I would be completely remiss if I spent the entire month of May eating locally and not talking about Alana. Combined with my background, I owe a lot of my ideas about eating locally to Alana, who is the queen of sourcing fabulous local ingredients and encouraging farmers to produce new things just for her. When interviewing Alana for an article I wrote a few months ago, she was busy selecting heirloom seeds for a farmer to grow on her behalf. Alana brought us the hugely successful Harvest Dinner, which I wrote about last October. Steve Edmonds, of Edmonds St. John wines, has often compared Alana to the early Alice Waters (even down to the, er, spicy personality), and he should know, having lived and produced wine in Berkeley for years.
I even chose my CSA subscription because Elizabeth Telling Farm has supplied Alana with ingredients. All of this being said, we didn't have an entirely local dinner there last night, but I know if I would have called ahead and asked for a local-only degustation, I would have been happily obliged.
First up, totally un-local, the wine. We went with the idea of having the very nice Ohio 
River produced Kinkead Ridge Viognier/Roussanne blend, but we seem to be currently awaiting the new vintage. (Just for the record, Alana's has the Cabernet right now, but we were in a white wine mood.) So, we decided to go for France (didn't I list wine as one of my Eat Local exemptions? No? Well, certainly I meant to. . .). Here's Husband for the wine redux: Savennières Les Clos Sacrés from Chateau de la Roche aux Moins. The wines from this estate share the spotlight with their eccentric and outspoken proprietor/winemaker Nicolas Joly. Joly is a practitioner of the quasi-mystical agricultural system known as biodynamics. In addition to being strictly organic, biodynamicism aims to build and maintain the "life force" of the vine and the wine. Joly has been quoted as saying that "There is an enormous wisdom in the shape of a barrel...the barrel is in the shape of an egg, and has the shape of life forces." Despite its quirks, the system seems to work, and some of the world's finest estates are using it...but, the wine itself. Savennieres is located at the western end of the central Loire Valley, and the finest vineyards hug steep hills at the edge of the river. Here, Chenin Blanc reigns supreme and the wines ally richness and mouthfeel with great acidity. This richness and acidity combined with a transparent structure makes the wine compatible with a wide variety of foods.
Thanks, Husband, now back to the food . . . The "fabulous amuse du jour" was a Bloody Mary Scallop, happily presented old school style with an olive-topped toothpick:
Next up, classic Angus beef tartare with brioche toast points. The tartare was very nicely 
balanced; the richness of the beef tempered with capers and shallots. Even with the addition of horseradish aioli, Husband and I were impressed that the overall effect was actually very light. Nicely toasted brioche points were along for dipping, and an ethereally light Parmesan wafer topped off the whole dish. As far as raw beef goes, Husband and I are usually carpaccio people, but agreed this was definitely a winner.
Any time Alana does dips, we have to order them. We had some last week and were happy to see they made a reappearance on this week's menu, plus one. This week's selection, front to back, included fava bean hummus (my favorite, I heart fava beans), baba ganouj (Husband's favorite, and he doesn't typically like it, but loves Alana's), sometime like tzaziki whose name I can never remember, but a yogurt-based dip with cucumbers that ends in "salata," and lastly, a deliciously salty feta and sun-dried tomato, all topped with rocket-hot chile pepper cured olives and toasted pita points.
Next up, beet stack! Husband and I are both hands-down beet lovers, and can never 
understand our beet-hating friends. Beets are one of the few things I think go really well with oranges, and happily these were paired with them, along with a scattering of toasted pistachios and feta cheese. The menu listed buckwheat sprouts, which made me nervous because I do not really like buckwheat, but with the plate arrived the sprouts were more microgreens, where I had been picturing something like a mung bean sprout.
Lastly, tasty mesclun salad topped with fava beans (truly, I would order anything that included fava beans), speck (shaved bacon), cauliflower, carrot noodles and sweet onions, all in a "provocative herbaceous vinaigrette." I forgot to wait to take a picture, so you're seeing an already tucked-into plate. The perfect way to end the meal. Truth be told, we really ended the meal with rhubarb-filled crepes (I'll also order anything with rhubarb - someone has to make sure people continue to grow it) served with strawberry buttermilk ice cream from Jeni's Ice Cream, all topped with a nice caramel sauce; my perfect dessert, not too sweet or rich. Alas, it was dark by the time we got around to dessert and, although I had my tripod with me and could have taken a picture, I totally forgot. I confess.
So, anyone in the Columbus area, if you are interested in eating locally, visit Alana's. I realize we didn't have the most locally-produced meal on the planet, but as the season progresses, you can look forward to many local meals, including two of my favorites: fried green tomatoes and the study of Ohio tomatoes.
Info: Alana's Food & Wine 2333 N. High St in Columbus (North Campus) 614.294.6783
