January 17, 2012 Cover Story

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January 17, 2012

Meet the Tastemaker: Rick Lopez

Background: Grew up in local kitchens – from Damon’s and Long John Silver’s to Gourmet Market and Tapatio; chef/owner of past favorites Crescendo and La Tavola; current...

Lagniappe

Do you remember your first time? My first time was a fumbling mess. I didn’t pay attention to what went where and ended up trying to forget the whole ordeal. My first time...

Table Talk

1. Jason Cashola DJ, Get Right Cheap: If you know me, then you know I ride hard for Japanese Steakhouse lunch specials (479 N High St). Over the years, my palate has changed,...

Meet the Tastemaker: Kent Rigsby

Background: from waiting tables at the original TGIF to chef at Lindey’s Restaurant and Bar Education: California Culinary Academy Hometown: Columbus Favorite food city:...

Meet the Tastemaker: Greg Lehman

Hometown: Columbus Education: The Ohio State University, Business/Marketing. Distilling Experience: Self taught with lots of field study. You’ve just finished your...

Meet the Tastemaker: Vicki Hink

Background: I come from a Polish background, cooking and baking has always been important in my family. Buying fresh ingredients and local products has been a way of life for me...

Dine or Die

Eating healthy – like developing rickets or tumbling headfirst down a flight of stairs – is no fun. But as the adult obesity rate in the United States inches past 34...

A Tale of Two Meals

Dear Patron: Good evening! I will be your server tonight. Our specials today are the lobster bisque and the vegetable pot roast. But before you order, a few quick things I...

Brunch with Nick

(content excerpted from Breakfast with Nick: Columbus, 2011) Columbus is a brunching city. Our favorite eateries are packed on Saturdays and Sundays with everyone from...

Raw Power

Maybe I’ve been to too many liquor stores and bars, but when someone mentions “green” drinks, I tend to think of Midori – melon margaritas, Green Lanterns and Mile...

The Real Meat & Potatoes

It’s clear that Chef Hubert Seifert is passionate about cooking. Starting as an apprentice at age 14 in Germany, he created an impressive and worldly resume before settling in...

Rare Cut

Salmon, the other red meat – at least it is when it’s wild Alaskan coho like the piece sitting on the cutting board in front of Milestone 229’s Chef Christian Hattemer....

Deep Cuts: Your new go-to dish

Everyone has that dish. That one meal they can cook that’s kinda fancy, pretty delicious, and makes a good impression. It’s a date dish, an in-law dish, a show-off dish....

Soup’s On!

As the temperature outside nears the bitterly cold and gray winter Columbus has become accustomed to, appetites and moods all over Central Ohio are beginning to crave that warm,...

The Big Chili

Finding a wide variety of palate-pleasing cuisine in the capital city has never been an issue. As Ohioans inevitably bundle up for what is perpetually expected to be the...

Fast Fresh Eats

By Kimberly Stolz For years, Columbus has been unfairly pegged as a test market for super-sized drive-thru slop. Lucky for us, a few local establishments have finally cracked...

Dinner with a Side of Jazz

By Morgan Landis Eclectic elegance. That’s the first phrase that formed in my head as I stepped into the new de-NOVO bistro downtown. Though the place had been open only nine...

Fun on the Side

By Scott Woods I’m not a picky eater. Usually, a box of Velveeta shells, a bottle of hot sauce and a few Budweisers serve me well. Every once in a while, however, it behooves...

Turkish Delight

In my house, no one knows how to cook a meal without setting off a fire alarm, which means that around Thanksgiving, while the kids trace hand-shaped gobblers and festoon...

Run for the Hills

If you haven’t heard of the Neighborhood Launch project, you’ve very likely at least seen its impact. For years, downtown – outside of its trademark skyline – has been...

What’s Brewing?

Columbus Brewing Company has become downright ubiquitous in Central Ohio. That’s not by accident. CBC’s brewmaster/owner/saddistic overlord, Eric Bean, has been focused on...

Winter Warmers

’Tis the season ... for drinking. Whether it’s the seasonal affective disorder bringing you down or the fact that you actually have to spend time with your family, the...

The Perfect Cup

Everybody has big dreams for 2012, but often, it’s the little things that make the difference. You need to start your day on the right foot, and for most folks that requires a...

Cocktail Hour

Karmen Dann, The Rossi The Rossi manager Karmen Dann serves libations that feature local ingredients (including candied ginger from North Market Spices) and reflect the lives...

Tasteful

The cherry pie looks scrumptious. The lattice pastry top is glistening with buttery goodness and the red cherries burbling between the flaky crust strips beckon with their...

Just Desserts

**Sugardaddy’s ** Sumptuous Sweeties Multiple locations (614) 888-4491 www.sugardaddys.com Sugardaddy’s owners Mark Ballard and Tom Finney didn’t just get lucky with...

In Season

January In the short days of winter, the bright colors of the farmers markets seem so, so far away. However, it is possible to keep the food-loving mojo going during these...

Behold: Pizza Quest!

In the summer of 2010, Jeff Fernengel, Columbus’ erstwhile artist, punk rocker and provocateur, stopped me in the middle of a bar, insistent on becoming the capital city’s...6

Where’s The Beef?

When you are craving a good steak – and I don’t mean just any old chunk of char-crusted cow hide, but a really great, better-than-sex, melt-in-your-mouth piece of Prime –...7

Is Beer the New Wine?

Wine and beer have been on the menu before anybody had the presence of mind, or the cognitive skills, to print menus. We’re talking Stone Age; the history goes back so far the...

Table for Two

The holiday season conjures up images of heaping platters, arms reaching one over the other, and mismatched chairs crowded around the familial table (with both leaves in)....

Sweet & Salty

It’s the Christmas season and I’m wandering around the gift shop at Franklin Park Conservatory. Against the backdrop of the vibrant poinsettia tree and the twinkly lights is...

January 1, 2012

The Interview Issue

In the magazine world, we are hopelessly beholden to lists; Top 10 Travel Destinations, 5 Must-See Movies, 7 Meals for Under 7 Dollars. It’s as much of a binding element of...

Randy Malloy

Randy Malloy is a brash bastard, with his damned surfer hair and 1950s-style good looks. He’s a booze vacuum, and I bet he could drink his way out of a vat of beer. He spoke...4

Jeni Britton Bauer

You just look like ice cream. It’s certainly one of the oddest-sounding sentiments I’ve ever relayed to an interview subject, let alone one who has quickly become the face...2

Andrew Levitt A.K.A. Nina West

Andrew Levitt is Nina West. Nina West is Andrew Levitt. It’s been the case for nearly a decade; but, not until now have the two been publicly linked. The identity behind...6

Zach Scott

Since being named the top cop in Franklin County following the death of longtime Sheriff Jim Karnes last June, Sheriff Zach Scott has overseen the first administrative...

Scott Stienecker

From the promotion of his first high school party in the late 1970s to the creation of today’s five-venue, two-city concert-making empire, Scott Stienecker, founder and...1

Brady Konya

Brady Konya sits at the communal wood table at his micro-distillery, just feet away from vats of spirits and an army of OYO Honey Vanilla Bean Vodka on its way towards...1

Stev Guyer

Reared in tiny Seven Mile, Ohio, Stev Guyer had his whole world altered with one mind-blowing gift: a transistor radio. For the 13 years leading up to that transformative...5

Andrea Cambern

Andrea Cambern and I are sitting in Pistacia Vera, holiday music is piping through the space and the explosive blast of the espresso machine routinely interrupts the jolly...6

David Schottenstein

Two rabbis walk into a clothier … It’s not the beginning of a joke, but rather a typical moment in the hectic life of 27-year-old David Schottenstein. The rabbis are no...2

Josh Krajcik

Sometimes, a guy can catch a break. It’s a rare thing for a musician to go from part-time burrito maker to hopeful international superstar in the span of a week, but Josh...2

Stephanie Hightower

Stephanie Hightower first broke on to the scene as a track and field star at The Ohio State University. She holds the world record for the 60-yard hurdle, and went on to serve...4

Nick Wolak

If you don’t recognize Nick Wolak’s name or face right off the bat, it’s likely because he’s not one to flaunt himself as a big mover and shaker in Columbus. Yet, he’s...17

Lori Gum

Diminutive, bespectacled, and possessed of a knockout intellect, Lori Gum has her hands in many pots here in Columbus. A program coordinator for the gay-rights organization...1

Ryan Vesler

The word “retro” hardly does Ryan Vesler justice. With his typical combo of classic sneakers, jeans and perfectly-imperfect match of his HOMAGE brand vintage t-shirts,...

Blueprint

Not only was 2011 the biggest year in the hip-hop career of Blueprint (born Al Shepard), it was a year full of poetic justice. It took roughly five years for the former RJD2...