Eating Your Way Out Of Cincinnati

Welcome back from Thanksgiving break, and welcome back to my stomach. I had a horrible experience as I was out of town, visiting family: I caught a stomach virus. I couldn't play with my niece and cousins, and to make matters worse, I couldn't eat.

Well, nothing but toast and crackers. So I'm glad that I finally feel like eating again.

Speaking of which, I stumbled across this fun article from CityBeat. It appeared a couple of months ago, when their dining writer, Craig Bida, literally ate his way out of Cincinnati. He went to all of his favorite spots one last time, as well as finally made his way to the places he'd meant to go.

I'm amazed it had taken him so long to get to Knotty Pine On The Bayou. That's one of the first great restaurants I went to when I came here. And I love it. I'm sure I'll write about it more at some point, but needless to say, it's great Cajun food in a very fun atmosphere.

But it makes me feel good to see that even a professional dining writer hadn't been to the crown jewel of the Cincinnati culinary scene: Jean-Robert at Pigall's. I haven't been either, and I feel a bit like a phony when I write this blog without having been there. It's not a restaurant you just up and go to. Knowing that he hadn't been there either makes me feel just a little less unqualified. (How's that for a double negative?)

And listen to how lovingly he describes his experience:

Pigall's is clearly operating on a very different plane from most of its restaurant brethren, serving up amazing food made with diverse, quality ingredients and a fantastic, fanatical devotion to flavor and aesthetics.

It remains very much on my to do list.