Photo By Joe Lamb

RED

I'm all about neighborhood restaurants. I love places that stick out amid the tight parking and small storefront spaces of Cincinnati, Covington, Newport -- even Mariemont, Madeira and Maysville. These independents, quirky as they might be, generally showcase good food in unique surroundings.

Red, located right on Hyde Park Square, looks like one of these cozy neighborhood nightspots -- but it's in the major leagues, and with a major price tag.

We hit Red on a Monday evening on the early side and were the first arrivals of the night. The maitre d', who had a sense of humor about the fact that we didn't have reservations, greeted us warmly. He said he'd manage to squeeze us in.

We picked a corner spot that was comfortable, but my architect companion noted that the acoustics weren't great ("I could hear my voice echoing from the back of the room!"). The lights were pink and flattering, though, and the red accents in the abstract paintings were just enough to carry out the theme.

Our server arrived to offer us a choice of bottled water, but we opted for plain old Cincinnati river water on tap. The wine list was the first thing to start my sticker shock kicking in, but they have an impressive selection -- especially of (you guessed it) reds. We decided against a bottle: I chose a glass of Montepulcianno D'Abruzzo ($14), and she a Selbach Piesporter Riesling ($9).

Red offers a small raw bar with big, pretty tiger shrimp, crab claws and a nice selection of raw oysters at market price. Our server recommended the mussels mariniere, and though I was tempted we decided to share the beef carpaccio ($14). I was a little surprised that my friend was enthusiastic about it until she told me that she's from an adventurous family whose favorite celebration dish is steak tartare, which they call "cannibal sandwiches." I knew there was something I liked about this girl.

Well, I did like her until I tasted the carpaccio and thought, "Dammit, this is much too good to share!" Grudgingly, I watched as she smacked her greedy lips, and I forked over half of the arugula -- my favorite green, dressed with tomato aioli -- and the parchment-thin tenderloin. Oh, and the wonderful tempura fried onion petals that garnished the dish, I even gave her half of those. It killed me, but I smiled the whole time.

I'd almost forgiven her by the time our salads arrived, accompanied by warm bread slices, multigrain and French, with cold butter decorated with a paprika'd Red logo. I had the house salad ($7), mixed greens with sweet golden raisins and very spicy waffle-fried potato crisps dressed with mellow sherry vinaigrette. My friend's spinach salad ($8) was dressed with blood orange vinaigrette that sure wasn't shy. It tasted like a blood orange and vodka cocktail -- really kicky with smoky bacon bits, a hard-boiled egg and more of those tasty onion petals.

The restaurant had started to fill up by this point, but our server was still quite attentive -- in fact, at one point I thought he was going to ask for my friend's hand in marriage. Ah, youth. Failing that, he tried to get us to order Steak Oscar. We passed on both proposals.

Instead, I opted for the rack of lamb ($37): three petite but pricey Frenched lamb chops, perfectly medium rare with a delicious au jus reduction. The chops were outstanding, but I was a little bit disappointed with the goat-cheese mashed red skinned potatoes. Bland and a little gooey, they were absolutely upstaged by my companion's side order of pesto mashed potatoes ($3) -- fantastic.

She loved her 7-ounce filet mignon ($29), which was scrupulously seasoned and cooked just right, topped with sautéed wild mushrooms ($3) that were distinctive and flavorful.

Our server prepared my companion a cup of chamomile tea ($2), and I had a good cup of strong coffee ($2) while we thought about dessert. I wanted to try the fruit tart, but they had substituted a pecan tart on a hazelnut crust with vanilla bean ice cream ($7), and that sounded so good that my friend called it first.

On our server's suggestion, I ordered the caramelized banana bread pudding, and I shouldn't have. It was huge and much too rich. When he saw me ignore it after the first bite, he whisked it away and took it off the bill -- very gracious. The tart, though, was a hit, good to the last crumb.

It was impressive to see how the crowd had grown -- the room was full, and the staff seemed to recognize a lot of regulars. Good food and friendly, cozy atmosphere: Red is the very definition of a good neighborhood restaurant, but in a really expensive neighborhood.

RED
Go: 2724 Erie Ave., Hyde Park

Call: 513-871-3200

Hours: 5:30-10 p.m. Sunday-Thursday; 5:30-11 p.m. Friday-Saturday

Prices: Expensive

Payment: All credit cards

Red Meat Alternatives: Many, especially seafood.

Accessibility: Fully accessible