Blackbird is the latest venture by longtime Cincinnati restaurateurs Mary and Mark Swortwood, who closed their Columbia Tusculum restaurants Green Dog Café and Buz to focus on the new project in a more central neighborhood. (They were also the original owners of Brown Dog Cafe in Blue Ash.)
Formerly a chicken place called Son of a Preacher Man, the building had been vacant for over a year when the Swortwoods began extensive renovations in January. While they were able to use a lot of kitchen equipment from their previous restaurants, they completely gutted the dining room and started from scratch to transform the single room into a more intimate, inviting space where guests might linger over drinks and dinner or Sunday brunch.
11 a.m.-1:30 p.m. and 5-9 p.m. Wednesday-Saturday; 10 a.m.-2:30 p.m. and 5-9 p.m. Sunday. Blackbird Eatery, 3009 O’Bryon St., O’Bryonville, 513-321-0413, blackbirdeatery.com.
