Visit HOMEARAMA® for Latest in New-Home Luxury

June 30, 2014 By

Dreaming of a new home? Wondering what premier luxury living would be like for you? Or are you ready to build or buy, and want to gain an appreciation of the features you may want in the house you choose?

All of the above and more are waiting for you at Carriage Hill, Greater Cincinnati’s 2014 HOMEARAMA®, held July 12-27, in Butler County’s Liberty Township. This annual event marks the 52nd year of showcasing what is new and exciting in Midwestern homebuilding.

Focus in 2014 is on one-of-a-kind homes, each built on picturesque wooded sites. Homes feature a variety of architectural styles, ranging in size from 5,800 to 7,500 square feet, and ranging in price from $1 million to $1.6 million. Homes in this year’s show are erected by nine of Greater Cincinnati’s elite homebuilders. Each builder has employed the latest materials and incorporated household systems that provide state-of-the-art technology throughout.

You’ll see everything from a home with an indoor basketball court to homes with fantastically designed outdoor entertainment areas, complete with inviting pool settings. All the homes are literal showcases for the latest design, furnishings and decorating trends. At HOMEARAMA®, you’ll be able to take as many photos as you want, so as to have a record of what you’ve seen and want to consider for your own home or home-to-be. The show is especially helpful for those contemplating renovation projects to their existing homes, or those wanting to plan for a new home from the ground up.

The luxury homes are part of an overall planned residential landscape that features a community center, built in the style of an historic carriage house; a large outdoor pool as part of the community center ensemble; and a meander of hiking/biking/jogging trails woven throughout the bucolic setting. The homes are part of a sylvan area offering a landscape of lakes, streams and woodlands spread over some 400 acres. The sensation is one of country homes in a majestic estate setting, featuring all the amenities that enhance every facet of life at home.

Filed Under: Cover Story

Appointments – Premiere seller of fine pens, leather goods, and gifts

June 1, 2014 By

Seldom are women and men equally attracted to the same store.  Appointments offers such magnetism.

Appointments features gift and personal items that are truly special.  More importantly, the merchandise is extraordinary, unique, and very likely includes just the thing to satisfy your want, need or gift-giving search.

First and foremost, Appointments is a pen store.  There are thousands of ballpoint, roller ball and fountain pens from over three dozen of the world’s elite makers of fine writing instruments.  ST Dupont and Waterman lines are represented, and many others as well.  The lines have been expanded and now include Germany’s diverse Kaweco line of pens. Ohio’s own Bexley Pen Company is featured – and is one of the shops best sellers.

Appointments’ owner, Douglas Kennedy, is a pen aficionado of the highest order.  He knows his fountain pen nibs in the same way that you know your birthday and mom’s name and so on.  He relishes showing off his pens to those who visit his shop in search of something extraordinary.
Kennedy’s leather goods selection is perfect for today’s business and upscale traveler.  Brands include Johnston & Murphy and a host of others, including Chiarugi, a leather goods maker located in Florence, Italy, specializing in dual-purpose bags for men and women.  Chiarugi’s purses and bags feature fine-grain leather and canvas straps—all the rage among European women.  At Appointments, there are genuine leather brief cases, satchels, letter pads, messenger bags and wallets, all of exceptional quality, and the perfect statement for professional types on the go and the climb.  For men, there are gentlemen bags sized to carry an iPad and other odds and ends such as smart phones and accessories.

These exquisite lifestyle items are mixed with other need and gift attractions.  Appointments is an ideal spot to find a special gift for a boss, an employee, a co-worker, a friend or a loved one.  The shelves hold items that would not necessarily come to mind as gifts, but very well could have you saying: “Ah, that’s just what I’m looking for!”

Among the items we found on our visit: a display of famous Rookwood pottery; unique desk, table and wall clocks; walking sticks; elegant shaving sets for the brush, lather and razor crowd; unusual money clips fashioned for style and durability; and a line of British-made cuff links for men’s and women’s French cuffed shirts and blouses.  We even found German beer steins by Thewalt, bottle openers made from Cincinnati Reds’ game-used bats, and pens manufactured of wood seats from beloved Crosley Field!

While visiting Greater Cincinnati, be sure to stop in to Appointments as well—A Key shopping experience we’re sure you’ll enjoy.  Appointments is located on the second floor of  the Carew Tower Arcade, 441 Vine Street.  Call at 513-421-7430.

Filed Under: Business Of The Month

Riverfront Pizza: Big eats for small bucks

June 1, 2014 By

Visitors looking for good, simple meals at very friendly prices will find all that at Riverfront Pizza.  Nothing fancy, mind you, but one of those places where “locals go to eat.”

“We’ve been here for 31 years, and the way we go about it hasn’t changed,” says Randy Gearding, owner.  “Do the food part right, keep prices low, and give people what they want.  That brings people in, and I like a full house.”

Notice from the size of the burger and hoagie in the photo that there is no skimping on portions at Riverfront Pizza.  With fast-food bigwigs less than a football field away selling their burgers, Gearding did not think a burger would sell at his place.  But oh well, he decided to add burgers to the menu, and even he cannot believe how many he sells, especially while in the veritable shadow of the Fast-food Giants.

What does that tell you?  To us at Key magazine, it says better food, more of it, and at a very attractive price.  And the burgers at Riverfront Pizza are hand crafted and actually look appetizing, instead of looking like they were thrown together assembly-line fashion by someone who is double-parked.
Same goes for the hoagie sandwiches.  Hoagies give pizzas a run for top billing at Riverfront Pizza, even though pizza has always been the anchor. “People like the hoagies because they make a great sandwich—a meal really, and we make them fresh when you order them,” Gearding said.  So that means your sandwich is not pre-made and sitting under a warming lamp, waiting for you or someone else to come along.

The hoagie list is 12 deep, and favorites include: a steak, with pizza or mushroom sauce, onions and cheese; a 4-way, with deli meats, pizza sauce and cheese melted on top; meatballs, halved, with sauce, pickles and cheese; roast beef, kitted out with mushroom sauce and cheese, or lettuce tomato and mayo; a tuna salad and chicken salad version.

Filed Under: Restaurant Of The Month

Pompilios: A hot spot since days of FDR

June 1, 2014 By

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Ever been in a true Italian restaurant in Philly or the Big Apple?  It’s a special experience, no question.  Just such an experience awaits you at Pompilios, here in Newport, Kentucky (a few minutes from Fountain Square).  There’s a very special bonus, too, besides, because the toothpick scene in the movie Rainman, with Dustin Hoffman, was filmed in the bar at Pompilios.

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.

Let’s go to the tavern first, just for drinks if you want.  It’s a great destination hot spot for satisfying a thirst.  For starters, you will see one of the very 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, so you’ll step back in time.  Also, 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.

Hit the tavern on a Thursday or Friday in June, and you’ll be treated to live music from an assortment of talents featuring boogie woogie, acoustic Americana rock, jazz, blues and more.

Our suggestion at Key magazine is go there and experience Colonel Pomp’s as a great hot spot, but get yourself a table inside or out at the bocci bar, and have a meal too, lunch or dinner.  We mentioned red sauce because Pompilios features some of the best red-sauce dishes in an area with a lot of very good Italian eateries.  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.

Filed Under: Hot Spot Of The Month

Residence Inn Cincinnati Downtown: No. 1 nationwide

June 1, 2014 By

residence-inn-june2014Travelers should know the score, because it makes for better, more comfortable experiences on the road.  The scorecard for Residence Inn Cincinnati Downtown positions it in first place among all other Residence Inns in the Marriott chain.  There are 652 of them, so the status of numero uno in customer satisfaction is a big deal.

There is another laurel, just in case the number-one ranking inside the Marriott chain might not be enough.  This same Residence Inn was ranked by Trip Advisor at number 19 in customer satisfaction among 85,000 lodging properties nationwide in 2013.  Imagine that: right here in River City!

“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 some outstanding amenities.  Housed in the historic Phelps Building,  this Residence Inn is a downtown property,  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.  That means there are more business guests staying at the property, many of whom are repeat customers.  Suites are 30 percent larger than at most suite hotels in the area, and feature kitchens.  Vacationers and baseball fans (and football fans later in the year) also make up a sizeable portion of the guest list at this Residence Inn, because it is convenient to Great American Ballpark, US Bank arena, the Taft Museum of Art, the Serpentine Wall on the Ohio River, and to the Banks entertainment area of the city.

This particular Residence Inn also has an expanded restaurant service, offering a complimentary breakfast to guests, and having an evening menu for those who want to eat at the hotel.  There is a 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.

Filed Under: Hotel Of The Month

Montgomery Inn turns up heat in BBQ sauce

June 1, 2014 By

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Every 63 years or so, a new barbecue sauce comes along that’s worthy of the Montgomery Inn pedigree.  That newcomer is Chipotle Barbecue Sauce from Montgomery Inn, a spicier version of the original taste profile—which has been licked off the ends of millions of fingers since 1951.

For visitors to Greater Cincinnati who may not know, Montgomery Inn is THE place for BBQ ribs in these parts.  In fact, people the likes of Bob Hope, America’s internationally known comedian, was so fond of ribs from Montgomery Inn, he made free TV commercials for the ribs, promoting them far and wide.  No surprise that celebrities, dignitaries, sports figures and even presidents of the United States have made Montgomery Inn a must-visit in order to enjoy the famous ribs whenever they came to town.

So now, a new sauce has been “invented” by the Montgomery Inn family, and the chipotle version spices up everything.  The original sauce was the personal creation of Matula Gregory, matriarch of Montgomery Inn’s fantastic success.  Husband Ted, later known as The Ribs King, ran a bar back in 1951, and asked his wife to cook up some ribs for him and a few of his buddies one night.  That’s how things started—everybody loved them, and that sauce!  “That sauce is great!” was the consensus of all who tried it.

In the family tradition born of that time and place, Tom Gregory, son of Matula and Ted, created the new version in the kitchens of Montgomery Inn.  He did it the hard way, through trial and error, using only quality, natural ingredients.  The new sauce is billed as a perfect marriage of the original’s sweet and spicy flavor, combined with the warm heat of smoked jalapeno peppers.

“We’re always listening to our patrons,” said Montgomery Inn VP Evan Andrews, “They’ve told us they’d like a spicier option.  So we put a lot of care into the new sauce. In staying true to our values, this new sauce contains no artificial flavors and the first ingredient is tomatoes, not water or corn syrup.  Just like the original.”

You can enjoy the new chipotle sauce at any of the Montgomery Inn locations, on ribs, chicken and more.  Also, the sauce is bottled for purchase and use at home.  Ask at the restaurant, or find Montgomery Inn sauces in regional Kroger and Remke markets.  The sauce is available for shipment worldwide at www.cincyfavorites.com.  And lest you might wonder who would do that, in 2013, Montgomery Inn sauce was recognized as one of the top mail order items ever, topping 30 million bottles shipped worldwide.

About Montgomery Inn: Famous for ribs, the first Montgomery Inn opened in 1951, and has since grown to include locations in downtown Cincinnati, Fort Mitchell, KY, Dublin, OH, and the original in Montgomery, OH.  It has been named one of the top 10 BBQ restaurants in the United States.  A long list of celebs have stopped in over the years, including Eric Clapton, Bill Cosby, Tommy LaSorda, James Brown, Britney Spears, Cameron Diaz, Andre Agassi, and every U.S. president since Gerald Ford.

Filed Under: Cover Story
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