Win // Dan Hoard and Dave Lapham // DH: “Carr throws into traffic…” DL: “Nice! Nice! Nice!” DH: “Intercepted! Germaine Pratt…” DL: “Hoo, baby!” DH: “…has the football!” DL: “Yeah!” DH: “Coffin nails!” DL: “Bam! Bam! Bam! How about that?”

Try one of these “alternative” sports if you’re looking to get beyond the ordinary.

J o h n Fo x —John Fox

BY MACKENZIE MANLEY ILLUSTRATION BY L.D. NEHLS

WRITE HERE, WRITE NOW

A WEB OF CINCINNATI-BASED LITERARY JOURNALS AND ZINES CONNECT WRITERS AND READERS IN A THRIVING DO-IT-YOURSELF COMMUNITY.

THEY WANT YOU TO SUBMIT.

THEWORLDOFLITERARY JOURNALSISVAST,

NOW LIVE ONLINE AND FIND AUDIENCES ACROSS THE GLOBE.

“Normally, it feels cliché to say, There’s a place for everyone , but in the literary world there probably is a place that will accept your work,” says Fulmer. “It’s about finding it. By creating these relationships with other magazines and other writers, we’re helping people find us. We hope they’ll submit to us.”

The staff of Many Nice Donkeys consists of five former Northern Kentucky University English graduate students: Jen Davis, Alexander Walz, Nik Moore, and Jasmine Williamson, along with Fulmer. That’s in no particular order. The quint makes it clear that they’re all equals; rather than having a set editor in chief, they rotate the role with each issue. The group bonded during an NKU study-abroad trip to Ireland, where they visited the farm of the country’s last traditional matchmaker, Willie Daly, who had a staked yard sign reading “Many Nice Donkeys.” The first issue was released in March 2022, with three more issues since; the latest came out in May with Walz at the helm.

Literary journals aren’t a new concept, of course. Ohio has been home to several established titles championing poetry, fiction, nonfiction, and other creative work for decades. The Kenyon Review published its inaugural issue in 1939, and Bowling Green State University’s Mid-American Review has been around for 30-plus years. Cleveland is home to two nonprofit lit magazines, Whiskey Island and Gordon Square Review.

Founded in 2003, the Queen City’s most established journal is The Cincin-

nati Review (more on it later). But Cincinnati has seen smaller, scrappier journals like Many Nice Donkeys form in the past few years. Another is the brand-new Pink Apple Press , which first came together during weekly art nights and bills itself as “showcasing the freshest, juiciest poetry, art, and flash fiction of the bushel.” Submissions for its first “chapter,” or issue, opened in the spring.

lished, too,” adds Williamson.

In the four issues released so far, the journal has given several writers their first publication credit—side by side with authors who have published books. While the editorial team is mostly based in Greater Cincinnati, the work isn’t necessarily regionally focused. They’ve received submissions from all over, even from the UK. Since they blind read submissions, editors aren’t aware of anyone’s background until the work is accepted.

“The more we publish, the more our audience comes to understand the types of people we are anyway,” says Fulmer. “We’ve all seen such a big difference in the submissions we get now versus our very first issue.”

On social media, they see readers discussing the work they’ve published, some even becoming inspired to send in their own work. Moore says it feels special to

“It’s been so gratifying to provide a space where new artists and new writers can have their work published,” says Pink Apple Press cofounder Haley Hulett. “Getting published can be such a difficult and tedious process. I think it’s been really cool to lead the process from start to finish, hear from contributors and see their excitement, and then get the readers’ reactions on the other side.”

OVER THE PAST TWO DECADES, SAYS JEN Davis of Many Nice Donkeys, online journals have gained more respect and are now more common than their print counterparts. Like many writers, though, she loves seeing her name in print. “New writers who are still working through their aches and pains deserve to be pub-

be trusted with people’s work, and Davis says their original mission was to make writers feel respected and valued, no matter if their work is accepted or rejected. Walz has even noticed writers leaving notes with their submissions about resonating with other published pieces. “Our readers are connecting with the work we put out there and then are inspired to write something,” says Walz. “I really enjoy seeing that.”

Pink Apple Press partially grew from the remnants of Moon Cola, a local literary zine that debuted in early 2022 around the same time as Many Nice Donkeys. After publishing five issues, each with its own cheeky theme, Moon Cola is currently on indefinite hiatus. Two of its editors, Hulett and Megan Mary Moore, helped

A POINT THAT MANY NICE DONKEYS COEDITOR MAGGIE FULMER MAKES IN A ZOOM INTERVIEW WITH HER FOUR COLLEAGUES. IN PART, THAT’S BECAUSE PUBLICATIONS LIKE THEIRS CAN

“NORMALLY, IT FEELS CLICHÉ TO SAY, THERE’S A PLACE FOR EVERYONE, BUT IN THE LITERARY WORLD THERE PROBABLY IS A PLACE THAT WILL ACCEPT YOUR WORK. IT’S ABOUT FINDING IT. ”

start Pink Apple Press. Samantha Lakamp and Emma Lawson fill the other two management spots, bringing visual art backgrounds to the table.

“When Moon Cola’s head editor made the decision to go on hiatus, Haley and I both thought, Wow, we had so much fun doing this. Do you want to keep doing it?” says Moore, adding that they both come from literature-oriented backgrounds. Knowing that they wanted to include art in the publication, Lakamp and Lawson were brought into the fold. “I was very lucky that they were both enthusiastic about it, because it’s hard to get a group of people together for a common goal,” says Moore. “And that’s exactly what we’ve done.”

Pink Apple Press is looking for fresh, earthy, playful poetry, prose, and art. As she did with Moon Cola, Moore says she wants to provide creatives a platform to submit fun work that may not fit more formal literary magazines. Sometimes fun topics take writers (and readers) into deeper places. Pink Apple Press is publishing digitally on a quarterly basis with rotating but connected themes. The editors hope to release an annual print issue that compiles the year’s digital content.

Pink Apple Press launched a website and Instagram account in April. The editors’ fun approach to magazine-making is evident; they regularly repost literature memes on the Pink Apple Press Instagram story. The branding is just as fun-forward. Lakamp and Lawson collaborated on creating the logo, a shiny pink apple emblazoned with a tiny heart surrounded by a vine.

“I did a brain dump and got a bunch of different ideas out,” says Lawson, who has a background in education and aspires to illustrate a children’s book. “At our next meeting, we talked about different color palettes, layouts, and how things would work. Sam rolled with that and created what we have now.”

THE CINCINNATI REVIEW PUBLISHES TWO print editions a year, and they’re thick. The Fall 2022 issue weighs in at 272 pages

and brims with content: six short fiction pieces, eight literary nonfiction works, 21 featured poets, and three essays/reviews. Each issue also includes a glossy insert of an art portfolio and a play-inprogress.

While The Cincinnati Review is based out of UC’s Department of English, current students, faculty, staff, or their families are ineligible to submit (unless they’re two years removed from the university). Managing Editor Lisa Ampleman says that having writers from all over helps position the city as a national literary community. “It used to be, for example, that you’d find poems in newspapers around the turn of last century—or even by the 1920s or so—or in magazines like Cincinnati Magazine,” she says. “But over time poetry and short stories have moved more and more into the classroom instead of out in the public sphere.”

Ampleman came to UC in 2009 to pursue her doctorate degree in creative writing and worked at The Cincinnati Review as a student editor for two years. After having a baby, adjunct teaching, and freelance writing and editing, she returned to the publication in 2017 as managing editor. “I was thrilled, because it’s the kind of work I want to be doing but it’s located here in Cincinnati,” she says. “I don’t have to go to New York or Chicago. I’m still a part of the literary publishing world.”

She is the publication’s second managing editor, the first being Nicola Mason, who left The Cincinnati Review to create its book-publishing offshoot, Acre Books This year marks the journal’s 20-year anniversary, and to celebrate, the fall issue’s theme highlights literature in Cincinnati.

Ampleman rattles off some of the city’s literature institutions that champion writers and work to bring the community together: the Mercantile Library, WordPlay Cincy, the Cincinnati and Hamilton County Public Library and its writer-in-residence program, independent bookstores, programs like Women Writing for (a) Change, and Cincinnati Poet Laureate Yalie Saweda Kamara.

Nik Moore also speaks of the value of having editorial boards in the Midwest. When they moved to Montana to pursue a master of fine arts in poetry, Moore noted that working on Many Nice Donkeys kept them creatively connected to the literary community they had in Northern Kentucky.

“We’re not New York. We’re not San Francisco. We’re not Chicago. We’re not Atlanta,” says Moore. “They’re big literary hubs of the U.S., but because of who we know and because of who promotes us, we draw quite a

According to the Many Nice Donkeys web site, “We want to publish work that’s deeply honest, but could, at any moment, bite your hand. Show us the lay of the land, but startle us and keep us on our hooves.”

The Cincinnati Review’s mission states, “We provide a venue for writers of any background, at any point in their literary careers, at any age, to showcase their best writing.”

Of Loren Long We Sing

The children’s book illustrator grounds his work in a Cincinnati and Midwest aesthetic that authors from Barack Obama to Madonna to Amanda Gorman love being associated with.

By Kelly Blewett | Photograph by Chris Von Holle

The Storyteller

Loren Long, photographed at his home studio on July 11, 2023.

Though you might not know Long or that he’s lived in Cincinnati for 30 years, you’d find a few clues inside the picture books: a Graeter’s black raspberry chip ice cream cone featured on a double-spread of The Little Engine That Could (Watty Piper); a “Bunbunnyrie” bakery nestled into the base of a tree in a bunny village in Good Morning, Good Night (Margaret Wise Brown); the Cincinnati Art Museum towering in the background of a lecture setting in When I Heard the Learn’d Astronomer (Walt Whitman).

Long was already living here with his wife Tracy and sons Griffith and Graham, then in preschool, when he illustrated his first picture book. Now his sons are grown, and Long’s influence as an illustrator has grown, too: Of the 26 books he’s illustrated, 12 have appeared on The New York Times bestseller list.

The books have a particular style in common: American regionalism, a realist art movement that resisted abstract modernism in favor of a naturalistic approach to everyday scenes in small-town America. Long was especially drawn to the work of Thomas Hart Benton (1889–1975), a painter from Neosho, Missouri, which is approximately 23 miles from Long’s hometown of Joplin.“He’s my favorite artist, really, still to this day,” says Long. “His drawing felt so homegrown and soulful, and his colors were just kind of raw.”

Benton became famous when he won a commission to paint murals of Indiana life in 1933. A self-portrait of him wearing an oversized workman’s jacket and giving the viewer a sidelong glance from behind an easel appeared the following year on the cover of Time magazine.Long felt a connection—not just to Benton as an artist but also to the values that public art of

the 1930s and ’40s represented. “They all had this hope and this muscular We are picking ourselves up and working through tough times attitude,” he says. “I just feel like it was great art with a positive meaning. I let it seep into my style as I was doing sample and freelance work.”

Sixty years after Long’s favorite artist was featured in Time , he got a cold call fromthe magazine’sthen-art director, Ken Smith, offering him freelance work and saying, “I want that Loren Long/ Thomas Hart Benton thing you’re doing.” Long had recently stopped working for Gibson Greeting Cards in Amberley Village, the job that brought him to Cincinnati, and he’d been doing freelance work and relying on his wife’s stable income as his work ebbed and flowed.

Long had been interested in art since

he was a kid and studied fi ne art at the University of Kentucky. The dream initially seemed out of reach because Long, like one in every 12 men, is unable to discriminate among certain colors—in his case blues from purples as well as differences among browns, grays, and greens. His colorblindness led Long to develop strategies that he still uses today, such as carefully placing and labeling the paints on his palette, discussing color with others during his creation process (Tracy is his main consultant), and honing his ability to perceive color values from darks to middle tones to lights.

He’d ultimately had success in college, at Gibson, and in juried art exhibits, yet Long was shocked to hear from Smith. “It was an incredibly exciting time,” he says. His work soon appeared in other high-profile outlets: Forbes, Reader’s Digest, Sports Illustrated, Atlantic Monthly. In a 1996 article about the presidential election, Time published Long’s American-regionalismstyle portrait of Bob Dole opposite Peter Max’s Pop-art-style image of Bill Clinton.

Long had stepped onto the national stage thanks to his artwork’s homey, folksy approach that felt both familiar and fresh and signaled American ideals Long continues to highly regard: community,

Singing a New Song

If you walk into a children’s book section today at any library or bookstore, you can gather a tall stack of books illustrated by Loren Long. In some cases, the author’s name will be more familiar than his: Barack Obama, Madonna, and Amanda Gorman or, if you enjoy literature, Matt de la Peña, Frank McCourt, and Margaret Wise Brown.

Loren Long’s illustrations for Amanda Gorman’s Change Sings center around a young girl who attracts other children to join her musical band.

The Meaning of Work

Long’s illustrations help tell the story of Lisa Wheeler’s Someone Builds the Dream (published in 2021).

power in everyday people, the value of a good day’s work. From these early days, his work evoked patriotic nostalgia and opened doors to new opportunities.

Loren Long received his first contracts to illustrate children’s books in 2002. He began working on illustrations for both I Dream of Trains (written by Ohio writer Angela Johnson and published by Simon & Schuster) and The Day the Animals Came (written by Frances Ward Weller and published by Philomel, a division of Penguin) when a third project popped up. The singer Madonna, in the blush of new motherhood, had written a set of five picture books, and her editor, Nicholas Callaway (whose boutique publishing firm also published Madonna’s erotic photography book Sex), had seen Long’s work in magazines and art shows. “He definitely picked up on the American regionalism feel in my work,” Long recalls.

Madonna’s Mr. Peabody’s Apples was set in postwar America in “some little town somewhere,” and the unproven Long was offered the job of illustrating it. The offer was, in a sense, a double-edged sword. It meant immense exposure, of course, but people tend not to take celebrity books seriously. Long went for it, and his son Griffith was the model for one of his characters.

Callaway contracted with Penguin to distribute the book in the U.S., and so he presented a sneak peek of Mr. Peabody’s Apples at the publishing house’s 2003 seasonal launch. Long’s editor on The Day the Animals Came, Patricia Lee Gauch, was there. Though Long wasn’t mentioned by name and everything was supposed to be “top secret,” she recognized Long’s work immediately and called him after the meeting. He remembers her saying, “Loren, I just saw a very interesting book by a very interesting person and I recog-

nized the art. I know you’re not allowed to tell me, but I’m just giving you a wink.”

All three books published in a quick succession in fall 2003. Mr. Peabody’s Apples debuted as No. 1 on The New York Times bestseller list. I Dream of Trains won a Golden Kite Award from the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators. The Day the Animals Came was so exquisitely colorized that Gauch ordered the printer to reprint the books when the first round’s coloration was slightly off “I was having a blast,” Long recalls now. “I realized that I’d love to do this work for the rest of my life if I could keep getting these gigs.” At nearly 40 years old and after years of “slugging it away” as a freelancer, Long says he figured out something about himself: “I am a storyteller.”

In the months that followed, Long accepted multibook contracts from Simon & Schuster and Philomel, which lined up steady work for the next five years. At Philomel, Gauch and Art Director Semadar Megged created unique opportunities for Long to shine. They offered him Toy Boat by established author Randall de Sève, and Long’s son Graham was the model for the main character. The book was a bestseller. They next asked Long to illustrate a new edition of one of his favorite stories, Watty

Piper’s classic The Little Engine That Could (originally published in 1930). The book was selected as a Read for the Record Book and also landed on the bestseller list.

Gauch and Megged believed Long had stories of his own to share, and following their gentle encouragement he created a tractor named Otis. Named after Long’s favorite character on The Andy Griffith Show, Otis was inspired by bothLong’s experiences working on a farm in Lexington and stories that Tracy told their sons while she drove them to preschool. It took 27 sketch versions to get the tractor right. “I remember the tractor itself,” Gauch says, “and how human he made it. It was just magic. Almost as if he blew life into this usually lifeless machine and where the eyes were, where the nose was, it just was a lovely, lovely character. His beautiful pencilwork just resonated.”

Long had always loved black and white artwork, and he suggested producing the Otis book in limited color. Gauch and Megged were on board, enlisting the support of Penguin’s vice president for children’s publishing, Doug Whiteman, who was also from the Midwest. “It was like the four of us were plotting to create an amazing book,”says Gauch.“I was plotting, Semadar was plotting,

Loren’s generosity with the world is unique. He has this amazing soul that’s just rooted in Cincinnati and in the Midwest.

FINDALOCATION

GEARUPFORTHESEASON

NEARYOU

20%OFF FORALLSTUDENT ATHLETES

COLLEGE GUIDE | 2023

FROM THE PUBLISHERS OF

INSIDEUNDERSTANDING COLLEGE FEES

It’s How Much?

BY EMMA HELBLING

When planning for the cost of college, always check “cost

university. By and large, institutions are required to be transparent about their expenses, and most provide this information on the school website. Look under admissions or search “tuition” to fi nd more details. Usually, this will lead you to a page where you will fi nd the majority of what you are paying for.

Here, we break down some of the most common fees.

Room and Board This includes the fees for housing as well as the cost for an all-inclusive meal plan for first-year students. If your university requires first-year students to live on campus, a meal plan will be required, but if living on campus is optional, the purchase of a meal plan and what level you choose is optional.

Course Fee This varies by major. These fees include the items needed for each course, such as the beakers for a chemistry lab. But it is important to remember that many universities do not include textbooks in these fees—those need to be purchased separately, and they’re not cheap.

General Fee This might also be called a “student activity fee” listed on the cost of attendance for first-year students. Usually ranging between $30 and $40, this is used to fund student organization events, such as sports or other activities that the students can engage in throughout their time on campus.

Thomas More University Launches Saints Essentials Program

on their tuition statement, students will now see one flat rate covering tuition as well as services that fulfill their social, academic, spiritual, and physical needs.

“We are removing the endless fees that create barriers for many students and their families in affording higher education,” says Lyna Kelley, the director of communications at Thomas More University.

day through Friday as well as 7:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. on weekends, plus the ability to participate in group fitness classes.

This new initiative also addresses another challenge facing students, Kelley says. By including the meal plan, “We are addressing alarming food insecurity statistics on college campuses.” For more information, go to thomasmore.edu/admissions/saints-essentials.

One local college is simplifying costs for students—and providing plenty of benefits in the process.

BY EMMA HELBLING

This fall, Thomas More University launches its Saints Essentials program, a campus initiative to promote student health and wellness and ensure students’ ability to focus on their education. Saints Essentials starts in the 2023–2024 academic year for all new students.

The program consolidates benefits that other colleges charge extra for. Instead of finding an exhaustive list of fees

The benefits included in this program are an All-Access Dining Pass, which gives students unlimited dining hall access as well as one retail meal each weekday, a $300 credit per semester toward the purchase of textbooks and course materials, parking, year-round TANK bus transportation, intramural sports programming, unlimited access to wellness services, secondary insurance for all active student athletes, unlimited printing, and admission to all home athletic events.

The university is making an effort to promote health and wellness for all students. Through Saints Essentials, students will now have access to the Northern Kentucky Five Seasons Family Sports Club from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Mon-

Get an Expert Opinion on the College Application Process

An independent college advisor can help you and your family navigate the application process.

BY SHERIDAN CARAWAY

As high school graduation approaches, many families are faced with the daunting task of planning

for their child’s next step. If that next step is college, finding, researching, and applying to colleges can be confusing and difficult, but that’s where independent college admissions advisors come in to assist. These seasoned pros aid students and families in the college search and application process.

So where do you start? Look for an advisor affiliated with a professional association. These include the Independent Educational Consultants Association (IECA) or the Higher Education Consultants Association (HECA). This can ensure that the advisor follows the highest ethical standards. Once you’ve found the right match for you, what happens next?

Local college advisor Dana Rolander explains. “I guide [families] in building a balanced list of colleges that fulfill their goals and requirements, including academic, cultural, social, fi nancial, and geographic considerations.” The process also includes developing résumés, selecting courses, and helping students communicate their stories through the application and essay. Rolander works to really understand a family’s needs.

“It is the key to getting the most out of the relationship,” she says. “I ask parents to complete a lengthy questionnaire to communicate their priorities for their child’s college experience and provide important insight about their child.”

Greater Cincinnati area college advisor Abigail Whited says that the best part of what she does involves guiding her students to their ultimate potential. “I enjoy helping students reflect on their future goals. Ideally I work with a student for over a year,” she says. “Sometimes I work with families over a period of several years.”

Post-pandemic trends in college admissions have posed various challenges. “It has become harder to gain admission, even to schools that have long been considered ‘safeties’ to many applicants,” says Rolander. “Analyzing and predicting what schools are looking for when creating a first-year class requires continuous learning on my part,” says Whited. Advisors have adjusted to work around these challenges to still guarantee rewarding results for students and their families.

MIAMI UNIVERSITY

501 E. High St. • Oxford, OH 45056 (513) 529-1809 • https://MiamiOH.edu

Established in 1809, Miami University is consistently ranked among the top 50 national public universities by U.S. News & World Report for providing students with an Ivy League–quality education at a public school price.

Located in quintessential college town Oxford, Ohio—with regional campuses in Hamilton and Middletown, a learning center in West Chester, and a European study center in Luxembourg—Miami serves more than 22,600 undergraduates across more than 100 areas of study, and more than 2,200 graduate students through 78 master’s and doctoral degree programs.

At this comprehensive research university, students engage and conduct research with premier teacher-scholars. All undergraduate students benefit from a well-rounded liberal arts foundation, developing lifelong skills for any career. In 2022–2023, 60% of Miami students graduated with at least one minor or additional major, and nearly 100% participated in internships or field work prior to graduation.

Miami adds $2.3 billion each year to Ohio’s economy through innovative partnerships and job creation. Miami is a NCAA Division I school, serving more than 500 student athletes across 19 varsity sports.

THE STATS YEAR FOUNDED: 1809 // CURRENT ENROLLMENT: 24,800 // STUDENT-FACULTY RATIO: 16:1 // UNDERGRADUATE DEGREES OFFERED: over 120 // MASTER’S DEGREES OFFERED: 66 // DOCTORAL DEGREES OFFERED: 12 // SUBJECT MATTER EXPERTISE: Business, Marketing, and Entrepreneurship; Communication, Media, Arts, and Design; Education and Community; Engineering, Computer Science, and Technology; Human Behaviors, Cultures, Languages, and Literatures; Law, Government, and Global and Public Policy; Math, Stats, and Data Analytics; Medicine, Health, and Well-Being // DISTANCE FROM DOWNTOWN CINCINNATI: 30 miles // IN-STATE TUITION: $14,628 // OUT-OF-STATE TUITION: $36,844 // PERCENTAGE OF STUDENTS ON FINANCIAL AID: 92% // TOP AWARDS/RECOGNITIONS: Top 50 National Public Universities - U.S. News & World Report • Top 10 Best Public School for Internships - The Princeton Review • Top 10 for Early Career Return on Investment - Poets & Quants // AFFILIATED COLLEGES/SATELLITE CAMPUSES: Miami University has two regional campuses in Hamilton and Middletown, a learning center in West Chester, a European study center in Luxembourg, as well as Miami Online

MOUNT ST. JOSEPH UNIVERSITY

For more than a century, Mount St. Joseph University has enabled students to climb higher than they ever thought possible. As a Catholic university rooted in the values of the Sisters of Charity, the Mount is dedicated to the success and well-being of each student, empowering them to become competent, compassionate, critical thinkers who make a meaningful impact on the world with the heart of a lion. Each student is given the opportunity to reach their peak potential: our students receive personal attention from some of the world’s leading scholars, who know their students by name; the MSJ

Center prepares

students for success with real-world and leadership experience; and students gain vital problem-solving skills through the Mount’s liberal arts core curriculum. A rock-solid experience is available on our safe, ideal campus—just 15 minutes west of downtown Cincinnati. Our new Centennial Field House was designed for all students, featuring the latest exercise equipment, indoor practice areas, and the only indoor NCAA regulation-size track in the region. Students can get involved through 20 NCAA DIII programs, Esports, band, choir, theatre, campus ministry, or a diverse range of student activities and organizations.

THE STATS YEAR FOUNDED: 1920 // CURRENT ENROLLMENT: 1,966 // STUDENT-FACULTY RATIO: 10:1 // UNDERGRADUATE DEGREES OFFERED: 32 // MASTER’S DEGREES OFFERED: 8 // DOCTORAL DEGREES OFFERED: 3 // SUBJECT MATTER EXPERTISE: Doctoral: Nursing, Physical Therapy, Reading Science; Graduate: Business, Education, Nursing, Physician Assistant, Speech Language Pathology; Undergraduate: Computer Science, Primary/Special Education, Graphic Design, Health & Exercise Science, Nursing, Social Work, and Sport Management. // DISTANCE FROM DOWNTOWN CINCINNATI: 8 miles // IN-STATE TUITION: $35,450 // OUT-OF-STATE TUITION: $35,450 // PERCENTAGE OF STUDENTS ON FINANCIAL

AID: 94% // TOP AWARDS/RECOGNITIONS: 98.5% 2022 Career Outcomes Rate. • 2021 Social Work graduates had a 100% passage rate on the Ohio Licensed Social Work Exam • A+ Rating from the National Council on Teacher Quality • In 2021 U.S. News & World Report ranked the Mount #79 in Regional Universities Midwest and #35 in Best Value Schools. // AFFILIATED COLLEGES/SATELLITE CAMPUSES: Mount St. Joseph University continues to foster partnerships with several Greater Cincinnati colleges, universities, businesses, and hospitals for bachelor’s and master’s degree programs.

BOWLING GREEN STATE UNIVERSITY

1001 E. Wooster St. • Bowling Green, OH 43403

Bowling Green State University students can expect more than a degree. The BGSU Promise is our commitment: their college experience and investment will be worthwhile. Life Design, an educational experience unique to BGSU, offers one-on-one coaching for success. Students have access to mentors to help with the transition to college and then are connected to a global network of 200,000+ Falcon alumni. Students find community with more than 400 student organizations and can take advantage of guaranteed internship opportunities; affordable study abroad opportunities; and research experience as early as their first year. It’s no wonder BGSU is ranked as the No. 1 university in the Midwest students say they would choose again.

THE STATS YEAR FOUNDED:1910 // CURRENT ENROLLMENT: 18,792 // STUDENT-FACULTY RATIO: 17:1 // UNDERGRADUATE DEGREES OFFERED:

180+ // MASTER’S DEGREES OFFERED: 87 // DOCTORAL DEGREES OFFERED: 19 // SUBJECT MATTER EXPERTISE: Arts, Business, Education and Human Development, Health and Human Services, Musical Arts, Science and Technology // DISTANCE FROM DOWNTOWN CINCINNATI:180 miles // IN-STATE TUITION: $13,730 // OUT-OF-STATE TUITION: $21,718 // PERCENTAGE OF STUDENTS ON FINANCIAL AID: 90% // TOP AWARDS/ RECOGNITIONS: No. 1 university in the Midwest students would choose again (The Wall Street Journal) • No. 3 most-popular college town in America (Zillow) • Among the top 10 public universities in the nation for teaching quality (U.S. News and World Report) // AFFILIATED COLLEGES/SATELLITE CAMPUSES: BGSU Firelands in Huron, Ohio

Expect More Than a Degree

Bowling Green State University offers the resources to graduate both career-ready and life-ready.

From scholarships, research opportunities and mentorship to helping you minimize student debt to offering a place where you truly belong – all in one of America’s best college towns – the BGSU Promise is our commitment that your college experience and investment will be worthwhile.

bgsu.edu/promise

BUTLER TECH

LeSourdsville Campus

101 Jerry Couch Blvd. • Middletown, Ohio 45044 (513) 645-8200 • www.butlertech.org

Butler Tech, one of Ohio’s largest career technical institutions, offers training programs designed to propel individuals into successful careers or advance their current ones through hands-on training and industry certifications. With a wide range of programs, from healthcare and public safety to industrial technology and transportation, Butler Tech equips students with state and nationally recognized credentials in just 11 months or less. By fostering partnerships with businesses and providing real-world experiences, Butler Tech ensures students have the competitive edge as well as valuable assistance with job placement after program completion. Butler Tech Training for Life! Careers that last a lifetime.

THE STATS YEAR FOUNDED: 1975 // CURRENT ENROLLMENT: 750 yearly // STUDENT-FACULTY RATIO: 15:1 // SUBJECT MATTER EXPERTISE: Adult Career Training Programs: training programs designed to prepare you for employment and to begin a successful career in: Healthcare –training for Nursing, Medical Assisting, Phlebotomy, Medical Billing & Coding, and STNA. Public Safety programs – Firefighter, Paramedic/EMT, Police. Industrial Technology programs – Industrial Maintenance Technology, Industrial Welding, and HVAC/R Technician, Commercial Drivers (CDL) program. Nationally recognized certifications and program length range from two weeks to 11 months. // DISTANCE FROM DOWNTOWN

CINCINNATI: 34 miles // IN-STATE TUITION: Varies by program // PERCENTAGE OF STUDENTS ON FINANCIAL AID: 75% // TOP AWARDS/ RECOGNITIONS: Student completion rate of 93% • Earned Industry Credential Rate of 92% • STAR Police Training Academy Designation

THE CHRIST COLLEGE OF NURSING & HEALTH SCIENCES

2139 Auburn Ave. • Cincinnati, OH 45219 (513) 585-2401 • www.thechristcollege.edu

The Christ College of Nursing & Health Sciences is a private, nonprofit, fully accredited college affiliated with The Christ Hospital Health Network for over 120 years. The hospital-based campus offers degrees in nursing and the health sciences with Career Pathways that allow students to work alongside their undergraduate studies with pay, tuition benefits, and scholarships, all while building career connections. Accepted students have a clinical seat reserved for them with personalized, hands-on learning at Cincinnati’s most preferred hospital.

THE STATS YEAR FOUNDED: 1902 // CURRENT ENROLLMENT: 866 // STUDENT-FACULTY RATIO: 6:1 or 8:1 clinical classes; 30:1 didactic classes // UNDERGRADUATE DEGREES OFFERED: 4 // SUBJECT MATTER EXPERTISE: Bachelor of Science in Nursing, Accelerated Bachelor of Science in Nursing, Online RN-BSN Completion Program, Online Bachelor of Science in Healthcare Administration, Associate of Applied Science in Sonography - Cardiovascular Track, Associate of Science in General Studies, 15-Week Medical Assisting Clinical Certificate // DISTANCE FROM DOWNTOWN CINCINNATI: 3 miles // IN-STATE TUITION: $17,250 // OUT-OF-STATE TUITION: N/A // PERCENTAGE OF STUDENTS ON FINANCIAL AID: 90% // TOP AWARDS/RECOGNITIONS: 4th Best Accredited Online College in Ohio, 2021 BestColleges.com • 19th Best Online College and 25th Best Nursing Program in America 2021/2022, Niche • first in region and 12th in nation for highest post-graduate salaries 2018

CINCINNATI STATE TECHNICAL AND COMMUNITY COLLEGE

3520 Central Parkway • Cincinnati, OH 45223 (513) 861-7700 • www.cincinnatistate.edu

Cincinnati State is the regional leader in career education and one of its best higher education values. Cincinnati State offers a wide variety of online, in-person, and hybrid education options that are geared to local employment needs and flexibility for students. Many programs lead directly to well-paid careers and include paid co-op experience with area employers. For bachelor-bound students, Cincinnati State is a smart start with tuition less than half the cost of traditional universities and credits that transfer seamlessly. Cincinnati State offers associate degrees, certificates, and selected bachelor’s degrees in healthcare, business, culinary, engineering and information technologies, and humanities and sciences. Cincinnati State information sessions are held at the Clifton campus every Tuesday at 9 a.m.

THE STATS YEAR FOUNDED: 1969 // CURRENT ENROLLMENT: 8,500 // STUDENT-FACULTY RATIO: 13:1 // UNDERGRADUATE DEGREES OFFERED: More than 140 Associate Degrees, Bachelor’s Degrees, and Certificates // SUBJECT MATTER EXPERTISE: Health; Business; Engineering Technologies; Information Technologies; Midwest Culinary Institute; and many other fields. // DISTANCE FROM DOWNTOWN CINCINNATI: 3 miles // IN-STATE TUITION: $183.64 // OUT-OF-STATE TUITION: $367.28 // PERCENTAGE OF STUDENTS ON FINANCIAL AID: 75% // TOP AWARDS/ RECOGNITIONS: One of the first community colleges in Ohio approved to offer bachelor’s degrees: Bachelor of Applied Science in Land Surveying, Bachelor of Applied Science in Culinary & Food Science, Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN). // AFFILIATED COLLEGES/SATELLITE CAMPUSES: Evendale (Workforce Development Center), Harrison, and Middletown (at MUM)

ATCINCINNATI STATEYOUCAN

EARLHAM COLLEGE

801 National Road West • Richmond, IN 47374 (765) 983-1200 • https://Earlham.edu

If you’re ready to meet other brilliant, kind people who are driven to make the world a better place, you’ll find your home at Earlham College. Earlham is a nationally ranked liberal arts college in Richmond, Indiana, that’s home to genuine, hardworking humans who want to make big changes in the world for good.

Here, you’ll embark on an Epic Journey that includes funded research, internships, and study abroad—and you’ll have a team of supporters cheering you on along the way.

And when it comes to generosity, we practice what we preach through strong scholarship and financial aid programs.

THE STATS YEAR FOUNDED: 1847 // CURRENT ENROLLMENT: 677 // STUDENT-FACULTY RATIO: 6:1 // UNDERGRADUATE DEGREES OFFERED: 40 // MASTER’S DEGREES OFFERED: 2 // SUBJECT MATTER EXPERTISE: Environmental Leadership, Entrepreneurship, Social Justice, and Pre-Health // DISTANCE FROM DOWNTOWN CINCINNATI: 72 miles // IN-STATE TUITION: $50,970 // OUT-OF-STATE TUITION: $50,970 // PERCENTAGE OF STUDENTS ON FINANCIAL AID: 95% // TOP AWARDS/RECOGNITIONS: One of 40 “Colleges That Change Lives” • A Best Classroom Experience according to The Princeton Review • A “Best Value College” according to The Princeton Review and U.S. News & World Report // AFFILIATED COLLEGES/SATELLITE CAMPUSES: Earlham School of Religion, Earlham Graduate Programs in Education

GREAT OAKS CAREER CAMPUSES

110 Great Oaks Dr. • Cincinnati, OH 45241 (513) 771-8840 • www.greatoaks.com

Great Oaks is a public career-technical school district serving 36 school districts in southwest Ohio. Each year, thousands of area high school students prepare for a career at a Great Oaks Career Campus—Diamond Oaks in Dent, Laurel Oaks in Wilmington, Live Oaks in Milford, or Scarlet Oaks in Sharonville. Professional certification is available in a wide range of career fields, from health care to high-tech manufacturing to cybersecurity to construction trades, ulianry arts, agriculture, cosmetology, and more. Great Oaks offer over 30 different programs on campus as well as satellite programs in 28 of the region’s 36 affiliated school districts.Career training, ESOL, HSE, and personal enrichment programs are also available for adults. Partnerships with local business, education, and community agencies help shape the programs offered.

THE STATS YEAR FOUNDED: 1970 // CURRENT ENROLLMENT: 24,000 high school students at four Great Oaks campuses and in programs at 30 area public schools; 14,000 adult students // STUDENT-FACULTY RATIO: Varies // NUMBER OF UNDERGRADUATE DEGREES OFFERED: High school students can earn college credits, gain work experience through internships and co-ops, and secure industry credentials // SUBJECT MATTER EXPERTISE: Programs range from trades to high tech fields to health care to focus on skills in demand by industry and hands-on training // DISTANCE FROM DOWNTOWN CINCINNATI: Varies // PERCENTAGE OF STUDENTS ON FINANCIAL AID: Great Oaks is a public school district and there is no tuition for high school students; Adult Ed tuition varies and financial aid is available // TOP AWARDS/RECOGNITIONS: 2023 U.S. Presidential Volunteer Service Medal • 2023 Ohio ACTE Postsecondary Teacher of the Year; 2023 ACTE Region 1 School Board Recognition Award • Students consistently place in national skills competitions

MIAMI UNIVERSITY REGIONALS

Hamilton • Middletown • West Chester • Online  Hamilton, OH 45011 • (513) 785-3111

https://MiamiOH.edu/Regionals/WeWill

You will excel at Miami University Regionals. The academic support provided in and out of the classroom includes quality faculty instruction, free academic tutoring and advising, small class sizes, career services and professional development, and cooperative education programs. You can earn a bachelor’s degree in-person or online for less than $30,000 in one of 30+ majors. Our Work+ program pays 100% of your college tuition while you earn an hourly wage. All this, the opportunity to take classes on our main campus in Oxford, and our open admission policy makes Miami University Regionals your best choice.

THE STATS YEAR FOUNDED: Hamilton 1968, Middletown 1966, Online 1999, West Chester 2009 // CURRENT ENROLLMENT: 3,500+ // STUDENTFACULTY RATIO: 18:1 // UNDERGRADUATE DEGREES OFFERED: 30+ // SUBJECT MATTER EXPERTISE: Commerce, Nursing, Criminal Justice, and Engineering Technology (electrical and computer, electro-mechanical, mechanical, and robotics) // DISTANCE FROM DOWNTOWN CINCINNATI: 30 miles // IN-STATE TUITION: $3,673 per semester // OUT-OF-STATE TUITION: $9,457 per semester // PERCENTAGE OF STUDENTS ON FINANCIAL

AID: 70% // TOP AWARDS/RECOGNITIONS: Ranked Top 5 of Ohio’s Best Online Bachelor’s Programs by U.S. News & World Report • 98.2% of 2020-2021 bachelor’s degree graduates were employed or furthering their education • State-of-the-art Nursing Innovation Hub and Robotics Lab // AFFILIATED COLLEGES/SATELLITE CAMPUSES: Miami University Regionals has campuses located in Hamilton and Middletown, a learning center in West Chester, and a robust online learning program.

TOGETHER, WE WILL TRANSFORM TOMORROW

IT BEGINS WITH A HIGH-QUALITY EDUCATION FROM MIAMI UNIVERSITY REGIONALS TODAY.

• One of the lowest tuition rates among Ohio four-year universities.

• Associate and bachelor’s degrees options with over 30 majors, convenient and flexible 100% online program options including Microcredentials and our online Master's in Nursing degree.

• WORK+ program allows you to work part-time while earning your degree; companies pay an hourly wage and cover your tuition.

• Resources and student support network for first-generation students; adult learners; transfer students; veterans, active military, and military-affiliated.

Call 513-785-3111 or visit MiamiOH.edu/Regionals/WeWill

Denise, adopted 17-year-old Amina

LEARN ABOUT ADOPTING A TEEN ADOPT US KIDS .ORG

YOU CAN’T IMAGINE THE REWARD

I asked what kind of family Amina wanted. She said, ‘A family like yours.’ That’s when I knew I had to adopt her.

NORTHERN KENTUCKY UNIVERSITY

One Nunn Dr. • Highland Heights, KY 41099 (859) 572-5100 • www.nku.edu

Northern Kentucky University students engage and impact their communities, the region, and our world. Committed to academic excellence, we offer opportunities for experiential learning in the region’s best facilities, including the Health Innovation Center and the Center for Simulation Education. We connect students to their dreams through classroom experiences, faculty mentorship, and internships and co-ops with hundreds of community partners. We’re also home to 17 NCAA Division I athletic programs. We shape driven individuals and create opportunities for success in this knowledge-based economy. We will continue to nurture inclusive and equitable communities where people want to live, work, and tackle complex challenges. This is real ambition. This is real success. This is NKU.

THE STATS YEAR FOUNDED: 1968 // CURRENT ENROLLMENT: 15,827 // STUDENT-FACULTY RATIO: 19:1 // UNDERGRADUATE DEGREES OFFERED:

90+ // MASTER’S DEGREES OFFERED: 30 // DOCTORAL DEGREES OFFERED: 3 // SUBJECT MATTER EXPERTISE: Arts & Sciences, Business, Education, Health & Human Services, Informatics, Law // DISTANCE FROM DOWNTOWN CINCINNATI: 7.4 miles // IN-STATE TUITION: $438/credit hour // OUT-OF-STATE TUITION: $895/credit hour // PERCENTAGE OF STUDENTS ON FINANCIAL AID: 95% // TOP AWARDS/RECOGNITIONS:

Top tier among universities for economic mobility (Third Way) • One of the most innovative universities (World Universities with Real Impact) • Five-star rating for LGBTQ students (Campus Pride) // AFFILIATED COLLEGES/SATELLITE CAMPUSES: University of Kentucky College of Medicine

- Northern Kentucky Campus

SINCLAIR COMMUNITY COLLEGE

5386 Courseview Dr. • Mason, OH 45040 (513) 339-1212 • www.sinclair.edu/mason

The Sinclair College campus in Mason continues Sinclair’s mission of providing accessible, affordable, flexible education to meet the needs of the community. Conveniently located, the campus is easily accessible from I-71. Sinclair in Mason offers a full-service small campus feel, with all the advantages and resources of a large public community college. Thirty degree and certificate programs are offered in Mason, with over 80 online programs and almost 300 programs available system-wide. Students can earn job-ready credentials, or earn credits that transfer easily to any four-year college or university.

THE STATS YEAR FOUNDED: 1887 // CURRENT ENROLLMENT: 31,000 college-wide, 691 at Mason // STUDENT-FACULTY RATIO: 11:1 //

UNDERGRADUATE DEGREES OFFERED: Nearly 300 degrees and certificates system-wide; more than 30 at Mason // SUBJECT MATTER

EXPERTISE: Healthcare, Business, Engineering Technologies, Information Technology, and programs designed for transfer to a four-year college or university. // DISTANCE FROM DOWNTOWN CINCINNATI: 24 miles // IN-STATE TUITION: $183.28/credit hour // OUT-OF-STATE

TUITION: $339.40/credit hour // PERCENTAGE OF STUDENTS ON FINANCIAL AID: 60% // TOP AWARDS/RECOGNITIONS: Sinclair has awarded more degrees and certificates than any other Ohio Community College in the last five years. • More than 100 University Transfer agreements.

• No. 1 College for Student Success, Achieving the Dream, 2023. • Board member, League for Innovation in the Community College. // AFFILIATED COLLEGES/SATELLITE CAMPUSES: Locations in Dayton, Huber Heights, Englewood, Centerville, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, and online.

THOMAS MORE UNIVERSITY

333 Thomas More Parkway • Crestview Hills, Kentucky 41017 (859) 341-5800 • www.thomasmore.edu

Thomas More is a liberal arts university, inspired by the Catholic intellectual tradition, where students are exposed to the very best thought, literature, art, and music, with the support of a nurturing community of faculty and scholars. Students learn to harness the power of human reason to solve problems and, most importantly, they have the chance to become the person they were created to be—the chance to Make It More. Thomas More propels into its second century upholding the values of student success, academic innovation, and responsible stewardship. Founded in 1921 by the Benedictine Sisters as Villa Madonna College, the University serves students from across the country and around the world on its beautiful Crestview Hills, Kentucky, campus.

THE STATS YEAR FOUNDED: 1921 // CURRENT ENROLLMENT: nearly 2,000 // STUDENT-FACULTY RATIO: 14:1 // UNDERGRADUATE DEGREES OFFERED: 36 // MASTER’S DEGREES OFFERED: 4 // SUBJECT MATTER EXPERTISE: We believe a liberal arts education is how students transform themselves and prepare to be successful in life as well as their career. Our academic programs reflect a range of learning opportunities. // DISTANCE FROM DOWNTOWN CINCINNATI: 8 miles // IN-STATE TUITION: $38,400 (includes unlimited meal plan, parking, and credit for textbooks) // OUT-OF-STATE TUITION: Same as in-state. Offers a $2,000 out of state grant to non-Kentucky students. // PERCENTAGE OF STUDENTS ON FINANCIAL AID: 100% // TOP AWARDS/RECOGNITIONS: No. 1 for ROI in the state of Kentucky, MSN Money 2021 • Ranked No. 2 for long term gain in Kentucky by a 2022 Georgetown University study • Only NCAA DII University in the Northern Kentucky/Greater Cincinnati region

UNIVERSITY OF CINCINNATI

2600 Clifton Ave. • Cincinnati, OH 45221 (513) 556-1100 • https://uc.edu

University of Cincinnati boasts over 400 academic programs across three unique campuses. As the birthplace of cooperative education, experience-based learning is at the heart of what we do, with 100% of our students participating in some form of experience-based learning.

As a Research 1 institution, UC leads the charge in innovation and impact. The Cincinnati Innovation District promotes research, entrepreneurship, and collaboration. UC students graduate with real-world experience in addition to their degree.

UC offers an active campus community comprised of over 500 student organizations, Division 1 athletics, and close proximity to a thriving city. Bearcats fi nd it all here.

THE STATS YEAR FOUNDED: 1819 // CURRENT ENROLLMENT: 47,914 // STUDENT-FACULTY RATIO: 19:1 // UNDERGRADUATE DEGREES OFFERED: 204 // MASTER’S DEGREES OFFERED: 133 // DOCTORAL DEGREES OFFERED: 96 // SUBJECT MATTER EXPERTISE: Research 1 university that founded cooperative education in 1906 with 100% of our students participating in experience-based learning. // DISTANCE FROM DOWNTOWN

CINCINNATI: 5 miles // IN-STATE TUITION: $13,176 // OUT-OF-STATE TUITION: $28,510 // PERCENTAGE OF STUDENTS ON FINANCIAL AID: 72% // TOP AWARDS/RECOGNITIONS: No. 1 public university in the nation for co-ops and internships, U.S. News & World Report • Most innovative among national universities, U.S. News & World Report • No. 33 public research universities in the nation, The National Science Foundation // AFFILIATED COLLEGES/SATELLITE CAMPUSES: University of Cincinnati Blue Ash College, University of Cincinnati Clermont College

WILMINGTON COLLEGE

1870 Quaker Way • Wilmington, OH 45177 (937) 382-6661 • www.wilmington.edu

At Wilmington College, we are dedicated to students’ passion for hands-on learning. Our community-of-doing places them in the center of the learning experience, unlocking their potential and opening doors. Students can leave with hundreds of hours of practical application—now that’s learning by doing. WC believes in our students’ ability to change the world. Alumni working in careers ranging from NASA and Broadway to soil science and literature are proof.

Wilmington College is an independent college in Wilmington, Ohio, with a hallmark for hands-on learning opportunities. Quakers founded the College in 1870 and the institution embraces the universal values of community, diversity, integrity, excellence, peace and social justice, respect for all persons, and service and civic engagement. WC’s mission is to educate, inspire, and prepare each student for a life of service and success.

We are Dub-C. Experience Wilmington College!

THE STATS YEAR FOUNDED: 1870 // CURRENT ENROLLMENT: 1,000 // STUDENT-FACULTY RATIO: 14:1 // UNDERGRADUATE DEGREES OFFERED:

2 (Bachelor of Science and Bachelor of Arts) // MASTER’S DEGREES OFFERED: 2 (Master of Organizational Leadership and Master of Science in Occupational Therapy) // SUBJECT MATTER EXPERTISE: Agriculture, Sport Sciences, Biology/Chemistry, Psychology, Education // DISTANCE FROM DOWNTOWN CINCINNATI: 50 miles // IN-STATE TUITION: $29,837 // OUT-OF-STATE TUITION: $29,837 // PERCENTAGE OF STUDENTS ON FINANCIAL AID: 99% // TOP AWARDS/RECOGNITIONS: Member of Colleges of Distinction • U.S. News & World Report’s 2022 Best Colleges ranking in top third of 87-school Midwest Region • U.S. News & World Report’s 2022 Best Colleges ranking of third in the Midwest Region for Social Mobility

XAVIER UNIVERSITY

3800 Victory Pkwy. • Cincinnati, OH 45207 (513) 745-3301 • www.xavier.edu

UNDERGRADUATE ENROLLMENT INFORMATION: (513) 745-3301, xavier.edu/ undergraduate-admission

ENROLLMENT INFORMATION: (513) 745-3360, xavier.edu/ graduate-admission

ALL FOR ONE. Xavier University was founded in Cincinnati nearly two centuries ago. As a community of educators firmly grounded in Jesuit tradition and values, we prepare students for an increasingly complex future by always striving to be better. How do we do it? By believing in the power of Magis—that more is always possible. Our focus on developing intelligent minds and compassionate spirits inspires us to do more in the tradition of learning, serving, and achieving. We care about success, and about each other. We give students the tools to live a life that truly matters. Learn more at xavier.edu.

THE STATS YEAR FOUNDED: 1831 // CURRENT ENROLLMENT: 6,129 // STUDENT-FACULTY RATIO: 11:1 // UNDERGRADUATE DEGREES OFFERED: 90+ // MASTER’S DEGREES OFFERED: 30+ // DOCTORAL DEGREES OFFERED: 3 // SUBJECT MATTER EXPERTISE: Business, Education, Health, Liberal Arts // DISTANCE FROM DOWNTOWN CINCINNATI: 5 miles, 7 minutes // IN-STATE TUITION: $47,896 // OUT-OF-STATE TUITION: $47,896

// PERCENTAGE OF STUDENTS ON FINANCIAL AID: 99% // TOP AWARDS/RECOGNITIONS: Among the top 200 National Universities in America (U.S. News & World Report) • One of the best 378 colleges in America (The Princeton Review) • One of America’s Top Colleges (Forbes) • Military Friendly Gold Award (Military Friendly Survey) // AFFILIATED COLLEGES/SATELLITE CAMPUSES: Accelerated Bachelor of Science in Nursing, downtown Cincinnati, Cleveland, and Columbus locations; online program options available for MEd, MBA, MSN, and more.

GAME. SET. MATCH.

• Over volunteers supporting the event

• An established fan base that is double the size of the Super Bowl

• Broadcasted in over global markets

• Over million international viewers

• Visitors from over states and countries

• th most watched sport in the world by the number of fans

WESTERN & SOUTHERN OPEN

Handing Down Talent

Twice U.S. Open doubles quarterfinalists Tracy Austin and Kathy May found themselves on opposites sides of the proverbial net in at the 2022 U.S. Open when their kids met in the opening round, with Austin’s son, Brandon Holt, recording his first-ever Tour-level match win in an upset over May’s son, Taylor Fritz.

Holt, a former standout at the University of Southern California, and Fritz, who has spent the entire 2023 season in the ATP’s Top 10, are two of a growing number of Tour players who are following the footsteps of their parents, or in the case of Holt, several relatives.

While Holt has yet to play in Cincinnati, the Austins are no strangers to the city. Tracy, a two-time U.S. Open winner, won the 1980 Avon Championships here, and her siblings, John, Jeff, and Pam, all played in what is now the Western & Southern Open. May, who was coached by Cincinnati legend Tony Trabert, preceded Taylor in reaching the Top 10, while his dad, Guy Fritz, also played on the ATP Tour.

Sebastian Korda, a 23-year-old former junior No. 1, is another American born to a pair of tennis playing parents. Petr Korda, 1998 Australian Open winner, was a two-time quarterfinalist here and won the 1993 doubles title. His mom, Regina Rajchrtova Korda, was a Top 30 player herself on the WTA Tour.

Two other Major champions—both of whom reached semifinals in Cincinnati—have children on Tour. Four-time Major winner Hana Mandlikova is mentoring her 22-yearold daughter, Elizabeth Mandlik, while Andres Gomez, 1990 French Open champion, is being followed by his son, Emilio, who enjoyed a successful collegiate career at USC. With the Western & Southern Open’s long history there are several father-son duos who have both played the event in the professional era. In addition to Korda, Ben Shelton, Michael Mmoh and Edouard Roger-Vasselin have all followed their fathers foot-

For these players, tennis has become a family aff air. PETE HOLTERMANN

STEFANOS TSITSIPAS

steps to Cincinnati.

Shelton, a 20-year-old who earned his first career Top 10 win last year in Cincinnati, is now coached on Tour by his father, Bryan, after they teamed up as player and coach to lead the University of Florida to the 2021 NCAA title. Roger-Vasselin claimed the Cincinnati doubles title in 2015, 35 years after his father Christophe reached the singles quarterfinals. Mmoh qualified for the main draw in 2018, 32 years after his father Tony made his lone appearance in Cincinnati.

Father-son connections at the Western & Southern Open are not new. Phil Dent played in Cincinnati in the ’60s, ’70s, and ’80s before his son, Taylor, carried on the legacy into the 21st century in the 2000s and 2010s.

There is even one instance of parent and child playing the same tournament in the pro era. In 1969, six-time USTA father/son doubles champions, Fred

McNair III and Fred McNair IV, both appeared in the singles draw.

Three other current Top 10 players also have tennis playing parents. Casper Ruud, a three-time Grand Slam finalist, is coached by his father, Christian, who reached one ATP final in the 1990s.

Maria Sakkari, a two-time quarterfinalist in Cincinnati, followed her mother, Angeliki Kanellopoulou, onto the tour.

Lastly, we have tennis to thank for 2022 Western & Southern Open finalist Stefanos Tsitsipas. His mother, Julia Salnikova, played on the WTA Tour and met Stefanos’s father, Apostolos, when he was officiating a WTA event in Athens.

Of course, we’re still waiting to see if and when the children of our 2015 champions take up tennis. Although it’s likely with names like Williams and Federer, no one will need to be reminded of their tennis lineages.

BRYAN SHELTON ( LEFT ) GREETS HIS SON, BEN.

Let's Get Digital

With the updated app, an e-newsletter, and site-wide wi-fi, fans won’t miss a minute of the action.

STAY CONNECTED

Are you the type of fan that wants to be in the know? And by “in the know” we mean being the first to have ticket information, special offers, tournament updates, and the inside scoop? Go to wsopen.com/ newsletter-sign-up to become a Western & Southern Open insider. No junk, no spam. Just the most important tournament info sent in a timely manner.

The best way to stay in the loop during the tournament is by downloading the official Western & Southern Open mobile app (search “Western & Southern Open“ in your phone s app store). Get real-time updates on major matches, on-site entertainment, and tournament news. Plus, easily access your digital tickets and the daily order of play all in just a few taps.

Fan Zone Revamp

From the moment fans walk through the gates at the Lindner Family Tennis Center this August, they’ll be astonished at the new look, feel, and experience of the 2023 Western & Southern Open. Dubbed “the heart of tennis,” this year’s reimagined tournament will provide even more opportunities for fans to experience the passion, excitement, camaraderie, and intimacy that are unique to Cincinnati’s event.

At the center of this experience is the revamped Fan Zone, now positioned just inside the North Gate near Center Court. In addition to world-class tennis on the 17 courts throughout the site, visitors to the tournament will have access to unique programming, live performers, and continuous entertainment all located in the Fan Zone.

Marked by a wide swath of greenspace, the Fan Zone will feature a shade covering for the hot August afternoons, an entertainment stage, and various activations for visitors to enjoy. The focal point of the area will be a massive video wall featuring live footage of the many matches taking place at the tournament (think NFL RedZone but for tennis!). This will be the perfect spot to relax in a comfortable Adirondack chair and take in all the action.

The back side of the video wall is home to a VIP viewing deck overlooking Porsche Court. This exclusive area is available for

guests to upgrade their tickets, treat themselves to bottle service and other premium drink offerings, and enjoy a unique view of the action below.

Looking for something a little more active and hands on? Test your skills with a variety of tennis challenges, including a virtual tennis experience, a speed serve challenge and activities that test your tennis aim and accuracy.

A hallmark of the Western & Southern Open is the ability to get up close and personal with many of the world’s top tennis stars. In the Fan Zone, fans can tune in for daily Q&As and special appearances with the players on both the ATP and WTA tours, in addition to tennis legends, coaches, and personalities.

Be sure to also visit the Western & Southern Experience Booth, also located in the Fan Zone, for your chance to snag an autograph or selfie from players competing in the tournament.

Additional programming and entertainment in the Fan Zone will include daily musical acts, special events like the return of Pups and Players, food and drink sampling, exclusive giveaways, and more. Plus, you can also visit the Stella Artois Airstream for a refreshing beverage or snag a margarita popsicle from Maestro Dobel Tequila.

There’s no shortage of fun things to see, do, taste, and experience at the Western & Southern Open Fan Zone. Visit wsopen. com to see a full line-up of events and entertainment to start planning your visit to the tournament.

Experience the new “heart of tennis” at the Western & Southern Open. ELIZABETH DESROSIERS

( TOP, BOTTOM ) ARTIST RENDERINGS OF THE NEW FAN ZONE AT THIS YEAR'S WESTERN & SOUTHERN OPEN.

Flower Power

THE WESTERN & SOUTHERN OPEN MORE THAN doubled the number of botanicals on the grounds of this year’s tournament, making it one of the largest displays of annual florals in the Midwest. Custom vegetation, provided by LaMond Design, filled 15 greenhouses in preparation for the nearly 200,000 attendees expected to spectate the sport of kings. The added color and fragrance are part of many aesthetic improvements to transform the tournament’s guest experience.

MELINA TRAIFOROS

Players to Watch

BEATRIZ HADDAD MAIA

For the second year in a row, the French Open marks an important ranking milestone for Beatriz Haddad Maia. In 2022, the Brazilian entered the clay court slam as a newly minted member of the Top 50. She then enjoyed a sensational summer, winning 12 straight matches and back-to-back titles on grass before reaching the WTA 1000 final in Canada. Through the Fall and into the Spring, she reached one semifinal and seven quarterfinals before returning to the French Open where the 27-year-old advanced to her first Grand Slam quarterfinal and left Paris as a newly minted member of the Top 10.

COCO GAUFF

Perhaps the most surprising fact about Coco Gauff is that she is still a teenager. While she won’t turn 20 until next March, Gauff is playing her fifth WTA season with great results. She’s ranked in the Top 10 in both singles and doubles. Her singles success has included three titles along with a run to the French Open final in 2022. In doubles, after winning three titles with Cincinnati’s Caty McNally, Gauff now teams up with Jessica Pegula, a partnership that has amassed five titles from eight finals and currently sits at No. 1 in the WTA Race.

ELENA RYBAKINA

It has been a slow and steady rise for 24-year-old Elena Rybakina on her journey into the WTA Top 5. The 18-year-old upset No. 7 (and 2022 W&S Open winner) Caroline Garcia and reached the finals at five events in 2020. In 2021, she upset No. 8 Serena Williams on her way to the French Open quarterfinals before reaching the Tokyo Olympic semifinals. Her biggest breakthrough came in 2022 when she won Wimbledon, and already this season she’s claimed WTA 1000 titles at Indian Wells and Rome along with runner-up results at the Australian Open and in Miami.

DANIIL MEDVEDEV

The most successful first half of the 2023 season was played by Daniil Medvedev as he won more matches (39) and titles (five) than any other player on tour through the French Open. During a seven-week earlyseason stretch, the 27-year-old Medvedev won 24 matches, claiming four titles and suffering his only loss in the Indian Wells final. The 2019 Western & Southern Open and 2021 U.S. Open champion, the former No. 1 is a self-proclaimed “hard court specialist” who deviated from his favored surface and won the title on clay this year at the ATP Masters 1000 in Rome.

Keep your eyes on these rising stars. PETE HOLTERMANN

BEST SIM P L Y THE

2022 Ohio Excellence in Journalism Awards

2022 Cincinnati Society of Professional Journalists

BEST MAGAZINE IN OHIO

BEST MAGAZINE

FRANCES TIAFOE

Home soil brings out the best in 25-yearold American Frances Tiafoe. The first two of his three titles came in the U.S., as have his best results in the biggest events—semifinals at the 2022 U.S. Open and 2023 ATP Masters 1000 in Indian Wells. Tiafoe’s athleticism, energy, and swagger pushed him into the Top 10 in June, but his story is arguably as captivating as his play. He is the son of emigrants from Sierra Leone who got into tennis by tagging along while his father worked in maintenances at a junior academy in Maryland.

HOLGER RUNE

Before turning 20 this April, Holger Rune had already won four ATP Tour titles and broken into the Top 10 of the rankings. While he might be overshadowed by that other 20-year-old in the Top 10—Carlos Alcaraz—Rune is certainly establishing himself as a big-time talent. The Denmark native won three titles last season, the biggest being the last, knocking off five Top 10 opponents, including Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic, to win the ATP Masters 1000 in Paris. The City of Light has treated him very well, as he’s reached back-to-back French Open quarterfinals.

JANNIK SINNER

Racing seems to come naturally to Jannik Sinner. The Italian was a champion skier as a child before turning to tennis at age 13. Since then, he’s been racing up the tennis charts. The 2019 ATP Newcomer of the Year, he ended 2020 as the highest ranked teenager on Tour. Sinner, who will turn 22 during the Western & Southern Open, has already won seven titles, reached the quarterfinals at each of the Grand Slams and has climbed to the Top 10 of the rankings. He has also been runner-up on three occasions, including twice at the ATP Masters 1000 in Miami.

ONS JABEUR

It’s hard to talk about the accomplishments of Ons Jabeur without including “the first ______ to…” alongside every milestone. A more succinct way to describe the 28-year-old is as a trailblazer, going places that no Arab or African woman has gone before. The Tunisian reached No. 2 in the rankings during a 2022 season that saw her reach the Wimbledon and U.S. Open finals to go with a win at the WTA 1000 in Madrid. While the four-time title winner’s results are eye-catching, so, too, is Jabeur’s style, with a healthy dose of spins and drop shots.

50,000 STATES REPRESENTED AMONG TOURNAMENT ATTENDEES

5,657 Skyline coneys sold

20 COUNTRIES REPRESENTED AMONG PLAYERS

178,000 IN ATTENDANCE

7,657 slices of LaRosa's pizza consumed

VENDORS

25,157 scoops of Graeter's ice cream enjoyed

TWENTY-FOUR MUSICAL ACTS

FIFTY-FIVE HOURS OF MUSICAL ENTERTAINMENT

3,882 TENNIS BALLS USED

208 MATCHES

1,268 volunteers

35 states volunteers call home

4 countries volunteers call home 30 volunteer committees

4,631 GAMES 486 SETS

10,000 Western & Southern paddle fans distributed

750 Kids Day participants

100 mILE CANCERFREE KIDS

Complete 100 miles of any activitybiking, walking, yoga, tennis, it’s up to you! - and raise $100 to support pediatric cancer research this September in honor of Childhood Cancer Awareness Month. Register yourself and your team at www.cfk100milechallenge.org

All participants get a Team CancerFree KIDS t-shirt just for registering! Create your team today!

bit of submissions from people speaking to the region. But that’s not exclusive to what we’re willing to publish at all.”

THE UNIVERSITY OF CINCINNATI IS ALSO home to several literary journals focused on publishing work by undergraduate students, including Short Vine. Casey Harloe, a student poet from Hamilton, says a lot of her work is about growing up

uated in May and spent the past school year as its editor in chief, and she says the experience has helped her get outside her comfort zone and connect with others.

Though a different magazine preceded it, faculty supervisor and poet Kelly Moffett says Loch Norse launched in 2011, born from students’ desire to have a “vibrant” open mic scene. At the time of our interview, issue No. 12 had just been released. “When we got the hard copy of the magazine and my poetry class was coming in, they were like, Hey, is the copy ready? And I said, Yes, go ahead and get one. They literally ran out of the classroom, up to the fifth floor, got their magazines, and came back down. I got to see their faces of, Oh my gosh, my name is in print for the first time! It was really beautiful.”

On a high school level, there’s Tellus

The inaugural issue of Tellus launched in 2019, and the new issue, its fourth, carries the theme “Taking Root.” As students wrapped up this year’s issue, Rodriguez says Tellus is now in a place where it can creatively push beyond what it’s done in the past because the students have laid a strong foundation.

“They know so much, and they look at the world in a very different way,” she says. “I’m not a teenager, obviously, but they give me a different perspective. The world sometimes can be a very difficult place to live in, but they’re able to talk about those hard things and understand it better through art.”

This year’s editorial board consisted of eight students. Applications reopen in September; once the board is selected, they’ll do a fall retreat to brainstorm the next issue. “I would love to have more students,” says Rodriguez. “It would be great to have students from more of a variety of schools represented, too. That’s an area I want to see grow. How do we get more voices, more diversity so that when we put the zine together we’re really showing Cincinnati as a whole?”

in the Midwest as well as exploring being Filipina American.

Harloe spent her first two years at UC’s Blue Ash campus, where she worked as an intern at The Blue Ash Review, a print and digital publication produced through the Department of English and Communications. On the other side, she’s submitted to (and has gotten work published in) other journals, including Short Vine. In 2022, her poem “When I Close My Eyes I Think Of” won the Academy of American Poets Prize.

“It was a pantoum poem,” says Harloe. “It was written about microaggressions I faced in high school. And I did craft it very specifically, because a pantoum poem repeats lines over and over again to highlight what trauma does to you.”

Northern Kentucky University’s campus is home to Loch Norse Magazine , an annual literary magazine run by and for undergrad students. Josafina Garcia grad-

Zine, which is run out of Kennedy Heights Arts Center’s Teen Artists for Change program. The publication is managed by an all-teen editorial board of students from across Greater Cincinnati.

Director of Education Sarah Rodriguez leads me to the arts center’s basement, where editors are working on a large-scale painting of a tree for the zine’s launch party, which would be held at the end of April. The door is open to let breeze slip in as students lean over the work. The program meets throughout the year and connects board members to working professionals.

“I’m having a unique experience you wouldn’t be able to get without having been on this board,” says Desi Distal, 16. “It’s a really great reference point if you want to be an artist or an editor of anything. And it really can hone in on some skills that you wouldn’t think you would have to.”

Rodriguez notes that zine submissions come from a range of ages. Some contributors might be starting high school, while others are entering college. “Our city is really diverse,” she says. “We’re getting art from all different perspectives and cultures. And I get to see it all come together as a beautiful little morsel.”

Diversity and inclusion are also important to Loch Norse, according to Moffett. The publication attracts submissions from across the university, not just the halls of the English department. The team hosts open mic nights throughout the year as part of that outreach. This year, editors collaborated with different organizations on campus, including the planetarium and the School of the Arts. Each event featured a different speaker; editors of Many Nice Donkeys made an appearance at one gathering. Anyone, from staff to outside community members to students, can sign up to read at one of the events.

“There are so many people eager to be involved,” says Moffett. “We’re actually creating more positions, like assistant readers. We’re going to launch an online

“WE’RE NOT NEW YORK. WE’RE NOT SAN FRANCISCO. WE’RE NOT CHICAGO. WE’RE NOT ATLANTA,” SAYS MOORE. “THEY’RE BIG LITERARY HUBS OF THE U.S., BUT BECAUSE OF WHO WE KNOW AND BECAUSE OF WHO PROMOTES US, WE DRAW QUITE A BIT OF SUBMISSIONS FROM PEOPLE SPEAKING TO THE REGION.”

presence because some of the work students are making can’t be held on a page.”

In 2017, The Cincinnati Review introduced a weekly online series titled “miCRo,” which digitally publishes a short piece of fiction or nonfiction or a poem. Ampleman says the idea came from one of her student editors. And in 2011, the magazine started accepting submissions online, a decision that’s increased accessibility and, in turn, submissions.

“I see that more and more people are reading content online,” says Ampleman. “We’re very committed to the print edition of the magazine, and people really appreciate it. Contributors love getting it and showing it to people and that kind of thing. But we also want to make sure we have online content so our writers can spread their work more widely.”

At UC, Harloe frequents open mic nights and is copresident of the campus poetry club. She laughs when sharing that she “shamelessly promotes” the latter.

Similar to Loch Norse’s open mic nights, the poetry club is all about forging community. The group hosts educational workshops and gives space for people to share their writing.

As the interview at Clifton Heights’s Rohs Street Café wraps, Harloe sees nearby friends, who ask if she’s attending a poetry reading later that evening.

A LOT GOES ON BEHIND THE SCENES OF literary journals. Garcia knows the strain of budget first-hand. When Loch Norse lost its printing services at NKU, she contacted commercial printers only for price quotes to come back double what they’d been to produce in-house. By luck, she ran across an affordable online service. “If Josafina hadn’t found that service, we wouldn’t be able to have what we have,” says Moffett. “And Josafina, you just found it by chance, huh?”

Garcia nods. “I found it through YouTube while looking at stuff for my cap-

stone project,” she says. “I was going to use it just for my own project, but we were looking for a printer. It really worked out.”

Funding for Loch Norse comes from NKU’s English department. Moffett says the publication has also received support from the College of Arts and Sciences and community partners like the Friends of Steely Library. The Cincinnati Review also has support from UC and other groups, including the Robert and Adele Schiff Family Foundation, the George Elliston Poetry Fund, the TAFT Research Center, and the Helen Weinberger Center for the Study of Drama and Playwriting.

Ampleman reflected on the funding struggles many literary magazines face in a Cincinnati Review blog post in 2022. “Those behind the scenes at magazines know that very few break even,” she wrote. “For print mags, subscriptions help cover some costs, but not all.” Even online-only magazines, she said, have costs like website maintenance, submis-

sion management, and labor.

Along with university support, readers can subscribe to or buy single issues of The Cincinnati Review. The publication also pays its writers—something many literature mags, especially smaller and less established ones, aren’t able to do. Accepted submissions receive $25 per print page of prose, $30 per print page of poetry, and $25 for “miCRo” posts.

Unlike some publications of the same caliber, it’s free to submit to The Cincinnati Review. Its mission statement ties that decision to efforts in “working against past and present inequities by publishing work by individuals from systematically marginalized groups.”

Both Many Nice Donkeys and Pink Apple Press are entirely volunteer-based and self-funded. Lakamp describes tentative long-term goals to make Pink Apple Press more fi nancially sustainable. Selling physical copies annually is a piece of that goal, and she’s already making mental

notes of local stores that carry zines and could one day distribute her journal.

Iconic music stores Shake It Records (Northside) and Torn Light Records (Clifton) sell small-press publications. A new Bellevue shop, INK, bills itself as a haven for zines, alternative comics, and selfpublished journals.

“A conversation the four of us had going into creating Pink Apple Press was, Are we doing digital only or print only? ” says Lakamp. “What are our goals? What is our plan? The mixing of digital and print was this happy marriage we found to make it more accessible and less work on our end to have the digital releases.”

Davis says Many Nice Donkeys editors want to pay their contributors before paying themselves, adding that any money spent is coming out of their own bank accounts. A one-off print issue is a dream. “We hope that, eventually, we can spread past the internet,” says Nik Moore. “We want to possibly go to conventions.

We have ideas we float around about even doing workshops or retreats. We hope to grow from what we are right now.”

When asked about a memory that represents Many Nice Donkeys, Moore laughs. “We were all sitting in a pub in Ireland, chatting, having a good time and taking a picture,” they say. “And then Jasmine’s pint glass spontaneously combusts. It was an absolute shock and a surprise. Jasmine was like, Wow, I just spent money on this beer.”

Each editor piped in their own details with the story. Davis was holding the glass and, as the camera’s fl ash went off, boom went the beer. A nearby young couple asked why they were there and, in response to hearing they were writers, the man recited a few lines from Seamus Heaney, the famous Irish poet.

The anecdote perfectly captures what those herding Many Nice Donkeys want for writers and readers alike: the thrill of surprise.

Loren was plotting, and the company’s vice president was approving some of the aberrant side trips we did to create this book. There were these four little team members, but the heart that was beating was Loren’s. It was a very special experience.”

Long’s sons were also part of the process. He read the story aloud to them to make sure it sounded right, a tradition he’s continued with every picture book he’s written since.

Otis landed on the bestseller list, and the lively tractor has now starred in more

moved to the desert and painted petals, bone, bark.

She helped us see big beauty in what is small:

the hardness of stone and the softness of feather.

Each subsequent profile follows the same rhythm: a guiding question and characteristic directed to the children followed by a short, poetic description of the American who embodied the characteristic. Long found Obama’s descriptions eloquent, but he wasn’t sure how to get started. Portraits of the 13 people should be incorporated, of course, but he thought using just portraits would make the text feel sterile, almost like a textbook. Long says he also wasn’t overly confident about his portrait ability. “Any illustrator could do portraits,” he says. “Maybe they wouldn’t do it exactly like me, but there are many people out there who could illustrate a bet-

running from afar brings dancing rhythms to my day?

How you laugh and sunshine spills into the room?

“Spilling sunshine” prompted Long to think about light and shadow. “I thought, OK, we’ll open with these two girls who spill into the book and spill into Georgia O’Keefe as a child, because she was once a little girl, just like you are. I’ll have little Georgia O’Keefe on the left side, looking up at what she becomes. And you turn the page, and Georgia joins the girls.”

Long imagined each hero as a child joining the Obama girls and the previous heroes, lining up spread by spread to form a crowd that “builds and builds and builds.” The final image would feature all the children, both historical and contemporary, smiling together on risers as though they were about to perform a school concert. He felt relief and confidence. “I thought, OK, this is my contribution to the book, this is my idea, and I think the editor is going to dig it.”

Of course Of Thee I Sing was a No. 1 bestseller. Reviewers complimented Long’s illustrations, such as then-UK Children’s Laureate Anthony Browne, who wrote in The Guardian that Long had made Obama’s text “a real picture book where the pictures sometimes tell us more than the words.”

than half a dozen picture books as well as two seasons of an Apple TV television series. “Loren’s generosity with the world is unique,” says Gauch. “He has this amazing soul that’s just rooted in Cincinnati and in Midwest.”

IN 2010, LONG WAS ASKED TO ILLUSTRATE a picture book by President Obama, Of Thee I Sing . “That was my biggest challenge,” he says. “I was really nervous, even freaked out about it. I knew the world would see this book.”

Written as a letter to Obama’s daughters, the book presents the stories of 13 Americans with the kinds of admirable characteristics he hopes the girls will see in themselves. The first featured American, Georgia O’Keefe, is introduced thusly:

Have I told you that you are creative?

A woman named Georgia O’Keeffe

ter Albert Einstein or Abraham Lincoln.”

Obama’s poem was one of many challenging illustration assignments Long would face. The approach he took with that project anticipated what he’d do with later books by Matt de la Peña (Love) and Amanda Gorman (Change Sings). He printed out Obama’s text and read it repeatedly,“studying it and getting in it so deep,” he says. He focused on particular words and made notations about what small images they brought to mind—every thought captured without concern for winnowing them down to what was really workable. Ultimately, it was a fairly innocuous phrase in Obama’s first stanza, the one written to his daughters before he dove into the profiles, that gave Long his breakthrough:

Have I told you lately how wonderful you are?

How the sound of your feet

Obama’s inclusion of Sitting Bull was panned by Fox News and by Native advocates, most notably Sitting Bull’s grandson. Long’s portrait was likewise scrutinized. It featured Sitting Bull’s face emerging from the landscape, with buffalo for eyes, to reflect what Long saw as a theme of his leadership: The people and the land are inextricably connected. Some critics, in turn, regarded this theme as a stereotype and criticized Long’s decision to represent Sitting Bull in a disembodied form. “When you do this work and many people see it, you can’t please everyone, and someone will be critical,” says Long. “If I’m professional enough to take all of the accolades and pats on the back and compliments, then I have to be professional enough to absorb some criticism.”

CREATING A PICTURE BOOK INVOLVES 1,000 different decisions, Long says. Each

“I WATCHED HER DELIVER THE POEM FEELING THIS CONNECTION,” LONG SAYS ABOUT AMANDA GORMAN’S READING. “SHE REALLY DID MOVE THE WORLD THAT DAY.”

GIRLS’ NIGHT OUT 15 MINUTES

CINCINNATI MAGAZINE AND THE MADEIRA CHAMBER OF COMMERCE KICKED OFF SUMMER WITH THE 14TH ANNUAL GIRLS’ NIGHT OUT EVENT.

Hundreds came out to enjoy a beautiful evening of camaraderie, good food, and shopping throughout downtown Madeira. Before setting off on their shopping adventures, guests were treated to sugar hand scrubs, tasty sweet and savory bites, and refreshing Italian ice.

HUGE THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS: Madeira

Chamber of Commerce, MadTree Brewing, La Brea Bakery, The BMW Store, St. Pierre, Dr. Teal’s, McCormick, Bakehouse Bread Company, Kimberley’s Bakeshoppe, TwoBite, Lumify, Central Bark, and Ring Pop

book contains 20 –25 pieces of art, and there’s also the medium to consider. Long has used gouache paint, acrylic paint, colored pencil, graphite, charcoal, and monotype prints. The process varies by project. For his current project, for example, he’s built a three-dimensional miniature village in his home studio to inspire his two-dimensional paintings. He’s relied on loved ones, including his sons, to “give me feedback on any piece of art on my drawing table at any given time.” Trying to achieve unity across the book, paying attention to how each page anticipates the next, and making sure all the images are relatable to a young reader can be a tall order, especially depending on what type of book he’s illustrating.

Long says there are two main categories: narrative and poetry. Narrative, like the Otis stories or his recent Never Forget Eleanor (2023), which embraces the topic of Alzheimer’s disease from a child’s perspective, are generally easier. With narra-

tives, he says, “you’re just trying to be like a film director and to figure how to best convey emotion and bring the movie to life.” With poetry, in contrast, “you’re having to make so much of it up and it’s coming from your own thing.”

Some poems are easier than others. Obama’s book was one of the easier ones, because the established context (the Obama daughters as the primary audience) and content (13 famous Americans) grounded the text and informed every decision Long made, right down to the portrayal of Obama’s dog on the cover flaps. Likewise, Someone Builds the Dream by Lisa Wheeler (2021) had a tangible theme: celebrating the people who build and, as Long puts it, “work hard every day and don’t often get light shed on them.”

Illustrating more abstract and lyrical poems, such as Love or Change Sings, is more challenging.“Who is the narrator of this and who are they talking to,” Long says he asks of those poems. He’ll need to answer those

questions in a way that makes sense to a young person, breaking the poem up into visual spreads that progress in sequence.

For Change Sings, Long imagined a singular narrator, an African American girl who could be (but doesn’t have to be) the author, the Youth Poet Laureate Amanda Gorman. In his visual story of the book, the young girl “becomes a pied piper in a way,” gathering children from different corners of her community who dedicate themselves to positive social change. Focusing on the words “humming” and “strumming” from the poem’s first and last lines, Long imagined the girl holding a guitar—and then decided to provide an instrument for each child in her growing band.

He represented different regions, styles, ethnicities, and socioeconomic groups through the featured children. “It’s so incredibly easy to be inclusive, and it means so much to people,” says Long. Like all the projects he takes on these days, he felt a deep connection to the message and

theme of Gorman’s words.

Gorman wrote, I scream with the cries of red and blue streamers / I dream with the cries of tried and true dreamers. During the brainstorming phase, Long wrote lots of words by these lines—fireworks, Fourth of July, and Star-Spangled Banner. But it was ultimately the phrase “tried and true dreamers” that made him want to visually feature Martin Luther King Jr. In a spread that ultimately became his favorite of the book—partially inspired by ArtWorks murals around Cincinnati—Long painted a mural of King on the side of a city building as the child narrator, this time tiny and gazing upward at the Civil Rights hero, is joined by her first follower, a Jewish child wearing a kippah and carrying a trombone.

This early mural sequence is, as Long puts it, “bookended” by an echoing mural at the end featuring the children themselves on the wall, accompanied by the text You are the change you are waiting to see. In a moment akin to the culminating

spread of the Obama text, Long invites the child to find his or her place in the larger social world as equals with American giants of our past.

On a Thursday afternoon in January 2021, as Long worked on one of the interior spreads of Change Sings, he got a call from the editor. The book was slated to be released in the fall. “I was confidentially informed that Amanda had been chosen to speak at Joe Biden’s inauguration,” he recalls. He was asked if he had any ideas for the book cover, which the editor wanted to display during Gorman’s moment in the spotlight.

Long suggested featuring the narrator holding out a guitar, which echoed his final illustration, and to put the title in lettering that evoked the interior murals’ style and color. The editor said it sounded good and asked how soon he could have the painting ready. Long worked feverishly for 36 hours and snapped an iPhone photo of the image, still wet, on Sunday afternoon.

Two days later, as the inauguration began, Long was back working on the book’s interior paintings. But he put down his brush and stood up in the studio when Gorman began her poem. “I watched her deliver the poem feeling this connection, knowing I’d been studying her first picture book for months,” he says. “And she really did move the world with that poem. Watching her brought me nearly to tears.”

Long has been doing picture book work full-time now for 20 years, and he has no plans of slowing down. Still, he knows better than to take himself too seriously. One time, he remembers, he was in Middletown for an art show. He was supporting a student who was eagerly taking him around and introducing him to the folks there. Moments later, Cincinnati Reds catcher Eddie Taubensee walked in. “The entire tenor of the room changed,” he recalls with a smile in his voice. “That’s fame. People don’t feel like that about a children’s book illustrator.”

D NE

KEY INGREDIENTS

The lime juice and creamy filling in Happy Pies’s five-inch key lime pie create just the right mix of sweet and tart.

SANDWICH MONTH GAME P. 104 BREWERY FOOD IN COLUMBIA TWP. P. 106

METROPOLE CHEF Q&A P. 106 TEA IN THE ’BURBS P. 110

TAKE A PIC AT THE BANKS

moerleinlager421-2337,(513) house.com

The shaved corned beef, Swiss cheese, apple-bacon kraut, and Thousand Island dressing on marble rye bread goes great with one of this spot’s beers. You have more than 80 to choose from. House,LagerMoerlein downtown,Way,NuxhallJoe115

REUBEN

381-3114,(513)downtown,St.,Third blindpigcincy.com

Made with applewood-smoked pulled pork smothered in BBQ sauce and topped with coleslaw, this sammie is sturdy enough to hold with one hand while you celebrate your favorite sports team’s victory on the nearest TV. W.24Pig,BlindThe

PULLED PIG SANDWICH

ANTACID TABLETS

(513) 246-0140, rusconibar kitchen.com

Sixth St., downtown,

zesty ranch dressing. 126 W.

straws served with a side of

to share a basket of crispy pickle

Drop by Rusconi Bar & Kitchen

Way, downtown, (513) 653-6700, thefilson.com

answer. The Filson, 25 E. Freedom

make you think twice about your

brown mustard, and onion will

sauerkraut, sliced tomato, spicy

on a toasted bun topped with

Ave., Northside, (513) 954-4003, ordertickle.com

sausage, too, but this mettwurst

a sandwich?” probably applies to

Tickle Pickle. 4176 Hamilton

or the James Brownie) from

milkshake (like the Vanilla Ice

Cool down with a cleverly named

The age-old question

“Is a hot dog

THE METT

COLLECT $200 IN UBER CREDITS

SPICY KIMCHI SRIRACHA EGG

SALAD SANDWICH

Snack on this sandwich made with nine-minute boiled eggs, Kewpie mayo, heavy cream, pickled ground chiles, kimchi, chili powder, garlic, ginger, and turmeric. UncleLeo’s, 1709RaceSt.,Over-the-Rhine, (513)381-2403,uncleleosdive.com

CUBANO

Popularized in the U.S. by Cuban emigrants, this variation of the sandwich features mojo pork, cottage ham, and Swiss cheese pressed between two slices of Blue Oven’s Cuban bread and topped with pickles and mustard. Lost&Found,22E.14th St.,Over-the-Rhine,(513)834-8441, lostandfoundotr.com

Topped with cheddar, bacon, green onions, and ranch, these loaded tater tots are the spuds you’re looking for. NationKitchen &Bar,1200BroadwaySt.,Pendleton,(513)381-3794,nationkitchen andbar.com

4579 (513)Northside,Ave.,Hamilton cometbar.com541-8900,

Aside from the burritos that are big as your head, The Comet’s nachos— served with black beans, cheese, lettuce, onions, sour cream, and fresh jalapeños—are top notch.

gulowstreet.com873-4005,(513)side,

-NorthSt.,Hoffner1614Street,Gulow

This sammie is served with preserved lemon, dill remoulade, and fried capers on salted rye bread. And you don’t have to swim upstream for it.

SALMON SALAD SANDWICH

Served on a hoagie bun, this fried pork tenderloin sandwich topped with lettuce, tomato, onion, green tomato chow chow, horseradish mustard, and pickle is a much-needed filler between rounds of whiskey. GroveSpring3934Littlefield,The 386-7570,(513)Northside,Ave., littlefieldns.com

INDY JAWN

REPLAY CLASSICS ON NINTENDO SWITCH (THURSDAYS ONLY)

PAY $8

VelocityEsports,OneLeveeWay,Suite2130, Newport,(859)291-7529,newportonthelevee. com/velocity-esports

SMOKED HOT BROWN

Humans have been slapping meat and other savory fillings between slices of bread since the days of 18th century English aristocrat John Montagu, and there are no signs of us stopping any time soon. What better way to celebrate National Sandwich Month than with a quick game involving popular sammies at your favorite watering holes.

—AIESHA D. LITTLE

RIDE ON THE STREETCAR

VEGAN TLT

Take in some tunes from local indie bands while you chew on marinated tofu with lettuce, tomato, and vegan chipotle mayo on toasted wheat berry bread. MOTRPub,1345Main St.,Over-the-Rhine,(513)381-6687, motrpub.com

HANKY PANKY

Is this crowd favorite considered a sandwich? If you take the cheesy, spicy sausage spread and put it between two pieces of the toasted cocktail rye bread it’s served with, it can be. ThreeSpiritsTavern,209FairfieldAve.,Bellevue,(859)261-2611, threespiritstavern.com

Topped with tomato and bacon, this open-faced, house-smoked turkey breast sandwich is covered in creamy Mornay sauce. Smoke Justis, 302 Court St., Covington, (859) 814-8858, smokejustis.com

We’re nowhere near Maryland, but you’ll find a taste of the Inner Harbor with a crab cake basket smothered in Old Bay seasoning and Dijon mustard here. Blaze Cigar Bar & Lounge, 515 Monmouth St., Newport, (859) 412-1979, blazecigarlounge.com

PHILLY CHEESESTEAK

$6

This thinly sliced steak is topped with sauteed banana peppers, onions, mushrooms, mayo, and smothered in mozzarella/provolone cheese on an eight-inch French bread roll. Hometown Heroes, 640 Sixth Ave., Dayton, Ky., (859) 206-8120, hometown heroessports.wixsite.com

PARKING

Heavenly Highway Hash

JACKSON ROUSE, PREVIOUSLY OF THE ROOKWOOD AND BAUER FARM KITCHEN, TOOK the helm as executive chef at Fifty West Brewpub when it awoke from pandemic slumber in January 2023. The menu takes its cue from Rouse’s versatile palate and, besides the (very good) loaded frites and obligatory burger, the eatery has a bevy of entrées that include pot roast, mussels, and Faroe Island Salmon.

The lamb meatballs are the perfect dish to savor over drinks with good friends. Rich without being greasy, the lamb is balanced against light, crisp greens in the accompanying wheatberry herb salad. The romesco sauce unites the dish with the tomato’s mild acidity. Creamy goat cheese contrasts the lamb’s savory notes, and the ajika adds a subtle heat that warms the end of each bite. There’s nothing wrong with using your fork, but the dish comes with a large spoon for breaking and scooping up the meatballs onto slices of bread artfully arranged along the rim of the bowl. This technique naturally slows down the pace of your meal, forcing you to spend some quality time with your food. It also creates natural pauses for conversation.

Something from the wine list may pair nicely with lamb, but you’re at Fifty West Brewing Co., and you’ll make the drafts sad if you don’t consider the Deja Moo milk stout or a Main Street amber ale to go with your meal. —M.

LEIGH HOOD

METROPOLE’S NEW EXECUtive chef wants you to have a “purpose driven palate.”

How did you get into cooking?

Growing up in Mississippi, I was primarily taught to cook by both my mother and my grandmother. I draw upon inspiration from them every single day. My mother always said I was destined for kitchens because my dream job as a 2-year-old was to work the line at Waffle House.

How did you end up at Metropole?

My then-fiancé (now husband) was interviewing for the beverage manager position with Metropole’s previous executive chef, Vanessa Miller. During his interview, he mentioned that I also worked in the industry but was in the back of the house. I interviewed a few days later. I told Chef Vanessa that I just needed to cook in an environment that would make me fall in love with food again. I think that sold her on hiring me.

Why did you want to take on the executive chef role? Chef Vanessa! She very much reignited my passion for this industry and taught me an entirely new way to approach and think about taste and food.

What’s your cooking philosophy?

“Purpose driven palate.” Everything in a dish or on a plate should serve a purpose, down to the garnish. Every technique that is used in the cooking process should also serve a purpose toward the final product.

– AIESHA D LITTLE

Metropole, 609 Walnut St., downtown, (513) 578-6660, metropoleonwalnut.com

Read a longer interview with Zachary at cincinnatimagazine.com

Fifty West Brewpub, 7668 Wooster Pke., Columbia Twp., (513) 834-8789, fiftywest brew.com/brewpub

PA U S E PAUSE for a Week

of Remembrance

September 5 - 9

Join us as we PAUSE and remember the tragic mass shooting on Fountain Square in Cincinnati, Ohio, five years ago, where three innocent lives were lost. The aftermath left families grieving, individuals permanently injured, and countless others forever changed by the trauma.

While we can’t turn back time or regain the innocence lost, we continue to honor the victims and survivors by tirelessly working to prevent gun violence.

Help us commemorate this important week of remembrance by participating in our community-focused events starting on September 5th, 2023.

September 6, Fountain Square

Stories of Survival is an art installation event curated by John Beam of Blink Cincinnati, taking place on Fountain Square on September 6th. Cincinnati-based artists Jenny Ustick and Gee Horton will showcase four individual stories of gun violence, including the Fountain Square Mass Shooting. The event will raise awareness about gun violence and its impact on the community, while encouraging action through Whitney/Strong to prevent such incidents.

presented by

September 7

A Day for Advocacy is a collective effort to urge lawmakers to take stronger action in preventing gun violence in America. Despite some progress with legislation, such as the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, more action is needed. On Thursday, September 7th, Whitney/Strong will provide ready-made advocacy materials to our 8,000+ supporters, aiming for 1,000 outreach actions. By raising our voices together, we can make a difference during this crucial week of remembrance.

A Night for Life is the annual gala and primary fundraising event for Whitney/Strong, taking place on Friday, September 8th, 2023, at the MegaCorp Pavilion. The event will reflect on Whitney/Strong’s accomplishments, renew hope for change, and celebrate the resilience of featured heroes through captivating artistic performances. This year, Ben Sollee, an acclaimed cellist, songwriter, and storyteller, will be producing the stories.

September 5, University of Cincinnati

The Research Edition is a panel discussion event taking place at the University of Cincinnati (UC) in partnership with the UC and Xavier University Criminology Departments. Renowned experts, Dr. Adam Lankford and Dr. Travis C. Pratt, will share their extensive knowledge on mass violence and the identification of warning signs. The event is scheduled for 6:30 PM and attendance is free, with a suggested donation of $25 to support the ongoing efforts of Whitney/Strong.

To get involved or to learn more, scan the QR code or visit WhitneyStrong.org.

September 9, Avondale Neighborhood

A Day for Life is an event that will be held in Avondale, a neighborhood heavily affected by homicides in Cincinnati. In collaboration with UC Health, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, and the Cincinnati Police Department, we will set the Whitney/Strong record for the largest number of participants simultaneously trained in STOP THE BLEED® and firearm safety. This event is specifically for Avondale residents and is offered free of charge, with each participant receiving a gun safety and bleeding control kit while supplies last.

presented by

PIE HARD

BETH HAUKE’S baking venture began the way a lot of small businesses do—with a little push from loved ones. “Over the years I had made pies for friends and family to serve at their holiday gatherings,” she says. “From there, it just kind of happened.”

“It” is Happy Pies, Hauke’s line of desserts and quiches. After taking a year off from her banking job to help an ailing family member, she jumped into baking full time.

“As a teen I was fortunate enough to take a course at my school where I was taught how to make different types of pastry crust,” she recalls. “I haven’t stopped making pies since.”

Her pie crust is made with butter from a local farm, and she fills it with the freshest fruits she can find every week. Go with a classic like the cinnamon-stuffed apple crumb or cool, creamy key lime—or wait until September to try the Concord grape, which Hauke says has garnered quite a following.

You’ll find Happy Pies at Madeira Farmers’ Market this summer or year-round on the weekends at Findlay Market’s outdoor shed.

—AIESHA D. LITTLE

Happy Pies, iwanthappypies.com

TO A TEA

mid a string of Asian and Indian restaurants along Lebanon Road near I-275 is Tsaocaa, a specialty drink shop known for its inventive tea combos. Pronounced “sow cha,” the name means “a holy land of tea,” which is an apt moniker—it’s a pilgrimage getting out to Sharonville from points farther south, but it’s worth it. The tea is brewed daily, and if you’re looking for something with a little texture, you can get the fruit and milk teas chock full of fresh fruits, sweet beans, and boba. (For example, the passionfruit lime green tea comes with slices of lime and orange, passionfruit, and white coconut jellies.) Mix and match to create a flavor all your own.

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

KEY: No checks unless specified.

AE American Express, DC Diners Club

DS Discover, MC MasterCard, V Visa MCC Major credit cards: AE, MC, V

$ = Under $15

$$ = Up to $30

$$$ = Up to $49

$$$$ = $50 and up

= Named a Best Restaurant March 2023. Top 10

AMERICAN THE BIRCH

On any given evening, guests nibble at spicy hummus served with French breakfast radishes and pita bread while sipping slightly spumante glasses of Spanish Txakolina. And while the dinner menu reads strictly casual at first glance—soups, salads, and sandwiches and sharing plates—the preparation and quality are anything but. A chef salad with chopped romaine, sweet peas, applewood smoked bacon, hard-boiled egg, and sunflower seeds surpassed many versions of the bistro classic. And both the Brussels sprouts and fingerling potato sides refused to play merely supporting roles. Both were sensational studies in the balance of sweet, spicy, and acidic flavors.

702 Indian Hill Rd., Terrace Park, (513) 8315678, thebirchtp.com. Lunch and dinner Tues–Sat. MCC, DS. $

BRONTË BISTRO

You might think this is a lunch-only spot where you can nosh on a chicken salad sandwich after browsing next door at Joseph-Beth Booksellers. But this Norwood eatery feels welcoming after work, too. The dinner menu features entrées beyond the rotating soup and quiche roster that’s popular at noon. Mac and cheese? Check. Quesadillas and other starters? Yep. An assortment of burgers? Present, including a grilled portobello option. Casual food rules the day but the surprise is Brontë Bistro’s lineup of adult beverages, which elevates the place above a basic bookstore coffeeshop. The regular drinks menu includes such mainstays as cosmopolitans and sidecars.

2692 Madison Rd., Norwood, (513) 396-8970, josephbeth.com. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner seven days. MCC. $

COPPIN’S

With wine on tap and an extensive local beer list, Coppin’s is an ideal place to meet for drinks. In addition to plenty of Kentucky bourbon, much of the produce, meat, and cheese comes from local growers and producers. House-cured meat and cheese from Kenny’s Farmhouse and cheese from Urban Stead populate the “Artisan Cheese and

KING SAUCE

BonAppetit recently named Montgomery Inn’s barbecue sauce among the five best BBQ sauces in the country. The magazine wrote, “This barbecue sauce strikes the perfect balance of sweet and smoky, with molasses and tamarind bolstering a thick tomato base.” bonappetit.com/story/ best-bbq-sauces

Charcuterie Board,” which dresses up the main attractions with honey, dijon mustard, house pickles, and Sixteen Bricks purple barley bread. The mussels—made with seasonally rotating sauces and chorizo from Napoleon Ridge Farms in Gallatin County—were served with a peppery tomato sauce, perfect for sopping up with bread. The seven-ounce Sakura Farms Wagyu ribeye with wild mushrooms, roasted parsnip, and beef jus is a must have. Or try the striped bass with grape farro roasted broccolini and mussel cream sauce.

638 Madison Ave., Covington, (859) 9056600, hotelcovington.com/dining/coppins.

Breakfast seven days, lunch Mon–Fri, and dinner Thurs–Sun. MCC. $$

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 ago, Mr. Gene’s still attracts lines of loyal customers at its windows. Can’t stand the heat? Order the mild chili 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, and celery salt; a pork sandwich ; or wings (a sign proclaims “So hot they make the devil sweat”). Although the chocolate malt is the biggest seller, we love the $3.75 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

citrusy spice that melts into the grits—a softly intriguing element rather than a slap in the face. Ivory House also has an excellent brunch.

2998 Harrison Ave., Westwood, (513) 3890175, ivoryhousecincy.com. Dinner Tues–Sat, brunch Sun. MCC. $$$

RED ROOST TAVERN

At its best, Red Roost Tavern—located in the Hyatt Regency, downtown—meets its singular challenge with verve: offering a locally sourced sensibility to an increasingly demanding dining public while introducing out-of-town guests to unique Cincinnati foods. Take the goetta, rich pork capturing the earthiness of the steel-cut oats, served as a hash with sweet potatoes and poached eggs. The seasoning added a restrained, almost mysterious hint of black pepper. But the kitchen’s talent seems straightjacketed. Chefs thrive on instincts not covered by the five senses; restaurants thrive by taking careful risks. Red Roost seems to be struggling to find its third eye, and sometimes the entrées don’t live up to their ambitions.

151 W. Fifth St., downtown, (513) 354-4025, redroosttavern.com. Breakfast and lunch Sat & Sun, dinner seven days. MCC,DS. $$$

THE SCHOOLHOUSE RESTAURANT

Top 10

The menu here generally doesn’t reinvent dishes or introduce outlandish flavors, but simply pays attention to enough little things to make the results unusually good. The Wagyu is served in cheeseburger form, but the exceptional tomme from Urban Stead gives it that extra something. The cocktails are things you’ve probably seen before, but everything—from the Death Valley Old Fashioned to the Queen City’s Bees Knees—had an extra dash of liveliness from a house-made element, like a rhubarb honey syrup or the raspberry shrub. Even when an ingredient seems out of left field, like the burnt grapefruit hot sauce on the Hamachi, it never tastes as unusual as it sounds. The hot sauce is just a hint of sweet

An old flag stands in one corner and pictures of Abe Lincoln and the first George W. hang on the wall of this Civil War–era schoolhouse. The daily menu of familiar Midwestern comfort fare is written in letter-perfect cursive on the original chalkboard. Once you order from a woman who bears an uncanny resemblance to your high school lunch lady, the elevated lazy Susan in the center of the table begins to fill up with individual bowls and baskets of corn bread, slaw, salad, mashed potatoes, chicken gravy, and vegetables. The deal here is quantity. More mashed potatoes with your fried chicken? More corn bread with your baked ham? You don’t even have to raise your hand.

8031 Glendale-Milford Rd., Camp Dennison, (513) 831-5753, theschoolhousecincinnati.com.

Lunch Sun, dinner Fri–Sun. MCC, DS. $

SYMPHONY HOTEL & RESTAURANT

Tucked into a West 14th Street Italianate directly around the corner from Music Hall, this place feels

like a private dinner club. There’s a preferred byreservation policy. You can see the reliance on local produce in the Greek lemon chicken soup. Salads are interesting without being busy, and the lemon lavender sorbet is served as the third course palate cleanser with the five-course menu. Main courses of pan-seared rainbow trout, grassfed strip steak, and a veggie burger hit all the right notes, and you can end with a sweet flourish if you choose the strawberry lavender shortcake.

210 W. 14th St., Over-the-Rhine, (513) 7213353, symphonyhotel.com. Dinner Fri & Sat. $$

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: lots of mostly local meat and produce, 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–Fri. MCC.

$$$

BARBECUE

BEE’S BARBEQUE

You’ll want to get to Bee’s Barbecue in Madisonville 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, ribs, 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) 5612337, beesbarbecue.com. Lunch and dinner Wed–Sat. 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 Mason-Dixon 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-yourown, and the barbecue is bona fide.

3313 Riverside Dr., East End, (513) 533-1957, 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 house-made 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) 3602222, waltshitchingpost.com. Dinner seven days. MCC. $$

CAJUN/ CARIBBEAN

BREWRIVER CREOLE

More than 800 miles from New Orleans, this may be as close as you can get to the real deal here in your own backyard. The menu fully leans into Chef Michael Shields’s penchant for cuisine from the Crescent City. His six years of training under NOLA’s own Emeril Lagasse comes through in a scratch kitchen menu that spans a range of the city’s classics. The enormous shrimp and oyster po’ boys—the former protein fried in a light and crispy beer batter and the latter in a hearty cornmeal breading—are served on fluffy French bread loaves and dressed with lightly spicy rémoulades. The jambalaya packs all the heat of a late summer day in the French Quarter without masking a hint of its satisfying flavors. Paired with a Sazerac and nightly live jazz, you may just feel tempted to start a second line.

4632 Eastern Ave., Linwood, (513) 861-2484, brewrivercreolekitchen.com. Dinner Tues–Sun, brunch and lunch Sat & Sun. MCC. $

KNOTTY PINE ON THE BAYOU

The Pine serves some of the best Louisiana homestyle 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) 7812200, theknottypineonthebayou.com. Dinner Tues–Sun. MCC, DS. $$

CHINESE

CHINESE IMPERIAL INN

The chilies-on-steroids cooking here will have you mopping beads of garlic-laced sweat from your brow. The musky, firecracker-red Mongolian chicken stabilizes somewhere just before nirvana exhaustion, and aggressively pungent shredded pork with dried bean curd leaves your eyes gloriously glistening from its spicy hot scarlet oil. Even an ice cold beer practically evaporates on your tongue. Do not fear: not all the dishes are incendiary. Try the seafood—lobster, Manila clams, Dungeness and blue crabs, whelk, and oysters— prepared with tamer garlicky black bean sauce, or ginger and green onions. The Cantonese wonton soup, nearly as mild as your morning bowl of oatmeal, is as memorable as the feverish stuff. Sliced pork and shrimp are pushed into the steaming bowl of noodles and greens just before serving. Think comforting, grandmotherly tenderness.

11042 Reading Rd., Sharonville, (513) 563-

6888, chineseimperialinn.com. Lunch and dinner seven days. MC, V, DS. $

ORIENTAL WOK

When Mike and Helen Wong opened Oriental Wok in 1977, the couple wanted to recreate the glamor and refinement of the Hong Kong-Cantonese cuisine they knew. Today, locals and expats alike enjoy authentic Chinese and Chinese-American dishes in dining rooms reminiscent of Beijing. Beyond the elephant tusk entryway and fish ponds and fountains is the warmth and hospitality of the Wong family, service on par with the finest establishments, and very, very good food. Best are the fresh fish: salmon, grouper and sea bass steamed, grilled or fried in a wok, needing little more than the ginger-green onion sauce that accompanies them. Oriental Wok is the tri-state’s longest-running family-owned Chinese restaurant for a reason.

317 Buttermilk Pke., Ft. Mitchell, (859) 331-3000; 2444 Madison Rd., Hyde Park, (513) 871-6888, orientalwok.com. Lunch Mon–Fri (Ft. Mitchell; buffet Sun 11–2:30), lunch Tues–Sat (Hyde Park), dinner Mon–Sat (Ft. Mitchell) dinner Tues–Sun (Hyde Park). MCC. $$

SICHUAN BISTRO CHINESE GOURMET

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, refreshing spinach wilted in ginger sauce, 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, from lobster to mussels. 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 BOCA

With its grand staircase, chandelier, and floor-to-ceiling draperies, Boca has an atmosphere of grandeur and refinement. There is a sense of drama not only in the decor but in everything it serves. In some dishes, there is a painterly sense of contrast and surprise, like violet-derived purple sugar beside the pain de Gênes (French almond cake). In others, there is a dramatic suspense, like the whole egg yolk quivering in the center of the Fassone tartare waiting

PRIDE PARTY 15 MINUTES

CINCINNATI MAGAZINE’S THIRD ANNUAL PRIDE PARTY PRESENTED BY KROGER CELEBRATED AND SUPPORTED THE LGBTQ+ COMMUNITY

Court Street Plaza welcomed more than 900 guests who enjoyed the festivities including a giant community wall, dunk tank, and more. Continuous entertainment including DJ, drag shows, and a dance flash mob rounded out an evening of fun, love, and community.

BENEFITTING CHARITABLE PARTNERS: Human Rights Campaign and Lighthouse Youth and Family Services

GREAT BIG SHOUT OUT TO OUR SPONSORS: Kroger, P&G, The Christ Hospital, Vitaminwater, Trojan, Kellogg’s, American Greetings, Hornitos, Butterball, Skyy Vodka, Splat, FIJI Water, GE Aerospace, Fifth Third Bank, Maybelline, Skittles, Olly, La Crema, MadTree Brewing, Cincinnati Mini Cooper, Johnson & Johnson, Old Bay, McDonalds, Dr. Scholl’s, Oreo, Peace Tea, Duncan Hines, Temptations, Clark Schaefer Hackett, Empire Marketing, Summit Hotel, and ProLink

GO GO, GADGET!

In the spring, Urban Artifact’s Gadget was named one of the “Top 50 Beers in the World” by Men’s Journal. The publication wrote that the fruited sour ale is “crammed with raspberries and blackberries, while vanilla beans add a bit of perceived sweetness.”

mensjournal.com/ food-drink/the50-greatest-beers-inthe-world

to be broken. While staying mostly grounded in the fundamentals of Italian and French cuisine, Boca has an air of international sophistication that sets its food apart. The hamachi crudo, an old standby on the menu, takes Japanese flavors and gives them new dimensions with grapefruit suprêmes and slivers of shishito pepper. This is food of extraordinary creativity and flair.

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

CROWN REPUBLIC GASTROPUB

What makes Crown Republic special isn’t its handful of outstanding dishes. It’s the place’s sheer consistency. No single dish is absolutely mind-blowing or completely original, but when almost everything that comes out is genuinely tasty, the service is always friendly and attentive, and (stop the presses!) the bill is quite a bit less than you expected, you sit up and pay attention. The crab and avocado toast, served on toasted bread with lime juice and slivers of pickled Fresno chiles, is a prime example of what makes Crown Republic tick. The cocktails are equally unfussy and good, like the Tequila Honey Bee, made with tequila reposado, honey thyme syrup, lemon, bitters, and mezcal rinse, which adds a smoky kick.

720 Sycamore St., downtown, (513) 246-4272, crgcincy.com. Brunch, lunch and dinner Wed–Sun. V, MC, DS, AMEX. $$

METROPOLE

Metropole has been remarkably stable since it opened in 2012. Even when chefs have left, the organization has promoted from within, kept pop-ular dishes on the menu, and maintained a certain vibe, a balance between sophistication and rustic-ity. Its vegetarian fare contains many of its most inventive and delightful creations. The seared salmon is served with beluga lentils, green tomato, cucumber, brown butter, and smoked onion. The blistered shishitos, served with refreshing watermelon, goat cheese, yuzu, and spiced almonds, encapsulates Metropole at its best: fun and whimsical, but rooted in careful execution of deep and satisfying flavors.

609 Walnut St., downtown, (513) 578-6660, metropoleonwalnut.com. Dinner seven days. V, DS, MC, AMEX. $$

Top 10 MITA’S

It’s fitting that chef Jose Salazar named this restaurant after his grandmother, because there is something deeply homey about the food at Mita’s. With a focus on Spanish 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, whether the spicy freshness of the ceviche de camarones with passionfruit leche de tigreor the intensely bright sourness of the pozole verde. In dishes like the alcochofas y hongos, the chef hits every register: the acid of red espelette peppers to balance the earthy ramp-garlic hummus, the crunchy pistachios against the soft sautéed mushrooms and artichoke hearts. 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. $$$

NOLIA

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. Take the duck

and oyster gumbo. Harris deconstructs the typical stew, building on a base of popcorn rice, instead of the more typical long grain, and a decadent duck fat roux. It’s exquisitely prepared food served in a funky, laid-back atmosphere.

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

SALAZAR

A freewheeling tour through Korean, Moroccan, Italian, and French flavors—and that’s just on one iteration of the ever-evolving menu. Salazar turns out fresh, well-balanced dishes dotted with seasonal surprises: the cauliflower steak special (a Moroccan spiced, seared wedge of the cruciferous vegetable complemented by a strong hit of lemon), the chicken liver mousse (so good it deserves its own trophy), and the succulent chicken Milanese (with its musky, sweet-and-sour notes of ground cherry). With its bustling bar and cheek-by-jowl tables, Salazar hums with energy at every meal.

1401 Republic St., Over-the-Rhine, (513) 6217000, salazarcincinnati.com. Dinner Mon–Sat, brunch Sat & Sun. MCC. $$

THE VIEW AT SHIRES’ GARDEN

The name of this restaurant demands that one question be answered first: So, how’s that view? Well, it’s impressive. Especially if the weather cooperates and you can get a seat outside. Most dishes are rotated out every six months, but a few remain staples from season to season. Try the pan-roasted chicken, featuring a Freebird Farms skin-on breast. Or go for the Chef’s Feast for Two, a shareable steak with an Argentine shrimp salad and two sides. The cocktail list offers high, low, and zero proof options alongside a well-rounded beer and wine selection.

309 Vine St., 10th Floor, downtown, (513) 407-7501, theviewatshiresgarden.com. Dinner

Tues–Sat, brunch Sat & Sun. MCC. $$$

FRENCH

CHEZ RENÉE FRENCH BISTROT

Based on American stereotypes of French food— that it’s elaborate, elitist, and expensive—one might expect Chez 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. Friday–Sat and dinner Wed–Sat. MCC. $$

FRENCH CRUST

Located in the old Globe Furniture building at the corner of Elm and Elder Streets, this Jean-Robert de Cavel creation offers French fare in the heart of Over-the-Rhine. Swing by for lunch and have a quiche Lorraine (French Crust’s quiches are unrivaled in our humble opinion) and an avocado and shrimp salad, or opt for a more hearty entree—like bouillabaisse or cassoulet—for dinner. If you’re an early bird, a Croque Monsieur (sunny side up egg) is a great way to start the day.

1801 Elm St., Over-the-Rhine, (513) 455-3720, frenchcrustcafe.com. Breakfast and lunch Wed–Sun, dinner Thurs–Sun. MCC. $$

Top 10 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) 7512333, barboeuf.com. 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, Muthia 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, ammaskitchen.com. Lunch buffet seven days (allvegan on Wed), dinner seven days. MC, V, 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 super-sizing 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 A TAVOLA

In 2011, Jared Wayne opened A Tavola Pizza with two friends just as OTR was blowing up. A Ferrara pizza oven was ordered from Italy; Wayne, a skilled woodworker, built custom tables; and the menu was fleshed in with trendy crowd-pleasers like charcuterie and craft cocktails. Fast-forward a decade. The OTR outpost is closed but the second location is still going strong in the ’burbs: A Tavola Madeira capitalizes on the menu from the Vine Street location, including the fresh and zesty artichoke pizza on a Neapolitan crust; gooey mozzarella-filled arancini, or risotto fritters; and the zucchini mozzarella. Wash down your small plates with a glass of crisp and grassy Sannio falanghina or an ice-cold Peroni lager. They’re definitely going to need a bigger parking lot.

7022 Miami Ave., Madeira, (513) 272-0192, atavolapizza.com. Lunch and dinner seven days. V, DC, MS, AMEX. $

Big Sister Jennifer says, “My Little Sister strives hard. She has a job, just graduated and is heading to college. She’s a guiding light. As Mari’s Big Sister, I defend who she’s going be and who she wants to become.”

Graduation 2023

Little Sister Mari says, “Jennifer has helped me with finding grants, completing my FAFSA and opening my horizons towards becoming a hematologist.

One day, I will become a BIG, all based off her influence and leading me in the right direction of life.”

Big Sister Jennifer Stone, Westwood Little Sister Mari, West End Matched in 2013

FORNO

Cristian Pietoso’s second restaurant has all the bones of an upscale eatery, but the menu is infused with enough Italian soul to make nonna proud. In most instances, raving about a side of creamed corn wouldn’t bode well for the rest of the menu. Here, that side dish—kernels swimming in a pool of truffle-laced heavy cream that demands sopping up—is evidence that each component is purpose-driven. The red wine–braised honeycomb tripe, which carries a warning label (“Don’t be scared!”), and the pappardelle with spiced cinghiale (wild boar) ragu are examples of the elevated, adventurous comfort food that Pietoso strives for.

3514 Erie Ave., East Hyde Park, (513) 818-8720, fornoosteriabar.com. Dinner Tues–Sun, brunch Sun. MCC. $$

NICOLA’S

1420 Sycamore St., Pendleton, (513) 721-6200, nicolasotr.com. Dinner Mon–Sat. MCC, DC, 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 rolls, 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, padrinoitalian. com. Lunch and dinner seven days. MCC, DS. $$

PEPP & DOLORES

and unfamiliar, the magic at Sotto happens right in front of you, using ordinary elements and methods. When you taste the results, though, you realize that some mysterious transmutation has taken place. Penne with rapini and sausage comes in a buttery, lightly starchy broth with a kick of spice that you could go on eating forever. From the texture of the chicken liver mousse to the tart cherry sauce on the panna cotta, most of the food has some added element of soulfulness.

118 E. Sixth St., downtown, (513) 977-6886, sottocincinnati.com. Dinner seven days. V, MC, DS, AMEX. $$

SUBITO

Top10

Chef/Restaurateur Cristian Pietoso carries on the legacy of his father, Nicola, as the elder Pietoso’s Over-the-Rhine eatery celebrates 25 years in business. Nicola’s has entered a new era of exuberant creativity under the leadership of chef Jack Hemmer. You can still get the old Italian classics, and they’ll be as good as ever, but the rest of the menu has blossomed into a freewheeling tour of modern American cuisine. Any establishment paying this level of attention to detail—from the candied slice of blood orange on the mascarpone cheesecake to the staff ’s wine knowledge—is going to put out special meals. Rarely have humble insalate been so intricately delicious, between the perfectly nested ribbons of beets in the pickled beet salad or the balance of bitterness, funkiness, and creaminess in the endive and Gorgonzola salad. Order an old favorite, by all means, but make sure you try something new, too.

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

1501 Vine St., Over-the-Rhine, (513) 419-1820, peppanddolores.com. Lunch Fri–Sun, dinner Mon–Thurs. MCC. $$

SOTTO

Focusing on Northern Italian cuisine, Subito carves out its own worthwhile place in the landscape. Most of the items on the menu—from pizza to various pastas—will be familiar, but there are delightful surprises, like the vegan torta di ceci. At the base of the dish is a light, flaky farinata—a griddled pancake made out of chickpea flour. Topped with pickled red onion, and covered with nectarine and toasted almonds, the whole dish is rounded out with a touch of tangy sweetness from a blackberry balsamic vinaigrette. Everything at Subito is done with intelligence and a light touch.

311 Pike St., downtown, (513) 621-4500, thelytleparkhotel.com/dining/subito. Breakfast and lunch Mon–Fri, dinner Mon–Sat, brunch Sat & Sun. MCC. $$

JAPANESE ANDO

Top10

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

You don’t go just anywhere to dine on uni sashimi (sea urchin) or tanshio (thinly sliced charcoal-grilled beef tongue). Don’t miss the rich and meaty chyu toro (fatty big-eye tuna), or the pucker-inducing umeshiso maki (pickled plum paste and shiso leaf roll). Noodles are also well represented, with

udon, soba, or ramen options available. And don’t forget to ask about the specials; owners Ken and Keiko Ando always have something new, be it grilled koji or marinated amberjack smoked salmon crudo, delicacies that you’ll be hard-pressed to find in any of those Hyde Park pan-Asian wannabes. The only thing you won’t find here is sake, or any other alcohol. Bring your own, or stick to the nutty and outright addicting barley tea.

5889 Pfeiffer Rd., Blue Ash, (513) 954-0041, andojapaneserestaurant.com. Dinner Tues–Sat. MCC. $$$

Top 10 KIKI

Kiki started as a pop-up at Northside Yacht Club, then leapt into brick-and-mortar life in College Hill. Your best bet here is to share plates, or simply order too much, starting with the shishito buono, a piled-high plate of roasted shishito peppers tossed in shaved parmesan and bagna cauda, a warm, rich blend of garlic and anchovies. Add the karaage fried chicken, with the Jordy mayo and the pepe meshi, confit chicken on spaghetti and rice that somehow works. And, yes, the ramen, too. The shio features pork belly and tea-marinated soft-boiled egg, but the kimchi subs in tofu and its namesake cabbage for the meat.

5932 Hamilton Ave., College Hill, (513) 541-0381, kikicincinnati.com. Lunch Sun and dinner Wed–Sat. MCC. $

MEI

Mei’s menu is meant to represent traditional Japanese cuisine, appealing to the novice as well as the sushi maven. It is divided into sections that encourage a progressive meal of small dishes: One each for hot and cold appetizers, noodles, sushi and sashimi, special rolls, soups and salads, sushi dinners (with miso soup), and combinations (such as tempura paired with sashimi). Deep-fried soft shell crab comes with ponzu sauce—a dipping sauce made of rice vinegar, soy sauce, mirin, and citrus juice—and the kind of yakitori that you can find on the streets of New York. Bento boxes—lacquered wooden boxes divided into compartments—offer the neophyte a sampling of several small dishes. Mei’s are

lovely: deep red and stocked with tempura, cooked salmon, sashimi, stewed vegetables, and a fabulous egg custard with shrimp and gingko nut. Mei’s sushi—nigiri, maki, and handrolls—is exceptionally good with quality cuts of fresh seafood. The staff is knowledgeable, extremely efficient, respectful, and attentive, even when it’s at peak capacity.

8608 Market Place Lane, Montgomery, (513) 891-6880, meijapaneserestaurant.com. Lunch Sat & Sun, dinner Tues–Sun. MCC, DS. $$

KOREAN

HARU

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

628 Vine St., downtown, (513) 381-0947, harucincy.com. Lunch and dinner Mon–Sat. MCC. $$

RIVERSIDE KOREAN RESTAURANT

Come for the jo gi mae un tang—a bowl of sizzling, happy hellbroth pungent with red pepper, garlic, and ginger, crowded with nuggets of fish, tofu, and vegetables. Come for the restorative power of sam gae tang, a chicken soup for the Seoul—a whole Cornish hen submerged in its own juices and plumped with sticky rice and ginseng, dried red dates, and pine nuts. Revered for their medicinal proper-

ties, both dinner-sized soups will leave your eyes glistening and your brow beaded with sweat. They’re a detox for your overindulgence, rejuvenation for when you’re feeling under the weather. Expect crowds on weekends. Expect too, that dozens of them have come for dolsot bibimbap, the hot stone pots filled with layers of rice, vegetables, meat or tofu, egg, and chili paste. Characterized by its electric color and addictive flavors, Riverside Korean’s version is a captivating bowl of heaven.

512 Madison Ave., Covington, (859) 291-1484, riversidekoreanrestaurant.com. Lunch Tues–Fri, dinner Tues–Sun. MCC, DS. $$

MEXICAN HABAÑERO

It’s easy to find a cheap burrito place around a college campus, but you’d be hard-pressed to find one as consistently good as Habañero, with its flavors of Latin America and the Caribbean wrapped up in enormous packages. Fried tilapia, apricot-glazed chicken breast, hand-rubbed spiced flank steak, shredded pork tenderloin, or cinnamon-roasted squash are just some of the ingredients for Habañero’s signature burritos. All salsas are house-made, from the smoky tomato chipotle to the sweet-sounding mango jalapeño, which is hot enough to spark spontaneous combustion. 358 Ludlow Ave., Clifton, (513) 961-6800, habanerolatin. com. Lunch and dinner seven days. MCC, DC, DS. $

MESA LOCA

Sitting on a corner of Hyde Park Square, it’s easy to see that Mesa Loca has an absolute dream of a location. The pandemic forced a few changes to the seafood-centric menu, but those dishes still on the menu indicate what Mesa Loca could be. The tuna ceviche is nicely balanced: tart, with a little spicy creaminess, and a good crispy to-

ON A ROLL

The Governor’s lobster roll is the best in Ohio, according to Yelp. In June, the website unveiled a list of its favorite lobster roll by state, just in time for summer. The 51 eateries selected were judged on style (Connecticut or Maine), buns (brioche), and price. yelp.com/article/ yelps-top-lobster-rollsin-every-state

stada. The Baja snapper goes well with a bright pile of grated radish and the mango habañero salsa, one of the highlights of the meal. With minced chunks of mango and a hint of fruity habañero heat, it is a prime example of how you can elevate Mexican food and make it worthy of a higher-than-ordinary price. One of Mesa Loca’s appealing qualities is its dramatic flair: The yucca fries come stacked on the plate like a late-stages game of Jenga, and their sour-and-spicy rub is quite delicious and striking against the bright starchy white of the fries.

2645 Erie Ave., Hyde Park, (513) 321-6372, mesalocahydepark.com. Lunch and dinner seven days. MCC. $$

MONTOYA’S

Mexican places seem to change hands in this town so often that you can’t get the same meal twice. Montoya’s is the exception. They’ve been hidden in a tiny strip mall off the main drag in Ft. Mitchell for years. It’s unpretentious and seemingly not interested in success, which means success has never gone to their head here. At a place where you can get Huracan Fajitas with steak, chicken, and chorizo or Tilapia Asada, the tacos are still a big item.

2507 Chelsea Dr., Ft. Mitchell, (859) 341-0707. Lunch and dinner Tues–Sat. MC, V, DS. $

NADA

The brains behind Boca deliver authentic, contemporary, high-quality Mexican fare downtown. You’ll find a concise menu, including tacos, salads and sides, large plates, and desserts. The Pork Al Pastor tacos, zesty with salsa verde and sweet with grilled pineapple, are definite crowd-pleasers. If you’re biased against brussels sprouts, Nada just might convert you. Their crispy brussels, served with chipotle honey and candied ancho pepitas, are a deliciously intriguing starter.

600 Walnut St., downtown, (513) 721-6232, eatdrinknada.com. Lunch Mon–Fri, dinner seven days, brunch Sat & Sun. MCC, DS. $$

SEAFOOD

MCCORMICK & SCHMICK’S

The daily rotation here reads like a fisherman’s wish list: fresh lobsters from the coast of Maine, 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. It’s likely to remain a favorite. After all, it’s right in the middle of things.

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

ROSEWOOD SUSHI, THAI & SEAFOOD

Chanaka De Lanerolle sold Mt. Adams Fish House back in 2011, and Rosewood Sushi, Thai & Seafood is its reincarnation—and reinvention. Most of the menu tends toward fairly conservative takes on classics, like well-seasoned crab cakes and thick, creamy chowder full of seafood. The handful of ethnic experiments on the menu are among its most vibrant offerings, including a Mediterranean fish stew that takes inspiration from the North African coast. Tender, fluffy couscous soaks up a fiery but sweet tomato sauce that showcases chiles and peppercorns, golden raisins, and lovely firm cashews, and the stew itself is packed with mussels, shrimp, and chunks of fish.

3036 Madison Rd., Oakley, (513) 631-3474, oakleyfishhouse.com. Lunch Fri–Sun, dinner Tues–Sun. MCC. $$$

STEAKS

Top 10 LOSANTI A bit more upscale than its sister restaurant, Crown Republic Gastropub, Losanti is also more conservative in its offerings. Service is friendly and informal, and though the meal feels like a special occasion, 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—yes, totally out of season, but still good—is at least freshly cut off the cob and recalls elote with lime and chile.

1401 Race St., Over-the-Rhine, (513) 2464213, losantiotr.com. Dinner Mon–Sat. 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. White-jacketed waiters with floor-length aprons 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, even the willowy model types, inhale slabs of beef (dry aged USDA prime) like they’re dining in a crack house for carnivores. 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 Mon–Sat. MCC, DC. $$$$

Top 10 THE PRECINCT

Part of the appeal of the Ruby restaurants is their ability to deliver deep, comfortfood 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 Tribeca Oven 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 dinner ends on a sweet note with a piece of Ruby family recipe cheesecake. Neither cloyingly sweet nor overwhelmingly creamy, it’s a lovely slice of restraint.

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

TONY’S

He is a captivating presence, Tony Ricci. Best known for his 30 years in fine dining—including the Jeff Ruby empire while managing the venerable Precinct—Ricci has built a life in the hospitality industry. Much of Tony’s menu is right out of a steakhouse playbook: jumbo shrimp and king crab legs from the raw bar; Caprese, Greek, and Caesar salads; sides of creamed spinach, mac-and-cheese, asparagus, and sautéed mushrooms; toppings of roasted garlic or Gorgonzola butters to accompany your center cut of filet mignon. There are boutique touches, though, that make it stand out—a garlic herb aioli with the calamari, steak tartare torchkissed and topped with a poached egg, a superb rack of lamb rubbed with aromatic sumac and served with mint pesto.

12110 Montgomery Rd., Symmes Township, (513) 677-8669, tonysofcincinnati.com. Dinner seven days. MCC, DS. $$$$

THAI

SUKHOTHAI

Nestled in the nearly hidden Market Place Lane, this tiny restaurant isn’t exactly slick. A chalkboard lists the day’s specials, usually spicy dishes worthy of an adventurous diner. But if it’s noodle dishes and curries you’re after, Sukhothai’s pad kee mao—wide rice noodles stir-fried with basil— is the best around. Served slightly charred, the fresh and dried chilies provide enough heat to momentarily suspend your breath. Pad Thai has the right amount of crunch from peanuts, slivers of green onion, and mung sprouts to contrast with the slippery glass noodles, and a few squeezes of fresh lime juice give it a splendid tartness. The crispy tamarind duck is one of the best house specials, the meat almost spreadably soft under the papery skin and perfectly complemented by the sweet-tart bite of tamarind.

8102 Market Place Lane, Montgomery, (513) 794-0057, sukhothaicincin.com. Lunch Tues–Fri, dinner Tues–Sat. DS, MC, V. $

TEAK 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-theRhine, which he compared to the energy he felt in Mt. Adams during his time there. But for all of the hype around the restaurant’s reemergence 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, teakotr.com. Lunch and dinner Tues–Sun. MCC. $$

VIETNAMESE

PHO LANG THANG

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

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

CINCINNATI MAGAZINE, (ISSN 0746-8 210), August 2023, Volume 56, Number 11. Published monthly ($19.95 for 12 issues annually) at 1818 Race St., Ste. 301, Cincinnati, OH 45202. (513) 421-4300. Copyright © 2023 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.

SEPTEMBER 3, 2023

For more information, please go to

Bob Edwards

Bob Edwards

Ventriloquism for Dummies

DEPENDING ON WHO YOU ASK, VENT HAVEN MUSEUM IS EITHER NORTHERN KENTUCKY’S best- or worst-kept secret. As the world’s only museum dedicated to ventriloquism, the 4,000-square-foot space draws a dedicated following of pilgrims from across the globe. Founder William Shakespeare Berger’s personal collection (at least 500 dummies and puppets) rapidly outgrew his home, but the founder couldn’t have possibly anticipated the newest home for his collection. The $1.2 million upgrade, which debuted this spring, outfitted a brandnew building with museum-quality lighting and climate control, plus the pièce de résistance, the Jeff Dunham Theater, a sleek performance and education space funded by the legendary ventriloquist and longtime Vent Haven devotee. “[Before], we were doing the best that we could,” says curator Lisa Sweasy. “But it’s really great knowing that we’re now properly caring for everything.”

—LAUREN FISHER

DR. MARK MANDELL-BROWN AND DR. GINA MACCARONE

Study sport management with professors

AT THE TOP OF THEIR GAME

Adam Beissel, Ph.D., centers his research and scholarship on the cultural and political economy of sport, especially the geopolitics of international sport mega-events. He is an associate professor of Sport Leadership and Management at Miami University.