Had nothing particular to do Saturday evening, so I wandered down to Fountain Square in downtown Cincinnati. I was little surprised – and delighted – to see square dancing happening right in the middle of downtown. I just needed a partner…
I was very happy to see Graeter’s Ice Cream had opened. I grabbed a scoop of my favorite raspberry chocolate ice cream. As I was doing so I was told Saturday was their “soft opening,” leading into the grand opening this week (which means they will add pastries to the line-up). In light of my recent and continuing slim-down venture, this came with mixed feelings.
Another much-anticipated business opened this weekend, Via Vite. It was another soft opening for the only stand-alone building on the Square. It’s the same family that owns Nicola’s, the popular Over-the-Rhine eatery, that owns Via Vite (Italian for “Vine Street”). I later met up with some friends and joined them for a light dinner. I had the pesto, artichoke, goat cheese pizza and it was delightful. I also tried a little bit of a Bolognese and pasta dish and – wow – it was wonderful. Probably what I’ll get next time. Didn’t get a price for that, nor it’s name (but it did say something about being “Grandma’s recipe,” if you go).
The atmosphere at Via Vite is very nice, with very contemporary finishes on two levels. They did a great job decorating and designing the interior. I agree with my friends that this place will quickly become one of Cincinnati’s “it” places.
Via Vite will be open starting Monday for both lunch and dinner and has moderately reasonable prices (the pizza was $11, for example).
Saturday’s business was a little slow. But Friday’s word-of-mouth opening was packed, the owner said.
There are other photos from the Square that evening. Click on either photo on this post to be taken to the set.
One reply on “Square dancing on the Square, new businesses open”
Why you gotta hate on the square dancers? My fifth grade teacher – Ms. Irene O’Connor – used to have us move the desks to the side of the classroom on Fridays. Then we’d square dance to a record player. It was really a hoot, and nary a black-out tooth in the whole Colerain Elementary School (well, maybe one or two, but hey, we were kids).