Monday, January 17 – Sunday, January 23, 2022
The Week in Oysters: Oysters, and seafood in general here in the landlocked heart of the country is fine, just fine. Deep fried cod (and catfish) can be very good, of course, because batter and fry pretty much anything and you’ve got a culinary win. But freshly prepared seafood, especially seafood meant to be eaten rare or raw suffer greatly in the plane ride over. I try to treat myself to restaurants that spend money to get the freshest seafood possible to Cincinnati. They charge a premium, but man, sometimes I want a decent raw oyster.
A few months ago a new seafood based, and especially oyster forward restaurant, Pearlstar, opened on Vine St. Sadly, it replaced one of my favorite pizza, Italian nosh restaurants, but I must persevere and go forth. Pearlstar has a nice selection of oysters, at $3 each! They are the best oysters I’m currently finding in the city. I also had an open-faced shrimp sandwich accessorized with aioli, plenty of herbs, and a few potato chips for extra salt and texture. I liked it a lot. I’m glad to have a decent safety net for my serious seafood craving.
The Week in Ear Ache My Eye (or, More Accurately, My Foot): The insurance company denied coverage for the name brand ear drops prescribed to to my Mom. The key word here is ‘ears’. The drops we had to settle for are branded to cure athletes foot, and, we found out while going over the directions, jock itch. I told her that her ears may not get better, but she might get the urge to go to the gym and shower with a bunch of beefy guys. She said she might consider that.
The Week in the Humble Bagel: A few times a year, I take my Mom to the good bagel store, Marx, where she buys a dozen or so to throw in the freezer. She eats them eat here and there for breakfast over several weeks. We went to Marx this week for one of her stock-ups and, for the first time in a long while I bought myself 5 bagels (one for breakfast for each workday.)
I have to confess that I did this because I had one brick of Philadelphia Cream Cheese left over from the holidays. I felt like a Queen eating breakfast all week casually schmearing on one of the hardest to find condiments of the holiday season. My favorites are pumpernickel, “everything”, and sunflower seed. It was a good and simple week for breakfast.
The Week in Bengals Fans: Those of use who haven’t seen a Bengals playoff win in 31 years, were pretty happy with last weeks win, but this week’s playoff win has unleashed a wave of astonishment. We. Can. Not. Believe. It. Many long time fans had to wake up on Sunday and recheck the 19-16 win over the Titans. We are stunned, amazed, and besides ourselves. Super fun!
The Week in Bengals Non-Fans: On my way into work Monday, there was a man in the lobby waiting for one of the offices to open. I couldn’t place his accent exactly, but somewhere in the middle East is my best guess. I asked if he was a Bengals fan and if he had watched the game. He smiled and said no, but, and he gestured to his head and then to his chest and said, “But all the people wear the hats and shirts.” He said he liked that. I laughed and told him a lot of that stuff hadn’t been worn in quite a while and it was nice to wear all of it for the home team.
Nothing Ever Happens on My Street 