It might not be on your radar, but there’s some tasty food being served on the far east side of downtown. That’s thanks to a new restaurant in the lobby of a hotel that was unfamiliar to me. The hotel, open only since January of this year, is called “voco the Clair,” which I learned is part of a worldwide chain among the IHG mega-family of hotel chains. On the ground floor of said hotel, on the edge of the city and within sight of I-71, Pennyflower Bistro occupies a large dining room that services hotel guests from breakfast through dinner. An adjacent bar and lounge fill out the space.
The bar and restaurant feel exactly like what they are — an extension of a postmodern hotel lobby. But here’s the rub: the cooking by the restaurant’s young chef, Jacob Benavides, could make a detour to the out-of-the-way restaurant worth your time. At dinner recently with five friends, I found many more hits than misses among the menu items we sampled.
Our server, Rachel, shared her opinions about everything from the best house cocktails to the don’t-miss dessert standout, and we tried many of her suggestions. While most of my companions stuck with their usual cocktail choices, my boyfriend and I both tried Rachel’s favorite, a tequila and mezcal drink dubbed Smoked Butterfly. Its balanced flavors and booze-forward punch helped get the evening started with a group of folks who hadn’t gotten together in a while. To accompany our drinks and conversation, we selected from among 10 starters and salads, and for the most part, they didn’t disappoint.
My watermelon crudo, listed as a starter (or “snacks and bites” in the menu lingo) instead of a salad, tasted like summer on a plate, with slices of chilled melon in a light dressing of nước chấm — a Vietnamese sauce — along with mint, cilantro and a sprinkling of candied peanuts. Another starter, spicy tuna bites, wasn’t too spicy and was a hit at our table. Several golf ball-sized rounds of tuna mixed with mashed potatoes came breaded and deep-fried, served with a flavored mayo. The house version of beef tartar was quite good, as well. We shared a plate of sliced 16 Bricks sourdough bread along with these goodies and waited for the next course.
That wait was inexplicably rather lengthy, which surprised me considering that the dining room was far from packed on a rainy Friday night. When dinner did arrive, though, it was worth the wait. (With one exception, which I will get to.) My luck continued after the watermelon appetizer with a perfect halibut entrée. It’s the kind of dish I would be happy to order repeatedly, somehow light and filling at the same time. The fish, cooked just right, sat in a lovely beurre blanc sauce and shared the plate with creamy pureed potatoes and crisp sugar snap peas. A bit of salmon roe gave the dish a bit of salty umami.
Two of my companions tried one of the chef’s signature dishes, Crispy Mushroom Lasagna. I couldn’t quite imagine how lasagna could be crispy, but the generous slice of layered noodles and filling did have crunchy edges. Texture contrast is such an important part of cooking, and this dish nails it. The filling includes porcini mushrooms, duxelles (a mushroom-onion-herb reduction) and cream sauce. No meat, but you won’t miss it. I hope this entrée and the halibut will stay on the menu year-round.
The one disappointment came in the form of misses on the bone-in pork chop, which two of the men at our table had ordered. One chop arrived almost bloody and the other, overdone. Although the server offered to redo their orders, they declined. I’ve had the same issue with pork chops at other restaurants and stopped ordering them because they are so hard to get right.
A few days later, when I talked with Chef Benavides by phone, he vowed to work on perfecting those chops, noting that a bone-in cut can be especially challenging. (If the meat at the bone is cooked medium, then the outer meat will be too well-done.)
We finished our meal by sampling two desserts, crème brûlée and Rachel’s strong recommendation, an ice cream dish called S’mores. She steered us in the right direction. Whereas the brûlée was fine, though nothing extraordinary, we relished every bite of vanilla ice cream, Italian meringue, chopped dates and chocolate ganache. Coffee and a couple of dessert drinks topped off a satisfying meal.
A Texas native, Chef Benavides honed his talents at high-end California restaurants before coming to Ohio a few years ago, eventually accepting a position as chef de cuisine here at Boca, under David Falk. Within the past year, the opportunity arose to helm his own kitchen at Pennyflower. That’s quite a resume for a 30-year-old, who now looks forward to making this restaurant an important part of Cincinnati’s social and culinary firmament, operating within what he calls an eco-friendly hotel.
“I was genuinely surprised by how vibrant and tightly-knit the culinary scene is here,” he said. “There’s a lot of talent in this city and a clear sense of pride around hospitality, but also a willingness to experiment, which I love.”
“Being able to bring young people along, to help develop them for the future” is at the heart of his own ambitions. He said he tries to make his kitchen a welcoming place for the staff, full of music, humor and compassion.
He acknowledged that “keeping fine dining sustainable is a challenge,” but added that “Cincinnati’s curiosity and support for independent restaurants gives us an opportunity to build something special, something that reflects both the city’s roots and its evolving tastes.”
Short term, he alluded to “future events in the works” at Pennyflower and suggested that potential diners “stay tuned for some fun experiences coming soon.” He didn’t divulge details, but from my limited experience thus far with the goodies coming out of his kitchen, I do plan to stay tuned. You might want to, as well.
Pennyflower American Bistro & Bar, 701 Broadway, Downtown. More info: pennyflowerbistro.com.
This story is featured in CityBeat’s July 9 print edition.
This article appears in Jul 9-22, 2025.