Saying Hello To An Old Friend: Return to Asheville

Mural of actress/comedienne/Asheville native Shirley Hemphill,
as painted by local artist Gus Cutty

"And we're supping on tears
and we're supping on wine 

We all get to heaven in our own sweet time 

So come all you Asheville boys
And turn up your old-time noise 

And kick 'til the dust comes up
From the cracks in the floor"

Gillian Welch - "Hard Times"

Our yearly road trip adventures this year found us in one of our favorite destinations in Asheville, NC. The time gap between our two visits (roughly four years) plus the scope of our trip (unlike other visits, this craft beer mecca would share the spotlight with other destinations) made blending old favorites and new explorations a little trickier.

When all was tallied in the end, we sneaked in a lot more than we figured we would in our less than 48 hours in this town of nearly 90,000 people, and ended with plenty of worthwhile things to write about.

South x Southwest (Pt. 2): Creme Clouds and Gringas

A metal die-cut plaque details the family roots of Columbus' Merion Village

As mentioned in my previous post, my coffee at Das KaffeeHaus was meant to put some caffeine into the system to get me fully awake for the day. It also had a secondary purpose of slowing me down so I could digest the rich Beehive Bite sweet treat that I had acquired from My Old World Bakery, an old-school neighborhood shop located in Southwest Columbus. By the time I departed the space, I was ready for some more exploring the city's south and west sides.

Cincy Trip Pt. 3: From Sleepy Bees to Screaming Trees

Our Sunday focus in Cincinnati was to grab some screen time in front of the TV for a little football action. But of course, we needed some fuel in the system after a good night's sleep, so we headed to the Blue Ash branch of the popular local breakfast and lunch purveyor Sleepy Bee Cafe.

Started in December 2013 in the Cincinnati suburb of Oakley by John Hutton and Sandra Gross, the eatery's popularity prompted a second location a ten or so miles up Interstate 71 in Blue Ash (a third location in the heart of Downtown Cincinnati is nearing completion.)

If you hadn't guessed from the restaurant's name, the Sleepy Bee has an apiary theme, borne out of the owners' love of bees.  Honeycomb tile clusters and vaguely-beehive-shaped wire lamp covers dot the ceiling, while a flowery glass sculpture hangs over the bar area (unlike their Oakley location, the Blue Ash eatery has a liquor license.)

Footloose and Gluten-Free: Eban's Bakehouse

Adrienne Novak, co-founder and creator of Eban's Bakehouse
and its line of appealing gluten-free goods

While taste may be the dominant consideration behind a particular food's appeal, general mouthfeel is not that far behind. In some instances, that can be the largest consideration. For example, the taste of durian fruit on a personal basis for me isn't nearly as unappealing as its uniquely stringy, cottony and chewy texture.

For gluten-intolerant and Celiac disease sufferers, finding gluten-free bread that not only tastes decent but also has that generally pleasing texture that only bread delivers is something of a challenge. However, this was an issue that we generally had no worries about ourselves since we (thankfully) do not suffer from these issues.

This changed recently when we learned that relatives of ours discovered they had some gluten-consumption health issues; this news has put us on the watch for both gluten-free recipes and food products that they might enjoy. One thing they did echo was the bread conundrum: the few gluten-free options they found at their local grocery store were  not terribly good, especially in light of the cost, and they basically had conceded that bread would probably be just something to go without from here on out.

With some time to kill a couple weeks ago before headed up to a family gathering, we decided to drop by a place that we had not been to in quite awhile in the Worthington Indoor Farmers Market. At this and other farmers markets, Dan The Baker has been our regular go-to for bread at farmers markets, and sure enough they were doing their usual bang-up business (we stopped by and walked away with their intricately designed and very tasty springerle cookies.)

We had known about and seen Eban's Bakehouse's stand at this and other local farmers markets, but since we took care of bread needs elsewhere, we simply never had thought about dropping by to look at their goods. Old habits almost took over and we were ready to just stroll by when we remembered that their products were in fact gluten-free. On this day, the booth was staffed by the very charming Adrienne Novak, co-founder of Eban's Bakehouse, who invited us to try the bread samples. On this morning, we were more than happy to oblige.

We admittedly didn't have terribly high expectations, based on our own prior experiences with other gluten-free breads and the tales of such by our relatives and others we know. I popped a sample into my mouth and, well, surprise, it had the feel of regular bread. I then focused on the taste, which turned out to be equally quite nice. We tried other samples and reached the same conclusion: these breads were all pretty darn good. As we were sampling the bread, Adrienne gave us a brief primer on Eban's business and mentioned that it had taken her and her business partner/boyfriend (both of whom are trained chefs) about nine months to get the bread recipes just right.

Eban's offers a selection of gluten-free breads and other sweet treats

This is where our first encounter with Eban's gets a little footloose and a lot coincidental. Coming from California, I've become acutely aware of connections between there and the Buckeye State. Not only did we learn that Adrienne lived for a time in California in an area I loved to visit as a kid (Santa Cruz), but she also grew up in the very same town my spouse did as a child (in fact, she knew of and graduated in the same class as one of my spouse's sisters.) Another fun fact we learned about is the name itself, which is a combination of the initials of Adrienne and her business partner/boyfriend.

According to Adrienne, news is good on the business front for Eban's, as word has slowly but surely gotten out about their gluten-free products. These products are mainly focused on their bread varieties (including but not exclusive to Oat, Cinnamon Raisin and Cranberry Walnut), but they also sport a select inventory of cookies and other baked goods. Distribution has expanded into several surrounding states, and she has even been receiving online orders from the western part of this country, where she had always figured they had comparable, well-thought-of products readily available.

On this day, we left with a loaf of Eban's bread as well as a bag of gluten-free dinner rolls to take up to our family event. The dinner rolls were all consumed eagerly at dinner, and the loaf of bread has been quite well-received by our relatives. Based on our and our relatives' experience, we would not be surprised at all to see the upswing continue for this unique local bakery.

Eban's Bakehouse
4086 Broadway
Grove City, OH 43123
(513) 409-EBAN (3226)
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Crafty Colorado (Pt. 1): Falling Rock Tap House (Denver, CO)

Founded in 1997, Falling Rock Tap House is an institution
in one of the capitals of the craft beer world.

Our recent road trip to Colorado was as much about family traditions as anything else. Our central goal was to visit my spouse's brother and his family to spend some quality time together. It was also meant to experience something my spouse had always wanted to attend in their annual St. Patrick's Day party. For them, St. Patrick's Day came to signify special meaning in the development of their relationship together.

Our ancillary goal was to do something my spouse and I have found we love doing in taking long road trips to see the country. My spouse's first visit out to California, roughly five years before this Colorado trip and when we were still just good friends, ended up to be a fairly extensive tour of the Bay Area and the Sierra Nevada Mountains around Yosemite National Park. After that trip, we were no longer merely "good friends" either; we figured it out on April Fools Day, and that day has held a special meaning for us ever since.

Of course, the trip had other benefits too. Not only were we able to see an area of the country that we had not visited before, we knew our craft beer pursuits would be well satiated while in one of the premier craft beer areas of the United States, if not the world. We were determined to visit as many as we could, and we had a perfect chauffeur as well in my spouse's brother, a fellow craft beer aficionado and early-generation home brewer dating back from the 1990s, while he was residing in the Columbus, Ohio area.

With work schedules and the like, we picked a weekday where he would able to take off work and show us some of his favorites in the area. It only seemed appropriate to start off at one of the meccas of the area's craft beer scene: Falling Rock Tap House in the LoDo District of Denver.

Falling Rock lets the beer do the talking on their walls and
their menu, but more traditional bar/pub trappings
like pool tables and darts are available downstairs.

Opened in 1997, Falling Rock Tap House's motto of "No Crap On Tap" has been a credo that has drawn thousands of craft beer enthusiasts through its doors. Their Blake Avenue location yearly becomes a pilgrimage for many during the Great American Beer Festival, held annually in Denver at the end of September.

Both outside and inside this modest-sized building, the beer really does the talking. Painted motifs to various craft beer companies, lines of bottles and tap handles, and all sorts of craft paraphernalia leaves the visitor with no doubt to Falling Rock's main focus. Their 70 taps, often featuring some hard to get beer offerings as well as a selection of locally-based beers, combined with their hundreds of other available bottles means that pretty much any visitor can find a beer or similar drink they can enjoy.

A close up of Falling Rock's beer menu, flanked by their Black and
Bleu Burger, Carlos' Street Tacos, and the Tamale Plate

Falling Rock offers pretty standard pub fare as its meal items with two twists: all food is prepared from scratch and never frozen, and almost everything on the menu can be made gluten-free. This feature has made it a regular stop for my brother-in-law and his wife when they have business in the area due to her gluten-intolerance issues. Probably the closest match in terms of food quality level here at this eatery from a Columbus-metro area standpoint would be the original Barley's Brewhouse on High Street.

Of course, we could not stop by here and NOT have a beer, and we all got our individual pints. Perhaps the star of our selections here was not a beer but rather a cider: Wyder's Reposado, a barrel-aged pear cider, was shared and universally liked by all. My spouse and I ended up with two pleasant offerings from Denver-based Bull and Bush Brewery in their Man Beer (an English IPA) and my Big Ben Brown Ale, respectively.

Service was perfect during our visit, but noting the place's modest-size (Falling Rock does have a lower level with more traditional pub trappings like pool tables and dart boards), I can imagine Falling Rock being something of a crowded madhouse during the weekends, especially when the Rockies are have a home game (Coors Field is less than a block from the tap room) or of course during special craft beer related events. Perhaps the perfect time for a first-time visitor to make a visit to this iconic destination is during the midweek as we did. A non-rushed hour or two would allow one a chance to absorb all the sights and beer-related history that nearly twenty years as a beer-lovers destination spot has brought within their brick-lined walls over a delicious brew or two.

Falling Rock Tap House
1919 Blake St (LoDo)
Denver, CO 80202
(303) 293-8338
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Mini-Dipping: Downsized Doughnuts by the Dozen

Freshly fried-up doughnuts within the reaches of Downtown Columbus is a fairly limited venture. Tim Horton's locations are found at the corner of Broad & High and next to Nationwide Arena, and those who have a later start date to their workday can drop by The Hills Market downtown and pick up the unique flavor combinations of Destination Donuts. The best bet for many, especially those who drive into work, is to pick up a dozen or two donuts from the numerous doughnut shops scattered throughout the Columbus metro.

For a couple months this year, I had the chance to sample some of the smaller but no less tasty fried creations by some relative newcomers to the local food scene. One newcomer is part of a movement that has become a topic of national debate, while the other mirrors a more traditional but oft-told tale.

The benefits of a Gluten-Free (GF) diet has recently come to the forefront of the national conscious, as exampled in this Wall Street Journal article. Amidst this debate comes Lily's Mini Delights, which touts the GF-status of their donuts proudly on their cutely designed cart. In the latter category, we have Mauger's Mini Donuts with their more traditional mini-doughnuts. As detailed in this Pearl Market blog post, the two retired owners of this food stand started this venture as a fun way to stay active in their community.

Both Lily's and Mauger's use essentially the same mini-donut making equipment and offer a sugar/cinnamon mix as their standard doughnut topping. The only real difference at first glance, other than the price (Lily's is typically $1 more per dozen than Mauger's doughnuts), is the gluten-free nature of Lily's offerings.

Donut machine in action, plus Lily's and Mauger's Minis.

Well, the proof of the pudding is in the taste and texture - how do they rate?

First, we'll start with Mauger's version. Their mini-doughnuts are fried up nicely, with a light brown exterior with easily distinguishable holes, a soft and pliable structure, and a light and airy texture inside.

In contrast, Lily's fried treats are more compact and rough-hewn at first glance. The person manning Lily's cart said some of their donuts need some added fryer time; this led to a slightly darker and crispier exterior for some of my doughnuts (an aspect I ended up not minding at all.) The inside texture was also definitely different, something of a cross between a Hostess Crumb Donette and a freshly-fried up churro. The doughnut was also quite dense - I started feeling full after after three-fourths of my bag was finished.

As far as taste, I don't think there was too much different between the two. Neither doughnut tasted greasy or showed any signs of being fried in older oil. And the cinnamon-sugar blend works perfectly well for both of these doughnuts, though other options are available.

Verdict? Traditionalists will probably lean toward Mauger's mini-doughnut, but I believe Lily's has a perfectly pleasant sweet treat themselves. If you see them around your local farmers market or festival, order up a bag, and share them with a friend. I bet that makes both your days just that much more happier.

(Note: I sampled these donuts when they were regular vendors at The Pearl Market in Downtown Columbus.)

Mauger's Mini-Donuts
Future scheduled appearances include The Canal Winchester Blues & Ribfest and Columbus Oktoberfest

Lily's Mini Delights
Website
Future scheduled appearances include Easton Mall Farmers Market and the Franklin Park Conservatory Farmers Market

2017 Update: Lily's Mini Delights appears to have gone kaput; their last Facebook activity was recorded at the end of 2015. However, Mauger's Mini-Donuts keeps frying away - for further updates on their latest events, please consult their Facebook page.