Street Art Education #3: Jeff Soto

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Since I very excitedly just got this  print on wood from one of my favorite artists, Jeff Soto in the mail last week. I figured I would go ahead and do this weeks post on him. I just love how he turned a splattery blast of spray paint into little characters. If you like the print, this Thursday Prints On Wood  will be selling the next one in the series here. They come hand signed and individually numbered, are 25 bucks and time released. Meaning that... they are only available for 24 hours and however many sold are the size of the edition. Plus they plant a tree for every one they sell.



Before I start I would like to announce the winner of last week's Claw Money Poker Chip contest. The winner is Jeff Roberts! I will contact you on facebook.

I got this picture of one of Jeff Soto's murals while I was in Miami

This weekend at Arnold's

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THE FOOD...

GNOCCHI DIABLO... Tiny Italian potato dumplings sauteed in a rich sauce of cream, romano cheese, garlic, more garlic and cracked red pepper.  Served with crustini and dusted with romano.   7.25

SMOKED SALMON PLATE... Cold plate of smoked salmon, cream cheese, capers, chopped onions, field greens, deviled eggs, cucumber salad and crustinis. 12.95



SURF and TURF... Flat iron steak (cross between a ribeye and strip steak) coated in an expresso cayenne rub and seared in a cast iron skillet. Topped with a rich clam and crab sauce. Served with cheesy bacon potatoes and leafy greens.   18.95

VEGAN RED BEANS AND RICE... Vegan chorizo sausage, red beans, rice, green peppers, onions and spices.  Served with vegan sour cream and cajun slaw.   11.95

CRAZY BURGER... Stack em up!  Two 1/3 pound burgers totaling a whooping 2/3 pound of ground beef.  Grilled then stacked with Arnold's homemade tarter sauce, sauteed onions, peppers, mushrooms and cheddar cheese.  Served with french fries.   This sandwich cannot be altered because it is just too darn good this way!  9.95

THE MUSIC

Friday
6 - 8 PM         Arnold's Happy Hour Jazz Combo (duh Jazz)

9 - 12:30PM   Moonshine Drive (Awesome Bluegrass)

Saturday
9 - 12:30         True Believers (SAY REGGAE MON!!!!!)

Concert Series

True Believers | Myspace Video

AROUND TOWN

There are 101 events listed on DCI's website of things to do this weekend downtown.  Far to many for me to put here!  We are kicking it in the Nati!!!! From Final Friday to Vince Gill at the Taft.  From the American Girl Fashion Show to Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson at The know Theatre. 

Top Ten Thursday With Todd Hepburn

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Every Thursday we will ask a music artist at Arnold’s to give us their Top Ten list. This list can be about anything they want it to be.

I have asked Todd Hepburn to do our first Top Ten Thursday. Todd plays the piano at Arnold’s every Wednesday night and at most of our events like Bockfest, Opening Day and others. Todd has been at Arnold’s though the rough times and has heard all of my stories. I love Todd, not the way I love Bret but the way I love a friend. I say this to Todd because he always tells me he loves me but not the way he loves his wife Darlene.

I thank Todd from the bottom of my heart for all he has done and the growth he has shown in his profession.

Without further ado I introduce Todd Hepburn….

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hi ronda,




well, this has been more difficult than i imagined. as you know i love all of the soups at arnold’s but it’s a different love than i have for my lovely wife. i had 52 soups to choose from, but the list is far from comprehensive."  ..that’s a different soup every week for an entire year. i had no idea the of versatility and variety of soups offered at arnold’s, all made from scratch by your amazing staff, and you, ronda. many people know that arnold’s is a vegan friendly restaurant. although many of your vegan offerings are amazing i decided to go with a meat eaters’ list for my first thrusday top 10. i hope to do a vegan top-10 in the future but for the first top-10 i decided to do a meat-eaters’ friendly list. without further ado i now submit the first thursday top-10…



10. hot and sour pork (has a nice kick)

9. moraccan clam chowder (very exotic)

8. cajun clam chower (has a nice kick)

7. crab bisque (sometimes i add tabasco)

6. manhatten clam chowdah (I add tabasco & black pepper)

5. pho rabbit (very tasty)

4. jambalaya (just like down on the bayou, but unmistakeably arnold’s)

3. bockfest stew (with lamb, goat, and yes that’s right, camel)

2. gumbo (goodbye joe me gotta go, extra tabasco optional)


drum roll please… and the number one soup in my book is




turkeybutt and bean soup (has a nice kick, tabasco optional)

it’s a great seasonal soup for the cold weather months, although it’s great anytime of the year. this stuff could easily be a meal in itself. it’s a perfect combination of big flavors and i love the name. i liked the name so much i wrote a song called the turkeybutt rag which i like to play when turkeybutt is on the menu.



you probably noticed that i enjoy meat, seafood and spicy foods. however i also enjoy many of the vegan choices like tomato & basil (which my wife and i both love) and gazpacho. next time i’ll focus on the vegan soups.



i highly recommend any of the soups, even those not on the list, in fact i might try a different one every week for a year to take a true culinary adventure around the world. they are all made by hand with fresh ingredients, and not poured out of a can or plastic bag. ronda personally gets many of the ingredients from findley market which is cool.



thanks ronda, chris, brett and everyone at arnold’s for welcoming me into your special family. with all the chain and generic restaurants coming on and off the scene arnold’s is the real deal. although i don’t expect to be around, i hope arnold’s enjoys at least another 151 years of serving great food and drink with an awesome atmosphere to the residents of cincinnati. thank you arnold’s. go reds!



todd Z hepburn

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My Name Is Friendly, My Rig Is Out Back If you Want to Look

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Late Febuary, 2005 I sat in the courtyard with this shy girl and gave her a job as hostess at Arnold's. She had worked at "The Rib Place" so I knew she could hustle. She started out slow and shy and finally felt comfortable enough to start showing her own personality. We should have tried to stifle that.

The host at Arnold's keep track of the customers and how many customers a server has by putting hash marks on a paper. They then leave the paper in my mailbox. Kristen started drawing me a picture. Not everyday but most days. She made all the employees into animals or would have our dogs being friends or have some outlandish monster saying                                                                               freakish stuff.

Recently I have been working on a project and came across all her hash mark papers I have been saving. They tell a wonderful sweet story of a girl growing up, of the friends she has seen come and go. Her humor and her wit. Kristen moved into a server position and the drawings come less frequent but she still surprises me.
Kristen recently took a job with the parks board as a co-op student at Cincinnati State. She isn't quite ready to make the cut and will stay with Arnold's one day a week and be my trusted hand in my catering advenutres. I am so proud of Kristen and the great gal she has grown up to be. She is responsible and loving and carrying. I'm glad she is staying around, even if it is just a bit. I am not ready to make the cut yet either.

My Perfect Cajun Burre Blanc

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Some people might think burre blanc is outdated but top any fish with this and people will rave about it. It is very easy.

In a medium sauce pan

add 1 1/2 cup white wine (I use Chablis)
 1/2 medium slivered onion
1 TBS finely chopped garlic
1/8 - 1/4 Teaspoon cayenne
dash salt/pepper

Cook on high until the liquid is almost gone. about 1/4 cup (maybe 5 minutes) Take off stove and add 1 lb of cubed butter, a few at a time, stirring constantly Sauce is ready to serve!

Street art Education: Claw Money and Win Free Stuff

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I have decided to task my son and Arnold's General Manager, Chris with writing a blog post for whatever he wants to write about every Monday. So without further ado here is Chris.....

This week I am featuring prolific New York street artist Claw Money and giving you a chance to win something from her and TOTT Global.

A Day At The Garden And Our 1st Harvest

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Got carrots, rosemary and sage in our neighborhood garden spot.  We just sauteed them in a bit of olive oil and bourbon sea salt.  They were delicious!

Arnold's to be included in Taft Museum's Art for All

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I am super excited for Arnold's to be involved in the Art for All program that the Taft Museum is doing this summer. Above is the weatherproof reproduction that they will be installing in our courtyard through October.

Street Art Education: Barry "Twist" Mcgee

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I have decided to task my son and Arnold's General Manager, Chris with writing a blog post for whatever he wants to write about every Monday. So without further ado here is Chris.....

Hi there, since being tasked to write the blog every Monday I figured I would start with something I love. Anyone who knows me, which most of you probably don't, know that I love Street Art and have since I was a kid. I follow all sorts of Contemporary artists, but I am somewhat obsessed with street art in general. I have been all over the country to photograph it, research it pretty much every day, and own prints from several prominent artists in the genre. I will be calling the series, that will be up every Monday.... Street Art Education

At least for the beginning of this venture, I will be profiling a different street artists of different degrees of fame. Some will have stuff up in Cincinnati and some will not, just whoever I am particularly interested in that day.

The first artist that I will be telling you about is Barry "Twist" Mcgee, he also goes by Ray Fong, Lydia Fong, Bernon Vernon, P.Kin, and Ray Virgil. If you are a regular to the downtown are then you probably have seen the piece that he has above Nada right accross from the CAC. It was put up during the legendary Beautiful Losers show at the CAC back in 2004. People just walk by it everyday probably not realizing that it is even there.                                                                                                   

Things I Loved In The Past Month

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It's always hard to get a blog back up and running when you have let it sit for a month.  This past month was our busiest month ever.  Yes I said EVER (in my history at least).  During that time we have had BockFest, St. Patty's Day, our employee Christmas Party, caterings of weddings and wedding receptions and Catered Lunches.  We have had Harry's Law, and Big Big Best Of CityBeat awards.  We have had Beer Week and Quilters.  Tattoo Artist and Christian Women have adorned our fair city and our restaurant to.  The Pedal Wagon and The Street Car.  Music too abound to talk about and delicious food and drink.  Shepard Fairey spending two minutes of his 10 minutes speech talking about Arnold's at his CAC talk.

It has been a busy month for us all.  All of Cincinnati. At the end of the day we are all doing something right.  Whew on to spring!!!!! 

Staff Christmas