Bundles vs. A La Carte: Cutting the Cord and the Pies

After numerous years of just being lazy about dumping our cable TV, one more cable bill increase last month provided the necessary momentum. Not only did it lessen our bills, the change has also added a ton of things we've never even had the chance to watch. It has also added the dilemma of the so-called "Paradox of Choice", where the number of options makes it difficult to choose just one.

One show we've delved into initially is Netflix's "Ugly Delicious", featuring Chef David Chang of Momofuku fame. Built around a general food theme (pizza, fried chicken, etc.), the show proves unafraid to branch off on numerous tangents during any particular episode. One notion Chang attempts to relay is that authenticity in food should not be the ultimate be-all end-all goal.

Chang states authenticity is fine, but not at the cost of creativity nor if it restricts future generations from adding their own authenticity to create something entirely novel.  Here, the Cajun-influenced Vietnamese dishes of Houston provide the ultimate example of this, and Chang bemoans the fact that the authenticity factor has prevented it from moving to places like New Orleans.

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

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

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

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

Sandwiches Around The Statehouse: Elia Athenian Grill

In the early days of my blog, I did a small little series about the sandwich options around the Ohio Statehouse in Downtown Columbus. Unsurprisingly, the sandwich is a pretty popular lunch vehicle here, as major chains like Subway and Potbelly Deli battle locally established eateries to attract the numerous hungry workers employed in the area.

Perhaps as a testament to that steady demand, many of these places are still plying their trade in some form or another, though in some cases with a twist. For example, social-mission based Freshbox seems to do all its business these days by catering. Meanwhile, Milo's Capital Cafe, located deep within the Ohio Statehouse, has refreshed its concept into the farm-to-table focused Graze.

One thing that this very distinct subset of eateries has been a bit short in is a touch of a worldly element. AJ's Cafe had been a favorite of mine with its grab-and-go creations with a touch of Indian flair, but their departure in September last year left the excellent Peruvian sandwich offerings of Si Señor (which has since expanded into Grandview) essentially all alone in this world.  That's why the arrival of Elia Athenian Grill and its Greek-oriented quick grab options perked my interest initially.

Belle of the Bowl: Brassica

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

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