Banana Bean Brunch Buzz

This review is long overdue.

Banana Bean Cafe
410 E. Whittier Street
German Village / Schumacher Place
614.443.2262

Banana Bean Cafe

 

Closed Monday
Tuesday - Friday
Lunch 11:00 am - 2:30 pm
Dinner 5:30 pm - 8:00 pm
Saturday & Sunday
Breakfast/Brunch/Lunch 9 am - 3 pm

(Reservations strongly suggested)

 

 

This cozy, low-key café has quickly became a favorite destination for breakfast, brunch, lunch and dinner in spite of a slightly off the beaten path location and scaled down hours of service. Banana Bean’s menu is a funky fusion of Floribbean flavors combining the cuisines of Cuba, Jamaica, the Caribbean and Key West. Peachy terra cotta style walls, a Conch Republic flag and a live TV feed from the Hogs Breath Tavern, an infamous Key West fixture, fuse with other fun elements to establish an atmosphere that transports diners far south of Interstate 70.

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. 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.

Since the majority of the menu is available all day, it is agonizing to decide among the eclectic choices but one “Bruncher” item is a must any time, even as a default desert. 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.

 

 

The crepes can be a meal or a dessert, or whatever - again the is the perfect place for the undecided - since many elements of the menu are interchangable.

 

 

The hours and the size of the cafe can sometimes be a challenge - but it is worth the wait if there is one. The service is top notch and friendly. The Bean is a must visit and probably one of the best Columbus has to offer for casual cuisine.

Funky Fact: The Patina of Key West??

Patina, that’s what the sign says, I looked up patina and googled it but could not get a precise answer, so I e-mailed the owners.

what the owners say -
“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…

What you need to know….

You won’t get wasted away in Margaritaville here – there is no alcohol available on the menu.

Vegetarian Monte Cristo

A version of this appears in C-Bus Magazine.

Short North Secrets

The Short North has a lot going on all the time. It might seem inaccessible or even too cool for some people. Such is not the case. Here are a few tidbits that might improve your Short North experience.

Beat the crowds and find a convenient parking space

The best days to hit the Short North are Sunday and Tuesday. Sunday promises free parking meters and some decent chances at finding an easy parking spot. A few places might be closed or open later in the day - but for the most part all of the Short North is open to you. Tuesday nights are basically dead - you can hit almost any restaurant in the area without reservations or a long wait. In the restaurant biz - the freshest food day is often Tuesday - after Monday deliveries.  The main challenge is finding a place for lunch on a Saturday - (Betty’s and Rigsby’s will cover you.)  And another time - Short North on an OSU game day…. better odds for an open table.  

Two Tuesday night special spots

The Rossi

 

895 North High Street

614.299.2810

This is the closest to true NY style pizza I have found in town. The toppings are top notch. The bottom crust is thin and might collapse on you if you do not do the classic NY fold before your first bite. The end crust is slightly crisp and chewy - perfect. The Rossi is more bar than restaurant, but this means you can get quick service if you hit this spot late on a weeknight, especially after 9 PM on a Tuesday. Mix in a mojito and you have a perfect night for $20.

Rosendales

793 North High Street

Columbus, OH 43215

614.298.1601

Richard Rosendale is a culinary star. He has been a chef in some of the finest kitchens in Europe and the United States. He is team captain of the 2008 US Culinary Olympic Team. He has won over 40 national and international culinary medals. He was named 2005 Chef of the Year. And, he opened his first restaurant ever, in Columbus. Good call Richard! If you want to sample the food and the atmosphere on the fly - slink into the bar on a Tuesday or Wednesday night around 8:00 PM and try out the bar menu. Lamb Slyders and fries…not bad.

Matt, the man behind the bar at Rosendales, also has some good beer tastings in the works. One will be on October 25th at 7 PM - with a tasting of 30 American Microbrews with some light appetizers. This one does require a reservation. Cost is $30.

A shout out for Saveur… Chicago my kind of town

Saveur Magazine devoted the October issue to the cuisine of Chicago - from high end haunts to out of the way deep dish pizza joints, places for jibarito’s (a little hillbilly sandwich) and a bit of sleuthing on Mother in Law sandwiches, this entire issue made my mouth water and my heart long for Chicago. I usually don’t pay much attention to the magazine but the cover had me at Chicago and I was enamored enough to take drastic action to get it.

Here is a taste of the issue for you - savor this sample of Saveur.

October Issue of Saveur - Chicago

Columbus Brewing Company - Something old, something new, something bottled, something brewed

Columbus Brewing Company (CBC)
525 Short Street
Brewery District
614.464.2739 (Brew)

Web site

Lunch:
Monday - Friday
11:00 AM - 4:00 PM

Dinner:
Monday - Thursday
4:00 PM - 10:00 PM
Friday
4:00 PM - 11:00 PM
Saturday
5:00 PM - 11:00 PM

CBC (Columbus Brewing Company) used to be a CMR (Cameron Mitchell Restaurant) until manager Doug Griggs and brewmaster Mike Campbell bought the restaurant from their boss early in 2007. Both owners remain actively involved in daily operations, Doug minds the menu and Mike tends the taps.

The establishment has a ten-year history and a loyal following but ongoing creative changes should only encourage more people to flock to his hard to find nugget in the Brewery District. CBC did some recipe spring cleaning, keeping and tweaking some old favorites while adding sixteen new specialties. One hot new entrée is Fresh Saffron Linguini, a combination of jumbo shrimp, crawfish, spinach, diced tomato, white clam sauce and parmesan draped over a bed of linguini from local specialty shop, Pasta Ditoni’s (?).

Other mouth-watering features include Pecan Crusted Sea Scallops and Cuban Roasted Chicken - not what you would expect from a brewing house.

A perfect finish to a fine meal is the Baby Key Lime Pie – a small but tall tower of thick graham cracker crust, key lime filling, raspberry coulis and raspberry whipped cream with a shaving of lime on top – a bargain at $4.75.

Jaime, the head bartender, mixed things up at the bar with new drink recipes such as the Espresso Martini (Van Gogh double espresso vodka, Kahlua Especial, and Baileys) and The CBC Cosmo (Pineapple Finlandia vodka, Cointreau, cranberry juice and hand squeezed lime juice). These concoctions serve as tempting competition for the in house brews.

There are some subtle changes in the décor as well. A few new colors and some wrought iron wrestled away from the original design create an atmosphere of rustic lodge lounge meets retro swanky chic.

The hand crafted house ales have not changed. This taster’s choice for the total brewhouse experience is the CBC Tasting Flight, a serving of the six house beers and the seasonal special in three ounce glasses. (The selections are Columbus Ohio Honey Wheat, Columbus Apricot Ale, Columbus Pale Ale, Columbus 90 Schilling, Columbus 1859 Porter and Columbus IPA. Until late October, the seasonal selection is Keller beer, (an unfiltered German Lager). The price is still right for this sampling, at $4.75

This fresh and original version of CBC is well on track to be a dining destination for customers old and new. There are at least two more reasons to be at CBC. Pizza and a Pint Nights (for $10) are Monday through Thursday. If you can be on call for something on tap, sign up at the CBC website, you will receive a few days notice for the tapping of the first keg of seasonal beer. Freshly brewed beer and free samples of food from 6 to 7 PM create a more convivial and classy atmosphere than a college keger.

Side Notes

Strange coincidence or cool quirk of fate?
Doug Griggs and Mike Campbell worked together for some time before buying CBC. When they were closing on the purchase, they learned something new about each other – they both have the same birthday – October 30th. Hmm, might be a good night to drop by CBC.

Blast from the culinary past
Sous Chef Brian Cook is a now a vegetarian – but that does not stop him from cooking up some excellent carnivorous and fishatarian dishes. Columbus gastronauts often lament the demise of Ricky Barnes’s Galaxy Café from the 1990’s. Brian was a Galaxy veteran so the Cuban, Tex-Mex fusion flavors and over the top technique from the Galaxy era do show up in some of the new CBC creations, expect more additions with the change of each season.

A version of this appears in C-Bus Magazine