Dining

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.

Hometown boy Andy Richmer cut his teeth as a chef at the nearby Belterra Casino before venturing into his own restaurant two years ago, situated in a historic home at the western end of Madison’s main drag.

In the midst of Richmond’s emerging historic Depot District, Firehouse BBQ & Blues boasts a smoking backstory.

Originally from Monterrey, Mexico, two hours from the U.S. border, the Hutchinsons opened their 400-square-foot kitchen in late May, serving dishes like pork carnitas, chicken calabicita goulash, and delicate, fresh tamales wrapped in corn husks.

Including a scoop of dense, sweet pumpkin ice cream from Wyliepalooza’s Ice Cream Emporium.

She says that a deal to return to Chicago is in early talks with two franchisees and involves 12 locations. New stores are soon coming to Cincinnati and Columbus, Ohio; Nashville, Tenn.; and a few Indiana cities. Yet another store opened at September’s end in Hamilton Town Center.

Enterprising restaurateurs have revitalized Lafayette Square’s once-closed storefronts, making it our most international culinary destination.

Including the Apple Scrappy from Kim’s Kakery.

Bangkok transplant Sasathorn Rudisell is the secret ingredient in three of Indy’s top kitchens.

Owner Brad Kime intends to up the ante by introducing a front patio area with 24 seats, a small dance floor, wall cutouts to connect patrons between the two rooms, double-pane front windows apt to open in April 2014, and more.

Reviving a century-old storefront that used to be a pharmacy in the 1950s, as well as the Black Curtain Dinner Theatre, Craig and Kait Mariutto have sparked some life in a part of town without a bona fide sit-down restaurant in decades.

Featuring the fried mortadella sandwich at Libertine Liquor Bar.

You may have a hard time imagining he-man Ernest Hemingway sipping a modern daiquiri, but this cocktail with a literary twist is both sophisticated and refreshing enough to quench the thirst of a lusty bullfighter.

When these twin sisters launched Just Pop In 10 years ago in a tiny Broad Ripple storefront, the beckoning scent nearly stopped traffic.

As we embarked on our own food-driven adventures for the October cover story on Destination Dinner, we couldn’t help asking a couple of pros for their favorite meals worth the drive.