Loafing Around Encouraged: The Whitney House

The humble meatloaf has graced numerous household dinner tables
around the world in one form or another

Many dishes come to mind when it comes to American classics: hamburgers, apple pie, chocolate chip cookies, and so forth. Often times, these dishes are adaptations or variants on more traditional dishes, like American spaghetti or Tex-Mex creations like Fajitas or Chile con Carne.

A dish that in many ways reflects the melting pot that is this country lies in meatloaf. While meatloaf has competing origin stories, its concept is pretty clear cut - a collection of culinary odds and ends combined into something not necessarily elegant, but assuredly comforting.

And indeed it was; my parents’ rendition was fairly standard (ground beef, onions, stale bread, eggs, and seasoning) but one my favorite things to eat with ketchup and rice. In addition, many parties hosted by relatives, friends, and family allowed me the chance to eat another favorite variation in the Embutido, a Filipino take which mixes a variety of meats with somewhat unique ingredients such as raisins, carrots, bell peppers, and hard-boiled eggs.

The Fifty and The Familiar

Theoretically, buzzy and busy places with communal seating like the area's
Fox in the Snow locations will fall off the radar for me soon

My quest to expand my food horizons came relatively late in my life.  I can't do much nowadays about several dozen too many pursuits of Mickey D's Big Mac combo meals and other items I chose for frugality and convenience (but not necessarily taste) in my younger days, but I'm still firmly in "making up for lost time" mode.

However, like someone who's just pulled his fifth beer from the lone six-pack in the fridge, I've realized my time in this mode might be limited. As much as I'd like to be like a Simon Majumdar (who just celebrated his 55th birthday and is still going strong exploring the world and its cuisines), my body has sent signs it's ready to slow down a bit. Big portions, while nice, haven't been mandatory for my culinary pleasure for awhile.  Eventually, the doc will tell me that caffeine from my 1-2 cups of caffeinated coffee must go the way of the dodo bird, and my insides will eventually convince me that capsaicin and all its blazing, sweat-inducing glory isn't a good idea.

Interestingly, a recent opinion piece in the New York Times by Frank Bruni encapsulated this feeling quite well, saying that reaching the age of fifty has changed his perspective on dining.

Hedging on the Veggies

Vegetables, exotic and more familiar, at Columbus's Saraga International Market

Kids hate their vegetables, right? At least, the conventional wisdom leans that way, but when you look deeper into the matter, there’s not much defining data. One article in the Mirror UK shows people have a natural aversion to green and other “weird” colors, yet an article in The Daily Meal notes Broccoli as one of the most well liked kids' veggies.  Meanwhile, a report found in HuffPost’s Australia posits a double-whammy: a natural human instinct to avoid off-putting bitter or sour flavors plus a lack of instinct to like veggies in the first place.

However, there are plenty of articles to be had about the strategies and hacks a parent can use to get their youngsters to actually eat these generally nutrition-laden foods.

Would any of those have worked in my case? Who knows, but I could tell you that a vegetable's texture played a bigger role than than the taste, and still does to a certain extent. Mushy vegetables (peas for some reason were a notable exception), especially those used in the traditional soup-based dishes my parents would make, were enjoyed as much as my parents' Andy Williams or Perry Como albums - tolerated, but nothing more. On the other hand, green beans and carrots, like my mom's Tom Jones' albums, offered more snap, so I favored them more. And corn and potatoes, from fries to baked to mashed, proved much like Santana's "Abraxas" (on 8-Track cassette to boot) album - they could be repeated ad infinitum as far as I was concerned.

We're Going To Give It 101%

The Meat Cut chart at Columbus's The Pearl Restaurant that
started the whole 101% Cow Conundrum

In the big-wide world of sports cliches, the phrase "He/she gave 110 percent" is both overused and rather nonsensical from a mathematical standpoint. I imagine most would feel the same if the cliche used 101% instead.

However, would you look more quizzically at me if I said that it was a cow that was giving you that 101%?

Our encounter with the 101% cow conundrum came, at all places, The Pearl Restaurant. One of several Cameron Mitchell concepts which occupy the southern section of the city’s Short North neighborhood, The Pearl is touted as a seafood-oriented gastropub supplemented with fancy cocktails and a international beer list.

During our meal, my spouse was drawn to a chalkboard drawing of a cow which outlined the traditional primal butcher cuts (round, chuck, sirloin, etc.) and the corresponding percentages. After a long glance, she motioned over my shoulder. “Look behind you...does that all add up to 101%?”

I turned, spotted the cow diagram, and mentally added the numbers. “Yep, that’s 101%. Those are some pretty productive cows,” I chuckled.  Of course, I knew the diagram was wrong, but that brought me to thinking: was there such a thing as a definitive meat cut by percentage chart out there?

Well, I decided to look into that topic and came up with a few surprises.

Cincy Travels Pt. 4: A Fifty-Fifty Brewposition

Just one of the several photographs one can find of famed highway US 50
at Fifty West Brewing, located on the eastern outskirts of Cincinnati

When it comes to US highways, Route 66 generally has the most ballyhoo and mythos attached to it as this country's ultimate road trip experience.  But based on my travels, I think US Route 50 might be the more satisfying road trip route.  Once stretching coast-to-coast, US 50 still meanders just over 3,000 miles through the middle of the United States, offering all manner of towns and cities of all sizes and just about every prominent geographical feature that this land has to offer, including a section in Nevada dubbed "The Loneliest Road in America."

Unlike the major Interstates, US 50 in Ohio is a pretty affair, playing tag with the Ohio River through Cincinnati. Once out of the Queen City, the route winds through forests and over rolling hills into the college town of Athens and then beyond, finally crossing over the river proper into Parkersburg in West Virginia.  Perhaps unsurprisingly, one can launch into a pretty fair tour of breweries nestled on this route, and we figured a visit to a couple of them would be a perfect coda for our Cincinnati weekend.

Charleston Choosing (Part 2): Grits Are Good For You, and The Slice you Needa'

Walking on top the High Battery, the seawall and promenade which
was originally part of the town's coastal battery defenses

The fact that Charleston's culinary scene has risen on a national level cannot be denied, though if you take as de facto what this USA Today article states, this attention might be a bit much for the locals, as it has perhaps unsurprisingly brought in increased car traffic, raised rental rates, and created staffing shortages in the hospitality industry.

Even with these issues, I am certain the attention given to the local food scene by these national luminaries is deep down a point of pride for the residents of this city of just under 135,000 people, and we were obviously not about to deny ourselves our first sampling of this diverse food scene.

Kain Na Tayo! Bonifacio Modern Filipino

Much of the history regarding Bonifacio and my personal relationship to this Filipino restaurant can be found at this prior blogpost, which detailed the experiences of my spouse and I at their July 2016 preview event. At that time, I was eager to for the restaurant's grand opening, but in many ways I wanted to fully digest how Krizzia Yanga's somewhat bold venture into a full-service restaurant, largely spurred on by the success of their Filipino-oriented silog (featuring a fried egg) and panini brunch and lunch offerings at her Downtown Columbus-located Red Velvet Cafe and in a region largely unfamiliar with Filipino cuisine.

Well, almost two years later after the restaurant's opening, and after landing a "Best New Restaurants of 2016" from Columbus Monthly and grabbing national press in media sources like NPR and Southwest: The Magazine, I figured I had more than enough time to take it all in. In some ways, this post is somewhat exemplary of the concept of Filipino Time, a concept not unlike Hawaiian Time where folks (or in this case, this blog post) are known to show up fashionably late to events.

In Praise of the Swag Bag: Brunch with the Columbus Food Bloggers

The swag bags you'd get at pre- and post-race athletic event expos
were the ultimate cat's meow at one time of my life

Back in the day when my body was adapting better to the condition known as "adult onset athlete", I learned about the joys of the swag bag, especially in relation to running or triathlon races. Back in those days, an energy gel that wouldn't make you barf and a running shirt made of wicking material (bonus points for a good fit) were really nice gets. Every now and again, your event fee would get you a really good quality product - one swag bag turned out to be the best swag itself, a snazzily constructed duffel bag that we have taken on numerous trips now for almost a decade now. On occasion, the mystery of what you might get in the bag actually outweighed what you found there.

As the focus of my spare time in recent years has turned toward both blogging and exploring my new city of residence, the swag bag still holds that special intrigue for me, whether it was related to a community event (such as Franklinton's fun holiday Festivus event swag bag, which was available for a small donation) or attendance at a group event. The little coupons and items within have led us to explore some businesses and sampled some products we may have never figured out existed during our normal travels.

Our haul from our most recent swag bag (a natty model produced by Inked and Screened) came at the fun gathering that was the Columbus Food Bloggers potluck brunch. The contents, plus some special guests in attendance, proved to be for my spouse and I both a discovery and rediscovery of a wide swath of locally produced products.

Lovin' The Oven: Forno Kitchen & Bar

If Corso Ventures isn't one the hottest restaurant development groups in the Columbus area right now, it certainly ranks in the top tier. Their Short North area ventures such as The Short North Pint House (their first) and Standard Hall (their latest to open) are popular destinations to grab brews and food. Down the road, their Food Hall concept, featuring a full bar and four kitchens meant for rotating culinary experiences, is one that we and other area diners are anticipating.

The funny thing is that despite all the good things we have heard about the previously two mentioned eateries, we find ourselves still working through the menu at their second Short North eatery in Forno, and really there's nothing wrong with that.

Cincy Trip Pt. 3: From Sleepy Bees to Screaming Trees

Our Sunday focus in Cincinnati was to grab some screen time in front of the TV for a little football action. But of course, we needed some fuel in the system after a good night's sleep, so we headed to the Blue Ash branch of the popular local breakfast and lunch purveyor Sleepy Bee Cafe.

Started in December 2013 in the Cincinnati suburb of Oakley by John Hutton and Sandra Gross, the eatery's popularity prompted a second location a ten or so miles up Interstate 71 in Blue Ash (a third location in the heart of Downtown Cincinnati is nearing completion.)

If you hadn't guessed from the restaurant's name, the Sleepy Bee has an apiary theme, borne out of the owners' love of bees.  Honeycomb tile clusters and vaguely-beehive-shaped wire lamp covers dot the ceiling, while a flowery glass sculpture hangs over the bar area (unlike their Oakley location, the Blue Ash eatery has a liquor license.)

Where The Best Once Held Court: Delaney's Diner

One of the first and most fun "buzzy" Columbus eateries that my spouse and I became acquainted with shortly after my move here was Westerville's Best Breakfast and Sandwiches. This compact diner, located in a non-descript south side strip mall, was an example of an eatery that was able to punch above its dining category and achieve something a little more.

We didn't mind the typical wait when it meant we would be grabbing their corned beef hash, or adorning one of their omelettes with some of their specially produced hot sauce from local fiery condiment maker CaJohn's. At its peak, a pop-up taco shop (Yeah Baby Tacos) emerged during the week to offer diners an unorthodox destination to grab some Mexican-styled eats.

And then, a familiar narrative unraveled: a few not-as-complimentary reviews started appearing in the usual review websites, then a change in ownership, and even more buzz about things not being as they used to be.

And then...nothing: The Best Breakfast was no longer as of the summer of 2016.

Fast forward a year now. Other eateries, most notably a new branch of local favorite Northstar Cafe, have come in to fill the void. It is in this new environment where the space has come to life again in the form of Delaney's Diner, a place we were eager to try once we heard the word of its opening.

State of Roamance: The Bates Farm Kitchen (Sandusky)/Georgetown Vineyards (Cambridge)

When you roam around the state of Ohio as much as we tend to do, you end up at a lot of places that are definitely worthy enough of a mention despite the one singular visit. This is the case with these two venues we had the pleasure of visiting recently in The Bates Family Farm up near the lakeshore in Sandusky and the combination Georgetown Vineyards/Southside Brewing in the foothills of Appalachia in Eastern Ohio's city of Cambridge.

The diner concept is one that has proven durable over the years, and usually those that sport a unique atmosphere or those that try just a little harder for something beyond the basic are the ones that grab your attention. The latter aspect is what drew us to The Bates Farm Kitchen during a recent visit to Sandusky.

California Brunching (Pt. 2): Cabin Fever and a Keller Instinct

A look down at the cities of the East Bay from the Berkeley Hills

The second of my California breakfast/brunch posts for 2016 takes our first peek into the San Francisco Bay Area proper, where we enjoyed the a fine sit-down meal inside a vintage catalog house.  Also, a glance at a Wine Country town known worldwide for its gourmet restaurants and some of the prettier pastries you could ever lay your eyes (or taste buds) on.

You don't exactly go looking for log cabins within the urban landscape, nor would you expect to actually find one. However, Sam's Log Cabin, located along a main thoroughfare just outside of Berkeley proper, is worth seeking out for some scrumptious early day eats.

Built in 1930 from a Sears Roebuck catalog home kit, the space which houses Sam's has served many different capacities: speakeasy, roadhouse, and a gambling institution (as in off-track horse race betting.)  Current owners Mike Daillak and Rhasaan Fernandez took over the space in 2010 and have implemented a focus on organic and local food sources as well as an expanded backyard that doubles as a community/music event space and a customer waiting area.

California Brunching (Pt. 1): Motorbikes and Explorer Hikes

We stopped into a shop we passed along the way

Well we sat down on our seats and we began to say

We know you like you to bake, and you know we're gonna' stay

California brunchin' on such a winter's day

(Inspired by "California Dreaming" by The Mamas and the Papas)

The North Coast of California is full of drive-thru coffee establishments
such as the uniquely designed Gold Rush Coffee in Eureka, California

One thing we noticed during our first excursion through California's North Coast area is the plethora of drive-thru coffee places. Anchored by the Grants Pass, Oregon-based Dutch Bros., a franchise with 270+ locations scattered through the Western U.S., it seems every town you pass has at least one such place, perhaps inspired as much by the long distances you have to drive between towns as much as the sheer number of overcast days found in the region. When Mother Nature's natural pickup is blocked overhead, a little caffeine enhancement is almost a must.

For us, drive-thru coffee was not in the cards on this California excursion, but it didn't mean we didn't find places to enjoy a good cup of java. Even better, the places we stopped by provided both unique atmospheres and some good eats to accompany our morning caffeine.

The Brewer and the Bahn Mi: Three Tigers Brewing/Mai Chau on Prospect (Granville, OH)

Intent is as constant a force as there is in the explorer's vocabulary. The phrases are familiar and off-repeating: from "that's on my list of to-dos now" to "hey, we should check out such-and-such place this month" to "oh, yeah, that's somewhere we haven't gotten to yet." So it figures when you unintentionally visit a place several times in a short span after seemingly infinite "intending to's", it's about time to get writing about it, especially when that something's initial incarnation has evolved numerous times since we first learned of them.

Mai Chau originally started as a Granville-based food truck. Inspired by time spent in Vietnam, owners Scott and Ashley Wilkins brought their love of the country's food back to Granville starting in 2013, and both my spouse and I heard nothing but good things about their offerings from friends and family in the area.

As it turned out, we never could make it out to the truck itself before the Wilkins clan opened up their brick-and-mortar Mai Chau on Prospect eatery in November, 2015. Even more intentions built up prior to their latest venture: the opening of the companion Three Tigers Brewing but five months afterward when the space next door came available, and something of a flip of the typical fledgling brewery adds food service model.

A couple months later in July, Three Tigers announced a weekend brunch service. Geez, our favorite type of meal for my spouse and I. Twist our arms enough already, why don't you...

The WWWLC Club: Skillet

One of the first conversations my spouse and I had when we were still in the dating phase was neighborhoods we would like to settle in should we eventually decide to call the Columbus area our home. Not surprisingly, most of our focus, whether it was economically feasible or not, centered on the neighborhoods with a mix of retail and dining within fairly easy walking distance.

We've found many of the areas had eateries that we've considered "dangerous" next to live to only in that we'd be tempted to drop by there on a whim on almost any day. And then there are eateries such as Skillet, somewhat nondescript at the corner of Beech and Whittier in the Schumacher Place neighborhood, which go into an even more exclusive WWWLC (We Wished We Lived Closer) Club.

As diverse as we've found Columbus' culinary scene, and as adventurous as we try to be in exploring new places, Skillet would be a place that would automatically prompt weekly visits if we lived closer. But alas, 'tis not the case for us, so we make due with our irregular regular status, keeping Skillet always in the back of our mind always as a potential dining spot. It gets even more prominence as a destination should we be hosting friends or family in town.

Behind The Groove: Natalie's Coal Fired Pizza

In my life, I really haven't had too many real-life interactions with women named Natalie. In fact, perhaps the most "intimate" (and that is a huge stretch of that word meaning) encounter with someone named Natalie was the ex-10,000 Maniacs singer Natalie Merchant, who put on a fun concert with the Columbus Symphony orchestra at the Columbus Commons in July, 2013.

This situation has changed over the past couple years, and this seems to be destined to be a fairly long-lived relationship. This Natalie not only has a way with music, but also crafts some pretty tasty pizzas to boot.

Comfy in Clintonville: The Crest Gastropub

We admit freely that we were not terribly impressed with our initial breakfast-time visit to The Crest a couple months after its initial opening in 2013. There were a number of factors in play at this time, including the copious hype that came with its initial opening, those who wished the no-frills watering hole this eatery replaced (The Crest Tavern) was still around, the ironing out the kinks in regard to timely service (granted, that wasn't easy considering the initial crush of interested diners) and visibly harried servers, and food that didn't quite seem to live up to the price we paid. We made the decision then to come back after a few months to see if they had found their legs.

As it turned out, our intent of just a few months for our next visit ended up being more like a couple years. That was definitely not the goal, but eventually enough sightings of a less-than-packed front parking lot, the implementation of brunch service (our favorite meal to enjoy together,) as well as the opening of The Crest's well-received second location on Parsons Avenue close to the Nationwide Children's Hospital campus got it through our heads that it was time to give the eatery a second chance.

Brews Cruising (Pt. 4): Back Home to the Locals

Winter was pretty much a no-show this year in Ohio...or so we thought

Like the dog referenced in the Devo song "Freedom of Choice," the Ohio weather can't make up its mind. On an otherwise uneventful return from the Music City to end our vacation, the cold hand slap of a winter that was many days late and several dollars short was more than evident (an actual dusting of snow would arrive the next day.)

Despite the chill and the long hours in the car, we were intent on dropping by two more breweries to close out our trip, each being a unique example of how the Columbus craft beer has grown over the past year.

That Summer Feeling: Katalina's

No restaurant reflects my most favorite season like Harrison West's Katalina's

It might be partly genetics, and might be partly geography (I've grown up mainly in sunny warm locales most of my life), but overall summer may be my favorite season of the year. However, in my old stomping grounds of the Bay Area, the seasons of the year are much less defined than here in the Midwest. Typically, a Bay Area summer boosts the temperatures, especially inland, and lawns turn brown from the lack of rain (sadly, the latter has been too much of the trend the last few years no matter the season.) The most pleasing effect the summer brought for me was to remove the hassle of toting cooler-weather gear around. With that said, many inexperienced souls traveling within the borders of San Francisco proper often feel the unexpectedly biting chill of brisk onshore winds and ocean fog, fueling summer sweatshirt sales from the city's numerous souvenir shops like nobody's business.

In contrast, summer brings a much more diverse mix of elements to Midwest residents. Besides the weather-related events like pop-up thundershowers and more severe weather phenomena, nature and the surrounding Central Ohio agricultural areas give me much more sensory feedback. I have learned to tune into what my spouse has long grown familiar and come to associate with the season: the constant whir of unified cicada chirps, and the various fragrant smells of earth and plant life, from naturally occurring colorful blooms of all sorts and the various fruits and vegetables, both wild and cultivated for agriculture.

For both of us, the season also has come to mean it's the prime time to experience Harrison West's Katalina's, mainly due to its prominent outdoor patio space. While outdoor patios in the Columbus area are not unique to this eatery, the summer and warmer weather in general is especially kind to this eatery. The sight of sun-drenched diners of all ages, including an occasional four-legged pup or two, engaging and eating underneath the outdoor, umbrella-covered patio tables is uniquely appealing in its own right. Even when I am simply transiting through the neighborhood, the sight of a visibly bustling Katalina's brings a smile to my face.

Katalina's presents something of the "coolest kitchen in town" flair
in its interior, sporting vintage furnishings, shelves of often-locally
based products, and diner-inspired jottings and doodles

Lack of summer sun and heat should not be a deterrent to exploring the unique eatery that is Katalina's during anytime of the year, however. Indeed, owner Kathleen Day has taken what had been a sandwich shop back into 2009 (and, farther back in the day, a gasoline station) and has slowly but surely imprinted her unique design flair within this compact interior space. The mixing and matching of antique furnishings with playful elements such as a chalkboard wall and new patio tables emblazoned with the colorful doodles and words of numerous previous diners, paired up with wooden benches and vintage chairs, makes for a visually appealing motif.

The interior in general feels something like the coolest kitchen around. Antique furniture provides the shelving for Katalina's inventory of mainly local products, while a refrigerator case provides an efficient way to pick up pre-filled cups of fruit drinks such as their "famous" Watermelon Mint Lemonade and Blood Orange Juice (a favorite of my spouse's) along with Cold Brew Coffee from local roaster Thunderkiss (a separate area next to this case hosts the hot-brewed java.). While ordering your food, you can take a peek at the bustle of people in the actual kitchen space often working feverishly to keep up with orders.

 

Katalina's longtime staple Pancake Balls have been joined on the
menu by newcomers like the Housemade Chorizo Tacos (center)
and Hens In A Basket (bottom)

Katalina's signature dish, and justly so, is their Pancake Balls. Unlike the heavy, doughy abelskivers cousins we've had previous at the Danish-themed tourist town of Solvang in Central California, this eatery's versions are heaven-light and airy by comparison. Covered with powdered sugar, and paired with Ohio-produced maple syrup and a couple slices of bacon, choosing this dish is often less difficult than figuring out which decadent filling (Nutella, Dulce de Leche or Pumpkin Apple Butter) you want inside these spheroids of deliciousness.

Throughout the years, Day has added menu items that that reflect both Southern and Latino influences, including but not exclusive to their Pueblo BLT to their Southern Brown Betty Biscuit Balls. We have not had the chance to try those dishes yet, but the items we have tried have never been simply ordinary. From the previously mentioned Pancake Balls to the Mexican French Toast (enjoyed immensely by a niece of ours), their Huevos Rancheros (lauded by Travel + Leisure Magazine as some of the best in the country and featuring, like many of Katalina's dishes, Shagbark Seed and Mill chips) to newer creations like their Housemade Chorizo Tacos, new and improved Katalina's Migas (an egg-lovers dream featuring five eggs scrambled with Snowville Creamery creme fraiche) and Hens In A Basket (a fairly simple concept accentuated by a tasty brussels sprout hash) Katalina's menu always seems to give always a dilemma on our return visit: go with known deliciousness, or something new that promises to be equally so?

It's a tasty job but someone's gotta do it...right?

Katalina's
1105 Pennsylvania Ave (Harrison West)
Columbus, OH 43201
(614) 294-2233
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