12th
Cincinnati Restaurant Week 2010
Greater Cincinnati Restaurant Week 2010 (March 22-28) flew by between trips to Chicago and Birmingham so I’ve been unfortunately remiss about sharing my experiences. During the week I had a chance to check out three restaurants I had been meaning to try. For just $26.10 it was an excuse to drag myself and friends to some out of the way places: 20 Brix in downtown Milford and Brown Dog Cafe in a Blue Ash strip mall and a chance to finally try Hugo for their foie!
In absence of a full review because memory and pictures are lacking I will touch on what I do remember about each of the establishments.
20 Brix:
I patronized 20 Brix on Monday which just so happened to be their retail price wine night. We naturally indulged in a bottle of one of my favorites - a Qupe Central Coast Syrah at a modest price. The dish of the evening was the Oysters and Pearls soup, which I mistakenly thought was an original idea. Thanks to my foodie friend for correction, I learned that this was actually a TK original and was in his TFL cookbook from over 10 years ago… that’s made it all the way to epicurious! Clearly, this underscores how’s how much I have to learn. Regardless of my ignorance, I thought the dish was well balanced and delightful. For my main, I ordered the Pork Belly — who could resist? It was also quite good but not as good as other places. The service was a bit slow too, but wait staff may have been confused in part by the fluctuating size of our party as people trickled in. The decor was nice: contemporary earth tones over simple lines. All-in-all, a good meal with friends that deserves marks in the 21-24 range.
Brown Dog Cafe:
On Wednesday evening, I battled the traffic up I75 North to Blue Ash to catch the prix fixe with a few friends. En route, I realized yet again why I live downtown Cincinnati: the bad traffic and even worse drivers that seem to plague the Interstates around rush hour. Needless to say, when I arrived I was in need of a glass of Malbec, on which Brown Dog delivered. I selected the:
She crab soup
Low country style with peeky toe crab, she crab roe, jalapeño corn fritter
Brown dog house salad
Spring greens, dried cherry, gorgonzola, spiced pecans, balsamic vinaigrette
Crispy duck
Moroccan spice dusted, pan seared, preserved cherries with vanilla, toasted quinoa, soft fennel:
Chocolate banana bread
Liquid Chocolate center, Coconut Praline, caramelized Bananas, & Malted Vanilla Bean Ice Cream:
The soup was quite good, and one of the few soups I have had which included roe — providing a level saltiness. The salad was good but unremarkable. The duck — quite good, and comparable to the duck I had at cumin earlier this year. I thought that cumin’s cooking was superior but the composition at Brown Dog outmatched - I love quinoa. Savories aside, the winner of the evening was the chocolate banana bread! I have a soft spot for lava cakes, but I had never had a banana lava until I went to Brown Dog. It was fantastic - the cake was perfectly prepared and flowed over the plate when cut. If you’re in the market for a warm chocolate indulgence in Cincinnati, this would be my recommendation. Decor was unobjectionable but it was just so unfortunately this place is in a strip mall, which detract from the exterior. Service was pleasant; rounding out numbers also in the 21-24 range.
Hugo:
I finally got there - which was a delight after all I had heard about this Upscale New-Southern fare. Our party was seated at a formidable oversize oak table towards the rear of the dining room. I appreciated the decor, but I did think that the extraordinarily large table (as was also the case when I sat at the bar for drinks) made conversation a bit difficult and made the meal seem less cordial than would have been otherwise. I ordered the following (note that the foie was a substantial up-charge):
Fritters
Sweet corn, mascarpone, thyme, chili jam
Seared Foie Gras
Almond butter, raspberry (?) preserves, biscuit
Chef’s selection of fresh fish (Fluke?)
Brick dough, fennel, asparagus, tomato, almonds
Sadly the rest of the table ordered the shrimp and grits which looked divine, but due to this shrimp allergy thing I couldn’t join in.
In general, the cuisine was very good, but the foie topped the lot. Even for the price, this is some of the best foie that I’ve ever had. Rivaling Daveed’s, and one or two other places in other cities, this was remarkable! This dish delivered on everything that I had hoped Senate’s pbj&f would deliver on yet failed to do so — it was simple, elegant and a treat! The fritters were great, and up on the list as far as they go, perfect consistency. The fish was very good, but unmemorable. Our service was excellent; definitely above the bar for Cincinnati and the majority of my dining adventures — which was a welcome surprise.
I would come back to Hugo to sample more of their menu sometime in the future as I don’t think the tasting menu adequately acquainted me. Off the bat, I’d put Ratings in the 24-26 range.
What a week! More adventures to come.
