Someone missed the boat. But hey, don’t take our word for it. Consider these facts:
• Anne Kearney, chef and co-owner of Rue Dumaine restaurant in Washington Twp., has been named a semifinalist in the James Beard Foundation Awards — most prestigious recognition program for the food and beverage business, the equivalent of the Academy Awards of the restaurant industry — for the "Best Chefs in America" competition for the Great Lakes region for five consecutive years. In 2015, Kearney was the only chef from southwest or central Ohio to be named; only one other chef in Ohio, in Cleveland, joined that list. And get this: Rue Dumaine itself was named in 2008 as a semifinalist for the foundation's "Best New Restaurant" in the nation. As in, the nation.
• Also in 2015, The Food Network's declared that The Pine Club is the no. 2 steakhouse in America. The Pine Club has scored other media recognition in recent years. In December 2013, the restaurant was included in a list of "10 of the World's Greatest Old Dining Institutions" by a writer for T Magazine, the New York Times style magazine, joining restaurants in Paris, London, and New York City. Six months earlier, Michael Stern, co-author of "Roadfood," identified the Pine Club as his favorite steakhouse in the country in a USA Today story.
Did either restaurant merit a mention in the OnlyInYourState list?
Nope.
To its credit, the web site did discover The Spot to Eat in Sidney and The Golden Lamb in Lebanon. Both fine eateries with rich histories. But heck, if it's history you want, why not give a nod to the Hamburger Wagon (est. 1913)?
Once again, Dayton is overlooked and underappreciated.
But we know better.
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