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

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 course 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 foodie 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

A Burp in Food Content - Jim on a Soapbox. Columbus Rocks!!

And now for something completely different. Man can not live by bread (and sandwiches, and ice cream, and…). For this post, I am all about the CMH (Columbus) and not so much the Gourmand.

I love Columbus. I am not sure when this happened. I have never been anti–Columbus but I had my eye on other places. I also, as my friends can attest, I made a run at being a fulltime Australian. I have been here all my life. Our city impresses me with potential. I think our fair city has a lot to offer anyone. And I think we are going to see some of this potential blossom sooner instead of later. I am excited about things other than eating….and that does not happen often.

Columbus is hip, in a tech-sexy kind of way.

The Columbus Social Media Café
http://socialmediacafe.wordpress.com

Check out the blog; stay tuned for little leaps and bounds of greatness from this group. I have been a member since the first meeting. I always leave excited about what we can do. This group wants and needs more of you to add your two cents and two hands to grow this group. The object is to use Social Media (blogs, podcasts, Flickr groups, etc.) as a means of connecting the people of Columbus with information and each other. This is also a means to let people outside of 270 know about the greatness within. There is a social component to this group too. The Beer Wench is a member and we have become partners in crime for many food related events. Jeff from the blog UrbaninFill recently joined me for a Podcast adventure on the OSU campus.

PodcampOhio
www.podcampohio.com
I will let the website do the talking on this one. Podcamp is a great learning opportunity for everyone be you a computer geek or technophobe. People are traveling from throughout the state and the region to be here. We are lucky this event landed in Columbus. The guy to thank for this is Angelo Mandato. Thanks!

TechColumbus
http://www.techcolumbus.org
Another organization we are lucky to have in Columbus. This place plants the seeds for technology start-ups. What an incredible resource to have literally at our fingertips.

Start Up Weekend July 17th and 18th
http://startupweekend.com
At the end of this weekend, some people in Columbus will have created several viable, sustainable businesses with the help of like-minded peers and business experts – and probably a lot of coffee. The power of social media got the startup weekend here and will keep it thriving after the Start Up Weekend is finished. A post on Columbus Underground helped drive in the votes needed for Columbus to win out over many other cities.

Columbus Underground
http://www.columbusunderground.com/phpBB2/portal.php

Thanks Walker Evans for creating and maintaining this hub of hipness and great information. If there is something going on in Columbus, it will be on this site, with regulars posting their well reasoned opinions on everything from streetcars, to the best new restaurant or just who wants to meet up for a drink. This is another example of the power of social media. It is not about e-mails – it is about action and connecting likeminded people. Some members of the group decided to meet up at the Warehouse Café downtown on Saturdays to support weekend business downtown. A few posts built a cadre of regulars. Now, each Saturday sees up to 30 people pass through the doors to support an independent business and build some friendships. In the past four months several people in this group have become really good friends of mine. We have a Kickball team, dine out events, beer tastings, survived a Dagwood Eating contest; we did a cleanup on a bike trail and are a defacto support group for a bastion of streetcar evangelists.

Now some no tech stuff that is cool.

Streetcars
http://columbus-streetcars.com

When we build it, they will ride. Come on Columbus. Streetcars are not intended to solve our public transportation problem. This is a first step, a baby step really. Sometimes in the life, or the life of a city, you have to start with what you have – not what would be perfect or meet everyone needs all at once. If you wait for the right time, the right time never comes. You have to make things happen and this is the time to make streetcars a reality.

Comfest
www.comfest.com

If you have never been - go. I am starting the countdown to my shift at the wine booth.

GO COLUMBUS! Back to food bloging. I now return you to your regularly scheduled CMH Gourmand – already in progress.