The Beans Are Not Always Greener...

The Carquinez Bridge, gateway to Vallejo and Benicia in San Francisco's east bay

It may be less evident to more and more people as time inexorably marches forward, but there was a time where Starbucks Coffee shops didn't occupy every town, or at least seem that they did.

I can remember a time when the chain was conspicuous by its absence. Vallejo and Benicia are neighboring cities along the Bay Area's Carquinez Strait along Interstate 780, but I can remember when the more highly populated (but less economically well off) city of Vallejo was mermaid-less, but the much lesser populated (but more well-heeled) town of Benicia sported a branch.

With all Starbucks being mostly corporate-owned (save for locations inside airports, supermarkets, etc.), I myself wondered at the time what Starbucks didn't see in Vallejo, or perhaps, did see. Vallejo has one of the more diversely populated cities in the Bay Area (since 1980, the percentages among White, Black, Hispanic and Asian populations have steadily equalized) and I pondered if corporate minds thought that wasn't a money-making formula.

Eventually, Vallejo's residents did get their Starbucks and proved that they as much as anyone can boatloads of Frappuccinos and Unicorn Lattes. Nowadays, the Seattle-based chain is more of a constant (with close to 30,000 branches worldwide, with half of them in the United States) versus a buzzy novelty for which many would clamor. Interestingly enough, while Vallejo currently hosts more locations than Benicia, the higher per capita still resides with the latter (roughly one for every 7,000 residents for Benicia vs. 1 for every 20,000 residents in Vallejo.)

Princely Waves and Pumpkin Weighs - A Half Day in Half Moon Bay

Pigeon Point Lighthouse, one of two lighthouses that bracket
the cozy town of Half Moon Bay (Photo courtesy of
visithalfmoonbay.org/Jonathan Warren)

Half Moon Bay, named for the picturesque crescent-shaped bay north of the main downtown area, packs in a surprising amount of history and big-name event cred into a decidedly laid back and small town package. Formally incorporated in 1959, the land which holds this community of roughly 12,500 was the long time home for the Costanoan Indians, whose trails into the area were mirrored by the two current main roads into the town during their construction.

Once Mexican settlers moved in 1840, the settlement became known as Spanishtown due to the large numbers of Spanish speakers before adopting its current moniker in 1874. The area became infamous during the era of Prohibition as the home for local moonshiners and rum runners, mainly due to its isolated location and constantly foggy conditions.

Java Broad-side: Bottoms Up and Third Way Cafe

Columbus's vigorous coffee scene has headed west in recent months
down Broad Street, one of the city's historically main thoroughfares

For those in the know, the Columbus coffee scene continues to steam as vigorously as milk for a latte drink, prior to and ever since the well-respected Sprudge Media Group's listing Ohio's capital city as one of its Five Underrated Coffee Cities. Just in the past several months alone, a bevy of local favorites, from Fox In The Snow, Roaming Goat Roasters, and Stauf's either opening new locations or on the verge of expansion.

Of course, the places to grab a lovely cup of java around here tend to be concentrated in select neighborhoods, with the Short North, German Village, and Downtown being prime hot spots. But I personally like to the opportunity for a good cup of joe filter out to lesser served parts of the metro, as I found out headed toward parts west on Broad Street during recent travels.

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.)

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.

Conscience With Your Coffee: The Roosevelt Coffeehouse

I had written about the socially-minded Roosevelt Coffeehouse, founded by Kenny Sipes, early in my blogging career back in November 2014, and well before they actually opened to the public six months later in April 2015.

As it turns out, Roosevelt has done just fine for itself, celebrating a second anniversary this year with much fanfare.  With the addition to the metro of similar coffee-focused/charitable ventures (Bottoms Up, the one-year old cafe in Franklinton focused on infant mortality, as well as the still evolving South Columbus-oriented Community Grounds on Parsons Avenue), I figured this was as a good a time as any to do a followup post detailing how Roosevelt has evolved.

Southern Road Trip: Best of the Rest (Pt. 1)

As much ground as the previous couple of weeks of Southern road trip blog posts covered, not every place we visited made it in. However, that by no stretch of the imagination means that they aren't worthy of a mention. These next couple of posts touch on an eatery from each of the major cities we encountered during this road trip that we found to be worth the consideration at the very least.

I know I can't personally start the day without a good cup of coffee, but the following two places add much more to the equation other than that caffeinated elixir.

Dallas - Cuban Dulceria International Bakery & Cafe

A longstanding Dallas-area tradition, the Vasquez family has been serving their Cuban specialties to Dallas-area residents since 1979. They may have remained pretty much only on the radar of the locals, but a couple of unrelated pushes from as different spheres of fame as you can imagine (President Barack Obama efforts to normalizing Cuban relations and a Khloe Kardashian reference to cortaditos) has bumped into modest eatery much higher onto the culinary radar. In fact, the demand created has encouraged the owners to open up a second location in the area.

Sandwiches Around The Statehouse: Milo's Capital Cafe

With my recent post on our visit to Ohio's Statehouse, it only seemed appropriate to add another post to this mini-series of blogposts. However, this is a case where the more appropriate preposition is probably an "in" rather than "around."

Entrance to the Capitol Cafe at the Ohio Statehouse

Milo's Capital Cafe is probably one of the more unusual settings in the downtown area where you could chow your lunch down.  The original Franklinton-based Milo's was built to handle the overflow from nearby Tommy's Diner, with both businesses established by the Pappas Family in the late 1990s. Early in 2014, the original Milo's space was converted to handle all catering operations; meanwhile, restaurant operations focused not only on their Capitol Square space but also on their two recently opened spaces on the north side of town along the I-270 beltway on either side of I-71.

The dining space intermixed with views of the menu shot and coffee dispensers

Nestled on the lower level of the Statehouse, diners who eat in are surrounded by the substantial walls of limestone quarried back in the mid-1800s to provide the building's foundation. Some may feel a little claustrophobic with the tight ordering area and the formidable walls that surround them; however, the sense of being surrounded by history as well as modern touches such as TV sets and wi-fi access makes this atmosphere a uniquely winning one.

Cajun Chicken and Pork Belly Asian Wraps

The food menu for Milo's Capital Cafe consists of diner-styled breakfast and lunch items; with most of the regular lunch items are very reasonably priced, falling in the $6 to $7.50 range. Daily specials are also available at a slightly higher price range as well. Dessert lovers also have reason to stop by, as local favorite Jeni's Ice Cream is available for purchase for cafe-goers. 

Perhaps my expectations were somewhat lower than they should have been, but I've been really happy with my lunches here. The Cajun Chicken Wrap ($6.25) had a good savory flavor profile with a tender piece of chicken. On another occasion, I was slightly worried that my Pork Belly Asian Wrap ($7.95) might be too sweet, but it turned out to be well-balanced, with a nice salty-sweet mix and good balance of rice, pork belly and and crispy slaw.

Milo's has a few things that work against it. Not only is it located in a somewhat difficult to reach location, but it is also nearly impossible to figure out it exists on a casual walk-by of the Statehouse. In addition, its operating hours are definitely geared to the the downtown/Statehouse working crowd (7 AM to 3 PM Mondays thru Fridays.) Despite all this, Milo's is definitely worth a visit or two by anyone working in or visiting the Downtown area; this consideration level jumps up a few notches if your business takes you to the Statehouse itself.

2017 Update: Milo's Capitol Cafe has rebranded itself as the farm-to-table concept Graze Columbus, and its catering services have been consolidated into one location on West Broad Street.  The social links below have been updated to link to the current eatery and catering operation.

Milo's Capitol Cafe
1 Capitol Square (Downtown - Google Maps)
(Lower level of Statehouse nearby the Map Room/Gift Shop/Museum)
Columbus, OH 43215
(614) 728-9231
Facebook     Instagram     Twitter     Website

Catering Services:
980 West Broad St
Columbus, OH 43222
Website

Sandwiches Around The Statehouse: Freshbox Cafe

The cafe's entrance at the Trinity Episcopal Church

The symbiotic relationship that baseball and hot dogs has acquired over the years can easily be attached to lunchtime and sandwiches as well. With downtown Columbus around the Statehouse crawling with thousands of working folks on a typical weekday, plenty of food establishments have this ubiquitous item on their menus. Making this staple item something that stands out from the crowd, however, is something that takes some doing.

One way to distinguish a sandwich is on the culinary side, through the use of exceptional ingredients or a culinary variation (e.g. the Vietnamese bahn mi sandwich.) Another way to make it stand out lies in the people making your meal. It is this latter aspect that puts Freshbox in its own unique downtown lunchtime corner in two different ways.

Freshbox's Purpose Statement

The first of those lies in Freshbox Cafe's location, which resides in a very atypical location: the basement level of the Trinity Episcopal Church at the corner of 3rd and Broad Street in downtown. This location in essence gives away the second unique aspect of Freshbox: the cafe, along with their sister catering business, is owned by Lutheran Social Services, and is meant to offer meaningful employment to Central Ohio residents suffering from poverty and homelessness while giving the people of downtown Columbus
to satisfy their appetites through their food offerings.

The inside of the cafe is bright for a basement level space, dominated by a bright apple green color theme. Enough space and seating is available that one could bring in a nicely-sized group of colleagues for work or business and not feel crowded by lunchtime throngs of people.

The ordering counter and dining space

Freshbox's offers a fairly familiar selection of sandwiches/wraps ($5.79; all these choices come with a side sauce/dressing of some sort) and salads ($6.79). Additionally, a selection of assorted sides (including a soup of the day,) sweets (including a very rich turtle brownie and their signature chocolate-covered Oreo) and drinks (soda pop and bottled water.)

Based on my first few visits, Freshbox appears to be accomplishing their stated mission on both fronts. The employees I've encountered are friendly and service with quick. And while the items I have tried (Spring Turkey Salad, Thai Chicken Wrap and the Napoli Sandwich) wouldn't be considered fancy gourmet creations, they were all freshly made and solidly tasty. Freshbox Cafe will be in my regular rotation of downtown lunchtime spots for the foreseeable future.

2017 Update: Freshbox appears to have gone strictly back into the catering business. For information on how to utilize their catering services, please use the updated social media links below.

Freshbox Cafe
Basement Level of Trinity Episcopal Church
125 E Broad St (Downtown)
Columbus, OH 43215
(614) 859-9146
Facebook      Instagram      Website