It’s not overly complicated, but it can be a bit difficult to verbally explain in a way that is easily understood. Since we had wanted to watch the process first hand, we went to Los Guachos to observe as they went about the daily task of assembling it from scratch. Here are some behind the scenes photos (with explanation) illustrating how pork, pineapple, and marinade are turned into the glorious mound of meat that is the trompo.

Prior to building the spit, the pork shoulder cuts (in this instance, about 100lbs in total) have been marinated for a couple of  hours in a mix of achiote (annatto) and cider vinegar. Then, construction begins:

The chopping board has a specially cut hole in it to hold the spit steady and vertical as the meat is piled on. First, though, a section of pineapple is slid on to keep the pork from sliding off the bottom of the stake. The ‘pastorero‘ (yes, there’s a Spanish title for the person assembling the spit) chooses his pieces carefully, skewering the smaller cuts of meat on the spit first and then adding larger pieces as he works his way upward. Every so often he takes a pause from layering to trim and shape the trompo. At this point, any pieces that are trimmed off are sandwiched between the layers.

All told, this trompo took about an hour to build and required two men to carry and lift it into position at the grill. Hard as it may be to believe, this is a relatively small one – the largest they’ve made has tipped the scales at 370lbs.

Once in position at the gas-fired roasting station, searing and trimming is done. The trompo must be shaped smoothly so that it cooks evenly, and any resulting trimmings are saved for cooking on the grill. There is a lot of skill (and knife sharpening!) involved in securely stacking and shaping the trompo. Juan, the pastorero, made it look easy but he’s the only one on the team who can do it. Finally a pineapple is placed on top and the trompo is ready to feed Los Guachos’ hoardes of hungry customers.

Los Guachos tacos were voted ‘Best in the Midwest’ by Rachel Ray Magazine and the Serious Eats team. And did we mention that this truck is one of the stops on our weekly taco truck tour?

And so, with that, we are proud to present our Coffee Tour. The format is simple: we’ll visit a roaster to learn about what goes into turning raw coffee beans into something exquisite, a top espresso bar to discuss turning those beans into top quality espresso drinks, and a premier coffee shop to learn about how to get the best from your beans at home. At each stop there will be coffee and snacks, and – most importantly – plenty of information on how to get the best out of home coffee preparation!

Our first stop will be Cafe Brioso downtown where we will discuss espresso drinks and learn more about the art of the barista from their talented team. Our second stop will be at the roasting facility at Stauf’s where we will get a behind the scenes look at the art and science of roasting. We will also do a cupping and learn about how coffees are sourced and selected. Our final stop will be at Luck Bros in Grandview to hear from Andy Luck about how to improve your coffee making at home.

This tour runs quarterly. The next date is June 9th at 9.30am. The tour includes transport, coffee samples, and food and some coffee beans to take home.

Tickets can be purchased here.

Kicking off the month is The Market to Market Bicycle Adventure on May 5th – a bike ride between the North Market and Hills Market (in either direction). Start off with breakfast at the market of your choice and then enjoy a leisurely cycle up (or down) the bike path to earn your reward of a scoop of Jeni’s ice cream at the end. There’s also a goodie bag with $50 of discounts and coupons, and the chance to win some great prizes including a gift certificate for one of our tours. The theme of the ride is ‘Mustaches and Monocles’ in honor of Columbus bicentenary and riders are encouraged to don their interpretation of ‘turn of the century’ garb for the ride. If you participate in the ride please stop and say hi to us – we’ll be on the trail at Como and will be taking photos of fun costumes. (You can register here)

Also on May 5th is our special Cinco de Mayo taco truck tour. As well as all of the delicious Mexican food you’d expect on a taco truck tour, you’ll also enjoy a complimentary margarita or Mexican beer. To whet your appetite, here’s a blog post from a Cincinnati blogger who enjoyed one of our taco truck tours at the end of last season.

Thursday May 10th is the Taste of Dine Originals, the signature annual fundraiser for Dine Originals Columbus. Held at Capital University’s Capital Center, this is a fabulous food event that features tastings and samplings from 50 Dine Originals member restaurants, 30 vineyards and craft breweries and micro-distilleries. Taste of Dine Originals will also include the Edible Columbus Artisan Food Fair, a showcase of 20 farmers, honey producers, cheese makers, dairy operations, and bakers. Proceeds from the event are shared by Dine Originals Columbus and The Buckeye Ranch. Tickets are $100 each, include all food and beverages, and are available for purchase at BuckeyeRanch.org.

The North Market is a wonderful asset to Columbus’ food lovers and a popular stop on our Short North tour. Their annual fundraiser, The Apron Gala, will take place on Saturday, May 19 from 7 – 10 p.m. Tickets are $75 per person. It’s a unique North Market experience and a fantastic opportunity to graze your way around the building as market vendors compete for the best appetizers, main tastes and desserts. Enjoy assorted wines, Columbus Brewing Company micro-brews, soft drinks, plus live music, a silent auction and other entertainment. Prizes are awarded for the night’s best aprons. You can purchase tickets here and you’ll see Bethia’s name listed under the host committee. We’ll look forward to seeing you there!

There are also lots of street food events in May including the Spring Flea on May 6th. Check out our post on Street Eats Columbus for more details.

Don’t forget that Mother’s Day is coming up on May 13th. It’s a busy day for restaurants so we encourage you to make brunch reservations early!

Dragonfly was among the most widely acknowledged and awarded restaurant in Columbus. It’s chef, Magdiale Wolmark, was twice a Beard award nominee and inarguably recognized as a true innovator in the preparation of vegan cuisine. It would’ve been easy to assume that a national reputation for haute vegan would stand as Chef Wolmark’s legacy.

And yet, I just polished off one of Chef Wolmark’s tongue, anchovy and vacheron pizzas and had his burger last week.

You see, over a period of a couple of weeks around the new year, the owners of Dragonfly closed its doors, reconfigured both the menu and the dining room, and reopened as Till. So after a decade plus, a lauded vegan chef works with meat.

Till’s revamp doesn’t end at the addition of animal proteins. There are also new bar offerings, including an excellent cocktail list and many ‘first for Columbus’ beverages including unusual beers, wines and non-alcoholic shrubs. Coffee is provided by local micro-roaster Thunderkiss.

In some respects, Till invites you to treat it an upscale watering hole in the evening, or even a coffee shop during the day. It’d work well for either, but to do so would be to miss out on some great food.

The menu is relatively small, but wide-ranging in influences and frequently revised. Two (near) constants are the BD burger and the vegan poutine. The burger, served with a potato croquette and house made pickled vegetables, easily ranks among the top 2 or 3 in town for me. It’s not inexpensive, but it’s oh-so worth it.

The vegan poutine is also impressive, with a deeply savory wine-based gravy that is every bit the equal of more traditional preparations. A seitan fricassee accompanies it atop the fries, as do tofu ‘cheese curds’. Till still accommodates animal-product-free diets, and with this dish you’ll very likely not miss them.

Clockwise from top left - Salt Cod Brandade, Omelette, Tongue & Taleggio Cheesesteak, Clam Pizza

Beyond these, it’s hard to know what to expect to see on offer. With lesser restaurants, this might strike us as problematic, but at Till it’s a virtue, as everything we’ve tried has been at minimum solidly good, more often than not exceptional. It also makes for a near guaranteed opportunity to try something new on every visit, and is indicative of the restaurant’s emphasis on using seasonally fresh ingredients. Seasonally fresh, and biodynamic. The specifics of biodynamic food are somewhat arcane (if interested, you can read more about it here), but the effect is that the raw ingredient sourcing is by and large absolutely top notch, and shall include produce plucked fresh from the garden behind the restaurant.

Clearly, we’re enthusiastic about Till and strongly encourage you to visit.

Till
tillfare.com
247 King Avenue
614.298.9986/9070
Hours: M-W 11am-midnight, Th-Sat 11am-2.30am, Sun 9am-9pm
Brunch Sat-Sun 9am-3pm
Happy Hour 4-6pm

We spent a couple of mouthwatering hours perusing the menus; what follows are a few of our thoughts and suggestions.

Dine Originals welcomed four new members this winter: Babushka’s Kitchen, Dirty Frank’s Hot Dog Palace, Betty’s Fine Food and Spirits and the Jury Room. If you’ve been waiting for an excuse to try any of these newcomers, this week’s special menus are an excellent opportunity.

Rigsby’s Kitchen is one of our wonderful Short North tour stops, so we have been fortunate to try many of their dishes. One of our favorites appears on the Dine Originals lunch menu: Pappardelle with braised rabbit sugo. This is the also the first time Rigsby’s has offered a lunch menu as part of Dine Originals week. Another Short North tour stop that is participating in Dine Originals week is Tasi Cafe. We’re looking forward to trying their caldo verde, chicken taquitos and tres leche bites.

Several of our German Village tour partners are also participating in Dine Originals week. Barcelona are offering both lunch and dinner menus with lots of options and G. Michael’s had a great low-country inspired dinner menu. Pistacia Vera is offering a brunch/lunch special of their divine quiches with salad and a beverage. If you haven’t tried their quiche yet, add it to your ‘must eat’ list.

Culinary thrill seekers might like to try the crispy pig’s ear salad at Skillet or the crispy veal sweetbreads with duck egg hollandaise at Basi Italia. If you have a sense of adventure you might also try the ‘surprise’ menu at Alana’s.

Most of the restaurants are offering three course dinner options for either $20 or $30, but there are a few $10 dinner deals around if you look. One that caught our eye was at Bodega. They have recently expanded their kitchen and the new menu is getting great reviews. For Dine Originals week they are offering a smoked lobster roll or crawfish and cheddar grits fritters in etouffee sauce ($10 for lunch or dinner). Some of the restaurants (including Black Creek Bistro) are offering four courses and Tony’s is a whopping 5 courses for $30. Rigsby’s 3 course menu includes wine – a nice bonus. The Oak Room at the Granville Inn is offering optional wine pairings for $15 with their dinner menu.

If you gave up sweets for Lent there are plenty of set menus that just feature savory courses and deviate from the appetizer, entree, dessert model. They include Due Amici, Local Roots, The Old Mohawk, Chile Verde, Surly Girl Saloon and Z Cucina.

A few other things that caught our eye were: beer battered asparagus fries at Columbus Brewing Company, Crackerjack crusted salmon at The Top Steakhouse, Salvardorean pork pupusas at Katalina’s and ‘The Deepwood’ (a Dagwood style) Sandwich at Deepwood.

There are lots of options for vegetarians, and some that caught our eye were: Trattoria Roma, G. Michael’s, Elevator Brewery, Deepwood and Black Creek Bistro. The Worthington Inn specifies that they have gluten free and vegan options on request.

It’s fun to try and spot trends in the menus, and one that stuck out was a leaning towards creole-style dishes. Fans of creole flavors will find happiness at Bodega, Black Creek Bistro, G. Michael’s and The Old Mohawk.

As usual, The Refectory is offering a double Dine Originals week, so if you have trouble fitting everything you want to eat into one week you can make a reservation there for the following week and look forward to their flat iron steak with duck ravioli. Their special menu runs until March 17th.

You can view the menus online here or pick up the Alive menu supplement for a full listing.

And, very often, when we hear them talking we think, “You can get that here!”

So, without further delay, here’s our list of cuisines and other food experiences that many don’t recognize as being easily accessible in Columbus:

1) Thai - “Sure”, they say, “every city has Thai restaurants, but I’m talking about real Thai”.

We wouldn’t have it any other way. Check out Bangkok for real-deal specialties from central Thailand, and Erawan (just down the street) for more Isaan-centric preparations. Also, Westgate Thai features straight-up mom & pop central Thai cooked by a lovely little lady who will effusively thank you for coming to her humble little restaurant as she melts your eyelashes off with furious spicy heat.

2) Dim Sum - Many who have gone to NY or San Francisco can recall a trip to a big hall where people with steam carts full of piping hot Chinese small plates roll up to your table and allow you to choose from their selection of delectables. In many ways, a dim sum brunch seems to often strike people as being a quintessential big city experience.

Which is exactly what you’ll find at Sunflower. Just like dim sum halls everywhere, it’s a frenetic and exciting experience. We’d recommend getting there no later than 11am on Sundays, as arriving at 11:05 may leave you without a seat for an hour or two.

3) ‘Good’ Japanese - This one comes as some surprise to us, but the queries keep coming. There’s quite a bit of good Japanese in town, but if we were to pick one spot we’d go with Kihachi. The chef gets his fish flown from Tokyo and/or Hawaii on a daily basis, so it’s often on your plate within 36 hours of being pulled from the ocean. Sushi’s not the main focus, though – there’ll be maybe 3 – 5 sushi options on the menu on any given day. Instead, Kihachi is the place for authentic, no-holds-barred Japanese small plates prepared at the highest level of quality.

If you’re celebrating a special occasion, give ‘em 24 hours notice and ask for an omakase dinner. It’ll set you back around $100 per person, but it’ll be 9+ courses of some of the absolute best food Columbus has to offer.

4) I Want My Banh Mi! – Participants on our alt.eats tour know very well where our favorite Vietnamese banh mi sandwich can be found. Don’t hold it against us if we keep that location under our hats (we’d love to see you on the tour!), but solid Vietnamese cuisine of all descriptions can be found at Huong, Buckeye Pho, Indochine, Pho Saigon and Mi Li cafe.

5) Real Mexican – Transplants from the West and Southwest have grown accustomed to authentic Mexican food as an easily accessible part of their everyday lives. It’s not quite that easy in Columbus, but with over 35 taco trucks in town a good taco, burrito, or torta is never far away. Our taco truck tour (starting up again in April), covers what we think are some of the best.

But don’t take our word for it. We took Serious Eats taco connoisseur Kenji Alt-Lopez to the trucks on the tour, and he gushed that, “the worst taco I ate in Columbus was better than the best I’ve had in New York.’ No kidding. More recently, in Rachael Ray’s magazine, he pointed to Los Guachos as the taco truck serving the best taco in the midwest.

6) Regional Chinese – Not unlike Thai, there’s ‘Chinese’ (think General Tso’s chicken) and then there’s CHINESE. Our current infatuation is with the utterly authentic Szechuan flavors of Fortune – we recently rated it as the most underrated restaurant in Columbus, and our most recent trip there leads us to emphatically stand by that assessment. Ignore the front of the menu and skip to the Szechuan offerings on the back pages… you’ll be glad you did.

7) Pizza – We’re all kinds of fine with the Columbus-style pie – I’ll take one from Rubino’s, please – but we can understand how our tavern-cut crispy crust pizza may leave some transplants wanting. East Coasters yearning for the floppy fold-it-in-half pie wedge will, if a bevy of enthusiastic relocated NY/NJ folks are to be trusted, find exactly what they’re looking for at Brooklyn Pizza in Powell.

Fans of the blistered, wood fired Neapolitan style will be thrilled with both Harvest Pizza and Bono Pizza. And, if you’ve spent any time in Portland, you may have come across something like the delicious and hearty sourdough/cornmeal thick crust pizza offered by Clever Crow pizza in the North Market.

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So that’s our take – we’d love to hear what you think we might have missed!

Note – the top photo is a still shot from a great video called ‘Rise and Shine’ by Zach Frankart. We’d recommend you check it out here.

Owner, Albert Thurn, is of the forth generation of the family who started Thurn’s as a butcher’s shop in 1886. Due to the construction of I-71, the building was moved to its current location in 1958. Albert has been working in the store since he was 10 years old and knows most of his customers by name. He also knows what they are likely to order and this gives Thurn’s the jovial atmosphere of an old school barber’s shop.

One that sells meat!

I’ve been a fan of Thurn’s since I first walked into the store and inhaled the aroma of smoky cured meats, but attending last week’s ‘behind the scenes’ class with Edible Columbus gave me a new level of appreciation and admiration for Albert and his operation. ‘I was blessed with a good memory’, Albert said, and it really is amazing the number of details that he keeps track of, with 60-70 distinct meat products, special orders, and a never ending circulation of meats being produced, cured, and smoked.

The shop is open to the public from Thursday-Saturday, but that’s not the half of it – Albert Thurn must be one of the hardest working men in the Columbus food scene. An average day often start at 4.30am with a check on the fire in the smokehouse, followed by a full day of preparing meat for bacon, sausages and/or headcheese – endless grinding, chopping, seasoning, filling casings, smoking, steaming and baking. Some of the items are smoked for 30 hours. All of the recipes are in Albert’s head, nothing is written down. Come 12.30am he’s usually back in the smokehouse checking on the fire or adding wood. It’s lucky he lives next door.

Getting a peek behind the scenes was fascinating. Some of the equipment in use dates back to the 1930s. Their specially made 200lb kettle can hold over 50 hams at Christmastime. Albert talked us through all the different cuts of pork and beef that they use and which cuts are used for which products. He laughed when he told us that for about 120 years they threw the bones away but a few years ago they realized that they could sell the smoked bones for dog treats. Producing charcuterie involves a lot of science but there’s a high level of artistry too. Albert tries to ensure that seasonings are balanced so that no one spice is ever dominant. He judges the products by their color and appearance and is proud of their consistency.

All of their meat comes from Ohio farms and they have long standing relationships with their suppliers. As well as the cured meat products and some smoked fish and cheese, they also sell fresh pork items. Thurn’s can do special orders and over the years they’ve smoked pretty much anything you can think of including bobcat(!) and caribou. During hunting season they process a lot of deer.

It is always inspiring to see someone who puts such passion and care into their work and a pleasure to be able to purchase artisan products that have so much history behind them. Thurn’s really is a gem and like many gems it’s a little off the beaten path. You’ll find it tucked off the southbound exit ramp of 71S at Greenlawn Ave. You can visit the store at 530 Greenlawn Avenue. Thursday-Friday 8am-6pm or Saturday 7am-1pm. Note they accept cash and check only.

If you haven’t visited Thurn’s before here are a few of our favorites: capicola, double smoked bacon, schinken, smoked tongue, blood sausage, and smoked pork chops.

Albert is also teaching a sausage making class at the Stratford Ecological Center on Sunday February 26th.

This is a screaming deal, if we do say so ourselves, on an exciting event we’ve managed to pull together last-minute. Here’s the deal:

Fresh Street is putting on a ‘pop-up restaurant’ evening that’ll be hosted by Iron Chef competitor Jonathan Sawyer at his newest restaurant, Noodlecat in Cleveland. On Feb. 2nd, from 6:30pm on, they’ll be serving Japanese crepes, takoyaki, and yakitori in the restaurant. The ticket price includes full access to all of these offerings.

And, if you’ve ever experienced the creations of Fresh Street and their sister operation, Section 8 Yakitorium, you’ll know that this is a big good thing. Here’s an equally big good thing – our group will have the opportunity to sit down with Chef Sawyer beforehand over drinks at his flagship restaurant, The Greenhouse Tavern.

If you were to go yourself, tickets would be $42 just for the pop-up portion of the evening (excluding travel expenses). We’re offering the bundle, including the meet & greet with Chef Sawyer, plus transportation from Columbus, for $55.00.

So take off a half day and join us in supporting one of the great local culinary duos! On Thursday, February 2nd, we’ll depart from the  aquatic center in Victorian Village (free parking there for all participants) at 2:30pm, with the goal of arriving at Greenhouse Tavern at 5:30pm at latest. We’ll take the short walk from Greenhouse to Noodlecat around 6:30pm for the main event, and spend approximately 3 hours there. Departure will be at 9:30pm at latest, which should put us back in Columbus right around midnight if not earlier.

Purchase tickets and see full menu for this event here!

EDIT: The drawing for the two free tickets is now closed. The random number generator has chosen, out of the 35 comments received, this one:

That’d be Joyce! We’ll contact you shortly.

And for everyone else – purchase tickets and see the full menu for this event here!

After all, what makes for a great restaurant? Is it the meticulous service, impeccable culinary technique, tremendous wine list and exceptional ambience found at places like The Refectory? Or, is it the straightforward pleasure of biting into a big pile of what may well be the best al pastor east of the Mississippi while sitting on a bar stool outside at Los Guachos? How do you reconcile an exceptional $100/person restaurant experience with what could legitimately be seen to be an equally satisfying $8 taco binge? How much does it matter that one option isn’t technically a restaurant?

We don’t know the answers, and we’re not sure if anyone else has it figured out, either.

What we do have to offer, however, is our sense of which experiences have received the attention they deserved over the past year, and which have not. We’ll leave the ‘bests’ for others to figure out – here’s our take on the restaurants and food vendors that, to our minds, aren’t receiving the recognition they deserve:

10) Latitude 41 – We didn’t warm to these guys easily – our (largely well-deserved) prejudice held against hotel restaurants saw to that. But after trying Chef McClennan’s creations and observing his eager interest in the local food scene, we were thoroughly won over. With the recent addition of mixologist Nicolene Schwartz’s creativity behind the bar, Latitude 41 makes for a great, complete restaurant experience.

Recommended: Latitude 41 is, to our knowledge, the only restaurant in town where you can walk off of the street and order a 4 or 6 course tasting menu without pre-arrangement. This is a good thing to do, and the prices are surprisingly reasonable.

9) Skillet – What? Skillet doesn’t get enough attention?! Well, they do get their fair share of love, no doubt about it, and all of it is well deserved. But here’s the deal, as we see it – the humble origins of the diner-esque offerings at Skillet may tend to obscure the flat-out brilliance of flavor pairings and kitchen technique that goes into ever dish served there. Some small part of our skepticism about local top-10 lists stems from Skillet’s absence from them.

Recommended: Skillet is best known for brunch, but also does exceptional lunches and dinners. Try hitting them up in the evening. The menu changes frequently, but the quality of offering is consistently superb.

8 ) Ray Ray’s – For our money, Ray Ray’s is the best BBQ stop in town, period.

Recommended: The grass-fed brisket is a hit, and a half-rack of ribs with the habanero sauce (not as spicy as you might expect) hits the spot every time.

7) The Rossi – Now this is bar food. Or, uh, maybe it’s more accurate to say that it’s great food that happens to be served in a bar. At any rate, we suspect that the bar environs go a long way towards diminishing the recognition The Rossi‘s kitchen deserves for their innovative and exceptionally executed dishes.

Recommended: The pastrami-cured NY strip is amazing, and their ‘pork & beans’ thoroughly redefine the concept. The lamb lollipops with bacon jam are a great app.

6) Arirang – We’ve heard occasional grumblings about how expensive Korean restaurants can be. While they can certainly seem so, Arirang definitely isn’t. Arirang is also, in our opinion, putting out the best Korean food in town. Ambience may be on the, how should we put it,  functional side of things (it’s in the back of a Korean market), but it’s as clean as clean can be. Last time we ate at Arirang, we ran into a local restaurant reviewer and his wife enjoying a rare non-work-related meal out. *fist bump*

Recommended: Experimentation. We haven’t had a bad dish here yet, but almost nobody could go wrong with their stone pot bi bim bap.

5) Solay Bistro – We consistently contend that Somali is easily the most underrated of cuisines – with Middle Eastern, Indian, and Italian influences, it’s flat-out fascinating in a surprisingly accessible sense. And, we consistently contend that Solay Bistro is the best Somali restaurant in town. This is, in no small part, because chef/owner Nadira Abdiraminam is a great cook first and foremost whose focus is on Somali cuisine.

Recommended: Just about everything including some great vegetarian offerings, but we’ll give a special nod to the goat (hilib).

4) Harvest Pizzeria – Harvest is the only pizza place we can think of that would make for a good ‘date night’ restaurant. While their focus is on the exceptional Neapolitan-style pizzas, both the apps and desserts are, at minimum, very good and, at best, absolute scene stealers. Cocktails are solid as well.

Recommended: All of the pies are great, but we have a special place in our heart for their ‘Spicy Yuma’. Their budino is one of our favorite desserts in the central Ohio.

3) Creole Kitchen – There are no two ways about it - Creole Kitchen is located right in the middle of one of the roughest parts of the city. But, man, what an oasis. For our money (and often not a lot of it – think 5 beignets for $1, for example) they’re putting out the best creole around.

Recommended: A keen awareness of your tolerance for spicy heat. Their exceptional crawfish etouffee and jambalaya are prepared HOT, and can be adjusted downwards if you ask. You probably should. Their dirty rice is a preferred side.

2) L’Antibes – For whatever reason, we had been content to overlook L’Antibes for a long, long time. Then, this past summer, we were among a group of the curious who converged on their newly-opened patio.  Scads of apps were ordered and shared, and when all was said and done, everyone was blown away. Why does L’Antibes receive so little attention?

Recommended: Saving L’Antibes for a special occasion, and then calling them up and having them put together a special tasting menu for you.

1) Fortune Chinese Restaurant – I always feel like I’m shouting into the void when singing the praises of Fortune. When it comes to the gap between the sheer pleasure of eating someplace, and the widespread recognition of it’s potential for such pleasure (or even openness to considering it!) it’s never been larger, in our opinion, than in this instance.

And, here’s the funny thing – I’m generally not that big of a fan of Chinese cuisines. We’ve quizzed Chinese friends on the best places for great Chinese in town, and they’ve happily shown us. While they enthuse about how a dish tastes ‘just like grandma’s’ or drool over another dish’s wok hei, I’m often quietly thinking to myself, “It’s alright, I guess…”

But Fortune is emphatically different – in no small part because it specializes Szechuan Chinese. This means you’ll experience the tingly, slightly numbing qualities of the Szechuan peppercorn, not to mention an absolute boatload of other in-your-face flavors. While it’s taken poking, prodding, and coercion to get people to try it, we haven’t come across a single person yet who has left there feeling anything short of giddy about the experience.

Recommended: Gathering 6-8 people and sharing as many dishes off of their Szechuan menu as possible. Their Sichuan eggplant is worth throwing into the mix, as are the dan dan noodles and the lamb with chili pepper and cumin. Really, though, just about everything on the Szechuan menu is great – go wild!

Which restaurant and food experiences in Columbus do you think are underrated?