I laughed as we drove down the last stretch of highway into the city because it struck me that this city looks like the flip-flop of Louisville. Both are on the banks of the Ohio River. Louisville is all on the Kentucky side, the northern side of the river in Indiana looking oddly peaceful and empty. Cincinnati and all of its tall buildings are on the Ohio side, the southern Kentucky side looking green and rural by comparison.
We squeezed between skyscrapers and zipped through the CBD making a bee line towards the more hip and charming Over-The-Rhine neighborhood. It's here that I had scouted out a park and lunch destination for us on the drive up.
We parked in a pristine garage located beneath Washington Park - a picturesque green spread next to the historic Cincinnati Music Hall.
Bordered by beautiful brick buildings and perfectly manicured for spring, filled with lunch-breaking businessmen and happy families, this park offered a great first impression of the city.
But we passed through the park quickly, our stomachs reminding us that our destination awaited us. It's the building on the right, with the yellow crown sign - A Taste of Belgium.
Atmosphere, tastes, style - this place aces all three.
And something happened that is a rarity for whenever we eat out - Isaac and I ordered the same thing! Spicy chicken and belgian waffles, served alongside a sophisticated tangy salad to cut through the grease and sugar, and to make you feel a little less guilty.
We called it brunch and went all out with drinks too - a fancy Belgian beer for him and a candied orange peel and dark chocolate iced coffee for me.
After our hearty and perfect brunch, we walked around Over-The-Rhine a bit and window shopped. It's full of striking old buildings, now housing unique restaurants and cute independent stores stuffed with locally made goods.
We waited at a street corner for the light to change for me to get this shot. At first I was annoyed at this guy crossing the street, but then I realized he's the perfect local to be strolling along in this scene. He's wearing an OH/KY shirt - a Cincy-inspired logo I saw on a few items in the shops around here.
Above is another shot of that same cute stretch of buildings, below is an old Kroger just further north at the edge of what seems to be OTR's gentrified and polished-up stretch.
We had such a fun day away in Cincinnati, and it made me remember how mentally recharging it is to do this kind of thing. To intentionally plan a time of fun, a day out of the ordinary devoted just to relaxation. With summer quickly approaching, I am feeling inspired.
I also want to share a few quick glimpses of the food highlights from our Easter weekend. We didn't have a huge spread, with it being just the two of us, but I did try to make the weekend special with two interesting dishes.
The first is spaghetti medici - a simple tomato sauce with anchovies that we fell in love with in the Tuscan countryside of Italy. The recipe I found took canned anchovies, red wine and a long time, but was totally worth it in the end. The cooking process was fascinating for my nose - smelling the changes in flavor and complexity as the cooking went along.
Anchovies don't get enough appreciation for the tastiness they add to many dishes. I'm so happy that a container of this sauce awaits us in the freezer for the next time we want to pretend to be fancy on our balcony.
I also made my first carrot cake from scratch. Shredding three cups of carrots on my handheld grater was no small feat, but was again worth every ounce of trouble. There was plenty for coffee breaks and tea times and enough to share with friends and family too! I just decided to try and make this an Easter tradition. Partly because it's festive and I love carrot cake, but also because I don't think I have the mental or physical strength to grate carrots more than once a year.
One of the many things I learned from my mom is that a holiday isn't done well unless it leaves your kitchen looking like the apocalypse. I proudly took the picture below before taking a deep breath in and putting on those dish-washing gloves.
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