At Cumin in Hyde Park, Executive Chef Owen Maass is churning out some of Cincinnati’s most impressive, eclectic food. Behind the scenes, he’s driven. Articulate. Funny. Exactly who he says he is – no matter what. Lucky for us, Cumin owner Alex Mchaikhi is opening a sibling restaurant next door (called M), and Owen will be Executive chef there too, featuring a rustic, wood-fired menu. See his story in our third episode of Cincinnati Deconstructed, filmed by Michael Holder and produced by yours truly.
What is Cincinnati Deconstructed?
An intimate, behind-the-scenes peek inside the unique personalities that define the food scene here in Cincinnati. We’ve got big plans for the future. Please continue your enthusiasm by sharing, tweeting, posting and commenting so that we can continue this project. And let us know if you catch the video playing on the jumbotron in Cincinnati’s Fountain Square.
New to our project?
See our pilot episode with rockstar mixologist Molly Wellmann and our second episode with Jean-Francois Flechet from Taste of Belgium.
Owen Maass fan?
Let us know in the comments. Learn more about his new restaurant here – and of course – if you’ve got ideas for a future episode, please share. We’re always listening.
Special thanks to Owen Maass, Alex Mchaikhi, Katerina Pototsky Minevich and the staff at Cumin for making this video possible.
In 1995 my mother learned she had stage four breast cancer. The doctors tracked her white blood cells on a whiteboard while they pumped chemicals into her body. She promised me, wrapped in her white gown, shrunken from a liquid diet, that she would come home to make dinner again. In the mean time, I learned how to do laundry, how to make eggs and how to sleep on a hospital floor.
Today, more than 15 years later, we’re breaking bread.
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Quick is the game these days. If you’re not quick you get left behind, mentally and physically. This is the case in business––and it’s also the case in every restaurant kitchen I’ve ever worked in or observed. Slow movements burn the souffle. Slow cooks get their asses handed to them.
There is indescribable reward in toughing it out in a kitchen under these conditions––a place where your pride lives or dies on your ability to think on your feet. But all I seem to want to write about this morning is taking it slow.
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Friends, after two weeks of being completely offline thanks to a unfriendly hack attack, I’m back. And apparently I’m rhyming. Normally I’d celebrate with a recipe (or at least a beer) but today I’d like to ask you for a favor. So here goes …
Would you be willing to take a quick, 5-minute survey about food and cooking? Your participation will go a long way in helping guide my next project.
Ten questions. Completely anonymous. 100% guaranteed to secure your spot in heaven.
Take the extremely easy, fantastically rewarding survey now.
Thanks to all those on Facebook and Twitter who have already responded. And I promise to be back next time with something a little more tasty.
UPDATE: Because of you, I now have hundreds of responses to this survey. Thank you, thank you, thank you for taking the time to help a girl out!
