There are some great new bakeries popping up in Columbus. So far, 2011 has seen the arrival of Cherbourg bakery in Bexley and the Angry Baker in Olde Towne East. Cherbourg is a dedicated gluten and nut free bakery famous for their luscious lemon slices. We will be visiting them during our gluten free dessert tour on May 14th.
The Angry Baker offers a variety of breads and pastries and also serves as a cafe offering breakfast and lunch. We enjoyed the casual atmosphere and the decor with exposed brick and mixture of art and vintage kitchen equipment. Their top selling breakfast sandwich is fried egg and Ludlow Cheese (from Blue Jacket dairy) on a bacon, swiss and chive scone. Take our word for it – this is a thing of beauty:
We also enjoyed their smoked salmon on brioche. A lot of the Angry Baker’s sourcing is local including eggs, cheese, meat, milk, maple syrup, oats and honey.
Today is the official opening of Fresh Street’s Takoyaki hut located at Mikey’s Late Night Slice in the Short North. Takoyaki is a popular Japanese street food brought to town by the creators of last summer’s Japanese crepe phenomenon. Takoyaki are octopus filled savory pancake balls but it should come as no surprise that Fresh Street will also be offering other non-traditional flavors. $5 for a dish of eight of them, can’t beat that! The Fresh Street hut will be open 11:30-5:30pm on weekdays (except Tuesday) and noon-6pm on weekends.
Tomorrow is another official opening; Jeni’s first store outside the Columbus area in Chagrin Falls (greater Cleveland). The mini scoop shop in German Village is due to open in May and Jeni’s long anticipated book release occurs in June. The Wexner center are hosting a launch party for the book on June 11th. You can also bid to win Jeni’s ice cream for 200 of your friends and some other amazing prizes through the WOSU Chef’s in the city auction.
There are lots of great food events coming up in April and May. Slow Food Columbus and WOSU are hosting a book signing with Jacques Pepin on April 21st at 4pm in the Dispatch Kitchen at the North Market. More information and tickets here.
Saturday April 23rd is the Earth Day celebration at Franklin Park’s community garden campus 11am-10pm. This is a fun free event for all ages with art, music and food. Volunteer for a worksite this weekend or to help at the celebration and you will be rewarded with free Jeni’s ice cream or a Columbus Brewing Company beer. April 22nd is international Earth Day and Northstar Cafe are once again serving free veggie burgers to commemorate the day.
Another eco-friendly event with food, the biannual Market to Market ride, will be held on May 7th. The Market to Market ride is a collaboration between the North Market and The Hills market which are on either end of the Olentangy trail. Participants have the option of starting at either market to fuel up with breakfast before embarking on the 13 mile adventure to the market at the other end of the bike trail. Participants who arrive at their destination market will be rewarded with a scoop of Jeni’s Splendid Ice Cream and a reusable bag filled with coupons and goodies from local foods purveyors. Those intrepid enough to bike back to their market of origin will receive a completely different bag of goodies, creating a total value of $50 worth of savings and samples. I’ve ridden the last 3 rides and it’s a lot of fun. This year I’ll be on the side of the bike path as Columbus Food Adventures will have a table. Please stop and say hi.
The Taste of Dine Originals is a fantastic fundraiser for the Buckeye Ranch. This year it will be held on Thursday, May 12 from 6 to 9 pm, at the Audubon Center on the Whittier Peninsula. This event is one of the most popular food events in Columbus and features dishes from 50 Dine Originals member restaurants, 30 vineyards, 2 craft breweries and a couple of micro-distilleries. It’s a great way to get to know a lot of different chefs and restaurants and to help raise money for a good cause. If you haven’t been there it’s also a great opportunity to see the Audubon Center.
Another wonderful benefit is the North Market Apron Gala. For more than 135 years the North Market has been a valuable part of the fabric of our community and a treasured historical landmark. Although the North Market earns the majority of its annual budget through rent and parking fees, donations are critical to the funding mix; attending the Apron Gala is an easy and fun way to support it. The 15th annual event will be held on Saturday, May 21 from 7 – 10 p.m. The event is fabulously fun and showcases the best of the market – guests enjoy appetizers, main tastes and desserts from all of the North Market merchants, as well as entertainment, a cash bar,silent auction and raffle prizes. Start designing your aprons now.
Patio is season is coming and new menus are popping up for spring. Deepwood has already launched theirs and The Refectory has a special ‘Tax Relief’ menu (Monday-Friday April 18th-29th 3 courses for $29.11). We’ve already had ramps at Knead on our Short North tour and expect that they are starting to appear on other menus around town. Another sign that spring is finally here – the farmers markets are also starting their seasons with Clintonville and the North Market starting on April 30th, the Market at 15th opening May 5th and Worthington starting on May 7th.
Speaking of patios, Basi Italia are continuing their early bird prix-fixe until the end of April, 5-7pm Tuesday-Thursday, and at $20 for 3 courses it’s a great deal. We’ve also seen that L’Antibes are working on a new patio and heard that there will be a special patio menu. Can’t wait to try it.
One of our favorite mixologists Cris Dehlavi is now working at Mouton on Saturday nights. Stop by and try one of her creations. If cocktails are your thing, Knead are planning a cocktail party on April 23rd featuring gin and vodka from Watershed distillery.
Dirty Frank’s are gearing up for their first weekend brunch with French toast sticks and breakfast nachos. Menu (and reactions) here.
If you are looking for Easter Brunch suggestions we have plenty one our blog, or if you want something completely different, how about an Easter taco truck tour?
One again we’ve been busy researching Columbus’ diverse restaurant scene. New alt eats posts include Fortune Chinese, Ming Ga, Kihachi (on the cheap) and Columbus’ first Nigerian restaurant – Intercontinental.
