Vegetables on the side are tasty surprises. Roasted parsnips are sweet, creamy and rooty, and broccoli rabe is a bright green, mildly bitter contrast to the mellow winter flavors of the entrees. The saffron risotto was gummy. There is little parsley in the parsley cream on the tagliatelle, and the five spices on the five spice grilled duck breast must have been missing two or three. It was a fudgy, flourless wedge, but overcooked until it was crumbly and dry.
Service is smooth.
The chef pops out of the kitchen to talk with diners, and her husband circles the room as host. His cheerleading for his wife s cooking rings true and helps create the real-people Brown Dog feeling. The Cincinnati Enquirer , a Gannett Co. Inc. newspaper.