Brimful of Dishes on the Northwest Side

The regional cuisines of India were, through circumstance, not something I explored a lot while living in the Bay Area. That changed for the better when I moved to Central Ohio, where the dishes of the numerous Indian restaurants here have quickly become favorites for me and my spouse.

For the most part, the Indian restaurants here, from basic curry joints to more fancy establishments and most recently Indian-fusion places (Indian-themed bowls, wraps and salads from places like Curry Up in the Sawmill area and Lewis Center's Rollz Rice) aren't chains. The Indian-fusion chain restaurant actually has become a more prevalent sight around the US as noted in this May 2016 Eater.com article, but Columbus's biggest Indian chain arrival decidedly does not follow that fusion route in the Michigan-based Neehee's.

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.

From Indy to Columbus via Columbus: A Sweet Return Home

A beautiful morning in the Village of Broad Ripple greeted us for our return home

Our final Indy trip threesome of destinations on our recent road trip are by far, in my humble opinion, the sweetest of our group. It was so sweet, in fact, that our experience was actually enhanced by encounters with a traitor and several (soda) jerks.

Let’s start up modestly with a little coffee shop action. The history behind the Village of Broad Ripple isn’t too unlike Columbus’s Clintonville or even Grandview Heights - established along the banks of the White River in 1836, the community was annexed into Indianapolis proper in 1922 and eventually transformed into a hip, artsy district with a big youth component due to its proximity to Butler University.

Ice Cream Chronicles (Year 5): Bucyrus...This Is Truck 275, Over

As a younger lad, I was a huge fan of TV medical shows (something which may have come from my mom's love of the soap opera "General Hospital".)  I wasn't particularly picky, so I enjoyed the broad spectrum of shows from "Marcus Welby, M.D." to "Julia", progressing on to "Medical Center" and "Quincy, M.E.", and finally "Doogie Howser, M.D." and "ER."

But perhaps my favorite of the bunch may have been the exploits of paramedics Johnny Gage and Roy DeSoto on the show "Emergency!" on the NBC Network. One of my favorite things about the show is that not every dispatch was necessarily worthy of a true 911 call, though there almost always would be one multi-alarm, disaster-in-the-making challenge in each episode.

While the hot weather around here can feel sometimes that there was a rapid-response service for rapid cooling relief, the true 911 is generally not the manner to call for that.  However, the closest thing for that might just lies roughly one hour north of the metro in Bucyrus, a town of roughly 12,000 people that celebrates the Bratwurst like few others.

Ice Cream Chronicles (Year 5): It's Clean Clear to Flag City, C'mon

The stately Hancock County Courthouse, located in the heart of Findlay, Ohio

When TourismOhio, the agency charged with enticing people to visit the Buckeye State, announced the launching of the Ohio Ice Cream Trail, I thought it was an idea that was a bit overdue. Not only is there a plethora of great ice cream in the state, and not only is there a plethora of other food-related trails in the state covering everything from beer, coffee, donuts, and wine, but they also were beaten to the punch by the folks of Hilliard, who launched their own version back in April.

Still, better late than never, as the old saying goes, and of course my curiosity was perked considering I've visited my share of ice cream places around the state during my time here.  Out of the 15 destinations listed, I have visited 11, in either the location listed in the trail promotion or a branch thereof. Well, that is, until just recently, when I made it an even dozen when I made it up to the town that has been dubbed "Flag City USA."

Ice Cream Chronicles (Year 5): Four Scoops Along State Route 3

Placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973, the 1879-built
Wayne County Courthouse stands proudly in downtown Wooster.

Although the completion of Interstate 71 through Ohio didn't officially finish up until 1975, the freeway had usurped State Route 3 as the major route used to travel between Ohio's "Big C" cities years prior. However, the gains in terms of travel time for the new freeway sacrificed some of that bucolic countryside charm and small town atmosphere of its parallel highway neighbor, which was first established by state officials back in 1923.

On a recent travel day along Route 3, with summer heat and humidity in full effect outside, it was probably no surprise that ice cream quickly rose to the forefront of my mind. And considering the brutal conditions, it was probably no surprise that I double double dipped this day.

The Towns Where It Happens: Weekend in Butler County (Pt. 1)

A lovely sunset greeted us on our first night of travels through Ohio's Butler County

Confession: when the Butler County Visitors Bureau offered to host my spouse and I for a weekend exploring this county nestled just north of Cincinnati, I was a little nervous.

Granted, I had relayed the things we typically like to pursue so the Bureau could put together an agenda, but this was a complete change from the norm for me. Ever since we started traveling together, I was pretty much the de facto vacation planner. I asked my spouse for input, but generally speaking she trusted my instincts in terms of the places we would like to visit, see, and eat at.

When we received the agenda, I was pleasantly surprised. Many of the places we would've sought out together were on there, with one or two "Oh, nice, I would've never sussed that out" destinations. Overall, the staff at the Visitors Bureau did a fine job of planning a great weekend for us, and we're incredibly thankful to them for inviting us out.

Ice Cream Chronicles (Year 5): Double Your Pleasure

Si Señor is but one of the numerous Columbus-based institutions
undergoing expansion within the metro.

In the 1960's novelty song "I'm Henry VIII, I Am", the British beat band Herman's Hermits used repetition to great effect, taking a song that proclaimed "Second verse, same as the first" to the top of the charts.

This phrase might describe one of the main themes dominating the Columbus restaurant scene over the past year or so, as the most highly anticipated arrivals have come with existing eateries. The momentum seems especially high with places like Hot Chicken Takeover, Si Señor, Los Guachos, Harvest Pizzeria, Sweet Carrot, Momo Ghar, Little Eater, Westie's Gastropub and Katalina's either opening or planning new locations within a relatively short time frame.

The local ice cream scene happily has not been immune from this expansion, especially when it comes to the Mexican-based purveyors. Diamonds Ice Cream, which I wrote about in this blog post, has expanded to both Hilliard and Linworth (the latter as a partnership with newcomer restaurant Tomatillos.)  Meanwhile, those living on Columbus's Westside or near Cleveland Avenue where Columbus and Westerville meet up can make the journey to sample the sweet life.

Charleston Choosing (Part 4): Give Peace a Chance, and Sitting by the Dock of the Bay

The Charleston storefront of Columbus's very own Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams

Not surprisingly, coast-hugging Charleston is considered a hot bed of seafood, with numerous restaurants sporting all manner of sea creature creations on their menu. With its seasonally warm temperatures (the city averages 60 degree high temperatures in every month except January), Charleston has its fair share of frozen confection shops, from familiar chains (Ben & Jerry's, Haagen Dazs, and Kilwins), new arrivals (Jeni's, a brand very familiar Central Ohioans and growing in prominence nationwide), and local shops their own versions of ice cream, gelato, custard, and even the currently very trendy rolled ice cream variation.

On our Charleston trip, we got to dive into both, with some very tasty results indeed.

Ice Cream Chronicles (Year 5): Be Aware of Greeks Bearing Sweets

Opened in 1851, the downtown Savannah located Marshall House served as one
of the city's destination hotels until its closure in 1957. An extensive restoration
in 1999 brought the building back to its glory and original purpose as a hotel.

Columbus Ohio area residents know full well what kind of sweet treats Greeks can create. Emigrating from Greece, the Barouxis family started Jolly Roger Donuts in 1969. Now known as Buckeye Donuts, current owner Jimmy Jr. and his staff conjure up breakfast sandwiches, gyros, and those trademark decadent dough rings for the public 24/7, and their gala 50th anniversary really isn't too far away now.

Columbus residents traveling down to Savannah should be aware of another Greek-owned institution selling delicious sweet treats.  In this case, this local gem, Leopold's Ice Cream, is less than one year removed from celebrating a century's worth of providing tasty frozen confections for local residents and visitors alike.

In Praise of the Swag Bag: Brunch with the Columbus Food Bloggers

The swag bags you'd get at pre- and post-race athletic event expos
were the ultimate cat's meow at one time of my life

Back in the day when my body was adapting better to the condition known as "adult onset athlete", I learned about the joys of the swag bag, especially in relation to running or triathlon races. Back in those days, an energy gel that wouldn't make you barf and a running shirt made of wicking material (bonus points for a good fit) were really nice gets. Every now and again, your event fee would get you a really good quality product - one swag bag turned out to be the best swag itself, a snazzily constructed duffel bag that we have taken on numerous trips now for almost a decade now. On occasion, the mystery of what you might get in the bag actually outweighed what you found there.

As the focus of my spare time in recent years has turned toward both blogging and exploring my new city of residence, the swag bag still holds that special intrigue for me, whether it was related to a community event (such as Franklinton's fun holiday Festivus event swag bag, which was available for a small donation) or attendance at a group event. The little coupons and items within have led us to explore some businesses and sampled some products we may have never figured out existed during our normal travels.

Our haul from our most recent swag bag (a natty model produced by Inked and Screened) came at the fun gathering that was the Columbus Food Bloggers potluck brunch. The contents, plus some special guests in attendance, proved to be for my spouse and I both a discovery and rediscovery of a wide swath of locally produced products.

Three For The Road: Until We Meet Again, Bay Area...

As is typical, our Bay Area travels covered a number of random delectable destinations around the region, and we'll be closing this extended series with three of those places, covering the worlds of craft beer, coffee and ice cream.

Barebottle Brewing Company - San Francisco's Bernal Heights neighborhood is a little bit off the radar for most visitors to the area, but the area holds some fairly respectable culinary charms.  Barebottle Brewing Company's arrival to the area in June 2016 (courtesy of Michael Seitz and Lester Koga, whose success in homebrewing competitions encouraged them to go professional) added a craft beer element to the area.

Plenty of Fiber and a Little Dessert: Return to Yellow Springs (Pt. 1)

Yellow Springs is one of the intriguing places in Ohio for me, in that there's a little slice of what I regularly encountered in places like Berkeley and San Francisco in this village of around 3,500 people. In fact, this hamlet holds the distinction (in southwest Ohio, anyway) of being at the forefront of various social causes such as the anti-war and anti-discrimination movements, as well as sporting large arts-oriented and LGBT communities.

Street performers from the 2015 summer edition of the Yellow Springs'
bi-annually held Street Fair, a rite of passage for many area residents

As I discovered, these leanings don't stop folks from all walks of life from coming in and enjoying the charms of this small Southwest Ohio hamlet, especially during their bi-annual Street Fairs, if one were simply to judge from the myriad of T-shirts I saw worn the day of my visit. Of course, there is much more to Yellow Springs than these fairs, as we uncovered on a recent return visit to get our share of fiber, whole grains, and a little dessert to boot.

Ice Cream Chronicles (Yr. 4): Have We Got A (Mini-)Scoop For You

Some fun mural art found on the walls of Marshall Liquors, St. Paul, MN

The tasting spoon is a somewhat underrated part of any ice cream shop, but it does have its limits. The dream scenario would be to sample every freaking concoction on any one visit, but obviously that's just generally not possible, if only for common courtesy's sake.

That's where the St. Paul-based Izzy's Ice Cream, located in the Merriam Park area of town, has something in their freezer cases that does that tiny little tasting spoon one better, in the form of the so-called Izzy Scoop. And we were lucky enough to drop by during our recent eclipse travels to experience it in person.

As ice cream shops go, Izzy's is a relatively new but seasoned arrival onto the Twin Cities' scene, opening up in its Marshall Street digs in July of 2000.  Despite some national exposure and fame (a nomination by Reader's Digest in 2005 as best ice cream in the land and a showing on a Chef Bobby Flay show), Izzy's has played the expansion phase nice and easy, only opening a Minneapolis branch in 2013.

The inside of the store was a little bit plain-spoken compared to many other ice cream places I've visited, but it was more than functional, with large freezer cases toward the back hold pre-packaged pints as well as other confections like sandwiches and their "Izzy Pop", essentially an ice cream lollipop sporting a small scoop of ice cream coated in a chocolate shell on a stick.

Izzy's ice cream flavors, posted on a LCD TV display, leaned mainly to the more familiar flavors with a some excursions into the more eclectic (such as the Umeshu Chocolate, which contained Japanese Plum Wine, and the Blue Mountain Spice, which was a Chai Tea confection with hints of cardamom, cinnamon and nutmeg.) Unbeknownst to us at the time, Izzy's sports a unique "Flavor Up!" system, which keeps you up to date both on the latest flavor being scooped as well as an e-mail option to let you know when your favorite is being served.

Here is where Izzy adds an extra-dimension to the tasting spoon with their so-called "Izzy Scoop". Of course, those tiny spoons are at the ready, and we went ahead and sampled our fair share of what looked good.  As we discovered, any single or double scoop you order comes with an "Izzy" mini-scoop right on top (a waffle cone wedge is also offered as an option, and who are we to refuse that?) For me, it was kind of a neat little "what the heck" way of trying a flavor that I hadn't sampled via the traditional tasting spoon, and it makes your scoops just look that much more visually appealing.

All our flavors, from the previously mentioned Blue Mountain Spice to the Salted Caramel (with a little more salty punch than others I've tried, a welcome thing) to the delicious Flavor Contest winners (a past winner Lemon Sponge Cake and this year's winner, the Little Italy (a raspberry Marscapone with chunks of chocolate and raspberries) were all highly enjoyable, made even better with a dose of perfect weather for sitting outside at the sidewalk tables.

Izzy's Ice Cream Cafe
2034 Marshall Ave. (Google Maps)
Saint Paul, MN 55104
(651) 603-1458
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Ice Cream Chronicles (Yr. 4) - Toasted Marshmallows and Other Miscellany

The Mitchell's of ice creams (both San Francisco and Cleveland renditions) are
no longer my only case of California-Ohio deja vu after a visit to Cincinnati

Some time ago, I wrote a bit about Mitchell's Ice Cream. However, depending on the part of the country you were from, it could refer to the longtime ice cream maker in San Francisco which married tropical flavors like jackfruit, ube and mango (its most popular flavor, even now) to its dense, old-school, high-butterfat content ice creams to consistently long lines into its cozy Bernal Heights shop. Or it could refer to the Cleveland-area confectionery which spins hand-crafted, locally focused artisanal ice creams that have time and again earned it "Best Of" honors in Northeast Ohio as well as one of the top ice cream purveyors within the Buckeye State.

Social media has been a source of confusion between the two Mitchell's, with people using one shop's media handles to tout their latest ice cream experiences when it belongs to the other (and I won't even mention another Mitchell's Ice Cream in Chicago that I've seen bandied about.)

On a recent jaunt into Cincinnati, I found another Buckeye State ice cream purveyor that reminds me greatly of one of my favorites in the Bay Area, so much so that it's put both of them for visits in the future for more exploration.

Ice Cream Chronicles (Yr. 4): All Aboard the SS Rotterdam

Earlier this year, I wrote about Clown Cones & Confections, a place in the Linden area that's been plying its trade for four decades. While that area in general is hardly a tourist magnet, it most certainly is a neighborhood magnet, a place that folks who grew up there probably frequently visited and have fond memories about.

On the other end of the spectrum, you have the eatery in the very early steps of establishing themselves. Most folks know that the restaurant business is a tough thing to break into, and that all manner of places (innovative, mediocre, just plain awful, etc.) fall by the wayside. Out of that group, there are places and people you root for more than most, and such are the folks behind the very freshly minted Double Happy in the southwest part of the metro.

Ice Cream Chronicles (Yr. 4): The Perfect Matcha

Perhaps due to its reputation as a fast-food haven and test market, Columbus finds its ethnic eats remaining a bit under the radar. I sure did not expect the large number of Mexican markets and food trucks in Columbus when I initially moved to the Buckeye state, much less the number of African restaurants that are just waiting to be discovered by locals and out-of-towners alike.

I was pleased to find out early on about another somewhat unexpected Japanese presence, something that made me feel a bit more at home early on. While this particular scene has gotten a bit more publicity than some of Columbus' other hidden culinary treasures (as in this 2016 NPR article spotlighting the scene), it still turns out to be a pleasant surprise for newcomers to the metro. A great place to start exploring this scene is the Japan Marketplace, which lies in the Northwest neighborhood in the Kenny Centre Mall.

Ice Cream Chronicles (Yr. 4): The Second Time Around

"But you can't keep runnin' away from love

'Cause the first one let you down, no, no, no

And though others try to satisfy you, baby

With me true love can still be found

Love can still be found

The second time around

Ooh, the second time is so much better, baby"

"The Second Time Around" - Shalamar

An underrated factor in trending food lies in its visual appeal, especially in a world where Instagram continues to entice the eyes of millions of users. One of these foods that has washed ashore in the United States relatively recently is "pan-fried" ice cream, more commonly referred to here as Thai Rolled. Popular in many Asian countries, the basic frozen creation is created when a milk base is poured onto a very cold metal plate. Once solid enough, the ice cream is scraped off the surface into figurative rolls. Enhancements and mix-ins can be added in at various parts of the process.

As one might gather from the lyrics, there is a hint of redemption in this particular Ice Cream Chronicles post, and it comes with a relatively new arrival in Columbus' Simply Rolled.

Ice Cream Chronicles (Yr. 4): Head North of the Kosciuszko Lands and Hang a Left

Revolutionary War patriot Thaddeus Kosciuszko sports ties to lands
in and around Dublin, Ohio (image from The Kosciuszko Foundation)

Driving northbound on State Route 257 through the northern portions of Dublin, Ohio, one might spot one of those numerous state historical markers along the roadside (according to the Ohio History Connection, 1,500 such plaques dot the state.)  As you're generally driving at a fairly fast rate of speed by the time you reach this marker, the thing the might catch your eye is the lack of anything remarkable as you zip by.

If you do stop and take a look, you will learn that the lands you're traveling through once belonged to a Revolutionary War patriot with Polish roots, General Thaddeus Kosciuszko. As written on the marker, the site you are standing on "marks the northern boundary of the "Kosciuszko Lands"", which was given to him by the government of the United States as payment for his work in constructing the defenses for the Delaware River. Interestingly, what is considered Koscuiszko's most important contributions to the country happened years after the war when he designed the fortifications for West Point.

Of course, many people in the area also this road as one of the main roads leading to one of the top attractions in the area in the Columbus Zoo. Not that I have proof, but I suspect only a select number of folks veer left on Glick Road before the road curves toward the zoo, and even fewer folks veer right onto State Route 745 after Glick crosses the Scioto River to head into the sleepy little village of Shawnee Hills. It is here where the relatively obscure ice cream shop named Dell's resides.

Ice Cream Chronicles (Yr. 4) - Who Could Ask For More?

At the Coppa....Coppa Gelato...the coldest spot north of Scioto (okay, I can hear the collective groan out there.)

To get serious again, I had always considered gelato something of a sipper, much like a higher gravity beer: it's something you take a little time to swirl around your mouth and savor. Not that you can't savor its frozen cousin ice cream, but I'm definitely more likely to gobble down ice cream a lot faster depending on the circumstances and the quality..

This is until I spied one of the chalkboards at Westerville's Coppa Gelato, which conveniently points out that a serving of gelato has roughly half the calories of a comparable serving of ice cream.

Whoa!  Maybe I've been going at this the wrong way the whole time.