Donna Covrett

Most Sunday mornings, as coffee brews and the smell of freshly baked cinnamon rolls perfumes the air, a line weaves from the tiny vestibule of The Winds Cafe and Bakery out through its front door to the brick-lined walkway and picketed entrance.

Unparalleled for its imaginative and original menu of small plates with a Middle Eastern lean, Abigail Street is one of the busiest places in Cincinnati’s Over-the-Rhine neighborhood, with scores of repeat diners tucked into bench-lined tables and barstools.