Dishes you should try first at The Aperture in Walnut Hills
Let’s start with the carrot.
It's poached in labneh, charred in a wood-fired oven and rolled in Middle Eastern and African spices. Those spices include zhug (a pesto of cilantro and parsley) and dukkah (a traditional Egyptian blend of coarsely chopped hazelnuts, cumin, coriander, sesame and fennel seeds). It's served on a bed of carrot puree and spicy-sweet lamb sausage.
There are some other ingredients rolled in there as well. All you need to know is that together they create a perfect balance of warm, mouthwatering flavors that will taste as familiar as your favorite comfort foods. The carrot is also a perfect entry point into the world of chef Jordan Anthony-Brown and his new restaurant, The Aperture, which opened on a prominent corner of Walnut Hills on Jan. 4.
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I was unfamiliar with Anthony-Brown’s style of cooking before I devoured that carrot last week. But I knew enough about his background to understand that the opening of The Aperture, his first restaurant, was a very big deal.
Anthony-Brown grew up in Cincinnati, left at 18 for college and returned at 32. During his time away, he spent three years at Rose’s Luxury, a Michelin-starred, James Beard Award-winning celebrity go-to in Washington, D.C., that was also named Bon Appetit magazine’s Best New Restaurant in America in 2013. It was there he went from line cook to sous chef in no time flat. When he returned to Cincinnati, he joined the Boca Restaurant Group as a sous chef and later spent time at Baker's Table, in Newport. Whenever I mention Anthony-Brown’s name to other chefs in town, they tell me how good he is.
I’m starting to see why.
A big night at The Aperture in Walnut Hills
The Aperture is located in the historic Paramount Square Building in Walnut Hills, an art deco mini masterpiece that opened in 1931 and has been vacant ever since its last tenant, Will’s Pawn Shop, shuttered in 2005. The restaurant itself started as a much-raved-about pop-up concept. While Anthony-Brown signed a lease for the brick-and-mortar space in 2019, it took four years to finally open. It is now the crown jewel of a burgeoning stretch of Walnut Hills that's recently become home to Esoteric Brewing, the coffee shop and cocktail bar King Pigeon, Hoity Toity Donuts and the soon-to-open expansion of Findlay Market's ETC Produce and Provisions.
On a recent Friday, my wife, Amy, and I arrived to meet our friends, Adam and Carrie, for dinner. It was Aperture's second night of business and the dining room was abuzz with patrons who had waited almost half a decade to come here. The cocktails we ordered (all of them superb) made it feel even buzzier.
In contrast to the gritty intersection of East McMillan Street and Gilbert Avenue it occupies, The Aperture has a bright Mediterranean feel, something that took me by surprise. Anthony-Brown told me he had toyed with the decor several times, going from what was going to be a warm, woody dining room to something more elegant. Now, 20 or so round tables surround a large opening (or aperture) to a sparkling kitchen containing a blazing live fire oven.
While the dining room is minimalist, some personal touches lend it character, including light wood paneling and framed photographs by Anthony-Brown’s assistant general manager and pro photographer, Trevor Biggs. There's also a small library of cookbooks separating the dining room from the cozy bar area, which is tucked away in the rear of the restaurant and feels like an entirely different space.
When we asked our waiter for a wine recommendation, he retrieved the restaurant's front-of-house manager (and, it turns out, licensed sommelier), Will Velarde, who thoughtfully addressed our needs. When Amy requested a light red, he directed us toward an elegant Rossese di Dolceacqua that fit the bill nicely. When I asked for something a little less elegant, he suggested a glass of Moroccan syrah.
I was surprised by how together the staff seemed, given the baptism-by-fire conditions they faced. But aside from a couple of minor timing issues, it seemed like they had already spent months in training, avoiding, as far as I could tell, even a hint of uncertainty regarding the menu or Anthony-Brown's vision of the place. There was no "The Bear" Season 1-style chaos in the kitchen or even a trace of first-week jitters. The day before he opened, Anthony-Brown told me he was ready to finally rip the Band-Aid off and get on with it. If he or his staff were feeling any pain, I couldn't tell at all.
Dishes you should try first at The Aperture
The menu at The Aperture is served mezze style, meaning there are lots of small plates and sharables to go around, from an excellent focaccia made by sous chef Jimmy Lucas – a veteran of the late, great Black Bird, in Chicago – to a lovely lamb shoulder served with Persian rice, harissa and tzatziki.
Anthony-Brown’s take on the wedge salad is also notable. There are so many takes on wedge salads these days, but this is a standout. Napa cabbage replaces iceberg lettuce, and it's topped with an Italian mayonnaise-based fish dressing, hard-boiled egg, rye bread crumbs, dill and smoked fermented tuna stands in for the anchovies. I loved this dish so much that I almost ordered a second helping.
I also enjoyed the lumache amatriciana, a comforting bowl of shell pasta cooked in tomato sauce, Fresno peppers and a rustic guanciale ragu, though I liked the tagliatelle with sunchokes, Swiss chard and Parm that Carrie ordered even better.
If I were to pick a favorite, it might be Anthony-Brown’s oyster mushrooms that were served on a bed of whipped tahini with a little brown butter mixed in. The savory mushrooms are topped with hazelnut pesto and a pillow of shredded manchego, creating a meaty, nutty dish that, like almost everything I tried at The Aperture, I won't soon forget.
900 E. McMillan St., Walnut Hills, 513-872-1970, theaperturecinci.com.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: The Aperture restaurant brings fine Mediterranean to Walnut Hills
