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The Red Door Project, a rotating gallery concept in the Over-the-Rhine neighborhood.
(Photo: Courtesy of the Red Door Project) |
Delve into art and design throughout the Over-the-Rhine neighborhood—once home to 19th-century German immigrants, followed by decades as a crime-riddled hinterland, and now undergoing a renaissance. Start the morning people-watching on Vine Street at Holtman’s Donut Shop, a family-owned bakery since 1960 where German-chocolate-fudge-cake doughnuts ($1) come hot out of the fryer. Ride your sugar high over to the Jack Wood Gallery, an intimate showroom packed with vintage travel posters from the 1920s and 1930s. Cincinnati has a long tradition of printed media going back to the Strobridge Lithographing Company (founded here in 1847), which created circus billboards for the Ringling Bros. Several blocks up, the tradition lives on at Brian Stuparyk’s Steam Whistle Letterpress; inside his cluttered studio, zany greeting cards ($4.50) and concert posters (custom-order only) get stamped out the old-fashioned way, one by one on a pedal-powered press. Pick up an extra layer to ward off the midwestern chill at Article, a new menswear boutique stocking flannel shirts (from $118), hand-stitched leather bike pouches ($115), and Deus Ex Machina cardigans ($235). For lunch, head to Senate, where even lowly hot dogs get a designer’s eye: The weird and wonderful wieners boast unique toppings like Béchamel and poached egg (the “Croque Madame,” $10) and cheeky names (the “Una Noche con Nick Lachey,” $10, named for the former 98 Degrees singer and Cincinnati native, and topped with roasted-mushroom pico de gallo). On the last Fridays of the month, the neighborhood takes an exciting turn when over 20 galleries—including a nomadic concept known as the Red Door Project, which circulates between different abandoned storefronts each month—fete artists and their friends with free wine and open-house exhibits. While the party’s still raging, hop on one of the city’s brand-new Red Bikes and make your way to The Eagle, where the fried chicken ($18 whole, $9 half) comes doused in spicy honey, and the treacly spoonbread ($5) is served warm in its skillet. Thus satiated, end your evening with a concert at the Woodward Theater, a new 600-seat live-music venue owned by the same folks behind MOTR Pub (known for hosting acts like Alabama Shakes) directly across the street; housed in a 1913 former theater, its original orchestra pit and an overhanging balcony level have been preserved, offering bird’s-eye views of the band and the meticulously restored space.