LFM: 614 Restaurant Week: Oliver's, Downtown

Well it seems like being behind on blogging is becoming all too common in my life, get it together Steph!  I hereby solemnly swear to step up my game!  Ok, now let's talk Restaurant Week, which was like forever ago but oh well!


With such a hectic summer its hard to make it to too many places during Restaurant Week but we at least made it to one with our friend Asha.  Oliver's is the newest member of the FAB Dining Group family, spearheaded by Yvonne Sarber, in good company with Manifesto, DeNovo and Fin (formerly Chez du Bon).  This was on my list to try since I heard about it this winter.  If nothing else I couldn't wait to see what the FAB team did to decorate this unassuming Lynn Alley spot.

Patio seating

In typical fashion they created an environment that's eclectic, unique and transforms your dining experience.  In as few words as possible, it's a classed up downtown sports bar.  Exposed brick, TV's everywhere with a mix of comfortable raised booths and high top tables, it's an urban chic place focused on good booze and good food with sizable portions.

the bar area

So first we started with cocktails, I got a dirty martini.  Since Oliver's prides themselves on their bourbon selection it seemed to make sense for Chris and Asha to get bourbons on the rocks.  I haven't quite ventured to the bourbon side of life, hence the martini.

None of us actually ordered from the Restaurant Week menu as the burgers caught our eyes instead.  I got the Sliders, a trio of short rib mini burgers topped with manchego cheese, lettuce and tomato.  To make the meal more substantial (not realizing the portion size) I ordered a side of the Mac and Cheese, six cheese blend, cavatappi noodles and sour cream bechamel.  The burgers were cooked perfectly, fabulously juicy and very flavorful.  Was a little turned off that they assumed I wouldn't want ketchup and it wasn't served with condiments (I practice safe eating, always use condiments!) but with quality beef and cheese I suppose it's not entirely necessary.  The Mac and Cheese was pretty disappointing, not very cheesey and committed one of the cardinal sins of mac and cheese making: being dry.  I want those noodles practically swimming in cheesey goodness please!

Sliders and Mac and Cheese

Asha got The Downtown Juicy Lucy, 1/2 pound short rib burger stuffed with cheddar and gruyere topped with caramelized onions and chipotle aioli with a side of garlic fries.  She said this was good but since the cheese was in the middle of the burger there was less cheese flavor throughout.  The garlic fries were really yummy (I snagged one to taste!).

Downtown Juicy Lucy

Chris got the BBQ Burger, 1/2 pound short rib burger topped with pulled pork, pickled onions, sweet slaw and the house blueberry BBQ sauce with a side of sweet potato fries.  He said it was good but nothing to write home about. 

BBQ Burger

Even though we were entirely stuffed from our meals we decided to splurge for dessert.  The guy who cleared our plates told us we couldn't order from the Restaurant Week desserts but then our waiter we had the whole time said we could, so a little discombobulated/misinformed but whatevs.  We each ordered different desserts and then passed plates around to try them all.

I ordered the chocolate cake with bourbon glaze.  This was pretty fabulous, the cake was very moist and fluffy and the glaze was just right.

Chocolate Cake with bourbon glaze

Chris got the Peaches and Cream.  This was okay, the shortcake was a little lack luster but the whipped cream was tasty with the peaches.

Peaches and Cream

Asha got the Banana Bread Pudding which was good, the banana was a nice change up from regular bread pudding.

Banana Bread Pudding

So after everyone tried all three we came up with the following verdict: Chocolate Cake was the best, Banana Bread Pudding next, Peaches and Cream last on a count of not very good shortcake.

Overall it's a good downtown spot with elevated flavors and atmosphere, although you'll pass it on High Street if you're not paying attention since it's tucked into the alley on Lynn.  Prices were reasonable for the generous portions.  The menu has some options other than burgers and bar food which gives it more depth.  Definitely a good spot to take in a game and some decent chow if you are downtown.

As previously stated, I'll be working to improve my blogging frequency in the coming weeks, lots of restaurants, recipes and shoes to share!

Cheers!
Steph

Local Foodie Moment: The Pint House, Short North

Well we are in the home stretch in our new restaurants of 2013 list!  (I know, I'm a little behind but it's been a hectic few months!)  The day after Christmas, Chris and I typically recoup from all the travel and crazy of the holidays so cooking dinner tends to be low on the priorities list.

We decided to try The Pint House in the Short North.  Since it was the day after the holiday and it was a little earlier, about 6pm, it wasn't crowded so we found a table right away.  Chris' brother and our friend Joe decided to join us.  We had heard a lot of good things from our friends that have been to Pint House before but they warned us it gets pretty crowded in the evenings.

The restaurant has an industrial look with exposed brick and garage doors separating the two main rooms but they have some interesting details that make it unique.  As you walk in there is a waterfall wall with a painting behind it, upon closer inspection you realize the waterfall element is actually beer taps.  This serves as the backdrop for their photo booth which turns a causal dinner into a goofy string of photos with friends!

Beer tap waterfall!

We decided to split the Short Rib Nachos, tortilla chips topped with beer braised short ribs, black bean corn salsa, beer cheese sauce, diced tomato, jalepenos and drizzled with sour cream.  These were delicious, the short rib meat was nice and tender and the beer cheese sauce was awesome, definitely an elevated version of nachos!

Short Rib Nachos

I ordered the Black Bean Burger although I'm not vegetarian, sometimes I don't mind eating like one!  This was served on a brioche bun topped with housemade BBQ sauce, avocado mango salsa with a side of fresh cut fries and their housemade beer brined pickle.  This was super yummy and I honestly didn't miss the meat at all, the burger had a great texture as well as nice flavor to it.  The fresh cut fries were great, served with some malt vinegar and it was just perfection.  So many places claim to have fresh cut fries but they tend to be a let down, this is NOT the case at Pint House.  The beer brined pickle was good but I don't really discriminate, I couldn't really taste any difference in taste with the beer brine.

Black Bean Burger

Chris got the Beer & Cheese pizza, bacon, caramelized onion, cheddar-jack cheese and beer cheese sauce.  The flavors were great but it was pretty rich so it might have been better paired with a salad to cut it a bit or as a dish to share alongside something else.

Beer & Cheese Pizza

Service was good, a little discombobulated at times though.  One girl started serving us, then another came over then we finally told them they were both waiting on the same table and they managed to sort it out.  The food runner from the kitchen tended to be a little snippy for my liking and a smidge sarcastic.  Joe ordered a fish sandwich, on the menu said it was served with lettuce, tomato and onion.  When the runner brought it out there was no lettuce, tomato or onion so Joe asked why it wasn't on there.  The runner replied that it just depends who makes it if it gets made to menu specifications, ummm excuse me?  I'm no genius here but that's some bad PR for your restaurant that you openly admit inconsistency.  Either way Joe had to ask for his sandwich toppings before being able to enjoy his meal.  Maybe they were understaffed with the holiday, who knows.

Overall we had a good time, the food was good and the guys loved the vast beer selection and the cool vibe.  We definitely won't mind returning in the future!

Tonight is the Luke Bryan concert with some girlfriends and I'm SO excited!  A little fun with friends and some LB is just what I need to help me forget this cold weather.   (I know, I live in Ohio, it's part of the job description but about this time every year I'm ready to move south for the winter!)  Saturday is the SAG (Screen Actors Guild) Awards, hopefully I'll get to watch, I'll be sure to report the fashion yey's and nay's and maybe post a little red carpet snack!

Cheers!
Steph

Local Foodie Moment: Local Cantina, Grandview

Well we keep on moving through our new restaurants checklist, this time around we gave Local Cantina in Grandview a try!  We went in a little tentative as some of the reviews on urbanspoon weren't exactly positive. But we left very pleased!

Local Cantina is off of Grandview Avenue tucked in the back corner of the plaza next to Aladdin's.  It's not really what you'd expect out of a Mexican restaurant in a plaza.  It's got a great vintage vibe with eclectic wall art, dim lighting and a selectively diverse menu.  The bar is a series of wood slats with shelving for bottles with pictures hung here and there.  There is a vintage washer which holds fresh tortilla chips and salsa for a serve yourself snack.  

The salsa and chips were just what us hungry diners needed to curb our appetite while navigating the menu.  The salsa was very good, it had just the right kick!

We started off with cocktails, I ordered a Dark 'n Stormy (very similar to a Moscow Mule but with dark rum so it turns out a tad sweeter) and Chris got Columbus Brewing Company's Andyman Ale.  My drink was delicious and a welcome change of pace instead of tequila (I know I know when in Mexico, drink tequila but it just hurts my body too much hah!).  They did have other cocktail options, obviously with margarita choices for all.  They also had a pretty good beer list.

Dark 'n Stormy

Then came tacos!  We decided since we did mostly tacos at El Camino, in order to compare we'd have to do the tacos at Local Cantina.  Plus our server highly recommended the tacos over the other options.  Chris ordered the fish taco, brisket taco and roasted carnitas taco with a side of street corn.  The carnitas disappeared before I could snag a bite but Chris said it was good especially with the fruit salsa.  He really liked the fish taco, I decided to take his word for it (I'm not a fish fan).  The brisket was very good, I managed to grab a bite, good BBQ sauce, tender beef and a sweet jalapeno slaw that really added to the taco.  The street corn, slathered in a butter and queso mixture was pretty phenom.

Fish, Roasted Carnitas and Brisket Tacos

Street Corn

I ordered the veggie and avocado B.L.T. tacos with a side of Mexican rice.  The veggie was delicious, it had a black bean and corn salsa, cabbage, pico de gallo, guac and a chipotle vinagrette type of sauce.  The avocado B.L.T. was creative but kind of standard tasting, nothing overly special about it.  The mexican rice was good, fluffy and well seasoned.

Veggie and BLT Tacos

Mexican Rice

We both agreed we preferred the tacos at Local Cantina over the rest we've tried in our new restaurant journey.  We went on a Thursday evening and there were plenty of tables available.  We had a mix of servers due to a shift change but our first one and the one from the bar were both very friendly and very nice.  Our first sever was a little quirky and gave really good suggestions.  She even stopped over after she clocked out to check in on us.

This review is featured on urbanspoon!

Given the nature of the cuisine it's pretty easy for the food to be prepared quickly, as we've found at most Mexican restaurants.  The atmosphere and staff at Local Cantina make for a great dining experience whether you want to grab a quick bite or if you want to stay awhile.  They have specials and events like trivia that you can find on their Facebook page from week to week.  Good food, good service, good atmosphere, a definite win on the new restaurants list!  

It's crazy busy before the holidays but I would like to get some more posts up that aren't just LFM's!  Stay tuned!  

Cheers!

Steph

Local Foodie Moment: The Pearl

Geez I was supposed to post this LFM ages ago!  So sorry!  But now it goes along with our New Restaurant Checklist so it works out!

A couple weeks ago I had a charity campaign event at Franklin Park Conservatory so I made plans with Chris to have dinner downtown, giving me the night off!  Turns out he got Clippers game tickets so we made a fun little evening out of it!  (Remember when it was warm enough to go to baseball games?  With the recent snow I'm struggling to remember such a time!)  Since I knew we would be down there in advance we decided to make reservations at The Pearl, the highly lauded new Cameron Mitchell restaurant.

Chris and I are big fans of ol' CM, his gagle of restaurants have always provided great atmospheres, great service and quality food for our enjoyment over the years.  So we were excited to try this new gem that EVERYONE, and I mean EVERYONE in Columbus is talking about (and it opened back in February).  Be warned given this city's infatuation with the place you best plan ahead and call three weeks in advance.

I made reservations three weeks in advance, then week of I wanted to add two to our party to accommodate friends we were going to the Clippers game with.  They said, nope sorry we could move your reservation up by 15 minutes if you want to do that or move it back by TWO hours if you want to accommodate 4.  Seriously?  So I had a sneaking suspicion we'd be jammed in like sardines at a two person table.  Interestingly enough, I was correct.  We were wedged between two tables of couples who seemed to be enjoying their dinners.  The reason I knew that is because I could hear every part of their conversation as we weren't even arms length from each other.

I will say the upside to being right next to complete strangers is that Columbus folk are pretty friendly so those who had eaten first were happy to give their suggestions and feedback on your pending menu choices.  So it makes it feel a little more communal and interesting but when I've waited three weeks to try this place I'd like to be able to have a conversation with my fiance without the emotional rumblings from the table next to us.

Anyways on to the drinks.  I tried the Moscow Mule, vodka, lime juice, ginger and ginger beer (what can I say? I could't help being part of the Mule Movement that seemed to have taken over the capital city this summer).  Chris ordered a beer.  The MM was light, refreshing and well made.  Water and cocktails are served in mason jars giving it a rustic feel.

Moscow Mule

Chris had been to The Pearl once for a work happy hour and said the Tavern Fries were pretty phenom.    I clearly couldn't resist seeing what the hype was about so we ordered them as an appetizer.  He was right, they were pretty phenom.  Nice and crispy shoe string style fries with just the right seasoning!

Tavern Fries

They do have a variety of oysters for diners to choose from but I'm not an oyster fan and Chris didn't want to eat a whole order by himself.

Ok, main dish time.  Chris ordered the salmon special which was served over a cluster of roasted veggies.  He said it was amazing, I took his word for it as salmon in any form other than a Philadelphia Roll just doesn't work out for me.

Salmon Special

Since I knew we'd indulge in a beer at the Clippers game I wanted to keep things light so I ordered the Spinach Salad and the Chicken Wing Confit.  The salad had goat cheese, candied almonds and a bacon balsamic vinaigrette that was mostly to die for.  The wings were deliciously crispy and the Maytag blue cheese dip they served with was super yummy.  Since it was confit style it was rather rich but the spinach salad cut that richness to make for a pretty great dinner combo!

Chicken Wing Confit and Spinach Salad

Then came dessert (I thought we were keeping things light? haha) we were advised by the table next to us that we HAD to get the apple pie.  I am by no circumstances a fan of pie but apple pie is Chris' achilles heel so we caved and got it.  Our waiter told us it had creme brulee custard mixed in with the apples so it was very good.  I was just waiting to prove him wrong.  Unfortunately I couldn't do so because it was one of the better tasting pies I've ever shoved in my piehole (Hah? Piehole while eating pie, where do I come up with this stuff?!)!  It literally changed my life.  Chris of course loved it and wasn't so pleased when I kept stealing more bites!

Creme Brulee Apple Pie with a scoop of Jenni's Vanilla Ice Cream

Overall the food was good, the service was great and the cocktails were just right but I'd venture to say the price is a bit much.  Maybe I'm being overly picky and my initial impressions of the atmosphere are clouding my judgement but I think the jury is still out for me on this one.  Chris has labeled himself a fan but I'm still not there yet.  I'd like to go back and give it another try, then make my official fan or not decision.  I have heard they have a fabulous brunch so maybe we'll go back for that.

This post is on urbanspoon!

Recent news says that CM will be opening another restaurant concept called Hudson 29 in early 2014.  Should be interesting to see what they come up with next!    

Cheers!
Steph

Local Foodie Moment: The Crest

How was everyone's 4th of July?!  We had quite the marathon of events!  I feel like I needed the first part of the week just to recoup!

We kicked off our mini vacation with dinner at a new restaurant, The Crest, and Red, White & Boom!  Then we scooted off to Erie, PA to visit family and spend some time on one of the local lakes.  Then back to Cleveland to meet our dear family friends' new puppy, SugarBear, she is the cutest!  Then back to Columbus for the O.A.R. concert where we got to enjoy fireworks from the baseball game next door.  THEN Sunday we vegged/recovered from it all! All in all it was a fabulous couple days!  And of course I couldn't help but share a few pics with you!

My 4th of July Wreath, finished just in time!

Meet SugarBear!  She even had a yummy martini created in her honor!

O.A.R. Concert plus fireworks from Huntington Park!

Each year Chris and I do our best to make it to Red, White & Boom!, Columbus' BIG fireworks show. This year was no exception but with all the travel and crazy that has been going on lately we didn't want to feel rushed in getting downtown and finding a place to eat.  We decided to try a place we'd been hearing about that's in Clintonville, away from all the parking hassles of Boom called The Crest.  This gastropub has been the talk of the town lately and it was time we see for ourselves!

The Crest has quite a few unique identifiers.  Interesting touches like veggies and herbs grown on site in rooftop and patio boxes help it standout in the farm to table trend.  The exposed duct work and wrap around wood bar give it a pub feel but as soon as you look at the menu you know you are in for an elevated experience.

Some shots of the interior

Even things like fresh cut flowers in the ladies room sets it apart from your typical pub (or your typical bathroom hah!).  I was particularly enamored with the vintage mirrors.

Vintage mirrors and sinks plus a cute little vase of fresh cut flowers add such a nice touch!

Garden boxes with fresh herbs line the parking lot, patio and rooftop

We had made a reservation the night before so we checked in and were seated at a high top table on the back corner of the restaurant.  It took a little while for a server to get to us but it gave us time to mill over the cocktail menu.  I had the Grapefruit Moon with local gin, grapefruit juice, local honey mead and sage.  Chris selected a local beer.  My cocktail was delicious!  It had a very floral and earthy element to it which I wasn't expecting.  It was smooth and just the right sipper for a warm evening.  I told Chris it was almost too smooth because it disappeared rather quickly!

Grapefruit Moon

Our server gave us the specials for the day and Chris locked in on the Bison Burger with a side of Sweet Potato Fries.  I got the BBQ Pulled Pork Sliders with a side of grilled marinated veggies.  Both choices were delicious and very sizable!  Presentation was great, served on rustic butcher boards and cast iron pots.  Chris would have liked his burger a little less well done, he had asked for it medium but it still had great flavor.

Bison Burger with Sweet Potato Fries

The BBQ Pulled Pork sliders were very good and much larger than your normal slider.  The sauce to pork ratio was just right, not too messy but not too dry.  Yummm makes me hungry just thinking about it! 

Pulled Pork Sliders

Grilled Marinated Veggies

We also tried the housemade hot sauce that was on the table.  Ooowwwweee it is hot!  But its super flavorful with just the right heat.  I drizzled some on my veggies and was supremely happy.  Overall we liked our meals and liked the atmosphere.

Housemade hot sauce

The prices match the higher end/creative dishes but its more expensive than your typical pub.  At the time, we made it for happy hour but I couldn't recite back what all that entailed.  It did seem like there was discounted drink prices for a good variety of drinks to tickle your fancy!

I think another thing that makes The Crest unique is that its not part of a major row of restaurants or stores or anything.  It kind of sits on its own little block in Clintonville.  Definitely an up and coming establishment in the area to try!

This weekend is bridesmaid dress shopping and I've been trying all kinds of new recipes this week so stay tuned!

Cheers!
Steph