Five Years in the Books

Filipino Halo Halo is but one of the culinary treats you can get at
Columbus's Asian Festival, held annually during Memorial Day weekend

Columbus’s Asian Festival, set again for Memorial Day Weekend this year on May 25th and 26th, represents a couple of important reference points for yours truly. One was finding out how truly few of folks like me were here during my first visit: the city where I grew up in California, despite having numerous times less folks than Central Ohio's population, has roughly eight times more folks with my background.

The second is it marks off another notch on the years I’ve been doing this blog. With this upcoming weekend, that will have been five in the book, the furthest I’ve ever taken a blog.

There are hundred of ways I could branch off from here, but I thought I’d just leave it simple. Thanks to all of you who have followed along, and I hope I can keep you entertained by our ventures and my writing as we go into year six.

Destination Dayton: The Wright Stuff and A Little Hop Funk

While "The Gem City" may be Dayton, Ohio's official nickname (for an interesting look at the origins of the nickname, check out this article by Yellow Springs-based radio station WYSO 91.3), it is the city's motto, "The Birthplace of Aviation", that most people latch onto.

Two prominent examples of this aviation bent lie in Wright-Patterson AFB as well as its resident popular destination for plane nerds around the world in the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force. Other hints of this heritage lie in the mascot of the University of Dayton (the Flyers) and one of the most prominent craft breweries in the area in Warped Wing.

Of course, the king daddy of all this lies in the form of two local natives with the last name of Wright, who hauled their winged construct from Ohio down to Kitty Hawk, NC, for the first ever heavier-than-air powered aircraft flight in 1903. This history, and a lot more than you might expect, is available for viewing at the Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historical Park.

OH Beer Travels: Roll Out The Barrel

Our third stop on our recent mini-venture into Northeast Ohio brought us into metro Cleveland to kept us in the ever-growing craft beer destination that the Ohio City neighborhood has become, where we got to sample the small batch creations of Nano Brew.

First Impressions: "Now that looks like a nice patio area!"

Reality: Rated as the Best Bar Patio by Cleveland Scene magazine, this space sure looked like a great place to enjoy a beer in the sunshine. However, Mother Nature had turned up the heat and humidity to unbearable levels on the day of our visit, forcing all bar patrons into the air-conditioned comfort of the brick-lined interior.

Nano Brew's initial space had been that of the former Garage Bar, but more space to hunker down within was happily accepted by owner Sam McNulty when their former neighbor The Black Pig restaurant relocated just up the road. The existing bar now curls around into both spaces and the added kitchen capacity helps Nano Brew handle those who are there for some beer and grub.

One thing that did not change was the presence of Nano Brew's signature moose head, which stood steadfastly perched on the northern wall. In addition, the bicycle portrayed in Nano Brew's logo is no accident - through collaboration with the nearby Joy Machines Bike Shop, the brewery houses a bicycle tune-up box with all the requisite tools (and brews) you could need inside.

IWD 500: Northern Michigan - Tandem Ciders; Brewery Vivant

Our recent Northern Michigan travels brought us to two destinations on somewhat opposite sides of the state that are worthy of a visit for their craft alcoholic beverages.

Tandem Ciders - This charming hard cider maker is located a bit off the beaten track in the tree-dotted rolling green hills that make up the interior of the Leelenau Peninsula. Thankfully, the large barn-like structure which houses this now six-year-old business, marked distinctly by a mounted tandem bicycle, all but ensures that visitors won't drive past.

Besides the main building, the property is marked by an apple orchard featuring the cidery's numerous apple varietals toward the rear as well as picnic tables where you can enjoy your cider outdoors.

The tasting room itself is a quaint space that maintains the barn motif, with a small bar area for customers there to sample their ciders. Bookshelves containing both apple- and bicycle-related books can be found behind the bar along with the keg system; themed art work only accentuates this heaven-like setting for cider seekers .

Tandem has a very consumer-friendly policy when it comes to sampling their ciders. Their four ciders on tap can be sampled for free; any cider that they bottle is also available for sampling for only $1 (save for their specialty Pomona; more on this later.)

We were highly impressed with all the ciders available, which ran a gamut of flavor profiles from sweet to tart, varietal oriented (i.e. their popular Smackintosh) and varying levels of dryness. Each cider had something unique that made choosing what to take back with us to Columbus a difficult decision. Eventually, we decided on the Pretty Penny (an intriguing blend of what is essentially the remnants of their 30 apple varietals used in their cider production; due to this, the taste is never the same year to year) and their Pomona (an intensely flavored Pommeau meant as an aperitif made by blending apple brandy and sweet cider and aging the mixture in oak barrels.)

Tandem Ciders
2055 N Setterbo Road (Google Maps)
Suttons Bay, MI 49682
(231) 271-0050
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Brewery Vivant - Opened in the unique setting of an abandoned funeral home chapel in December 2010, this Grand Rapids-based craft brewery has made their reputation on various takes of Belgian- and French-styled beers, accompanied by an upscale pub fare menu and anchored by a locally-focused and sustainable practices philosophy.

In this meetup with friends in the area, we opted for appetizers and two separate flights of their beers. Like the menu overall (entrees are in the $10 - $20 range), the appetizers are on the higher price point for pub fare, but you get a little more pizzazz for the money. The garlic & parsley Belgian Frites ($6) came with the requisite mayo-based dips and the Pork Belly Corn Dogs ($9) came with an intriguing rhubarb ketchup and a house-made mustard. Both items were quite tasty and had a little hint of decadence, especially the corn dogs.

Through careful planning, we were able to sample eight of their beers by ordering two separate flights (the Cambier Flight, priced slightly higher than the Vivant Flight, allows you access to most of their current higher gravity brews.) All the beer sampled was at least in the solidly good to grerat range, with the clear winner being Cemetarian (their Undertaker Belgian Dark Ale aged in oak and spiked with vanilla and coffee beans.) Their Agent á Deux, a collaboration beer with local doughnut maker Propaganda, also proved to be an intriguing taste as a dark Belgian ale brewed with currants, vanilla beans and rose petals.

Brewery Vivant
925 Cherry Street SE (Google Maps)
Grand Rapids, MI 49506
(616) 719-1604
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2019 Update: no major changes of note re: social media links.

Sandwiches Around the Statehouse: Cafe Brioso

Cafe Brioso's storefront: the sign points to good things inside

If you are familiar with Cafe Brioso only as a coffee house, this may seem like a bit of an odd header under which to place them. However, this header really shows how diversified this place really is.

Of course, the main calling card for Brioso is its excellent coffee. If you come through the entrance off High Street, the first thing you will probably notice is the buckets of freshly roasted beans off to the left; a quick glance behind will give you a view of the area that houses their roasting equipment and other ancillaries (e.g. their pour-over coffee station.) Numerous restaurants around the Columbus metro area feature Cafe Brioso coffee on their menus.

Breakfast gives the customer several options: for those with modest appetites, freshly-baked scones are available. Those who want something a little more filling can opt for their freshly-baked muffins or the excellent bagels from local bagel maker Sammy's New York Bagels. Other baked goods available for customers include cookies, croissants and, every now and again, pie (and who can argue with pie?) Generally, I've found all their baked goods rating in the good category.

And then there are the sandwiches, which are available in half-order ($4 - $5) or full-order ($6 - $7) sizes. These sandwiches aren't the best or necessarily the largest in the downtown area, but their homemade nature makes them reliably tasty for me. Their tuna salad or fresh mozzarella (or, when available, their special Lily's egg salad) are my standard go-to orders here. Brioso also earns bonus brownie points for the use of wonderful bread of local institution Dan The Baker in their sandwiches. Customers also can choose from a select list of salads; soups can be ordered separately or specially-added to your sandwich or salad order.

We could end it with the food, but that would neglect the atmosphere. Out of all the places I have been to in the Columbus area so far, Cafe Brioso reminds me the most of a place would fit right into San Francisco's coffee scene without any undue notice.

However, no coffee shop I was familiar with there quite matches Brioso's mix of working-class (both white- and blue-collar) hangout; bicyclist-friendly atmosphere; community participation (as exampled in the Pinchflat poster art show and Moonlight Market, where pop-up restaurants from the previously mentioned Dan the Baker and Kolache Republic find a home) and small business support (The Flying Gent Mercantile, which advertises itself as "the only Central Ohio destination for original, classic, and exclusive men's goods from around the world," can be found inside Brioso's shop.)

No, Cafe Brioso is Columbus' own and proud of that aspect. This pride also extends to their coffee as well as their part in the overall local coffee scene that has blossomed since I have been here. It's not surprising that Brioso has emerged as one of the primary destination spots in the downtown area, if not the city as a whole.

2019 Update: Brioso Coffee has opened up a second roastery on Long Street focusing on their roasted coffee beans and coffee drinks. For more information, check out their main website at the link below.

Cafe Brioso

14 E. Gay Street (Downtown - Google Maps)

Columbus, OH 43215
(614) 228-8366
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