Summer’s all about festival food. There are MainStrasse fests with brats and metts and loads of church festivals with chicken dinners and cake raffles. One of my favorite summer treats, the Asian Food Fest, returns to The Banks this month.   

Uncle Mo’s is one of my new favorite downtown lunch spots. I have to walk about eight blocks to get there, but even in the cold, it’s been worth it. Now, with the nice weather — go!   

If you’re looking for suggestions and want to break out of your routines, take the leap of faith and go independent. These entrepreneurs will love you for it.  

The Art of Food is in its seventh year at The Carnegie in Covington, but it wasn’t until last year that I finally hit the opening night. It really made me regret that I’d missed the first five. What an amazing event! So I’m writing this now, while tickets are still available.   

Eat Well Café and Takeaway (3009 O Bryon St., O’Bryonville) is now open. Chef/owner Renee Schuler’s newest endeavor is just what I expected — fresh, polished and yet simple and comforting.  

Whether your favorite version of A Christmas Carol stars Alastair Sim or Donald Duck, there’s something endearing about Scrooge’s change of heart and Tiny Tim’s blessing. And how about that Christmas goose? The Golden Lamb has it!  

Aren’t you glad you don’t live in the days when “sugarplums” were a big Christmas treat? What is a sugarplum, anyway? I’m looking forward to some old-fashioned goodies, but I’m making my list and checking to be sure it’s all local and all delicious. Pretty much everything included in this list can be found at Findlay Market, so that’s one-stop shopping you can feel good about.  

I just read in New York magazine that pumpkin is the new bacon. They may be on to something. Listen to this shopping list a friend just posted on Facebook: pumpkin coffee, pumpkin oatmeal, pumpkin cream cheese, pumpkin butter, pumpkin cider and pumpkin-chip biscotti. Eat that and you’re likely to start glowing all orangey.  

New and notable on the dining scene is the latest addition to the Washington Park/OTR/Gateway District — The Anchor (14th and Race, Over-the-Rhine). After a few days of serving family and friends to get in the groove, full-service operations started on Sept. 18.  

Washington Park is without a doubt the jewel of this excellent summer in Cincinnati. And it’s drawing crowds — whether to its well-chosen events or just to enjoy its well-designed spaces. And crowds, we know, travel on their stomachs.