Hello,

You may have seen the television news story or heard otherwise that ColdTurkey has closed. We regret to say, it is true.

We deeply regret this decision was necessary and thought it would be helpful if our many friends, supporters, and patrons knew the backstory.

We founded the ColdTurkey concept here in downtown Cincinnati. It was a fun place to eat and relax. “Eatertainment™” is the phrase we coined for this. We were all about supporting the local community… by providing a place for artists to display their work commission free (about 20 pieces of art were sold in the 14 weeks we were open)… by providing a venue for local musicians to perform… by being involved in community affairs.

In April, we took a vacant, downtown restaurant and set about renovating it. There were a lot of challenges, but only one that was unsolvable. This was an unpleasant odor coming from the back hallway and bathrooms. At first, it was intermittent and while unpleasant, we were able to control it using air fresheners.

As time went on, that odor became constant and much stronger. It smelled like old urine and feces and drifted into the dining areas. We were terribly embarrassed to have this odor in our premises. It is definitely not a planned part of the ColdTurkey concept.

We had a professional engineer investigate this odor problem, and we had RotoRooter look for the source of the odor. Both confirmed that the odor was not coming from our leased premises. It appeared that the odor was coming from the floors above us and entering into the bathrooms from above. It is possible there are cracked or broken waste pipes in the floors of the building above us, but we do not know this for certain.

We complained of this odor problem to our landlord, S.B.G. Properties, LTD and Mr. E. Jack Brendamour when we began renovating the premises in April both verbally and in writing. This was to no avail. They never fixed the problem.

The Health Department investigated and reported there was a noxious odor.

There was also a problem with the building heat. Last winter the building was not heated. The hot water boiler for the heating system was decrepit and non- functional. The chimney to vent the boiler was plugged shut with debris. Months ago, Jack Brendamour told us there was a new boiler on order. We haven’t seen it yet.

Thus, we were left with a restaurant that smelled like a latrine and facing a winter with no apparent prospect of heat. We cannot have our valued patrons and employees suffer through this any longer.

We closed on Sunday, October 4th. We collected the remaining food we had in our pantries and refrigerators (remember… no freezers… smiles) and delivered to a local food pantry.

We would love to open ColdTurkey again in downtown Cincinnati, but of course in a far better facility.

We would like to acknowledge the many people who made ColdTurkey the wonderful experience it was.

To the artists and musicians who participated … you were an integral part of ColdTurkey… you helped realize the vision of ColdTurkey.. thank you for joining us.

To our many patrons… we loved having you drop in… and enjoyed learning you by name… we apologize to any of you who had a less than stellar experience… thank you to all of you for being part of ColdTurkey.

To our catering clients… it was an honor and pleasure to be invited into your offices to serve you… we deeply regret we cannot continue to serve you… thank you for your hospitality.

To our servers.. we had constant compliments on your service.. friendly, knowledgeable, not overbearing, the perfect atmosphere for ColdTurkey… thank you.

To our cooks… you made the fantastic recipes real… we had comment after comment about the quick service and delicious sandwiches… thank you for being the great cooks you are.

To our Executive Chef, Lee… the recipes were beyond belief… you ran the kitchen with outstanding expertise… anyplace you work is lucky to have you… thank you.

To our Catering Manager, Jennifer… our catering customers constantly commented on how professional and personable you were… your setups were exemplary… you are the reason why catering was successful… thank you.

To David Ginsburg and the staff of Downtown Cincinnati Inc. … your support and encouragement was invaluable… you are an outstanding resource for Cincinnati… thank you.

To Cincinnati Police Department, District 1 (downtown)… it was a pleasure to welcome you into our restaurant… we appreciated your presence and support… thank you.

To Cincinnati… it has been our privilege to be part of the revival of downtown… you opened your arms to us and made us feel welcome and a valuable part of the community… thank you.

We welcome any comments and suggestions you may have about ColdTurkey, and we are keeping our Contact Form open for your use. We look forward to hearing from you.

And again… thank you.

The ColdTurkey Partners