Seventh Heaven

OK, so this isn’t the best week to publish our annual Best of Cincinnati ® issue. With U.S. troops engaged in battle in Iraq, the matters of everyday life in Greater Cincinnati start to pale in comparison.

Then again, this is the seventh consecutive year we’ve unleashed our staff and reader picks at the end of March, and it’s become a tradition. People have to eat, buy things and entertain themselves, and there have been too many local sports moments, political gaffes and arts thrills over the past year to ignore.

So we plow ahead with the 2003 Best of Cincinnati ® issue. Because despite the gloomy military operation and the lingering bad ecomony, life goes on in our home town.

Want to know who serves the best grilled ostrich? What’s a good romantic riverboat cruise? Who’s the best local elected official? What’s the favorite amateur sports team? Who’s the best-dressed weatherman? All of that and much more are in the following pages. As usual, the sheer volume is staggering:

• Once again, the Best of Cincinnati ® section is bigger than ever, this year checking in at 88 pages. For the first time, we’ve packaged it as a stitched pullout section — it’ll be easier to hang onto and refer back to over time.

• Inside, you’ll find the winners of 168 Readers Picks, compiled from more than 1,000 good ballots collected online and through the mail (and after the obviously stuffed and mass-produced entries were tossed out).

• The staff contributed 242 picks, commenting on people, places and things the readers might have missed. We also offer seven feature stories on further choices — one in each major category — ranging from best gyros and best jukeboxes to profiles of a kayak enthusiast, historic sign museum and drive-thru markets.

• This year’s “mini best” neighborhood feature is on Bellevue (following last year’s on Bevis). We figure there are still a few “Bs” we can get to in future years.

• For the seventh consecutive year, Cincinnati piggies lead you through these pages. With uncertainty surrounding us at every turn right now, our art staff chose feel-good retro toys as this year’s approach to the pig theme. So you’ll find piggies in LiteBrite, EASY-BAKE Oven, Shrinky Dinks, LEGOs, Silly Putty, Play-Doh and Etch-A-Sketch.

• Tons of people contributed to making this the biggest Best of Cincinnati ® ever. Thanks to the art and production staff: Sean Hughes, Jason Kidwell, Geoffrey Raker and Patricia Robisch. Thanks to Lisa Robisch for use of her LiteBrite. Thanks to the sales and marketing staff: Dan Bockrath, Jim McIntosh, Chuck Davis, Allison Banzhaf, Rachel Bollinger, Amy Goodwin, Betsy Hodges, Dan McCabe, David Schmidt, Kristofer Sommer, Tracy Walker, Tiffany Ware, David Whitehead and Jason Woodruff. Thanks to the photographers: Jymi Bolden, Matt Borgerding, Jon Hughes, David Sorcher and Wendy Uhlman. Thanks to the distribution staff: Ben Clarke, Bill Kellerman and our drivers. Thanks to the Web staff: Brandon Brady and Bill Bullock. Thanks to the accounting staff: Larry Gross and Sara Beiting. Thanks to the ballot counters: Geri Boyle, Jeremy Flannery and helpers. And thanks to the editorial folks who contributed staff picks, wrote feature stories and/or copy-edited this monster: Brandon Brady, Kate Brauer, Mike Breen, Donna Covrett, Gregory Flannery, Jason Gargano, Sian Gibby, Paul Kreft, Emily Lieb, Rebecca Lomax, Tom McElfresh, Rick Pender, Bill Peterson, Rodger Pille, Steve Ramos, Maria Rogers, Doug Trapp, Jessica Turner, Liberty Wampler and Kathy Y. Wilson.

— JOHN FOX AND FELIX WINTERNITZ