Tried and True: Columbus Running Company

CRC's Short North Location

Running is one of those topics where there seems to be very little middle ground. Those who have found running to be their cup of tea are pretty staunch advocates of its various benefits. Those who don't care for it generally can't comprehend what makes this activity pleasurable in the least.

I fell into running as part of what was my final serious (and thankfully successful) attempt to gain control of my slowly but surely ballooning weight issue. Running wasn't even my first choice in cardio-based exercise, but eventually I found running not only beneficial in cutting my weight (through running and diet, I figuratively became half the man I used to be weight-wise) but also a release for the day's tension. On my runs, things that were worrisome faded away and my brain was allowed to roam carefree from one thought to another. As a bonus, running provided the catalyst that allowed me to meet Mrs. 614orty-Niner - she followed a similar path in terms of using running to help her arrive at a more healthy weight, and our involvement with a running forum allowed us to meet for the first time at the Flying Pig Marathon in Cincinnati seven years ago.

Coming from an area of the country with a fairly prominent running culture, I was pleasantly surprised to see how strong the scene is here. I found quite a few cars with those ubiquitous mileage stickers (the 13.1 half-marathon distance seems to be popular) on their back windows, and it's not too hard to find a running event around the metro area on any given weekend. Even during the bone-chilling winter days (weather that would send most Californians to their treadmills indoors,) I still always seem to spot a couple or three runners plowing along the roads during my everyday travels.

All the accessories a runner could ever need

Overall, runners are very encouraging and supportive of other runners, whether it be someone who is trying to run in their first 5-kilometer race, or accomplish  one of the crown jewel achievements a recreational runner can ever hope to obtain such as qualify for the Boston Marathon. While there are many fine groups and organizations around the Columbus metro that support and foster area runners, I wanted to highlight one that both my spouse and I have grown well-acquainted with over the years..

The Columbus Running Company (CRC) got its start in 2004 in Dublin, and has expanded over the years with locations in Pickerington, Westerville and their newest location in the Short North this year. The company has made it a priority to engage and support endeavors in their local communities via their running activities, whether it be through charity events, support of local high school track and field programs, and the hosting of and/or assistance with local race events.

In terms of the running customer, purchasing running apparel and related gear from their stores allows one to earn loyalty program points, which translate to cash discounts on future purchases. In addition, they have a running club, host regularly scheduled run groups for different levels of runners from their various locations, and offer training programs catered to your abilities and goals (my spouse consistently used their programs to successfully train for her half-marathons.)

My results for the "Run a Mile in Our Shoes" test run

Finally, special other events and clinics catered to the running public are offered throughout the year; two recent instances I found truly helpful was the "Run A Mile in Our Shoes" program, where you got to test run a variety of shoes from numerous manufacturers, and a free run clinic that offered film analysis of your stride and a good overall perspective on what runners should be looking at to make their running experience a better one.

Most importantly, my spouse and I have always found CRC to be a very inviting and friendly place, which in many ways is a reflection of the company's owners Eric, Matt and Jim. They are all very down-to-earth people who are easy to chat with about all manner of topics. Moreover, they are truly interested in making all people who come visit their stores, from the rank beginner to the experienced veteran, feel welcome. This welcoming attitude is also reflected with the store staff people we have encountered, and in our minds has provided the main impetus that has allowed Columbus Running Company to celebrate its milestone tenth anniversary this year. It seems to be a safe bet that CRC will be reaching and bypassing many more such milestones as time passes by.

Columbus Running Company
6465 Perimeter Dr (Google Maps)
Dublin, OH 43016
(614) 764-0855

1250 Hill Road N. (Google Maps)
Pickerington, OH 43147
(614) 863-4073

50 N. State Street (Google Maps)
Westerville, OH 43081
(614) 523-2377

765 N. High Street, Suite B (Short North - Google Maps)
Columbus, OH 43215
(614) 947-7717
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Presidential Pies: Bono Pizza

Entrance to Bono's Presidential Palace

I've been a huge fan of pizza since I was a kid, with my tastes evolving greatly since my childhood days, when I thought Celeste combination frozen pizzas were the best thing around.

Sadly, though, pizza has been somewhat lacking in my overall Columbus food experiences. I've learned enough to know that Columbus has its own style of pie, marked by a square shape and a thin crust, and that most styles can be found here in the metro if you look hard enough. But both I and Mrs. 614orty-Niner agree that we need to shore up our pizza exploration.

One reason for this may be our love of Bono Pizza. Their thin-crusted (our preference) pizzas with creative combos, matched with their famous "Menage a Trois" offer (any three pizzas for $25, with regular pricing at $10 per pizza) provided us great-tasting pie that would last into the next day, if our appetites weren't too ravenous. All we had to remember was to give plenty of time for our order and bring the cash and we'd be set.

When the circumstances behind Bono's relocation from their longtime Northwest Blvd haunts were announced early February, we were worried about their long-term prospects. We put in a last week before the move order to be sure we had their pizza at least one more time. I admit my talk with the owner while waiting for our pies to finish didn't ease my concerns: their new location seemed like an odd spot to have a restaurant, and the simple fact that this area had been having a tough winter in general added to my worry.

The Menage a Trois is alive and well

Forward a few months later, and yes, Bono Pizza is still alive and running. My spouse and I had had a full day sandwiched around Columbus' big Comfest celebration, and we weren't inclined to cook. As we biked back to our place, we thought of dinner options and Bono entered the thought process. Perfect! We could finish our bike home, and by the time we were showered up, the pizzas would be done, just like old times. We gave them a phone call about 15 minutes out from our house to put in our order.

Pizzas would be ready in five minutes...uh, what? We knew Bono had changed location, but this quick bake-up time was another huge change. Not expecting this revelation, I never did quite articulate the fact that we really didn't need the pizzas until 30-40 minutes later.

The most noticeable change with Bono, of course, was their new location. Presidential Drive, which is just off North Star Road between Northwest Blvd and Kinnear Road, is flanked by a sea of apartment buildings. Bono itself is located on an island of commercial spaces that don't look too much different from surrounding apartments. The courtyard which Bono is located in (the driveway leading into it had quite a few Bono-oriented lawn signs) is flanked by the sides of five separate buildings with numerous doorways, and it took me a bit to figure out which door was Bono's.

Gaming space shared by Bono and 14 Twenty Bar & Grill

Another big change is the space itself: compared to their cramped and claustrophobic old space on Northwest Blvd, the interior feels cozy yet palatial by comparison, with enough seating to handle a small group. In addition to the main dining area, Bono shares adjoining space with a local bar (14 Twenty Bar and Grill), allowing one to grab an alcoholic beverage to enjoy with your pie.

The menu and its pricing has slightly changed as well. The famous "Menage a Trois" three for $25 deal is only offered on certain days (typically Monday through Wednesday.) Also, additional "specialty" items I don't remember from the Bono's previous iteration such as salads, cheesy garlic bread and dessert pizza are available to enhance your meal.

With all that change, two important things have not. One is the cash only policy: you can bring those credit or debit cards, but only if you're going to withdraw some moola to pay for your order.

The other thing that hasn't changed is the pizza. This wood-fired delight is just as good as ever, with its crispy thin crust pockmarked by bits of char, and topped by bright tasting, fresh ingredients. We stuck with some old favorites this time around (the Cherry Bomb, the Hulk and San Rolando) and enjoyed them just as much this time as we did on the first order.

The San Rolando and the Hulk - a superhero pairing of pizza pies

It turns out that change has been good for Bono. Yes, Bono is in somewhat of an odd location, but once you've figured out how to get there, it should be as easy as (pizza) pie to regularly drop by to enjoy their pizzas. Their pies are among the best in the Columbus metro area, bar none.

Bono Pizza
1412 Presidential Drive (5th by Northwest - Google Maps)
Columbus, OH 43212
(614) 906-8646
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Ice Cream Chronicles (Pt. 6): The Velvet Funner-ground

Mrs. 614orty-Niner and I learned pretty early on that we're pretty good at jam-packing our itineraries when we go on trips. At times, this has led to some epic days. One day-long leg of an Oregon state trip we made a few years back covered 350 miles from Bend to Portland and back to Bend (via Salem, the state's capital.) Oh yeah, did I mention we stopped by Voodoo Donuts in downtown Portland, a brewpub in Tigard for dinner to meet up with my spouse's uncle, and sneaked in eight miles of hiking on a rainy Mount Hood to see the absolutely gorgeous Ramona Falls?

Even if future trips don't match the epic nature of that trip (thank goodness!), we've always hunted for things to do along the way for our excursions together. On a recent trip into the Cleveland area for various family and friend meetups, my spouse had suggested taking the scenic route through Holmes County to get at least a glance of this state's biggest Amish area. I was all up for that, but since we weren't going to actually stop for any significant time there (we'll save that for a later trip) we searched something else both along the way that could be a fairly quick stop.

I noticed Utica as one of the cities and that proverbial light bulb went off in my head. "Hey, dear, isn't Velvet Ice Cream up somewhere near Utica?" Sure enough, it was, and being somewhat of a last-minute get, we just simply noted their address to plug into our mobile phone GPS and had no clue about what to expect.

Evoking the past with Ye Olde Mill

As it turned out, Velvet Ice Cream's location in Utica is a blend of entertainment and history topped off by, what else, ice cream. This blend appeals to thousands of adult and children visitors yearly, and reminded me a bit of what visitors get when visiting the Jelly Belly Factory in the San Francisco Bay Area. In addition, we ended up picking a momentous time for our first visit, as we got the pomp and circumstance of the 100th annversary celebration (the company was founded by Joseph Dager, a Lebanese immigrant, in 1914.)

The company, which is now run by the fourth generation of the Dager family, bought the Ye Olde Mill property in 1960. After a fire hit the third construct of the mill in 1986, Velvet found it could not salvage that building and rebuilt the structure to what visitors to the site see today.

Several exhibits can be found on the property. In the middle of the parking lot, a barn-like structure holds the Viewing Gallery, with benched seating (for what I imagine are more formal organized tour groups,) a television playing pre-recorded snippets of the company's history and various company-oriented product exhibits. When we dropped by, a table with what looked to be home-baked goods was set up next to the building manned by Amish vendors.

Everything you wanted to know about the company, catered to all ages

Elsewhere, the Ye Olde Mill Museum has a Buckeye tree grove surrounded by a grassy area and small pond for people, allowing weary adults to sit back and let their children run around and burn off some calories. In addition, various ice cream manufacturing artifacts and equipment from the historic mill can be found throughout the property both inside and outside the main building. A collection of mill equipment can be found also in the Milling Museum space nearby the milling wheel. The building section closest to the main road are Velvet's production facilities, where one can grab a glance at some of the modern equipment used to produce ice cream behind windows (tours are offered but availability by day varies; please call ahead to inquire.) Numerous factoids and other information are found at each station, so it's worth it to slow down and take a read to digest it all.

The production facility, plus a couple of company informational postings

The culinary center of Velvet's complex is the ice cream parlor, which essentially shares the same space as the facility's Wheel Room Restaurant. The latter offers a select menu of soups, salads and sandwiches at what seem to be reasonable prices (nothing over $9) plus the whole gamut of ice cream and related novelties from its parlor. As for us, though, there was only one thing on our mind: the ice cream and choosing from the more than 40 flavors available.

Numerous flavors; PLENTY of ice cream

As we did not know Velvet's history too well, we were nicely surprised by the more unique flavors mixed in with the classics. With that in mind, my spouse went with the Honey Caramel and I went for a two scoop bowl of their Peach Cobbler and a variation of what's become a standard for me on these sampling, their Southern Butter Pecan, which is most likely their Bourbon Pecan under a different name.

Perhaps we had gone in with a little bit of prejudice that since this was more of a mass-marketed brand of ice cream, they could not be as good as some of the smaller gourmet ice cream producers that we have encountered. In terms of this visit, we got our money's worth both in terms of quantity (yes, that is their "two scoops") and the ice cream holds it own in terms of quality. Their bourbon-laced take on butter pecan was probably the our favorite out of our sampled three flavors.

But then again, perhaps this quote we found prominently displayed on the Viewing Gallery building speaks to the fact that we shouldn't have been surprised at all.

Velvet Ice Cream is pretty darn good, and it is better than a few others that I've tried. I'd probably add a corollary to this quote as well: figuring out which ice cream is better than others is about as good as it gets.

Velvet Ice Cream
Ye Olde Mill
11324 Mt Vernon Rd (Google Maps)
Utica, OH 43080
(740) 892-3921
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Tried and True: Kolache Republic

In life, one eventually learns that some things just fall into place by happenstance. In relation to Mrs. 614orty-Niner and I, Kolache Republic has earned a special distinction through that happenstance: they have become our unofficial official starting point for long road trips to the south or multiple-event days around town.

For the uninitiated, kolaches are a pastry made by rimming a dollop of filling (traditionally fruit) with a puffy dough and baking them until golden brown. Imported into this country by Eastern European immigrants, they have become regionally popular in certain regions of the country, including Texas. Coincidentally, it was in Texas (Houston, specifically) where the Mrs. and I first got to sample this toothsome treat, though at vastly different times in our lives.

Kolache Republic has both sweet and savory pastries available for both breakfast and lunch, which includes specials that expand beyond traditional fillings. These daily offerings such as pulled pork, chicken cordon bleu and sloppy joe tend to sell out quickly.

We have always taken a combination of both sweet and savory for our meals there (my spouse's personal favorite is the apricot, while I am a sucker for poppyseed pastries; the sausage and jalapeño kolache is one of the few items we'd both order during the same visit.) Pair that with a coffee (the restaurant uses Cafe Brioso, one of Columbus' best roasters) and you have a pretty nice culinary combination to start your day.

One of our savory/sweet combos...and did I mention I love poppyseeds?

The restaurant itself is a quaint space with limited indoor and outdoor seating that is more suited to takeout orders (large orders and catering are also available with advanced notice); however, we've never had problems getting a seat during our visits. Service has always been top-notch for us, and we've found the restaurant's co-owners (Rick, Dusty and Doug) a pleasure to talk with and get to know a bit whenever we've stopped by.

We recently learned of Kolache Republic's one-year anniversary at their brick and mortar location via a congratulatory Tweet from one of Columbus' pre-eminent bloggers (Nick Dekker of Breakfast with Nick.) The Mrs. and I were a little surprised that they had only been there for a year, but then we realized that Kolache Republic has been plying their trade since 2011 as a food cart at various festivals and community events.

Let us echo those sentiments: happy first year anniversary kudos to you folks at Kolache Republic at your current digs, and we wish you continued success into the future. And yes, we look forward to starting more of our big days down the road with your kolaches.

One of my favorite Cbus restaurant logos

Kolache Republic
730 S. High Street (Brewery District - Google Maps)
Columbus, OH 43206
(614) 928-3151
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Ice Cream Chronicles (Pt. 5): No Faking It at Johnson's

I admit my first reaction when I first saw the label for Johnson's ice cream pints on local supermarket freezer shelves was a bit of a joking one. I mean, does anyone really sell fake ice cream?

But then I thought more seriously about their label and the use of the word "real." I know back when they were established in 1950, the word was most likely meant as a reassurance to the consumer. This was the real deal product, produced in-house and fresh for your consumption.

But with the arrival of Graeter's to the Columbus area in the late 1980s, and the arrival of Jeni's two decades later, and just through more sheer familiarity with those two ice cream giants, this word gained a bit of a dare aspect. "Hey, give us a shot! We've got a fine product ourselves," was what repeated inside my mind.

Friendly faces at the counter

This was a "challenge" that I was more than happy to accept.

Main Street through downtown Bexley is something of an ice cream lover's mini-mecca, with Jeni's, Graeter's and Johnson's in very close proximity to each other. Their building, a local landmark, has been expanded and spruced up a few times since their original 15' x 20' space opened for business. Even with those remodels though, one never loses the sense that Johnson's was born in a bygone era. I could imagine that someone who went to Johnson's as a child would feel the space is just as welcoming now as a senior citizen.

Johnson's has all the traditional novelty items available (cakes, pies, sundaes and even buckeyes) to please people of all ages; their flavors also tend toward the traditional favorites. However, Johnson's ties with local vendors was brought to the fore recently with their release of their special "Columbus Collection" of flavors, featuring products from local stalwarts like Crimson Cup Coffee, Sugardaddy's Sumptious Sweeties, Krema Nut and Just Pies.

Real Ice Cream? Check and Check

I went for two scoops ($4) of flavors I know I'd enjoy as well as use for comparison. In general, I'd label Johnson's ice cream as pretty traditional in terms of mouthfeel, with just a hint of the denseness that Graeter's puts into their product. Johnson's Buckeye Blitz has been my favorite version of such so far, with a bright creamy peanut butter base and chunks of chocolate scattered throughout. Their butter pecan was also a no-complaint flavor for me, though I did like Graeter's version slightly better.

The Deli Menu at Johnson's

Prices seem reasonable all around, even extending to things like their T-shirts ($12.95) and their deli items ($7 or less,) an option not offered by their frozen confection competitors that I've visited. The walls also detailed their own special ice cream eating challenge, which involved four pounds total of ice cream and assorted toppings; those who beat the current time by themselves would get all that sugary dairy goodness for free.

To be truthful, I didn't have any doubts about the realness of Johnson's ice cream going into this tasting. I think the "real" in the name now points to my gut feeling after walking out. This is the neighborhood place that did good, has stood the test of time and continues to fit comfortably in your hand like a waffle cone freshly filled with two scoops of your favorite flavor.

Johnson's Real Ice Cream
2728 E Main St (Google Maps)
Bexley, OH 43209
(614) 231-0014
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