Archive for the ‘food’ Category

Taco Trucks of Columbus Update

Posted by CMH Gourmand on June 23, 2009

Readers might recall a few Taco Trucks posts back in March. The Taco Trucks Columbus Team is still on the hunt for Taco Trucks and doing quite well at it.

A convergence of all things Taco Truck is in the works for June 24th.

Wednesday is the Taco Trucks Columbus Meat Up with Columbus Underground at Los Guachos.

All al Pastor is Taco Roland Approved

Columbus Foodcast has released the first podcast of the Taco Trucks Chronicles – click HERE to listen.

The TTC Team took Channel Ten and Robin Davis on a tour a few weeks ago – the world premiere goes on the air during the noon news on June 24th.

Taco Drew with Robin Davis

Last week, we took Kevin Joy and Eric Albrecht of the Dispatch on a night of Taco Touring. The story of our three hour tour and more will be in the newspaper Wednesday morning.

We gave Kevin (writer) and Eric (photographer) the full Taco Truck experience: a failed search, a new find, the path of addiction to al Pastor and what turned out to be the pageant of Los Potosinos.

Taco Trucks of Columbus

This has been a lot of work and a lot of fun. I could not be teamed up with a better team for taco truck tracking.

Posted in food | Tagged: Taco Trucks Columbus | Leave a Comment »

Michael Pollan – A Letter Worth Reading

Posted by CMH Gourmand on October 29, 2008

In the previous post – Mark Bittman makes a good argument for changing how we eat.

In the New York Times link below, Michael Pollan (The Omnivore’s Dilemma) spells out some top down shifts in mindset and government policy to help these changes happen. This is a long read, but worth the investment of time. It would be wonderful if our government (as well as ourselves) had the will to follow through on many of these ideas. To help this along – we need to pester people in office to place food on the political table, which means cutting a lot of pork.

An Open Letter to the Next Farmer in Chief

Posted in culinary knowledge, food | 2 Comments »

Support Your Friendly Neighborhood Foodcast

Posted by CMH Gourmand on June 12, 2008

We have hit twelve episodes of Columbus Foodcast. The podcast is not a fluke any more, we are now getting down to the business of delivering good content. Our sound quality improves with episode 6. My favorite episodes are 4, 7 and 10. You can find us on iTunes as a free download. Our artwork is now up on both iTunes and our podcast web site. The art was created by local artist Robert Patricy in 1995 for my first attempt at food writing and has finally found a home on the world wide web.

Listed below is an episode guide as of June 12th. I hope you enjoy at least some of the podcasts. Let us know what you want to hear in future episodes.

Episode 12 – An Ice Cream Road Show: Jeni’s, Denise’s, Mardi Gras
Episode 11 – On Mindfulness and Diet, It’s About Stealing from Webercam (Eating Healthy)
Episode 10.(point)5 – Columbus Foodcast Live! (Our first attempt at live podcasting – not for the weak)
Episode 10 – Grilling With Dave (Grill tips from Dave of Webercam)
Episode 9 – Latitude Adjustment (Jim about his Australia adventures as well as local markets)
Episode 8 – Freeform: Beer and Carrot Cake
Episode 7 – Food Parties (and some bonus bloopers) – with the Beer Wench
Episode 6 – Big Eats – (Large sandwiches and big pizzas)
Episode 5 – The Beer Show
Episode 4 – Storytelling through Food – with professional storyteller Kevin Cordi
Episode 3 – Pizza, Pizza, Pizza
Episode 2 – The Three C’s: Chili, Chicago & Chocolate
Episode 1 – 48 hours to Eat in Columbus (Intro to Jim and Zach)

Look to the left column of this blog at the link for http://www.columbusfood.tv in the Columbus Food Blogs section.

Posted in beer, Columbus, culinary knowledge, food, restaurants, wine | Tagged: Columbus Foodcast | Leave a Comment »

North Market Apron Gala – May 17th (and More Market Mayhem)

Posted by CMH Gourmand on May 11, 2008

The 12th Annual North Market Apron Gala

Saturday, May 17th

Doors open and aprons on at – 7 PM

North Market

59 Spruce Street

Short North

Who: Me plus anyone one else that likes to eat and/or loves the North Market

What: Three courses of appetizers, tastes and samples of entrees, desserts, beer from Columbus Brewing Company, Ohio wines, multiple North Market vendors, a silent auction, fortune tellers, raffles, prizes, and a contest to see who has the coolest apron.

When: See Above

Where: North Market – the mecca of food goodness

Why: To support the North Market, proceeds go to support our North Market

How: Through the hard work of North Market vendors, staff, local restaurants, and the Friends of North Market

Tickets – $75 (worth every penny); $65 for registered Friends of the North Market

If you have never been to the North Market or have never been to a North Market event, this is the night to go. If anyone wants to meet up and talk food with me send me an e-mail, I will be there all evening.

If you need more encouragement to go, see my photos from the North Market Cinco D’ Ohio Festival below. The photos are a taste of the culinary wonders you can expect at events like this. I was one of the judges for the salsa contest. Nine people pitted their salsas up against the palettes of four lucky judges.

Then, I was also a judge for an array of tacos from for a fiery and heated competition with local professional chefs. Five Top chefs mixed their skill, creativity, and some North Market ingredients for a United Nations of flavors in the Taco Taste Off. The winner – in a tummy pleasing close call contest was Steve Lawrence from Cajohn’s Caboom Chili Company with his Asian Taco (in a soft, yet crunchy Wonton shell). Alana Shook (Alana’s) and John Dornbeck (Basi) were neck and neck in my book for a heartbreaking second place with my palette.

North Market is fun, fun, fun and the people are great so come support our market the night of May 17th.

Finally….If the Apron Gala does not work out for you or the other events seem too large scale, consider a more intimate experience with some of the best chef’s and cooks in Columbus:

To sign up drop by the North Market office or call to register at 614-463-9664.

Shop with the Chef Series, Saturdays, 10AM-1PM

Limit 20 people, cost $45 per person; $225 series

Saturday, June 7 – John Dornback, Basi Italia

Saturday, June 21 – Paul Yow, Barcelona

Saturday, July 5 – David Tetzloff, G. Michael’s Bistro

Saturday, July 19 – Matt Langstaff, Bexley’s Monk

Saturday, August 2 – Alana Shock, Alana’s Food + Wine

Saturday, August 16 – Robin Davis, The Columbus Dispatch

Summer Evening Chef Series, Wednesdays 6:30-8:30PM

Limit 26 people, cost $60 per person; $300 series

Wednesday, June 4 – John Skaggs, Chef at Large

Wednesday, June 18 – Jason Shelley, Mitchell’s Ocean Club

Wednesday, July 2 – Paul Yow, Barcelona

Wednesday, July 16 – Chef Rocco, Pastaria

Wednesday, August 6 – Matt Prokopchak, Trattoria Roma

Wednesday, August 20 – Matt Langstaff, Bexley’s Monk

Fall Evening Chef Series, Wednesdays 6:30-8:30PM

Limit 26 people, cost $60 per person; $300 series

Wednesday, September 3 – Henry Butcher Sr., Creole Kitchen

Wednesday, September 17 – Kevin Jones, The Columbus Fish Market

Wednesday, October 1 – Paul Yow, Barcelona

Wednesday, October 15 – David Tetzloff, G. Michael’s Bistro

Wednesday, November 5 – Matt Prokopchak, Trattoria Roma

Wednesday, November 19 – Matt Langstaff, Bexley’s Monk

Posted in bakery, cheese, chocolate, Columbus, culinary knowledge, food, ice cream, markets, Short North, wine | Tagged: North Market | 1 Comment »

Three great evenings of food, fun, wine and good causes

Posted by CMH Gourmand on April 25, 2008

Three events are coming up that allow you to support good causes while sampling wonderful wine and fine food.

Taste of the Independents
Thursday, May 1
Smith Bros. Hardware Building
580 N. 4th. St.
6:00 p.m. until 9:00 p.m.

http://www.dineoriginalscolumbus.com

Features thirty plus local independent restaurants (including Basi, Refectory, CBC…)

In additional to food, the evening includes micro brewed beers, wines from small vineyards and a special Mango Maytini. There will also be a 3 piece band from the Columbus Jazz Arts Group for background music.

Member Restaurants are listed below:
http://www.dineoriginalscolumbus.com/database/restaurants.php

Proceeds go to the Buckeye Ranch

The Grape Event
Friday, May 2nd
COSI
Benefits the ALS Association of Central and Southern Ohio

www.alsohio.org

An evening of fine wines with hors d’oeuvres. The Grape Event also hosts a live and silent auction featuring wines, sports memorabilia, electronics, and other gift packages. Each year local artist Robert Patricy creates a special wine themed painting as the logo for the event. The original canvas oil painting is auctioned off. Prints from prior years are also for sale. Bob is my friend and I have two prints in my house. (This is my disclaimer.)

North Market Apron Gala
Saturday, May 17
7 to 10 PM

http://www.northmarket.com/featured_event.php

The 12th Annual North Market Apron Gala!! Run amuck in the North Market eating, drinking and making merry with your apron on and your mouth open for the goodies galore in store for you. Items come from the North Market merchants. There is also beer from CBC and music from the Eileen Howard Trio. A silent auction for great gift packages is featured as well.

And – another North Market event worth going to…while on the subject.

Cinco D’Ohio
Saturday May 3rd
Not to miss – the salsa, taco, and hot sauce taste offs. Yum.

Posted in Columbus, food, markets, restaurants, wine | Tagged: Dine Originals Columbus, Grape Event, North Market | Leave a Comment »

CMH in SYD and MEL; Support your local Food Blogs in the meantime

Posted by CMH Gourmand on March 30, 2008

I am going on a long overdue holiday to my happy place – Australia. I look forward to a couple weeks of wine (Hunter and Yarra Valleys), beer (Carlton and Cascade), dining, pumpkin soup slurping, great cheeses, train riding and most importantly friends. I should be back online by the end of April.

In the meantime – if you do not already do so – check out the Columbus Food Blogs I have listed on this site (to the left) and listen to Columbus Foodcast (episode 7 goes live on April 4th) to tide you over. The Columbus Beer Wench is the special guest star for our 7th installment. We should have some award winning bloopers as a trailer for episode 7.

There will be two entries in a day or two about my run to Circleville as my parting Bon Voyage posts.

Thanks to everyone for supporting CMH Gourmand. I have had great feedback on the blog over the last six months. I look forward to crafting more of the same when I get back.

Posted in food | 1 Comment »

Beer and Cheese – The New Peanut Butter and Chocolate!

Posted by CMH Gourmand on March 26, 2008

Pace Hi Carry Out in Clintonville closed in February. The signs of demise were there for a long time – they just never seemed to be able to keep things in stock..so I stopped going long ago. Having the wine displayed in the window made me wary as well – you could not do anything worse to a bottle of vino.

UPDATE: Pace Hi reopened August 2008 with new ownership and a lot of work invested in new coolers, stock, etc. This is a great rebound for this part of Clintinville.

I often wonder if a new business concept called Hops and Curd – a high end beer and cheese store might work in Clintonville.

OK – the concept of wine and cheese is well sold.

But beer and cheese…. not so much. I believe beer and cheese is the undiscovered peanut butter and chocolate of the 21st century. So that is why I am posting this post…to build a groundswelling of support for this advanced idea.

And as it just happens – Constance and Kent at Hills Market will be offering a Beer and Cheese Tasting on April 17th – check out the Hills Market web site and get on the mailing list for more details. I have attended two Hills Market wine and cheese tastings – both were wonderful so I expect the beer and cheese pairing to be just as good. The format for the wine tastings has been 6 pairing of wine and cheese with a appetizer for each. The Beer and Cheese tasting will probably have the same format. The cost would be no more than $35. As a bonus, you typically get 10% off anything you buy at that store following the tasting. It a great deal. See my post about the December tasting for more information.

To further sell pairing beer with cheese check out the site below:

A link with all you need to know about beer and cheese

So what do you think – is it time to open Hops and Curd during a recession?

Posted in beverages, cheese, culinary knowledge, food | 6 Comments »

Slow Food Columbus is Moving Fast – Debrief on the Inaugural Dinner

Posted by CMH Gourmand on March 22, 2008

Slow Food Columbus served up their first dinner “Local and Loving It” on March 20th at Cafe del Mondo. In spite of competition from March Madness, The Celebrity Chef’s Dinner and other Columbus activities – the event was sold out with a waiting list of 8 people. Having a local chapter of Slow Food was long overdue – so thanks to recent immigrants Colleen and Bear for adding this to the Columbus plate.

I was one of the guests with the honor of spending the evening enjoying a great meal with some wonderful people. The menu is listed below.

Antipasto

Bruschetta with organic tomatoes and basil

paired with Dal Bello – Rosa della Regina – Brut Rose

Insalata

Salad featuring Blue Jacket Farms mozzarella, Green Edge organic spring mix and mircrogreens, tomatoes, and a wonderful crouton

paired with and (2006) Cantina del taburno falanghina

Piatti Principali

Organic Pasta Bologonese with Spectrum Farm beef and organic vegetables

Rosemary garlic Mount Victory Porkloin

Farfalle all’olio (vegetarian)

Sauteed organic Green Edge greens

Artisanal bread

paired with 2004 Tenuta delle Terra Nere Etna Rosso “Calderara Sottana”

Dolci

Baked organic apples – spiced and carmelized

served with Jeni’s Ohio Spicebush Berry ice cream

Paired with 2004 Lenotti Recioto Della Valpolicella Classico, Veneto

Capping off the evening

Espresso

The creators on site from Slow Food Columbus (Laurie, Haley, Colleen, and Bear – and others behind the scenes) did a wonderful job putting a fine evening together. Wine pours were generous and helped fuel many good conversations at every table. Among the guests were the owners of Northstar Cafe and a manager from their Short North restaurant. In between courses we heard from the owners of Spectrum Farm (talking about their beef), Mt Victory Meats (discussing his business and the pork loin we were eating) and The Greener Grocer. We also heard from the owner of Cafe del Mondo / Fruta del Mondo discussing his business and well as why all breads and pastas are not created equal. The morsel I picked up from his talk – it really is worth paying a little more for good pasta and good bread – they are so much better for your body and and the flavor difference is significant. I also learned that “good” pasta can be placed in ziplock bag and frozen for a quick meal later.

Please take a look at the local Slow Food site for the full scoop on the evening (with photos).

Keep an eye out for more events from this group, it is still a very new branch of Slow Food. Based on conversations I had with Bear, Colleen, and Haley I am excited about how Slow Food Columbus is helping grow the ever expanding food culture of Columbus.

Another side note – I love to see local groups and people connect- the cool snail T-Shirts for Slow Food come from local T-Shirt shop extraordinare – Skreened.

Posted in Columbus, culinary knowledge, food | Tagged: Slow Food Columbus | 1 Comment »

For the Ides of March: My top 15 of the last year

Posted by CMH Gourmand on March 15, 2008

In no particular order, these are my top 15 food related experiences in the last 366 days

1) The Praline Scone at Northstar

Northstar baked goods

2) Macaroons at Pistachia Vera <posted September 2007>

3) Breakfast and free cookies at Bette’s Oceanview Diner in Berkley, CA (I told Michael Stern about it, so I was there first…!!)

4) Christina – server at Tony’s Ristorante in the Brewery District – funny, well versed in the menu and we both like artichokes.

5) Eating a Double Beanie Burger with George Motz at Gahanna Grille <posted March 2007 – and I am mentioned in his book which comes out in April>

6) Being a judge at the North Market for the Fall Harvest Festival <posted September 2007>

7) Hills Market Wine and Cheese tastings <posted December 2007>

8) Dinner at The French Room, Dallas TX – The best service I have ever experienced at a restaurant (preceeded and followed by the best service at a Hotel – The Fairmont – Dallas, TX)

9) Sharing the Nightmare Sandwich experience at the Corral Sandwich Shop with Kevin and B.A. <CMH Foodcast – Episode 4>

10) The revitalized CBC – especially the Pecan Torte, the Cuban Trio Burrito, and keg tapping nights <posted October 2007>

11) Lunch at O’Betty’s in Athens, followed by dinner at Casa Nueva across the street

12) Ratatouille – the movie not the dish

13) Hotdawgapalooza 2008 – 10 types of hot dogs, 15 types of mustard

14) Breakfast at Magnolia Cafe, Austin, TX

15) Rossi Pizza – what I crave <posted October 2007>

Runner Up – The United States of Arugula – great book about the history of American food culture

Second Runner up – the Dagwood Challenge with the Columbus Underground crew

Third Runner Up – the $2.95 Buffalo Shrimp and Blue Cheese Cole Slaw, on the bar menu at Columbus Fish Market. Best way to spend three dollars. <posted May 2007>

Fourth Runner Up – Ginger Ale at NorthStar

Posted in food | 3 Comments »

CMH Podcast….unleashed!

Posted by CMH Gourmand on February 23, 2008

OK – the new podcasts are a little rough and certainly no Splendid Table or This American Life – but for the sake of learning about technology….. a Podcast was born. I think each one gets better. I finally broke down and bought a nice USB headset to improve my sound quality which I hope you can hear in episode 5 <the Beer Episode>.

Columbus Food

We are open to harsh criticism or nice feedback because we aim to improve. The mission of Columbus Foodcast is to learn about podcasting and to have fun. In the process we hope you learn about local food in Columbus and Ohio. Trust me – I can not stand the sound of my voice so I know this is not a star vehicle for me. Heck, you can hear my dog Toby barking in episode 4. If you want to be a guest star or contributor – let me know – the more – the merrier. If you have an idea about a topic for an upcoming foodcast – e-mail away!

Episode 4 is the best of the bunch, my friend Kevin Cordi, a professional storyteller tells a tale of a restaurant we hit very late at night in his hometown of Akron, intertwined with our collective memories of food. Kind of a “This American….Lunch”.

We are listed in iTunes. Search for Columbus Foodcast in the iTunes music store or follow this link:

http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=274971060

Posted in Columbus, food, Ohio | Tagged: Columbus Foodcast | 1 Comment »

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