Cincinnati Magazine - May 2021 Edition

A SECOND CHANCE TO SERVE OTHERS

by PATRICIA GALLAGHER NEWBERRY

HOW FATHER GRAHAM CHANGED XAVIER

by JOHN STOWELL

DRIP, DRIP Pistachio ice cream from Hello Honey

THE

INSIDE SCOOP Your frost-free guide to 36 ice cream shops, dairy bars, and creamy whips.

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ANSWER THE CALL

Mercy Health congratulates our talented nurses who were nominated for the University of Cincinnati’s 2021 Florence Nightingale Awards for Excellence in Nursing. Thank you for answering the call to nursing at Mercy Health!

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F E AT U R E S M AY 2 0 2 1

SCOOP, THERE IT IS THAI ICED TEA ICE CREAM FROM HELLO HONEY

P.

34

THE INSIDE SCOOP

Cup or cone, milkshake or malt, soft-serve swirl or handdipped scoop: However you like your cold and creamy treats, we’ve got ’em!

MAKING THE MOST OF A SECOND CHANCE P. 48

A downtown mural depicts five Cincinnati women who spent time in prison, one for a crime she didn’t commit. Now free, each has dedicated herself to helping create second chances for others.

BY PATRICIA GALLAGHER NEWBERRY P H O T O G R A P H BY M A R L E N E R O U N D S / N A I L S BY J YA N A M . J O N E S

FATHER GRAHAM EXITS STAGE LEFT

P. 52

As he retires from Xavier University, Michael Graham feels he helped the institution find its rightful place in Cincinnati and the world. He also wonders if he might have been just as successful as a P&G brand manager or a poet.

BY JOHN STOWELL

M AY 2 0 2 1 C I N C I N N AT I M A G A Z I N E . C O M 5

D E PA R T M E N T S M AY 2 02 1

ON OUR SITE

90

FOOD NEWS

12 / LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

FRONTLINES 15 / DISPATCH

Peg Wyant on breaking barriers as P&G’s first female brand manager

16 / SPEAK EASY DJ Apryl Reign takes over programming at Elementz

DINE

90 / DINING OUT Khora, downtown

16 / FAMILY FUN

92 / TAKEOUT HERO

Cincinnati Splatter Room

Elm Street Social Club, Over-the-Rhine

18 / REAL ESTATE Two houses on one property in Washington Twp.

20 / STYLE COUNSEL

92 / TABLESIDE WITH… Robert Porco of the May Festival

Kroger Corporate Communications Director Kristal Howard

94 / PANTRY

22 / HOMEGROWN

95 / TRY THIS

Motor Boat Garage, Norwood

Croissants from Rose & Mary Bakery, Covington

24 / DR. KNOW

96 / HOT PLATE

Your QC questions answered

Lotus Thai & Sushi, Crestview Hills

Dee Felice Market, Covington

98 / DINING GUIDE

COLUMNS

Greater Cincinnati restaurants: A selective list

The debate over letting children roam free

ON THE COVER

26 / WELCOME TO MIDDLEHOOD

BY JUDI KETTELER

104 / CINCY OBSCURA 22

Mt. Airy Water Towers

BY BEBE HODGES

photograph by MARLENE ROUNDS food styling by BRITTANY DEXTER nails by JYANA M. JONES

FOLLOW US @CincinnatiMag

6 C I N C I N N AT I M A G A Z I N E . C O M M AY 2 0 2 1

Cincinnati Magazine

@Cincinnatimagazine

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 Reds and FC Cincinnati.

PHTOOGR APHS BY: ( TOP) JEREMY KR AMER / (BOT TOM) MARLENE ROUNDS

12 / CONTRIBUTORS

COVID-19 reopenings, tweaks, and pivots.

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PAGE 57 SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION

AWARDS FOR EXCELLENCE IN NURSING

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PAGE 69 SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION

REAL ESTATE & MORTGAGE

ALL-STARS 2021

IF YOU’RE IN THE MARKET TO PURCHASE A

new home, our list of top real estate agents, home-selling teams, and mortgage professionals is the place to start your search. This carefully researched list was compiled by Professional Research Services (PRS) of Troy, Michigan. Agents who were chosen as Real Estate & Mortgage All-Stars had a total sales volume that fell within the top percent of Cincinnati-region agents, and the mortgage professionals on our list came highly recommended by agents and brokers in the region. The professionals with the most votes were the ones who were named Real Estate & Mortgage All-Stars for 2021.

M AY 2 0 2 1 C I N C I N N AT I M A G A Z I N E . C O M 6 9

Real Estate & Mortgage All-Stars If you’re in the market for a new home or you’d like to refinance, our list of the top real estate professionals and mortgage brokers in the region can help.

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F E A T U R I N G :

Anderson Area Chamber of Commerce Magazine and Membership Directory Bonus for subscribers in select zip codes only Learn more about Greater Anderson with this look at the region’s amenities. Plus, the business directory helps you find what you need.

Correction In April’s Top Dentists listings, Patrick Hoban was mistakenly listed as Rick Hoban. We regret the error.

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EDITOR-IN-CHIEF John Fox DESIGN DIRECTOR Brittany Dexter DIRECTOR OF EDITORIAL OPERATIONS

THINKING AND DOING FROM A WHOLE NEW PERSPECTIVE.

INNOVATIVE LEARNING & TEACHING.

Amanda Boyd Walters

1 0 C I N C I N N AT I M A G A Z I N E . C O M M AY 2 0 2 1

SENIOR EDITOR Aiesha D. Little ASSOCIATE EDITOR Lauren Fisher CONTRIBUTING EDITORS Jim DeBrosse,

Kathleen Doane, Jene Galvin, Jay Gilbert, Alyssa Konermann, Polk Laffoon IV, Lisa Murtha, Kevin Schultz, John Stowell, Linda Vaccariello, Kathy Y. Wilson, Jenny Wohlfarth, J. Kevin Wolfe EDITORIAL INTERNS Jenna Calderón,

Charlotte Caldwell, Emily Chien, Devan Marr

PUBLISHER Ivy Bayer

SENIOR ACCOUNT MANAGERS

Maggie Wint Goecke, Julie Poyer ACCOUNT REPRESENTATIVE

Hilary Linnenberg SENIOR OUTSIDE ACCOUNT REPRESENTATIVE

Laura Bowling SENIOR MANAGER, SPONSORSHIP SALES

Chris Ohmer SPECIAL PROJECTS MANAGER

Cecilia Rose SALES INTERN

Katherine Finley

DIGITAL INTERNS Nailah Edwards,

Bebe Hodges, Joe Weiner SENIOR ART DIRECTORS Jen Kawanari,

Emi Villavicencio

BUSINESS

OPERATIONS DIRECTOR Missy Beiting BUSINESS COORDINATOR Erica Birkle

ART DIRECTORS Zachary Ghaderi,

Stephanie Youngquist ASSISTANT ART DIRECTOR Carlie Burton JUNIOR DESIGNER Paisley Stone PHOTO INTERN Christopher Pasion CONTRIBUTING ARTISTS Lance Adkins, Ryan Back,

Wes Battoclette, Aaron M. Conway, Chris Danger, Devyn Glista, Chris von Holle, Jeremy Kramer, Ryan Kurtz, Lars Leetaru, Marlene Rounds, Dola Sun PRODUCTION DIRECTOR & IT SYSTEMS ADMINISTRATOR

Vu Luong

CIRCULATION

DIRECTOR OF AUDIENCE DEVELOPMENT

Michelle VanArman CIRCULATION MANAGER Riley Meyers

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I

CONTRIBUTORS

PATRICIA GALLAGHER NEWBERRY

I ’ M FO R T U N AT E TO L I V E O N A ST R E E T W H E R E I C A N WA L K TO G R A E T E R ’S A N D UDF for my ice cream fix. I’m also a short drive from my favorite creamy whip, though I’d rather not remind you of its existence; the lines are already too long.

This time of year always brings back traditions and memories with the daffodils and tulips. We clean up and reopen the baseball fields, the swimming pools, the outdoor patios, and the family-owned creamy whips. Some neighborhoods will start hearing the tinkling siren call of the ice cream truck on weekend afternoons. And I’ll be able to buy a cup of peach ice cream again at our Graeter’s.

This month’s issue celebrates the memories, feelings, and connections we associate with ice cream (“Sundae Best,” page 34), as well as the booming business that frozen treats do across the region. I honestly didn’t know how many individual storefronts, multi-location companies, portable carts, and food trucks were open now, nor did I comprehend the full menu of options under the ice cream umbrella. You’ll find recommendations in these pages for gelato, sorbetto, sherbet, soft serve, frozen yogurt, artisan popsicles, rolled ice cream, extruded ice cream, Italian ice, ice balls, milkshakes, and even a cotton candy burrito stuffed with ice cream. Many come in dairy-free, lactose-free, fat-free, and vegan varieties. You can add alcohol to some of them.

The explosion of ice cream flavor and production choices reminds me of similar developments with beer and coffee. Regional and local favorites got bought up by big national brands when we were kids, and for several decades we really had just a handful of choices, and we didn’t mind that much.

Then local folks started making their own beer and coffee from quality ingredients and offering a communal experience around their products, and craft scenes were born. New brands became regional favorites, and small mom-andpop shops opened as neighborhood anchors across the region. It’s fun seeing the same level of creativity, passion, and entrepreneurship happening with ice cream. Which food or drink do you think will be next to take the craft leap?

J O H N F OX

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

1 2 C I N C I N N AT I M A G A Z I N E . C O M M AY 2 0 2 1

ILLUSTR ATIO N BY L A R S LEE TA RU

Contributing writer Patricia Gallagher Newberry always felt that journalism was the perfect match for her writing skills and selfdescribed contrarian personality.

When the now senior lecturer and area coordinator of Miami University’s journalism program stumbled upon ArtWorks’s 200th mural, Time Saved vs. Time Served, she knew it had a story worth sharing. In “Making the Most of a Second Chance” (page 48), Newberry explores the lives of five women depicted in the mural who refuse to let their time spent behind bars define them.

LAUREN FISHER For Associate Editor Lauren Fisher, choosing which local ice cream spots to include in “Sundae Best” (page 34) wasn’t her only challenge.

“I’m actually lactose intolerant,” she says. She quickly adjusted, opting for dairy-free picks or having family members help taste-test in her place. “Everybody loves going out with their family and getting ice cream,” Fisher says.

CATIE VOIX Freelance photographer Catie Viox has a broad portfolio that ranges from food and drink to interior design and fashion. The temperamental nature of shooting ice cream for this month’s issue was a unique challenge that required quick thinking. It was a challenge she was happy to tackle. “I have a lot of fun with really anything,” Viox says.

We’re Back! You’re Invited.

FESTIVAL 2021

MAY 21–30 at Music Hall D I S C OV E R T H E VO I C E I N E V E RY T H I N G

The May Festival returns to Music Hall this spring, bringing together the uplifting voices of members of the May Festival Chorus, spectacular guest artists and the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra for limited capacity, socially distanced performances.

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They live to serve and love to save.

THIS IS SCIENCE .

UC Health nurses come to work every day to serve and care for those who need it most. Their unmatched expertise provides hope in our communities and leads to scientifically-proven better outcomes.

Today and every day, we appreciate and celebrate our UC Health nurses.

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DJ APRYL REIGN PROGRAMS ELEMENTZ P. 16

BUY ONE, GET ONE HOME SALE P. 18

CORPORATE STYLE P. 20

BUILDING BOATS P. 22

TOP OF HER GAME

In 1968, Peg Wyant became the first female brand manager at P&G. She didn’t stop there. L E Y L A S H O K O O H E

P

EG WYANT SHATTERED GLASS

ceilings for women in the workplace long before it was common practice. In the 1960s, gender-equitable hiring practices were so far from reality as to barely register a whisper. But Wyant, author of a new memoir, One Red Shoe, about her experiences working for Procter & Gamble and as an entrepreneur and mother, simply wouldn’t take no for an answer.

“I walked into P&G,” she recalls, “and this nice lady said, Fill out this application, and then I’ll give you the typing test. And I said, I don’t type.

All I can do is think. Don’t you have a test for that?” In 1968, she was hired as the first female associate brand manager in company history.

Even before becoming a corporate trailblazer, Wyant marched to the beat of her own drum. The daughter of a federal judge and a former model, the Cincinnati area native worked a Congressional internship, graduated from Smith College in 1964, and was accepted to Georgetown Law School—which she deferred in order to launch American Education International, a cultural and language exchange program. It was a financial failure after just two years, and Wyant moved back CONTINUED ON P. 16

ILLUSTR ATIO N BY A DA M N I C K E L

M AY 2 0 2 1 C I N C I N N AT I M A G A Z I N E . C O M 1 5

DISPATCH

FAMILY FUN

MESSING AROUND WITH ART

Fling paint or shoot paint guns at a blank canvas (and each other) and create modern art at the city’s first Splatter Room, cohosted

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1 6 C I N C I N N AT I M A G A Z I N E . C O M M AY 2 0 2 1

SPEAK EASY

MAKING IT REIGN X In January, April Carr (a.k.a. DJ Apryl Reign) took over as director of programming and evaluation at Elementz Hip Hop Youth Center, where she’s worked in some capacity for nearly 20 years, including her famous DJing classes. Carr discusses her plans to increase the Over-the-Rhine nonprofit’s outreach and impact.

How did you get the new role at Elementz?

After 10-plus years serving as the creative arts director, Abdullah Powell decided to explore other teaching pursuits within the organization and spend more time with his family. My longevity with the organization helped guide him and our managing director, Tom Kent, to approach me as the successor. I’m pursuing a graduate degree in counseling at UC. Although my career path is slightly altered by accepting this position, the material I’m learning on career counseling is proving to be very valuable for our Creative Futures program, which helps Elementz members pursue careers in creative arts.

How are things different for you now that you’re in charge? The big difference is more

meetings! No, just kidding. Having people consult with me more and report to me is a first and is definitely an adjustment. Moving from three hours a week to 40-plus hours was jarring.

How are you juggling this new role with teaching DJ classes?

It’s tough, but I really enjoy teaching and look forward to it every week. I did have to move my classes to Saturdays so I can complete my internship for graduate school. I’m juggling family, school, a full-time job, and an internship. It’s a lot.

Where do you see Elementz going in the next couple of years?

I expect our reach to expand further into the community than what we’ve seen previously.

The pandemic has created opportunities for us to expand our thinking and given us experiences in arenas we hadn’t yet entered. Our media presence will be prominent and our story well-known, and we’ll use our knowledge and skill in hip hop culture to engage and empower urban youth and beyond.

—AIESHA D. LITTLE READ A LONGER CONVERSATION WITH APRIL AT CINCINNATI MAGAZINE.COM

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

B O O K COV ER CO U R TE S Y G ATEK EEPER PRE SS / P O P A R T PH OTO G R A PH CO U R TE S Y TH E SPL AT TER R O O M CIN CIN N ATI / SPE A K E A S Y ILLU S TR ATI O N BY Z AC H A RY G H A D E RI

agreed not to replace me and to let me in with her parents. She applied to P&G at her father’s suggestion. come back to that coveted job, a really “If I hadn’t failed in that company, big move on their part and mine. That was progress.” if I hadn’t gone bankrupt, John Pepper Wyant would go on to start Grandin probably wouldn’t have thought I was Properties, the venture capital group Isthat special,” says Wyant. “That’s what made me stand out to Procter & Gamble abella Capital, and the Women’s Capital people, that I actually had the nerve to Club. With husband Jack, she launched the Cincinnati Squash Academy in 2014, start a company, charter a jet, and take 250 kids to Europe.” Pepper, then a P&G focused on helping underserved youth brand manager and the company’s CEO in the region. from 1995 to 2002, was in“She really is a very good strumental in hiring Wyant. trend-spotter,” says Valerie In the foreword to One Red Newell, principal and senior Shoe, he recalls his first imwealth advisor of Mariner pression of her: “I hadn’t met Wealth Advisors, and a memanyone in recruiting at P&G ber of the Women’s Capital who was smarter, and no one Club, a group of women inIf the Shoe Fits with more energy. So she went vestors. “She was investing in One Red Shoe is availonto a day of interviews. She able at Joseph-Beth Over-the-Rhine very early on.

Booksellers and online She’s an entrepreneur with a was hired.”

Through a contemporary at Goodreads, Powell’s not-your-standard résumé, Books, and Amazon. lens and amid the national and she’s a woman, and she’s been a role model for so many people.” conversation of work-life balance, it With Grandin Properties, Wyant may seem that Wyant’s accomplishpurchased and transformed the Strietments are par for the course. But she forged a truly unprecedented path on the mann Center in Over-the-Rhine in reheels of the passage of the Civil Rights cent years. The former Strietmann BisAct of 1964, which outlawed discrimicuit Company home is now the largest nation based on race, color, religion, or LEED-certified office building in OTR. It sex. Wyant became the first woman at turns out that the original biscuit comP&G to work past five months of pregpany was, in its 19th century beginnings, nancy, a previous cut-off for female emfinanced by a woman. ployees. In fact, she delivered a speech “I thought maybe telling my story at the company’s year-end board meetwould be instrumental,” says Wyant of ing in 1973 while nine months pregnant her memoir. “We’ve come a long way, but with her first child. “I asked them, Could we aren’t there yet by any stretch of the I please not be replaced? because I wanted imagination. Maybe there are some kerto come back, and you weren’t expected nels here that will be helpful to readers, to come back,” she says. “P&G actually especially young women.”

. y o j e r pu

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ON THE MARKET

ADDRESS: 1430-1440 HAVEN HILL DR., WASHINGTON TWP. LISTING PRICE: $1,499,900

THE VIEW FROM ABOVE SOME HOMES COME WITH A STORY, USUALLY ONE OF LOCAL PERSONALI-

ties who lived out interesting (or scandalous) lives inside their walls.

Other homes serve enough jaw-dropping drama to create a story all their own. This Washington Township house is the latter, with six bedrooms and six full baths (many of which are en suite), and more than 5,500 square feet of living space on its three floors. About 20 minutes south of Dayton, the home gives you easy access to that city’s amenities and is an hour or less to Hamilton or Cincinnati.

“You feel worlds away,” says Robinson Sotheby’s listing agent Sean Chmura, “but you’re a fiveminute drive to Dayton Mall.” Inside, look for walls of multi-paned windows in the living and dining rooms, crown molding and wainscoting on the Colonial-style ground floor, fireplaces throughout (both upstairs and down), and an office paneled in rare tigerwood.

If it’s lush outdoor settings you’re after, head around back to the covered veranda, trimmed in an elegant colonnade for views of a sweeping 1 8 C I N C I N N AT I M A G A Z I N E . C O M M AY 2 0 2 1

lawn and mature trees that sail over the watchtower roof. Walk down to the one-of-a-kind stone retaining wall filled with countless fossils—itself a time capsule of this land’s history. Built in 1930 on six manicured acres, the property contains a large white-painted windmill lighthouse, a local favorite built 60-odd years ago for a family wedding. For a generation now, it has overlooked the large pond (complete with its own dock, rowboat, and fountain).“It’s probably one of the more recognizable properties,” Chmura says.“It’s known for its windmill,” he says, which is visible from the road. Upstairs, a balcony overlooks the lake and the lush Great Miami River valley beyond.

And the most dramatic feature of them all: There’s a whole extra house on the lot. Whatever you call it—a carriage house, a guest house—it’s a fully equipped two-bedroom, 1,200-square-foot house that would be at home on any suburban street. It comes with an attached garage, a greenhouse, and its share of all those dramatic views.

P H OTO G R A P H S CO U R T E S Y R O B IN S O N S OT H EBY ’ S IN T ER N AT I O N A L R E A LT Y

A BOGO STUNNER IN WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP. — A M Y B R O W N L E E

Check out these listings from Ryan’s real estate partners!

2021

Luxurious Penthouse at the Ascent, 1 Roebling Way - #1101, Covington Enjoy spectacular views of the city, river and Kentucky hills from the large terrace or private owners balcony. Amenities includes 24/7 concierge service, theatre, wine lockers, entertainment area, pool and gym. Price: $2,096,000.

2 bedrooms

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Ryan Kiefer, PrimeLending Celebrating 10 Years in Cincinnati.

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I am a 24-year veteran of the mortgage business and the Branch Manager for PrimeLending in Greater Cincinnati and the state of Kentucky. I’ve appeared on Lifetime’s TV show “Designing Spaces” as a home renovation loan expert. Plus, catch me locally as the host of “Cincy’s Hottest Properties” every Saturday at 12:30 p.m. on Local12 WKRC-TV. I also nationally co-host CNBC’s “Financing the American Dream” at 9:30 a.m. each Saturday.

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STYLE COUNSEL

Kristal Howard OCCUPATION: Head of Corporate Communications, Kroger STYLE: Professional, but make it fashion What sparked your interest in fashion?

My grandmother was a really poised, polished, well-put-together woman and I spent a lot of time with her in my childhood. I think observing her, being in her presence and her energy inspired me.

How would you describe your style? I say it’s undefined. For me, I really like the ability and the flexibility to define myself by time and place. I’m drawn to earth tones and clean, simple designs that have a bit of a twist. But I also like bold patterns and vintage clothing. It’s a full spectrum for me. How do you balance businesswear and bold trends? Fashion is a language and I will always be professional and poised for the moment, but fashion isn’t something that I can turn off simply because I’m going to work and I happen to work for a corporation. I always look for ways to integrate my style, whether it’s a red lip, an emerald-colored pump, or a cool vintage jacket that I’m pairing with a pantsuit. What are some of your staple pieces? I love a red lip; I think it makes such a great statement. Also, having a great duster or blazer that’s simple really elevates the look. And I’m a big hat person.

I think hats are something that add more texture and dimension to an outfit. How would you encourage someone to be bold with fashion? What’s so important about style is that it’s true to who you are, and it amplifies your personality. It’s also important to have the confidence to experiment.

Bold colors and patterns and prints are not for everyone, but there are different ways to incorporate color through nail polish, lipstick, or shoes. There are so many unique ways that you can integrate patterns and textures and colors without overwhelming yourself.

—GRACE DEARING

2 0 C I N C I N N AT I M A G A Z I N E . C O M M AY 2 0 2 1

PHOTOGRAPH BY MARLENE ROUNDS

HOMEGROWN

KEEPIN’ IT CLASSY

A NORWOOD GARAGE SPECIALIZES IN CLASSIC WOODEN BOAT RESTORATION. — J A C L Y N Y O U H A N A G A R V E R

B

Brian Keen credits his uncle for getting him into boats. He owned five or six, and as Keen entered college, his uncle’s interest grew—and so did Keen’s. That interest, mixed with Keen’s love of old cars, motorcycles, and trucks, inspired him to open Motor Boat Garage in Norwood, where he restores and repairs classic and antique boats.

Most of the boats Keen works on are wooden, made between the 1920s and the ’50s and ’60s, when fiberglass boats started to gain popularity. By 2016, when he launched his business, Keen had developed some basic boat repair skills, learning the trade working at the now-closed Antique Boat Center. “The specialized stuff, you have to be around and see and learn firsthand,” he says. “It’s definitely a hands-on kind of thing. You have to just get in there and start doing it.”

Motor Boat Garage specializes in various classes of boats, including restored and preserved vessels.

“If they’ve had every

IF I HAD A BOAT 1 and 3: Brian Keen in his Norwood garage. 2: Working on the Sweet Lew Too.

piece of wood replaced, they’re restored,” Keen says. “If it’s been preserved, it’s the original boat.” There are also contemporary boats, such as a modern replica of a wooden boat.

Keen’s customers span the country, from Florida to the West Coast and into Canada.

His garage can repair trailers, add new bottoms, fix chrome and upholstery, do engine work, and more.

Keen recently shared a project on Motor Boat Garage’s Facebook page: An old boat needed a new bottom. Someone had previously removed most of the boat’s frame and attached a plank at the bottom, which was severely misshapen thanks to a shoddy trailer. “This

1

is a safety issue, and people need to look at how their trailer supports the bottom on their boats,” the post reads. “Aside from the butchery of woodwork, trailers need to support a wood boat properly.”

Since Antique Boat Center closed, Motor Boat Garage is the only shop of its kind in the area, and it’s one of just

2

a few in the region. The demographic tends to skew older, Keen says, and the key to keeping the industry alive is connecting with the younger crowd.

“Most people remember [classic boats] because their grandfather or dad had one,” he says.

“If people don’t have that link to remember, they’ll probably never have one.”

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Dr. Know is Jay Gilbert, weekday afternoon deejay on 92.5 FM The Fox. Submit your questions about the city’s peculiarities at drknow@cincinnati magazine.com

DR. KNOW

baseball’s 1974 highlights will list Henry Aaron’s record-breaking home run in Atlanta on April 8, but not his record-tying one in Cincinnati four days earlier on his very first at-bat of the season. And only the most detail-obsessive encyclopedia would note the fact that the historic day included a streaker.

Streaking in the mid-1970s was as popular as Rickrolling in 2008, so much so that Cincinnati police brought several blankets to Opening Day just in case.

Around the seventh inning, a Mr. Mark Koors showed his stuff—as they say— running down an aisle in the left field stands. He was recognized and arrested later, after returning to a fully dressed state, his face apparently being the most memorable part of his body.

The Doctor thanks you for reminding us of that special day’s full story. He depends not only on our readers’ questions, but their knowledge. Never gonna give you up.

Q+ A

Last month’s Opening Day got me thinking about baseball great Henry Aaron’s passing in January. So few Cincinnatians seem to remember that he tied Babe Ruth’s home run record right here, on Opening Day in 1974. And they’ve completely forgotten the streaker on the same day. Remind us of this double historic event!

—PLAY BALLS!

DEAR PLAY:

History leaves out so many important things. Whole chapters will be written about the financial crisis of 2008, but will they include the year’s phenomenon of Rickrolling? We think not. Similarly,

2 4 C I N C I N N AT I M A G A Z I N E . C O M M AY 2 0 2 1

In Sharonville I regularly drive past a dentist’s office whose sign out front says, “General Dentistry for Family, Friends, and Cowards.” This is cute, but does it work? Instead of comforting the fearful, I would think this thing scares them even more. How effective is that sign? —DON’T SIGN ME UP DEAR DON’T:

The sign at which you sneer is for people who perceive all dentists to be comedian Steve Martin in the movie Little Shop of Horrors. If you haven’t witnessed that musical scene, look it up online after you’ve had some Novocain.

When Robert N. Petrtyl, D.D.S., first hung out his shingle, he thought it would be a good way to acknowledge the not-uncommon fear of dentists and the fact that his practice is sensitive to these emotions.

As for the sign’s effectiveness, please note that Petrtyl has spent 30-plus successful years at his Sharonville location. Several hundred patients, he says, have told him they scheduled their first appointment ILLUSTR ATIO N S BY L A R S LEE TA RU

ASK THE EXPERT ADVERTISEMENT

My great-grandfather, I am embarrassed to say, was a member of the Cincinnati Ku Klux Klan in the 1920s. Our family has some artifacts, including one really weird thing: a newspaper ad for a KKK clothing store downtown!

Please don’t tell me they openly sold those robes! —DON’T CANCEL ME DEAR DON’T:

You will be relieved to know that, since this store’s existence, the corner of Fourth and Main streets has had at least two rounds of demolition and fresh construction. All the cooties are gone. But it was there, unfortunately, as the 1920s saw a brief nationwide resurgence of the KKK. Parades and rallies sometimes were led by respected citizens; Cincinnati’s police chief fronted one.

Some were held at the Carthage Fairgrounds and the Cincinnati Zoo. And yes, through most of 1920 and 1921, Cincinnati hosted Ku Klux Klothes at 402 Main St. It didn’t sell those robes, just men’s suits and overcoats, which somehow seems weirder. The newspaper ads never mentioned any ideology, only the usual stuff about quality materials and on-site tailoring, just like the nice adjacent ads for Shillito’s.

Though the ads did feature a large logo of a hooded man on horseback carrying a flaming torch. Really.

The Doctor does not support visiting the sins of your great-grandfather upon anyone, but we assume there is no statue or building with his name. Or an old Twitter account.

Ted Twyman, owner of The First Edition Rare Books, shares trade secrets on how he assesses the value of rare books.

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specifically because of the sign. Your assumptions about its usefulness seem off the mark.

Petrtyl has been told by more than one patient that they hope the sign finally gets their partner to come in.

We shall not reveal any gender here, including yours, because now that we’ve answered your question, you might want to consider not just driving past the sign.

This is a common phenomenon when Hollywood reignites the public interest in a book.

What immediately comes to mind is Twelve Years a Slave by Solomon Northup, published in 1853. While this book was always valued by collectors and scholars, it reached incredible levels when the movie came out in 2013.

“A book in this condition is like a piece of artwork.”

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M AY 2 0 2 1 C I N C I N N AT I M A G A Z I N E . C O M 2 5

WE LCO ME TO MIDDLEHOOD

BY JUDI KETTELER

The Call of the Wild CAN OUR CHILDREN EVER FEEL BLISSFULLY, DARINGLY UNTRACKABLE LIKE WE WERE?

IN THE FALL OF 1984, WHEN I WAS 10, I STARTED TAKING THE TANK BUS BY MYSELF TO AND from the Wade YMCA in Covington for gymnastics practice. My sister, Nancy, escorted me for a while. But she was 17 and I was, I imagine, a drag. With my pigtails and black leotard, I’m certain I annoyed her greatly. She just wanted to do her own thing instead of babysitting me.

So she appealed to my mom. “Please, just let her ride by herself. She’ll be fine!” After raising seven children (I’m the youngest), my mom had started working again and for the first time in my life wasn’t home after school. Which meant she now had to balance the needs of a teenage daughter who just wanted to stay home and watch General Hospital with the desires of the baby of the family, who just wanted to be Mary Lou Retton.

My mom had a free-range parenting philosophy, before free-range was a parenting 2 6 C I N C I N N AT I M A G A Z I N E . C O M M AY 2 0 2 1

philosophy and was simply what you did because, well, why wouldn’t you? Nancy and my other two older sisters all did gymnastics at the Y in the 1970s, taking the bus back and forth. Now it was my turn.

So I stood at the end of our street in Ft. Wright, hopped on the “4-Main” bus, and rode the three miles down to the Y. When practice was over, which must have been about 6 p.m., since I remember it already being dark, I stood at the bus stop on Madison Avenue and caught TANK back home.

It was a grand adventure, and I felt so grown up as the bus lumbered through the streets of Park Hills and the Covington business district. When the Wade Y’s gymnastics team folded the next year—and that Y shut down soon after—I moved to Tri-City Y in Florence. It was time to learn a new bus route! My mom rode it with me once, to make sure I knew where to get off and catch it again.

A few years later, when I was 13, I started riding my 10-speed bicycle there along the busy Dixie Highway, with no helmet. I got hit once. Tapped, really. I was OK, though, and got back on my bike and kept riding.

HERE’S WHERE I HAVE TO STOP AND ASK an important question: How could my parents possibly have let me do these things?

Then again, would my parents have let me play video games and talk to kids all over the world, alone in my room, holding a tiny computer that tracked my every click? Because that’s what my kids now do.

I’m not exaggerating. My 10-year-old daughter recently made friends with a girl her age in Romania while playing the game Roblox. My son made friends over Instagram with a boy in San Diego, and we’ve now visited him twice, staying at his house over a long weekend.

Lately I’m pondering the totally unanswerable—and therefore enticing—questions about whether I would allow my preteens (ages 10 and 12) to do the things I did as a preteen. And, on the flip side, also wondering if I would have been allowed to do the things they do now.

I suspect there are a few reasons this is on my mind of late. First, COVID and social distancing have completely skewed parenting for me. We were Go, go, go with independence, and then suddenly it was all No, no, no, for reasons that had little to do with ILLUSTR ATIO N BY D O L A SU N

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WELCOME TO MIDDLEHOOD trust and everything to do with airborne virus particles. The menu of permissible activities shrunk at the exact time it should naturally have been expanding. No, you can’t leave. No, you can’t be in a group with your friends at the park. No, you can’t go to marginally supervised sleepovers.

As I write this, that menu of permissible activities remains scant. But with mass

know what’s normal because we’ve been living abnormally for more than a year now.

The other reason has nothing to do with spike proteins or herd immunity. It’s simply that my kids are finally at ages that I really remember being. Memories from before about age 10 are a little like splicedtogether scenes on a screen: They flash at me strongly, yet are mostly incomplete.

FOR MUCH OF OUR CHILDHOODS, NO ONE KNEW WHERE WE WERE. AS MY OWN KIDS HOLE UP IN THEIR ROOMS, SCREENS GOING, WE KIND OF DON’T KNOW WHERE THEY ARE EITHER. vaccinations at hand, there will come a time when it expands again—soon, I think, like this summer? Certainly by fall? In fact, I suspect my kids’ coming of age will collide perfectly with the easing of social distancing restrictions, at which point I won’t

But when I think about my tween years, the memories are more alive in my bones. I feel them in my body. Maybe it’s because this is when I started doing gymnastics and my muscle memory got turned on and began scooping up every moment and storing it.

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You know what I mean, though, about that age? How fresh it can still feel? The sense of freedom on that bus is lodged in my chest. The resourcefulness of just hopping on my bike lives in my knees. The sense of being untrackable fills my lungs.

My God, how untrackable I was!

My kids, by contrast, are tracked everywhere. By me, thanks to Find My iPhone, and by the internet. Yes, they wear helmets on their bikes, but some unknowable data company tracks them everywhere they go.

Which one is more dangerous: the Dixie Highway at rush hour or Instagram alone in their room?

TO HELP ME WRITE THIS PIECE, I PUT A post on Facebook to ask my friends—many of whom are Generation X like me—what they were allowed to do as preteens or teens that they’d never allow their own kids to do now. As expected, the responses were hilarious and fascinating.

I was hardly the only one taking the city

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bus at 10. Several friends talked about how they took the bus or public transportation alone at very young ages to urban centers like New York City or to pick up younger siblings from camp.

And the places we went without our parents having any clue! One friend said she used to go on eight-hour-long spelunking expeditions without her parents knowing.

My husband talked about not being allowed to come home before dark in the summer.

But my favorite, for sure, was this one: “Get on a horse, ride away in the morning, and not come home until evening, with zero check-ins.”

The takeaway is that, for much of our childhoods, no one knew where the hell a lot of us were. But as my own kids are holed up in their rooms, screens going, conversations with kids in Romania happening, we kind of don’t know where they are either.

Sure, they’re physically here—because in COVID times they’re barely allowed to be anywhere else—but they’re gone

for stretches of time, too. If the parental controls I set actually work (please work!), they’re at least not looking at porn. But they are exploring an aspect of the world we didn’t know about in 1984.

I don’t know if they’re better for knowing it or if we were better for not knowing it.

I suspect it’s the wrong question altogether and I’m asking it because it’s easier to indulge in anachronistic fantasies of what life would have been like in 1984 if phones were mobile and I spent time unsupervised on TikTok instead of on buses—rather than really think about the state of many children in the world today.

We’re so good with helmets and seat belts, but not so great with checking on our children’s mental health. We know a lot more about the differences in how individual children learn, with 504 plans and all manner of interventions, but the lingering racial wealth gap still means Black children are more likely to start 10 paces behind white children. GPS means I know exactly where

my children are when that mobile device is in their pocket (God, I love GPS!), but what about the parents who live in unsafe and violent places and protect their children by sending them hundreds of miles to the U.S. border with just a relative’s phone number and address pinned inside a pocket?

Think about the panic you feel when you don’t know where your kid is, and imagine the terror of sending your child across that vast landscape. Can. You. Imagine?

I really can’t. So I cry and hope for better, and I play these games instead. I tell the fun bus stories and contemplate how I can be more free-range once the threat of virus has eased. I fantasize about saying, “Go, and don’t come back until dark!”

I think about what emotions are getting locked into my kids’ muscle memory right now. I hope their most vivid childhood memories won’t simply be tied to thumbs that text and fingers that swipe. And I hope they have at least a moment each day when they feel blissfully, daringly untrackable.

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Come along on a journey through Cincinnati’s wild and wonderful world of ice cream, and discover 36 family-owned creamy whips, scoop shops, and frosty institutions that call our city home sweet home.

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BY

Catie Viox

PHOTOGRAPHS BY

Akshay Ahuja, Katie Coburn, Lauren Fisher, John Fox, Aiesha D. Little, Laurie Pike, and Amanda Boyd Walters

PURPLE COW Lavender ice cream from Bold Face Dairy Bar Company

The Great Cincinnati Creamy Whip Road Trip Is it truly summer in the Midwest without a trip to the local creamy whip? Lucky for us, the Queen City’s home to almost too many to count. Pack up the kids, hit the road, and let us be your guide. Can you visit them all before the season ends?

1 The Bold Face Dairy Bar

Feeling fancy? The Bold Face’s decadent namesake cone is topped with 23 karat gold leaf. 801 Mt. Hope Ave., Suite B, East Price Hill 2

Cone Zone

Find such creative concoctions as “slush puppies” and fried ice cream sundaes at this soft serve spot (with a drive-through!) in the heart of the west side. 4101 Harrison Ave., Cheviot 3

Dairy Corner

Just a few minutes removed from the Little Miami bike trail, this east side classic offers a dizzying array of options, including several flavors of its classic dipped cones.

3501 Church St., Newtown 4

Don’s Creamy Whip

This family-owned walk-up has been serving up soft serve and

backyard summer classics since 1976. 1522 Market St., Reading 5

Flub’s Dari-ette

This Butler County favorite’s claim to fame, a vanilla whip swirled with specialty toppings known as the Cyclone, comes in 44 creative varieties. 981 Eaton Ave., Hamilton 6 General Custer’s Golf & Gulp

Soft serve and all-you-can-play mini golf? Sounds like you’ve got date night in the bag. 3325 Westbourne Dr., Western Hills 7

Loveland Dairy Whip

You’re almost guaranteed to catch the mobile version (a.k.a. the miniLDW) of this Loveland favorite traversing the east-side festival circuit this summer. 611 W. Loveland Ave., Loveland 8 Mt. Washington Creamy Whip

This retro-quirky, family-owned neighborhood staple sticks to the classics. Did we mention it doubles as a bakery? 2069 Beechmont Ave., Mt. Washington 9 Norwood Delite Creamy Whip

Fans of this neighborhood favorite swear its blueberry cone could give Kings Island’s iconic blue ice cream a run for its money.

We’ll let you be the judge. 4490 Forest Ave., Norwood 10

Putz’s Creamy Whip

The Cincinnati summer staple swears by the magic of its 67-year-

old Electro-freeze soft serve machine. 2673 Putz Pl., Westwood

Sharky’s Eats & Treats 11

Those south of the river can just follow the roof-mounted shark to this classic summer concessionstand-slash-creamy-whip. 9924 Alexandria Pke., Alexandria

Sprinkles Creamy Whip 12

With 21 flavors of soft serve, this west side creamy whip sticks to the basics. Looking to branch out?

Four words: doughnut ice cream sandwich. You can thank us later.

500 N. Miami Ave., Cleves 13

Tucker’s Whippy Dip

The kid-favorite animal cones make this Mason creamy whip a summer destination for families from all around. 127 E. Main St., Mason 14 Walker Bros.

Ice Cream

This sunny slice of summer, tucked neatly into Montgomery’s Heritage District, boasts plenty of shaded outdoor seating and creative treats. 9425 Montgomery Rd., Montgomery 15

Zip Dip

Just follow the neon lights to this iconic windowserve parlor, which has been serving up frozen classics since 1950. 4050 Drew Ave., Bridgetown North

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I L LU S T R AT I O N BY E M I V I L L AV I C E N C I O

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Old Milford Ice Cream Parlor

STEPPING OFF MAIN STREET AND INTO the Old Milford Ice Cream Parlor is like taking a trip through the decades. The vintage vibes shine through without overpowering the real reason for going: The top-notch desserts. Do yourself a favor and order the edible cookie dough, perfect for those of us who ignore the warnings on a tub of Nestlé Toll House. 119 Main St., Milford, (513) 239-5704, pendle

THE RETRO REVIVAL

tonparlor.com

COME FOR THE ICE CREAM, STAY FOR THE...

Grab some extra non-icecream-related treats while you’re enjoying a scoop.

—AIESHA D. LITTLE

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Handcrafted Chocolates

It’s true that Graeter’s is the ice cream king around these parts—but the company’s handcrafted chocolates are queen. The next time you’re satisfying your craving for a pint of black raspberry chip, snag some opera creams or every Ohioan’s favorite chocolateand-peanut-butter treat, buckeyes. graeters.com

Gourmet Confections

Aglamesis Bro’s has a bountiful selection of ice cream and Italian ice, but its passion for making great confectionery treats knows no bounds. Whether you go with one of the many types of chocolate boxes, a bag of jelly beans, or Easter cream eggs, you can’t go wrong. aglamesis.com

THE UBIQUITOUS

Carl Lindner Sr. opened the first United Dairy UDF Farmers store in Norwood in 1940, selling cheap milk directly to consumers.

Once the company added ice cream to the product line, our long local love affair began. Whether it’s Homemade Cherry Cordial or UDF Classic’s Blue Moo Cookie Dough, we all have a favorite flavor. Some of us live for peach season, some for the scoop sales, some for our favorite shake (see page 47). Since there’s one on nearly every corner in our region, we’re never far from our favorite treats. Multiple locations, udfinc.com

THE THAI-INSPIRED If you make even the occasional excursion to TREAT OTR, you’ve likely walked Simply Rolled right past the tiny, brightly lit storefront that houses Simply Rolled, the Columbus-based shop that specializes in Thaiinspired rolled ice cream. Here, the process is just mesmerizing as the final product. Watch through the glass as your order goes from liquid base to frozen treat on an icy “grill” before each individual layer is formed up into a rose-like roll. Choose from one of 12 signature flavors or select a base and pile on as many toppings as your heart desires. Don’t forget to snap a pic for your Instagram story—you’ll want to show this one off. 32 W. 12th St., Over-the-Rhine, (513) 287-7716, simply rolledicecream.com

Bubble Tea

Opera Creams

Macarons

People love Milk Jar’s rolled ice cream offerings but the shop’s bubble tea is probably its most popular item. This Taiwanese iced tea takes our taste buds where no beverage has gone before. Get your fix with a classic tapioca boba or shake things up with a pudding. Whatever you choose, it’ll be delicious. milkjarcafe.com

Yes, Schneider’s does serve ice cream, but its real claim to fame is its opera creams. Legend has it the sweet treat gets its name because they were handed out during intermissions at Music Hall. We believe it. Schneider’s rich creams and dark chocolate will make your mouth sing. schneiderscandies.com

Everyone loves the gelato at Buona Terra. But don’t let the macarons pass you by. From lemon to blackberry to chocolate, this light, airy cookie sandwich with meringue-based filling will have you feeling like you’re walking the streets of your favorite Parisian arrondissement. buonaterragelato.com

I CO N S BY B R I T TA N Y D E X T E R

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Honey Child Artisan Pops IN AN ATTEMPT TO SERVE THEIR CHILdren less sugary frozen treats, the owners of Honey Child (meet them on page 46) created a line of artisan popsicles we all can enjoy. Try one of their Play Pops in traditional flavors like strawberry or mango, or if you’re looking for something to give you a boost, the Power Pops are packed with superfoods and proteins. And adults who like their frozen treats on the boozier side can indulge with an alcohol-infused Poptail. 1719

THE POP SHOP

Elm St., Over-the-Rhine, (513) 800-0911, honeychildpops.com

THE TRADITIONALIST

Nestled in a row of Mt. Lookout Square Buona Buona Terra storefronts, Terra beckons, a dessert beacon between Zip’s Café and MLT. More than 100 different flavors of traditional Italian gelato fill the recipe book, with at least a dozen on sale at any time, including specialties like tiramisu, white chocolate lavender, and strawberry basil. There’s also dairy- and fat-free fruit sorbetto and a display case full of homemade candies, macarons, cupcakes, and brownies. 1028 Delta Ave., Mt. Lookout, (513) 386-9356, buonaterragelato.com THE KING

The King Kong of local ice cream outfits, with a growing national profile, is still a cuddly family-owned business at heart.

The fourth generation of Graeters continue to make all that ice cream in 2.5-gallon French Pots and hand-pack pints and mini-cups before shipping them to more than 6,000 grocery stores across the U.S. And they’ll gladly make you a classic sundae or milkshake at your neighborhood “scoop shop,” just like they’ve been doing for 150 years. For a touch of modern, try one of the six new vegan ice cream flavors.

Multiple locations, including outposts at Union Terminal, Great American Ball Park, and Kings Island, graeters.com.

Graeter’s

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PHOTOGRAPH BY MARLENE ROUNDS

The Next Generation

Brian and Nitima of Hello Honey

BY AKSHAY AHUJA

H

ello Honey was coming off its best sales year in 2019. But just as the owners of the downtown parlor were thinking about expanding, COVID hit, closing the shop for several weeks. After retooling their website, owners Brian and Nitima Nicely cautiously opened for pre-orders and curbside pickup—and right away, they noticed something. Customers who would occasionally come in for a cone were now placing huge orders. “No one needs six or seven pints of ice cream,” Brian says, laughing. “It really warmed our hearts.”

Hello Honey has carved out its own unique place since opening in 2012. And there’s plenty to set it apart. There are the unusual flavors, like honey lavender and banana honeycomb, along with concoctions like black sesame and Thai iced tea, all churned in-store. Cones are baked fresh and pints are hand-packed to order.

Despite the challenges of the past year, the couple has used the downtime to experiment with new flavors, including a line of vegan offerings.

A Walnut Hills location is slated to open in the spring, but the Nicelys still plan on operating the second store with the same intimate touches as the first. “There’s nothing like ice cream churned a few feet away,” Brian says. It’s hard to imagine a better way to celebrate the end of this crisis than a pint—or maybe six or seven.

PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY HELLO HONEY

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Cool Runnings Following the passing of its patriarch, Aglamesis Bro’s takes baby steps toward expansion. —LAURIE PIKE

A

SMILING JIM AGLAMESIS greets you at the long marble counter of the Oakley flagship of Aglamesis Bro’s. With twinkling eyes, natty tie, and a white smock coat, “Mr. A” looks like he’s about to slip you a sample of mocha chip ice cream. But it’s not the patriarch of the beloved candy and ice cream business in the flesh; it’s an oversized photo—an homage to Mr. A, who died in January, aged 93.

Between the death of the son of Greek immigrants who led the company since the 1950s and the pandemic, which halted the genteel table service in back of the store, it might seem like the end of the line for the fabled sweet shop. Even the exterior is looking a little down in the dumps, a slab of marble warping off the facade. A carry-out customer was recently overheard stagewhispering that “Things just aren’t the same since Mr. A passed away.”

A closer look inside the frozen-intime shop belies the gossip. With frothy pink decor, Paul Anka and Nat King Cole on the sound system, and pastel-colored confections served in metal dessert cups, very little has changed since 1908, when Aglamesis Bro’s (originally called The Metropolitan) opened its doors. In fact, it’s long past due for the place to shake things up. “They’d be smart to take advantage of their preciousness,” says Dann Woellert, a Cincinnati historian specializing in food history. (“I’m an Aglamesis boy, always,” he says of his preferred hometown brand.) Reluctance to change is common in family-run companies, especially those rooted in the Old World. But finally, it’s about to happen.

The institution may have lost its figurehead, but not the family or the family tradition. Randy Young, stepson of Mr. A and president of Aglamesis for the

past two decades, has quietly upheld the traditions in the back of the house. His daughter joined the firm three years ago, bringing it into a fourth generation. The premium ice cream is still mixed in small batches, sans preservatives, using the “French” method (high butterfat and egg yolk content and less pumped-in air, for a creamier, denser dessert). “You don’t need to be a chemist to read the ingredients,” Young says.

But you do need to be agile to work there. “We need more elbow room,” Young admits. He intends to move the company’s candy production off-site in order to de-

vote the on-site factory to the cold stuff.

Distribution of pint ice cream, in its distinctive pink-and-brown striped packaging, will expand from its current handful of accounts. And—hold on to your waffle cone—new Aglamesis brick-and-mortar locations are in the offing (it’s been a halfcentury since the sole satellite, in Montgomery, opened).

“Dad and I were different people culturally,” Young says, though he stresses that the expansion plans were underway before the passing of his father and carried his approval. “It was hard for him to relate to me wanting to experience and try new things, to embrace rapid change. That is not the Greek culture.”

But don’t fear Aglamesis will carpetbomb the nation or water down its hometown specialness. “That is not in cards for this generation,” says Young of any growth beyond the Queen City. “We want to make it in Cincinnati for Cincinnati.”

“Dad and I were different people culturally,” Randy Young says. “It was hard for him to relate to me wanting to experience and try new things, to embrace rapid change.”

I L LU S T R AT I O N BY C O L L E E N O ’ H A R A

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In 2020, Tom Von Den Benken and his family Eishaus opened a small walk-up window on Court Street in Covington. The limited menu included coffee drinks, pastries, and spaghetti eis. To make the German treat, ice cream gets extruded, originally through a potato ricer, creating “noodles.” Eishaus uses the noodles to make a three-way, topping the ice cream with Rice Krispies in chocolate sauce, then shaving yellow chocolate on top and serving it with mini vanilla wafer cookies. Or there’s the frikadelle, with strawberry “marinara” sauce, brownie “meatballs,” and sugar wafer “breadsticks.” Fun, tasty, and highly Instagrammable. 117 Park Pl., Covington, eishauseats. com THE NOVELTY

When the ceramic ice cream cone is perched on the wrought-iron Piper’s Ice fence outside of that means the Cream Bar Piper’s, walkup window is taking orders for its lactose-free frozen treats.

Known in its very recent past life as Piper’s Café, the MainStrasse Village mainstay rebranded in April to focus its offerings on coffee cocktails and icy adult treats like milkshakes, malts, slushes, and customizable hard seltzers. 520 W. Sixth St., Covington, (859) 291-7287, piperscafe. biz THE VILLAGE VANGUARD

THE SUMMERTIME PIT STOP

This Newtown creamy whip has the advantage of Dairy Corner unique being stunningly close to several popular parks, sporting fields, and The Little Miami Bike Trail. East side kids will swear that a cone at Dairy Corner is something of a right of passage, and on any given afternoon in the summer, you’re almost guaranteed to see entire youth baseball teams swarming the walk-up window. The menu, which is plastered across the windows, will leave you cross-eyed if you stare at it for too long, so save yourself the trouble and stick with the dipped cone, a Dairy Corner specialty. 3501 Church St., Newtown, (513) 555-1234

A downtown mainstay now after nine years, Hello Honey Hello Honey keeps adapting to the times. Order scoops or whole pints online and pick up curbside, or place orders ahead of time for cakes, coconut macaroons, and cheesecake bites. If you aren’t coming downtown much these days, check out the second location in East Walnut Hills, opening this spring. And if you’re into vegan options that are actually delicious, try matcha green tea, Thai coconut milk, or whatever new flavor got created in the back that morning. 633 Vine St., downtown, (513) 399-7986, hellohoney icecream.com THE ADAPTER

DAIRY-FREE DELIGHTS WHIPTY-DO’S

HELLO HONEY’S

SIMPLY ROLLED’S

Fear not, soft serve fanatics: There’s dairy-free hope for you. Dole Whip, the Disneyland classic that has inspired something of a cult following, lives on at Whipty-Do. While flavors rotate during creamy whip season, you simply can’t go wrong with the original pineapple. whipty-do.com

The small-batch banana honeycomb ice cream is a wildly popular choice at this downtown parlor, but vegans don’t have to settle. A scoop of Hello Honey’s dairyfree banana cookies and cream is just as rich and creamy as its traditional counterparts. hellohoney icecream.com

Next time you’re at this Thai-inspired OTR parlor, start with the vegan dark chocolate base—a rich concoction of cocoa, cashew, and coconut cream— then load up with all the fruity toppings your heart desires. Or smother it with Oreo crumbles. We won’t judge. simplyrolled icecream.com

Pineapple Dole Whip

Banana Cookies & Cream

PHOTOGRAPH BY CHRIS PASION

Vegan Dark Chocolate Base

BUONA TERRA’S

Lemon Blueberry Sorbetto

This Italian dessert, dairy-free by nature, is chock full of fresh fruits and juices. Buona Terra’s sorbetto offerings rotate based on seasonal fruit options, but the lemon blueberry is a crowd favorite, packing a sweet, fat-free punch that’s perfect for a hot summer day. buona terragelato.com

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Smack dab in the middle of a residential block in Sprinkles Cleves, Sprinkles has Creamy Whip customers walking from homes on the blocks that border it as well as those who drive over from nearby neighborhoods. With soft serve cones in 21 different flavors and in styles that have names like Funny Face, Purple People Eater, and Monster Face, this creamy whip is an absolute ice cream oasis for kids. (Seriously, the workers here dole out these cones like they’re balloon animals.) Too grown up for funny decorations? Try the doughnut ice cream sandwich or the cake bowl sundae, a singleserve vanilla or chocolate cake filled with vanilla ice cream and topped with your choice of sauce.

500 N. Miami Ave., Cleves, (513) 546-1731, sprinklescreamywhip.wixsite.com/ sprinklescreamywhip THE WEST SIDE WONDER

The Bold Face Dairy Bar Company AFTER REALIZING THEIR NEIGHBORHOOD DIDN’T have a creamy whip the owners of The Bold Face Dairy Bar Company set out to deliver ice creamy goodness to the masses. Operating out of the same building as BLOC Coffee Company in East Price Hill, the walkup window serves traditional soft serve but excels in more innovative flavors like cardamom, lavender, and bourbon barrel stout. If you’re feeling luxurious, snag a Bold Face cone, which comes in a waffle cone with caramel sauce, a chocolate sauce center, sprinkles, mini chocolate chips, and edible 23-karat gold leaf. 801 Mt.

THE GOLD STANDARD

Hope Ave., Suite B, East Price Hill, boldfacedairybar.com

THE LATE-NIGHT LICKS

Regardless of when your frozen yogurt cravings strike, Rhino’s Rhino’s has you covered with its 24/7 service (holidays included).

Yes, it’s located inside a Shell gas station on the corner of Kenwood and Glendale Milford roads in Blue Ash, but once you come to terms with that, it’s no different than any other frozen yogurt spot. Pick from 15 flavors of FroYo, ice cream, sorbet, and gelato, plus 100 toppings. Its mobile counterpart—dubbed Ohio’s first and only self-serve frozen yogurt truck—was in hibernation during our mid-March visit, but fans can book it for private events and request neighborhood visits during warmer months.

10415 Kenwood Rd., Blue Ash, (513) 792-2822, rhinosfrozenyogurt.com

ICE CREAM SOCIAL Three treats worth sharing on your social media feed.

CRAFT CREAM WORKS FLIGHT Can’t decide what flavor? Craft Cream Works’s ice cream flights to the rescue!

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La grassa is Italian for the fat one; ironic, La Grassa considering the small-batch gelato at this Madeira shop contains two-thirds less fat than ice cream. The name pays homage to Bologna, Italy, where brothers Jared and Nick Wayne—who also own A Tavola and Taglio pizzerias—and friend and co-owner John Berman learned how to make the slow-churned milky treat. We love the stracciatella, a silky-smooth vanilla bean gelato packed with crunchy, homemade dark chocolate shards. Lactose-free and vegan friends can enjoy four dairy- and egg-free sorbettos, or opt for a specialty coffee drink. Want the best of both worlds? The affogato is a heavenly combo of espresso and gelato. 7014 Miami Ave., Madeira, (513) 271-9000, lagrassa.com THE SKINNY SCOOP

THE ICE BALL HEADQUARTERS

This Bellevue institution (82 years Fairfield Avenue) Schneider’s on makes it all: opera creams and other Sweet Shop candies, caramel and candy apples in the fall, and of course, ice cream. While you can get cones, shakes, sundaes, and floats, do yourself a favor and go for an ice ball, when it’s in season. Pick your ice cream, and you’ll get it inside a ball of shaved ice that’s soaked with your choice of syrup. Leave the birthday cake ice cream with cotton candy syrup to the kids; the coffee ice cream with amaretto syrup is a more sophisticated choice.

420 Fairfield Ave., Bellevue, (859) 431-3545, schneiderscandies.com

COTTON CANDY BURRITO

WHIPTY-DO SHARK SUNDAE

Is Simply Rolled’s cotton candy burrito a sugar rush or a fever dream?

Blue soft serve and a gummy shark? What a way to celebrate Shark Week.

P H O T O G R A P H S C O U R T E S Y ( F R O M L E F T ) C R A F T C R E A M W O R K S / S I M P LY R O L L E D / W H I P T Y- D O

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The Next Generation

Sarah and Damien of Honey Child

BY AKSHAY AHUJA

Milk Jar Café SANDWICHED BETWEEN SPORT Clips Haircuts and Penzeys Spices at Hyde Park Plaza, Milk Jar Café offers three trendy treats: Thai ice cream bubble tea, and a cereal bar We especially enjoyed the “Monkey Business”: rolled ice cream with banana and Nutella. The best part? Each order of Thai-rolled goodness comes with unlimited toppings—or at least as many as you can physically fit in your cup. Trust us, it tastes as good as it looks. 3880 Paxton Ave., Suite M, Oakley, (513) 818-9141,

THE EXTREME TOPPER

milkjarcafe.com

M

ost frozen pops are little more than sugar water, flavorings—either natural or artificial—and a few drops of food coloring. Having tasted the available options, Sarah and Damien Thompson decided they could do better. Beginning with blended fruit, adding little to no additional sugar, and even occasionally sneaking in a green or two, the couple began Honey Child with the aim of making a treat they could feel good about.

The business began with just one cart at Findlay Market. Along with classic flavors like strawberry and mango, Honey Child crafts artisan blends like strawberry basil and grapefruit rosemary, along with “power pops,” more substantial smoothie-style treats infused with plant-based protein. Before the pops ever make it to a customer, though, they have to face the toughest critics imaginable: the couple’s two daughters. Kids, Damien points out, will tell you the truth—and they aren’t going to finish something if they don’t like it.

Before long, Honey Child drew interest not just from visitors to the market but from heavy hitters like Kroger and Whole Foods. A box of their Supergreens is a prime example of what makes the brand special: The pops are vegan and entirely free of the usual allergens and sweeteners, but still delicious with flavors of fresh pear and banana, plus an intriguing undertone of ginger. And with some low-key spinach and kale blended in, they are that rarest of things: a virtuous treat.

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PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY HONEY CHILD

THE SMALL BATCH

This tiny storefront opened along bustling West Pike/Seventh Golden Gelato Covington’s street corridor in January, a short walk from the action at Braxton Brewing and Hotel Covington. Enamored with Italians’ love of gelato after a trip there, Joe Jones and his wife, Vanessa, make gelato and sorbetto in small batches on the premises, sourcing local dairy and natural flavor ingredients.

Try the affagato, a shot of Deeper Roots espresso over a cup of your favorite gelato. 130 W. Pike St., Covington, (859) 360-3709, instagram.com/goldengelatocov

THE SHERBET SPOT

Orange sherbet is the name of the game at this West Chester parlor, The Cone housed inside a 30-foot-tall ice cream cone the owner shipped in from Florida in the ’90s. If the menu seems overwhelming—there are hundreds of options to choose from—play it safe and order the ever-popular orange-vanilla swirl.

If you’re feeling particularly adventurous, go for a fried ice cream “wizzard,” a soft serve concoction that could give Dairy Queen a run for its money. 6855 Tylersville Rd., West Chester, (513) 779-7040, thecone.com

GREAT SHAKES If you want your sweet treat in a slightly more portable form, one of these three slurpable concoctions will do the trick.

—AMANDA BOYD WALTERS ALCOHOLIC:

Buzzed Bull Creamery, Overthe-Rhine Liquid nitrogen flash-freezes fresh ingredients to create almost instant ice cream at this Over-the-Rhine spot, where you can kick things up a notch by adding booze. With custom options and a menu of customer favorites, there’s plenty to savor; we like the smooth sweetness of the honey bourbon pecan shake. buzzedbullcreamery. com

CUSTOM:

VEGAN:

UDF

Tickle Pickle, Northside

That classic UDF striped cup does, in fact, contain multitudes.

Choose your ice cream, choose your milk, add malt or hot fudge, create something new.

Peanut butter chip with chocolate milk is a good start, but it’s just the beginning. What new combo will you create? udfinc.com

The rock and roll shakes at this Northside burger joint—Flan Halen (strawberry), Goobie Brother (peanut Oreo), Vanilla Ice, Chocolate Delight, and Oreo Speedwagon—can all be made vegan using housemade coconut milk ice cream. They’re not as thick as the dairy versions, but they’re just as tasty. order tickle.com

THE CREATIVE CREAMERY

Dojo strives to create “the most distinctive” Italian-style ice creams you can Staples include Tahitian vanilla Dojo Gelato experience. and Vietnamese Coffee, but we indulged in gooey buttercake and carrot cake. Everything is handcrafted in small batches at the Northside kitchen, in addition to the flagship Findlay Market location, which is open year-round, and roaming gelato truck. 137 W. Elder St., Over-the-Rhine, (513) 328-9000; 1735 Blue Rock St., Northside, dojogelato.com

T HE CLASSIC

If it’s an old-fashioned ice cream parlor experience you’re looking for, the Oakley Aglamesis location of this 113-year-old family business delivers. From the marble soda fountain Bro’s counter to the gorgeous Tiffany lamps, it’s a scene straight out of Central Casting. But this isn’t movie magic—this is the real deal, with gorgeously silky ice cream served in metal bowls and in sundaes topped with whipped cream so rich it’s almost butter. It’s a super sweet escape from the daily grind.

3046 Madison Rd., Oakley, (513) 531-5196; 9899 Montgomery Rd., Montgomery. (513) 791-7082, aglamesis.com

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TIME IS ON THEIR SIDE The downtown mural Time Saved vs. Time Served depicts (clockwise from bottom left) Sheila Donaldson Johnson, DeAnna Hoskins, Tyra Patterson, Tracy Brumfield, and Belinda Coulter-Harris. Each has dedicated herself to helping create second chances for others.

MAKING THE MOST OF A

BY PATRICIA GALLAGHER NEWBERRY | PHOTOGRAPHS BY JEREMY KRAMER

SECOND CHANCE

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T

T HE STORY OF THIS DOWNTOWN MURAL BEGINS WITH TYRA PATTERSON. SHE IS the glue holding it all together. So let’s start with her.

It’s September 1994, and Patterson is 19. She and a friend leave Patterson’s mother’s apartment in Dayton after midnight in search of the friend’s missing car keys.

On their way back, sometime after 2 a.m., they find themselves in the middle of an encounter between two carfuls of young people near the apartment. One group is robbing the other.

Patterson picks up a dropped necklace from the pavement near one of the cars. Once home, she hears gunshots. She calls 911 to alert police.

Soon, she will learn that 15-year-old Michelle Lai died after being shot in one of the cars. Patterson will be grilled by police, who coerce her into falsely confessing that she took the necklace from the neck of a girl in the car, instead of off the ground. By the end of the following year—on December 28, 1995—she will begin serving a sentence of 43 years to life for aggravated robbery and aggravated murder.

Twenty-two years later, Lai’s sister, Holly, will write to then-Gov. John Kasich to assert Patterson’s innocence and to plead for her release. Twenty-three years after the crime—on Christmas Day 2017—the state of Ohio will grant Patterson parole.

While in prison, Tyra Patterson learns to read and write and tell her story. She finds a lawyer who believes in her. She attracts the support of politicians and celebrities with the hashtag #IAmTyraPatterson. She is the subject of national news coverage and films.

When she’s finally free, she will take a job at the Cincinnati-based Ohio Justice and Policy Center. And while walking in city neighborhoods she’ll see murals on buildings and think that she should create one that tells her story and that of other women who did time and, once released, began to serve Ohioans seeking justice.

All of which leads to Patterson, now 46, standing on a downtown sidewalk in October 2020 in front of a three-story image of herself and four fellow “returning citizens” painted on the side of 235 W. Court St. Belinda Coulter-Harris, Tracy Brumfield, Sheila Donaldson Johnson, and DeAnna Hoskins join her to dedicate the 200th mural created

by ArtWorks, the 25-year-old nonprofit that employs area teens to make art.

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Patterson made this mural happen. She pitched the concept to ArtWorks. She developed the design. She recruited a muralist from Philadelphia and an artist friend, then still incarcerated, to collate photos of the five subjects into the mural image. She worked with two teaching artists, who directed eight youth apprentices to paint Time Saved vs. Time Served on the side of the Court Street building last summer.

“People who make mistakes should be humanized,” Patterson will say on dedication day, pointing out the bold headline at the top of the mural: We don’t write people off.

“It’s important that we give people second chances, even third chances,” she’ll say when I speak with her via Zoom from her Cincinnati apartment several weeks later.

And the woman who hired her to make those bold assertions, ArtWorks CEO and Artistic Director Colleen Houston, will say that Patterson was the right person with the right message for 2020, when all seven of its new murals offered a “New Voices” theme.

“Art,” says Houston, “creates compassion and empathy. Art has the power to change hearts and change minds.”

Collectively, the five women featured on Time Saved vs. Time Served spent 48 years behind bars. Four were convicted for crimes related to drug use and own their guilt. Patterson served the longest, for a crime she did not commit. All have proven themselves worthy of second chances, and all now work to help create second chances for others.

BELINDA COULTER-HARRIS’S RECURRING dream began at age 5. She is falling off the top of a building. Before she hits the ground, a nun catches her. “When I think about it, it says that God has always had me,” she says. “He’s always caught me. Even when I was a little girl, I was

HER STORY HAS A SEQUEL TYRA PATTERSON PHOTOGRAPHED ON MARCH 17, 2021.

put in situations that no child should ever be in. I’m still here, for some reason.”

But her path to a brighter future, like the other women Patterson selected for the ArtWorks mural, wasn’t straight. Raised in Cincinnati by a family that struggled with poverty and drugs, Coulter-Harris grew up early. “At 5 years old, I was standing on a chair cooking for me and my little brother,” she recalls.

By 14, she’d had her first child. By 19, her second. At age 22, she and a woman named Elizabeth Green robbed a man across the street from Coulter-Harris’s apartment.

Green then stabbed the man to death, earning the death penalty—later commuted to a life sentence—from the state of Ohio.

For her part in the crime, Coulter-Harris served 20 years of a 12-to-50-year sentence on involuntary manslaughter and aggravated robbery charges.

Released in 2008, she turned up at Cincinnati Works, the nonprofit focused on lifting “members” out of poverty through employment. They advised her to return to school in order to supplement the GED she earned while incarcerated. In quick order, she completed an associate degree, then a bachelor’s, then a master’s.

Four years ago, Cincinnati Works hired her as an intake coordinator, and she became Miss Belinda—often the first point of contact for new members seeking employment. Along the way, Coulter-Harris, now 55, rebuilt relationships with her adult children and cared for her paraplegic mother, who passed away five years ago. In 2019, she married Larry Harris, whom she’d known for 40 years.

Life after prison hasn’t always been easy. Early on, she once nearly skipped a bus ride to work because it was foggy outside. She’s spooked by fog, she explains,

“ART HAS THE POWER TO CHANGE HEARTS AND CHANGE MINDS,” SAYS COLLEEN HOUSTON.

because prisons lock down inmates in those conditions. Another time, a boss had to gently remind her she didn’t need to ask permission to use the bathroom, another habit from prison life.

And like many returning citizens, she’s felt stained by her past mistakes. Tyra Patterson has helped the stain fade.

Patterson arrived at the Ohio Reformatory for Women in Marysville when Coulter-Harris was seven years into her sentence there. “Me and a lot of other oldtimers that were in prison were there for Tyra,” says Coulter-Harris. “She looked up to me as her ‘auntie’ type of person.”

Sharing her face—and story—for the ArtWorks mural “feels like we still have that ability to be there for other people,” she says. “Even after we’re no longer in this world, maybe somebody can go look at the mural and say, CONTINUED ON PAGE 84

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ing chair, his eyes darting across the ceiling.

His right hand goes to his face, then back to the arm of his chair. Then, as if the words he seeks are floating in midair, like a scene out of The Queen’s Gambit, he grabs them and recites them quickly in case they disappear into the ether. “Bow swung finds tongue to fling out broad its name. Each mortal thing does one thing and the same.”

Father Michael Graham goes on, now confident that the youth-ingrained sonnet by 19th century English poet Gerard Manley Hopkins remains embedded in his hippocampus. “Christ, for Christ plays in ten thousand places, lovely in limbs, and lovely in eyes not his. To the Father through the features of men’s faces.”

Graham is president of Xavier University, for just a little longer. He also is a Ph.D., a community leader, a Jesuit priest, and a mentor to students and faculty alike.

Perhaps he’s also a poet at heart.

“When everyone else was bingewatching The Crown, I was making my way through a formidable DVD collection of Shakespeare plays,” he admits. After watching five quarantine-fueled versions of Hamlet in a week and a half, he bought a collection of the Bard’s works. He doesn’t use the word nerdy, but he laughs about his obsession with the art of language. If he’d lived back in ancient Greece, he muses, perhaps he—instead of Homer—would have been the Blind Poet.

Graham stands out in a crowd, and not just because he’s a university president. At 6-foot-3, he’s athletically built and moves with a swift grace, even at age 68. His wellknown deep baritone voice can alternate between an enthusiastic shout of “Mus

keteers!” when addressing students on happy occasions to a golden tone as soothing as a warm bath when the need arises. Students, when they see him strolling around campus, flock to him. He always has time for them, even though he really has no time.

Xavier’s Class of 2021 is Graham’s last. He retires on June 30 after more than 20 years as president—a longer tenure than any of his 33 predecessors. He says it’s a good time to leave, explaining that, like the Jesuit training track, presidential terms can logically be measured in 10-year increments.

He will be succeeded by Colleen Hanycz, who will be the first woman and the first layperson at the helm of the 190-year-old Jesuit institution on Victory Parkway. She will find Graham’s fingerprints wherever she goes.

changed over Graham’s 20 years in charge of Xavier. There are new buildings, notably the four towers of Bishop Fenwick Place—soon to be renamed Justice Hall—which include dorm rooms and the campus dining hall, known simply as “The Caf” by students.

Smith Hall houses the Williams College of Business and boasts a small version of a Wall Street trading floor. The Conaton Learning Center serves students with everything from career development to internet connection issues. Gallagher Student Center is the university’s student union. U-Station houses student apartments and retail. The newest structure, the 150,000-square-foot Health United Building, is the university’s recreation, health, and wellness center, built in partnership with TriHealth. Cintas Center, home for Xavier athletics, opened seven weeks before Graham took office.

Graham was instrumental in moving Xavier into the Big East, one of America’s premier basketball conferences. After the conference split in 2012, when the footballplaying teams left for other affiliations, the remaining seven members began hunting for replacements. John Kucia, Xavier’s vice president for administration, remembers Graham jumping at the opportunity to upgrade Xavier’s national profile.

Kucia, who at the time included the athletic department in his portfolio, says Graham’s interest in sports and his natural leadership qualities had made him a force in the Atlantic 10 Conference, XU’s athletic home then. But Graham recognized immediately what membership in the rebooted powerhouse Big East would mean to Xavier, both athletically and academically.

!""#$ % & ' ( )* + ,Graham aligned with two other university presidents and put together a threefer that was irresistible to the Big East membership. Xavier from Cincinnati, Butler from Indianapolis, and Creighton from Omaha, Nebraska, would extend the Big East reach from Atlantic Ocean shores to Midwest wheat fields, bringing in a trio of worthy rivals representing excellence on the court and in the classroom. It was a golden ticket for everyone, except maybe the Atlantic 10.

An avid fan who looks like he could take the court himself, Graham has never been shy about plunging into the student section at home basketball games, high-fiving mascot D’Artagnan, or guest conducting the pep band for a few bars. Hanycz, when she came to campus for the first time after being named president, recognized the challenge. “I promise to learn all the cheers,” she pledged.

Graham likely has told her that, while it’s true Musketeer basketball is a wonderful communal experience, it’s actually a donor opportunity for college presidents. Yes, even if you’re a Jesuit priest who’s taken a vow of poverty, there are endowment funds to raise, interest rates to watch, debt service to worry about, and wealthy alumni to stroke. It’s part of the job.

sistant professor or a rising administrator who eventually became Father Jim Hoff ’s chief aide, Graham was ready for the big chair. After Hoff retired as president in 2000, the board’s search committee still interviewed Graham, and he dutifully prepared a six-page single-spaced paper on the challenges and opportunities Xavier would face. The job was his to lose, and he didn’t.

Graham readily admits, with a laugh, that his “Roman collar didn’t hurt” as he wound his way up the university food chain, taking on important assignments such as directing the University Scholars program and, as vice president for university relations, quarterbacking Xavier’s record-breaking $125 million capital campaign in the late 1990s. Those roles, combined with his previous faculty position, exposed him to all facets of the university and the community.

Graham walked into his new office in Schmidt Hall on January 1, 2001, arguably the most prepared president in Xavier’s history. But nothing had readied him for what came just three months later. “The riots,” he says emphatically and without hesitation, “fundamentally shaped this university by making us ask the question, Just

what is our place in the world and especially in our own community?” While it’s a question worthy of Jesuit debate, discernment, and introspection, 20 years later you can tell Graham’s question then—and today— wasn’t theoretical. It was a recognition that, as the ground under Cincinnati had shifted, Xavier needed to examine its place in a changed community.

Timothy Thomas’s fatal shooting by police in April 2001 set off four nights of civil unrest in Cincinnati, exposing the truths of economic inequities, injustice, police-community relations, and racism that had festered for too long. Graham was grateful Xavier students were home for spring break that week, and he prepared for their return to campus by organizing a forum that brought together community leaders and Xavier faculty and staff.

Graham recalls “a couple of searing hours” with emotions running high. There were tough questions about racism in the community, the police, and the university’s commitment to social justice, diversity, and inclusion. The question on everyone’s mind was, Where do we go from here?

Graham is credited by students and faculty alike as being a good listener. He was that night. “I remember going back to my apartment and watching the ice cubes dissolve at the bottom of my scotch glass and thinking,

Congratulations to our 2021 Florence Nightingale Award Nominees and Recipients Florence Nightingale Excellence in Nursing recipient

andrea owens nominees Kelsey Crank

Rhianna King

Emily Wesselman

Lee Ann Ernst

Tara Orth

Teresa Williams

Linda Herms

Sarah Russell

for always being right here for our patients and community.

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AWARDS FOR EXCELLENCE IN NURSING

Congratulations TO OUR 2021 RECIPIENTS

SS PP EE CC II A A LL A AD DV V EE R R TT II SS II N NG G SS EE CC TT II O ON N

A LETTER FROM THE DEAN

UNIVERSITY OF CINCINNATI COLLEGE OF NURSING

Nurses have always been the frontline and backbone of health care delivery throughout the world but, through the last year, their work has become undeniably visible to all. As the COVID-19 pandemic upended all facets of life, nurses continued to put their patients first, connecting them with much-needed resources, working extra hours to stay with them in hospitals, nursing homes, and all settings when no one else could and mitigating the impact on vulnerable populations most at risk of worsening health outcomes because of the virus.

Although it seems like we can see the light at the end of the pandemic tunnel, the unacceptable levels of health inequity revealed will persist. While these inequities cannot be relieved by one health care profession alone, nursing is positioned to embrace this leadership opportunity by drawing on our legacy as patient and community advocates and health care experts and focus on partnerships with communities to co-create strategies to promote health equity.

These are not easy times for anyone, especially nurses. But I can say, without a doubt, that I am prouder than ever to be one of them. Congratulations to this year’s Florence Nightingale Awards recipients for raising the bar for our profession and making a difference in people’s lives by improving care in our region.

Greer Glazer, PhD, RN, CNP, FAAN Dean, University of Cincinnati College of Nursing Associate Vice President for Health Affairs

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BRIDGING THE DIVIDE Nurses provide hands-on care for all, and current challenges have made their role even more critical to addressing—and alleviating—disparities in healthcare outcomes among disadvantaged populations.

Photograph by Alliance/ stock.adobe.com

BY JENNIFER HOGAN REDMOND

M

aking her rounds late at night among wounded soldiers, Florence Nightingale, “the lady with the lamp,” is best known as the founder of modern nursing, as she greatly affected 19th- and 20th-century policies around proper medical care. The standard she set for nursing is well reflected in this year’s Florence Nightingale Award recipients for Nursing Excellence.

In hospitals, medical offices, clinics, and communities, nurses are the primary and, in some areas, the only healthcare providers and educators. Their interaction with patients is very personal, and their recognition of and response to their patients’ needs and challenges is crucial so positive health outcomes are ultimately achieved. Nurses witness first-hand how the social determinants of health—the conditions in which people are born, grow, live, work, and age—affect health, life outcomes, and risks of individuals and communities. And while data shows that health is linked to long-standing inequities, the COVID-19 pandemic exposed a new level of healthcare disparity, one in which racial and ethnic minority groups are at increased risk of illness and death from the virus.

Under normal circumstances, nurses must determine if a language barrier, communication, or literacy issue might affect a patient’s understanding of instructions; if cultural behaviors or traditions might affect compliance; if costs of medication or services make treatment difficult or impossible; and how a patient’s family situations might affect their healthcare outcomes. During the COVID-19 pandemic shutdown, nurses did all of this and more, as they have faced additional and sometimes personal challenges that make their mission harder to accomplish. Risk of illness, long hours, and family constraints amid rapidly changing environments and protocol during the pandemic make their efforts even more deserving recognition.

The nursing professionals honored this year with the Florence Nightingale Award are recognized for meeting patients where they are, for working selflessly and courageously to improve the health of every person, and for treating the patients they serve and the teams they lead with courage and compassion under every circumstance.

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MEET THE 2021 FLORENCE NIGHTINGALE AWARD RECIPIENTS Seven professionals who embody excellence and leadership in the nursing profession.

Selected from over 130 nominations, this year’s Florence Nightingale Awards for Excellence in Nursing recipients include seven extraordinary individuals who demonstrate the great nursing talent in the Greater Cincinnati region. The diverse educational and clinical backgrounds of these recipients show that leadership and excellence are found in all settings and job paths. These professionals combine intelligence, critical thinking, and compassion, working tirelessly to provide exceptional care and advance the field of nursing.

ANDREA OWENS, BSN, CMS, RN St. Elizabeth Healthcare, Acute Care Attentive, hands-on bedside care for every patient defines Andrea Owens. Yet as a colleague explains, she takes “patient/family care to a new, extraordinary level,” as evidenced in her recent treatment of critically ill patients in the hospital’s COVID-19 ICU unit. After her own father-in-law became dangerously ill, Owens says she felt the impact of the virus in a new way, and she appreciated the caring nurses who understood her family’s distress. “I want to be that person, not only for my patients, but for their families,” she states. Owens fulfilled this call for one patient who recounts a dark moment: “All I could feel was a scary, dark haze as my lungs fought to find air. It was then I felt her gloved hand in mine and heard her say, I won’t leave you.” Owens’s presence during this patient’s long battle included staying long after her shifts to provide personal care, to pray with her patient, and, on one occasion, to sing to her. She also organized donations for the patient’s husband and small children, who were recovering from COVID-19 themselves. To Owens, none of this is extraordinary, but she says the outpouring of support is emboldening. “Why not do more?” she asks. “If it’s good for the patients, let’s step out of the box.”

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SSPPEECCIIAALL AADDVVEERRTTIISSI INNGG SSEECCTTI IOONN

IMANI RUGLESS, BSN, RN University of Cincinnati Medical Center/UC Health Long hours in the obstetric antepartum and postpartum unit—coupled with her own experience as a mother—have given Imani Rugless insight into what new moms need. But diapers, toilet paper, and personal care items were all in short supply during the pandemic lockdown and even more scarce for already underserved communities.

Unable to help her patients locate such essential items, Rugless, who is studying to be a midwife, reached out to the community for help and established the “Love, Mom” care package initiative. She collected $1,700 and 99 boxes of supplies for distribution to new families. “Her program helped many mothers in the city and helps set the tone for what it can mean to be a nurse,” writes one colleague. Rugless is also a mentor and a role model, reaching out to minority students through programs at Cincinnati Public Schools and the University of Cincinnati. Described as a “beautiful, giving soul, who looks for absolutely nothing in return from anyone,” Rugless says what motivates her is simply a basic respect for every patient. “I’m a patient myself,” she says. “I’m gonna give you that respect. This is someone’s family member; it’s not just my patient. This is someone’s daughter. This is someone’s mother or son. If I left someone in their care, I would want them to give them their best self.”

JILL JEWELL, BSN, RN, PCCN The Christ Hospital Health Network Jill Jewell is described by colleagues as “heroic, positive, proactive, and forwardthinking” for her leadership of the COVID-19 medical surgical unit at The Christ Hospital. At the helm of a new cardiac step-down unit, Jewell and her team had to pivot quickly to care for COVID-19 patients at the onset of the pandemic. “Jill took on more in her first year as a manager than others will their entire career, and throughout it all she has remained calm and resilient,” says one colleague. Jewell, who prefers “we” to “I” as she speaks of her work this past year, says her team and the patients they serve motivate her. Tackling changing protocols, medications, and uncertainties about the virus presented challenges that her cohort has managed with resilience, she says. Caring for patients who are scared and extraordinarily isolated requires a strong sense of purpose. Nursing “is a service profession,” she says. “It isn’t glamorous. We don’t have the greatest hours, but I do think that it’s a calling for people who come to it. And even in times where it’s as bad as it was with COVID, the nursing profession still rose to the challenges that were brought to them and have managed to care for patients the best we possibly could.” Now, nurses themselves need to heal from the emotional toll of the pandemic, she adds.

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JENNIFER HALL, MSN, RN-BC, SANE, FNE TriHealth, CARES Program Since 2013 and throughout the pandemic, Jennifer Hall has successfully coordinated a growing team of dedicated advocates for assault victims through the Center for Abuse and Rape Emergency Services (CARES) at TriHealth. Serving six hospitals, CARES partners with Women Helping Women and works with universities, law enforcement, and many crisis agencies to assist victims of sexual assault, domestic violence, human trafficking, and elder abuse. Hall and her 25-member team are on call 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year. In addition to providing education in schools and communities about safety and domestic violence, CARES advocates remain with patients in hospital emergency departments and follow them through court systems, support groups, and beyond.

The program’s caseload increased significantly due to pandemic-related stressors, says Hall, making their roles more urgent, yet more challenging due to hospital restrictions, quarantining requirements, and a team spread thin due to personal sickness and increased nursing demands. Nonetheless, CARES advocates remained at victims’ bedsides during the height of the pandemic, a priority Hall fought to maintain. Colleagues credit her leadership and perseverance for fostering cohesiveness and continuity of service. Described as a “deeply empathetic nurse,” Hall shrugs off the praise. She lauds “the best team in the world” for their work. “To take this kind of job, you have to want this job,” she says.

Proud to prepare the next generation of nurses to act as champions for their communities and reduce health inequities.

UC Nurses. We See Leaders. nursing.uc.edu uccollegeofnursing ucnursing uc_nursing BSN | RN to BSN | Direct-Entry MSN | MSN | 3RVW 0DVWHUȇV &HUWLȴFDWH | DNP | PhD

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LINDSEY JUSTICE, DNP, APRN, CPNP-AC Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, Cardiac ICU As the lead advanced practice nurse (APRN) in Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center’s (CCHMC) cardiac ICU, Lindsey Justice maintains a specialized team that tends to the most critical and complex patients. And she does so with “care that reaches beyond the bedside to the families of her patients,” one colleague says.

Admiring the resiliency of the children she serves, Justice strives to bond with and provide for each unique family, noting that despite the sharing of a complex physiology and equal care, disparities in health outcomes may occur due to other realities, including communication difficulties and cultural beliefs and expectations. COVID has further “taxed the healthcare system, and the at-risk population that already has heart disorders lives in a complex state of health, so the virus puts them at risk for negative outcomes,” she states. A mentor, teacher, and leader, Justice “embraces and models the core values of respect and diversity” in each of her roles, notes a colleague. And this commitment extends outside CCHMC. On a national level, Justice recently helped develop a Diversity and Inclusion Advisory Committee as part of the Pediatric Cardiac Intensive Care Society (PCICS) and she co-led the development and implementation of new PCICS APP curriculum and exam development for CICU advanced practice providers.

She also advocates for APRNs with the Ohio Board of Nursing and is committed to providing equal opportunities for training and advancement at CCHMC and beyond.

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FELICIA BECKHAM, MSN, RN, FNP-BC The Health Experiences Certified family nurse practitioner Felicia Beckham treats every patient as a unique human being with a past, present, and future. Whether counseling individuals with diabetes or caring for those facing mental health and substance abuse challenges, her focus is on improving health disparities through individualized care. “Sometimes people are looked upon as less than, and they feel that,” Beckham says. She believes that each person who walks into a clinic, regardless of past choices, background, or appearance, is making a choice to better their healthcare outcomes. “And we as practitioners should be helping them do that,” she says. This means recognizing the challenges patients in underserved communities face and modifying their plan of care based on such needs. Beyond the clinical space, Beckham “reaches out to the community to provide counsel, support, and services wherever she can,” notes a colleague. She is a frequent health educator and speaker for a variety of organizations and media outlets, serves on the Cincinnati Health Department’s COVID-19 Task Force, and founded Cincinnati’s Black Nurse Practitioner Network in 2019. Beckham believes that more diverse nurses and nurse practitioners are needed in healthcare. “When a nurse practitioner can relate and empathize with their patients from the cultural or socioeconomic standpoint, a rapport and comfortability is established, trust is built, the patient is humanized, the patient becomes an active participant in their healthcare, and their healthcare outcomes improve,” she says.

LOOKING FOR A TOP DOCTOR? VISIT US https://www.cincinnatimagazine.com/topdocs/

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BRITTNI O’LEARY, BSN, RN, C-EFM TriHealth “I understand” is a frequent conversation starter for Brittni O’Leary as she interacts with expectant mothers, whether she is talking with a patient at Good Samaritan Hospital or working with a mom at First Step Home, an addiction recovery center. She first acknowledges her patients’ experiences; then she works to educate them about what comes next. O’Leary is “not afraid to delve into social issues that can be road blocks for patients,” notes her colleague. Many of the women she cares for have experienced significant trauma, prompting O’Leary to create a Trauma Informed Healthcare Plan.

This plan is now widely used among the hospital’s HOPE (Helping Opiate-Addicted Pregnant Women Evolve) patients to consistently communicate essential details about each patient’s history and triggers. Such information is crucial to successful, individualized care, she says. Yet, no patient should be judged by a clinician. “This is a person. This is not a diagnosis,” O’Leary says. As a result of O’Leary’s advocacy, local agencies, judges, police, and foster parents are now involved with HOPE. O’Leary has also promoted and now provides newborn education for foster parents, donating “Foster Care Bags” of feeding support information, sleep sacks, and educational material.

Leading, advocating & collaborating to improve child health, here and around the world.

CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL THE 2021 FLORENCE NIGHTINGALE AWARDEES

www.cincinnatichildrens.org

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SPONSORS PLATINUM LEVEL

GOLD LEVEL

SILVER LEVEL

The University of Cincinnati College of Nursing relies on the generosity of our alumni and friends to continue educating and honoring outstanding nurses.

For information about making a charitable gift to one of the many funds within the college, please contact the Office of Development at (513) 558-5386 or visit uc.edu/give.

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SIBCY S SI SIB IB BCY BC Y CLINE C CL LIIN LIN NE NE AGENTS A AG GE EN NTS NT S LIVE L LI LIV IV VE HERE VE H HE ERE ER E C Congratulations TO THE 2021 REAL ESTATE ALL-STARS!

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REAL ESTATE & MORTGAGE

ALL-STARS 2021

IF YOU’RE IN THE MARKET TO PURCHASE A

new home, our list of top real estate agents, home-selling teams, and mortgage professionals is the place to start your search. This carefully researched list was compiled by Professional Research Services (PRS) of Troy, Michigan. Agents who were chosen as Real Estate & Mortgage All-Stars had a total sales volume that fell within the top percent of Cincinnati-region agents, and the mortgage professionals on our list came highly recommended by agents and brokers in the region. The professionals with the most votes were the ones who were named Real Estate & Mortgage All-Stars for 2021.

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INDIVIDUAL ROBERT ABNER

Huff Realty (859) 578-4995 MICHAEL ALFORD

Coldwell Banker West Shell (513) 503-9309

DANIA BARAZI

Lohmiller Real Estate 3654 Edwards Rd., Suite 200, Cincinnati, OH 45208, (330) 217-4769, dbarazi@lohmillerrealestate.com, www.dbconsultingllc.net

FREDA ALLEN

Comey & Shepherd (513) 967-9100 JUANITA ALLEN

Coldwell Banker West Shell (859) 433-6140 TIFFANY ALLEN-ZEUCH

Sibcy Cline Realtors (513) 349-7311 JON AMSTER

Comey & Shepherd (513) 307-3937 SUSANNE ANTON

Sibcy Cline Realtors (513) 519-9455 OSCAR ASESYAN

Sibcy Cline Realtors (513) 800-9299 JANE ASHCRAFT-WEST

RE/MAX Affiliates (859) 630-2222 BEN AUSTIN

Keller Williams Advisors Realty (513) 706-3159 SCOT C. AVERY

Huff Realty (513) 325-1361 DEBRA AYERS

Coldwell Banker West Shell (513) 673-8810 JULIE K. BACK

Sibcy Cline Realtors (513) 607-3850 TOM BADEN

Coldwell Banker West Shell (513) 255-5566 GERI BAKER

Coldwell Banker West Shell (513) 305-0948 SCOTT BAKER

Coldwell Banker West Shell (513) 403-5323 SHELLEY BALLOU

RE/MAX Preferred Group (513) 470-8427

SHERI BOONE

ANNIE CASTLE

Comey & Shepherd (513) 252-3647

(513) 673-7633 acastle@comey.com www.comey.com

JEFF BOYLE

Keller Williams Realty Associate Partners (513) 295-5750 LISA J. BRANDENBURG

AMY BARNES

Huff Realty (859) 578-4995

RE/MAX Affiliates (859) 322-9400

MARILYN M. BREIER

ZACHARY BARNGROVER

Huff Realty (859) 578-4081

Sibcy Cline Realtors (513) 470-8690

MARGARET BROWN

COMEY & SHEPHERD REALTORS NADINE CATALANO

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Sibcy Cline Realtors (513) 464-0333 SEAN CHMURA

KELLY S. BARRETT

Sibcy Cline Realtors (513) 374-5802

Robinson Sotheby’s International Realty (513) 253-1815

Huff Realty (859) 525-5776

VINNI BROWN

PAT CHRYSLER

JESSICA BAUER

Coldwell Banker West Shell (858) 414-8162

Comey & Shepherd (513) 766-0707

Comey & Shepherd (513) 884-1606

TRACI BROWNE

CHRISSY CLARK

ANNE BEDINGHAUS

Coldwell Banker West Shell (859) 916-1052

Sibcy Cline Realtors (513) 850-9090

Coldwell Banker West Shell (513) 235-1358

CYNTHIA D. BRUNER

SHANNON M. CLARK

Huff Realty (513) 708-6642

Huff Realty (859) 525-5741

PATTY BRUNER

HEATHER CLAYPOOL

Comey & Shepherd (513) 886-7721

Hoeting Realtors (513) 304-1197

CHRISTON BELDEN

SANDY BURKHART-WILLIAMS

CHRISTY CLEMENT

Huff Realty (859) 525-5724

Huff Realty (513) 519-4683

Sibcy Cline Realtors (513) 325-3963

LISA BELINKY-CRAWFORD

CINDY CAHILL

ROBBIN K. COFFMAN

Sibcy Cline Realtors (513) 708-1600

Realty Executives Select (859) 991-0800

Star One Realtors (513) 324-8841

STEPHANIE BENEDETTI

DIANNA CALDWELL

CHRISTINE COLGLAZIER

RE/MAX Affiliates (859) 372-6000

RE/MAX Affiliates (859) 322-1290

Huff Realty (513) 317-1313

KEITH BENNETT

MARY LOU CALVERT

BRENDA M. CONNER

Comey & Shepherd (513) 317-2713

Sibcy Cline Realtors (859) 750-9100

Huff Realty (513) 792-3000

PAMELA BENSON

REBECCA CAMPBELL

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RE/MAX Preferred Group (513) 604-6247

Coldwell Banker West Shell (513) 218-1864

Huff Realty (859) 630-0867

KAREN BEVINS

TERESA CANTRALL-KRAFT

KRISTIAN P. CONNLEY

Sibcy Cline Realtors (513) 260-6272

Sibcy Cline Realtors (859) 380-3846

Huff Realty (859) 525-5756

MICHELLE BILLINGS

CELIA CARROLL

CLINT COPENHAVER

Coldwell Banker West Shell (513) 516-0495

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Robinson Sotheby’s International Realty (513) 379-3467

ROBERT P. BEIMESCHE

Huff Realty (859) 240-3219 www.robbeimesche.com

WALTER E. BIRD

SANDRA CARTER HALL

Huff Realty (513) 403-6174

Sibcy Cline Realtors 7395 Mason Montgomery Rd., Mason, OH 45040, (513) 254-5523, www.sandysellscincy.com

JOSH BLATT

Coldwell Banker West Shell (513) 226-7219 BETH BOKON-ONTHANK

Sibcy Cline Realtors (513) 505-8815

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PATRICIA COSLETT

Huff Realty (859) 578-4054 TIM COTTRILL

Sibcy Cline Realtors (513) 324-7447

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BARBARA J. COX

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HALLIE GOLDCAMP

TODD HELTON

Huff Realty (859) 444-1628

Comey & Shepherd (513) 290-1899

Coldwell Banker West Shell (513) 321-0124

Sibcy Cline Realtors (513) 478-7615

DAWN CRAVEN

JULIE L. FEAGAN

TORRI GRACE

LYNN HENSLEY

RE/MAX Affiliates (859) 372-6018

Huff Realty (859) 547-8500

Sibcy Cline Realtors (513) 368-4135

Coldwell Banker West Shell (513) 260-0509

DAVID DAWSON

ROB FELDMAN

CONNIE GREENE

ADREAN HENSON-SASHER

Sibcy Cline Realtors (513) 236-1891

Coldwell Banker West Shell (859) 250-3859

Lohmiller Real Estate (859) 444-8159

DAN DAY

ANGELA FISCHER

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RE/MAX Preferred Group (513) 226-5588

Lohmiller Real Estate (513) 508-4549

DUANE DEGROFF

CLARISSA FISCUS

RE/MAX Affiliates (859) 468-1654

Comey & Shepherd (513) 284-3729

MONIKA DEROUSSEL

STEVE FLORIAN

eXp Realty (513) 289-1039

Hoeting Realtors (513) 200-1808

TIM DIRR

NANCY FOLCHI

RE/MAX Preferred Group (513) 201-5678

Coldwell Banker West Shell (513) 265-0248

DEBRA DIXON

MISSY FRIEDE

Huff Realty (859) 512-7109

Century 21 Thacker & Associates, Inc. (513) 255-0193

CHRIS DOHRMANN

Sibcy Cline Realtors (513) 328-0777 BILL DRAZNIK

Coldwell Banker West Shell (513) 616-0409 MARY DRODER

Star One Realtors (513) 607-4666 KEVIN DUFFY

Comey & Shepherd (513) 602-6000 VICKY DUNN

Comey & Shepherd (513) 703-6350 TERESA DURBIN

Sibcy Cline Realtors (513) 520-7124 STEVE EARLY

Sibcy Cline Realtors (513) 382-1218

JAMIE GABBARD

Comey & Shepherd (513) 594-5066 RON GARLAND

eXp Realty (513) 703-4945 AARON GARRETT

Lohmiller Real Estate (812) 528-6683 STACY GENDELMAN

Robinson Sotheby’s International Realty (513) 842-2236 JOHN GEORGE

Comey & Shepherd (513) 256-0994 JAN GERDING

Coldwell Banker West Shell (513) 608-3770 TERI GILLMAN

Comey & Shepherd (513) 403-3000

JOY E. ECKER

Huff Realty (513) 792-3002

TERESA GILLUM

KELSIE M. EMERY-ROARK

Star One Realtors (513) 392-6739 JENNY ENGLAND

Coldwell Banker Realty 5947 Deerfield Blvd., #104, Mason, OH 45040, (513) 9266257, https://jennyengland. cbintouch.com

Sibcy Cline Realtors (859) 802-1742 VICTOR GODBEY, JR.

Sibcy Cline Realtors (513) 378-2074 SUSIE GOEDDE

Comey & Shepherd (513) 515-4436

MARCIA GREENWALD

Sibcy Cline Realtors 1077 St Rt 28, Suite 111, Milford, OH 45150, (513) 503-1573, http://agent. sibcycline.com/mgreenwald

KIM HERMANN

Huff Realty (859) 468-6429 www.kimhermann.huff.com JENNIFER HERRON-LIGHTCAP

Sibcy Cline Realtors (513) 295-5769 ANDREW M. HERSEY

Star One Realtors (513) 835-5506

PAT GREGORY

RE/MAX Affiliates (859) 802-0868

KARAN HEUER

Coldwell Banker West Shell (513) 602-6959

SUSAN A. GRIFFIN

Huff Realty (513) 519-3827

SHARON HILINSKI

LYNN GROOMS

Coldwell Banker West Shell (513) 222-8803 PATRICK GUNNING

Coldwell Banker West Shell (513) 300-6929

Sibcy Cline Realtors (859) 750 9737 TIM HINDE

Coldwell Banker West Shell (513) 615-5850 MARY JO HOFFMAN

Comey & Shepherd (513) 235-6067

BOB HAHN

RE/MAX Affiliates (859) 802-7700

KEN HOLLIDAY

Huff Realty (859) 578-3977

LORI HALL-POLLARD

Sibcy Cline Realtors (513) 368-9331

SHERRI HOLZMAN

Coldwell Banker West Shell (513) 260-4068

NOAH HARING

Lohmiller Real Estate (812)290-3099

RANDALL B. HORNE

TERRY HARTKE

RE/MAX Preferred Group (513) 535-8232 ADAM HAYHOW

Coldwell Banker West Shell (513) 315-1501 CATHY HECKMAN

Coldwell Banker West Shell (513) 607-8935

Huff Realty (513) 858-7530 DEBI HORNSBY

Huff Realty (513) 218-6621 MISHA HOUSTON

RE/MAX Preferred Group (513) 919-1808 CINDY HOWARD

Sibcy Cline Realtors (513) 319-2796

KATHY HEIMBROCK

Sibcy Cline Realtors (859) 512-8383

JENNY HOWARD

Sibcy Cline Realtors (513) 218-2799

TRACY HELLER

Sibcy Cline Realtors (513) 509-1390

ASHLEY HOWE

MIKE HELSON

Realty Executives Select (859) 341-7355

Star One Realtors (812)584-2193 MONICA HOWE

RE/MAX Affiliates (859) 393-5778 M OMNAY T H 22002118 CCIINNCCIINNNNAT ATIIM MAAGGAAZZIINNEE..CCOOM M 71

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STEVE HROMADKA

DENNIS KING

HOLLY LITTLE

MIKE I. MCENTUSH

RE/MAX Preferred Group (513) 325-4689

Comey & Shepherd (513) 378-5464

Star One Realtors (513) 675-1702

RICK HUBBARD

SARAH KIRKENDALL

Robinson Sotheby’s International Realty (513) 325-7657

RE/MAX Affiliates (859) 448-0001

Coldwell Banker West Shell (513) 801-5120

ANGIE HUDDLESTON

TASHA KLABER-FLOOD

Lohmiller Real Estate (513) 260-8634

Sibcy Cline Realtors (859) 991-9044

MICHELLE HUDEPOHL

ROBYN W. KLARE

Coldwell Banker West Shell (513) 254-5440

Huff Realty (859) 866-2500

ANESSA HUFFMAN

JOE KNAB

RE/MAX Preferred Group (513) 830-4425

RE/MAX Preferred Group (513) 615-3030

LISA IBOLD

LAURA KRAEMER

Hoeting Realtors (513) 328-1484

Comey & Shepherd (513) 305-8215

DAWN ISENHOWER

KATHY J. KRAMER

Sibcy Cline Realtors (513) 236-1254

Star One Realtors (513) 265-8650

MELISSA JAKUBOWSKI

SUSAN KUEHNLE

Sibcy Cline Realtors (859) 468-2218

Coldwell Banker West Shell (513) 379-4967

COCO JAMES

LINDA KUNKEL

RE/MAX Affiliates (859) 801-0542

Coldwell Banker West Shell (513) 404-7115

SUZI JOHN

Comey & Shepherd (513) 233-1259 ANDREA JOHNSON

RE/MAX Victory (513) 253-3780 GUY KAESER

PATRICK LACH

Sibcy Cline Realtors 8040 Montgomery Rd., Cincinnati, OH 45236, (513) 633-6296, https://plach. agents.sibcycline.com DEB LAFRANCE

BARRY KAPLAN

RE/MAX Preferred Group (513) 652-9256

KEVIN KELLY

Coldwell Banker West Shell (513) 702-0414 KRISTY KELLY

Sibcy Cline Realtors (513) 253-4291 CHRIS KENNEDY

Sibcy Cline Realtors (859) 250-2992 SUSAN KESSLER

Sibcy Cline Realtors (513) 518-5262 BISHNU KHAREL

RE/MAX Preferred Group (513) 857-9888 AMY KING

Sibcy Cline Realtors (513) 464-3455

KURT J. LAMPING

Star One Realtors (513) 602-2100 KIM LENZO

Coldwell Banker West Shell (513) 265-1779 SANDRA LETTIE

RE/MAX Preferred Group (513) 310-6922 SUE S. LEWIS

Sibcy Cline Realtors (513) 324-8095 LINDA C. LINTON

Star One Realtors (513) 477-9436 MAUREEN LINTZ

Coldwell Banker West Shell (513) 515-0604

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RE/MAX Affiliates (513) 620-1884 NEIL LOBERT

Sibcy Cline Realtors (513) 266-7711 DEBBIE LONG

Keller Williams Advisors Realty (513) 675-8844

Coldwell Banker West Shell (513) 235-4877 Comey & Shepherd (513) 368-9000

FRANK LITTRELL

TONI K. LOUIS

RE/MAX Preferred Group (513) 847-4575 ANDREW LOVETT

Realty Executives Select (859) 512-5578 DALE LUTZ

Cornerstone Realty, Inc. (513) 266-1859 KENNETH W. MADDIN

Huff Realty (513) 519-0006 ALISON MAHONEY

Sibcy Cline Realtors (513) 646-9893 DOUG MANZLER

Keller Williams Advisors Realty (513) 884-9944 SHEREE MARCUM

Comey & Shepherd (513) 617-5371 LAURIE MARRA

Coldwell Banker West Shell (513) 259-4215 PATRICK MARTINI

Huff Realty (513) 460-2754 KRYSTY MATTHEWS

Huff Realty (859) 466-0310 MARK MATTINGLY

Sibcy Cline Realtors (513) 320-0220 MELISSA MAXWELL

RE/MAX Affiliates (859) 512-4444 LISA MCCARTHY

Coldwell Banker West Shell (513) 256-2629 DENISE MCCOY

RE/MAX Affiliates (859) 912-1969 JUDY MCCOY

Comey & Shepherd (513) 766-0889

JENNIFER MCGILLIS

eXp Realty 7017 Miami Ave., Cincinnati, OH 45243, (513) 344-9077, www.facebook.com/cincinnati jenn MICHAEL MCKEOWN

Huff Realty (859) 653-2884 JEANIE MCKINLEY

Coldwell Banker West Shell (859) 802-6183 RICK MCPHERSON

RE/MAX Victory (513) 532-3000 CARRIE MCVICKER

Sibcy Cline Realtors (513) 748-8985 MICHELLE MEENACH

Star One Realtors (513) 813-1979 TAHSIN MERT

Coldwell Banker West Shell (513) 802-8977 ELA SHAPIRO

Sibcy Cline Realtors Kenwood Office (513) 703-4202 mshapiro@sibcycline.com https://Mshapiro.agents.sibcy cline.com LINDA MILDON

RE/MAX Affiliates (859) 802-2815 SUSAN MILLER

Sibcy Cline Realtors (513) 368-6715 JESSICA MILLS

Comey & Shepherd (513) 226-8473 RON D. MINGES

Star One Realtors (513) 604-1877 DOLORES MIZE

Sibcy Cline Realtors (513) 476-1986 AMY MOELLER

Sibcy Cline Inc. 9979 Montgomery Rd., Cincinnati, OH 45252, (513) 616-3528, www.sibcycline.com/amoeller

SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION

ASHOK GHILDYAL

ANN LAFFERTY

KEVIN GRAY

ROBERT DIEDERICHSEN III

RYAN KIEFER

REBECCA ENDRES

KARLEY TOMSICH

PRIMELENDING ALL STAR DONG LI NOT SHOWN

PRIMELENDING, CELEBRATING 10 YEARS IN CINCINNATI Is buying, refinancing, or renovating a home in your future? Let Ryan Kiefer and his PrimeLending team help you achieve your home ownership goals through their simple and hassle-free home loan process. They’ll be by your side delivering personalized service, professional guidance, and timely results on the way to your ideal home loan. PrimeLending Cincinnati is the No. 1 local lender for renovation loans and the No. 2 local lender in purchase market share. They also rise above the competition with more Mortgage Broker All-Stars—a total of eight leading professionals—than any other local lender. “We’re honored that so many real estate agents recommend PrimeLending to their clients as the go-to resource for local mortgage expertise,” says Ryan Kiefer, Branch Manager for PrimeLending in Greater Cincinnati, the state of Kentucky, and Naples, Florida.

2718 OBSERVATORY AVE., FLOOR 1, CINCINNATI, OH 45208, (513) 698-8026, HTTPS://LO.PRIMELENDING.COM/CINCINNATI/; 7594 TYLER’S PLACE BLVD. #B, WEST CHESTER, OH 45069, (513) 847-0164, HTTPS://LO.PRIMELENDING.COM/WESTCHESTEROH/

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SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION

CLIFF MONTGOMERY

JESSICA A. MUELLER

LORI O’BRIEN

Coldwell Banker West Shell (513) 317-6543

Star One Realtors (812)584-2196

Sibcy Cline Realtors (513) 503-9683

ANGEL MUNAFO-APKING

MICHELE M. O’BRIEN

KIM MOORE

Sibcy Cline Realtors KY State Certified Residential Appraiser, (859) 380-8491, agent.sibcycline.com/kmoore KRISTINE MORGAN

Coldwell Banker West Shell (513) 283-4192 BRENDAN MORRISSEY

Sibcy Cline Realtors (513) 365-8383 ALICIA MOSER

Sibcy Cline Realtors (513) 518-4074 NICHOLAS MOTZ

eXp Realty (513) 615-1999 CATHERINE MUELLER

Sibcy Cline Realtors (513) 532-4000

BECKY ORTH Executive Sales Vice President, CRS®, GRI, Sibcy Cline Realtors (859) 743-0582, www.sibcycline.com/rorth

Sibcy Cline Realtors (513) 484-1910

Huff Realty (859) 578-3959

JENNIFER MURTLAND

JERI O’BRIEN-LOFGREN

eXp Realty (513) 400-1691

Sibcy Cline Realtors (513) 266-8568

CATHERINE M. MUSGRAVE

SHERRY A. OBERMEYER

Huff Realty (859) 653-2409 HOLLY L. NALLY

Huff Realty (859) 525-5748 LYDIA C. NATTIN

Huff Realty (513) 388-5739 BOB NEAL

Comey & Shepherd (513) 237-5251 LESLI NORRIS

Huff Realty (513) 304-9042 CHERYL ODONNELL

Sibcy Cline Realtors (513) 919-3086

BONNIE OVERBECK

3B Realty Group (513) 448-8525 MIKE PARKER

Huff Realty (859) 647-0700 CYNDA PARKINSON

DEEDEE OLLIS

Coldwell Banker West Shell (513) 509-5647

RE/MAX Victory (513) 543-0754

STANLEY C. PARKINSON

JENNIFER ONEY-HILL

Huff Realty (513) 236-0664

RE/MAX Affiliates (859) 802-2278

JACQUELINE L. PATRICK

Star One Realtors (513) 476-0848

Coldwell Banker Realty (513) 479-2411

JENNY ENGLAND, COLDWELL BANKER REALTY My years of extensive real estate experience have focused around Northern Cincinnati and Southern Dayton. Selling or buying a home, especially in an uncertain market, should be as smooth and seamless as possible. I am always accessible, providing consistent, direct communication throughout the entire process. Hard work, attention to detail, and maintaining a high ethical standard is the foundation of my success. Whether buying, selling, or building, my goal is for you to have an enjoyable, positive experience with the best outcome possible. I offer the highest level of marketing to all sellers, and love to think of creative ways to find buyers a home in a tough market. Let me be your guide.

5947 DEERFIELD BLVD., #104, MASON, OH 45040, (513) 926-6257, HTTPS://JENNY ENGLAND.CBINTOUCH.COM

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SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION

KATHY PATTERSON Premier Properties Real Estate 1230 Belleview Dr. Greendale, IN 47025 (513) 535-2877 www.PremierPropertiesRE.com AIMEE PELLETIER

Sibcy Cline Realtors (859) 750-1680 STEPHANIE PELUSO-STEFFEN

Sibcy Cline Realtors (513) 617-3172 MEG PEREZ

Coldwell Banker West Shell (513) 658-7478 DEDE PERSSON

Sibcy Cline Realtors (513) 226-4737 KRISTEN R. PETERS

Huff Realty (859) 991-8464 SANDRA L. PETERS

Comey & Shepherd (513) 300-2518

DIANA PFAFF

RAUL PULIDO

JAYNE RIEL

Coldwell Banker West Shell (859) 640-1860

RE/MAX Preferred Group (513) 477-7151

RE/MAX Victory (513) 608-6062

MAUREEN PIPPIN

ROXANNE QUALLS

PAULA RITTER

Sibcy Cline Realtors (513) 703-1993

Sibcy Cline Realtors (513) 404-7263

Sibcy Cline Realtors (859) 512-4630

TOM PORTER

Coldwell Banker West Shell (513) 616-9563 JESSICA POWERS

Huff Realty (859) 445-5355 MARIANNE POWERS

JEAN RAGA Sibcy Cline Realtors 7395 Mason Montgomery Rd., Mason, OH 45040, (513) 378-7753, www.sibcycline.com/jraga JULIE RAY-RITCHIE

KATHLEEN PRANGLEY

Coldwell Banker West Shell (859) 466-1067

CAROL PRAZYNSKI

Star One Realtors (513) 702-3162 GINA PRICKEL

Sibcy Cline Realtors (513) 519-2579

Robinson Sotheby’s International Realty (513) 470-7700 TRUDY ROBINSON

Comey & Shepherd (513) 274-8528 LAURA ROHLING

Coldwell Banker West Shell (513) 484-3753 Coldwell Banker West Shell (513) 236-1132

LEE ROBINSON

Huff Realty (859) 393-1293 SHERRY C. REGENBOGEN

NICOLE RIEGLER

RE/MAX Affiliates (859) 866-3261

JULIE ROSE

Coldwell Banker Realty Cincinnati, Ohio, (513) 317-7452, www.julierosehomes.com

THOMAS REESE

Huff Realty (859) 653-2809

Sibcy Cline Realtors (859) 380-4790

SUSAN ROSE

Sibcy Cline Realtors (513) 378-2575 SHIFALI ROUSE

RE/MAX Preferred Group (513) 602-1400

KIM HERMANN & ROB BEIMESCHE, HUFF REALTY Kim Hermann and Rob Beimesche are recognized as the “Best of the Best” in real estate. Their knowledge of Northern Kentucky and Cincinnati, combined with over 35 years of experience, make them an invaluable partner in the purchase or sale of your home. Clients testimonials include: “Very responsive and always available! They listen to your wants and needs. They educate you on the latest financing. They are outstanding in the fine art of negotiation, and the attention to detail with the contract.” They ensure their clients have all they need to make the most informed decisions. Customers, peers, and industry experts agree, working with Kim and Rob is a winning experience. Going the Extra Mile to Bring You Home!

KIM HERMANN, (859) 468-6429, WWW.KIMHERMANN.HUFF.COM; ROB BEIMESCHE, (859) 240-3219, WWW.ROBBEIMESCHE.COM

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SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION

JACKIE RUMSEY

CARMEN SAYLOR

STACIE A. SCHOEPLEIN

GREG SHARMA

Sibcy Cline Realtors (513) 257-5213

Comey & Shepherd (513) 535-4480

Star One Realtors (513) 237-9623

Comey & Shepherd (513) 252-1408

WILLIAM RUMSEY

ALEX SCHAFERS

JUDY A. SCHUERMANN

CHIP SHAW

Lohmiller Real Estate (812)584-9498

Re/Max United Associates (513) 331-1428

Huff Realty (513) 470-8464

RE/MAX Results Plus (513) 407-2447

GREG L. RYAN

STEPHANIE SCHEID

MARK SCHUPP

DAWN P. SHEANSHANG

Huff Realty (859) 993-7653

Realty Executives Select (859) 240-9296

Star One Realtors (513) 543-1477

Huff Realty (859) 578-3930

LORI RYAN

YVONNE E. SCHEIDERER

LAKISHA N. SCRUGGS

JASON SHEPPARD

Sibcy Cline Realtors (513) 304-6579

Huff Realty (513) 505-2344

Huff Realty (513) 858-7020

AMANDA RYLE

DERON G. SCHELL

CHRIS SECAUR

Lohmiller Real Estate (812) 614-3870

Huff Realty (859) 640-5149

Keller Williams Advisors Realty (513) 543-5702

KATHY SANDEL

KAREN SCHERER

RACHAEL SEIDEL

Coldwell Banker West Shell (859) 380-9442

Coldwell Banker West Shell (513) 379-3402

Coldwell Banker West Shell (513) 680-7978

PRIYA SANGTANI

KAREN SCHERER

JUDIE SEITZ

Comey & Shepherd (513) 460-9969

Comey & Shepherd (513) 379-9205

Comey & Shepherd (513) 607-8925

KATHY SANTANGELO

ROBBIE SCHLAGER

ANGIE SEXTON

Coldwell Banker West Shell (513) 237-2827

Sibcy Cline Realtors (513) 477-1751

Coldwell Banker West Shell (513) 702-3419

Comey & Shepherd (513) 313-6991 PATTI SIBCY

Sibcy Cline Realtors (513) 254-1776 BETH SILBER

Coldwell Banker 2721 Erie Ave., Cincinnati, OH 45208, (513) 317-6042, www.thesilberlining.com LAURIE SIMON GOLDMAN

Sibcy Cline Realtors Kenwood Office (513) 550-0124 Lgoldman.agents.sibcycline.com

THE MOVE2TEAM, KELLER WILLIAMS PINNACLE GROUP Led by Ellie Kowalchik, this all-star team boasts 20-plus years of real estate experience and specializes in digital marketing, utilizing innovative technologies to promote listings and match buyers with available homes for sale. Renowned for their customer-first approach, the full-service team consists of a client concierge, transaction coordinator, stager, photographer, director of marketing, and nine licensed agents who have a clear understanding of the mindset of home buyers and sellers and in-depth knowledge of the regional housing market. They employ a multi-faceted strategy to skillfully and compassionately guide clients through every step of even the most complex real estate transactions.

6377 BRANCH HILL GUINEA PIKE, LOVELAND, OH 45140, (513) 697-7355, WWW.MOVE2TEAM.COM

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SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION

MICHELLE SLOAN

KATHLEEN STEFFEN

DIANE TAFURI

DARLENE TODD

RE/MAX Time (513) 600-5277

Sibcy Cline Realtors (859) 760-6201

Sibcy Cline Realtors (513) 602-6610

Comey & Shepherd (513) 779-6263

KATHIE SMITH

DEBBIE STEINER

ANDREW TANEN

MELISSA TRENKAMP

Sibcy Cline Realtors (513) 509-9225

Huff Realty (859) 653-1328

Sibcy Cline Realtors (513) 702-7081

Coldwell Banker West Shell (513) 325-9176

ROBERT SMITH

DERIK STEINER

LORI TAYLOR

CARL F. TUKE III

Coldwell Banker West Shell (513) 604-6515

Comey & Shepherd (513) 616-0365

Sibcy Cline Realtors (859) 486-8239

Sibcy Cline Realtors (513) 543-8504

LANXI SONG

GREG STEPHENS

LARRY THINNES

DOUGLAS TURNER

Keller Williams Seven Hills Realty (513) 908-1719

Sibcy Cline Realtors (859) 640-3320

Sibcy Cline Realtors (513) 720-9900

SALLY SPEARS

BRAD STRUNK

BRIAN THOMAS

Robinson Sotheby’s International Realty (513) 383-0151

Sibcy Cline Realtors Kenwood, 8040 Montgomery Rd., Cincinnati, OH 45236 (513) 607-7151, https://sallyspears. agents.sibcycline.com

Comey & Shepherd (513) 532-9229

Coldwell Banker West Shell (513) 503-9763

JULIE SWINDELL

TAMMY THOME

RE/MAX Preferred Group (513) 319-6645

Century 21 Thacker & Associates, Inc. (513) 200-2599

GREG UNTHANK

ANNE S. UCHTMAN

Star One Realtors (513) 205-5106 RE/MAX Preferred Group (513) 389-3434

LISA SPEER

VICKI SYLVESTRE

Coldwell Banker West Shell (513) 702-2034

Keller Williams Realty Associate Partners (513) 967-0756

KIMBERLY THORPE

CATHY S. VANDERVELDE

Comey & Shepherd (513) 607-6078

Huff Realty (513) 477-3263

ERIC SZTANYO

TOM TOBIAS

ANI VEJDANI

Keller Williams Advisors Realty (859) 916-8148

Comey & Shepherd (513) 313-5261

Coldwell Banker West Shell (954) 774-8320

JANELLE SPRANDEL

Comey & Shepherd (513) 236-9928

OYLER GROUP, COLDWELL BANKER REALTY We are so honored and humbled to be recognized as the No. 1 Real Estate Team by the Cincinnati Area Board of Realtors and by Coldwell Banker Realty in 2020! Why Choose the Oyler Group? With over 220 5-Star Zillow Reviews, you will always be our focus whether selling or buying your next home! A partnership with us means the power of a team who is nimble and responsive, giving you an edge in this very fast-paced market. We leverage dynamic technology and strong personal connections to create a winning strategy for our clients. Call us for a free home valuation or buyer’s consultation!

2721 ERIE AVE., CINCINNATI, OH 45208, (513) 979-1925, WWW.OYLERGROUP.COM

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SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION

JERI VICKERS

ELLEN WESTENDORF

LISA WILLMAN

ANDREA DESTEFANO TEAM

Sibcy Cline Realtors (513) 504-7196

Comey & Shepherd (513) 910-7318

Huff Realty (859) 525-5751

Sibcy Cline Realtors (513) 309-3184

KIM VINCENT

JENNA WESTRICK

ROB WINTERMAN

BARBARA BROWNING

Sibcy Cline Realtors (513) 739-0493

Keller Williams Realty Associate Partners (513) 518-4693

Sibcy Cline Realtors (513) 300-6150

Coldwell Banker West Shell (513) 300-7990

KELLY M. WHELAN

MIKE WRIGHT

BILL GARBBARD GROUP

Hoeting Realtors (513) 227-8344

Keller Williams Realty Associate Partners (513) 616-3835

ANNE WAGNER

Comey & Shepherd (513) 543-5806 GAIL V. WAGNER

RE/MAX Preferred Group (513) 505-1769 MICHAEL R. WALLET

Star One Realtors (513) 266-6714 SHEILA WALLING

Sibcy Cline Realtors (513) 417-7910 PADDY WARD

Comey & Shepherd (513) 235-3998 REBECCA L. WEBER

Huff Realty (859) 578-3927

Star One Realtors (513) 910-3405 ALAN WHISMAN

eXp Realty (513) 646-1488 SUMMER WIEDENBEIN

Sibcy Cline Realtors (513) 793-2700 KELI WILLIAMS

Sibcy Cline Realtors (513) 348-4548 LISA WILLIAMS

Coldwell Banker West Shell (513) 368-9704 GAYLE A. WILLIS

Star One Realtors (513) 253-7024

PAIGE WURTZ

Premier Properties Real Estate (812)221-7031 KATIE ZEINNER

Lohmiller Real Estate (812)584-1156 JOSEPH S. ZEMBRODT

Huff Realty (859) 250-4557

BRYSON WARNER REAL ESTATE TEAM

Huff Realty (859) 652-2222 BUILD COLLECTIVE

Coldwell Banker West Shell (513) 686-7676 CAMERON GROUP

Sibcy Cline Realtors (513) 677-1830

AMY ZIMMERMAN

RE/MAX Affiliates (859) 466-0140

CHASE & PAMELA, PARTNERS

Coldwell Banker West Shell (513) 979-1990

TEAM ALLRED WOMACKS GROUP

Coldwell Banker West Shell (513) 317-7869

CINCINNATI MODERN GROUP

Keller Williams Advisors Realty (513) 886-7841

SCOTT THOMPSON, PARAMOUNT RESIDENTIAL MORTGAGE GROUP Scott is in his second decade of helping people buy the home of their dreams. The Kenwood-based team has a wealth of lending experience in the Tri-state market, plus the ability to lend in all 50 states. Using a proprietary marketing system, Scott’s team produces hundreds of pre-approved buyers each year. These buyers are referred to top performing Realtors, who then refer business back, thus producing an equitable relationship. Team Thompson is experienced with all types of borrowers from Jumbo Loans all the way to credit repair situations. They have the widest credit qualification standards in the industry! Their goal is to provide customers with innovative products, cutting-edge technology, and industry-leading customer service.

TORI RICHARDSON

JACK KAUFFMAN

7 8 C I N C I N N AT I M A G A Z I N E . C O M M AY 2 0 2 1

SCOTT THOMPSON

BRANDON KLUENER

7265 KENWOOD RD., SUITE 215, CINCINNATI, OH 46236, (513) 673-4946, WWW.PRMG.NET

SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION

CLENDENIN HOME TEAM

HINCKLEY GROUP

MAHONEY GROUP

NEXUS PROPERTY GROUP

Huff Realty (859) 525-7900

Coldwell Banker West Shell (513) 608-1886

Sibcy Cline Realtors (513) 477-6520

Keller Williams Advisors Realty (513) 259-3058

COMMUNITY REALTY

HOETING-WISSEL-DATTILO TEAM

MAHONEY TEAM

NORRIS GROUP

Hoeting Realtors (513) 218-2294

Sibcy Cline Realtors (513) 673-6103

Coldwell Banker West Shell (513) 479-2411

J+L HOME GROUP/JON BOWLING & LAURA FAZ

MARTIN & ASSOCIATES

Keller Williams Pinnacle Group (513) 800-0675 DEDE & JENS

Sibcy Cline Realtors (513) 226-4737 DUFFY TEAM

Comey & Shepherd (513) 317-1000 DWELL513

Coldwell Banker West Shell (513) 616-3798 GERBUS AKELEY GROUP

Comey & Shepherd Realtors (513) 295-6425 GIFFORD TEAM

Keller Williams Realty Associate Partners (513) 987-1111 HEWALD AND RILEY TEAM

Coldwell Banker West Shell (513) 310-5828

RE/MAX Preferred Group (513) 265-8691 JEANNE RIEDER TEAM

Hoeting Realtors (513) 347-2025

OYLER GROUP

Keller Williams Advisors Realty (513) 313-9390 MEGAN STACEY GROUP

Coldwell Banker West Shell (513) 702-8886

JUDY RECKER AND ASSOCIATES

MOLLY EYNON AND SARA LIMPER

Sibcy Cline Realtors (513) 793-2121

Coldwell Banker West Shell (513) 544-2231

Coldwell Banker Realty 2721 Erie Ave., Cincinnati, OH 45208, (513) 979-1925, www.oylergroup.com PARKER RICH GROUP

Coldwell Banker West Shell (513) 886-2104

KIMTIM TEAM

THE MOVE2TEAM

POONAM BHARDWAJ GROUP

Keller Williams Advisors Realty (513) 405-9006

Keller Williams Pinnacle Group 6377 Branch Hill Guinea Pike, Loveland, OH 45140, (513) 6977355, www.Move2Team.com

PREFERRED OHIO TEAM

LISA PHAIR & ASSOCIATES

Coldwell Banker West Shell (513) 604-9151 LYNN SCHWARBER TEAM

Comey & Shepherd (513) 307-1728

Coldwell Banker West Shell (513) 225-3666

NAT COMISAR GROUP

Keller Williams Realty Associate Partners (513) 571-7167

Sibcy Cline Realtors (513) 793-2121

PRESTIGE GROUP

Coldwell Banker West Shell (513) 836-8433

JULIE ROSE, COLDWELL BANKER REALTY Julie Rose is dedicated to providing her personal touch when helping clients buy or sell their homes. She brings enthusiasm and integrity to every real estate challenge.

Learning each client’s unique situation is one of her favorite parts of the job. She also enjoys time spent with clients, being a part of the “Moment” when people find their new homes. Her knowledge and experience ensures every sale makes it to the closing table, and with over 60 transactions and over $13 million dollars in sales last year, she is honored to have been trusted by so many families to both buy and sell their homes. She prides herself in knowing the many communities that make our city great and has strong broker to broker agent relationships to help buyers and sellers find new homes in an exciting and fast-paced market.

CINCINNATI, OHIO, (513) 317-7452, WWW.JULIEROSEHOMES.COM

PHOTOGRAPH BY RYAN BACK

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SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION

REED & ROE

TEAM HAMILTON

THE CANNING TEAM

THE GIBLER TEAM

Sibcy Cline Realtors (513) 321-9922

Sibcy Cline Realtors (513) 615-1802

Comey & Shepherd (513) 703-5430

Coldwell Banker West Shell (513) 382-4109

ROB & LISA FIX

TEAM HOELZER

THE CHRISTY JONES TEAM

THE HERR TEAM

Sibcy Cline Realtors (513) 777-8100

Coldwell Banker West Shell (513) 839-5595

Coldwell Banker West Shell (513) 470-8909

Coldwell Banker West Shell (513) 708-7770

RON AND ANNA BISHER

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MAKING THE MOST OF A SECOND CHANCE CONTINUED FROM PAGE 51 TIME IS ON THEIR SIDE The downtown mural Time Saved vs. Time Served depicts (clockwise from bottom left) Sheila Donaldson Johnson, DeAnna Hoskins, Tyra Patterson, Tracy Brumfield, and Belinda Coulter-Harris. Each has dedicated herself to helping create second chances for others.

MAKING THE MOST OF A

BY PATRICIA GALLAGHER NEWBERRY | PHOTOGRAPHS BY JEREMY KRAMER

SECOND CHANCE

48

You know, this is one of the places that it started. We hope to get rid of this whole inclination to sum a person up by one mistake.”

WHEN TRACY BRUMFIELD MET WITH THE teenagers painting Time Saved vs. Time Served last summer, she didn’t like her face—the one already painted on the building. She had been photographed for the mural fresh from ovarian cancer treatment, “and, oh my God, I looked horrible,” she says.

So she talked to the artist assigned to

inspiration—useful to people returning to their communities.

Brumfield launched RISE in 2017, after winning what she calls a “one-in-a-trillion shot” $100,000 grant as a People’s Liberty Haile Fellow. She and her team have produced 26 editions of the paper, launched a companion website called RiseUpNews, and added Montgomery County jails to those in Hamilton County as distribution sites. She’s now exploring expansion into other Ohio county jails, prisons, and youth correctional sites as well as, she hopes, other states.

Brumfield says she could have used something like RISE when she was fresh from prison. “I was homeless on the streets of Cincinnati and addicted to heroin,” she says. “I have a bachelor’s degree, and I found it difficult to navigate our social service system.”

She hopes being among the faces on the ArtWorks mural will bring attention to RISE, the injustice of criminalizing those

“[AFTER PRISON] I WENT BACK TO DOING THE SAME THINGS BECAUSE OF ALL THE NO ANSWERS: YOU CAN’T LIVE HERE, YOU CAN’T DO THIS OR THAT,” SAYS SHEILA DONALDSON JOHNSON. paint her portrait and asked for some revisions. “He kind of fixed my face, based on how I look now,” she says. “It came out much better.”

Vanity was not the motivation. At 54— with cancer, heroin addiction, and prison time now behind her—Brumfield really wanted to show a more hopeful visage to the world. “That’s not how I wanted to be remembered, as sick,” she says. Instead, if her plans pan out, she’ll be known as the woman who took a small Cincinnati newspaper to jails and prisons across the country.

She’s already four years into RISE (Reenter Into Society Empowered), a publication whose readers are soon-to-be or just-released incarcerated people. Available at no cost from jail commissaries, the four-page issues provide information about housing, jobs, addiction treatment, and other services, along with stories of 8 4 C I N C I N N AT I M A G A Z I N E . C O M M AY 2 0 2 1

with addiction, and the overall needs of returning citizens.

Now sober for six years, Brumfield’s addiction began in college with an opiate prescription for migraine headaches. She built a career in magazine publishing until a 2012 conviction for drug possession sent her to prison for six months. With the help of the People’s Liberty grant—and her wife and their 13-year-old son—she’s been rebuilding ever since.

Support is critical to recovery, she notes. She’s certainly needed her own support network through the past year, as she expanded RISE, battled cancer, and endured the COVID lockdown and the death of her 86-year-old father.

The RISE tagline reads Hope. Help. Humanity. “By putting those things together,” Brumfield says, “we can change humanity and humanity’s view on people who have been incarcerated.”

SHEILA DONALDSON JOHNSON FIRST met Tyra Patterson via video. The Ohio Justice and Policy Center, where Johnson is a senior paralegal, had just taken Patterson’s case. Johnson’s boss, OJPC Executive Director David Singleton, asked Johnson to review video of the Dayton Police Department’s questioning of a then-19-yearold Patterson. “When I saw Tyra, woo, my heart just went out to her,” Johnson says, pausing to wave off tears. “She was a child, uneducated. She didn’t really know what was going on.”

Over time, with OJPC support, Patterson would establish that she was coerced into implicating herself in that videotaped interrogation. She would prove, too, that the jury that convicted her saw only the portion of video with her false confession, not the entire 88 minutes. Johnson watched the full confession. “I had to shut the office door, and I just cried,” she says.

These days, Johnson considers herself something of a big sister to Patterson, who calls Johnson a pioneer among women who made the most of their second chances.

“You kind of reconstructed and reinvented yourself on the quiet side,” Patterson told her when she asked to add her to the mural.

Johnson, 63, says she almost missed her second chance. Drug trafficking charges landed her in Ohio prisons in 1984–85 and again from 1986 to 1989. She spent additional time in jails in Ohio and elsewhere.

She struggled to get clean until 1993. “I found myself going back to the same thing that I once knew because of all the no answers I heard: No, you can’t live here, you can’t do this, you can’t do that. So I almost gave in to the system telling me no.”

By 1993, Johnson says, “something told me, You’re going to die if you don’t stop.” She got help. She stopped. And she earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Cincinnati and landed her first paralegal job, before arriving at OJPC 19 years ago.

And now she’s honored to be pictured on the side of a building owned by former Hamilton County Deputy Sheriff Sean Donovan. “Our paths have crossed again,” she jokes.

When the 16-year-old grand-niece she and husband William “Billy” Johnson are raising saw the finished mural, she told

Johnson, “Aunt Sheila, that’s on point.”

Johnson thinks the artists could have added a few more of her small freckles.

But despite her “cool as a cucumber” reputation at OJPC—just one returning citizen helping other returning citizens— she can’t help feeling the significance of being among the five women depicted.

“They usually wait for people to die to put them on a mural,” says Johnson. “This is something special.”

DEANNA HOSKINS HAS MOVED EVER higher in more than 20 years in criminal justice work. A Cincinnati native, she was a correctional casework manager in the Indiana prison system, then came back to run Hamilton County’s first Office of Reentry.

Later came a stint in Washington, D.C., with reentry work for the U.S. Department of Justice.

Since 2018, Hoskins has led Just Leadership USA, a New York City nonprofit aiming to cut the nation’s correctional population in half by 2030. As president and CEO, she oversees a $1-million-plus budget, a staff of nearly 20, two boards, and a funder roster that includes corporate names like Kellogg, Ford, and Rockefeller.

During her 20s, though, Hoskins was on the streets of Cincinnati, deep into crack cocaine. At the dedication of Time Saved vs. Time Served, she told the crowd that Court Street plays a starring role in her life story. “My active addiction happened at the corner of Court and Linn [streets], at the bottom,” she said, “and my life transitions were where Court Street dead-ends into the county courthouse.”

Her drug use landed her in court, where a 1990 probation violation yielded a 45-day stay at the River City Correctional Center.

That exposure to the system—and separation from her three children—inspired her path to recovery and her start in criminal justice work. Then she finished college (and obtained three degrees), won a pardon for her earlier crime, and began the work that lured her to New York.

Along the way, she followed the #IAmTyraPatterson story. When they finally met, they hugged like they were long-lost friends. “It was almost kindred spirits, because we could truly connect on the pain and the trauma.”

Hoskins likes that the mural highlights women since, she says, “we normally do the work behind a man who gets the acknowledgement.” She likes that all five are women who found success after convictions and what the mural says about Cincinnati.

Hoskins, 52, began running Just Leadership from here last year, with COVID drawing her back to family in this area. After years in other cities, she thinks “nobody knows how to tuck the ills of a community away more than Cincinnati.”

Perhaps ArtWorks’s 200th mural signals a change. “Conservative Cincinnati put these faces on the side of a building,” she says. “To acknowledge this issue, that is progress.”

TYRA PATTERSON LEFT SCHOOL IN THE sixth grade. Her family—mom Jeannie and three brothers—struggled with poverty and occasional homelessness. Her father, an alcoholic who abused her mother, died when she was 13. She had just one job, as a Wendy’s cashier, before that 1994 night in a Dayton alley changed her life. She’d quit because she didn’t know how to make change.

Out of prison now for four Christmases, Patterson is an enthusiastic, well-informed cheerleader for returning citizens. She writes op-eds and speaks at high schools and colleges. She’s the Ohio Justice and Policy Center’s first-ever community outreach strategy specialist.

When we talk in December, she hops on Zoom in a winter white holiday sweater, hair and make-up done at 10 a.m., with a curated bookshelf and sleek silver-andwhite props behind her. It’s her closet, she reveals with a giggle.

Patterson is clearly not who she was at 19, when her false confession, combined with poor legal representation, led to her conviction. “I was young, very young. And not only that, I was ignorant.”

She set out to change that behind bars, securing her GED, completing paralegal training, and earning a steam engineer’s license. And she took up art. “Art was our way of life,” she says. “It stabilized us. It was therapeutic for us.”

She also found allies who became critical to her eventual release. One was Chinonye Chukwu, a filmmaker best known for the

2019 drama Clemency. Then a professor at Wright State University in Dayton, she led a filmmaking project at Dayton Correctional Institution, with Patterson among her students. Patterson says Chukwu deserves credit for creating #IAmTyraPatterson.

Another key ally was David Singleton.

At the suggestion of an OJPC board member, he took a look at Patterson’s case and signed on to represent her in 2012. It would be his organization’s first wrongful conviction case.

Pivotal, too, were key players in the 1994 crime. Michelle Lai’s killer said Patterson was innocent. The killer’s boyfriend said she was innocent. Years later, Lai’s sister spoke out, too, telling Ohio’s governor she no longer believed Patterson was responsible for her little sister’s death. “Dear Governor Kasich: I am writing to ask you to release Tyra and set her free,” Holly Lai Holbrook said in a April 2016 letter. “I no longer believe that Tyra participated in the robbery that led to Michelle’s murder. I believe it is wrong for Tyra to stay locked up.”

On October 24, 2017, the Ohio Parole Board voted in favor of parole for Patterson. She walked out of prison the following Christmas Day, kissed the snowy ground, and joined her family for dinner.

Through and since her ordeal, Patterson has told her story multiple times. The Dayton Daily News covered it closely. The Guardian featured her case in a three-part series. A Google search of her name turns up 600,000 hits. More attention will likely come if Netflix releases a planned film about her case and if she wins the pardon and exoneration she’s seeking with help from the Innocence Project. “I don’t turn down an interview,” she says now.“I thought it was very important that people know.”

But Patterson also says she never wanted to be known just for serving time.

“I didn’t want to be the girl who spent 23 years incarcerated. I wanted to be more than my story.”

A mural that sits on Court Street, facing the home of Hamilton County’s justice system, ensures that. As Patterson says, “These are actual people who are doing amazing things that we’ve given a second chance to.” Their names are Belinda, Tracy, Sheila, DeAnna, and Tyra.

M AY 2 0 2 1 C I N C I N N AT I M A G A Z I N E . C O M 8 5

FATHER GRAHAM EXITS STAGE LEFT CONTINUED FROM PAGE 55

What just happened here? What was that?” he recalls, again looking skyward—suggesting that wrenching evening two decades ago can still extract some lingering pain.

It was clear to Graham that his university, like many, was too comfortable in its own world. As the problems that led to civil unrest festered for years outside campus and in the neighborhoods, students were busy studying, going to the local watering hole, and chilling with their friends. Faculty and staff were busy running the university and, like most people, returning home in the

opment plans. And you want us to close a street? The request was probably viewed as the Catholic version of chutzpah. Kucia says it was an early warning signal.

Xavier, of course, got its Cintas Center but, Kucia notes, the experience didn’t transform the university’s thinking right away. There was resistance at both the administrative level and with much of the faculty to the idea of actively engaging with surrounding communities like Evanston and Norwood. “The push-back was, We’re an academic institution and not a social service agency,” he recalls. Graham, he says, did not share those concerns. But, Kucia quickly reminds me, Graham wasn’t the decision-maker then.

PERHAPS AS GRAHAM REFLECTED OVER his scotch in April 2001, he thought back to that earlier debate. Maybe he simply drew on the Jesuit values that include the command of “women and men for others”—

“XAVIER UNIVERSITY WAS THE BEST KEPT SECRET SIX BLOCKS EVERY SIDE OF THE CORNER OF DANA AVENUE AND VICTORY PARKWAY,” SAYS FATHER GRAHAM, BUT NO LONGER. evening to be with their families. The civil unrest was a shock—not just because of the violence, but because few city leaders saw it coming.

Kucia, who has served four Xavier presidents in nearly 40 years at his alma mater, remembers well the first time it occurred to XU administrators that there was a town/ gown barrier. It was the mid-1990s, and Hoff was working to secure all of the moving parts needed to build the Cintas Center.

A key piece was obtaining permission from Cincinnati City Council to permanently close a portion of a city street.

City officials, Kucia explains, weren’t encouraging at first. “We found out we had a relationship with the community,” he says, laughing, “and that relationship wasn’t good.” Xavier had no chits to spend.

Decades of demonstrating little to no engagement in the poverty-laced neighborhoods surrounding the campus had left city leaders cold to the university’s devel8 6 C I N C I N N AT I M A G A Z I N E . C O M M AY 2 0 2 1

sharing gifts, pursuing justice, and showing concern for the poor and marginalized.

Nevertheless, now he was in charge, and he felt the opportunity and responsibility to lead. It was time to get out there.

Graham jumped right in, becoming a central player in the Cincinnati Community Action Now (CAN) process, chairing the police reform committee. He involved the university in the United Way and the Community Building Institute, established a rapport with Evanston and Norwood civic and business leaders, joined the Green Umbrella environmental sustainability group, and began working with Black leaders in the community. The Rev. Damon Lynch Jr. gave him a private tour of pre-gentrified Overthe-Rhine that shocked him.

His outreach, naturally, took him to education. Graham became the first president of the board of Cincinnati Preschool Promise, steering a collaborative process that led to the master agreement with

Cincinnati Public Schools. On campus, he encouraged the development of a number of academic programs that put students out in the community, working for change. The Xavier brand was changing.

When Hoffman Elementary School, one of two public grade schools in Evanston, felt the heat of potentially being closed around 15 years ago, school officials approached Graham with a request for a lifeline. “He didn’t say No, and he rarely does,” notes Liz Blume, who for 10 years has led the Community Building Institute, housed on Xavier’s campus. Graham, she says, mobilized a team to jump in, “but not with a prescriptive approach.” Xavier is a national leader in Montessori education, but, says Blume, that model doesn’t work for every child. Graham and his team listened, she says, and helped community leaders build a curriculum that worked for Hoffman students. That school and another, Parham Elementary, eventually merged and later reformed as Evanston Academy. To this day, Xavier is one of its key partners.

“I think what impressed me most was his personal involvement,” says Sharon Muyaya, who, as Graham began his tenure as Xavier president, served as president of the Evanston Community Council. “He agreed to tutor students after school at our rec center, and he was a man of his word. He never missed coming at least once a week.”

Muyaya also credits Graham with partnering with Evanston in 2004 to obtain a $392,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development that helped pay for residential housing upgrades and a revitalization of business facades along the Montgomery Road corridor in Evanston and Norwood. Xavier committed an additional $156,000 in cash, and Graham, Muyaya says, organized XU professors and students alike to contribute sweat equity to the project. “He helped this neighborhood, sure, but he also helped open his students’ eyes to what was going on here,” she says.

At the United Way, former CEO Rob Reifsnyder says he found a friend who embraced a leadership role, even before the 2001 unrest rocked Cincinnati. “I started my job about the same time he did,” Reifsnyder remembers,“and he gave me a tour of the university. I remember him saying, even then,

that he wanted Xavier to be in partnership with and in service to the community.”

That was music to the ears of the new leader at United Way. Graham started as cochair of the Vital Neighborhoods Vision Council, which worked toward identifying specific community needs, beginning what Reifsnyder calls “18 years in a row of saying Yes to everything asked of him.”

Graham served on the United Way board of directors, chaired the Community Impact Council, was a founding member of the STRIVE Partnership, chaired a committee that raised funds to renovate the United Way headquarters, and, perhaps most importantly, was a driving force behind Preschool Promise.

“And all that time he was running Xavier,” says Reifsnyder, laughing. “I think what makes him stand out as a leader is that basic humanity you see right away when you first meet him. It’s complemented by his focus, an asking of the hard questions, the listening, and a business-like approach to solving a problem.” Sounds like the description of a Procter & Gamble executive, doesn’t it?

In fact, as Graham contemplates the forks in the road that life deals everyone, he says he could have marketed Tide Pods instead of saving souls. He’s friends with former P&G CEO John Pepper, whom he got to know from a variety of public service posts they each held over the years. Graham recalls Pepper offering him a ride back home in the company jet from a wedding they’d attended in northern Michigan, including a conversation at 40,000 feet that ignited a friendship. “I discovered somebody I had wanted to know all my life,” says Graham. “I think if the cards had been dealt differently, I would have loved to work for Procter & Gamble. They do so much good, and John is such a leader I’d follow him through the gates of hell.”

CERTAIN WORDS SPRING FROM GRAham’s tongue with a degree of regularity: Together. Collaborative. Mutual. We. He believes in hiring good people with impeccable values, giving them the ball, and letting them run. He calls himself an “orchestra leader” who’s in charge of overseeing the big picture. “But not everything has to pass through the eye of this needle,” he says, with props to Matthew 19:24. “And I certainly

don’t want to be a clog in that needle.”

That collaborative leadership style was on full display last year when the pandemic hit. Just as in 2001, students were away on spring break when Gov. Mike DeWine’s stay-at-home order forced Graham to call on every pastoral and administrative skill he’d built up over the years.

“It hit Father Graham very hard,” recalls Jeff Coleman, the university’s vice president for risk management and chair of its COVID task force. “He knew the impact, the shock it was going to have on students.

He was especially sad for the seniors.”

Graham quickly organized a multidisciplinary crisis response team, which still meets regularly. He rallied the faculty and staff—many of whom were also away for spring break—and pushed them to create a remote learning experience that would still retain the personal touch students had come to expect at Xavier. It was all hands on deck, led by a captain with a collar whose pursed lips told the story of a priest saddened at the sullen silence around him.

Graham’s seven-minute YouTube message days after the decision to close the university in March 2020 was a masterpiece in communication and can still bring a lump to the throat. As a fireplace roars behind him, Graham speaks softly into the camera about his morning walks around the empty campus, painting a vivid picture of empty parking lots, silent classrooms, singing birds, and the beauty of spring flowers bursting into color with no one there to enjoy them. “Something has been ripped away from us at Xavier, and that something is you,” he says, exposing his melancholy. “Each and every one of you— the gifts you bring, the hopes you have, the good you do, the hearts you share. The way you make us what we are, and better than we are. The campus would weep at the loss of you if it could.”

I can imagine XU students, back in their hometown bedrooms, missing their friends and their independence. The news each day was frightening, and they were feeling uncertain and lost. Graham’s message hit home. Their president was feeling their pain, and, both tonally and substantively, it was a pitch-perfect message delivered at just the right time.

KUCIA DESCRIBES THE 10 YEARS OF Hoff’s administration followed by Graham’s 20 in charge as Xavier’s “golden years.”

Graham doesn’t use the label, but he does say a combination of outside forces such as the 2001 unrest as well as the continuity of leadership has helped transform Xavier and inform its future.“We were the best kept secret six blocks every side of the corner of Dana Avenue and Victory Parkway,” he says, noting that past presidents of Xavier tended to move on to bigger jobs after a few years of presidential training in Evanston, the Jesuit version of Triple A baseball.

With Hanycz moving here after serving as president of La Salle University in Philadelphia, the word is out. Xavier’s presidency is now firmly established as a destination position—a distinction that makes Kucia and Graham smile.

Graham will ride out of office at a gallop, still full of energy and ready for whatever the next chapter will bring. He says he intends to “stay away for a while and give Colleen Hanycz a chance to get established,” but hopes to return eventually and do what he can as president emeritus to help Xavier and its students grow academically and spiritually. When it’s safe to travel, he says, you’ll find him at the airport, bags packed and “ready to go anywhere.”

Graham leans back in his rocking chair and thinks about his inaugural address 20 years ago and the six-page single-spaced “to-do” list he presented to the board. His verdict is right out of The Andy Griffith Show. “Dadgum,” he says, “we’ve pretty much accomplished all of that.” He talks about the challenges he’s facing in the last few months in office—keeping the campus open and safe during a pandemic, dealing with students’ growing calls for social justice, and working with his successor to ensure a smooth transition.

The clock tower chimes will continue to ring. Students will still sprawl in the Adirondack chairs sitting on Xavier Yard to study and text. They’ll be back enjoying a beer on the deck at Dana Gardens. They’ll eventually cram into Cintas Center and cheer on their Muskies.

Life at Xavier will move forward without Father Graham, but he’s content to turn over the reins to someone else. Like his friend John Pepper, he’s leaving on top.

M AY 2 0 2 1 C I N C I N N AT I M A G A Z I N E . C O M 8 7

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ALL ABOUT THAT BASS Khora serves Atlantic black bass with a potato waffle, apple slaw, Brussels sprouts, and brown butter agrodolce.

PHOTOGRAPH BY JEREMY KRAMER

M AY 2 0 2 1 C I N C I N N AT I M A G A Z I N E . C O M 8 9

DINING OUT

ON A ROLL KHORA takes heritage grains and makes them sing. — A K S H A Y A H U J A

A

LTHOUGH PASTA IS THE HEART OF KHORA’S MENU, VERY LITTLE OF WHAT’S served there conforms to our expectations for this ingredient. When I talked to Chef Kevin Ashworth, I mentioned to him that the restaurant doesn’t really feel Italian. “It’s not Italian,” he says, quite emphatically. Other restaurants in Cincinnati, after all, are already doing that cuisine impeccably.

What Khora is doing, he explains, is something different.

That difference can be hard to define, but Ashworth calls the restaurant “Midwestern” in inspiration. There are elevated takes on some very homey cuisine: a French onion dip served with spicy potato chips and caviar; a twice-baked potato, served alongside a delicious roasted mushroom with black shaved truffle that almost overshadowed the steak it came with; and, fittingly, a take on Cincinnati chili with a lamb ragout and a smoky gjetost cheese instead of the usual mountain of fluffy cheddar.

Khora is the brainchild of Ashworth (who grew up in Anderson Township) and Louisville’s celebrated chef Edward Lee, best known for 610 Magnolia, where Ashworth was the executive chef for many years.

The name Khora comes from Khorasan wheat, grown for centuries in the Middle East, and the menu is built around older varieties of grain, most of which became rare after the advent of large-scale industrialized farming. The restaurant features such unfamiliar ingredients as emmer, red fife, and einkorn, all heritage grains with their own unique textures and flavor profiles.

That said, if the menu didn’t specify the grains each dish was using, one could easily eat at Khora and have no idea there was a concept at work. A talk with the chef, though, makes it clear how certain dishes 9 0 C I N C I N N AT I M A G A Z I N E . C O M M AY 2 0 2 1

FYI

Khora 37 W. Seventh St., downtown, (513) 977-2800, khorarestaurant.com Hours Dinner Tues–Sat 5–9 pm Prices $2 (Einkorn Wheat Roll)–$42 (Sakura Farms NY Strip) Credit Cards All major The Takeaway Fine dining with Midwestern comfort and a sense of history in its ingredients.

PHOTOGRAPHS BY JEREMY KRAMER

KHOR A THE EXPLORER (From left) Khora’s interior; red fife and coffee mafaldine with lobster, Calabrian chili butter, oyster mushrooms, and chive, served with a Blood Orange (cider, Cappelletti, and citrus) cocktail; the chocolate caramel tart consists of toffee puffed grains, crispy cocoa nib bark, and spicebush crème fraîche; Executive Chef Kevin Ashworth with Pastry Chef Megan Ketover.

were created in response to the character of each grain. My favorite dish at Khora is the red fife and coffee mafaldine. Ashworth was inspired by a grain that Italians traditionally burn in the field, giving it a deep color and faint bitterness. As a substitute, he adds a dash of powdered coffee to the dough, and then creates a rich sauce using Calabrian chile and oyster mushrooms.

Ashworth says that he was trying to recreate the feel of gochujang, the fermented Korean spice paste, without actually using it. It isn’t exactly fusion because it doesn’t feel like anything has been smushed together, but it is something absolutely new and feels totally welcoming, satisfies an elemental hunger, and also exists between clear categories.

Several of my favorite dishes felt this way—uncategorizable, but never too intellectual or strange. This is friendly food, done at an extremely high level of skill. I loved touches like the curry vinaigrette served on the salad, along with little cubes of roasted sweet potato, which added texture and balanced the spices in the dressing; or the sweet-and-sour pickled salad of apple, fennel, and celery served beside the Atlantic black bass. And of course, the Cincinnati-style chili, which luckily doesn’t try to duplicate the classic flavors, but creates its own tart and more Middle Eastern variation (the pumpkin seeds get my vote for a sixth “way”).

The special virtues of the grains themselves, I think, are most apparent at the beginning and end of the meal, with the dinner roll and the dessert. Dinner rolls are generally things you serve to keep hungry diners from getting impatient as the meal is prepared. The roll at Khora made me stop what I was doing to appreciate it. Made

in house by Pastry Chef Megan Ketover, it is easily the best roll in the city. The flour used is einkorn, one of the earliest varieties of domesticated wheat. Aside from the delicately chewy texture and glossy surface, there were so many dimensions to the flavor—nutty, sweet, a hint of anise—I kept looking inside the bread to see if additional ingredients were tucked away in there. But it seems to just be the flavors inside the flour, freshly milled for Khora by Sixteen Bricks.

Ketover’s dessert is just as good, and you can tell that she has fully embraced the challenge of using these grains, which cannot be easy for a pastry chef, where consistency is paramount (small-batch milling often results in all kinds of frustrating variations). The chocolate caramel tart is an absolute masterpiece: subtle, varied, and full of textural surprises, from the toffee puffed grains to the lovely crisp cocoa nib bark, which reminded me of traditional Mexican chocolate, with its hints of cinnamon and its more crumbly texture.

The pandemic has taken its toll on everyone in the restaurant community. Khora opened in October. To make up for the decrease in diners, they pivoted to things like take-home kits for pasta and dessert, along with carryout, using a much-reduced staff. It has to hurt to plate such beautiful food into a takeout tray. Sometimes this does affect the results; the fries that came with the burger had steamed inside the plastic container. Luckily, the burger is unbelievably good, with a creamy brie sauce and onions caramelized with sherry. Even as takeout, you can taste how special it is.

When I spoke with Ashworth, the sun had come out after weeks of deep freeze. There was some hope in the air. By summer, the restaurant’s outdoor space will have opened, and maybe the crisis will be lifting. As Ashworth says, there are “so many places we love that we don’t want to see disappear.” Khora is still very new, but there is every sign that it could become one of those places.

M AY 2 0 2 1 C I N C I N N AT I M A G A Z I N E . C O M 9 1

TABLESIDE WITH...

TAKEOUT HERO

ROBERT PORCO

THE DIRECTOR OF CHORUSes for the May Festival loves cooking as much as he loves singing. Visit his “Bob’s Kitchen” page on the festival’s website for his favorite recipes and maybe prepare a dish or two before attending at Music Hall or watching online (starting May 21).

How did you get into cooking? When I was a child, each year my dad and a few of his paesani Calabrese would purchase a hog and butcher it in someone’s garage, carrying on a tradition from the “old country.”

How did you come up with this idea?

Knowing that I love to cook, Steven Sunderman, the May Festival’s executive director, suggested that in lieu of the weekly “Message from Bob,” I instead post recipes on the May Festival website.

Club Fed AS A CHILD OF THE ’80S AND ’90S AND SELF-PROCLAIMED SANDWICH AFICIONADO, I have to ask: where has Elm St. Social Club been all my life? This retro-themed Findlay Market deli opened last fall to spread some joy during the pandemic. It should come as no surprise, then, that this creative takeout joint maximizes convenient social distancing.

Breakfast and lunch orders (Elm St. Social Club is only open mornings and afternoons) are placed through the restaurant’s website. While you’re waiting to pick up your order, you can soak in the retro tunes and movie posters from the ’80s.

In keeping with the theme, the menu is full of playful pop culture references. (Sandwiches include “The Macho Man” and “The Billy Ray.”) I opted for “The Bing,” an Italian sub with prosciutto, salami, and capicola. Quirky namesake aside, it’s a solid sub and one of the best Italian sandwiches you’ll find in this city: compact, peppery, and served on a perfectly crunchy-flaky sub roll. To accompany this meaty monster of a sandwich, I ordered a side of fries. Crunchy and well-seasoned, they’re served with “Bear Sauce,” the restaurant’s creamy take on a Thousand Island sauce. Elm St. Social Club also offers a wide selection of fresh juices. I opted for Elm St. Social Club, the tart, bright red hibiscus cooler—perfect for washing down any 1819 Elm St., Over-theretro meal. In ’80s parlance, I pity the fool who doesn’t give this place Rhine, (513)263-6893, elmstsocialclub.com a try. — B R A N D O N W U S K E 9 2 C I N C I N N AT I M A G A Z I N E . C O M M AY 2 0 2 1

What kind of response have you gotten? I’ve spoken to each chorus member by phone, and they often mention how much they enjoy the recipes. Some even send me photos of their finished product.

What’s your favorite meal to make?

If I was on a desert island and could have only one meal, it would be the old-fashioned “Bob’s Spaghetti and Meatballs.”

Are there any similarities between cooking and singing? I bring the same desire for excellence to both activities, which I think is what fuels my passion for them. – A I E S H A D . L I T T L E “Bob’s Kitchen” at May Festival, mayfestival.com/chorus/artisticleadership/robert-porco/ bobs-kitchen/

Read a longer conversation with Robert at cincinnatimagazine.com

P H O T O G R A P H B Y C H R I S V O N H O L L E P/H IOLTLOUGS RT AR PA H T I BO YN JBOY NCAHTRHIASNDW A NI LGLEI RS

PANTRY

PANTRY PERFECT THIS COVINGTON STORE CONTINUES THE NEIGHBORHOOD MARKET TRADITION. — A I E S H A D . L I T T L E

Covington has a long history of neighborhood markets dating back to the 1800s, when a lack of refrigeration required residents to shop for essentials almost every day. Shelly DeFelice-Nelson and her husband, Patrick Nelson (right), reignited this trend in the heart of MainStrasse Village with the opening of Dee Felice Market in February.

“There were over 200 neighborhood groceries in the Covington area years ago,” DeFelice-Nelson says.

“We have pictures of them in our market.”

Thanks to the pandemic, the family had to close Dee Felice Café, a MainStrasse mainstay, last March. DeFeliceNelson and her mother, Shirley DeFelice, began discussing the idea of renting out the restaurant to keep the space in use. Patrick, who has cooked at the café since 1988, pitched his wife and mother-in-law on the idea of converting the restaurant’s dining rooms into a market.

“With the two apartment developments going up in MainStrasse Village [RiverHaus and John R. Green Project], we both thought there was a need for a neighborhood grocery,” DeFelice-Nelson says.

“We also wanted to continue to work together.

A market seemed like the perfect way to do that. Patrick calls the market his ‘perfect pantry.’ ” Whenever possible, the market offers local, organic produce, dairy, and “Kentucky Proud” products as well as Boar’s Head deli prod-

ucts and Sixteen Bricks bread and pastries. Kim Hoover of 513 Bagels supplies bagels twice a week and customers can find Weisenberger Mill grits and flour, canned goods, and more than 40 spices.

The market also has a liquor license, so they carry a curated selection of wines.

The store adds an element of foot traffic back to the area that

has been missing in the years since purchasing from larger supermarkets took over. “Before we opened, residents of the village had to get in their cars to get eggs or milk,” DeFelice-Nelson explains. “Since we opened, the response has been great. It’s so convenient for the residents of the neighborhood to pop in, and the ones who have are very happy.”

Dee Felice Market, 527 Main St., Covington, deefelicemarket.com.

The DeFelice-Nelson family is currently renting Dee Felice Café to Another Round LLC, which serves some of the same menu items for dine-in and carryout. Patrick Nelson plans to continue making some of his specialties like cheesecake and homemade Italian sausage.

GHOST FOOD

9 4 C I N C I N N AT I M A G A Z I N E . C O M M AY 2 0 2 1

PHOTOGR APHS BY CHRIS PASION

TRY THIS

GET DOUGH

hether you prefer sweet croissants (chocolate coconut) or savory ones (tomato with goat cheese and balsamic glaze), your taste buds are in for a treat at Rose & Mary Bakery. Making these magical treats is a labor of love for Chase Maus, head baker and co-owner. It’s a three-day process involving ample rest time, mechanical leavening, and folding lots of butter into the yeast dough to create layers for that flaky, goldenbrown exterior and perfectly airy interior. His favorite croissants are the twice-baked varieties, which involve baking a plain croissant and cutting it in half, filling it with toppings, and baking Rose & Mary Bakery, 39 W. Pike it again. Sink your teeth into a peanut butter and banana twice-baked croissant topped with St., Covington, (859) 415-0014 dulce de leche and sea salt, and we think you’ll approve of his methods. — K A T I E C O B U R N W

PHOTOGRAPH BY LANCE ADKINS

M AY 2 0 2 1 C I N C I N N AT I M A G A Z I N E . C O M 9 5

HOT PLATE

Thai’d Down

Commit to enjoying the Thai and sushi at this neighborhood eatery.

IN A QUIET CORNER OF THE CRESTview Hills Town Center, Lotus Thai & Sushi offers fresh sushi and Thai food in a relaxed, friendly atmosphere.

It’s a cozy space where the din of the kitchen is tempered by the soft jazz on the speakers.

From the sushi menu, I ordered the tamago, an omelette-like scrambled egg that’s gently folded and loosely tied to a ball of rice with a thin cummerbund of seaweed. It was, somehow, both delicate and satisfying. I also got the Florida roll, a tempura shrimp roll with avocado, caviar, and a sweet glaze. I appreciated the balance of this roll, and the fact that it hadn’t been drowned in a sea of sauces.

Seafood takes center stage on the Thai menu as well, where the house specials include dishes like seafood clay pot, seafood hot pot soup, and steamed fish with lime sauce. I opted for the spicy scallops, fried to a golden brown and served over rice with basil, onions, bell peppers, and a pleasantly sour brown sauce. These were some of the meatiest scallops I’ve ever had, almost big enough to pass for regulation hockey pucks.

Don’t let the shopping mall location fool you—this is, at heart, a neighborhood restaurant. Judging from their interactions with the staff, it seemed like most of the other diners were regulars.

After tasting the food and savoring the inviting atmosphere, it’s easy to see why.

—BRANDON WUSKE Lotus Thai & Sushi, 2886 Town Center Blvd., Crestview Hills, (859) 286-2439, lotusthaiand sushiky.com

9 6 C I N C I N N AT I M A G A Z I N E . C O M M AY 2 0 2 1

PH OTO G R A PHS BY D E V Y N G LI S TA

July 8-11, 2021

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WHERE TO EAT NOW

AMERICAN 98 BARBECUE 99 CAJUN/CARIBBEAN 99 CHINESE 99 ECLECTIC 99 FRENCH 100

DINING GUIDE CINCINNATI MAGAZINE’S

ITALIAN 100

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

JAPANESE 102 MEDITERRANEAN 102 MEXICAN 103 SEAFOOD 103

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 $$$ = Up to $49 $$ = Up to $30 $$$$ = $50 and up Top 10

Named a Best Restaurant March 2020.

VIETNAMESE 103

AMERICAN

rolls sidles up to steaks of corn-fed prime; nonsteak entrées (Chilean sea bass or seared scallops with mushroom risotto and broccolini) make for high-style alternative selections. Talk about a party. 8170 Montgomery Rd., Madeira, (513)

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—the preparation and quality is anything but. An endive salad with candied walnuts, Swiss cheese, crispy bacon lardons, and an apple vinaigrette surpassed many versions of the French bistro classic. And both the Brussels sprouts and Sicilian cauliflower 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) 831-5678, thebirchtp.com.

Lunch and dinner Tues–Sun. 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. Fried chicken? Check.

Quesadillas and other starters? Yep. An assortment of burgers? Present, including turkey and veggie versions. Casual food rules the day but the surprise is Brontë Bistro’s lineup of adult beverages, which elevates the place above a basic bookstore coffeeshop. The regular drinks menu includes such mainstays as Hemingway’s Daiquiri, a tribute to the author who drank them (often to excess). 2692 Madison Rd., Norwood,

984-8090, embersrestaurant.com. Dinner seven days. MCC, DC, DS. $$$$

IVORY HOUSE

NAME CHANGE

Parlor Pizza Project, the pop-up shop that opened a brick-and-mortar location in Hyde Park in February, recently changed its name to St. Francis Apizza. Owner Alex Plattner says the name was inspired by his middle name and his favorite pizzeria, Apizza Scholls in Portland, Oregon.

(513) 396-8970, josephbeth. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner seven days. MCC. $

EMBERS The menu here is built for celebration: poshly priced steak and sushi selections are meant to suit every special occasion. Appetizers are both classic (shrimp cocktail) and Asian-inspired (crabcakes); fashionable ingredients are namechecked (micro-greens and truffles); a prominent sushi section (nigiri, sashimi, and rolls) precedes a list of archetypal salads; Kobe beef on sushi

9 8 C I N C I N N AT I M A G A Z I N E . C O M M AY 2 0 2 1

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

Tthe hot sauce is just a hint of sweet citrusy spice that melts into the grits—a softly intriguing element rather than a slap in the face. Ivory House also has an excellent brunch. 2998 Harrison Ave., Westwood, (513) 389-0175, ivoryhousecincy.com.

Lunch Tues–Fri, dinner seven days, brunch Sat & Sun. MCC. $$$

OTTO’S Chef/owner Paul Weckman opened Otto’s, named after his father-in-law, with $300 worth of food and one employee—himself. Weckman’s food is soothing, satisfying, and occasionally, too much of a good thing. His tomato pie is beloved by lunch customers: Vine-ripe tomatoes, fresh basil, and chopped green onions packed into a homemade pie shell, topped with a cheddar cheese spread, and baked until bubbly. Weckman’s straightforward preparations are best.

The shrimp and grits with sauteed shrimp spinach, mushrooms, Cajun beurre blanc atop a fried grit cake, short ribs braised in red wine and herbs, served over mashed potatoes with green beans and caramelized baby carrots that will bring you the comfort of a home-cooked meal. This is, at its heart, a neighborhood restaurant, a place with its own large, quirky family. 521 Main St., Covington, (859) 491-6678, ottosonmain.com.

Lunch Mon–Fri, dinner seven days, brunch Sat & 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. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner seven days. MCC,DS. $$$

SUGAR N’ SPICE This Paddock Hills diner, with a second location in Over-the-Rhine, has been dishing up wispythin pancakes and football-sized omelettes to Cincinnatians since FDR was signing new deals.

Breakfast and lunch offerings mix old-hat classics like steak and eggs, corned beef hash, and basic burgers with funky iterations that draw on ethnic ingredients such as chorizo and tzatziki.

Get here early if you don’t want to stand in line.

4381 Reading Rd., Paddock Hills; 1203 Sycamore St., Over-the-Rhine, (513) 242-3521, eatsugarnspice. com, Breakfast and lunch seven days. MCC. $

SYMPHONY HOTEL & RESTAURANT Tucked into a West 14th Street Italianate directly around the corner from Music Hall, this place feels like a private dinner club. There’s a preferred by-reservation policy. Check the web site for the weekend’s five-course menu, a slate of “new American” dishes that changes monthly.

You can see the reliance on local produce in the spring vegetable barley soup. Salads are interesting without being busy, and the sorbets are served as the third course palate cleanser. Main courses of almond-crusted mahi-mahi, flat-iron steak, and a vegetable lasagna hit all the right ICON BY ZACHARY GHADERI

notes, and you can end with a sweet flourish if you choose the chocolate croissant bread pudding. 210 W. 14th St.,

overwhelm a plate of greens, the two key elements play well together. 3300 Madison Pke., Ft. Wright, (859) 360-

Over-the-Rhine, (513) 721-3353, symphonyhotel.com. Dinner Thurs–Sun, brunch Sun. $$

2222, waltshitchingpost.com. Dinner seven days. MCC. $$

TELA BAR + KITCHEN Classically conceived but casually executed comfort food, including mini-Monte Cristo sandwiches with tangy house-made pimento cheese stuffed into sourdough bread and fried crisp, mac and cheese topped with a Mr. Pibb–braised pulled short rib, and steak and potatoes. Servers are slightly scattered, yet enthusiastic and friendly, with a good grasp of the beverage program.

1212 Springfield Pke., Wyoming, (513) 821-8352, telabar andkitchen.com. Lunch and dinner Tues–Sat, brunch Sun. MCC. $$

THE WILDFLOWER CAFÉ This 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, wildflowergourmetcafe.com. Lunch and dinner Tues–Sat. MCC. $$$

BARBECUE ELI’S BBQ Elias Leisring started building his pulled pork reputation under canopies at Findlay Market and Fountain Square in 2011. Leisring’s proper little ’cue shack along the river serves up ribs that are speaking-in-tongues good, some of the zazziest jalapeño cheese grits north of the MasonDixon line, and browned mashed potatoes that would make any short order cook diner-proud. The small no-frills restaurant—packed cheek-by-jowl most nights—feels like it’s been there a lifetime, with customers dropping vinyl on the turntable, dogs romping in the side yard, and picnic tables crowded with diners. The hooch is bring-your-own, and the barbecue is bona fide. 3313 Riverside Dr., East End, (513) 533-1957, elisbarbeque.com. Lunch and dinner seven days. MCC. $

SINNERS & SAINTS TAVERN You won’t leave this Texas smokehouse/sports bar hungry. From the Not Yo Mama’s Fried Bologna sandwich to the slow-smoked brisket—served with Texas BBQ sauce, white bread, and pickles, or in a hoagie—you can’t go wrong with these rich barbecue flavors. Several dishes, like the house-made sausage links, draw on German influences found in both Texas and Cincinnati cuisine, while the sides take flavors back to the country (try the creamy coleslaw, crispy onion straws, and chili-spiced cornbread). The resaurant’s character shines through its decor, which includes hanging hockey memorabilia, pictures of public figures and tables made from real NBA courts. 2062 Riverside

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 & lunch Fri–Sun. MCC. $

KNOTTY PINE ON THE BAYOU The Pine serves some of the best Louisiana home-style food you’ll find this far north of New Orleans. Taste the fried catfish filets with their peppery crust, or the garlic sauteed shrimp with smoky greens on the side, and you’ll understand why it’s called soul food. Between March and June, it’s crawfish season. Get them boiled and heaped high on a platter or in a superb crawfish etouffee. But the rockin’ gumbo—a thick, murky brew of andouille sausage, chicken, and vegetables—serves the best roundhouse punch all year round. As soon as you inhale the bouquet and take that first bite, you realize why Cajun style food is considered a high art form and a serious pleasure. And you’ll start planning your return trip. 6302 Licking Pke.,

ville, (513) 563-6888, chineseimperialinn.com. Lunch and dinner seven days. MC, V, DS. $

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

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 260 items, so you’ll find a range of favorites, from moo goo gai pan to rock salt frog legs. 10736 Reading Rd., Evendale, (513) 7338484, uncleyips.com. Lunch and dinner seven days. MCC, discount for cash. $$

ECLECTIC

Cold Spring, (859) 781-2200, letseat.at/knottypine. Dinner Tues–Sun. MCC, DS. $$

Top 10

CHINESE AMERASIA A sense of energetic fun defines this tiny Chinese spot with a robust beer list. The glossy paper menu depicts Master Chef Rich Chu as a “Kung Food” master fighting the evil fast-food villain with dishes like “fly rice,” “Brocco-Lee,” and “Big Bird’s Nest.” Freshness rules. Pot stickers, dumplings, and wontons are hand-shaped. The Dragon’s Breath wontons will invade your dreams. Seasoned ground pork, onion, and cilantro meatballs are wrapped in egg dough, wok simmered, and topped with thick, spicy red pepper sauce and fresh cilantro. Noodles are clearly Chef Chu’s specialty, with zonxon (a tangle of thin noodles, finely chopped pork, tofu, and mushrooms cloaked in spicy dark sauce and crowned with peanuts and cilantro) and Matt Chu’s Special (shaved rice noodle, fried chicken, and seasonal vegetables in gingery white sauce) topping the menu’s flavor charts. 521 Madison Ave., Covington, (859)

Dr., East End, (513) 281-4355, sinsaintsmoke.com. Dinner Tues–Sun. MCC. $$

261-6121. Lunch Sun–Fri, dinner seven days. MCC. $

WALT’S HITCHING POST

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

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

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., Sharon-

CHINESE IMPERIAL INN

ABIGAIL STREET

Most people who’ve eaten at Abigail Street have favorite dishes that they order every visit: the Moroccan spiced broccoli, for example, or the mussels charmoula, with its perfect balance of saffron, creaminess, and tomatoey acidity. Many of the new items on the menu have the same perfected feeling as these classics.

Working within a loose framework of Middle Eastern and North African flavors, Abigail Street has never fallen into a routine that would sap its energy. New offerings like the duck leg confit, with spicy-sour harissa flavors, firmtender butternut squash, and perfectly made couscous, feel just as accomplished as old favorites like the falafel, beautifully moist and crumbly with a bright parsley interior. The restaurant is always watching for what works and what will truly satisfy, ready to sacrifice the superficially interesting in favor of the essential. 1214 Vine St., Over-the-Rhine, (513) 421-4040, abigailstreet.com. Dinner Tues–Sat. MCC, DS. $$ Top 10

BOCA

With its grand staircase, chandelier, and floorto-ceiling draperies, Boca has an atmosphere of grandeur and refinement. There is a sense of drama not only in the decor but in everything it serves. In some dishes, there is a painterly sense of contrast and surprise, like violet-derived purple sugar beside the pain de Gênes (French almond cake). In others, there is a dramatic suspense, like the whole egg yolk quivering in the center of the Fassone tartare waiting to be broken. While staying mostly grounded in the fundamentals of Italian and French cuisine, Boca has an air of international sophistication that sets its food apart. The hamachi crudo, an old standby on the menu, takes Japanese flavors and gives them new dimensions with grapefruit suprêmes and slivers of shishito pepper. This is food of extraordinary creativity and flair. 114 E. Sixth St., downtown, (513) 5422022, bocacincinnati.com. Dinner Mon–Sat. MCC, DS. $$$

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MAIN WHERE REVIEW TO EAT NOW

BRANCH Located in a huge Art Deco building, formerly a bank, Branch has taken this potentially cavernous and impersonal space and made it intimate. It maintains a balance between cooking to a higher price point and creating an atmosphere of refinement without losing the informal neighborhood feel. The shrimp and grits—served soupy in a big bowl with an addictively sweetand-sour green tomato marmalade swirled into the creamy grits—are taken surprising heights.

Another notable item is a dish that wouldn’t normally get a mention in a review: the french fries. They demonstrate that food that is usually mindlessly inhaled can be worth savoring if it is made with enough love. 1535 Madison Rd., East Walnut Hills, (513) 221-2702, eatatbranch.com. Dinner Mon–Sun, brunch Sat & Sun. MCC. $$

MASHROOTS After serving mofongo at Findlay Market for nearly four years, Mashroots opened its first brick-and-mortar spot in College Hill this year.

For the uninitiated, mofongo is a traditional Puerto Rican dish of mashed fried plantains with garlic and olive oil, typically served with protein and sauce. Here, you can get plantain, yuca, or sweet potato as your root and a protein, like skirt steak or pulled chicken. Top it off with veggies (pinkslaw, vinagrete, citruscarrot) and a sauce (pink mayo, anyone?), and wash it all down with refreshing cocktails made with rum and harderto-find spirits. 5903 Hamilton Ave., College Hill,

ICE CREAM, YOU SCREAM

Chef Liz Rogers’s Southern-inspired ice cream brand Creamalicious has gone national. You can now find it in Walmart stores nationwide. The brand is also available in Meijer stores in Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Missouri and locally at Jungle Jim’s locations.

socreamalicious.com

(513) 620-4126, mashroots.com. Lunch and dinner Tues-Sat, Lunchand dinner Sun. MCC. $

METROPOLE Metropole has been remarkably stable since it opened in 2012. Even when chefs have left, the organization has promoted from within, kept popular dishes on the menu, and maintained a certain vibe, a balance between sophistication and rusticity. Its vegetarian fare contains many of its most inventive and delightful creations. The chilled cantaloupe soup has a creamy note from coconut milk and a hint of spice floating in at the end of every bite to balance the subtle, melon-y sweetness. The fancy “candy bar,” with its light and crispy peanut wafers and ring of flourless chocolate cake and caramel, 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. Breakfast and dinner seven days, lunch Mon– Fri, brunch Sat & Sun. MCC. $$ Top 10

PLEASE

It’s hard to describe the food at Please to a person who hasn’t been there, except that it’s like nothing else in Cincinnati.

Some of chef-owner Ryan Santos’s culinary experiments have been bizarre, some fascinating, and some simply delicious—and all of it emerges from a dining room–centered kitchen that seems like it belongs in a small apartment. Almost all of his risks hit their marks, from the frothy bay leaf–grapefruit mignonette on the oysters to the cedar-rosemary custard. What has made Please increasingly wonderful is a willingness, at times, to deliver something straightforward, like an outstanding course of rye gnocchi or a spicy green kale sauce with a lemony zing. That this weird and wonderful restaurant exists at all, and is actually thriving, is a compliment not just to Santos and his staff but to the city as a whole.

1405 Clay St., Over-the-Rhine, (513) 405-8859, pleasecincinnati.com. Dinner Wed–Sat. MCC. $$$

SACRED BEAST Sacred Beast advertises itself as a kind of upscale diner, but the real gems are the oddball dishes that don’t quite fit the diner mold. The menu can be disorienting in its eclecticism: foie gras torchon is next to lobster poutine, and a king

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salmon is next to a diner breakfast and deviled eggs. Winners are scattered throughout the menu in every category. On the cocktail list, the Covington Iced Tea, a lemon and coffee concoction made with cold brew, San Pellegrino, and vodka is oddly satisfying. The service is good, and there is some flair about the place—including vintage touches, from the facsimile reel-to-reel audio system to the mostly classic cocktails— even within its rather chilly industrial design.

In short, go for the late night grub; stay for the elegant, shareable twists on classic snacks.

available in beef, Wagyu beef, bison, lamb, and fish (a blend of albacore tuna and salmon). Portions are eight ounces, taller than a typical burger, and seared on the kitchen’s iron griddle. It’s easy to turn many of the generously portioned appetizers into dinner. Pair the open-faced beef tongue “French Dip” sandwich with a spinach salad and you’ll have one of the best choices in the house. Or go for mac-and-cheese. The lobster mac always sounds lush, but do consider the humble beef cheek version, enlivened by a touch of truffle oil, instead. 2200 Victory Pkwy., East

1437 Vine St., Over-the-Rhine, (513) 213-2864, sacredbeastdiner.com. Lunch, dinner, and late night seven days. MCC. $$

Walnut Hills, (513) 751-2333, barboeuf.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) 621-7000, salazarcincin nati.com. Lunch Thurs–Fri, dinner Mon–Sat, brunch Sat & Sun. MCC. $$

20 BRIX Paul Barraco mixes Mediterranean influences with homespun choices, and he comes up with some marvelous food. Lamb meatballs with melted onions and romesco sauce are sweet and peppery, and their simplicity partners well with a lush Zinfandel. And his chicken and waffles could inspire you to regularly take a solo seat at the bar. The excellent wine list, arranged by flavor profiles within the varietals, features dozens of varieties by the glass in five-ounce or two-ounce pours, which makes it easy to try several. 101 Main St., Milford, (513) 831-2749, 20brix.com. Lunch and dinner Mon–Sat. MCC, DS, DC. $$

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

LE BAR A BOEUF Jean-Robert de Cavel’s upscale alterna-burgershack features bifteck haché, ground beef patties that are a mainstay of French family dinners, according to de Cavel. His “Les Ground Meat” is

I TA L I A N 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 post 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 asparagus, artichoke, and feta pizza on a Neapolitan crust; gooey mozzarella-filled arancini, or risotto fritters; and the unequaled Blue Oven English muffin eggplant sliders. Wash down your small plates with a glass of crisp and grassy Sannio falanghina or an ice-cold Peroni lager. Not ones to rest on their laurels, they also fire up a third Italian import—an Italforni Bull Oven—for their take on Roman-style pies (with a thinner, crispier crust). They’re definitely going to need a bigger parking lot. 7022 Miami Ave., Madeira, (513) 272-0192, atavolapizza.com. Lunch and dinner seven days. MCC. $

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

The menu has a wealth of excellent vegetarian and pasta-alternative options. 1501 Vine St., Over-the-Rhine, (513) 419-1820, peppanddolores. com. Lunch Sat & Sun, dinner seven days. MCC. $$

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

PROMOTION

BEST RESTAURANTS TASTING EVENT

readers and local foodies gathered to honor some of the city’s best independent restaurants and chefs for our ninth annual tasting event. Guests sampled incredible dishes from coveted menus, ranging from The Quarter Bistro’s maple glazed pork belly to Heist & Co.’s Korean short rib taco. Guests were able to enjoy a full night of eating and drinking at this sold-out event.

THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS: Delta Hotel by Marriott, Di Martino Pasta, FIJI Fiji Water, Water, and and Evans Evan’sAuto AutoCare Care

PHOTOGRAPHS BY LUXE AND ART

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shabu: slices of prime beef swished through bubbling seaweed broth just until the pink frosts with white. Served with simmered vegetables, ponzu sauce, daikon, and scallions, the concentrated, slightly sour flavor of the beef is vivid. 7149

MAIN WHERE REVIEW TO EAT NOW

J A PA N E S E

Manderlay Dr., Florence, (859) 746-1199. Lunch Mon–Fri, dinner seven days. MCC, DC, DS. $$

MEI 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 teamarinated soft-boiled egg, but the kimchi subs in tofu and its namesake cabbage for the meat.

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

MATSUYA At this relaxed little sushi boutique, try ordering kaiseki, a traditional six-course meal that features a succession of small plates but plenty of food. You might encounter an entire steamed baby octopus or yellowtail with daikon radish, pickled mackerel or deep-fried oysters. You can depend on cucumber or seaweed salad, tempura shrimp, a grilled meat or fish, and of course, sushi—and sometimes even the colorful Bento box sampler. There’s a Nabemono—tableside pot cooking—section on the menu featuring shabu

Mei’s menu 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). Deepfried 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. 8608 Market Place Lane, Montgomery, (513) 891-6880, meijapaneserestaurant.com. Lunch and dinner seven days. MCC, DS. $$

MEDITERRANEAN ANDY’S MEDITERRANEAN GRILLE In this lively joint with a burnished summer lodge

interior of wood and stone, even the food is unrestrained: rough-cut chunks of charbroiled beef tenderloin, big slices of onion and green pepper turned sweet and wet in the heat, skewers of marinated and charbroiled chicken perched on rice too generous for its plate. Co-owner Andy Hajjar mans his station at the end of the bar, smoking a hookah pipe that fills the air with the sweet smell of flavored tobacco, while the friendly but hurried staff hustles through. 906 Nassau St., Walnut Hills, (513) 281-9791, andyskabob.com.

Lunch Mon–Sat, dinner seven days. MCC. $$

SANTORINI Steak, eggs, and home fries. Jumbo haddock sandwich with Greek fries. Chocolate chip hot cakes with bacon. Notice something wrong with this menu? Chicken Philly cheese steak sandwich with Olympic onion rings. Yep, it’s obvious: What’s wrong with this menu is that there’s nothing wrong with this menu. Greek feta cheese omelette with a side of ham. It’s been owned by the same family for more than 30 years. Santorini has diner standards, like cheeseburgers, chili five ways, and breakfast anytime, but they also make some Greek pastries in house, like spanakopita and baklava. 3414 Harrison Ave., Cheviot, (513) 662-8080. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner Mon– Sat, breakfast and lunch Sun. Cash. $

SULTAN’S MEDITERRANEAN CUISINE The meze, a parade of small plates and appetizers—the refreshing yogurt dish with cucumber, mint, and garlic known as cacik, and its thicker cousin haydari, with chopped walnuts, dill, and garlic—is rounded out with flaky cheese or spinach boureks, falafels, soups, salads, and more, while baked casseroles or stuffed cabbage and

BE STILL MY HEART

Woodford Reserve Distillery in Versailles, Kentucky, recently announced plans to double its production capacity. The whiskey maker says that the additions, which include three new copper stills, will be complete by next summer. woodford

reserve.com

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Our Brunch All Day kits combine a delightful array of DLM favorites that’ll bring sunshine to mom’s day! Included: DLM Homemade Quiche Lorraine, Bakewell Tart, DLM Artisan Raisin Walnut Bread, and either coffee or tea.

Brunch Delivered via

shop.dorothylane.com/GiftsForMom Specialty grocer in Dayton , Ohio 1 0 2 C I N C I N N AT I M A G A Z I N E . C O M M AY 2 0 2 1

ICON BY ZACHARY GHADERI

eggplant dishes (dubbed “Ottoman specials”) augment the heavy focus on kebabs: chunks of lamb and beef on a vertical spit for the popular Doner kebab (a.k.a. Turkish gyro), peppery ground lamb for the Adana kebab, or cubed and marinated for the Shish kebab. 7305 Tyler’s

Corner Dr., West Chester, (513) 847-1535, sultanscincin nati.com. Lunch and dinner seven days. MCC, DS. $$

MEXICAN EL VALLE VERDE Guests with dietary issues, high anxiety, and no Spanish may take a pass, but for hardy souls, this taqueria delivers a memorable evening. Seafood dishes are the star here—ceviche tostadas, crisp corn tortillas piled high with pico de gallo, avocado, and lime-tastic bits of white fish, squid, and crab; the oversized goblet of cocktel campechano, with ample poached shrimp crammed into a Clamato-heavy gazpacho; and simmering sopa de marisco came with langoustines, mussels, crab legs, and an entire fish—enough to feed three. 6717 Vine St., Carthage, (513) 821-5400. Lunch and dinner seven days. $

VI ETNAM E S E

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

PHO LANG THANG

TAQUERIA CRUZ

Here, you get the greatest hits playlist of Vietnamese cuisine: elegant, brothy pho made from poultry, beef, or vegan stocks poured over rice noodles and adrift with slices of onions, meats, or vegetables (the vegan pho chay is by far the most flavorful); fresh julienned vegetables, crunchy sprouts, and herbs served over vermicelli rice noodles (again, the vegan version, bun chay, is the standout); and bánh mì. 1828 Race St., Over-the-Rhine, (513)

The menu at this four-table mom-and-pop welcomes you to “a little piece of Mexico.” The huaraches (spelled guarachis here), are flat troughs of thick, handmade fried masa dough the approximate shape and size of a shoeprint, mounded with beans and slivers of grilled beef or chili-red nubs of sausage, shredded lettuce, a crumble of queso fresco, and drizzle of cultured cream. Should you have an adventurous side, you can have your huarache topped with slippery tongue, goat meat, shredded chicken, or pork.

There are stews, carne asada plates, and sopes—saucers of fried masa much like huaraches, only smaller. 518

376-9177, pholangthang.com. Lunch and dinner seven days.

MCC, DS, DC. $

QUAN HAPA

Pike St., Covington, (859) 431-3859. Lunch and dinner seven days. Cash. $

The Nguyen brothers have followed up on Pho Lang Thang’s success by bursting onto the OTR scene with some of the boldest flavors in the city. A tuna ceviche makes use of the fiery sweetness of Malaysian sambal oelek and a banh mi steakburger gains crunch from pickled daikon and a side of Indonesian shrimp chips. Or try the okonomiyaki, a traditional Japanese pancake topped with a choice of bacon, prawns, or vegetables. 1331 Vine St.,

SEAFOOD

Over-the-Rhine, (513) 421-7826, quanhapa.com. Lunch and dinner seven days. MCC, DS. $

McCORMICK & SCHMICK’S

NADA The brains behind Boca deliver authentic, contemporary, high-quality Mexican fare downtown. You’ll find a concise menu, including tacos, salads and sides, large plates, and desserts. Tacos inspired by global cuisine include the Señor Mu Shu (Modelo and ginger braised pork) and fried avocado (chipotle bean purée). The ancho-glazed pork shank with chili-roasted carrots comes with a papaya guajillo salad (order it for the table); dreamy mac-and-cheese looks harmless, but there’s just enough of a roasted poblano and jalapeño punch to have you reaching for another

The daily rotation here reads like a fisherman’s wish list: fresh lobsters from the coast of Maine, ahi tuna from Hawaii, North Carolina catfish, Massachusetts cod. But high-quality ingredients are only half the equation; preparation is the other. Flaky Parmesan-crusted tilapia, with a squeeze of lemon, 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,

CINCINNATI MAGAZINE, (ISSN 0746-8 210), May 2021, Volume 54, Number 8.

Published monthly ($14.95 for 12 issues annually) at P.O. Box 14487, Cincinnati, OH 45250. (513) 421-4300. Copyright © 2021 by Cincinnati Magazine LLC, a subsidiary of Hour Media Group, 5750 New King Dr, Ste 100, Troy, MI 48098. All rights reserved. No part of this magazine may be reproduced or reprinted without permission. Unsolicited manuscripts, photographs, and artwork should be accompanied by SASE for return. The magazine cannot be held responsible for loss. For subscription orders, address changes or renewals, write to CINCINNATI MAGAZINE, 1965 E. Avis Dr., Madison Heights, MI 48071, or call 1-866-660-6247.

Periodicals postage paid at Cincinnati, Ohio, and additional mailing offices.

Postmaster: Please send forms 3579 to CINCINNATI MAGAZINE, 1965 E. Avis Dr., Madison Heights, MI 48071. If the Postal Service alerts us that your magazine is undeliverable, we have no further obligation unless we receive a corrected address within one year.

mccormickandschmicks.com. Lunch and dinner seven days.

MCC, DC, DS. $$

CONTINUE YOUR LIFE S TORY

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Anthology Senior Living of Anderson Township is a place where life is enriched by a carefree lifestyle and ample amenities, with a focus on holistic wellness and keeping you safe. Discover a dynamic community that encourages you to live your best life. Call and ask about our upcoming events. Schedule your visit today.

ANTHOLOGY OF ANDERSON TOWNSHIP

513-909-3442

6849 Beechmont Ave, Cincinnati, OH A S S I S T ED L I V I N G / MEMORY C A RE

AnthologySeniorLiving.com/Anderson-Township

M AY 2 0 2 1 C I N C I N N AT I M A G A Z I N E . C O M 1 0 3

CINCY OBSCURA

Castle Fortified

ON THE HIGHEST POINT IN CINCINNATI SIT THE MT. AIRY WATER TOWERS, CASTLE-LIKE

structures that look more likely to hold knights’ armor than more than 8 million gallons of water. The 15 towers, located at the corner of North Bend Road and Colerain Avenue, share a medieval style that differentiates them from the balloon-shaped reservoirs dominating the country. Cincinnati Water Works Superintendent J.A. Hiller was reportedly inspired by the Elsinore Arch in Eden Park when he designed the towers, which have provided clean water to the west side community since their completion in 1927. However, over 90 years of use, the castle has deteriorated. In 2018, Greater Cincinnati Water Works proposed demolition, but the Mt. Airy community fought back. “The people in Mt. Airy, in general, are very proud of them,” says Margo Warminski of Cincinnati Preservation Association. “They wanted them to be saved.” In an effort spearheaded by longtime Mt. Airy resident Kevin Flynn, the community won historic landmark status for the towers, virtually blocking any future demolitions. Today, the beloved castle stands secure on its hill. — B E B E H O D G E S 1 0 4 C I N C I N N AT I M A G A Z I N E . C O M M AY 2 0 2 1

PHOTOGRAPH BY JUSTIN SCHAFER

THE GRAHAM ERA: CELEBRATING XAVIER’S LONGEST-SERVING PRESIDENT We know every great era eventually comes to an end. Fr. Michael Graham’s time as Xavier University’s president is no different.

As he closes this unforgettable chapter, we are celebrating Fr. Graham’s immensely impactful 20-year term.

Xavier has always had a place in his heart, and he has in many ways become the heart of Xavier.

Considering that, including his teaching career before taking office, he has spent a total of 34 years as part of the Xavier nation, it’s no surprise his roots are planted so deeply within our community.

What’s even less surprising is all the ways he’s helped the university grow during those years.

While he’s blazed an incredible trail these last two decades, Fr. Graham has also brilliantly paved the way for the next president.

Though he will be missed as president, he’ll always be cherished as family. xavier.edu/graham-by-the-numbers

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