My belly is full, and I am so happy :) I love ethnic food so much and Japanese in particular. Today, by chance, I was right around the corner from Zundo Ramen & Donburi and decided to pop in and have a solo lunch. I love sitting at the bar in hopes that the bartender is nice, helpful and has conversation with me if not too busy. Well, I hit the trifecta with Mikey. He has been there since it opened in September, so he gave me all the scoop. I hope everyone knows by now that restaurants that specialize in ramen are not whipping up the cheap noodles in a bag that we lived off of in college.  These bowls are made with love and time. Behind the bar, you can see the huge pot boiling ( Zundo means “big pot”) with bones from a whole pig that, over 12-16 hours of boiling at extremely high heat, create an amazing broth that smells delightful as soon as you walk in the door. This is done everyday! Those flavorful ramen bowls are not all they are serving up, either. They have a great, creative menu with Donburi offering 10 different varieties. This is the curry-influenced items. Holy cow this  was a party in my mouth! They have chicken, fish and vegetarian dishes they even have a vegetarian broth for one ramen dish…something for everyone.

The atmosphere is a surprise. When you approach from the street it looks very unassuming, but the interior is actually so cool with a great bar and a cozy, cool dining area where you will find a special hidden table that seats up to 12.

The owner, Han Lin, is known for being the master chef with Mei Japanese Restaurant in Montgomery. As he explains it, ramen is a dish that is supposed to be eaten quickly while it’s hot and I agree… it takes you a few slurps of goodness and then you pretty much have no problem shoving it in.. I promise :) Manager, David Chao, explained to me how to make every bite a different experience. They have three options to spice things up: white pepper, something labeled S&B, and chili oil (if I could read Japanese, I could tell you specifics). Chao told me to, one by one, do a dash of pepper – stir and taste, then add a dash of S&B – stir and bite, then a dot/dot of the chili oil.. and he was exactly right– it changed over and over. How often does your meal do that?

Slurp away my friends!!

Most important they have a full bar with so many Sake options even..drum roll ….sake bombs!! YES

Things to Know:

•street parking or lots surrounding

•220 W 12^thSt. OTR

•Hours: Tuesday- Thursday 11:30am-2:30pm, 5pm-9:30pm, Friday 11:30-2:30, 5:30-11pm, Saturday 12-11pm, Sunday 12-9pm

•No Reservations but can eat at the bar and window seating

 

 

Cincinnati you are in for a treat because Mikey’s Late Night Pizza is opening tonight March 18^th. They are already a favorite in the Columbus area, but have had their eye on Cincinnati for a long time. I knew about them because they had a truck at the 3-day Bunbury Concert here in Cincy.  The line is always so long because everyone’s talking about this place and it’s the popular place in Columbus.

It’s not only a great place for pizza but just a fun place to hang out. This eclectically decorated space is half pizza bar and half lounge. Both are decorated so cool with plenty of Instagram pic opportunities. Mikey has carefully and purposefully hand-picked all of the fun stuff like the “pizza Jesus” , upside down lamps for lighting, paintings including one of a little girl that he found in a thrift shop and almost passed up until his wife pulled out her childhood family picture of the same painting that was on her family room wall… what? so crazy.

Both bars were hand built by a high school friend. The backside of the lounge bar is 106-year-old bar from the beloved Wooden Nickle right here in Cincy.  They will be serving up cocktails and offer a great beer selection along with a craft cocktail menu. Frozen craft drinks called “lushies”, will also be a drink option that will be perfect out in the large back patio area. They also have fun drinks like a blue punch or fun soda machine with so many options.  When you’r walking around be on the hunt for the hidden doorbell, ‘cause if you find it and ring it, they will deliver a glass of champagne to you. I love when there is so much thought that goes into little details and the stories behind everything. Mikey is so proud to tell you about his finds.  But, the fun doesn’t stop there.

 

Now for the best part … the real part … the PIZZA! The menu is creative and fun to peruse. Along with the typical pizza items by the slice or a whole pie, they have a menu of unusual combinations like: Pepperoni Chips appetizer; Spicy-Ass Salad which is a salad topped with Flamin’ Hot Cheetos; Cheezus Crust, which is American cheese melted atop two slices of pizza and pressed together into a sandwich; The Pizza Dawg, a hot dog stuffed with pepperoni & cheese served on a slice of pizza as the bun… different. Had to try it…what in the heck? They also have four sauces for toppers on your pizza.The Unicorn Sauce (makes everything magical), Garlic Sauce (pucker up lover), Ranch(cooler than you are) & Hawt Mess (a mess of sriracha and ranch). I just love this and as Mikey says “we know who we are with the “healthy” thing!” OK, you just have to save room for dessert because you can get fresh from the oven, warm cookies or fresh Cannoli chips. See, I told you they have a totally creative menu.

Things to know:

 

• 2014 Elm St. in OTR a stone throw from Rhinegeist

 

• Hours- Open 7 days a week- 11 a.m. – 3 a.m. Sunday – Thursday , 11a.m. – 4 a.m. Friday – SaturdayOddfellows will be open from 4p.m. to 2:30 a.m. daily

 

• All the televisions play music videos from every era.. I saw videos that I didn’t even know existed ;)

 

 

Some restaurants start the meal with a basket of bread and that’s the first impression, so they want it to be amazing. When I met with Ryan Morgan, owner of Sixteen Bricks Bakery, it clicked just how much detail goes into all the breads that make up some of our favorite meals we eat around town.

Not until the last 7 years or so, did a restaurant make a big deal about where their bread was made. Now you see it on menus, or the server will tell you when they deliver the bread basket… “the bread is from Sixteen Bricks” or “the bun on your burger is Sixteen Bricks” …

What I love about doing my blog is meeting the people that make things happen. Talking with Ryan you would think he was born baking when, in fact, this career path wasn’t planned at all.

Ryan kind of tripped into this job by trying to help his mom with her bakery while she was taking care of his dad who had MS. Ryan hung onto his very successful day job for a while thinking he would just help until they figured out the next move. He didn’t want his mom to close the bakery after working so hard keeping it going. He thought he would just be the paperwork guy. After a trip to Texas with a buddy, he stopped by a bakery and had a long conversation with the owner. When they got back in the car, his buddy looked at him and said, “you’re going to quit your job and run that bakery” and he added, “I’ve never seen you so passionate about anything other than motorcycles!” (Speaking of motorcycles, he sold his and cashed in his 401K and the rest is history).

After a ton of trial and error; learning the techniques of baking; and throwing himself into the learning process, he delivered some bread to Todd Kelly the past chef from Orchids. He was the one who really helped him realize what he had going. Ryan credits Todd for getting Sixteen Bricks to the next level. He loves to be pushed and continues to perfect his bread. Today, 16 Bricks is now selling bread to most of the high-end restaurants in the city. Ryan and his crew (including his son Jacob) are producing more types of bread than I knew existed. They love to get creative and come up with specialty breads for certain places. For example, Jeff Ruby likes his sourdough to taste a very special way and I don’t know anyone who can turn down the bread basket at Ruby’s restaurants! He loves when the chefs give him feedback, he works tirelessly to perfect the recipes and be challenged.

I had the best time meeting everyone and spending time learning about bread making. I loved the excitement in his conversation and the fun music filled environment in the bakery… everybody works better to some tunes.

They are located in the old Klosterman Bakery. The famous pink building at 4760 Paddock Rd.

Things you need to know:

• The name 16 Bricks comes from the old bakery where Ryan had a 16 ton stove oven.

•All the breads are still made by hand with natural fermentation. They do not add any artificial extenders, conditioners or enzymes to the breads. Also, they have recently started a pastry business. Traditional French croissants, nice and buttery, chocolate croissants and coming soon cinnamon rolls! Yessss!

Where can you find some of their fantastic breads? This list could go on and on….

Red Feather                                    Branch

Sleepy Bee                                      Hotel Covington

Karrikin                                           Pleasantry

Jeff Ruby’s                                       21C

Cheapside                                       Commonwealth

Deeper Roots                                   8^th& English

Hyde Park Meats                             Coffee Emporium

Rhined                                                Loving Hut

 

 

 

The Holocaust & Humanity Center is opening to the public Sunday January 27^thin its new home at the Union Terminal. It is the perfect location for the new 7,500 sq. ft. permanent exhibit because of the direct connection with the history and journey of so many. This is the exact location that over 1,000 holocaust survivors arrived and got off the trains in hopes of rebuilding their lives. The exhibit starts upstairs with wonderful sculptures that depict the people that may have walked through the concourse back then and replicas of letters and documents that give “life” to the people you will learn about when you go downstairs to the exhibition. What is so powerful is that when you are down in the museum the whole space is literally under where the survivors walked off the train.

 

As you go down the steps, you are surrounded by personal letters and documents that lead you to a graphic novel mural with stories that truly connect you with the people you will learn about. Then you enter the Winds of Change Theater showing a film where the survivors are telling their stories. The executive director and one cool person, Sarah Weiss, says is “the history of the holocaust as well about humanity”. These are all local Cincinnati stories from families of the descendants who still live in our neighborhoods and communities.  They share their stories about the journey and the people they knew that weren’t as lucky as them …. the ones who could not escape Europe.

 

One thing that Sarah said that touched me was, “This isn’t just about history, it’s about us. This is about the present and the future, as well…. When you look at one of the darkest chapters of humanity, we look at what can we learn from this and what can we do better for humanity.”

 

You will be pulled in by the images and film clips and artifacts that chronologically take you from life before the war through the events that followed. There are wonderfully created, interactive pieces. One that was very interesting was the wall that has a window which (most museums do not have windows). As they were working on the exhibit, they kept noticing the trains out back and so they opted to have a little window that glances out to the trains where the survivors arrived many years ago.

Another impactful exhibit was the wall made of bullets, depicting an actual photo from the scene where people were shot after having dug their own graves. You will stare at this wall and get chills.

You’ll learn about life after the war. What the survivors did after they moved to Cincinnati. So many great stories.

 

You’ll wind around so many great vignettes, then end in the Humanity Gallery…a modern area of the exhibit that touches on contemporary issues. People who have impacted humanity in small and large ways here in Cincinnati. This is the area where you see how you can make a difference. There is a significant area about Miami University and how, through the process of changing their mascot from Red Skins to Red Hawks, they partnered with the tribe to bring awareness and sensitivity. Miami has even created a partnership with them by building a center and bringing the tribes of young people to the University.  This is just an example of how we currently can make positive change.

The final piece of the Museum is a mural called “Make your Mark” where you’re invited to take a picture that is interactively displayed on a wall screen, along with all the other visitors. You can reflect on what you learned from your experience. Loved this!

When you exit you will go right back out to the lobby with the “graphic novel” wall mural. Sarah says she hopes that this time… when you look at the wall and put a story with the faces you see… that they come to life for you.

Things To know:

 Events on Sunday are FREE to the public!

•1301 Western Ave.

•The date of the opening is of particular importance because it coincides with International Holocaust Remembrance Day and the 74^thanniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz.  FREE events that day are as follows:

 

1:00 PM Holocaust survivor & descendants processional followed by opening ceremony and ribbon cutting

 

2:00 PM Holocaust survivor Renate Frydman shares her husband’s survival story

 

3:00 PM Special performance by the Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra

 

4:00 PM The making of Cincinnati’s Newest Museum panel discussion with exhibit designers Berenbaum Jacobs & Associates and Jack Rouse Associates

Ongoing Holocaust survivor testimony films along with a behind the scenes of Cincinnati’s Newest Museum film

 

Limited Museum Admission for Sunday, January 27:

 

Timed tickets to the museum are available online in 15 minute intervals from 1:45-4:30 PM. Please note that tickets are available on a limited basis. Advance purchase is suggested. Click below to purchase tickets.

 

https://holocaustandhumanity.brownpapertickets.com/

 

Starting on Monday the museum will follow the same hours as the other attractions and will be open every day 10-5.  Tickets can be purchased at the box office or by calling 513-287-7001.

 

Admission prices are $10, $7.50 military, seniors and museum members, $5 students