CMH Gourmand

O’Betty’s Red Hot Dogs and Sausages, Athens

cmhgourmand — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 21:14:20 +0000

O’Betty’s Red Hot Dogs and Sausages
15 West State Street
Athens, OH
740 589 6111

This is somewhat recycled content but I just returned from two days in the Athens area and I wanted to make sure I gave O’Betty’s its due. So here we go. Of the many things that connect my soul to Athens county, the strongest is a hot dog shop. Well, not just any hot dog shop – the best ever, anywhere. O’Betty’s won the dining hearts of Athens since it opened in 2003. It has been voted best Hot Dog most years since 2004. The hots dogs names, decor and vibe are inspired by burlesque babes from the first half of the 20th century.

The hot dogs are 5 Star all beef dogs with a natural casing (one of the best commercially available hot dogs in the country). There are twelve “varietease” of dogs including a create your own style and tofu dog for vegetarians. If you want a Chicago style dog – go with the Salome – “Dance of the 7 Veils” – sport peppers, sweet relish, pickle spear, diced tomatoes, diced onion, Stadium Mustard, and celery seed. Many kinds of toppings are available as well as salsas from Casa Nueva, baked beans, mushrooms, and on occasion, homemade corn relish and pepperjack cheese. When possible all topping are locally produced and sourced.

The dine in area accommodates about 16 people. On a Friday or Saturday night expect long lines of college students outside O’Betty’s waiting for their chance to get the perfect hangover food.

Another bonus of O’Betty’s – the in-house Hot Dog History Museum / Weiner Hall of Fame. The items in the collection were amassed by Bob Satmary and are continually added to by customers.

Owners Bob Satmary and Ryan Stolz enjoy what they do and clearly put service and fun first for the business. They are always chatting it up with their friends/customers. And they like to mix things up as well. In the winter – expect some tasty soups to keep warm and all year long expect special hot dog combos to keep things hopping (last one I experienced was a Mango BBQ sauce dog with bacon – yum!). And in August of each year, Bob and Ryan celebrate all things hot dog culminating in a hot dog eating contest which I wrote about earlier this year. If you are very lucky, during Christmas week, you may have an opportunity to see the display of 3D Jesus items from the 50’s in the back room.

Posted in Athens, hot dogs, restaurants, Road Trip Tagged: O'Betty's, O'Betty's Red Hot Dogs and Sausages

Signs of the Times

cmhgourmand — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 04:32:25 +0000

Thoughts? I don’t do beer for breakfast but I do drink Champagne before noon. Any guesses on where I found this wisdom?

Posted in beer, Clintonville

Ravenhurst Champagne Cellars and Feast of the Boneless Fowl

cmhgourmand — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 15:56:06 +0000

Ravenhurst Champagne Cellars
34477 Shertzer Road
(Intersection of Yoakum and Shertzer, just off SR 31)
Mount Victory
937.354.5151
web page – work in progress
Call to check on tasting dates
(Take SR 33 to SR 31, Turn at Yoakum Road, located at the intersection of CR 342 and 343)
When open, hours are: Friday – Noon to 7 PM; Saturday – Noon to 6:00 PM

I made my first trip to Ravenhurst a few months ago. It is exactly one hour from my Clintonville Chateau. This year I have made an effort to learn more about Ohio wines and was intrigued to find a winery near Columbus. There are over 100 registered wineries in Ohio but only a small number make wines exclusively using their own grapes grown in their own soil. Ravenhurst is one of these wineries. Most Ohio wineries are located near lakes and rivers for the benefits bodies of water give to the growing of grapes. Ravenhurst’s geography is a bit of an anomaly but it works well for the unique fruit forward flavors of the wines. These seemed to be ample reasons to visit so it was time for me to hit the road.

The climate and soil of Ohio can be a terror on the terroir of an Ohio wine. At Ravenhurst, they used ingenuity to turn the tables in their favor. By drilling down four plus feet into the clay infused soil of the region, the vines are given a protective sheath to protect them from harsh Ohio winters.

Ravenhurst produces about a dozen styles of wine. About one half are champagne style wines including an interesting Petit Rouge which blends Pinot Noir and Chambourcin grapes. Ravenhurst also pours and produces a few white, red and dessert wines. Tastings are offered on select weekends.

Ravenhurst wines have won a fair share of domestic and international awards. Distribution is limited to the winery, a place you may have heard of called the Refectory, The Plaza Inn in Mt Victory and the Mt. Victory Drive Thru.

Feast of the Boneless Fowl Menu

Owner C.A Harris is an experienced chef as well. Ravenhurst hosts several cooking demonstrations / dinners paired with their wines during the year. Chef Harris cooks and instructs while guests drink, eat and learn. I headed back to Ravenhurst on November 7th for the Feast of the Boneless Fowl. Chef Harris showed us how to deconstruct a turkey to make a boneless Thanksgiving feast. We watched on as he deboned, stuffed, (forcemeat) and sewed up the turkey for cooking. The cost of the class paired with a meal and several pours of wine was $29.95.

The finished product moments before consumption

Chuck Harris and his wife Nina are joined by Jonda and Richard Anderson as your hosts at the winery. Tastings are a relaxed affair. The people behind the counter are knowledgeable about their wines and how pair them. Jonda in particular was helpful, loaning me $4 so I could buy a bottle of the Grand Cuvee after I realized I had left my credit card at home and found my funds were limited. (I’ll gladly pay you Tuesday for a $38 bottle of champagne today….). Guests also receive the wise counsel and company of the house dogs – Zeus and Hera.

Zeus

Hera

It is an easy and pleasant drive to Ravenhurst via SR 33 and 31. You could also take a variety of backroads up as well (such as SR 257), which I do on occasion to remind myself that Ohio is still farm country. I found the Feast of the Boneless Fowl to be a good value and well worth my time (as are the wines).

Posted in culinary knowledge, Ohio, Road Trip, wine Tagged: Ohio wines, Ravenhurst, Ravenhurst Champagne Cellars

Udipi Cafe: Vegetarian Buffet

cmhgourmand — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 15:25:12 +0000

2001 East Dublin Granville Road (161) * Columbus * 614.885.7446

I love Indian food yet I know nothing about it. I can’t recall the name of the dishes I like. I could not begin to describe the subtle and not so subtle flavors of Northern, Southern, and the other regional cuisines of India. Each meal is an exploration of spices, tongue pleasing tastes and tongue tying names. OK, honestly my lack of knowledge is due to sloth because I am a sucker for an Indian buffet. A buffet is like a parade for my stomach – there is so much to see and eat that I lose track of the names and all of the flavors start to blend together.

The 161 / East Dubin Granville Road strip was known as restaurant row in the 1980’s, it consisted of miles of the best Columbus has to offer: Flakey Jake’s Hamburgers, Chi Chi’s, Olive Garden, The Elephant Bar and every chain restaurant that could find space to build. The area is still overrun with eateries but the glory days have gone. Udipi Cafe is very much an outlier in the seemingly endless array of fried food and cheese covered cuisine. The Beechcroft area is not exactly known for it’s large Asian Indian community however 80% of the buffet customers seem to be natives of India and make the trek to this part of town for the buffet. I think that is quite an endorsement.

I am certain the term vegetarian strikes fear into the minds and stomachs of many meat eating, Applebees lovin’ central Ohioans. I imagine the concept of Indian cuisine does the same to the people in a venn diagram overlapping with carnivores afraid of people that eat vegetables by choice. If you have one of these people in your life, might I suggest you take them to Udipi Cafe – as their gateway meal to the “dark side” of culinary choice.

The way to lure people in is through the value of Udipi’s lunch buffet. This all you can eat buffet will knock you back a whooping $7.46, including tax. In exchange for what would be a tip at many places you have access to fourteen plus entrees as well as soups, salad, sauces and dessert. A pitcher of water is brought to your table so you can stay hydrated during your feast.

At some point during your meal this will be delivered to your table….I could have asked what it was but I was too busy stuffing my face.

If you don’t have time to dine in, you can drop in to fill up a large carry out container for the same price.

The Udipi Cafe Buffet is a great way to explore the vegetarian cuisine of Southern India. The experience does not make you bother with having to remember or pronounce what you are eating. Once you get hooked in by the buffet you can always come back for dinner and discover the menu in depth.

The buffet is offered from 11:30 AM to 3 PM Monday to Friday.

Posted in Gastronomic Stimulus, restaurants Tagged: Udipi Cafe

High End Happy Hours and Recession Era Repasts

cmhgourmand — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 15:16:24 +0000

We are told there is still a recession. In the restaurant business, an already trying trade remains challenged by indecisive diners who are more discretionary with their spending and now think twice about credit card debt. There is a silver lining to all of this: schadenfreude. In addition to cash for clunkers and first time home buyer credits there are deals for diners looking to raise the culinary bar for their dining dollar.

I graduated college during a recession, I immediately created a list of every good happy hour in Columbus. “The list” allowed me to eat one good meal for the price of a beer or coke five days per week. This time around, my palate is a bit more refined and what I want in a meal is much more defined. Some of the best restaurants in Columbus have taken hard times head on and created opportunities for an informed eater to eat well on the cheap. Here is my list of the better bargains.

Dine Originals

Four times per year, Dine Originals releases 30% off gift certificates to several of the Dine Originals restaurants. A $10 certificate will cost you 7.50 and a $25 dollar certificate will cost you $17.50. Everything is online and you get a link to your certificate to print when you need it. Places like Alana’s, Basi Italia and the like typically sale out in an hour. However, after the first day, people seem to forget about the certificates. The certificates stay on until the end of the quarter so it is worth checking back to pick up a certificate or two. Last quarter, Dine Originals offered 50% off on the remaining certificates for the last week of the quarter.

Dine Originals also sponsored two restaurants weeks this year and we can expect more in 2010. Many of the Dine Originals restaurants go all out for the fixed price meals for this week looking for an opportunity to wow old customers to keep them coming back and woo new customers into coming in.

Restaurant e-mail lists, twitter accounts and websites

Signing up for every restaurant e-mail list and twitter account is a recipe for information overload and potential twitter sh*ter syndrome. However, a few restaurants are worth keeping tabs on to cut down on your tab.

If you choose only one restaurant e-mail list, choose The Refectory. When you sign up at their site your will receive a coupon for joining the mailing list. You will also have an opportunity to enter in a birthday and an anniversary. Like clockwork, you can expect to receive a coupon you can use for these special dates. The newsletter comes out once per month with highlights of events for the coming weeks. Some of their special dinners are exceptional values mixing fine food paired with select wines and often with a winery owner or distributor to provide some education with your digestion. The best deal to track is the 10 for $10 wine tastings. These occur at least once per month. The pours are served with free appetizers and/or baskets of the Refectory’s house made breads. The Refectory Bistro menu was a pre-recession addition but remains as a high value entry level three course meal at an excellent price. Another meal worth trying out is their annual April Tax Relief fixed price dinner which helps out those that have taken a hit on their taxes or are looking for a reason to spend their refund check.

Take a look at some of your other favorite restaurants to see if their twitter accounts announce specials, deals or discounts. A few others do the same with Facebook.

Happy hours, lunch for less, and the early diner gets the deal

Rigsby’s Kitchen

On an OSU game Saturday while 95% of Columbus is running around in a cult like frenzy, I often take the opportunity to enjoy Rigsby’s for a relaxed lunch away from the fray. During the week, Rigsby’s offers superior $10 lunch specials.

Black Creek Bistro

The early diner gets the deal at Black Creek Bistro. Monday to Thursday from 4 to 7 pm, the restaurant offers a Bistro feature for $10 and a three course dinner for $20. You have to move quick for the ten dollar deal because it does run out on occasion. Black Creek does farm to table dining so many of the selections on your plate are from the Black Creek Farm. Many people believe you can not eat farm fresh for less than a small fortune. That is a myth. Black Creek Bistro proves the doubters wrong.

Deepwood Restaurant

The Tavern menu is a good value for the ingredients used and a great entry point for this under the radar restaurant.

G. Michaels Bistro

Every Monday, G. Michaels presents a fixed price three course meal for $30. Please share this deal only with your closest friends.

Lindey’s

The first web designer that came up with the belief that people want music blaring on a web site should be located, sternly spoken to and threatened with a beating. When visiting the Lindey’s website, go immediately to the top right and click on the music icon to make the inane music go away. Now that I am calmed down here is the lowdown on one of the best deals around.

Slider..a la Lindey's

The bar menu at Lindey’s is hard to beat. This special menu is offered from 4:30 to 6:30 PM Monday through Friday and from 9 to 11 PM on Thursdays as well as 10 PM to Midnight on Fridays and Saturdays. You have to sit at the bar to get the menu unless you get a very, very sympathetic server late in the night. There is some variation to the menu but to whet your appetite here is a sample of past selections: Gigantic Meatball (Kobe beef stuffed with Fontina cheese spinach) – $5, All American Burger (ground filet & brisket) – $3 and Lindenhauf Chips (with Applewood bacon, horseradish and blue cheese dressing) – $1.

The Worthington Inn

I believe potential diners get the wrong impression about the Worthington Inn – because of the whole inn thing. People think of dainty old ladies having high tea or a Shirley Temple on the sly. Such is not the case. There is a reason why the Worthington Inn Sunday Brunch is the favorite of those in the local restaurant trade. This restaurant does local food at a significant level without getting sassy about it. The Inn also has some winning wine dinners at a good price, offers jazz on the weekends, hump day specials and other surprises. The deal here is happy hour, Monday to Saturday from 4 to 7 pm. Appetizers are 1/2 price, pizzas are $5 and housemade chips with blue cheese are $3. There are beer and wine specials as well. Expect plenty of room at the bar most nights. This is a spot worth following on Twitter – they rarely exceed one post per day and often announce deals and special events.

That was an appetizer to get you started and should cover you for a week of fine dining deals. There are more bargains out there – if you know of some good ones do your neighbor a favor and post away. I’ll cover some mid-range deals in a future post.

Posted in Gastronomic Stimulus

The Art of / at Alana’s

cmhgourmand — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 01:00:33 +0000

Gateway to Alana's

When asked why Alana’s is one of my favorite dining destinations I have sometimes struggled to articulate the intangibles that add to the mojo of the space. I opine that the art at Alana’s creates a sense of comfort and connection to the house of cuisine. Some people are can be put off by perceived high brow culture that can come with high quality cuisine. At Alana’s the art selection pairs well with the menu creations to give a sense of style and reflect the philosophy of the place. The food is local so is the art.

I have written about the art at Alana’s before, a majority of it crafted by Paul Volker. His simple style adds an element of ease to the fine dining experience. Much of the art is food themed with a pinch of humor and/or a dash of whimsical.

I was inspired to add artwork to my order so I bought some art to go after my meal (most of the works on the wall can be purchased at Alana’s). There is no surprise that my choices reflect my avocation. While any restaurant sends a message with a menu, the whole is greater that the sum of the parts. This applies to cooking as well – it is not individual ingredients that take something from good to great, it is the mix and ratios of all of the flavors. Such is the case for a great restaurant, food, service, ambiance and so many little things add to the experience. At Alana’s I add in art as that extra ingredient that adds to my meal and the mojo.

A few of my selections are below.

Blog

Searching for Salsa

For a serving of art and artisan cooking:

Alana’s
2333 N High St
North Campus / SoHud
614.294.6783
www.alanas.com

Posted in restaurants Tagged: Alana's, art in restaurants

Travels on US 68: Urbana to West Liberty (Food Trail)

cmhgourmand — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 13:50:56 +0000

Readers may recall the post about Urbana’s Crabill’s Hamburgers back in September. Well that was just the beginning of my day. My journey of discovery and rediscovery took me through Urbana then up Route 68 to Kenton, Ohio and beyond. So months after the fact, here is the recap.

After a few hamburgers and investigation of the food scene in downtown Urbana, I started my backroads journey to Ravenhurst Winery in Mt. Victory. Driving out of town, I rubbernecked seeing the image of a potato chip person out of the corner of my eye. Meandering back to the site of my sighting, I found –

Mumford's since 1932

Mumford’s Potato Chips.
325 North Main St
Urbana
937.653.3491

The Mumford clan started crafting potato chips in 1932, back in the day when there were many regional potato chip companies in Ohio. Mumford’s is still at it, although as charming as the store looks from the outside, they started outsourcing production of their chips years ago. On the plus side, you can buy two pounds of potato chips on the cheap for emergency roadfood. For the full chip story click here.

Back on track, I recalled that I would be passing by a good source for ice cream in West Liberty. Looking at the clock, I figured I had an hour of extra time for reconnaissance and an ice cream cone. The last time I was on US 68 was in 1998 while researching the best Ohio ice cream stands for Ohio Magazine. I had wandered by the Ice Cream Parlor by accident. The place has changed owners since then but everything else has stayed the same. The waffle cones are still made fresh daily with a touch of malt. The moniker is still The Ice Cream Parlor. Since it is the only ice cream parlor in that neck of the woods there is no need to worry about a snappy name.

The servings are still on the enormous side and they still scoop Nafzigers a hard to find ice cream from Northwest Ohio. The time it takes to consume one cone of ice cream is exactly how long it takes to wander downtown West Liberty.

I had forgotten there are plenty diversions (Piatt Castles, Ohio Caverns and the highest point in Ohio) in this part of Ohio. However, with only 30 minutes left before I needed to get back on my timetable, I needed to get back on track. I still wanted to explore a new candy store which had taunted me with several signs on the way into West Liberty.

I had not heard of Marie’s before so I figured this would be a 5 minute peek and walk through visit. I thought wrong. This turned out to be one of the best chocolate and candy stores I have visited.

Marie’s Candies
311 Zanesfield Rd. (US 68)
West Liberty
937.465.3061
866.465.5781
Closed Sundays

This candy company started in 1956 so there is some history behind the name. However, there is even more history to the place. The current location is a restored railroad depot from the days when trains were to key to travel. The depot building was saved by owners Jay and Kathy King before it was used for fire department training. In 1993 they moved the depot to its present location and started the long process to restore the building to use it as a retail shop for their candy. The location finally opened Thanksgiving weekend in 1996.

The depot was brought back to life and restored to it’s former glory and additional space was added for retail sales, candy preparation and meeting space. The whole history of the building can be tracked on the walls surrounded by many artifacts from the glory days of railroad travel.

History is the side dish here. There is an incredible assortment of candy and chocolates. I spent almost an hour wandering around the store looking and sampling the selections. The service was great. I spoke with several of the employees as well as the owner at length. They were happy to answer all of my questions. At no time did they tell me I had a big smear of chocolate on my nose from the Ice Cream Parlor. Maybe they thought is was a birthmark or some type of disfigurement.

I left Marie’s with a few treats for the road and hauled tail for Mt. Victory hoping to get to Ravenhurst winery before closing. Along the way I sped by farmers market stands, drive in eatery’s and some sections of Amish country. There is a lot more to explore in the area but my first stop on my return will be a restocking mission at Marie’s.

Posted in chocolate, food, ice cream, Ohio, Road Trip Tagged: Maries Candies

A Man, a Plan, a Grill and a Dream Fullfilled

cmhgourmand — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 03:28:19 +0000

A Pizza Grand Prix Post Script….. Have Grill Will Travel!

A life lived is having a passion and following it through to where it takes you. Many, maybe most people can’t, don’t, or miss out on following their passion(s) because they get sidetracked or bushwhacked along the way. Or they don’t look. A joy in my life is being able to pause for a moment when I see someone in the zone of doing exactly what they want to do without any compromises. I was able to have one of those moments at Pizza Grand Prix IV on Sunday. “If you grill it, they will come.”

The Pizza Grand Prix is essentially a pizza potluck party that is a pet project of mine. For my friend Dave, grilling is his Manhattan Project. While readers of CMH Gourmand may not have heard of Webercam, the diehard followers of Columbus Foodcast know him well as our most frequent guest (episodes 10, 11, 14, 16, 24, 36 and 45). He serves as our resident grilling and home cooking expert. While some people are seasonal grill cooks, Dave grills year round. His blog, Webercam tracks his adventures and experiments in grilling. When I was invited to his laboratory in Weberville to sample the grilled pizza project I knew that he and Pizza Grand Prix were meant to be. I just gave fate a nudge and a bump with an invitation to attend.

Pizza is dear to me as an eater, writer and food historian. Anything that can get me close to the taste of a wood or coal fired pizza oven is worth the effort. Dave modified his Weber lid to have a door to maintain temperature. Add in a clay cooking surface and some other tested techniques and you have the Firedome!

For the full story on all things Firedome, check the links below.

Webercam, Enter the Firedome

Webercam, Firedome testing and data

Webercam, the search for fuel

Dave loaded up his grill onto a bike rack and prepped ingredients for 20 pizzas then headed off to Wild Goose Creative to set up for his craft. He had past opportunities to test for temperature. He had not had chances to test for taste appeal to the massses or seeing if he could manage mass pizza production and an audience at the same time. I added an extra variable to his experiment. I threw in an Iron Chef style element into the fray by asking people to bring Dave some mystery ingredients for toppings. Luckily we received some ham from Thurn’s, fresh sage, and a few other good goodies.

Dave was in his niche all night. He grilled up great pizza and was able to talk shop with guests all evening. It was a valid social and culinary experiment.

Posted in food Tagged: webercam

Back to Banana Bean

cmhgourmand — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 22:09:10 +0000

Banana Bean Cafe
340 Greenlawn Ave
The undefined space that is south of the Brewery District and west of German Village.
443.2262

Banana Bean Cafe

The original Banana Bean spot has been replaced by a place called Skillet. The new Banana Bean has been open about a year and recently did a minor menu overhaul. It is time for an update on my trips back to Banana Bean. Let us begin with some history and background.

The first version of Banana Bean opened in 2006 in Schumacher Place, just across the border from German Village. The small cozy cafe with non traditional hours (closed at 7:00 PM – WTFrak) fast became a favorite of mine and many others. Banana Bean was and still is the only Floribbean eatery in Columbus. So are they fibbin’ about Floribbean – not according to Wikipedia. This style is a fusion of the flavors of the Florida Keys, Cuban, Jamaican, and Carribbean cuisines. For me, this creates the perfect spot when I am undecided – if I am not sure what country or style of meal I am in the mood for, Banana Bean takes the pressure to choose away. Different tastes blend together to create many memorable menu items. The Arnold Palmer is a mix of iced tea and lemonade, the perfect beverage for the undecided.

So what else has changed? Banana Bean (2.0) is almost the antithesis of the old residential cozy cafe. The restaurant is now west of German Village on Greenlawn with plenty of parking and a patio. The space is big with plenty of room to spread out and about. Another new addition, Banana Bean has booze. The old location was alcohol free. Now choices include cocktails, wine and bevy of beers. The best deal is at happy hour (Monday – Friday, 4-7 pm) with $2 Margaritas.

The neighborhood feel is gone (one past use of the new site was a strip club) as is the cozy connection with the small pool of servers (and the cooks to some extent due to proximity). The void is filled with a living room lounge feel, complete with fireplace as well as an outdoor patio to pretend you are near a beach vs. the TV feed to the Keys used to tease you at the original cafe.

Banana Bean on Greenlawn

While the feel (but not feeling) is gone, the food remains the same: unique, flavorful and fun. So let’s move on to the main course – eating. I will use exact words from my original review to describe the Cuban Sandwich. The #1 Little Havana Cubano is among the number one best sellers for lunch. This sandwich stacks citrus kissed pork tenderloin and sweet bolo ham with Emmenthaler Swiss cheese, dill pickle slices and Dijon in between two crunchy slices of Cuban bread.. This is still executed the same. The same goes for my default brunch or default dessert item – Bananas Foster French Toast features thick slices of Cuban style bread perfectly transformed into French Toast with fresh berries; Captain Morgan spiced rum sauce, bananas, and a dollop of whipped cream. Still the same.

Banana Bean Bananas Foster French Toast

What else does Banana Bean do well? A lot, but let’s go off the griddle with some unexpected selections. We begin with grits. What is a grit a Midwesterner may ask? Is it a nebulous magazine from the 1970’s, a movie, or food. Yes, the answer is food. The key to good grits is what gets added to the mix since the core corn porridge components are always the same. Banana Bean adds goat cheese to open the grit gateway for the uninitiated. Another unexpected combination is chicken and waffles normally found in the South and southern California. The extra allure of this dish is the blend of flavors – buttermilk fried chicken breast on an almond Belgian waffle with apricot honey syrup, it is hard to be more diverse than this concoction.

Crab Cakes

Banana Bean has your back for breakfast, lunch and dinner. And now with more space you can add in an after hours drink and a snacky snack or two before moving on to German Village, the Brewery District, softball (across the street) or your yacht on the ocean blue.

Funky Fact: The Patina of Key West???
That’s what the sign said at Banana Bean.

What the owners said (when I e-mailed them back in the day):
“patina” in the literal sense is brought on by exposure to certain atmospheric elements; we feel that our patrons, therefore, are exposed to the elements and atmosphere of establishments that one would find in South Florida/Key West, i.e., our menu, etc…….

Posted in bar, breakfast, restaurant reviews, restaurants, Vegetarian Friendly Tagged: Banana Bean Cafe, Banana Bean Columbus

Pizza Grand Prix IV: Sunday October 18th, 6 – 8 PM. Admission is FREE!

cmhgourmand — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 20:26:53 +0000

2491 Summit Street *** Wild Goose Creative *** 6 to 8 PM *** October 18th

Think of Pizza Grand Prix as a giant pizza potluck. Your price of admission is a medium pizza from your favorite pizza shop or your own hand crafted pizza pie. Drop off a pizza then spend the rest of the night trying pizzas from all over Columbus. As a bonus, Dave from Webercam, will be crafting pizzas from scratch in his modified Weber kettle grill. All are welcome to bring an ingredient to Dave for an Iron Chef style challenge to craft new pizza permutations.

Here is the link to what we ate last time – Pizza Grand Prix III the day after

A few suggestions:

1) Bring a tupperware container, at the end of the night we have a lot of pizza left over and no one wants to waste it.

2) Bring your own beverage, feel free to bring one for me if you like.

3) Limit your calorie consumption prior to 6 PM to 100 calories, you will need the stomach space.

4) Ask for your pizza to be tavern or party cut (translation = squares) when you order. As much as non- wedge/triangle sliced pizza riles people, small squares are essential for large scale pizza consumption.

Follow all of the developments on Pizza Grand Prix on Columbus Underground this week.

To limit overlap we ask people to post on CU (if possible) where they are bringing a pizza from and what the topping are.

Also, when you come through the door at Wild Goose Creative, we will ask you to sign in your pizza. Then write the name of the pie and the toppings on the inside box lid so everyone knows what they are eating and from where. If you care to bring a few extra menus along, even better.

You bring a pizza and a beverage. We will have plates, napkins, red pepper flakes, cheese for sprinkling, pizza cutters and 30 or more other pizzas for you to try.

Columbus has hundreds of pizza parlors to choose from so PGP IV allows you to save time, gas and money by trying the best of the best in one place and one night at a price that is dynamite! Come eat, drink and add to the pizza tradition of Columbus.

Posted in events, pizza Tagged: Pizza Grand Prix IV