Eat local -- and drink well, too!

For a (belated) birthday dinner, my husband took me to one of our favorite Cincinnati restaurants: Local 127 downtown on Vine Street. Chef Steve Geddes was not in the house that night, alas -- he was cooking for a fundraiser at the Civic Garden Club. But the evening was still a culinary delight. I guess my favorite thing of all was the scrumptious sparkling-wine cocktail I had before the meal: a Seelbach, whose ingredients also include a little bourbon and some Cointreau.
Dinner started with their irresistible (to me) Waldorf salad (in photo) -- I just love the toasted walnuts in this salad. My entree was sea scallops, and for dessert we split a panna cotta.
One thing that's great about the cooking here is Chef Geddes's mastery of texture in food. Every dish, from appetizer to dessert, includes an element of crunchiness. That's such a simple touch, but brilliant.

Waldorf Salad, Local 127

Scallops entree, Local 127

The next night we ate at Enoteca Emilia, the wine bar and small-plates restaurant in another Cincinnati neighborhood known as O'Bryonville. The food and drinks there are quite good, too, although we didn't linger as we were heading to a movie afterward.