Happy Mouth Supper Club

Tonight’s HAPPY MOUTH SUPPER CLUB was the first pick by Dave & Robin, who finally got a month (to share). Unfortunately, Wendy & I were too sick to attend, so we missed it. Selected was BD’s Mongolian BBQ, and I hear it was a really good time!

On January 19, 2008, members of the Happy Mouth Supper Club met (our first meeting of 2008!) for dinner at Bouquet in Covington Kentucky, which was Angel’s pick. Bouquet is a nice little wine bar and restaurant that opened December 1, 2007 and is developing their big ideas for what the place should be as time and money allows. Chef/owner Stephen Williams, formerly sous chef at Otto’s next door, has opened the intimate space to focus on wine and food, and does well on both counts.

Holly, Jay, Wendy, and I arrived at Bouquet early (after catching an Omnimax showing of SEA MONSTERS at the Cincinnati Museum Center at Union Terminal) for a glass of wine and an appetizer of crab cakes. Slowly, the rest of our large party (13 of us) arrived, and our evening kicked off with soup (excellent butternut squash soup, served with fresh crusty bread), salads, then entrees such as their salmon, lamb, and various steak selections. Everything was well-prepared and served appropriately seasoned. The service staff was knowledgable and present without being overbearing. Water glasses were filled (and re-filled (we’re a thirsty bunch!)) as necessary, and it was no problem at all for our check to be split (we told them ahead of ordering, for which they seemed grateful). The music was appropriate and played at a suitable volume that made conversation easy. The room, which was empty when we arrived, was filled by the time our dinner was in full swing. Bouquet accepts reservations, and it seems like a good idea to secure them before heading down there.

Stephen Williams is a recent graduate of the Midwest Culinary Institute, so my wishes for his success are doubled (at least!).

On December 19, 2007, members of the Happy Mouth Supper Club, along with guests Julie, Terry, and Adam, dined at Zola’s in Covington. It was Ed’s month to pick, and we really enjoyed the convivial pub atomosphere of Zola’s. Comfortable, fun and unpretentious. The burgers are widely rumored to be the best in town, and based on what we ate, there is little reason to doubt that claim. We had the upstairs room pretty much to ourselves, and we made very merry indeed.

This guest article written by Ronald Lee.

On Wednesday, November 27, 2007, most of the members of the Happy Mouth Supper Club cabal (Drew, Wendy, Ted, Holly, Jay, John, Angel, and Ron) met for the monthly soirée at one of ‘Johnny Robert’s’ joints in Covington, Kentucky. It’s officially known as Jean-Robert’s Greenup Cafe. These usual suspects were joined this month by special guests Julie, Terry, and DeAnn.

The Greenup Cafe (named for the street on which it is located) is in the former Wild Flour restaurant location that used to be frequented by lawyers, judges, court officers, and other nefarious characters from in and around Covington. The old building (historical, I think) has been somewhat renovated by the French guy and his minions & the food was awesome. In fact, it was so good I almost forgave the French for World War II… Almost.

We were comfortably seated in one of two upstairs private dining areas and started the evening with a nice cocktail hour before settling in for appetizers, entrees, and desserts. Appetizers included the charcuterie plate with white bean salad, outstanding soup (butternut squash), tarte fine, and beggar’s purses with fig.

Everyone seemed to enjoy their dinners which consisted of Pan Seared Ruby Trout, a delicious roasted Chicken, and Marinated Pork Tenderloin. All served with delicious mashed potatoes and vegetables.

Pigall’s worker/chef-instructor Drew was allowed to enjoy his meal rather than being forced to “chop broccoli” all night…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TVe1W_fFzoo

A good time was had by all and another successful Happy Mouth is officially in the books!

On Wednesday, October 17, 2007, several of the members of the HAPPY MOUTH SUPPER CLUB met for a delicious, inexpensive dinner at SHANGHAI MAMA’S (scroll down on their site for the menu) in downtown Cincinnati. It was my month to select. Based on the wonderful Crab Cannolis that Tara & Raymond introduced me to late one Saturday night, I decided that SHANGHAI MAMA’S was the place for our monthly outing.

We met and ate lots of SHANGHAI MAMA’S wonderful appetizers (edamame, crab cannolis (4 orders!), fried wontons, wasabi dumplings, and more) before moving on to mains like Shanghai Noodles, Lo Mein, flatbreads, and more. And lots of adult beverages! Though the mains are very good, I think that appetizers are the most interesting part of a meal at SHANGHAI MAMA’S.

We ran into Robert W. and his friend who were coming in for a late dinner. They had intended to go to VINYL (see the writeup of our visit in March 2007 here) but found that it had closed. I am convinced that the spot is cursed! Robert had the singular experience of singing for composer Stephen Schwartz recently during a workshop production of Schwartz’s new show SNAPSHOTS, so we enjoyed hearing about Robert’s experience.

A very good Happy Mouth!

This evening, members of the HAPPY MOUTH SUPPER CLUB met to dine at Wendy’s selection, HUGO RESTAURANT in Oakley (it occupys the old Pho Paris site since they moved to Covington).

Wendy & I discovered HUGO when we sampled their shrimp & grits at Chefapalooza, one of the 7 DAYS FOR SIDS fundraising events. At that moment, Wendy decided that she wanted to select HUGO for her Happy Mouth month.

A group of 11 of us (Robin, Jay, Ted, Tracy, Holly, Ron, Wendy V, John, Dave, Angel, and Andrew) settled into the Magnolia Room, a private dining room, for a charming dinner of Charleston-style fare. I started with delicious Sweetbreads, which were perfectly prepared — slightly crunchy on the outside, but soft and yielding on the inside. Wendy had Fritters with chili jam and seemed to enjoy them very much. Elsewhere on the table, we sampled Wild Mushrooms with Pork Belly, and of course, Fried Green Tomatoes which were very flavorful and didn’t turn to mush through the fryer.

Main dishes included Salmon, Rabbit with Corn Pudding (I had this and was very happy with it, even though there were several shards of bone from an imprecise butchery job), and Shrimp & Grits. Several diners ordered the Shrimp & Grits. VERY tasty, those!

Desserts included a Walnut Apple Tart (the “Hugonaut”, if you can believe that), flourless Chocolate Torte, and a few others as well. I thought the Hugonaut was too many walnuts, not enough apples, though the Maple Ice Cream on top was nice.

A few things… Their breads are very nice. I intended to ask if they were made in house because they were so tasty. Secondly, the prices were a little out of line with the portion sizes. $26 for a Foie Gras appetizer was too expensive — even for me, a confirmed Foie Gras lover! Granted, the restaurant in is hoity-toity Oakley, but even considering that, I felt that the prices were a bit dear. Finally, we appreciated the Chef Sean took the time to come out and visit with our table. The ladies all thought he was dreamy.

Another successful Happy Mouth!

CONGRATULATIONS to Angel and Dave & Robin, who, after months and months (and months!) of faithful attendance became full-fledged voting members of Happy Mouth and were finally awarded their own months.