Vine-L Friday (also on the 31st)

Ok, so i just found out that this friday's event in the Gateway Quarter is more like a sidewalk sale and less like a full on multi-block event. Still, i'll be hitting it up b/c a sale's a sale, right? Anyway, i got more info from a person who works in the OTR Chamber of Commerce and next week's event is really a collaborative one - there are dj's and food and sales, etc! Here's more info on what's going on at the BIG event next Friday (to tie in with Final Friday @ the Pendleton Arts Center which is also a great time and i'd highly encourage attending).

Gateway Quarter Unites for Third Installment of VINE-L Friday
Ten Venues Participate in Growing Gallery Exhibits in the Heart of Over-the-Rhine
Who – Venice on Vine Pizza, Segway Cincinnati, Park+Vine, Switch, OutSide, Coffee Emporium, Mixx Ultra Lounge, Urban Sites (Lackman Lofts and Duveneck Flats) Below Zero Lounge.
What – Art Gallery Walk – Free Event
When – July 31, 2009 – 6pm – 10pm
Where – The Gateway Quarter: Vine Street/Main Street (Between Central Pkwy and 14th Street)
Media Contact –Andrew Salzbrun 513.295.5308 Salzbrun.andrew@gmail.com
Cincinnati, OH, July 31, 2009 – The third edition of VINE-L Friday, an art gallery walk through the Over-the-Rhine on the concluding Friday of every month, takes place this Friday, July 31. This compliment to the Final Friday art galleries will include a variety of businesses which will take part in displaying local art, serving food and refreshments, offering discounts, and hosting live music.
Also present will be the ArtWorks Cincinnati group involved with the historic painting of the five story image of Jim Tarbell; on the corner of Vine Street and Central Parkway at the Park + Vine building. The student artists will be available to talk about their current project and how they plan to complete it in the coming weeks.

For this July edition, Below Zero Lounge will be hosting the official after party of VINE-L Friday. A concert by the “Blue Merchants” starting at 10pm will be held at Below Zero to support Gary Burbank’s “Play It Forward” project.
Participating Groups:
-Venice on Vine Pizza – Visionaries and Voices exhibits “Hair Salon” by Kenny Barger with a special menu of gourmet pizzas as well as live jewelry making by “One Bead at a Time.”
-Segway Cincinnati – Works by Josh Beeman and Billy 7. Live music by “Vinny Bricks” and “that guy from Okinawa” City Cellars will be on hand with its frozen desert cart to cool off the crowd.
-Park+Vine – The unveiling of the new exhibit “Mimockracy”
-Switch Lighting and Design – New works by Alison Shepard will be exhibited.
-OutSide – Live DJ playing Electronica, Trip Hop, Soul and Funk, with refreshments served
-Below 0 Lounge – The official VINE-L Friday After Party. Live music by the “Blue Merchants” at 10pm benefitting Gary Burbank’s “Play It Forward” Project.
-Mixx Ultra Lounge – Marcus Jordan exhibiting works from his collection titled “My Passion”
-Coffee Emporium- the Central Parkway location will extend its hours until 10pm and feature works by Allison Archberger and the Thirty Duo Collection.
-Urban Sites – Lackman Lofts – Kate McClung exhibiting works from her “Balanophagy” collection.
-Urban Sites – Duveneck Flats – Mark Cummings exhibiting new works from his “In Bloom” collection and Stan Stenten will be showing pieces from the collection “Visions of Cincinnati – Old and New”

The ten venues involved continue the pattern of intensification created by the previous two previous months, and represents just one more example of Over-the-Rhine's continuing growth.

Vine-L Friday July 24th

Cincinnati, OH-Over the Rhine-Gateway Quarter, originally uploaded by Joanne Maly - Lincoln Maly Marketing.

So if you don't know by now, the Gateway Quarter is the main focus of OTR revitalization lately. They have a lot of wonderful shops there that are well known (Park + Vine) and lesser known (Little Mahatma). My favorite garden shop is in the middle of it all (City Roots) and this Friday all of the shops in that area are having a big sale. Before you go to the Bad Veins CD release party on Fountain Square, check out the other side of downtown and see if you can score some goods!

When you're done with shopping, take a break and have a bite to eat at Lavomatic or walk down another block to Venice on Vine, a wonderful pizza shop run by the non-profit Power Inspires Progress. Its run by a couple of nuns and staffed by people from the area trying to start their lives over. Not only do you get a great slice of pie, but you get a warm fuzzy feeling when you dine there (and its a lot cheaper than Lavomatic!) Website is: http://www.powerinspiresprogress.com/vporder.htm

Here's the dish (yes, that is a pizza pun):

OTR'S "VINE-L FRIDAY MARKDOWN SUMMER CLEARANCE" - JULY 24Take advantage of the huge mid-summer sales in Over-the-Rhine Gateway this Friday, July 24. Stores will be open from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Park in the lot at the corner of 12th and Vine streets, then cruise by the shops, looking for clearance tags and huge end of season discounts. Participating stores include City Roots, Iris Book Café, Joseph Williams Home, Switch, A Lucky Step, Metronation, Mica 12/v, Outside, Park + Vine and Urban Eden. In addition to shopping, have your Tarot cards read at The Little Mahatma from 5:00 to 8:00 p.m. and stop by Lavomatic at 1211 Vine Street for a delicious meal.

I personally have been eyeing some furniture @ Joseph Williams, which already has some pretty reasonable and tasteful stuff, so i hope they have some good sales! To clarify, Urban Eden is on Main St, and definitely worth the 3 block walk!

Pot Belly Vs Gilpins - who wants evening/weekend business more?

(Warning: you are about to endure a diatribe on Pot Belly Deli's hours in downtown cincinnati)

If you read this blog, it should be pretty apparent that i LOVE my downtown life. However, there is one major sticking point that if you get me (or my boyfriend) started on, we will get very fired up about and it is this: the Pot Belly Deli on Fountain Square has the WORST hours and the BEST location and we can't understand what the franchise owner is thinking! They are open M-Sat for the lunch rush, but for reasons neither of us understands, they close at 7pm nightly and are entirely closed on Sundays. This includes nights where the square is full of people for Salsa Dancing, Movies on the Square or even during Sunday Bengals games during the fall and evening Reds games in the summer. These are times when large groups of people are wandering aimlessly looking for food from a place that doesn't require ordering from a waiter. I dont know who has told them that there would be no evening/Sunday crowd, but they are totally WRONG. Countless times we have tried to go there for dinner, only to find out (usually along with other people trying to go there) that its closed for the night. WTF? You have a graeters next to you! You are in an urban gathering area with heavy foot traffic most nights! Where is the disconnect?!

I get a weekly newsletter from the Downtown Residents Council, and in it this week, they highlighted that Potbelly would be having night hours. I was so happy to see they finally saw reason! Then I read the info more carefully. The owners, in their infinite wisdom, have only chosen to stay open during the WORK WEEK until 9pm. Its a start, but Saturday nights when they have movies on the square, there are hundreds of people there for a several hour time frame! Why wouldn't you stay open Monday thru a Saturday night to see what the feedback was instead of just during the work week?!

I hate giving these people business b/c their business logic mystifies and pisses me off, but if you are on the square and want a deli sandwich, these fools are open. If you'd rather wait a little longer, Gilpins is a good alternative but they open at 8pm. I personally will go to Gilpins over Pot Belly. Info on both is below.

NEW THINGS POPPING UP AT GILPIN'S BAGEL & DELI - NOW Gilpin's Bagel & Deli located at 37 East Seventh Street has made some big changes this summer. In addition to their steamed sandwiches and bagels, you can now buy beer and wine with delivery until 1:00 a.m. on weekends. There is also an outdoor seating area, catering service for anywhere in Cincinnati, lunch time delivery service, Sunday hours from 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. and every couple weeks they will have DJ's spinning during the night time hours. For more information, check out their new website Click here

POTBELLY ON FOUNTAIN SQUARE EXTENDED HOURS - JULY 27 - 31Potbelly on Fountain Square will be extending their hours for one week only! Enjoy all that Potbelly has to offer starting Monday, July 27 through Friday, July 31 as they will be open until 9:00 p.m. the entire week! For more information call (513) 381-5572.
Here are the hours posted on their website: Open Monday through Friday 7am to 7pm
Saturday 11am to 4pm - Closed Sunday

More Gelato @ Findlay!

Gelato, World's Best Ice cream: The Real Reason that So Many People go to Italy. PS What is You Favorite Flavor?, originally uploaded by moonjazz.

YAY!!!!! I always thought Madison's was a little too pricey/snooty.....Capitalism @ its best. Its so great to see the empty spaces @ Findlay getting filled - now if they can lower the rents for storefronts, we'll start seeing more diversity in sellers outside of the Market House.

Dojo Gelato brings Italian-style ice creams and sorbettos to historic Findlay Market

Soapbox, 7/21/2009
Findlay Market is continuing its hot streak with another new tenant that is scheduled to open during the first week in August. Dojo Gelato will open within the Market House and will feature handcrafted Italian-style ice creams and sorbettos.

Dojo owner, Michael Christner says that they adhere to a few basic principles in order to create the finest product. They make their gelato and sorbetto fresh and in small runs with no artificial anything; they use only milk, pure cane sugar, and cream for their gelato; their sorbettos only contain fruit, pure cane sugar, and water; and they refuse to use artificial preservatives, unnatural stabilizers, powders or gels. Christner also states that they only use hormone free dairy products and use choice ingredients from local farmers and purveyors when possible.

Dojo Gelato will also offer milkshakes, floats, affogato (gelato with espresso), smoothies, coffee and Italian sodas. Once open the store will employ 2 part-time with plans to utilize the empowerment program for future employment needs.

The process to get the space ready for Dojo took several months from space selection to build out. The Market House space was actually one of two potential locations that Christner was eyeing. Beig a Northside resident he naturally looked at Hamilton Avenue and had trouble finding any suitable locations, his next logical spot was Findlay Market where he and his wife regularly shop.

Christner is exited though to be a part of the Over-the-Rhine community and fill a desired niche within Findlay Market. “Cincinnati is very welcoming to first time business owners,” says Christner who came from the much more competitive Austin, Texas market.

Christner went on to explain how gelato prep kitchens are often referred to as “laboratories” and that the Dojo name is reflective of the Asian culture meaning of place where you go to hone your craft. Dojo’s laboratory will feature a “super-fresh product” that only has a four to five day shelf life and will utilize fresh produce from Findlay Market vendors. As a result the dozen or so flavors will rotate on a monthly basis depending on what is in season with the exception of a few standard favorites like vanilla, chocolate chip and chocolate neutella.

“Cincinnati has had a definitive love for ice cream since way back when,” says Christner who hopes to recreate that ice cream social atmosphere. “In America there is a tendency to make a generic style of ice cream out of a bag. I’m real excited about using local merchants, fresh produce and creating a product made from scratch.”

Prices will range from $3.50 to $4.50 and the shop will be open during regular Findlay Market business hours (T-F, 9-6; Sat, 8-6; Sun 10-4). Dojo plans to launch a website within the next week that is designed by Vine Street Interactive; for more information in the mean time check out Dojo’s Facebook Page, or follow Dojo on Twitter.

Open Air Theater, Fundraiser @ Below Zero

Two really cool events going on this weekend. The pairing of Ronald McDonald House n Below Zero Lounge is truly an interesting one, but i'm sure they'll make some good money. I can't really find out more on this even than what's in the text below (the website's not loading), but it sounds great! Additionally, having never seen any of the Shakespeare theater shows, the free event in the evening on Sunday sounds great! Since the weather is supposed to behave somewhat over the weekend, it would be a great time to ride my bike and see a free show!

COOL SUMMER EVENT TO BENEFIT RONALD MCDONALD HOUSE - JULY 17Over-the-Rhine's trendy Below Zero Lounge will be the site of one cool party - Cool Summer: Our House to Yours, a fundraiser to benefit Ronald McDonald House Charities of Greater Cincinnati. Come Friday, July 17 from 7:00 to 10:00 p.m. Patrons will be asked to pay a $10 donation at the door and can take advantage of a raffle, with all the proceeds going to Cincinnati's Ronald McDonald House, a supportive "home away from home" for families of children receiving medical treatment at Cincinnati Children's Hospital. For more information on Cool Summer Click here and to learn more about Ronald McDonald House Charities Click here. Below Zero Lounge is located at 1122 Walnut Street.

LYTLE PARK HOSTING SHAKESPEARE IN THE PARK - JULY 19Lytle Park, located at 501 East Fourth Street, will be hosting Shakespeare in the Park Sunday, July 19. Bring your picnic basket, lawn chair, and blanket at 7:00 p.m. to see Romeo and Juliet performed right there in the park. Concessions will be available by "Miss Sweet Confections". This event is free and open to the public. For more information, call (513) 381-2273 ext. 214

Oceanaire's replacement already announced!

Wow! that didn't take long....
Mr. Sushi coming to 580 Building
Business Courier of Cincinnati - by Lisa Biank Fasig Courier staff reporter
Less than a week after upscale restaurant Oceanaire closed without warning, a new fish eatery is coming to the 580 Building downtown, with a three-month’s heads up.
The 2,900-square-foot restaurant, to be called Mr. Sushi, will bring a welcome tenant to the ground floor of the recently renovated building after it lost Oceanaire on July 6. It also will add to the high-profile corner of Walnut and Sixth streets, where the restaurant Nada operates next to the former Maisonette, which also will likely reopen as an eatery, possibly operated by Nada chef David Falk.
Mr. Sushi will be operated by Dayton restaurateur Jin Kim, who owns the Iron Chef Grill on Fields Ertel Road, and Sushi Café in Dayton. He plans to open by late October or early November.
Kim said he had been looking for a spot downtown or nearby, such as in Hyde park, for a few years. Now that he has a place, he is disappointed that Oceanaire has closed, but perhaps it will offer expansion opportunities down the road.
“I like having somebody else in the same building,” he said. “I’m the only restaurant right now, it feels a little lonely.”
The restaurant will feature a sushi bar and offer traditional Japanese and Korean dishes such as tempura and teriyaki and bibimbab, a mixture of rice, vegetables, egg and meat in a bowl. It will seat a little more than 80 people.
Judie Guttadauro, with downtown-based Realty Network Plus, brokered the deal.
“I just wanted him downtown so desperately,” she said. “I love sushi, and we don’t have anything like that.”
Oceanaire opened June 2, 2008, featuring fresh seafood in a 1930s-era setting.

American Can Company Revitalization

Everyday I pass the shell of what was once the American Can Company building. It is an enormous space - probably 6 stories, if not more and wall to ceiling windows (or at least, at one time windows). It could be an awesome space for lofts, galleries, etc and thankfully there are some builders out there that saw the opportunity for development and bought the building. Per the Business Courier, "The $22 million mixed-use pro­ject would bring 96 apartments and 30,000 square feet of commercial space to the empty shell near the corner of Hamilton Avenue and Blue Rock Road. The building once housed a factory that made machines that made aluminum cans. It’s been mostly vacant since the 1950s. "

Give Back Cincinnati did a neighborhood immersion in Northside a few months ago, and got a tour of this building. It needs some environmental remediation - there's some chemicals that have leached into the floor/surrounding soil - but the structure is still solid and very much the kind of layout that would appeal to a wide variety of buyers. Soapbox Cincy wrote an article about Veep Joe Biden's visit there this week, and i think there is a good amount of inertia behind this project to get it off the ground. If I'm in the market when these lofts get finished, i might be a buyer myself!

More info can be found:
http://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/related_content.html?topic=American%20Can

Vice President Joe Biden highlights importance of stimulus with American Can Factory rehab project
Soapbox, 7/14/2009 Writer: Randy Simes
http://www.soapboxmedia.com
The prominent American Can Factory sits along the Interstate 75 corridor and towers over its surrounding environs. The behemoth has been recently gutted in preparation for an envisioned rehabilitation project.

The $22 million project would inject 96 new apartments and 30,000 square feet of commercial space into the eclectic Northside neighborhood. The rehabilitation would also rid the area of a vacant building that has for some time held the promise of not much more.

So far the developers of the project, Bloomfield, Schon & Partners, have collected hundreds of thousands of dollars in the form of loans and grants from the city and state alike, and millions more from various tax credits.

The developers and city have been hopeful that federal stimulus dollars to the tune of $1.6 million could be used to help jump start the project and the estimated 200 to 300 construction jobs and 35 to 45 permanent jobs that would come with the project.

Vice President Joe Biden came to Cincinnati and spoke outside of the American Can Factory in Northside to highlight the importance of the stimulus and how it can positively impact projects such as this.

Vice President Biden spoke to the crowd of several hundred gathered at the site to hear about the $4 billion the tri-state region and Ohio are projected to receive from the stimulus package. He emphasized that time and patience are needed before the economic impacts of the federal money would be felt.

The $1.6 million infusion for the American Can Factory project will help get the project moving once more as a tentative commitment from a lender had been reached pending the approval of the stimulus loan.

In addition to the hundreds of new residents the project will house, rumors have been circulating that Cincinnati's favorite restauranteur, chef Jean-Robert de Cavel and current Chef In Residence at the Midwest Culinary Institute might have an interest in the space.

With this announcement city leaders and project developers are hopeful that the project can begin immediately with construction starting before the end of this summer.