Recently my wife and I celebrated our anniversary with a trip to Salazar Restaurant & Bar. This Over-the-Rhine spot has been on my list of places to try for some time and we finally found time to get there without the kids.

Inside

The inside of the space is pretty small, with no more than ten tables available, none of which were available upon our arrival. We put our name on the list and grabbed a couple of drinks at the bar. The Jalisco Spice ($11), blanco tequila mixed with lime juice, agave, chili simple syrup, on the rocks and topped with Royal Jamaican ginger beer and a Peychaud’s bitters float, was a spicy yet refreshing drink.

Farm Greens Salad

For starters I went with the farm greens salad with carrot-coconut milk vinaigrette, salted cashews, peas, and pickled cucumber ($10). The portion was plenty for two to split and it was packed with fresh ingredients. Overall a solid starter and I thought the dressing was top-notch.

Heirloom Tomato Salad

My wife ordered the heirloom tomato salad with burrata, cucumber, pickled sweet onions, tomato focaccia, and petite lettuces ($11). This was a much smaller serving size and not really enough to share. However what was there was incredibly fresh and delicious.

Amish Chicken

For dinner I had the Amish chicken breast with braised kale, smoked chicken sausage, garbanzo beans, peas, and preserved cherries ($23). The chicken was cooked to perfection but I felt it could have used some extra seasoning. The rest of the dish was also fairly bland aside from the chicken sausage and cherries, which I could have used a lot more of.

Barley “Risotto”

The real surprise of the night was the barley “risotto” with tomatoes, fennel, rainbow Swiss chard, and Pecorino Romano ($19). The serving size was large and the sauce was exquisite! I didn’t taste much fennel, which was not very upsetting to me, but the chard was plentiful. A true vegetarian delight.

For the most part we had a good dining experience at Salazar, though I do wish I enjoyed the chicken more than I did. I would definitely go back for more of the risotto, though the prices are a little more than we typically like to spent. Salazar will be reserved for special occasions, and with so many competing restaurants we haven’t been to, it will be hard to justify a return trip in the near future.

Things have been pretty crazy around here lately. I had a week-long business trip to Denver towards the end of September, sandwiched by an epic run of three weddings. First was Kim’s cousin’s wedding at the Newport Aquarium Saturday night before my trip. The kids sure loved having the aquarium to themselves for the evening.

Family Shot

Frog Bog

The next morning I got up early to catch my flight to Denver in time to make the drive out to Evergreen, Colorado for our friends Rob & Robyn’s wedding. The scenery was amazing and I got to see a lot of old friends throughout the night.

Evergreen, Colorado

Robyn & Rob

After my week of work it was time for Kim’s brother’s wedding back home in Cincinnati. Chip and Emily couldn’t have been any happier and the reception was packed with well over 350 of their closest family and friends.

Emily & Chip

Flower Girl

Wedding Nap

I’m going to do my best to get back to somewhat regular posts. I already have a few restaurant reviews nearly ready to go, so check back soon.