Northern Kentucky, Cincinnati is the new hot spot on dining, drinking map. Where to go

We all know the expression, “It’s an honor just to be nominated.” That’s a feeling shared by three Cincinnati establishments in the running for James Beard Awards — two restaurants (Wildweed and The Aperture) whose chefs are semifinalists, and one bar owner Mike Stankovich, a semifinalist in the Best Cocktail Professional category.

Despite what the outcome is in early April when finalists are announced, the real winners are cocktail and cuisine-loving Lexingtonians who know that this caliber of excellence is just a 90-minute drive away. I recently took off for a few days of wining and dining in a city that I have come to expect culinary greatness from. The Beard nominations are just icing on an already delicious cake .

Let’s start with Wildweed, whose chefs Lydia and David Jackman have been nominated for Best Chef, Great Lakes Region. This colorful bistro in Cincy’s Over-the-Rhine District was buzzing with adventurous diners the night I went, including a food writer from Bon Appetit, which has already named Wildweed one of eight must-visit restaurants (it has gotten a similar nod as a Best New Restaurant in America by Esquire.)

But don’t rely on their reviews, travel a bit, book a table and let the food do the talking. I did just that, starting with an unusual oyster dish — lighter-than-air small oysters in mulled pear foam with pickled shallot and spicebush oil. For a main, I chose albacore tuna, perfectly seared and combined with potato, fennel, castelvetrano olive, radicchio, egg yolk emulsion and dill.

The cocktails are just as creative. When was the last time you had a daiquiri featuring green tomato and coconut or a milk punch which substituted tequila for milk?

Wildweed is the culmination of the Jackmans’ culinary journey which has seen them deliver more than 200 pop-ups from Vancouver to Nashville, the most recent being in a storefront on Elm Street across from Findlay Market here in Cincinnati. Their dedication to hyper-local, seasonal and foraged ingredients has already won them a cadre of devoted diners.

The next time I come I’ve decided I’d like one of the 11 seats at the chef’s counter where diners follow a story of seven ingredients carried through a dozen dishes which the chefs say “paints a picture of time and place.”

While you’re in the Over-the-Rhine neighborhood, stop in for a cocktail at Longfellow where owner Stankovich is both a jovial host and expert mixologist. Full disclosure: I didn’t go here (a girl can only do so much drinking), but I did make it to his other establishment, Mid-City Restaurant, where I found him in one of his favorite places — behind the bar.

Having of late become a devotee of gimlets, I ordered one. For a classic cocktail with only three ingredients (gin, fresh lime juice and simple syrup), I am confounded by how rare it is to find one that truly sparkles. Mike’s, I am happy to say, has the magic. His gimlet, like his witty banter, makes it worth your while to stop in at one of Magic Mike’s two establishments.

I had dinner my second night at The Aperture in the historic Art Deco Paramount Building in Walnut Hills where Jordan Anthony-Brown is a Beard nominee for Best Emerging Chef, having already had his restaurant named one of America’s Best by the New York Times in 2024.

The menu specializes in dishes from the Mediterranean and the Levant (Middle East), which are served mezze-style, small plates similar to appetizers.

I started my meal with the Amber Kaluga Caviar (potato chip, crème fraiche and chive), and am ashamed to say I practically inhaled it. Same for his chicken liver mousse with Berbere honey and sumac onion, and the sweet potato with brown butter Hollandaise, cornbread and feta. Paired with a glass of Viognier from Italy’s Piedmont Region, I understood why Cincinnatians say that The Aperture was worth the wait.

Also worth checking out:

▪ When I wasn’t eating and drinking at James Beard-nominated spots, I was eating and drinking at other favorite places in Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky. One of my absolute favorites is the Greyhound Tavern in Fort Mitchell on the Kentucky side of the Ohio River. It started as the Dixie Tea Room in 1921, and in 2024 became the newest restaurant to join the B-Line (you’ll have a difficult choice selecting from one of the 80 plus bourbons on the list.) If I could recommend one not-to-be-missed menu item it would be fried green tomatoes (country ham and cream cheese mousse, scallions and sweet tomato chutney.)

▪ As for a don’t-miss cocktail, stay on the south side of the river in Covington and head to Carmelo’s for the Appalachian Sour, a smooth and bittersweet sour cocktail featuring Averna and Amaro Nonino topped with a lemon peel. Note to self: Come back for dinner to sample the Italian-American cuisine of chef Mitch Arens, formerly of Coppin’s at the Hotel Covington.

▪ If you have an afternoon free for tasting, do it at Wenzel Whiskey in Covington, a recent addition to both the B-Line and the Kentucky Bourbon Trail. Sample their sherry-finished bourbon which was named “Best Finished Bourbon,” both in Kentucky and the World at the World Whiskies Awards in Louisville this past February.

▪ For an unforgettable overnight experience, book the Art Installation Room at 21C Museum Hotel. Renowned artist Chris Doyle has created a whimsical urban forest in “Nightwatch,” a mix of mysterious shadows and eerie lights, extravagant blooms and exotic forest denizens. By day, it’s a wild riot of color; by night dancing geometric shapes and soaring birds. You can enjoy your very own light projection show from the comfort of your bed.

If it is all vaguely reminiscent of Disney’s “Fantasia,” it’s no coincidence. “Nightwatch” was partially modeled after the 1940 classic movie.

With all that’s going on, a travel weekend in Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky to sample James Beard-level cuisine and cocktails, review the newest B-Line and Bourbon Trail members yourself and spend an unforgettable night in paradise, might be just the ticket.

For more information on Cincinnati, go to visitcincy.com. For Northern Kentucky, go to visitnky.com.