Cincinnati Re-adventure: clifton

Showing posts with label clifton. Show all posts

Crafty Supermarket

This is the sight that greeted you when you approached this year's Crafty Supermarket at the Clifton Cultural Arts Center: Cafe de Wheels!

We've been to all three Crafty Supermarkets so far, and I have to say: this winter's was far and away the best. I was amazed at how much this event has grown even since last time!

Dojo Gelato was in attendance, as were representatives from Picnic & Pantry, selling stew and other awesome lunch options. This is itself makes the event so much more accessible and compelling.

I've felt in the past that it was very hard to walk in and buy something-- the gifts were too esoteric (and often too expensive) to walk out with an armload.

This time around, I felt that there was a huge range of offerings that would fit many different styles. Jewelry, papercraft, clothing, vintage items, you name it. There were plenty of things I couldn't afford but I had no problem finding a handful of gifts that my family and friends are going to love.

We were there around 3pm, and the place was packed wall to wall. Ben Davis was laying down the music and every vendor seemed to be doing brisk business. This is a fantastic event, and a great partner for Cincinnati Unchained!

Crafty Supermarket: http://craftysupermarket.wordpress.com/

architecture - the parkside

We've become amateur architecture buffs over the last few months. I've always been a bit of one, but our recent visit to Frank Lloyd Wright's Fallingwater really cemented it for Erica.

Cincinnati is a treasure trove of architectural gems, both famous and not-so. Frank Lloyd Wright has three residences here that he designed for various people, and the University of Cincinnati is a veritable who's who of contemporary architecture.

I'd also be remiss if I didn't include the CAC building downtown by Zaha Hadid and César Pelli's Aronoff Center. While those are all rather modern additions to our collection, I think our historical collection is even more impressive. Cincinnati's Over-the-Rhine area is one of the nation's largest intact historic districts, comprised of 943 buildings of various architectural styles, and we're lucky enough to have purchased a condo in the emerging Gateway Quarter that we'll move into this spring.

Throughout Cincinnati you'll find impressive architecture, and as we journey we plan on writing up more of these, but first up I want to talk about our current home base, the Parkside building in Clifton. Designed in 1897 by Joseph G. Steinkamp, and built by Thomas Emery's sons, the building was added the National Register of Historic Places on 2008 February 29 after undergoing a full renovation and rebirth in 2006. The building had deteriorated to the point of being a health hazard, but has now been remodeled to be clean, modern and ready for another 100 years.

One thing that I've found interesting and rather refreshing since moving in here is the dedication and love the other tenants have for the building. It's an old and rather ornery building, and requires a lot of upkeep - however, everyone who lives here seems to value it and it's been a nice place to live. Cincinnati could use some more people who are as dedicated to preserving our historic structures as those living here at the Parkside.

Proud Rooster

The Proud Rooster is-- apparently-- one of the gems of Clifton. It's been in business since the dawn of time, and Dan's been itching to visit... but it's only open for lunch (during the week), and we both work downtown.

As luck would have it: ugggh! I woke up feeling like hell warmed over! So when lunch rolled around, we schlogged down Ludlow to the chicken place to end all chicken places.

What looks like a tiny carry-out-only area is actually only the facade for an adorable greasy spoon (by far my favorite kind of eatery). All the bling on the walls comes from trophies and plaques from local sporting events and teams that the Proud Rooster has sponsored.

And the food was delicious. Dan ordered the fried chicken and enjoyed it. I had the meatloaf hoagie with mac 'n' cheese and-- sweet mercy-- there are leftovers in my fridge and it's killing me not to pop 'em out and heat 'em up. Warm, comfort-y foods perfect for autumn.

We will definitely be back, if we can carve out another lunchtime (or a weekend, if we're ever home!).

Burnet Woods, Diggs Fountain Plaza, nameless fountain

Before all the trees are bare and Cincinnati turns a relentless shade of gray, make sure you take time to stroll through Burnet Woods and around the fountain plaza in Clifton.

It's difficult to find a lot of information about this beautiful fountain-- I stumbled upon an article from 2002 talking about construction of the fountain, and while it names both the garden and the surrounding plaza, the fountain is only described. This article goes on to call her "the new Clifton fountain" and "the best semi-naked woman in public," and as of yet I haven't found anything that gives her a name. A shame, isn't it?

I hadn't realized the fountain was that new-- only seven years old? Shows how much time I used to spend in Clifton. Now I can't imagine walking to the Esquire without seeing her.

Richie's

Richie's Restaurant is located down Vine Street from Dan's place in Clifton, and I eye it every time we drive to his nearest Dairy Queen. ...Which is more often than I'd like to admit.

The thing that stuck out the most was their neon signs (which I've failed to capture in my pictures)-- the bright red Fried Chicken, Cornbread, Steak Nuggets, Okra, Sweet Potato Pie, etc signs stand out, especially toward dusk when my Blizzard cravings tend to hit.

We finally stopped to pick up dinner one evening-- there is a drive-thru and a carry-out, but no place to eat inside.

We ended up ordering a very blandly colored meal: fried chicken, cornbread, mac & cheese. The food was more flavorful than I'm making it look in my pictures, though I wasn't a huge fan of the chicken-- there didn't seem to be a lot of meat on it.

The cornbread is good, if you crave it from time to time like I do-- throw it in the microwave for a bit before you eat it. Mm.

Olives, Sitwell's

Yesterday was Dan and my 4-monthiversary (aw). To celebrate, we strolled down Ludlow to Olives-- the first place we ate when I would actually say we were dating, not just naively hanging out like goobers.

I'm a big fan of Olives. We've been there for lunch and for dinner multiple times, and I'd only had great experiences. The atmosphere is unassuming, and the prices are great for a nice lunch or casual date. The service is good, the food is fab, and I always end up with leftovers.

Last night I had the special, which was a slab of prime rib, a twice-baked potato and an overly large salad for $13 (no joke). I also indulged in their "southwest corn chowder"-- the entire meal was delish. Dan had the Italian turnover, which is like a flippin' huge calzone. I think he enjoyed it but frankly I was too busy shoving my face into my prime rib.

No dessert, because afterwards we wanted to swing by Sitwell's for hot chocolate. We took our drinks to go, but I'd like to go back and spend some time there. Sitwell's seems really unique and quirky.

One last piece of cuteness for my fellow Cincinnatians... have you run into the "4-way stop" sign before (picture below)? Hysterical! I'm not sure if there are others, but we discovered this one on a side street in Clifton while walking around after dinner.