Throughout this summer on Thursday nights a new event is taking place at Washington Park, Bandstand Bluegrass. After last night’s performance by the Comet Bluegrass All-Stars, three events have already taken place, with twelve more to go through the beginning of September.

Comet Bluegrass All-Stars

Last night my family and I went to check out it. The awesome thing about this event is it is fun for all ages. The photo below was taken from the children’s playground. So even if you are running around the slides and swings with your little ones, you are still within range of hearing the concert.

Washington Park Crowd

Eli’s BBQ is also available every Bandstand Bluegrass night with $5 pulled pork sandwiches. And Mt. Carmel is on hand as well to provide refreshing beer to those of age. Be sure to bring a lawn chair or blanket as permanent seating is limited.

Eli’s BBQ

We had a blast last night and I’m sure we will be down again soon for another fun-filled evening.

Earlier this week my family and I visited Sunrock Farm for a two hour family tour. We joined several other families on a highlight tour of the most enjoyable areas of the farm. All of the children in attendance were able to milk a goat, bottle feed baby goats, gather eggs, hold a baby chick, pet a pig, and brush a horse. Farmer Frank was our guide for the morning, offering many jokes, as well as tons of information about the animals. The cost of the tour is $10 per person and reservations can be made by calling (859) 781-5502. Sunrock Farm also offers school tours, day camps, traveling petting farm, birthday parties, and much more.

Some friends of mine are helping to put on a brand new music festival in Columbus this summer. From the press release:

Prime Social Group is proud to announce details of the inaugural Breakaway Music Festival, an all-new concert series presented at Major League Soccer stadiums across the country. Each large-scale event will feature a genre-busting multi-artist bill spanning indie, EDM, pop, hip-hop, and beyond. Each festival date will feature a strong local component, highlighting a thriving local music scene. It’s “Your Field. Your Fest.”

Breakaway Music Festival will kick off on Saturday, September 14 at Columbus Crew Stadium in Columbus, Ohio. The lineup will feature a breathtakingly diverse roster, including Bassnectar, Empire of the Sun, Kendrick Lamar, Columbus’ own Twenty One Pilots, Porter Robinson, Tokyo Police Club, Schoolboy Q, Robert DeLong, American Authors, LA Riots, Stalley, Shreddie Mercury and more. The festival will also feature local acts CJ the DJ & Freaky Franz, Evan Oberla Project, Forest and the Evergreens, Jared Mahone, Kid Runner, Post Coma Network and more. Presale tickets will be available exclusively at breakawayfestival.com beginning Tuesday, June 18 at 11AM; general on sale will then get underway on Friday, June 21 at 11AM.

The festival will also take place at FC Dallas Stadium on September 21 featuring Wu-Tang, Empire Of The Sun, Matt and Kim, and many more.

For complete details, up-to-the-minute news, and ticket information, please visit breakawayfestival.com and facebook.com/breakawayfestival.

For dinner this past Friday my family and I headed to the newly opened Lime Fresh Mexican Grill in the still expanding Rookwood Exchange project. Lime is a new chain of restaurants that started in Florida and now has nearly 20 restaurants in 6 states.

Inside

It is hard not to immediately start comparing Lime with Chipotle, Qdoba, etc. As with the other restaurants in this category, orders are placed at the counter immediately upon entry. However at Lime you do not walk down a line while your food is assembled. Instead your full order is placed, you are handed a table number, and your food is brought to you within a few minutes.

Salsa Bar

After placing our order, I immediately stopped at their extensive salsa bar. Chips are provided on the side with all orders and the self-serve salsa bar provides an array of dips. I tried nearly all of them and found the majority of them to be underwhelming. They all lacked any heat, with the exception of the super spicy Habanero. I found myself gravitating back to the pico de gallo the most. The pineapple was my wife’s favorite. If I had to pick one from the others I think the Verde was the best.

8th Street Burrito

I ordered the 8th Street Burrito, a flour tortilla stuffed with chicken, homemade organic black beans, rice, crispy bacon, sour cream, pico de gallo salsa and tortilla strips ($7.99). I did not know that the burrito was going to be grilled after assembly, but that was a pleasant surprise. I am not sure if all burritos are served that way. The first few bites of the burrito left with me nothing more than bland rice. Once I finally made it to the meat of the sandwich, I enjoyed the mix of flavors. A large selection of hot sauce was also available at the counter, which I used to add some spice.

Tacos

My wife tried both varieties of fish taco. The first was a soft flour shell stuffed with fresh grilled fish, shredded lettuce, pico de gallo salsa and topped with a special sauce ($3.50). The second, surfer taco, was a soft flour shell stuffed with baja-style fresh fish, finely shredded cabbage, pico de gallo, and cool cilantro sauce ($3.50). She enjoyed the surfer taco more than the original fish. I had small bites of these and would have to agree with her. The cilantro sauce on the surfer was great and added a lot to the taco. Either style of taco could be made a meal of 3 tacos for $8.49.

Our two-year-old son had a chicken taco with only cheese on it ($2.00 during happy hour, $3 otherwise). Also available is kid taco with just meat and cheese for $2.50 any other time.

Trifecta App

We also shared a trifecta appetizer of homemade pico de gallo salsa, fresh guacamole and creamy queso dip ($5.49). It seems dumb to me to include the pico when it is available to everyone at the salsa bar, but we did not realize that at the time of our order. The queso dip was my favorite of the three and I think I would just order a larger serving of that on another visit. The guacamole was alright, but not as good as Chipotle’s. They offer four different kinds of guacamole, so maybe another variety would be better than the classic.

Patio

We ate our dinner on their spacious and shaded patio. This space is nearly as large as the entire indoor portion of the restaurant. There was a cornhole game setup on the side, which provided my son with some entertainment while my wife and I finished our meals. The patio was awesome and I hope to visit again soon.

Overall the food at Lime Fresh Mexican Grill was hit and miss. I don’t think the burrito was as good or as big as Chipotle’s, despite the higher price. The fish tacos were good and a very nice addition to the menu. I saw some of the other customers eating salads, which actually looked really good, so I might try one of those on a future visit. I’m sure we will be back, their Friday happy hour with $2 Mexican beers, $3 frozen margaritas, and $2 tacos is reason enough.

Saturday morning my family and I went to Parky’s Farm, a 100-acre educational farm with live animals, wagon and pony rides, playground, indoor Parky’s Playbarn, and more. Most activities and exploring are included with $3 admission per vehicle, or the $10 annual Hamilton County Parks pass. The pony rides are $3 per child shorter than 48 inches, the wagon ride is $2.50 per person (2 and under are free), and the indoor playbarn is $2.50 per child (2 and under are free).

In addition to the above mentioned activities, our two-year-old love the petting yard with one month old baby goats as well as watering all the vegetables in the large gardens. We spent at least three hours at Parky’s with all the activities available. Since the park is inside of Winton Woods, there are many other activities you could enjoy, and you could easily spend an entire day there.

Three weeks ago a new gelato and crêpe place opened in Mt. Lookout Square called Buona Terra. My family and I checked it out last Friday after having dinner at Zip’s.

Inside

The inside is beautifully renovated and modern. The menu is written in chalk on the wall, which I’m assuming was painted with chalkboard paint. They have a handful of crêpe options split between sweet and savory. We didn’t try the crepes on this visit, but will be back soon to do so.

Counter

They have a massive gelato case that wouldn’t even fit through their front door. Fortunately they were able to get it inside while doing renovations to the outside walls. It contains two dozen varieties of gelato and sorbet. The friendly employees are more than happy to let you sample as many as you’d like.

Gelato Case

Our son easily settled with the cookies and cream gelato, while I chose the blackberry sorbet ($3.50 each for small cups). They try to use as many local ingredients as possible. For example, the blackberry came from locally sourced berries from Sunrise Farms located in Dalton, Ohio.

Gelato!

Both flavors were delicious. The cookies and cream was very creamy and had a great chocolate balance to it. As much as I liked it, the blackberry was even better. I would highly recommend it. We will be back again soon and will definitely be trying the crepes as well.

My wife and I met for lunch on a recent Wednesday afternoon at the Washington Platform Saloon & Restaurant. The original Washington Platform was established in the same location in 1875. Unfortunately prohibition forced the closure of the saloon until it was re-established in 1986. The current restaurant at the corner of 10th & Elm is now famous for their oysters and seafood.

Outside

The restaurant was decently crowded on our arrival at 12:30, with most customers sitting in the back dining room. There is a more casual dining space just inside the front door and next to the bar, but that was not being used much during our visit. The back dining area is more brightly lit and offers a better experience in my opinion.

Mixed Greens Salad

My wife and I both started with a mixed greens salad, which was included with our entrées ($2.95 otherwise). They make all of their dressings in-house and they include Caesar, sweet chili vinaigrette, buttermilk garlic ranch, balsamic vinaigrette, 1000 Island, and bleu cheese. I tried the sweet chili vinaigrette and was amazed by how delicious it was. The balsamic was also tasty, but we both agreed that the sweet chili was the way to go. It was great!

Cajun Grilled Snapper

My wife ordered the Cajun grilled snapper served with vegetables ($18.95). She was served a large plate of food with two big pieces of fish. I’m not really a fish lover, so I just tried a small bite. The snapper was heavily seasoned with Cajun spices and was cooked well. It did not tasty overly fishy, which I appreciated. My wife really seemed to enjoy it.

Chicken Carbonara

Even though half of the menu is dedicated to seafood, there are some other options. I went with the chicken carbonara in a Romano cream sauce with bacon, onion and sweet peas ($15.50). Again the serving size was large. I’ve had carbonara dishes before that I did not like, but this one was pretty good. It had a subtle cheese and cream flavor that let the bacon, onion, and pea mixture shine through.

Overall we had a good dining experience from the Washington Platform Saloon & Restaurant. Be sure not to skip their delicious homemade salad dressings even though the entrée plates are large and filling.

Last night I attended The Lumineers concert at Riverbend. It was a lovely night for a concert with temperatures hovering around the 70 degree mark. The show was originally scheduled for the much smaller and intimate PNC Pavilion on May 4, but was moved to Riverbend after tickets originally sold out in minutes.

Opening the show were J Roddy Walston and the Business, which I completely missed, and the Cold War Kids. I wasn’t familiar with the Cold War Kids at all, but their indie rock sound reminded me a lot of the Local Natives. Their latest single “Miracle Mile” is a good example of their sound at it’s best. I watched the majority of their set from the lawn and noticed that Riverbend has installed another projection screen.

New Project Screen

The Lumineers started their 80 minute set at 9:30 on the dot with their piano and drum driven song “Submarines.” The biggest shock of the night came when they launched into their mega-hit “Ho Hey” after playing just three songs before it. I almost expected some of the crowd to thin after this move, but the venue remained filled throughout their entire set.

I never really noticed it before, but lead singer Wesley Schultz sounds a lot like Bob Dylan. This was especially evident during a cover of Dylan’s “Subterranean Homesick Blues.” One of my favorite moments of the night came in the middle of their set when Schultz and Neyla Pekarek shared vocal duties on a new song. Pekarek can really sing, and I wish the band better utilized her vocal abilities.

The Lumineers

The second single from their debut album, “Stubborn Love,” was the second to last song of the set and was a high point of the night. The encore started with “Morning Song,” the last song on their album. Then came another cover, the Violent Femmes’ “American Music” which turned into a big sing along. The same was also true with the last song of the night, “Big Parade”

Overall the concert was a good one and was well worth the $35 ticket price. I still think that it could have been even better if it were at a smaller venue, where the audience could feel more connected. However I think that opportunity has passed since the band continues to sell out venues across the country.

I was recently given a free Draftmark Tap System from BzzAgent for my evaluation. It didn’t come with any beer in it, but I finally got around to buying a refill bottle of Goose Island Honker’s Ale today. The store I went to had that along with Budweiser and Michelob Amber Bock refills available. Other varieties can also be found such as Shock Top, Shock Top Wheat IPA, and Bass Pale Ale.

Honker’s Ale

The sales clerk at the store commented that not many of the Draftmark systems or refills have been sold. I had to agree with her judging from the dust that was collected on top of each box. That left me wondering about the freshness of the beer, and I could not find a born on date or expiration on the box. All it said was that the beer would stay fresh for 30 days once installed in the system. I would really like it if there were born on dates available that way you know how fresh the beer is.

Draftmark

The Draftmark operates using a rechargeable battery pack and uses air to keep the right pressure for the flow-rate. The pressurizing is a noisy process that you can hear even through the closed refrigerator door, but at least you know it is working. It was a little deep to fit on some of my refrigerator shelves, and I found it worked best on the top shelf of mine.

In The Fridge

Pouring the beer should be just as you would do with any draft beer. Start with a tilted glass, pour the beer so it falls a short distance on to the side of glass, and straighten the glass as you pour. Unfortunately I found it impossible to not get at least three fingers of head, most of the time I wound up with even more than that. Using a very bad pour form would result in nearly an entire glass of foam. It does settle quickly, but definitely not the ideal way to pour a beer.

Lots Of Head

The beer itself was nothing extraordinary, but it goes down easy. Honestly it reminded me a lot of one of my homebrews. Each refill has one gallon of beer in it, or around 8 pints. At around $15, the refills are a great deal considering what the equivalent amount would cost in a bar. I’m curious to see if the beer truly does stay fresh for a month, or could it even go longer, even though I doubt it will last that long anyway.

Yum!

Overall the Draftmark system is a neat idea. However it doesn’t seem to have caught on with the general public. And I have a couple of issues with the design and functionality. If more styles of beer were available, I could see myself using it, but with the current lineup I don’t think I will be refilling it again anytime soon.

My family and I visited Istanbul Cafe last Tuesday evening. The Turkish and Mediterranean restaurant sits downtown on Vine Street, not far from the intersection with 7th. From my research, the restaurant was formerly named Turquoise.

Outside

The inside of the restaurant does in fact have turquoise walls along with Mediterranean artifacts and even Cincinnati history hanging on them. The crowd was filling around half of the available tables upon our arrival at close to 8 P.M., which seemed surprising to me in the downtown location. We were given a table in the back of the restaurant and offered high chairs for the kids.

Chicken Adana Kebab

Typically my wife and I will split a sampler appetizer when visiting a Mediterranean restaurant like this, but we didn’t like the idea of the chef picking the selections as part of their sampler. So we just decided to order two entrees and split those. I ordered the Chicken Adana Kebab, which is ground chicken seasoned with red peppers, parsley, and paprika, then grilled on skewers ($14). This was served with basmati rice and sauteed vegetables. The chicken was outstanding! It was full of flavor and grilled to a crisp on the outside, yet the inside was moist and delicious.

Falafel Plate

My wife ordered the falafel plate, which consisted of four falafel patties, hummus and and salad ($13). The falafel and hummus are two items we would definitely want on a sampler, so this was a good way to try them both. The falafel was much too dense and chewy for my tastes and I would not order it again. However the hummus was creamy, just as it should be, and with very good taste, and the green salad was surprisingly pleasant as well.

Even with mediocre falafel, I think Istanbul Cafe’s excellent chicken adana kebab and hummus were enough to earn a return trip sometime in the future. Also the restaurant is BYOB, so don’t forgot to pack your favorite bottles of suds on your visit.