Heavenly dancing coming to Cincinnati

January 31, 2015 By

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Imagine yourself entranced by a dream world, where exquisite dancing expresses timeless stories, and the profound culture of China is shared through a masterful blend of Chinese and Western music…this is the world of Shen Yun.

“Shen Yun” is a Chinese word that can be translated as “the beauty of heavenly beings dancing.” This name is meant to express what Shen Yun aspires to achieve: an experience so beautiful and joyous that it evokes a sense of the heavens. With vividly animated digital backdrops that transport you through time and space, Shen Yun will delight and mystify you. You might see fairies leave a heavenly palace to dance among the clouds, or perhaps a dragon soaring majestically above the waves. The Shen Yun orchestra is a perfect harmony of the East and West, presenting you with the best of the greatest classical music traditions.

Shen Yun is in Cincinnati for just three shows, February 27-28. For tickets contact the Aronoff Center for the Arts, or go to ShenYun.com/Cincinnati. Don’t miss out on this stunning and magical production!

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Filed Under: Cover Story

Barresi’s…a true Italian gem

January 1, 2015 By

restaurantofthemonth1-2015In the restaurant biz, being around for 50+ years is staying power. Visitors looking for exquisite, authentic Italian dishes, both northern and southern regional specialties, will find them and more at Barresi’s.

Veal (vitello) is the house specialty at Barresi’s. “It is so hard to find good veal dishes in this town (or perhaps outside the Big Apple and Philly and a few other enclaves of Italian ethnicity), pounded perfectly thin, melt-in-your-mouth, treated the right way, cooked the right way,” says owner and chef Sarah Wagner. “I’d say those (veal) dishes are what locals know us for and come here for time and time again.”

There are five veal entrée specialties in all: classic marsala, the mushroom sauce with pine nuts and marsala wine; a hospital nutrition endorsed heart-healthy piccata al limone, sauced in butter, white wine, lemon and capers; francese, the veal dipped in seasoned fresh egg, and sautéed over gentle heat in butter and lemon; sentino, finished with asparagus, mushrooms and crabmeat in a cream and cheese sauce; and parmigiana, in marinara sauce capped with parmesan and provolone cheeses.

Of course, you could choose pasta, such as the lobster ravioli in sauce Cardinale, and topped with lump crabmeat: or gnocchi in pesto ala Barresi, which is a creamy pesto with a touch of Alfredo sauce added to the basil-oil base; or chicken alla panna, done up over fettuccine and in Alfredo sauce, the add-ins including sundried tomatoes, mushrooms and scallions.

Or try what Wagner characterizes as Barresi’s biggest crowd-pleaser, the chicken & crab gorgonzola. “People may have the impression of gorgonzola cheese being strong and pungent, but our sauce is mellow and mild and absolutely bursting with flavor, and we have guests, regulars, who come here and never look at the menu and that’s their dish, every time,” Wagner said.

Dinner salads are a showcase feature at Barresi’s as well. The fried calamari Caesar tops the list, and is a mainstay. A special heart-healthy selection is the Mediterranean grilled tuna, featuring a bed of spring greens, mixed with kalamata olives, mushrooms, sundried tomatoes and buffalo mozzarella, capped with sear-grilled medium rare wild-caught tuna, and accompanied by prosecco vinaigrette.

Families with small children may want to know that Barresi’s features a play area filled with “quiet” toys, away from diners, where kids are welcome while mom and dad relax over a meal.

Check out the Tapas Wine Bar at Barresi’s. You can cozy around the fireplace and enjoy the intimate atmosphere. You’ll find a slew of whites and reds by the glass or bottle, along with small plates for sharing and nibbling. Our Key magazine favorite is the carciofini al boungustaio, sautéed artichoke hearts in a garlic and EVOO sauce. The appetizer version of the lobster ravioli is a yummy choice as well, as are the zuppa di mussels and calamari fritti.

See you at Barresi’s for genuine Italian cuisine, made from Barresi family recipes.

Filed Under: Restaurant Of The Month

Me. Salon, where it’s all about YOU

January 1, 2015 By

businessofthemonth1-2015Cara d’Ambrosio may call her salon “Me Salon”, but the way she and partner Sarah Renner do business, it’s really the “YOU” salon.

In the over twenty years she’s been in the business, she’s learned that there’s more to hairstyling than just cutting off a few inches or covering up the gray. “You need to create an intimate experience, and focus on the individual,” says Cara. That’s where Me Salon comes in. After working in a typical salon with a number of employees, Cara decided it was time to open a more intimate salon that offered a specific, individualized experience. By partnering with former employee Sarah, she was able to bring this dream to light.

Cara and Sarah are getting ready to open their chic studio, where they will be practicing a French style of cutting and coloring called “Jacques Dessange”, named for the man who created it. This is a more precise method of hairstyling that provides a complete look by designing a style that works precisely with your own personal features, body type and lifestyle; after all, what looks good on your best friend or favorite actress won’t necessarily look good on you. So Cara and Sarah will be your beauty experts, working closely with you to be sure that you not only leave with the style and color you want (and that makes you look fabulous), but with a look you can also recreate at home. It’s their goal to make every style user-friendly, easily maintained and managed away from the salon.

Me Salon will still offer the same quality products you’re used to getting from them, but in a more client-focused, elegant setting. Their new location in the Fields-Ertel Salon Lofts is being professionally decorated by Broad Spectrum, the same firm that handles Homearama designs. They will be offering their clients a selection of coffee, tea, wine and beer in their boutique salon setting. Me Salon will serve both men and women, and they prefer to refer to their clients as “guests”, to help complete the whole experience of being pampered. They are confident that with their new location, combined years of experience and unique, high-end styling and coloring services, Me Salon will continue to be the only place the premier men and women of Cincinnati want to go for hairstyling services.

Filed Under: Business Of The Month

Pompilios Old World Italian in Newport

January 1, 2015 By

hotspotofthemonth1-2015Quite the gem awaits you at Pompilios in Newport, Kentucky (a few minutes from Fountain Square). The famous toothpick scene in the movie Rainman, with Dustin Hoffman, was filmed in the bar at Pompilios….and has kept visitors and locals pouring in for years!

Pompilios features that bar, Colonel Pomp’s Tavern, at the front, a bocci bar out back (complete with bocci-ball court), and an Italian “red-sauce” restaurant in between.
The bar area is the hot spot for satisfying a thirst. You will see one of the best tied-house back bars in the Midwest, built the year FDR entered the Whitehouse—1933, when Pompilios opened for business. Colonel Pomp’s Tavern features period photos of the 1930s, but the bar area itself is that old, and a step back in time. The scene from Rainman was filmed in that very place, for an even richer taste of history. Colonel Pomp’s features a good number of Greater Cincinnati’s very best craft beers on tap, which visitors love to try.

The tavern also on Thursday or Friday features live music from an assortment of talents featuring boogie woogie, acoustic Americana rock, jazz, blues and more.
We, at Key magazine, suggest you go there and experience Colonel Pomp’s and grab a table and have a meal too, lunch or dinner. We mentioned red sauce because Pompilios features some of the best red-sauce dishes around. Pompilios has a slew of Taste of Cincinnati winners on their menu, so ask your server about the “Blue Ribbon” dishes. Also, the place has been voted into the Italian Restaurant Hall of Fame.

Pompilios makes EVERYTHING from scratch. The ravioli is hand-made, either meat or cheese. There are six sauce choices for ravioli, Bolognese meat sauce, along with marinara, regular meat sauce, meatballs, Alfredo, puttanesca, and you can also add Italian sausage.

The Italian sampler, a favorite of the Rainman crew, is a Taste of Italy, with lasagna, meat and cheese ravioli, eggplant parmigiana and Italian sausage and meatball (both made in-house, as well). The sampler runs neck and neck with the meat-sauce lasagna as the best seller on the menu. It’s been a house specialty for decades.

Those wanting veal, steak or seafood will find a number of dishes, including veal parmigiana, filet mignon, shrimp scampi, linguini with clams, salmon gorgonzola, and more. One of Key’s favorite dishes is, the brasciuole, tender round steak seasoned with Italian spices, rolled and baked with marinara sauce and served with spaghetti.

Filed Under: Hot Spot Of The Month

Cincinnati’s Residence Inn… A spectacular downtown property

January 1, 2015 By

hotelofthemonth-1-2015Cincinnati’s downtown Residence Inn positions itself in first place among all other Residence Inns in the Marriott chain. There are 652 of them, and being #1 is quite an accomplishment. Just in case the number-one ranking inside the Marriott chain might not be enough….Cincinnati’s downtown Residence Inn was ranked by Trip Advisor at number 19 in customer satisfaction among 85,000 lodging properties nationwide in 2013.

“We take very good care of our guests, and we try to make absolutely sure that no guest ever leaves this hotel feeling less than fully satisfied,” said Jason Druso, general manager. “We want everyone who stays with us to feel at home and know that we care about their comfort and satisfaction.”

Druso states that the hotel has many outstanding amenities. For one thing, this Residence Inn is a downtown property, but on the fringe of the hustle and bustle of the downtown grid. The entrance overlooks a park and walking/jogging trails are nearby. Few lodging properties anywhere have that going for them, much less a city-based one.
Another advantage is that the property is a suite hotel in Cincinnati’s downtown, so many of the hotel’s guests are longer stay. There’s a high concentration of business guests staying at the property, many of whom are repeat customers. Suites are 30% larger than most suite hotels in the area, and feature kitchens. Vacationers and sports fans also make up a sizeable portion of the guest list at this Residence Inn, because of it’s convenience to Great American Ballpark, US Bank arena, the Taft Museum of Art, OTR, and to the Banks entertainment area of the city.

The Residence Inn Downtown also has an expanded restaurant service, offering a complimentary breakfast to guests, and an evening menu for those who want to eat at the hotel. There is a lush, yet cozy lounge area adjacent to the restaurant where guests can socialize.

In addition, the hotel features a rooftop bar called Top of the Park. The bar is a focus for private parties and business meetings, as well as being open to the public Tuesday through Saturday, when not booked for private events. The Top of the Park offers panoramic views of Mount Adams and the Ohio River and Kentucky shoreline.
If you’ve never been, just stop in and take a peek……what a gem in Cincinnati!

Filed Under: Hotel Of The Month

Lauren Hill: The Tri-State’s Hero

January 1, 2015 By

CoverStory-1-2015

Lauren Hill wanted to live until Christmas. And that day has come and gone. Lauren is still fighting, despite her diagnosis.
Lauren, 19, may have terminal brain cancer, but she also has a terminal positive attitude. By working with Hospice of South Central Indiana, she’s been able to stay on her feet and spend the holiday season with her family, which was her ultimate Christmas wish.

Lauren’s fight to live has been nothing short of an inspiration to the entire Tri-State area. Watching her play basketball for the College of Mount St. Joseph (and become an honorary coach), helping her raise money for cancer research and treatment, cheering her on from the sidelines…it’s brought this community together in ways not often seen in this day and age.

When Lauren was diagnosed with DIPG, Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma (a terminal brain cancer), about 14 months ago, doctors didn’t think she’d make it to December. It’s a testament to Lauren’s strong will and determination to make a difference that she ‘s still with us today. Instead of letting the disease beat her, she struck out to beat the disease – at least long enough to make her mark. She’s raised close to $750,000 for DIPG research, and has inspired many, many people to follow in her footsteps and make a difference. For example, The Cincinnati Rollergirls and Battering Rams recently held a private scrimmage in Lauren’s honor, and made her an honorary Rollergirl with the name “Ginger Snap”. The event raised money for Lauren’s charity, The Cure Starts Now. Nick Goepper, Olympic Bronze Medalist Snowboarder, held an event with Perfect North Slopes called “Rail Jam” to help raise funds as well.

Lauren’s fight won’t last forever, but her legacy will. Watching her living her life to the fullest extent she can will continue to be an inspiration and motivation to the entire Cincinnati area.

Filed Under: Cover Story
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