Tag: east walnut hills

Categories
Arts & Entertainment News

Stories Around the Urban Campfire returns to East Walnut Hills this Thursday

Stories Around the Urban Campfire will return this Thursday to DeSales Plaza in East Walnut Hills.

The urban storytelling event is being produced by UrbanCincy in partnership with the Walnut Hills Redevelopment Foundation and Teilen. The event also supports small businesses in the neighborhood like Suzie Wongs, Café DeSales, and Beck Hardware.

“I received very positive feedback from the small, neighborhood businesses involved with the first storytelling event,” explained UrbanCincy owner Randy Simes. “Some people were a bit hesitant to get up and share their stories at the first event, but we’re hoping even more people show up this Thursday and to enjoy the unique urban campfire experience in East Walnut Hills.”


People gather on DeSales Plaza for the first-ever Stories Around the Urban Campfire event held on November 8, 2012. Image provided by the Walnut Hills Redevelopment Foundation.

As with the first Stories Around the Urban Campfire held on November 8 (online photo gallery), this week’s event will have food and drink available for purchase from Suzie Wongs and Café DeSales. Those who bring the right materials will also be able to make smores over the fire.

According to Simes, there are plans to potentially do more of these events, but for now this may be the last regularly scheduled Stories Around the Urban Campfire event of 2012.

“We received a very positive response from the first event, and we expect there to be a similar turnout this time around,” Simes noted. “However, it is getting colder and colder by the day, and we don’t want people to be uncomfortable. If the weather plays nice, then we might have another one or two of these before the end of the year, and then bring it back in the spring.”

Stories Around the Urban Campfire (11/29) will begin at 6:30pm in DeSales Plaza at the corner of Woodburn Avenue and Madison Road. The event is free and open to the public, and those choosing to share their stories with the group will be given approximately five minutes each.

Teilen founder Joe Wessels will serve as the event’s moderator and will be keeping track of each speaker’s time. Those interested in telling a story are encouraged to contact urbancincy@gmail.com or joewessels@gmail.com with their name and story topic.

Categories
News Opinion

Is East Walnut Hills the next big thing in Cincinnati neighborhoods?

Over the past several decades Cincinnati has seen its core neighborhoods change. Some of these changes have been negative while others have been very positive. The positives started with neighborhoods like Clifton and Mt. Adams, continued on to Northside and Oakley, and then onto Downtown and Over-the-Rhine (twice).

While progress continues to be made in Over-the-Rhine and Downtown, the question remains: Which inner-city neighborhood might be next on the revival block? Some business and property owners in East Walnut Hills believe their beloved neighborhood is indeed the next one in line. This could be true for several reasons. The first being, location, location, location.


DeSales Corner in East Walnut Hills

East Walnut Hill’s DeSales Corner was historically Cincinnati’s second most prominent business district outside of the Central Business District downtown. The neighborhood’s central and nearby location to downtown made that true historically. In addition to these still relevant truths, the addition of I-71, one of the city’s most prominent east/west bike routes, and the prospect of a modern streetcar line running through its heart make the neighborhood’s location even better today as people and business return to cities.

One such business owner is Chef Josh Campbell who knows World Food Bar in Over-the-Rhine, Mayberry and Mayberry Foodstuffs in Downtown, and the recently opened Skinny Pig restaurant in East Walnut Hills.

“In this area you have Blue Cross Blue Shield, St. Ursula Academy with students who can go off campus for lunch, and several doctor’s offices filled with people looking for healthy, flavorful food options,” Campbell explained to UrbanCincy in April 2011.

In addition to businesses and students, East Walnut Hills also is situated between investment expanding east from Uptown and west from Hyde Park and Oakley.

Campbell’s not the only one thinking East Walnut Hills is the next big thing when it comes to Cincinnati neighborhoods though. In April 2011 Cincy Coworks tripled its size and relocated to 2400 Gilbert Avenue nearby in Walnut Hills based on its location and affordability.

There are also hundreds of new residents living at The Residences at DeSales Plaza and the recently completed DeSales Flats development. Within the past year the City of Cincinnati has also invested in new streetscaping to clean up the business district and hopefully spur additional investment in the area.

While East Walnut Hills appears to be sitting pretty, it certainly is not the only neighborhood poised and ready for a renaissance. Other contenders include Mt. Auburn, Clifton Heights, North Avondale, East End, Pendleton, Corryville and West Price Hill. Which of Cincinnati’s 52 neighborhoods do you think will become the next big thing?

Categories
Business News

World Food Bar Restaurant Group to open new restaurant in East Walnut Hills

Six months have passed since the opening of Mayberry Foodstuffs in downtown Cincinnati, and for Chef Josh Campbell and his business partners, it is time to try something new. The team will open a new restaurant called The Skinny Pig in East Walnut Hills this May. The restaurant, Campbell says, will feature flatbreads, salads, and his specialty – pork.

When Herbert Hood, owner of the buildings on Woodburn Avenue , first visited Mayberry Foodstuffs, he asked Campbell to open another small grocery concept in place of the beloved, and recently closed, Lucky John’s Market in his neighborhood.

After learning about Campbell’s cooking background, the pair decided that opening a restaurant would be a great use for the 750-square-foot space. After signing a 15-month lease the whirlwind renovation process, for which the World Food Bar group has become known, began.

Campbell, along with his business partner Jerry Murphy and sous chef Kevin O’Connell, say they are jumping in to the new concept and location head first.

“Everybody says when opportunity knocks, you should go for it,” Campbell says. “Why not? It’s a natural expansion of what we’re already doing, and we want to reach new people. I’ve surrounded myself with such great people, and it just makes sense.”

Collectively, the team works interchangeably between the Mayberry restaurant as well as Foodstuffs, and The Skinny Pig will be another hock of the hog. The pressure smoker for The Skinny Pig will be housed at the Vine Street kitchen, and the entire team, from Campbell to the dishwasher will work together to complete the trifecta.

The Skinny Pig will be located in the DeSales Corner business district of East Walnut Hills which already boasts other restaurants, luxury apartments and art galleries, and Campbell believes the neighborhood is the next up and coming area in Cincinnati.

“The downtown area is beginning to be saturated with restaurants,” says Campbell. “In this area you have Blue Cross Blue Shield, St. Ursula Academy with students who can go off campus for lunch, and several doctor’s offices filled with people looking for healthy, flavorful food options.”

Campbell says that the main menu concept is a variety of blue cornmeal flatbreads with assorted toppings, baked to order in a wood burning oven, along with unique salads. The goal is to operate an eatery that is accessible to every palate, with offerings running the gamut from wild mushroom pate to smoked pork shoulder, and everything in between.

After the first 30 days of operation, he intends to open an expansive courtyard, with an outdoor grill and live weekend music, that can accommodate an additional 20 to 25 people. With exposed brick, an open kitchen, and a relaxed atmosphere, visitors will experience a homey, accessible meal in a sit down, waited-table style, run by locals that genuinely care about the area and the dining experience.

“Lots of people in the city are investing in different areas of the city’s core,” says Campbell. “The suburbs – they come and go. We need to get back to that era of small mom and pop places that care about their customers and build relationships. I’m a businessman, but my goal is to grow and make sure that the people that are around me can survive, live well, and have fun at work. I’m trying to get that message out to people – to just do the right thing.”

Photograph of Chef Josh Campbell inside Mayberry by Jake Mecklenborg for UrbanCincy.

Categories
Business News Politics

Cincinnati celebrates start of Midwest’s largest RecycleBank program

City officials and business partners met this morning at Annwood Park in East Walnut Hills to officially kick-off the largest RecycleBank program in the Midwest.

City officials say that the incentive program is geared to encourage community members to recycle by measuring and recording the amount of material they recycle, then translate that participation into points that are redeemable at local and national retailers, much like a frequent flier program.

As an added bonus, Cincinnati-based Procter & Gamble has partnered with RecycleBank in rewarding residents for their green actions as part of their new Future Friendly initiative. This means that community members who register for the new RecycleBank program will receive a $5-off reward toward the purchase of any Future Friendly product from the P&G eStore while supplies last.

At today’s ceremony, Office of Environmental Quality director Larry Falkin shared the excitement felt by many in the crowd.

“We [at the city] are really happy about this new program. There’s so much potential to make something useful and profitable from things we’re getting rid of anyway,” Falkin stated. “Even the guys who own the landfill are in on it. Jeff Rumpke knows he’s missing out on an opportunity by letting all those recyclables in the landfill.”

Another component of the city’s new recycling program includes new 96-gallon recycling bins that can hold u pto five normal-sized bins worth of recyclables. City officials say that this will allow them to cut back on recycling pick-ups to once every two weeks, thus saving the city money.

The new larger carts also allow the city to implement the new RecycleBank program and automate lifting operations of the bins.

“If possible, residents should separate their trash bins from the new recycling bins,” said a Rumpke worker who explained that keeping the bins out from underneath power lines and trees will allow the truck’s robotic arm to work with ease.

The enhanced recycling program is being rolled out in four phases, with rewards and pick-up beginning this week in some neighborhoods. The roll out will continue through February 2011, and any Cincinnati resident who lives in a single- or multi-family home with existing curbside trash pickup is eligible to take advantage of this new program.

“The biggest benefit to the RecycleBank rewards system is the versatility in how residents will be able to use their points,” explained Christian Huelsman, the RecycleBank community outreach intern. “Not only are there national retailers participating like Bed Bath & Beyond and Old Navy, but local retailers liek Deweys and Park+Vine are as well. And those who do not want to encourage more consumption can choose to donate their points to local schools to help with after-school programs and supplies. You can even trade in certain electronics to increase your points.”

Those interested in taking advantage of the new RecycleBank rewards program are required to register online or by calling 1-866-563-0114.

Categories
News

Meatless Monday: Mac & Cheese with a View

When it comes to eating meatless one day a week, hungry diners are out of excuses. Do yourself a favor. While trend-worshippers flock to Senate Pub on Vine Street for pumped up street grub and urban chatter, take an evening to check out the View in East Walnut Hills. Stephens Restaurant Group has seized control of the Edgecliff Room — formerly owned by Martin and Marilyn Wade of Local 127 — and have revamped both the name and the menu.

You may be dining next to a slightly more mature crowd (it’s located in the towering Edgecliff condos on Victory Parkway), but who cares when the restaurant’s backdrop is a sprawling panoramic of the Ohio River Valley? Instead of elbowing for a bar stool, you can easily score a table here overlooking a stretched out horizon dotted with twinkling city lights.

The View’s mac and cheese – before/after – photography by Courtney Tsitouris.

And fancy hotdogs and duck fat fries got nothin’ on the fever-inducing, down home goodness of the View’s mac and cheese. It’s an angry, bubbling mess of elbow macaroni, butter and cream topped with a hit of herbed breadcrumbs. It comes in a piping hot casserole dish with brown baked sides that will singe the tips of your fingers. As you break its surface with a spoon, two types of cheddar cheese hiss and scream and a wave of steam forms curlicues in the air.

But watch out kids, this one is for the pesce-vegetarians. Beneath the velvety blanket of cream and pasta, lump crabmeat marries an exotic twirl of truffle essence. If your mother and a young whippersnapper chef got together, this is the homespun decadence they’d come up with. It’s Sunday supper on crack — soul food with the complicated, evocative bend of revved-up ingredients. For just ten dollars, even red-blooded meat lovers will be hard pressed to find this much comfort and flavor packed on a plate.

It’s the “classic with a twist” style that Alfio Gulisano — the same chef behind Bella Luna — hopes to implement throughout the rest of his menu. The View may not be a fully baked concept yet (other dishes like the grilled cheese with onions fell short of such transcendent musings), but he’s making his point. In a time of glorified bar food and kicked-up bistro classics, Gulisano shows Cincinnati that he’s coming out with guns blazing.

‘Meatless Mondays’ is an ongoing series on UrbanCincy that explores one of the recommendations of Cincinnati’s Climate Protection Action Plan (aka Green Cincinnati Plan) – try to go meatless one day a week. UrbanCincy’s ‘Meatless Mondays’ series is written and photographed by Courtney Tsitouris who is a cook, designer and author of www.epi-ventures.com, a blog about dining in and dining out in Cincinnati.