My Trip Back Home To Cincinnati is Complete
December 16, 2025
For at least now it has. What was expected to be only a few days back home turned into five weeks. Sometimes wonderful, much of the time it was excruciatingly painful.
What was originally planned as a pilgrimage to honor a friends passing quickly morphed into a parents hospice vigil. What was supposed to be a connection to my mom, evolved into becoming an advocate for her safety with evidence of neglect, incompetence and elder abuse.
With the amazing help of Hospice, I was able to make necessary steps in protecting my mom while she transitioned to death. It was an awful task, many would consider thankless, but I had to ensure her safety with reports of multiple falls, lack of basic requirements like food, water and medicine. Hospice helped fill on the gaps. They helped me see this process through with my mom with grace and empathy. I thank them for this.
I spent many days alone on this journey. I told my wife that I was extremely anxious about being able to step up as a son and perform the duties needed to care for my mother. She reassured me that when the time came, I’d rise to the occasion and I did. It was very difficult in the beginning because no one wants to see their mom suffer. I knew her prognosis and it was killing me to witness her decline but I pushed all of that deep down inside me and focused on the tasks at hand. It all became second nature to me.
Now those feelings are starting to come out and it hurts. Very bad right now. Whenever I left her room, I’d go to the car to release the pain I was feeling and started driving. A lot. I’d spend hours driving around Cincinnati. To old haunts, witnessing the changes that were taking place. Some I considered good, some not so good. Eminent domain dismantling the Clifton area I enjoyed for years so UC could command more presence in the community. It wasn’t a pleasant sight.
I needed places to unwind. Have a drink, sometimes too many drinks. I didn’t have my wife with me to help keep me balanced and found myself going off the rails, not eating well, downing anything put in front of me. I was a fucking mess. I fortunately made it out alive and didn’t kill anyone, or myself thank God.
I did run into some wonderful and caring folks at multiple places I frequented to blow off steam. The first place I ventured into was The City View Tavern in Mt.Adams. lauded as one of the oldest bars in Cincinnati, it probably has the best view of any place I’ve been to. It’s a no billshit bar. No martinis, no margaritas, it’s a beer and shot joint that has great burgers and a decent tap list. Cassidy was the bartender who I got to know and she became familiar with my mom’s situation, like most places eventually did and was extremely gracious with me every time I came in.
During my drives, I’d also try to do things that didn’t require pounding drinks and absolutely loved Eden Park. It helped me reflect on great times I had as a kid in Cincinnati. This included the Krohn Conservatory.
One of my favorite spots is the Northside Yacht Club. A cool hip eatery off of Spring Grove ave that has excellent pub food and a great beer list.
I ended up in Camp Washington. This was my first neighborhood I moved to when I decided to live on my own at nineteen. It’s a great concrete jungle where our backyards wall was the old Cincinnati workhouse. This also required an obligatory trip to Camp Washington Chili.
Another must visit was our old home as a toddler on Walker St. in Mt. Auburn. I had many fond memories as a little kid living there.
One Tavern I frequented was The Oak Tavern in Oakley. Everyone there knew my situation and I have to say, they were some of the nicest people I’ve ever met. This was pure Cincinnati love. Their food rocked as well.
Chili, it’s what’s for dinner! Including Skyline in Clifton. Nothing beats a hangover more than a five way and cheese coneys.
My friend Scot treated me to a few beers at Madtree in Oakley for my birthday. For a huge place, it ran like a well oiled machine and the beers were excellent.
My wife insisted on a return to Korean Riverside in Covington. I reluctantly agreed and Holy Jeebus, I forgot how wonderful that place is!!
Another amazing place my friend Scot mentioned was Bridges Nepalese cuisine in Northside. I’ve never tried this type of food before and it’s similar to a cross between Indian and Chinese food. It blew our minds.
I spent many nights at The Comet. I had to. It was a Northside institution, Dave was my friend and I loved that place. I got to see many old friends during my visit.
One of the last places we lived at was Covington Ky. I love that town. Our street had all historical homes on it including the house we rented. We’d love to live there again. Beautiful.
My family was amazingly supportive of my efforts. My Aunt Sue and Uncle Neal made my stay comfortable and I felt secure. Her dogs were wonderful. Willy, Archie and the great Mango. Neals dog Luna is amazing too. Oh, Sue is a great cook as well. Her mac-n-cheese is killer.
It’s all starting to come to the reality my mom is gone. My work has been done and there is now a huge void where my mom once was. I feel like an orphan. My brother has basically abandoned his family as well as his friends so it hurts even more how isolated I feel. If it weren’t for family and friends and their undying support and love, I’m not sure if would have made it through this. I miss my mom dearly. I think she’s looking over me though. When I turned on Pandora this morning, this was the first song on my list. I didn’t choose it. It chose me.
This Cracker Hated The Barrel!
November 6, 2025
There’s this old adage that has forever rang true to me. “First time, shame on you, second time, shame on me.”
Enter Cracker Barrel. This is one of those shame on me moments. I’m currently seeing my mom, who is in hospice, which in itself is painful enough, but then you add an excruciating trip through the culinary gates of hell called Cracker Barrel, I believe I must have committed some mortal sin that carved a path to what they consider a foyer.
If every exploited nation that produced useless Tchotchkes were to take a gigantic dump at the same time, all of these consumer feces would have landed smack dab in the lobby of The Barrel.
The lobby was a horrid labyrinth of isles chock full of shit no one needs, a cacophony of keyboards playing music that would make baby Jesus ears bleed rivers of blood and a tsunami of olfactory aromas where you could literally smell fried food and sandlewood at the same time.
Just trying to navigate our way to put our name in for a seat triggered my afib. I’ve seen Japanese subway cram videos that were less claustrophobic than a Cracker Barrel lobby. My head was spinning.
The entire seating procedures were culled straight from a Six Flags business model. Replete with a PA system, we heard our name unfortunately called, which blasted out from a speaker and proceeded to navigate past a horde of ravenous groups of people that should have sworn off this establishment years ago.
The noise level was deafening with screaming kids, food chomping parents, and staff that had to yell over everyone to just do their jobs. It was like being in a wind tunnel.
Speaking of the staff. I genuinely felt for them. Dealing with people that treated them like paid slaves, unruly kids, and huge groups of people wanting everything immediately, every one of them had the appearance of someone that had every ounce of their soul drained from bodies. I actually felt guilty ordering, but we needed to see this through.
I ordered the fried chicken, and my wife ordered over easy eggs with pancakes, and our friend ordered biscuits and gravy.
It’s painfully obvious these places only goal is to stuff asses into seats but as a chef, what I saw coming out of the kitchen resembled every short cut you could take to handle the greed they displayed by over seating this place.
Every item we had besides my wife’s eggs was pre made and then reheated. Reheated pancakes, my chicken was luke warm, and the sides were all slop and serve.
My friends biscuit gravy was so gelatinous that her spoon stood straight up in the serving cup. I looked at her and said, “Are they mad at you? We finally took our last edible bites and begged for the check. Another bizarre moment is when you have to pay. You are once again forced to endure their hellish gift shop to line up in front of a row of kiosks to pay for your “meal.”
It would be easy enough to just pay and leave but the staff is required under penalty of the business end of a cattle prod to bombard you with merchandise questions about if you want to buy any of their garbage on their shelves. My wife almost lost her shit on that poor soul taking our money, but to her credit, she kept her composure as we sprinted to our car.
Yeah, lets not boycott Cracker Barrel for their shameless peddling of foreign produced garbage, the glaring culinary sins committed, or their obvious seating missteps but instead lets boycott them because they changed their fucking logo. We are so cooked as a country, I swear to God. In the fifteen years of contributing to this blog, I’ve never written a negative review about food, but this shame on me experience warranted it. Full fucking stop. Never, ever again
The Only Tavern We Support
September 7, 2025
I realize Bucks County has a ways to go to achieve what other areas of the country have gained culinary. It’s rural, sparsely populated, and isn’t pushing envelopes we’ve been used to.
I get it. If you are going to serve food that pleases the common working man, you have to do it right. It has to be consistent, and above all, it has to taste good.
In the last couple of years, we’ve been loyal patrons at The Gardenville Hotel. A historic mid seventeenth century former hotel. With ties to the Revolutionary War, it is a wonderful tavern that serves really good American fare.
We only just recently started going there. One reason is I was already a chef at a Doylestown Tavern call The Farmhouse. We really had no reason to venture out to any other taverns because my wife loved my cooking, and I became acquainted with many regulars who were an integral part of my social life. Plus, other taverns in the area couldn’t touch our quality of the food.
After leaving The Farmhouse in 2023, we struggled to find a decent place for a burger or wings. We lived just down the hill from Gardenville and thought of the place as a drinking establishment vs. a full service restaurant.
One afternoon, we decided on drinks at Gardenville and wandered in. The bar was funky and old. Deer heads all over the walls, various pictures on the walls, many showcasing the owner’s fishing jaunts, and we immediately felt at home.
The servers, who have been there years, provide some of the friendliest and attentive service we’ve ever experienced.
Since we now go at least twice a week, they anticipate our needs immediately. It’s a rarity to find places like this in our area. Most of the Taverns just don’t care enough to go the extra mile. This place blows most local Taverns away.
We highly suggest their wings, the burgers are excellent as well as amazing fish and chips and turkey anything. It isn’t cheap, but nothing really is post pandemic. We only sit at the tables in the bar. That’s where the fun really is. The dining room is More suited for families and older folks. We like the buzz the bar provides.
The Gardenville Burger
Our Wedding Anniversary Trip To Easton Pennsylvania
August 30, 2025
We’ve been to Easton a number of times. It reminds me of old cities that still have their architectural charm like Cincinnati and Wheeling West Virginia. Both cities are surrounded by hills and turn of the century buildings.
We’ve never stayed overnight before and usually just visit their marketplace, which I wrote about earlier on this blog.
My wife surprised me by booking us a suite at the Grand Eastonian Hotel. They’ve turned a 1927 hotel into condominiums and reservable rooms and suites. Our suite was gorgeous with a balcony looking over the city and also has a heated salt water pool that was amazing.
Home
Surprisingly, the restaurant we made reservations with was directly across the street called Kabinett, which is named after a German style of wine. The meal and service were great. They have an enormous wine list as well. We do suggest sticking with noshing on a variety of apps. My steak, which was $59, came out a bit under done and wasn’t hot. They quickly remedied it, but we liked our apps much more.
https://www.kabinettwinebar.com/
We had a cocktail at a lounge two doors up that played great 60’s r&b that featured some excellent cocktails called Presley’s.
I highly recommend Easton Pennsylvania. If you are seeking a city, feel like New York but want more accessibility and a slower pace, this is a great town to visit.
Bucks County Culinary Musings
May 28, 2023
We’ve lived in Bucks County for almost seven years. It’s the second longest stretch that we’ve occupied in the twenty-three years of being married. We’ve come from a city that was seven square miles and hosted over three thousand restaurants which is San Franciso. The borough we currently live in rural Pennsylvania has a population of about eight thousand people and has only fifty restaurants. Most are Italian. Most aren’t great which narrows down our choices on where we want to spend our hard-earned money. There are only so many times you can order red pepper hummus or pierogis before you desire to slowly walk into the deep end of a river. I get it. Pubs and taverns serve a purpose but when you want food that is elevated, you have to seek them out. We did.
I’m a chef at a tavern but I try to create cuisine that sets us apart from our competitors and we enjoy a loyal customer base and great reviews. My background as a chef for years has been working in scratch kitchens that focused on local products from sustainable butchers and farms. There are not too many eateries in Bucks that are dedicated to this type of discipline. It took us many years to eventually find places, but the ones we did stumble upon need to be mentioned. Not all are farm-to-table but their attention to detail, customer service, cocktail, beer, and wine selections made them stand out and are now favorites of ours.
There was no particular order in which we found these gems. Most were simply discovered because they were open on our days off. Most places around here are closed Mondays.
The first place we frequent the most is Heart of Oak Pub in the ground floor of Baci Restorante in Buckingham. The building is gorgeous, built in the 1700’s and has amazing character. Exposed beams, stone-built, and very cozy. The pub mixes its Italian menu with approachable pub fare. They have great pasta, amazing steaks, and a decent, affordable wine list. We never miss their amazing martinis. It is less than two miles from our home.
https://www.baciristorante.com/
Let’s move on to our next destination which is only ten minutes from our home. It’s the Black Bass Hotel. It’s a hundred-year-old hotel and restaurant in Lumberville PA that is nestled on the Delaware River which borders New Jersey. They feature a CIA-trained chef and a robust farm-to-table menu that features duck, lamb, and even great vegetarian salads and entrees. Their cocktail list is amazing and have an approachable wine list. They also have beautiful suites that overlook the river just upstairs from the restaurant. We’ve stayed in their rooms and they are great. Have a wonderful dinner, then head up to the balcony for wine and an amazing view of the Roebling pedestrian bridge and river.
https://www.blackbasshotel.com
Our next gem is literally up the hill from our home. Another Revolutionary War watering hole and former hotel, the Gardenville Hotel is the definition of a local tavern. They have a very robust working-class crowd and a gigantic food menu, a decent yet small beer list, and great service. We always choose the pub side vs the dining room because it’s lively and the locals are extremely entertaining. Add decent pub food and a great jukebox and it’s definitely a must but go early. It gets crowded fast.
The next venture is a trek up the Delaware River to The Riegelsville Inn in Reigelsville PA sitting again, on the Delaware River bordering New Jersey which hosts yet another Roebling-designed bridge. This is another Revolutionary War era building that used to be an inn but now is just a restaurant. Extremely innovative cuisine which features lobster mac-n-cheese, Asian duck breast, and one of the best pork chops we’ve ever had. They have ample outside seating and the bar is very beautiful and comfortable. The service is good. Patience is the key here and they have a lively local patron scene. F-bombs are provided free of charge!
Our next destination is across the Delaware to Lambertville New Jersey. This is about a twenty-minute trip from our home, through beautiful New Hope PA along the Delaware River. This very small eatery features homemade pasta, great salads and appetizers, and half-off bottled wine Tuesdays. We suggest you go early. The joint fills up quickly and the bar area is first come, first serve.
The last but not least new favorite of ours is the Sargenstvilles Inn in Sargentsville New Jersey. Another Revolutionary War Era building that housed many different businesses over three hundred years that was recently bought by a team of professionals with Michelin starred restaurant experience. This by far is the best place we’ve tried so far on our culinary excursions.
Whole animal butchering, hyper local products, a great, affordable wine list and they even have a wine shop connected to the restaurant. Their small plates are our favorite where you can create an entire experience with three to four choices
https://www.sergeantsvilleinn.com/contact/
We realized that you have to put forward an effort to find decent places to eat. Some are a haul, but the rewards are plenty. Carefully crafted cocktails, a well-designed menu that is presented in a casual setting that puts you at ease, and great service at every place we frequent. We can safely say we are regulars at every place I mentioned and all are highly recommended.
Tales From an Urban Chef 