Almost forgot to discuss...

...Cincinnati. 4 years ago, race riots and general Midwest anxieties prevented me from ever wanting to move there. Meredith's job was to make me see this town in a different light, and that she did.

Cincinnati has an advantage over many cities in that it contains a Trader Joes, Whole Foods, AND Wild Oats! So organic food shopping seems not to be a problem. As for dining out...we will go in order...first stop was pre-lunch Graeter's (or Grater's?) ice cream, a Cinci specialty...I know because they were once featured on a Food Network special I saw last semester when I only took 12 credits and became an expert on issues like "Top 10 Eating Contests in the US." I got coconut fudge chip with almonds. This used to be my favorite Ben & Jerry's flavor way back when until they stopped making it. I emailed the company, as I was terribly distraught, and they replied something about hurricanes damaging the coconut crop in the Phillipines. Liars. Anyway, Graeters, delicious. Really quite impressive. I would say on par with Capogiro, but really the two are not comparable. Graeter's also has a bakery, extra points awarded.

Lunch was at Kona Cafe...good. Liked, would go back. Dinner was...thinking...ah Jeanro (yeah ok spelling not a specialty) downtown. We split some goat cheese-potato starter that was fine, and then I had a whole grilled trout (eyes and all, sorry Mer) with a brown butter-balsamic sauce, wilterd greens, and peaches. Ok, peaches are odd in a dish like this, but they are tasty fruits so why not? Homeade bread there was delicious. A definite keeper.

Day two...lunch at Indigo...apparently mommy says we ate there 4 years ago, but I don't remember. Had a great mushroom and goat cheese pizza...then a stop for some Emergen-C, to which I got Ms. C-N hooked on, thank you very much. To all, I recommend the strawberry flavor, and to mix it with either very little water or juice to make it more palatable. Dinner was this FABULOUS place called Slim's. They have a site...www.slimsrestraurant.com....28$ Wed/Thurs for 4 courses! Awesome deal. We weren't particularly hungry for anything heavy at that point so we split the melon trio (with parmesan atop...creative), and I got the gravalax appetizer with shitakes, cucumber, and cilantro vinagrette. Very light and nice. Dessert was papaya and farmhouse gouda in some sort of spiced sauce...quite unusual, but pared well with the cheese. Loved this place. Simple, with a twist, emphasizing fresh ingredients.

So that was Cincinnati. Sure, it's no Philly, but miles above Rochester. Miles. Thank you Merediche!!! I had an awesome time, despite a lack of air-conditioning and wasps in the kitchen! No really I'm serious! Now you come visit, and save me from that upstate NY hellhole this year (and pray that I find another eggplant leather Marc Jacobs beautiful creature of a bag)!

On a Philadelphia note, or more rather a home note, we have pipe leak until tomorrow morning which really sucks because we have no water and all I want is to sip a cup of tea...and to not have to brush my teeth with Evian...which is a gross bottled water, but that's a topic of conversation for another day.