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By Root 1032 0

to be a typical Main Street café, but is in fact an extraordinary one. During a week in Dayton, the Gathering Place became our destination lunch stop for moist ham loaf and deep-flavored smoked pork chops sided by mashed potatoes and bread crumb–enriched escalloped corn. We were astounded by the fried tenderloin sandwich—totally unlike the brittle-crisp, foot-wide ’loins typical of Midwest cafés. Here, the tenderloin is a thick pork steak with only hint of crust—a slab of meat that is folded over inside the bun so you get a double layer of pork as juicy as a pair of chops. For dessert, we had cool coconut and peach crunch pie, the latter served hot and veined with melted butter.

New Sandusky Fish Company

235 E. Shoreline Dr.

419–621–8263

Sandusky, OH

LD | $

Virtuoso Roadfooders Bruce Bilmes and Sue Boyles turned us on to this little take-out only shack that offers sandwiches and whole dinners at single-digit prices. Located on Lake Erie’s southern shore, it boasts fresh yellow perch and walleye and that locally loved specialty, frog legs. All are fried to golden-crusted tenderness, and the fish fillets (also including catfish and bass) are piled into buns with abandon. The frog legs are available only at dinner, with sides of fries, onion rings, hush puppies, etc. We are especially fond of the mellow freshwater savor of the perch and the soft, milky meat of the whitefish.

Many customers are anglers who bring their catch here to have it cleaned (in a building out back) and have a sandwich while they wait. While all business is take-out, for travelers like us who prefer outside-the-car dining there are nice bench seats in a gazebo across the street.

The Pine Club

1926 Brown St.

937–228–7463

Dayton, OH

D | $$$

The Pine Club is paradise for meat eaters. You have your choice of filet mignon, porterhouse, or sirloin, each cut and aged on premises and cooked on a grill so the outside gets a good dark crunch and the inside is stunningly juicy. Perhaps even more wonderful than steak is chopped steak, made from a mix of prime beef and dry-aged lamb, its succulence as luxurious as steak tartare, but with the added pleasures of dripping juice and a crusty skin.

Regulars know to begin a meal with scallops—sweet, firm nuggets with a pale light crust and breezy sea taste. Brilliant tartar sauce comes on the side. All meals are served with a basket of dinner rolls, and steaks come with a handful of onion rings and choice of potatoes that includes Lyonnaise: a crunchy, plate-wide pancake of shredded taters woven with veins of sautéed onion. As for salad, although a mesclun mix was added to the menu a while ago, the traditional Pine Club salad is iceberg lettuce—cold, crisp chunks served “red and bleu,” which is French dressing loaded with enormous clods of dry blue cheese.

Dessert? There is none. If you’re in dire need of something sweet and don’t necessarily want a high-proof libation such as a grasshopper or a Golden Cadillac, you go next door to the Ben & Jerry’s store.

The Pine Club is a true and pure Midwest supper club, open only in the evening, until midnight on weekdays, 1:00 A.M. on Friday and Saturday. No reservations, no credit cards, no nonsense.

Putz’s Creamy Whip

Putz Place and West Fork Rd.

Exit 17 off I-74

513–681–8668

Cincinnati, OH

LD (closed in winter) | $

Putz’s is a drive-up stand with a menu of hot dogs, foot-longs, burgers, and barbecue, but it’s ice cream that stars. Smooth and rich, it is an ivory-hued soft-serve custard that is great swirled into a sugar cone or waffle cone or heaped into a cup and enjoyed for its simple, pure, creamy goodness. Or you can have it whipped up for an extra-thick milkshake or malt or mixed into a soda.

The best way to enjoy Putz’s Creamy Whip, in our opinion, is to come for a sundae or banana split. Banana splits are long plastic boats that hold three mounds of ice cream plus all the toppings. Sundaes are medium-size plastic cups filled with custard and topped with whatever you like. The best of all sundaes is the turtle, for which the