They Say The Donut Flights Are Bright on Broadway

The Broadway play "Rent", playing in Columbus this weekend, is
celebrating its 20th Anniversary this year.

I don't know about you, but mental tangents offer me some of the best writing inspiration. Take the play "Rent", which is in Columbus this weekend on its 20th Anniversary Tour and is also one of the few Broadway plays I have seen and my spouse (a lover of Broadway musicals in general) has not.

Anyway, the tangent train started with an article e-mailed to me by one of my fellow bloggers regarding cities and fast food (a potential future topic) that sent me on the research path. During the search, I discovered that Dunkin' Donuts (a franchise that has actually struggled in Central Ohio) was listed in the Top 10 on most lists.

With a pizza post also in the works, that got me thinking about a rhetorical and somewhat unanswerable question: can you have more variations on donuts or pizza? It is here when the play "Rent" and its the signature song "Seasons of Love" popped into my head, with slightly altered lyrics:

"Five hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred donuts

Five hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred rings so dear

Five hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred donuts

How do you measure, measure a year?"

So that got me thinking: how many different donuts could you eat in Columbus if you really tried?

Playing The Host: A Kid-Friendly Tour of Columbus (Pt. 2)

A bloom hangs on against the impending winter cold at Columbus's Park of Roses

As noted in the last blogpost, we don't get to play host very often to family members, so when we do it becomes a special occasion, especially when there are kids (in this case, a 10- and a 13-year old) involved. This kid-friendly (though, in reality, an all-ages-friendly) excursion continues in this blogpost with another German Village staple.

Donuts and Development: Buckeye Donuts

The snapshot of the ongoing redevelopment of High Street next to
Ohio State University from earlier this summer

As you may have noticed, the students at Ohio State University are back. What had been a slow drip earlier in the month became a full cascade of youngsters last weekend, as almost all university freshmen and sophomores (who, with rare exception, are required to live on campus with recently enacted university policies) arrived into town to move into their new living quarters.

What some of those newcomers may not realize is that the High Street corridor that abuts the campus has been undergoing an ongoing longer transformation to "promote a vibrant, mixed use environment within a multi-block district centered at 15th Avenue and High Street", according to Campus Partners, an organization created by The Ohio State University in 1995 to "spearhead the revitalization of the urban neighborhoods around its Columbus campus."

Admirable goals, for certain.  But to this observer, the glossy sheen of new storefronts and chain-rich storefronts and luxury apartments to come has sucked and will continue to suck the distinctive character of the area to close to nil.

Cincy Travels Pt. 3: The Mmmm's Have it

This sign for Yost Pharmacy, which has served the residents of Mason since
1945, might be a future candidate for Cincinnati's American Sign Museum

Our trip to Cincinnati was an anomaly for us: other than the Cincy Brew Bus tour, all other places were either in the "possible" category or visited completely on the whim. This led to a mild bit of meandering as we explored the northern reaches of the area with stops in Middletown and Mason and knocked off a lot more stuff than we had even figured we would.

It's Not The Journey, But The Destination That Matters

The above photo highlights one of the first times I got to sample the creations of Columbus' "Donut Queen" aka Heather Morris, owner and force behind Destination Donuts.

At that time, Columbus (a very under-the-radar donut town, if I do say so myself) had little in the way of more fancy donut creations, and Morris saw the opportunity in the market for her more upscale, gourmet creations. Her pop-up made regular appearances at the North Market, and her creations were just starting to make her way out to local shops like The Hills Market and Luck Brothers Coffee in Grandview Heights. The locations she regularly stopped weren't necessarily easy for us to get to in those days, but we made it a point to grab her inventive flavor creations like Raspberry Hibiscus, Thai Peanut and Caramel Apple. Even better: the simpler flavors like her Dueling Vanilla and her vegan creations are equally as flavorful and addicting as those fancier models.

I Could Be Happy The Rest of my Life on a Cinnamon Whirl (Pt. 1)

The Moravian Sugar Cake from Laughlin's Bakery, topped with
cinnamon, one of my most favorite spices ever

When it comes to sweet treats, those that have cinnamon are hard to beat in my book. In fact, one of the first sweet treats I enjoyed here during one of my first visits to Columbus was the rather substantial (and tasty) rendition put out by the North Market's Omega Artisan Bakery. A recent "Best of Columbus" article by Columbus Monthly provided me some inspiration to try something that I hadn't done in awhile in the form of a food crawl. Add in a desire to seek out parts of the metro I hadn't necessarily wandered much into, and you got yourself one sweet journey indeed.

Desayuno Departures: Until Next Time, San Diego

Yes, you have arrived in San Diego's Golden Hill district, one of three
locations from which Dark Horse Roasters operates

Alas, all vacations must end, and our sun-drenched romp through San Diego reached its invitable conclusion. Without a doubt, we were pleased with how it all came out, as we received our fill of yummy craft beer, lovely ocean shore vistas, and a healthy dose of natural Vitamin D.

However, we didn't want to depart without mentioning our most favorite meal of the day in breakfast and brunch. Typically, this is where we spend most of our going out money back home in Columbus, but it turned out to take a bit of a back seat on this particular jaunt. Not that there weren't worthy places available (one such place, Hash House a Go Go, even offers a touch of the Midwest as an option), but those will have to wait until a more lengthy and more easy-going return back to the area.

With that said, there were plenty of nice little finds on our trip, the first of them residing in the Victorian home-laced neighborhood of Golden Hill.

Ice Cream Chronicles (Year 3): A Truly Holey Alliance

The marriage of classic sweet treats (donuts and ice cream) is alive and
well in the Sacramento area, as evidenced by this food truck from The Parlor

For this ice cream encounter, we need to focus briefly on a country almost 8,000 miles from California's capital city. As detailed in this Sacramento Bee article, Cambodian refugees fleeing to the United States from the horrors of genocide in their homeland in the 1970s ended up discovering donut shops as a way to earn money despite limited work-skills and education. As noted in this same story, unofficial estimates show that roughly 90% of the independent donut shops in California are now owned by families of Cambodian descent.

Fast forward to 2013 to the Cambodian-owned Baker's Donuts in South Sacramento, which has been frying up dough for its customers since 1985. Siblings Douglas and Stephanie Hem, who grew up working in their family's donut business, persuaded their elders/business owners that both social media interaction and more unique creations were the key to keeping up with recently arrived corporate competitors like Krispy Kreme.

As it turned out, one of their menu additions, ice cream filled donuts (often sporting tropically-flavored ice creams like ube and mango), proved to be a runaway hit, sparking an eventual niche market in the region for this "holey" alliance of these two classic sweet treat favorites.

Alas, a trip to the originating source wasn't going to work with my itinerary on this quick jaunt out west, so I went with a slightly more convenient yet still highly-regarded purveyor in this sweet combination in The Parlor Ice Cream Puffs shop.

Columbus Coffee Chronicles (Vol. 3): Highline Coffee

The buildings which make up downtown Worthington, otherwise known as Old or Olde Worthington to the locals, are a reflection of the town's founding; Thomas Kilbourne, the man who purchased the land that would become Worthington, platted the land to be a New England-styled village (indeed, one of the main east-west thoroughfares here is New England Avenue.)

One probably would expect an area like this to have a little neighborhood, locally-oriented coffee cafe of some sort. However, that hasn't been the case pretty much since I moved to the area more than four years ago. There is a nice little triangle in this area of brick-and-mortar eateries where you can grab a cup of coffee brewed from locally-based coffee sources like Stauf's (the French bistro/bakery Le Chatelaine), downtown's Cafe Brioso (courtesy of Sassafras Bakery, one of my local favorites for baked goods), and duo of Roaming Goat and Crimson Cup (the bicycle store/coffee bar mashup Ride Home.)  The outdoor edition of the town's popular Farmers Market also offers its Saturday morning visitors the beans and brews of southern-Ohio based Silver Bridge Coffee out of Gallipolis. 

This situation has changed recently, however, with the arrival of Highline Coffee.

SF Bay Area Quick Takes (Pt. 1): Eight Noodle Shop (Napa, CA)

Generally speaking, the better ramen havens of the Bay Area lie to the south on the Peninsula, from San Mateo downward into San Jose, Napa is not really a place one would go to seek out this dish, but we found a pretty decent bowl just outside of the downtown area in the form of Eight Noodle Shop.

Opened by long-time area restaurant veteran and Taiwan-native David Lu (a man who we noticed is not afraid to engage his diners in the service department), this eatery offers up an outdoor patio space as well as a uniquely triangle-shaped and somewhat intimate wood-board paneled interior. The vibe inside is something similar to what we experience at Meshikou, a Columbus ramen eatery along Bethel Road in the city's Northwest side of town.

Two Brews High and Rising: Four String Brewing/Sideswipe Brewing

A more and more pertinent question for fans and member brewers of the ever growing craft beer scene in Columbus and Ohio in a general is a simple one: is the market getting too saturated with new arrivals? Based on recent visits to two of Columbus' member breweries, we believe there's still plenty of room to grow.

Four String Brewing: I have written about Four String Brewing not too long ago on this blog post, and Jim Ellison, owner of the CMH Gourmand blog and head guru of Columbus Brew Adventures, wrote an excellent summation around the occasion of the Four String's fourth anniversary of owner's Dan Cochran's unique efforts to lift his business to the heights as one of Columbus' bigger brewers.

Further proof of their success was lent to us during the first of a series of "Beer and Donuts" events, put on by the Columbus Craft Beer Alliance (CCBA) last Saturday. A good crowd came out to this inaugural event, which is meant to give attendees a behind-the-scenes look at the member breweries as well as commiserate with fellow local craft beer lovers and the brewers themselves. Four String's brand new facility on the west side of Columbus proved to be a perfect launch point, laying out what we imagine will be the general itinerary of providing event-goers a chance to sample the brewery's offerings as well as discs of delicious fried dough goodness from a local eatery.

In the latter's case, the donuts were provided by Lyric Donuts. Michael Murtha, who works as a barista at Impero Coffee, launched his line of donuts late summer at this Short North coffee shop along with pop-ups at the Old North-located Ace of Cups bar and music venue. Throughout the event, his inventory of musically-themed, mainly cake-donut-based treats were devoured by event-goers, ranging from the basic (the plain cake donut "The Boss", referencing Bruce Springsteen) to the Ozzy's Bat Head (a dark chocolate donut hole with espresso glaze named for a rather notorious incident in this rocker's long career.) Our personal favorite (and a favorite for many we chatted with, we figured out) proved to be the Lime in the Coconut (a nod to Harry Nilsson), made with toasted coconut flakes and coated by a delicious lime glaze.)

CCBA representative Jamie Gentry gave an overview of the "Beer and Donuts" events as well as the local craft beer scene as a whole before turning things over to Four String Brewmaster Larry Horwitz. Due to the number of event-goers, two tours of the facility were given by Horwitz, and we decided to hang back for the second tour. When the first tour returned, everybody was treated to the highlighted pairing - the perfectly matched Velvet Underground (a light and airy creation with a daintily delectable banana custard filling) and Four String's Vanilla Porter, A bonus treat was that we along with other members of the second group got to take this rather neatly matched duo along with us as we walked through the facility with our brewmaster.

The whole tour itself was quite informative, and Horwitz was quite welcoming and appreciative of the folks who showed up on this day. Perhaps the most revealing part of the tour for us was the sheer size of the space (the former home of a defense and space materials production company) - as he pointed out early, the brewery's existing taproom in Grandview Heights could fit several times over in various sections of the new facility.

Also revealing was the main production area, which provided a contrast between the brewery's beginnings (the line of "Frankenbrewing" tanks from their original Grandview location that actually still do play a role in the brewing process) amidst much larger and more sophisticated brewing equipment (capable of up to 8,000 barrels per year, nearly tripling the brewery's existing capacity.) This new equipment is vital in the efforts to get Four String's products distributed throughout the state of Ohio, but despite the brewery's growth, current plans will keep the brewery's unique beginnings alive. Their original Grandview location will remain open and feature the company's "Solo Series" line of oddball and one-off brews.

 

With more similar events planned for the future (a December beer/donuts pairing at downtown's Wolf's Ridge Brewing is already sold out, while an event at Lancaster's Rockmill Brewery is possibly in the works), CCBA's "Beer & Donut" series provides a unique look at the local craft beer scene, and provides event-goers fried doughy goodness as a bonus. That's a pretty hard pairing to beat.

Columbus Craft Beer Alliance
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Four String Brewing
660 N. Hague Avenue (Production Facility - Valleyview)
Columbus, OH 43204
- and -
985 W. 6th Avenue (Taproom - Grandview Heights)
Columbus, OH 43212
(614) 725-1282
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Lyric Donuts
(found within Impero Coffee Shop)
849 N High St. (Short North)
Columbus, OH 43215
(614) 294-2489
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Sideswipe Brewing: Although on the completely opposite end of the production scale (the term "nano-brewery" definitely fits ex-martial artist Craig O'Herron's operation), Sideswipe Brewing, located in a somewhat hidden industrial corner of West Columbus on the other side of I-670 from Grandview Heights, also provides proof that Columbus' craft beer scene has plenty of room to grow.

When we traveled up to the Denver area to a slew of Fort Collins' area breweries (for more details, check out these two posts on our visits to  Big Beaver and Odell and Funkwerks and Equinox) my wife's brother, a home brewer and Columbus ex-pat, informed us that any brewery who wants any kind of longevity in that area must have expansion in their initial business plan after a year or so or be left behind in the area's substantial craft beer wake. The fact that Sideswipe, which hasn't grown substantially since their opening in November of 2013, is still holding their own in their little industrial park space and will grow, given the opportunity, speaks just as loudly to Columbus's still untapped (no pun intended) craft beer potential.

For now, Sideswipe's growth can be measured mainly in taproom improvements. In this case, a year between visits for us was quite insightful, as the somewhat limited, slapped-together seating has now been replaced with more organization and more seating. The move of the tap system from across the space to against the wall, along with the construction of an actual bar setup, has really increased the feel-at-home factor. Keeping in the trend with other beer-oriented places, a small selection of both adult- and kid-oriented games area available for patrons' usage; snacks have also improved with the addition of items like OH! Chips. While our previous visit was sparsely attended, this Friday night was nicely buzzing with chatting, happy customers, and the taproom itself is open on more days than previous. These may be small steps forward, but they are highly welcome steps indeed.

The upper left two pictures show Sideswipe's old setup; the rest of
the photos show the current, more friendly to customer setup

For the most part, the flagship beers that we tasted on the previous visit were here on this visit, with the exception of a new OH-Kolsch (our previous visit had an experimental Mosaic/Palisade Hop Experiment available as well as the last dregs of the summer-oriented Pixelated Sun Wheat beer.) This time around, we had pints of beers we tried in flight form on the previous visit: the Fisticuffs IPA again satisfied my spouse's hophead tendencies, while my Elegant Hoodlum has the right kind and quantity of smoky characteristic which mesh well with enough hops to balance things out.

But in reality, the favorite for both of us from this nanobrewer is a beer style we're generally not fond of in general. The best pumpkin beers for us are more restrained affairs rather than the highly spiced affairs that tend to dominate; Sideswipe's Squashing Pumpkins, with its just enough clove and cinnamon flavor profiles blended with the flavors from the carmelized squash used in the brewing process, gives us that just right taste and mouth feel combo that makes this a must get if we see it on the shelves.

Sideswipe Brewing
2419 Scioto Harper Dr. (Valleyview)
Columbus, OH 43204
E-Mail: sideswipebrewing@gmail.com
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Aurora Appetizers: The Donut House/Sunburst Grill/Coffee Place Cafe

Driving through the very suburban city of Aurora, Colorado, the word "diversity" would not normally pop into your mind. The housing developments (sans the mountain ridges in the distance) aren't too dissimilar to those in the outer burbs in this area such as Gahanna, Reynoldsburg or even Dublin.

However, this outside facade hides the fact that this city of just under 350,000 is one of the more diverse populations in the state. As noted in this Denver Post article, Aurora is the first major city in the state of Colorado to be minority-majority in population, according to the latest Census figures. The City of Aurora is trying to use this fact to its advantage in various ways, including the culinary diversity found within its limits. Prior to our visit last month, I located a fairly comprehensive ethnic eateries guide produced by and located on the website of the city highlighting this very fact.

Indeed, our culinary encounters within the city displayed this diversity to full effect in that they were all the products of immigrants to this country trying to make good, a tale oft told but never seems to get old.

The front of what is arguably Aurora's favorite donut shop

The Donut House - The story of the Dieyleh family will sound awfully familiar to fans of Columbus donut institution Buckeye Donuts. Similar to Buckeye Donuts owner Jimmy Barouxis' tale, Moe Dieyleh currently holds the head baker position of The Donut House, a business his father Omar opened in 2009. Omar, who still is very much involved with daily operations, immigrated from Jordan to Colorado over 30 years ago, integrated and established ties with the surrounding community, and learned the craft by working several years at a local Winchell's Donuts prior to opening up his store. Those ties the Dieyleh family built up over the years, as well as Omar's incredibly welcoming and friendly personality, have helped transform the store into a locally beloved institution.

The Donut House sorts a simple and cheery interior, with a basic focus
of donuts and coffee (plus other assorted goodies)

There's nothing fancy about The Donut House, from its non-descript exterior to its simple but cheerfully painted interior. While there are some unique items you can find here (such as some pre-packaged Middle-Eastern sweets such as baklava and namoura, a cake made from semolina with rose and orange blossom water) the main focus here lies in that revered combo of donuts and coffee.

We stopped here twice for quick bites on the go. Our first time, we had a small sampling of their donuts: texture-wise, while their cake donut was nice enough, the true standout is their standard donuts. These fulfilling creations reminded me of a slightly toothier version of the big airy constructs that Columbus' Destination Donuts puts out.

The Donut House has looked to upgrade their coffee, and has taken steps to upgrade their beans (they now source local coffee roaster Shiva) and their equipment with the addition of an espresso machine. Can't vouch for prior, but the coffee we received was a notch above diner-level coffee.

The donuts were excellent, but the fritters might be even better

On this first visit, we noticed some delectable-looking fritters that we couldn't justify based on our schedule that day. We rectified this on the day we left town when we grabbed a couple fritters and coffee to take on the road. As good as the donuts were, we discovered that the fritters might actually be just a little bit better.

Donut House
3124 S Parker Rd
Aurora, CO 80014
(303) 337-2771
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Behind these doors lies a menu of Filpino standards

Sunburst Grill - While there were many places that my spouse and I would've loved to have visited during our stay, my brother-in-law's family kept both of us very well fed. Still, we did have one day to ourselves, and some childhood bias crept in here as we decided to have dinner at Aurora's lone Filipino restaurant, which started operations in 2008.

Though the home cooking almost always won out, I was blessed to have numerous Filipino restaurants nearby and within the cities where I resided in the San Francisco Bay Area. Sunburst Grill really isn't all too different from many of those restaurants, lying in a non-descript strip mall and sporting touches of the Philippines within its interior. Unlike those restaurants, however, Sunburst Grill is more in the traditional sit down and order style restaurant versus the more common "turo turo" (literally, "point point") buffet style of eatery I was used to.

Sunburst Grill sported a quaint interior and a basic menu of Filipino standards.

Sunburst Grill's menu has a very select inventory of Filipino dishes, including standards such as lumpia and pancit along with a couple items I had not encountered before. I knew I must have been too long starved for the cuisine when I decided, despite my distinct indifference to seafood in general, ordered their Inihaw na Tilapia, a grilled tilapia fish stuffed with tomatoes and onions, along with a swath of other items which we figured would be a probably a bit too much food but easily transportable for later consumption.

Clockwise from Top Left: Lechon Kawali with Adobo Kangkong, Lumpia
Grilled Tilapia, Pancit Canton, and Leche Flan

Of these items, the Lechon Kawali (fried pork belly) and Lumpiang Shanghai (Filipino egg rolls) by far were our favorites. The former was fried up perfectly the perfect crispy exterior and a fatty, juicy interior; it came accompanied by a tasty lechon sarsa (a liver-based sauce) and a side of Adobo Kangkong (one of the items I was unfamiliar with), essentially vegetables cooked Filipino adobo style. The latter proved to be a huge portion of lumpia, more suitable for a party of four, but that didn't stop us from chowing them all down.

The tilapia reminded me why this fish is something I never cared for much, due to its rather bland taste. Coupled with the presence of numerous pin bones, it would be a hard sell for most non-Filipino customers. Still, it was like being at home and I got into the simple fish preparation as the meal went on. The Pancit Canton, which is essentially a variation of Chinese Chow Mein, also reminded me of something you would find in an American-styled Chinese Restaurant versus what I was used to growing up. I'm sure most people would find it perfectly tasty, though.

Service was earnest to the point of almost being TOO helpful at times; there were several visits to our table to confirm the details or give an up-to-the-minute status of our order. I think I got the hint why this might be standard procedure as we got through our meal; a couple of groups of diners who came after us who weren't too familiar with Filipino cuisine were given detailed explanations and occasional reassurances when menu items were explained.

We could not NOT leave this place without some Filipino dessert; since the halo halo (what looked to be a towering version came out for a neighboring table while we were there) was not really an option, we went with their Leche Flan to take back to my brother-in-law's place for later consumption. This version was nicely thick, with a sweet carmelly sauce that brought some fond memories of my mom's version from when I was a child.

Sunburst Grill
2295 S Chambers Rd
Aurora, CO 80014
(303) 752-6389
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Coffee Place Cafe - This was meant as a quick stop over for some iced coffee caffeination the day after a St. Patrick's Day party, but based on my brief experience here, I think more exploration is in order on a return trip. The business' simple name and somewhat hidden location, camouflaged inside a modern-styled strip mall along a major north-south highway with numerous such commercial developments, doesn't exactly scream promising at first glance, but I quickly saw that initial impressions can be deceiving.

If you can locate Coffee Place's location, you can treat yourself to
car-oriented artwork, European-styled pastries, and a Silan-flavored latte

The first thing that caught my eye was the eraser board touting "Fresh Bureks", a big hint that this wasn't quite the usual run-of-the-mill cafe. Thse cheese-filled bureks are the creation of chef Katerina Larden, a Latvian native who immigrated to the U.S. via Tel Aviv along with her husband Nisso and children. These bureks along with other European-styled baked goodies provide the backbone of Coffee Place's food menu, along with a selection of soups and paninis sandwiches for lunch.

The next thing that caught my eye was the iced coffee flavors - along with the usual Torani-syrup variations like vanilla and hazelnut, an intriguing option appeared at the very end of the list. Silan, or date honey,consists basically of boiled down dates and is a common Middle East condiment used in all manner of food preparations. I most certainly had never seen it as a coffee flavoring option.

I passed (regrettably) on the bureks and stuck with the iced latte drinks, one with silan and the other maple flavored. My spouse found the date honey a bit too strong for her tastes and opted for the maple iced latte, which turned out nicely reminiscent of Cafe Brioso's similar creation. On the other hand, I enjoyed the unique flavor profile that the silan had provided; the date syrup had turned the surrounding iced latte closer to mocha colored as it slowly absorbed into the surrounding liquid.

Coffee Place Cafe
2295 S Chambers Rd
Aurora, CO 80014
(303) 752-6389
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Coming Attractions: The Early Bird

There are plenty of food trucks around the Columbus Metro that will freshly whip up some wonderful savory treats; occasionally, you'll find one that has an item or two that will satisfy the sugar hound in you.

So why not a food trailer that focuses mainly on freshly baked up sweet goodness paired up with a cup of quality java to boot?

After graduating with a baking and pastry degree from college, owner Libby Vicha started up Four and Twenty Blackbird Bake Shop in 2013, selling her baked goods (mainly cupcakes, but also assorted breads and pies) at various markets around the area, including the Pearl Market (which is where I first encountered her goods.) The Early Bird is her latest venture, and my spouse and I were fortunate enough to have attended the soft opening a couple weeks back.

Vicha proved to be an engaging host, saying that had come into the baking world as cupcakes were booming but her interests in that world waned as the cupcake craze leveled off. She had always been a fan of the beignets offered by New Orleans' famed Cafe Du Monde and thought a menu based around them and other items reflective of her pastry background was more in line with her true passions. Additionally, she noted that the Early Bird was a joint venture with the property owner (the Indianola Church of Christ) that would further both the church's and her own food and beverage operations.

On this evening, her sample beignet offerings on this evening were all quite delicious, with the chocolate ganache being our favorite. Coffee was from and will be brewed with the beans of Short North roasters One Line Coffee, a definite plus in our books. Perhaps our most anticipated item on her proposed menu for us is the hand pies, which Vicha said would be freshly created and come with a variety of fruit filling options.

At the time of the soft opening, Vicha said several final permit checks and inspections were still outstanding, and operating hours are still a work in progress. While the final operating hours will most likely be finalized depending on how business goes, we are happy to say that based on their social feeds, The Early Bird has passed their final inspections, and diners can drop by for their official opening on Tuesday, November 18th at from 7 AM - 11 AM.

Update: Despite a few small hurdles related to weather and some balky equipment, Vicha has opened up her food cart and appears to be receiving some solid foot traffic despite some unfavorable weather. My spouse and I dropped by a few days after opening to sample a couple of her freshly-made beignets and cups of One Line Coffee. Both of our beignets (custard and strawberry-filled) were quite tasty and made for a good start on a very cold (even for) November morning.

The Early Bird
2141 Indianola Ave (North Campus)
Columbus, OH 43201
(614) 715-0906
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World of Wander: The Circleville Pumpkin Show

In my time here in the Buckeye State, I've quickly learned that Ohio is the land of festivals. Here in Columbus, you can get everything from cultural (Asian, Greek) to food/music (Jazz and Ribfest) to neighborhood-based (Grandview Digfest; the Moonlight Market, and the Short North's Gallery Hop) and everything in-between (Red White and Boom, Comfest and the Columbus Arts Festival.) And if you go beyond the metro region, you'll find seemingly hundreds more celebrations.

Pumpkin-related products from beer to baked-goods seemed to arrive a bit too early on the market for my tastes this year, and at first I mentally rebelled. Perhaps it was related to my hope (as it turned out, in vain) that a somewhat mild summer would hold for a bit longer. Alas, autumn came in and kicked summer to the curb, and after a short begrudging, my mindset shifted into that vibe. This meant I was more than ready to do my first ever wandering at the self-proclaimed "Greatest Free Show On Earth" - The Circleville Pumpkin Show.

Operating since 1903, The Circleville Pumpkin Show now stands as one of the world's largest pumpkin festivals in the United States, always being held starting on the third Wednesday of every October. The town population swells to approximately 8 times its normal size on each day of the festival, as approximately 100,000 people each day from all over the world visit during its four days of operation.

However, I did not read any of these factoids beforehand. As I had never been to a similar-styled event before (the San Francisco Bay Area has the Half Moon Bay Pumpkin Festival, but it was just a bit too far to drive from where I lived to give it a go), I preferred to go into this experience free of any expectations.

I reached Circleville on this cloudy day approximately thirty minutes after the announced start time of festivities that day, and immediately got a sense of the potential crowd. I noticed that some dirt spaces close to the highway off-ramps were starting to fill up with cars, and after a little hesitation, I went with my gut and grabbed a spot. It turned out to be a good move: on the walk back from downtown, the line of autos to get into the parking areas closest to the downtown area had slowed to a tepid trudge.

Traffic wasn't too bad (yet) as I walked up Main Street into the Pumpkin Show

I don't what I was necessarily expecting size-wise, but I got a sense of how large a scope this event truly was as I walked around. This wasn't an event that covered a only couple of main streets in a sleepy small town; this was something that pretty much encircled the entire downtown Circleville area, with stands and other attractions on many of the side streets and alleyways. I ended up getting in much more of a walking workout than I ever would've figured to make sure I saw everything.

As I gathered in the scope of food options (of course, plenty of them were of the pumpkin variety, but there was plenty of carnival-style eats and a smattering of almost everything else), the arts and crafts collections, vendors, and the other assorted attractions (camel rides, autographs from Ohio State University Football alumni, music bands, etc.), it felt as if someone had airlifted entire county fairs from various locations in Ohio and plopped them onto downtown Circleville.

At this point, I think it's best to relate my day's experiences with a lot of pictures with a bit of select commentary.

Of course I had to have some pumpkin donuts; these beauties were fresh from the oven
of Circleville institution Lindsey's Bakery

Of course, you can't forget about the giant gourds; this young lad gives one a good idea
of just how large these pumpkins (first place weighed in at 1,964 lb) really were.

These colorful beauties were of more manageable size and were on sale for anyone needing a gourd to take home.

Wittich's Confectionary, opened in 1840, bills itself as the nation's oldest family-owned candy shop
I picked up some of their tasty pumpkin brittle to take home with me.

Historical marker detailing the origin of Circleville's founding on an ancient Hopewell Indian-era earthwork

These quilts were just part of the numerous submissions for the various arts & crafts competitions

This fun mixed-media pumpkin used circular lids of all sorts to provide the color

Pies (what else?) in the foreground; children's art submissions on the wall behind

I like buying my food from the local organizations at these affairs; the Circleville Kiwanis' version
of the Fried Boloney Sandwich was a perfect lunchtime meal

A youngster looks at the cornhole supplies from the Flipin' vendor tent

You can't have a Pumpkin Show without a pumpkin pie eating contest

The crowds were still building up by the time I left to head back north

After this first experience, I can see why the Circleville Pumpkin Show has evolved into the prime attraction that it has become. There's plenty here to entertain most anyone, especially a guy who's just in the mood to wander around for a couple hours with no real set plans.

The Circleville Pumpkin Show
Starting day: The third Wednesday of every October
Downtown Circleville, OH
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Breakfast with Dr. Breakfast: The Inaugural Columbus Food Adventures Breakfast Tour (Pt. 1)

CFA Food Van - check; Itinerary - check: and
Dr. Breakfast himself - check: we're ready to tour!

Ever since my move out here, my spouse and I have made the meals of breakfast and brunch our main time to get out and enjoy some time together, often in concert with doing other activities in this metro area. In addition, over our years of dating and then marriage, my spouse and I have found Columbus Food Adventures (CFA) food tours to be terrific way for both locals and visitors to this region to explore this area's culinary highlights.

Thus, it almost seemed too perfect a match when CFA announced a brand new tour hosted this area's most well-known breakfast blogger. We both were pretty excited at the prospect and jumped on the chance.

Nick Dekker, who started his Breakfast with Nick blog as "a glorified hobby" several years ago to chronicle his breakfast eating experiences, has been a main catalyst in bringing national attention to the Columbus breakfast scene, including features from media outlets such as Fodor's, New York Post and the Toronto Star. But even with the status of local celebrity, he proved to be like most any other person doing something for the first time, just slightly nervous and extra careful to make sure all everything was laid out correctly for this maiden voyage. As the tour progressed, he settled in, chatting amiably with everyone in the group, whether it be about breakfast, other aspects of Columbus' food scene, and any other topics which came to people's minds.

CFA tours typically consist of several featured eateries; tour-goers are treated to sampling of that eatery's typical offerings and receive an idea of the history of the eatery itself, often from the restaurant proprietors themselves. While it turned out that my spouse and I had visited most of the locations picked out on this inaugural breakfast tour, it is that latter history and in-person aspect that makes Columbus Food Adventures tours a step above a typical drop-in and dine experience, as it has in previously taken tours such as the Taco Truck Tour.

Overall, we had a great time on this inaugural run for the Breakfast Tour, and it looks like it will be another delectable addition to the collection of diverse tours that Columbus Food Adventures offers to the public.

Columbus Food Adventures
1-800-838-3006
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From Top Left (clockwise): Ethyl & Tank's Exterior; the Bloody Mary Bar; Mini-versions
of the Tank Pancake & Chicken and Waffles; the "Tank" portion of the eatery

Ethyl and Tank: Our first stop out of our five destinations, Ethyl and Tank, was the most recent arrival out of this group to the Columbus dining scene. This restaurant is a member restaurant of the A&R Restaurant Group; other A&R eateries include The Crest, Cafe Del Mondo, and the Fourth Street Bar and Grill. We were informed that the inspiration for the restaurant's name received its name from a now defunct Georgia gas station. In this eatery's case, this Ethyl and Tank is a mainly brick-dominated structure on the exterior, but with modern urban flourishes within its two-story tall interior. Guests enter in through the "Ethyl" side (with its coffee cafe-styled drinks and light eats) and can venture over to the "Tank" side, where you can dine in for more substantial eats or imbibe in some alcoholic beverages.

Being located right next to the Ohio State University campus, Ethyl and Tank caters mainly to the student crowd; our hosts informed tour-goers that it does try to keep things affordable for its main clientele (their menu items all range in the $10 or less range.) Along with traditional happy hours, this eatery has novel events such as build-your-own-hot-dog Mondays as well as an upstairs (free) arcade; in addition, its late night hours has made this venue a destination place for concert-goers of the famed nearby Newport Music Hall as well as anyone with late-night munchies.

Tour goers were treated to three of their specialties. My spouse and I were never into Bloody Mary drinks, but Ethyl & Tank's do-it-yourself bar, which included a from-scratch tomato juice mix, your choice of four different vodkas, and all the fixings you could want, really made our first dip into them a special one.

Foodwise, we received mini-versions of their Tank Pancakes (house-braised pulled pork layered between pancakes topped with cheddar cheese and syrup) and their Chicken and Waffles. The former blended the starchy, savory and sweet together in a uniquely tasty way and will be targeted on a future visit. The latter dish was also quite pretty good, reminding me a bit of the rendition put out by Little Skillet in San Francisco.

I had visited Ethyl and Tank once before prior to this tour and ordered their Mediterranean Scramble ($7); this was a solid scramble, with substantial portions for the price. I had thought back then that Ethyl and Tank was worthy of a future visit based on that experience; this tour visit only cemented that thought in my mind.

Ethyl and Tank
19 E. 13th Ave (University District - Google Maps)
Columbus, OH 43201
(614) 947-0140
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From Top Left (clockwise): Delicious donut samples from Buckeye Donuts; effervescent owner
Jimmy Barouxis, the iconic Buckeye Donuts sign; one of the old-school menu signs inside

Buckeye Donuts: Some people might think, "Eh, it's just a doughnut shop" and dismiss this as a destination. However, there's an certain aspect attached with many of Columbus-area doughnut purveyors that makes many if them neighborhood gems, at the minimum.

Such is the case with Buckeye Donuts. This smallish store next to campus, which never closes its doors (it was joked during our visit that the staff couldn't lock the place even if they tried,) has been lovingly tended by the Barouxis family since they moved over from Greece and opened their shop in 1969.

Jimmy Barouxis, Buckeye Donuts' current owner, is probably one of the main ingredients behind its current loyal following. Inheriting the business from his father, Barouxis greeted us tour-goers, crammed in the very tight quarters of the restaurant's kitchen, with an enthusiastic smile and as if we were family (in fact, he even stopped at one point to take a couple pictures of the tour group.) His love for his business was impossible to miss in his voice as he relayed the history of his business to the gathered.

The donuts, you ask? Buckeye Donuts' rate solidly in the top tier, in that if I had a dream baker's dozen box of Columbus-area donuts, a couple of their offerings would be in that box. Thankfully for us tour-goers, the donuts were cut into smaller bits, allowing everyone to sample multiple flavors without over-gorging. For my spouse and I, the best in show went to their seasonal pumpkin spice donut, with the cake-style donuts in general (there's just something texture-wise about a well-made cake donut I can't resist) coming close behind.

If you think Buckeye Donuts is all about the fried dough, however, you would be mistaken. Barouxis stated that the business really gained a solid financial foothold when it introduced its non-donut menu items such as gyros, salads and breakfast sandwiches. With no item on the menu more than $6, those not in the mood for their fresh hot donuts have other inexpensive options available to sate their appetites.

Buckeye Donuts
1998 N High St (University District - Google Maps)
Columbus, OH 43201
(614) 291-3923
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(Note: Part 2 of this post can be found here at this link)