I attended a cooking demonstration and dinner on Saturday night at a business called Garnish Catering in Blue Ash, Ohio. Garnish caters to a unique niche market by providing not only catering services, but cooking demonstrations and classes for adults and children, as well as gourmet carry out meal preparation.

Kim Baretta owner of Garnish publishes the prepared meal menus on a weekly basis and will email them to people who opt in to her mailing list. The facility is an ideal location for shower events, small parties, and other events.

CNN released an article listing the Top 100 Cities to Live and Launch and Blue Ash, Ohio was ranked #62. With a population of 11,942 people, Blue Ash is the second largest employer second only to the city of Cincinnati. Startups can benefit from programs such as Ohio’s Job Creation Tax Credit, which goes to companies that create 25 new full-time jobs paying at least 150% of the minimum wage. According to the article the population of Blue Ash more than quadruples during the workday because there are so many businesses there. Within Blue Ash 35% of the area is residential, 35% business, and the rest is for public or other use.

The city of Blue Ash boasts alot of businesses unique to Cincinnati, such as Marx Bagels, Benchmark, Cappels, and Servatiis Pastry Shop. Blue Ash has quiet residential neighborhoods with easy access to shopping, and highway access. The Blue Ash Towne Square hosts concerts and other events during the warmer months, and is beautifully decorated over the holiday season. The Blue Ash Recreation center located on Cooper Road has year round activities for people of all ages including swimming facilities and an indoor exercise center for a small fee for residents. There are plenty of nature trails, a private airport, and public golf facilities as well. The city of Blue Ash residents attend Sycamore Community Schools.