STUFF TO DO

from CityBeat | March 18, 2020

MUSIC

In a press briefing on Thursday, March 12, Gov. Mike DeWine announced an executive order prohibiting mass gatherings in Ohio with more than 100 people. And on Sunday, March 15, he announced that all restaurants and bars would be closed — except for carry-out and delivery. Gov. Andy Beshear announced a similar order on Monday, March 16.

This is all to help curb the spread of COVID-19. (For the latest Ohio updates, visit coronavirus.ohio.gov and for the latest in Kentucky, visit chfs. ky.gov.)

So, obviously, many Cincinnati events, concerts, parties and parades have been canceled or rescheduled. Generally this section lists Stuff To Do, but since there isn’t a ton, here’s a list of some of the bigger cancelations or event suspensions, as well as venues offering digital ways to connect. Visit citybeat.com for the most up-to-date news on closings, reschedulings, reopenings and digital things to do.

Fiona was the first featured animal in the zoo’s Facebook Live home safari. P H OTO : LY N N S M A RT

DIGITAL THINGS TO DO

CINCINNATI ZOO & BOTANICAL GARDEN While the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden will be closed to the public until further notice (don’t worry: zookeepers and personnel are there to make sure the animals well taken care of), they are offering special “Home Safari Facebook Live” sessions, which will feature online animal encounters and an activity you can do at home. The zoos first safari featured Fiona the hippo. Safaris will be offered 3 p.m. weekdays. facebook.com/cincinnatizoo.

CINCINNATI ART MUSEUM The Cincinnati Art Museum, Taft

Museum of Art and Contemporary Arts Center announced in a joint statement that they’d be closing their doors until April 3. The CAM, Taft and CAC said in the release, “While our doors may be closed, we won’t let that keep us from our mission to inspire, challenge and delight you...Please check our website(s) and social media channels for daily updates and additional digital offerings to bring the arts, artists of today and the creative process to you at home or wherever you may be.” Currently, you can view exhibits including Frida Kahlo: Photographic Portraits by Bernard Silberstein, The Art Academy of Cincinnati and World War I and Mementos of Affection, a collection of ornamental hairwork, on the CAM website. cincinnatiartmuseum.org/art/ exhibitions/online-exhibitions. CONTEMPORARY ARTS CENTER Like the city’s other two major art museums, the CAC is closed until April 3. Until then, take an “Audio Tour” of the museum, voiced by local artist Britni Bicknaver. You can stream the tour online, which is described as, “Under the guise of an audio guide

museums typically employ to present references and objective information to visitors, Bicknaver presents a surreal hybrid that lyrically blends fact and fantasy. In concert with self-composed music, song, meandering meditations, obscure chronicles, mathematical formulae and wordplay, she weaves a surreal map of this center and its colorful history.” contemporaryartscenter.org/ exhibitions/2017/12/audio-tour.

TAFT MUSEUM OF ART The Taft has launched a new hashtag — #TaftMusuemDiscovered — to

view works from the museum on their social media feeds from the comfort of your own home. You can also check out highlights from their permanent collection on their website. taftmuseum.org.

WAVE POOL Camp Washington gallery and contemporary art fulfillment center Wave Pool has created a COVIDeo YouTube channel where they will be hosting and live streaming all major gallery events and exhibit openings. wavepoolgallery.org.

workout DANCEFIX is offering select classes streaming online. You can access the workouts through the mindbodyonline.com digital platform and pay with a current class pass or via drop-in rates. “You will however have to stream the video on your computers (phones unfortunately do not work),” says the DANCEFIX Facebook page. “We know this will be a work in progress and there might be a few bumps along the way but we wanted to provide solutions to our current situation ASAP!” Full instructions are available on Facebook page, with helpful hints on how to stream. facebook.com/ dancefixbyhbdc.

SOCIAL DISTANCE GALLERY Cincinnati painter and Art Academy adjunct professor Benjamin Cook has launched an online gallery called Social Distance Gallery. The project posts BFA and MFA thesis exhibitions that have been canceled or had public access limited due to COVID-19. Digital exhibitions are available to view on Instagram @socialdistancegallery. And visit socialdistancegall.wixsite.com/ socialdistance for information on how to submit a show/artwork for inclusion.

THE PUBLIC LIBRARY OF CINCINNATI AND HAMILTON COUNTY Although all 41 public library locations have closed as of Friday, March 13, the closures will be reassessed on a weekly basis. Until then, you can borrow books, audiobooks and magazines and stream music and TV online at cincinnatilibrary.org/eBranch. That link also offers eLearning connections if you’re perhaps practicing some type of homeschooling at the moment. The library’s digital collection at digital.cincinnatilibrary.org also features links to historical Cincinnati lantern slides, photos from the Ohio River floods, a collection about local brewing history, 19th-century posters from the local Strobridge Lithographing Company and more. cincinnatilibrary.org.

FOREVERLAND FARM Though you can’t visit Amelia, Ohio’s Foreverland Farm until further notice, the nonprofit animal sanctuary will post live videos throughout the month of founders Brittney and Leann Kane sharing the story of how Foreverland started and their favorite rescue stories, along with virtual tours of the farm and its adorable inhabitants. Prizes from Kind Style Shop will be given away during the livestreams. foreverlandfarm.org

CINCINNATI PARKS Cincinnati Parks has announced that their parks will remain open so you can get outside. They note that “all general rules, including social distancing, apply.” All restrooms are also open (they usually don’t open until April) so people can wash their hands. cincinnatiparks.com.

FINDLAY MARKET OPENING DAY PARADE The 101st Findlay Market Opening Day parade was scheduled to take place at noon on Thursday, March 26. That is no longer happening. The website says the procession has been “canceled/ postponed” because of the coronavirus, indicating that while it won’t take place Thursday, it might take place in the future. The last time the parade didn’t happen on Opening Day was in 2018, when it was held four days after the Reds’ home opener thanks to MLB scheduling changes that moved the season’s start date up a week. Neil Luken, the chairman of the parade committee, said the decision not to change the event’s date that year was made in the best interest of Findlay’s food vendors, whose business would take a major hit if the market was closed before the Easter holiday. (The market closes for parade festivities.) findlaymarketparade.com.

REDS HOME OPENER Two weeks before 30 teams were to play on Opening Day, the MLB announced that the 2020 season’s start will be delayed by at least two weeks. With DeWine’s earlier announcement prohibiting mass gatherings of more than 100 people, the Reds would have been unable to play in front of fans anyway. reds.com.

BEST OF CINCINNATI CityBeat Events’ Best of Cincinnati celebration on March 25 at The Phoenix has been postponed. Stay tuned for a new date. CityBeat’s Best of Cincinnati magazine will still be on the streets and online March 25.

CINCINNATI CYCLONES The AA hockey league, in which the Cincinnati Cyclones play, has suspended its 2019-2020 season. The ECHL says it’s “for the safety of our Fans, Players and Employees.” The team’s final two regular-season home games at the Heritage Bank Center were scheduled for the first weekend in April. cycloneshockey.com.

CINCINNATI MUSEUM CENTER The CMC is temporarily closed and is scheduled to tentatively reopen on April 4. The museum said in a statement, “As a leading educational institution, we are exploring ways Cincinnati Museum Center can continue to be a resource for those with an innate curiosity and a desire for lifelong learning. We are creating online resources, including exhibits, videos and activities that guests can use to keep their minds active during the closure.” cincymuseum.org.

CINCINNATI ROLLERGIRLS The Cincinnati Rollergirls have canceled their March 21 home opener against the Appalachian Roller Derby (Boone, North Carolina) amid current coronavirus concerns. It would have been the team’s first game at their new home: the Cintas Center at Xavier University. In a release, the team said, “While CRG is devastated that the first game of its inaugural season at the Cintas Center cannot go on as planned, the team understands that public health must take priority during this unprecedented situation.” The status of Cincinnati Rollergirls remaining home games on April 11, May 9 and June 6 is currently unknown, says the release. If you have already purchased a ticket to the home opener, Xavier University will be sending out an email regarding refunds. cincinnatirollergirls.com.

CINCINNATI SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA A press release from the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra stated: “All Scheduled Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Cincinnati Pops, Vocal Arts Ensemble and May Festival Performances and Events are Cancelled through at least April 5, 2020.” cincinnatisymphony.org.

ENSEMBLE THEATRE All shows at the Ensemble Theatre have been suspended indefinitely. In an email, the theater asks patrons not to call the box office about ticket exchanges until they’re able to announce rescheduled dates: “All accounts with tickets to upcoming performances will be credited and ETC will be relaxing its exchange policies and waive all fees to find suitable solutions for our patrons.” ensemblecincinnati.org.

FC CINCINNATI Major League Soccer announced that it will suspend its 2020 season for 30 days due to concerns over COVID-19. The suspension announcement came just days before FC Cincinnati’s home opener at the University of Cincinnati’s Nippert Stadium. fccincinnati.com.

HERITAGE BANK CENTER Cancelations of events at Cincinnati’s major riverfront arena began trickling out after Gov. Mike DeWine’s order to prohibit public assembly of more than 100 people. The Disney on Ice performances March 19-22 have been canceled. The April 7 Cher concert has been rescheduled for Sept. 14. heritagebankcenter.com.

KROHN CONSERVATORY Krohn Conservatory is closed until further notice. They said in a release that also means that the opening of their 25th-annual butterfly show, Butterflies of Bali, is postponed. It was slated to open March 21. “This is an unfortunate necessity as the City responds to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Krohn Conservatory will re-open and we hope this day comes sooner than later,” said a press release. cincinnatiparks.com. PLAYHOUSE IN THE PARK All shows at the Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park have been canceled, including Destiny of Desire. Ticketholders will receive further information regarding tickets via email or phone. “While it breaks our heart to shorten the run of this joyous production, we take very seriously the health and well-being of our community,” the theater notes in a statement. Off the Grid performances have also been canceled. cincyplay.com.

TAFT THEATRE All Taft Theatre events have been postponed through April 5. This includes performances by Tab Benoit (which has been moved to June 5), Dave Simonett, Colin Hay, Bill Maher and Brit Floyd. Ticket-holders will be contacted with rescheduling/ cancelation details. tafttheatre.org.

TO DO

THE PUBLIC LIBRARY OF CINCINNATI AND HAMILTON COUNTY The Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County closed all 41 locations on Friday, March 13, in an effort to slow the spread of coronavirus COVID-19. The library will reassess its closure on a weekly basis. “The latest information from the governor’s office, which indicates that aggressive early social distancing can stop COVID19 from exponentially spreading,

helped us make this decision,” Library Director Paula Brehm-Heeger said in a statement. “Declarations of city-wide

The 2019 Findlay Market Opening Day Parade PHOTO: PAIGE DEGLOW

MEMORIAL HALL “In an effort to minimize the spread of coronavirus,” all performances at Memorial Hall scheduled before Sunday, April 5 have been “suspended,” according to the venue’s website. This includes concerts by Jimmy Webb, Aoife O’Donovan and Graham Nash. memorialhallotr.com.

20TH CENTURY THEATER According to its website, the 20th Century Theater in Oakley is postponing concerts through April 1, including sold-out shows by Cal Scruby and Black Pumas, as well as the March 22 Bob Mould concert. The site says all postponed shows will “not be offering refunds until the new date is announced.” the20thcenturytheater.com. and county-wide states of emergency, as well as the voluntary self-quarantine of a staff member, also convinced us that this closure is in the best interest of public safety. This was a very difficult decision that we did not make without much careful deliberation.” cincinnatilibrary.org.

NATIONAL UNDERGROUND RAILROAD FREEDOM CENTER The Freedom Center closed on Saturday, March 14 and is evaluating a “prudent date to reopen.” freedomcenter.org.

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ARTS & CULTURE

Moriarty: A New Sherlock Holmes Mystery P H OTO : TO N Y A R R AS M IT H / A R R AS M IT H & ASSOCIATES

Playhouse Announces 2020-21 Season From Tenderly: The Rosemary Clooney Musical to Moriarty: A New Sherlock Holmes Mystery, here’s what’s coming to Playhouse in the park; plus, a peek at Broadway in Cincinnati’s season BY RICK PENDER

Artistic director Blake Robison’s ninth season at Cincinnati’s Playhouse in the Park presents another fine balancing act, satisfying both theatergoers with an appetite for new material as well as those who love to see favorites returned to our city’s Tony Award-winning regional theater. Robison says that the forthcoming season has “dexterity” and points to his “great love for family-friendly works.” The latter is evidenced in the Marx Theatre mainstage opener: The Wizard of Oz (Aug. 29-Oct. 4). “We’re not trying to be a children’s theater, and we’re not just aiming to put the film onstage,” Robison says. “What we’ll offer will be freshened up.” Audience members with long memories often recall Worth Gardner’s riotous 1982 rendition of the classic story based on L. Frank Baum’s novel; Robison’s production will use John Kane’s 1987 adaptation for the Royal Shakespeare Company with all the film’s familiar songs. After Wizard of Oz, the next Marx mainstage show will be a world premiere by a Cincinnati-native playwright. That is, Keith Josef Adkins’ The West End (Oct. 17-Nov. 14). His Safe House was commissioned and launched by the Playhouse in 2014. Set in 1941, his new show tells an authentically Cincinnati story in its portrayal of a neighborhood populated by longtime descendants of German families intersecting with African-Americans migrating from the Deep South.

The mainstage will kick off the New Year with British actor/playwright David Haig’s Pressure (Jan. 23-Feb. 20, 2021). Set on D-Day — June 6,1944 — it follows a clash between a pair of meteorologists regarding the weather prospects for the historic invasion. The Playhouse’s production marks the first in the U.S. for this big hit from London. Two crowd-pleasers round out the Marx season: Steel Magnolias (March 6-Apr. 3, 2021), Roger Harling’s beautysalon tear-jerker with lots of humor, chatter and repartée. Robison calls it “theatrical comfort food” and suggests bringing “a box of hankies.” Audiences loved the Playhouse production back in 1989, and I bet it will repeat that success. The mainstage season concludes with another likely hit: Ken Ludwig’s Moriarty: A New Sherlock Holmes Mystery (April 17-May 16, 2021). His Baskerville was a best-seller in 2017, and this new tale of the famed British sleuth, another co-production with the Cleveland Playhouse, will appeal to families.

The Playhouse’s recently renamed Rosenthal Shelterhouse Theatre stage will host more new works and a few classics. Up first is Tiny Beautiful Things (Sept. 12-Oct. 25). Based on Cheryl Strayed’s bestseller of the same title, it’s a one-woman show adapted by Nia Vardalos (writer and star of My Big Fat Greek Wedding). Using real-life letters and heartfelt responses from Strayed’s column, “Dear Sugar,” the show offers empathetic guidance about love and loss.

Robison calls it a story about taking care of oneself that is “open, honest and sincere.”

Katie Forgette’s Incident at Our Lady of Perpetual Help (Nov. 7, 2020- Jan. 3, 2021), which Robison calls “the best title of the bunch,” will be the holiday Shelterhouse offering opposite A Christmas Carol (Nov. 25-Dec. 27). Set in 1973, it follows a middle-class Irish Catholic family who are striving to maintain their reputation. With a nearly two-month run, it’s intended to offer some chaotic hilarity for seasonal theatergoers.

Another reprised favorite lands on the Shelterhouse stage next via Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill (Jan. 16-March 7, 2021), the story of singer Billie Holiday’s life (1915-1959). Told with honesty and salty humor, it was a popular production at the Playhouse in 1992, and the show has seen a resurgence of interest thanks to an awardwinning 2016 Broadway production with Audra McDonald. With piano accompaniment, it features more than a dozen iconic Jazz standards that Holiday regularly performed.

Deborah Zoe Laufer’s world premieres at the Playhouse (Leveling Up, Be Here Now) have been well received, and Robison is excited to produce another one of her scripts that he commissioned: Rooted (March 20-April 25, 2021). A woman, seeking escape from society, lives in a treehouse (she’s named Mabel); she researches plants and posts information on a YouTube channel. Things change, however, when she is surprisingly deemed a “New Age messiah.”

The Shelterhouse’s final production might qualify as a summation of old and new, nostalgic and familyfriendly: Tenderly: The Rosemary Clooney Musical (May 8-June 27, 2021). It’s brought back by popular demand, according to Robison, who recounts many queries about “When is she coming back?” after the show’s successful production in late 2014.

Joe Civitello moves quickly down the long sloping stairs at downtown’s Contemporary Arts Center. It’s after 10 p.m. on a Thursday in early February, and the day’s visitors have long gone home. As the CAC’s installations director, Civitello generally deals with a range of material like wood and drywall. But tonight, he’s checking in on staff strategically positioned throughout the building to ensure no one wanders too close to where a team of artists and technicians will detonate more than 100 explosives embedded in a wall. “I’ve seen things come and go,” Civitello later told me at the Fausto cafe in the museum’s lobby, “but this was one of the more interesting things I’ve been a part of.”

The explosions were conceived by Portuguese street artist Alexandre Farto, better known as Vhils, and filmed in slow motion to create “Identity,” the installation that forms the centerpiece of his current exhibition Haze. Vhils is famous for his use of implements like power drills, acid and explosives to carve monumental portraits on the side of buildings, such as his mural of John Mercer Langston on Over-the-Rhine’s Logan Street. Haze, which runs through July 6, is the artist’s first large-scale exhibition in the United States. This is also the first time he and his team have used explosives inside a museum.

Civitello punches a button on the freight elevator. Building sensors are all operational. Everyone is in their assigned locations. When the elevator closes behind him, it will be taken offline. He listens to the soft crackling of Portuguese from his walkie talkie.

Five floors up, in a makeshift command center in a women’s restroom, Michael Lutz hunches over a pair of computer monitors. A fire marshal looks on as Vhils and his crew adjust video equipment. From a controller box, wires stretch down a short hallway and around a corner where they connect to more than 100 “air burst” charges.

“It was definitely a different application than what we’re used to,” Lutz later tells me over the phone.

You wouldn’t know from his calm and deliberate manner of speaking that he’s one of the wizards behind the annual Western & Southern WEBN Riverfest fireworks, along with his uncle, Joe Rozzi. They’re part of the Loveland-based Rozzi Fireworks, which was founded in 1895 by Lutz’s great grandfather Paolo Rozzi.

Lutz had arrived several hours early in order to double and triple check each of the charge connections. Growing up around fireworks taught him a healthy respect for their power. Over the preceding weeks, he gathered the necessary permits and coordinated with the Cincinnati Fire Department. He worked with the CAC staff to verify that sprinklers, fire detection and airhandling systems were working, as well as to ensure the blast would present no “Identity,” by Vhils, is part of his exhibition Haze at the Contemporary Arts Center P H OTO : K A IT LY N H A N D E L

danger to the building’s structure or the art within. On the night of the blast, he was confident everything would go as planned.

Later, Civitello steps out of the freight elevator onto the fifth floor and watches Vhils’ studio assistants make last-minute adjustments to the camera and lighting. Weighted down with sandbags, safely behind a shield of Plexiglas, the camera points to a wall where, just below view, wires dangle like nodes from a cybernetic porcupine.

It had taken Civitello and his team more than a week to build. They began with a freestanding brick wall half an inch away from the gallery’s real wall. They covered this in layers of plasterlike coating to match the surrounding drywall. Vhils’ studio then used drills and chisels to carve out the word the blast would reveal, and the charges were placed.

Civitello makes his way to the CAC’s Contemplation Room. Here, another group of assistants and museum staff wait with dust masks, goggles and ear protection.

Vhils began incorporating explosives in his work after seeing the devastating effects of the global financial crisis in his home city of Lisbon, Portugal. He had already received international attention for his monumental bas-relief portraits, through which he sought to call attention to the struggles of working people.

“I really try to capture the everyday hero,” Farto later tells me. “We’re humanizing public space, and we’re creating a connection with everyone through the city without needing someone that is iconic or well-known.” His method of carving into the walls shows how things build over time, unnoticed, like rings in the cross section of a tree, and how events like a global financial crisis leave their mark on the built environment. The blasts were his response to the economic violence this crisis had made visible. Civitello adjusts his ear protection and straightens his back against the Contemplation Room’s outer wall. His walkie talkie crackles: “Three… Two… One…”

Fast forward three weeks. Haze is slated to open in just a few hours, and Vhils has agreed to a short interview. My hope is to peel back a layer to show a portrait of Farto, but the soft-spoken 33-year-old encourages me instead to focus on his team’s work and impact.

We walk through the exhibition, starting at the end where faces are carved into weathered freestanding doors. I admire his “Spectrum” series when a peal of thunder billowed through the galleries. Vhils flashes a grin. “We did the explosion. Want to see it?”

“It rattled the walls,” Lutz says later. It hurled debris across the gallery and jolted tiles in the women’s restroom. Civitello describes how he almost lost his balance as the shockwave ripped through the Contemplation Room’s walls. “You could definitely feel it in your chest,” he says.

I follow Vhils around a corner to the gallery where the blast had occurred. On the far wall the word “Identity” looms above a pile of debris. On a screen, the blast replays in extreme slow motion, chunks of brick and plaster floating across the room. Four speakers convey a subsonic rumble. In the clearing dust, what was there all along becomes visible.

“We wanted the museum to be a place where you can go really deep into the concepts of the work,” Vhils said earlier, “and to really challenge the concept of (a) museum.”

What is there within a museum’s white walls that might be revealed with an explosion?

“Art has the power to bring attention,” Vhils told me. “Not just visual attention, but eventually media attention.”

It occurred to me later, while talking with Civitello, and again with Lutz, that here are two of Vhils’ “everyday heroes.” Along with dozens of others who came together on this chilly February night, this blast made them visible.

As the video loops back to the beginning, Vhils strides to an area of wall that looks like it had been hit with a shotgun blast. Grazing his fingers along the damaged surface, Alexandre Farto’s eyes twinkle in the video’s light. Haze runs through July 6 at the Contemporary Arts Center (44 E. Sixth St., Downtown), despite its current closure. More info: cincycac.org.

The novel coronavirus, or COVID-19, has been declared a global pandemic by the World Health Organization. Not unique to Cincinnati are cancelations and the postponement of events, with experts recommending the practice of social distancing in order to slow its spread. For many of us, this means working remotely (if able) and staying home for the time being. What better time than now to catch up on streaming? Here are a few recommendations for what to watch via our editors.

Love is Blind Practicing social distancing? Here, have some reality TV about potential couples who are…practicing social distancing? Love is Blind sets up romance-ready singles for a week of literal blind dating as they get to know each other from separate rooms opposite a dividing wall called the “pods,” which sounds like it was pulled straight from Black Mirror. Love is declared within days and the question is popped within the week, all without the contestants ever meeting face-to-face. Once blissfully engaged, couples meet for the first time, take off for a beach vacation, move in together and plan their impending wedding within a month. Hometown hero Nick Lachey and his wife Vanessa host, if you can call appearing every third episode to scare the couples with a dramatic speech before disappearing again before hosting. (If nothing else, Love is Blind is solely worth watching for Nick introducing himself as “obviously Nick Lachey.”) — MORGAN ZUMBIEL

McMillions I have many memories of rolling up McDonald’s in my mom’s minivan per the request of my older sister, who was hellbent on collecting winning Monopoly property spaces. Unbeknownst to us, it was all tied to a massive criminal conspiracy. With six recently wrapped episodes, HBO’s McMillions takes viewers back to 1989-2001 to McDonald’s most successful promo, which just happened to be rigged by an ever-expanding network of crooks...and normal people who were manipulated into the act. Starting with the FBI agents — shout-out to Agent Doug Matthews,

an absolute joy — who cracked the case, the docuseries unravels the tale slowly, taking us through individual characters and motives. — MACKENZIE MANLEY

Sex Education British teen dramedy Sex Education released its second season on Netflix this January, and it’s just as good as the first, if not better. It follows Otis Milburn (Asa Butterfield), a teenage boy who, despite his mom being a sex therapist, is incredibly awkward about, well, sex. Surprisingly, he’s pretty good at doling out advice. Alongside Maeve (Emma Mackey), an angsty classmate who befriends Otis, he opens a “sex clinic” to help students navigate a number of problems. It’s cheeky, endearing, sensitive and validating. With an incredible cast playing characters (mostly) worth rooting for, Sex Education may ruin other teen dramas for you — because it’s just that damn good. — MM

I Am Not Okay With This Teenage angst kills in I Am Not Okay With This — and it begins with 17-yearold Sydney Novak running down a road at night splattered in blood a la Carrie. But mostly it’s a charming sevenepisode Netflix series. Sophia Lillis takes the role of Novak, who discovers that she has telekinetic powers. She navigates this new ability while grappling with growing up, leg acne, having a crush on her best friend (Dina, played by Sofia Bryant) and parental relationships. Down the road is the quirky Stanley Barber — essentially Sixteen Candles’ Ducky — played by Wyatt Oleff. If Oleff and Lillis seem familiar, that’s because both starred in 2017’s It. On that note, though set presentday, I Am Not Okay With This drips in 1980s nostalgia, from their retro outfit choices to Stanley’s VHS collection to the characters hanging out at diners. At 20-minutes an episode, it’s also a breeze to binge. If you dig Stranger Things or The End of the F***ing World, this is for you. Season 2 has yet to be announced. — MM

Pandemic Want to escape talk of COVID-19 by binging Netflix’s Pandemic: How to Prevent an Outbreak? I mean, weird, but you do you. Released in January, this six-part docuseries explores the spread of viral illness throughout history. Maybe it doesn’t ease the mind, but you’ll come away with a better understanding of how viruses spread around the globe. — MM

The Magicians This sexy SyFy millennial drama — like Harry Potter with more cleavage and guys in eyeliner wearing shirtless vests — is about students at Brakebills College for Magical Pedagogy. The magicians use their powers to fight demons; summon old gods; uncover a parallel realm similar to the Chronicles of Narnia but with more murder and talking rabbits; and also sing top Broadway hits. There are very adult themes like drug use, sexual assault, pedophilia, cancer and possession, but if you’re looking to escape by watching a group of attractive people cast spells with stupid hand gestures while suffering through their own personal trials, The Magicians is quite a bingeable option. I watched all four seasons on Netflix, in a row, while recovering from a surgery and on several pain pills, which may have influenced why I think this show is so good. (A fifth season is airing now.) — MAIJA ZUMMO

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“Something

Over Something Else”: Romare Bearden’s Profile Series at the Cincinnati Art Museum It would have been near the end of summer in 1927, boarding a train to Pittsburgh, when a young Romare Bearden last waved goodbye to his friend Liza. I imagine him watching her on the platform, shrinking in the distance as the train pulls away, then shifting his gaze to the fields and houses sliding past. It would be five decades before he returned to Mecklenburg County, North Carolina. Well into his 60s, Bearden must have recalled that day as bittersweet. In three collages — “Daybreak Express,” “Sunset Limited” and “Moonlight Express” — trains move along the horizon, marking the space between an unclouded sky and a landscape dense with scenery. These are part of Bearden’s autobiographical Profile Series, which was undertaken by the late-career American master not long after his return visit to Mecklenburg County in 1976. Traveling from the High Museum of Art, Atlanta and on view at the Cincinnati Art Museum through May 24, “Something Over Something Else” marks the first time so many of the works from this groundbreaking series have been shown together since they were first exhibited nearly 40 years ago.

The 33 pieces are arranged by place and decade. Each is accompanied by a short evocative statement written by Bearden with his friend, author Albert Murray. The exhibition leads us through the artist’s firsthand recollections: From his earliest memories in North Carolina and growing up in Harlem in the 1920s — where W.E.B. Dubois and Duke Ellington were frequent guests in his parents’ living room — to school in Pittsburgh in the 1930s and finally to 1940s Manhattan, where we see the artist as a young man.

Using cut and torn magazine photographs, often with layers of paint, these collages are visually and emotionally vibrant. Despite the reliance on memory, it’s worth noting they never veer into nostalgia. Instead, they form a powerful coming-of-age story that transcends the autobiographical. On my first visit to this show, I lost track of time looking at the details. When I left nearly two hours later, it was like waking up from a dream in which I had lived an entire lifetime.

“Something Over Something Else” runs through May 24 at the currently closed Cincinnati Art Museum. More info: cincinnatiartmuseum.org. Todd Pavlisko: Pop Supernatural at the Weston Art Gallery On the Weston Art Gallery’s street level, Cincinnati native and New York-based artist Todd Pavlisko presents ornately carved violins that appear to be melting over basketballs. But let’s consider the symbolism of this soft collision: basketballs and violins are each loaded with cultural meaning. A wall text tells me Pavlisko is interested in “a confluence of high and popular media.” That’s a fairly problematic thing to say, given its inferences.

Vintage NBA posters are framed on a nearby wall. Athletes’ bodies are covered by photographs by inventor Harold Edgerton, who pioneered a method to capture extremely fast things like bullets flying through the air. There are striking similarities between the paired images, like a water droplet that looks like Kareem Abdul-Jabbar reaching for a slam dunk.

But the fact that this white artist has covered black bodies with photos of objects is inescapable. His intent seems to have been for Edgerton’s photographs to act as windows through which we can see athletes as beautiful forms and the passage of time writ with the drama of a slam dunk.

But maybe Pavlisko could have explored other ways of saying this? Instead, we have a white artist inviting us to aestheticize black bodies by comparing them to objects. In doing so, he objectifies those bodies and coerces the viewer into complicity. Spanning both gallery levels, the work comes across as desperate to be taken seriously. The artist (who once nailed his own foot to a gallery floor) asks us to trust that it has meaning. The work does have meaning, it just doesn’t mean what he says it does.

Todd Pavlisko: Pop Supernatural, is scheduled to run through April 5 at the Weston Art Gallery, which is closed until further notice. More info: cincinnatiarts.org. Romare Bearden’s “School Bell Time” PHOTO: ROMARE BEARDEN FOUNDATION

The new media landscape expands the possibilities of translating a story from the page into a more life-like form in intriguing ways. Once upon a time, live theater ushered words and characters to eager audiences. Then film captured motion. Television brought narratives more directly into homes, making for an individualized, personal experience. And now streaming adds immediacy to the mix.

But the real challenge for storytellers and the producers of these works now goes back to the original question of how best to translate narratives. For instance, popular fiction genres like espionage or crime thrillers offer alluring characters and enough source material for franchise-frenzied viewers and the options must seem truly vexing to the studios seeking to back projects caught up in debates over financial gain versus format potential.

Consider James Bond. Ian Fleming’s super spy is the godfather of this translation discussion, having made the leap from page to screen back in 1962 with Dr. No. Audiences are intimately familiar with all of the Bond actors over the years (Sean Connery, George Lazenby, Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton, Pierce Brosnan and Daniel Craig) and everyone has their favorite. Without getting into the complicated film rights, the year 1983 gave audiences two Bond films — the official Moore installment Octopussy and a non-canon return to the role for an aging Connery in Never Say Never Again. From the start, the character always had the kind of larger-than-life persona destined for the big screen and it could be argued that Bond’s mature adventures weren’t television-friendly like in the serialized show Mission: Impossible, which eventually crossed over from television to feature films. Or for a character like Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan, who has enjoyed several big-screen iterations (Alec Baldwin, Harrison Ford, Ben Affleck and Chris Pine), as well as a current Amazon Prime series with John Krasinski.

While Bond has always been a film franchise, Robert Parker’s Spenser series, which features 40 novels from Parker as well as eight from Ace Atkins and one from Helen Brann, has always been a television mainstay. The books served as inspiration for Spenser: For Hire, an ABC series in the mid 1980s with Robert Urich as the titular hero, before transitioning into the madefor-TV movie world of Lifetime in the mid-90s, again with Urich. A second collection of television movies were made in the late-90s/early aughts for A&E with Joe Mantegna as the private investigator.

Now Netflix has entered the game with a movie — Spenser Confidential — from the dynamic duo of director Peter Berg and actor Mark Wahlberg, loosely based on the 2013 novel Wonderland from Atkins. The recent release certainly seeks to set up a streaming franchise with individual novels serving as one-off film narratives.

Almost a decade ago, during my early days at the Toronto International Film Festival, I snagged a public screening ticket to Morten Tyldum’s Headhunters, an adaptation of a Jo Nesbø novel, about a headhunter named Roger Brown (Aksel Hennie) who embarks on an impossibly risky plan to secure a priceless painting in the possession of a former mercenary (Nikolaj CosterWaldau). The film led down the rabbit hole of Scandinavian crime fiction, starting with Nesbø’s own collection of thrillers featuring the detective Harry Hole, an investigator with first-rate emotional and psychological baggage; there are currently a dozen intricately plotted novels centered on him.

Sadly, a bungled film adaptation of The Snowman with Michael Fassbender has deep-sixed any hopes for a film franchise, but my search for a native compatriot of Nesbø’s led me to Michael Connelly, whose ongoing L.A. crime series focuses on the exploits of homicide detective Hieronymus “Harry” Bosch. With Titus Welliver as

the lead, Amazon Prime has found the sweet spot in updating a rich history of source material in clever ways, playing to the strengths of the streaming series format. Episodes unfold like chapters in the novels, opening up the neo-noirish aspects of the city and its ensemble of supporting characters in ways that would be unlikely in a two-hour film. With over 20 Bosch novels and an even larger interconnected world with other characters taking the lead in works of their own, Connelly has produced the perfect blueprint for how narratives can and should dictate the terms in the format debate. Keep watching.

Contact tt stern-enzi: request@citybeat.com Spenser Confidential PHOTO: DANIEL MCFADDEN/NETFLIX

Cincinnati-based composing and playwriting team Janet Yates Vogt and Mark Friedman have had considerable success with this show, and they have continued to refine it, now employing several different songs by “America’s familiar girl singer,” a native of Maysville, Kentucky, and a singer on radio station WLW before she rose to movie stardom. Robison calls her “an old friend who we can warmly embrace again.” Based on audience affection for this show, it could run beyond the listed closing date, since no further productions happen there until the fall.

For more info/tickets visit cincyplay. com.

Three Cheers for Broadway in Cincinnati in 2020-2021 Broadway in Cincinnati recently announced its 2020-2021 season, one of the best in recent memory. Hamilton is coming back for four weeks in March 2021. The season features more musicals, as usual, but also a hit play, some classics and productions for families. Here’s the complete run-down: Pretty Woman: The Musical (Nov. 10-22): A 2018 adaptation of the 1990 movie that weaves a story of a starcrossed meeting between a sex worker and a disillusioned businessman. My Fair Lady (Dec. 1-13): The story of an arrogant linguistics professor who sets out to remake a Cockney flower seller into a refined lady. This 1956 classic was revived in 2018 and nominated for 10 Tony Awards. Frozen (Jan. 6-24, 2021): This Disney animated blockbuster is a familyfriendly Broadway hit. Frozen is about Elsa and Anna, a pair of sisters who are princesses, with songs from the film and a dozen new numbers. The Band’s Visit (Feb. 9-14, 2021): The Best Musical of 2018 is the redemptive story of a band of Arab musicians lost in the desert who must spend the night in a remote Israeli settlement. One-week run. Hamilton (March 2-28, 2021): LinManuel Miranda’s revolutionary musical about Founding Father Alexander Hamilton has impacted culture, politics, and education. It won the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Four-week run. To Kill a Mockingbird (April 6-18, 2021): The 2018 adaptation of the 1961 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel has been a Broadway hit that’s still selling out performances there. Well-known actor Richard Thomas will star as Atticus Finch in the touring production. Hairspray (May 4-9, 2021): A new revival of this 2002 Tony Award winner about 16-year-old Tracy Turnblad, who yearns to dance on TV’s most popular show. One-week run. Ain’t Too Proud (May 25-June 6, 2021): Still a Broadway hit, “The Life and Times of the Temptations” portrays the iconic Motown group as it evolved from the streets of Detroit to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

For more info and tickets, visit cincinnati.broadway.com.

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FOOD & DRINK

The bar and tasting room at Brain Brew P H OTO : K A IT LY N H A N D E L

DIY Distillery Newtown’s Brain Brew lets drinkers customize their own bottle of whiskey in about an hour, using science and taste-testing technology BY SEAN M. PETERS

Brain Brew CEO Doug Hall says he doesn’t want you to buy his line of whiskey, which is now available at The Party Source. Believe me, you’ll want to — it’s some of the best whiskey I’ve had in years and sells for a fraction of top-shelf prices thanks to a new aging process he and his team developed called WoodCraft Finishing. Hall claims he doesn’t want you to buy what he’s made simply because he wants you to make your own blend at the Brain Brew distillery in Newtown. Brain Brew is an intriguing service and brand that allows you to customize your own whiskey to such a refined point that you’re likely to come home with a completely unique bottle.

Make my own whiskey? I’m quite good at drinking it, but I’ve never made it myself; I’ve always left that to the experts. But Hall’s team came up with a process to blend whiskeys to your exact desired outcome.

Hall’s not only a whiskey maker and inventor, he also enables the creative genius in us all, a task that’s in line with his other venture at Eureka! Ranch (where the distillery is located), which provides research and development and innovation strategies for companies looking for a creative edge in the market.

“Life is too short to not do stuff you love. I happen to love inventing, I love teaching people and I love whiskey,” he says. “Now, to be fair, this is a hobby that got out of control. If you’d have told me I’d have a million-case bottling plant on my front lawn, I’d tell you you’ve got to be out of your mind. But we do and we’re shipping it all over the world.”

After a short drive to Newtown, I found myself at Brain Brew HQ, right next to Hall’s home. This rustic wooden ranch is the perfect destination for whiskey aficionados. Enter through the front door and you face a grand bar resplendent with a wall of whiskey bottles, their contents catching the light like an amber kaleidoscope. It’s a beautiful sight if you’ve got a thirst. A bust of Benjamin Franklin, Hall’s obvious hero given his 40-year career as an inventor, sits at the end of the bar, a constant reminder of how far your creativity and work ethic can take you. Turns out Franklin made his own rye whiskey, too. Hall sat me down at the bar and began our interview with a history of whiskey’s role in America. Cincinnati was just as vital to whiskey’s national propagation as it was to beer preProhibition. Don’t let anyone tell you Cincinnati is just another Midwestern city — we hold a prominent role in the nation’s economic and cultural history, especially if you like to drink. Hall worked for Scottish distillery Macallan for 20 years on the innovation side of the business and really knows the intricacies of whiskey, specifically bourbon. Prior to barrel aging, whiskey is nothing like what we’re served at the bar. Around 70 percent of whiskey’s color, flavor and body comes from the barrel’s wood. (Sometimes that clear, unaged corn whiskey is referred to as “white dog” and it tastes a little bit like moonshine.)

“Distilling is not where the magic is, that’s controlled by computer,” Hall says. “The magic is in knowing how to make it work with the wood — that’s the key to whiskey.”

The new WoodCraft Finishing technique is why Brain Brew is able to offer award-winning whiskey at such a fair price. It cuts down on the aging process, producing the spirit in just 45 minutes versus the traditional four to six (or many more) years. Yes, 45 minutes.

Brain Brew sources its young bourbon, rye and grain whiskey — which has been aged in a barrel for a year or less — from a number of distillers in the region. Traditionally, this harsh, young whiskey develops its intricacies while aging in a wooden barrel. Shifting temperatures affect the process: warm weather allows the whiskey to seep more into the wood, while cold temperatures cause it to leech back out, infused with the barrel’s essence.

WoodCraft Finishing is an all-natural process that uses science to control the wood and temperature in such a way that significantly expedites that. (Think of it kind of like an Instant Pot.) Instead of finishing the whiskey in a barrel and aging it in a rickhouse, WoodCraft places the wood directly into the whiskey and then mimics the seasons with technology. Hall has developed chambers that allow the spirit to reach the desired temperatures within a 10th of a degree. In addition to oak, WoodCraft also uses cherry, maple or chestnut — really any wood — according to the website, to expand its range of flavor and complexity. “WoodCraft changes the time continuum. It gives you a finish and a flavor; it doesn’t make it older, it just develops flavor and smoothness. It goes

Nathan Friday is the man behind Boombox Buns, Over-the-Rhine’s source for homemade Chinese-style steamed buns, also known as baozi or bao.

Boombox is the first brand within Friday’s company, Together We Eat, and it likely won’t be the last. He made his debut as a restaurateur when he opened Boombox Buns for weekendonly, walk-up-window business on Woodward Street in an empty space behind The Takeaway Deli and Grocery in the fall of 2018. And in a few weeks, Boombox will reopen in a new, bigger space at 1400 Republic St. as a full-fledged, four-walled eatery. (They ceased window operations at the end of January to prep for the relocation.)

Like the walk-up on Woodward, the Republic location — formerly home to Injoy Street Food — will also be carry-out only. There are only four seats, if you’re lucky enough to snag one, and drinks are self-serve. Expect the same in-and-out service you got on Woodward. As Friday puts it, “No (table)service, not my problem; no silverware, not my problem;” only this time, you don’t have to wait outside for your order.

The space on Republic has been a long time coming. Friday dropped out of the culinary school at Sullivan University and it was for the better, he says. When he got serious about his dream to cook, he took to teaching himself and learning everything he needed to know to advance his career. Ten years in the industry and several restaurant gigs later, he’s fulfilled his dream of opening his own restaurant. Two years of weekend service and sticking to a very tight budget got him to where he is now.

“What people don’t realize is that Boombox was an entire life change. I started a window-painting business to save money for the original window. I stopped spending money and I just saved,” he says. “I wanted to come up with $10,000 to invest and I got halfway. I started the window with $4,500.”

The walk-up was neither a pop-up nor did it operate around normal business hours, opening 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday until the last bun went out the window. Prepping for a weekend-only restaurant with minimal space wasn’t ideal. After selling out on Friday night, Friday would go home and have a quick nap only to rise an hour later and begin prep for Saturday’s service. He worked out of the Incubator Kitchen Collective in Newport, which is a shared space with limited access to outlets and counterspace, so cranking out buns during the day just wasn’t practical.

But version one of Boombox was a stepping-stone for version two.

Like most folks who grew up in the 1990s, Friday has a particular fondness for Chinese takeout. Before he ventured to Cincinnati, he single-handedly ran the steamed bun and dumpling The bun menu at the new Republic Street location will include the customer-favorite beef bun and sweet potato bun P H OTO : L AU R E N K R E M E R

station at Rook in Indianapolis, a contemporary Asian street food spot (he also did a stint as a sous chef at local OTR eatery Please).

He said the restaurant opted to skip the prep process and used premade, frozen buns. Not many people make buns from scratch these days, Friday says. Any recipe dug up will likely be in Chinese and buns are time consuming and environmentally sensitive — they require a certain level of humidity during the proofing process, which is essential to their texture. A lot of people take the processed route because dough proofing sounds intimidating. In his quest to know more about homemade buns, he stumbled across a textbook about steamed breads, which is where he gained the know-how to start dabbling in baking science.

Finding the balance and being able to produce a consistent product was integral. Friday says it took him about nine months to really lean into his bun recipe and fully understand what was happening at each stage of the process. “I have this curiosity about things and I learn everything I can about something until I understand it, and then I move on to something else,” he says.

You can count on the beef and sweet potato buns from the walk-up being on the new menu. They were winners on Woodward. The beef bun is reminiscent of black pepper beef — spicy enough to keep you on your toes and umami enough to keep you coming back for Boombox Buns is the first restaurant in Nathan Friday’s company, Together We Eat PHOTO: LAUREN KREMER

seconds. As for the vegetarian sweet potato bun, Friday says he nailed it on the first try. “Since the first time I tested it, it’s been the same. It was salty, sweet, crispy, crunchy; it’s exactly what I want.” And while the menu at the new spot won’t be as limited as it was on Woodward, it won’t exactly be extensive. Expect another veggie bun as well as a second meat-based choice and a fifth bun option that will change seasonally. Opening a restaurant has been on Friday’s mind for the past five years. In fact, it’s been part of the plan. Boombox is the first in a series of unforetold future achievements. Since he learned about the big names like Eleven Madison Park and Alinea and the endless possibilities in the world of food, he’s wanted to venture into tasting menus and fine dining restaurants. For now, he’s created a brand that’s simple and wonderfully approachable with plenty of room to grow.

“Boombox represents a time, a place; it represents me; it represents a whole culture of people,” he says. Boombox Buns, 1400 Republic St., Over-the-Rhine, facebook.com/ boomboxbuns.

We put a call out on our website and social media asking restaurants to share with us their different carry-out, delivery and pick-up options going into effect after Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine and Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear issued orders to close all bars and restaurants to the public to stem the spread of COVID-19.

“We are literally at a crucial, crucial, crucial stage,” DeWine said in a press conference, emphasizing that the order was designed to save lives.

That closure applies to dine-in situations only — you cannot sit and eat or drink in an establishment — but it does not ban carry-out service or delivery. “You can walk in, buy a donut, buy a coffee, that’s fine,” DeWine said. “But we can’t have people sitting and congregating. Carry-out is fine, delivery is fine. I have some idea of what this will do... there are small business owners this will hurt greatly.”

Here are some (not all) restaurants offering various carry-out and delivery services (also, obviously, check delivery sites like Grubhub, DoorDash or Uber Eats, plus local 53T Courier). And check each restaurant’s hours on their social media or websites as they may have changed. This list is being updated all the time at citybeat.com.

Aladdin’s Eatery — All three of the local Aladdin’s Eatery locations will be offering carry-out and curbside pick-up as well as DoorDash delivery. Find hours online. 1203 Main St., Over-the-Rhine; 3664 Edwards Road, Hyde Park; 9344 Union Centre Blvd., West Chester, aladdins.com.

Branch/The Littlefield — The team behind Branch/Nightdrop in East Walnut Hills and The Littlefield/Second Place in Northside will be offering a to go and delivery menu which will include food, beer and wine. Delivery will cost $10 and $1 from every order will be donated to a local nonprofit food bank. Call Branch at 513-221-2702 to place an order. Orders will soon be available at The Littlefield by calling 513-386-7570. Branch, 1535 Madison Road, East Walnut Hills, eatatbranch.com; The Littlefield, 3934 Spring Grove Ave., Northside, littlefieldns.com.

Camp Washington Chili — The Camp Washington chili joint will continue to serve via carry-out orders and their drive-thru window. 3005 Colerain Ave., Camp Washington, campwashingtonchili.com.

Crown Republic Gastropub — Crown Republic Gastropub is offering DIY pasta dinners: with red sauce ($22), with bolognese ($25), kale or Caesar salad ($10), minestrone soup ($9) and pints of cookie dough ($8). The meals feed 2 to 4 people and can be preordered by calling 513- 246-4272. 720 Sycamore St., Downtown, crownrepublicgastropub.com.

Django Western Taco — Northside’s Django will be adjusting their menu to offer meals for families and meals to enjoy throughout the week, available for both carry-out and delivery. 4172 Hamilton Ave., Northside, djangonorthside.com.

Empanadas Aquí — The restaurant, which just opened a few weeks ago in Mason, will be offering carry-out available to pick up through their drive-thru window. The menu is online and you can call 513- 701-9500 to place your order. 322 Reading Road, Mason, empanadasaqui.com.

e+o New Asian/e+o Kitchen — e+o is offering curbside pick-up and delivery, depending on your location — for both the Hyde Park e+o and downtown e+o. Call to place an order: e+o New Asian at 513- 632-9181 or e+o Kitchen in Hyde Park at 513-832-1023. e+o New Asian, 645 Walnut St., Downtown, eonewasian.com; e+o Kitchen, 3520 Edwards Road, Hyde Park, eokitchen.com.

Fibonacci Brewing Co. — The brewery says on their Facebook page, “We will be open 7 days a week from 11 a.m.-8 p.m. for online orders for drive thru, carry-out, and delivery. We will be servicing ALL of Hamilton County and 45014 in Butler County.” 1445 Compton Road, Mount Healthy, fibbrew.com.

Golden Lamb — Lebanon’s historic Golden Lamb is offering curbside pick-up and delivery from 11 a.m.-8 p.m. daily. “We are featuring our regular All-Day Dining Menu with 20% off all bottled wine from our wine list and $8 four packs of Black Horse Tavern Lager,” says the restaurant in an email. 27 S. Broadway St., Lebanon, goldenlamb.com.

Gomez Salsa Cantina — Gomez will be offering carry-out and online/app orders and is planning to put together family taco night packages; details on those coming soon. 2437 Gilbert Ave., Walnut Hills, facebook.com/gomezwalnut.

Green Papaya — Hyde Park’s Green papaya says it will begin offering a delivery option for customers within a 5-mile radius. Call 513-731-0107 to place an order. 2942 Wasson Road, Hyde Park, greenpapayacincinnati.com.

The Gruff — The Gruff in Covington is offering a full-service drive-thru window during regular business hours as well as DoorDash and local 53T Courier delivery. Call 859-581-0040. 129 E. Second St., Covington, atthegruff.com.

HighGrain Brewing — This Silverton brewery and restaurant is open for carryout and call-ahead orders via 513-791- 7000. They are also offering crowler and Joey & Heaven’s Acer four-packs delivery. 6860 Plainfield Road, Silverton, highgrainbrewing.com.

Jag’s Steak & Seafood — This West Chester eatery says it will be transitioning to curbside pick-up. Call 513-860-5353 to order from a special curbside menu and then drive to the valet station to pick it up. 5980 West Chester Road, West Chester, jags.com.

Jeff Ruby’s Steakhouse — The downtown steakhouse is now offering curbside pick-up. Orders can be made online and can be picked up at the restaurant’s valet stand. 700 Walnut St., Downtown, jeffruby. com.

Jim and Jack’s on the River — Jim and Jack’s is offering delivery, carry-out and curbside pick-up from 11 a.m.-9 p.m. daily. Place an order by calling 513-251- 7977. 3456 River Road, Delhi, jimandjacks.net.

Joe’s Pizza Napoli — Joe’s Pizza Napoli will be open for carry-out, offering woodfired pizzas, salads, appetizers, wine, beer and sodas. Place your order at 513-248- 0082. 507 Chamber Drive, Milford, joespizzanapoli.com.

Karrikin Spirits Company — Karrikin will offer both carry-out and delivery for their food menu, spirits, sparkling spirits and craft beer. They will also be giving away housemade sanitizer with each order (and selling it, with proceeds benefitting restaurant industry folks). Place your order at 513-561-5000. 3717 Jonlen Drive, Fairfax, karrikinspirits.com.

Kinneret Grill — This Kosher meat and Mediterranean restaurant is offering daily curbside pick-up as well as delivery via DoorDash and Grubhub. They are also creating family meal specials. 4068 E. Galbraith Road, Deer Park, kinneretgrill.com.

MadTree/Catch-A-Fire Pizza — MadTree’s taproom is temporarily closed, but carry-out beer will be available as well as pizza from Catch-A-Fire Pizza. Orders can be made online and will be available from 11 a.m.-8 p.m. daily. 3301 Madison Road, Oakley, catchafirepizza.alohaorderonline.com.

The Original Pancake House — Michael Schnee, owner of The Original Pancake House in Montgomery, says “We are implementing Curbside Carryout and local delivery beginning immediately.” New menu additions will also be added this week. 9977 Montgomery Road, Montgomery, originalpancakehouse.com.

Pho Lang Thang — The Vietnamese favorite will be open from 11 a.m.-9 p.m. daily for carry-out and delivery. Pho Lang Thang also says it has increased its menu offerings. You can order online or by calling 513-376-9177. 1828 Race St., Over-theRhine, pholangthang.com.

The Pickled Pig — Their full menu is available for carry-out. 645 E. McMillan St., Walnut Hills, smokedandpickled.com.

Red Rose Jems — Red Rose Jems in College Hill will offer carry-out and delivery. Call 513-620-7673 to place an order. 5915 Hamilton Ave., College Hill, redrosecollegehill.com.

The Rhined/Oakley Wines — The Rhined and Oakley Wines are consolidating into one shop at The Rhined in Findlay Market. An online shop will be going live and all inventory will be available for curbside pick-up and delivery (at The Rhined). 1737 Elm St., Over-the-Rhine, therhined.com.

Saigon Noodle Bar — Saigon Noodle Bar will offer carry-out and delivery as well through DoorDash and Grubhub. Taylor Le of the noodle bar says, “We will now also have curbside pick-up available.” 9220 Allen Road, West Chester, facebook.com/ saigonnoodlebarcincinnati.

Share: Cheesebar — Share will be open 4-8 p.m. for carryout through Thursday, with weekend hours TBD. Call 513-351- 3063 to order. Share owner Emily Frank says, “Share: Cheesebar went to carry-out Saturday…have no fear, you can still get the cheesy goodness!!” 6105 Ridge Ave., Pleasant Ridge, sharecheesebar.com.

Silver Spring House — This cult-favorite chicken eatery will be open for carry-out, catering and gift cards. Please call 513- 489-7044. Curbside carry-out is also available. 8322 E. Kemper Road, Hazelwood, thesilverspringhouse.com.

Streetside Brewery — On its social media, Streetside says, “Streetside Brewery will remain open daily from 3-8 p.m. for carry-out orders. We will offer a drive-through option with details coming.” Street Chef Brigade will remain open daily. 4003 Eastern Ave., Columbia Tusculum, facebook.com/streetsidebrewery.

Strong’s Brick Oven Pizzeria — All Strong’s locations will be open for carry-out and delivery. 336 Monmouth St., Newport; 1990d Northbend Road, Hebron; 1 E. High St., Lawrenceburg; 8794 Reading Road, Reading, strongsbrickovenpizza.com.

Sugar n’ Spice Diner — The restaurant is taking carry-out orders with the option of curbside pick-up. They are also working on adding an online ordering system. 4381 Reading Road, Paddock Hills, facebook. com/eatsugarnspice.

Taglio — Taglio will be open normal hours for carry-out and delivery. “We will be implementing new carry out and delivery procedures to ensure a contact free transaction for our staff and customers,” they say. Order the Detroit-style pizza and alcohol online or via their app. 3531 Columbia Parkway, Columbia Tusculum; 56 E. 12th St., Over-the-Rhine, eattaglio.com.

Unataza Coffee — The Northern Kentucky coffee shop will be offering their full menu via curbside pick-up or carry-out from their shop. To place an order, call 859- 261-8292. They will soon offer delivery via Grubhub. 620 Sixth Ave., Dayton, Kentucky, facebook.com/unataza.coffee.

Via Vite — Offering curbside carry-out daily. They are also creating a special half-pan of their five-layer lasagna for $60. 520 Vine St., Downtown, viaviterestaurant.com.

Werkhaus Pizza — This pizza joint will be open for carry-out and delivery (including wine and beer) during normal hours. Call 513-451-9911. 3637 Werk Road, Cheviot, werkhauspizza.com.

Seasonal Seafood & Craft Cocktails

FRESH FISH I PRIME RIB HOT CHOCOLATE LAVA CAKE SPECTACULAR WATERFRONT DINING

from harsh to smooth,” Hall says.

When you go to create your own whiskey, six samples of Brain Brew’s different whiskey varieties will be laid out in front of you. Their flavors run the gamut in terms of smoothness and flavor: sweet, smoky, spicy, lots of notes to consider, but well explained. Even though I was given a lot of information, it was never overwhelming.

Brain Brew has also made a program on a touch-screen tablet that asks you simple questions about your whiskey preferences. I was asked questions like if I like sweet or spicy more, if I like a quick finish or a lingering taste. Do I like my whiskey neat, on the rocks or in a cocktail? After a few short minutes it determined what my ideal whiskey would be based on the data it gathered. Hall then mixes a glass of whiskey using the proper ratios with a small ladle he invented. You can order a bottle of your custom whiskey for $45, using the recipe determined by the program.

“We define an innovation as ‘meaningfully unique’: meaningful, as it makes a difference and unique that it’s never been done before,” Hall says. Brain Brew is expanding and has opened a custom blending house in Windsor & Eton Brewery in the U.K. to share Hall’s spirit of invention with a whole new market of whiskey lovers. To know that Cincinnati still serves as an important global influence in something as important as whiskey? That goes down nicely. And the line of whiskeys on retail shelves? Definitely worth purchasing, even if Hall would technically rather you stop in to make your own. Visit Brain Brew’s website to learn about scheduling your own whiskey-making session.

Brain Brew Distillery, 3849 Edwards Road, Newtown, brainbrewwhiskey.com. Brain Brew CEO Doug Hall (right) and Global Head of Operations Joe Girgash P H OTO : K A IT LY N H A N D E L