Thank you for smoking
The most startling thing about the revival of Fairmount Park's long-neglected Ohio House is not that it has reopened as a cafe. It's that it seems bent on serving real food. The tip-off was the scent of brisket smoking in the morning, a juicy 12-pounder that had been brined for 16 hours, then smoked for most of a day and basted with a vinegary mop sauce. The final result is a tender chew of a sandwich, slathered with a brown-sugar-onion sauce reminiscent of Jewish-deli cabbage soup. It's developer David Groverman's personal recipe.Groovy's Smoked Brisket on a kaiser roll, $7.95, the Centennial Cafe, corner of S. Georges Hill Drive and Belmont Avenue near the Mann Music Center in Fairmount Park, 215-877-3055. www.the centennialcafe.com - Rick Nichols