The past couple of years my strategy for the Taste of Cincinnati has been to show up early to try to avoid the large evening crowds. The hard part in doing so is that the temperatures can sometime be really warm in the early afternoon, such as this year. In the end we only made it for about an hour and a half, but I was still able to sample most of what I had wanted to try.

First up this year was the fried peanut butter and jelly sandwich from Strasse Haus in Covington. This was the “Best of Taste” in the appetizer category. My mom found this right away and I stole a bite of it after letting it cool. It really was delicious, and this comes from someone who wasn’t a big peanut butter and jelly kid growing up. It would be a little hard to actually share as an appetizer (and I don’t even see it on their menu) but it was good nonetheless.

Strasse Haus - Fried Peanut Butter & Jelly

Next was an item on my agenda, du jours black bean burrito, the “Best of Taste” winner in the vegetarian entrée category. This restaurant operates inside the Gateway One building on Elsinore Ave. It appears that there is an affiliation with the former Courtyard Cafe. Anyway this burrito was excellent! I was really surprised at how much flavor was involved with what appeared to be a rather standard vegetarian dish.

Du Jours - Black Bean Burrito

From there we headed down toward the food truck area at the far east end. Food trucks were a new addition this year, though only three of them were on site (plus Queen City Cookies and Cold Stone for dessert). The three were Pizza Bomba, Cafe de Wheels, and Taco Azul. Since I had already had the other two, I decided to try a slice from Pizza Bomba.

Pizza Bomba

My brother recommended the mac and cheese pizza to me, which he had the day prior and really enjoyed. However that seemed a little heavy for the hot afternoon. Instead I went with a slice of pepperoni. After a couple of minutes wait my slice was ready for me to eat. The crust is made on the truck, cooked perfectly, and tastes wonderful. The small pepperoni slices were abundant and tasted great, as did the cheese and sauce. I really enjoyed this slice of pizza and hope to find their truck again soon.

Pizza Bomba - Spot-On Pepperoni

At this point we were all getting hot and decided to move on, but not before I stopped to try the new Rondos from LaRosa’s. According to their Facebook page, “Rondos are the pizza version of the cinnamon roll.” This was not my first time having pepperoni rolls, as they were a favorite of our at Wyman’s #5 in Denver. And while not as great as Wyman’s version, the Rondos were good. The spinach Rondos won an Award of Excellence.

LaRosa's - Pepperoni Rondos

Overall it was another successful visit to the Taste of Cincinnati!

Last night was one of those nights where karma was on my side. The Dave Matthews Band was in town for a show at the Riverbend Music Center, a place I have seen them play at seven times before, the last time was back to back nights in 2003. Last night was my 45th time seeing DMB play (including a couple of Dave & Tim Reynolds performances). I had tickets with my family in the lawn, surprisingly where I’ve sat for every other DMB show I’ve seen at Riverbend since 1997. In my more recent years I’ve really developed a dislike for lawn seats, but I figured hanging with my family would be a blast. It turns out that seeing a show with them on the lawn will have to wait for another time.

Free PIT Upgrade!

As we were all sitting on the lawn between sets my brother spotted a couple of people walking through the crowd with a sign advertising free pit passes for anyone driving a Volkswagen. At that point I was so glad that I had driven our ten-year-old VW Jetta to the show. I sprung to my feet with my key in hand and ran toward the pair. They saw me running and yelling from a mile away and even though a couple of other people were quickly approaching, I was awarded the pair of free pit tickets!

Sweet!

Since my brother was the one who spotted the sign he claimed the other ticket and away we went. Wristbands were issues to us to allow access to the general admission pit area. Once inside we made it to within probably ten feet of the stage. Toward the end of the show there were only a couple of people between us and the band. It was an incredible experience that I will not forget. Seeing the band perform at such a close distance after years of following them is remarkable. They way they interact on stage and with the crowd is something that cannot be experienced elsewhere.

You Never Know

My only regret was not having a better camera with me. I tried my best with my iPhone 3GS and I still managed to get some good shots. Here are another dozen of my favorites from the 70+ photos I took.

#41

Duel #1

Seven

Tripping Billies

Gaucho

Jimi Thing

Boyd

Two Step

Full Band

Squirm

Watchtower

Duel #2

A weekend visit to a friend’s house in Terrace Park left us searching for somewhere to get some fresh sandwiches for carry out. Enter Miami Market to the rescue! It was a bit out-of-the-way, but there is very few options on Route 50 between Hyde Park and Terrace Park. Fortunately the sandwiches from the Miami Market more than made up for the extra drive time.

Outside Miami Market

From the outside the Miami Market just looks like a typical roadside carry out spot for snacks and drinks. But you will quickly notice the outside seating areas and even a sign indicating where to find their drive thru window.

Inside Miami Market

Once inside you will still find a small selection of snacks and drinks, but around the opposite corner is the real treat of this little shop. At this counter you can find a new hot plate special every day along with made to order sandwiches, including some grilled varieties. I also noticed some pasta salad, potato salad, cole slaw, etc. in the display case.

Cranberry Walnut Chicken Salad

Once I saw the cranberry walnut chicken salad in the case I knew that was what I was going to be eating. I had wanted to get it on a Servatti’s pretzel bun but they were out, so I went with light rye instead. It was delicious! And as an added bonus it cost less than $5. They also have a plain chicken salad that our friend had and seemed to really enjoy. If it weren’t so far from home, Miami Market would be one of my regular stops for lunch.

In case you missed it this morning, SpaceX’s Dragon capsule became the first commercial spacecraft to dock with the International Space Station. A recap of the events can be viewed in this video. It’s well worth taking the 10 minutes to view this history in the making.

We got a Dragon by the tail.

Saturday evening I participated in the Tap ‘N’ Run, a 4K run with 4 beer chugging stations along the route. Kim and I signed up to be a part of our friend Sean’s surprise 40th birthday team, “4-0, The New 2-0.” We even had matching shirts made.

4-0, The New 2-0

The race start itself was a little chaotic since most participants could not hear the announcers. There were at least ten different waves, but I think most people accidentally ended up in the wrong wave. Fortunately our team made it to the very front of one of the waves, and it just happened to be the third wave that we were pre-assigned.

We Got Tapped

Early on I decided that I would run the race at a relatively normal pace even though I figured the beer chugging would slow everyone down. There was definitely a large number of people who walked the entire course, but I was also surprised to see a lot of others running it too.

With the Birthday Boy

All finishers were given a souvenir medal (that also serves as a bottle opener) along with a full beer of their choice. My time was 20:42, or approximately 8:20 pace. Definitely a little slower than I would normally run in a race setting, but this was good enough for a 94th overall finish out of 3,153 participants. Not too shabby. Our team finished 9th out of 87 teams in the growler division (8 or more members).

Finishers Medal

Saturday morning was the annual Walk Now for Autism Speaks. One of my cousins has autism, so Autism Speaks has long been an organization that I’ve supported. Our team, Westside PAWS, raised $2,105 this year!

Westside PAWS

Walk Now

End of Our Walk

After the walk is over, the classic rides at Coney Island are opened for a couple of hours of free riding. Trey took full advantage of this and rode nearly all the kiddie rides.

Boats & Trains

Racing Rockets

Turtle Parade

Smale Riverfront Park

This past Friday was the grand opening of the John G. & Phyllis W. Smale Riverfront Park. For months I have followed the progress of this new park through the Cincinnati Parks YouTube channel and it was very exciting to see all the aspects of phase 1 of construction completed.

Opening Ceremony

The opening ceremony took place on the Jacob G. Schmidlapp Event Lawn & Stage with a handful of local bands providing entertainment throughout the night. The neighboring Moerlein Lager House had the “Moer to Go” window open for beer orders as well as a few tents setup selling BBQ and sausages.

The Walnut Street Fountains & Steps

The most impressive feature of the park (besides the lager house) is probably the Walnut Street Fountains & Steps. The fountains and cascades are so wide and large that it is hard to get a picture of the entire structure, but I will have to remember to do that in the future when all the lights are on.

Main Street Fountain

Though wading in the Walnut Street Fountains is prohibited, the nearby Main Street Fountain is a fully interactive fountain for children of all ages. The array of colors that are used to light up the water is simply impressive.

Labyrinth through the Tree Grove

Other features of phase 1 at the park include the Labyrinth, Tree Grove, and Black Brigade Monument. It is really something to see. I hope that they continue to hold events on the lawn so that more people will come down and enjoy the new park. I can’t wait to see additional phases of the park come to life.

Last night I headed downtown to see Kim’s graduation from the YWCA’s Rising Star program. From their website:

YWCA Rising Stars are a dynamic group of younger professional women nominated by members of the YWCA Academy of Career Women of Achievement to participate in a program designed to provide unique networking, mentoring, and educational opportunities.

The YWCA Rising Star program was created by the members of the YWCA Academy of Career Women of Achievement in 2002.  One of the goals of the Academy is to “lift as we climb” – to support younger women in pursuit of excellence in their careers.  In 2002, the Academy introduced the Rising Star program as a vehicle to recognize and support younger career women who will become our city’s future leaders.  By giving the Rising Stars the opportunity to interact and network with career women of diverse backgrounds, this program provides these younger leaders with the opportunity to address topics that will enhance their ability to further their career success.

The room was full of many very powerful young women. Being one of only a handful of men in the room, it was a little intimidating actually. However I was happy to be there to show my support for Kim and congratulate the rest of these women. A few members of MUSE Cincinnati’s Women’s Choir were on hand to sing a touching rendition of “True Colors.” It was an inspiring evening.

Finding new recipes is really easy with the internet, but I still like sharing some of the really good ones that I find. My latest finds are a spicy roasted broccolini quinoa salad and cowboy mashed potatoes. The broccolini quinoa salad was sent to me by my friend Aaron after he read my last entry on broccolini. After preparing his recipes (full directions at the bottom of the post) I have to admit that his is much better than my last attempt. I especially like that goat cheese addition to the quinoa.

I discovered the recipe for cowboy mashed potatoes after realizing that I had some unused red potatoes along with some Yukon gold too. This recipe combines both potato varieties with some other vegetables to make a rather unique dish. I wouldn’t say that I liked them better than the garlic mashed potatoes that I usually prepare, but they were still good.

Dinner Plate

Spicy Roasted Broccolini Quinoa Salad

Prep Time: 15 mins | Cook Time: 30 mins | Servings: 1 serving | Difficulty: Easy

Ingredients:

• 1 bunch broccolini, stalks trimmed
• 2 tsp olive oil
• 1 lemon, juiced
• 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 cup quinoa
• 2 cups vegetable stock
• 1–2 tbsp crumbled goat cheese
• 1 handful cherry tomatoes, halved

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

2. Cut the broccolini into bite-sized pieces, about 1 1/2 inches.

3. Place broccolini on a parchment-lined baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil. Squeeze the lemon over the raw broccolini and season with salt, pepper and the red pepper flakes. Toss to make sure each piece is coated.

4. Roast for 15 to 18 minutes in the pre-heated oven, until stalks are tender and the heads of the broccolini are just lightly browned. Remove from oven and set aside.

5. In a medium-sized pot, combine the quinoa and vegetable stock. Bring the liquid to a boil and then reduce to a simmer. Let the quinoa cook until all the liquid has been absorbed, about 15 minutes.

6. Once the quinoa is fully cooked, fluff with a fork, and toss in the roasted broccolini, crumbled goat cheese and cherry tomatoes. Season with salt and pepper and serve.

This past Saturday night was a date night for my wife and I. We had a party to attend later in the evening, so we took advantage of my in-laws watching our son and headed out to dinner, just the two of us. Originally I had wanted to try something downtown that I wouldn’t want to drag our son to, but with a Reds game that night most of the places I had in mind were quickly filling up. Instead we headed over the river to Covington to see what we could find.

Outside Chez Nora

Once we hit the historic MainStrasse Village with all the outdoor dining we parked the car and wandered over to Chez Nora. An employee inside the restaurant told us we were welcome to select our own table outside, so we sat at a table right on Main Street where we could hear the music that was being played on the plaza across the street. Our server arrived before long and took our drink order. Despite not being very knowledgeable about their beer selections, he was very familiar with the food menu.

Bread Basket

After placing our orders, a basket of fresh and warm bread was dropped off. We were told that it did have pistachios in it, which was great for us, but also would probably be beneficial to anyone with a food allergy. The bread was great, and our server offered to get us a second basket, but we were trying to save room for our meals.

Dinner Salad

My entrée included a side and I chose the dinner salad, which did not cost extra. It’s always frustrating when a restaurant tries to charge extra for a side salad instead of another side dish. The mix of greens was fresh, but otherwise the salad was very standard.

Chicken & Sausage Jambalaya

For dinner I chose the chicken and sausage jambalaya ($13 with a side). It arrived before I could even finish eating my salad and was very hot! The amount of meat in the dish was excellent, as it appeared nearly an entire Andouille sausage was included in addition to a whole chicken breast. The portion was large and the chicken was very tender. Unfortunately I could have used a little more spice. A bottle of Tabasco was provided, but I would have preferred to have the heat already packed inside. With that said the flavor combination was good and I ate nearly the entire dish.

Crab Cake Appetizer

My wife went with the signature crab cake appetizer ($14) – a delicious blend of jumbo lump and claw crab meat, served with their rémoulade sauce. I don’t eat much seafood so I did not have a bite of her dish but she made several remarks to just how good the crab cakes were. The crab cake dinner is also available for $21 and includes two sides. I’m not sure if the dinner is two or more crab cakes, but my guess is two.

Overall we had a great dining experience at Chez Nora. The food was good to great, service was quick and friendly, and the outdoor tables in the neighborhood are hard to beat.