A Culinary Tour of Southwest Ohio, pt. 2
Fish tacos down by the river, egg on pizza on top of the world and the best way to spend a Wednesday night.
My culinary tour of my own backyard continues this week with four of my favorite local restaurants. I begin with a Cincinnati icon - chili.
But first, what is Cincinnati style chili?
Typical chili uses tomato as its foundational ingredient, but Cincinnati style chili uses meat, although it also makes heavy use of tomatoes. There are also differences in the spices. While typical chili is spicy usually using cumin, paprika, garlic powder and onion powder, Cincinnati style is sweeter; cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, cloves and cocoa powder are used. The real difference, however, is in Cincinnati’s consistency. It’s thinner and used like meat sauce served over spaghetti or hotdogs. Also, it usually comes with shredded cheese.
Arguably, Cincinnati style chili isn’t chili. It actually comes from a Greek stew called Saltsa Kima which is typically served over pasta. But Cincinnati was (and is) a largely German town, so the Greek immigrants who brought Saltsa Kima to Cincinnati Americanized/Germanized it with the addition of chili powder. Hence, they called this new spinoff chili.
There are 250 chili parlors in the greater Cincinnati area. “That’s more per capita and square mile than any city in the world,” according to Dann Woellert, author of The Authentic History of Cincinnati Chili. Each suburb has their own take on the iconic dish: Pleasant Ridge Chili, Camp Washington Chili, Price Hill Chili and more. My favorite is Blue Ash Chili.
Blue Ash, Ohio is an inner suburb of Cincinnati. It’s been around since 1791. The chili came much later in 1969. What makes their take on chili so good are the optional deep fried jalapeno caps. And if you’re feeling particularly adventurous you can take the No Freakin’ Way challenge: 2.5 pounds of spaghetti, 2.5 pounds of Cincinnati style chili, 2 pounds of shredded Cheddar cheese and 1 pound of deep-fried jalapeno caps. “That’s 8 lbs. Of Cincinnati-style goodness!”
Next is the Incline Public House.
Cincinnati is surrounded by large hills. In fact, a Chicago friend of mine called them mountains. In the old days Horse-drawn carriages struggled to carry people and cargo up them. In the 1870s inclined plane railways, or inclines, were introduced to Cincinnati. Powered by steam, they were a better way to transport streetcars filled with passengers up and down the hilly terrain. At one time Cincinnati had five inclines providing access to the suburbs Price Hill, Fairview, Bellevue, Mt. Auburn, and Mt. Adams. There are no more Inclines in Cincinnati.
The Incline Public House sits at the top of Price Hill where the Price Hill Incline once dropped off its passengers. The bar and restaurant’s slogan is “Above the Ordinary,” which is a bit insulting to the city of Cincinnati that’s below it. In any case, it has the best view of the city.
My favorite menu item is the W. 8th Street Pie - a brick oven pizza with red sauce, pepperoni, Italian sausage and a house blend of cheese. (This pizza takes its name from the major thorough fare seen in the above picture. This road once connected the bottom of Price Hill’s incline to downtown Cincinnati.)
The most interesting pizza, however, is the Garbage Pizza. As the name suggests, the chef seems to have dumped all the leftover garbage from the other dishes onto this one. It’s topped with bed of arugula and a fired egg. I can’t say I loved it, but it was fun to try.
The final two restaurants I want to recommend today do not have the depth of history as the first two, but I visit them much more often. They are Cabana on the River and Champions Grille.
The name Cabana elicits images of a beach side restaurant. Well, there’s no beaches here but there are some wonderful views of the Ohio River.
Okay, the views of the Ohio are just meh; a beach would be better. But the Cabana is the closest to the Caribbean resort experience that I’ll ever get.
In any case, the food is great. The Boom Boom Shrimp can be an appetizer or an entree when served as a walking street taco. Try it either way.
I love their Mahi Mahi. It can be served as a build-your-own taco. The ingredients come on a plate - roasted mango salsa, “crisp Caribbean” slaw, Cheddar jack cheese and spicy cusabi sauce - with a side of tortillas. I like to mix all that good stuff together into a fish taco slurry. Then I stuff the shells. Here’s a picture of one I made.
Champions Grille has no fancy views. The food is typical bar affair. But Champions Grille is the classic neighborhood bar where everyone knows your name. Well, the waitresses do, anyway. They also know my favorite beer and often have it ready without me ordering it. On Wednesdays they hold Last Call Trivia. The host, Mark, is fun and friendly and always stops by each players’ table to say “hi” after the show.
There are a number of good menu options here, including Cincinnati style chili. But I recommend the buffalo chicken dip (cover photo). At about $10 and some change, it’s a good price for the amount of food. I always have leftovers for the next day.
Trivia, beer and “buff” dip at Champions is the best way to spend a Wednesday night.
That concludes part two of my culinary tour of southwest Ohio. Next time I visit a city called Cheviot for their annual Italian festival.
