Longfellow

What We're Eating Wednesday

Who's eating: Herself

I was running late – no surprise - but I knew my friend Rob was in good hands. He’s a cocktail geek and this is just the spot for such a one. By the time I arrived he was deep into a Martinez, a beverage for which he’d been searching, and even deeper into spiritual discussion with John the bartender.

My welcome was flawless: “Shall I start a Perfect Manhattan for you?” Isn’t that just what you want to hear from an intoxicologist? Hello there and I’ve got your back all rolled impeccably together.

And that, in a shot glass, is Longfellow. This right sized spot in OTR is about food, drink and fellowship. While Rob and I caught up I watched some folks come and go, and others linger, solo, over a drink. In addition to our drinks – and Rob switched mid stream to a Roberto Burns, which he also endorsed - we had a scrap sandwich, bits of leftover salumi stacked onto really good bread and slathered with some kind of magical horsey sauce (Arby’s look out…). A plate of excellent liverwurst served with old school saltines, cornichons and paper thin onion slices followed.

Food options walk an interesting line here. On one side is recognizable saloon fare: cottage cheese, egg salad (okay, bumped up with capers and shallots…), chips and a pickle plate. On the other is French bar classic radishes and butter, a caviar plate, that salumi in several iterations and other fanciful delights.

And then of course there’s what is billed as ‘hot plate curry and rice’ offered every Wednesday and Thursday ‘until it runs out’ for $8. Hurry.

True saloons are increasingly rare: joints where it can get a little raucous but never unpleasant, where they know and love the drinks they serve and the folks who enjoy them and where good food makes moving on unnecessary just as the ambient warmth makes it undesirable.

The proprietor is Mike Stankovich and he got it bang on – Longfellow Cincinnati is a poetic hideaway in the center of an increasingly busy neighborhood.

Name: Longfellow

Where: 13th Street, Over The Rhine

What we'd have: • Scrap Sandwich • Liverwurst and Crackers • Radishes and Butter • Curry – make a plan – it’s not always available • Exceptional, well made drinks