Brunch Out @ 10 West

Other than an April Fool's post on McDonald's, we don't really do chains here at Amateur Foodies.  We're big on local.  So it is with mixed feelings that we'll put up this short post on 10 West, the hotel restaurant of the Marriot in Covington.  And yes, Orchids at Palm Court is a hotel restaurant, but somehow the non-hotel branding plus the fact that it's amazingly good (post from a recent visit coming soon!) make me not feel so bad about posting it.  This one was a trip with Sarah and friends only, so let me publicly state my ghostwriter status now.

The Food:  They have a regular menu, but they also have a buffet for $14.95 - they'll make you omelettes, waffles, or fried eggs on the spot as part of that buffet.  The buffet also comes with coffee, and they made us a carafe of ice coffee at no additional cost.

All the basic hotel options exist, plus lox and cream cheese, lots of meats, different styles of scrambled eggs, pancakes, strawberry fruit smoothies, muffins, danish, and more.  On the extensive side for a typical buffet, but still typical.  As for the taste?  Definitely better than what you'd expect for a Marriott - fresh fried eggs add a nice touch, and in general we walked away happy.

The Ingredients:  Nothing here about local or organic ingredients.

The Story, Setting, & Service:  The reason to go to 10 West is very simple.  It has a stunning view of Cincinnati.  And, with a Restaurant.com coupon, because you can go for a ridiculously low price.  Right now they have a deal on $25 gift certificates that cost only $2.  That's just wrong.

Service was good and attentive - not too many other people there to worry about, so we were a priority.

10 West won't make it into our list of regular spots, but it's a bit of a bummer how few restaurants in Cincinnati take advantage of our awesome skyline.  As a result, just about anywhere with sustenance plus view equals somewhere we might go, especially with guests in town or something - maybe just for a quick drink.

Tasty Links #12

1) Tom Philpott's response to Michael Pollan's piece.  A GREAT take.
2) NPR's Marketplace on food bloggers.
3) How many farmers' markets are too many?  Hat tip: Richard Stewart at Carriage House Farm.

And your video (hat tip: Ezra Klein)...

Dinner Out @ ZZ's Pizza

What actually got me to ZZ's Pizza was a Restaurant.com coupon (hat tip: wine me, dine me - thanks for getting me to pay attention to these deals!) - nothing too big, just a $10 gift certificate that cost me $4.  Since we already wanted to go, that's money in the bank!  As we were heading toward Walnut Hills, I was thinking how this would have to be awful good pizza to warrant bringing the restaurant back into existence - and with the same recipes as the first go round.  Now I know, this is fantastic pizza!

The Food:  We ordered a couple pizzas so that we could sample the goods, and also ordered a caesar salad to get a sense of whether or not ZZ's could be a solid replacement for our typical Dewey's order.  First, we got the Shitake Mushroom Pizza - it has goat cheese, sundried tomatoes, shiitakes, and onions on a sourdough crust with olive oil and basil.  Next, we wanted to sample the whole wheat and honey crust, so we had our regular - pepperoni and green olives.

The salad came out first, and had a light, flavorful dressing that was just a bit tangy.  With grated parmesan on top, and standard crispy croutons, this salad was a pleasant surprise at a pizza place.  But, the stars of the show soon arrived.

Both pizzas were good looking for the get go, and they were as easy on the mouth/tummy as they were on the eyes.  We had red sauce on our pepperoni and olive pizza, and it was very flavorful.  I love Adriatico's spicy sauce, but this had just a hint of spiciness and was more up Sarah's alley.  The crust on both pizzas was done just right too, with a nice crunch but also a good chewiness.  But what was probably most impressive was the balance.  On both pies you could really clearly taste each ingredient, and at the same time the bases (crust, sauce, and cheese) were notably good.  It's all too common that a pizza has too much of one thing, but these were great all around.

They also have a number of interesting ingredient options - including lobster and gouda.  So, I'm not dead set on my regular order quite yet.

The Ingredients:  While there was nothing on the menu about local or organic items, we did learn a few tidbits of information that you may be interested in.  They have whole wheat crust, which is made up the street at Giminetti Baking Company.  It tasted so good, I figured it was 25% whole wheat or so, but they told us it is 75-80% whole wheat - in terms of eating a healthier pizza, that's a significant step in the right direction!  We also noted that the ingredients really tasted quite fresh at ZZ's, which isn't always the case, particularly at pizza joints that tend to stockpile ingredients for the long haul, often to a flavor seekers demise.

The Story, Setting, & Service:  As I mentioned at the top, ZZ's has the unique distinction of opening and the closing again several years later.  Polly Campbell explained this a bit, but the best explanation I've read comes directly from the source - the back of the menu (and also on the About Us part of ZZ's web page).  I'll refrain from repeating the story myself, but will say that one of the original owner's was there when we were, so it's clear they're keeping an eye on things!

The service was solid - one server for a nearly empty weekday night, but he was very nice and had a good sense of humor.  At one point one of the owners came out of the back (the kitchen can be seen through a glass window, but my back was to it).  We got to talking a bit after I overheard him talking about the Taste of Cincinnati.  There was some buzz about how the Taste is not so accessible because of how expensive it is for small businesses.  We tend not to even go because of how often the food is poor and mass produced by mostly chain places, but it was great to hear that ZZ's really enjoyed doing Taste, and thought it was worth it as a small guy.  I am really hopeful that it will become affordable to others in future years so that the event will only continue to grow.

Finally, ZZ's has a small triangular interior and a number of great prints of Cincinnati locations on the walls. They're on Gilbert Avenue in Walnut Hills, just down the hill from where it hits McMillan.  The neighborhood has struggled, so there's not a ton of foot traffic at the store front.  Hopefully, people will learn its worth the trip and local folks will embrace it as well.

I was thinking this pizza would have to be "bring back the dead" good.  And as it turns out, zombies may come back to life after eating this pie.  Adriatico's is solidly in first place in our pizza rotation, but especially for specialty ingredients, ZZ's is either tied or in a close second.  You should definitely go give this place a try.

Where are the Best Wings in Cincinnati? (Dinner Out @ Mulligan's)

While this post does contain a review of Mulligan's, this is really an opportunity to ask the question: Where are the best wings in Cincinnati?  If you already know the answer, skip down and write a comment so I can end my quest.  In this case, the search led to a place that met some non-food related criteria (namely a TV with sound to watch the Lakers/Suns, which had the added bonus of being outside). If you'd like to read about a not-so-good restaurant/bar that typifies what we usually won't go to, then keep on reading.  I should also say, since I don't think Mulligan's is attempting whatsoever to be a good restaurant (it's a bar!) the following explanation of a train wreck is not meant to be too haterific.

The Food:  We asked the bartender if the wings were good and he asked if we liked Frickers' wings.  I do like Frickers' wings, which are breaded - so we chose to order half breaded and half "naked."  At Mulligan's, you order by the pound, and we went with 1 pound of each (side note: we decided while 1 pound is 6-7 wings at Mulligan's, with the skimpy wings at BW3s, which we've resolved not to eat any more unless they're free because they are so small those chickens simply had to have horrible lives, a pound would probably be like 20 wings at BW3s).

We were feeling frisky because it was the day before two, count 'em two, momentous occasions - Sarah's birthday and her last day of school.  So, we went nuts and also ordered beer cheese and loaded tater tots.  And then, beer. One redeeming fact about Mulligan's is that they do have about 20 beers on tap, many of them quite good.  We got Bell's Oberon, an excellent summer brew.

The wings all came "naked" and were literally swimming in sauce, but actually didn't taste too bad.  As it turns out, nothing like Frickers' though.  Oh, and the medium garlic is just the medium with a bit of minced garlic mixed in, barely changing the flavor (I know, stunning).  "Loaded" tater tots weren't too loaded with cheese or bacon, and were generally forgettable.  Believe it or not, the beer cheese was the redeeming part of the meal.  It was like a big cup of melted Boursin - only orange, and a bit spicier.

The Ingredients:  If they have any local or organic ingredients, I'm pretty sure it's by mistake.  In fact, I think I saw the Sysco truck pull up as we were leaving (no, not really).  They did give us "Naturally Fresh" blue cheese - and by "Naturally Fresh" they mean "the furthest possible thing from natural and/or fresh, which we can still call Naturally Fresh because what passes for honest labeling in this country is obscene."  I recently sent this to Mark Bittman, who has started a feature on his newly revamped blog called "This #$!% Has Got to Stop."

The Story, Setting, & Service:  As I mentioned above, the story here is that we were seeking out great wings to eat while watching a basketball game. We went to O'Bryon's (the AC was icy cold, and the outside was too smoky), then Balboa's (no atmosphere, there was almost no one there, and the music was bad), then we were on our way to the Oakley Pub or Ichiban (though, no sound their either) when we decided to check out Mulligan's.  It had a nice combo of the game, sound on the TV, and eating outside on a beautiful night.

We were both starving and not in the mood to wait for a server, so we just went straight to the bar, asked if their wings were any good, then went forward with ordering.  The bartender literally ran back to his spot inside after delivering our food to us, and he seemed like a really nice guy.

Their outdoor area is crazy big, and complete with dead trees in outdoor planters, cornhole, and pool tables, it's like a huge college bar smack dab in the middle of college-less Hyde Park.  The clientele is largely made up of young men that led Sarah to say things like "boat shoes plus dip - that's just attractive," and point out people that still had their badges on from work.  Otherwise, it was a healthy, diverse mix of preppies in button downs and khaki pants and preppies in t-shirts, hats, and khaki shorts.

I should say too, I agree with Hyde Park Foodie's review 100%.

As these were definitely not the best wings in Cincinnati, and I think I can still conjure up the unavoidable smell of vomit when I remember first walking into the outdoor space at Mulligan's, I think it is safe to say that I won't be going back.  Hopefully, those of you who go to Mulligan's will receive this post as a sort of badge of honor that yes, you do frequent a place that is clearly a dump, in the same way that I loved my first car dearly - a 1989 Chevy Nova that became charming precisely because it lacked anything approaching classiness.

Existential Eating #12

If you have any suggestions or ideas for future Existential Eating strips, please email or comment below.  Sadly, our current collective imagination will run dry.  If its related to food, it can be the topic of an Existential Eating comic strip.  Just share your idea and Ramsey will do his best to draw it up (probably, someday).

Lunch Out @ Deli Seven20

This'll be a quick post for a quick lunch downtown last week.  You will never walk by Deli Seven20 and stumble in by mistake, so when I noticed it hadn't been reviewed on Urbanspoon it seemed like I had to do the city a service.  While it's tucked away in a nondescript office building at 720 Pete Rose Way, it's worth taking the time to find.

The Food:  I've only ever had the sandwiches, but all of my experiences have been good, and the people I've recommended this new school deli to seem to have been quite happy as well.  My favorites are the "ring dang doo" (roast pork loin, smoked gouda, roasted red peppers, and sweet chili mayo on focaccia) and the "genevieve" (roast turkey, brie, and Toni’s jalapeño jelly on focaccia).  On this trip, I went for the ring dang doo.  I've been really digging smoky gouda lately - we've made some amazing cheeseburgers on grills at friends' recently - and the sweet chili mayo is quite tasty.  It looks a lot like the sandwiches at Melt we just had, but the taste is all its own.  You won't be disappointed.

Sandwiches come with home made potato chips - both sweet and regular potatoes I do believe!  Oh, and some good pickles as well.

The Ingredients:  Nothing on the menu about local or organic ingredients, and when I asked they said they get everything from their supplier.  For a place that is so clearly interested in high quality flavor combinations, it would be great if they took their work to the next level.  Maybe introduce it slowly for the office park crowd and see if folks will pay the additional cost on an item or two that are well designed and clearly explained on the menu.

The Story, Setting, & Service:  Deli720, as I mentioned above, is in an office building down by the river.  The view from the atrium style interior of the building is quite refreshing, like a top notch Marriott or Holiday Inn Express.  Unfortunately, no pool (but there were a few putt putt golf holes).  Seriously though, you don't come to Deli Seven20 for the decor or the atmosphere, you come to get your food and go.  They're always on time with the orders, and the folks are nice as well.

Especially if you work downtown, adding Deli Seven20 to your lunch rotation would be a good bet.  I'm confident you'll be consistently happy with quality food and a very reasonable price.

Tour: Milk and Honey Farm

Last weekend, on a Mother's Day make-up, we had the opportunity to spend some time at Mary Lou and Tom Shaw's Milk and Honey Farm.  They generously showed us around their property, which includes 13 acres that they use for growing plants and raising animals, and 39 acres of wetlands.  It is truly a special place, and we're happy to share our experience with you.

The Location:  Milk and Honey Farm is located between Mount Sterling and Washington Courthouse.

The Goods:  Milk and Honey Farm isn't currently producing products for public consumption - so the bulk of this post is in "The Story" and slideshow below.  They do what they do for themselves, family, friends, and neighbors.

The Story:  My mom has known Mary Lou for many years, and I met her once quite a while ago at Dragonfly in Columbus.  So, when my mom gave us a quick snippet on the farm - they have dairy cows, 39 acres of wetlands, chickens, and more - we jumped at the chance to go check it out.  We were in for a treat.

These are clearly the kind of people who like to get things done.  While they're technically retired, I walked around all afternoon thinking to myself how this would be way too much work for me!  And from the way they described what they're working on, their are plenty of new projects in the pipeline to keep them busy.

Without going into too much detail, the Shaw's moved into their current property after Mary Lou's mother passed away - she had been living there previously.  Before that, they had lived in a gorgeous house they built about 30 years ago across the road.  Since moving into their current home, they've learned just about everything they need to know about running a farm, mostly because they've figured it out from scratch - talking to friends and neighbors, looking at books and websites, you name it.  Tom told me about one of his upcoming undertakings - building a chicken plucker!  He got plans for the Whizbang Chicken Plucker (and here are other Whizbang books and tutorials, like how to butcher a chicken), and intends to put one together soon.

It's as though they started asking the question "Where does X come from?" and then went about answering that question with a hands on experience.  Where does milk come from?  Dairy cows.  And they're proud of themselves for advancing from hand-milking to an electric bucket milker this year!  Where does butter come from?  Churning the cream from the milk of course.  Could they buy it at the store, sure.  But why not churn it?!  I'm in the picture on the right doing my share of the labor - and after about 15 minutes of churning, we had the best butter I can ever recall tasting.  They also make cheese, yogurt, and kefir from the milk they get from their cows.

If they can do it themselves, Mary Lou and Tom probably have.  At Milk and Honey Farm they've got chickens and bees and a huge garden with everything from hops (for the beer they make) to lettuce (which they were kind enough to share) and much more.  They built a big sun room/greenhouse on the side of their barn that was growing the largest chard any of us could remember seeing.  They have horses and donkeys too.  And at the top I mentioned the 39 acres of reclaimed wetlands - unfortunately over 90% of Ohio's wetlands have been destroyed, so that our aquifers don't properly refill with water and wildlife don't have habitats to prosper. 

Their place is special in large part because of all the smart projects and processes that they've undertaken to get connected with their land and what they put into their bodies.  But, what really brings it all together is Mary Lou and Tom's infectious energy and thoughtfulness.  They answered every question we asked, regardless of how stupid they may have seemed as the asker ("How do you make cheese?" or "What's the purpose of a donkey if it's not going to carry anything?"), and they are quite simply doing the best they can to be good stewards of the Earth.  That is something they have to teach all of us, and something I have been happy to spend more time thinking about since our visit.

A big thank you to Mary Lou and Tom for their generosity!  They're not available to do tours in general (you can tell, they have a lot going on!), so if you want to reach out to them for any reason, please email us and we'll pass the communication along.  Check out some more photos from the trip below...