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.

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.

This month was Jay’s month to select and he picked Burbank’s Real Bar-B-Q, which we’d overlooked as a club until Jay thought of it. Boy, was it good! Smoky Bar-B-Q and lots of libations made this a great time. And long-lost Chef Doug (and his girlfriend) showed up! A great time was had by all.

On Saturday, April 5, 2008, Wendy & I dined at The Palace Restaurant in the Cincinnatian Hotel in downtown Cincinnati.

We were greeted warmly at the door by Maitre D’ John McLean who walked us to our table and helped us settle in for a multi-course menu prepared for us by Chef Romuald “Romy” Jung from the restaurant’s menu. It was exciting not to know what was coming out course-by-course, and we enjoyed the surprise when each dish was revealed as the cloche was lifted.

The first course was Chestnut Soup with Granny Smith Apples, which, before we tasted it, put us in the mind of my own Apple and Chestnut Soup, but upon tasting was entirely different. Romy’s soup was based on beef or veal stock, so the flavor was full and hearty with highlights of sweetness from the perfectly-cut batonnet of granny smith apple. Warming and satisfying, this was a very nice first course. This was beautifully paired with Perrier Jouet.

(I must, sadly, note that the server did not keep track of our wine and food pairings as requested. She provided us a menu of what we ate, and the wines are listed on the receipt but not in order. We enjoyed wines from the following distributors: Perrier Jouet, Irony, J. Lohr, Giesen, and Bridlewood.)

The second course was Risotto with Black Truffle Butter and Black Truffle Butter, Parmesan Cheese, and Mascarpone Cheese. Holy smoke was this delicious! Upon service, a wonderful waft of truffle essense delighted us (and the table next to ours). The risotto was cooked perfectly, and the starch made a wonderfully heady sauce, complimented by the cheeses (and, of course, the truffles!). It was truly a truffle overload… No small flavors here!

Third course was a real standout of the entire meal. It was Oxtail Ravioli with Foie Gras Sauce and a Port Reduction. This was truly spectacular, and the pairing with the J. Lohr Chardonnay (I remember that one!) was outstanding. We experienced richness on multiple levels with the oxtail and foie sauce, accented by the sweetness of the port reduction. It was so good, in fact, that we suggested to Chef Romy that it always be served with spoons for getting every last drop of that delicious sauce (they brought us spoons right away). It is truly an expression of the skill of the chef when he can transform humble ingredients like oxtail into something so delicious (throwing some foie gras in there doesn’t hurt!). It is worth the trip to the restaurant just for this dish, though if you eat only this dish, you will miss out on other delights, like…

The fourth course was an unexpected surprise (even our server was expecting halibut). This was French White Asparagus (lovely fat spears) seared with tomato confit, goat cheese, and balsamic reduction.
When the cloches were removed, Wendy & I both chuckled out loud at the novelty of a simple vegetable course like this — just two beautifully-cooked spears of asparagus, their white color tinged slightly brown from the cooking, and topped with the confit, reduction, and goat cheese. Chef Romy has a light hand with seasonings, so the fresh flavor of the asparagus really shone through.

Our fifth course was a seared Diver Scallop served with organic wild mushroom ragut and dry sherry. Beautifully cooked (ever so slightly translucent in the middle), the scallops were sweet with an accent of earthiness from the mushrooms and sherry.

The sixth course was a beautiful Duck Breast with braised endive (which I adore) and an orange demi-glace. Oh, how I enjoy duck, and this one was excellent. Dotted around the plate were little potato dauphinoise, perfect for stabbing with your fork and chasing around every bit of the demi-glace.

Finally, desserts were presented. We very much enjoyed our Pistachio Creme Brulee (I love pistachios and creme brulee, so this was a real treat for me). Wendy’s dessert (they pegged her perfectly) was their “Inside Out Fondue” with chocolate sorbet and a spicy orange sauce, which looked like beignets until cut with a fork, when they oozed warm chocolate ganache from within the crust.

An exceptional meal! Thanks Chef Romy & John!

About mid-way through the meal, the couple seated next to us leaned over and said, “Okay… Who are you two and why are you surprised at every dish? Didn’t you ORDER your food?”. I explained that I am a culinary instructor, and told them that they, too, could call ahead and ask the chef to select their menu. They were pleasantly surprised at this idea; apparently, they hadn’t thought before of this approach. I really enjoy doing this — calling ahead and asking the chef to show me the scope of his menu through a tasting. Chefs seem to enjoy this as well, especially if you go on a non-weekend night (Wednesday is a good choice) and give them plenty of advanced notice. Plus, it’s a great way to see, well, the scope of their menu. Of course, if you have any food aversions or allergies, make sure you inform the restaurant a> at the time of reservation and b> before your meal begins.

This month’s selection for the HAPPY MOUTH SUPPER CLUB was the modestly-priced-but-expensive (more on that in a moment) Cleves Drive-In Restaurant, which was selected by Tracy. The fare was really good, and the desserts were especially delicious.

The reason this moderately-priced place was expensive (at least for Jay, Ron, and myself) was that we three got pulled over for blowing through a stop sign by Cleves’ finest. The officer was very nice and couldn’t have been more patient (and funny) as he hit all three of us with a $100 fine. Each. YOUCH!

Still, a great Happy Mouth!

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!