Savor summer with Palomino “Save & Taste” offers

July 31, 2014 By

restuarnantofthemonthaugust2014

August is THE month to visit Palomino Restaurant & Bar overlooking Fountain Square in downtown Cincinnati.

Why? Because there are summertime specials you can enjoy all month long, according to Nelson Castillo, GM at Palomino. He related three deals in place for those who visit Palomino during August.

“We wanted to create excitement for the summer, so we have the $10 lunch special for all our guests,” he said. The $10 luncheon special includes these choices: the bianco pizza; the salsiccia fresca pizza; the pollo e spinaci pizza; any soup and salad combination; and the pasta with soup or salad combination, which must be accompanied by the purchase of any beverage. The $10 lunch special will spill over into September as well.

The “Play of the Day” Happy Hour is another summertime deal at Palomino. Anytime the Cincinnati Reds play a home game, head to the Palomino lounge and enjoy $2 draft beer, $4 bloody Marys, and $5 artisan pepperoni pizzas all day. The special game-day pricing is available before, during and after the games, and the lounge at Palomino is a great gathering place for socializing. So game-day, head to Palomino’s lounge.

A third opportunity to enjoy a great deal at Palomino is Greater Cincinnati’s summer Restaurant Week. The week is August 11-17, and participating eateries generally offer a special meal deal. Palomino has taken that deal to a higher level, according to Castillo. “We wanted to make our offering something really special, really top notch. So we included a diner’s choice of a glass of house wine or draft beer to the fixed-price 3-course meal. And also, we created a special Chef Selection menu with a variety of entrée items on it, so that our guests can pick from a variety of meals rather than just one or two,” he said.

The Chef Selection menu includes two steak features, along with seafood and other options. Palomino has raised the bar even farther for Restaurant Week by featuring USDA prime steaks. One is an 8-ounce New York strip with creamed spinach and herb-roasted redskin potatoes. The second is a 12-ounce rib-eye, lightly blackened, and served with Yukon mashed potatoes, caramelized onions and mushrooms.

The Palomino Restaurant Week entry is a knockout, based on what we at Key magazine know about this annual event in Greater Cincinnati. Combined with the $10 lunch special and the Play of the Day Happy Hour, visitors and area residents alike have three delicious ways to experience one of Cincinnati’s finest fine-dining restaurants for less.

You can learn more about Palomino specials and other happenings on Facebook social media or check out the full menu at www.palomino.com.

Filed Under: Restaurant Of The Month

Spring Hill Suites prime location overlooks downtown Cincinnati

July 31, 2014 By

hotelofmonth-august2014Visitors to Greater Cincinnati may not find a better voice for this area’s dining and entertainment options than the folks at Cincinnati midtown Spring Hill Suites. The Marriott property overlooks Cincinnati’s downtown skyline from north of the city, located at 610 Eden Park Drive.

GM Mike Houle has an extraordinary approach to promoting Greater Cincinnati and all it offers to his guests at Spring Hill Suites. He sees his front-desk personnel as concierges for the hotel, and here’s what he says about that: “We really like all our guests to have a good idea of the city—and we use all our resources, such as Key magazine, to help educate (our front desk personnel) on the city and all the great things we have to offer here in Cincinnati. Guests want to know first-hand, and we want our front-desk personnel to be able to say ‘hey, I’ve been there,’ to be able to talk from experience.”

Houle does more than might be expected to assure his personnel have the experience. “We like to send our front-desk team out to local attractions, like lunch at the Horseshoe casino, or a trip to the Art Museum in Eden Park, or the restaurants in Mt. Adams, so they know what they are talking about.”

Management at the Midtown property has put together special sheets for guests wanting to take advantage of the sights, shopping and eateries in Greater Cincinnati. A sheet of nearby restaurants features 30 options, with phone numbers, addresses and types of food. A similar sheet exists for shopping areas, with 10 areas listed. And there is a “Cincy Eats” sheet that highlights local, hometown favorites such as Skyline Chili, Graeter’s ice cream, Montgomery Inn ribs and more. “We do that little extra to help make the stay of our guests’ more enjoyable,” he said.

As for the suites at Spring Hill, each is at least 20 percent larger than a typical hotel room. Plus, each has a fold-out sofa for added sleeping space, making it easier for a family to fit in a suite in comfort.

The breakfast at Spring Hill is included in the room cost, and Houle stated it’s a better breakfast than most hotels offer. “Weekdays, the breakfast includes fresh fruit, meats, cheeses, ham and eggs, sausage, things like that,” he said. In fact, in July of last year, Spring Hill upgraded its breakfast offering across the whole chain, and Houle says his guests love the change.

Spring Hill’s Midtown location features a pool with a handicapped lift for getting in and out of the water. Next to the pool area is a fitness center, and individual machines are equipped with TV screens. There is a small market next to the front desk for those you may need a personal item, want a quick snack or a beverage. Also, there is a bar in the lobby area, serving guests in the evenings from 5 to 11 p.m.

See you at Spring Hill Suites Midtown!

Filed Under: Hotel Of The Month

Art Beyond Boundaries worthy tributary of mainstream venues

July 31, 2014 By

hotspotofthemonth-august2014

Artists can be a quirky lot. Creative impulses often place the artist on a path that veers away from the ones most traveled. Nowhere is the less traveled path more notable than on the walls of Art Beyond Boundaries gallery at 1410 Main Street in Cincinnati’s Over the Rhine enclave.

The gallery is devoted to artists with disabilities that have nothing to do with the creative process. The disabilities can be physical or cognitive, according to J. H. “Jymi” Bolden, gallery director and curator. “What we display here on these walls is ability, not disability. These artists (on display) have talents every bit as compelling as other artists, but they have been shut out of the mainstream art venues for reasons that have nothing to do with their creative abilities,” he said.

The gallery has been a showcase for the artists Bolden describes for more than a decade, and has weathered the Great Recession as well as the sputtering economic times on both sides of that 2008 meltdown. “The economy really doesn’t matter where art is concerned,” Bolden stated. “If art reaches out to you, and touches you, speaks to you, then you want to possess it, and the state of the economy is of no significance.”

Currently a show entitled “Say It Loud” is being exhibited at the gallery. The artists featured are: Ricky Michaels, Michael Todd and Kelvin Poole. The show runs into September, and draws patrons of the arts from the tri-state area (Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana), as well as regionally and nationally, and even internationally.

As the current Say It Loud exhibition illustrates, the art found at Art Beyond Boundaries is eclectic and diverse. “The artists whose works are displayed here bring the perspectives of their experience to these walls,” said Bolden, himself a practicing creative photographer with a degree in fine arts from the Art Academy of Cincinnati.
Primarily, patrons who visit the gallery will find collections of paintings that carry messages as well as graphics. Some of the compositions are conventional flat art with 3-dimensional aspects incorporated as part of the graphics. Paintings are done in oils and acrylics. The paintings include several with strong, vibrant colors and a diverse palette. There is a Picasso-inspired quality to some pieces in the exhibit, and a wonderful random intricacy to other pieces in the show.

“Really, we can talk of the pieces in the exhibit and describe them and all the rest. But the experience of the gallery is worth seeking out,” Bolden said. He encourages everyone who visits the city to put Art Beyond Boundaries on the list of must-visit stops, because there is nothing to substitute for seeing the actual art and experiencing the totality of the exhibition now on display. Call for gallery hours at 513-421-8726.

Filed Under: Hot Spot Of The Month

Molly Wellmann…..the Queen City’s “Queen” of the Cocktail

July 31, 2014 By

KeyAugust2014-Cover

Bar maven got her start stealing olives at cocktail parties

The first thing you’ll likely notice about the vivacious Molly Wellmann is that she loves cocktails and bars and mixing drinks and people socializing over spirits, preferably concocted from her rich imagination.

In Greater Cincinnati, Molly Wellmann is bar tender/owner par excellence. She owns several bars where the focus is entirely on adult beverages. In fact, she has turned the BYOB standard on its head, encouraging BYOF (bring your own food) in some of her drinking establishments.

She got her start in the bar biz at a tender age, she laughs. “As kids, my cousins and I used to go around at our family’s adult parties and steal the olives out of the martinis, so that’s where I got my start.

Now, more than a decade later, her favorite cocktail is a slightly dirty Beefeater martini on the rocks, made with two bar spoons of vermouth, two bar spoons of olive juice, and three olives. “It’s my family’s drink, for generations, and it’s just an excellent martini,” she stated.

Her love of those gin-soaked olives led to a career as a “mixologist,” studying spirits and cocktails and flavors that meld well in making mixed drinks.

Today, Wellmann owns, or has a stake, in four locations where the focus is adult beverages. Neon’s in Over the Rhine is known as OTR’s back patio. A huge courtyard with umbrella tables and chairs, grills and the like, where even your dog is welcome, as long as the pooch is a sociable type. Along with the bar, you’ll find an extensive selection of craft beers on tap, many of them local and of excellent quality.

Also in OTR is Japp’s since 1879, on Main at 12th Street. “Japp’s since 1879 is a great place to meet and socialize and just have fun,” she said.

Another of Wellmann’s establishments is the Old Kentucky Bourbon Bar, at 629 Main Street in Mainstrasse Village, in Covington (three minutes from downtown Cincinnati’s Fountain Square). As one might imagine, this bar celebrates whiskey, offering more than 350 varieties of American whiskey products, including rye whiskey, white dog whiskey and moonshine-type spirits.

Soon, Wellmann will open Myrtle’s Pub House, her newest bar, located at Woodburn and Myrtle in East Walnut Hills. “Myrtle’s is going to be a place where people in this area can gather and socialize—a neighborhood bar where everybody’s welcome. We’re looking forward to being a gathering place and Myrtle’s is just the perfect location,” she said.

All Wellmann’s bars have a friendly atmosphere, in part because of the personnel.

Filed Under: Cover Story

Figure Weight Loss: A no-nonsense path to a thinner you

July 31, 2014 By

businessofmonth-august2014

If you knew a sure-fire way to slim down to a more attractive weight, would you go for it? Those answering “Yes” need to read about Figure Weight Loss, located here in the Greater Cincinnati area.

The Figure Weight Loss program is physician-supervised, non-surgical, scientifically based, and individualized to your body, your metabolism, and your situation, according to Greg Weckenbrock, M.D.

Weckenbrock is the medical doctor who heads the Figure Weight Loss practice, which is dedicated to helping people lose weight. The practice was founded in 1999, and has helped thousands of people with weight issues to achieve their goals of losing weight and keeping the weight off.

About the Figure Weight Loss approach, Dr. Weckenbrock said: “Our physician-supervised program is comprehensive and proven to help our patients achieve healthy and sustainable weight loss. Our success rate is very high, and the gratifying aspect for me and more importantly for our patients is that they keep the weight off, resulting in improved health, energy, attitude, appearance and self-image.”

On social media sites such as Google®, testimonials of people who have gone through the program clearly show the proven and very nearly universal success rate of the Figure Weight Loss program. Dr. Weckenbrock urged those interested in weight loss to check such sites and see what people are saying about Figure Weight Loss.

How does the program work? The starting point is a medical assessment by a medical professional, then a physician, who will counsel the patient on any medical concerns, and if necessary, prescribe the appropriate medication. The patient’s BMI (body mass index) is used to qualify each patient for the program, and goals are set based on the BMI calculation. Doctors help each patient establish sensible, appropriate and obtainable goals of weight loss.

Beyond the assessment, the cornerstone of the weight loss program is education. Doctors and staff educate patients on how to eat, what to eat, and when to eat. Each patient receives a lifestyle evaluation, and from that benchmark data, an activity/exercise program is established. There are no crash diets, no program-supplied foods to buy, and no gimmicky dietary supplements or wonder drugs promising easy weight loss.

“Our weight-loss program is based on sound medical principles, making each individualized program safe and effective for the patient. And our approach is affordable, since it is based on monthly consultations that run for three to six months in most cases,” Dr. Weckenbrock said. “Patients appreciate the affordability. Also, they appreciate the sustainability based on lifestyle adjustments rather than having to be involved in expensive programs that seemingly, or literally, never end.”

For more information about Figure Weight Loss, go to www.figureweightloss.com or call 859-371-4555. Offices are located at 157 Barnwood Drive in Edgewood, Kentucky, about 10 minutes from downtown Cincinnati via expressway.

Filed Under: Business Of The Month

Mecklenburg Gardens: A Cincinnati tradition

June 30, 2014 By

Most everybody knows who Abraham Lincoln is, right? And the history: U.S. president, American Civil War, assassination; all well known. What you may not know is you can eat in a Cincinnati restaurant that opened in 1865, the same year all the above history was happening.

Mecklenburg Gardens is the place, and it’s been at the same location since it opened its doors in 1865. A plot map on the wall at Mecklenburg’s shows what the neighborhood looked like back then.

Today, the garden part of this historic restaurant is magnificent. The garden is vine covered by ancient growth to create an enchanting leafy-green canopy for real, honest-to-goodness bier garten dining. Even when the July sun is blistering above or the stifling summer heat still radiates late into the evening, you’ll find the garden to be a cool spot to relax and socialize. Whether you take a table outside or in, also you will find many great beers—some from the Fatherland—on tap and waiting for you.

You will find a German core to the menu, but lots of other options for your dining pleasure as well. The menu features a small plates section, where items such as bier braised short ribs are found. There are eight sandwich choices, many with a German heritage. Rounding out the bill of fare are salads, soups, sausages, schnitzels and homemade desserts.

Proprietors Tom and Annamarie Harten welcome guests in an Old World manner, proud and pleased to have visitors to Greater Cincinnati among their patrons. Oktoberfest, the quintessential Teutonic tradition, is in season pretty much all the time at their German eatery. The Hartens and staff just celebrated their 18th grand reopening anniversary while they look forward to the 150th anniversary of the original opening in 2015.

And ahhh, that hearty German cuisine! Wiener schnitzel perhaps leads the popularity parade at Mecklenburg Gardens, and is one of several Key magazine favorites. The centerpiece is a “Viennese cutlet,” of veal, which is scalloped in an egg wash and secretly seasoned bread crumbs, then gently sautéed to a crispy finish.

Another Key favorite is sauerbraten, a very German, very different, and very tasty dish. The name means “sour roast” in German. Its preparation begins days before your order is placed—three to four days! The beef roast is submerged in a sour-sweet marinate, more sour than sweet, and given its character by gingersnaps. After marinating, the meat is browned, then simmered for several hours in the reserved marinate. The result is an extremely tender roast and a delicious, semi-thick sauce to go with the beef slices.

But wait a minute! We have not had a beer as yet, have we? You must! if you are a beer lover.

Filed Under: Hot Spot Of The Month
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