If good things come in threes, then one of Cincinnati's newest restaurants — MY THREE CHEFS — is primed for a positive reception. Located in Longworth Hall (700 Pete Rose Way, Downtown), the restaurant is the creation of MICHAEL BELANGER, BRIAN HUNTER and TONY POELLNITZ. Belanger and his wife Judy decided to expand their personal chef business to include café and catering services, and they decided to add Hunter and Poellnitz, who have similar experience. On Monday, from 5-7 p.m., everyone is invited to visit as the three are offered champagne toasts by several other area chefs, including John Kinsella of Cincinnati State's Culinary Institute to one of Julia Child's favorites, Richard Well. Info: 513-561-7110 ...
Speaking of new places, I'd like to describe a recent experience and let you draw your own conclusions: After taking in a film recently, I decided to check out the newest eatery at Newport on the Levee, BAR LOUIE. It was a Saturday evening, and the wait was a half-hour, so we put our name in and wandered. Returning at the appointed hour, the hostess told us if we were seated right away, we'd wait at least 30 minutes for our food. Ready to sit down, we decided to take our chances. We were escorted past an area, perhaps a third of the restaurant's seating capacity, that was closed.
I asked our server why the warning about food delivery: She said the kitchen was incredibly slow, which made the servers look bad. "Something needs to be done," she told us. In fact, our meals were delivered in 15 minutes, despite the dire predictions. The food was fine (I loved my BBQ Meatloaf Sandwich topped with mashed potatoes, $8.95), but the way we were handled suggests to me that Bar Louie doesn't have it's act together. A crowd on a Saturday night shouldn't be a big surprise to a restaurant — and then to have servers griping about the kitchen, well, it didn't leave me with a burning desire to return. ...
Feeling festive? How about heading to FINDLAY MARKET for a Mardi Gras celebration on Saturday? At 10 a.m. you can hear music by Lagniappe, a Cajun band, and Robin Lacy and DeZydeco perform at noon. At 11:30 a.m. a Mardi Gras king and queen will be crowned, and there will be ongoing celebrity chef demonstrations by JULIE FRANCIS of AIOLI, RON WISE from PARKERS BLUE ASH GRILL and JACKSON ROUSE from the IRON HORSE INN, using Findlay products to cook up Cajun fare. Info: www.findlaymarket.org