CINCINNATI — It is nearly ten months into the coronavirus pandemic and many people are looking forward to new places and experiences to help them escape the current situation.

John Cioffi III said this is why he and his business partners decided to open a new Italian restaurant and wine bar at 1000 Delta Ave. in Mount Lookout Square.

"Cibo Vino means food and wine, literally in Italian," said Cioffi. "So, we wanted to bring a concept to Mount Lookout that was a little bit on the higher demographic end."

He said Cibo Vino delivers a taste of Italy as soon as customers approach the restaurant with its colorful stucco face.

"You can't help but be inspired by it," Cioffi said.

There are a few surprises inside too.

"Nobody knows that there's actually a wine grotto in the back," Cioffi said, adding he and his partners plan to install outdoor heaters and offer live music in the space within a few weeks.

Co-owner and head chef Chris Baulo said the decor and building perfectly match the Italian-inspired food and wine menu he has created.

Baulo said, "we want everybody to come in and feel comfortable," while at the same time introducing them to something new.

"We went with about 70 percent of the wine list being Italian, a little bit different than American wines or let's say French wines," he said. "You're talking about styles. There are so many . . . there are multiple styles that are made with similar varietals of grapes."

Baulo said those styles represent multiple regions of Italy and pair well with his mostly small plate menu that features multiple antipasti, salads, seafood and a rotation of other seasonal dishes.

Cibo Vino also makes six varieties of pasta in-house each day.

"I like to think I'm more of using ingredients you would find a lot in Italian cooking from across Italy, not just in one particular region," Baulo said. "We want to have a good amount of smaller options right. You can actually have multiple things and try a lot of things."

For those looking to simply find a new wine, Cibo VIno also offers tastings by the glass on 30 percent of the restaurant's selection, or wine flights, which the restaurant's staff will walk guests through.

Opening a new restaurant during the pandemic can be challenging, but Cioffi said he feels that sometimes people need to be as bold as some of the wines Cibo Vino serves.

"If you wait for everything to be perfect it’s almost like everything in life, sometimes you'll never do a deal," he said.

For more information visit cibovinobar.com.

Are you ready to rock this weekend?

If so, why not kick it off by seeing Joan Jett & the Blackhearts this Friday. Or maybe you are looking for something a little more modern? Then how about Kesha and Betty Who on Sunday?

If music isn't your thing, don't worry. There's plenty more to do during these waning days of summer. Just look below.

JOAN JETT & THE BLACKHEARTS: 7:30 p.m. Friday. PNC Pavilion, 6295 Kellogg Ave., Cincinnati. $24-$145. Rock and Roll Hall of Famers Joan Jett & The Blackhearts will team up with Cheap Trick for a co-headline show at PNC Pavilion. Gates open at 6:30 p.m. For more information visit www.riverbend.org.

BIG BIERGARTEN EVENT: 6-11 p.m. Friday; 2-11 p.m. Saturday; noon-7 p.m. Sunday. Germania Park, 3529 W. Kemper Rd., Colerain Township. $5 per person. $10 parking. The Germania Society's Big Biergarten Experience is BACK, BIGGER and BETTER than last year. The experience is a preview for the return of the organization's signature event, OKTOBERFEST that will return in 2022. For more information visit germaniasociety.com.

ZIEGLERFEST: 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturday. MadTree Brewing Co., 3301 Madison Rd., Oakley. Free. Summer nears its end ... which can only mean one thing in Cincinnati: Oktoberfest season is upon us. Get an early start to this year's German-themed festivities with the inaugural Zieglerfest at MadTree. The brewery will serve Oktoberfest food, Ziegler beer on draft with a commemorative stein, live music and more. So, dust off the lederhosen and get ready to have some fun. For more information visit the event Facebook page.

PILAR GRAND OPENING: 4 p.m. Saturday. Pilar, 56 E. Court St., Downtown. Free. Pilar, a new bar inspired by famed American author Ernest Hemingway will feature nine drinks named after Hemingway when it hosts its grand opening celebration this weekend. Owners Four Entertainment Group (4EG) describes its latest place as a Key West-inspired cocktail bar that its name from Hemingway’s 38-foot fishing boat. For more information about the grand opening visit www.pilarcincinnati.com.

RELATED: Pilar, Key West-inspired bar, opening this weekend

FAST FORWARD GALA: 6-10 p.m. Saturday. Contemporary Arts Center, 44 E. Sixth St., Downtown. $150-$250. Get dressed up for the occasion and enjoy this fun, festive art auction and fundraising event to help support programming at the CAC. Food, drinks, and valet parking will be provided. Your ticket also includes admission to the gala after-party, where you can dance the night away from 10 p.m. to 1 a.m. For more information visit www.showclix.com.

URBAN FARMING FESTIVAL: 2-7 p.m. Saturday. Great Parks Nature Center at The Summit, 1580 Summit Rd., Roselawn. Free. Come explore Great Parks of Hamilton County's newest nature center during Urban Farming Festival in Roselawn. This event will feature food, drink, live music, a "mindfulness tent," hiking and demonstrations on how to incorporate sustainability practices at home. For more information visit www.greatparks.org.

1212 HOUSE PARTY: Noon-midnight Saturday. Art Academy of Cincinnati, 1212 Jackson Street, Over-the-Rhine. Free. The Art Academy of Cincinnati will unveil its new center for community impact, SITE 1212 with a 12-hour party this weekend. The celebration will include a headline performance by the Young Heirlooms and additional musical performances provided by Cincinnati Music Accelerator and Inhailer Radio. Food and drink also will be available. For more information visit www.artacademy.edu.

WHISPERING BEARD FOLK FESTIVAL: 3 p.m. Saturday to midnight Sunday. Carriage House Farm, 2872 Lawrenceburg Rd., North Bend. $10-$65. Whispering Beard is excited to invite guests to join them for the 2021 Whispering Beard Folk Festival. This year's festival will be held at Carriage House Farm that features local farm-to-table restaurants and an on-farm market with fresh produce and farm products daily. For more information go to www.whisperingbeard.com.

KESHA WITH SPECIAL GUEST BETTY WHO: 6 p.m. Sunday. PromoWest Pavilion at Ovation, 101 W. Fourth St., Newport. $44.50-$85. Kesha will perform with special guest Betty Who during PromoWest Pavilion's inaugural show. Just a reminder, PromoWest is requiring proof of a negative COVID-19 test or vaccination to enter the facility for this outdoor show. For more information visit promowestlive.com.

CINCINNATI — Hyde Park resident Terry Grefer's first impression of the new Oakley Kitchen Food Hall on Madison Road was a simple one.

"We're just excited to be here," Grefer said. "My main first impression is I'm just impressed with the whole concept."

Grefer decided to check out Oakley Kitchen, located at 3715 Madison Road in Oakley, on a recent Thursday with neighborhood friends.

One of those friends, Jeannine Winkelmann, learned about the kitchen through Facebook.

"I think it's really exciting," Winkelmann said. "And it's really convenient and I certainly remember when my kids were little and nobody liked the same food that this would be a great place for families."

Winkelmann referred to the concept behind Oakley Kitchen that makes it a unique neighborhood concept.

"It's special because all of the kitchen owners, and there are seven of them, have their own recipes, and these are all restaurants that you would go elsewhere to find and they might be in eight different neighborhoods," said Doug Hart.

Hart acts as a consultant to the seven restaurant space owners, plus one bar space, operating out of Oakley Kitchen. As Hart explained, each owner leases a small kitchen space for one year in the food hall.

The food served by those vendors ranges from traditional American fares like hamburgers and New Orleans-style cooking to the eclectic, which includes Syrian and Hawaiian outlets.

"We don't have any chains," Hart said. "These are all chef-driven, local concepts. Most of them are starting restaurants for the first time."

He added there is a story behind each food hall counter.

"There are all kinds of stories, including a refugee story," Hart said.

Hart referred to the Olive Tree, run by a Syrian refugee and her two daughters. He described the fare as something similar to Mediterranean dishes people might be more familiar with.

Then there are places such as Jimmy Lou's, a New Orleans-style eatery operated by Jeffery Harris.

Harris moved to Cincinnati with his wife, who is from the Queen City, after Hurricane Katrina decimated his hometown of New Orleans in 2005.

"This has always been a dream of mine, probably all my life, all my culinary life," Harris said.

And by all of his culinary life, Harris does mean all of his life.

"My great-grandmother, who this restaurant is named after, she started me cooking," Harris said. "So, and every story that I was taught about would always lead to her and her influence on me cooking. And so with that it was easy for me to go into naming this place after her."

Harris also worked in multiple New Orleans kitchens as a young adult before moving to Cincinnati, where he's spent the past decade and a half building up to the point where he could own his own place.

"For me, it's all about just giving people honest, real food from where I'm from," Harris said. "And that's all I want to do. I know the reasons why this food is what it is and why people are drawn to it."

Food on Jimmy Lou's menu includes red beans and rice, po'boy sandwiches and fried okra. Harris also started offering fried chicken dinners on Fridays.

Harris said the popularity of his spot within the first two weeks of Oakley Kitchen's opening has been "ridiculous." He also said he has future plans but isn't quite willing to fully announce them just yet.

"Until this is the machine I want it to be, then those thoughts are kind of on hold," Harris said.

Learn more about each of Oakley Kitchen's vendors and what they have to offer at www.oakley-kitchen.com.

Thousands of people in the Tri-State continue to wait for unemployment benefits, even as state systems have paid out tens of billions of dollars in unemployment benefits since the start of the pandemic.

In "The Rebound: Lost in the System," WCPO takes a closer look at where unemployment systems fall short, how many people are impacted and where they can find help.

First, Anchor Julie O'Neill dives into how states are reassessing their unemployment systems and how people have been left waiting for answers.

Evan Millward and Brian Niesz break down Cincinnati unemployment data, which show unemployment was worse during the pandemic than during the Great Recession. The good news: The Tri-State's unemployment situation is improving rapidly as the pandemic eases.

Courtney Francisco explores the causes behind the Tri-State's unemployment backlog, how systems deal with fraud, and what officials have done to get help to those who need it.

With the restaurant industry facing an employee shortage, Brian Mains reports how Freestore Foodbank and CityLink are ramping up culinary programs to bolster the local workforce.

Experts say there is a definite correlation between pandemic unemployment and mental illnesses like depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress. Lisa Smith reports on Greater Cincinnati Behavioral Health Services, which has specific programs to connect people living with mental illness with employment.

Many job seekers are now realizing they haven't done an in-person job interview after well over a year dominated by remote work and Zoom interviews. John Matarese has tips to help job seekers excel at their next interview.

Watch "The Rebound: Lost in the System" on WCPO 9 News and on your favorite streaming device Thursday.

DELHI TWP., OHIO — One longtime local Skyline Chili parlor owner recently showed love for its community by creating a visual ode to the past.

"We basically gutted the entire restaurant," said Joe Lambrinides, owner of Skyline Chili in Delhi Township. "So, from ceiling tiles all the way up to all wiring above the ceiling tiles."

Lambrinides said when he decided to remodel his store starting in February, rather than update the location with new decor and seating, he also wanted to reflect its history and the history of the community it has served for 40 years.

Lambrinides's father opened the parlor on Delhi Avenue in 1980 featuring the first Skyline drive-thru.

"I started working when I was 15," Lambrinides said.

The younger Lambrinides said a longtime employee suggested decorating the chili parlor with historic black and white photos of Delhi Township.

"We were looking around the restaurant, where to put these and how many we wanted," he said.

And then in stepped Kristina Kennel, owner of 31st Designs.

"I knew the Skyline, the Delhi Skyline Chili was under renovation," Kennel said. "I grew up in Delhi."

Kennel said when she was approached to help decorate the interior of the redesigned Skyline, she was honored.

"We wanted to fit as many pictures in there as possible without overwhelming the viewers," she said.

With the help of the Delhi Historical Society, the Lambrinides and Kennel created a mural of 33 photographs illustrating both the community and location's history.

"Of course it's probably because of who I am, but I love the vintage Skyline, the original Delhi Skyling sign," Lambrinides said. "It's unique."

Kennel said she had a few favorite photographs too.

"I love the old fashion cars, of course," Kennel said. "Seeing the prices and the old news ads and newspapers is pretty cool."

She also said where the mural is located holds a special place for her.

"This was our neighborhood Skyline here to go to," Kennel said. "The gazebo was our favorite place to sit."

CINCINNATI — Listermann Brewing Co., one of the Queen City's longest operating craft breweries is planning to open a second location soon.

Dan Listermann, president and founder of Listermann said he plans to open the Listermann Trail House at the corner of Montgomery Road and Dana Avenue near the Wasson Way Trail this Memorial Day weekend.

"We're just three blocks down the street," Listermann said of the Trail House, which is located inside the former Delicio Coal Fire Pizzeria.

Listermann opened his original brewery supply store at 1621 Dana Ave. in 1991. Listermann Brewing Co. started serving its own craft brewery in the early 2000s.

He said what will make the Trail House different from the original taproom is the types of beer the new location will serve.

"This will be the restaurant with more ordinary beers," Listermann said.

Those "ordinary beers" will include more traditional ales and lagers compared to the experimental and seasonal beers that have garnered Listermann a strong following.

"We'll have your pizza, your garlic breads, your salads, your pretzels and Listermann beer cheese," added Michael Musgrave, the general manager of the Listermann Trail House.

Musgrave is making use of the large central oven Delicio used to cook its pizzas before closing in 2019.

Musgrave and Listermann plan to incorporate elements such as bike racks and decor to reflect the Trail House's location at the end of a newly finished portion of the Wasson Way Trail on Montgomery Road as well.

"This is going to be a family friendly place, a place for everybody to come in," Musgrave said.

Listermann said the Listermann Trail House came about after another venture, announced in late 2019 fell through after the COVID-19 pandemic began last year.

That concept was to be a German-style beer hall on Fourth Street, Downtown.

"Just opportunities as they come along," Listermann said of deciding to open the Trail House instead.

Tap here for more information about Listermann Brewing Co.