Contemporary Arts Center 44 E. Sixth St., Downtown. Started in 1939, the Cincinnati Modern Art Society first began in the basement of the Cincinnati Art Museum. The project collected popular art throughout its time and eventually opened in its current location in 2003. With changing exhibits, an eclectic gift shop and a hip cafe, the Contemporary Arts Center welcomes visitors free of charge. Photo: facebook.com/cincycac

Downtown Cincinnati’s Contemporary Arts Center (CAC) is bringing food back to the museum through a new series of pop-ups.

CAC’s former restaurant, Fausto at the CAC, shuttered at the end of 2022. Now, CAC is partnering with local entrepreneur Rachel DesRochers, who founded Newport-based vegan cookie company Grateful Grahams and the Incubator Kitchen Collective, and her The Gratitude Collective, a collection of brands aimed at building community, to launch a series of rotating food vendor pop-ups in the museum’s Dr. Stanley & Mickey Kaplan Hall Lobby.

Ahead of the series of pop-ups with DesRochers and The Gratitude Collective, CAC is first partnering with restaurateur Steven Graham to bring a version of his new deli and grill, The Frank, to the museum. Graham, who also owns Shango’s Urban Taqueria at Factory 52 in Norwood, opened The Frank in Lower Price Hill this April. The Frank at CAC menu will be an abridged version of the Lower Price Hill offerings, with scratch-made morning bites, coffee, breakfast sandwiches and lunch items like pesto chicken salad sandwiches and Saratoga chips.

The Frank at CAC is now open Thursday and Friday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The pop-up will be at CAC until July 31.

Following The Frank’s residency, another vendor through the partnership with DesRochers and The Gratitude Collective will open in the space. The application to become a vendor is currently open through The Gratitude Collective, which will provide vendors mentorship, community engagement and a network of support to operate within CAC’s cafe.

Contemporary Arts Center, 44 E. Sixth St., Downtown. More info: contemporaryartscenter.org.

This article appears in May 28 – Jun 10, 2025.

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Katherine Barrier is a graduate of the University of Cincinnati’s journalism program and has nearly 10 years of experience reporting local and national news as a digital journalist. At CityBeat, she...