CMH Gourmand – Eating in Columbus & Ohio

Northstar Cafe – Beechwold – 4241 North High Street – Clintonville, 614.784.2233

Hungry Woolf sent this text at 2:29 PM.

“Free veggie burgers at NS today.”

Of course – it’s Earth Day and both Northstars do this every year – free veggie burgers…if you dine in. I love their veggie burgers. I love free. I like Earth Day. And….maybe not eating hamburgers could save the world (story by some NPR hippie).

I motored by at 4:39 PM, parking lot full, place swarming with hippies.

At 4:43 PM I arrived at the scene of the dine as the last person in line, just inside the door. Every hippie in Clintonville with a child was surrounding me and they brought any kid they could carry along for the free food. Lots of hippie tots everywhere, eating veggie burgers and having the ample left overs packed up for dad’s lunch tomorrow.

I ordered at 4:54 PM. Standing in line I had time to think about what I was doing, look for a free table and read my Gourmet Magazine. I spied Southern Tier beer on draft. Hmm, cold microbrew and a peanut cookie while waiting for free burger and drowning out to hippie kids shrieking. Good plan.

Note: Voluntary donations can be made to the Ohio Ecological Food and Farm Association for the free Northstar veggie burger. I made my deposit and slid outside to ditch the hippies and read my magazine in peace, love and happiness. I like Saveur much more than Gourmet but since I can get a free subscription for a few airmiles so be it. I found two items of note in my May 2009 issue: 40’s cocktails for the usual suspects and more reasons to go to Montreal for dinner.

At 5:06 PM, my Veggie Burger arrived, it was even better than usual with a bit more sear on the veggie and an ample simple salad on the side. I counted 12 white shirts in the kitchen area – about twice the normal staffing. Northstar was ready for this onslaught. At 5:12 PM the manager passed by and mentioned that 769 burgers had been made so far and the dinner rush had not started. When I left, the line was snaking for several yards outside the door and the hippies were everywhere. Thanks Northstar.

Note: This was a great year for Earth Day events in Columbus. By report, Columbus led the nation in volunteer turn out for projects on Saturday. I had a good Earth Day Dinner at the Hills Market on Monday and there is an event at Studio 35 as I am writing this that I need to get to. I want to hug a tree!