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6 Reasons Why You Should Have a DEAR Experience

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There is certainly something extremely commendable about taking a huge leap and stepping out on faith, especially when things around you are going crazy (insert all of the craziness of 2020 here!) This is exactly what owners Ashley and Austin Heidt did. And we appreciate them so much for it because they have added an EXPERIENCE (not just a restaurant) to the city and it’s everything we didn’t know we needed! 

Before we thought of doing a Behind the Scenes, we each had the opportunity to dine in and loved every bit of it. So much that we just HAD to meet the people behind it all. In today’s post, we provide you with 6 reasons why this should be your next place to visit. 

1. The Staff

If you’ve had a chance to meet Ashley and Austin Heidt, I am pretty confident that you already love them. They are the type of people who’s positive energy is just contagious. You can absolutely tell they love what they do and do what they love. Prior to this, Ashley was a corporate event planner and Austin worked at Frasca Food & Wine, while also becoming a sommelier (level 3 to be exact!) The merge of their experiences really brings Dear to life.

But it’s not just them. Every staff member has these exact traits. They make you feel like you’re having the best meal in the comforts of your own home. They are warm, pleasant and so very attentive. What’s also great is they all know the menu like the back of their hands. You could ask the bartender, the host, your server, or anyone else on staff any question if you’re torn on what to get and they will guide in a very descriptive way. And they never steer you wrong! Trust them! 

2.The cocktails

I highly encourage you to sit at the bar and have a cocktail before going to your table (although you can also eat there as well). The bar is just lovely and the bartenders are all great. We enjoyed having a casual conversations before we transitioned to the next space. They also have a nice lounge space upstairs that you are welcome to sit and have a drink at. And when the weather warms up, you HAVE to visit their outdoor bar. It’s hip and modern while still maintaining their cozy feel. 

3.The Dinner Service-

Ok, the dinner is I N C R E D I B L E in every way! The kitchen is led by executive chef, Brian Young. If the name sounds familiar, it’s probably because he was on season 16 of Top Chef. I am obsessed with that show and was so happy to see he’d joined the team. Their Sous Chef, Austin Helfin works hand and hand with him to bring their vision to our plates. The food is all uniquely crafted, using seasonal ingredients. This means the menu will change which is always so exciting to me! Literally, every bite you take will have you swooning! They’re innovative, yet not so far out that they leave you missing the meals you know and love. They take all of your favorites and step it up several notches. It is just so good y’all! It’s hard to name a favorite, as they are all so tasty, but some of our favs are the short ribs, tempura squash, lamb sugo, and chicken fried mushrooms. And don’t forget the dessert, which is prepared by pastry chef Caitlin Steininger. MY GOODNESS!

  • Preserves & Pickle Plate
  • Tempura Squash
  • Lamb Sugo
  • Truffled Chicken Cushion
  • Short Rib Vol Au Vent
  • Dessert!
  • Executive Chef Brian Young
  • Chicken Fried Mushrooms

4.The Butchery & Market

Did you know they also have a butchery and market space? Yep, sure do, as if they couldn’t get any better! They are open in the morning and afternoon and are perfect for a quick grab and go. They offer take-home cuts of meat, house-made charcuterie as well as sandwiches, coffee, and soft-serve ice cream. I’ve also tried their breakfast biscuit sandwich and donuts (on the weekends) and they were mouthwatering! This quite literally makes them an all purpose restaurant with the perfect neighborhood feel. 

  • Morning donuts
  • Biscuit Breakfast Sandwich

5.The Wine Club

As we mentioned, Austin is a level 3 Sommelier, which is a huge accomplishment btw! So what person person to pick your wines for you than him?! With his expertise, they offer a comprehensive selection which also comes with virtual wine tastings where he walks you through each one. There are 2 tiers, each with 4 bottles of wine, priced at $75 or $150. The difference is based on the quality of wine. We mentioned cocktails above as well, but they also have many great wines in house to pair with your meal.

6.The overall experience 

Hopefully you can tell by now that Dear really gives you an experience. They are very serious about their hospitality and quality. It shows in their actions, food and even the decor. The space is so beautifully crafted from the moment you walk up to the door to the patio. It is the type of place that you just never want to leave and keeps you coming back for more. They offer private events of all sorts. Whether it’s baby shower, wedding shower, promotional celebration, a birthday or more, I guarantee this is the perfect place to book.

  • Upstairs Dining Seats
  • Wall Art
  • Outdoor Patio
  • Indoor Bar
  • Outdoor Bar & Seating

Ashley and Austin, thank you for following your dreams and providing us all with a home away from home. We can’t wait to visit again! Cheers Ya’ll!

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Cheers to 20 Years!!

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Happy 20th Anniversary Jeff Ruby’s Steakhouse – Cincinnati!! WOW, can you believe it has been 20 years since Jeff Ruby’s Steakhouse – Cincinnati opened its doors?! Considering most restaurants do not survive their first year in business, this is an amazing accomplishment! Hats off to the Jeff Ruby Culinary Entertainment group for 20 years of awesome food and dining. Jeff Ruby’s Steakhouse is upscale dining at its finest. Located in Downtown Cincinnati directly across from the Aronoff Center for the Arts and in the heart of the city’s Backstage Entertainment District, Ruby’s is the place to go for an elegant night out on the town. The restaurant is modeled after the 1940’s-era French Art Deco Steakhouses of New York City. The artwork, lighting and rich textures create a vibrancy that will make sure you feel as though you’ve been treated to not just dinner, but a show. Tiff Squared could not agree more. Mr. Ruby loves huge chandeliers, so you will see quite a few in the dining area. They are so vibrant and dramatic and lend a nice touch to the restaurant’s décor. We had an amazing experience! From the truffle butter and bread to the dessert and everything in between, we enjoyed one of the best dining experiences the city has to offer. This location is the first of five Jeff Ruby’s Steakhouse concepts. The other locations are Louisville, Nashville, Columbus, and Lexington.

The concept of Jeff Ruby’s Steakhouses came many years ago during an era of entrepreneurs opening steakhouses. The thing about everyone else was they named their steakhouses after athletes or other famous people. Mr. Ruby liked the idea of opening a steakhouse but wanted to name it after himself. This is when Jeff Ruby’s Steakhouse was born. Mr. Ruby opened the doors to a new restaurant, but he did not want just a plain jane steakhouse. He wanted one that delivers award-winning steaks, seafood and service. He also wanted to combine those three staples with live nightly entertainment with great attention to detail. With his dream and determination being the driving force and his team’s hard work delivering on execution, he did just that. Jeff Ruby’s Steakhouse has become a favorite of celebrities, athletes, politicians, and Cincinnatians looking for a good time and a good meal. Also, we cannot forget to mention that Mr. Ruby is a big cigar guy. The outdoor area is called the “Cigar Patio” and he even has cigars made just for the restaurant with his name printed on them. Yes, if you are a cigar person you can purchase these cigars.

From then to now (1999-2019), Jeff Ruby’s Steakhouse has been delivering phenomenal food, service and a great night out on the town. They live up to their mission and Tiff Squared could not have been more excited and prouder to be a part of this great accomplishment. When we were asked to come in and do a behind the scenes, we were super elated. Trust us, they did not have to ask twice! Haha 😊 From the moment we walked in, we were greeted by friendly, smiling staff. We were then given a glass of champagne to toast. We received a tour of the restaurant and even got to say hello to the executive chef and his staff. We ended with the best part – dinner and dessert. We can truly say, our dining experience was one for the books!

Tiff Squared

Their menu certainly helps as well! Anyone can open a steakhouse, but they must deliver on the food and most importantly the steak. Jeff Ruby’s Steakhouse has an amazing culinary team. Even the pastry chef is the bomb.com! Although this is a steakhouse, they have something for everyone. What makes them unique compared to other steakhouses is they offer sushi, bar bites and fresh seafood.

Now, let’s dive into the menu!

We started with some yummy bread and butter. I mean who doesn’t love carbs?! The kicker here is half of the butter was truffle butter. This butter was so good and was the perfect touch to the sourdough bread. Next, we had the Wagyu Meatball served with creamy polenta and tomato gravy. Talk about one big ball of beefy goodness! It was flavorful and tender. The polenta was the cherry on top. Truthfully, at this point Tiff Squared was tipping the scale of being stuffed. Hehe! However, we had not even laid our eyes on dinner. It was waaayyy to early for our little bellies to be halfway happy. C’mon, I mean it’s a steakhouse and of course we had to order steak. We could not come to a steakhouse and not order what they are known for. MY OH MY, dinner is now served! The waiter comes to our table with two plates of 12 oz. steak with Mac & Cheese and Creamed Spinach for sides. Tiff Squared now has the **eyes bucked** emoji face! We look at each other and wonder who is going to eat all this food. With our happy half full bellies and a smile, we dig in. I ordered the Steak Collinsworth and Tiff D. ordered the Barrel-Cut Filet. Both steaks were amazing, cooked well, seasoned well, and tender. The sides were amazing and the best I, Tiff B, have had from a steakhouse. That Mac & Cheese was DEEEELIICIOUS! The Creamed Spinach was creamy and flavorful. The chefs certainly deserve a hand clap for this meal! Needless to say we are now beyond stuffed, but guess what??? We now have dessert!

DESSERT?!

Just when we thought we couldn’t eat anymore; it was now time for dessert. Not one but THREE! I, Tiff B, was super excited because I am the sweets eater between myself and Tiff D. Tiff D. was super thankful for the desserts but looked at me like what have you done. Three wasn’t planned but I could not decide on one, so our awesome waiter, Patrick, brought us three. Yep, you read that correctly, UNO (1), DOS (2), TRES (3)! Sorry Tiff D., however, I’m sure her belly appreciated it 😊 We had the Banana Pudding Ice Cream Torte, the Warm Brown Butter Spice Cake, and the Chocolate Torte. All three were truly amazing and lent a different taste profile. Having a crazy sweet tooth, I truly appreciated this dessert tray! Also, if you get to the end of the meal and are hesitant on ordering dessert, do not be! The pastry chef is one heck of a chef and puts out amazing desserts!

Banana Pudding Ice Cream Torte, Chocolate Pie, Warm Brown Butter Spice Cake

WHEW!! I got full just typing all of this! Lol! All jokes aside, Jeff Ruby’s Steakhouse truly offered us an amazing dining experience with delicious food. We are so thankful and appreciative to have been apart of them celebrating 20 years! Again, thank you Jeff Ruby’s and Cheers to 20 Years!

A “SOCIAL”ly Minded Mission

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Findlay Market, which is part of Cincinnati’s growing food scene, is the home of many established and up and coming restaurants. Findlay Market is a farmers’ market. In recent years, it has expanded its doors by allowing young chefs to perfect their craft. This is a way to give young entrepreneurs a chance to get their products out to market in an affordable manner. Not only does Finlay Market help the “at-home baker/chef”, it also lends a helping hand to culinary students through their Findlay Market Culinary Program. Recently, Findlay Market launched a culinary project called Social OTR. When we heard about their opening, we were eager to find out more. We sat down with the previous Hospitality Manager, Cat Amaro, to take a behind the scenes look into Social OTR.

So how did the concept of Social come to be? We are glad you asked! 😊 Social was the final product of a pilot program idea of General Manager, Anthony Berlin. The idea of Social was to be a non-profit restaurant operated by Findlay Market in partnership with City Link, that strives to provide guest with a one of a kind dining experience with a socially minded mission. Berlin wanted Social to serve as a learning melting pot for up and coming chefs. This idea created an internship site for students in the Findlay Culinary Training program. In the program, students work alongside professional staff to prepare them for a career in the culinary industry. They then started raising money for the program which then made the idea a reality.

The concept of Social is to be able to provide each student a real-life experience of what to expect in the restaurant industry, but still give the comfort of a learning playground. The curriculum is based on what local restaurants are looking for. The menu is based on choosing skills for students to practice. In the Culinary program, the students learn culinary skills and soft skills (i.e. how to prepare for interviews, the business side, etc.). Considering this is a restaurant, students also get to come in and learn and prep for dinner and brunch just as they would in the industry.

 

The fun and cool thing about dining at Social is, it looks and feels like a normal running establishment. As a guest if you do not know the story, you would not know Social was a concept of a “mock” restaurant experience for the chefs. You do not realize the chefs are in training. From the service to the food everything runs smoothly. After talking to Cat and being shown around, we were able to try some delicious dishes that we want to share.

DUCK FAT FINGERLINGS – served with Rosemary aioli. If you are looking for a sharable snack that is familiar, these are the fries for you. The duck fat lends a flavor booster and the aioli adds the cherry on top.

HEIRLOOM TOMATO SALAD – grilled scallion, quark, blueberry panko, roasted pink peppercorn. This salad was bright and flavorful. The fresh tomatoes paired with the panko crusted quark and the greens, was a delightful combination.

CRAWFISH HANDPIES – served with spicy remoulade. I have heard of crawfish handpies before but had never had them. I was delighted to be able to try these babies. They were good and added a nice seafood addition to the menu. There is also plenty to share. This dish comes with two BIG hand pies.

SHORT RIB RAVIOLO – manchego. Yum, yum, yum! There is nothing like a homemade pasta dish. You can never go wrong with a classic like ravioli. We enjoyed this dish and appreciated the love that went into making these stuffed little shells.

CHICKEN ROULADE – bulgogi, bok choy, bamboo rice, micro cilantro. This is considered one of their large plates. If you order a few small plates, the large plates are big enough to share. This chicken dish was flavorful, and we enjoyed every bite. It’s a nice spin to plain boring chicken.

Now we can’t try dinner and not have dessert! The desserts are a nice end to your dinner. Let’s look at what desserts we had the pleasure of trying.

COOKIE JAR – variety of homemade cookies. This dessert was fun and nostalgic. The cookies came out in a T-Rex Cookie jar. It remined me of going to grandmas and grandma having the cookie jar filled with my favorite cookies. The two flavors of cookies were Chocolate Chip and Snickerdoodle.

PANNA COTTA – served with raspberry sauce and crumble. Like most panna cotta, this was light, airy and flavorful. The sauce is a nice addition and the crumble adds a nice crunch. This was perfect for the summer.

CHOCOLATE COOKIES – These homemade cookies are a chocolate lover’s dream. They are made with lots of chocolate and some crunchy mix-ins. They are also soft and chewy.

We asked Cat what the top selling dishes are as well as is their menu seasonal. Her response was the top sellers are $1 Oysters (served all day everyday in the Alley at Social), Short Rib Ravoli and the Cookie Jar. If you love seasonal changing menus, you are in luck. Social’s menu changes with the season to provide the freshest in season ingredients in a flavorful dish. They want you to feel like you are getting a home cooked meal made with love.

From the concept to the execution, they are truly offering us a Socially Minded Mission.

Old European Charm at Grand Finale!

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Sunday Sunrise

While Cincinnati and the surrounding areas are known for up and coming restaurants, we can’t forget about the oldies that started this restaurant thing many years ago. Many years ago, like 43.5 years to be exact. That’s right, Grand Finale opened in August of 1975. Grand Finale has serviced many clients over the years. In fact, their clientele is generational. Families who have discovered Grand Finale, introduce their children to the restaurant who in turn introduce their children. It is a unique phenomena. Pursuit of Delights is no stranger to the new kids on the block, but interesting enough we wanted to see how the old heads do it. We had a chance to give Grand Finale a try and wanted to give you a quick behind the scenes look at what they have to offer. Let’s take a walk through this old yet charming establishment.

 

The Puff

Warm Mixed Berry Cobbler

Why should you even stay for the Grand Finale? That’s an amazing question! The Grand Finale Restaurant started out as a dessert restaurant. Hence their name “Grand Finale”. I guess the saying “Save the best for last” holds true in some cases, especially this one. You have to save room for their dessert. They are a nice portion and their desserts are pretty tasty. The originators, Cindy & Larry Youse, retired in 2006. At that point in time, they sold the business to their tenured management team. In which the current owner, Virginia Chambers, started working for them in February 1977. She has taken pride in the restaurant’s original European concept as well as the buildings Old European charm. She has kept many things the same as when the restaurant first opened; as well as, adding a few new things to help keep the interest of the younger crowd. Hospitability, Old European charm, and great food are the key elements that Virginia and her team stand behind to continue the legacy started almost 44 years ago.

In most up and coming restaurants, they have more of a new century modern vibe with little to medium space to accommodate large groups. However, Grand Finale provides a spacious dining area where generational families can continue to enjoy a dinner together. Don’t have a large group, that’s ok because they can also accommodate date night for 2 people, or a couple’s date night for 4 or more. Grand Finale prides itself on its ambience and décor dedicated to the originators’ influences of their travels in Europe but mostly maintaining the actual history of the building. The building was built in the late 1850’s. During that era, it was a Saloon and a grocery store. The tin ceiling in the main dining room is original; the back bar in the main dining room came from the Florentine Inn in Germantown, Ohio; the back bar in the cabernet room came from a barber shop in Hyde Park; the chandelier in the tea room came from a West Virginia mansion. They built the brick garden room with a touch of New Orleans in its design. The décor reflects a country French flair with antique furnishings.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Their menu has something on it for everyone! Larry’s passion in creating the menu was all about the sauces. In 1975, as their menu evolved from desserts to light country French foods; Quiche, crepes, soups & homemade breads & desserts. Over the years, their scratch kitchen, has expanded the menu to include steak, chicken, fresh fish & pasta concepts. We had the pleasure to sit down and try multiple menu items they have to offer as well as a few drinks. We tried the Bacon, Lobster & Sundried Tomato Deviled Eggs, the House Salad, the Bleu BLT Wedge, Kielbasa & Lentil Soup (special), Steak, Chicken Ginger, Rosemary Potato Gratin, and of course the GRAND FINALE – dessert, The Puff and the Warm Mixed Berry Cobbler. Talk about having to be rolled out of there. We left stuffed! They also have fun and tasty drinks. We tried the Sunday Sunrise, Pomegranate Margarita, and the Blue Cranberry. We also hear guests travel far and wide for their Chicken Ginger, Spinach or Mushroom Crepe, Avocado Salad Dressing & The Puff. Also, if you love brunch as much as we do, you can join them for Sunday Brunch on Sunday’s from 10:30 am – 2:30 pm. It’s a buffet, so come hungry!

We asked Virginia what makes Grand Finale unique. Her response was, “I’m not sure it is any one given thing – devoted customers, loyal staff (we have a ten+ year team member list on our menus), recipes that have stood the taste test of time, and consistency to name a few.” While Cincinnati does have a lot of new kids on the block, we can never forget about the legacies that are still around. Even though they have now been in business for over 40 years, reminding people that they are here is important. With that being said, remember it’s always polite to pay homage and “Respect your elders” 😉! Go give them a visit!

Warm Mixed Berry Cobbler & The Puff

 

Grand Finale Website

Flying into Aladdin’s Eatery

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Where can you get amazing, authentic Mediterranean food while being surrounding by hip decor and a cool bar? Aladdin’s Eatery in Downtown Cincinnati! If you have been a subscriber to Pursuit of Delights for some time, you may have noticed we do not feature chain restaurants often. However, after dining at Aladdin’s newly opened location, we had to make an exception! The menu might be the same, but the vibe has been kicked up to make for a fun, yet welcoming experience.

 

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