Day of Gluttony, Columbus Style (Part 1)

If nothing else, cutting the cable cord and going to streaming has increased our viewing options several dozen times over.  At times, the sheer number of options overwhelms, but at other times, something unexpected gets us both intrigued enough to invest our viewing time, or when we have an unexpected bunch of time to burn on the couch (such as recently, when the cold bug hit us both.)

Admittedly, both of us are well past our prime food gluttony years (our waistlines still seem to think we're being pretty gluttonous, but that's a whole another future blog post.) Thus, a food show like "Day of Gluttony", originally produced by Tastemade and currently showing on Hulu, didn't hold much promise when we clicked it on a couple weeks ago, but it turned out to be a more fun way to blow an hour than we ever figured.

Bruce Aguirre and Harry Yuan, hosts of Tastemade's "Day of Gluttony",
is available for viewing on the Hulu streaming service

First, the hosts were Asian (Harry Yuan and Bruce Aguirre, of Chinese and Filipino descent, respectively) something that I just don't see all that often.  Second, the first episode was shot in a place I know pretty well in San Francisco, where I worked and lived for a number of years before moving to Ohio. Also, the show's concept was pretty simple - finish 24 dishes at 24 different venues in a span of 24 hours or less.

We dove in and found ourselves entertained, with great chemistry between the hosts, rapid-fire coverage of places visited, efforts (intentional? perhaps...) of various venues to derail the hosts with extra dishes, and liberal use of old-school arcade graphics, enough so to put it on our current rotation to get through its ten-episode run (we found no indication of a season two as of now.)

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.

The Columbus High Gravity Hullabaloo 2016

The perfectly-sized souvenir tasting glass given to this year's Hullabaloo goers

My spouse and I had the pleasure of attending our first ever High Gravity Hullabaloo, an event hosted by the Columbus Craft Beer Alliance (CCBA) this last Saturday, February 6th.

The CCBA, which touts itself as a non-profit organization "with the mission to promote and support Columbus area breweries" on its website, has hosted numerous events to support this cause, including the inaugural "Beer and Donuts" event at the newly opened Four String facility on the west side of Columbus.

The Hullabaloo is currently CCBA's longest running event. Touted as a celebration of "Strong Beers and Smoked Meats', this now three-year-old gathering has paralleled the growth rate of craft beer in both Columbus and the state of Ohio overall. Starting with the inaugural 2014 Hullabaloo with twelve total breweries (with ten from the metro area), 2016's version sported just over 30 breweries, with representation from all corners of the state from such breweries like Rhinegeist and Madtree (Cincinnati), Warped Wing (Dayton), The Brew Kettle (Strongsville) and Catawba Island (Port Clinton.)  In another sign of growth, the venue changed from its original Grandview location to the former location of the Byers Chevrolet dealership in Franklinton.

We have not been to a bigger beer-oriented event since last year's Columbus Winter Beerfest, but we took our lessons learned there to heart. With most of the beers in the double-digit ABV-range, pacing would be important, and the souvenir glass provided to all Hullabaloo goers proved to be the perfect size for sampling. Also, we made a commitment to change up the taste palate as much as possible, which proved to be a perfect strategy, as it would have been easy for me to go with my tendencies toward stouts and porters. Finally, we both had goals of trying breweries that either aren't as readily available here or new/new-to-us. Sometimes, though, old favorites are hard to resist.

Forging Through Franklinton: Strongwater Food and Spirits

Strongwater invites you in from the "storm" with adult beverages and
a menu that caters to vegans and carnivores alike

The thriving 400 West Rich facility, seen as an anchor to the revitalization of the Franklinton neighborhood of Columbus, has continued its growth with the recently opened business incubation/co-working space in January and the planned conversion of a neighboring building into additional artist studios.

The facility has also provided a base for Columbus' culinary community. In addition to its bi-weekly Farmers Market and the food truck pod Dinin' Hall, the north end of the building holds Strongwater Food and Spirits, which has provided a dual drinking and dining destination for folks in the area since November of 2013.

Strongwater's menu and nattily designed interior space

Strongwater's dimly-lit interior, which has kept the historic birch wood and flooring of the space mostly in tact, provides some intimacy in this fairly vast space. Chatter from diners sitting in dimly lit dining spaces off to the side, as well as a large mural of the restaurant's more-or-less official symbol (a determined rower guiding their vessel through rough, stormy seas) that dominates one wall gave me the feeling that I was in a speakeasy of sorts. Another unique feature of Strongwater is its location right next to active railroad tracks; a rumbling train, seen easily through the large windows facing Town Street, provided a nice surprise during the middle of our dinner here.

Featuring the skills of head chef Anne Johnson (who will be featured in locally-based Crave Magazine), Strongwater's menu features a selection of unique vegan twists on bar food standards along with other more traditional meat-based dishes. On this visit, we intended to stay mainly on this side of the menu and started with The Dips Trio ($10). This appetizer, which provided a trio of dippable items (naan bread, crostini and vegetables) along with a trio of dips (jackfruit and spinach, hummus, and bacon and shallot dip), provided tasty finger food as we waited for our mains.

Speaking of jackfruit, I was quite intrigued by the idea of their Jackfruit Taco ($3,50 a la carte.) Growing up, I was used to jackfruit as an ingredient in some sweet desserts, and was not quite sure how that would work in a soft taco format. I was quite pleased to find it worked quite well, and I liked it a slight touch better than the shredded pork taco that I ordered in tandem. My spouse's Falafel Burger ($9) was also quite tasty, opting for the substitution of a side salad ($3) in place of the standard chips (a cup of soup can also be substituted for the same price.)

Clockwise from left: Falafel Burger and Side Salad, Jackfruit and
Shredded Pork Tacos, a flight of mostly Ohio-based beer, and
a slice of Cherry Pie provided by Honeykiss Bakery

As befitting its name, Strongwater offers a variety of cocktails and offers a regular happy hour Tuesday thru Friday from 4 PM to 7 PM. We used their rotating beer taps to our advantage with a swig bag token we had scored from the 400 West Rich Festivus Celebration in December, and scored a nice collection of beer from Ohio-based breweries such as North High, Fathead, Jackie O's and Catawba. Also, we couldn't help ourselves when we saw Honeykiss Bakery's pies were available on the dessert menu, so we treated ourselves to a slice of cherry pie ($6) to end the night.

Strongwater has a separate space that provides a venue for a variety of music, comedy and private events, and has recently announced the arrival of lunchtime hours as well as new menu items, including steam buns (yes, there is a jackfruit version,) a bacon cheeseburger, as well as OH! Chips.

We rather enjoyed our first visit to this uniquely charming eatery, and it definitely will not be our last.

Strongwater Food and Spirits
401 W Town St. (Franklinton)
Columbus, OH 43215
(614) 928-3170
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Franklinton Fun (Pt. 2): Columbus Idea Foundry/Glass Axis/Land-Grant Brewing

Note: Part 1 of this post can be found here at this link 

The Glass Axis: Founded in the late 1980s by Ohio State University students and graduates, The Glass Axis has been a prime force in Central Ohio in promoting and providing support to people who specialize in the glass arts. In addition to this main focus, this non-profit organization offers teaching and education to the public at large, including classes that allow the dabblers (like me, courtesy of a gift certificate given to me by my spouse) to try out their artistic flair.

Decent attempt at exercising my creative side, courtesy of a Glass Axis class

In addition to the class, we had been able to frequent their old Grandview location for their Annual Holiday Sale, where a collection of glass-made gifts, ornaments and other items are available for purchase. This year's edition allowed us to visit their new location in Franklinton after they had announced their move early in 2014.

Based on what we saw, the new facility looks to be a keeper. Much of the space was organized to handle all the sales goods (there were plenty of attractive options available for the Christmas shopper), but was plenty of room to handle the hot glass area as well as what seemed to be a special display and exhibit area. On this day, visitors could mix in their shopping with workshops to make their own glass-made goods while partaking in a good cup of free java via the Cafe Brioso cart.

The Glass Axis' official re-opening at their new Franklinton facility is set to take place January 2015; for information on this event as well as Glass Axis' services and classes, please contact them at:

The Glass Axis
610 West Town St. (Franklinton)
Columbus, OH 43215
(614) 291-4250
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Columbus Idea Foundry: While members of the Glass Axis specialize in all things glass, the folks associated with the Columbus Idea Foundry (CIF) pretty much take on all fields of art and design. With the wide swath of inventive minds under this roof, one should not be surprised by a slightly mischievous, go big or go home environment.

Founded in 2008, CIF is another organization who relocated within to the Franklinton neighborhood with the assistance of a $350,000 grant from ArtPlace America. Along with offering wide-ranging classes to the public (including blacksmithing, electronics, fashion, and functional arts such as gardening and lockpicking(!)), regularly scheduled Maker Family and Maker Date Night events allow families and couples to explore their creative side while satisfying any built up hunger pangs via an in-house potluck of sorts or a dinner at nearby Strongwater Food and Spirits. Additional fun onsite is available in the form of the team-building Trapped In A Room with a Zombie game, where groups of people can use both mental and physical faculties to avoid a most dastardly attack by the undead.

Similar to the Glass Axis, we had attended their holiday sale/open house at their old Milo-Grogan location and wanted to check out their new facility. Like the previous year, select items were offered for sale, including Magnet Gears, a holiday gift my nieces and nephews enjoyed immensely.

But perhaps the true creative spirit was evident in the demonstrations that day. People could carve out and make their own wooden pen in the wood-making area. In addition, we had on a previous visit performed some pewter casting before with CIF member Terry Griner. Indeed, his enthusiastic self was there again, entertaining the crowds with his tales; he ended up swapping some old-location COSI stories and laughs with our friend we were entertaining from out of town.

For more information about the classes and services provided by the Columbus Idea Foundry, please contact them at:

The Columbus Idea Foundry

421 W. State St (Franklinton)
Columbus, OH 43215
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Land-Grant Brewing Company: I managed to sneak in a quick survey during Land Grant's grand opening back in October, but this visit was really my first where I could sit back and soak in both the atmosphere. Of course, the brewery's Franklinton location made it a perfect stop for all of us on this busy day to relax for a bit and sample some of their offerings.

Starting off as a Kickstarter campaign back in 2011 under its original Oval Brewing name, the building that has now become Land-Grant has a fairly straightforward interior: the bar, television screens, seating area and outdoor patio is setup in a way that allows patrons to not feel too crammed except on the most packed of times. Their take on the sports/university motif (banners for Ohio State University and most of the country's other land-grant universities can be found lining ringing the walls) is novel and shows just a bit more thoughtfulness than your typical average sports bar.

Land-Grant does not have an on-site kitchen similar to many other Columbus brewery locations, but they have adopted a regular rotation of fairly well-known area food trucks to provide visitors with food options. The brewery has a selection of their own beers on tap along with a select number of beers from both Ohio-based and outside-the-state brewers.

As one might expect, their beers have adapted names related to the land-grant/sports theme. On my first visit, I found their 1862 American Kölsch Ale (named for the year when the Land-Grant Act was passed) a nice crisp beer, perfect for a hot summer day.

On this latest visit, we got to sample three more of their offerings, and all three had their good points. Their Stiff Arm West Coast Style IPA didn't have that sticky, bitter punch of some of the more well-known exemplars; however, there was enough there to not only please my spouse (the IPA lover of our group) but also gain an appreciated from her friend and I (who are more into the darker styles of beer.) The Son of a Mudder Brown Ale also was similarly milder only in that we had had Seventh Son's very nice and much more assertive Stone Fort Brown Ale the night before; that fact made it no less enjoyable, however. Perhaps our favorite offering by a nose was their Beard Crumbs Oatmeal Raisin Stout: it turned out to have a pleasant blend of raisin, malt and chocolate flavors with a nice body and mouthfeel all the way to the end.

The owners of Land-Grant have also shown the ability to make lemonade out of lemons, an aspect that would seem to bode well for their future. An act of vandalism on their new building early in December has led to a fundraising effort for Franklinton's Gladden Community House and Harmony Project via the sale of T-shirts which have been redesigned to mirror the results of the vandalism. All proceeds from the sale of the T-shirt (which can be ordered on their website here) will be donated to these two community-oriented organizations.

Land-Grant Brewing Company
424 W. Town Street (Franklinton)
Columbus, OH 43215
(614) 427-3946
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Franklinton Fun (Pt. 1): 400 West Rich Winter Market and Festivus! 2014

400 W. Rich Winter Market sandwich board, and all the goodies
we got with our own Festivus Swig Bag

The holiday season here in Columbus is no stranger to community happenings, and the up-and-coming Franklinton neighborhood was home to several of these events this December weekend. Holding the distinction of Central Ohio's oldest established town, Franklinton's fortunes have been historically adversely affected by its location on a floodplain (the area has been derogatorily referred to as "The Bottoms" over the years.) A formal Federal declaration to declare nearly the entire region as such in the early 1980s eventually fixed the recurring flooding problems (the construction of the area floodwall was completed in 2004) but led to a slow decline in population and abandonment of property when a concurrent halt to new construction was put into effect for that time period.

Recent efforts to revitalize the neighborhood have been steadily progressing, enough so to get national attention. The Atlantic, the prominent monthly magazine originally established in 1857 in Boston, featured the Franklinton neighborhood in a series of stories about the Columbus region overall:

Remaking Columbus's Most Downtrodden Neighborhood

How to Attract Artists to a Down-and-Out Neighborhood

Gentrification 'Without the Negative' in Columbus, Ohio

The facility at 400 West Rich is one of the main cogs of this effort to effect positive change to the area. While we had dropped by their Farmers Market before, we had not previously had a full viewing of the property that was provided by the fourth annual Festivus! event provided event-goers this weekend. Accompanied by a friend from out of town with Columbus ties, we were pleased to find a much more vast expanse (the space contains 100,000 square feet of space) than we had ever figured and the bastion of creativity that resides in the studios contained within.

We found the Farmers Market bustling in its space next to Strongwater Food and Spirits

Coffee was in plentiful supply, with the folks from the Short North's
Mission Coffee and Olde Towne East's Upper Cup Coffee in house. 

Aromaku's Indonesian-styled eats, along with many vendors toting
holiday and other baked edibles, were around to feed the masses. Plenty
of human activities to burn off calories were also around in the form of a
kids' area, yoga classes, as well as a performance by Movement Activities

This was a theme of the day: there really was a lot more to be found
simply by wending through the maze of hallways of 400 West Rich

  

Between the regular Market and the Festivus events, there were plenty of
intriguing goods available for event-goers. I ended up with a nice little
leather mini-wallet from the folks at Open Hand Leather Goods.

Art?  Festivus had plenty of examples for sale and display this day. If you couldn't
find something that appealed to your senses, you weren't trying hard enough.

This enthusiastic event volunteer touted to us the benefits of the event Swig Bag.
Besides a natty tote designed by Sarah Pierce, the bag contained products and
discounts from numerous Columbus area businesses. All proceeds from the event
went to Gladden Community House and the Mid-Ohio Foodbank.

All-in-all, it was fun to simply wander about and not only view the numerous
examples of creativity, but also examine the facility's nooks and crannies.
It was quite evident to see how far this space has become simply
by looking at parts of the facility which have not been renovated.

400 West Rich
Farmers Market and Festivus! 2014
400 West Rich (Franklinton)
Columbus, OH 43215

400 West Rich Facility Links
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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
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Catering Services:
980 West Broad St
Columbus, OH 43222
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