CMH Gourmand – Eating in Columbus & Ohio

Dining, Donuts, Dives and Diatribes

  • Recent Comments

    Marines Michalowski's avatarMarines Michalowski on Spain Restaurant
    Steve's avatarSteve on Columbus Pizza History: A Slic…
    Sharyn Smith Skelton's avatarSharyn Smith Skelton on Columbus Pizza History: A Slic…
    Linda shaw's avatarLinda shaw on Ding Ho, Wor Sue Gai: Columbus…
    BoomerGenX's avatarBoomerGenX on SKY Gourmand: The Cooker is Ba…
    Betty's avatarBetty on R&M Bakery – Newark…
    scottalberts's avatarscottalberts on Columbus Pizza History: A Slic…

  • Categories

  • Top Posts

  • Archives: August 2006 to Now

Toby’s Excellent Adventure: @CMHTobias and His Pet Boy @CMHGourmand

Posted by CMH Gourmand on May 31, 2010

“Were it not for the quality of our companionship, we would not have had the time of our lives.”

Attributed to:
Tobias J. Dog
President, Appalachian Porch Hound Preservation League
Respected Clintonville Resident

The power of the boy and his dog combined with a classic American roadtrip can not be beat. We had an excellent time as some of you know by the tweets from the field. At the risk of having an obnoxious dog blog post, here are a few tidbits from the trip.

My goals were simple: spend time with CMH Tobias, visit places I had never been and eat at four restaurants I have had on my list for years.

Toby in the crew cabin.

At the onset of the journey, the plan was to have a designated cockpit for the driver and a crew cabin for CMHTobias. As seen above, a yellow bunge cord served as the suggested boundary area and a large sleeping bag was added to the rear seat area to provide additional paw space as well as a pillow. This arrangement served well for the first twelve days. The bungee cord also served as a handy way to clip gear such as leashes and water bottles.

Photos below suggest that this arrangement was satisfactory.

We were together 23 or 24/7 each day for the next two weeks. We shared sights, the road and our meals without disagreement.

Taking in the scenery at Arches National Park

Dog based GPS system

Looking for local wildlife

On the last two days, Toby was intent on being in the co-pilot seat. After several wrestling matches at 75 miles per hour and knocking the car into neutral twice, I admitted defeat and full access was granted as you can see below.

VICTORY

Our statistics: drove 5933 miles, traveled 16 states (Toby marked territory in each), 14 days, 5 national parks, 11 motels, 2 lost hubcaps (NM, UT), average cost $108 per day (gas, food and lodging).

For once, food was secondary, but we ate very well each day. There were four places that I had to visit. I was able to eat at each place.

Charles Vergos’ Rendezvous (Memphis)

Sid’s Diner (El Reno, Oklahoma)

Bobcat Bite (Santa Fe, New Mexico)

Arthur Bryant’s (Kansas City, Missouri)

There were some other great food finds as well – including wineries, farmers markets and beef jerky makers. The best meal was the Onion Burger at Sid’s Diner in El Reno, Oklahoma. Both George Motz (hamburger expert) and Chef Drew Garms (formerly of Details) swore by this place. They were right. This simple burger with homemade slaw was a perfect dinner in a classic diner. The burger was a 10 out of 10 – good meat, a toasted bun, etc. However, Sid’s had what makes a good meal great – lots of character and four generations of family and employees that are proud of what they do. The best food is simple fare, from an independent place off the beaten path. That is why everyone should visit a place like Sid’s.

I have a lot of writing to get caught up on so this post ends here, but you can piece together the story by reading the tweets below.

Trip notes at @CMHTobias

Posted in Road Trip | Tagged: | 5 Comments »

Travels with Toby: Roaming the USA

Posted by CMH Gourmand on May 13, 2010

CMHTobias is my co-pilot

Travel is both a passion and a sickness for me. As a passion, it fulfills my need to learn, explore, discover new foods and step outside of my day to day routine. It sustains me, gives me hope, refuels my soul and constantly changes my perceptions of people, places and my own psyche. As a sickness, I am wired to never be satiated by a journey. Each trip makes me want to see more, not less. Years ago, travel was my salvation. I did not deal well with failure. I have definitely had an unhealthy serving of disappointment to date. Now I embrace failure instead of trying to flee from it. Each failure fueled an epic trip. Travel planning focused my attention on something in the future instead of the pain of the present and on something far away instead of the reality too close to home. My angst allowed me to: play roulette in a Monaco casino with a sheik, sleep under the stars in the Outback, float on an innertube down a river in Fiji, meet the woman of my dreams in one country and lose her later in another, stand on a glacier and walk through a rainforest in the same morning and a few things even Hemingway or James T. Kirk would be proud of. I have flown well over 500,000 miles and visited most of my A list countries by plane, train, automobile, bus, raft, ferry, horse, kayak, bike and foot. And I never did find what I was looking for. I always came home to the void I was trying to heal or fill.

This journey is different. Although I made many good friends in my past wayward sojourns, I began and ended each one alone. For a change of pace, I am not doing this one solo. Joining me are two things I can always rely on: my 12 year old Subaru and my 8 year old Appalachian Porch Hound. I am rarely at home so spending time with Toby (known to the public as CMH Tobias) is my attempt to make up for missed walks. Toby will provide some challenges on the trip as well as a companion to talk to. During the next several weeks, I aim to make amends to him for my ongoing and increasingly hectic lifestyle. We head out into the unknown, with no plans, no timeline and no goals, other than to go where the day takes me and to come home when I see fit. I am not running away from anything or hoping for catharthis. This trip is about recharging before I run full steam into something new that I have waited on for a very, very long time. The muse loaned me Steinbecks’s Travels with Charley which I will be reading to Tobias at bedtime.

You can follow our journey on twitter:

@CMHTobias

Some of my food finds will pop up on my twitter account – @cmhgourmand

Posted in Road Trip | 8 Comments »

Old School Odes to Beer

Posted by CMH Gourmand on May 12, 2010

Before twitter, there were other avenues for short snappy wit and whimsey. During the dawn of the automobile marketers used Burma Shave signs.

A few independent merchants still use their outside signs to grab attention. Here are a few beer based messages from the last week. This old school technology still works with the masses.

Posted in beer | 1 Comment »

First Fridays: Pirohi and Cabbage Rolls

Posted by CMH Gourmand on May 10, 2010


Some things are predestined.

I was predestined for Pirohi/Pireogi (Pierogi to you and me).

While I was tracking down a new Taco Truck on the Northeast side, I passed by the sign above. I quickly spun around (legally) and took a photo for future reference. I knew that I had to experience what this hand painted sign had to offer. Last Friday I dropped in on First Fridays and I was not disappointed.

Arriving in the parking lot, I was not sure which of the three buildings to enter. The parking lot was empty and I saw no signs of life. I rolled down my window and then the aromas of ethic cabbage fueled food embraced my senses pulling me to the building in the rear.

Walking inside the auditorium, I was immediately at peace and found a wide, but depleted supply of homemade eastern European foods waiting for me on folding tables with handmade signs. The outside sign said “while supplies last” and they were not kidding. At that halfway point of 5 PM, a few items had sold out and several were down to just one or two remaining. I grabbed what I could gather in my arms and zipped to the counter to pay. That is when I discovered that I was short on cash reserves. I asked the friendly, long bearded priest in black, Eastern Orthodox Catholic style robes to guard my horde as I headed back to my car to empty it of change so I could pay for most of my selections.

First Fridays has been at tradition at the church for three to five years depending on which volunteer you ask. The next one will be on June 4th. These are canceled when the Friday falls during a major holiday weekend so this food emporium only happens about ten times per year.

Below is a list of what the all volunteer kitchen staff cook up for sale (subject to change).

Cabbage Rolls 6 for $8
Fri-Pie – Deep fried fruit filled pie
Pirohi (Sauerkraut, Potato and Cheese, Prune, and Sweet Cheese) for $5 for a dozen (frozen)
Halushki (cabbage and noodles)
Ukrainian Red Cabbage Slaw
homemade pies, cakes, cookies
Walnut, Poppyseed and Apricot Rolls

I sampled the cabbage rolls and found them to be very good. These are sold hot and can be eaten in your car if you can’t wait. A few days later I took the pirohi for a test taste with the usual suspects. We found them to be good and the prune pirohi bordered on great. It was noted that preparation was the key to a good pirohi experience (instructions for frying, microwaving, and baking are included with your order) and that some extras – salt, sour cream and lots of butter were essential.

Where to find these ethnic delights:

St. John Chrysostom Church
“The Kitchen” – Ladies Guild
5858 Cleveland Ave.
Columbus (Near Northeast intersection of SR 161 and Cleveland Ave)
614.882.6103

Since there were several items I did not get to sample, I welcome your review of any of the items you have tried out.

Posted in Columbus, Vegetarian Friendly | Tagged: | 3 Comments »

Around My World in Eight Days: May Madness

Posted by CMH Gourmand on May 9, 2010

I woke up Sunday morning to a messy house, a mess of e-mails and my loyal dog looking at me like I was a stranger. It has been a long month and I am not even at the 1/3 mark. I have reconstructed the last week or so, what a (fun) whirlwind.

Saturday May 1st was the Market to Market Ride. It was a huge success in spite of a significant rain storm. I was honor bound to go, the consequences of not riding would have been unbearable since the following people would have relentlessly taunted me: Mary Martineau of the North Market, Jill Moorhead from the Hills Market, a Hungry Woolf, Ray “I’ll taunt you until you ride” George and the rest of the usual suspects. I had intended to ride with the Pierogi King of Columbus but his tire mysteriously blew out on him right by his house. The advantage of a rainy day was the route of the ride was relatively pedestrian free so dodging and swerving was at a minimum. Thanks to Jill, Mary and their volunteers for a great event.

Jill had just returned from the Philipines so in the Moorhead style, she was also hosting a Kahiki tribute dinner at the Hills Market (for 340 people) that evening at 6:00 PM. It had stopped raining by then and everyone had a good time – including me after two signature Kahiki mystery drinks served by the mystery girl. Jill was on her feet for 15 hours running two events. Again good job Ms. Moorhead

I did Taco Truck reconnaissance Sunday. On Monday, Taco Nazo catered 480 tacos for my workplace on behalf of our diversity committee. My wage slave work world and other worlds have nothing in common so I sweated it a bit as these worlds collided and I struggled with not being in control of the event but instead watched (mostly) from the sidelines. Everyone survived including me. That evening, Johnnycupcakes was in town at Pattycake Bakery on stop 25 of their back to basics suitcase tour. The hipsters had turned out in droves so I went inside the bakery to hide. Inside, I had a chance to speak with Johnny for quite some time. He was impressed by his first impressions of Columbus. Bear from Slow Food and I gave Johnny a few dining suggestions. I was happy to see that Johnnies crew went to Rigsby’s for lunch the next day. Rigsby’s is a favorite lunch spot for me so I was pleased that my tip was enjoyed by some hip out of towners.

Monday evening was also Nerd Night – which has occurred nearly every Monday for two years. The evening is hosted at The Pierogi King World Headquarters in Victorian Village. We gather for either a movie or several episodes of a television series, food which is frequently Adriaticos pizza and almost always discussion of our collective big and small ideas about new events and business ventures in Columbus. I consider these evenings to be opportunities for idea incubating and free focus grouping.

Don't have a T-shirt....have Mr. Cupcake sign your engine

On Tuesday, I read George Motz’s report on his hamburger hangover from his trip to the Midwest, including Columbus. I have now added a few more places to my hamburger hit list and look forward to his new book and maybe a future collaboration. I made a trip to Jeni’s Ice Cream in Grandview to try out the new Buckeye State Sundae. This might be catering to our football fanatic masses but I say cater away, I will do anything to support the pairing of peanut butter and chocolate.

Wednesday started early, meeting up with the rest of the Taco Trucks Columbus / alt eats Columbus crew to team up with Johnny DiLoretto at Otro Rollo Bakery for Cinco de Mayo. We encountered Otro Rollo while Taco Trucking. We think that the bakery fits well into the combined mission of Taco Trucks Columbus and alt eats Columbus which is: to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new entrees and new cultures and to boldly go where none of our neighbors have gone before. We like working with Johnny and his crew.

That evening was a Taco Truck “meat up” at Taco Nazo. We did not promote the event very much so there was a turn out of about forty people. This was a nice break because I had a chance to just enjoy the evening and mingle with several people including Liz and Harold Lessner LaRue and Vanessa Druckman, aka Chef Druck, a newer food writer in Columbus. Here is her spin on the evening.

The night did not end there, I found myself returning to an old hangout from my high school days with some of the cyclists from our tour. After another margarita, I think that a blog post will be in order about this forgotten restaurant / character driven dive hangout.

Thursday night I was back at the Skillet Mobile Kitchen busking in some customers so Skillet will keep coming back to my part of town to feed my late night cravings for pork belly and porchetta. You can keep track of their cafe de wheels venture via twitter.

Friday, found me doing some lunchtime recon for alt eats and dinner time morel consuming at Deepwood. The dishes prepared with morels were good, the extra $14 I kicked out for the six paired wines was a great idea, but I could not finish all of my samples (that means extreme value).

Sweetbreads, risotto and morels...

Saturday was Public Media Camp Ohio at COSI. This was a great opportunity to learn new ideas and talk social media shop talk with several people from all types of media (Ohio Public Radio stations, writers, The OSU Center for Personalized Medicine, St Louis Public Radio, and more). It also put us alt-eaters in touch with a few members of the Somali community so we are looking forward to a guided meal for alt eats – there is no better way to appreciate and enjoy a meal than to share it with someone who is native to the cuisine.

Deepwood bread

Today was Deepwood with my Mom for Mothers Day. This was a rare treat because Deepwood does not typically serve breakfast. Based on today – Brian and Amber, please do it more often – it would pair well with a morning at the North Market. I also want to thank my server John for making an extra effort to get samples of the house breads for my mom. I wanted her to have the full experience and since the breads are a favorite at each of my meals, I wanted her to try some too.

So, that is pretty much how my life rolls and with a few more weeks like this I will be literally rolling from place to place.

For this coming week – here is my double dog dare. Thursdays are always a challenge in the capital city – typically there are three or more excellent events at the same time. I am going to try to pull off two.

Taste of Dine Originals is the major Dine Originals event of the year. It is an evening for the 42 independent Dine Originals restaurants to show off their best best at the Smith Brothers Building for a evening of food, drink and music. The event benefits the Buckeye Ranch.

After eating as quickly as possible at Taste of Dine Originals, I am hoping to arrive at Pecha Kucha Columbus in time for a presentation by Bethia about being a Hungry Woolf. Head out to support Bethia for all the good food, green and biking efforts she supports in the city.

Posted in Columbus, events | Leave a Comment »

PSA: Nancy’s is Now Open for Dinner

Posted by CMH Gourmand on May 3, 2010

Starting May 3rd, Nancy’s Home Cooking is now open for dinner from 4 pm to 7 pm.

Here is the menu for week 1. Expect some changes to the menu over the next weeks/months. All dinners are $7.50.

Monday

Stuffed Pork Chops, Roasted Red Potatoes and Green Beans

Tuesday

Chicken Cordon Blue, Rice Pilaf and Fresh Asparagus

Wednesday

Meat or Veggie Lasagna with Garlic Bread and Salad

Thursday

Cindy’s (Famous) Chicken and Noodles with Green Beans and Dinner Rolls

Friday

Pan Seared White Fish with Lemon Sauce, Broccoli and a Baked Potato.

Sounds like Nancy’s has gone fancy.

Nancy’s Home Cooking
3133 North High Street
Clintonville
614.265.9012

Posted in Clintonville, Diners | Tagged: | 1 Comment »

Hamburger Columbus: Johnnie’s Tavern with George Motz

Posted by CMH Gourmand on May 2, 2010

Motz at Work

In 2007, I joined filmmaker/writer George Motz for the Columbus leg of research for Hamburger America. The book was a success so the publishers have asked him for a second edition, this time with an additional fifty famous hamburger (well, 53 since three of the original 100 from Hamburger America have closed) places. There is an interesting backstory to the book. George did not set out to write a hamburger book or any book for that matter. In 2004, he created a documentary called Hamburger America about eight unique and historic family owned hamburger cookeries. The publishers saw the book and asked the filmmaker to add author to his business card. This is the rare instance of a film leading to a book.

The rules for places picked for Hamburger America (2) are as follows: the hamburger must be good, it must have been served by the same place for twenty years or more and it must be made with fresh, ground beef. The two Columbus picks for the first edition were Thurman Cafe and Gahanna Grill. While there are several good candidates in Columbus, the site selected on this reconnaissance mission was Johnnies Tavern in San Margherita.

...before

Johnnies meets the criteria set forth and then some. The site of the tavern has been owned by the Lombardi family since the early twentieth century. It started as a grocery store but it 1948, the family knocked down a wall, added some space and turned to the tavern trade. John Lombardi is the forth generation to run a family business at this site. He is the manager and the head hamburger maker, often slinging hamburgers solo in the backroom kitchen.

....after

The menu is simple: cheeseburgers, roast beef sandwiches, fried bolonga sandwiches, fries and onion rings. There is another staple on the menu, beer. Johnnie’s won an award for the coldest beer in Columbus. In the photo below, you can see a poster of Dominic Lombardi (John’s grandfather) with one of their famous cold beers. The beer is still cold although we did not take a thermometer to test it we could see that the frost on the mug was thick and frosty. San Margherita was the former home of Italian immigrants to Columbus, many of them coming to work in the quarry at Marble Cliff. There are only a few landmarks left of that immigrant era, ancient grape vines in a few yards and Johnnie’s Tavern.

Menu

Coldest beer poster

The burger is a handmade patty that starts off as about one pound of ground beef. You have your choice of five types of cheese (pepperjack is the crowd favorite) plus lettuce, tomato, onion, pickles and a dill pickle on the side. The bun is toasted (big points there) and slightly steamed with sesame seeds. The service is friendly, well at least based on my interactions with Britney. There is a pool table, a few TV’s and the sounds of trains passing by on the railroad tracks about 100 feet from the front door for entertainment.

I hope that Johnnie’s makes it into the new Hamburger America. There are some other places from Columbus I would like to see as well, in particular, the pepperburger from O’Reilly’s. We will have to wait until the book comes out in 2011 or 2012. In the meantime, you can follow George’s adventures on twitter. On his latest run, he hit at least six hamburger places (including Johnnie’s) in three states over two days. He consumed over one dozen hamburgers, three Pattycake Bakery cookies, one Steak and Shake milkshake and Bigbee Malt at Spudnuts in Cleveland. Go George!

And Go Johnnies!

Johnnie’s
3503 Trabue Road
San Margherita (an unincorporated section of Columbus near Hilliard)
614.488.0110

Johnnie's Tavern Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

Posted in beer, hamburgers | Tagged: , , | 1 Comment »

Good Pairings: Studio 35 – Beer, Movies and More

Posted by CMH Gourmand on April 28, 2010

On Sunday I partook a pairing of Pee Wee’s Big Adventure and a Columbus Brewing Company beer tasting at Studio 35 Cinema and Drafthouse. The place was packed which I was both glad and sad to see. It is great to see an event do well and this one clearly was meeting everyone’s expectations. However, I would like to see Studio 35 packed every single night. Combining beer and a movie makes for some magic. Studio 35 adds in more elements to take everything to the next level. I would like to see even more people support a place that does so much to support the community.

pee wee event

Let’s talk about beer. Studio 35 serves an ever changing variety of good craft beers. There is typically a glass special paired with a new beer. You buy a special pint glass (that you keep) and when you bring that glass with you it can be filled with the selected beer special at a discount. Good deal. The selections include a variety of local and regional microbrews.

beer list

Studio 35 also offers a growler special. A growler as in a big, giant container for beer. When you buy a Studio 35 growler you can continue to fill it up with a variety of beers. Then you can come back for another movie and fill it up again. Groovy.

growler

growler list

There is typically a Sunday beer tasting once per month paired up with a classic movie. The tastings feature a beer expert to share brewing knowledge with tasters. Eight or more beer styles are offered for sampling and sipping. Most tasters have found it fun, informative and a good value, although the tastings may impair a person’s memory of the movie offering. Maybe that is why the tastings are teamed with classic movies – so you can miss parts and not feel cheated.

beer tasting

There are other events as well. Eric, the owner of Studio 35 appears to have some green leanings. The theater has served at a hub of for environmentally proactive documentaries such as King Corn. Other movies have included premiere’s by local film makers, The Rocky Horror Picture Show, The Three Amigos (as the finale of a Taco Truck Tour) and more. Studio 35 hosts showings of soccer matches and OSU football games. Another special event that can not be scheduled is an encounter with a ghost. Legend has it that the theater is haunted……

Standard movie food is offered at the counter as well as pizza from Clintonville Pizza a few feet down the street. Homemade cupcakes and other goodies also make an appearance but sell out quickly. There is a small bar between the counter and the theater with a few stools and booths as well as a large flat screen TV snyched with the main screen. This spot serves as a nice place to have a conversation without disturbing other moviewatchers.

clintonville pizza

That is my preview of what Studio 35 has to offer. Drop in and partake in the features I mentioned so you will see what the attraction is. I know this sounds like an ad however this post was inspired by a friend of mine that was frustrated that more people were not on board with all of the cool things (Zombie Walk) that Studio 35 supports and sponsors. Slide into the studio, have a beer, watch the show du jour and bring a friend.

Studio 35
3055 Indianola Avenue
Clintonville
614.262.7505

Posted in beer, Clintonville, events | Tagged: | 2 Comments »

When Worlds Don’t Collide: Taco Trucks Columbus and Columbus Alive

Posted by CMH Gourmand on April 22, 2010

Quesadilla and tacos at Taco Nazo

The Taco Trucks Columbus team recently spent a weekend taco trucking with G.A. Benton, Becky Zimmer and Jodie Miller from Columbus Alive. We had a great time together eating tacos, tortas, tostadas and more at six of the best street food vendors in Columbus. It is always a pleasure to introduce someone to a new taco truck experience but it is even better when the people you are with already “get it” and do not need to be coaxed, encouraged or begged to step outside their culinary comfort zones. The Alive crew are experienced eaters who were more than glad to engage in exploration with us.

Jodie and Becky at our third stop

At Don Pedros, order of operations: Photograph Panbazo, Eat Panbazo

It was also rewarding to step back from the experience at times. There are some activities that are inherent to food writing, including: taking a lot of photos before the eating ensues, ordering as many items as possible to share so a menu can be explored in depth, endless questions for our cooks and hosts, telling stories of restaurant adventures past and present and the eventual breaking point when you try one taco too many. This is not a venture for the wary, inexperienced or the non-committed. Having a group of experiential food explorers on the team was fun. It brought back memories of the first weekends of exploration when Taco Trucks Columbus was born in 2009. I had forgotten what it was like to hit three or more trucks in an afternoon. While sharing our stories with GA Benton I was able to relive some of the best days of the past year. We were also able to introduce our Alive colleagues to Quicho, Lydia, Grace and other friends we have made during our taco traipsing. Food brings people together like a melting pot and it can coax people with different opinions and experiences to the same table.

before......

...after

There is some talk of bad blood between newspapers and bloggers or a war between print and electronic media. In my experience that is not the case in the capital city. We may use different media but our aims and means are the same. Our joint mission is to educate people inside and outside of 270 about the incredible diversity and quality of food Columbus has to offer. This is not propaganda we are prophesying, this gospel is true and we want all of you to believe it. In the case of taco trucks, we have had a hand from The Dispatch, Fox 28, Channel 6, The Big Bass Brothers, and others – we might not be on the same team, but we play the same game and we observe good sportsmenship in the process.

The article about our adventures should be in Columbus Alive on April 29th. If you want to share in the taco tour experience, join us on April 24th for a tour of the best of west side.

The Latino population of Columbus is expected to reach 10% in the 2010 census. Their culture and cuisine adds to the richness of our community. Columbus has about thirty taco trucks at the present compared to zero in Cleveland, a handful of Gringo/fake out Taco Trucks in Cincinnati and few, if any, in the rest of the Midwest. These mobile food vendors are uniquely concentrated in the capital city which shows the diversity and depth of cuisine our city has to offer to visitors and residents. Come join the team.

al pastor y pina a la Los Guachos

Posted in Columbus, culinary knowledge, events, tour | Tagged: , , | 3 Comments »

Creating a Clintonville Cocktail

Posted by CMH Gourmand on April 20, 2010

O'Reilly's - where dreams are born....

O’Reilly’s serves as the Sorbonne of Clintonville. It is the domain of muses, great ideas and grand schemes.

The evening started innocently as mine often do. I was at O’Reilly’s. I was consuming my first ever Irish Carbomb (a pint of Guinness with Bailey’s Irish Cream and a shot of whiskey). The dropped shot starts an explosion in the pint glass and therefore must be doused quickly. I can’t say the description of having to chug curdled alcohol was a selling point, but since I had never done this…I had to do it. I survived.

Afterwards, the bartender mentioned that she preferred Guinness with a shot of espresso vodka poured into it. I am not a Guinness fan so anything to make it more appealing will be pursued. Since I was already in an experimental mood, I ordered one of those. It was awesome. It had a milkshake quality to it which highlights the best of Guinness, the best of espresso and the best of vodka. When I left four hours later I had forgotten my find.

I returned a few weeks later and immediately remembered my new found friend. When I asked I about it, I was told the drink had no name. As I was drinking it, I started to think about beershakes that I sometimes make. Then I started twittering about the type of beershake I would make inspired by this O’Reilly’s concoction. There seemed to be a buzz about my buzz inspired creation.

The next day I acquired my supplies. I picked up two pints of Denise’s ice cream – Espresso Chip and Coffee Oreo. I then purchased a six pack of Guinness and a bottle of espresso vodka. At the check out line, the clerk noticed my odd array of items and asked what I had on my agenda. I explained my beershake concept to him. It appears that Kroger offers good customer service training, because the clerk said “I guess you would have to taste that to appreciate it” while his face was saying “what type of freaks do we let shop here now”. I was thinking “dude, you would be lucky to have a friend that would have the vision to create a beershake for you.”

This is the final version of an O’Reilly’s inspired beverage.

One scoop of Denise’s espresso chip ice cream
Guinness stout poured to the height of the ice cream
Pour in espresso vodka to taste
Blend, Pour, Drink. Repeat until supplies are exhausted. Don’t use twitter during this process.

So with all of this said and done, there is a point to this story. Columbus has long been in search of an identity. Other cities have distinctive foods that are part of their mystique and add moxie to their menus. New York has Reubens and hot dogs; Chicago has deep dish pizza, Italian beef sandwiches and hot dogs; Philadelphia has Philly cheesesteaks. You get my drift. Columbus might never have a culinary calling card, but maybe Clintonville can.

This beershake was inspired at a Clintonville bar and uses Clintonville-churned ice cream. The concoction needs a name. What do you think it should be?

As for the Guinness and espresso vodka combo, that does not have a name either. Drop into O’Reilly’s, try this enhanced Guiness with a pepper burger then ponder on a good name over a game of Galaga. Do this for O’Reilly’s, do it for Clintonville and we will see what comes from this inspiration.

Update: In the Ville we now call the beer and vodka combo a Clintonville Cocktail (CC) and the version with ice cream the Clintonville Cocktail Royale (CCR).

Posted in Clintonville, culinary misadventure | 4 Comments »

« Previous Entries
Next Entries »