Restaurant Widow

Attention Farmers Who Need Websites

Dear Farmers - if you need a website which is easy for you to update but you don't have the time or energy to do it, I am offering a few farmers my services for free.  I don't create earth-shattering websites, but for a few years now I have been wanting to provide this service. I can take pictures of the vegetables, fruits, and animals you offer, and we can also set up email newsletters if you would like.

I created this very basic mockup to give you an idea of what I could offer you.  If you are interested, please drop me an email to LisaTheWaitressATgmailDOTcom.

More Eating Locally Planning::Farmer's Markets

Finally! Spring is just around the corner (I know it's officially here, but you know what I mean).  Pretty soon the first greens will be showing up in the markets.  Before we know it, it will be next winter and we'll be whining about the snow and the cold and how there's nothing to eat but rutabagas.  Now is the time to prepare.  Each year, I try to list lots of ways you can eat locally.  

I know that for some people, going to the farm markets seems like a pain when you can just as easily go to the grocery store, but I assure you; once you are used to buying most of your food from Farm Markets, you won't know how or why you used to do it at a grocery store where you can't smell anything and the lighting's bad and the produce was picked underripe by an indentured servant so that it could be shipped from Chile in one piece.  

The farmers markets have everything you need - in fact, you can even buy flour and cornmeal at the markets!  Alas, no sugar, but honey and maple syrup galore!

So. Let's talk a little bit about the various markets in town, when they occur, what they offer, and where they are located. 

If I have left out a farmer's market, please let me know by leaving a comment! I don't want to leave anyone out!

Farmer's Markets by Part of Town
Downtown
Pearl Market, (Twitter) Pearl Alley between Gay & Broad Streets (map). Tuesdays & Fridays mid-May through October, 10:30am-2pm.  Pearl Market is a mix of farmers, flower vendors, food vendors, and merchandise vendors.  A good alternative to the usual lunch spots.  Read about a few of my visits there, including those amazing samosas!  
North Market Farmer's Market, 59 Spruce (map), Saturdays 8am with small start as early as April.  Very large market with pretty much everything you need. Can be crowded at times.
North
Worthington Farmer's Market, High St @ 161 in Olde Worthington (map). Saturday mornings May - October 9am - 1pm.  This is a very, very large market.  One of my favorites and a weekly visit.  Can occasionally be overwhelmingly crowded, but you can find just about anything there.
Clintonville Farmer's Market, High St @ Orchard, just north of N. Broadway (map).  Saturday mornings beginning May 23rd (buy plants on May 2nd) 9am-noon.  Another of my favorites; especially nice for those who want to buy a lot without walking too far or dealing with too many crowds.  Although this market can get crowded, most of the people at this market are there to shop, not stroll, and being Clintonvillers, everyone is very nice!  Special shout out for having lots of yummy Amish baked goods (amazing doughnuts).  Great variety in an accessible environment.
Powell Farmer's Market, 47 Hall St (map), Thursdays beginning June 11th, 3pm-6pm.  I haven't been to this market.  Powell is a quaint little town north of Columbus; it has lots of antique shops as well as a very good cupcakerie, Pink Moon Cupcakes.
NorthEast
Westerville Farm Market in Uptown Westerville, corner of E. State & N. Home (map), Wednesdays beginning May 6th, 3pm -6pm.  I haven't been to this market because I work on Wednesdays, but my friend Kelly goes and she likes it.
NorthWest
Upper Arlington Farm Market, Mallway & Arlington (map), Wednesdays beginning early June, 4pm-6pm.  I have not been to this market.
South
Grove City Farm Market, Broadway & Park (map), Saturdays beginning early July, times unknown.  I have not been to this market.

Cafe Corner

If there is one restaurant I've received the most suggestions and recommendations on, it's probably Cafe Corner.  Cafe Corner is located on 3rd Ave at Pennsylvania.  I think I might have been a little bitter because I used to live on Pennsylvania at 2nd and there was nothing in the neighborhood at the time.  I used to see that little boarded up building and think of what a great little coffee shop it would be.  So it's fitting that a few years after I moved out of Harrison West, Cafe Corner would open up.  Isn't that the way it goes?

At any rate, people are always telling me to go to Cafe Corner.  A few nights ago, I was waiting on my friend and reader SB and her husband, and they convinced me to go.  

Cafe Corner is just a wee spot, but well executed.  There is a large patio out front, and the space inside is crammed with tables nestled right up against the cashier.

The menu at Cafe Corner is a little overwhelming - if it's your first time, you might want to check out their online menu (Cafe Corner gets extra props from me for not putting their menu in pdf format).  The entire menu is made up of sandwiches; there are breakfast sandwiches (served all day); hot sandwiches, cold sandwiches, veggie sandwiches.  One the recommendation of SB, I ordered the truffled egg sandwichrom the breakfast menu. The sandwich contains eggs, sauteed mushrooms, truffle oil and local Swiss cheese on 9 grain bread.  The cheese on my sandwich looked curiously like American.  I don't care at all for American cheese, but also don't like wasting food, so I didn't ask for an exchange.  I have a feeling the sandwich would have been far better with the promised Swiss cheese, but as it was it was very nice.  I have to admit to being more fond of truffle salt than truffle oil - truffle oil is frequently far too cloying.  However, truffle salt is very expensive.  I balanced some of the truffle oil out with a little Frank's Red Hot (there's no shortage of various spicy condiments):

I decided to eat half of the egg sandwich and get another sandwich to go, so that I could try more than one.  I seem to remember that Walker Evans (of Columbus Underground fame) was hopelessly devoted to the bacon and avocado sandwich.  If there are two more perfect ingredients, I don't know what they are.  I love bacon, I love avocados, and I love sprouts.  This is from the cold sandwich menu, but the bread is toasted (I like all of my sandwich bread toasted, but then I'm weird like that).  Wow.  What a sandwich.  The salty bacon, the rich avocado (I like to think of avocado as the vegetable version of butter), peppery sprouts and sweet fig jam combine to create a very nicely balanced sandwiches.  There was the perfect amount of each ingredient and it was very tasty.  I will definitely have to revisit this one:

Today I happened past the Corner again whilst hungry, and the car just pulled right over (it's nice like that).  While I was tempted to have the bacon avocado again, I decided it was my responsibility to branch out and try something different.  What to choose? The Cuban? The 3rd & Penn? I was stymied.  In the end, I settled on the Prosciutto and Mozzarella.  This was another winner, but it did suffer from mealy wintertime tomatoes.  I would have also fancied one more slice of Proscuitto.  The balsamic dressing was nicely tart and soaked into the toasted bread and was a nice foil for the richer fresh mozzarella.  I ate half for lunch and the other half 8 hours later, at work, and it fared very well.  The bread wasn't soggy or anything:

Breakfast sandwiches are served solo, while the rest of the sandwiches come with your choice of chips or an apple.  I also bought a side of a very nice macaroni salad (I am something of a macaroni salad aficionado).  This salad was full of celery, onions, and carrots, and was very well balanced with a yummy and light coating of dijon(aise) sauce.  If it's pre-made, I'd love to know where it comes from:

Prices might seem a little high (they range from $6.95 - 9.95), but half is plenty for a meal for meal, and the other half makes a great snack while I am at work.  Also the ingredients are the good stuff, such as Boar's Head deli meats.

There is limited seating inside but a very spacious patio outside.  Go just before or after lunch to avoid crowds.  Service is pretty quick - I received all of my sandwiches in around 5-7 minutes; that being said, both times I visited it was around 1:30pm.

Cafe Corner has a great selection of beverages and serves coffee from Stauf's.  They are probably the only place in the city where one can purchase Maple Tree Distillate aside from the Clintonville famer's market!

I will certainly be putting Cafe Corner in my rotation of lunch spots.  Up next is the Cuban sandwich, upon recommendation of one of my twitter followers.

Cafe Corner delivers, but I am not sure what the delivery radius is.

Info: Cafe Corner 1105 Pennsylvania Ave (at 3rd Ave) 614.294.CAFE (2233)

It's Time to Think About Eating Locally this Summer (and Beyond)::CSAs

The time to begin eating locally is now!  

**You can meet some Farmers this Wednesday, April 1st at Wild Goose**

Let's start with CSAs, since I receive the most questions on this issue.  CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture.  You are buying a share in the produce for a certain period of time.  You will receive a variety of vegetables, and sometimes fruits, throughout the growing season.  If it's a good year, that's fantastic.  If there is massive crop failure, well, then you have at least contributed to the farmer to ensure they can keep their farm.  It's rare that this would happen to all crops.  In 2007, however, it happened on a massive scale to fruit.  An early spring tricked everything into blooming, and then a frost killed everything.  

There are many different types of CSAs; sometimes you can get a small share or a share with fewer weeks; some farms require that you work on their farm; some CSAs offer meat and eggs.  You can see there is a lot of diversity.  If you are new to a CSA, it might be good to share your take with someone else; this is cost effective and will give you an idea of what to expect.

Is a CSA right for you?  If you cook frequently for more than yourself and eat healthily, a CSA might be right for you.  If you travel a lot or rarely cook, it might not be the best idea.

If you are busy and want to eat locally but don't have time to stroll the farm markets between hauling the kids and/or partner around, work, classes, and everything else, a CSA would be great for you.  You might consider choosing a farm who has a pick up location close to your how or work so you don't have to go out of your way.  Considering there are now farm markets almost every day all around the city and suburbs, you shouldn't have too much of a problem finding a CSA which fits your lifestyle.

Be aware that your CSA share will start out very light, but will grow as the harvest grows.  Some farms use greenhouses and other methods to allow them to harvest vegetables earlier in the year.

Some farms will allow you to pay in installments.  Other farms will allow you to work for some of your share.  

I had a CSA from Elizabeth Telling Farm for 3 years, and from Wayward Seed for one year.  You can look over my farm reports from the past 4 seasons to get a feel for what you will find.

What farms offer CSAs

Here is a listing of farms I know who have CSAs.  If your farm is left out, please don't take it personally - instead, let me know about you and I will be sure to add you to the list!

Elizabeth Telling Farm (Contact Sandy Sterrettfont-family: arial; font-size: 12px; line-height: 14px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 1px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 1px; ">740-484-0243) offers CSAs beginning at $550.  Elizabeth Telling grows quite a few vegetables for Alana's, and she definitely has some of the best eggs I've ever had.  ET owner Sandy Sterrett knows a lot about nutrition and cooking - she always has recipe ideas.  Sandy is one of the few farmers I know who forages for things like ramps, stinging nettles, and chanterelle mushrooms (she sold me one box last year and they were amazing)  You can expect to find a lot of greens - braising, wild, and lettuce - along with all sorts of vegetables.  This year you will be able to pick up your CSA at the North Market as well as the Clintonville farm market.  Sandy is also offering a gourmet CSA this year for an extra price.

Wayward Seed Farm (long time readers might recognize some of their photos!) (contact Adam Welly & Jaime Moore (614) 226-8548 ) offers lots of different CSA options - for one person to an entire family.  They are the only farm I know of to offer a fruit CSA.  I had it last year and it was really great.  Besides, with fruit, a lot of times you don't have to do very much to freeze it if you can't eat it all.  Shares may be collected at the Worthington, Clintonville, and Worthington Farmer's Markets.

Toad Hill Organic Farm (contact Tim Patrick 740.599.9809 is new to the CSA fold this year.  I love Toad Hill for their huge range of green and potatoes, their eggs, and the fun things they make like tempeh (their tempeh is really great)  Shares begin at $300.  

Paige's Proudce (contact Brian Helser 740-477-7291) has a wide range of options, from shares of eggs to flowers to apples vegetables or a combination.  They also have many different price levels and pick up options.  I buy of veggies from them at the Pearl Alley Market - they always have sugar snap peas, and those are one of my favorites!  Shares begin at $40 for a half share of eggs and continue to $700 for a full share of everything (for a family); half shares of everything are $350).  Paige's offers pick up at the Clintonville Market, Pearl Markets and at the Upper Arlington Market.

The Bangalore Farm will grow your seeds for you for a small fee (contact Srikanth Shivakumar

614-658-0382)
2 Silos (contact Denise Anderson 419-947-1009, email eggs4u@gmail.com)  is the only farm I know of to offer a meat CSA!  They offer everything rabbit, lamb, beef, pork, and even goat! The CSA does require 2 shifts on the farm.  Shares are picked up at the Clintonville Market.
Green Edge Organics (contact Becky Rondy 740-448-4021) is the only CSA I know of to offer milk and bread as part of their shares; they also have a winter CSA!  Shares begin at $275 for a half vegetable share and go up to $860 for a full share with milk, bread, and fruit.  Pick ups are at the Bexley CoOp and various residences throughout the city.
Bergefurd's Farm Market (contact Brad or Marcia 937.383.2133) will be offering a CSA for the first time this year.  They plan to offer a bounty of vegetables each week, along with 1/2 dozen eggs.  In addition, they will customer grow things like hanging baskets, mums, honey, and popcorn for their CSA members.

The Sippel Family Farm (contact Ben and Lisa Sippel 419-946-1394) was one of the first farms in Central Ohio to begin offering a CSA, and there is a waiting list to get on; you will have to apply now for the 2010 season.  The Sippels grow fun things like lunchbox-sized watermelons and artichokes.  Shares are $620 per year.

Who Wants to Take me Morel Hunting?

I would be forever indebted to anyone who would take me morel hunting.  I will sign a non-disclosure contract vowing to never reveal your secret hunting spot.

Thanks!

Great Art Show at Chop Chop Gallery

If I didn't have to work this evening, this is totally what I would be doing - therefore you should do it so that I can live vicariously through someone!

Local Strays at Chop Chop Gallery!  This show features local artists who were asked to create something about Columbus.  Tonight is the opening!

How to Win Me Over & Alienate Me on Twitter::Free Social Media Advice

 

It seems the world has been abuzz over Twitter lately.  This makes me a little sad, because I love Twitter just the way it is, and I really hate to see it taken over by people only trying to sell things or point me to their blog postings over and over.  It seems every "Social Media Expert" is tossing off their opinion to whomever will listen.  You know what I find curious about these so-called experts? Very few of them have any actual content on the Internet.  This makes me curious as to how they came about this "expert" status.  

I do not profess to be a Social Media Expert (truth is, the term kind of makes me gag).  In fact, I probably fail at Twitter.  One of the biggest complaints you hear about Twitter users is that "no one cares what you're eating for lunch."  I actually do care what you're eating for lunch.  And being a foodblogger, I also feel a wee bit responsible to tell my followers what I am eating for lunch if it's a great find.  This might also help restaurants, because if I tweet "I think I'll go to Sage for brunch," then lots of people start saying "ooh!! Sage! I need to go there!" etc.

So, now that I have debunked any sort of Expert status, why should you listen to me? Well, because I am highly susceptible to suggestion, so if you Tweet something like "come to Banana Bean to try Elaine's famous chicken and waffles on Sunday," chances are you are going to see me in the restaurant soon.  Until that tweet, I didn't even know Banana Bean had chicken and waffles!  You might send a personal tweet to remind me that you haven't seen my lovely face in awhile, you might let me know that your store has a sale on Ohio ground beef this week, or that you got Roman Cauliflower in.  (Yes, these things have all happened.)

So, let's talk about how you, as a business which might interest me and others like me (we are legion, after all), can use Twitter effectively.  I'll also highlight some businesses which use Twitter extremely well.  I'll talk about what I don't like on Twitter, but I won't highlight those people, because I don't want to be mean.

The experts will tell you to tweet your message morning, noon, and night.  I say if you are tweeting the same thing morning, noon, and night, you are a spammer in my book and will be unfollowed.  That isn't to say you shouldn't reinforce your message morning, noon, and night, but if you don't change the details of your message, then you're just phoning it in and not really thinking about how to connect.  Let's make up an example:

6:30 am "Come on down to Joe's and try our great food!"

12 pm "Come on down to Joe's and try our great food!"

4pm "Come on down to Joe's and try our great food!"

8pm "Come on down to Joe's and try our great food!"

Didn't that bore you just looking at it? This message is a failure in my book.  It doesn't tell me anything about why I might want to come and try your great food.  What's great about it?  Consider, however:

5 am "I'm just pulling the fresh cinnamon buns out of the oven! You wouldn't believe the aroma around here!  Come and get them quick because you know they always go fast!"

11 pm "Thinking about lunch?  How about a nice refreshing salad of all local vegetables with Marge's amazing buttermilk herb dressing? or maybe a juicy, made-to-order burger on a toasted homemade bun with handcut fries and basil aioli?"

2pm "need an afternoon pick me up? Joe's steaming milk and making those beautiful lattes everyone loves.  Say twitter and we'll throw in one of our mini double chocolate cupcakes!"

4pm "did someone say Happy Hour? It's margarita day! The sun is shining and we're serving up 3 flavors of your favorite margaritas for $12 a pitcher! Get some friends together and have a mini vacation on our patio! We have free wifi so if you have to bring your work with you, at least you can sit in the sunshine and get it done!"

This set of examples has told me what the place has to offer - they have hit on a few different senses to get me thinking about eating there - the aroma of the cinnamon buns, the juicy burger or veggie salad, a latte made with care and my very own cupcake, and then the image of relaxing on the patio in the sun with friends or my laptop.  They've told me about their happy hour special; they're reminding me to get out of the office, perhaps.  

The best part about all of this is that it is free.  You might pay for an ad in a local paper listing your daily happy hour specials, and that's all well and good, but you can also get on Twitter and let people know about them for free.  If you're lucky, people who love you, follow you, and think your message is great will RT (that's re-Tweet) your message to all of their followers.  Oh, the connectiveness of it all is thrilling!

Because tweets are limited to 140 characters, it only takes a few seconds to get your message out.

Just as a sidenote for you bloggers out there - here's another thing which will get you unfollowed in a heartbeat: "Read my blog! read my new blog post! comment on my blog post! come on, read my blog! read my blog people!" That makes me stabby.  I pretty much assume that anyone who follows me on 

Twitter is aware that I have a website; it's right there in my profile, after all.  If they like to follow me on Twitter and don't read my website, well, that's their right.  I'm not going to shove it down their throats every half hour.  You might, however, hear about how cute my cats are, that I'm enjoying a latte, or a gin, or a bourbon, or who my favorite bartender is, or about the amazing sandwich I'm eating - see? you never know!  (I'll remind you here that I am not an Expert.)

Another great thing to do on Twitter is let people know about sales in your store - the Hills Market is really good at this, letting us know they just got in watermelon radishes, or that their chef has just made the most amazing lasagna for take home, or they have a sale on milk.  If your store just received an particularly great item - for example, Baying Hound knew that I might fancy one of those super cute reusable Earthlust water bottles, so when they got them in, they tweeted me with a link. I bought one that day, and then I Tweeted that I bought one and told everyone they should check them out, too.  

Zettler Hardware keeps everyone updated on the new seeds and plants that have arrived, knowing this is the time to strike because everyone is itching to get outside and get some gardening or yard work done.

If you do decide to use Twitter for your business, keep up with it.  I get irritated when I discover a business on Twitter and then find they haven't updated in forever.  Why bother, really.  Decide the message you want to deliver, and then assign updating as someone's job.

Use Twitter to search to see what people are saying about you.  Although I almost always try to use Twitter for good, all of my followers now know that I am fed up with a certain bank in town (for charging me endlessly and needlessly for an honest mistake and then being horrid about it).  And the Food Network (for canceling their only interesting show of late).  And Hell's Kitchen (for throwing half of a beef tenderloin on the floor-that was like a knife to the chest; I hate to see food wasted, especially when an animal died to provide it for you).  On the other hand, there are TV shows who follow me and know how much I love them (Intervention) or their network (Investigation Discovery).

Okay, enough of a side note.  Let's talk about some businesses who use Twitter very effectively and why.

Hands down, the Liz Lessner group of restaurants are probably the most effective users of Twitter in Columbus.  Why? All of the restaurants update frequently, letting you know about specials that day, particularly delicious cocktails you might enjoy, the flavor of cupcake they're baking that day, and the fact that they serve food until 2am.  The tweets are informative and frequently very funny.  Examples:

"Bottom's Up is always $3, Whiskey & RC Cola. Enjoy with our poor man's filet mignon known as our Blue Ribbon Pot Roast. (tiptop, follow here)

"our meatloaf, mashers and gravy cure dreary days" (tiptop)

"the weekend starts right now, we got your poison, your cupcakes and frito pie at the ready". (Surly Girl, follow here

"ready, set, happy hour! we're ready for you." (betty's, follow here)

"focaccia bread is rising and about to go in the oven. it comes with our large salads and pastas. little slice of herbed love." (betty's)

I've also talked a little bit about Banana Bean.  Here are some of their tweets (follow here):

"BBQ'd Fresh Atlantic Salmon, Sweet Corn Risotto and Bourbon Molasses Redeye Gravy.....who rang the dinner bell?!"

"Chocolate-Chile Bread Pudding or Red Dirt Road Chocolate Chip Walnut Pie....oh my!!"

"Fresh Peel'n Eat Gulf Shrimp (Texas Browns), Ravigote Iceburg Salad, and Horseradish Ketchup...u don't have 2 leave C-bus for a food vaca!!"

Here are a few good tweets from the Hills Market (follow them here) - notice how the message of the personal grocery store experience is reiterated - you actually feel as though someone there might care what you want:

"Three new Spring Salads in the Chef's Case. Jen's got a case of the "Springs" and we love it!"

"Do you have a product that you want us to carry? Let us know! We will do everything we (legally) can to bring it in for you!"

Other great Tweeters are - 

TehKu Tea in Dublin (follow)

Cabot Co-op of Creameries (not local, but still great) (follow)

Katzinger's Deli (follow)

Crimson Cup (follow)

Experience Columbus (follow)

If I have left out your business and you think you're great Twitterers, don't think it's personally - leave a comment and let everyone know where they can follow you!

If you aren't on Twitter, you might want to investigate it if you think you are up to the task.  Explaining Twitter to you is someone else's job.  There are some things you just have to learn on your own - I mean, if I told you what a Fail Whale is, what would the fun be?

I hope this has helped some of you understand how you can better use Twitter to get the word out about your business!

Oh, and if you'd like to follow me, I'm @LisatheWaitress.

Louisville Part 3::The Art at the 21c Museum Hotel

I am not, for one second, going to pretend to be an art aficionado.  When I was younger, I always thought I would grow up to be an artist.  It wasn't until a few years ago I learned that "outsiders" were frowned upon in the artiste community, and that kind of made me mad at art.  But we're cool again, mainly because I will just embrace my outsider status.  Well, I'm not an artist at all, I'm a documententarian.  Why am I talking about myself? What I really want to talk about here is the art!

Much of the art at the 21c is interactive, and is kind of hard to describe.  How do I describe the wall by the elevators which shows you projected on a wall and various letters fall down on your image, sometimes forming words(Text Rain, by Camille Utterback & Romy Achituv)  In essence, that's what it is.  But does it make any sense to just describe it?

The icon of the hotel is a red penguin, and they are everywhere - on the roof, in the hallways, and shaped into the lollies they give you at turndown service.  We were surprised to walk out of our room one morning and discover a penguin looking right at us!

As you walk into the lobby, you are confronted with "Sleepers," a permanent exhibit by Abbas Kiarostami.  A movie of two people sleeping is projected onto a white space on the floor.  Watch closely and the sleepers move, stretch, and get up to smoke cigarettes.  It was funny to watch whether people walked onto the "bed" or around it.  I always walked around it.  I'm sure there's meaning in there somewhere.

I was standing in the hallway at the 21C, staring at something (a mirror? window? I can't remember) and saw, in the reflection, a giant smoke ring in the window behind me (Cloud Rings, Ned Kahn). WHAT!? This was super cool, although hard to photograph (for me).  Because I am simple-minded and easily amused, I could have stared at this for hours.

I enjoyed a lot of the art at the 21c, but by far my favorite was the installation "Constant World" by Jennifer and Kevin McCoy.  These installations are really difficult to explain, but I found them mesmerizing.  In a nutshell, these works play with your sense of proportion by using tiny cameras to project large images of miniature items.  There was an installation of a model of the Titanic, with a camera mounted on a track with tiny little hills, like a tiny roller coaster.  The camera projects the image on a wall, and the movement of the camera mimics the shifting and rolling of the sinking ship (High Seas).  I also loved an installations Big Box 1 and Big Box 2.  Here, a fixed camera projects the diorama as it turns.  The diorama is circular, and portrays big box stores after apocalyptic events.  Big Box 1 (Bioshpere) shows the stores being overtaken by nature, and Big Box 2 (Zombies) (top of post) shows them overtaken by zombies.  Again, I could have watched these for hours on end.  I recommend reading more about the exhibit here, because the pictures and descriptions are way better than anything I can do!

Louisville Part 2::The Louisville Hot Brown, at the Brown

Until about 2 months ago, I had never even heard of the Louisville Hot Brown.  It was up to my friend PH to fill me in - and I have to admit, the whole thing sounded a little frightening.  Turkey breast on toast topped with melted cheese? I heard a lot of interpretations of the Hot Brown, was told about a lot of places to go, but we settled on the original - The Brown Hotel in the Theater District.  

We walked over (thinking we should get as much exercise as possible before and after indulging in this treat) to the Brown.  It was the mid afternoon, and the restaurant was closed, but we wandered around and found a lovely bar in the lobby:

The hotel was really beautiful; there are lots of great details, including amazing light fixtures, ceilings, and woodwork.

We had a very nice bartender who gave us the history of the Hot Brown.  She told us it was originally invented for the wealthy residents of the Brown Hotel; after a night of heavy drinking and dancing, the Hot Brown would be consumed at 4am to stave off a hangover.

Husband & I decided to split a Hot Brown between us.  A good idea, indeed.  The half portion is pictured at the top of the post.

As you can see, the original Hot Brown is thick toast with hunks of roasted turkey breast (not deli slices, but actually slices of breast), covered with Mornay sauce and topped with bacon and tomatoes.  This whole mess is put under the broiler and served up.  You can see the little pools of grease on the edge.

I found the Hot Brown surprisingly delicious.  It wasn't nearly as heavy as it sounded, and I finished the whole thing!  I feel that I can highly recommend this treat.  It's unusual and tasty.

And outside of the hotel, here's Mr. Brown himself:

info: The Brown Hotel (Lobby Bar) 335 W. Broadway Louisville, KY 502.583.1234

RW Sunday Supper

Wow!  What a day I had yesterday!! I was so tired after the dinner that I took a 5 hour nap today.  I don't know how line cooks do it every day.

I thought the dinner went pretty well.  Finally at this dinner I was able to sit down with lots of guests and get to know people.  It was funny to discover that many of us are neighbors, and a lot of the guests follow each other on Twitter and were meeting for the first time!

I had such an amazing group of people.  Seriously.  Small business owners, gardeners, a county commissioner, writers, bakers, professors, students, government workers, cooks - I loved getting to know you!  

You, my readers, continue to amaze me by how cool you all are.  Every reader I have ever met has been so interesting and diverse.  Every time I have an event like this I am so humbled by how great everyone is.  I just feel such a great camaraderie and exhilaration that together, we are creating a community of people who are working to support local foods, local businesses, local farmers - I just feel so encouraged and hopeful!!

Special thanks to the Hills Market for accommodating us and providing all of the great ingredients and above all, kitchen!  It's such a pleasure to work in a big, real, restaurant - style kitchen!  Jill at the market is super cool, she is very passionate about local products and independent businesses.

Special thanks also to my amazing helpers, who were working either on their day off or after a busy day at their "real" jobs.  I could not have done it without Kelly, Jen, & Olivia.  You were all great!!  Hopefully you will still want to help the next time!!

XOXOXOXO!!

We also had a really great pie from Steven's Orchard and bakery; they are at the Clintonville farmer's market.  The made me realize how long it's been since I've eaten pie, and also how wrong I was to pass by the pies at the market.  They were so tasty I think I ate like 4 pieces yesterday and one this morning (we had cherry pie and strawberry-rhubarb pie).

Here is the menu:

Restaurant Widow
Sunday Supper
22 March 2009
The Hills Market 

Menu 

Something to snack on 
Parmesan & Duck soup with mushrooms and ohio snow peas 
Beet carpaccio with Blue Jacket Creamery Silver Lake Goat Cheese & Walnuts 
(overcooked, alas) Leg of lamb with roasted potatoes & asparagus 
Ohio Cheeses

Attention Bento Lovers!

If you would like to start bento-ing for lunch and are frustrated paying high prices on ebay or trying to find bentos, I have seen them popping up recently at Asian stores!  Along with the bentos, I've seen lots of accessories, such as sauce bottles, picks and mayo cups.

They've been spotted at:

Tensuke Market 1167 Old Henderson Road, NW Side
Hana Gifts (right next to Tensuke)
Koyama Shoten 5857 Sawmill Road (NW side)
Columbus Asian Market 817 Bethel Road (NW side, in the Olentangy shopping center)

Saturday Farm Markets & Hills Market Event

Don't forget to go to the Winter Farm Markets tomorrow!!

Columbus Winter Farm Market.

Worthington Winter Farm Market.

Tomorrow is also Ohio Food Day at the Hills Market!  Lots of stuff to see and taste.

Upcoming Restaurant Events

Dear Restaurants: please do not be offended if I leave you out.  It's hard to keep up with all of you!!  If you have any upcoming events, please feel free to add me to your list by using the email on the contact page!

In the meantime, here are a few events going on at two of my favorite restaurants:

Alana's

• I have been meaning to write about this since Alana told me about it months ago!! BUT.  Tuesday nights at Alana's are "Pasta and Post-off Nights."  For those of you who don't work in wine sales, a "post-off" is basically a sale on wine given to restaurants and retailers.  This can be done for a variety of reasons, so this isn't bad wine.  As a matter of fact, I imagine in the next year, with restaurants ordering less wine because of the economy, we'll probably see some great post-offs.  At any rate, take advantage by getting wine below retails prices, and pay only $15 for pasta.  There are a variety of pastas from which to choose, and Alana's is always vegetarian and vegan friendly, so there's no excuse!  If you haven't been to Alana's, this is a great opportunity to get in! 
• More events at Alana's: Tuesday, March 24th, Alana's will celebrate Women Winemakers! A multicourse dinner with wines to match, $65 per person, all inclusive.
• And, on Saturdays in April, Alana's will have early bird specials for those seated from 5 - 5:45pm.  $25 for multi-course menu!!  Perfect if you're going to a show later. 
• Alana's 2333 N. High St (North Campus) 614.294.6783

 Deepwood

• Deepwood will unveil their new Spring menu, wines, and cocktails on Monday, March 30th.  Here are a few of the new treats - Hand-stretch mozzarella & fried green tomatoes; Seared Hamachi with Beets & Ginger; Slow poached Maine Lobster with Spring Pea risotto, pea shoots, and Bellini Sauce.
• From Monday, March 23rd through Friday, March 27th, the Tavern at Deepwood will have a Spring Celebration tasting menu.  The 3 course menu will be paired with beers - including one of my all-time favorites, Hitachino Nest White Ale - for $28!
• Deepwood 511 N. High St (Short North/Convention Center) 614.221.5602 

  

Great Guide to Columbus

For anyone who is new to Columbus, is moving here, or is visiting - or for anyone who lives here and doesn't know where to go or what to do, please visit and bookmark this amazing guide to Columbus over at Design* Sponge.  The guide was written by Eve Jorgensen, who runs Sycamore Street Press.  I bought this super cool calendar from her at Tiny Canary.

Sunday Supper Information

Thanks to everyone who signed up for Sunday's Supper!!  I hope you are as excited as I am.  The theme will be Spring, and I am planning the menu with Spring in mind.

Here are the details:

The dinner will be held at the Hills Market in Worthington (click here for a map) at 6:30.  Upon entering the store, an employee will check your name off the list.  We will be dining in the wine department! For those of you who came to the cooking class, it will be very similar, incuding the number of guests.

For this dinner, I really want myself and my helpers to sit down and eat with everyone.  Being that we also have to plate food, this means there might be a little longer of a delay in between courses OR we might serve family-style.  I hope this is okay.  At every dinner I wish I could get to know everyone but end up not having time.

As always, if you have any dietary concerns, please let me know!!

Things to do in Columbus::March 18th Edition

Wow. It's a lovely day outside.  I'm not going to say that it's Spring yet, because that's just begging for another snow/frost/wintery mix.  So let's just enjoy it while we have it.  I was just telling Husband this morning that it almost seems a crime against nature to have to work on a day like today, but once again, our mortgage company still refuses to accept lovely days as payment.  So, until they do, I still have to show up for work.  *sigh* (just kidding, work, you know I love you).

So, what is there to do this week?  Lots!  I have this dream where one of these days, it will actually be my job to go to all of these great events and write about them first hand.  But until the opera decides to perform on Monday afternoons, I will continue to miss them.

As always, if you have anything to add, please do not hesitate to let me know!!

• First up, tomorrow at Wild Goose Creative, you can see a demonstration by @devonpalmer (a little Twitter joke for ya there).  Devon is a woodturner.  My dad is a woodturner, and it's pretty cool! So you should go and see for yourself.  The event is free, but there is a suggested donation of $5. And you should donate, because Wild Goose is awesome.  Devon made this super cool bowl for Slow Food Columbus.
• Cool things are happening at the Columbus Museum of Art.  One of those things is the Egyptian exhibit which is currently showing.  Thursday the Mummy Mythbusters will answer all of your mummy questions, and Sunday is Mummy Madness! at the Museum.   
• Next Tuesday, you can see a screening of Meet the Truth at the Drexel East.  Meet the Truth is shows the effect livestock farming has on the environment.  I don't know if the film provides an alternative.
• This weekend, the Columbus Gay Men's Chorus will perform Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat! 
• Steve McQueen is in town today at the Wexner Center, where he will be introducing his film Hunger.  Other great things are happening at the Wex; check out their calender.
• This Saturday is Ohio Market Day at the Hills Market!  Meet lots of Ohio food producers and taste yummy things from them.   

Are Women Really Treated Differently in Restaurants? and Why?

I like to think I am not one to scream "sexism!" I am loathe to admit when it happens, even if it seems fairly obvious.  This might be because I tend to get along better with guys (because I'm crass, drink bourbon, and have a mouth like a sailor, I imagine) and have been fortunate to have lots of men in my adult life who treat women as equals.  Husband is always willing to listen to my ideas and acknowledge when they are good (and sometimes make fun of them when they're bad); together we usually come up with great ideas.  I have worked in situations where my ideas weren't accepted, but I usually find those times are when there is a generational gap or a difference in understanding the situation.

Typically, if I feel ignored in a restaurant, I assume it's because whoever is ignoring me wants to talk to Husband about wine, work, or restaurants (this doesn't happen as much now as it did when I really was a Restaurant Widow).  I try not to take it personally and understand that Husband is brilliant and interesting, while I am a complete failure at small talk.

All of this being said, on a recent excursion to a bar not in our fair city, I had this experience:

I had some writing to do, so I stayed behind while Husband went to a bar to get a drink.  I met him about 20 minutes later.  The bartender, a girl, had clearly developed a crush on Husband during the interim (this happens all the time, because Husband is aloof, uninterested, reading Decanter and wearing a wedding ring, a combination which seems to drive a certain type of girl mad).  When I arrived, the bartender was pouring Husband his second drink.  Although I was sitting directly next to Husband, she did not look at me or offer me a drink.  I had to get her attention and ask the next time she walked past.  As a side note, this is a particular pet peeve of mine - I prefer to have the bartender solicit me for a drink before I have to ask.  Most of them do, because that is, after all, why I am perched at the bar.  

I can forgive it one time, but then it got worse.  Husband and I both finished our drinks and he got up to use the loo.  Let me reiterate here that both of our cocktails were clearly empty.  The bartender came up to me and said "would he like another drink?"  WHAT?!  Not "can I get you another round, or would you like another drink," but "would HE like another drink."  This is where it's hard to not turn into a complete brat (or other "B" word) and turn this into a battle of wills for who can be top cat.

I replied "he isn't sure what he'd like next, but I'd like another one."  "oh," she replied, as if this hadn't occurred to her.

Furthermore, she never cleared my empty cocktails away.  

The only gratification I had was when she gave us the check and I took it, saying "oh, I'm paying."  You could see the "oh, crap," in her eyes.  She had flirted with the wrong person.  Alas, it is against my nature to tip poorly, and in this case, didn't want to be seen as the sort of woman who can't stand anyone paying attention to her man, so I still tipped 20%.  This whole interaction, even my reaction to it, is what confuses me about women and why I have a hard time in friendships with girls - there always seems to be this weird power struggle, and no matter how much I try to be above it, I get sucked in anyway.

However, the night before, we were at the same bar where a different female bartender chatted with both of  us equally, discussing fancy cocktails, the city of Louisville, good food, and the Derby.  She even gave us lots of suggestions on where to go and what to do during our trip.  (oops, I guess I just gave it away)  She got a 30% tip.

Because I am aware of this discrepancy, I really try to treat women well when I am waiting on them.  I think it's natural for most (straight) people to pay more attention to members of the opposite gender, and aside from that, frequently the man is looked to in a dining situation to be decisive, order and taste the wine, etc.

So, why are women treated poorly in restaurants?  As a server, I can tell you from my experience and others, that women make the following "mistakes" when dining (these are generalizations, mind you, please don't get all up in arms - I make the same mistakes): they are indecisive, and want their partners to order first.  They can't decide what they want to drink.  They want to wait for others to say they are going to drink first or get a salad, etc.  They tend to ignore servers, they take forever to decide what they want or even start looking at them menu, they rarely pay for anyone else, always insisting on separate checks - even if everyone orders the same things, and they tend to linger at their table forever, meaning their server either won't be able to turn their table or go home.

Now, ensuring good service for women (well, for anyone, of course) relies heavily on the server.  Because I know and accept these things about women, I prepare for it.  I engage women in conversation, pour them wine to taste, allow them to be indecisive and take a long time, encourage them to relax, and prepare to always separate checks.  A lot of this means the server should be willing to work around the desires of the table.  I am far from perfect, and there are times I'm probably not a good server.  But I do try to be sensitive and be sure I engage women in the dining experience.

How can women diners help?  The biggest thing, I think, is to pay attention to your server the first time they arrive at the table.  Order a drink, and if you want to chat and catch up with your friend, say "we are going to relax for awhile before we start looking at the menu."  This will prepare your server to give you some space.  I usually say something like "take your time - just flag me down when you are ready."  Sometimes we set up a code, like "you just move your menus to the side when you are ready and I'll be right over to take your order."

What if the server is paying attention to your male companion but not to you?  This is tricky, but if it is irritating you, I would say assert yourself.  Ask questions and make eye contact.  Force the server to pay attention to you.  If they don't, tip accordingly and support restaurants where the service is equal.

Weekend in Louisville, Part 1::the City

When I decided to go to Louisville for a long weekend, a lot of people I knew gave me strange looks.  But last year I did some work for a wine distribution company who worked in Ohio and Kentucky, and met some people who insisted Louisville was a great city, had great restaurants, and above all, was revitalizing their downtown.

Columbus is in serious need of some downtown revitalization, and although I don't personally have any money to contribute to that cause, I like to offer my thoughts to those who do.  I still have hope that we can do it.  I wanted to see what Louisville was doing.

Wow.  A few years ago, downtown Louisville was empty - crumbling buildings, empty storefronts, lack of business.  And then the Louisville Slugger operation moved right downtown (half a block away from our hotel); that sparked an interest in renovation.  It is an ongoing process, but what they have done so far is pretty amazing.

One thing Louisville has going for it are the amazing facades and architecture (Louisville has the largest number of iron facades in the country).  It seemed that everywhere I went, there was something interesting I wanted to photograph.

Where buildings had been crumbling, the facades were kept while the buildings were being rebuilt. 

Our hotel was located on Main Street, right across from Museum row.  For a few blocks, you can go from the Science museum to several art museums, and the performing arts center.  A few blocks south and there is the theater district with two iconic hotels - the Brown (more on that later) and the Seelbach Hilton.

 

One thing I found very interesting was the focus on art that seemed to be everywhere.  It might be related to the fact that we were staying in a museum hotel, but there seemed to be unsnobby art wherever we went.  For example, as an homage to the iron facades, the trees on main street are all framed with ironworks; each piece relates to the business which used to be housed in the building next to the tree, and a different brick pattern in the sidewalk, running from the tree to the front door of the building, indicates the building has an iron facade.  Our hostess from the Louisville Convention and Visitor's Bureau told us we could walk around with a magnet and it would cling to any of the iron facades.

Waiting for our car from the hotel valet, I heard something which reminded me of sailing - the lines clanging against the mast of the boat - and noticed giant wind chimes stretched between two buildings across the street.  These small, surprising things are what make the city cool.

 

It was encouraging to see what Louisville has been doing with their downtown area, and I hope Columbus will learn some things from them.  We have the buildings, we just need some affordable rents and confidence that we can get people downtown to spend some leisure time.  Additionally, we could stop rewarding companies for moving to the suburbs (with tax abatements and the like), and instead reward them for taking over empty offices in the heart of the city.

A cool sculpture with bike rack, in the Thomas Merton square.

I saw this cool tag a few places around town: