This Friday was a warm September night – perfect for semi-outdoor dining adventures so we headed to the always-hopping-on-weekends OTR area.

Over The Rhine (OTR) is part of downtown Cincinnati – straight north of the riverbanks & business district – mostly between Central (to the south), McMicken & Liberty (north), Main (east) and Elm (west). Downtown Cincinnati consists of a grid of numbered (east-west, starting with 3rd, going higher the further north you go) and mostly tree-named (north-south) streets. Every other street is one-way so you may get very familiar with them if you pass your destination and have to circle around.

OTR’s central features are the lovely Washington Park and the historic and beautiful Music Hall, but it is a rich historical and cultural area including beautiful Italianate and Victorian architecture (landing it on the National Register of Historic Places). The Cincinnati Symphony, Cincinnati Opera, Cincinnati Ballet, School for Creative and Performing Arts, several Theatres and Cincinnati’s oldest public market, Findlay Market are all there. Central, walkable and diverse, Over-The-Rhine is an ever-growing trove of cool shops, bars, and restaurants.

Established in the late 1780’s Cincinnati’s history is centered around it’s waterway, the Ohio river. Settlement-turned-shipping hub by English, French, and Swiss settlers – it boomed into a largely German population in the 1830’s. Pre-railway settlers, interested in expanding commerce to the great lakes, built a canal from the Ohio river in Cincinnati all the way north to Toledo – the Miami-Erie Canal. 40 feet wide, 4 feet deep and 274 miles long, the canal had intricate locks and dams to accommodate the hilly Ohio topography. The canal no longer exists but based on the map below, it looks like the Canal started where Eggleston Rd begins at the Ohio river, angled west where Reading becomes Central Pkwy East, followed Central Ave. as it angled north (where Plum becomes Central north-south) and headed north-east to Toledo from there.

With a mixed population of generationally-established families and incoming young professionals and empty-nesters, Over-the-Rhine residences range from publicly-assisted housing to luxury condos. Settled originally by German immigrants to whom the Canal was reminiscent of the Rhine river in Germany (they lived north of the canal, thus, OVER the Rhine), following prohibition (much of canal-focused are business was corn for feed and whiskey) and then the anti-German sentiment during and following WWII, many Germans moved elsewhere and the area was diversified with African American Cincinnati families. Today, the neighborhood has very mixed demographics and is a community working to restore and beautify as it includes and grows, and is all the richer for it.

First Stop Wine at Skeleton Root:

While you could do dozens of FNFT’s to OTR (and perhaps we will), this FNFT had us headed first to the north side of OTR to a winery called Skeleton Root. Unfortunately, one of the drawbacks to spontaneity is that sometimes best laid plans get foiled – in this case, the winery was closed for an event. As we re-routed, we watched formally-clad millennials ride up on the city’s app-rented electric scooters (stilettos in hand) – must’ve been a wedding reception.

… Scratch That, First Stop Beer & Cocktails at Northern Row Brewing:

Re-routing and faced with the afore-mentioned one-way street predicament, we had the happy chance of circling around a brewery we hadn’t heard of and decided to make that our first stop – Northern Row Brewing. In a very cool pre-prohibition building with a warm wood, iron, & copper aesthetic (with red accents to match their logo) it was both cozy and spacious. It has it’s own pretty back-alley patio and parking too! Friendly bartenders once again helped John find a substitute to the Guinness he is forever seeking and he accepted the challenge of a Helles called the Hustler (which is nothing like a Guinness but John likes old movies, is generally amenable, and dislikes hops, so it was a win). They also have house-made Five Stories Spirits – which I didn’t know at the time so I ordered up the tasty Coin-Style Margarita (they don’t make Tequila) from their cocktail menu which I of course ordered light on the simple syrup – don’t mind if I do! For a snack, we partook of the Deviled Eggs. Slightly spicy, bacon-y, chive-y, they were dill-ish! get it?… because they were yummy and accented with dill? Loved it.

Ok, yes, move on Megan. Off we went. Next stop, nirvana… otherwise known as Pepp & Dolores.

Next Stop: Dinner @ Pepp & Dolores

Oh my. My thoughts keep circling back to the sunny open space (windows all open on this perfect evening), the beautiful finishes (warm wood, white marble, vintage fixtures and tile), the fried artichoke and crisp wine. All of it sublime. Owned by the same lovely folks behind The Eagle, Maplewood, Bakersfield… whom I’ve never met but am grateful to for investing in Cincinnati culinary-cool, Pepp & Dolores is said to be named after their grandparents and fashioned around true Italian home cooking.

They make their own pasta. They make their own (thyme-infused) Limoncello. They make a Sunday Sauce and a gorgeous pesto. Enough said. John and I are forever seeking what we think of as true Italian. To us, that means a couple of different types of great homemade noodles and a couple of different, really worthy sauces to go on them, after that, feel free to be creative. It is surprisingly hard to find. But is is what we found here. Queue the angels singing.

We ate at the bar – we got the last 2 stools and after that there was nowhere to sit for hours. Side note, they had a really cool downstairs bar too but it was gorgeous outside and the windows were open on the main level, so we sat there.

We had great service and friendly neighbors at the bar. The bartenders set us up with placemats and napkins and made us feel at home. I had the Limoncello and tonic (which uses their house-made limoncello and hint of basil) it was wonderful. We ordered the works of art that are the entirely edible, lightly fried, floral-looking Artichokes Alla Giudia. Gracious. Um, they were gone pretty quickly. Time to order some wine.

For dinner to accompany our wine, I had the campanelle with pesto – divine in its perfect simplicity. John had the more adventurous Frutti Di Mare with its crazy-looking but yummy squid ink malloreddus pasta and bunches of seafood in a slightly spicy seafood broth. Delicious and right up his alley.

If you haven’t heard of it, you’re welcome.
We will definitely, definitely be back. If we can find a place to sit!

Last Stop: The Wiseguy Lounge

After so enjoying The Comfort Station and it’s secret-speakeasy vibe, I investigated other semi-underground bars around Cincy, and Wiseguy Lounge came up – it is the tucked-away, unpublicized bar above Goodfella’s Pizza. There are a few locations of Goodfellas Pizza in other cities and I believe they have the side staircase to Wiseguy somewhere in all of them. The OTR location’s stairs were set to the side of the main entrance – no signage, so keep your eyes peeled!

We were pretty full after NR & D&P so we just enjoyed a cocktail here but decided we had to order one of Goodfella’s fantastic (and huge) true Italian-style pizzas (think melty slices of ball mozzarella, fresh basil and delicious pomodoro sauce) to take home to our teen sons as a late night snack. As we waited for our pizza I sipped on one of their cool, seasonal craft cocktail creations. I had an herby, slightly orange-y, refreshing creation and John enjoyed one of the many beers on tap – but not a Guinness. 😉

Wiseguy, with it’s bar and even a little back balcony, is modeled after a prohibition-era bar where craft creations of the creative bartender are foremost. They have lost of infused things and creative ingredients, including smoked whipped creams. Oh, and by the way, Wiseguy has over 400 kinds of Bourbon… yes, even that one. Enjoy!

Until next Friday, Cheers!

This week’s FNFT:

peppanddolores.com 1501 Vine St.
northernrow.com The Taproom 111 West McMicken Avenue
goodfellaspizzeria.com/wiseguy-lounge, 1211 Main Street