Columbus Foodie

“Come with me, and you’ll be in a world of pure imagination…”

I’ve raved about Pure Imagination chocolates many times before on this blog, but I don’t every think I’ve gone into detail about *why* it’s so great. For this edition of  Food Destinations, we’re asked to talk about our favorite chocolate shop. It seemed like the perfect opportunity to talk about a place that plays a huge part in my life - I get by there at least once a week for a chocolate fix. And it’s a combination of things (location, quality of the ingredients, and the man behind the chocolate) that makes it a destination instead of just a shop.

Located in the historic North Market in the Short North area in Columbus, Pure Imagination has been a Columbus institution since 2001. The opening of the shop was the culimination of a dream for its owner, Daniel Cooper, who worked three jobs to save enough money to do so. In his free time, he experimented in his basement chocolate lab for over 10 years in order to perfect his self-taught chocolate-making skills. Armed with top quality ingredients and some acquired information from others in the chocolate industry, he entered the basement a novice and emerged as the artisan he is today.

Anyone who has ever met Daniel is familiar with his amiable persona - he always greets his customers with a smile, a few minutes of chit chat, and the passion for chocolate making that is apparent in everything that he does. He is truly one of the nicest and most unique individuals I have ever met, and my life is better for knowing him. Over the years, I’ve come to consider him a friend as well.

Fueled on Red Bull (his breakfast of choice), he agreed to meet with me down at his shop this morning so we could talk chocolate. And talk about chocolate we did! We discussed everything from his chocolate preferences (his favorite of his own line to make and eat is the Midnight Extra Dark truffle, because he likes the look, taste, and purity of it) to where he’d go for chocolate in Paris (he’d find the oldest shop in town, non-chain, and spend the entire amount there).

One of the reasons that his confections are so high-quality is because he’s a firm believer that the quality of the chocolate depends on the ingredients you start with. His commitment to quality means that he uses the best cocoa beans that he can get his hands on, along with the best fresh ingredients that are available. Along with the high quality of his chocolates, his innovation also comes through in spades - his signature chocolate, Pearls of Pure Imagination, which is a dark chocolate cup filled with dark ganache and topped with crunchy “pearls”, is not something that can be found anywhere else.

He owes his much of his success to his love of his customers and his 86-year old grandmother, who has been his mentor, inspiration, and has worked tirelessly with him in his shop until recently. And the book that has inspired him the most? “Swiss Confiseur” by the Richemont Craft School, which he considers his “chocolate bible”.

Daniel has big plans for Pure Imagination. If the chocolate fairy suddenly left $25,000 under his pillow, he’d spend it all on new displays and packaging. He recently opened a production facility in Hilliard to keep up with the high demand, and is working on launching his Elevation line. In five years, he hopes to be one of the innovative leaders in the chocolate industry, and in ten years, he’d like to see his shop be a reason people come to Columbus. He has hopes that Pure Imagination will pass down to the next generation - but his nearly two year old son Skyler hasn’t developed a taste for chocolate quite yet. Like Willy Wonka (his favorite chocolate-related movie, natch), he hopes that Skyler will want that Golden Ticket himself when he gets older.

With impressive credits on his resume like providing the chocolates for the Oscar gift bags last year, I think that his goals are well within reach. He adds that he thanks the residents of Columbus for making him who he is today. His obvious love for his customers is what keeps him going.

I’d like to share the goodness with you guys, because I believe his chocolates really are the best I’ve ever tasted, and the proof of that is *in* the tasting. In honor of this event, I want to pony up and send one person at random a selection of nine Pure Imagination assorted truffles. Just comment on this entry in my blog to enter, and I’ll draw a winner on November 15th. You don’t need to be local to enter, I’ll ship to wherever the winner resides (or get a gift card if you’re local and want to visit the shop yourself).

If you don’t want to take your chances, and want to try his chocolate for yourself, head on down to the North Market in Columbus, Whole Foods in Columbus (and soon in Cleveland, I hear!), or order on the web from the Pure Imagination web site. You won’t be sorry!

ETA: It’s now November 16th, and the round-up for this event still hasn’t been posted, so I’m extending the deadline for entering the drawing until 2 weeks after the round-up is posted. I’ll update this entry with a final date for the drawing when I have it. Thanks for understanding!

ETA2: The round-up has finally been posted, so the drawing will be held on December 1st, with the winner announced in the Friday Roundup and also e-mailed. 
 

Well, I’m back - computer problems are mostly handled (I got a new system out of the deal, but there was a ton of stuff on the old computer that I really need - food photos, my calendar, etc. - which I may or may not be able to get back, don’t know yet). We’re trying to get the old system to operational status - since the boot drive was the one that went paws up, that means we have to install a new hard drive with a new OS, and try to access the dead drive as a secondary drive. It will take me a little longer tonight to get out the events posting, since all of my links to the different Columbus event sources went bye-bye with the hard drive.

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I had the pleasure of meeting Lisa the Restaurant Widow this week, and let me tell you, folks - she’s as friendly and warm in person as she is in her entries. She even brought me a copy of Donna Hay magazine when she realized I had never heard of her (thanks again, BTW!) I’m going to be having dinner with Rosie and her husband this weekend, and can’t wait! We Columbus food bloggers should all get together and have a potluck sometime soon. Or a get-together at a restaurant. Or something.

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I can’t believe that tomorrow is the last farmer’s market of the season! I’m playing around with the idea of stocking up on necessities (like potatoes, onions, squash, root veggies, etc) and doing some cold storage this winter. Probably not, though, as I didn’t leave much time to prepare. I’ll definitely get enough to last me the better part of the next month, though. Now that I’ve made eating local a way of life, winters are going to depress the hell out of me. Next year’s plan? Lots of canning and food preservation, so I can still have the taste of June strawberries in December. I don’t think I’m going to do the CSA next year, though. It was a great experience, but just too much food and too much waste when we couldn’t get through the share every week. There’s about 3 more weeks of CSA left.

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Speaking of CSA, is it sad that I’m already planning out Thanksgiving dinner? I’ll be getting a 15-18 organic pasture raised turkey from Just This Farm, the same place I have my CSA share with. Along with that, he’s offering a box that includes most of the ingredients you need for Thanksgiving (enough to feed 6-8 adults) for $48. Turkey is $3.49/lb. so I’ll probably end up spending about the same as if I were going conventional. I’m still undecided if I’m going to do my typical spread, or if I’m going to try some new recipes this year. Probably a mix of both, with some new dishes thrown in along with the old ones (for example, my husband would kill me if I stuffed the bird with anything other than my usual stuffing recipe). I’ll probably have my menu finalized in another week or two. We’re playing around with the idea of buying some grass-fed beef from him too, to get us through the winter. I usually get these things at Bluescreek or at the farmer’s market - we’ll see if we have the freezer space available.

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I was so glad to see that Blogging Ohio reviewed one of my favorite restaurants in Columbus, the Starliner Diner. We’ll be heading there this weekend, so expect me to post a review of our meal there sometime next week.

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Also featured in the Dispatch this week was one of my favorite places to eat breakfast, Nancy’s Home Cooking. Totally uncomplicated, down-home comfort food, just like eating at mom’s. If you get down that way, give it a try. You can’t go wrong with *anything* on the menu.

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Go to any Chipotle location on Tuesday, October 31st dressed like a Chipotle burrito, taco, bol or salad, and they’ll give you a free burrito. I think I’d spend more on wrapping myself in foil then I would paying for a ‘rito. Just saying.

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L’Antibes is for sale. Along with The Refectory, you can count the number of French restaurants in this town on one hand. I haven’t had the opportunity to try either yet (although I’m dying to get to The Refectory for their three-course prix fixe bistro menu for $21 per person - from what I hear, one of the best deals in Columbus). I don’t know if I should keep putting off my visit to L’Antibes, though - if it does sell soon, there’s no telling how much the menu will change, let alone whether or not it will remain a French restaurant. Is anybody familiar enough with both restaurants to tell me which one *you* prefer? Thanks.

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Dispatch readers said that Giammarco’s has the best lasagna in town. Can’t say for sure, haven’t been there. To those who have, is it worth a visit? Even though I like most of my Italian rustic, I like lots of stuff in my lasagna, which is why I usually prefer to make it myself. This week, they want to know who has the city’s best happy hour? I’m going to have to sit this one out, too - I don’t usually eat out during happy hour (and I’m not a huge bar person), so I wouldn’t know. Put in your two cents and enter to win a $25 gift certificate.

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My goal for November, in honor of National Blog Posting Month, is to blog every day of next month. I came close this month until my computer decided it wanted to die. November is my month! I can feel it!

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My “keeper” recipes for this week (ones that I want to try ASAP) are: Creamy Delicata Squash from A Finger in Every Pie, Creamy Pumpkin Cheesecake with Ginger-Pecan Crust from alpineberry, Spinach and Feta Quiche (wow! I wish my pictures came out like that!) from Bron Marshall, My Favorite Beef Stew from Chez Mégane, Warm Tarragon Dressed Potato Salad from Coffee & Cornbread, Crunchy, Hearty Oatmeal Cookies from Cookie Madness, Baked Oatmeal from Everybody Likes Sandwiches, Paneer Makhani from Hooked on Heat, Roasted Pork Tenderloin with Apple Cider Jus and Autumn Vegetable Stew with Mashed Sweet Potato Topping from Ja Mange la Ville, Crock Pot Carnitas from Kayaksoup, Garam Masala from The Kitchen - Apartment Therapy, Paneer Pad Thai with Bok Choy from Mahanandi, Potato-Ricotta Salata Gnocchi from Porcini Chronicles, Creamy Macaroni and Cheese from Smitten Kitten, Kitchen Sink Eggs from Tigers & Strawberries, Scotch Eggs from tsogb,and Spiced Candied Pecans from Slashfood.

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In informative posts this week, Dave from KitchenSavvy answers the question How Long Can Cooked Food be Left Out?, and learn all about making soup with WhiteTrashBBQ.

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CarbWire talks about huge portion sizes in restaurants this week, and I’ve honestly got to agree. I’ll go to a restaurant, order beef stew, and get the equivalent size bowl and serving as what fed my whole family of 4 in a meal when I was growing up. The only way I can come close to finishing a serving these days is to not eat an appetizer or dessert. Most of the time, I’m boxing up darn near everything, and get the “was everything OK”? question from the waiter/waitress. Yup, everything’s fine - just can’t eat this much food in one sitting! I’d rather get half as much food for half the price. I think that’s why I’ve been wanting to go to places like the Refectory lately. Smaller serving sizes, but rich enough to satisfy. My mom and I were having this discussion a while ago. I’d rather have a small serving of really good food, rather than a huge serving of crap. Anyone with me on this?

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Until next week, folks…

Isn’t it ironic that the 100th post to this blog falls on the exact day of its first birthday??

To celebrate both occasions, I’m going to do a little something special! A little contest, so to speak. The prize? A box full of goodies from Columbus. Not sure yet what exactly will be in the box (whatever suits my fancy and whatever flavors I think best represent the spirit of Central Ohio, and a few of my favorite things), but I promise it won’t disappoint.

I’ve shared a bit of myself with you over the past year, so I’d love to know more about you. To enter, simply comment on this entry by telling me a bit about who you are and what you like about my blog, what you hate, what you’d like to see more/less of, if you have a blog of your own, etc. The winner will be drawn at random from all comments to this post at 11:59pm on October 31st. This is open to everyone worldwide, so speak up and let me know you’re reading.

Free chocolate in return for joining their “online team”. If you sign up during September, they send you a coupon for a free bag of Nestle Chocolatier Baking Chocolate.
If it’s free, I’ll try anything at least once.