A year ago, chef Karen Small shocked the local dining community by announcing that she was shutting down Flying Fig, her 23-year-old Ohio City bistro. The news was particularly distressing given that it followed two years of similar announcements from chefs and owners all over town. But the news wasn’t all grim: Small also revealed at the time that she and partner Jill Davis of Toast would be opening a European-style wine bar in its place.
Ditching the ceremony in favor of the carefree means that diners are free to use the space to their liking. Don’t feel like settling in for an entire meal? Belly up to the bar for a round of black walnut Manhattans and a dish of bright green Castelvetrano olives before your dinner reservation elsewhere. Have a little more time and appetite on your hands? Snag a craft paper-topped table and unwind over a ham and cheese board and a bottle of white wine from the south of France .
Our server neglected to convey the specials, so we nearly missed out on one of the best fish fries in town, but after seeing it land on a nearby table we inquired. Two flanks of plump, firm and mild walleye are encased in honey-colored beer-batter shells. The mound of crisp frites had no chance of a lengthy existence.