CMH Gourmand

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

cmhgourmand — Sun, 11 May 2008 16:13:39 +0000

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!!

cmhgourmand — Tue, 06 May 2008 02:07:51 +0000

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.

Pattycake Vegan Bakery-no eggs, no butter, no worries (High Street Bakery Hop, Stop #2)

cmhgourmand — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 02:31:25 +0000

Pattycake Vegan Bakery

3009 N. High St

Clintonville

614.784.2253

Hours
Mon-Fri: 8-6
Sat: 9-5
Sun: 11-4
Pattycake website

Jenny Scheinbach’s vegan treats can be found at Clintonville Community Market, Bexley Natural Market, Cup O Joe, Staufs, Weilands Market, Yeah Me Too and other local hot spots. As the popularity of her baked goodies blossomed she decided to open her own location in Clintonville.

Vegan baking means no milk, no eggs, and no butter. To the typical baker this could seem to be a challenge or curse. How do you take these ingredients out and still make something that tastes good and looks appealing? Jenny figured out how to create good vegan baked goods and she does it well (with some trial and error along the way).

She switches cows milk with soy milk, eggs with tofu, non hydrogenated margarine replaces butter, whole wheat flour is used when possible and so on.

There are many Pattycake selections to choose from. My favorite is the Tollhouse Cookie - I can not tell the difference between vegan and non vegan baking on this one. By telling myself that the cookie is healthy - I get to eat more.

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

cmhgourmand — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 20:26:30 +0000

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.

A Tale of Two Tastings - Hills Market and Tip Top

cmhgourmand — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 00:39:57 +0000

Hills Market had a British Beer and Cheese tasting on April 17th. The turnout was smaller than I expected, only eight souls, but we had a fabulous time. Kent Rand walked us through the cheeses and Constance Begue covered the background of the beers we sampled. Kent did a wonderful job creating appetizers to complement the beer and cheeses.

This is what we sampled:

All the beers were Ales.

Beer: Smithwick’s Irish Ale (Ireland)
Cheese: Blarney Castle (Ireland – semi-soft, park skim milk)
Appetizer: Melon balls wrapped with Blarney castle cheese and a dusting of pistachio nuts

Beer: Samuel Smith Organically Produced Ale (England)
Cheese: Cotswold (England - semi firm cheddar)
Appetizer: Flour tortilla with mayo, spinach, Cotswold cheese, roasted red pepper and grilled chicken breast

Beer: St. Peter’s Golden Ale (Wales)
Cheese: Red Dragon (England - Cheddar blended with toasted mustard seed and a bit of ale)
Appetizer: Brioche with mesclun, red dragon cheese, roast beef and a drizzle of horseradish

Beer: Black Douglas Ale (Ireland)
Cheese: Dubliner (Ireland – aged semi-firm)
Appetizer: endive leaf wrapped with ripe pear, Dubliner cheese, thyme, lemon zest, olive oil, salt and pepper

Beer: Fuller’s Extra Strong Bitter (England)
Cheese: Stinking Bishop (England – soft English stinky cheese)
Appetizer: a wafer-sized slice of fig almond cake with Stinking Bishop cheese and dried cranberries

Beer: Kelpie Seaweed Ale (Scotland)
Cheese: Shropshire Blue (England – aged Stilton)
Appetizer: baby portabella mushroom caps stuffed with Shropshire Blue cheese, tomato bruschetta and Panko bread crumbs

This is what you missed, make sure to give at least one of the Hills tastings a try in the future.

May 29, 2008 - Wines & Cheese from Spain 6.30 p.m.

June 26, 2008 - Wines & Cheeses from Greece 6.30 p.m.

July 24, 2008 - Wines & Cheeses from Italy 6.30 p.m.

August 21, 2008 - Wines & Cheeses from Australia 6.30 p.m.

September 25, 2008 - Wines & Cheeses from France 6.30 p.m.

October 23, 2008 - Octoberfest: Beers & Cheeses 6.30 p.m.

Tip Top Kitchen and Cocktails partnered with the Columbus Beer Wench for the first Tip Top Drink with the Wench Beer Sampling on Sunday, April 20th from 5pm until 8pm. The sampling included beer, and generous helpings of Ohio Nachos (housemade potato chips topped with melted cheese, tomatoes, green onions, black olives, jalapenos, and sour cream), Sweet Potato Fries and Red Bean Hummus.

We sampled six different beers, three from the Tip Top menu and three candidates for new beers to update the menu. Each person had the opportunity to vote on which of the current beers should be discontinued and which of the new beers should be added to the Tip Top beer selections. Beers chosen by the group will be featured as local selections. The end result, two old beers stayed and one new beer was added.

The Columbus Beer Wench coordinated the pours and poured on the commentary with a touch of charm. Tim Lessner, co-owner keep the food coming and added some Surly Girl insight. Andy Wuelfling from Premium Beverage Supply gave us insider information on each of the beers and clarifed that in the industry - there are two schools of thought on just about anything so the end result is essentially - if you like it, it is good.

Here is what we tried.
Southern Tier - HopSun (my favorite)
Lagunitas - The Censored - (formerly Chronic) Cooper Ale

Flying Dog - Old Scratch Amber Lager
Flying Dog - Garde Dog (Biere de Garde)
Southern Tier - Phin and Matt’s (the owners) extraordinary ale
Ft. Collins Brewery - Retro Red

The bolded selections were the winners.

So - as I often say, if you can not find something to do in Columbus - you are not looking.

Delicacies by Sheri - (High Street Bakery Hop, Stop #1)

cmhgourmand — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 12:39:37 +0000

5320 North High St
Columbus, OH 43214
614.431.2800

website

This is the type of place a person drives by each day and it just falls off the radar. I passed by this business twice a day during the work week for years and never dropped in. Due to the screens on the windows, the place usually looks closed and the parking lot is not ideally accessible. Every once in a while I would think I should pop in but I never acted, it was not convenient. However, fate intervened, the weekend before Thankgiving, I strategically picked up two pies from Just Pies; pumpkin and pecan. Try getting a good pie the last couple days before Turkeyfest - it is damn hard. Fun to watch but demoralizing to live through. I had learned the hard way in the past so I was not going to get pie in my face again. I got my pies before the crazed last minute rush.

I let my dad house sit for me that weekend. I came home Sunday evening to find one empty shell of a pumpkin pie in my refrigerator…. my dad said it was great! I knew I was screwed. I was a day late and a pie short

The following Tuesday, I remembered Delicacies by Sheri - it was worth a shot!. When I burst in at closing time, they had two pies left - no pumpkin pies but a very good looking cherry crumb pie. As I waited for my selection to get boxed up, I picked out a few cookies and read an older article about Sheri’s Grandma B’s Peanut Cookie. Things looked promising and if not - at least I had something. The peanut cookie was great. The cherry crumb pie was a 9.8 on the Pie Goodness Scale (PGS). I now drop in from time to time to sample new cookies. They mix up their mix of cookies frequently so you never know what they will have. They rarely have much else available on the fly - everything is made from scratch and usually on request. They will stock a few pies and other things before big holidays for walk in traffic - which they would love to see more of. However, they make their bread and butter on specialty cakes. I have not tried one yet - that is another post.

Quadruple Hamburger - Circleville Roadtrip, Part 1

cmhgourmand — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 22:17:43 +0000

The Original Hamburger Inn
125 Watt Street
Circleville, Ohio
740 747 1233
Closed Sunday

I heard about the Original Hamburger Inn in Circleville for a couple years. I was passing through town one afternoon while coming back to Columbus after doing some work for “the man”. I popped in for a quick hamburger and found it to be very tasty. While I was there I noticed a little sign titled Josh Dares You. I am all about dares - they typically get me into a lot of trouble.

In case you can not read the bottom line - it says - Don’t be a pansy, no sharing please!

As it turns out, for $10, Josh dares you to eat a quadruple hamburger - with cheese if you like, unlimited fries and free refills on Pepsi. Um….duh, how could I not want to do that - it is a bargain. I was determined to come back and get my ten dollars worth.

A few weeks later I was back with two friends in tow. The Quadruple hamburger was really good and not so big as to cause illness. There is no way Josh is making any money on this ten dollar steal. Josh is the owner, he dropped by about every 5 minutes refilling my fries. There was almost a sense of panic if my beverage was less than 3/4 full. My non foodie friend Chris had a quad burger as well and thought it was great.

Josh reports that the “Josh Challenge” is popular on the weekends, 3-6 people will come in for the dare and most usually finish their burger. During the Circleville Pumpkin Festival 10 or more quadruple burgers are ordered each day. The most memorable consumption was two quadruple burgers, a load of fries and a piece of pie by an out of town visitor during a past Pumpkin Festival. There are also Pumpkin Burgers for the festival. Really!

The Original Hamburger Inn has been around since 1930. Josh has owned and operated it with his family for about 6 years. It is a Circleville local landmark and worth the drive for the experience of eating in a small town eatery where everyone knows everyone by name. This would be a good summer or fall adventure. Circleville is about 30 minutes from Columbus depending on where you hail from. There are several farmers markets along Route 23 you can check out on your way there or back to mix up the drive.

Josh dares you, so do I - hit the road and get that hamburger.

Wittich’s - Amercia’s Oldest Confectioner? - Circleville Roadtrip Part 2

cmhgourmand — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 22:15:23 +0000

Wittich’s

117 West High Street

Circleville, OH

740 474 3313

After my run to the Original Hamburger Inn, I drove a block or so to the northwest for a visit to what may be the nations oldest confectionary - Wittich’s. This chocolate and candy shop has been operated by the same family since 1840. It is currently run by Fred Wittich the great grandson of the founder. I did some quick research on confectionaries in the country. I am not sure it is the oldest - but it probably is the oldest run by the same family (I am still researching this).

My party sampled the candy selections with a venegence and found all to be very good. I really enjoyed the dark chocolate covered peanut brittle. Wittich’s is overflowing with character, charm and history - I felt good walking through the door and those feelings just continued to get better.

What really caught my eye was the 1930’s era soda fountain/counter. Some people know that I am an ice cream lover. One or two people know my first job was at Knight’s Ice Cream in Columbus and because of that I am a big fan of ice cream lore. There are just a handful operating of soda fountains in the country and I had accidently stumbled upon one.

As I sat there on one of the twirling counter seats, I was thinking of memories of a soda fountain in the the part of Columbus I grew up in. At about that moment, a small sign caught my eye. It explained the soda fountain I was sitting at was purchased from the former Beechwold Pharmacy in 1997. Guess where I used to go as a child….. yep!

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

cmhgourmand — Sun, 30 Mar 2008 16:38:56 +0000

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.

Beer and Cheese - The New Peanut Butter and Chocolate!

cmhgourmand — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 02:10:01 +0000

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.

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?