Quick Notes from the Short North: Arch City and Mac's

In my world of food, the opportunity to try out new recipes and restaurants is quite plentiful. And for those who know me well (as a food blogger, at least) know that I aim to use my blog (and how up-to-date I am with it) as a metric when it comes to accepting such opportunities for learning through food. Well, with the semester quickly winding down, I haven't done the best job keeping up with this thing and I certainly haven't stopped cooking and eating, as has hopefully been evident in my recent swing of catch-up posts. (If it's not evident yet, it should be in the next few days.) This being said, I wanted to make sure I include here my restaurant experiences at Arch City Tavern and Mac's Café.

Dedicated to "Magic Bread"

Five words, punctuated with purpose: Magic. Bread. Oh.My.Yum. For those of you who either know me or my food blogging rather well know that the sound of hearing (let alone seeing) the illustrious Magic Bread prepared by Chef Justin Boehme and DaCroux of one of my most blogged about restaurants, Da Levee, makes my mouth water. Hands down, it is the reason (alongside the amazing atmosphere, friendly staff, and of course deliciously well-priced and consistently tasty Cajun food outside of Louisana) I continue to return to this small Short North restaurant packed with flavour, which has more recently been subtitled by "Roux Stews Brews." My self-professed (and perhaps overtly evident) love for Magic Bread (pfft, or all bread for that matter) is the impetus for this post, a post which I have been planning to write for the past many months. Indeed, my initial draft of what should have been this post--my dedication to Magic Bread in so many words--was based on my visit to Da Levee on National Food Day and the 68th birthday of the United Nations. A slightly edited (tense, word choice, general flow, etc.) form of those notes is embedded in this post. Complementing that experience are my general reflections and comments on Da Levee's offerings I've enjoyed (be prepared for a longer post) since that chilly autumn day, including Super Bowl fixings and today's trek for my favourite thing on the menu (next to Magic Bread): cheesy craw étouffée.

First Post of 2014: Foodie (and Film) Fun in Columbus

Happy New Year and frosty Monday! Here in the Midwest, temperatures are falling to record lows, pushed even further by wind chill factors that make me want to see how long it would take to make ice cream outdoors. As much fun as that would probably be (I mean, outdoor food science? Of course that would be fun.), I'm bundled up indoors, as are the huge majority of central Ohio's student population. In a word, it's almost like the city is becoming "frozen." Speaking of which, Brianne and I saw Frozen again (this time in 3D, so of course it was of a justifiable necessity...) this past weekend and absolutely enjoyed it. We also managed to enjoy quite a few foodie destinations, of which I've chronicled below. Reviewed here are my return (Brianne's first) visits to Skillet and North Market (with focused commentary on the newly-opened Pistacia Vera location), (briefly) our return visits to Whit's and Mikey's, and our first visit to Philco.

Restaurant Review: Two Pre-Movie Visits to Melt

It's not quite summer here in central Ohio. But with the recent releases (and definite favourites of mine) of Catching Fire (trailer) and Frozen (trailer) the dynamism between heat and the wintry weather can coincidentally be felt in Columbus's Short North at the newly installed (1,2), Cleveland-based Melt Bar and Grilled (840 North High St.). Unintentionally, though nevertheless prior to my first viewing of Catching Fire and third viewing of Frozen, I headed over to check out Melt's offerings on two different occasions, with some of my classmates. With the fall term officially ended, I now have the time to share my composite review below.

Just Another Saturday in Columbus

Ever since my first movie going experience in France four years ago, I was convinced American theatres weren't as serious about the experience as their European counterparts. Well, earlier today, the Gateway Film Center, located on High Street within the University District, proved me wrong. The theatre room, in which I saw the limited release of Chris Colfer's screenwriting debut Struck by Lightning,contained a modest 22 chairs (all sold out by the way) arranged in three rows and a large movie screen. The anonymity one could have in solo movie watching was close to impossible--not that I was intentionally aiming to be incognito today--as the door into the theatre faced the audience, as if to be a welcoming experience into the cinematic cluster that will be spending the next hour and a half or so with a host of characters on the screen. In some manner of speaking, such was this familial movie going experience that in retrospect it would seem that many gatherings include some form of group dynamic and a shared activity of some kind. Of course, here I will always tout food as that shared activity, an activity to which I leave an empty chair for the next dinner guest to walk through the doorway. For this post, though, I'm the self-invited diner as it was. And the familiar spaces I walked into after the film were both located further down on High Street in one of my favourite areas of Columbus, the Short North.

Pizza with Personality: Mikey's Late Night Slice

 

After my second round of handing out samples of Snowville products, this time here in Granville, I made my way to Columbus, just before the monthly Gallery Hop began. Usually, I take the time to restaurant hop and I take in the energy of the Short North when the lights are lit up and the shops and restaurants look packed. This time around, I had a different set of goals: to meet Mikey Sorboro, CEO of Mikey's Late Night Slice, and to try some LNS pizza. However, given recent local and national attention at Mikey's, I wasn't quite sure how crowded the place would get (and especially if it got crowded what the likelihood would be that I could meet Mikey). Not only was I able to try the pizza that was, in part, at the root of the recent attention given to LNS, but I was also able to interview Mikey and get some questions answered that I hadn't been able to find in reading others' articles about LNS and the attention to which I've been alluding.