around town lately: Cincinnati last hurrahs

I still have to remind myself sometimes, much as I like our new place and am having fun exploring our new neighborhood, that oh, actually I'm not going back to Cincinnati. Which is a little sad, so it's a good thing we lived it up in our last couple of weeks there. Thanks to Peter's parents watching Hendrik, we got to have a kid-free staycation just before the move and were all over town having fun - here's a look at our Cincinnati last hurrahs:

Senate: we finally tried Senate for the first time. Peter had pooh-poohed the idea for years because he just couldn't imagine that he'd be all that excited by a hot dog as the main menu item. And he was happily proved wrong, because we most definitely got excited about this Korean-inspired dog with kimchi, braised bbq, and pickled cucumbers. And then we were sad because we wanted to try one of everything else (like the Lindsay Lohan dog with, goat cheese, caramelized onions, bacon, arugula, balsamic and "tons of drama"), but this was just a quick appetizer stop. Definitely try Senate if you're in Cincinnati and haven't yet!

Boca: I know I have raved about our favorite Cincinnati restaurant way too many times already, but my latest birthday dinner there was probably our most fun yet. We sat at the counter overlooking the kitchen and just geeked out. We loved watching the chefs at work and getting to chat with a few of them when they had a little down time. As always, the food was crazy good - I always get the cod or the branzino, but I love how every time it feels like a whole new thing. The summer menu version of branzino with quinoa "succotash", pickled shallot, and lobster vindaloo sauce was my favorite yet. And I thought the Boca candy bar for dessert on our last visit was about the best thing ever, until we experienced the "Araguani Chocolate: Seven Compositions": short dough, hazelnut feuilletine, crémeux, imperial mousse, warm ganache, gelato, wafer. On top of all of that, the service was amazing as usual. I had mentioned it was our last visit before the move, and in addition to bringing us little tasting portions on the house (which may have been because our entrees were taking so long, but we didn't mind in the least!), they gave us two pints of Graeter's ice cream as we left, to take a little taste of Cincinnati with us for our move.

Elm and Iron: this new home decor/furniture shop in Over-the-Rhine is so fun to walk through because there's so much to look at. The displays are all gorgeous, and I just loved the mix of vintage and vintage-inspired items. Once we're a little more settled with our new house decor, I'd love to get back there and pick out a couple of unique items - wouldn't that be a great way to bring a little of Cincinnati to our new place? (A little longer lasting than the pints of Graeter's, anyway.)

21c Museum Hotel: when this hotel opened mid-way through our time in Cincinnati, I was kind of disappointed because a "museum hotel" sounded so cool, but why would I ever stay in it, when I own a house in the city? But then Peter's graduation event downtown, after which we always go out with the other residents until really late, seemed like the perfect opportunity to get a room. We hung out at the Metropole bar with everyone to celebrate and then went upstairs and crashed into bed. In the morning we got to sleep in (thanks, grandparents!) and then appreciate the cool modern room, the art gallery in the reception area and main floor, and breakfast at Metropole. Great hotel if you're looking for somewhere cool to stay in Cincinnati.

La Petite Pierre: when we first moved to the area, this little French bistro just a short walk from our house was rarely open since the owners were mostly focused on catering. In more recent months they've started opening for dinner and lunch more often, but it's not exactly the place to bring a toddler, and we just hadn't gotten around to trying it, great as the menu looked, on our date nights - except for our excellent at-home date nights with their "fill the pot" takeout (highly recommend). In our last hurrah kid-free weekend we finally had the chance to walk over for brunch and it was SO good. Roasted apple french toast made from seared challah with roasted apples and caramel creme anglaise...need I say more? Cincinnati people, add this to your brunch list - it's an adorable little place with delicious food (and mimosas!); also, tthey take reservations, but it really wasn't that busy at all, which is such a treat compared to the usual brunch wait!

King's Island: just north of Cincinnati is King's Island amusement park, which to be honest hadn't really occurred to me to visit, not having been to an amusement park for like 13 years, but when we had a whole kid-free week, we decided to be crazy kids ourselves and spend a day there. And we seriously had so much fun. We've been dating/married for almost half our lives by now, and riding roller coasters is something we've never done together before. Peter got to see a whole other side of me and my coaster expertise (such as my advice that riding in the front car is way more fun - he totally agreed). Going on a Monday was a great idea as there were hardly any lines - at the beginning of the day we went on the biggest coasters, The Beast and Diamondback, 3x in a row and 4x in a row, respectively, and we basically just walked right back on. I have to admit that did make me feel my age though as I could hardly walk in a straight line after that...

Revolution: I loved the idea of this restaurant and all its dishes made from rotisserie chicken, especially the "chitas" (chicken pitas) but we weren't blown away (should have stayed at Senate for more hot dogs!). I had the George Washington, an open-face pita with chicken, arugula, feta, cucumber, tomato, & tzatziki. All great ingredients, but the pita bread was rather disappointing and I left most of it behind. Peter had the mashed potato bowl with chicken, gravy, scallions, & bacon, which was good but nothing special. A little off the beaten path in Over-the-Rhine, though, it was refreshingly not crowded, the service was good, and it was fairly inexpensive- trying a salad version of my pita would be worth it, which the waitress recommended to me after the meal.

Hyde Park Blast and Madeira Criterium: my friends have talked up the Blast for years, but I was always away on my summer work trip during it, so I wasn't able to check it out until our very last weekend in Cincinnati, but I'm glad we did, because we really did have a blast. I ran the 4-mile race in the morning (though slowly-ish, since I'm injured again, boo), which was a fun - though hilly! - course, and then we came back later in the day to watch the main event: the cycling races. We had a friend in one of the amateur races, which was fun, but then we really had a great time watching the elite race at night. These guys do the 1-mile loop around Hyde Park for about an hour and a half, and you wouldn't believe how fast they go. Like enough to make a major breeze every time they go by you. The next day, our own area of town (Madeira) has a 5k run in the morning followed by cycling, so we ran in the morning, had our lovely brunch at La Petite Pierre, and then walked over to see some more races. Lots of fun.