It was a different time. Ladies wore gloves, hats and nice attire to luncheons at the Woman's Exchange. Shillito's provided a cosmopolitan environment for its patrons, while Mullane's was the perfect place to sip and socialize. The popular Good Morning Show radio program hosted by charming Bob Braun, and later Nick Clooney, was broadcast from McAlpin's Tea Room. Women gathered at Pogue's and Mabley & Carew tea rooms to celebrate birthdays, as well as wedding and baby showers, over dainty tea sandwiches. Author Cynthia Kuhn Beischel brings the Queen City's bygone downtown tea rooms back to life and shares more than one hundred beloved recipes.

The most wonderful time of the year has its own special meaning for those who grew up in the Queen City. The talking reindeer Pogie and Patter and the Elves at Shillito's were as integral to holiday merriment as caroling and eggnog. The Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden really knows how to throw a Christmas party for people and animals, and WinterFest at Kings Island provides much-needed warmth in the winter chill. Many city squares display Christmas trees bathed in lights and offer horse-drawn carriage rides or a skating rink. But only Cincinnati offers Santa rappelling down the face of a building and an ice skating rink with bumper cars. Join local author Wendy Hart Beckman for a merry jaunt through Yuletide in years gone by.

Lost Treasures of Cincinnati traverses the Queen City’s cultural and physical history, from museums to movie palaces, basketball teams to tea rooms, subways to supper clubs—from what always was to what might have been. A collection of archival photographs, artifacts, and anecdotes, Lost Treasures captures the stories and details of dearly departed local buildings, institutions, events, and attractions. Look for crosstown favorites like Cincinnati Gardens, the 50/50 Club, Tall Stacks, and Crosley Field—places and performances that brought Cincinnati together to spectate and celebrate. Explore destination shopping in downtown Cincinnati at long-shuttered department stores like Gidding-Jenny and Pogue’s. And take in a show at the RKO Albee Theater. Menus and photos recall restaurants and eateries like the Virginia Bakery, Gourmet Room, and the Chili Company. And Lost Treasures looks back to unearth long-lost settings and hidden gems like The Highland House, Mrs. Trollope’s Bazaar, Kenner Toys, and an indoor ice rink at the Netherland Plaza Hotel. These items are more than the sum of their parts: Taken together, they represent a spectrum of experience in our recent and distant past that rings true for Cincinnatians young and old.

An evocative, gorgeous four-season look at cooking in Maine, with 100 recipes No one can bring small-town America to life better than a native. Erin French grew up in Freedom, Maine (population 719), helping her father at the griddle in his diner. An entirely self-taught cook who used cookbooks to form her culinary education, she now helms her restaurant, The Lost Kitchen, in a historic mill in the same town, creating meals that draw locals and visitors from around the world to a dining room that feels like an extension of her home kitchen. The food has been called “brilliant in its simplicity and honesty” by Food & Wine, and it is exactly this pure approach that makes Erin’s cooking so appealing—and so easy to embrace at home. This stunning giftable package features a vellum jacket over a printed cover.

“The comprehensive guide offers a glimpse into the lives of Cincinnatians throughout history, through the lens of food.” —Cincinnati Magazine Over the years, Cincinnati has earned a reputation for conservatism and keeping to itself, especially regarding food, but that’s changing. Old favorites like cinnamon-scented chili on spaghetti, ice cream with huge chocolate chunks and old-fashioned German butchers selling goetta, brats and metts are being rediscovered—and in some cases re-created. A similar urge for experimentation and innovation from restaurants, farmers’ markets and food producers is bringing new energy to the city’s tables. Gathering the stories of the pioneers and the entrepreneurs of the past and the present, Enquirer food critic Polly Campbell unfolds how Cincinnati’s history has set the table for its menu today. “Whether it’s a plate full of cinnamon-scented chili on spaghetti, or skillets frying up goetta, or other uniquely Cincinnati staples, Campbell’s book will leave your mouth watering for a taste of home.” —WVXU News

Virginia Bakery Remembered offers the closest experience to stepping back inside the bakery and basking in the aromatic glory for which thousands still long. Savor the schnecken in this tribute to the Thie familys iconic Cincinnati bakery, which served the community from 1927 to 2005. Reminisce in vignettes collected from newspapers and trade magazines, firsthand experience and customer memories. Rounding out this full-flavored history are more than seventy recipes adapted to re-create the bakerys famously adored baked goods in the home kitchenreplete with tips from co-author and Virginia Bakery owner Tom Thie. Go ahead and let your mouth water.

Cincinnati is the home to food inventions, rivalries and restaurants that stand the test of time. The Queen City boasts the invention of both Cincinnati chili and goetta. Mecklenburg Gardens, Arnold's, Izzy's and Scotti's have all operated for over a century. The French restaurant Maisonette was the epitome of fine dining, and Wong Yie's Famous Restaurant took Chinese cuisine from street fare to an exotic experience. Busken Bakery and Frisch's vied for Cincinnati pumpkin pie supremacy by taking digs at each other through billboards and redecorating a Big Boy statue in Busken attire. Author Dann Woellert explores the most iconic eateries, the German influence on Queen City food and what makes dining so unique in Cincinnati.