Chef-owner Nadira Abdirahman dishes up
fare with African and Middle Eastern influences at Solay Bistro in Columbus,
Ohio.
The link with more information is here
When
considering a getaway that's focused on eating great local food, certain cities
spring to mind -- New Orleans, San Francisco, Santa Fe, Columbus…
Columbus? As in Ohio? As in HQ of White Castle, Max and Erma's and Bob Evans?
Yes,
that Columbus.
I was there for a conference recently and had a chance to sample its vibrant
culinary scene. From an innovative, multi-course pairing of food and cocktails
at the elegant
M at
Miranova downtown, to spicy tacos
campechanos dispensed from the
Taco
Nazo food truck parked behind a pawn shop on the north side, my visit was
both eye-opening and mouth-watering.
There's a bustling food-truck scene, including 40-plus taco trucks alone. A
hundred or so others dish out fare ranging from Korean hodduk (hot griddle cakes
stuffed with walnuts, sugar and cinnamon) to duck confit salad.
I wasn't the only visitor who registered surprise and the range and quality
of local offerings. At an event at the city's lovely Franklin Park Conservatory,
a food and wine writer for a national magazine proclaimed the organic yak burger
topped with bacon, fried egg, havarti and sundried tomatoes the best burger he'd
ever eaten. The burger came courtesy of The Coop food truck, which was making a
special appearance at the event.
A James Beard Award-winning columnist for a national news weekly raved about
the yakitori lovingly grilled over imported Japanese Bincho-tan charcoal at
Double Happiness in the
Brewery District. (The resulting smoke in the upstairs restroom of this hip
hole-in-the-wall was so thick you'd call the fire department if you didn't know
better.)
"We're a great city for subverting expectations," says Andy Dehus, co-owner
of
Columbus Food
Adventures. He and partner Bethia Woolf (who also writes a
blog about the city's taco
trucks) offer six different guided food tours.
Matt Barbee, owner of Rockmill Brewery in
nearby Lancaster, brews Belgian-style beers designed to be paired with food.
Fun
fact: 1 in 10 Columbus residents was born outside the USA. It's the diversity,
not white-bread homogeneity, that make the area a popular test market, Dehus
says. "There's a high degree of food literacy here. People are willing to try
new things."
So am I. And because food tours are a great way to explore lesser-known parts
of a locale, I joined Duhus and Woolf on one of theirs.
We headed off to the city's north side to a seen-better-days strip mall.
There, sandwiched between a Laundromat and a Dollar General is Salam Market
& Bakery. The morning ritual at this Palestinian-owned establishment
involves baking savory pies – cheese and falafel, spicy chicken and za'atar.
They're pillowy half moons of heaven. And at $1.50 to $2, cheaper than a
fast-food breakfast. (Go early. They typically sell out by noon.)
Next stop was Mi Li Café, which, Dehus proclaims, sells the best Banh Mi
(Vietnamese subs) in town. Each grilled pork, carrot, cilantro and jalapeno
concoction is carefully assembled by the café's owner on a warm, chewy
baguette.
Then it was off to
Solay
Bistro, an attractive Somali restaurant, also in the area. (Columbus has the
nation's second largest Somali population. Consequently, there are a lot of West
African restaurants.) Somali dishes have Ethiopian and Middle Eastern
influences, with a dash of Italian. There, we sampled sambusa (meat-filled
tarts), fragrant lentils, and Somali-style bread pudding with a turmeric-spiced
sauce.
Innovations are occurring on the spirits front, too. At
Middle West Spirits
in the downtown Short North neighborhood, they're distilling unfiltered
"character" vodkas and an all-wheat whiskey.
Next door,
Brothers
Drake Meadery & Bar dispenses five types of the honey-based drink that
hasn't seen a heyday since the Renaissance.
In Lancaster, 25 minutes outside the city, the
Rockmill Brewery
occupies a bucolic space near the headwaters of the Hocking River. There's a
new tasting room in a charmingly converted horse barn. Or bring a picnic to
enjoy by the pond. Brew master Matt Barbee's Belgian-style beers are meant to
paired with food – prosciutto, cheese, even chocolate.
"Wine and cheese is like arm wrestling," he says. "But beer and cheese is
more like holding hands. It's smoother."
Have you happened upon an interesting food scene in an unexpected place?
