Columbus Foodie

Well, I’ve clicked my heels three times (figuratively, of course), and I’m back in the grand ‘ole USA. It was a tough trip (with all the flight delays, other issues, and the joy of being randomly selected for secondary inspection by the TSA’s - how farking violating!), but I made it back in one piece and it seems to have been exactly the medicine I needed to start on the road to a full recovery.

Much of my capacity is back (yay - I’m still down to about a third of what I used to eat, but at least it’s more than one or two bites), and the familiar flavors of Ohio food sit so comfortably in my stomach, that I went out today to sate some cravings.

I went to the North Market, where I visited with friends/vendors and picked up some deviled eggs from Heil’s, some cassoulet and meatloaf from NMPG, some pho from Lac Viet, and some cheese from Curds and Whey - all high protein meals/snacks that should help do the trick for the next couple of days foodwise.

And then a trip to Thurn’s, where they haven’t seen me since before the Dispatch article and were wondering what I was up to. We stocked up on lots of meaty goodness (since, of course, it’s protein first from now on).

I’m so glad to be home, and I never realized how dear Columbus is to my heart until I had to be separated from it for three weeks. Now that I’m back in familiar surroundings (and my own kitchen), I have no doubt that things will go back to normal with this blog as well. Stay tuned in the next couple of days for some leftover posts about Brazil, and what I’m eating now. And again, a heartfelt thank you to anyone who emailed or left comments during my absence. I’ve got tons of emails to catch up on, and will be getting back to you soon.

As I’ve suffered through the worst of the last week, some words of wisdom from my Oma, tucked away years and years ago, echoed in my head. “There will come a time in your life, Rebecca, when you’ll try to eat and be unable to tolerate any food at all. When that time comes, the only thing you can eat and tolerate will be saltines.”

Apparently, when she came over on a big ship from Germany in the 1940’s, she got one hell of a case of seasickness, and had said the only thing she ate for 3 weeks (and would stay down) was saltines and water. How right she was.

Having an iron stomach, I never thought I would see the day where it would revolt on me, rejecting pretty much anything I gave it, even water. But apparently, one of the side effects of migraine medication was severe nausea, so in addition to feeling like I was hit by a baseball bat, I got sick as a dog whenever I tried to eat or drink anything.

I’m happy to say things are much better now. The headache (other than some minor ache behind the eyes that feels a bit like eye strain) has been gone for about 2 days now, and the nausea has been gone for about the same amount of time. I have been able to eat little things other than saltines now, like scrambled eggs, cream of wheat, soup, etc. with no problem.

I’ve had serious buyers remorse in the past week. After my first weight loss surgery (a RNY in 2001), I never had the level of restriction that was supposed to come with it. In the end, I was happy about that - even though I didn’t lose all my weight, I had kept off over 100 lbs. And was able to eat like a normal person who hadn’t had weight loss surgery. This surgery was supposed to be completely malabsorptive - he wasn’t touching my pouch at all, and it was supposed to be an easy recovery - I just had to let the intestines rest for a couple of weeks, and would be back up to eating to my previous capacity, just not absorbing it all.

I hadn’t bargained on the hernia repair and the mesh that comes with it bringing a level of restriction that I didn’t even have with the first surgery. Everything in my abdomen is so tight at the moment (and add to it the fact I’m pretty much corseted in a binder for the next 3 months), that my actual capacity is 2-4 oz. at a time. Think of a meal for me as ordering a cup (not bowl) of soup, and only being able to eat half of it before I’m uncomfortably full. I know this level of restriction won’t last forever, but for the time being, it sucks.

I’ve compared it to that episode of The Twighlight Zone where after a nuclear war, the person had all the time in the world to read, their passion in life, only to break their glasses and be unable to read at all. In a way, I had this surgery so I could live to enjoy food on a more healthy level for the rest of my life - at least at the moment, I feel as if I’ve broken my stomach. Wouldn’t that be the ultimate irony - finally getting to a healthy weight, but unable to ever enjoy food again? If it turns out that way, I think I would have rather been fat and happy.

But things are on an upswing. We’re leaving Brazil for home on Tuesday. I’m finally reading and enjoying food blogs again. I’ve been able to branch out a little bit food-wise (will be posting about the wonderful soup we got here soon), and I should be back to normal, at least blog-wise, in the next week or so. Thank you all for your well wishes, and for bearing with me during the hiatus where food was the last thing I wanted to think about.

Well, today is the big day for surgery! And I am prepared to go under the knife having one of the best meals I’ve had in ages. Here’s the story.

I’ve been bugging Gilberto, our driver/guide/translator/friend, to recommend a place that has good feijoada. I had found a frozen brand that I found quite delicious. Here’s a picture of it mixed with a LOT of rice (so we could stretch it to feed both of us):

When we expressed a desire to find traditional Brazilian simple dishes in the restaurants, he was kind enough to invite us into his home, not once, but twice to feed us tradtional Brazilian food.

Our first meal with his family was on Sunday, when they invited us to a traditional Brazilian churasco, a feast of grilled meat, what seemed like American style potato salad, seasoned manioc (which they called “flavor”), veggies, and a couple of desserts they called “nut stroganoff” - everything was so very delicious, and even though there was a significant language barrier, with my tiny grasp of Portugese (it surprises me just how much I’ve picked up in 4 days, though) and their tiny grasp of English, we still found a way to bridge the communication gap and had quite a nice conversation. Of course, being foreigners, we were quite concerned about following Brazilian dining etiquette, and figured that it would have been rude on my part to either take pictures or ask to take pictures, even though I would have loved to share the spread with you through my eyes.

Yesterday afternoon, Gilberto picked us up at the hotel, and after stopping at the grocery to get flan (it is customary in Brazil to bring something when you are invited to someone’s home), we went over to the family house. We could smell it as we were driving up, the smell of the stew and bacon filling the hot summer air as we pulled into the driveway. After being greeted warmly again by the extended family, we sat down for a fabulous meal.

We had a traditional pink bean stew with meat, similar to feijoada over white rice, served with fried eggs (I wish I knew how they got them so crispy and flavorful), and spring greens with bacon. From what I understand, this is the Brazilian equivalent of “soul food”, and is usually served on Saturdays and sometimes Wednesdays. This means that they went out of their way to make this for us, and it was so very appreciated.

Is it sad that I use Tony Bourdain as my benchmark on how to act in an unfamiliar dining situation? I’ve always found him to be so humble and gracious in the way that he approaches other cultures that I try to be the same way when put in the same position. Gilberto’s family is a bit less formal than most, and we all had a good laugh on Brazilian vs. US dining etiquette.

I am so appreciative of and honored by the way his family has taken us under their wing while we’ve been here. It somehow makes this whole country seem a lot less foreign, and a lot more like home. I couldn’t have asked for a better “last ” meal.

On our first night here, we were out and out exhausted. I took a nap in the afternoon that brought me from delirious and darn near hallucinating from sleep deprivation to a somewhat more sane state, and we decided to go to the hotel restaurant downstairs rather than wander out to eat that evening.

The restaurant that is attached to our hotel is an “express” spot for the restaurant Caffe Milano. Italian food is VERY popular here (as Curitiba is a mix of many other different cultures), but it is quite unlike the Italian food we’re used to in the US - it’s VERY heavy, full of sauces and cheeses. The Express restaurant next to the hotel doesn’t even carry a fraction of what the main restaurant does, so our choices were a bit limited.

My husband went for the filet mignon with mushrooms over cheese risotto (25,00R, approx. $14.25US), which was quite delicious. There’s something special about beef here in Brazil, it tastes like grass fed beef does in the US, a bit more “beefy” than farm raised meat. The cheese risotto had nice balance, and the sauce they used wasn’t overpowering at all.

I, on the other hand, went with a pasta sampler, that had three kinds of different pasta (one meat filled, one filled with ham and cheese, the other just filled with cheese, covered with more cheese, and bechamel sauce) (21,00 real, or approx $12US). I ate it, but didn’t really care for it, both because of the flavor of the cheese was odd to my American palate, and because it was far, far, far too rich. This coming from someone who likes rich foods. I could feel my arteries clogging as I ate it.

For dessert, Paul and I shared an order of Brazilian Milk Pudding (5,00 real, or $2.85US), which for all the world, is flan or creme caramel. Delicious!

For convenience, you can’t beat this restaurant - especially since they bill it directly to our hotel bill. They have a pretty nice buffet for breakfast that is included in our room rate. However, like most hotel food, it suffers the same fate - it ends up being good, but overall, pretty uninspired. Don’t look for cutting edge gastronomy here, you won’t find it. But for filling you up when you’re fresh off the plane and near starving, there’s not much better.

By the way, a quick cultural note - here in Brazil, a 10% tip is automatically added to the bill - and from what local sources tell me, you aren’t expected to tip additionally. Somehow, even though this is local custom, my American sensibilities make me feel as if I’m shortchanging the waitstaff a bit. Perhaps this is just a cultural difference?

If you’d like to go: Caffe Milano Express (attached to the Mercure Sete de Setembre), Av. Sete de Setembro, 5.368, Batel, Curitiba. 41.3343.4344

Well, we made it to Curitiba, Brazil in one piece, and have been here for a few days now. We love the area and the people here, and would probably move here in a heartbeat if it weren’t for the language barrier. We’ve made a few foodie discoveries (which I’ll go into more detail in later posts): we’re not all that crazy about Brazilian cheese (the flavor is a little too processed/sour for our palates), Brazilian beef rocks and is dirt cheap here, and my new favorite dish in the world is feijoada. We’ll be lucky enough to try a home cooked version in a couple of days due to the hospitality of our driver/guide/translator/friend Gilberto and his wife, and we can’t wait!

Well, let’s start at the beginning. The flight down here was kind of uncomfortable (we ended up sitting on the tarmac at Columbus for two hours, missed our connecting flight, got upgraded to first class for the next flight to Miami, and still made it there with time to spare for our international flight.) We decided to go with a Brazilian airline, TAM, rather than with one of the domestics (AA, Delta, and Continental all offer flights to Brazil), and I’m so glad we did so. Because of the long flight (total travel time for us was 27 hours with layovers, 13 of that spent in the air), we decided to splurge for business class for the long international leg - we had 90″ of pitch was really nice, and one of the benefits of flying business class is that you get fed - a lot. Not only did we get champagne both before and after takeoff, but we got warmed nuts as a snack, a lovely five course dinner, a later snack, and then breafkast in the morning a couple of hours before we landed. And yes, you’re right - foodie me took pics of our airplane food.

Our first and second course is pictured above - a salad that had some mango, coconut, a chicken brochette, and a balsamic dressing, which was edible but not great. I nibbled on the yummy parts, and the protein hit the spot. The rolls (second course bread service) was served with some delicious cultured butter (butter here in Brazil is not like the type we’re used to in the US - it actually has a depth of flavor to it like European butter).

The third course was a cream of zucchini soup, which for all the world reminded me of Campbell’s Cream of Celery. Still, it was nice to have an actual soup course on a plane - it’s something you don’t see everyday for obvious reasons.

For my entree, I chose the grouper over rice with veggies. I usually prefer my fish grilled, but this hit the spot for me, definitely. While it definitely wasn’t gourmet cuisine or presentation, it filled me up and tasted great.

My husband chose the chicken breast with Israeli couscous. The chicken was very moist, but the overall dish was bland. He said I made the better choice of the two entrees.

Next, we were presented with a cheese course. This was my favorite, as evidenced by the fact that I started in on it before remembering to take a pic. Oops.

Finally, there was dessert. I chose fresh fruit, as I was in no mood for anything sweet. It was perfectly ripe and delicious and just what I needed to clean my palate.

I think I could get used to this business class/first class thing. The food definitely beats what you can get in coach.

More about my trip soon, as I am able. I’m set to go under the knife Tuesday, and you can keep up with the medical part of my trip here if you’d like. Until then, as they say here in Brazil, “Tschau!”

Just a quick note to let you all know that I haven’t fallen off the face of the earth. Due to a HUGE jump in airfare cost, I had to reschedule my surgery for earlier in January (I’ll be leaving January 2nd, and returning January 23rd), and the past week has been all about arranging travel, trying to score tourist visas for Brazil, and general craziness. I’m heading to the winter farmer’s market at Worthington today, and will probably be blogging about it soon.

Sorry for the lag in posts, and thanks for being patient with me.

I just got back from our day trip to Jungle Jim’s down near Cincinnati. If there’s any such thing as an amusement park for foodies, this would be it. It’s easily the size of a couple of Walmart Supercenters, with an international section alone that’s the size of our local grocery store. And whenever we go there, I always end up going a little nuts - they have a bunch of things that I usually end up going through igourmet.com to get - like Vermont Butter and Cheese Cultured Butter with Sea Salt Crystals, various types of Blaze Balsamic Glaze, etc. - I even got some beautiful frozen grouper fillets for $3.99 for about 12 oz. We had originally gone down there to get Turducken, but when we saw our options close up (either a turducken roll - no stuffing, just turkey, duck and chicken - for $27.99, or a whole turducken (stuffed with sausage) for $69.99), we instead opted to go with a traditional turkey, in this case, a nice 12 lb. Amish turkey that we’ll brine tomorrow night.

So for actual Thanksgiving, we’re doing a mix of convenience foods and also old favorites - we figure that since it’s just us, it makes sense to use convenience foods for the things you can’t tell a difference with - so it looks like the final menu will be the turkey stuffed with bread stuffing (we both agreed this is something neither of us wanted to miss out on), Yoder’s mashed potatoes (enough for the two of us), my own candied yams - made with pre-cooked (not canned) yam rounds from the supermarket, Bob Evans Green Bean Casserole, Ocean Spray Jellied Canberry Sauce, and for dessert, a rum cake we made last night (will probably blog about it tomorrow), and some leftover Brown Sugar Squash Pie that we made and froze about a month ago. This way, we don’t miss out on Thanksgiving (or the fantastic in-bird stuffing), but I won’t spend the next week recovering from a marathon cooking session either.

Maybe next year I’ll have the energy to try to jazz things up a bit and maybe invite others to join us. But this time around, even though it isn’t the “ideal” foodie Thanksgiving, at least it won’t be something quite as pathetic as sitting in front of the TV with a frozen Hungry Man turkey dinner. Ew.

So the rest of you local foodies - have you ever been to Jungle Jim’s? If so, what items are on your “must get” list for every trip?

My husband and I had to head up to Cleveland a few weeks ago for a concert, and after to our requisite stops at the West Side Market for some pierogies, and Gaelic Imports for Bridies, Cornish Pasties, and other Anglo goodies, we still had enough time to take in a meal before we needed to be at the venue. There are tons of places in the Cleveland metro area that we still want to try, most notably Sokolowski’s University Inn (I’m a sucker for Polish food), Momocho (anyone who puts goat cheese in guacamole has piqued my interest), and Lola (I’ve heard a lot of things about Michael Symon, and I need to find out if his food lives up to the hype). Another restaurant that has been on our “to try” list for quite a while is Melt Bar and Grilled over in Lakewood.

Melt opened up about a year ago at the corner of Detroit Avenue and Warren Road. We found some convenient parking in a metro lot behind the restaurant, and luckily they have a back entrance so we didn’t need to hike around the block in the steady rain we were having that day. We got there a little bit after 5pm, so it was fairly empty when we arrived, although it filled up rather quickly by the time we were done eating an hour later.

They specialize in grilled cheese sandwiches, and I have to admit that was what immediately caught my attention, as any combination of bread, cheese, and heat is a winner in my book. Their menu offers several different combinations of grilled cheese, along with the ability to create your own (by picking what bread, cheese, and extras you want), or modifying existing ones. This can both work for you or against you, which I’ll explain a bit later. You’ll have to excuse the pictures - even though we sat by a window, it wasn’t sunny out and by the nature of being a pub, it was pretty dark in there, which necessitated the use of a flash. I can assure you that the food didn’t look this scary in person.

We started with an appetizer order of pierogies ($5.50), which consisted of two locally produced potato and cheese pierogies, which are served on a bed of fried onions, peppers, and kraut and topped with sour cream and cheese. While the pierogies were great, there was way too much going on with the competing toppings - this would have been far superior had it been just pan fried with the onions as the menu advertised.

I went with the Wake and Bacon sandwich ($6), which normally comes with fried egg, crisp bacon, and American cheese. I opted to add havarti cheese to the mix as well, along with caramel port onions. While the havarti was a successful addition, the onions were a bit overpowering to the delicate balance of the other ingredients. That’s one of the dangers of letting your patrons customize their dishes. They can come up with some pretty hideous combinations. After scraping off the onions, the sandwich was quite good. Huge, but good. I would have preferred that the bread have been grilled a bit more to brown it, but I can understand the difficulty of that happening with a sandwich as unwieldy as this one. It was served with a handful of crisp fries that paired perfectly, along with some uninspiring slaw that I didn’t care for.

My husband opted for the better of the two sandwiches, the Municipal Stadium Magic ($9), which has locally produced bratwurst, fresh napa vodka kraut, and smoked gouda. He opted to substitute havarti for the gouda, and added caramel port onions as well. These changes definitely were just what the doctor ordered for this sandwich. I stole as many bites of his as he would allow.

Along with his sandwich, he ordered a bowl of their Roasted Garlic Tomato Soup ($3.25) which was more like marinara sauce than soup. I guess we were expecting a more smooth bisque type soup instead of the chunky thick very garlicky sauce we got.

My husband couldn’t resist the call of one of their dessert items, Fried Twinkies ($4.50), served with mixed berry preserves. I detest the sickly sweetness of twinkies when they’re cold, and hated them even more when they were dipped in batter and deep fried. He agreed that they were cloyingly sweet and considered it a failed experiment. He had to try it once for curiosity’s sake, and I’m sure there’s a crowd out there that it would appeal to.

So the final verdict? Good, as long as you stick to their sandwich choices or make safe additions that you know will pair well. The other items on the menu that we tried fell a bit short. I think beer would improve the taste of any of the offerings here. Great concept, but they just need to work out a few of the kinks.

If you’d like to go: Melt Bar and Grilled, 14718 Detroit Ave, Lakewood, OH, 216.226.3699.

The trip driving up I-75 had to be one of the longest of my life. Exit after exit of the same old fast food joints, gas stations, and hotel chains, with no way to differentiate one location to the next. Yuck. So homogeneous, so friggin sterile. So when I saw a billboard advertising “real pit BBQ” at the next exit, my interest was piqued.

Turns out that the exit was for a little tiny town in Tennessee called Sweetwater, with a total population of 5,586 people. I followed the signs and came upon a place called Bradley’s Pit BBQ and Grill.

Bradley’s is a hidden gem - owned by one Tom Bradley, who is on premises and acts in a multitude of roles - sometimes host, sometimes cashier, and always in the kitchen. The restaurant itself is unassuming, attracting both local folks and passing travelers who were as enthralled by the prospect of eating something good as I was. The service was saccharine, with true Southern lady waitresses who dropped the words “honey” and “sugar” like it was going out of style.

The menu offers all of the usual barbecue fare - pork and brisket and ribs and a few other things, along with all of the usual sides. Wanting to experience a little of everything, I went with the the Pork Sampler ($11.95), which consisted of both ribs and pulled pork. For my sides, I chose a baked potato and green beans.

The meat? Just fired on all cylinders. The ribs were fall-off-the-bone tender, full of flavor and finger-licking. The pulled pork was moist and a bit smoky, and with the additions of their sauces, went from good to great. The baked potato was swimming in butter and sour cream, a outright fat bonanza. A little to rich for my tastes, but I ate what I could. The green beans? Right out of the can, without the benefit of seasoning. Some added seasonings, bacon, and onions could take these from blah to edible. The Texas toast? An afterthought, mostly there to sop up sauce.

Now, about those sauces. Bradley’s makes three different kinds, two of which I tried and loved. The sweet sauce is your basic barbecue sauce, with (I’m sure) his own secret ingredients that set it apart from the others. It worked extremely well with the ribs, and almost as well with the pork. But where it was really at was the vinegar sauce. Oh my goodness, the tang and the pucker were just what that meat needed to elevate it to something really special. My favorite was a combination of both, about 33% sweet to 66% vinegar.

Full of protein, and fat and happy, I went about my merry way, but not before ordering a boatload of pulled pork and sliced brisket to take home with me. I don’t know if I’ll ever get down that way again, but if you’re traveling through Tennessee on I-75N, keep an eye out for the Sweetwater exit. It’s an oasis in a desert of mediocrity.

If you’d like to go: Bradley’s Pit BBQ and Grill, Exit 60 off I-75, 517 New Highway 68, Sweetwater, TN, 423.351.7190

On Thursday, I spent most of the day driving back to Ohio, but even a driver has to eat sometimes. I had skipped breakfast and lunch, so by 4pm or so, I was starving. By that time, I was about two hours into the drive, and around the Tampa area.

For some reason, I had the bright idea to have my husband ask his boss for recommendations, since his boss lives and works in the Tampa/Brandon area. Without hesitation, he told my husband to tell me to go to The Columbia Restaurant in Ybor City, a historic district in downtown Tampa.

This restaurant has been around pretty much forever - since 1905, actually - and has seen five generations of the family being involved in running it. Because of this, The Columbia Restaurant is a Florida institution, with people coming in from all around.

The building itself is imposing - it takes up a whole city block, and has 15 dining rooms that seat 1,700 people. Once you find parking (in the parking lots either across the street from or behind the building), it’s very easy to go in the wrong door like I did. I entered through the bar area, and in many ways I’m glad I did. I was definitely underdressed for the place (I was wearing shorts, a shirt, and sandals), and felt a little out of place among the tux-sporting waiters and men in business casual garb, but decided to eat at the bar since I was dining alone. Good choice. The bartender who took my order and waited on me made me feel very comfortable and right at home. Let me apologize in advance for the quality of the pictures, I was trying to take pictures on the down low in a low amount of light, and some of them came out blurrier than I would have liked.

The bread service consists of Cuban Bread, nice and toasty and served with butter. While great on it’s own, I think it pairs with their salad (more about that later) perfectly.

As an appetizer, I got their Croquetas y Croquetas, which is 4 each of both the Croquetas de Pollo (Chicken) and Devil Crab Croquettes. The chicken ones were delicious - each crunchy nugget containing a creamy concotion that reminded me of chicken pot pie. The delicate flavor of the crab in the other croquettes got a bit overwhelmed by the spices, but even these were quite good.

Now, about that salad - their 1905 Salad is absolutely amazing, which I find hard to believe considering I’m not a big iceberg lettuce fan. But the combination of flavors? Julienned ham and swiss? Tomatoes and olives and a fantastic vinaigrette? Rocked my world. I’ve already found the recipe for it online and am planning to make it at home soon. I opted for a side salad, which was huge! About the size of entree salads in these parts. This pic does not do it justice at all.

For an entree, everything on the menu looked so delicious that I had a hard time deciding. I settled on the La Completa Cubana platter, which is a sampler of several different things - roast pork, boliche (chorizo stuffed eye round), empanada de picadillo (ground beef turnover), platanos, yuca root, black beans and yellow rice. I can honestly, without a moment’s hesitation, say this is the best Cuban food I’ve ever had. The meat was tender and flavorful, the sides inventive while staying true to the traditional, and was a great way to sate several cravings at once. The yuca root didn’t do much for me, but I think it’s a texture thing that has nothing to do with their preparation.

I would have liked to say that I tried something from their dessert menu, but I didn’t. I was full after the salad and croquettes, and was only able to take a few bites of my entree. I opted instead to box it up for eating in my hotel later (and it was just as tasty cold as it was hot).

I did, however, get a to-go order of both the ropa vieja and the paella campesina to take home to Ohio with me so Paul could share the experience with me. I cannot express in words how helpful the bartender was in getting everything packaged in microwave-safe containers and steady in the bags for the long trip. And the food survived just fine, and made for many delicious meals in the days to come.

I hear tales of flamenco dancers and cigar rollers, but unfortunately I was just passing through and didn’t get to experience either. I do know that on a return trip to Florida, this will require a day trip to experience the right way. If you’re lucky enough to live in Tampa, I probably don’t have to tell you how awesome this restaurant is. The fantastic food got me through another 10 hours of driving before I stopped for the night. And the leftovers got me through the next day. It sure as hell beat the fast food joints along the interstates.

If you’d like to go: Columbia Restaurant, 2117 East 7th Avenue, Tampa, FL - 813.248.4961