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

21c “Museum” Hotel truly a work of art

June 30, 2014 By

Ever sleep in a museum? You can in Cincinnati, in your own room, plush with amenities.

The place is 21c Museum Hotel at 609 Walnut Street in the Backstage District of Cincinnati’s downtown. The brilliance of the 21c concept may surprise you. Hotel founders, Laura Lee Brown and Steve Wilson, are committed to lofty goals. Among those goals are: engaging the public through contemporary art, supporting the revitalization of American downtowns, and doing so with a sense of preserving and enriching the environment of the American city.

The 21c building is the former Metropole Hotel, built in 1912, and re-opened as a hotel in 2012. Cincinnati’s 21c Museum Hotel is part of the Brown-Wilson mission of revitalization. They carefully renovated the building, diligently working to preserve features such as a mosaic tile main floor that had been overlaid and forgotten decades ago. The façade of the building also received a careful restorative touch. The restoration alone is worth the time to walk through, but there is more—much more.

“First and foremost, we are an art museum, which makes us unique from any other hotel,” said Barbara Gurren, Director of Sales & Marketing for 21c in Cincinnati.

The museum offers exemplary features, along with its array of contemporary art. It’s open 24/7, and free to the public, except during private functions in the main space. Even then, there’s plenty of art to view, starting with the lobby area. The front desk is a work of art that will entice, intrigue and excite, and cause you to want to explore further.

The 21c museum exhibits are curated, and the second-floor gallery is impressive—8,000 square feet dedicated to exhibits, where meetings can be held amidst art items on display.

Dedication to art is not confined to the galleries, as Gurren points out. “We partner with the Contemporary Arts Center, next door to the 21c. Docents come over (from CAC) to the hotel every Saturday at 4 p.m. and tour the 21c art space, and then take those on tour with them for free admission to a CAC tour.”

The restaurant, named Metropole after the former hotel, is a wonder. You’ll see an open hearth cook-space, where a conical stack of hardwood burns and heats. The menu focuses on dishes cooked in the custom-built wood-burning hearth, such as burnt carrot and avocado salad, a crowd pleaser. Chef Michael Paley works on a farm-to-table principle, using local purveyors to supply his restaurant with foodstuffs. There are hearth-roasted meats, fish and vegetables, and a charcuterie hung with sausages and other cures of meat specialties made in house.

The Cocktail Terrace on the roof of 21c is spectacular…..the ambience and views can’t be beat, and The Spa at 21c is the Queen City’s prime pampering destination.

Lastly, there are 156 guest rooms and suites, with every amenity one can imagine. You’ll find turn-down service, chocolate leave-behinds, Nespresso coffee makers, ice buckets filled for you, robes, umbrellas and even rubber duckies.

See you at 21c Museum Hotel!

Filed Under: Hotel Of The Month

Barresi’s Italian cuisine pleasing crowds

June 30, 2014 By

Remember 1963? Few do. Here in Greater Cincinnati, that year saw Barresi’s Italian restaurant come on the scene.

In 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

Filed Under: Restaurant Of The Month

Me Salon – Leading edge in hair color & cut

June 30, 2014 By

Women and men should know more about technique in the salon biz. After all, you are gambling your appearance on what a salon will do to your hair while you’re in their chair—right?

That’s why you should know about Me Salon at 10574 Loveland-Madeira Road near I-275. Key Magazine went behind the scissors to uncover a game-changer difference in the salon business here and everywhere in America—and it’s all about technique.

Me Salon’s staff cut and color hair according to the French technique. “The French technique is based on a person’s bone structure, hair type and texture,” said Cara D’Ambrosio, owner of Me Salon. “The cut and the color are custom, a one-of-a-kind creation that will look good, but also wear well, be functional between cuts and easier to manage, day to day. The same is true when we color hair; we use a custom approach with proprietary coloring agents made specifically for this salon, and we custom-fit them to the hair of each person.”

The British technique is the other method of salon cutting and coloring—something of a one-size-fits-all approach to hair. Almost every salon nationwide uses the British method, and is based on geometry and measurement instead of bone structure, and hair texture and type. Take an inch off everywhere and that equals a “technically correct” cut using the British methodology.

Me Salon’s Cara D’Ambrosio was internationally trained in Paris and Toronto, in schools teaching French cut and color methods, and applying the Jacques Dessang methodology. She has contributed professional articles to trade publications

Filed Under: Business Of The Month
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