Cincinnati's Contemporary Arts Center (you know, the Mapplethorpe museum) had the most incredible food spread I've ever seen at a fundraiser. The walleye broth in this pasta dish from David Jackman at Wildweed, for instance, was one of the best things I've tasted this year.

Say what you will about Cincinnati chili, but the version served at Tuba Baking (a small German restaurant in Dayton, Kentucky) is flawless. It's made with spätzle, Cincinnati lentil chili, four cheeses and raw onions. Stop by if you're ever in town.

Took my daughter to Jeff Ruby's for her 10th birthday. I don't think I've ever seen her happier than she was at this very moment.

When my wife and I lived in Brooklyn, our favorite neighborhood restaurant was a place called Lea. A Tavola is kind of like Lea (simple, comforting and very good), but in the Cincinnati 'burbs.

Savory pastries from North-South bakery in Covington, Kentucky. Good stuff. Check it out if you haven't been there yet.

Thanksgiving Eve prime rib.

I know that The Ice Storm is the greatest Thanksgiving movie ever made. But let us not forget Jodie Foster's Home for the Holidays, which is so much better than its title might suggest.

Uzbek cuisine has finally arrived in Cincinnati. And we're all better off for it. (Lagman stew from The Plove, in Fairfield).

Thank you, Gold Star Chili, for letting me at least try to make a proper coney. And apologies for going a little too heavy on the cheese.

The veal piccata at Primavista in Cincinnati is a caper-lover's dream come true.

I talked to Pat Sheppard, a couple of bartenders and, of course, Walter Brown, about what Eddie Sheppard meant to Mount Adams. www.cincinnati.com/story/entert...

There's nothing quite like a good bar in an old alley.