Ice Cream Chronicles (Yr. 4) - Just A Little Clowning Around

And now, a temporary break in my current sun-drenched San Diego series of blogposts for...a little sun-drenched Ohio(?!)

I remember being asked in jest by one of my spouse's friends shortly after my first winter here in Ohio if the cold weather had scared me away yet.  As it turned out, other than having the two coldest, iciest days of that season take place on moving days, it really wasn't all that bad.

Another colleague butted in immediately after my response, "Oh, no, you really haven't experienced an Ohio winter yet, trust me." Sure enough, the next two winters, including the dreaded "Polar Vortex" winter, froze me to my bones, but they say what does not kill you makes you stronger. Ohio had officially toughened me up.

Fast forward to the present - I think most Central Ohioans would be in happy agreement that for the most part, winter has been a no-show this season. I mean, patio weather in February in the Midwest region in general is something to, well, spend some time on the patio hoisting a beer or two.

Or maybe down a couple cold scoops of ice cream. It seemed it was time to revive the Ice Cream Chronicles for the new year.

The Persian Version: Jeddo Kebab

If you look closely enough, you can trace a similarity in base food items from places like Greece and Turkey eastward into China and its environs. This is hardly surprising, considering the history of the famed Silk Road, a network of passages and roadways that helped foment the trade of spices and other goods from China to Syria and everywhere in between, as well as the number of empires which once claimed this vast geographical area.

Despite the turmoil and the wages of time, the cuisine of the Persians (now modern-day Iran) stood the test of time and the changes in area rulers. Back in the Bay Area, there are several Persian eateries of note, but I admit the cuisine was not on my radar as I beginning my area explorations. It wasn't until I got to Columbus when I started digging into this tasty word via the metro's one and only Persian eatery: Jeddo Kebab.

Takeout Pie of the Month: Borgata Pizza Cafe

Business in the Northland area of Columbus by brought me
into contact with this still under-the-radar pizzeria in Borgata

With my spouse out with friends and I cruising the north area of Columbus visiting places along State Route 161 in the late afternoon, I was thinking of what I should be having for dinner. While there are quite a few ethnic options (many yet to be explored) found along this stretch of road between I-71 and the eastern edge of I-270, nothing was particularly hitting me in the culinary sweet spot at the time. After finishing up my last bit of shopping for the day, I sat in my car and pondered this conundrum for a bit and finally resorted to a rule that's generally worked well for me:

"When all else fails, pizza."

For me, pizza almost always works as a fallback option for me, and secondly, I'm still in the midst of my Columbus-area pizza discovery quest. Thus, I took a quick look for promising candidates in the area using my mobile device and one nearby contender shot immediately to the top of my radar in the form of Borgata Pizza Cafe.

Atmosphere: With the service road setup of Route 161, there's just no way you can spot the family-owned Borgata while driving by on that main thoroughfare, or even suspect that any other businesses of any sort lie behind the Taco Bell/Dunkin' Donuts combo that fronts the road right next to the intersection with Parkville Street.

You just simply wouldn't suspect Borgata has been plugging away at its
spot behind the Dunkin' Donuts at Parkville and Route 161

While Borgata's exterior may reflect the 1970s/1980s strip mall vibe that many of the businesses in the area sport, its interior is a completely different story with its brick-lined walls, chalkboard style overhead menu, decent amount of available in-house seating, and wide-open view into the kitchen area. You can simply watch Borgata's crew work on those pizzas, or perhaps stare into the dessert case and tempt yourself with their brownies, ricotta cakes or cannoli. Other staples like calzones, wings, housemade pasta dishes and salads fill out Borgata's regular menu.

A neat little touch was provided by the staff when they brought my pizza to me. Many places will just hand you the box; here at Borgata, they opened up the box to let you view the pie. While the gesture I'm sure was done to make sure the pizza met my satisfaction, the mere sight of as well as the scent rising from this fresh from the oven pie had the added pleasurable effect of whetting my appetite that much more.

Pizza (Hot): Borgata advertises its pizza as New York styled, and indeed the pie's crust is appropriately thin without being Columbus-styled thin. On this pizza (the small supreme) the crust was definitely a bonus here, with a nice thicker outer ring, a lightly airy and chewy texture, and a crust that flopped closer to the center. If you're into folding your pizza, these slices easily fit that bill. The sauce itself was a sweeter sauce; while I prefer a more spicier sauce, the spice from the proteins on top put enough zest in each bite to make this overall a very enjoyable pie.

Pizza (Cold): I kind of wondered how this pizza would hold up to refrigeration, considering it was a supreme pizza and naturally floppy to start with. To my mild surprise, the crust actually firmed up to a more chewy consistency and held the weight of the toppings pretty well. Definitely doable as a straight-out-of-the-refrigerator slice, but I can easily see this being great reheated as well.

After having my pie, I found some more positives about Borgata from various folks who would be in the know like the CMH Gourmand, Pizza Slayer and Pie Are Round. Let me add my voice to the chorus here - Borgata is definitely worth seeking out for a good slice or two.

Borgata Pizza Cafe
5701 Parkville St (Northland - Google Maps)
Columbus, OH 43229
(614) 891-2345
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Dumplings Divine: Helen's Asian Kitchen

Dumpling creator and The Commissary class instructor
Helen Jiao has had her own kitchen serving diners in
the Northland area in Columbus since 2012.

I was introduced to the dumplings of Helen Jiao courtesy of class held by The Commissary. During that class, Ms. Jiao prepared dumplings of all types and cooked them in several different ways, and made it seem ridiculously easy. But as we found out that day, the preparation was nowhere near as easy as she made it seem, and the dumplings were just darn good.

The best thing is you don't have to take a class to experience Helen's dumplings - all you have to do is drop by her Northland area restaurant nestled on the northwest side of the Highway 161/Interstate 71 interchange.

The building's former life as a gentleman's club is slowly fading
faway with lots of food-oriented media and a few quirky touches

As mentioned in this previously written alt.eats.columbus article, the building in which Helen's Asian Kitchen sits had women "cooking" prior to this restaurant's arrival, though not at all in the culinary sense. These days, the mirrored walls lining the interior give a visitor the biggest clue of this venue's former life as a strip club, but the overlying feeling one gets is as an operating restaurant, with the requisite special menu and a couple of quirky touches, including Christmas-themed tablecloths on a few tables and a serenade by one of the restaurant's employees on the centrally-located piano during our meal.

Helen's Asian Kitchen menu has its share of Sichuan specialties
with that ma la profile, along with those tasty dumplings

The restaurant's Sichuan menu, with many dishes probably not too familiar to those more used to the Americanized styled Chinese food, is helpfully divided out into categories such as "Spicy", "Non-Spicy" and "Chef Selection". For this visit, we were here for the dumplings and the ma la combination of numbing and spicy that typifies many Sichuan preparations. 

Helen herself took our order and recognized me from the class, and gave something of a smiling approval our dumpling appetizers. They were delicious and plentiful, and typically would be enough to go with a main dish for the spouse and I for a full meal. But we were here to indulge, so we added some dry fried green beans (a simple personal favorite of ours from our orders at similarly-styled Fortune Restaurant) and the Boiled Beef in Hot Chili Oil, something that seemed similar to a Sichuan-styled hot pot. Both dishes were just a touch salty, full of that ma la profile, and quite satisfying.

Columbus may not have many restaurants that fit into that Sichuan Chinese profile, but the three that exist here all do a pretty good job of representing this style of cuisine well. Perhaps Helen's Asian Kitchen's biggest asset is Helen herself, both in terms of her well-made dishes and her personable demeanor.

Helen's Asian Kitchen
1070 E Dublin Granville Rd (Northland - Google Maps)
Columbus, OH 43229
(614) 987-5121
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Note: Thanks to the fine folks at Columbus Food Adventures, who dropped a line to say that Royal Ginger (owned by the same folks behind Hong Kong House) on Lane Avenue in Upper Arlington also serves Sichuan dishes.