Toddling Toward Three: A Second Year Blogiversary Post

Surprise, surprise - two years and this blog is still alive and kicking. I can't rightfully say whether I expected this or not, but I am quite happy to still be pounding on the keyboard on a regular basis cranking out these blog posts

My posting pace that first year was rather surprising and highly unsustainable (over 150 posts that first year) - for someone whose bills get paid by other time-consuming sources, that just wasn't going to workout in the long run. This year, I aimed for a more sustainable two posts per week and hit that mark pretty much on the mark; as Goldilocks might say, that number was "just right."

I could get into really specific detail about the breakdown of these posts, but that would be highly boring so I won't. Suffice it to say, the posts are nicely broken up mainly among Columbus-based eateries, beer and brewery related posts and travels from both within and outside of Ohio. Mix in some music events, local attractions and festivals, and my continuing ice cream journeys, and it made for a pretty nice cornucopia of topics covered this year.

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
Facebook       Website

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.

Startups and Serendipity (Pt. 1): The Commissary

Ever since I've moved to Columbus, I've become more intimately aware of and participated more in various crowdfunding efforts. These campaigns in general have ranged from the very practical (needed repairs on the food truck for local Jewish-inspired cuisine purveyor Challah!) to the fanciful (the tweak-your-nose-at-the-crowdfunding-concept Potato Salad campaign of Zack Danger Brown), from the getting your feet wet (the thriving Land Grant Brewing began as a Kickstarter effort under the Oval Brewing banner) to the getting your feet back under you (the Go Fund Me efforts related to the Ohio Deli and Union Street fires in Columbus and Athens, respectively.)

Two recent efforts that both the spouse and I have been quite enthused about involve both a startup and an expansion; this post covers the former.

The Commissary (which I wrote about in this previous post) founded by Kate Djupe, a vehicle that would assist local food-oriented individuals and businesses in starting up, enhancing, producing or experimenting with their product lines or services. The visibility of this campaign was by far less sexy in comparison with the high-flung lark of the previously mentioned potato salad effort, but the eventual groundswell of support pushed Djupe's vision to full funding.

Since its grand opening party in November of 2014, The Commissary has settled into its mission quite well, offering series of classes, pop-up dinners, community events, entrepreneurial and other informational meetings available to all interested parties, coupled with fully equipped kitchens and facilities to fit a variety of needs.

The murals that were still in progress at the time of the grand opening
party were more or less completed by the time of their Fat Tuesday
Po' Boy Party with Chef Lara Yazvac Pipia

The events we have been able to partake in since its opening have proven to be fun and tasty affairs. Chef Lara Yazvac Pipia, owner of Two-Top Consulting and participant in the opening day party Knife Fight (essentially, a variation of cooking competitions like the Iron Chef), provided some yummy goodness to folks on Fat Tuesday in The Commissary's Po' Boy Party pop-up dinner event. Diners were treated to their choice of an artichoke or oyster po' boy sandwich with all the trimmings (red beans and rice, a corn maque choux and bread pudding.) The event was BYOB, so many brought along some adult libations to enjoy with their eats.

Since it was our first time back since the opening day party, we took the chance to see what had been finished up since that visit (the wall murals for the food truck bay) and new developments only hinted at then (the special "Lab" where coffee-roasters and beer-brewers can tinker around with recipes or equipment.)

Dumplings? Why, yes please, especially if it's from Helen.

Shortly afterward, I got the pleasure of participating in a Dumpling Making Class, hosted by Helen Jiao of Worthington's Helen's Asian Kitchen. Helen was an engaging instructor and well-skilled in this fine art, pumping out variations of this creation with lightning speed (plus a few more not hinted at in the instruction sheets) during our couple hours in the kitchen. Many people's first efforts didn't go quite so well, but Helen was there to help and assist we students with a smile, an encouraging word and helpful hints.

Helen showed class participants that the seemingly simple dumpling
is a lot more versatile than one might give it credit for

I had filled up with a quick breakfast before the class, but it probably wasn't necessary considering the sheer number of dumpling variations that were either boiled up or fried from both Helen and her willing students. I definitely left there quite happy, knowing that I had a nice little culinary skill to use in the future, had a full tummy full of delicious dumplings, and had a delightful experience with Helen, courtesy of The Commissary.

For a list of upcoming classes, dinners and other events at The Commissary, please check out this link or check out their web-links below.

The Commissary
1400 Dublin Rd (Marble Cliff)
Columbus, OH 43215
E-Mail: feedback@thecommissarycolumbus.com
Facebook    Instagram     Twitter    Website

The Commissary Block Party

Incubator kitchens are an increasingly utilized and effective tool for fostering food businesses in a number of communities across the country. In San Francisco, the Mission District-based La Cocina has been on the leading edge of assisting low-income entrepreneurs with establishing their own food business since 2005. Another notable member is ForageSF, who has branched off into this world after several years of helping small food businesses out with their fun and engaging Underground Markets in addition to their roving supper club and foraging events.

Columbus' Food Fort, established in July of 2011, has been a linchpin in helping the local mobile food industry reach the thriving status it holds today. The opportunities for more innovation by local culinary institutions only promises to increase with the arrival of The Commissary, the brainchild of Kate Djupe. Her own experiences of trying to produce her own baby food for sale showed her there was a need for such a kitchen space that would not only be able to handle this type of production, but also allow for existing businesses to expand and experiment with their own culinary aspirations. Due to a funding gap, a Kickstarter campaign was launched and proved ultimately successful, allowing The Commissary to develop its current space in the Marble Cliff area of the metro.

This successful campaign sparked a Block Party celebration, in which supporters of the venture like my spouse and I were allowed to experience and discover what had been developed from their funds. These were some pictures of what turned out to be quite a fun time seeing this promising venture come to life, with more to come, including a coffee lab from Stauf's Coffee Roasters as well as both a molecular gastronomy and brewery area.

Bright green brick and a balloon greeted us at the entrance

Simple to creative, and from community and business members of
all types, the Supporter Spoon Wall was gorgeously laid out

Artistic murals lined the walls of the drive-thru area for mobile food trucks

The kitchen and community bookshelf (which includes many
borrowable baking tins)

Local band Earwig, who has their own Kickstarter campaign in support of
their new album release, threw out some rocking tunes in a space that will
eventually contain more kitchen spaces for rent

My spouse and I really enjoyed the pierogis from Sophie's Gourmet Pierogis and the
chicken dish from the King-Lincoln-based Los Potosinos. The excellent Dos Hermanos
taco truck was also there serving food. We washed down our eats with beverages
from Mill St. Distillery in Utica, OH and Columbus-based Actual Brewing.

Another in the Columbus Knife Fight series took place tonight. In the end,
Chef Matt White from Columbus Brewing Company edged out
Chef Lara Yazvac Pipia of Two-Top Consulting

Friendly folks from Outfit/Good, a community-oriented T-shirt maker, and
Igloo Letterpress offered some fancy printed goodies for attendees. In addition,
Amy Turn Sharp was also there lending poems on demand to folks typed
out on an old-style typewriter.

The Commissary founder Lara Djupe took us on a tour of the facility. Before
this picture, she mentioned that she may still need to be pinched to believe
it's all actually happened. Based on this picture, I think she's realizing it has.

The Commissary
1400 Dublin Rd
Marble Cliff, OH 43215
Facebook    Twitter    Website