With increasingly busy schedules my wife and I don’t find much time to enjoy a meal without our kids very often. So we recently started meeting for lunch during the work week. Revolution Rotisserie & Bar was our first destination. We had passed by earlier in the week with our kids in tow, but didn’t think there was much on the menu that they’d like to eat. The menu is limited to pita sandwiches all featuring their signature rotisserie chicken, along with a handful of salads and some chicken based specialty plates.

Inside

Upon our arrival on a Thursday for lunch, all the tables were occupied and we were told it would be a ten minute wait. We let the hostess know that we needed to be in and out in an hour and she was kind enough to pass this along to our server when we were seated a few minutes earlier than the quoted wait time.

George Washington Pita

We had already browsed the menu while waiting for our table and put in our order right away. I went with the George Washington pita sandwich with rotisserie chicken, arugula, feta cheese, red onion, cucumber, tomato, and tzatziki sauce ($8). With such a Greek influence on the dish, I’m not sure why it is named as it is, but regardless the taste was outstanding!

Nelson Mandela Pita

My wife went with the Nelson Mandela with rotisserie chicken, pepperjack, black beans, corn chips, cilantro, tomato, and chipotle ranch ($8). Again this was a very good sandwich, though I think I’d give a slight edge to Washington’s creation as it seemed to pair best with the pita bread.

Joan of Arc Side Salad

My wife also ordered the Joan of Arc salad as a side ($2) with strawberries, toasted almonds, goat cheese, and raspberry basil vinaigrette. The portion size was very generous and the ingredients were really fresh. I tried just a small bite of the salad and it was excellent.

Tater Tots

For my side I went with the tater tots served with chipotle ranch dipping sauce ($3). The price tag for this side is a little high when compared to the salad. If you are planning to order two or more sides of tots it might be better to split the tater tot poutine appetizer instead ($8), which features cheese, gravy, and chicken on top of a generous portion of tots.

The food at Revolution Rotisserie is excellent. Our service was fast and attentive to our needs. I will absolutely be back in the future, though I wish some more kid friendly dishes were on the menu.

It took me quite some time to realize that Hyde Park Gourmet Food & Wine in Hyde Park Square is more than just a boutique grocer. It’s true that the store has an extensive selection of gourmet cheeses, crackers, chocolates, sauces, and not to mention the massive collection of wine, but they also offer quick salads, sandwiches, and soups.

Inside

There are roughly a dozen choices of panini sandwiches, all served on grilled Ciabatta bread. I chose the Hyde Park with turkey and pepper jack ($7.99). The bread was rubbed with an olive oil mix before being pressed on the grill, which added a great flavor to the sandwich. It came served with pretzels or chips and a pickle on the side.

Hyde Park Panini

I also ordered a chicken salad sandwich on rye with choice of lettuce, tomato, onion, sprouts, mayonnaise, mustard, and horseradish sauce ($6.00). I was planning to split the sandwiches with my wife, but I quickly discovered almonds in the chicken salad mix, which I’m allergic to, so my wife ended up with this sandwich to herself, which she didn’t seem to mind. Again this was served with chips or pretzels and a pickle slice.

Chicken Salad Sandwich

Overall the sandwiches were good and were offered for a fair price. As far as cold sandwiches go, it is hard to beat the nearby Carl’s Deli, but I think the panini sandwiches are worth at stop at Hyde Park Gourmet Food & Wine. We took our’s to go and enjoyed them on a bench in the square, or a small patio is available just outside the front door.

Recently there was an article posted by WCPO’s Jesse Folk asking the question, “Are there too many breweries in Cincinnati?” Most seem to be believe that we are far from the saturation point and I couldn’t agree more.

Jagged Mountain Brewery

I spent the majority of last week on business in Denver. When I moved away from Denver in 2011 there were definitely less breweries in town than there are in Cincinnati now. And now there are over 100 breweries in the greater Denver metro area.

On my first night in town I explored a couple of these breweries in the newly revitalized River North Art District. There are currently ten breweries in this one neighborhood, none of which existed five years ago.

River North Brewery

In fact there are so many breweries in the area now that even my friends living in Denver have become a little overwhelmed. There is definitely a long way for Cincinnati to go before I could become overwhelmed by the choices available.

It’s no secret that I’m a big fan of the Cincinnati’s Tunes & Blooms series. The first three weeks of this year had to be postponed due to severe weather in the area each of those weeks. Last night was the first make-up date and it seems that many people haven’t got the message about the rescheduled dates as this was the least crowded I’ve seen Tunes & Blooms in years!

Lion Cubs

There are still two more rescheduled dates, the first is tonight, Thursday, May 7. The second is next week on Wednesday, May 13. And now that Zoo Babies is going on, it is the perfect time to head to the zoo. Last night I took the kids over to see the three lion cubs and the ten African painted dog puppies. The energetic lion cubs must be driving their parents crazy as it looked like the keepers have given them phone books to explore and other things to chase.

African Painted Dog Pups

The painted dog pups are just as rambunctious, but I think there are enough of them that they often leave their parents alone. The creek that runs through their habitat seems to give them plenty to explore as well. It’s going to be a fun couple of years watching these babies grow up.

Happy Cinco de Mayo! Over the weekend my family and I visited the Cincy-Cinco Latin Festival on Fountain Square. The 12th annual event took place Saturday and Sunday and featured Latin music, dance, and food.

Fountain Square

While my wife and I were able to enjoy some Mexican beers and Latin styled food, our kids loved exploring all the children’s activities that were available. The highlight was easily the Home Depot area where everyone was welcome to paint a flowerpot and once dry a flower was added to it, all completely free of charge. The kids area also featured a variety of games and a prize was awarded after playing them all.

Children’s Activities

My four-year-old had so much fun painting the flower-pot, that we ended up going back again on Sunday so that he could paint another. And the timing couldn’t have been better with mother’s day just around the corner.