Otto's in Covington

Sunday 26 February

We had heard good things about Otto's in Covington, so when we needed a nice but informal meal for a group on a Sunday night (when most Cincinnati restaurants seem to be exhausted by brunch service), we were pleased to see that they would be open.

Otto's is one of the first restaurants on "Mainstrasse," decorated student bistro-style with mismatched chairs, original art, and chicken salt and pepper shakers.  The menus come in covers of old sheet music.  These touches verge on jokey, but the food is serious.

We started with a toast of bubbly, as Steven had had some good news, and opened an Aquinas 2009 pinot noir (extra scholastic!) to breathe before the meal.

One starter was a fried green tomato caprese, looking like a little burger, with fresh greens and balsamic dressing; the other was prosciutto and brie flatbread, like a little pizza (is this a theme?), scattered with dried figs and arugula.  Clever and tasty, both of them.

Both of us decided to go with red meat for our mains, though the pinot went well with everyone else's scallops as well.  Holt chose Bourbon-marinated flank steak, with a savory crust, served over a few roasted root vedge (mainly carrots, plus a parsnip or two).  Barbara is a sucker for anything that combines beef and blue cheese, so she went for a tender little filet "Otto's" with fingerling potatoes and asparagus, topped with bacon, scallion and blue cheese cream.  Both were cooked just to our medium-rare preference, and came to the table hot and fresh.  Service was prompt, pleasant, and unobtrusive, just as you want when you are more interested in talking with your companions than you are in waitron monologues.

Holt ordered a dessert (and Barbara a fork): puff pastry with sabayon and fresh berries, which was luckily much lighter than the toothache-sweet apricot white chocolate bread pudding everyone else had.  But on the whole, everything was good at Otto's, and we'd happily go back any time.