The original Quatman Cafe opened their doors in Norwood in 1966 and is still in business today. Earlier this week I had the opportunity to try some of their food in the more recent Mason location.  For some reason Mason seems to be the place for restaurants to open their second location, at least that is the case for Blue Ash Chili (which I reviewed earlier) and for  Quatman Cafe. I’m totally cool with it though, as it gives me local, non-chain options when searching for lunch outside my office.

Nothing special jumped out at me about the outside of the building. It was a rainy afternoon so I quickly parked my car in the rear lot and hustled inside. I used the side door closest to the parking lot, which put me toward the rear of the restaurant. I wasn’t sure if I should seat myself and I couldn’t find a sign anywhere indicating their protocol. Fortunately some other guests arrived through the front door and found their own table, so I went ahead and did the same thing.

Inside

The inside of the cafe is fairly large and filled with tables and booths for all size parties. There is also a smaller bar area running the left side of the building, which didn’t really seem to fit in the rest of the space. They do server alcohol though, so I guess it makes sense to have a bar. However the main room feels more like a traditional deli and sliced meats are sold by the pound in the back.

A served was over to my table right after I had sat down. I asked for an iced tea while looking over the menu quickly. She reported that they had a few complaints about their tea earlier in the day. Since that was the case I gladly accepted the offered bottled tea instead. For lunch I decided to start with a bowl of their homemade bean and ham soup ($2.80) along  with a chicken salad sandwich ($5.50).

Bean & Ham Soup

The bean and ham soup came out right away and was served very hot. I don’t think I’ve ever had bean and ham soup before, but this will certainly not be the last time. Decent sized chunks of ham were mixed in with plenty of smaller shredded pieces.  I really enjoyed the thick and hearty soup.

Chicken Salad

While enjoying the soup my chicken salad sandwich was  delivered. When my order was taken I was given my choice of white, wheat, or rye bread along with lettuce, tomato, onion, and pickles. Sandwiches are served with a side of Husman’s potato chips. My first thought when the sandwich arrived was that it was a pretty good sized basket of food for less than $6. The chicken salad itself was very traditional but in a good way. The mix was mostly shredded chicken, but there were hints of pickle or celery thrown in. It tasted great and was very filling.

On a future visit I think I would skip ordering both the soup and the sandwich for lunch, as it was a little more filling than I typically like my lunch to be. With that said both items were very good and are worth ordering for yourself. Quatman Cafe offers great food for an affordable price.

I’m no stranger to Dewey’s Pizza. I’ve eaten at various Dewey’s locations easily a dozen times or so dating back to my college days in the early 2000’s. Despite attending the University of Cincinnati, I’m pretty sure last Saturday’s visit to their Clifton location was my first time there. In the past you could find me at Harper’s Point or Newport on the Levee. Recently I’ve made attempts to dine in to the Oakley location, but it is always so crowded, and we end up with ordering carry-out instead.

After the UC basketball game on Saturday afternoon a large group of my in-laws decided to meet for a victory celebration. We tried to call ahead to get a reservation but quickly found out that no tables are held, even for large groups. As soon as one member of our party arrived they put our name in and they surprisingly had a table ready for us within ten minutes of my arrival. I was expecting a party of our size to have at least a 45 minute wait, if not longer, on Saturday night.

House Salad

My wife and I started with a regular sized house salad ($7.95). This is a very large salad, easily enough for two to share. It combines field greens  with toasted pine nuts, sun-dried cranberries and goat cheese. The mix is then tossed with Dewey’s own house dressing (balsamic vinaigrette). It is just as  delicious  as it sounds with a nice combination of nutty, fruity, and peppery flavors. Another excellent salad choice is the  candied walnut & grape, which combines field greens with candied walnuts, red grapes and Gorgonzola cheese, tossed with Dewey’s citrus basil vinaigrette.

Green Lantern

Our group ordered a variety of pizzas. Our choice for our end of the table was the Green Lantern pizza with red sauce, light mozzarella cheese, minced garlic, mushrooms, goat cheese, artichokes, and pesto  (17″ $21.45). This could possibly be my favorite pizza of theirs. The gourmet style pizza is covered in fresh toppings. The combination of pesto with the creamy goat cheese was awesome! Dewey’s crust is also exceptionally good. In addition to the Green Lantern I also recommend the Bronx Bomber and the Southwest BBQ Chicken pizzas. Truthfully you cannot go wrong though. This is some of the best pizza in town!

I had quite a weekend as far as sampling IPA’s goes. My dad came over on Saturday to help with a home improvement project that I will likely be spending a ton of my free time on before our new baby comes in the next month or so. But that is a topic for another time. During a break in the action we cracked open a couple of bottles of my remaining stash of Bell’s Hopslam. I will admit now that the 10% beer probably isn’t the best beer to have before doing any work with power tools, but the only real damaged items were a couple of broken drill bits.

Once our work for the day was complete we sampled Great Lakes new double IPA, Alchemy Hour. Though I didn’t like it as much as my bottle of Hopslam I had earlier, there is a  noticeable  sweetness that both beers share. And even though it doesn’t live up to Hopslam, this is still a very solid beer and is one that you can still buy in stores today, unlike Hopslam which hasn’t been available for at least a month.

Alchemy Hour

From there I opened a bottle of the very fresh Enjoy By 04.01.13 from Stone. This was my second time trying the Enjoy By series and I have to admit that the novelty has worn off a bit for me. It felt more unique when the 11.09.12 batch only went to two states. This batch went out to nearly twenty states! With that said, it is still an excellent IPA with a very fresh hop flavor. I bet there are still a few bottles of this around Cincinnati and it is available on tap too. In fact I’m heading out in a few minutes to get a some from the Cock and Bull in Hyde Park.

Enjoy By 04.01.13

On Sunday we were celebrating my grandmother’s 87th birthday. The party was at my grandparents’ house, which always means BYOB. This finally gave me the chance to crack open one of my cans of Heady Topper from The Alchemist. This is one of the highest rated IPA’s out there. In order for me to get my hands on it I had to trade some beer with a friend who lives in the northeast. I received four cans of Heady Topper, four cans of Gandhi Bot, and four cans of  668 Neighbor Of The Beast in exchange for a couple six packs of Hopslam, which he cannot get in his state.

Beer Trade

The Heady Topper was my first beer at the party on Sunday evening and it was delicious! I don’t know for sure that I can say it is my favorite IPA of all time, but it is definitely up there. Picking just one favorite is something that I’ve never been able to do and I don’t see that changing even with such an amazing beer. After a can of Heady I decided to mix it up and try one of the cans of Gandhi-Bot, a double IPA from New England Brewing. This was nearly just as good as the Heady and another example of an excellent double IPA.

I still have extra cans and bottles of all  these beers which I will probably start putting a dent in this coming weekend. It is always a good idea to drink IPA’s fresh and often.

This past Friday night I took my family and my parents to the Tusculum Grille for dinner. I had previously read about this restaurant on Kellogg Avenue near Lunken Airport  from an article on Soapbox. I must admit that I was doubting my decision as we pulled into the dark parking lot. The building was not well-lit and sits in a rather rundown and desolate part of town.

Outside

My hesitations continued as we entered the restaurant, which is actually more setup as a bar. The main room has a very large bar that spans the back wall, along with an open dance floor on one side and a small stage for bands to perform. On the other side of the room are a few tables and high tops. There were no other people eating dinner inside and just over a handful of people gathered at the bar and high tops. I’m hoping it is a much more popular place during boating season, as it’s just down the road from Four Seasons Marina.

Inside

There was just one employee working the entire room including the bar, but that was okay due to the small crowd. He greeted our table right away and was quick to bring back drinks. There are only five or so beers on tap and nothing that really jumped out at me. The bottle selection wasn’t much better and could really use some good craft beer offerings.

Appetizer Sampler

Since it was a late dinner for us and we were all very hungry, we started with their appetizer sampler ($9). This consisted of three  mozzarella  sticks, two chicken tenders, five mini corndogs, and a half order of onion rings. It was a ton of fried food that all appeared to be direct from a frozen bag. However it was served hot and we ate every last bite.

The Works

We ordered two different specialty pizzas to share for dinner. First up was the works with  pepperoni, sausage, banana peppers, red onion,  mushrooms  and black olives ($15). At this point I really wasn’t expecting much from the pizza, but I was pleasantly surprised. I couldn’t tell if the dough was made from scratch, and I doubt that it is, but the sauce is their own recipe. The pizza has a very thin crust and was piled high with toppings. The crust reminded me a lot of Donatos, but this pizza is cut into bigger squares. Overall it was a good pizza.

The Veggie

Since it was a Friday in Lent my mom demanded a meatless pizza, so our other choice was the veggie with black olives, mushrooms, red onion, banana peppers, and extra cheese ($13). We  didn’t  realize it at the time of ordering but we ended up with two very similar pizzas, just that one had a couple of meets on it. This pizza was much like the first and we enjoyed it. Though I would definitely pick the works over the veggie when given the choice.

There is definitely nothing fancy about Tusculum Grille. Though it isn’t dirty inside, it feels much more like a bar than someplace to enjoy dinner. However the patio out front with the party ready UC tailgate fire truck parked nearby looks like it could be a fun place to spend a Saturday afternoon once the weather is warmer.  With that said the pizza that we had was good. I wouldn’t go out of my way to eat it again, but they do offer delivery to some nearby neighborhoods.

This past weekend was Bockfest, the annual  celebration of historic Over-the-Rhine, Cincinnati’s brewing heritage, and the coming of spring. As we did last year, we took in the parade on Friday from outside Mayberry. At first the staff tried to stop us from taking our plastic cups of Bell’s Consecrator Doppelbock  out on the sidewalk, but as the parade approached they gave in and let us go outside.

Schnitzel, The Goat

Arnold’s Bathtub

The Trojan Goat

Bockfest Turns 21

OTR Brewery District

MOTR Pub

The Empire Strikes Bock

Pedal Wagon

We had a great time down at the parade and enjoyed our annual bock beer. The bock beer style is not my favorite, but I’m always up for drinking the correct style at events like this. Once again I didn’t make it to Bockfest Hall, but there is always next year.

I took a break from work on a rainy afternoon last week to visit Kitchen 452 in Walnut Hills. The location in the historic DeSales corner business district is filled with other small businesses. The outside of the restaurant and adjoining spaces is really colorful and full of beautiful architectural details. I found a free parking spot on  Clayton Avenue, which is the street just north of the restaurant, and quickly headed inside.

Outside

The inside of the restaurant is very tastefully restored, featuring exposed brick walls, stained glass windows, and beautiful hardwood floors. The are only a half-dozen or so tables inside, and most were occupied upon my arrival. One of the owners, Jen, was cleaning off one of the tables as I walked toward the register and stopped to introduce herself. Once she was back at the register she introduced me to the other co-owner, Leah, who also took the time to stop her food preparation and say hello. It was a nice touch and left me feeling right at home.

Inside

The menu is written on a large chalkboard on one wall and is also provided at each table. It is fairly short and simple with two soups, a few salads, and handful of sandwiches. They are focusing on seasonal and fresh ingredients, so the menu will change regularly. After placing my to-go order and waiting for it to be prepared I caught a whiff of their creamy tomato soup and it smelled delicious. It would have been perfect for the rainy and cold February day, but I would have to wait until another time to sample it.

Hot Ham & Swiss

The sandwich I chose on this first visit was their hot ham and Swiss with green apples and  Dijon  mustard on Shadeau wheat bread ($7.79). All sandwiches come served with a side of pita chips that have a nice seasoning on them with just a hint of spiciness. The sandwich was served on toasted bread and was filled with a healthy amount of ham, a large slice of Swiss, and perfectly thin wedges of apple. The mustard provided a nice contrast to the sweet and tart flavor of the apple. The combination was excellent!

Orzo

I also had a side of their orzo with root vegetables  and ginger dressing ($3). The vegetables were fresh and cooked perfectly to match the  orzos tender texture. The ginger dressing added most of the flavor and it was a nice touch. I would definitely order this again, though I wish I could swap out the pita chips for a side dish to go with my sandwich. That’s not to say that I didn’t like the pita chips, it is just nice to have extra options. And ordering both items was a little much for me for lunch time.

Kitchen 452’s space on Woodburn Avenue was formerly occupied by the Skinny Pig, which was only open a few short months in 2011. After one visit to Kitchen 452 I really hope that they stick around for years to come. I know that I will definitely be back for more soon.

In a bit of  ridiculous  beer news, Elevator Brewing Co. in Columbus, Ohio has  re-released  their  Ghost Scorpion Lager, a beer made with Trinidad Moruga Scorpion and ghost chili peppers. It is regarded as the hottest beer on the planet, according to the Ohio Breweries Beer Blog. In a quote from the previously mentioned blog:

“It’s not quite as dangerous as it was last year,” Elevator owner Dick Stevens said about the new version. “But we still tell people not to drink the stuff.”

You don’t have to tell me twice! I definitely will not be drinking any of this, and this comes from someone who will try nearly any beer out there.

This past Sunday afternoon, after working up a sweat on the trails around Lunken Airport and Armleder Park, I finally made it to Terry’s Turf Club for a very late lunch. This restaurant on Eastern Avenue has been very popular since it’s opening over five years ago and many view it as the best hamburger in Cincinnati. Since I don’t eat hamburgers Terry’s was never on the top of my list of places to visit, but I was convinced when my brother-in-laws wanted to check it out.

Outside Terry’s Turf Club

Since our party was nearly bigger than all the seats put together in this tiny restaurant, we split  into  two groups. My group arrived first around 3:15 PM. I was joined by my wife, my two-year-old son, and one of my brother-in-laws. The majority of the tables in Terry’s are high top, so we decided to wait a few minutes for a booth to open. There are less than a handful of booths available, but our wait was only five or ten minutes. Fortunately there is an outdoor waiting area with newly installed heaters and plastic sheets to block out the cold.

Outside Waiting Area

A few other smaller groups arrived while we were waiting and were seated immediately. Terry’s utilizes a community table seating method, so you may be sat at the same table as another small group. The inside of the small dining room and bar is completely covered with neon signs. There is definitely plenty to look at while waiting for your food to arrive. Plus a complimentary basket of peanuts is provided to each table for snacking.

Inside Terry’s Turf Club

The menu has a dozen or so  appetizers  followed by the sandwich offerings: burger, filet mignon, grilled chicken, portabella or shiitake mushroom, blt, grilled cod, lump crab cake, grilled boneless halibut, grilled Mahi, and pork loin. All sandwiches are served with choice of lettuce, tomato, pickle, onions, banana peppers, mayo, and two slices of American or Swiss cheese. In addition there are many  add-on  toppings, cheeses, and sauces. It was a little intimidating for a first timer and perhaps a list of some customer favorite combinations could help.

Grilled Chicken Sandwich

I went with the grilled chicken sandwich ($8.50) and had it covered in all the standard toppings including Swiss cheese. I also had the onion and banana peppers grilled before being added on top.  Potato chips are offered on the side or you can upgrade to fresh-cut fries for $2, which I did. Meals are served on paper plates, no silverware is provided, and one large knife is given to the table to share to cut the sandwiches in half if desired. The sandwich was large and the toppings were fresh, however it seemed a little expensive at $10.50 for my plate.  I also found it to be a little dry and probably should have added a sauce to the sandwich, but those cost at least $2.25 more.

Cheese Burger

I was disappointed to find out that there is no kids menu at Terry’s. If they are already creating their burger patties by hand, why not add a cheaper version for the kids? Their answer was to order a grilled cheese ($4) but there was no way my demanding two-year-old wasn’t getting his cheese burger. We had no option but to order the $8.50 burger for him and hope he would like it enough to eat the leftovers too. He did seem to enjoy the burger, but with a 100 word vocabulary I’m not sure how much of a review he can give.

Crab Cake Sandwich

My wife ordered the lump crab cake sandwich with fries ($11.50). She said that the crab cake was good, not the best she’s had in town, but still a solid alternative to a hamburger. I did not try her sandwich but I did steal a few of her fries after I had finished mine. These fresh-cut fries reminded me a lot of fries we used to make at home when I was growing up. They were relatively thick cut and fried well to a golden  brown. These are definitely an upgrade over the included Wavy Lay’s style potato chips.

Overall I found Terry’s Turf Club to be overpriced and not very kid friendly. The burgers may be one of the best in the city, but their other sandwiches leave a little to be desired. I doubt I will return.

Mr. Hanton’s Handwiches was kind enough to park their food truck in a parking lot across the street from the convention center during our lunch break from the 5B Blogging Conference. Cafe de Wheels was also on hand, but I’ve already reviewed them, so my decision was easy. Mr. Hanton’s specializes in hot dogs and handwiches, basically a sausage of your choice covered in a ton of toppings. They offer five different sausages to choose from: beef frank, chicken apple, goetta, hot mett, and Italian sausage. The menu is actually pretty large as there are over 30 toppings available. However Mr. Hanton has identified the best sellers, making it a little easier for first timers.

Mr. Hanton’s

I went with the “not so hot chick” with a chicken apple sausage, BBQ sauce, yellow mustard, bacon and chopped onion ($5.00). Also available is the “hot chick” with habanero mustard instead of the yellow mustard. I considered ordering the hot version, but decided it wouldn’t be a good way to kick off a day of drinking. I was offered a small taste of the habanero mustard and I must say that it burned my mouth for a few minutes. Though I do think it would be good on the handwich.

Not So Hot Chick

My handwich was piled high with plenty of toppings and was a lot more filling than I thought it would be. The combination of BBQ sauce and mustard is really good and not something that I ever would have imagined to put together. The chicken sausage had a nice mild sweetness to it as well as a little savory spice flavor. I would definitely order the “not so hot chick” again, but with so many other choices on the menu would probably end up with something different next time. I hope to run into Mr. Hanton’s food truck sometime again in the future. They will also be opening a permanent location in the new  U Square at the Loop  near the University of Cincinnati in either late spring or early summer.

After an awesome Friday night of the Cincy Winter Beerfest with so many friends and family, I was really looking forward to Saturday’s  second annual  5B: Believers in Better Beer, Bites and Blogging Conference. You may recall that I attended the  inaugural  conference last year and had nothing but  positive  things to say about it.

The lineup for this year was a little different from last but the basic idea was the same, three sessions at a time with one of each focusing on beer, bites, and blogging. We had a little extra time at the beginning this year for the coffee and conversation opening, which was nice as I was able to catch up with people who I had met the year prior and also meet some of the newcomers for this year.

Once we broke out into the hourly sessions, I focused my attention once again on the beer blogging track. The first session featured social media stories (successes and failures)  from three local brewery representatives, Jason Brewer of  Listermann Brewing, Patrick Clark of  Mt. Carmel Brewing  and Carla Gesell-Streeter of  Rivertown Brewing. Turns out that Jason and Patrick both had stories similar  to what Troika Brodsky of  Schlafly Beer had last year. They all are performing the social media operations of their breweries in addition to other job functions within their breweries. Carla has recently helped Rivertown with their social media operations and I can attest to what a difference she is making.

Lunch was next and I promise to give a full review tomorrow of a food truck offering that I sampled. New this year was a private beer tasting we had thanks to  Heidelberg Distributing,  Stagnaro Distributing,  Premium Distributing  and Lexington Brewing. And once the beers became available many brought their tastings along with them to the afternoon sessions. I feel that this helped loosen the crowd and led to even better conversations.

Richard Dubé

The first session after lunch for the beer track was presented by  Richard Dubé, Head Brewer at the  Moerlein Lager House, and was titled, “And you say you don’t like beer!” It turns out that Richard gives weekly tours through the brewery at the Lager House and he almost always runs into someone who tells him that they don’t like beer. He then sees this as his personal mission to find a beer that they will in fact like. He says that it is impossible to dislike every beer, so they just haven’t had the beer that is right for them. I often feel the same way about beer and try my hardest to give suggestions to others based on their own personal tastes.

Up next we had the do’s and don’ts of beer blogging as presented by  Tom Aguero of  Queen City Drinks  and  Scott LaFollette of  Blank Slate Brewing. Tom is a beer blogger and Scott is a new brewery owner, so the two put together a great list of guidelines to follow when doing beer blogging, or any blogging for that matter. Tom had kindly posted the list on his website for reference.

Demystifying The Three-Tier Beer Distribution System

The final session on beer blogging was demystifying the three-tier beer distribution system with Lindsey Bonadonna Roeper of  Heidelberg Distributing, Eddie Anderson of the  Craft Beer Alliance, Pnut Kahles of  Dilly Café  and Travis Childs of  Everything’s d’Vine. While some may view the three-tier distribution system as pure evil, the panel helped to prove how it is actually beneficial to all the small craft breweries that I love. It may not be a perfect system, but it does help allocate space to the small guys, which probably would not happen if the big guys owned all the stores and distribution systems.

What was originally supposed to follow all the presentations was entry into the  Industry Trade Show and Locals Tasting Session, but that was canceled by the Beerfest. Instead we had our own bottle share, glassware swap, and general networking for the next couple of hours. This was an awesome addition to the conference! I was able to sample some rare and hard to find beers thanks to the generosity of other bloggers in attendance. As Tom from Queen City Drinks tweeted, “When founders breakfast stout is the least drank beer you know your somewhere special.”

Just as I said at the end of my post on the Beerfest itself,  as long as the conference is held I will definitely be a participant. Thanks Hoperatives.