It's Not The Journey, But The Destination That Matters

The above photo highlights one of the first times I got to sample the creations of Columbus' "Donut Queen" aka Heather Morris, owner and force behind Destination Donuts.

At that time, Columbus (a very under-the-radar donut town, if I do say so myself) had little in the way of more fancy donut creations, and Morris saw the opportunity in the market for her more upscale, gourmet creations. Her pop-up made regular appearances at the North Market, and her creations were just starting to make her way out to local shops like The Hills Market and Luck Brothers Coffee in Grandview Heights. The locations she regularly stopped weren't necessarily easy for us to get to in those days, but we made it a point to grab her inventive flavor creations like Raspberry Hibiscus, Thai Peanut and Caramel Apple. Even better: the simpler flavors like her Dueling Vanilla and her vegan creations are equally as flavorful and addicting as those fancier models.

Home Bass for Beer: Four String Brewing

Four String Brewing, launched in late 2011, got its name in part from owner
Dan Cochran's background as a bass player with the Columbus music scene

On our recently taken Columbus Brew Adventures Grandview Brewery tour, as detailed in this blog post), we had in fact had visited all three breweries prior. However, unlike Zauber and Smokehouse, where we had logged numerous visits over the years, we had logged only one visit just a mere couple weeks prior to the tour to Four String Brewery, and we figured it would be only appropriate to give them a separate blog post.

Prior to this visit, our lone experience with Four String beers had been out on tap at various restaurants and via six-packs bought at local beer-selling establishments. Our taste of beers like their Brass Knuckle American Pale Ale and Big Star IPA were generally favorable - definitely not knock-your-socks off brews, but solidly in the "keep-a-six-pack-in-the-fridge for-after-work" category. However, we had not actually visited their taproom to try to get a better idea of their offerings after all this time, mainly due to their somewhat hidden location on 6th Avenue behind the Shoppes on 5th strip mall.

We finally got the motivation to get over there through a unique food-related event: the Ajumama Food Truck, well-known in the Columbus area for chef Laura Lee's take on Korean favorites, was hosting a special pop-up featuring Chef Sean's take on Filipino favorites. With our radar constantly on the lookout for that cuisine, we decided to make it a night, and sampling Four String's offerings would be the proverbial bonus sundae cherry to top it all off.

On our first visit, the combo of Ajumama's takes on Filipino favorites
and flights of Four String brews really hit the culinary sweet spot

As it turned out, the Filipino menu that Ajumama offered that night proved with mostly untraditional (exception: the Puto steamed rice cakes were pretty traditional and spot on very good) but really fun takes on staple items such as the Bacon Cheeseburger Lumpia, grilled Adobo Ribs, and the Chicken Afritada Sandwich (perhaps my favorite of the mains, with a taste profile reminding me of my parents' versions of Menudo and Mechado.) '

Meanwhile, the appropriately music-themed Four String taproom provided a dimly lit but otherwise nicely intimate setting to enjoy our eats. We also got a much higher appreciation of their beer offerings in the process, especially with Skeleton Red Rye IPA (the spouse and I are both fans of rye beers in general; this ended up as our second pint for the day) their new Devilock Hazelnut Stout, part of their ongoing Solo Series of limited-quantity releases (this nicely chocolaty, nutty stout was our actual favorite on this visit, but the hot & humid weather made the rye IPA the more appealing choice for a second brew.)

Columbus Brew Adventures helped provide some history to Four String's
emergence in the local craft beer scene, including their "Frankenbrewing"
beer production and their decision to go with canning their brews. 

During that first visit, it was quite noticeable that Four String Brewery's equipment certainly did not look like the traditional-styled brewery vessels we were used to seeing on other brewery and taproom visits. Indeed, on our return visit to Four String during Columbus Brew Adventures' Grandview Brewery tour, our host Jim Ellison as well as our brewery hostess provided us a fascinating history behind owner Dan Cochran's efforts to successfully transform Four String into one of the more prominent players in Columbus' current craft brew scene.

We learned all the equipment still remaining in the 6th Avenue taproom was designed for other purposes; Cochran bought the equipment for pennies on the dollar and with outside assistance adapted those device to brew beer instead. This "Frankenbrewing " method of brewing beer came with its challenges: one particularly revealing visual was their brick-lined boiler (as pictured above.) The heat generated from the brewing process was so intense, it was melting the container's legs off  - the rather clever installation of a rope around the rim provided just enough of an heat escape to tone the heat down without affecting the brewing process.

Other interesting fun facts we learned were the decision to can versus bottle their beers (Cochran found that mobile canning would be the most inexpensive way to get his product to the market, especially with a host of volunteers who would help package the cans in return for pizza and beer) as well as the fate of the 6th Avenue taproom. While Four String is nearing completion on a new larger production facility on the west side of the Columbus metro, the 6th Avenue taproom would still remain open and become the home for the brewery's more limited and experimental brews.

Of course, we tour-goers were treated to samples of their beer, and in a way it was like deja vu all over again from our first visit, as Chef Lee from the Ajumama food truck brought over some tasty spicy pork mini-sandwiches. These little toothpicked bites were welcome as we sampled beers that we had had on our first visit (including the rye IPA and hazelnut stout we so enjoyed) and are sure to have again on some future trip to Four String.

Four String Brewing
985 W. 6th Avenue (Grandview Heights)
Columbus, OH 43212
(614) 725-1282
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Fried Chicken Bender (Pt. 5): Hot Chicken Takeover

Hot Chicken Takeover, now occupying the second floor of Columbus'
North Market has become something of a local phenomenon since
it started as a mere idea for a pop-up restaurant in late 2013

Like Northeast Ohio's Barberton Fried Chicken, a Serbian variant on this ubiquitous dish as described in an earlier blog post on White House Chicken, the origin of Nashville's hot variant of this dish has an equally lengthy history dating back to the 1930s. Perhaps reflective of the dish itself, the history is a much more fiery one to boot.

As the legend goes, in the 1930's, notorious ladies' man Thornton Prince was met at home by his woman, who was none too pleased with his evening's female-oriented activities. She doctored up his usual fried chicken meal the next morning with an ungodly amount of spice as an act of revenge; unfortunately for her, Prince actually loved the dish. Shortly thereafter, Prince turned this dish into what would eventually become Prince's Hot Chicken Shack, the original purveyor of what has become Nashville's signature dish and the latest and greatest thing in many cities around the country.

The latter has certainly been the case here in Columbus. In fact, you might even call it a takeover of sorts in this area, as the folks at Hot Chicken Takeover (HCT) have turned this flaming creation into a local phenomenon of long lines, community giving and critical acclaim, including Columbus Alive's designation as Best Restaurant in its 2015 Readers Poll.

In many ways, owner Joe DeLoss' brainstorm of an eatery has led a charmed life. From its origins as a mere idea after a Nashville-area visit in late 2013, DeLoss created a somewhat unconventional weekend pop-up restaurant in one of Columbus' still emerging neighborhoods in Olde Towne East. Hallmarks of this pop-up involved, among other things, a pre-ordering of your meal via event tickets, free beverages (both water and their Ma's Sweet Tea,) community-styled seating that encouraged interaction between strangers, and a community support component (including an emphasis on hiring those who have traditionally had problems getting work and a program where tips are put toward HCT employee benefits.)

The buzz created from their operation led to a temporarily temporary/now permanent second floor space at Columbus' destination North Market, followed by a successful crowdfunding campaign for a food truck. With that truck, HCT has been taking its wares to various local events (including Columbus Crew games) and on a summer "tour" of Columbus' community stops (as determined by a popular vote campaign), including their original "home" neighborhood of Olde Towne East.

While HCT has adapted to its North Market brick-and-mortar location,
the base model that emerged from its pop-up days has stayed in tact

The HCT formula was tweaked over time at their original pop-up (the ticketing system went by the wayside, replaced by a more standard payment system and a social media-based notification system on what chicken was left for ordering) but the eventual end product is more or less what one will find at their North Market brick-and-mortar location. Lines at the usual busy times are commonplace but the queue typically goes fairly fast. Meanwhile, long bench seating duplicates the community-style dine-in experience of the pop-up restaurant, and a chalkboard keeps updated "what's left" chicken piece numbers for visitors. Containers of Ma's Sweet Tea, Water, and a table of various condiments are found just past the ordering area.

HCT's fried chicken mirrors the typical preparation (basically, chicken is brined, double-fried and rubbed with a cayenne-based paste) and service (the chicken comes with pickles and basic white bread) of its Nashville poultry cousin. The ordering has remained much the same as its pop-up location: the diner chooses the type of chicken (wings, drumsticks, white, dark, boneless or a sandwich) and the spice level (cold, warm, hot and holy (aka extremely hot)). All orders come with mac 'n cheese or cole slaw by default, though you can decline the sides and pay less. Extra pieces and/or sides (such as waffles) can also be ordered, and a kid's meal is also available. Banana pudding is available as a sweet treat for the end of the meal, and Boylan's Cola is available for folks who aren't into their sweet tea.

From the Top Left: HCT's base model dark meat combo (holy spice
level); a peek inside their sandwich; free beverages include
water and Ma's Sweet Tea

As spicy food lovers, we had heard about Nashville hot chicken before HCT's establishment, and we were more than eager to try their "holy" level chicken, but for our first visit we wanted to come in at one level below that to get an idea of what we were in for and settled for "hot." My spouse is a dark meat lover and went for their dark thigh and leg combo, while I decided to try out their sandwich.

No complaints from either of us here for either of our dishes: both had a nice kick from the cayenne, and chicken itself had a nicely crunchy exterior and juicy meat interior. As for our sides, the Ma's Mac was appropriately cheesy and gooey (sandwich orderers get double the mac 'n cheese, as the slaw goes onto the sandwich), and we both appreciated the tangy, non-mayo-based slaw. The sweet tea also seems to hit the right spot, coming just underneath a level that would be considered cloying by our standards.

Our later dive into the "holy" level for us was undertaken with the same order for my spouse (the dark thigh and leg combo) while I went with the white bone-in breast chicken. If nothing else, it demonstrated to me two things, one of which I knew and one of which was slightly unexpected. First, our spice tolerances have increased: the heat burn (a warming but not uncomfortable sensation) from the chicken was felt outside on the lips and chin rather than inside our mouths.

Secondly, I figured out I didn't need to the hottest level to enjoy HCT's chicken - this was still as juicy and crispy as the hot level, and I'm sure the "cold" level chicken (which I would not mind trying in the future) will be equally as tasty and juicy despite the lack of spice. My spouse, on the other hand, loved this spice level, and will have no problems keeping the "holy" level as her default on our future visits.

Hot Chicken Takeover

North Market. 2nd Floor
59 Spruce St. (Arena District)

Columbus, OH 43215

(614) 800-4538

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