I doubt this will have people frantic like the Pacchia closing, or lamenting that this store closing will send The Mall at Fairfield Commons into a tailspin of certain foreclosure.
I rarely shopped there because their prices were a bit steep - but here's the good news: Everything is on sale now, most importantly, 50% off all sauces and condiments. Go stock up on pumpkin dip mix, and you can thank me (and share with me) later.

I'm sure if you live in Dayton, you already know this - because everyone and their dog decided to post on facebook and twitter about it yesterday, no matter how uninformed or downright stupid it was. People started demanding that you not give your business to Renaissance Salon because Dr. Ervin, who owns the building where Pacchia was located, also owns RS's space.

The first thing you all need to get straight is, the owner of the building is NOT the same as the owner(s) of Pacchia. You don't need a real estate license to figure that out. Most business owners rent the space that they operate in.
Yesterday, I saw more than one person post the following:

Please don't give your business to Renaissance Salon or anything that has to do with Dr. Irving. He just shut the doors to Pacchia and the Espresso Bar permanently. Meaning that all of those Great People are now out of work. Please keep them all in your thoughts as they try to adapt.

You people are out of your monkey ass minds! I'm sure the gals working at Renaissance really appreciate you trying to take food out of their mouths. Also, I don't know the guy, but I suspect Dr. Ervin would probably appreciate it if you got his name right before you dragged it through the mud.

The next thing everyone wanted to spout off about was not how much they'll miss the restaurant, but how much they'll miss the coffeehouse. Some alluded that they'd miss the business as a whole, but I'm willing to bet they purchased a latte occasionally, but never had a meal there. Granted, that little cafe was usually bustling with people - but it was a loss leader. Now where will all of those poor hipsters hang out and pretend to be smart, important, or brooding?

The thing that really got under my skin, though, is seeing all of the comments about what an epic blow this is to our local economy. Yes, it's a damn shame that a local landmark restaurant is closing and those folks have lost their jobs without notice. However, the things I was reading were completely helpless, sky-is-falling overreactions. "Dayton can't recover from this! Oregon will become a ghost town!"
Did that happen when Blue Moon closed? Cafe Boulevard? Chin's? Sure, we miss them, but restaurants close everywhere, all the time. Each one is typically not a virtual Jenga block that will send the entire town's economy crashing down. Here's a list of eateries that have closed in Dayton over the last two years. I don't seem to recall any of them causing irreparable damage to their neighborhood's financial infrastructure - especially considering they're normally filled by another tenant in no time.


Besides, it's been evident for a while that fine dining isn't exactly suitable for the Gem City's economy (especially the Oregon District). Pacchia's owners came up with a plan to re-vamp the space with a new concept and more afforable scale, and then everyone fussed, "This is the end of fine dining in Dayton! Now it will just be another bar! 5th street is going to be completely classless now!" Make up your minds, people. First, you pissed and moaned because it was too pricey to have dinner there, and when they think about changing their image to lower their price scale, you think it will turn into a Maury Povich episode in the dining room.

Mark Fisher decided to post an article about the closing today, and while it did give more detail - it's also based on a press release from the building's owner, not Pacchia owners Steve Ramsey and Carla Carnahan. It also sort of pointed the finger directly at them as the reason the coffee shop closed along with the restaurant, which I'm not sure is the case.
Also, leave it to DDN readers to make a few nonsense comments, then turn it into an argument about the Greene and the Dayton Mall area.

It seems that the City of Dayton is filled with an awful lot of doomsayers, leaving business owners damned if they do, damned if they don't. If all you can find to do is post on the DDN.com comments section about what's wrong with our fair city, you should probably just move somewhere else - where the dining is fancy, but God forbid - not too fancy.

On the factual and far-less-opinionated front, check back later for Dr. Ervin's press release regarding the closing. I should have it posted by this evening.

"Table Scraps" is where I'll put all of the little blurbs for the week that didn't really deserve their own post. The orphaned, inner-city kids of commentary, if you will.

- Picked up a bag of Planter's Smokey Bacon Peanuts when making a cigarette run in NKY last week. I was very excited that two of my favorite things had come together and made a delicious love child, but BLARGH. The peanuts seem to have been blanched and flavored ONLY with the smoke seasoning. Not impressed, Mr. Peanut. Try again.

- Trophy Nut & Candy in Tipp City won my heart by making a little something called Crunch & Nutties Hot and Spicy mix. NOM! I've been buying it at Big Lots about 5 cans at a time until they inevitably run out. A super tasty low-carb snack that offers more than just nuts. Cashews, almonds, peanuts, sesame sticks and corn mama sticks tossed in a spicy seasoning. But, of course any time I find something I love, they have to go and break my heart and discontinue it. I checked Trophy's website and they have something similar, but not exactly the same. But, I'll still probably end up buying it in bulk once I clean Big Lots out of their stash.

- J's aunt & uncle bought us a fancy microwave popcorn maker for Christmas, but I've been brawling with it. It came with about a dozen different types of corn, and I've found some good recipes for doctoring it up (such as making your own kettle corn!). Only problem is, I can't get it all to pop without burning. Does anyone have any tips for using one of these mothers?

- I've exhausted my one & only ramekin recipe. Do my kick-ass readers have any more? I'm open to desserts, but I'd love to get some ideas for savory dishes and side items I can serve with diner.

- I tried my hand at my mom's beef stew recipe idea last night, and it came out DELISH. I worked up the nutritional facts on it and turns out I don't need to feel guilty about eating a heaping helping of it!

- The sausage & breadcrumb stuffed chicken was only a halfway success. Very tasty, but really too much of a pain in the ass to make. Maybe If you get the wimpy little Tyson Chicken breasts, it would be easier. But, I buy all my meat freshly butchered from Dot's Market, thank you very much. I don't know what they're feeding their chickens, but they are some busty broads! I pounded the chicken out with a meat mallet until my arms gave out, but it still took almost twice the cooking time.

- That reminds me - if you live in Dayton, you're doing yourself a disservice if you're buying your meat and poultry anywhere else but Dot's. You absolutely can't beat the value, and I'd put their steaks & chops up against DLM's any day.

J and I still had a few bucks left on our Applebee's gift card, and I didn't feel much like cooking today, so we headed back to spend it on a late lunch.

Our waitress was attentive and friendly, the food was timely (except for our appetizer) and actually, pretty tasty. I ordered the Fiesta Lime chicken and there was no fussing or up-charging when I wanted to sub my side of rice for veggies. It was well cooked and seasoned, and the veggies were actually cooked this time. The manager was also making her rounds doing a bit of quality control, asking everyone how their meals were.

Consider this somewhat of a retraction, or as close as I'll ever get to saying the place isn't half bad. It's probably one of the better experiences I've had at Applebee's. Luckily, though, we've burned through the gift card, which means I won't have to see the inside of Shena - errrrr, Applebee's for a while.

Tomorrow, January 4, is National Spaghetti Day! I'll probably enjoy it at home with some whole wheat angel hair and my own fabulous bolognese sauce. However, for the rest of you who can carb it up without a care, Spaghetti Warehouse is helping celebrate it with a serious deal - $4.99 for a spaghetti dinner (choice of 11 different sauces) with your choice of soup or salad. As far as I know, all locations are participating, including the Dayton Spag House on East 5th Street downtown.

They turned out every bit as good as I'd expected! I might bake them for 2-3 minutes less next time, to amp up the gooeyness in the center. The Saigon cinnamon and wine aren't that strong in flavor, but emit one of the most wonderful smells ever when you dig into them right out of the oven. You can find the recipe here.



On a side note, big congrats to my good friends Josh & Carla (part-owner of Pacchia restaurant), who rang in the new year last night by tying the knot! A short & sweet ceremony at the stroke of midnight, surrounded by close family and friends. Two people couldn't be more perfect for one another (except J and I of course)!

Much like New Year's Eve, New Year's Day calls for complete gluttony. I slept until 2pm, then finally got the chutzpah to wash my face and begin the quest for a serious carbo-load that my marinated belly was craving. I desperately wanted stromboli, but almost every place was closed. My folks called and were headed to the Startlite Diner on Wilmington Pike and asked that J and I join them. My dad just raves about this place, so I figured we'd give it a whirl.

The place was dead as a doornail despite a few early birds having dinner, which means the greeter and servers were pretty happy to see us just so they'd have something to do. The menu here is massive. The menu sections encompassed sandwiches, hoagies, wraps, melts, Italian fare, seafood, burgers, daily specials, grilled items, soups, appetizers, baskets, salads - I could go on and on.

After much deliberation, I opted for the cheese steak hoagie. At a ridiculously low $5.95, it came with choice of soup (I picked the chicken pasta soup), as well as either fries.

The soup was tasty, but all of the different varieties of pasta in it were as far from al dente as you can get.

This massive mama came out loaded, and with a heaping helping of fries - it barely fit on the plate. It was delicious. The only thing I could have changed is the cheese - it came with perfectly melted American, but that's not really what I want on a cheese steak. I'd go for either provolone or even Whiz.



I'd like to say I crushed it, but I left a few bites of the hoagie and several fries on the plate after realizing I might go into some sort of coma if I ate any more.

J had the fish and chips, Dad had tilapia, and Mom ordered the baked ziti. I'm not a big ziti fan, but it looked like a heaping helping of delish! Hers came with the salad bar and garlic bread and only costs about $9.




Even though there's no way we could have held any, we weren't offered dessert - but the selections in the pie case up front looked pretty fantastic. My dad said the last time he ordered a piece of chocolate cake there, it was as big as the damn cash register.

Given the incredibly varied menu, friendly service and serious bang for your buck, this place gets 4 out of 5 sporks.