Uh Oh...
Residents of Columbus have long known that this place is a (shhhhh) foodies' paradise. If a new restaurant or food product is to be tested in the nation, it is tested in Columbus, Ohio. Columbus supports restaurants and has for as long as I can remember. A good antique show, not so much. But now, we have been discovered. We have been 'explored' by Jane Black and found worthy. She believes the capital has blossomed into a food lover's town over night, with serious cocktails and micro brews, pastries worthy of Paris, fantastical ice-cream and extraordinary shopping. Long dismissed as Applebee country, we have become a city- worthy food destination. Jane extols the North Market and calls it the city's food hub.
Jane points out that the North Market is open year-round. It is a converted warehouse that hosts 35 vendors, including butchers, bakers and ice cream makers. There are shelves of Ohio-milled grain, grass-fed beef, Lake Erie-caught walleye, cheeses, wines and spices. Jane is in love with Columbus...now. Could it be the case of $11 a bottle French Bordeaux or was it the cinnamon roll from Omega Artisan that led her down our primrose path? Maybe it was the live opera singer upstairs who inspired her to try the Hurbert's Polish pirogi. Maybe it was the Mexican hot chocolate ice cream, or could it have been the grapefruit lingaberry sorbet that urged her to write glowingly about Columbus? (Could be she was just especially hungry that day and we happened to hit the spot.)
Jane has also sampled German Village and found it scrumptious, so I think we are in for an influx of food writer attention. They are on the scent and soon we will have the food focus denied us for so long. Are we ready for our close up?
Note:
How did I get along without my 'granny fork'? It mashes, it lifts, it stirs, it spears; it's an all purpose tool of old. It is nestled among my French kitchen towels in a festive red and green (with my initials) that I found in Vanves, a French flea market of note. The fork is sold on Amazon. com
