Reminds Me Of Home: Kuya Ian's Bistro

A turo-turo (point-point) or buffet style setup that you might see in a
Filipino restaurant or household hosting a big celebration

One of my adjustments in coming to Ohio several years ago was the changed demographics: as I found out at the Asian Festival, the Central Ohio region as a whole had up to 15 times less Filipino-American residents when compared to certain Bay Area cities. The lack of Filipino-oriented businesses of any sort was a little jarring, especially when it came to food: dishes that were both part of growing up and easy to obtain were things I would have to cook myself if I wanted them.

Then Red Velvet Cafe, owned by Krizzia Yanga, came to Downtown Columbus in 2015, with first a modest introduction of Filipino cuisine (sandwiches featuring Filipino-styled meats like lechon and bistek.) Later came the Filipino silog-style breakfasts (featuring an over-easy egg, garlic fried rice, and a Filipino-styled protein), which brought me memories of home and were eagerly consumed by both me and a host of others.  This success led to the opening of Bonifacio, whose modern Filipino fusion menu items as well as more traditional takes into the cuisine (with their region-focused and Boodle/Kamayan events) plus uniquely-styled cocktails have also been well-received by the public

With that said, many people don't know there's a second Filipino option on the northern end of the metro area, and it's an option that reminds me a lot of home for more than one reason.

Worthington: Pizza Capital of Central Ohio?

The downtown Worthington location of Cincinnati-based Dewey's Pizza

"Is Worthington the pizza capital of Central Ohio?"

This rather simple notion that I overheard in casual conversation awhile back seemed to have some merit on my casual remembrance: this smallish Columbus suburb does seem to have a fair number of pizza purveyors within reach of the area's residents. And like that intoxicating smell of melting cheese, tomato sauce and browning dough in the oven, the question grew more alluring in my mind.  Finally, early last November on a day I wasn't doing anything else in particular, I decided to dive in to the topic.

Little did I know that that quest would be almost like answering the bigger, oft-debated questions related to pizza, such as what style of pizza rules supreme, and this quest's eventual result was not anything like I was expecting at the beginning...

A Look Around Liberty Station (aka Stone, In Love With You)

My dad, a U.S. Navy veteran, once told me that he received some of his training down at the former San Diego Naval Training Center. Not having visited the city before, I wasn't quite sure where the facility would have been, but as luck would have it, we inadvertently found it by sheer coincidence when visiting Liberty Station for some craft beer and a look around.

A bench in the shape of a boat, perhaps a nod to the property's Naval
Training Center past, lies in front of Liberty Public Market

If you haven't guessed it by now, the land where the Liberty Station development resides is the home of the former Naval Training Center, which was targeted for closure by the Base Realignment and Closure Commission in 1993. Some communities around the nation have struggled with base closures, most familiar to me being Vallejo and the closure of Mare Island Naval Shipyard (a little bit of that history is detailed in my previous post on Mare Island Brewing.)

Despite continuing controversy related to developer demands and other viable alternatives brought up by social, Tribal and airport expansion advocates, the former training center has for all intents and purposes been remodeled into an all-encompassing mix of residential, commercial and recreational uses. For our purposes, two of Liberty Station's residents enticed us to drop by for a visit on this vacation.

Who Needs Sam Malone? Staas Brewing Company (Delaware, OH)

Delaware, Ohio, has become a favorite day trip of ours to escape the Columbus metro for a bit, for both the old (we love moseying through its various antique stores), the fancy (the great tasting menu of Veritas Tavern), and the new (Delaware's newer of the town's craft breweries in Restoration Brew Worx.)

However, we're still finding new stuff to acquaint ourselves with in this town of 36,000. Our most recent trip gave us some new vinyl for our stack of LP's in Pat's Endangered Finds record store. Also, it brought us through the doors of Delaware's original entry into the new wave of Central Ohio craft breweries in the form of Staas Brewing, located just off the main downtown strip.

Nothing Like Opening Day! (A Farmers Market Pictorial)

For me, the opening of Farmers Market season in Ohio brings me as well as many others a measure of joy. As much as the winter season may try to fight back (as it did during the opening day of the Clintonville Farmers Market this year), the opening of these markets for me means the warmer, sun-laden months will soon be winning out.

While the Worthington Farmers Market is my favorite area market, I enjoy visiting all the markets around the region whenever I can. I was very happy to recently drop by the opening days of two of the area's markets.

First off, an old standby in Downtown Columbus' Pearl Alley Farmers Market:

Ice Cream Chronicles (Vol. 19): In A South End Town and Dead End Road - Lombardi's Dairy Diner

Lombardi's Dairy Diner lies on the southern reaches of the Columbus metro

With all due respect to the Pet Shop Boys and, for that matter, the owners of Lombardi's, this roadside restaurant does not lie on a dead end road.

However, it's quite easy enough to drive right by this extreme southern Columbus metro area eatery on your way south on US 23 towards Circleville if you're not aware it's there. You may see it coming northbound on the same highway, but traffic at the closest intersection may discourage you to make that turn to get there (along with State Route 665 from the Grove City area, State Route 317 circles down from Southeast Columbus past the Rickenbacker Airport area to feed into this intersection.) Scioto Downs, just a half-mile north of Lombardi's, can add to the multitudes of automobiles that travel through this area.

Lombardi's offers a low-frills roadside diner experience, with the
usual menu items and a variety of ice cream options

But if you do veer off these main roads into Lombardi's parking lot, you will find a low-key, low-frills eatery that serving its roadside diner fare for over 40 years (according to the restaurant's website, the restaurant is open all year, but the hours vary with the season.) All the familiars are on the menu, from coneys to burgers, a variety of sub sandwiches to fried bologna, and pasta and pizza dishes. On this day, their restaurant sign touted their seafood options such as their lake perch, oysters and shrimp.

On this day, however, I was here for the ice cream. And to borrow from the Pet Shop Boys again, Lombardi's offers visitors a hard or soft option: roughly 20 flavors of traditional ice cream, and vanilla and chocolate soft serve (a swirl of both is also available.) This soft serve option presented a mild dilemma on this day in that a combination of kid-like nostalgia, a nice price (a large will set you back only $2), and the fact that I just simply had not had a soft-serve cone in awhile was pulling me away from my usual sampling modus operandi. An added factor was my status on this day as a solo traveler.

But then I figured out something pretty quickly: why choose when you don't have to?

Which do you choose, a hard or soft option...how about both?

The butter pecan, my standard flavor choice, was quite good. But on this day, the soft serve won out as the favorite, though I downed both cones with equal pleasure.

I ended up quite full (yes, this was quite a bit of ice cream) after downing these frozen treats, and I semi-regretted it for just a slight while afterward. But since I don't go past Lombardi's and this south end town all too often, I figured this was, in the end, just a big down payment for the next time we pass this way again.

Lombardi's Dairy Diner
6251 S High St (US Route 23)
Lockbourne, OH 43137
(614) 491-7570
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Brewsome Twosome: Weasel Boy (Zanesville, OH) and Restoration Brew Worx (Delaware, OH)

The state of Ohio, along with much of the Midwest portion of this country, has been a hotbed of craft beer growth over the past year. A recent Nielsen report, as noted in this Columbus Underground article, notes that the Columbus area landed in the top 10 cities in both dollars spent on craft beer and growth compared to the previous year; Cincinnati and Cleveland also made appearances on this list.

My spouse and I have enjoyed exploring this growth immensely, from the "old guard" institutions to the newcomers and everything in between. Two of our most recent journeys exploring the area's craft beer scene are documented here with Zanesville's Weasel Boy and Delaware's Restoration Brew Worx.

Weasel Boy resides in an attractively attired brick-walled facility
in South Zanesville, roughly one hour east of the Columbus metro

Weasel Boy Brewing: Founded by Jay and Lori Wince in 2006, Weasel Boy is something of a tweener in Central Ohio's craft beer scene, coming in well after breweries like Columbus, Barley's and Elevator were founded, but before the fairly substantial and continuing second wave of craft breweries splashed on the local scene in the current decade. Situated comfortably in the brick-walled Carl L. Mitzel building in South Zanesville along the banks of the Muskingum River (views of the river are available from inside the space), the brewpub lies roughly one hour's drive on I-70 east from the Columbus metro area.

A casual atmosphere, riverside views, and an event space that hosts
regular music and art displays marks the brewery's interior

The interior of Weasel Boy is quite spacious, with the main brewpub area (along with requisite beer barrels and tanks along with seating) as well as an event space and business offices. Works from local artists are regularly rotated on display, and the venue has event spaces to host large parties and similar.

My first real experience with Weasel Boy Brewing's beer was at the Columbus Winter Beerfest, where I had one of the more interesting brews of the night in the form of their smoked Rauch Weasel Porter. On this trip to the brewpub, we decided to go with pints of their offerings rather than a full-fledged flight and found the more interesting brews to be their seasonals. While the Dancing Ferret IPA and Brown Stoat Stout were merely okay in our book, we both agreed that the Mango Wheat (recently replaced on the tap menu by their Oktoberfest) was quite enjoyable, with a solid mango presence but just enough wheat presence to balance things out. A perfect lawnmower beer indeed. Also interesting was the Paw Paw Pale Ale - if you are a big fan of that unique flavor, this beer, strongly tilted with toward the fruit in its profile, will please you in spades.

Weasel Boy's food menu is limited, but in this case the specialization works. Their whole-wheat, beer infused pizza crusts with a side of pizza sauce were a great snack-while-you-drink; based on the reaction of the couple sitting next to us at the bar, their full-fledged pizza, which is offered as a build-your-own version as well as a few preset combos, is also a winning dish. Diners also have the option of salads and pop drinks from the brewery's menu.

Weasel Boy Brewing Company
126 Muskingum Ave, Suite E (Google Maps)
Zanesville, OH 43701
(740) 455-3767

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Restoration Brew Worx, situated in quaint downtown Delaware,
is among the newest of newcomers to the local craft beer scene

Restoration Brew Worx: During this summer, we discovered that downtown Delaware, roughly one half-hour north of the Columbus area (depending on traffic on the sometimes cloggy US 23), has a lot to recommend it for an easy day trip, from antique shops, interesting eateries (including a very memorable dinner at Veritas Tavern) and craft beer-oriented establishments. Staas Brewing. at a mere two years old, counts as the veteran member of the local breweries now with the very arrival of newcomer Restoration Brew Worx, which opened its doors this May.

Restoration Brew Worx sports indoor and outdoor seating in a
space that invites you to relax and hang out for awhile

Similar to a brewery we have become quite familiar with in Clintonville's Lineage Brewing, Restoration was founded by a foursome of acquaintances, as noted in this Drink Up Columbus article. In my mind, the comparisons don't end there - their respective settings are reasonably compact but overall feel uncrowded relaxing, sporting both outdoor and indoor seating and a general "hang out and stay awhile" kind of vibe.

Restoration has an evolving menu of bar favorites and select entrees
with a revolving selection of solid beer choices

Based on this first sampling, Restoration is brewing some very tasty, highly drinkable brews. All the selections on the flight we ordered were quite delicious, including their Rush Porter, unTamed Blonde Ale and Big Bag of Judgment Belgian IPA. Interestingly, the fourth taster of the bunch had a unique little side note on the big board inside, stating that Restoration's brewer "hates Hefeweizen". While Hefeweizen is not necessarily either of our favorite styles as well, the very warm and humid conditions on our visit made the great balance of banana, clove and wheat on the Effe-weizen Hefeweizen the winner for a second order of a full pint.

Restoration's menu sports a select inventory of appetizers, sandwiches and entrees, and for us the ginger Fried Chicken Wings and Soft Pretzel with two different dipping sauces were solid fare. In recently announced news, the brewery has announced they will be featuring the frozen goodness of Indulgence Ice Cream, which has been featured in local area restaurants such as La Tavola and Ella.

Restoration Brew Worx
25 North Sandusky St (Google Maps)
Delaware, OH  43015
(740) 990-7120
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Planes and Trains by Automobile (Pt. 2): The Ohio Railway Museum (Worthington, OH)

Open in 1948, The Ohio Railway Museum does its best to keep
Ohio's train heritage alive with its vintage cars against long odds

In contrast to the gleamingly restored vehicles we found earlier this year at The Depot, the Northwest Columbus event center that hosted Dinner Lab's Crawfish Boil we attended earlier this year, most all of the train cars you'll find at Worthington's Ohio Railway Museum show all the rust and wear that years of operation bring upon these iron horses.

Have a conversation with anyone who volunteers their time at the museum, and they'll most likely acknowledge that keeping the museum operating has not been easy. Past periods of neglect, several bouts of potential or temporary closure (including a power line mishap in 2010 and a fence dispute with a neighbor in 2014), a volunteer-powered staff, and a fluctuating revenue flow (all money made goes back into operations and train restoration) has threatened the museum's existence. But much like the fictional small engine in the 1930s-book "The Little Engine That Could", the museum keeps going in spite of long odds.

Opened originally in 1948 as an endeavor by the Central Ohio Railfan Association's efforts to preserve an old railcar destined for the scrapyards, the tidiest views at the museum lie within the smallish but nonetheless homey main building, where collections of various railroad memorabilia are displayed neatly within the cozy interior, and little snippets of information (such as the story behind ticket hole punchers and the attachment conductors get for them.)

The reception building hosts a nifty collection of railroad
factoids and memorabilia

Outside this building to the tracks, tidy displays fall by the wayside and train cars take over your sight lines. The easily discernible jewel of the bunch is the #578 Norfolk & Western Steam Locomotive, which we learned at 16-feet-high and 90-feet-long actually rates as middle-of-the-pack size-wise in that category. However, other cars around the facility give away the slow but steady toll of time and usage vs. the earnest but equally under-powered struggle by the museum's volunteers to bring these trains back to their former glory. This aspect really didn't seem to deter the enjoyment of that day's visitors and especially the younger tykes, who seemed quite happy to walk around and immerse themselves in a bit of history.

The ability to walk around and within the museum's train cars
seem to outweigh any wear and tear issues from years of use

While money and time may be in short supply, the sheer enthusiasm the volunteers have for trains is as evident and audible as the rumble of these machines down the tracks. Whether it be the discussion of how steam engines work by one volunteer, the explanation of the history and future plans the other museum train cars  or the lively spiel of the conductor as the operating train car of the day (the Ohio Public Service Company #41, a street car that had tours for three different transit agencies in the state prior to finding its way to the museum) took us on its brief little journey across State Route 161 to the south into the Colonial Hills neighborhood of Worthington and back.

Visitors enjoyed the unlimited train rides you get with museum admission
and learning a little history in the process

Admission into the Ohio Railway Museum gets you unlimited rides on their rail car trips (the operating rail car rotates on a regular basis) as well as free reign to roam within open portions of the facility. Visitors can take a tour of most of the train cars on site on your own or take a guided tour with one of the volunteers. The Museum also offers special programs throughout the year, including the upcoming Halloween-oriented "Ghost Trolley" and the Christmas-oriented "Letters to Santa" programs.

The Ohio Railway Museum is open on Sundays from 12 noon to 4 PM.  Admission is $8.00 for Adults, $7.00 for Seniors (65 and over) & Military (with ID), and $6.00 - Children age 4 and above. Children age 3 and under are free.
  
The Ohio Railway Museum
990 Proprietors Rd
Worthington, OH  43085
(614) 885-7345
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Ice Cream Chronicles (Vol. 17): Crossing the Y(ummy)-Bridge - Tom's Ice Cream Bowl

Next to the Y-Bridge, Tom's Ice Cream Bowl might be
Zanesville Ohio's most familiar landmark

Founded by John McIntire in 1797, on land deeded by town namesake as well as father-in-law Ebenezer Zane, Zanesville stands as the largest Ohio outpost on the I-70 freeway between the Columbus metro area and the West Virginia border. Known historically for its Y-Bridge (in its fifth iteration since its original construction in 1814) and its renowned pottery industry, Zanesville also sports a top-ranked ice cream store as determined by USA Today in Tom's Ice Cream Bowl.

Originally known as Jack Hemmer Ice Cream when the business first opened in 1948, its current appellation as Tom's Ice Cream Bowl was finalized in 1957, four years after now-retired co-founder Tom Mirgon bought Jack's interest in the business. Current owner Bill Sullivan, the former store manager, agreed to keep the business pretty much the same. In fact, while other ice cream brick-and-mortar shops I have visited over the past couple years may have been in business longer, Tom's may be the one store (Johnson's Ice Cream in Bexley is also a contender here) that stays the most true to its bygone era of origin.

Dapper employees in white hats and aprons matched with black bow ties stand behind the counter within a distinctly soda fountain styled setup that probably hasn't changed all that much since the 1950s. The non-ice cream menu also stays firm to those classic 50's-era diner dishes (burgers, hot dogs and chili) with a few Ohio-area twists (shredded chicken and Rittberger fried baloney sandwiches.) To top it off, a line of nuts and candies from Canton's Ben Heggy's are available to take home for further snacking. We got the impression prior to our visit that large crowds are something of the norm at Tom's, and nothing from our experience dissuaded us from that line of thinking.

Tom's Ice Cream Bowl blends an ice cream soda fountain atmosphere
with diner dish favorites and Ben Heggy's nuts and candies

Of course, they wouldn't call it the "Ice Cream Bowl" if they didn't have ice cream, and we weren't dropping by simply to look at what flavors were on the board. Tom's sports both seasonal and standard flavors ice cream all made in-house, and we decided we both would go with one dip off both flavor menus (Tom's regular flavors are listed in two corners of the store.)

That's our bowl of absolute frozen deliciousness coming our way

True to the name, we received our ice cream in bowls, and there was a lot of it to be had. I ordered my standard Butter Pecan, which was good but I felt was trumped by the Coconut Chocolate Almond (it ranks up with the Coconut Chai from Cedarville's The Neapolitan as one of my favorites this year) I bagged as my second dip. My spouse's Maple Nut was also quite delicious, and she was also pretty pleased by her Chocolate Caramel Marshmallow Fudge. Prices for the ice cream and the menu as a whole fall on the inexpensive side of the ledger, making it fairly easy for the visitor to fill their bellies without breaking the bank...or bowl, in this particular case.

Tom's Ice Cream Bowl
532 Mcintire Ave
Zanesville, OH
(740) 452-5267
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My Secret Life In The CSA

After this particularly brutal winter season, the opening of outdoor farmers markets were a welcome sight to many local residents.  And with the warmer weather, the bounty of vegetables and fruits arriving to vendors' stands will only increase in the upcoming weeks.

Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) has also proven to be a popular way for people to receive the freshest local agricultural products.  In short, the subscriber purchases a share of the whatever the farm or farm-collective is planning to produce for a prescribed time period (typically, a growing season.)  In return, the farm regularly delivers the subscriber their share throughout that time period, either directly to their residence or at a central collection point.

Typically, this is a win-win situation for the farmer (ensuring a customer base for their product), the customer (who can gain the freshest and widest-variety of local agricultural products with little time spent or effort), the local economy (as money spent generally stays local) and the environment as a whole (less resources are used due to the lesser distances required to get these products to the consumer.)

This blog was not around when my spouse decided to join a local CSA last summer.  It was definitely a worthwhile experience, and I wanted to share some of our experiences with the process.

1) The Search: We used online local resources such as Local Harvest to help us find the best candidate.  Based on a colleague's recommendation, the fact that fruit was part of the offerings (not all CSA's offer fruit), customization of orders (you could reduce and increase orders of certain items to a certain point) and the fact that delivery was available directly to our residence (we found we could not make the pick-up times and locations for most of the CSA's we looked into,) New Century CSA out of Circleville, approximately 30 miles south of downtown Columbus, was our choice for a small share subscription.

2) The Shared (Risk): Weather is often the biggest factor in relation to when something comes into season, and we found that we were essentially in the same boat.  Some fruits and veggies were delayed, while others were sent with a note that they should be used more quickly than normal (e.g. cherries that were affected by a surplus of rainy weather.)

3) The Season: When something's in season, you typically get that item for several weeks in a row.  With "multi-use" produce like carrots and tomatoes, finding new ways to use them in our cooking turned out to be a fun venture.  I confess that I was lettuced out after several weeks in a row of the leafy stuff, and there was a time when I didn't want to see another candy onion again.  Other items we knew we would struggle with (beets - we do not particularly care for them) but we went in willing to give those a fair chance.

Maybe size does matter?

4) The Sweet Surprises: One of the biggest reasons why a CSA appealed to us was the opportunity to expand our culinary horizons, and sure enough we were not disappointed.  A Napa cabbage led us to discover an easy homemade Kimchi recipe, and we found that pickling both radishes and kohlrabi can be very tasty ventures.  I personally have never found cantaloupe to be a very tasty fruit, but this big specimen we received from our CSA was something of a mind-changer.  It was so large, we made a cantaloupe sorbet, parceled out to some friends, cubed some out in the fridge for munching, and still couldn't finish it all.  Even more familiar items led to inspiration - a batch of green beans and a chance sighting of some Szechuan Peppercorns at a spice market led to our first (yummy) venture into Dry Fried Green Beans.

5) The Size: In the end, even the small size was too large for us.  We just did not predict at the time we signed up that we would be on the go as much as we ended up being during our subscription season, so there were a couple weeks when we couldn't get through everything.  If we do try out a CSA again, we may choose to have a partner or two to make sure the food does not go to waste (if you're trying out a CSA, this may be a good approach in general if you're testing the concept.)

6) The Service: New Century CSA provided great service to us and is definitely worth consideration if you are interested in joining a CSA.  There were some mix-ups with the initial deliveries (our house can be a little tricky to find) but they worked closely with us to get those rectified.  For our inconvenience on both misdeliveries, they provided us a credit to use on future weekly allotments and offered to bring a second delivery out the same week if our shipment could not be found (fortunately for both us, we were able to locate the wayward produce.)

They also kept us well-informed about general goings-on and potential issues with future shipments (e.g. the rain-soaked cherries mentioned previously.)  The quality of the produce received was for the most part top-notch, though at times even the hot weather got the best of our cheapo ice chest with the produce inside feeling the effects.

CSA Resources
Local Harvest - How to Choose a CSA
Local Harvest - CSA Index for Columbus, Ohio
Columbus Underground Article on CSAs

Our CSA's Information
New Century CSA
7370 Bell Station Rd.

Circleville, OH 43113

740-207-1073

Website

Two Thousand Miles and Two and a Half Years Later

This blog was nearly started two and one-half years ago.  And truth be told, that would have been too soon.

Previously, my experiences with Central Ohio had been in 3-7 day increments every 6-8 weeks apart starting in the summer of 2010, with a couple of visits before that to participate in running races with some online friends I had met through an online running forum.  Essentially, all my experiences with Ohio had been as a visitor.  My home was in California, as it had been for the 30+ years before.

When I moved out here with my now Mrs. 614orty-Niner end of 2011 from the left coast, I still had the visitor mentality in my mind.  But the reality was, barring something drastic, Central Ohio was going to be my home for the foreseeable future.

At that time, I had played with the idea of a blog, with the general theme of California-raised dude learning about what Ohio had to offer and writing about it as he experienced it.  But when I thought hard about it, I realized I would be writing with the visitor mentality.

I felt I like I needed at least one year to observe my new home, to absorb the new environs, and then process the experience through my mainly California-centric filtered-brain.

Well, it's been more than a year, and now I feel the need to write.  The quick summary is I've enjoyed my time here, and have been really pleased by what Central Ohio has had to offer.

The longer story is to be written in the following blog posts.