DINING JOURNAL: BELLEVUE BISTRO

I love brunch.

And this weekend's meet-up with a former colleague and his wife gave me the opportunity to try Bellevue Bistro's for the first time.

Located just across the Ohio River from downtown Cincinnati, the town of Bellevue, Kentucky, boasts a revitalized main street (Fairfield Avenue) filled with galleries, gift shops, and restaurants. With a couple of tables outside and wooden tables, a tin ceiling, and walls filled with eclectic artwork inside, Bellevue Bistro is a comfortable, casual spot offering thoughtfully conceived and carefully prepared dishes.

My friends each chose a main dish I'm sure I would enjoy. Hers was the Veggie Saute, with tomato, bell peppers, mushrooms, red onions, avocado, cheese, and eggs over sweet potatoes and squash.

He chose the Hot Brown Benedict, featuring the classic elements of a Kentucky Hot Brown - bacon, turkey, tomato, cheese and Hollandaise - served over fresh-made biscuits and topped with crab.

After Buzz's recent scrapple post, I decided to revisit goetta and ordered The Bellevue, with goetta, cheese, red onions, and eggs over rosemary potatoes.

For those of you unfamiliar with it, goetta is a German peasant food beloved by many in this old German city of Cincinnati (we even have multiple goetta festivals). Made of pin oats and ground meat (usually pork shoulder and other pork by-products) and typically seasoned with bay leaf, rosemary, and thyme, goetta is formed into a loaf, then sliced and fried, and served with either savory ingredients (such as the ones I had) or sweet accompaniments (e.g., maple syrup). The stuff on the top and left here is the goetta:

My goetta wasn't especially crispy, although with the eggs, cheese and potatoes, I enjoyed the dish. While many in this town would consider it sacrilege to admit, I just don't think I'm particularly fond of goetta (I would probably have been happier to substitute bacon, but that's me). If you are a goetta fan or curious to try goetta, Bellevue Bistro also offers goetta breakfast sandwiches on whole wheat in a variety of permutations: straight up; with blackberry jam; with American cheese and maple syrup; or with eggs and American cheese.

The dishes we ordered (above) were all hearty plates of food, in the $6-$8 range. Also on the menu are a French toast made with cinnamon bread from the excellent local Shadeau Breads ($6.25) and waffles from another local favorite, Taste of Belgium, whose Liege, Belgium-style waffles are also available at Findlay Market in Cincinnati, North Market in Columbus, Ohio, by mail-order, and, as I learned from their website, our local Whole Foods stores. My friends split this one, served "loaded," with chocolate sauce, berry sauce, and whipped cream, for around $5.

The brunch menu includes a range of other egg-and-rosemary-potato dishes, including one with sausage and apples, and a crab and bacon "surf and turf." An inventive "breakfast salad" of field greens, fried eggs, chopped bacon, tomatoes, and cheese caught my eye, and a number of specials were available as well.

Brunch is served Saturdays and Sundays from 10:00 to 2:00. Arriving at 12:30, we were also offered the lunch menu, which is served through the week and includes soups, sandwiches, and a wide variety of salads. Dinner, from a varying menu that appears to be seasonally driven, is served Wednesday through Saturday. Bellevue Bistro is a charming spot where you can catch up with old friends, as I did, and enjoy some tasty food as well. I'll definitely return for more.