For a server, getting a Saturday night off is like having the boy you are in love with finally ask you to the prom. And like prom, it only happens once a year. Both the Apron Gala and my receiving a Saturday night off.
I love the North Market. I don't think it's any secret. And I love the Arpon Gala. It's a great fundraising event, because you are directly enjoying your donation!
The main event at the Apron Gala is the food! and the silent auction. I am a little too poor for silent auctions, but I breezed through anyway, just to see what was on the block. Columbus Foodie donated a basket of her favorite things! What a great idea! That never ocurred to me! So, Ms. Food, just for the record, I am totally copying you next year. You've been warned.
At any rate, I donned 2 fabulous aprons for the Gala - I will be posting pictures in a separate email because I am sabatoging myself by protesting the late delivery of my new camera by not taking anymore pictures until it arrives. For now, anyway. Suffice it to say, both aprons were adorable! Although I didn't get nominated for best apron. As a matter of fact, let's talk about apron nominations for a second - Desi, son of Walker Evans, of Columbus Underground Fame, won best male apron (who can compete with the cutest baby ever?) and the aunt of Anne Evans, wife of Walker Evans, won for best female apron with her giant homemade lobster arpon (very cute). I smell a conspiracy.
But let's get on with the food, shall we? I truncated this column because there are a ton of photos and I don't want everyone to have to wait 10 minutes for them to load, so don't forget to click through for the rest!!
First stop is always Those Fish Guys, because they have the oyster bar, and I love raw oysters. They are hard to come by here in Columbus, and whenever they are available, they are very expensive. Here are some very sanitary hands shucking my oyster:
Those Fish Guys also had some very, very good smoked salmon spread on crackers as well as smoked mussels and marine shrimp, and sliced smoked salmon:
There was a fresh summer roll from Lac Viet, one of my favorite lunch spots of all time. They also had small cups of chicken or beef pho:
Upstairs in the Dispatch Kitchen, the Greener Grocer's catering chef prepared saffron risotto with pinenuts (foreground) and mushroom tortellini (background)
There were deviled eggs, egg salad sandwiches and ham salad sandwiches from Heils:
There were really, really good ham balls from Blues Creek. Unfortunately, I didn't take a pictures. There was great Indian food; I thought this dish of food was so beautiful that I had to take a picture, but the person working the stall didn't like me taking pictures. They gave me a plate of fried cauliflower and shooed me away:
There was beer! from Columbus Brewing Company; I was wearing cute CBC earrings! So I matched my beer:
There were a variety of yummy soups from CaJohns - a creamy chicken soup with smoked sausage, and tortilla soup, as well as pulled pork tacos:
There was chicken marsala from Pastaria Seconda:
There was Blue Moon Popcorn dip, and popcorn-stuffed mushroom caps from Pam's Popcorn:
There was a ton of great cheese (lots of it local!), pate, and incredible local crackers from Curds & Whey:
The nice thing about the loo on the second floor of the Market is there is a shelf to put your wine on:
Those friendly, stylish, handsome and fabulous folks from Vanguard Wines were set up near Grapes of Mirth and pouring some really great wines for a mere $2 a taste - Au Bon Climat Pinot Noir, the Prisoner Cabernet, Melville Chardonnay, and one of my all-time favorite Champagnes ever - Aubry. YUM:
There were a variety of stromboli from the Pizza Place:
And then it was time for dessert. Check out these lovely chocolate-covered strawberries from Pure Imagination:
And lastly, I found a small amount of room left for a sandwich from Jeni's Ice Cream:
Better hurry, before they're gone!
So, that was this year's Apron Gala. I hope you will seriously consider giving some money to the North Market. It is one of our best resources here in the city. It's always at the top of the "must-visit" sites in Columbus. You don't even have to wait for next year's Gala - you can become a friend of the market today!