It was a beautiful summer evening last night so my friend Laura and I decided to attend the annual festival held by the Greek Orthodox Church up on the Winton Road in Cincinnati – Panegyri. I typically don't attend that festival to see people that I know, because I don't know many there. The main attraction is the food – wonderful food! Lamb, rice, Greek salad, stuffed grape leaves, pastries filled with cheese and spinach, baklava, Greek wine that tastes like pine cones. If I use the Greek words for all of these things I would be in the dictionary the rest of the day. Thinking about the wonderful food we enjoyed last night brought back memories of places long gone.
I was raised in a house on Erlanger Road with my father, mother, maternal grandfather (Poppy), and sister Lucy. On regular occasions – every other week or so – the five of us would go out to dinner at a local establishment. I remember eating at the restaurant at the airport (SkyChef?) watching the airplanes with propellers come and go and thinking how glamorous it seemed to fly away. I remember eating at the Cabana, which is now a shoe store across the street from the post office and muffler shop. I remember eating at a Retschultes (and wondering if the frog legs they served were from the pond in the back), which is now Barleycorn's in Lakeside Park. Sometimes we would drive to Batesville Indiana and eat at the Sherman House, or to Lexington to eat at the Campbell House or Imperial House across the street. Those trips became possible when the expressways were built in the 50s and 60s. But, in particular, I remember the establishments on the 'Gourmet Strip' of the Dixie Highway ran through Park Hills.
Our family's favorite place was the White Horse Tavern, owned and operated by a family friend, Ben Castleman. (the breeder of Seattle Slew) I look at the empty lot that now sits where the restaurant was and am amazed at how the establishment operated there, parking and all. Once seated, Poppy would always order a Manhattan up, and I usually managed to find a way to get the cherry from him. While the grown-ups were having cocktails, Lucy and I would have alternate drinks such as Shirley Temples or Cokes and eat the complementary offering of olives, sweet pickles, pickled corn, and my favorite – watermelon rind pickles. The cracker basket was also attacked. My favorite was Melba toast. When it was time to eat, the menu had all sorts of delicious choices. The restaurant had a tank of live lobsters in the dining room and you could choose your own. I remember country ham, fried chicken, prime rib, fish selections, calves liver and onions, pork chops, hot slaw, blue cheese dressing, among other delicacies. I had my first oysters on the half shell there and learned to love them. I probably had my first shrimp cocktail there are also. I do not remember what my favorite food was but I was told by my parents that I usually ordered whatever my grandfather ordered. Sister Lucy, however, was a different story. If my memory serves me correctly her standard order was a cup of vichyssoise followed by deviled crab. I remember baked Alaska for dessert, and the place always have a selection of my favorite desserts – pies. The parents would finish their meal by liesurely smoking and chatting while the kids would get outside and run up and down the sidewalk in front of the restaurant waiting for the adults to emerge. The sidewalk was no more than 10 or 15 feet from the Dixie Highway but in those days it wasn't an issue.
Several traits that I believe I carry with me today were learned during those restaurant adventures. Patience - lots of patience. Keeping an open mind to new things and being willing to try anything at least once. (I still don't like fried chicken livers but I tried them!) Manners – minding my manners and learning from my parents, particularly my mother, what manners were. Respecting and learning from my elders. The ability to carry on conversations with adults. Knowing when to shut up, sit down and stay out of the way. People watching, learning from their actions, and reading people's faces and body language. I tried to impart this same experience on Hillary and Jessica, but times were different, the pace was faster, and the restaurants by and large tried to get us out of there so somebody else could sit at the table. Hopefully they got at least part of what I did.
My last memory of eating at the White Horse Tavern was having dinner before the prom my senior year in high school, 1970, with a group of friends and dates. I remember that the restaurant seemed to be getting smaller and smaller as I grew and grew. The college-bound football player did not fit as well in the small rooms as the little boy had. In the fall of 1970 I relocated to the grounds of Mr. Jefferson University in Charlottesville, Virginia and by the time I came back, the White Horse Tavern was memory. A great memory.
The Golden Goose – now Szechuan Garden. The Town & Country – now the Gardens of Park Hills. The Lookout House – now an office building. Oelsner's Colonial Inn - Now Skyline Chili, I think. The Hearthstone – now indigos. The gourmet strip was filled with lights, good food and good times. The lessons learned by a boy eating out with his family have lasted a lifetime. Perhaps that is why to this day I really enjoy a well-prepared dinner out with friends and family.
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