Howard McEwen, CFA

Found here. Annual Credit Report

Original here.

I’m really not sure why Cincinnati likes this stuff.  I’m sure it’s 5 parts sentiment, 4 parts habit and 1 part laziness.

It’s just not that good.  It tastes cheap.  Cheap tomatoes, cheap cheese, cheap crust.  The combined effect is a gummy, acidic, flavorless mess.  I’d rather eat Totino’s pizza bagels since they’re cheaper.

As for price, I think pizza is something that gets away with huge margins normally, but his place show’s it’s ridiculous.

My guess is that they’re making pizzas the way they always have.  But the world has moved on from the 1950s when pizza was considered “ethnic” food.

Original is here.

We had to put down our dog Katie yesterday.  Dr. Middleton handled it all.  We didn’t know the day would start that way.  The dog started whining and breathing heaving around midnight.  She didn’t move.  Was in definite pain.  At 8 I called Bellevue Animal Hospital.  They saw her at 8:40.

The doctor put a lot of things in technical terms which is normally off-putting but he seemed to care and treated the dog with kindness and consideration.  He suggested some lab work which gave me wallet pause but I gave the go head.

He had told me tests may take overnight but later that same day the doctor called personally with the news.  X-rays showed large mass throughout Katie’s body.  He outlined the treatment options as well as the terminal solution.  It’s what I choose.  There was no judgment on his part.

When the time came, the doctor and staff were pretty good.  I assume they have to do this often but they realized we don’t.  It was just before closing but they didn’t rush us.  My youngest daughter brought a blanket to wrap Katie in and they offered to have her lay on it instead of the cold table.  My daughters asked and they consented to allowing all of us into the room during the procedure.

Again the doctor detailed what was going on in a technical way.  But he did assure my 9 and 13-year old that it was painless and an appropriate decision to cease the dog’s pain.  He shaved her front paw, inserted a needle and over the next 30 seconds or so while my wife and two daughters petted her, Katie drifted to sleep then died.

The staff was very professional in a sensitive situation.

Original review is here.

“Fort Wayne has managed to screw up Chipotle,” said my wife.  And at least this location she was right.

All turkey’d out over the Thanksgiving holiday, my kids started to crave Chipotle.  There really isn’t a better place to eat 1,500 in one sitting and not feel too bad about it.  We were in from out-of-town so my daughter got on her iPod and found the nearest location.  We drove to it.  This one sits on a prominent corner of a busy street next to a Hooters, next to a strip club, next to a check cashing place.  Has Ft. Wayne ever heard of zoning?

It wasn’t really a block I wanted to drive by much less eat on.  But we stuck it out.  I had visions of describing lap dances to my 9-year old over Chipotle’s patented rice delivery mechanism.  Inside, a guy threw a tortilla on the grill thingy but apparently forgot to turn it on.  Some other lady yelled at me “What meat?”.  A nice lady at least smiled and sauced us.  At the register was a very scary looking woman who stared at us as our burritos made it down the little assembly line.  Scary lady cashed us out.  All the while I guy standing at the grill behind the line was talking to some woman in the dining room – over the heads of all of us.

No ice in the ice machine.  I approached the scary looking cashier lady who said “I’m working on it.” as I walked in her direction empty cup in hand.

We sat down to our sloppily made burrito with cold tortilla and wondered how.  How could you screw up a Chipotle?  They managed it.

Here’s the original.

I’ve been there twice and not been blown away.  Both times were on Saturdays for a late lunch.  It appears to be where middle aged people take their parents for lunch before it’s back to the home, gramps.  The food was OK if a bit overreaching and underperforming – if you can be both at the same time.  I’d try this place over a Bennigans or Appleby’s, but….

Really, the main problem I had was the service.  Our waitress this last time seemed annoyed we added to her work load.  Same experience as the first visit but with a different waitress.  We waited quite a bit.  Also, there was an odd incident at the bathrooms.  My wife was in line and it seemed the waitress needed to use it and again she seemed peeved of my wife’s existence in line.

Oh, and then we went to the wine store but couldn’t seem to get help.  When I asked, I was shown the “just-one-minute” upraised index finger and then promptly forgotten.  Later that day I bought about $60 worth of wine someplace else.

Original is here.

I stopped by this place in the summer was wasn’t impressed but had to meet someone there for a morning meeting when I learned our first choice wasn’t open yet.

I’m not much of a coffee drinker and when I looked a bit confused at the menu the owner suggested a chai tea latee (sp?) which was pretty good.  I’ve had these before and I’ll have to admit that this was better than most.

I took a seat to wait for my meeting and watched as the owner then greeted the slow trickle of customers by name and oftentimes with their regular order.  She had them in and out as fast as they wanted and if they weren’t in a hurry she was prepared to chit-chat.  Nice. What a place like this should be.

On one of my earlier visits I was bothered by the noise (when am I not?) but they’ve recently knocked down a wall to enlarge the place.  Whether it’s the wall or something else, things were quieter.

Not a bad visit.  Much improved on prior visits.  Let’s hope the upward trend continues.

Here’s Molly’s Seelbach Cocktail

This has been the signature cocktail at the seelbach hotel in lexington scince the early 1920s

1 1/2 oz bourbon
1/2 oz cointreau
5 dashes Angrosutra bitters
5 dashes Peychaud bitters
Proseco to top off with

In a mixing glass add bourbon , cointreau , and bitters.  Add ice and stir till chilled.   Strain into a champagne glass and top with chilled proseco. Garnish with a lemon twist.

This cocktail is creat for everyone . Even people who fear bourbon . Its so well balanced you can’t go wrong.

Here’s the original.  Read it below, too.

It pains me to write this review.  I’m a big proponent of Bellevue.  Heck, I live there so why not?  I use to hit the Bistro all the time under prior owners.  It was a great coffee shop.  Regulars gathered in the morning. There was always a guy quietly playing guitar.   But that owner sold it to her son I think who then sold it to some guy that the last time I was there was decked out in sports regalia, playing music too loud, and offered just plain bad service.

But that was then and today I thought I’d give it another chance.  I had a meeting and the other guy suggested the Bistro.  Sure I said.  Why not?

The meeting was set for 8.  I showed up at 7:55 and while the OPEN sign was lite the door was locked.  The sign said they opened at 8.  I peered inside.  Dark.  So even if they did open at 8 would they be able to serve us, I thought.  Isn’t 8 a bit late for a morning place on a weekday?

So I texted my guy to meet at the place across the street.  I’ll review that later.  As I sat down I did see people heading into the Bellevue Bistro.  But mostly what I saw was a Pabst Blue Ribbon sign on the window.

How’s this fit?  A breakfast place with a beer sign?  It doesn’t.  It’s cheesy.  I’m guessing free from a beer seller.  Also, it makes Bellevue’s main street look crappy to have a neon beer sign up in a place that isn’t even a bar.

Is it fair to review I place I didn’t get into?  Maybe not.  The food may be great.  The service may be great, but I won’t be heading back anytime soon.

Original can be found here.  Or just read below

One of the most insulting things just about every damned restaurant does:  had me one of these little buzzer/flasher things that 100 other people have held that night that I’m sure no one has cleaned to say my table is ready.  Why must I be summoned like a Pavlovian?  Why would people choose to eat this way?

What happened to “Excure me sure, your table is ready.”?

ForkHeartKnife.is as far away from that as possible.

Four tables.; Two cooks.  No corking fee.  No servers.  Good food.  Relaxed environment.   No buzzer thingys.

I loved this place.  Very informal with quality food.

Three of us showed up about 7:30 Friday for dinner.  The place was full.  There’s only about four semi-communal tables and after about a 20 minute wait on the sidewalk (after being offered apps), one of the owners came out and said she’s going to start issuing dirty looks to get the tables cleared.

No need.  Sat down within 23 minutes.  Took at look at the butcher’s paper rolled down from the wall with tonight’s menu items a bit confused and the chef/owner/server said “Why don’t you just start at the top and work your way down.”

My daughter once told me of a phrase to use with sushi chefs – omakase.  It means you’re turning over the meal to the chef and that’s what we did.

And we were glad we did.  Mostly vegetarian.  I’m a carnivore.  But a  very happy carnivore after eating there.

Oh, it’s BYOB and I was out the door having fully fed three people for $36.   Take that restaurant that hands me a filthy buzzer then serves crap food!