That's So Cincinnati - TopPodcast.com

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S2 Ep100: That's So Cincinnati: Samuel Adams Brewmaster and Cincinnati native son Jim Koch shares stories from the brewery, Oktoberfest and his thoughts on Cincinnati beer Sep 10, 2021

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Sam Adams' Jim Koch joins us on this week's episode of That's So Cincinnati.

S2 Ep99: That's So Cincinnati: Rocky Boiman talks potential political future, working his way up in broadcasting, kids playing football Aug 25, 2021

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700 WLW host and ESPN college football analyst Rocky Boiman joins That's So Cincinnati podcast.

S2 Ep98: That's So Cincinnati: Britney Ruby Miller on leading her dad's steakhouse empire; COVID-19's impact on restaurant industry; her new book; and the move to Fountain Square Aug 18, 2021

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Britney Ruby Miller wasn't just handed the keys to her father's steakhouse empire in spring 2020.
She earned it – and her experience of having worked her way up from server to CEO of Jeff Ruby Culinary Entertainment immediately paid off as Ruby Miller tackled head on the challenges of the pandemic had on the restaurant industry.
Ruby Miller was not only a leader for her company. She was a leading voice for Ohio's locally owned restaurants, having worked closely with Gov. Mike DeWine and Lt. Gov. Jon Husted on decisions effecting the industry statewide. Building relationships with elected officials is just one of the many lessons Ruby Miller has learned from her father.
As this week's guest on The Enquirer's "That's So Cincinnati" podcast, Ruby Miller reflected on her journey to taking over the family business.
"I served for a very long time at Jeff Ruby's Steakhouse (in Downtown), which I did not want to do at first," said Ruby Miller, the oldest of Jeff Ruby's three children. "I thought when I graduated from UC (in 2005) that I was ready to go to corporate and (her father) said, 'No, you're not putting on a power suit. You're putting on a server uniform.' He was 1,000% right. That's where I learned the business mostly."
Ruby Miller is still working hard to keep Jeff Ruby's seven locations across three states open amid another spike in COVID-19 cases. But she's also leading the effort to relocate Jeff Ruby's Steakhouse in Downtown Cincinnati to Fountain Square. It was announced recently that Jeff Ruby's would move into the first floor of the redeveloped former old Macy's store, a building that's now being called The Foundry.
Ruby Miller offered a glimpse into what the 11,000-squre foot dining space will look like. Initial plans call for a large horseshow-shaped bar, a tribute to Jeff Ruby's old Waterfront restaurant in Covington. The Waterfront, which sat atop a barge on the banks of the Ohio River, permanently closed in 2011 after it became partially unmoored from its dock.
It's location on the river overlooking the Downtown Cincinnati skyline made it a hotspot restaurant and night club for a who's who of Greater Cincinnatians. The Waterfront's popularity helped Jeff Ruby ascend as a restauranteur, and it's always held a special place in his heart as his company prepares to celebrate its 40th anniversary next month.
Ruby Miller said of The Foundry location: "I hope that people walk in and feel that throwback nostalgia of The Waterfront, but also can see the evolution of design and see that it's a little bit more refined. The finishes are going to be gorgeous."
Jeff Ruby has taken a step back in the company. He's not fully retired and is actively involved in the design of the new location, expected to open in September 2022.
Said Ruby Miller:

"A lot of times family businesses, the founder has a hard time not micromanaging and controlling – and he's the opposite. He has enough confidence in my brothers and I and our executive leadership team. He knows that we're not going to get away from everything that we know and got us to where we are right now which is the Jeff Ruby experience and taking care of our guests and taking care of our employees.
"He's not involved in the day-to-day. But I know how he would make decisions, and I operate the same way that he does. By all means, he was highly involved in (the decision to move to Fountain Square). He's super busy with what he does best – designing. We walked that site at The Foundry. He fell in love with it and he's like, 'We need to make this happen.' Our whole family, major business decisions, we work together on those."

Ruby Miller also talked about the release of her upcoming book, "5-Star Life: The Faithful Fight to Overcome Obstacles and Pursue Excellence." The book is due out Sept. 21 and is available for pre-sale on Amazon.com. Former TODAY Show co-host Kathie Lee Gifford wrote the forward.
Here's a synopsis of the book, according to Amazon: "Having faced family tragedy, peer rejection, infidelity, infertility, and a pandemic that threatened not only to close her family’s business but also to decimate the restaurant industry, Britney battled back with the winning combination of faith and fight that has led to her five-star life."
Learn more about Britney Ruby Miller by listening to "That's So Cincinnati" for free on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeart Media and other listening platforms.

S2 Ep97: That's So Cincinnati: 3CDC's Steve Leeper talks about luring Jeff Ruby's Steakhouse to Fountain Square, redeveloping convention center district Aug 11, 2021

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3CDC's Steve Leeper says the next major Downtown development priority needs to be the area around the Duke Energy Convention Center.
The aging convention center is surrounded mostly by blighted properties and surface parking lots. The old Millennium Hotel is in the process of being demolished, but there's no plan for a new convention center hotel.
Leeper, the development organization's president and CEO, had plenty to say about that area of western Downtown as this week's guest on The Enquirer's "That's So Cincinnati" podcast:

"We should strive to do better. I think there's a movement (afoot) that we do that and start thinking that district is critical to Downtown. When visitors come into our community, we need to show better than we're showing right now.
"We ought to start looking at the bright side of this, and that we now have a lot property under (public) control. Let's not do anything stupid here. Let's think about this and be bold but fiscally responsible. I think you can do both. Everybody is on the same page here. Our political leaders are actually trying to think about this in a comprehensive manner. They're excited about the potential. We ought to be excited about something instead of tinkling on each other."

Leeper said it's a "viable option" to build a new convention hotel on a site directly south of the convention center across Fifth Street and preserve the old Millennium site for a potential future convention center expansion.
"I don't think it's the only option," Leeper said. "The site to the south, quite frankly, I think it's big enough for not only a (hotel) but other uses. It could be more residential. It could be more hospitality. It could be entertainment. There's all kinds of possibilities here. We just need to get off our butts and start focusing on it."
The problem: There's no funding source for a new hotel or convention center expansion. And who's going to lead any of those projects has not been determined, though Leeper said conversations have been positive among political, business and development leaders.
Meanwhile, a block east of the convention center, 3CDC continues to make progress on overhauling the building that once housed the Fountain Square Macy's store. It was announced last week that Jeff Ruby's Steakhouse will be relocating to the building, known as The Foundry, once the $51 million mixed-use project is finished.
In the podcast interview, Leeper told the story of how Ruby's decision came about unexpectedly from a conversation between Jeff Ruby's CEO Britney Ruby Miller and 3CDC Executive Vice President Adam Gelter.
Said Leeper: "Britney, with a colleague of mine, Adam Gelter, were walking down to the site. We were actually talking to another restaurateur at the time, and Adam was asking Britney about this restauranteur, what she knew about him. She said, 'Well, why?' He said, 'Because we're thinking about moving them into this spot.' She didn't know we were redeveloping the building at the time. (Jeff Ruby and his team) took a look at the site and said, 'I'd like to come here.' "

S2 Ep96: That's So Cincinnati: Concert promoter talks Banks music venue, the dream of a U2 concert and the arena situation Aug 04, 2021

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Rosemarie Moehring, marketing director for Cincinnati-based concert promoter Music & Event Management, Inc., joins That's So Cincinnati podcast.

S2 Ep95: That's So Cincinnati: Commissioner Stephanie Dumas on her rise in politics, whether she'll run again and latest on Millennium Hotel site Jul 29, 2021

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Two years ago when Hamilton County Commissioner Stephanie Dumas voted against putting $1.3 million in earnest money toward purchasing the Millennium Hotel for redevelopment purposes, the Democrat faced criticism for standing in the way of progress.
The deal got done anyway in a 2-1 vote.
Today, as the hotel comes down with no plan to replace it with a new convention hotel, Dumas said about her vote: "There's no reason to cry over it."
In an interview with The Enquirer's "That's So Cincinnati" podcast, Dumas said she is focused on what's next for bringing a critical convention hotel to the Downtown.
"It's done, and we need to move forward right now," Dumas said. "And we're still ... deciding about the expansion of Duke Energy (Convention Center) right now. The focus is just getting this headquarter hotel up. A lot of this is for the long haul."
She said for the new hotel – for which there are no current plans – she prefers a site to the south of the convention center, instead of the site of where Millennium Hotel was located, which it the east of the convention center.
There are talks, but no solid plans, to make the current site park space that will look nice as it all gets sorted out. The green space could be used for convention-related outdoor events.
As Hamilton County's first Black commissioner and Ohio's first Black female county commissioner, Dumas is a trial blazer. She came to job after being a Forest Park councilwoman and then mayor, and then as city manager of Lincoln Heights.
That experience makes her responsive to county residents.
"What I love most about it is people have identified that I am a commissioner that will listen, that your concerns are my concerns," said Dumas, a trained social worker. "And you may not get the answers that you want from me, but you know that I'm going to give you an honest answer."
So is she running again? Cincinnati Vice Mayor Christopher Smitherman has announced a run for her seat as an independent candidate and gathering signatures. But Dumas has been mum about whether she'll run for re-election.
She's still not ready to say exactly what her future holds.
"I'm sure you will be hearing soon one way or the other what I plan on doing because you never know what opportunity may come up for me," Dumas said.

S2 Ep94: That's So Cincinnati: How Jeff Ruby inspired Cincinnati bar owner to 'take care of people' Jul 21, 2021

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Cincinnati restauranteur and bar owner Bob Deck, a managing partner at Four Entertainment Group, joined The Enquirer's That's So Cincinnati podcast this week to chat about:

Jeff Ruby's impact on Deck's career
4EG's role in the revitalization of Downtown and Over-the-Rhine
The struggles of being a bar and restaurant owner during a pandemic
Expansion, including opening the Ernest Hemingway-inspired bar, Pilar, soon at the Court Street Plaza

Four Entertainment Group launched about 15 years ago, around the time 3CDC was beginning its work to redevelopment Over-the-Rhine. The group has 18 bars restaurants in Cincinnati, Covington, Columbus and Chicago. It's notable Greater Cincinnati brands include: Igby's in Downtown, The Lackman in Over-the-Rhine and Keystone in Covington and Clifton.
As a young adult, Deck, who grew up in Anderson Township, parked cars at Jeff Ruby's Waterfront restaurant. Deck enjoyed the experience of working in the restaurant business. He initially pursued a career as a chiropractor after graduating from Miami University, but Deck and some friends got together to start 4EG.
Deck has never forgotten what some call the "Jeff Ruby experience" – it's all about impeccable customer service and making the customer feel special during their entire visit to one of Ruby's steakhouses.
"It was just amazing to watch how he would always take care of people and want all of his employees to take care of people," Deck said. "From the moment you pull your car up with the valet until you're experience inside, that was what they took pride on and have continued to this day."

S2 Ep93: That's So Cincinnati: Here’s what makes Bengals punter Kevin Huber’s career so unique Jul 14, 2021

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Bengals punter Kevin Huber has been an All-American and an All-Pro in his football career.
Big awards, no doubt, but they’re not his most unique accomplishment. Huber is the rare athlete who’s been able to play every level of football in his hometown.
Huber talks about his journey from McNicholas High School star to University of Cincinnati All-American to being the longest-tenured player on the Bengals’ current roster.

S2 Ep92: That's So Cincinnati: You know Tom Tsuchiya's work. Now meet the artist behind all those statues around Greater Cincinnati Jun 30, 2021

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You probably don't know Tom Tsuchiya. But you know his work.
From molding creek clay in his backyard to building statues of Cincinnati icons like Pete Rose, learn about the life of a sculptor.

S2 Ep91: That's So Cincinnati: Beer, pickleball and a sandbox: How Fifty West Brewing became Cincinnati's family friendly brewery Jun 23, 2021

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Fifty West Brewing founder Bobby Slattery talks about growing his company into Greater Cincinnati's family friendly brewery; expansion into Southeast Ohio and West Virginia; and whether the region is oversaturated with breweries.

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