Chef Romy Jung

I recently received a call from Chef Romuald “Romy” Jung, former executive chef of The Palace Restaurant at The Cincinnatian Hotel. I met Romy while working in his kitchens for GOURMET SENSATION and other events, and have gotten to know him well by bumping into him at frequent chef-crawls (a clandestine operation involving lots of chefs, lots of food, and lots of alcohol). We’d dined at The Palace recently, as written up in this article. Since he left The Palace a few months ago, I’d lost touch with Romy.

But I am happy to report that Romy has resurfaced at Vito’s Café in Ft. Thomas, Kentucky. (The Happy Mouth Supper Club dined at Vito’s Café in November 2005.) Vito’s Café is run by Victor “Vito” Ciepiel, who ably manages the front-of-house operations. Vito occasionally takes to the small stage (which is situated between the two dining rooms, allowing great views from any seat in the house) and sings songs accompanied by a piano. In fact, all of the servers at the restaurant sing — arias, standards, and show tunes. Vito’s Café is known as the “Home of the Singing Servers”. The servers are from local colleges and universities where they’re studying vocal performance, and many go on to future success. Just ask Vito — he’s happy to tell you about their successes! The sound system is nicely managed — the volume of the music and signing never blows you away.

Vito, of Vito's Cafe

The restaurant is decorated in a kitchy-elegant style and the atmosphere in the dining room feels “clubby”, intimate, and relaxed, despite tablecloths over padded tables & cloth napkins. Tables aren’t too close together. Vito does a great job of circulating to all the tables to make sure everything is going well and that diners are satisfied. He also prepares one of their signature items tableside, the Wheel of Parmigiana (Fettucine Alfredo for two, prepared in a giant round of cheese).

The food at Vito’s is top-notch Italian, with a few American favorites added to the mix. Presentations are very nice, and portion sizes are not overwhelming. Prices are reasonable — entrees are in the $16-$29 price range. Vito’s is “kid-friendly” and yet manages to be a good choice for a romantic dinner as well (I’ve seen reviews where people write that they’ve gotten engaged at Vito’s — I’m sure Vito & staff go crazy over them!).

Chef Romy called to let us know that he started a Sunday brunch menu at Vito’s Café on September 21, 2008. He invited us to brunch, so we joined him on Sunday, September 28 for a lovely meal. We were greeted by name by Vito when we walked in (Vito is a tough one to miss — not only does he cut a commanding presence with his broad shoulders, big smile, and ponytail, but he does a great job of making sure you’re welcomed and seated as quickly as possible) and shown to our table near the center of the small dining room. Our server, Peter (a doctoral student at University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music), took great care of us (and sang beautifully).

We started with eye-openers — a Pomosa for Wendy (Pomegranate juice & champaigne) and a Kir Royale for me. For brunch, Wendy sampled the Vito’s French Toast which is thick slices of homemade brioche drenched in vanilla pastry cream and studded with raspberries. I tried Café Benedict: two perfectly poached eggs (last week was “Poached Egg Week” in the cooking class I teach, so they’re on my mind) atop English muffin halves with Canadian bacon and a lovely Hollandaise. A roasted tomato cup accompanied my Benedict. Both dishes were delicious — the French Toast was delicious and delicate, and my dish was hearty and satisfying. Simple presentations were attractive and not over-done.

Chef Romy visited the table a few times to chat about his new position and how much he’s enjoying putting his 30+ years of fine dining experience and French training to use in an Italian kitchen. He showed us the new dinner menu which debuts in a few days (and is not yet on their website at this writing), and it looks outstanding. A few standouts to look forward to:

• Gorgonzola Garlic Bread with a white wine sauce
• Celery Root Cannelloni “without dough” — celery root shaved thin and wrapped cannelloni-style around fresh seasonal vegetables
• Warm goat cheese & pear salad
• Wild Boar Ragu — Wendy zeroed in on this dish and would have eaten it right. now. if only Romy had taken her subtle hint (which was, “bring me some of this right. now.”)!
• Lamb “Stinco” with creamy polenta and porcini sauce
• Truffle Risotto… Need I say more?

As we finished our brunch entrees, Peter quietly asked if we had any room left, because Chef wanted to send something out to us. Remember, kiddies… If the Chef wants to send something out — LET HIM. This is always a good thing. And Romy did not disappoint. He sent a Bellagio Omelet which is chunks of Lobster, fresh thin asparagus tips, Boursin cheese, and diced tomatoes and a side of their house-made Corned beef Hash. Both of these dishes were truly amazing, and despite feeling pretty full we finished them both (remember: eat through that feeling of saitity!).

The brunch at Vito’s is a casual, comfortable, enjoyable affair. The music is nice without being overwhelmingly loud, the hospitality is top-notch, and the food great. And good prices, too.

Vito’s Café is located at 654 Highland Ave. Suite 29, Ft. Thomas, KY 41075. The phone number for reservations (which are strongly recommended, and should be considered essential if you’re celebrating anything) is (859) 442-9444.

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.

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 June 6, 2007, HAPPY MOUTH met at Knotty Pine on the Bayou, John’s pick for the month.

Though I attended, I didn’t eat ANYTHING because my stomach was very upset from something I’d eaten previously that day. Everything looked and smelled as good as it could in my condition, and Wendy reports that her meal was outstanding.

Tonight’s HAPPY MOUTH outing was orchestrated by Chuck, and he selected Chez Nora in Covington Kentucky as our destination. Dinner was at a long table in their back room (though a few members had enjoyed a cocktail on the restaurant’s rooftop bar before dinner). I sampled the Smoked Chicken & Goetta Spring Rolls and found them to be pretty darned good. My entree was Pecan-Crusted Walleye, which was delicious.

With errands behind us, Wendy & I went to see the 4:00 production of THE TRIAL OF EBENEZER SCROOGE at Falcon Theater. They did a good job, and Donnie, who played Scrooge, did an exceptional job. It was an entertaining show.

Since we were nearby, Wendy suggested we stop at the BLUE GIBBON restaurant, one of her favorites. We enjoyed our ‘usual’ appetizers of Cold Sesame Noodles and Chicken Corn Soup, then we each had a noodle dish (vermacelli for Wendy, udon for me) before heading home to make Christmas Bark candy, the first of three batches we’ll make this year.

We left the hotel at 9:00am (their time) to travel back from Kentucky.

In the evening, we attended the fourth annual craft party at Dave & Robin’s house, attended by Dave, Robin, Cheryl, Danny, Holly, Wendy, and Drew. We made candle cozies, little beaded Christmas trees, and beady candy canes. It was fun, but if you ask me about it in front of people, I’ll lie to your face. It’s just not very macho.

Dinner was at their place, and consisted of pizza rolls, bagel bites, and holiday snacks.

Tonight was the second (and last) night of the Madrigal Dinner at Kentucky Wesleyan College. Wendy & I joined a few other alums for dinner at FAMOUS DELI in Owensboro. We had a starter of fried mozzarella with marinara sauce (it was excellent), then I had their very-good Chicken Marsala with a Malbac wine. I had hoped to try AMERICAN BOUNTY restaurant, but was happy that we went to FAMOUS DELI instead.

After dinner, Wendy dropped me back at the hotel where I read and watched television.

This extended weekend was a very relaxing get-away for me, and I really enjoyed it.