Return to California (aka The More Things Change...)

The courtyard of Vallejo's version of Seafood City, a Filipino-focused
supermarket sporting seven locations in Northern California and
30 total locations in the United States and Canada

Our return to California this year to visit my home of some three decades revealed some inescapable trends that I've noticed in the last few visits. In terms of this blog, the Bay Area and California in general has really transformed in my mind into much more tourist destination than a former home. I experienced a bit of this feeling driving through San Francisco last year, but this year it became even more prominent. 

Familiar landmarks were now gone (most prominently the grandstands of the horse racing facility of the Solano County Fairgrounds), businesses I grew up with were now closed (like Country Creamery, which never had the best ice cream but made up for it by charging a buck per scoop), and the ongoing development of the Springs area just outside of Sonoma. Even the still familiar, as in the Seafood City pictured above, sported some changes, including the closing of a store in which we bought our first Christmas parol.

Food Truck Roundup: Autumn 2018 Edition

A little blast from the mobile food past: the colorful truck of Horn OK Please

To paraphrase from my previous Food Truck roundup, the local food truck scene has become a tough thing to keep tabs on.  New ones are popping up all the time (one of them, Hisham's featuring tasty dishes derived from the highly unique Cape Malay cuisine, was featured in its own blogpost in October.) Likewise, with all the businesses utilizing and places designated for hosting food truck operations in the metro, it's pretty easy to not encounter the same food truck for months at time.

Thus, I implemented a change of strategy - instead of comprehensiveness (which isn't as huge a factor with a medium like a food truck), I thought a roundup of some of the most notable experiences I've had with food trucks and carts would be a good way to go forward.  Interestingly enough, the autumn brought some long timers I hadn't encountered in awhile back into the fold, as well as a blue collar entrant that reliability is often most of the battle in the world of mobile cuisine.

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.

One and Not Done: Indochine Cafe

Typically, I like to try to get in at least two visits to an eatery before I attempt to do a writeup. There are exceptions to this rule: one lies in giving a little love to new eatery that shows a lot of promise (such as the newly opened Leone's Pizza, detailed in my last blog post.) Other exceptions to this rule lie on places that are noteworthy but aren't likely to get back to soon through distance (e.g. eateries visited during vacation travels) or a combo of special occasion and cost (a place such as San Francisco's Boulevard, where we had a special Christmas dinner a few years back.)

One last exception is sort of a gut call, and in this case it's mainly due to one dish that just simply knocked our proverbial culinary socks off. This dish has guaranteed we'll be back soon to this relative veteran of the area's culinary scene: Whitehall's Indochine Cafe.

December Travelogue: Seven Months after the EF-5

We wish all you readers the most wonderful of Christmas holidays and safe travels during your journeys this holiday season. This is a continuing series of monthly travelogues, where I document some of my past journeys through this world of ours:

A Route 66 info panel found at Petrified Forest National Park, Arizona

Route 66, known as "The Mother Road" still holds a mythos and nostalgic pull for many people in love road travel. Many are familiar with the catchy pop standard "(Get Your Kicks On) Route 66", composed by writer Bobby Troup and first popularized by legendary singer Nat King Cole, and numerous organizations and groups are dedicated to preserving the legacy of this roadway which traversed from Chicago to Los Angeles.

I have personally traveled the existing westernmost sections on my own in Arizona, and as it turned out, this route would be within a quick turnoff and detour for my spouse and I for much of the journey from California to Ohio when I finally made my move to the Buckeye State.

One of the cities along this famed route, specifically mentioned in the famed pop standard, is Joplin, Missouri. Approximately seven months prior to our travels to Ohio, Joplin was struck with the deadliest tornado since modern record-keeping began. This EF-5 rated tornado tragically killed 158 people and injured more than 1,000 people, and caused an estimated $2.8 billion in total damage. On the trip, we figured out on the fly that our travels would take us by this stricken town and we decided, if the timing worked out, we would stop into town to give a little business.

Indeed, we had wandered into the Joplin area right around lunch, and we turned off Interstate 44 onto State Route 43. We did not know the exact path that the tornado had taken through town, nor did we have any recent information about the rebuilding efforts, so as we wended our way toward downtown, we did not quite know what to expect.

Then, as the streets started dipping from the 40s into the 30s, the devastation emerged. The images of mangled trees, denuded of their higher branches, and barren property plots took our breath away at first, but we also spotted the signs of rebirth in the form of new construction. The instinct was to document what we were viewing, but we felt uncomfortable with this notion; this wasn't a tourist attraction, after all. Our cameras stayed shuttered as we drove into town, and on the way out when we mirrored the tornado's path along the historic Route 66.

Downtown Joplin lay north of the tornado's path of destruction. The lazy bustle we found here seemed like any other weekday that typify the days that lie between Christmas and New Year's Day, save for the fact that the whole city was trying to find its collective feet again.

Outside of the Red Onion Cafe in Downtown Joplin

We scouted out The Red Onion, established in 1995 at 4th and Virginia Streets in downtown Joplin. The restaurant interior was comfortable, playing off their residence inside a 100-year-old building in a homey kind of way. Likewise, their American-styled menu contained some comfort food decadence in the form of their coconut-breaded and Arkansas smokehouse chicken dishes and what looked to be some decadent sweets. But since we had had a surplus of both richer dishes and various snacky items the prior days of this road trip, we went for a couple of their healthier-sounding salads in the form of their Harvest Spinach Apple and Mandarin Orange Salads. Both dishes were tasty and provided the break in the prevailing eating routine we had developed.

The waitstaff were very gracious and friendly, and quite appreciative that we had stopped by to give them some business. We asked about how the restaurant and the town were doing: they said customers were slowly starting to come back to dine, and overall the town was making progress in terms of rebuilding and returning back to a normal routine. While they acknowledged there was still plenty left to do, they remained hopeful it would get done.

Nowadays, Joplin is nearly all the way back; at the mark of the three year anniversary, a report by KYTV in Springfield, MO, reported that 90 percent of all the homes had been rebuilt, and that 450 of the 500 businesses that had been affected by the tornado had returned. St. John's Hospital (now known as Mercy), which was basically destroyed by the twister, has a new campus under construction that is slated for opening for 2015. And the Red Onion Cafe continues to serve food at its main location in Joplin and three Espressoria locations.

However, as noted in the KYTV report, the final steps are often the hardest, as donor dollars dry up (the Joplin Recovery Fund is still active and taking donations) and other disasters reach the national conscience, including Superstorm Sandy in 2012 and the Moore, OK tornado of 2013. But even though those steps may be the toughest, it won't be for the lack of resolve and trying by the residents of Joplin and other communities who are struck by the unthinkable.

Joplin Recovery Fund
c/o Community Foundation of the Ozarks
P.O. Box 8960
Springfield, MO 65801
(888) 266-6815
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Red Onion Cafe
203 East 4th Street
Joplin, MO 64801
(417) 623-1004
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Salads Around the Statehouse: Market 65

It seemed only appropriate to include Market 65 in this latest list of eateries around the Ohio Statehouse, but in this case, salads are the specialty, not sandwiches (although you can get any of their creations in wrap form.)

Most around here would liken Market 65 as a Chipotle-style salad/wrap casual eatery. Coming from Bay Area, it reminds me a lot more of Mixt Greens, a San Francisco area lunchtime staple. 

Both places specialize in fresh salads and sandwiches/wraps made with produce from local providers and offering unique options (e.g. tofu) to customize one's salad. In fact, Market 65 was one of the first places I knew about in the Downtown area to tout its connections to local producers. It had been awhile between visits for me, but it was nice to see that local angle hadn't changed. Numerous local produce providers (That's My Farmer and Lucky Penny being two I was familiar with) were referenced on chalkboards, and products from locally-based vendors (Pattycake Bakery and JC's Sweet Tea, among others) were available for purchase.

Similar to Mixt Greens, Market 65 offers some staple creations, or the customer can opt to build their own wrap/salad. Both places offer a selection of house-made dressings to add to your meal.  

Here is where some subtle differences between the two similar concepts emerge. Mixt Greens offers a few select sandwiches and typically includes a piece of bread with your salad order; Market 65 does not have that option. But the downtown area has plenty of places to grab an actual sandwich so this really isn't a negative in my eyes.

Another subtle difference is that Mixt Greens has all their salad ingredients prepared in advance. Market 65 also has most of their stuff prepared in advance, but some of this grunt work is done before the customer's eyes. While this adds some time to an already relatively slower assembly line process compared to, say, a burrito or standard sandwich, there's something reassuring about watching parts of your salad or wrap being sliced freshly from the source and added to your order. However, if you are confined to a shorter time for lunch, Market 65 may not work for you.

The big difference really lies in price and quantity, and this is where the advantage of being in Columbus shines through for me. I find that I can get an order of the same quality and more quantity at Market 65 than I could at Mixt Greens....and pay about a couple bucks less for it than their West Coast compatriot. With that said, their main items are on the higher edge of the low-end price range of downtown eateries overall (basically between $7 and $11.)

A unique aspect of Market 65 is its beer and wine bar, where you can find a select number of bottled wines and beers as well as a couple of beers on tap (the list I spied showed Fat Head's Amber Ale and Columbus Brewing's IPA as their options.)

My latest get, a fish taco salad special with tilapia, black beans, avocado, serrano peppers, roasted corn (sliced right from the cob) and tortilla strips mixed in with romaine lettuce and their recommended dressing, was filling and tasty.

Overall, I've been quite satisfied with the quality and tastiness of the items I've ordered from Market 65, and the servers I've had always have been friendly and amiable. Those looking for a healthier lunch option with locally sourced produce and other products who are not in any kind of rush would be well served to drop by Market 65.

2019 Update: According to their website, Market 65 is working both on a new menu as well a website revamp.

Market 65
65 E State St (Downtown - Google Maps)
Columbus, OH 43215
(614) 564-6565
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