Because of MadTree and its proximity to Rookwood Commons, I semi-regularly visit Oakley throughout the year. However, with the opening of Oakley Kitchen, I think I'll be visiting much more often.
What's Oakley Kitchen? Simply put, it's a place where you can get an excellent variety of high-quality food in a single place. That second part—high quality—is key. This isn't just a generic food hall shilling chain food. From what I witnessed, this is elevated restaurant food with locals on their A-game in the kitchen.
Oakley Kitchen describes itself as a "food and drink destination making local reachable." Essentially, the spot offers eight restaurant concepts, seven of which are totally original. A cocktail bar and bottle shop, as well as an enormous second-level dining room with seats for 175 people, make up the rest. Campfire Foods Group has a separate commissary kitchen there, too, which will be used for their production.
Lunch and dinner are the primary focuses of each restaurant. Each one has a menu accessible via the Oakley Kitchen website, where hungry patrons can place their orders. Hours vary between each place. Though the building will feature a massive dining area on the second floor for dine-in, Oakley Kitchen is only doing carryout at the time of this writing. Once finishing touches are completed, they'll open the building to dine-in later this month.
So what are the eight restaurants inside Oakley Kitchen? I dropped by earlier today to get a sense (and, in some cases, a taste) of what each has to offer. These are in no particular order, but I did place my current favorite place last on the list
JIMMIE LOU'S
Chef Jeffery Harris hails from New Orleans and credits three generations of women in his family with fueling his love of cooking. Before moving to Cincinnati in 2005 as a result of Katrina, he worked as a Sous Chef in Emeril Legasse's kitchen. Once in the Queen City, he put his expertise to work feeding Cincinnatians for the next decade and a half. In fact, you've likely already tasted something Chef Harris has made. His resume includes the likes of Netherland Plaza, Blinker's, the Cincinnati Zoo, and he's worked alongside Cincinnati's own Chef Jose Salazar.
Jimmie Lou's is Creole comfort food. Chef Harris suggests getting his jambalaya and the shrimp po'boy.
JimmieLous.com | Jimmie Lou Facebook | Jimmie Lou Instagram
ONOLICIOUS HAWAII
Onolicious is the work of Chefs Cici and Vinny Benedett—a mother/step-son duo who have a passion for Hawaii. Their interpretation of Hawaiian cuisine is, in their words, "a wonderful mix of cultures and delicious food." Their emphasis on including the ideas and flavors of the many ethnic backgrounds that make up Hawaiian culture provides a wide variety of menu items.
Onolicious is described as "comfort Hawaiian food." Think hearty, filling meals one would devour after surfing all day. Chef Cici is a big fan of their shoyu chicken and momi beef sticks. While there, I tasted two things: the Lanikai Lumpia, Filipino-style spring rolls filled with veggies or beef; and the musubi, marinated grilled spam and steamed rice wrapped in roasted seaweed with sesame seeds. Both were absolutely delicious.
OnoliciousGrinds.com | Onolicious Facebook | Onolicious Instagram
LOAKLEY
Chef Chris Davis' concept, Loakley, is American fare with an emphasis on local. His goal is to source as many ingredients as possible from Cincinnati and the surrounding region to build the restaurant's menu. As a result, Loakley's menu is hyper-seasonal and allows Chef Davis to get creative. After working as a Sous Chef for Metropole, Chef De Cuisine at Via Vite, and Executive Chef for Karrikin Spirits' now-closed Hearth restaurant, Chris started Loakley to continue feeding Cincinnati farm-to-table meals.
All pasta is made in-house, too. He recommends everyone try his vegetarian mushroom bolognese.
LoakleyCincinnati.com | Loakley Facebook | Loakley Instagram
OLIVE TREE
While you can catch Chef Ibtisam Masto at the Findlay Market Shed a couple of days out of the week, her home base will be Olive Tree in Oakley Kitchen. A refugee from Syria, Chef Matso moved to the United States in 2016 and found herself working as a Chef at Jungle Jim's before moving onto Dean's Mediterranean at Findlay Market. She completed the FreshLo Chef Fellowship program and learned how to turn her passion for cooking Syrian and Mediterranean food into her own business, and spent time cooking out of Findlay Kitchen.
Read Ibtisam's journey from Syria to Cincinnati here.
Olive Tree is all about Syrian and Mediterranean food. Every week sees a new dish hit the menu. Last week, the special dish of the week was Moroccan tajen, and next week will see another new special menu item take its place. She incorporates lamb into many of her lunch and dinner dishes; shysh lamb, ground lamb kebab, and kefta ashouriyeh are all on the menu. Olive Tree does both hot and cold appetizers, as well as dessert, like baklava.
OliveTreeCincy.com | Olive Tree Facebook | Olive Tree Instagram
PARTS & LABOR
Chefs Derek Dos Anjou and Jeffrey Miller's concept, Parts & Labor, is all about new school barbeque—barbeque with international flavors. They make restaurant-quality meals with local ingredients that people pick up and eat at home. Each meal is packaged in a 100% compostable or recyclable package, too. Parts & Labor opened last year during the pandemic and acted as a ghost kitchen before eventually moving to Oakley Kitchen.
You can find every meal's home prep instructions on their website.
PartsAndLaborCincinnati.com | Parts & Labor Facebook | Parts & Labor Instagram
PADRINO
Remember how I said seven of the eight places in Oakley Kitchen are totally original? Padrino is the only one in the group with already established locations elsewhere in Milford and Fort Thomas. Owner Hunter Thomas, who was recently profiled by Fort Thomas Matters, also owns 20 Brix—an upscale bistro and wine shop on Main Street in Milford.
You know Padrino. It's an affordable pizzeria with pasta dishes and Italian hoagies on the menu. Just some solid Italian cuisine that's been successful enough to expand its brand over the years.
PadrinoItalian.com | Padrino Oakley Facebook | Padrino Oakley Instagram
KHANA GOURMET INDIAN GRILL
This is the one. This is my favorite place in Oakley Kitchen. The pitch? Indian barbeque. Let me explain. First, some background.
An airline pilot by profession, Chef Harish Sonecha's passion for cooking was instilled in him by his father from an early age. He worked in restaurants for years to fund his path to getting his aircraft operator's license and, seeing the opportunity provided by Oakley Kitchen, decided to open his own concept.
With this concept, he wants to make sure Cincinnatians know that Indian food isn't relegated to a handful of curries over meat cubes. According to him, India has loads of other flavors and dishes we just aren't eating in Cincinnati. To diversify the culture of Indian food in the Queen City, he's bringing his own expertise and unique style of Indian street food to Oakley Kitchen.
"Barbeque is a style of cooking," Chef Sonecha says. He describes how the style imparts earthy flavors in the meats and how India had been doing it for centuries before Americans developed their own methods of barbequing meats. When most Americans think of barbeque, we think of the sauce. That's not what this is. While there is sauce (and a damn delicious sauce at that), it's not what your standard Cincinnatian would immediately think of. That said, I am so on board with this style of Indian barbeque.
While I was there, he cooked skewered chicken over hot coals, occasionally dressing each piece in his special dry rub that he created as a response to friends asking to buy his recipe. His kitchen help, Devray King and Chris James, worked alongside him, making naan and rolling dough for orders coming in.
[Photo note: Chef Sonecha asked not to be included in photographs for this feature.]
"We make naan the way it's cooked in an average Indian household," he explains. The naan is made in a slightly concave skillet right on the stovetop. After tasting it myself, I'm not sure I ever want to go back to the naan of every other local Indian place.
Chef Sonecha recommends people get the combo for a taste of three different things: Masala Magic chicken, Seekh kebab, and Tandoori chicken. The combo comes with an absolutely delicious cucumber yogurt sauce that pairs well with the kebab. Squeezing a lemon onto the Tandoori chicken and tasting the smoked meat and citrus is unreal—one of the best pieces of chicken I've had in ages. The Masala Magic chicken is made with Chef's own blend of spices that you can buy separately.
On top of letting me try the combo, he whipped up bite-sized Mumbai Pav Bhaji—a spicy mixed vegetable mash on butter-grilled buns. It appears as an appetizer on the menu, so please make sure you add it to your order when you go. Trust me.
I cannot speak highly enough of this specific place. Please do yourself a favor and order from there tonight.
KhanaGourmet.com | Khana Facebook | Khana Instagram
LA PETITE FRITE
Sadly, I didn't get to speak to the owner of this restaurant because no one was there when I visited. According to the Oakley Kitchen website, La Petite Frite is Belgian comfort food with frites as the focus.
Oakley Kitchen is open for carryout only at this time, and is on track to open for dine-in later this month. It is located at 3715 Madison Rd, Cincinnati, OH 45209. Hours of operation vary per restaurant.