Italian restaurant to expand to second location

By Uncorked | Tuesday, January 6, 2009, 11:10 AM

The Kettering Italian Oven has opened a second location inside Talegator’s, 6270 Far Hills Ave., according to the owners of both establishments.

Italian Oven owner Rick Feltner said the original restaurant that opened in 2004 at 4654 Wilmington Pike will remain open as he expands into the kitchens of Talegators in Centerville. Talegators co-owner Dave Ulrich said the Italian Oven’s menu was a good fit for his sports bar-restaurant’s customers. Talegators’ food service had been provided by Pietro Mauro’s Italian Deli, which moved to Talegators in early 2008.

The Italian Oven specializes in pizza, subs and baked pasta dishes such as lasagna and spaghetti. It has added bar-food items such as wings and potato skins for the Talegators location, and also offers a kids’ menu that includes “healthy-choice” side dishes such as salads and applesauce, Feltner said.

Talegators is open for dinner seven days a week, and for lunch six days a week. It is closed for lunch on Monday. For more information, call (937) 424-4858.

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Fazoli’s to give away spaghetti

By Uncorked | Monday, January 5, 2009, 01:15 PM

Here’s are excerpts from a news release sent out a few minutes ago by the restaurant chain Fazoli’s about a free spaghetti promotion:

Dayton Area Fazoli’s to Help Give Away More than Two Million Pounds of Free Spaghetti

Fazoli’s in the Dayton area are joining a nationwide revolution against high restaurant prices that will have guests chanting, “Let them eat spaghetti!” Across the country Fazoli’s is giving away more than two million pounds of spaghetti starting January 5. Join the revolution, and learn how to get free spaghetti at your local Fazoli’s by visiting www.freespaghetti.com.

After signing up at www.freespaghetti.com, consumers can download coupons for free spaghetti. There is a different offer each week for six weeks. Fazoli’s expects to give away an estimated 2.7 million pounds of free spaghetti.

Fazoli’s is open for lunch and dinner …

It appears as if there are four Fazoli’s in the Miami Valley, in Moraine, Huber Heights, Sugarcreek Twp./Centerville and Troy.

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Outlook for restaurants falls to record low

By Uncorked | Monday, January 5, 2009, 10:34 AM

The National Restaurant Association reports that the outlook for the industry fell to a record low in November.

The association’s Restaurant Performance Index, which measure the health of the industry based on surveys of restaurateurs from across the country, sagged in November, when the drumbeat of bad economic news grew loud and ominous. Many restaurant owners told the association their sales were down and they were pessimistic about the next six months. Here’s an excerpt from the report:

The November decline in the Restaurant Performance Index was the result of broad-based declines across the index components, with the Current Situation index falling to a new record low. A solid majority of restaurant operators reported negative same-store sales and traffic levels in November, while nearly one-half expect their sales in six months to be lower than the same period in the previous year. …

Restaurant operators are more pessimistic about sales growth in coming months. Only 21 percent of restaurant operators expect to have higher sales in six months (compared to the same period in the previous year), matching the proportion who reported similarly last month. However, 48 percent of restaurant operators expect their sales volume in six months to be lower than it was during the same period in the previous year, up from 43 percent who reported similarly last month and one of the highest levels on record.

I was in a restaurant last week and heard the owner tell the guests at one table, “We really appreciate all your support over the holidays — but we really need your support in January and February.”

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The ‘Top 5’ dinner that ended up on the cutting-room floor

By Uncorked | Friday, January 2, 2009, 09:25 AM

Now I know this will come as a shock … but sometimes, I write too much.

In today’s Go section of the Dayton Daily News, we publish our Top Meals of 2008, which I also posted here on Taste yesterday. But only four dinners are mentioned. Who the heck writes a “Top 4” list of anything?

Well, my original piece included five dinners, but I went on and on about the five to the extent that we simply didn’t have room for all of them in the tight confines of a Go page. So one ended up on the newspaper’s version of the cutting-room floor.

This one was not for a local restaurant, but it was one damn fine meal (actually, two), and the place attracts a large number of Dayton-area guests. So here’s the fifth entry on the “Top 5 Meals of 2008” list:

October 2008: Murphin Ridge Inn restaurant, West Union, OH, (877) 687-7446 The luxury inn that former Washington Twp. residents Sherry and Darryl McKenney run in the rolling hills of West Union, in the Amish country of southern Ohio, also just happens to have one of the state’s finest restaurants, used by the inn’s guests but also open to the public for dinner. The menu is very seasonal, utilizing the fresh ingredients harvested from the large garden on the inn’s grounds and from the farm fields and orchards around Adams County. The seasonal nature was on full display during an autumn visit, when the soups served included a rich Pumpkin Bisque with Toasted Curry, Roasted Garlic and Madeira topped with Candied Pecans. A salad consisted of Romaine, Toasted Pecan, Empire Apple, Bacon and Buttermilk Blue Cheese, and a side dish was Butternut Squash Puree with Fresh Sage and Parmesan topped with Cider-Braised Red Cabbage with Shallots. Entrees included a crispy-skinned, thick chicken breast, moist and cooked just to doneness, served with a Bartlett pear-leek confit topped by a chip of country ham and a sauce of thyme and reduced Kentucky bourbon ($29); and a creamy risotto of wild mushrooms (shiitake, crimini and porcini) with braised leeks, garlic greens, roasted butternut squash, granny smith apples and Parmesan, drizzled with a white truffle-brown butter ($27). The dishes were perfectly prepared and served, and were positively bursting with fresh, seasonal flavors.

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Favorite restaurant meals of 2008

By Uncorked | Thursday, January 1, 2009, 07:56 AM

Here’s a copy of a story that will run in tomorrow’s (1-2-09) Dayton Daily News Go section — and actually, one meal had to be omitted for space reasons and will be included in a separate entry here in Taste within the next day or two.

What were your favorite restaurant meals or dishes of 2008? Anyway, here’s the text of the story:

Before 2009 settles in, let’s take a look back — fondly — at some of the best, most memorable meals of 2008. Don’t let anyone proclaim that we can’t find decent grub in this part of Ohio. These meals were extraordinary, and thinking back to them is making me hungry.

January 2008: l’Auberge, 4120 Far Hills Ave., Kettering (937) 299-5536

l’Auberge owner Josef Reif tried something new during last winter’s Restaurant Week: In addition to serving the traditional three-course meal on the Bistro side of his restaurant for the proscribed price of $20.08, he offered a special on the more formal Dining Room side: his usual $65 “tasting menu” for a reduced price of $32.08.

It turned out to be the bargain of the week. The meal opened with a dollop of tuna tartare on a single slice of baguette, followed by a Lobster Ravioli topped by a chunk of lobster claw meat and served in a creamy lobster sauce alongside sauteed Royal Trumpet mushrooms. A salad course was accented with sliced golden beets that would convert the most ardent beet-hater.

Entree choices included Dover Sole Meuniere, cooked whole and filleted tableside, and tournedos of Angus beef tenderloin carved tableside and drizzled with Bordelaise sauce — all cooked and seasoned perfectly. Diners could then choose from desserts or a selection from the cheese cart. From start to finish, this was a memorable, well-executed meal.

May 2008: Meadowlark, 2094 Miamisburg-Centerville Road, Centerville, (937) 434-4750

Many chefs talk the talk of using ingredients in-season and at their peak of flavor, but no one walks the walk quite like Elizabeth Wiley, Meadowlark’s chef and owner.

In early May, the restaurant offered a special of Bluefish in a Tangerine sauce.

A piece of bluefish was grilled, then topped with a tangerine cream and bits of the zest, and a small spoonful of intensely flavored tapenade, the black-olive spread.

The olives and tangerine married beautifully, elevating the humble and simply prepared bluefish to new heights. In her menu description of the dish, Wiley noted that California tangerines are only truly in-season for a few weeks, but this dish captured the fruit at its freshest. Accompanied by lightly smashed fingerling potatoes and sauteed spinach — and paired with a glass of South African chenin blanc — the dish was sublime.

May 2008: Jay’s Restaurant, 225 E. Sixth St. in Dayton’s Historic Oregon District, (937) 222-2892

The days of Jay’s offering little beyond a well-prepared fillet of fresh fish are fading, as Chef Justin White’s creations are showing up more often on the menu and in monthly specials.

The Sauteed Walleye topped with Garlic Aioli and served with Roasted Mushroom Ravioli, Asiago Creamed Spinach and Roasted Grape Tomatoes was one of those monthly (well, May and June) specials, and at $19.95, it was a fine value as well.

Lightly battered walleye fillet paired perfectly with the rich and decadent mushroom-stuffed ravioli served underneath, and the robust aioli that topped the dish added a creamy, garlicky note. The components came together to create a complex and satisfying dish, and at a very reasonable price.

August 2008: Rue Dumaine, 1061 Miamisburg-Centerville Road, Washington Twp., (937) 610-1061

I’m cheating a bit on this one, because this dinner was prepared for a wine-tasting buddy of mine and his wife who had bid on and won a private dinner at Rue Dumaine and who invited my wife, myself and some mutual friends to the dinner, which was served on a Sunday when the restaurant was closed. Still, the entree — Lamb Chops Crepinette Provencal with Tomato, Leek and Potato Gratin served with a Nicoise Olive-Flecked Demi-Glace Reduction — was similar to a nightly special I had ordered and devoured with great joy back in February.

The menu prepared by chef-owner Anne Kearney and her right-hand man in the kitchen, Brian Griffey, also included a delicate, flavorful Jumbo Lump Crab Cake with Local Tomato Petals, Corn and Fennel Relish served with Saffron Aioli. A second course of Pan-Seared Foie Gras over Golden Pain Perdu served with Sauternes-Poached Ohio Peach and Candied Pistachios, which we consumed alongside one of the world’s finest dessert wines, was simply the best wine-and-food pairings of my life.

So far.

Update: The lamb dish mentioned above made another appearance just last night, on New Year’s Eve, on Rue Dumaine’s New Year’s Eve menu.

Did you have a favorite restaurant experience or specific dish that wowed you in ‘08?

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Here’s a twist: Fast-food giant launches online personal fitness program

By Uncorked | Tuesday, December 30, 2008, 01:17 PM

Yum Brands, the parent company of Taco Bell, Pizza Hut and KFC, will, on New Year’s Day 2009, launch a free, online personal fitness training program at the web site www.keepitbalanced.com.

Excuse me, but did the sun rise in the west this morning?

Here’s a sample of the web site’s advice as it pertains to eating out, which, of course, just happens to be the business that Yum Brands is in:

Even your favorite foods such as tacos, pizza, chicken, seafood, and burgers can be included in a balanced diet. You can choose foods that are grilled, roasted or baked, limit cheeses and sauces, order Fresco Style options at Taco Bell, and ask for “No Sauces” or “Sauce on the Side” when ordering.

Thoughts?

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Restaurants welcome Christmas Day diners

By Uncorked | Wednesday, December 24, 2008, 10:55 AM

For the full list of restaurant holiday hours and special events that includes New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day, click here.

Here’s a list of Dayton-area restaurants that have sent me emails or posted comments on this Taste food and dining page about their plans to be open and serving on Christmas Day. Feel free to post a comment to let us know about any others that missed our earlier solicitations.

— Kohinoor Palace, 39 S. Springboro Pike in Miamisburg (southwest corner of the Ohio 725-Ohio 741 intersection by the Dayton Mall), will be open Christmas day from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. and then from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. For more information, call (937) 723-9014.

— McCormick & Schmick’s Seafood Restaurant, 4429 Cedar Park Drive at The Greene in Beavercreek, will be open Christmas Day from noon to 9 p.m. For more information, call (937) 431-9200.

— Starlite Diner Restaurant, 4090 Wilmington Ave. across from Meijer’s gas station in Kettering, will be open Christmas Day from 6.30 a.m. to 5.30 p.m. For more information call (937) 293-4000.

In addition, some sports bars/taverns let us know they’ll be opening in the late afternoon or early evening of Christmas Day, including Fricker’s (multiple locations), Norton’s in Kettering, and Tank’s in Dayton.

For carryout, Dayton-area Domino’s Pizza stores, various locations, will be open regular hours Christmas Day. Also, check the Miami Valley Restaurant Association’s list of restaurants that are open on Christmas Day, which includes a couple of eateries — Champp’s Americana in Washington Twp. and Mr. Lee’s in Vandalia — that did not put themselves on the DDN Taste list.

All in all, it looks like there’s no good excuse not to eat, drink and be merry on Christmas Day …

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