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Barhite: My 10 favorite Toledo Free Press stories

By
Brandi Barhite
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My relationship with Toledo Free Press began with a simple email asking then-Editor in Chief Michael Miller if he had a job opening.

I was a reporter who had just relocated from Sandusky and I liked the scrappiness of the weekly paper. I was interviewed and hired that day. That is the pace of the Free Press.

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But in honor of TFP’s 10th birthday, I wanted to slow down and reflect on 10 stories that most resonated with me.

In no particular order:

Derek Merrin

Merrin was the 21-year-old Waterville resident who ran for mayor and beat the incumbent in 2007. He was one of the youngest mayors in Ohio history. He was also one of my first interviews as a reporter for TFP. He was engaging and had a great sense of humor. He told me he planned to continue to live with his parents because he wanted to stay true to his campaign promise. “I am a fiscal conservative. I want to save money,” he said, laughing. After finishing his four-year term as mayor, Merrin was hired by the state to conduct performance audits for local governments. He is now the regional liaison for the Auditor of State. Impressive.

Dominick Kaple

Kaple was part of a larger series that I worked on called Brain Gain. This series celebrated people who were making their careers in the Toledo area. Kaple was a gym teacher concerned about the rise in childhood obesity. He worked to show his kids that there is life outside of technology. Unfortunately, Toledo’s gain would be temporary. Kaple has since become an assistant principal for Lorain High School. While that is sad, that’s the point of writing about those who stay in Northwest Ohio. It seems like it is rare. When someone does stay, we want to celebrate it.

Africa

In 2009, I traveled with the Toledo International Youth Orchestra (TIYO) to Tanga, Tanzania, which is Toledo’s sister city. The young students were raising money to build a music room for the Toledo Secondary School in Tanga. The poverty we witnessed was indescribable. The unsanitary conditions led to many of the locals’ health problems, which were addressed by the medical team that came with us. It would have been an otherwise dismal trip had it not been for TIYO performing for the natives who in exchange performed for us. Music is truly universal.

Tornado

On June 5, 2010, a tornado destroyed parts of Millbury and leveled Lake High School, where my husband is a teacher and coach. The tornado twisted my roles as wife and reporter. I was uncomfortably close to the story and decided to venture even closer. For a whole year, I followed a family who had lost everything in the tornado but each other. Brick by brick, I followed their rebuilding process, which included guilt for surviving. Three members of the family next door had died. Writing 52 stories forced me to rethink the notion that a story is done just because the media has moved on.

D. Michael Collins

I interviewed Collins in August 2009 when the councilman was running for mayor the first time. Some of the best stories are the ones that contain information never meant to be published. During the interview, Collins shared with me that his son had committed suicide. I wanted to publish it; Collins refused. A few days later, I called and asked again. I told him his life experiences were a reason he had empathy for the people he wanted to serve. He agreed and let me use this quote:  “I will never see life the same way again, I can tell you that,” he said. “For the first couple of years, I would see something on the street that would automatically register in my head and I would have an emotional experience over my son.”

My family

I don’t like to write about my family or myself. I prefer to tell stories about other people, but I wrote about my dad losing his job and my mom shattering her leg. I wrote about my sister’s boyfriend losing his brother. Every time I write about my family I am amazed at how many people are interested. It shows me that readers appreciate when journalists become introspective.

Suzanne Carroll

I have written many stories about people suffering from diseases, but no one described her condition as vividly as Carroll, the former host of radio show “The Jazz Brunch.” In 2013, Carroll shed light on multiple sclerosis (MS) in a way that will forever leave me humbled by those who suffer from this incurable disease that affects the brain and spinal cord. She called one of her MS attacks a “slow slide down into hell.”  She was so fatigued she was tired 10 minutes after a full night’s sleep. Her subsequent nerve pain was so painful she often had to sit unclothed with her arms in the air.

Underage drinking

Is your student drinking? That was what I wanted to find out and the answers were alarming. Teens told me that it isn’t hard to get alcohol; it’s all about the connections. Some teens even buy fake IDs. The impetus for this story was the underage drinking death of Brian Hoeflinger in February 2013. Within weeks, his family, in particular his father, Dr. Brian Hoeflinger, started a nationwide conversation about underage drinking. “Parents need to talk about it; they need to start a line of conversation,” Brian’s dad said. “Millions of parents don’t think of talking about it because they don’t think their kids are doing it.”

Father’s Day is every day

Craig Schuele was one of the happiest people I have ever interviewed. His optimism and joy for life were so contagious that I left the interview thinking that adopting six kids from Lucas County Children Services was the secret to lifelong happiness. “I get a lot of love all the time. They are really great kids,” he told me. “Obviously, we have our moments and we have our days, but Father’s Day is just like every other day. We might have a soccer game; we might have a baseball game. It might be the only free day I have that weekend and I might have to cut the grass, and obviously that hasn’t happened in a while,” he said, laughing. And then he got serious. “You think about where they could have been growing up. They wouldn’t nearly have the opportunities they had had,” Schuele said. “I am proud that I am able to give them that chance, even with six of them.”

Insert your story here

Toledo Free Press only exists because of you. The best stories are yet to be told. Without your ideas and your willingness to be interviewed, our publication would not exist. While I could come up with dozens more stories that I have enjoyed writing, I am wise enough to know that some of the best stories are the ones that we haven’t even thought of yet.

Brandi Barhite is community ombudsman at Toledo Free Press.

Napoli, Hens have shepherded big changes Downtown over decade

By
Joel Sensenig
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Mud Hens General Manager Joe Napoli, photographed at Fifth Third Field for Toledo Free Press in June 2005. TOLEDO FREE PRESS FILE PHOTO

It’s hard for Joe Napoli to stick to sports when discussing the past 10 years.

Mud Hens General Manager Joe Napoli, photographed at Fifth Third Field for Toledo Free Press in June 2005. TOLEDO FREE PRESS FILE PHOTO

As general manager of the Toledo Mud Hens, Toledo Free Press placed Napoli atop its list of the “25 most influential people in Toledo sports” in 2005. He’s arguably more influential now, serving as president and general manager for both the Hens and Toledo Walleye.

By spearheading the Mud Hens’ move Downtown prior to the 2002 season, he’s also had a direct impact on revitalizing the center of the city.

“Nope, not much going on,” Napoli joked about the past decade from the fifth-floor executive office space at Fifth Third Field.

Looking out the window overlooking the southeast corner of the ballpark, Napoli said the stadium has exceeded all expectations he had when the relocation process from Ned Skeldon Stadium in Maumee began at the turn of the century.

“I think we had established some pretty high standards, but it’s really gone beyond that,” he said. “It’s almost fairy tale-like when you really think about what we hoped would happen and what has happened — it’s even better. You take a look at the Warehouse District: $12 million in annual payroll, up from virtually nothing. Seventy new businesses of all varieties. … Those are the things that we hoped would happen, and that they have happened is very gratifying.”

Napoli realizes the Mud Hens and Walleye are staples in the community, and he doesn’t plan on letting that change.

“Our mission is to be affordable, family-oriented and deliver what we internally call a fanatical experience,” he said. “So as long as we keep delivering on the mission and treat all of our fans like they’re our guests, I think we’ll always be one of those institutions or attractions in town that people point to with pride. But we don’t ever rest on that, because it’s easy to take your fans for granted, and we’ve seen other organizations do that. Once you do that, it’s just going to be a recipe for disaster.

“We always try to reinvent or refresh the experience,” he said.

The Hensville project is one way Napoli is attempting to do just that.

The effort to rehabilitate three Warehouse District buildings into dining, retail and office space recently received nearly $4 million in Ohio Historic Preservation Tax Credits from the Ohio Development Services Agency. The project has an estimated cost of $18.8 million.

Hensville is part of the Mud Hens’ commitment to refreshing the game experience for fans, Napoli said.

“It’s going to remind people of Wrigleyville,” he said. “There will be some dining options, there will be some shopping options, there will be rooftop decks, just like across the street at Wrigley [Field]. We’re also adding a park just beyond right field wall, with an acre of open space, for concerts, festivals and theater in the park — all of these things that encourage social interaction.

“The goal is to encourage even more people to come Downtown,” Napoli said. “Between the two franchises, we bring about 750,000 people a year Downtown. We want to raise that to between 850,000 and 900,000 with Hensville.”

A decade ago, Napoli began to see his dream of revitalizing Downtown through the Mud Hens come to fruition.

“We really positioned the team and the location of Fifth Third Field for success,” he said. “We really felt like we had the right location. We thought that being part of the Warehouse District was important. Hindsight being 20/20, when you look at other communities that have had success at the major league or the minor league level, it’s because the adjacent properties and real estate were the type that could be renovated and rehabbed successfully.

“So when you look at the Warehouse District and even the Business District in Downtown, it’s ripe for redevelopment. We have the good structure — we just needed a catalytic event.”

The Mud Hens were that event.

Looking to the future, Napoli sees Downtown continuing to grow. A couple of blocks to the north of Fifth Third Field, development around Huntington Center has been slower than anticipated. He blames that on bad timing.

“The only thing Huntington Center suffered from originally was bad timing, going into the recession,” he said.  “But with ProMedica coming in two blocks away, I think we’re going to see a lot of things happen around that building that we thought would have happened by now.”

With these projects, along with Downtown riverfront property to become the next Toledo Metropark, investment in the area is approaching $200 million.

“When we fast-forward 10 more years, and we look back, I think we’ll be talking about how ProMedica’s move to Downtown was the tipping point,” Napoli said. “The last 10 years have been wonderful. I think the next 10 years are going to be even better.”

As for his placement on that Toledo Free Press Top 25 list?

Napoli takes the humble approach, laughing when he thinks back on the designation. Others on the list included Tom Amstutz, Jimmy Jackson, Stan Joplin, Jamie Farr, Christine Brennan and Bruce Gradkowski.

“It’s flattering, but when you go through that list, there are a whole bunch of men and women on that list that could be No. 1,” he said.

“I have always appreciated the fact that they picked me to top the list, but I never really thought that it was deserved, because in order to be successful, you have to have so many people involved that do things very well. We’ve been very fortunate that we’ve been surrounded by good people. Not only internally, but everyone that’s supported the team, from local government to sponsors and season ticket holders and the like.”

It seems clear the New York native has no plans to leave Toledo any time soon. He smiles as he reflects on why he enjoys living here.

“When you think about living an active life, you can do that in Toledo,” he said. “What I mean by that is you can go to work, and love your job and enjoy your time at work. You can be home in 10-15 minutes and participate in the lives of your family [members]. When you look at recreation, you’ve got a river, a lake, a parks system that’s amazing, all the attractions. And you have that all wrapped up in a midsized community full of very nice people.”

Baumhower: Toledo’s better with a Free Press

By
Toledo Free Press
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I am not a writer.

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I never imagined my words would appear in a newspaper, especially on a regular basis. I’m fairly certain my family was equally shocked to find them in their driveways or even in a grocery store.

My words did not come from years of education nor from a lifelong love affair with writing. They appeared as a survival method from a heart that was drowning in things it needed to say.

I don’t remember what sparked the conversation between former Toledo Free Press Editor in Chief Michael S. Miller and myself. But I do remember my motivation in asking. After spending 10 years on the radio, an occupation and lifestyle that cost me a marriage, I wanted to show my family the person I was, not the one I was pretending to be.

As a father of four, I fear a retirement with weekends spent primarily in a car or on a plane — trips to visit my grandchildren if this city cannot attract jobs to retain the younger generations.

I was tired of living in a city being bullied by its daily newspaper. I was tired of being shown, via front-page “special reports,” how bad and ugly my hometown was. I never understood how the publisher of a city’s newspaper could live in a completely different state, hundreds of miles away. The irony of a newspaper publishing repeated editorials offering advice to local politicians on how to run city government while itself losing millions of dollars a year is beyond rich.

I wanted to highlight and showcase Toledo’s greatest export: its heart. I knew that if I shared stories of Toledoans at their finest, it could be contagious. I think it has been.

Toledo Free Press has spent the past decade battling the one thing that has kept this city down since the last episode of “M*A*S*H” aired, and it isn’t the economy. The Blade is close to crippling this paper with behind-the-scenes influence and legal bills from an insulting lawsuit.

If you can’t beat ’em, sue ’em. If they dare to point out the emperor wears no clothes, sue ’em some more. “One of America’s Great Newspapers (For Law Firms)” would be a more accurate description.

TFP dedicates its ink to news without a hidden agenda while highlighting the heart of a city learning how to walk again. It provides a vehicle and voice for many previously unrepresented communities, and people dreaming of change. It’s helped champion the “You Will Do Better in Toledo” campaign, which now welcomes all those who visit the Glass City.

I come from a proud union family full of carpenters, welders and UAW members. I can take my children anywhere around the city and show them things our family has built, from Fifth Third Field to the new I-280 bridge. I have discovered my talents lie in my voice, rather than my hands.

The love and support of those who read my column has been overwhelming. This paper has served as my heart’s bucket, allowing me to dump its words one column at a time. It’s given me the opportunity to effect a positive difference. Since I don’t possess the ability to cut a straight line, this column offers my children a chance to see my work.

As a child, my grandparents Pete and JoAnn Zunk would give me these beautiful personal tours, where they would drive throughout the city to show how rooted our family is in Northwest Ohio.

After writing and appearing in this paper for over a year, I learned they were secretly keeping a scrapbook of my columns. My grandma was painstakingly cutting the paper and gluing the pieces into a photo album. Who needs Google when you have glue?

It was at this moment I knew my words had reached their targeted audience — a nice older couple from Point Place.

Thank you Toledo Free Press for being the jobsite of my work and home to my heart.

We have done better in Toledo with a Free Press.

Jeremy Baumhower can be reached at [email protected].

Letters to the Editor, Mar. 8, 2015

By
Dock David Treece
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Column out of character

I read, with curiosity, loyal Toledo Blade soldier Keith C. Burris’ Sunday front-page hit piece on Woodville, Ohio (“Woodville: Worst little town in Ohio?” Feb. 15).

Little Woodville has been a notorious speed trap since I’ve had any memory and I’m over 50 years old. Is The Blade finally going to stand up for citizens against government oppression and overreach by going after “tax collectors with guns”?

It would seem out of character for an organization that has no problem with red-light cameras, public smoking bans, restrictive yet symbolic gun control and the IRS being in charge of health care.

So, as my wife’s stepfather, the old redneck, would say, “That’s the excuse; what’s the reason?”

There is no problem with any tax or government program, big or small, with the editor of The Blade. No, the unforgiveable sin of the authorities in Sandusky County is harming a dog.

So, little guy, you’ll have to look elsewhere for any support. It won’t come from the editorial front page of “One of America’s Great Newspapers.”

— Charles Zsarnay, Monclova

Woodville is home

I just read Sarah Ottney’s column about our town (“Bully Pulpit,” Feb. 22) … outstanding! I am thrilled that you were encouraged to enter it into The Blade and help the current bullying going on in Woodville. You are a very good writer and it was very evident that you wrote from your heart. I do not live in Woodville and haven’t for quite some time, but I will always call it home! A job well done! Thank you so much, Sarah.

— Christine M. Rodman, Port Clinton

Blade column uncalled for

I just wanted to thank you for the excellent column titled “Bully Pulpit” in the Feb. 22 Toledo Free Press. The Feb. 15 column, “Woodville: Worst little town in Ohio?” by Keith Burris in The Blade, was totally uncalled for and you did a very nice job of putting him (and The Blade) in their place.

I wish Toledo Free Press could go to a daily publication. I get so tired of reading about dogs, courthouses and now the Woodville police.

Unfortunately, The Blade is currently the only (daily) in town and they can do whatever they arrogantly wish to do. I think if you guys went to a daily, you would put them out of business in six months.

— Richard Martin, Bowling Green


Breath of fresh air

The Toledo Free Press is a breath of fresh air for the Toledo/ Maumee area. Sarah Ottney’s “Editor’s Statement” was right on in the “Bully Pulpit” column Feb. The Blade and columnist Keith Burris overexercise with their supply of ink on paper, trying to persuade the community of their biased views. Thank you for working to keep the community informed in a straightforward journalistic newspaper.

— Bill Coder, Monclova

Port approves lease agreement for Andersons’ new headquarters

By
Toledo Free Press
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The Toledo-Lucas County Port Authority Board of Directors approved a lease agreement Feb. 26 with The Andersons Inc. to acquire and construct an approximately 130,000-square-foot corporate headquarters facility in Northwest Ohio through a number of Port Authority financing mechanisms totaling up to $50 million.

“The Port Authority was able to secure the necessary financing in order to help move The Andersons’ headquarters relocation project forward,” said Paul Toth, president and CEO of the Toledo-Lucas County Port Authority, in a news release. “By relocating and expanding its headquarters due to the financing mechanisms in place, The Andersons will be able to not only retain existing jobs in the community, but will also be able to create new ones.”

The Port Authority will issue up to $10 million in taxable development revenue bonds through its Northwest Ohio Bond Fund program and up to $35 million in lease revenue bonds that will be sold to a commercial bank or into the capital markets.

JobsOhio is recommending a $5 million 166 Direct Loan, contingent upon the State Controlling Board’s approval, bringing the total to $50 million to be used by the Port Authority to construct the new facility.

The Maumee-based company hopes to begin construction this spring and to occupy the new headquarters building by the end of 2016, according to corporate communications manager Debra Crow.

The Port Authority will lease the facility to The Andersons under a 15-year capital lease in exchange for lease rental payments to pay the debt service on the Northwest Ohio Bond Fund bonds, the lease revenue bonds and the 166 Loan recommended by JobsOhio. Upon retirement of all debt, The Andersons will have an option to acquire the facility.

About 450 employees of The Andersons currently working in its leased Maumee corporate office will move to the new location. The firm’s other 700 employees will remain working in Maumee, Crow said.

The Andersons announced plans in November to move its headquarters to a 55-acre site in Monclova Township located north of Salisbury Road and west of I-475.

UT hosting electronics recycling drive March 21

By
Cassandra DeYoung
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Do you have old electronic items taking up space and collecting dust? Bring them to the University of Toledo’s community electronic recycling drive.

The e-waste event is 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. March 21 in parking lot 28, located off East Rocket Drive by the Transportation Center near the Dorr Street entrance to Main Campus.

Electronics that can be recycled at the drive include computers, laptops, printers, cameras, radios, cellphones, electronic games, VCRs, DVD players and power tools.

Televisions will not be accepted because they require a different recycling process, according to Brooke Mason, UT sustainability specialist.

Affinity Information Management, an R2-certified recycler, is collaborating with the university during the drive to ensure all electronics are recycled in an environmentally safe manner and in accordance with Department of Defense standards.

The drive is part of RecycleMania, an eight-week national recycling competition that runs through Saturday, March 28.

UT is competing against schools across the United States and Canada to see which can collect the most recycled materials as measured by weight.

Participating in the competition and the e-waste event are part of UT’s Sustainability, Energy Efficiency and Design Initiative.

For more information, contact Mason at [email protected] or (419) 530-1042.

— Cassandra DeYoung

Revolution of new flavors: Chef Wesley Wright debuts new items with ethnic flair at Revolution Grille

By
Joel Sensenig
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The Wagyu flank is one of the new menu items at Revolution Grille developed by chef Wesley Wright. Wright, who has been at the Monroe Street eatery for eight months, looked for influences from around the globe for the new dishes. Photo Courtesy Revolution Grille

Eight months into taking over the kitchen at Revolution Grille, chef Wesley Wright is introducing some ethnic creativity to the menu.

Wright, who is also general manager at the 2-and-a-half year-old eatery at 5333 Monroe St., debuted nine new items to diners in February. Despite his eight years at Ciao!, those assuming Wright would lean heavily on his Italian dining background would be mistaken.

The Wagyu flank is one of the new menu items at Revolution Grille developed by chef Wesley Wright. Wright, who has been at the Monroe Street eatery for eight months, looked for influences from around the globe for the new dishes. Photo Courtesy Revolution Grille

Instead, the classically trained Wright has sought inspiration from all corners of the globe for his latest offerings, including Canada, Africa, India and Asia. New additions to the menu include: beef bourguignon poutine, chipotle tamarind pork, grilled Caesar salad, croque-madame, curried potato flatbread, Wagyu flank, root beer pork, cauliflower steak and Meyer lemon tart.

“[At Ciao!] I was immersed in Italian ingredients, creating Italian specials, working with Italian foods, but I’m classically trained from all around the world,” Wright said. “People thought Revolution Grille was going to go Italian now. I can assure you, that’s not the case.”

While Wright has gotten a favorable response to many items on the list, there are a couple of dishes that have become quick favorites.

Many people are starting their meals off with the beef bourguignon poutine ($10.95), he said. Poutine, which originated in Quebec, Canada, is traditionally French fries topped with brown gravy and cheese curds.

“We’ve taken that and elevated it into a little bit more of a nicer dish where we take fingerling [potatoes], roast those with some herbs, cut them in half and sear them,” Wright said. “So you get that crunchy texture but it’s not a deep-fried, French-fried product. It’s different, a little more classic.” A beef bourguignon short rib gravy is placed atop the dish.

The Wagyu flank ($23.95) is also attracting a lot of attention, Wright said.

Wagyu is “the king of beef,” as Wright explained it. When it comes to Japanese beef, people know Kobe beef but “this is Papa,” he said with a laugh.

“The thought process behind this beef was that this cow is going to live the most relaxed lifestyle possible,” Wright said. “They would feed it a high-fat diet, they’d give it beer, they’d massage it with sake. This animal would live like a king. What this did is enhance the fat, the marbling in the meat.”

Even while serving the king of beef, Wright looks to shake things up for customers.

“I try to do something different with that set too, because people are like ‘steak and potato, steak and potatoes, steak and rice,’” he said. “I get away from that.”

The meat is placed atop Great Northern beans tossed with bone marrow vinaigrette.

For the non-meat crowd, Wright presents the cauliflower steak ($11.95). Here, it’s presented with a harissa tomato sauce and olive-caper-raisin salad.

“We always try to offer something vegan. Not just vegetarian, but vegan,” he said. “Harissa, you see it more and more. It’s a growing ingredient used in sauce a lot. It’s very flavorful.”

Even something as commonplace as a Caesar salad can use a twist.

Revolution Grille creates a grilled Caesar Salad ($7.95) by seasoning and grilling a wedge of Romaine lettuce and adding crispy parmesan, prosciutto crumbles and polenta croutons. The dish may still raise some eyebrows, Wright admits.

“I think people are still at the point where it’s like, ‘A grilled salad? Whoa,’” he said with a laugh.

To finish off the meal, Wright has added a twist of local citrus, of all things, with the Meyer lemon tart ($4.95).

He gets lemons from Hoen’s Garden Center & Landscaping in Holland, where a large Meyer lemon tree grows inside the greenhouse.

“It’s local, and it’s something that’s not going to sit heavy at the end of the meal,” Wright said of the dessert. “I really try to stay with the seasons, and with local ingredients.”

As for the future, Wright is hoping to implement some ideas he brought back from Hawaii, where he recently got married.

He hopes to introduce a little of the 50th state’s flourishing fish scene to Revolution.

“Of course, we don’t want to copy and paste, but we’ll get some ideas and influence and take it back and twist it our way,” he said. “I’ll be bringing some ideas from there, looking at some of the applications they do there.”

For more information, visit revolutiongrille.com.

Suburb & the city: Maumee’s Martini & Nuzzi’s to open location Downtown

By
Toledo Free Press
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Cheryl Jiannuzzi, owner of Martini & Nuzzi’s, right, with her grandchildren Tiana Moore and Anthony Jiannuzzi at the restaurant’s second location on North Huron Street Downtown. Toledo Free Press Star Photo by Christie Materni

Martini & Nuzzi’s, already known for the food, martinis and live music it offers at 6023 Manley Road in Maumee, will soon have a second location open Downtown.

Cheryl Jiannuzzi, owner of Martini & Nuzzi’s, right, with her grandchildren Tiana Moore and Anthony Jiannuzzi at the restaurant’s second location on North Huron Street Downtown. Toledo Free Press Star Photo by Christie Materni

Owner Cheryl Jiannuzzi said she hopes to have the new location at 329 N. Huron St. open in late March, just in time for the Mud Hens season to begin. The expansion is coming at a time when Downtown is revitalizing, she said.

“I just thought that Downtown is picking up and I think that right now is the right time to get in on it,” she said. “We have a lot of different ideas. We have a lot of good entertainment. We have loyal customers.”

Jiannuzzi fell in love with the location, which formerly housed The 329, Ole Taco & Tequila and Diva.

The new location underwent renovations (including new floors) before Jiannuzzi chose it. She said she fell in love with the brick walls and wood floors.

“It’s nice,” she said. “It looks like our bar.”

Its proximity to the Huntington Center made the new location appealing as well. Jiannuzzi plans to capitalize on the business they get from those events.

The neighboring bars and restaurants have been welcoming to Jiannuzzi. She has plans to work with them in the future.

As is the case at the Maumee location, the Downtown bar will host live entertainment. Local acts like Noisy Neighbors, Joe Woods and Chris Shutters have been known to play at the Maumee location.

The new location will also have valet parking and an “Express Menu” for people on lunch breaks who have limited time.

Jiannuzzi planned the menu and the martinis. Some martinis include the Abra Cadabra, the Bananarama and the Green Eyed Monstor. Food items on the menu include paninis, pasta, pizza and burgers, but Jiannuzzi is particularly fond of the meatballs.

The restaurant is intended to be a family business and Jiannuzzi said she hopes to pass it to her kids when she is gone. She helped work in her own parents’ restaurant when she was a kid.

“I’ve always wanted to do it,” she said. “I’ve been doing this since I was 10 years old at my parents’ restaurant. I made homemade candy.”

Jiannuzzi started to make bigger decisions about her life after a health scare.

“I was in the hospital, I had gangrene of my appendix and my doctor said, ‘Five more minutes and you would’ve been dead. Whatever you plan on doing, you better do it now,’” she said.

The restaurant plans to shut down the street to celebrate Mud Hens Opening Day on April 16. The event will include a tent and live music.

For more information, visit martiniandnuzzis.com.

Mahler: The beauty of Beaujolais

By
Adam Mahler
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Consumers are always looking for tips on navigating the often overwhelming wine departments

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As a result, I’m often asked for some “insider intel.” Like many wine industry professionals, I’m currently quite enamored by Beaujolais.

It’s a name you undoubtedly recognize. Maybe you’ve had Beaujolais Nouveau (more on that later), or maybe you just recognize it from older pop culture references. Either way, Beaujolais is making a comeback in a big way right now and sommeliers all over the world are tapping into its diversity and adaptability.

Beaujolais is a French appellation, technically located within Burgundy, but it’s so far south that the distance between Beaujolais and the rest of Burgundy is greater than the entire remaining appellation.

The villages of Beaujolais occupy the rolling hills and countryside just north of the gastronomic capital of Lyon. Beaujolais is typically a red wine, made from the Gamay grape.

Gamay is an offspring of pinot noir, the great red grape of Burgundy (and now California and Oregon). It shares much in common with its parent, Pinot Noir, except it ripens about two weeks earlier. Those are two crucial weeks.

Great pinot noir is a balancing act, with tragic vintages sprinkled in every so often. The most volatile time for any grape is in the final weeks before harvest.

Because it comes in earlier, it has a different character than red Burgundy. It tends to be, for lack of a better term, quite grapey. We often discuss wine flavors in colors — red fruit, blue fruit, black fruit — things you associate with the analogues of berries or other fruits.

Well, Beaujolais is fairly unique in that it tastes almost purple.  Along with that you can, of course, expect to find all of the other colors, but there is a really charming underlying “purpleness” to Beaujolais that is very appealing.

When shopping for Beaujolais, there are three distinctions you will find on the label: Beaujolais Nouveau, Beaujolais-Villages or Cru Beaujolais (with one of 10 allowed villages included on the label).

Nouveau is immensely popular and is meant to be consumed chilled and immediately. These wines are made quickly and released to celebrate the end of the harvest in the third week of November, coinciding with a huge festival of the same name.

While certainly a fun tradition, you can buy the next step up — Beaujolais-Villages — for very close to the same price and get a much better wine. Beaujolais-Villages is one of my go-to great values. You can expect to spend between $15-$20 for a bottle.

From good producers, these wines show a ton of depth and are quite fascinating. The third step up, Cru Beaujolais, tends to isolate specific styles and differentiates the terroirs. Each of the appellations is a little different. The most famous are Brouilly (light and fruity), Fleurie (richer, with more red fruit), Morgon and Moulin-à-Vent (the last two are both earthy and need a little time).

Also available, although less common, are: Régnié, Chénas, Juliénas and Saint-Amour. Great Cru Beaujolais can be found for $20-$25.

About 90 percent of Beaujolais (like most things it seems) is made by about a half-dozen négociants.

Négociants are basically large companies that buy fruit on the open market and blend it all together to make a final product.

Their wines can be good, but you’re much better off looking for a grower/ producer. There shouldn’t be a huge price difference between the two and you’ll get much more reward with the grower.

Beaujolais has long provided the bistro wines of Paris, which might suggest they are simple. While they are not simple, they are versatile and dependable. They work with a wide range of foods from salads and fish to meats and stews.

I know of at least one great local restaurant that has replaced their pinot noir by the glass with a Cru Beaujolais (hint: it’s Downtown). You can tweet wine pairing or wine shopping questions to @ampelography

Adam Mahler is the founder of Ampelography, a wine sales and marketing company based in Toledo (ampelographywines.com). He can be reached at [email protected]. You can tweet wine pairing or wine shopping questions to @ampelography.

Race the sun: Brothers develop flying game with shades of ‘Star Fox’

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Toledo Free Press
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Forest and Aaron San Filippo created their own company, Flippfly, which recently released the fast-paced ‘Race the Sun.’ Photo Courtesy Flippfly

It’s like playing the greatest old-school arcade game that never existed. You are in control of a small aircraft, flying just above the ground, whipping across a landscape at blinding speed. The areas you traverse are littered with simple objects like cubes, cones and spheres. You hit any of them and kaboom — it’s a fast end for your fast ride.

Forest and Aaron San Filippo created their own company, Flippfly, which recently released the fast-paced ‘Race the Sun.’ Photo Courtesy Flippfly

This is “Race the Sun,” a new independent video game that combines arresting visuals with endlessly exciting flying and a thrilling chase against the clock. The concept is deceptively simple, yet wildly addictive. It’s the kind of tremendously fun title that small indie developers specialize in, and they don’t get much smaller than “Race” creators Flippfly — a team comprised of two brothers, Forest and Aaron San Filippo.

“[I] started out doing graphic design, first for an established retail business and then as an independent freelancer,” Forest said in an interview with Toledo Free Press.

“And my brother was working for Raven Software here in Wisconsin, which was — and still is — a subsidiary of Activision. So he was working making games like ‘Call of Duty’ and all that stuff. And he was getting to a point in his career — he’d been doing professional game development for about eight years, and he was ready to do his own thing. …

“So he came to me with this, and he said, ‘We’ve always talked about it. … Let’s give it a shot.’ And so I jumped onboard,” Forest said.

Though the San Filippos never owned a gaming console growing up, the occasional weekend rental of a Super Nintendo gave them the chance to sample a slew of classic games during the 1990s — including the iconic flying game “Star Fox.”

“That aesthetic just got imprinted on us. We just thought that was the coolest game in the world, and I don’t know how many times we played through it,” Forest said.

When the brothers first started developing their own titles in 2012, their different points of view and areas of expertise began manifesting themselves in the process by which their work began to develop — Forest on design, Aaron on programming.

“We had just finished up a little children’s app,” Forest said. “Although we liked that, we wanted to make games. … And at one point, my brother drew this picture in a Google SketchUp. And it was this big, open area, with a couple sparse buildings in there. And he said, ‘Wouldn’t it be fun just to fly through this, really, really fast?’ And that was really the beginning of it.”

The modest success of “Race” on PC has allowed the production of a version for PlayStation systems.

“One of the strong ethics that we have in our statement there is, we are really focused on fun,” Forest said. “It’s a little difficult as an indie these days to compete in a market where there’s a lot of manipulative gameplay design. And this is nothing new, this goes back to the arcade era. In the arcade era, they were trying to get you to pump in one more quarter. In our era, they’re trying to get you to buy that in-app purchase, or pay to get you a little stronger, whatever that happens to be.

“And for us, we just want players to be able to jump in and feel free. That sense of, ‘I’m just here to enjoy this.’ That’s really what we experienced as kids.”

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