Cincinnati Magazine

Millions of Americans, many of them children, face hunger challenges daily, and yet nearly 40 percent of all food produced in the U.S. is wasted—and most of that winds up in landfills. It’s a conundrum that has vexed hunger-relief organizations for decades. Walnut Hills–based nonprofit La Soupe, Inc. is bridging the gap by rescuing surplus ingredients from grocery stores, wholesalers, farms, and restaurants and transforming them into delicious, chef-prepared soups and meals to feed folks facing food insecurity. Check out the photo essay: https://ow.ly/b4c350Vlws3 ?? HATSUE

We're saddened to hear of the recent passing of James Votruba, former Northern Kentucky University president. In his memory, we're sharing this article highlighting his career upon his retirement in 2012: https://ow.ly/THFR50VkVku

Jean-Robert de Cavel. The Frenchman who took Cincinnati by storm. He arrived in 1993 to become chef de cuisine at the Maisonette, the city’s longtime Mobil 5-Star rated fine dining establishment. Over the course of the next two decades, de Cavel opened a plethora of restaurants—including Pigall’s, JeanRo Bistro, Pho Paris, Greenup Cafe, Lavomatic Café, Jean-Robert’s Table, Frenchie Fresh, and Restaurant L—working his way into Cincinnati’s heart. Even after his death in 2022, his restaurants Le Bar à Boeuf and French Crust Café live on. Chefs David Falk (owner of Boca, Sotto, and Nada), and Bridget and Jeremy Lieb (owners of Sacred Beast) sat down to talk about de Cavel’s influence on their lives, the city, and our dining culture today. https://ow.ly/EINu50Vhfiz ?? Catherine Viox

How visual art expert Sso-Rha Kang finds beauty in banality, rituals, and aluminum boxes. https://ow.ly/2qyk50VfA8w ?? Chris Von Holle

"Chefs are the new rock stars." I'm quoting myself here ??. I've said this a number of times to catch folks' attention, but I don't really mean what it seems like I mean. I've profiled plenty of musicians in my time as a professional writer, and I've interviewed a ton of chefs in the more recent leg of my career. I've also played in bands that felt like jobs, and I ran a counter-service coffee shop for over a decade. So I'm in a place to observe similarities. When you speak with a professional musician, you quickly understand that many are self-aware businesspeople, responsible for the livelihoods of the team that supports their creative output. Additionally, an artist can carry the weight of maintaining a public persona—a "brand" if you must—of inspired creative when, realistically, songwriting is more often a "butt in chair" operation than flash of 3 a.m. brilliance. (See Jeff Tweedy's Word Ladder technique for a workaday approach to crafting songs.) And of course the chefs I talk to, most often entrepreneurs balancing business pressures and staff concerns with talking to press people like me about their creative inspiration, shoulder many of the same responsibilities of a successful band member who, at the end of the day, is seeing their creative project turn into a small business. I recently wrangled three of Cincinnati's culinary "rock stars"—David Jackman (Wildweed), Danny Combs (Colette) and Mitch Arens (Carmelo’s)—for an enlightening conversation about all these concerns and more for Cincinnati Magazine's "Chefs on Chefs" package story for the publication's 2025 Restaurant Issue. It was a fascinating experience for me, and I think it's worth checking out.

I'm dipping my toes (just for a lil' bit) back into my first loves: journalism and magazine writing. Check out my Cincinnati Magazine article on Cincinnati native and anchor-turned-actor Shannon LaNier about his big-screen debut in #TylerPerry's "Duplicity." ?? ? https://lnkd.in/gt8NFDPP #shannonlanier #film #movies #writing #cincinnati

For our annual Best Restaurants issue, we went to the source: the people who make the magic happen. In this series of conversations with Queen City culinary dignitaries, they dish on everything from being nominated for James Beard Awards to running restaurants with your spouse to skirting traditions. Pull up a chair and listen in. Available on newsstands everywhere now, and digitally here: https://ow.ly/opRN50V8lR2

For the next few weeks, a coalition of city leaders and business organizations will come together to boost local businesses that have struggled since the unexpected closure of the Daniel Carter Beard Bridge late last year. The “Bridging Back Business” initiative in Northern Kentucky, which runs from today through March 15, will feature special events, discounts, and promotions to encourage the surrounding community to support businesses in Dayton, Bellevue, Newport, Covington, and Fort Thomas. https://ow.ly/b4zt50V5wyX

As online sales continue to take over the retail world, a number of local small business owners are doubling down on the value of in-person customer experiences and relationships. Learn why from the owners of Handzy, Fern, Joy and Matt’s, Shake It Records, and OTO Supply in the Winter issue of Realm, the journal for Queen City CEOs from Cincinnati Magazine. https://ow.ly/84FY50UZlbk

Means Cameron is refreshing his BlaCk OWned business model to add new coffee shops and fashion clothing after gaining wider audiences through partnerships with BLINK, FC Cincinnati, the University of Cincinnati, and Bengals players. Find out what Cameron has in the works in the Winter issue of Realm, the journal for Queen City CEOs from Cincinnati Magazine. https://ow.ly/nEcw50UZl7l