A Sampler: Last Bites for The Nearly Departed

I do not have a long history in Central Ohio, but I have come to appreciate many aspects of the area's history. As a food blogger, this appreciation naturally extends to the area's restaurants, and it came to the forefront during a recent visit to the indoor version of the Worthington Farmers Market. Here, I spied a table selling sauces and other products related to the Florentine Restaurant, an eatery whose 70+ year run as an area institution ended somewhat unexpectedly in December 2016.

Sadly, we never did stop by the Florentine before its demise, but the sighting of the table (we did pick up a bottle of salad dressing we're eager to try) did remind me that it was time to clean up my photo holdings to send some eateries I've visited over the years but never blogged about to the "Nearly Departed" category.  As I performed the archiving, I thought it might be fun to take a peek at some of these places.

Bonchon - this Korean-based chain had a bit of a weird history here in Columbus, arriving with some manner of anticipation with their vaunted Korean Fried Chicken in 2015. However, food safety issues plagued the Sawmill area location, and their second Clintonville location (pictured above) never seemed overly packed whenever we visited.

Destination Unknown: Cravings Carryout Cafe

No one likes to see their local regular destination eatery disappear from the scene. A recently broadcast cable TV feature on the former  The Surly Girl Saloon. reminded me of that fact just a few days ago. Their sudden departure from the local scene earlier this year in April was sad for us and the restaurant's regulars, but the impression I got after reading the local media stories was that it was something both inevitable and a bit of a relief for its former owners. Many of us came out to send the Surly Girl off with a fond farewell in its final week of operation.

Other similar closings we have encountered such as Merion Village's Explorers Club and Jobu Ramen have thankfully led to only venue changes; the former has established a well-received food truck and is in the process of setting up a kitchen at Grandview's Zauber Brewing. Meanwhile, the latter has revived their Mashita Noodles food cart and makes regular appearances at places around the area such as the Brewery District's Double Happiness.

Then there are the out-of-the-blue closing announcements that are unexpected and leave both owners and patrons alike bewildered. Such is the case with Italian Village's Cravings Carryout Cafe.

Cravings started off in January 2012 under a different name (Cookie Cravings Bakery) that reflected its very simple concept: specialty decorated cookies. Demand from the friends of cafe owners the Tewangers (Matt, his mom Joan, and his wife Lindsey) for their cookies grew to the point where they quit their regular day jobs and opened up a shop in their uniquely quirky location (as time went on, I visited there often enough to only THINK I knew how to navigate the entrance without a hitch) in Italian Village on East Third Avenue.

From there, things grew both around the bakery's surroundings as well as within the bakery itself. In the surrounding area, food-oriented businesses such as Seventh Son Brewing, Cray Eatery and Drinkery, The Market Italian Village and Fox in the Snow Cafe, amongst others, have made Italian Village a culinary destination within the Columbus metro. For the bakery, the business of continual cookie-making got a little bit old for Matt (formerly of well-known eateries such as The Worthington Inn and The Refectory) and the rest of the Tewangers, and the shop slowly but surely added more savory items to the menu much to customers' delight. In 2014, the bakery re-branded itself to its current nameplate, still offering their cookies but making those a little more of an accompaniment to a focused but diverse menu of both breakfast and lunch items.

Cravings Carryout Cafe could add two other C-words (cozy
and casual) to describe its uniquely intimate interior

In many ways, I imagine Cravings Carryout has reached a beloved status for its surrounding residents similar to what Sassafras Bakery has become for us over time, enough so to bring people from outside the immediate neighborhood. This proved the same for us whenever we would be traveling through the Italian Village neighborhood. The cafe would be a perfect place to pick up a quick cookie snack and an excellent iced coffee (brewed with beans from local roaster Thunderkiss; in fact, the cafe produced a solid business of selling growlers of iced coffee over the months.)

As time went on, their breakfast and lunch savory items became a nice alternative when we were in the area and in the mood for something freshly-made in a very casual setting. Their sweet items have also evolved beyond cookies to things cinnamon rolls and eventually the Bronut, their brioche-based donut that seems to be the logical successor in the best blended-bakery-goods mashup since the now-closed Auddino's and their Doughssant.

From their Bronuts to their lunch items and sides, Cravings Carryout
sports a focused menu of tasty, freshly-made items

Things seemed to be going on business as usual until this August 25th post on their Facebook feed desperately requesting people's help in finding a new location due to the loss of their lease. Even if a place were to emerge immediately, the cafe's last day of business in their Italian Village location would be September 13th. Based on the number of responses to that post with followers' suggestions and general words of support, quite a few people from around the metro would love for the Tewangers to relocate their operations to their particular neck of the woods.

At this time of much uncertainty for the cafe, there are three things I can be certain of at this point. One thing is that the Terwangers are going to do their darndest to get the cafe relocated. Another is that if they're successful in relocating, the neighborhood that they relocate to will be that much the better for landing them.

Lastly, I am certain I am going to make at least one more visit to the cafe to try that vaunted Bronut (which, sadly, I have not have the chance to enjoy yet) along with a Thunderkiss iced coffee. When that happens, I know it will be the start of a very good day.

Hopefully, I will be enjoying another in the future at their new location, wherever that may be...

Currently, the last day of business for Cravings Carryout Cafe at their Italian Village location is scheduled for Sunday, September 13.

09/06/2015 Update - while the Mill Run location of Auddino's Bakery Cafe has closed, the doughssant and other goodies live on at Auddino's original location at 1490 Clara St, Columbus, Ohio. Thanks to everyone who pointed out this (delicious) correction to me.

As far as Cravings Carryout, there is no word yet on a new location, but I did get to sample their Bronut like I intended. This is a definite item on the to-eat-again at their new location, wherever it may be.

Cravings Carryout Cafe
227 East 3rd Ave (Italian Village)
Columbus, OH 43201
(614) 725-0090
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No Re-Peet's in Ohio: Some Thoughts from a Former Bay Area Regular

Peet's Clintonville during more hopeful times

First off: a little Cliff's Notes version about my coffee history. For almost four decades of my life, I was not a regular coffee drinker. My household was a world of Taster's Choice and Maxwell House, and the only use for coffee for me was a dipping liquid for glazed donuts (mmmm, glazed donuts dipped in coffee.)

I honestly did not get all the hubbub about the more expensive coffees such as those sold by Starbucks. When I was convinced to go with family or friends out for coffee, I would grab a coffee drink of some sort, but it generally didn't do a thing for me. My preferred caffeine fix sources then were either gobs of pop or, for a brief time, energy drinks.

Then came a time where I decided it was time to get off the energy drinks. Going back to gallons of pop was not a choice, so coffee was the logical replacement option. Getting in as early as I did to work meant my options were very limited, but luckily I found Peet's, whose stores were one of the few open during those creaky early morning hours I stumbled into town. It was Peet's who provided me my gateway java into the world of better coffee.

When I first heard they were branching out to the Midwest, my immediate reaction was one of excitement: a part of my personal history would now be a proverbial stone's throw away from me. But as time progressed, based on what I was saw from them (two waves of store closures before the final death knell) and some of my own personal experiences, I grew much more skeptical about their move. Their sudden closing earlier this week came as no surprise to me, and provided the exclamation point for a post I had been thinking of writing for awhile regarding their lack of success.

So why did Peet's fail in the Midwest? I think much of it comes down to one word: loyalty

Caribou Coffee Loyalty: A foray into coffee by JABenckiser, the German conglomerate more known for their fashion-related brands, seemed a bit odd in 2012, but they must have known that they had acquired two coffee chains with strong loyalties in both the Midwest-based Caribou and the West Coast-based Peet's. I wonder if they expected anything else other than a negative reaction when they essentially told one side of that loyalty quotient that it was time to be loyal to the other side without any good reason put forward to earn that loyalty.

I personally experienced the strength of that loyalty with several Caribou Coffee fans/colleagues of mine who were none too happy with the news. Their first tastings of their product pretty much sealed the deal, as they remarked how "Starbucks-like" it was and how they missed the more subtler-coffee shadings of their now departed Caribou drinks. Many others must have felt similarly and never transferred their loyalty to the newly branded stores: the downtown Peet's location, the closest to my workplace and in a prime foot-traffic spot in the Huntington Building, didn't last a year and was a victim of the second wave of store closings.

Local Coffee Loyalty: Peet's was essentially a local brand in the Bay Area (their first store opened up in 1966 in Berkeley) but was essentially an outsider in the Midwest. As much as I appreciated them in the Bay Area, there are a multitude of local Columbus-area coffee shops that I would frequent over Peet's were they next to each other on the block. Not that I didn't drop by Peet's while they were here, but new local loyalties kept my visits to a minimum. And it was for certain that anyone with a strong association to any of this area's fine local coffee shops would NOT suddenly find Peet's as a "must-visit" on their coffee rounds.

Starbucks Loyalty: In terms of chain coffee, Peet's coffee is very similar in style to Starbucks (essentially, Starbucks based their coffee model from Peet's original store.) There are people who would say there is a difference, but the number of people here who would say that are probably awfully small here in the Midwest. Another aspect is the loyalty programs: Peet's does have its own "Peetniks" program that provides certain perks for loyal customers. However, that program has nowhere near the marketing clout and instant gratification factor of Starbucks' Rewards program. This factor, combined with Starbucks' sheer presence (50 locations popped up in the Starbucks website-based locator when I typed in Columbus, OH) and other ancillary aspects (e.g. much more in the way of food options) meant you'd have few defectors from this populace.

The "Why You Should Show Loyalty To Us" Factor: I attended some of Peet's soft-opening events where they offered free coffee to curious folks, I received updates on the construction, but got no good feedback from those hosting those events as to what made Peet's coffee special. I seemed to know more about history of Peet's and the role that founder Alfred Peet played in fashioning the blueprint for the modern coffee business than the people manning these events.

For me, it seemed that anything that would make Peet's special, whether it be the history, the way it roasts it coffee, etc., did not get communicated very well to their potential customers as well as their surrounding communities. I came across a very well-written Linked In post by Cara Posey, a Marketing, Communications, & Public Affairs Professional, that explained this aspect quite well.

As it stands, Peet's is gone and a number of workers received a fairly rude holiday surprise in the form of a pink slip (in a nice gesture, the company did say that employees were receiving at six weeks of pay and benefits, with additional severance pay given based on previous tenure.) In the Columbus-area coffee scene as a whole, their departure is not a huge loss. I am sure on travels back to the Bay Area, I will drop by a Peet's and have a cup for old times sake.

In its stead, I would love to see a local coffee provider move into one the last two locations now left empty with the departure. I am sure the old Peet's Clintonville location, or any of the two former Caribou locations in Upper Arlington can be a viable coffeehouse again with the right vendor.

And there are plenty of other places in the metro ripe for a good neighborhood coffeehouse. Starbucks alone dot much of the Northwest area around Henderson and Bethel out to Riverside, as well as the Sawmill Road Corridor - why not somewhere here? Or perhaps about Franklinton close to the burgeoning 400 West Rich complex? I cross my fingers that there will be more locally-based java goodness to explore in the near future.