Closed since early January 2008, the IRON HORSE INN in Glendale Ohio has recently reopened. The building has a storied history, and it is great to see it open again under new ownership. Wendy and I have dined there twice as guests of the restaurant. This is a “preview-review”. Both of our meals have been in the upstairs dining room, so this review focuses on that space.

The IRON HORSE INN has clarified the vision of the restaurant, envisioning it now as two distinct eateries contained under one roof — downstairs presents a fine dining menu while upstairs has re-adopted the original name of the restaurant “Bracker’s Tavern” (which is slightly confusing…) and offers upscale bar food. It is possible to enjoy an informal meal with a cold beer or a nice glass of wine upstairs or to dress up and enjoy the fine dining options offered in the formal dining room downstairs. The downstairs dining room also features a chef’s table that, while not located in the kitchen, promises as-yet-unknown (to me) special treatment from the chef.

The exterior of the building has been spruced up — and it needed it since it had been neglected. The restfully-colored exterior is invitingly lit and the restaurant beckons with a warm glow. The patio out front is a great place to get a drink and a meal on a comfortable evening. Entering the front doors of the restaurant, you can either climb the short set of stairs to the second floor (an elevator is available and the entire restaurant is handicapped-accessible) for an informal meal or meet the front-of-house manager straight ahead, whose desk is placed at the French-door entrance to the downstairs (formal) dining room. The manager’s desk is imported from Vietnam and is decorated with crushed eggshells (really! — we checked this out with Robin, the owner) and is prettier than you would imagine.

Upstairs, there is a new sitting area just past the top of the stairs that provides a nice place to wait for a table, should the need arise. This new sitting area replaces a small dining room that was wasted space most of the time, and it houses another of the eggshell-decorated furniture pieces. The dark green walls, exposed ceiling beams, and long dark-wood bar of the dining room create a comfortable lodge-y feel. The tables are well-space, so your dining neighbors do not become your dining companions.

The kitchen has received a face-lift with the appointment of Chef Stefan Marcus as Working Chef in charge of the kitchen. His team puts out creative, confident dishes that give testament to Chef Marcus’ years of experience. The kitchen demonstrates restraint — there are no superfluous ingredients or garnishes on the plates. In conversation with Chef Marcus, his enthusiasm for the new venture is evident and infectious. He’s got big dreams for the IRON HORSE, and appears to be in a good position to make them come true.

In our meals there so far, we’ve sampled Jerk Chicken Quesadillas, Crab Cakes with house-made Remoulade, Clam Chowder, Buffalo Chicken Penne with a bleu cheese sauce, and a couple different Paninis with Sweet Potato Fries. Everything has been top notch (standout favorites include the Buffalo Chicken Penne, the Crab Cakes, and the Sweet Potato Fries) and the menu offers sufficient variety to remain interesting for some time. I don’t know if they run specials upstairs or not; on our two visits (one of which was a preview) there were no specials.

They offer “Funny Name Wines” in Bracker’s Tavern, too… an ever-changing selection of value wines with, well, funny names. While I think the idea is somewhat hokey, it seems to work and the couple different wines we’ve tasted have been very good values and reasonably drinkable.

For the most part, the IRON HORSE INN feels like an established restaurant, mostly free of the “opening jitters” experienced by some new places. However, on our visits, there have been a few issues ranging from menu grammar & spelling errors (”Tuna Tar-Tar”, anyone?!), the lack of short descriptions (or even just regions) on the “Funny Name Wines” list, and a few service issues (the wrong entrees were delivered to our table on one visit) reveal that this is, in fact, a new restaurant with a few growing pains.

But the IRON HORSE INN is worthy of your visit right now, and will continue to grow and mature through the startup. It might just become your new (old) favorite restaurant.

(We will eat downstairs soon and I’ll post about that.)

Contact the IRON HORSE INN at 513-722-3333.

Finally, some national attention paid to the developing food scene here in Cincinnati!

This time in an article about Lavomatic, which is run by a good friend of mine, Chef Joanne. The article is by David Tamarkin at Gourmet.COM and is worth checking out.

Finally! Since being without power at my datacenter (actually, my computer room (actually, my spare bedroom)) since Sunday, September 14, the power finally came back on last night around 1:00am. Trying to get things back to normal around here…

The webserver is back (obviously), the Personal Video Recorder (PVR) is back, and my Network Accessible Storage (NAS) stack … needs some attention. It booted but all the drives (over 1 terrabyte) are not back online yet. That may be part of the NAS’s internal boot-up verification process, or it might be a problem. Will diagnose — and fix — this evening when I am back in Cincinnati (I am currently in Lexington Kentucky).

UPDATE: The NAS stack is back up and running. Doing final configuration checks to ensure that it’s re-integrated into the server network, but it’s looking promising.

A few days ago, the members of Happy Mouth (and guests Julie & Terry) met to dine at Holly’s pick, Apsara, an Asian-fusion restaurant. We found that they had very nice sushi and a lobster soup that Wendy loved, and a nice curry. The rest of the food was very good as well (despite strong rumors to the contrary — inside joke).

There were a couple missteps, though. First, in a large (mostly-empty) restaurant, the management seated our large party (12-14) next to another large party in an otherwise-empty dining room. The noise was staggering, but even worse was that one lone server (with a lovely mullet) was serving both of our tables, which meant that service was slow and uneven.

But worst of all was when I noticed that my sushi order was a bit light — I hadn’t received everything I’d ordered. The server realized that he’d set my sushi plate down at the end of the table, and their sushi order was set before me. Both of us had started eating, but the server simply grabbed the plates and swapped them. Now, I’m no prude, and the folks that had their fingers in my food are friends, but that still counted as a giant mistake in my book. <sarcasm>Fortunately, the server went deaf just before I started complaining.</sarcasm> Otherwise, the food and experience was fun.

Another successful Happy Mouth!

Independent Restaurant Week is coming! Independent Restaurant Week is coming!

Check out the list of independent restaurants, many of whom will be participating, on the site. There are some mighty-fine eateries there!

Join in for restaurant week, won’t you?!

This month’s selection, by Ted, of the outing for HAPPY MOUTH SUPPER CLUB came as an accidental surprise. Apparently, when Ted was seeking a place for us to go, someone mentioned Maribelle’s CAKERY, which Ted misunderstood as Maribelle’s TAVERN, which he picked as our destination.

A happy accident it was, too… Situated near the river on the east side of town, this small neighborhood place offered good upscale-bar-type food and beverages at reasonable prices. Everything was plenty tasty! A few mis-steps here and there (some of our party had overcooked food and heavy seasoning on a few items). Accidental or not, it was a good pick, Ted!

For this month’s outing, a bit of a change-up… The members of HAPPY MOUTH SUPPER CLUB met for brunch at Lavomatic, one of the Jean-Robert French Restaurant Group’s newest places. It’s a favorite of mine for their fresh, local, organic ingredients and whimsical preparations, plus the executive chef is a good friend of mine (hi Joanne!).

June 9-15 2008 was the annual 7 DAYS FOR SIDS fundraiser for Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS). I had the honor of serving on the Planning Committee for my second year.

7 Days for SIDS raises money for awareness and research towards the eradication of SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome), the number one cause of death of children from birth to one year, through the Sudden Infant Death Network of Ohio. And to sustain the Tatiana de Cavel Scholarship Fund at the Midwest Culinary Institute at Cincinnati State Technical and Community College.

While we’re still sorting through everything, it looks as though Sunday’s Father’s Day Brunch (we’re still adding up the rest of the week’s donations)may put this year in line to be a record-setting year for this event!

I worked the Brunch on Sunday. My responsibilities included assisting chefs with load-in of their food (I worked at the dock to get the chef’s equipment and supplies onto rolling carts, which were delivered to the chef’s table by Erin and Melissa, two students), directing chefs on where to go, solving problems (like getting Jean-Francois’ (Taste from Belgium) power back on when the circuits kept blowing!), general cleanup, mingling with the guests, and announcing various things (for some reason, no one knew how to access the Public Address system in the building, so we resorted to, well, shouting).

Jean-Robert & Annette de Cavel (of Jean-Robert at Pigall’s) were busy most of the day greeting guests as they arrived to the event. While I’m sure being busy didn’t completely quiet their minds, I hope the positive nature of the busy-ness was a relief from the sadness associated with the timing of this event – it falls near the anniversary of the loss of their baby daughter, Tatiana.

During this year’s event, I learned a bit about the history of 7 DAYS FOR SIDS… After Tatiana’s death in 2002, Jean-Robert (“JR”) and Annette wanted to host a one-night memorial/fundraiser event in March of 2003. As word of the event spread throughout the Cincinnati restaurant community, offers of support and participation flooded in from chefs, restaurants, and other businesses to help out in any way they could. With such an outpouring of love and support, the event envisioned by JR & Annette, which was intend to be one-night-only, quickly expanded into a week’s worth of activities

Now, the week includes golf outings, special donations from restaurants (for example, proceeds from the sale of certain menu items during the week), cooking demonstrations (including live cooking demos from 10 chefs at the wonderful kitchens of Homearama), art shows, brunches, bowling, a silent auction, and new this year, a live auction event. Also new this year is a commemorative CD with recipes, chef bios, a video, and SIDS information.

Now in it’s 5th year, 7 DAYS FOR SIDS…

* has raised nearly $400,000 for SIDS research

* is the largest supporter of the Sudden Infant Death Network of Ohio

* is the second largest SIDS fundraiser in the country

It is our hope to eradicate SIDS so no family has to experience the heartache of losing a child to SIDS.

Because when we put an end to SIDS, we all sleep better at night.

One of the most important, in my opinion, events in Cincinnati is happening this week – 7 DAYS FOR SIDS.

7 DAYS FOR SIDS was launched after the tragic loss of Tatiana de Cavel to SIDS in 2002.

The program, which is the largest fundraiser for SIDS research in the country, was started shortly after. Chefs from all types of restaurants in the Cincinnati area donate their time and talent to raise money for this vital research. Retailers and other interested parties also participate in various ways.

Check out the website (http://www.7daysforsids.com) for the complete schedule, and support it if you can.

Because when we put an end to SIDS, we all sleep better at night.

Full disclosure: I am a member of the 7 DAYS FOR SIDS planning committee.

This month, because Kristi was busy with other things, we all decided to meet-and-eat anyway at Buca di Beppo for their “red-sauce Italian” fare. We noisily occupied a semi-private dining room and proceeded to eat and drink darned near everything on their menu while Angel drooled over a soccer team that was in the restaurant as well. While it didn’t pan out for Angel, the food, drink, and company was awesome.