Dough Yay Me! Clintonville's Dough Mama Cafe and Bakery

Granted, as one of the Columbus' main thoroughfares, High Street has plenty of room for all manner of businesses. But for the baked goods and pastry-styled treats fan, this roadway has become the home of more than its share of drool-worthy options in recent years. Starting up in Worthington and ending in the Brewery District, one could theoretically embark on a non-big-chain, brick-and-mortar crawl from north to south that could include:

• Donuts (Peace, Love and Little Donuts and Tupelo Donuts)
• Cakes (at least four cake-focused establishments from Worthington's Mrs. Goodman's down to the Short North's Piece of Cake)
• European-Styled/Influenced Pastries (Clintonville's Mozart's and the Brewery District's Kolache Republic)
• Vegan Treats (Pattycake Bakery)
• Gluten-free Goods (Food for Good Thought), and even
• Flowers(!) with your Flour (Flowers and Bread).

If one wanted to be even more of a glutton, places like Laughlin's Bakery and the treasure trove in the North Market (Destination Donuts, Brezel Pretzel, Omega Artisan, and Pistacia Vera) all lie within stone's throw of High. Combined together, these places could easily carbo-load the runners for the Columbus Marathon this coming October and have plenty left over for the race volunteers.

Of course, it would be a cardinal sin if you forget the pie. If you're seeking out the pie and only the pie, the long-standing Just Pies near Graceland Mall fits the bill perfectly. If you want just a little more variety, two very similar places are right up your alley: Worthington's Sassafras Bakery, a favorite destination of ours since I've moved over here, and Clintonville's Dough Mama, which holds down the subject matter of this latest blogpost.

Similar to Sassafras, Dough Mama's space just south of West North Broadway (note to those unfamiliar with Columbus: West North Broadway is not a misprint) is fairly compact, albeit with a touch more seating than its northern counterpart (the recent opening of a back patio area this summer has also added some welcomed capacity.)  Another distinguishing factor Dough Mama sports can be found in a collection of shelves featuring a number of local craft vendors' wares right next to the ordering counter.

Also like Sassafras, the eatery's pies take center stage in the display case, not surprising considering it was the pies of owner/founder Perrie Wilkof which drew raves at events like the Clintonville Farmers' Market and the Columbus Flea, as well as numerous eateries which featured her wares, before the establishment of her brick and mortar in November, 2015.

Of course, one cannot live on just pie alone (though I'm sure that would be one heck of a delicious experiment) - Dough Mama sports a select menu of cafe-styled breakfast and lunch favorites, with plenty of local sourcing (Foraged and Sown, Swainway Urban Farm, and Thunderkiss Coffee, among others) and seasonal variety.  For example, this satisfying French Toast, featuring Dan The Baker bread topped with berry jam, graham cracker sprinkles and a side of lime curd, came featured a week later with local favorite Branstool Orchards peaches and a peach-vanilla syrup.

Big portions will never be the realm of a place like Dough Mama, but what is offered rates highly in taste-to-volume proportion, whether it be items like their Ham Biscuit (featuring pickled onions, egg and horseradish sauce as well as a side salad) or any of their seasonal quiche creations.

Of course, there's nothing says you can't not indulge at Dough Mama. And while there are other baked goods to satisfy your sweet tooth here, including cookies, muffins and bread puddings, adding a pie (either the traditional sliced or the increasingly found hand pie) to your order probably provides the best way to do this.  From the Lemon Lavender Chess Pies to the Maple Bourbon Pecan Pie (so delicious, I forgot to take a picture) to their seasonal berry pies, perhaps this is as appropriate a sandwich board sign as any to greet the Dough Mama diner.

Dough Mama
3335 N. High Street (Clintonville - Google Maps)
Columbus, OH 43214
(614) 268-3662
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