Food Truck Dossier: Summer 2018 Roundup

The success of Food Truck Thursdays at the Columbus Commons is
just one sign of the prospering food truck scene in the city

Perhaps it's not terribly surprising for anyone who has been paying attention, but the local food truck scene has become a tough thing to keep tabs on.  There are some staples that have been around for seemingly forever (Pitabilities, Ajumama, and Paddy Wagon come to mind), there are new ones that have created quite the buzz (most notably, Cousins Maine Lobster).

Still others no longer seem to be around (Horn OK Please, which I rather liked) or moved on to other destinations and venues (Alice's Aebelskabels, which I wrote about previously, has moved to the land of aebelskilvels to Solvang, CA, while the well-loved Challah! has moved on to brick-and-mortar land with both Woodland's Tavern and Preston's Burgers.)  And with the plethora of businesses and spots around the metro hosting food trucks, it's pretty easy to not encounter the same food truck for months at time.

For a blogger like me, this means a lot of notes built up over time for a number of food trucks waiting for that next visit.  So I figured a change of strategy was needed - instead of comprehensiveness (which isn't as huge a factor with a medium like a food truck), I thought a roundup of some of the most notable experiences I've had with food trucks and carts would be a good way to go forward.

Polaris Fast Casual: What´s for Döner/Little Lebanon Cafe

Give me a pair of blue jeans and T-shirt (such as this retro music/Ohio
Alison Rose model) any day versus fashionable apparel

For me, fashion (to cop a David Bowie lyric) is like a new dance which I don't know the name.  I mean, if I have to, I can pull out the sharp dressed man motif, but I'd much rather slum around in T-shirts and jeans (or shorts in warmer weather.)

Perhaps that's one reason why I don't venture up into the Polaris Fashion Place Mall too much, except maybe to grab some gift cards for some much-more-fashionable-than-me relatives and friends of mine. A mall food court wouldn't normally give me the urge to drop by either (though I did see that that concept can be done quite well during a stint in Malaysia), but a fairly recent arrival to the Polaris scene in the German street food oriented What´s for Döner was enough to drop by and ask "Wie gehts?"

Belle of the Bowl: Brassica

Back in when I lived in the Bay Area, I always made a point to visit the Liba Falafel food truck whenever it was feasible. As good as the falafel itself was, their unique toppings (all made from scratch by truck owner Gail Lillian) found on their so-called "falafel bar" (including but not exclusive to spiced carrot ribbons, cardamon and dill pickles, and harissa hot sauce) elevated your sandwich or bowl to unexpected heights.

Lillian has retired the truck as of 2016, but her falafel and toppings bar lives on at her brick-and-mortar location in Oakland, CA. I would love to try their brick-and-mortar one of these days for nostalgia's sake, but that pursuit I admit has lessened significantly when Brassica arrived upon the local Columbus scene.

Falafel of the Cultured: Pita Hut -N- Grille

The term "Drunk Food" is title given to certain munchies that bring a certain hallowed yet love/hate relationship with those who consume them. With cravings more often brought on by the consumption of certain intoxicating substances (which may or may not be legal depending on your age and jurisdiction), these food items, which generally are nowhere near haute cuisine, sound like great ideas at the time, or perhaps are traditions that are built up over many years. These items almost always taste wonderful at the time of consumption. And one prays before they go to sleep for the night that your digestive system won't hate you the morning afterward for having consumed said items.

The Mediterranean-styled street food offerings of Pita Hut -N- Grille seem to fall into that category by default: this quaint takeout-oriented shop is conveniently located to Clintonville institution Bob's Bar, which nattily calls itself the "Cultural Hub of the Midwest." For the casual passer-by, it would be easy to assume that the offerings here fall into that digestive-system-beware category as well.

Mediterranean Musings: Lavash Cafe, Little Lebanon (Update)

The exterior of Latif Nasir's well-regarded Lavash Cafe

Lavash Cafe: Experiencing food at the source often spoils you for future renditions farther away. This is the case with me in relation to Mediterranean fare, when an eight week stint in the Middle East several years ago gave me access to some very delicious renditions of dishes fairly familiar to Americans like falafel and kebabs, as well as newly experienced dishes I have rarely seen here since my return (the spicy Aleppo-area dip muhammara and a big platter of freekeh with chicken, for example.)

While I haven't found anything since my move to Ohio that has completely blown my socks away along these lines (the best falafel sandwich I've ever had is still from a more or less anonymous corner stand in the middle of the Christian Quarter in Old Town Damascus), I've found Columbus restaurants to be pretty consistently good in this regard. One of the better purveyors of these types of dishes lies in the heart of Clintonville with Lavash Cafe, owned by long-time veteran of the Columbus restaurant scene Latif Nasir.

Many long-time residents may recognize the Firdous restaurant name, which Nasir founded and was present in several locations in the metro from the 1980s through the mid-2000s. Nasir got out from Firdous and took a break from the restaurant business in the mid-2000s, but marked his return to the Columbus culinary scene in late 2008 with the opening of Lavash.

There's a lot too look at inside Lavash's well-attired space

Lavash Cafe lies in a culinary-oriented block of Clintonville: La Patrona Mexican Restaurant, Lineage Brewing and the Growl! beer growler shop surround the cafe on that side of High Street; with Cup O' Joe and Pattycake Bakery within stone's throw as well. Its clean, brick-lined exterior is matched up with an interior filled with swaths of color as well as plaques denoting "Best Of" designations from various local media outlets and groups (one of the eatery's more recent honors was its selection as the Clintonville Chamber of Commerce's Business of the Year for 2015.)

While the space is large enough to allow for sit-down service, the atmosphere is very casual with food ordering performed at the front counter. This front counter area gives the diner quite a bit to see, from the menu above to the spinning slabs of shawarma and gyro meat behind to the display counter below, which features various kebab skewers, bowls filled with side dishes and baklava-styled sweet treats.

Clockwise from Left: Falafel Platter, Mojadara, and the Lamb Shawarma

Lavash offers up the standards such as Falafel, Shawarma, Kefta and Gyros, dishes we have tended to stick with and enjoyed on our visits. However, this eatery gives visitors a chance for a more fancy meal with red snapper, lamb chops and tiger shrimp kebabs. Another favorite of mine has been their

version of Mojadara: rice and lentils cooked with spices, topped with onions and served with a side salad. Their homemade pita bread which accompanies meals is conveniently bagged for purchase and home consumption.

Lavash Cafe
2985 N. High St (Clintonville)
Columbus, OH 43202
(614) 263-7777
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Little Lebanon continues to evolve as a restaurant after a rough start

Little Lebanon: A recent visit to this Polaris-located eatery shows that things continue to evolve and trend upward since my original post about this restaurant last year. Their dinner selections have been more or less finalized into menu form, and their existing space continues to be refined (the husband half of the husband-wife ownership duo stated they are converting the interior to more of a standard dining room area sans the existing counter.)

Their lunch menu also seems to have expanded since our last visit, with a few items with colorful names that seemed geared to mirror the slaw/french fry topped sandwiches of Pittsburgh-based Primanti Bros. Their Lebanese Hamburger, featuring a Lebanese spiced beef patty and cheese along with that slaw/fries combo within a hollowed-out homemade bun, has a decent enough taste but a lot of the sandwich's interior ends up on your plate before you know it.

The Missle was much more successful: this kefta-layered baked pita topped with same slaw/fry mix along with garlic sauce, tomatoes, onions and parsley had a nice flavor profile and a much more sturdy structure to hold the ingredients at bay.

Some things have not changed. As mentioned prior, the owners continue to be very friendly hosts and the fattoush salad continues to be my favorite in the area, with fresh cut greens and radishes coated with a sumac-laced vinaigrette

Our host that day also let us know that expansion is in Little Lebanon's future. The second location of the eatery has yet to be completely finalized, but the most likely location will be in the Dublin area.

Little Lebanon Bistro Bakery
8495 Sancus Blvd. (Polaris)
Columbus, OH 43240
(614) 781-1814
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Kansas Quick Bites: Seoul USA (Salina) and Gella's Diner/Lb. Brewing (Hays)

The front of Salina's Seoul USA Korean Restaurant

Interstate 70 scrapes the northern edges of the town of Salina, KS; if you want to drive into the downtown or the more populated south side, you will have to dip southward on to old US Route 40 or venture down on Interstate 135 towards the regional airport and Central Mall. The latter is the detour we took down to find the modest strip mall eatery that is Seoul USA.

Seoul USA offers tasty Korean basic dishes and
friendly a friendly demeanor to Salina diners.

I'll start off immediately by saying the food here are mostly the basics (bulgogi, kalbi, etc.) and the somewhat toned-down flavor profiles probably would disappoint hardcore aficionados of Korean cuisine. With that said, our visit to Seoul USA was enjoyable - the staff behind the counter were welcoming and friendly, with numerous regulars in house or stopping by as during our time there.

The banchan was a serve-yourself affair, allowing customers to try a little of everything and/or focus on their favorites. And our food overall (we ordered ordered japchae and bulgogi) was pleasantly tasty and priced reasonably.

We try our best to vary our cuisines on our longer road trips, and finding something that wasn't traditional "American" style eats isn't too easy smack dab in the Heartland of America. Seoul USA proved to be a nice little culinary diversion on our journey to Colorado, and it seemed to us that this eatery has established itself as a neighborhood destination for the residents of this Kansas town.

Seoul USA
2100 South 9th St. Suite A
Salina, KS 67401
(785) 404-2114
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Hays, Kansas, has emerged from a wild west frontier existence (the Army established Fort Fletcher, later Fort Hays, nearby to help protect stage wagons on a nearby trail) and several notable natural and man-made disasters to become the largest town in the region with a population of around 20,000. Hays also qualifies as a college town - Fort Hays University, founded in 1902, boasts an enrollment of 11,000 students.

We have learned in our craft beer pursuits that a brewery need not be located in an area with a large populace, nor does it have to be a fancy setup (an impromptu tap system in an light industrial space serves as the tap room area for quite a few microbreweries.) We knew Gella's Diner and Lb Brewing was a slight step above that level, but we didn't realize how many steps they were above that level until we actually stopped in for lunch on our return to Ohio.

Gella's Diner/Lb. Brewing offers beer and pub-style food favorites
inside a space featuring a modern rustic feel with hints of nostalgia.

Gella's/Lb. Brewing sports a fairly substantial interior, falling fairly close in size to Dublin, Ohio's 101 Beer Kitchen or Columbus' expanded Wolfs Ridge Brewing. Their current brewery space, opened in 2005, is actually the conglomeration of four storefronts in the town's old Chestnut Street district, itself the focus of continued revitalization efforts. Painted murals, based on old historical photos and businesses in the area, and unique uses of implements like egg baskets as decor, add a nostalgic touch to the rustic-modern feel of the interior.

Of note also is their beer - a few Lb. (the Lb. is short for "liquid bread") Brewing's takes on traditional styles have won their share of medals at both the Great American Beer Fest and the World Beer Cup. My spouse decided to go that route with a pint of their 2013-GABF Gold Medal Winner American Hefeweisen; she detected some lager-like characteristics but found it to be quite enjoyable. No medal winners on my side of the ledger, but the Brownell Brown Ale was something I could drink on a daily basis, with a nice balance of hops and malts and a hint of chocolate.

Gella's/Lb. presents a fairly traditional pub/American-style menu for the diner, with perhaps a little more non-meat oriented offerings than typical and a nice half-and-half lunch special pairing up a half-a-sandwich with various sides for a good price. We decided to go with the standard issue Club Sandwich with Gella's potato chips and a Falafel Pita for our orders - they were nothing earth-shattering taste-wise but more than adequate in this little bastion of satisfying beer offerings on the northwest Kansas plains.

Gella's Diner & Lb. Brewing Company
117 East 11th St.
Hays, KS 67601
(785) 621-2739
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Survivor Story: Little Lebanon Bistro and Bakery

My familiarity with Arabic-Mediterranean cuisine grew substantially several years ago during a two-month work assignment in Damascus, Syria.  I had not ventured too much into that cuisine prior to my trip, but I enthusiastically dove in full bore during my stay.  From the kebabs and kibbeh, the falafel to the freekeh, and the soup to the shawerma to the sweets and so much more, I don't think I ever ate so well as I did those eight weeks or so.

I had heard through the grapevine there that the Lebanese versions of the dishes I was tasting were the gold standard for the region.  I kept that in mind when I got back to the States, but with the choices being somewhat limited I left myself open to all comers to match the tastes I had experienced.

Forward roughly five years later - I had now been living in the Columbus area for one full year and had grown very familiar with the metro area in general, as my job required a lot of travel.  A bonus point of all this travel was the opportunity to explore restaurants for lunch all over the metro area.  I was due for a trip through the Polaris business area in North Columbus when I caught a story on the local TV 10 newscast about three smash & grabs in that area.

This type of incident, while tough for any business, is especially so for one just starting like the Little Lebanon Bistro and Bakery.  This particular victim of the smash and grab incident had been only in business for one week at the time of the incident, and I could sense the frustration of the owner during his interview.

It was like all the stars had aligned for a visit.  I wanted not only to help them out by giving them some business, but also to sample and compare their wares against those that I had back in Damascus.

I remember my kibbeh wrap that I ordered was tasty enough, and both my spouse and I enjoyed the variety of maamoul cookies (a Lebanese shortbread with a variety of fillings) that I brought home that day for sampling.  I also had a friendly chat with the owner who had been interviewed.  He talked about the attempted burglary, how the business got started, and his Lebanese spouse, who was in the back cooking away.

Upon leaving, my impression was that while it didn't quite match what I had in Damascus, this restaurant's offerings were appetizing nonetheless and matched up favorably with similar restaurants in the area.  Little Lebanon would be worth a visit in the future...

...if they survived, that is.  The seating in the dining area was sparse, with paper cups and plastic plates for dine-in customers.  During my visit, the peak of lunchtime, only one customer had stopped by to eat.  And while the thief was unsuccessful in accessing their moneybox, the cost of cleanup, window replacement and other repairs could not have been cheap.

Forward roughly one more year - my spouse and I were looking for something different from our usual brunch spots on a trip up the Polaris area for some shopping.  My mind flashed back to my visit to Little Lebanon and I asked my spouse, "Well, how about Mediterranean?"   Before my spouse even flashed her agreement, my mind got to thinking, "Hmmm, are they still open?"

I did a quick search, and yes indeed, they had not closed.  Thus, I made my second visit to Little Lebanon.

On this visit, the main counter area seemed a little more fleshed out in its display cases of desserts and salads; this also was the case with the amount of seating in the dining area.  The menu board was now joined by a high definition TV screen, where a slideshow of what seemed to be new restaurant offerings cascaded by my eyes.  Also, silverware was evident and our order, a shawerma and falafel wrap plus two fatoush salads, came out on more standard restaurant serving plates.

My spouse and I again stuck with the simple and ordered wraps, which range between $6 to $7.  I found their version of falafel one of the better Columbus-area versions, with a nice crispy exterior and a pleasantly spiced interior.  My spouse's shawerma was also something we would order again if the mood struck us.

The whoa-factor for me, oddly enough, was in the fatoush, a salad that to me was typically filled with cucumber, tomatoes, mint, parsley and pita chips laced with a lemon/olive oil dressing and lots of sumac, a tangy spice omnipresent in many Mediterranean dishes.  Back in Damascus, one of my favorite and most simple meals was a fatoush salad with either a side dish of lentil soup or falafel.  I have a decent mint-heavy version of this salad I can whip up at home, but I've never been able to find a restaurant version that really hit my happy spot.  I was surprised by the presence of radishes in this version, but their crunch and tang melded well with the mix of green pepper, cucumber, mint, lettuce, and sumac-laced olive oil dressing.  This combination made this my favorite restaurant version of this salad in the States to date.

We again ordered some maamoul cookies to take home and sample.  As much of a sweet tooth as I have, I enjoy these exactly because they are not too sweet.  While we have enjoyed them all, we have found the date-filled version to be our favorite.

On this trip, we got to speak with the female half of the couple who owns the restaurant.  When I shared the story about my very first visit, she seemed to laugh and sigh at the same time as she related how close the restaurant actually was to closing.  Associates of theirs had tried convincing them to put in a dinner menu, but she and her husband resisted until it looked like the business was almost certain to close. As it turned out, she said the dinner offerings did the trick in turning things around, adding that they had just recently been able to upgrade and own some of their own restaurant equipment.

I asked her about a shirt she was wearing related to an event related to the "Be The Match" program, a cause near and dear to my heart (I was fortunate enough to have been found a match for someone in need of a marrow donation.)   She stated that a relative of hers had been diagnosed with a condition treated by donations and was doing well.  Because of this experience, she was hoping to start training to participate in their local walk/run event in the summer to further show her support for the cause.

Obviously, the scope of a business' economic survival pales in comparison to the survival of a human being over a difficult circumstances.  Nevertheless, it's encouraging to see and hear about survival in both of these instances.

Little Lebanon Bistro & Bakery
8495 Sancus Blvd (Polaris - Google Maps)
Columbus, OH 43240
(614) 781-1814
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