May The Stars Light Your Way
This evening, a group of us met for our monthly Happy Mouth outing. It was Tracy’s month to pick, and she selected VINYL in downtown Cincinnati. The supper club had dined at the physical space previously when it was The Diner, also Tracy’s pick. After the less-than-stellar…
This evening, the members of the Happy Mouth Supper Club met at Jay’s selection — the Brown Dog Cafe in Blue Ash (a suburb of Cincinnati). I’d previously worked at an event with Chef Shawn McCoy but had not had the chance to eat at the…
 
One Night, Twelve Kitchens
April 29, 6-9 pm
Midwest Culinary Institute at Cincinnati State CollegeÂ
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Top regional chefs showcase the eleven state-of-the-art kitchens at Midwest Culinary Institute to benefit the Cincinnati State College Foundation culinary scholarships.
I have participated in this event for the last few years and was very happy to work it again this year. I was assigned to Chef Neace, representing the Summit Room, the restaurant at Cincinnati State. The event was very well attended — I would estimate more than 400 guests.
We prepared a smoked duck breast salad with cherry caponate quinoia, microgreen salad with peach vinagrette, and a drizzle of poppyseed yogurt dressing alongside. We sliced the duck breast thin and put it in a ring mold (okay, PVC pipes), pressed in a bit of the quinoia, then topped with the dressed microgreens. It was a very nice looking dish and our guests enjoyed it very much. We ‘sold out’ fairly early, so I was able to get cleaned up and walk around to see what was going on at the other tables.
On Saturday, June 16, 2007, I worked in the kitchens of Jean-Robert at Pigall’s. It was a good evening to work — the Chef de Cuisine and one of the line cooks were both out. Adequate plans for coverage were made, though — the sous…
Tonight was Ted’s HAPPY MOUTH selection, and he chose RED in Hyde Park. RED is a new-ish restaurant in a traditionally difficult space. The long, dark, shotgun-style room feels intimate, but diners don’t feel like they’re sitting on top of each other. Our long table was…
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.
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…