Park+Vine: I ran into Dan from P+V, Megan from Coffee Emporium and others at Arnold's on Wednesday night. Dan delivered some very good news: P+V is now carrying items from Melt. My favorite lunch place and my favorite store. I'm happy. For now, he's only carrying the sesame peanut noodles and a kind of pudding. If the items sell well (hint, hint: get thee to P+V and buy the tasty noshes), more Melt-a-riffic goodies could follow.

Arnold's: Speaking of Cincinnati's oldest bar, Arnold's has added a fun summer drink to its menu--the mojorita. Ronda Androski, the owner, warned me that it had a bit of a kick, but I slurped one down without noticing any buzz. Sweet, minty, and full of lime, the drink ($7--yowza) mixes the best of a mojito and a margarita. I would have preferred a bit of club soda in it to cut the sweetness, but I'm very anti-sugar.

Five Star Foodies: Valerie Williams and family over at my favorite local, vegan frozen foods company has plenty of new products out. I first noticed the vegan egg salad and sloppy joes at Dean's Mediterranean Imports at Findlay Market a few weeks back. Now I'm seeing those salads, plus two veggie burgers (Artichoke and Gourmet Meatless Grillers) at other stores, too. According to Polly Campbell, she's also at the Wyoming Farmers Market each week. I'll have to give her a call or drop an email soon to see what else we can expect from FSF.

Lavomatic: Tuesday is now burger night at Lavomatic, with happy hour prices on drinks and a rotating menu of three burgers (might I suggest a veggie burger, Joanne). Chef Joanne, Sous-Chef Rob and Manager-Sommelier Burke have plenty planned to keep diners interested. Joanne and company are very interested in sharing info on the weekly specials, seasonal produce and other happenings via this web thingy, so expect to see frequent mini updates on Lavo. (And no, BuyCincy doesn't love Lavomatic more than any other business. They send us news/tell us things. Therefore, we publish. If you have any applicable news to share, please do. We'll publish it. Scout's honor.)

Sushi downtown, please: A friend randomly met some fledgling restaurateurs who are opening a sushi/Asian restaurant in West Chester. To be called Miso, the restaurant sounds pretty neat from what I heard through the grapevine. That's great news for BuyCincy co-founder Sean, who now works way out there.

All I'm asking is for some sushi love downtown. Those of us who don't like to leave the 202 ZIP code for dinner (Oh, don't judge! I like to walk to dinner, and you know you don't like to venture far from home either!) would do just about anything to get sushi in downtown/OTR. First Mixx teased us by touting itself as a sushi bar (wayyyy before it opened) and then we heard rumors that we were getting a sushi joint. We've been patient. Bring the OTR/CBD some fun and funky sushi joint.

Iris Book Café:  I'm a very patient person. But being jolted awake by a power saw in the wee hours of the night (after midnight) tests my patience. This happened to us a few weeks ago (June 26 to be exact). My boyfriend, Fred, nicely yelled at the person to cut it out (we'd patiently endured construction noise until past 11 most nights that week), and he/she did. The next night, at Final Friday, I discovered the source of the noise: A fabulous new store/eatery called Iris Book Café, whose courtyard abuts our back patio. We'd been peering into the courtyard for weeks, wondering what would be coming. We spoke with the owner and introduced ourselves as neighbors. (If he knew we were the ones who complained about the construction noise, he didn't let on.) As it turns out, the used/rare book store and café was frantically trying to open for a sneak preview on Final Friday. That Thursday night they had much work left to do, but they were still open on Friday to the public. No food yet (should be coming within weeks), but the books are on the shelves and ready to be sold/read. With Kaldi's leaving (sniffle, sniffle), Iris Book Café will be hosting movie nights similar to those held at the bohemian coffee shop/bar. And it will be nice to have another place to grab a quick bite.