Russ Kick’s staggering "The Graphic Canon"

World Literature inspires two generations of artists    

     

     The Graphic Canon, Volume 1 (yes, there are three volumes so far) is an adventurous journey through the Great Books from a variety of world cultures as drawn by major

Montgomery Inn at the Boathouse

Ribs and sauce: bring your appetite and your wallet

Dexter Checks Out the Entrance

     The original Montgomery Inn and its second location, the downtown riverside Montgomery Inn at the Boathouse, were in the top ten of customer volume nationally a few years ago.  They’re known for their ribs and we use their sauce at home.  It’s tomato-based with a sweet tang.  It’s not to everyone’s

Ingrid Bergman

The glow of sensibility and sense

     Turner Classic Movies has run a few Ingrid Bergman movies over the past few weeks and they reinforce the American Film Institute’s selection of her as the 4th greatest female film star.  She was known for her ‘naturalness’ where

KITCHEN 452

A luncheonette that could turn around East Walnut Hills

Placing Orders at the KITCHEN 452 Counter

     Back before there was a Panera in every other suburb, the independent luncheonette was a staple and that’s the tradition to which KITCHEN 452 pays homage.  It also reminded us of The Production Line Café that featured excellent, reasonable

The Beatles Celebrate a 50th Anniversary

Their debut album, Please Please Me, was released in the United Kingdom on March 22, 1963

Yep—That's Me with a Beatles Haircut

      The Cavern, where The Beatles first played, was originally thought to be the place to record their first album live, but technical constraints moved the venture to EMI Studios (now Abbey Road) in London.  Please Please Me took 9 hours and 45 minutes to

Zula

This Gateway Quarter place purrs

Zula's Über-Designed Dining Area

     The region’s most happening restaurant row is Vine Street north of Central Parkway, but there are also interesting establishments on Race Street and, among them, Zula is a winner.  With its diagonal view of Washington Park and Music

Silverton Donut Shop

What used to be a Pleasant Ridge icon 

is now Silverton's asset

Mmmmmmm!

      Chatting with Heather (The Food Hussy), we came across a mutual admiration for the Silverton Donut Shop.  A Pleasant Ridge fixture for many years (some of you may remember it as the Pleasant Ridge Donut Shop), it moved to Silverton with the expansion of the UDF on Ridge Rd.  That was a sad day for

Kim Novak

A TCM Retrospective leads to a new appreciation

Kim Novak Exposing All During the TCM Interview

     Turner Classic Movies ran an interview last week that Robert Osborne conducted with Kim Novak during their annual convention.  Osborne said it was one of his favorite interviews and it made sense because Kim Novak was so honest about the Hollywood studio system of the 1950s.  She outlined her life and was ruthless in revealing where she’d

Brunch at Nada

Yeah, we finally said, “Uncle!”

Dexter Preferred the Outdoor Dining Area

     Nada has been the hot ticket ‘Mexican’-style restaurant in the area since it opened.  We went a few years ago for lunch and felt rooked by the server, who neglected to tell us that the guacamole he suggested was $12.  We said we wouldn’t

Oz: The Great and Powerful

Casting is off, script is mediocre, 
but it's a pretty, tarnished penny

Dexter: The Great and Powerful

     If only Oz was either great or powerful and, for $200 million, the average viewer might think it could be.  $200 million won't solve the national debt, but it could be used for so many programs and governmental activities that might be cut so it's

Let’s Talk Comix (or Graphic Novels)

Daniel Clowes and Chris Ware Lead The Realist Charge

Jimmy Corrigan, The Smartest Kid on Earth by Chris Ware

     Long narrative comics, otherwise known as graphic novels, have come a long way in the past couple of decades.  They’re usually in their own section of bookstores (and online), they’ve won mainstream literary awards, and many cities now have

Foster's at Lake Forest

An exclusive breakfast and lunch diner in Blue Ash

Foster's Comfortable Dining Room

      There's been a mystery about Foster's since Karen first mentioned it to me a couple of years ago.  Where exactly was it?  And, what kind of a restaurant was it?  After starting a new gig in Blue Ash this year, I was treated to experiencing all of its secrets.  It's located in a high-rise building that's part of an industrial park near Reed-Hartman and Glendale-Milford Roads.  Imagine an employee dining room that's also open to

Celebrating the City's Best Restaurants

Cincinnati Magazine's Top 10 Restaurants give a taste of how they got there.

Pastry Chef Megan Ketover and
Executive Chef Todd Kelly of Orchids at Palm Court

      Every March we look forward to checking out who made the list of top restaurants in our city.  That roster has been the pleasurable, and sometimes uneasy, task of Donna Covrett as the Dining Editor for CIncinnati Magazine.  For many years the names coincided with the area's most expensive establishments, but over the past couple of years the playing