Tickled Pink at Red Feather: Farm to Table in Cincinnati

Whipped ricotta 

At first glance, Red Feather might not be an obvious choice for vegetarians. And entire section of the menu is 'shells & bones." But the 'scratch kitchen' had more than enough to satisfy several plant eaters, as wells meat lovers.

Vegetarian cauliflower

While we drank our delicious cocktails, we had warm roasted olives with grilled lemon. And whipped ricotta on grilled bread with truffle honey. We might have gone sparingly on the cheese; after we finished all the bread, we still had a mound of soft, creamy ricotta. We were offered, and devoured, more bread.

Red Feather is in Oakley, a developing neighborhood close to downtown Cincinnatired. On a freezing night, the place was packed, but we had a relatively quiet table in the corner. There's a chef's table and an inviting bar.

Unique menu

Roasted beets with arugula

Brussels sprouts and broccoli sounded good except they were served with pig's ears. That's a hard pass. But the excellent salads included one with roasted beets, honey yogurt and baby arugula, and a simple greens salad with pine nuts and shallots.

My husband and I shared the spiced cauliflower with barley, which had an intense sauce. We also had the excellent scallops, on a parsnip puree with trumpet and maitake mushrooms. I could have had the mushrooms and puree as a main course and been thrilled.

Scallops

There were a coupe of fish dishes and enough interesting cocktails and wines by the glass that I could definitely return.

My friend was disappointed in his $73 steak, but it was cheerfully replaced with an $18 burger that he loved. (And we were paying, so were happy not to pay for that giant hunk of meat).

Over the Moon in Over-the-Rhine

Breakfast quesadilla at B&A Street Kitchen

In the 35 plus years I've been visiting Cincinnati, Over-the-Rhine has transformed from a place to be avoided to a must see.

Findlay Market is the center of this foodie destination, and hit quality restaurants keep popping up around it. A great place for brunch is B&A Street Kitchen. In fact, B&A is only open for breakfast and lunch.

Hot sauce on the table 

What particularly appealed to me was the chorizo tofu on the menu. Instead of paying for breakfast meat but not ordering it, we could have a vegetarian substitute that was equally yummy.

B&A specializes in Southern and Mexican food. Which means I had to try something from each region. My husband I split a biscuit and breakfast quesadilla.

Biscuit with chorizo tofu

At most Southern restaurants, biscuits are served with a meaty gravy. But B&A Street Kitchen has a vegetarian peppered milk gravy. And 2 kinds of pork gravy.

We had the huge biscuit with chorizo gravy. You can also have it with an egg.

On the side, we got creamy savory grits, made with milk and cheddar cheese. There were 2 kinds of hot sauce on the table, but the grits were so peppery that we didn't need much hot sauce. There are also sweet grits.

The back room at B&A Street Kitchen

We gilded the lily with the breakfast quesadilla. It comes with either eggs or chorizo gravy, but we had both. It also had cheddar cheese. It came with sour cream and salsa. The medium red was quite spicy.

There are so many other things to try: a biscuit sandwich with caramelized onions and peppers, avocado and spinach; omelettes, burritos and pancakes. And avocado toast. This is just the breakfast menu.

My niece's first food was avocado

At lunch, there are salads and vegan chili. And soup.

It was unseasonably warm, so we had the cold brew. Delicious. There is also nitro cold brew, Mexican hot chocolate and craft sodas.

There are high chairs and a children's menu.

This Cafe is For You: Maplewood Kitchen and Bar

Quinoa cakes with poached eggs

My mother-in-law disparages restaurants she won't like by declaring, "that is not my kind of place." Maplewood Kitchen and Bar is firmly in that camp.

Which means that middle aged and millennial foodies will go gaga for it. At MKB, in downtown Cincinnati, you stand on line to order your food, but in a welcome twist, a hostess shows you to a table and a server delivers your food.

No need to split your group, with one person commandeering a table and fending off customers with food trays and looks of desperation.

Blond wood aesthetic

Food for all

But if Maplewood Kitchen and Bar is beyond the understanding of the Applebee's crowd, it is appealing to a broad base; food is fresh, organic and of the moment. It is vegetarian friendly, yet it has plenty of meat, along with  recognizable dishes like burgers, sandwiches and wraps.

Roasted mushroom toast

We were there for the more uncommon food, like the power bowl, which had quinoa and farro, poached eggs, beets, greens, corn, tomatoes and avocado. It was healthy and delicious. We also shared the quinoa cakes,  with poached eggs, tomato sauce and greens. It needed a hit of hot sauce, which was on the table.

MPK has avocado toast, of course. And though this version sounded great, with pistachios and local honey, we tried the roasted mushroom toast.

My mother in law would call this an open faced sandwich but I just call it scrumptious. It had caramelized onions, goat cheese and ricotta under a bed of tiny mushrooms.

Power bowl - powerfully good

Our friends had the chicken bowl and 'enlightened' Caesar, with kale and romaine, and they were happy, too.

What do you want to drink?

MPK has craft beer on tap, and cokctials made with fresh pressed juices. You can also have the juices with alcohol, of course.

The cafe has taps where you can help yourself to still or sparking water, with leon if you wish. There is even chilled or room temperature water on tap. My grandparents always espoused room temperature water, so they would have been happy.

If, of course, they were open minded enough to give Maplewood Kitchen and Bar a chance.

Over the Moon in Over-the-Rhine

The lovely sea bass at Salazar

You don't usually hear of James Beard award-winning chefs in Cincinnati, but Jose Salazar has planted his flag in the eponymous Salazar.

Cheers: Dokie's Trick

The restaurant, in the fast gentrifying Over-the-Rhine area of Cincinnati, has a small menu of perfectly executed dishes.

The broccoli 'nibble'

We tried two 'nibbles' - fried broccoli with yuzu aioli and an adorable fried oyster sandwich with kimchi on a tiny brioche roll. The sandwich, served on a wooden round, was delicious and easily split in two. And the broccoli was enough for four of us to have a healthy portion of caramelized yumminess.

Tiny oyster sandwich

My husband and I shared a starter of polenta, made with a vegetarian stock, and served with mushrooms and pickled veggies. It had an egg on top that dripped yolk over everything.

Local vendors

Salazar serves the excellent Blue Oven Bread from nearby Findlay Market. But it's $6 and comes with marrow butter. There are also BBQ pig ears. So this is definitely for adventurous eaters.

Spinach potato gratin

My husband loved his sea bass, with a potato puree and preserved Meyer lemon. I went pure vegetarian with a potato spinach gratin. It was full of flavor from the fiddlehead ferns and spring pea puree.

The cocktail list has unusual choices, like Dokie's Trick, which resembled a Manhattan, but had smoked ice. We also tried the Clarify It, a spicy cocktail with gin, green charteuse, basil, jalapeño, lime and calcified milk. That last ingredient threw me for a loop, but it was just the whey separated from the curd and added an intriguing note to a fabulous drink.

A nod to the past

Check out the bathroom, where there is a vintage photo of the grocery store that used to be here, and a current one, with the chef / owner standing in the same place the former owner stood.

Brunching with the Best: French Crust Cafe, Cincinnati

Scrambled eggs on a croissant

Brunch is often dismissed as the bastard step-child of a restaurant, with the lower-level cooks & wait staff slinging over-priced eggs.

But at the French Crust Cafe and Bistro in Cincinnati, Ohio, the owner, Jean-Robert, greeted everyone and made it clear: brunch matters here.

Eggs Benedict from French Crust Cafe

Great cup of espresso

French Crust Cafe is across the street from Findlay Market, Ohio's oldest public market, so it has a high standard. This is evident just in the coffee choices: there is fantastic espresso, individual pots of French press, or delicious regular coffee.

Car and Streetcar

We had wanted to ride the new Cincinnati Bell Connector, a streetcar, to the restaurant, but the 3.6 mile loop goes nowhere near the very suburban area where we stayed. So we parked in Findlay Market's lot, sampled our way around the place, rode the streetcar and looped back to the other side of the market, where the French Crust Cafe stands.

In front of French Crust Cafe

The big, comfortable Jeep Trailhawk we were driving easily fit my in-laws and my daughter; my aging in-laws insist on still driving, but we were able to convince them not to since we only had to pay to park one car ($2 for the whole afternoon -kind of unbeatable). And the streetcar costs just $1 for a two hour pass; it's $2 for all day. Fares are on the honor system; we never had to show our passes. But don't try to ride without one; there are spot checks and you are fined if you don't have a pass.

My jaded New York daughter didn't know what a streetcar was; to her, a "street car" is a junker that you can park on the streets of New York City and not worry about. The electric Cincinnati Bell Connector goes from Over the Rhine to the waterfront, and you can hop on and off.

Happy vegetarian

Eggs Benedict are usually off limits to me, but the FCC version had spinach instead of Canadian bacon. Score! The perfectly poached eggs were served over homemade brioche. Lovely.

Even the scrambled eggs were far above a basic scramble. These had goat cheese and asparagus, and they were ladled over a flaky, delicious croissant. There was even an unexpected side dish of fresh fruit.

Prices are surprisingly gentle: $8.50 for the scrambled eggs, $9 for the eggs Benedict.

Jean-Robert has three other restaurants in Cincinnati. I look forward to the chance to try them. If I can drive a Pacifica minivan, we can fit my husband's aunt and uncle in, too.

Note: Chrysler loaned me a Jeep for this drive. Opinions expressed are my own.