Columbus Monthly – January 2025

The choice for your orthopedic care is clear

Highly subspecialized surgeons, physicians and physical therapists. Unmatched surgical skill. Innovative rehabilitation and recovery programs. All working together to give every orthopedic patient at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center the chance for a successful recovery and a full return to an active lifestyle.

Scan the QR code or visit go.osu.edu/orthopedics to learn more.

HOW TO BE HAPPY

Advice from a relationship counselor, physician, pastor, self-help author and an executive coach.

THE POWER OF POSITIVITY

Business leaders are turning to positive psychology and a Columbus company’s program to improve lives.

ON THE COVER: Relationship counselor Meghna Mahambrey. Above, Dr. Jaynine Vado, of Walk with a Doc, and Lily.

Photos by Tim Johnson

As Rev. Tim Ahrens departs First Congregational Church after decades as its pastor, the staunch social justice advocate shares his vision of the Columbus we could be.

12 WE TRIED IT: RAGE ROOM

The Wrecking Company has opened on South Fourth Street in Downtown Columbus, and visitors have been letting off plenty of steam.

20 EVERYDAY KINDNESS PROFILE

Kari Lindberg and her sister are building an “agrihood” in Delaware County bringing homes, a community farm and a market together into one community. 24 PEOPLE

Food & Drink

70 RESTAURANT REVIEW: PELINO’S PASTA

An ever-changing menu that brings a little Italy to King Avenue.

Columbus Academy’s head of school, Melissa Soderberg, shares what makes a school special.

ARTS

The Black-owned arts organization has moved into a historic theater it purchased on Mt. Vernon Avenue.

18 EVERYDAY KINDNESS HEROES

Honoring 18 people and one dog who make life better in Central Ohio—a recap from our Dec. 4 event.

Photos from our Fall Cocktail Competition and BLAST, COSI’s Sneaker Ball

Home & Style

62 HOME PEACE HOME

A Dublin renovation made the owner’s home a haven of rest as she battled cancer.

66 GINGER & LU

A mother-daughter duo finding joy in wallpapering.

72 THE NEW MARTINI

Behind the monthslong effort by the team at Cameron Mitchell Restaurants to remake Martini Modern Italian.

76 FALL COCKTAIL COMPETITION

Meet the team at The Lion in Bexley who created the winning cocktail for our November event—and get the recipe.

77 LET’S EAT

Out monthly directory of where to dine.

Should you get a personal trainer?

TUNING OUT FOOD NOISE

Semaglutide injections help people lose weight for the long term, according to expert physicians at Donaldson.

41 SUPER LAWYERS

A list of top attorneys in Central Ohio, as recognized by their peers.

COLUMBUSMONTHLY.COM

OPERATIONS MANAGER

Michelle Crossman

EDITORIAL

EDITOR

Katy Smith

FOOD & DRINK EDITOR

Linda Lee Baird

ASSOCIATE EDITOR

Lucy Clark

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

Amy Bodiker Baskes, Virginia Brown, Jeff Darbee, Nicholas Dekker, Chris DeVille, Randy Edwards, Emma Frankart Henterly, Kathy Lynn Gray, Donna Marbury, Jill Moorhead, Laura Newpoff, Steve Stephens, Peter Tonguette

DESIGN & PRODUCTION

PAGE DESIGNERS

Kathryn Biek, Kelly Hignite, Kaity Morrow, Hannah Patton

DIGITAL EDITOR

Julanne Hohbach

Erica

The former writer and editor for the Columbus Alive and Columbus Dispatch talked to wellness experts on the not-so-secrets to being happy for our cover story. Thompson is now with the Chicago Sun-Times.

PHOTOGRAPHY

PHOTO EDITOR

Tim Johnson

ADVERTISING

MULTIMEDIA SALES MANAGERS

Heather Kritter, Adam Trabitz

PRODUCTION DESIGNER

Rebecca Zimmer

MARKETING MARKETING MANAGER

Lauren Reinhard

LETTERS: letters@columbusmonthly.com

ADVERTISING: advertise@ columbusmonthly.com

SUBSCRIPTIONS/CUSTOMER SERVICE

760-237-8505

columbusmonthly@pcspublink.com

EDITORIAL/ADVERTISING OFFICES

605 S. Front St. Ste. 300 Columbus, OH 43215 614-888-4567

CONTRIBUTORS

The Columbus writer and marketing pro brings us an update on Maroon Arts Group, which recently bought a historic theater on the Near East Side to create a Black arts lab and community space.

The Dayton journalist who has worked for the Detroit Free Press, among other publications, spoke with the creators of Positive Foundry, a company that uses positive psychology to uplift people.

AT THE BLUE JACKETS SEASON NEVER ENDS

Thompson

Donna Marbury

Shannon Shelton Miller

FROM THE EDITOR

The Simple Secrets to Happiness Prelude

The recipe for a happy life seems simple— prioritize relationships, treat yourself kindly, move your body and give yourself permission to rest. Of course, executing the recipe is the challenge. Many of us are making resolutions this month to do better in one— or even all—of those areas.

Katy Smith katy@columbusmonthly.com

And to embrace an existence that is peaceful, connected and fulfilling, it’s also crucial to cultivate positivity. That’s the takeaway from this month’s cover package by Erica Thompson, who talked to five wellness experts, and Shannon Shelton Miller, who profiled Positive Foundry. The Columbus company is growing a following among business leaders for its program that helps employees flourish in life, not just at work.

Gratitude, forgiveness, optimism, resilience, mindfulness, purpose—you’ll find these tenets from the greater wellness conversation throughout this month’s issue of Columbus Monthly.

We bring you parting thoughts from a retiring pastor known for his righteous quest

CORRECTIONS COMMENTS

As proposed, the Capital Line urban pedestrian trail is 2.1 miles. A story in the December issue contained an incorrect trail length.

The annual New York City art fair for folk/self-taught artists is the Outsider Art Fair. A story in the December issue referenced an incorrect name.

Laila Latif is co-owner of Lavash Cafe. A story in the December issue used an incorrect surname.

The Bexley Chamber of Commerce left a Facebook comment on our story about the winner of our Fall Cocktail Competition, held Nov. 20: “Congratulations to Justin, Oscar and team for winning the favorite cocktail award. The secret is out now about The Lion.” Brandt Gallery shared its excitement on Instagram following our December feature story on the new arts district taking shape at Gay and High streets

for kindness; a window into the glee of smashing things to bits and pieces; advice from a nationally recognized private school leader on building a great education culture; the story of growth for a Black-owned arts group; and the exercise in self-reflection that is rebranding a longtime restaurant.

You may notice this issue is Volume 50, Number 1. The magazine is entering its 50th year, having been founded in 1975. This June, we’ll celebrate with a special issue reflecting on how far we’ve come and highlighting the people who make this community special.

If you have memories of Columbus through the years to share, or funny or poignant anecdotes having to do with the magazine, please reach out. I’d love to hear your stories.

Editor, Columbus Monthly

Downtown: “We are embarking on a new journey! After 15 incredible years we’re relocating to the heart of Downtown Columbus as Brandt Gallery. Immensely grateful to @katysmith4242 for helping us share this news with our community this morning— we’ve been beyond excited to reveal it! Our future location at 76 N. High St. in the lively Gay and High Corridor is set to open on Jan. 11.”

Send letters to: Editor, Columbus Monthly, 605 S. Front St., Ste. 300, Columbus, OH 43215. Or email: letters@columbus monthly.com. A letter must include the writer’s name, address and daytime phone number. Letters will be edited for length and clarity. All letters sent to Columbus Monthly are considered for publication, either in print or online.

Web: ColumbusMonthly.com

Email: letters@ columbusmonthly.com

Gallery owners Michelle Brandt, Duff Lindsay and Margaret Wunderlich at the corner of Gay and High streets Downtown, where they are moving their galleries. PHOTO: TIM JOHNSON

Marching through a testicular cancer diagnosis

A few weeks before finals in the spring of 2024, Grayson Niemi began feeling pain, then a lump in his groin. His parents scheduled an appointment with his primary care doctor, and the test results led them to The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center – Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute (OSUCCC – James). There, he was diagnosed with testicular cancer. Niemi was 19.

Besides thinking about his diagnosis and his future fertility — he’s had the same girlfriend since his freshman year in high school — Niemi had another big concern: Would he be able to try out again for Ohio State’s marching band?

The tryout was a couple of months away, but all summer, marching band hopefuls attended practice sessions to get ready.

“I didn’t know how chemo was going to go,” says Niemi, a sophomore. “I didn’t know if my arms were going to be strong enough or my legs would be strong enough to get through the tryout.”

As a high school student in Marysville, Ohio, Niemi played alto saxophone for his school’s marching band, but The Ohio State Marching Band doesn’t have alto saxophone players. So, he learned the cymbals and made it onto the band his freshman year at Ohio State. Still, each summer, everyone who wants a spot has to try out again.

Catching testicular cancer early

Testicular cancer is a young man’s disease. Nearly 10,000 new patients are diagnosed every year, and most are in their twenties, says Ahmad Shabsigh, MD, MBA, a urologic oncologist and one of Niemi’s doctors at the OSUCCC – James.

Testicular cancer typically responds well to treatment. On average, five years after diagnosis, 95% of people survive.

“How soon the cancer is diagnosed is the most important factor in the outcome of testicular cancer patients,” Shabsigh says. “Grayson was attentive to changes he saw and sought immediate help, which is the way to go.”

By the time Niemi was diagnosed, his cancer had already spread to the lymph nodes in his chest area and a couple on his lungs.

But even when testicular cancer spreads to other organs, treatment is still very effective at stopping it, says Paul Monk, MD, an OSUCCC – James medical oncologist who also treated Niemi.

“Our treatment team was impressed with what we saw in Grayson, a settled resolve to take on an uninvited challenge,” Monk says.

While Niemi and his parents discussed a schedule for chemo with Monk, Niemi scrolled on his phone for the dates of the band tryouts. He’d finish his last round of chemo on the last day of a two-day tryout.

“Good,” he thought. “That’s do-able.”

Scan the QR code to learn more about testicular cancer care at the OSUCCC – James.

Ringing the bell of victory

On the morning of the final day of tryouts, Niemi and his mom watched a movie while he had chemo. He got lucky. After 21 infusions over a couple of months, his last infusion didn’t take long, and he felt pretty good. Afterward, he pulled a short rope, ringing a bell announcing that he had finished his last round of chemo. Then, rather than celebrating like some do, he rushed out. His mom dropped him off at the band tryout, and for the rest of the day, he was mostly outside marching, a five-pound cymbal in each hand and a bandage on his arm where the needle for the infusion had been.

To get ready for tryouts, Niemi made most of the summer’s practice sessions. Some days, his feet swelled so much from steroid medications that he came home with a collection of blisters. Mostly, he felt drained.

Hours after tryouts were over, Neimi stood with all the other band hopefuls when his name was called out from a long list. He had made it.

Not everyone in the percussion section of the band had known about his cancer until that day. All the drummers and cymbal players gathered in a large circle. Each said their name and one interesting fact about themselves.

“I did my last day of chemo today,” Niemi said. Even after the season began and Niemi had a second surgery, he was back a couple of weeks later, marching down the ramp onto the field, knees high, toes pointed down.

Although he’ll regularly be checked for cancer for several years, his prognosis is good, his doctors say.

Neimi wasn’t thinking about the future or about how hard the summer had been when he stood before all 200-plus band members and its leaders after a recent concert. The band had just voted him the year’s most inspirational member.

“Should I have prepared a speech?” he asked his mom just before the event. He hadn’t.

So, he winged it and kept it brief, thanking everyone and letting them know what motivated him all summer long: that he loved nothing more than being in the band.

Scan the QR code to learn about direct, expedited diagnostic testing at The James Cancer Diagnostic Center.

EverydayKindness Heroes

Sometimes the beneficiary is a stranger. Sometimes it’s a friend, acquaintance or colleague. We look to honor those who perform extraordinary selfless acts to improve, heal and unite our community.

Consider lifting up the volunteer quietly aiding their neighbors or the community member tirelessly advocating for change. We need your help to recognize the kind, selfless heroes among us.

front & center

A Place to Create

Maroon Arts Group’s new space in a historic theater on Mt.

Avenue is a dream realized for the Black-owned organization. Learn more about their journey, Page 16.

PHOTO BY TIM JOHNSON

Vernon

Parting Words—For Now

Upon retirement, one of the city’s staunchest social justice advocates shares his vision for a better Columbus.

By Katy Smith

One of the foremost Columbus voices in social justice activism has gone quiet for now, but we’ll be hearing from Rev. Tim Ahrens in the future. The senior minister at First Congregational Church on East Broad Street Downtown retired on Oct. 20 after 25 years with the church. During his 40 years in ministry, he was a regular columnist with The Columbus Dispatch (a sister publication to Columbus Monthly) and the Columbus/Dayton African American Journal, calling upon the community to uphold the values of his abolitionist congregation. In 2022, he published “The Genius of Justice,” which tells the stories of 53 very different people all working toward justice.

Ahrens is a founder of BREAD, a coa-

lition that brings together congregations from around Columbus to engage public officials and other leaders in solving problems like crime, discrimination and the disintegration of our neighborhoods. With a retirement celebration of more than 400 people at the Columbus Museum of Art and a robust and growing congregation, Ahrens sat down with me on his last day of service to reflect on his time at First Church.

This conversation has been condensed and edited for length and clarity.

What made you decide now is a good time to retire? Being a pastor is a 24hour, seven day a week job. And it really is a calling. I’ve been doing it for 40 years,

and that seemed like a good time to call it quits. I’m young enough that I can try some new things [Ahrens will turn 67 in February]. There are things I want to do with my nine grandchildren—the ninth one was born yesterday.

What work do you feel you must do now? One thing I must do is complete the book that I’ve started on Washington Gladden, the seventh senior minister of this church. I’m the 15th senior minister, and I feel like he’s a kindred spirit, truly one of the most significant American religious figures that’s ever lived. I want to learn to fly. I’ve always dreamed of being a pilot, and so I’ve begun steps to do that. I also serve on four boards of directors,

PHOTO: TIM JOHNSON

Rev. Tim Ahrens at the Washington Gladden Social Justice Park next to First Congregational Church

so I want to honor my place there more fully [Jewish Family Services, Children’s Defense Fund-Ohio, the Community Editorial Board for The Dispatch , and Center for Community Solutions in Cleveland].

How can we best navigate the major change we’re seeing in Columbus? With the mayor declaring this is an Opportunity City, in every other breath we need to ask, and who doesn’t have the opportunity? Where isn’t there growth, and what is not functioning or serving us well? There is a shadow side of the beauty and the growth and the development of a large city—the growth of people who are homeless, who we see all around this church all the time. The growth of people who are not receiving the education they need—the numbers are staggering of kids literally not returning to school since COVID.

The success of any city is measured by how they care for the poorest of the poor and those who are forgotten and unseen and forsaken by the majority. We’ve got to figure out how to bridge the gap where housing costs get so high that

Introducing Our New Janney Branches in Mansfield & Cambridge, Ohio

‘‘ The

success of any city is measured by how they care for the poorest of the poor and those who are forgotten and unseen and forsaken by the majority.

—TIM AHRENS

people are driven from an apartment to a car to a tent.

I’ve always believed you can’t say you’re a great city and be surrounded by the kind of gun violence we see. We should watch how we pat ourselves on the back.

What Columbus, what Ohio, do you want to see in 2025? The legislature needs to come to grips with the reality that the most important issues for our children are not the eight to 10 kids who may

be transgender [and the few who may be in sports]. They need to look around and see that we have children who are showing up regularly at school who can’t read. Our schools are failing. They need to put tremendous resources into paying teachers an equitable wage. They have to take care of childcare costs, which are so through the roof for young families that they can’t afford to feed themselves.

The state needs to be aware that whether rural or urban, the issues of our day have nothing to do with the politicized culture war issues that [the legislature has] taken on. They have to do with work and love and life and prosperity for every child and family in this state.

I also have concerns about police issues. [The number of police shootings in Columbus] is a shame on our name. Instead of sending officers to crisis situations, we need a community response team—that’s been a concern of mine for a long time. Other places have done it. We can do it, too.

There are things that we are this close to fixing, if we can trust that the citizens who are raising the questions are doing so for the welfare of the city. ◆

JANNEY MONTGOMERY SCOTT LLC IS excited to announce the opening of two new branches, welcoming two esteemed financial advisory teams:

441 Wheeling Avenue Cambridge, OH, 43725

1230 Lexington Avenue, Suite 101, Mansfield, OH 44907

Both teams are committed to providing tailored financial strategies and advice specific to your needs and goals. Discover a new level of financial care and guidance by visiting our new locations and meeting our advisors, ready to help you plan for the future.

For more information about Janney, please see Janney’s Relationship Summary (Form CRS) on www.janney.com/crs which details all material facts about the scope and terms of our relationship with you and any potential conflicts of interest.

Front & Center | First Person

We Tried It: Rage Room

The cathartic release of smashing things into smithereens.

By Emma Frankart Henterly

Mötley Crüe is blasting against white plywood walls. I hoist a crowbar in both hands, savoring its heft before winding back. My friends are cheering. I set my jaw and put all my power into a swing that shatters the hurricane vase before me into a million pieces. The crash can be heard over the din of “Kickstart My Heart.” My friends fall silent, stunned.

“Oh my God, Emma,” someone murmurs.

And then, for the first time in days, I laugh.

It’s the Thursday after the election, and I—a queer, neurodivergent person with a uterus—have been crying quite a lot. When I booked this rage room session

at The Wrecking Company (234 S. 4th St., Downtown) earlier in the week, I had joked about whether it’d be a silly tryst or a necessary catharsis. I didn’t want to need the catharsis, but I sure was glad to have it.

That first smash is astonishing, even knowing we are in a space designed for the express purpose of smashing things. There’s something inherently transgressive about breaking glass, an oh no feeling of something that cannot be undone. But, at least for me and two friends, that sentiment quickly gives way to a breathless eagerness for the next piece to destroy, and the next one, and the next.

Over 30 minutes, we reduce three milk crates of breakables and a computer

monitor to rubble. Plates, bottles, even old Cisco office phones—it all falls to our fury. And it feels good.

It’s a common reaction, says Kate Zenger, who owns The Wrecking Company with her husband, Chris. Many clients come in meekly. But, almost without fail, the people who exit the rage room are not the same people who entered.

“Something transformative happens in that room,” Zenger says. Sullen to chatty. Seething to laughing. Shy to empowered. “It’s awesome to see, every single time.”

A copywriter for a national beauty brand by day, Zenger first had the idea for this nontraditional side hustle nearly a decade ago.

Emma Frankart Henterly takes a swing at bottles at The Wrecking Co. on Fourth Street in Downtown Columbus.

PHOTO: TIM JOHNSON

“There were so many days where I felt like, man, if I could just go break something real fast, just take 15 minutes of my lunch break and come back, I think I’d be a better person, a better employee,” she says. “I thought, what a cool business idea. … I started looking into it and realized, they’re all over.”

Everywhere, it seemed, except Columbus. But Zenger kept the idea on the back burner until 2022, when she registered the name and got to work.

A rage room business model is unique; early in her search, no insurance companies would take her on, so she found one that specializes in rage rooms and axe-throwing facilities. She and her husband sourced breakables through donations—still very encouraged, Zenger notes—and government liquidation sites. They got safety gear (each rager wears provided coveralls, gloves and a helmet with a face shield) and smashing tools (in addition to that crowbar, we saw bats, billy clubs and golf clubs). They found glass and e-waste recycling companies to deal with the aftermath and a space to lease, giving it a vibe that Zenger compares to “a clean, sort of feminine auto body shop from the ’70s.”

That The Wrecking Company had its soft launch just days before an intensely heated election was not intentional, Zenger says, but it has been excellent for business: The rooms booked quickly through early January. She’s even building out a membership program.

“I did not realize the number of people who would want to do this,” she notes, adding that most of the clientele have been women or had feminine names.

“I think that women have been told to … hide their anger,” Zenger says. “It’s so important that women know they can come here. They’re not judged. They’re not even given permission. They’re encouraged to scream and to let it out and to rage and to hit something. We keep saying, ‘Go feral.’ But really, go feral, and then you can return back to your life. This is your one space where you can just let go, and it’s really therapeutic.”

And it is. Something has shifted in me over our 30-minute session, though I’m not sure I can say what. When we left that room, we could barely see the rubber flooring through shards of metal, plastic and broken glass. Mixed among the debris was every drop of despair and shock and—why not, rage—I’d been feeling. I was thankful to leave it behind. ◆

Take a listen to The Dispatch

A wide variety of podcasts are available to stream or download in your preferred podcasting app. Check them out!

Hear the latest interviews from news-makers, politicians, artists and musicians.

A weekly podcast on Ohio State football featuring Bill Rabinowitz, Joey Kaufman and Rob Oller.

The Learning Pod is a podcast on everything education from The Columbus Dispatch.

A weekly podcast on Ohio State basketball featuring Adam Jardy.

Give us 15 minutes a week, and we will give you all the Ohio politics news you need to sound smart and impress your friends.

Discussions of important cultural and social issues relating to race, culture, gender and equality.

A roundtable discussion on the Blue Jackets with reporter Brian Hedger and columnist Michael Arace.

A podcast about the Crew with columnist Michael Arace and photographer Kyle Robertson.

Breathing Fresh Air

A leader on the national independent school scene, Columbus Academy Head of School Melissa Soderberg talks culture, great spaces and what it’s like coming from a family of educators.

By Katy Smith

Melissa Soderberg is a third-generation head of school and the first woman to lead Columbus Academy, which was founded in 1911. Here, we get to know a bit about her background, the key differences between public and private schools, what might surprise people about the academy she joined 12 years ago, and what she does to create culture.

This conversation has been edited and condensed for length and clarity.

What are the key differences between public and private schools? Free, public education is hugely significant and im-

portant for our democracy, so we don’t have a sense that all education should be privatized. But private schools are not organized geographically, they’re organized by a philosophy. If a school can control its own funding, it can control its own destination. That’s what independence is. So, we are constantly asking ourselves, “How can we create a tight-knit community, where kids respect and care about the people who teach them and each other?” We work really hard at that.

Tell us about how you approach culture at Columbus Academy. When you

walk into a good school, you feel it. It’s like breathing fresh air, and you get the sense that students have an energetic, relaxed productivity. We do a lot to create that kind of environment. We can control student-teacher ratios. We make lunch a special moment.

We have students from 52 ZIP codes, and 48 percent of our students are not white. That’s hugely important, because we want our kids to be comfortable in this world. Being around people with different ethnicities and socioeconomic backgrounds will give them skills they can go out into the world and use for good.

PHOTO: TIM JOHNSON

Melissa Soderberg talks with Columbus Academy students Audra Hall, left, and Ella Lovera during a class in the Maker Space at the school.

What’s also really important is that we have our youngest kids, who are 3 years old, and our seniors, who are 17 and 18, all on one campus. They interact with each other a fair amount, so it’s a little more like a family. Students who are younger look up to older kids and are more likely to be influenced by how they operate. We try to capitalize on that.

How did your family prepare you to be a head of school? My grandfather was a headmaster at Nichols School in Buffalo, New York, and my father went to his school and grew up on his school’s campus. My father was a head of school at a boys’ school, and I have two older sisters who also work in independent schools. I just love schools like this. I grew up in a school in Kansas City that was very strong, and I understood the relationship a school can have with its city.

Tell us a bit about your background and the ways you contribute at the national level. I taught history at a boarding school in Newport, Rhode Island. I also did college counseling for a while, and then we moved to Minneapolis, where

my husband pursued his Ph.D. He’s an archeologist. I became a dean of students, and then I became a college counselor and upper school head. I’ve also taught crisis management for new heads of school through the National Association of Independent Schools for five years, and I’m the treasurer of the Independent Schools Association of the Central States. I also lead accrediting teams throughout the Midwest.

You’re the first woman head of school at an institution that was formerly all male. What’s the benefit of being a coed school? Students learn mutual admiration, particularly in high school, because that’s natural for the age. And we have boys and girls leading in every way, and they lead well together, and there’s a real sense of support.

Can you describe some changes you’ve led at Columbus Academy in your 12 years? We have added 60 students in 10 years, and we plan to add 60 more in the next 10. The focus has been on how to take the strong bones of the institution and make it more innovative

and creative. We focus on getting out into the city and expanding opportunities for kids to interact curricularly and in service opportunities. We have new initiatives around technology in our Maker Space, and physically, we’ve changed. We have created spaces with ping pong tables and other places where kids can enjoy each other’s company. When I arrived, the buildings were organized as if learning only took place in the classroom, and now everything’s been opened up. I think excellent facilities not only attract families, but they attract faculty.

What should parents think about when considering private school for their children? Parents should examine a school’s focus. What is its campus like? What kind of athletics do they have? Do they provide art in the way you want your child to experience art? It’s very different from attending a school simply because of the neighborhood you live in. And then, because families chose the school, they’re embedded in the interest of the child’s success. Sometimes that can be a differentiating factor. ◆

Peter Kourlas, M.D.

Jarred Burkart, M.D. Shabana Dewani, M.D. Andrew Grainger, M.D. Joseph Hofmeister, M.D. Augustine Hong, M.D. Elizabeth Kander, M.D.

Erin M.Bertino, M.D.

Nse Ntukidem, M.D

Thomas Sweeney, M.D.

Emily Saul, D.O.

Anish Parikh, M.D.

Joy Tang, M. D.

Kavya Krishna, M.D.

Shylaja Mani, M.D.

Erin Macrae, M.D.

Michael Ozga, M.D.

Manifesting The Maroon

Maroon Arts Group has opened the doors to its new home celebrating Black artists.

By Donna Marbury

In 2020, Sheri Neale received a text from a friend with a link to a property for sale. That text sparked a big idea in Neale, leading to the acquisition of a historic theater in the heart of Columbus’ Black community.

Located at 867 Mt. Vernon Ave. in the King Lincoln-Bronzeville district, The Maroon (formerly known as the Pythian Theater), opened in October with a blessing ceremony from the city’s elders.

“We are the next stewards of this space, and we want to use it to foster community and village, as this area is getting more and more expensive for Black folks and is quickly changing,” Neale says of the Near East Side.

The light of possibility twinkles in Neale’s eyes while walking the four floors of The Maroon—plays and concerts in the theater, intimate performances in rooms etched with Masonic artifacts, events and parties in the ballroom renamed “the gathering spot,” spaces for artist reflection and collaboration, multiple libraries, and innovative ways of preserving history.

Neale, board chair and founder of Maroon Arts Group, believes she and the arts organization can continue to cultivate Black culture in their new 27,000-square-foot creative lab.

Upon entering The Maroon, artwork by Aminah Robinson, Walt Neil, April Sunami and Marshall Shorts greets patrons. The building has stood for almost 100 years, and Maroon Arts Group is planning to update technology and modernize the space to be more open to the community.

“It houses a theater, but this will be a place for collaboration and a vehicle for artistic liberation,” says Shorts, vice chair of the board and creative director for Maroon Arts Group. “The whole building is a gallery.”

Front & Center | Arts

A Building for Generations

In 1926, the Pythian Theater opened, funded by a Black division of the Knights of Pythias fraternal organization. Designed by Black architect Samuel Plato, the theater showed movies and performances by Black entertainers on its first floor. Other floors housed a ballroom and private space for Black masonic organizations to conduct meetings.

“This building was built to last for generations,” says Shorts.

The theater was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1983. In 1987, the theater was renovated to connect to the King Arts Complex, and the cultural organization leased the space from the York Masons, a Black fraternal organization.

When that lease expired in 2019, the building was vacant, and word started to spread that the theater would be for sale. With Opportunity Zone redevelopment in the King Lincoln-Bronzeville community contributing to higher housing and business costs and leading to rapid shifts in the neighborhood, the theater was listed among the city’s most endangered sites by Columbus Landmarks in 2021.

Because of its historic status, many

cosmetic elements of the building cannot be changed, Neale says.

“The people who built this building had the audacity to produce a Blackowned arts space in the 1920s. Just the process of how this building was built gives us the blueprint to take on this responsibility,” Neale says.

Shorts says renaming the theater “The Maroon” extends the brand Maroon Arts Group is building in Columbus. The arts organization also operates events at Box Park, an outdoor venue featuring a shipping container gallery, stage and pop-up restaurant space in eyeshot of the theater at 925 Mt. Vernon Ave. It also launched the Deliver Black Dreams project with a mural in the Milo-Grogan community.

“We have territories that we are building out,” Shorts says. “Autonomy is important to us.”

Supporting and Funding Black Dreams Founded by Neale and a group of cultural enthusiasts she calls “the village” in 2016, the Maroon Arts Group hosts a spectrum of arts and cultural events and programs aimed at educating the community about Black arts and responding to social justice activism. Shorts says it’s important that the nonprofit

Photos by Tim Johnson

Sheri Neale and Marshall Shorts at the new home for the Maroon Arts Group on Mt. Vernon Avenue.

organization have a decentralized model of governance, ensuring that creativity and the needs of the community drive the mission and vision.

“We are adamant about how we staff and structure the organization and how we build this organization for the future,” Shorts says. “We are looking at ways that we can operate nimbly for the sake of the community.”

Purchasing the theater wasn’t easy— it’s the largest project that Maroon Arts Group has attempted. Shorts says once he heard the theater was for sale, he believed it should stay Black-owned and controlled.

“This project is more than a testament of our ability to raise money or build a Black arts institution,” Shorts says. “It is really about the community saying, ‘We want to come together to be stewards of history and make sure that lives on.’”

Maroon Arts Group began talks with the Pythian Theater owners to purchase the space in 2020. After months negotiating, managing lease-to-own terms and securing funding, Maroon Arts Group completed the purchase of the space in December 2023 for $2.9 million.

To support this project, the group received $1.5 million from the City of Columbus Community Development Block Grant Fund. Fifth Third Bank also provided $700,000 as part of a $20 million commitment to the Near East Side through its Empowering Black Futures Neighborhood Investment Program.

“We have partnered with our friends at PACT (Partners Achieving Community Transformation) and Maroon Arts Group for many years, devoting time,

talent and treasure. Our thoughtfully structured approach aims to help solve real-world systemic issues and help preserve the essence of neighborhoods—including preserving the arts,” says Francie Henry, regional president of Fifth Third.

Sheldon Johnson is a Columbus native and has fond memories of attending events at the Pythian Theater. Now the executive director of PACT, he says it was important for the organization to support the Maroon Arts Group’s project.

“Owning real estate is revolutionary,” Johnson says. “Commercial real estate that has a community focus, to be owned by a Black organization that celebrates Black art in a Black neighborhood, is a powerful testament to what the future of this community can be.”

Looking Toward the Future

The total cost of purchasing the theater, operational expenses and making HVAC and other technical and cosmetic renovations will be around $9 million. Neale says the organization has secured about

$5 million and wants to raise an additional $4 million. During a community open house in October, the Columbus Foundation announced a $500,000 gift in support of the project.

Neale says it was important for the space to be blessed by community elders before releasing a full schedule of events for 2025. The open house included a blessing from African drummer Tony West, who died just a few weeks later in November. The Maroon hosted his funeral on Nov. 16.

“We have a particular way of how we begin things,” Neale says. “There couldn’t be too much that went on in this space without us having the elders come through, and so that is what happened with the open house. It was very strategic about us saying the purchase is done, and the elders have affirmed it.”

In December, the theater was to host Kwanzaa celebrations and a community town hall. It also was set to screen the documentary “Building Open Spaces” and host a signature Maroon Arts Group event called PitchBlack, a grassroots pitch competition for small businesses and solopreneurs. The group will continue strategic planning in the beginning of the year, while both community and Maroon Arts Group programming will roll out through spring. Shorts says the group is interested in hosting the community in the way that it needs.

“Collaboration is a big part of our motto,” Shorts says. “The cultural lab is first and foremost. Culture is economy. The building is a means to an end—not just a financial end, but an end for all of us to dream.” ◆

Sheri Neale looks over recent artwork at The Maroon

Visitors leave notes sharing their memories from when the group’s building was called the Pythian Theater.

Champion of Kindness

The founder of a nonprofit to support people fighting cancer has been named the 2024 Everyday Kindness Hero.

By Sophia Veneziano

“Everyone’s a winner tonight,” Jane Jacquemin-Clark said to the room filled with teary, attentive faces the evening of Dec. 4 at the Everyday Kindness Heroes awards ceremony held at COSI.

Just moments before she was named from among five Central Ohio finalists as the 2024 Everyday Kindness Hero Champion and given a $5,000 award from the Columbus Foundation’s Center for HumanKindness, Jacquemin-Clark acknowledged the four other finalists and 13 semifinalists.

She also shared what inspires her as the founder of Hope Hollow, which provides lodging and support to people fighting cancer—a fight Jacquemin-Clark knows all too well, having twice survived the disease after losing multiple family members to it.

The four other finalists—Lisa Woodward, Ric Grubaugh, Nicole Hebert-Ford and Tracy Davidson—each were given a $1,000 award from the Center for HumanKindness.

The program by The Columbus Dispatch, Columbus Monthly and Columbus

CEO is sponsored by the Center for HumanKindness at the Columbus Foundation, AEP Ohio, COSI and the United Way of Central Ohio.

A panel of six judges including representatives from sponsors and The Dispatch/Dispatch Magazines voted on who would be the final winner.

The five finalists took to the podium to share their stories of working for kindness in the Columbus community, with Woodward recognizing her own mother as she described her nonprofit to support single mothers, Motherful.

Grubaugh, a retired Columbus teacher, said his work at Star House serving homeless youth inspired him as he was mourning the loss of his wife. He says the selflessness of kids experiencing unimaginable hardship helped him through his own.

Davidson described the way her community came together behind her to create The Big Bus, a mobile classroom in the Westerville City School District. These six community members were “all-in since day one,” she said, after she discovered a need to provide extra help

to immigrants in the district.

Hebert-Ford, the founder of a nonprofit created to help students with unmet needs, Student Success Stores, said her mission extends beyond providing students with the things they need.

Last year, Student Success Stores provided 43,368 basic-need items to over 2,000 different students in grades 6-12. However, on a greater scale, it is a mission of hope.

“Hope is what we try to provide to kids. Hope is greater than SAT scores and ACT scores,” Hebert-Ford said.

Thirteen semifinalists were also recognized, along with a therapy dog, Fiona. Each semifinalist was awarded a $250 grant to an eligible nonprofit of his or her choice.

Along with the kind canine, the 2024 semifinalists included Cody Ballard, Renny Tyson, Dottie Odrosky, Jill Cottone, Rick and Lisa Gawronski, Margaret “Peggy” Kasten, Jim Burns and Mary Casey, Mike Uetrecht, Chet Ridenour, Denise Kilgore and Fiona’s partner, Sally Malaret. ◆

PHOTO: TIM JOHNSON

Everyday Kindness Heroes finalists Nicole Hebert-Ford, Tracy Davidson, Jane Jacquemin-Clark, Lisa Woodward and Ric Grubaugh

Front & Center | Everyday Kindness Heroes

Dreaming of The Shire

Many dream of acquiring a plot of land and living on it with their closest friends and family members, getting back to meaningful, simple living amid the chaos of 21st century life.

For Kari Lindberg, this dream has become a reality. The retired Columbus firefighter and K9 handler purchased and developed what she calls an “agrihood” in Delaware County, along with her sister, Lisa Lindberg, to combine living on the land with family and community involvement.

The group hopes to set an example of a different way of living—one of building a close community connected to food sources and harmony with nature.

Originally from Delaware County, the Lindberg family left the area due to the construction of the Alum Creek Dam in the early 1970s. Returning to the area was always a dream, and it came to fruition in 2021, when the sisters beat out a

By Sophia Veneziano

large development company to purchase the 11-acre property.

They closed on the property on Kari’s birthday in May 2022.

However, the journey to seeing The Shire, as they plan to call it, come to life has not been without obstacles. A few months later, Lisa’s husband, Duncan Work, died from complications of Parkinson’s disease.

“They had been together over 50 years, so it was just heartbreaking,” Kari Lindberg says.

Named after the quaint hobbit community from the beloved J.R.R. Tolkien classic, The Lord of the Rings, The Shire will include six tiny homes on the property with a community center created inside a reclaimed barn. Located on Cheshire Road near Alum Creek, Lindberg says the property named itself.

Lindberg wants the impact of the space to extend beyond her family and close friends.

She has registered the property’s gardens as a nonprofit, Shire Gardens, and hopes to use the land to help a young person or family launch a farming business. The 1-acre garden with a hoop tunnel could give someone the ability to earn income growing produce for small markets, such as farmer’s markets.

“Part of what we want to do is help give back and help other people,” Lindberg says. “We’ll help with a lot of the infrastructure. We’ll help maybe split the water bill. We’ll help do work, but we just don’t want to do it and run it.”

Starting out, the family would ask only for some of the crops in return—not rent. “We’re big believers that growing local food is becoming more and more important,” Lindberg says.

Unexpected delays in the Lindbergs’ story continued after Work tragically died. While breaking ground on the land in 2023, Lindberg was diagnosed

PHOTO: SOPHIA VENEZIANO

Kari Lindberg envisions donating a farm plot on her Delaware County property to a local entrepreneur.

Kathy Robinson and Kari Lindberg

with ovarian cancer. In what she describes as the worst days of her life, her canine partner, Jackson, passed away four days before she had surgery.

Still, in the spirit of The Shire, her community came together.

Peter Robinson, a close friend who will live on the property alongside the Lindberg sisters with his wife, Kathy Robinson, helped oversee the installation of the old barn from Mount Vernon Barn Company.

“I’m learning patience. It’s not always my strong suit,” Lindberg jokes. “Between me and Peter, we were able to keep everything going.”

Watching her husband and Lindberg partner to get the property ready for their families to move into the space, Kathy Robinson says it has been inspiring to see the greater community rally around the project. Following the vision of The Shire, she says there has been a push for smaller development projects in their area of southern Delaware County.

“There was some land for sale across the street, and we attended a couple of the zoning meetings,” Robinson says. “We heard several times, ‘Oh we want it to be

just like The Shire. We don’t want a big development. We want it to be quaint.’ ”

As to involvement with the greater community, Lindberg has aspirations beyond the garden space. She hopes to host canning classes on The Shire’s large porch, and when the project is complete, Lindberg says she would like people to stop by.

“We want people to come and see this and see how to do something like this,” she says.

Lindberg invites individuals or families who are interested in joining The Shire to launch a small farm to reach out at lindberg29shire@gmail.com.

“You can grow so much in a hoop tunnel. You can grow so much on an acre. It’s going to be fabulous,” Lindberg says.

This article was made possible by support from the Center for HumanKindness at The Columbus Foundation, which has partnered with Columbus Monthly to profile those making our community a better place. Help us inspire kindness by suggesting people, initiatives, or organizations for Reporter Sophia Veneziano to profile. She can be reached at sveneziano@dispatch.com. Learn more at Dispatch.com/Kindness. ◆

Kari Lindberg

Front & Center |

Buckeye Paws founding therapy dog Shiloh, second from right, and his coworkers try to get in line for a photo. The group gathered Nov. 8 to promote Shiloh to the honorary military rank of captain.

PHOTO BY COURTNEY HERGESHEIMER/COLUMBUS DISPATCH

Columbus Monthly’s Fall Cocktail Competition

Columbus Monthly held its Fall Cocktail Competition on Nov. 20 at Vitria on the Square. Over 300 guests sipped samples of cocktails made by 18 local bars and restaurants while enjoying live jazz music performed by the Hayden Huffman Trio. Noble Cut Distillery was the liquor sponsor for the event. The top five cocktails, listed in order from first to last place as chosen by the audience, were: Peachy Keen by The Lion; This Ain’t a Surfin’ Movie by The Whitney House Table & Tavern; Pani Puri by Rooh; Holy City Harmony by Hank’s Low Country Seafood and Raw Bar; and I Like it Weird by House of Spirits.

1 Erin Flynn, Laura Castillo and Megan Randolph 2 Mike Leopold, Jaclyn Roscoe and Julie Lather 3 Samantha Henderson and Awa Awa 4 Emma Surgenor and Mackenzie Jennings 5 Eugene Wilson and Aaron Clouse 6 Tisha Welday and Kenna Schneider 7 Michael and Keisha Whitfield 8 Julie and David Whiting 9 Becky DiSalvo and Mary Breckenridge 10 Ishara Guruge and Deborah Lakshmikanth 11 Essence Goff and Sierra Samuels

PHOTOS:

BLAST: COSI’s Sneaker Ball

On Sept. 20, COSI hosted its signature annual fundraiser, BLAST. Over 700 guests wore evening apparel with their fanciest footwear to celebrate 60 years of science education. Attendees strolled through COSI while dancing to two different bands, savoring bites from local restaurants and sampling specialty cocktails. Performances from the People’s Circus and magician Eric Tait, as well as animal encounters and interactive science activities, added to the fun. Leah Pappas Porner and Channie Mize chaired the event, which benefits COSI’s science education and community programs.

1 Argeri and Eugenia Lagos, Chrissa Morris and Frank Zonars 2 Erica, Aaron, Lonnie and Jack Conroy 3 Bryant Young and Tracy Cloud 4 Janica Pierce Tucker and Anthony Tucker 5 Frederic Bertley, Leah Pappas Porner and Quinn Porner 6 Donika and Keith Key 7 Luis and Cookie Rivera 8 Nadia Beam, Theresa Pompey, Wendy Blanco, Alanna La Primadonna, Marli Koppel and María De Lourdes Manoel 9 Jason and Becky Tharp 10 Reuben Green, Nichelle White, Timothy Parker and Jasmine Green 11 Jenny Saunders and Theresa Harris

datebook

JAN. 4-5 | Brick Fest Live

Brick Fest Live is coming to the Greater Columbus Convention Center for families and brick fans alike. Participate in hands-on building activities, see and create brick displays, race your creations on a 35 foot track and meet the stars of Fox’s LEGO Masters and more. brickfestlive.com

JAN. 11 | Found Footage Festival

Celebrate the 20th year anniversary of the Found Footage Festival at the Wex, which will feature the best of Joe Pickett (The Onion) and Nick Prueher’s (The Late Show) collection of more than 13,000 VHS tapes. Tour the craziest tapes in their collection. foundfootagefest.com

JAN. 23-FEB. 16 | Nine: The Musical

Enjoy the dramedy of Federico Fellini’s classic film “8 ½” in this Tony Award-winning musical adaptation. Leading man Guido Contini is a renowned director dealing with the stress of writing his newest film while also being confronted by the various women in his life. shortnorthstage.org/nine

JAN. 25 | Langhorne Slim and Oliver Wood Singer-songwriter Langhorne Slim will perform alongside Grammy-nominated Oliver Wood of the Wood Brothers.

Enjoy a night of live folk and jazz music inside the historic Athenaeum Theatre. celebrityetc.com/calendar

A CURATED LIST OF THINGS TO SEE AND DO IN COLUMBUS

NOV. 20-MAY 4 | New Yorker Cartoons

Don’t miss your chance to see a collection of cartoons designed by celebrated illustrator Edward Koren for The New Yorker, now on display at

the Billy Ireland Cartoon & Library Museum. This exhibition includes both iconic cartoons as well as more obscure early submissions dating back to the 1960s. cartoons.osu.edu/exhibits

Jan. 18

Casino Night at Vue

Support Music Loves Ohio, which will host its fifth annual fundraising benefit. The theme is Casino Night, and will include games, prizes, music, refreshments, a silent auction and more. musiclovesohio.org

Jan. 20

MLK Day of Youth Service

Seeds of Caring will host a MLK Day of Youth Service for children ages 2-12 at Ohio History Connections. Kids will put together cleaning and breakfast kits, create sun catchers for seniors, design “Use Your Voice” posters and craft dream catchers. seedsofcaring.org

Jan. 25

Wonderball

The 11th annual Wonderball celebration at the Columbus Museum of Art will carry the theme of “reflection,” symbolized by turquoise, which will complement the traditional black-andwhite motif. columbusmuseum.org

Wonderball

HOW TO BE

Five Columbus-based experts share their secrets to living a fulfilled, connected and peaceful life.

By Erica Thompson | Photos by Tim Johnson

When Doug Smith was approached to teach a course at DePauw University in 2006, leadership was a fitting first choice for the subject matter After all, he had built his career as an executive, serving as the CEO of Kraft Canada and other major food companies.

But he expressed a desire to teach something else: happiness.

“There was silence on the other end of the phone,” laughs Smith, 78, of Upper Arlington.

But the class was approved, and it became one of the Indiana school’s most popular courses until he stopped teaching it in 2020. He had the perfect combination of lived experience and education. He had climbed his way out of depression amid a battle with leukemia. And he’d studied the literature of positive psychology, a field dedicated to flourishing. He has since written two books, “Happiness: The Art of Living with Peace, Confidence and Joy” and “Thriving in the Second Half of Life.”

According to Smith’s expertise, the foundation of flourishing is love. “I think what most people that are involved in positive psychology are trying to get across is, how do we make this world a better place by caring for ourselves, caring for others and caring for the world?” he says.

It’s easier said than done, especially in the current climate of political divisiveness and social media addiction. That’s why we sought out tips from Smith and other experts, including a relationship counselor, pastor, executive coach and physician. Here is what they say about achieving a fulfilled, connected and peaceful life.

Rethink Your Definition of Winning

As an executive coach, Regan Walsh has had high-achieving clients who hit a wall and eventually ask, “Is this it?”

For example, one woman had gotten married, had kids and toiled hard to build a successful company. But she worked long hours, hardly spent time at home and was facing major problems in her marriage.

Walsh helped the client redefine what winning meant to her.

“It was making sure she put the right guardrails in the workplace,” says Walsh, 47, of the Short North, who also penned a self-help memoir, “Heart Boss,” in 2021. “It was hiring more people. It was delegating things. It was fully disrupting how she’s done business in the past to get her off of the hamster wheel and away from working 18-hour days. It was pouring into her family and having some non-negotiables.”

Scaling back is a typical way professionals change their approach to winning, Walsh says.

“Oftentimes it’s getting ruthless with saying no,” she says. “And, at least with the people that

Doug Smith

I serve, which are executive women, they often have the disease to please. And it is hard to disappoint people.”

When it comes to finding happiness during work hours, Walsh recommends considering intrinsic motivators, such as projects and causes that are inspiring and reflect the vision of the company. She also suggests ensuring the job aligns with your personal values.

“Most of us spend the majority of our lives working,” she says. “How you spend your days is how you spend your life.”

But when you’re not working, making time for fun is crucial, she says.

“The opposite of play isn’t work, it’s actually depression,” she explains. “Life is hard. I have an 8-year-old and a 9-year-old. I run a business. My mother is 89 years old, she’s blind, she’s got early-stage dementia symptoms. And I am also trying to be a wife, and I’m trying to be a community member, and I’m trying to be a friend. And the days are hard and there isn’t a lot of time to give to myself. Sometimes, I go and just jump on the trampoline with my daughters. Sometimes it’s a walk, sometimes it’s a workout, sometimes it’s a book club. But we have to infuse play into our lives in order to show up as our best selves.”

Choose Romantic Partners Wisely

Prioritizing play also is a key component of being happy in a romantic partnership, says relationship counselor Meghna Mahambrey, who owns the SPARK relationship and sexual wellness company with her husband, Andy Kuss.

“The majority of the couples that come to see me say, ‘We feel stagnant. We don’t really feel like we know each other anymore. We don’t have any fun together. Everything is just logistics and parenting and cooking and cleaning.’”

Mahambrey encourages couples to be intentional about date nights. Instead of solely going to dinner, add an activity, such as a dance lesson or pottery class, she says. Even seeing a live show can foster a different type of engagement.

“These are things that push you out of your normal routine,” she says. “And it gets you out of your head. It gets you doing something fun and different and exciting. And those kinds of activities tend to generate a sense of emotional connection between partners.”

Mahambrey also advises couples to embrace conflict with a growth mindset.

“When issues arise, you can either see them as roadblocks or you can see them as opportunities for growth,” she says. “You learn things about your partner and their preferences, their feelings, their history, what triggers them. You

Regan Walsh

can use that as data to become a better partner, listen better, understand them and communicate better.”

But the ability to do so largely depends on who you choose as a partner to begin with, says Mahambrey, 40, of Clintonville. That decision not only determines the success of your relationship, but the trajectory of your life.

“I often tell people who are still single to be very diligent in dating,” she says. “Get really clear on what it is that matters to you, what your values are, what vision you have for your life, and what you want your lifestyle to look like. Because once you pick and you commit, for those who choose to only get married once, it’s very hard to make something better that wasn’t all that compatible in the first place.”

Get Moving

Romantic partnerships aren’t the only relationships that need to be nurtured. Healthy friendships are also conducive to a happy life.

Dr. Jaynine Vado has witnessed the bond between participants in Walk with a Doc, a free program featuring regular community walks led by doctors and other health care professionals.

Founded in Columbus by cardiologist David Sabgir in 2005, the initiative now has more than 500 chapters worldwide. Vado has guided walks in locations throughout central Ohio.

“A lot of our health comes from our ability to stay active physically and maintain our mobility,” says Vado, who specializes in internal medicine with a focus on hospice and palliative care. “That’s the biggest thing that causes you to lose your independence. And then the next thing is staying socially engaged. And so Walk with a Doc gets at both of those. All of the participants just seem happier. They’re excited to see each other. They’re excited to see the doc and talk with them.”

Continuing to learn is also a significant part of maintaining health, Vado says. “I always tell people, keep your mind active and engaged, especially as we start to get near retirement age,” she says. “Do a new hobby. Learn guitar. Learn a new language. That’s so easy. You can do that at home on your phone. That’s one of the ways to keep yourself mentally engaged. And that’s going to help to maintain your independence as well.”

But being mindful of the negative effects of technology is a must, especially for younger people who tend to be more connected to their phones, Vado says.

“I tell people to put timers on their apps,” she says. “I tell people to limit the amount of news that they’re getting to once a day and preferably in the morning. Don’t look at that before you go

Meghna Mahambrey

to bed. It’s going to impact your sleep negatively if you see something that makes you feel anxious or worried. Power down 90 minutes before bedtime. Do something relaxing. Do your nighttime regimen, do meditation, yoga, read a book, straighten up or do your facial routine.”

For people of all ages, it’s important to remember that happiness must be created, says Vado, 40, of Grove City. For her mother, it’s participating in line dancing at Marion Franklin Community Center. For herself, it’s taking art classes.

“I actively seek it out,” she says. “It’s relatively inexpensive to do, and it’s once a week. Happiness is having something to look forward to.”

Trust in Something Bigger

For Pastor Julius Lancaster, happiness is circumstantial, but joy is internal.

In other words, he explains, his mood can change with the weather, but his joy comes from trusting God.

“A lot of things that I’ve tried to gain happiness from have failed me,” says Lancaster, who is the founder of All Nations Worship Assembly Columbus. “Relationships can be up and down. If I try to gain happiness from finances, they can be up and down. But I’ve found that the Lord doesn’t change. And so, that’s been the only constant for my life.”

But the road to that realization was a bumpy one for the 48-year-old East Sider, who is a husband and father of two children. He spent his 20s making poor decisions, eventually serving four years in prison for robbery and selling drugs. By the time of his release in 2010, he’d already begun pursuing a relationship with God.

With a desire to preach, he and his wife grew their church in stages: first in a space at a YMCA, then in Franklin Park during the pandemic, and finally in a warehouse before securing their current building.

For others who are searching for spiritual contentment, Lancaster has some tips: Seek counsel from someone you trust and find a church or a community of believers.

“The Lord is amazing, and he could maybe offer some advice through another person,” Lancaster says. “A lot of times, people don’t really disclose a lot of their true feelings because they don’t know if the space is safe or not. So, I think community is probably one of the other greatest benefits of connecting with the church.”

Lancaster also encourages people to establish spiritual disciplines, such as a regular prayer routine or Bible-reading plan.

In addition to religious faith, he cites mental health as a key to happiness. He even provides

Dr. Jaynine Vado with her dog, Lily

his congregants free sessions with a therapist.

“Our general context is African American in our church, and the reality is, just by being a Black man or a woman in America, there’s trauma associated with that,” he says. “And I think learning from some professionals how to properly address the trauma and not just over-spiritualizing everything is tremendously important.”

Forgive Yourself and Others

A healthy mindset means having positive emotions, which contribute to flourishing, according to Doug Smith. And the key to positive emotions, he says, is forgiveness.

“It’s two very separate skills,” he continues. “One is forgiveness of self, which is about releasing remorse and regret. The other is forgiving other people, which is the ability to release hate.”

Also important is gratitude, which works in the opposite way. “Gratitude brings good things into your life,” he says. “Forgiveness gets the crap out of your life.”

Smith suggests going for a gratitude walk in the morning and giving thanks for everything from being alive to being able to pay bills. “I could walk for 2 miles and every step think of something to be grateful for,” he says. “Doing that just raises your mood.”

Another key to flourishing is having a meaningful purpose, Smith says, reciting a quote attributed to the late author and minister Frederick Buechner: “The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet.”

“What is it that really gives you gladness?” Smith asks. “What is it you really like doing? What are you skilled at? Where do you really have a deep understanding, or where could you develop a deep understanding? And what does the world need?”

Smith says he is skilled at being an instructor, and his deep gladness is in thinking about what allows people to flourish. These days, he works as a consultant and teaches at the Canyon Ranch Resort & Spa destinations in Tucson, Arizona, and Lenox, Massachusetts.

He says his second book, “Thriving in the Second Half of Life,” is about focusing on cooperation instead of competition, and contributing instead of accumulating.

In fact, service to others is one thing Smith and the other happiness experts have in common. That must also be a secret to living well.

“I’ve never been happier than I have been in the last 15 years,” Smith says. ◆

Julius Lancaster

The Power of Positivity

A new mindset can help people change their lives at work and at home.

By Shannon Shelton Miller

Ten years ago, Laura Cooke found herself at a crossroads.

She was juggling the demands of her job as assistant head of The Wellington School and raising four daughters while her husband, Chris, traveled often for work. The stress took a toll on her health, leaving her battling illnesses she now recognizes resulted from a lifestyle she knew was unsustainable.

Cooke knew something had to change. A lifelong learner, she immersed herself in the study of positive psychology and the science of happiness, and in turn, strengthened her desire to use that research to help others, especially in the workplace.

The Cookes took their interest in positive psychology even further. They earned certifications in the field, and Laura Cooke created a class on happiness at The Wellington School with the help of Doug Smith, a mentor and author of “Happiness: The Art of Living With Peace, Confidence, and Joy.” Those actions planted the seeds for Positive Foundry in late 2016, and Smith gave the couple their first loan.

Laura Cooke’s keynote speech with Smith during a 2017 IGS Energy confer-

ence, however, brought the consultancy to fruition. The success of that talk fueled the Cookes to quit their full-time jobs that day and commit 100 percent to their dream.

“We believe organizations can play an important role in changing the trajectory of well-being in the U.S. and help create thriving communities,” Laura Cooke says. “We knew we could do it by working with companies who believe people are their greatest asset.”

Practice Makes People Better

Jeff Edwards, CEO of construction contractor Installed Building Products, was an early booster whose input helped lay the consultancy’s groundwork. Edwards’ children attended The Wellington School, and his familiarity with the Cookes’ work led him to ask for help to reach employees across 200-plus branches. He especially wanted to connect with installers who worked in the field.

“Everybody has their cross to bear, and it’s not exclusive to a job position, sex, race, religion or anything else,” Edwards says. “If we’re going to do something like this, I knew we were going to do it for everybody.”

Edwards’ input and the Cookes’ research led to the development of BetterYet, a yearlong program of weekly 30-minute video presentations. The name emerged from the belief that humans can continue to get better throughout their lives, and Stanford psychologist Carol Dweck’s growth mindset approach of adding “yet” to the end of a negative sentence to create the possibility for improvement, as in, “I can’t do that, yet.”

To work across organizations of any size, Positive Foundry trains “champions”—employees within the organization who learn how to create a safe space for conversation. Champions introduce the video presentations to smaller groups and introduce dialogue questions at the end. Although the content of each discussion might differ, each group engages in the same dialogue, creating a sense of connectedness.

“We find the magic happens when we introduce a concept like gratitude, and all of a sudden, you and I are having a conversation about gratitude and we talk about what we’re grateful for,” Laura Cooke says. “We’re connecting on a level we never would before.”

Positive Foundry was created by husband-andwife team Laura and Chris Cooke, who have recently brought on Rachel Finney, right, as COO.

PHOTO: TIM JOHNSON

SELF-CARE

SHOULD I GET A PERSONAL TRAINER?

Committing to exercise and nutrition goals can be near-impossible if you’re on your own with no accountability. A personal trainer can keep you on track.

By Donna Marbury

It’s January, and you arrive at your local gym. You’re wearing brand new gym wear, with laced up sneakers to match. Your coordinating water bottle is filled and chilled, and your fitness tracker is charged. But when you walk through the doors, you freeze.

How long should you stretch? How much weight should you lift? How many minutes should you spend on the treadmill? How do you turn the treadmill on?

Fitness and weight loss are consistently top New Year’s resolutions, and though many people desire to improve their health, it’s hard to know where to start. A good personal trainer can help with setting reasonable and attainable nutrition and fitness goals. Mimicking gym moves from a TikTok influencer may not be the safest or smartest way to approach your goals. That’s where a certified personal trainer can provide direction.

“When clients come to us, I sit down and have a really good conversation with them about what are you willing to do? What are you not willing to do? What’s your goal? What is the timeframe? I give them all the information and really see in their heart of hearts if they are ready to make a change,” says Alexandra Craig, owner of Personal Level Fitness in Columbus.

Setting Expectations

Personal training starts with a conversation about goals and current health and lifestyle issues. A trainer should take into account whether you’ve had any

prior injuries and your experience working out in a gym with equipment, says Jackée Mount, owner of J. Monet Fitness in Columbus.

From there, the trainer should develop a program that includes gym time and nutrition recommendations. Most importantly, a trainer will be there to give an extra push when the newness of goal setting starts to fade.

“This is a lifestyle I want my clients to understand. This is not for me to help you get into that bikini for a vacation, but this is for life,” Mount says. “I like to nudge my clients a little bit. Sometimes we get real with some tough love, but it’s only so that I can push you to that next level.”

Accountability from a trainer is key, but so is grace, Craig adds.

“Everybody can do a diet program

for 30 or 60 days, as long as they know there’s an endpoint. With a nutrition plan and lifestyle, you’re doing it forever, which means you’re not going to be perfect. And that’s OK. You can go out for a birthday party and have a piece of cake and it’s going to be fine, because you’re looking at it for the long haul,” Craig says.

What Certifications Mean

The state of Ohio doesn’t require certifications for personal trainers, but they are important to ensure the trainer knows how to keep their clients safe, Mount says.

“Some people really care about seeing that you have those credentials, but at the very minimal you need to be CPR certified, because you never know what can happen in the gym,” Mount says. “If

Alexandra Craig

your goals are beyond just weight loss, you may want to look into specific certifications in sports medicine or athletic sports.”

Craig says qualified trainers can have college degrees in health or exercise science, and many have certifications from national associations including the American College of Sports Medicine, American Council on Exercise, International Sports Sciences Association or ACE.

“There are several certifications out there. I look for the organizations that have been around a long time,” Craig says.

Online vs. In-Person Training

Trainers agree that finding time to work out is one of the biggest challenges to meeting long-term fitness goals. Though the availability of online training through live or recorded videos has increased since the pandemic, it’s important that novices understand how to train safely, says Dave Dulin, owner of Gym Guyz North Columbus.

“In-person training enables you to have that person-to-person communication

that can drive that relationship to a next level versus having that relationship with somebody on a screen or a device,” Dulin says. Gym Guyz is a mobile gym where a personal trainer comes to clients’ homes and businesses to conduct sessions.

“Online is the maximum convenience, but I’m biased,” Dulin says. “One of the reasons I got into this business is for that in-person communication.”

Investing in Results

Expect to spend between $60 and $70 per session in central Ohio, and commit to working out three to four days a week to start seeing results in a few months.

“You need to commit that you are investing in your health and future self. I tell potential clients, it’s kind of like putting money away now for a 401(k). You don’t necessarily see the benefits of it today, but your future self is going to thank you,” Dulin says. “However, with working out it’s condensed, because if you hit it hard for six weeks, you can see and feel a difference.”

Betty Hill, 86, works out with personal trainer Mike O’Sullivan at Personal Level Fitness in Upper Arlington.

5 TIPS FOR WORKING WITH A TRAINER

1. SET REASONABLE GOALS

“You can have that big goal, but a trainer can help you break it down,” Mount says. “Smart goals are specific, measurable, attainable and timely. We can set a three-month goal and once we reach that, I like to move the goalposts.”

2. CONSIDER SMALL GROUP TRAINING

“The benefits are accountability and camaraderie. The participants will form stronger bonds and will be able to learn to root each other on while working out,” Dulin says.

3. ADD FITNESS TO YOUR SCHEDULE

“Just like you schedule meetings or kids’ activities, schedule working out and commit to yourself,” Dulin says.

4. FOCUS ON NEW HABITS

“A trainer will help you focus on the habit of starting to work out. Next, we might focus on portion control and then cardio,” Craig says. “Whatever the client can do the best is where we start with them. Whatever they feel the most confident that they can do and get a result, that’s where we start.”

5. ACCOUNTABILITY IS THE KEY

“We do charge if clients don’t show up or if there’s a late cancel, so money can keep them accountable. But people will typically not let us down, because we’re waiting for them,” Craig says.

TUNING OUT FOOD NOISE

Semaglutide injections motivate patients to achieve long-term weight loss.

Injectable GLP-1 agonists have gained popularity as a breakthrough solution for individuals struggling to shed excess weight. But more patients are finding that the drug’s hallmark appetite reduction effect isn’t the main catalyst for their success—it’s the elimination of “food noise” helping them reach their health goals.

“Food noise is a near-constant thought about food that results in patients planning their day around food and experiencing stress if they feel they’re going to miss a meal or won’t be home for a meal,” says Marguerite Weston, MD, the director of functional medicine at Donaldson in Columbus. “It’s a reactivity cue within the body that can negatively influence mood and cause unhealthy physiological changes, including high blood pressure and increased heart rate.”

For many patients, fat-loss drugs like Wegovy and compounded semaglutide injections relieve these constant cues, helping them regain focus and enjoy a healthier relationship with food. This allows their health improvements to be more pronounced without the veil of food-based anxiety.

According to Dr. Weston, a clear picture of progress is another strong motivator.

“We watched our patients put in the effort to make positive changes but still struggle to see results,” she says. “Semaglutide gives them a jumpstart; something to keep them going in the early stages. It is not a shortcut—it’s another tool in our toolbox we use to support patients in achieving healthy weight loss.”

Semaglutide is a GLP-1 receptor agonist that promotes weight management, cardiovascular health and blood sugar regulation. Originally approved by the FDA in 2017 as a weekly injection to lower blood sugar under the name Ozempic, semaglutide was later approved in 2019 as a tablet form called Rybelsus to treat diabetes.

In June 2021, the FDA approved Wegovy, the first semaglutide drug specifically for weight loss, and in

March 2024, it gained approval to reduce the risk of major adverse cardiovascular events in individuals with cardiovascular disease who are overweight or obese.

An Integrative Approach To Responsible Fat Loss With Minimal Muscle Wasting

Many health care providers pair semaglutide with lifestyle interventions to create a broader approach to wellness and weight management.

“If patients don’t change anything about their lifestyle, they risk regaining the weight after they stop semaglutide,” says Dr. Weston. “Our patients not only receive access to semaglutide but also personalized plans that include nutrition education, workout routines and regular check-ins. This structured guidance reinforces a patient’s understanding of their progress and addresses weight concerns at the root.”

As semaglutide has become mainstream, so have anecdotal stories about undesired facial volume loss and muscle atrophy.

“Whenever you lose weight, you’re going to lose muscle in addition to fat,” says Dr. Weston. “To keep it to a minimum, we emphasize strength training, adequate protein intake and physical movement throughout treatment.”

Body composition tracking is another key to look for in a responsible fat-loss program. This can be especially important for individuals concerned about preserving muscle mass and avoiding common cosmetic issues, like hollow cheeks, sunken eyes and sagging jowls.

“At Donaldson, we can track how much muscle mass and body fat patients are losing to make sure they are hitting healthy benchmarks,” says Dr. Weston. “It’s healthier to lose weight slower, which is why none of our patients experience that ‘gaunt’ look.”

A Warning Against Unregulated Online Sources

While semaglutide offers promising results, there’s a significant downside

to the rise in online providers selling the drug without medical oversight. Patients risk complications—such as gallbladder issues or excessive muscle loss—especially when safeguards like proper prescriptions, medical evaluations, and follow-up care are absent.

“Red flags to watch out for include not needing any lab work, never meeting with an actual doctor and receiving no ongoing education or diet guidance,” warns Dr. Weston. “Credentialled providers can also personalize titration and doses to the patient’s goals and needs.”

Another concern with unverified providers is the source of the medication. When obtained through uncertified pharmacies, the quality and legitimacy of semaglutide can’t be guaranteed.

“An alarming amount of online semaglutide purchases come from unreliable sources,” says Dr. Weston. “If you are seeking a compounded semaglutide solution, look for providers using pharmacies that are 503A or 503B certified, as these certifications indicate compliance with national pharmacy regulations. Without these safeguards, you can’t be sure you’re getting what you think you’re getting.”

Certified Sources and Structured Lifestyle Plans Increase Semaglutide’s Effectiveness

Semaglutide for weight loss can be prescribed to patients with a body mass index (BMI) of 30 or higher or a BMI of 27 or more if accompanied by a weight-related health condition such as high blood pressure, insulin resistance, sleep apnea or high cholesterol. Beyond her one-on-one work with individuals on their weight loss journeys, Dr. Weston has collaborated with board-certified plastic surgeons to optimize patient weight and overall health before their procedure.

“A patient has to fall within a specific BMI range to safely undergo plastic surgery,” says Jeffrey Donaldson, MD, founder of Donaldson. “Our Functional Medicine Team does an outstanding job assisting patients who may have otherwise been turned away for having a BMI that exceeds that threshold.”

Donaldson patients often experience sustainable success with semaglutide, with some returning to the practice for cosmetic procedures to add the finishing touches after achieving their desired weight.

“Massive weight loss often leaves behind loose skin that doesn’t go away on its own, requiring surgery to remove and tighten the skin,” says Dr. Donaldson. “During a tummy tuck or abdominoplasty procedure, anywhere from 2 to 15 lbs. of excess skin and fatty tissue can be removed, depending on the patient’s anatomy.”

With locations in Dublin and Lewis Center, Donaldson is committed to providing responsible access to semaglutide, combining expert guidance with education and lifestyle interventions for sustainable results. Their Functional Medicine Team addresses health beyond fat loss, focusing on dietetics, gut health, hormones and more to support healthier lives.

Start the conversation

COLUMBUS CHAMBER ANNUAL MEETING

February 19 | Battelle Grand | Columbus Convention Center

The Columbus Chamber’s Annual Meeting is the most distinguished event of our calendar, uniting a remarkable assembly of Columbus Region business and community leaders. Join us at Ignite US | Fueling the Future of Columbus Together, presented by Mount Carmel Health and Wright-Patt Credit Union! Ignite US marks a pivotal moment of transition and transformation for our business community. As we welcome new leadership, this event will spotlight the collective energy, vision, and collaboration essential to driving the Columbus Region forward. Join us as we ignite fresh ideas, celebrate our shared achievements, and build connections that will shape the future. This is your opportunity to engage with the leaders and innovators who will steer our region through its next chapter, ensuring Columbus remains a vibrant and prosperous hub for all.

THE

ANNUAL LIST OF TOP ATTORNEYS

SELECTION PROCESS

Super Lawyers selects attorneys using a patented multiphase selection process.*

The objective is to create a credible, comprehensive and diverse listing of outstanding attorneys that can be used as a resource for attorneys and consumers searching for legal counsel. We limit the lawyer ratings to those who can be hired and retained by the public, i.e., lawyers in private practice and Legal Aid attorneys.

The Super Lawyers selection process involves the steps outlined in the graphic (at right).

LEARN MORE SuperLawyers.com/SelectionProcess QUESTIONS? SL-Research@thomsonreuters.com visit SuperLawyers.com

Search for an attorney by practice area and location, and read features on attorneys selected to our lists.

Ahern, Ann-Marie

Liffman Co., Cleveland

Biacsi, Mary J., The Family Law Group Co., Cleveland

Blasik-Miller, Susan, Reminger, Dayton

Bossin, Phyllis G. Cincinnati

Cozza, Andrea L., Treneff Cozza Law, Westerville DiSilvio, Marilena

Frantz Oldham, Megan J., Plakas Mannos,

Friedman, Heidi B.

Fuhrer, Loriann E. Columbus

Galeano, Judith E. Dublin

Goins, Frances Floriano, UB Greensfelder, Cleveland

Hannigan, Erinn McKee Koop Co, Cincinnati

Helfman, Jill F., Taft, Cleveland

Howard, Barbara J. Cincinnati

Hughes, Maura L. Cleveland

Jakubs, Michele L.

Jodka, Sara, Dickinson Wright, Columbus

Kemp, Jacqueline L., Kemp Law Group, Dublin

Khouzam, Marie-Joëlle C., Bricker Graydon, Columbus

Kirila, Jill S., Squire Patton Boggs, Columbus

Lampe, Lynn, The Lampe Law Office,

Leffler, Amanda M.

Leveridge, Julia L. Columbus

Love, Julia Ann

MacAdams, Pamela J. DeVito Co., Cleveland

Martinsek, Amanda, UB Greensfelder, Cleveland

McKinlay, Amy M., McKinlay Law Offices, Columbus

McLafferty, Sydney S., The Stuckey Firm, Dublin

Meister, Julia B. , Taft, Cincinnati

Menashe, Diane, The Menashe Law Group, Columbus

Mirman, Denise Columbus

Monihan, M. Elizabeth, Schneider Smeltz Spieth Bell, Cleveland

Mullin, Jeanne M., Perez Morris, Cleveland

Myers, Kelly Mulloy

Cincinnati

O’Neil, Colleen M.

Cleveland

Oliver, Jami S., Oliver Law Office, Dublin

Pollock, Stacy V., Pollock Law, Dublin

Rhinehart, Erin E., Faruki, Dayton

Rittgers, Ellen B.

Lebanon

Roach, Adrienne J. Cincinnati

Sansalone, Monica A., Gallagher Sharp, Cleveland

Santoni, Christine, Perez Morris, Cleveland

Schraff, Patricia J., Schraff Thomas Law,

Sferra, Anne Marie, Bricker Graydon, Columbus

Shlonsky, Patricia A., UB Greensfelder, Cleveland

Silverman, Beth Cincinnati

Taggart, Carolyn A.

Turnbull, Tracey L. Cleveland

Wade, Claire I.

Weis, Amy, Weis Law Group, Columbus

A TRIAL ATTORNEY WITH A REPUTATION FOR RESULTS

Individuals and business clients turn to Judy Galeano when they need strong advocacy in negotiations and in the courtroom. Above all, Judy is a problem solver for her clients. She always

best interests. Judy takes great pride in making a valuable contribution to her clients as they navigate career, business and family challenges.

litigation in the areas of employment law, labor law, divorces matters), custody disputes and business law.

Judy is a highly regarded litigator throughout Ohio and rated AV Preeminent® by Martindale-Hubbell®. Named

Ohio Top 100, Ohio Top 50 Women and Columbus Top 50.

Judith E. Galeano, Esq.

MOWERY YOUELL & GALEANO, LTD.

485 Metro Place South, Suite 220 Dublin, OH 43017

(614) 764-1444

jgaleano@myglaw.com | www.myglaw.com

TOP 10

BASHEIN, W. CRAIG

• Ranked Number Three •

CRANDALL, STEVE

FRIEDMAN, IAN N.

HELFMAN, JILL F.

LEFFLER, AMANDA M.

PATNO, CHRISTIAN R.

• Ranked Number Two •

RAY, FRANK A.

ROACH, ADRIENNE J.

TRENEFF, CRAIG P.

UNGAR, MICHAEL N.

• Ranked Number One •

Abboud, Antony A.

Adams, Gregory L. Cincinnati

Ahern, Ann-Marie Liffman Co., Cleveland

Arnold, James E.

Bashein, W. Craig Cleveland

Besser, Matthew D., Bolek Besser Glesius, Cleveland

Blasik-Miller, Susan, Reminger, Dayton

Bossin, Phyllis G. Cincinnati

Bowman, J. Scott

Butler, David J., Taft, Columbus

Chandra, Subodh, The Chandra Law Firm, Cleveland

Chesney, Michael N., Frantz Ward, Cleveland

Ciano, Phillip A.

Cosgrove, Paul, UB Greensfelder, Cincinnati

Cozza, Andrea L., Treneff Cozza Law, Westerville

Crandall, Steve

DiCello, Nicholas A.

Liber, Cleveland

Dimengo, Steven A.

DiSilvio, Marilena

Doyle, Terrence F. (Terry) Griswold, Cleveland

Elliott, Rex H., Cooper Elliott, Columbus

Fried, Adam M. Fried, Beachwood

Friedman, Heidi B.

Friedman, Ian N.

Grant, Cleveland

Friedman, Scott N. Columbus

Fuhrer, Loriann E. Columbus

Galeano, Judith E. Dublin

Gallucci III, Frank L. Cleveland

Geiser, Michael K.

Goldwasser, Andy Beachwood

Grant, David R.

Grossman, Andrew S., Grossman Law Offices, Columbus

Groza, Jonathon W. Cleveland

Hannigan, Erinn McKee Koop Co, Cincinnati

Harris, Sean

Haynes, S. Scott

Postalakis, Worthington

Helfman, Jill F., Taft, Cleveland

Hensel, A. J.

Horvath, Dennis E. Columbus

Howard, Barbara J. Cincinnati

Hughes, Maura L. Cleveland

Jonson, George D., Montgomery Jonson, Cincinnati

Kadish, Matthew F., Frantz Ward, Cleveland

Kadish, Scott P., UB Greensfelder, Cincinnati

Kelley, James M.

Kitrick, Mark

Lansdowne, Dennis R. Liber, Cleveland

Leffler, Amanda M.

Leveridge, Julia L.

Columbus

Lipcius, Jesse R., UB Greensfelder, Cincinnati

Lyon, Michael F. Cincinnati

Malemud, Franklin C. Cleveland

McKinlay, Amy M., McKinlay Law Offices, Columbus

Meister, Julia B. , Taft, Cincinnati

Menashe, Diane, The Menashe Law Group, Columbus

Mester, Jonathan D.

McCarthy Co., Cleveland

Miller, Brian G., Brian G. Miller Co., Worthington Mirman, Denise

Columbus

Mitchell, John R., Taft, Cleveland

Moore, Daniel N., The Moore Law Firm, Cincinnati

Mordino, Joseph T., Faulkner and Tepe, Cincinnati

Mullin, Jeanne M., Perez Morris, Cleveland

Myers, Kelly Mulloy

Cincinnati

Nowlin, Ryan P., Schneider Smeltz Spieth Bell, Cleveland

O’Connell, Matthew C., Sutter O’Connell Co., Cleveland

O’Shea, John L. Cincinnati

Paris, David M. McCarthy Co., Cleveland

Patno, Christian R. Liffman Co., Cleveland

Pelini, Craig G.

Pera, Marc G.

Peschke, Joel L. Peschke, Loveland

Price, William J.

Ray, Frank A.

Reagan, John J. Cleveland

Reynolds, Christopher R., Zashin Law, Cleveland

Rinehardt, John K. Mansfield

Rittgers, Charles H. Lebanon

Rittgers, Ellen B. Lebanon

Roach, Adrienne J. Cincinnati

Rourke, Michael J. Columbus

Rutter, Robert P.

Saia, Jon J. Jensen, Columbus

Schaefer, David A. Liffman Co., Cleveland

Schneiberg, Jerald A. Schneiberg Co., Euclid

Scott, Craig P. Co., Columbus

Scott, John C., Faulkner and Tepe, Cincinnati

Scott, Stuart E. Cleveland

Sferra, Anne Marie, Bricker Graydon, Columbus

Shlonsky, Patricia A., UB Greensfelder, Cleveland

Shroyer, David I. Columbus

Silverman, Brent S. Beachwood

Smith, Zachary D., Zachary D. Smith, Cincinnati

Sullivan, K. James Cleveland

Taggart, Carolyn A.

Treneff, Craig P., Treneff Cozza Law, Westerville

Tucker, Michael S., UB Greensfelder, Cleveland

Ungar, Michael N., UB Greensfelder, Cleveland

Weis, Amy, Weis Law Group, Columbus

Williams, Christopher S. Griswold, Cleveland

Young, Andrew R., The Law Firm for Truck Safety, Cleveland

We are a women-led, clientfocused injury law firm, and for over 30 years we have been advocating for those injured and killed in accidents, those harmed by defective products and recalled drugs, and those facing discriminatory employment practices. We are trial lawyers.

Whether you are an attorney looking for a co-counsel arrangement, or a family who has lost a loved one in a tragedy, we promise to engage in the passionate pursuit of justice with confidence, courage, and determination.

TOP 50 COLUMBUS

Alton, John

Arnold, James E.

Bowman, J. Scott

Butler, David J., Taft, Columbus

Cooper, Jr., Charles H., Cooper Elliott, Columbus

Cozza, Andrea L., Treneff Cozza Law, Westerville

DeRose, Robert, Barkan Meizlish DeRose Cox, Columbus

Elliott, Rex H., Cooper Elliott, Columbus

Evans, II, Gordon D., The Donahey Law Firm, Columbus

Farolino, Shane A.

Foliano, Gregory B. Foliano, Columbus

Friedman, Scott N. Columbus

Fuhrer, Loriann E. Columbus

Galeano, Judith E. Dublin

Garner, Richard M. Dublin

Geiser, Michael K.

Goldstein, David A. Columbus

Gosnell II, Gerhardt

Gregory, Donald W. Columbus

Grossman, Andrew S., Grossman Law Offices, Columbus

Harris, Sean

Haynes, S. Scott Postalakis, Worthington

Hensel, A. J.

Horvath, Dennis E. Columbus

Jodka, Sara, Dickinson Wright, Columbus

Kemp, Jacqueline L., Kemp Law Group, Dublin

Khouzam, Marie-Joëlle C., Bricker Graydon, Columbus

Kitrick, Mark

Leveridge, Julia L. Columbus

Little, Jr., Marion H. Columbus

McKinlay, Amy M., McKinlay Law Offices, Columbus

McLafferty, Sydney S., The Stuckey Firm, Dublin Menashe, Diane, The Menashe Law Group, Columbus

Meyer, David P., Meyer Wilson Co., Columbus

Miller, Brian G., Brian G. Miller Co., Worthington Mirman, Denise Columbus

Mordarski, Daniel R., Mordarski Law, Columbus

Oliver, Jami S., Oliver Law Office, Dublin

Pettit, Christopher R.

Chilcote, Columbus

Ray, Frank A.

Rourke, Michael J.

Columbus

Russell, Christopher C.

Saia, Jon J. Jensen, Columbus

Schneider, Karl H.

Scott, Craig P. Co., Columbus

Sferra, Anne Marie, Bricker Graydon, Columbus

Shroyer, David I. Columbus

Stitt, Scott J., Tucker Ellis, Columbus

Treneff, Craig P., Treneff Cozza Law, Westerville Weis, Amy, Weis Law Group, Columbus

BY PRIMARY AREA OF PRACTICE

, Vorys Sater Seymour and Pease, Columbus , Bailey Cavalieri, Columbus

ADMINISTRATIVE LAW

RISING STARS

ALTERNATIVE DISPUTE RESOLUTION

SUPER LAWYERS

Alton, John

Dublin , Pohlman Mediation Services, Columbus , Law Offices of Thomas Columbus

ANTITRUST LITIGATION

RISING STARS

, Vorys Sater Seymour and Pease, Columbus

APPELLATE

SUPER LAWYERS

Giorgianni, Paul, Giorgianni Law, Columbus

Hughes, Brad Columbus , Bricker Graydon, Columbus

BANKING

SUPER LAWYERS , Dreher Tomkies, Columbus

RISING STARS

BANKRUPTCY: BUSINESS

SUPER LAWYERS

Columbus

Columbus

BANKRUPTCY: CONSUMER

SUPER LAWYERS

Inembolidis, Athena , Jump Legal Group, Columbus

Maggied, Pamela Columbus

Richards, Ken Columbus

RISING STARS

Ruffing, Lucas, Lucas Ruffing Law, Delaware

BUSINESS LITIGATION

SUPER LAWYERS , Taft, Columbus

Columbus , Vorys Sater Seymour and Pease, Columbus

Clark, Andrew Co., Columbus

Columbus Ferguson, Kate Columbus , Organ Law, Columbus , Behal Duvall Law Group, Gosnell II, Gerhardt , Bailey Cavalieri, Columbus

Columbus

Columbus , Taft, Columbus

Columbus

, Frost Brown Todd, Columbus

, Carpenter Lipps, Columbus

Meluch, Maribeth

Columbus

olumbus

, The Mirman Law Firm, Columbus

Columbus Organ, Shawn, Organ Law, Columbus Painter, Nathan

Columbus Columbus

, Bricker Graydon, Columbus

, Vargo Law, Dublin

RISING STARS

, Vorys Sater Seymour and Pease, Columbus

, Taft, Columbus

Burch, Christopher, Bailey Cavalieri, Columbus

Columbus

Columbus , Vorys Sater Seymour and Pease, Columbus

Merino, Ashley, Perez Morris, Columbus , Taft, Columbus

Organ, Connor, Organ Law, Columbus

Columbus , Benesch Law, Columbus , Bailey Cavalieri, Columbus

Tarney, Tyler, Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani, Columbus

Columbus

BUSINESS/CORPORATE

SUPER LAWYERS

, Behal Duvall Law Group,

, JRW Esquire, Columbus, , Washbush Business Law, Dublin Law Firm Co., Columbus RISING STARS

Cericola, Kessia, Cericola Legal Solutions, Columbus Land, Kimberly, Bailey Cavalieri, Columbus , Bailey Cavalieri, Columbus

Columbus

Columbus

CIVIL LITIGATION: DEFENSE

SUPER LAWYERS

Dublin

Carlino, Steven

Amy M. McKinlay OHIO TOP 50 WOMEN

Amy M. McKinlay

OHIO TOP 100 COLUMBUS TOP 50

Columbus , Reminger, Columbus , Gallagher Gams Tallan , Teetor Westfall, Columbus Columbus Zimmerman, Todd

RISING STARS

Arras, Erica

Green, Chris , Gallagher Sharp, Columbus LaRock, Ashley , Perez Morris, Columbus Petrillo, Ally

Zronek, Mark

CIVIL LITIGATION: PLAINTIFF

SUPER LAWYERS , Law Office of Brian M. Garvine, Columbus , Cooper Elliott, Columbus

RISING STARS

Carpenter, Grant , Reminger, Columbus Woods, Lindsey, Organ Law, Columbus

CIVIL RIGHTS

RISING STARS

Columbus Schlein, Samuel Columbus

Street, Katie, K Street Law, Columbus

CLASS ACTION/MASS TORTS

RISING STARS

Connors, Jared, Meyer Wilson Co., Columbus

Columbus

CONSTRUCTION LITIGATION

SUPER LAWYERS

SUPER LAWYERS , Meyer Wilson Co., Columbus Judge, Shawn, Gibbs Law Group, Columbus Troutman, Mark, Gibbs Law Group, Columbus , Meyer Wilson Co., Columbus , Taft, Columbus

Columbus

O’Shaughnessy, Christopher, The O’Shaughnessy

Columbus

ACCIANI & LEVY

Dedicated, Effective Advocates for Clients’ Rights

For over 30 years O’Connor, Acciani & Levy has dedicated their law practice to representing individuals against big business and insurance companies alike. Justice for individuals comes in many forms, and we work tenaciously to defend our clients in and out of the courtroom. Our attorneys and paralegals take an individualistic approach to every case to obtain the most favorable results for our clients, whether that means negotiating settlements or taking a case to trial.

Our attorneys focus their practice in the areas of personal injury, wrongful death, catastrophic injuries, trucking accidents, defective products, dangerous drugs, pharmaceutical negligence, Social Security disability and workers’ compensation. We represent the people, not insurance companies or large corporations. And we take that responsibility very seriously.

While the majority of our practice is in Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana, with a wide network of affiliated counsel throughout the country, our firm has successfully handled cases from Florida to California. We are passionate about providing fearless advocacy to obtain a successful outcome for every client.

STANDING L-R: Barry D. Levy*, Dennis C. Mahoney*, Robert Acciani, Kory Veletean, Elizabeth Acciani, Joe Pflum, Henry D. Acciani* SEATED L-R: Josh Kemme, Jordan Wolfe, John Georgin *Selected to Super Lawyers

RISING STARS

Malone, Mac

Newby, Joel

Columbus

CONSUMER LAW

SUPER LAWYERS

Columbus Heck, Jeremiah Dublin

BEHAL DUVALL LAW GROUP

At Behal Duvall Law Group, our accomplished attorneys support clients in Central Ohio through difficult life changes as well as important business decisions. Our attorneys, including three who have been selected to Super Lawyers, have extensive experience in family law, estate planning, business law and personal injury. This allows us to anticipate interconnected needs across these areas. We see the big picture and

protect our clients’ best interests with reliable solutions tailored to their unique needs. Our attorneys are skilled litigators and negotiators who have successfully handled cases in Ohio’s state and federal courts, domestic courts and probate courts. We provide the responsive personal attention of a smaller firm combined with big-firm experience as clients face uncertainty and complex legal issues.

RISING STARS

Parry, Aaron

CREDITOR

DEBTOR RIGHTS

SUPER LAWYERS

Doucet, Troy, Doucet Co., Dublin , MDK, Columbus Owen, Andrew, UB Greensfelder, Columbus , MDK, Columbus

CRIMINAL

DEFENSE

SUPER LAWYERS

Akamine, Nathan , Frederick D. Benton Jr., Columbus

Blake, Dustin, Blake Law Firm Co., Columbus , Blosser Law Office, Columbus

Co., Columbus

Menashe, Diane, The Menashe Law Group, , Palmer Legal Defense, Co., Columbus , The Tyack Law Firm Co., Columbus , The Tyack Law Firm Co., Columbus , Conrad Wood, Lancaster

RISING STARS

Lund Freeman, Chelsea Columbus

McMullen, Justin, Joslyn Criminal Defense Law Firm, Columbus

Columbus , Colin Peters Law, Columbus , Law Office of Geoffrey Spall, Delaware

CRIMINAL DEFENSE: DUI/DWI

SUPER LAWYERS

Dominy, Shawn, Dominy Law Firm, Columbus , The Steven T. Fox Law Firm, Columbus

Columbus

Probst, Michael, Probst Law Office, Columbus , The Law Offices of Saia

L-R: Robert J. Behal*, DeAnna J. Duvall* Not Pictured: John M. Gonzales* *Selected to Super Lawyers

Robert J. Behal

CRIMINAL DEFENSE: WHITE COLLAR

SUPER LAWYERS

Columbus , Barbin Law, Columbus , Robert Cochran Law, Columbus DeVillers, David , Taft, Columbus

ELDER LAW

SUPER LAWYERS

Columbus

Columbus RISING STARS

Stickradt, Bethany

EMPLOYEE BENEFITS

SUPER LAWYERS

Mansell, Greg, Mansell Law, Columbus

Columbus , The Friedmann Firm,

Columbus , Vorys Sater Seymour and Pease, Columbus

Columbus , Stepter Law Office, Worthington , Taft, Columbus

RISING STARS , Coffman Legal, Columbus Anderson, Kyle Columbus

Bryant, Daniel, Bryant Legal, Columbus

Columbus

SUPER LAWYERS

DeRose, Robert, Barkan Meizlish DeRose Cox,

Forman, Edward Columbus , Reminger, Columbus , Donald Keller Law Office, Galloway , Bricker Graydon, , Broadview Legal, Dublin , Squire Patton Boggs, Columbus , Vorys Sater Seymour and Pease, Columbus

PAMELA S. KRIVDA TAFT www.taftlaw.com

Herbert, Rhiannon, Mansell Law, Columbus Kocak, Dominick , Vorys Sater Seymour and Pease, Columbus

Salvino, Andrea Columbus , Perez Morris, Columbus Columbus

EMPLOYMENT LITIGATION: DEFENSE

SUPER LAWYERS

Columbus Jodka, Sara, Dickinson Wright, Columbus , Dickinson Wright, Columbus

JARED T. BRANKAMP

PERSONAL INJURY GENERAL: PLAINTIFF

Selected to Rising Stars

With an unwavering commitment to getting injured clients fair compensation and holding the negligent accountable, Jared T. Brankamp is the managing attorney at Burnside for pursuing justice for underdogs through the court system. As a client-centered, aggressive and logical attorney, Mr. Brankamp spends considerable time listening to his clients’ side of their stories and strategizing with their best interests in mind. His meticulous attention to detail drives him to hold those responsible accountable so that his clients can receive the best possible outcome, every time.

BURNSIDE BRANKAMP LAW, LLC 1118 Hutchins St., Portsmouth, OH 45662 (740) 354-4878 | jared@burnsidelaw.com burnsidelaw.com

RISING STARS

, Squire Patton Boggs, Columbus , Frost Brown Todd, Columbus

EMPLOYMENT LITIGATION: PLAINTIFF

SUPER LAWYERS

Dyer, Carrie, Mansell Law, Columbus , The Gittes Law Group, Columbus , The Knoll Law Firm, Dublin

Columbus , Law Offices of William John O’Malley, Columbus , The Gittes Law Group, Columbus

RISING STARS

, Spitz The Employee’s Law Firm, Columbus , Vorys Sater Seymour and Pease, Columbus

ENVIRONMENTAL

SUPER LAWYERS

Columbus , Frost Brown Todd, Columbus , Van Kley Law, Columbus , Vorys Sater Seymour and Pease, Columbus

RISING STARS

Gagliardi, Danelle, Squire Patton Boggs, Columbus , Vorys Sater Seymour and Pease, Columbus

Louis, Harlan, Bailey Cavalieri, Columbus , Jay E. Michael Law, Columbus Taneff, Thomas, Thomas Taneff Co., Columbus , Squire Patton Boggs, Columbus

RISING STARS

Columbus Finley, Brandon, Finley Law, Columbus Columbus

Lancaster Schumacher, Melissa

SUPER LAWYERS , Reminger, Columbus

SUPER LAWYERS

Balch, Jacintha, Balch Law, Columbus , Bailey Cavalieri, Columbus

FAMILY LAW

SUPER LAWYERS

Columbus , Treneff Cozza Law, Westerville

Joseph Nigh, Courtney Zollars, and the attorneys of The Nigh Law Group have extensive courtroom experience and have used this experience to obtain favorable decisions for clients throughout Ohio, as well as to help advise clients and negotiate satisfactory results outside the courtroom.

The team at NLG is known for handling complex cases involving custody, parental rights, visitation, business valuations, trusts, stock options, and retirement plans, as well as many other family law matters. They believe each client has distinctive needs and will work with them to direct and guide them through their case.

The Nigh Law Group has a reputation for quality legal advocacy, open communication, and attention to detail. This reputation is the reason a majority of NLG’s clients are referrals from other attorneys or former satisfied clients.

C. GUSTAV DAHLBERG

www.bdfamilylaw.com , Delligatti Law, Worthington Piccin, Columbus , Behal Duvall Law Group, Westerville

SCOTT N. FRIEDMAN

www.friedmanmirman.com , Gillespie Law, Dublin , Gary J. Gottfried Co., Westerville , Grossman Law Offices, Piccin, Columbus

Columbus

Joseph A. Nigh Super Lawyers Honoree

Courtney A. Zollars Super Lawyers Honoree

Helmbrecht, Laura

, Kemp Law Group, Dublin, , Grossman Law Offices, Columbus , Law Office of Jefferson Liston, Columbus , Massucci Law Group, Columbus

Postalakis, Worthington , McKinlay Law Offices,

AMY M. MCKINLAY MCKINLAY LAW OFFICES, LLC

www.mckinlaylawllc.com

Mirman, Denise

DENISE MIRMAN

www.friedmanmirman.com

, Richard L. Morris Co., Gahanna

Petroff, Ronald, Petroff Law Offices, Columbus

, The Zuercher Law Firm, Dublin

RISING STARS

Atkins, Arianna

Borshchak, Dmitriy, Law Offices of Dmitriy Borshchak, Columbus

Cardenas, Jamie, Weis Law Group, Columbus Co., Columbus

, The Law Offices of James M. Linehan, Columbus

Graceffa, Santina

, Greco Law, Dublin , Greco Law, Dublin , Trolinger Law Offices,

Long, Chelsea , Trolinger Law Offices, Columbus, , Miller Bahnson Law, Columbus

Overstreet, Joseph, Greco Law, Dublin

, The Law Office of Seth R. Smith,

Sonderman, Hank, Law Offices of Dmitriy Borshchak, Columbus , Tisdale Law, Columbus , Miller Bahnson Law, Columbus , Schodzinski Law, Columbus , Woodford Sathappan McGee Co., Westerville

GENERAL LITIGATION

SUPER LAWYERS , Carpenter Lipps, Columbus

Columbus

Columbus Holford, Andrew

, Steely Law Office, Circleville , Greco Law, Dublin , Treneff Cozza Law, Westerville , Trolinger Law Offices, , Douglas W. Warnock Co., Delaware

Weis, Amy, Weis Law Group, Columbus,

AMY WEIS

WEIS LAW GROUP LLC

www.woclaw.com

, Grossman Law Offices, Columbus

ValeriyaKryvokolinska

KellyQueen

DeniseMirman

ScottFriedman

OHIO COLUMBUS 2025

GENERAL LITIGATION SUPER LAWYERS CONT’D FROM PAGE S-13

Vargas Vorys, William, Dickinson Wright, Columbus

HEALTH CARE

INSURANCE COVERAGE

Columbus , Vorys Sater Seymour and Pease, Columbus , Teetor Westfall, Columbus

RISING STARS , Frost Brown Todd, Columbus

Pugh, Samantha

Dublin

Valentine, Sara Lancaster , Vorys Sater Seymour and Pease, Columbus

GOVERNMENT RELATIONS

SUPER LAWYERS

RISING STARS

Mikkelson, Erik

SUPER LAWYERS , Benesch Law, Columbus

Columbus

Columbus Thomas, Arianne, Robert Brown, Columbus , Vorys Sater Seymour and Pease, Columbus , Mordarski Law, Columbus

Columbus

IMMIGRATION

SUPER LAWYERS

DiFranco, Brian Office, Columbus

Shihab, Gus Co., Columbus

RISING STARS

SUPER LAWYERS , Bailey Cavalieri, Columbus , Gallagher Gams Tallan

Littrell, Columbus

RISING STARS

Horacek, Sunny Dublin , Bailey Cavalieri, Columbus , Bailey Cavalieri, Columbus , Bailey Cavalieri, Columbus

Diamond, Columbus , Bailey Cavalieri, Columbus , Bailey Cavalieri, Columbus

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

SUPER LAWYERS , Peterson Conners, Dublin

RISING STARS

Parks, Jalyn, The J. Parks Firm, Columbus Smith, Jocelyn, UB Greensfelder, Columbus Stevens, Drew, The Stevens Law Firm, Columbus Tomusko, Anthony, UB Greensfelder, Columbus

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY LITIGATION

SUPER LAWYERS , Bailey Cavalieri, Columbus , UB Greensfelder, Columbus

LAND USE/ZONING

RISING STARS

Columbus

AFFAIRS

SUPER LAWYERS

Columbus

Columbus

, Gervelis Law Firm, Columbus, Harris, Sean

SUPER LAWYERS , Dickinson Wright, Columbus

Powell

Powell RISING STARS

Columbus

Pretty, Adam

Pyatt, Courtney, Dickinson Wright, Columbus

NONPROFIT ORGANIZATIONS

SUPER LAWYERS

PERSONAL INJURY GENERAL: DEFENSE

SUPER LAWYERS , Gallagher Gams Tallan

Grigsby Jones, Kelly, Perez Morris, Columbus , Curry Roby, Columbus

RISING STARS

Braverman, Sydney, Oliver Law Office, Dublin,

Littrell, Columbus

PERSONAL INJURY GENERAL: PLAINTIFF

SUPER LAWYERS

Columbus , The Baker Law Group, Columbus

Breitmayer, Columbus

Bressman, David, Bressman Law, Dublin , Walton + Brown, Columbus , E. Ray Critchett, Dublin , The Donahey Law Firm, , Yacobozzi Drakatos, Columbus , Cooper Elliott, Columbus

Co., Columbus

Fitch, John, The Fitch Law Firm, Columbus

Kitrick, Mark

Lewis, Mark , Manner Law Firm, Columbus , The Stuckey Firm, Dublin

, Barkan Meizlish DeRose Cox, Columbus , Brian G. Miller Co., Worthington, , Moyer Law Offices, Columbus , The Olawale Law Firm, Westerville , Oliver Law Office, Dublin,

, Teetor Westfall, Columbus

, Stebelton Snider, Lancaster , Van Eman Law, Powell

Columbus

RISING STARS

Agler, Taylor

Columbus

Bressman, Jedidiah, Bressman Law, Dublin Cox, Jason, Barkan Meizlish DeRose Cox, Columbus

Heit, Corey

Magnone, Antonio Columbus

Murphy, Kari, Walton + Brown, Columbus Slone, Adam, Brian G. Miller Co., Worthington, Staley, Brandi

Columbus

Walsh, II, Thomas Columbus

Walton, Jr., Sean, Walton + Brown, Columbus

PERSONAL INJURY MEDICAL MALPRACTICE: DEFENSE

SUPER LAWYERS

, Vorys Sater Seymour and Pease, Columbus , Carpenter Lipps, Columbus , Poling Law, Columbus

Foliano, Columbus

SKILLED REPRESENTATION IN FAMILY LAW—FROM STRAIGHTFORWARD TO COMPLEX

When facing a family law matter, you’re likely picturing a painful, prolonged relationships. That doesn’t have to be the case. For over 20 years, Jackie Kemp has helped clients avoid lengthy legal disputes and preserve property.

Kemp Law Group handles all matters arising from divorce. Kemp leverages her considerable background to create customized strategies for her clients. A skilled negotiator, she seeks a swift—and favorable—resolution. When settlement her clients.

Kemp, who began her career working with the late Harold R. Kemp, Esq., is an Ohio

Specialist and a Fellow of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers. She’s been named to Super Lawyers since 2011 and is currently named among the Ohio Top 50 Women and Columbus Top 50.

Kemp’s richest reward, however, is seeing positive change in her clients’ lives.

555 Metro Place N., Suite 300 Dublin, OH 43017 jacqueline@kemplawgroup.com (614) 389-1991

Jacqueline L. Kemp

Jon J. Saia

SELECTED TO OHIO SUPER LAWYERS

OHIO TOP 100 / COLUMBUS TOP 50

SELECTED TO OHIO RISING STARS

OHIO COLUMBUS 2025

PERSONAL INJURY CONT’D FROM PAGE S-15

RISING STARS

Glinka, Jaime, Poling Law, Columbus Hoover, Zachary

PERSONAL INJURY MEDICAL MALPRACTICE: PLAINTIFF

SUPER LAWYERS , Cooper Elliott, Columbus , The Donahey Law Firm, , Leeseberg Tuttle, Columbus

Newman Jr., Danny, The Donahey Law Firm,

, Leeseberg Tuttle, Columbus

RISING STARS , Leeseberg Tuttle, Columbus

PERSONAL INJURY PRODUCTS: DEFENSE

SUPER LAWYERS

Columbus , UB Greensfelder, Columbus Murch, Kevin, Perez Morris, Columbus RISING STARS

Columbus

PERSONAL INJURY PRODUCTS: PLAINTIFF

SUPER LAWYERS

PROFESSIONAL LIABILITY: DEFENSE

SUPER LAWYERS

Graff, Douglas , Charles J. Kettlewell, Columbus , UB Greensfelder, Columbus , Reminger, Columbus RISING STARS

ALEX M. PALOMBA

www.arnoldlaw.net

, Reminger, Columbus

Watrous Ziolkowski, Jordan, Bailey Cavalieri, Columbus

REAL ESTATE

SUPER LAWYERS

Burkhart, Columbus , Bailey Cavalieri, Columbus , Willis Law Firm, , Kooperman Mentel Crossley Yaross, Columbus

Boggs Co., Columbus , Frost Brown Todd, Columbus

Columbus

RISING STARS

Gant, Christopher, Kayne Law Group, Columbus , Bailey Cavalieri, Columbus Katz, Steven Kocak, Brian, Dickinson Wright, Columbus

Kendrick, Columbus , Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani, Columbus Neiman, Michael Parini, Solomon, Willis Law Firm, Pryor, Stephen

Ritter, Columbus Snyder, Oney , MDK, Columbus

SUPER LAWYERS , Scott Scriven, Columbus

RISING STARS , Dickinson Wright, Columbus Moore, Jessica Stromski, Renee

RISING STARS

Columbus

SECURITIES LITIGATION

SUPER LAWYERS , Meyer Wilson Co., Columbus

SOCIAL SECURITY DISABILITY

SUPER LAWYERS

RISING STARS

Marzola, Molly

Rubin, Chelsea, Philip J. Fulton Law Office,

CHELSEA RUBIN

PHILIP J. FULTON LAW OFFICE

www.ohiocompensationlawyer.com

SUPER LAWYERS

Columbus Columbus TAX

SUPER LAWYERS

Columbus

Co., Columbus

Columbus , Zaino Law Group, Dublin

RISING STARS

Robinson, Demetrius Columbus

TECHNOLOGY TRANSACTIONS

RISING STARS

TRANSPORTATION/MARITIME

SUPER LAWYERS , Benesch Law, Columbus

RISING STARS

Karcher, Alexander

UTILITIES

RISING STARS

Dove, Robert Columbus

RICHARD F. MEYER

ESTATE PLANNING & PROBATE ELDER LAW

Selected to Super Lawyers

R.F. MEYER & ASSOCIATES

450 W. Wilson Bridge Road, Suite 380, Worthington, OH 43085 (614) 407-7900 | rmeyer@elderlaw.us elderlaw.us

Selected to Super Lawyers

WORKERS’ COMPENSATION

SUPER LAWYERS

, Philip J. Fulton Law Office, Columbus

Cowans, Timothy, Scott Scriven, Columbus , Philip J. Fulton Law Office, Columbus , Philip J. Fulton Law Office, Columbus

Goldberg, Richard, Scott Scriven, Columbus , Jon Goodman Law, Worthington , Law Offices of Charles W. Kranstuber, Columbus

Columbus

McDaniel, Jennifer, McDaniel Law, Columbus , The Sanislo Firm, Westerville

Zamora, Charles RISING STARS

Bauer, John, Poling Law, Columbus Buker, Jared , Reminger, Columbus , Taft, Columbus , Law Offices of Charles W. Kranstuber, Columbus

Marcellino, Samuel Co., Columbus Pace, Greg

Selected to Super Lawyers

MARK S. GERVELIS

msg@gervelislaw.com www.gervelislaw.com

PERSONAL INJURY GENERAL: PLAINTIFF

also argued cases before the Ohio Supreme Court and the

DANIEL N. ABRAHAM

Selected to Super Lawyers C. GUSTAV DAHLBERG

www.colleyshroyerabraham.com

areas include product liability, medical malpractice, premise liability, wrongful death, intentional torts, industrial and trucking

white collar crimes and was awarded a Certificate of Merit from County Prosecutor, Michael Miller, for Outstanding Service as featured in Vanity Fair magazine, with book and film productions

Selected to Rising Stars

B. DAHLBERG

dennis@dsflawfirm.com www.dsflawfirm.com

FAMILY LAW

legal needs throughout the State of Ohio including, but not limited to, family law, adoption, bankruptcy, probate and estate planning. Under their family law practice, the firm focuses on aggressive and mindful representation of clients in the areas of divorce, dissolution, legal separation, custody, child support, different strengths to the organization: experience, attention to certified as a Divorce and Family Law Mediator by The Supreme

Selected to Super Lawyers

L. GRAMZA

LAW

provides exceptional representation and support to a diverse range of clients throughout Licking County who have legal needs in Family Law, including divorce, child custody, support, regarded as one of the leading attorneys in her region, clients with their divorces and guiding them in making the

LAW

gdahlberg@bdfamilylaw.com www.bdfamilylaw.com is a respected and experienced Columbus divorce attorney. Exclusively focused on domestic relations and family law, Gus has successfully represented a wide array of clients on a number

College of Law, Gus is still involved in educating students and his fellow attorneys by serving as a frequent lecturer on family Specialist in Family Relations Law and is a fellow in the

Selected to Super Lawyers

SCOTT N. FRIEDMAN

sfriedman@friedmanmirman.com www.friedmanmirman.com

FAMILY LAW

practice law in the State of Florida. Scott served as chair of the

Scott has been recognized in The Best Lawyers in America since Best Lawyers Worth. Scott’s practice includes all areas of family law as well

Selected to Super Lawyers

JOHN P. JOHNSON, II

Suite F

www.cdgattorneys.com

LAW

corporate executives, entrepreneurs, community leaders, medical and legal professionals, professional athletes and other and dissolutions, spousal support modifications, prenuptial agreements and other family law matters throughout the

PERSONAL INJURY MEDICAL MALPRACTICE: PLAINTIFF

FAMILY

DENNIS

MICHELLE

FAMILY

FAMILY

Selected to Super Lawyers

RICHARD M. LEWIS

richard@richardmlewis.com www.richardmlewis.com

PERSONAL INJURY GENERAL: PLAINTIFF

of experience. This experience includes litigation, alternative

graduated from The Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio

Selected to Rising Stars

STEPHANIE M. MEHLE

stephanie@gervelislaw.com www.gervelislaw.com

PERSONAL INJURY GENERAL: DEFENSE

matters, including motor vehicle accidents, truck collisions and

assistant editor at the Akron Law Review. While handling cases their plight, providing her with the drive and enthusiastic zeal to get them to a comfortable place in their lives through monetary damages and holding the responsible parties accountable for ideals within her legal community and strives to progress the

Selected to Super Lawyers

BRIAN

G. MILLER

bgm@bgmillerlaw.com www.bgmillerlaw.com

PERSONAL INJURY GENERAL: PLAINTIFF

accidents, workplace and premises negligence, and serious

Forum. The Best Lawyers in America recognized him as the

including one of the largest verdicts in the State of Ohio, a Top

Selected to Super Lawyers

dmirman@friedmanmirman.com www.friedmanmirman.com

FAMILY LAW

Denise Mirman has been practicing in the Family Relations Law

She is listed in The Best Lawyers in America for family law and was named Best Lawyers law in Central Ohio. Denise has been named to Ohio Super Lawyers since inception and was also named to the Ohio Super

very involved in the community, serving on the boards of the eight years on the Women’s Fund of Central Ohio, and was a

Selected to Rising Stars

als@bgmillerlaw.com www.bgmillerlaw.com

PERSONAL INJURY GENERAL: PLAINTIFF

Selected to Super Lawyers

STEPHEN E. PALMER

spalmer@palmerlegaldefense.com palmerlegaldefense.com

CRIMINAL DEFENSE

represents clients and consults on criminal matters throughout Ohio and nationally in all areas of criminal defense, including

the leading criminal defense attorneys in the state. Recognized for his exceptional legal abilities and high ethical standards,

Selected to Super Lawyers

NANCY L. SPONSELLER

individuals in wage and hour disputes involving unpaid wages and overtime, tipping violations, and other pay issues against clients throughout Ohio and West Virginia and has a reputation for compassion and integrity when dealing with his clients, as well as his amicable nature and accessibility to those he serves. reach their goals and the favorable outcomes they seek for their

nancy@sponsellerlaw.com www.sponsellerlaw.com

FAMILY LAW

advanced trained Collaborative Family Law attorney, her professional passion is to help people resolve conflict in a

The Best Lawyers in America

She received her J.D. degree cum laude from Moritz College of summa cum laude also from OSU. Practice areas are collaborative

Selected to Super Lawyers

DAVID I. SHROYER

dshroyer@csalawfirm.com www.colleyshroyerabraham.com

PERSONAL INJURY MEDICAL MALPRACTICE: PLAINTIFF

Capital University Law School and graduated cum laude in

to assist senior assistant prosecutor Tom Beal to investigate and a past record of gun charges, was indicted on arson charges relating to lighting a drug dealer on fire in the attempt to collect

Selected to Super Lawyers

JEFFREY A. WILLIS

www.willisthefirm.com

BUSINESS/CORPORATE

only to a select number of accomplished attorneys in each state. The Super Lawyers selection process takes into account peer recognition, professional achievement in legal practice, and other cogent factors. Prior to becoming an attorney, he

DENISE MIRMAN

ADAM SLONE

home & style

PHOTO BY TIM JOHNSON

Designer Janey Gentile and homeowner Chris Clinton in Clinton’s Dublin home.

A Home of Comfort

A Dublin redesign creates a healing retreat during an entrepreneur’s cancer fight.

By Laura Newpoff

Photos by Tim Johnson

Janey Gentile is an Ohio native who built her career at a fashion advertising and public relations firm in New York City, followed by roles at Condé Nast Publications and Martha Stewart Living magazine, before she returned to the Buckeye State in 1999.

Through her experiences, she got to work alongside top design personalities, and she grew a passion for art direction, brand development and styling home interiors. In 2004, her husband, Dr. Steven Gentile, was an emergency room physician at Emergency Services Inc., which supported Mount Carmel Health System. He worked with Dr. Carol Clinton, who was leaving that practice to start aesthetic medicine business Timeless Skin Solutions in Central Ohio. Steve suggested she should have his wife design her new logo and advertising pieces.

That led to a 15-year career where Gentile served as Clinton’s brand director. Clinton experienced Gentile’s creative direction through branding, styling the interiors of her offices and seeing how Gentile designed

her own home. In 2021, Clinton, who was undergoing treatment for cancer, reached out to Gentile to see if she would transform a portion of her home on River Forest Road in Dublin into a comfortable, peaceful and healing environment.

Clinton was diagnosed with ovarian cancer a year after she started her business, and after a period of remission, it returned 13 years later. “She was undergoing intensive treatment at clinical trials, so she especially wanted her home to be peaceful and calming as she went through that. She was a vocal cancer advocate and it was an honor to help update and refresh her home to a calmer, more relaxing space in her final years,” Gentile says of the renovation that involved the kitchen, great room and powder room. She worked with the Epic Group, the contractor on the project.

The kitchen had a large island with a black countertop and dark cherry wood cabinets underneath with supporting columns also made out of cherry. The lights that hung above it also sported the dark cherry look.

Gentile wanted to bring a lighter, more modern feel to the room. Because the original island had two levels—counter height on the kitchen side and bar height on the great room side—her design lowered the bar height cabinets to modernize the island and provide a more open feeling. A 20-foot-long, off-white quartzite countertop replaced the black one, and the cherry columns were removed and wrapped in mitered wood so the structural columns blended into the clean lines of the surrounding beam and walls, creating a serene effect. This also gave the kitchen a brighter feel. Dimmable LED lighting was installed above the island. Gentile also added “a big splurge”—custom bar chairs that were made by handcrafted furniture maker Palecek. 

The redesign of the Clintons’ home in Dublin opened up the kitchen and dining room with a lighter, brighter island. Lighted shelving shows off art objects, while a slate-colored wall behind pops against the white walls and counter.

The project also involved replacing an old gas fireplace with an electric one adorned by decorative stone that stretches to the ceiling. Gray tile was installed on the two accent walls on each side of the fireplace. Cluttered bookshelves were removed, and Gentile added decorative floating cherry wood shelves with LED lighting on one of those walls.

“Architecturally, it is more minimalist than it was before,” she says. “I wanted to carry the cherry wood into the living space to unite and connect the rooms with a balanced color palette.”

In the great room, two window benches were removed to open up room for a sofa, loveseat and coffee tables. Vinyl flooring was pulled up and replaced with wood flooring. Gentile added new lighting and seating in the dining space and an antique mirror to a bar serving area to bring more reflection into the home.

The bathroom was transformed by replacing red wall paint with texturized navy grass paper and adding a more modern mirror, sink and lighting.

Because of pandemic-related supply chain problems that were occurring at the time, Gentile prioritized finding items that were in stock at local places like Arhaus Furniture, Elm & Iron, RH, Trove, The Tile Shop and Hamilton Parker. The project was finished in early winter 2022, and Clinton was able to enjoy the improvements until she passed in late June 2023.

Gentile, who owned JHG Design throughout her art direction years, shifted focus in 2022 to launch it as a full-service interior design and consulting business.

Clinton’s husband, Chris Clinton, said the home provided a welcoming and calming environment for his wife to relax in after her treatments. It also is an enduring gift to him and their three adult children when they come visit.

“Carol always had a good idea of what she wanted for the space and was able to provide direction, but Janey complemented her excellently to execute her vision,” he says. “People have remarked that when you walk in, you can immediately feel Carol’s presence and her touch. Janey was able to capture that and create the type of environment that allowed Carol to feel comfortable and clear her mind of the issues she was having with her health.” ◆



The great room feels more open with the removal of window benches, while navy grass paper gives a contemporary vibe to the bathroom.

Pretty in Paper

The way wallpaper can transform rooms drew a local mom into business installing it.

By Virginia Brown

Ginger & Lu started on the sidelines of a soccer game. Westerville resident Lindsey Gulliver, who grew up with the nickname Lu, met Ginger Brehl while their sons were kicking the ball around, and they discovered a mutual love of wallpaper. A couple of years later, Brehl has moved on, and Gulliver now works with her mom, Anne Wheeler, offering professional wallpaper installation. Here, Gulliver shares her favorite projects and her plans for the future.

This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.

Why did you start the business? I knew I wanted to do something creative. My mom wallpapered part time when I was growing up. Ginger and I got to talking about how people want wallpaper, but it’s a lost art.

Did your business find traction right away? We started slowly in spring of 2022. It takes a while to build up a clientele, and we don’t do a ton of advertising. We have an Instagram page, and we put most of our projects on there, so that was a way to get the word out. But to start, it was really just friends and family.

What types of projects have you done? There are a ton of styles of paper, from paste-the-wall to paste-the-paper to pre-pasted paper—no house or project is the same. We’ve worked in really old homes, cutting around intricate woodworking, and also on pretty basic walls, when it’s very easy, just panel after panel after panel.

Home & Style | Q&A

Wallpaper is notoriously frustrating to install. What about the process brings you joy? Honestly, I didn’t know that I would like it! The business opportunity intrigued me, because I knew that people were having a hard time finding installers. That need propelled me to look into it more. When it’s not my home, and it’s someone else’s, I can be more patient. Like with any art, you can get lost in it. That doesn’t mean it isn’t frustrating at times, or there’s not a huge learning curve. But luckily my mom came out of retirement to help me when Ginger decided to move on from the business in August.

What are some of the more fun projects you’ve had? The funky projects with a lot of character are really fun. We did an Anthropologie paper in a home in Upper Arlington. The wallpaper has a green background with chairs on it. The whole house had so much character. I tell people to pick something that makes them happy and go for it. You’re the one living in your home. Florals are always big. For powder rooms, you can really have fun because you can close the door; you don’t have to see it all the time. ◆

PHOTO: TIM JOHNSON

Lindsey Gulliver and her mother Anne Wheeler at Lennonheads Salon and Spa in Worthington, where they installed wallpaper to enliven a wall.

Top 25 Residential Sales

Nov. 1-30, 2024

PRICE ADDRESS BUYER/SELLER

$4,500,000 11 Highgrove, New Albany

Miranda E. Morgan, trustee, from Kristin Ann Scott and James D. Dulick

$2,300,000 1 Miranova Pl., Unit 2425, Columbus Jaime Sommer from Patrik Laine

$1,750,000 782 Orange Rd., Orange Township

$1,564,010 7460 Haven Green Ln., New Albany

$1,562,500 1990 Chatfield Rd., Upper Arlington

$1,550,000 2172 Fairfax Rd., Upper Arlington

$1,525,000 1695 Roxbury Rd., Upper Arlington

$1,519,900 4708 Millburn Pl., Columbus

$1,500,000 3757 Surrey Hill Pl., Upper Arlington

$1,275,000 466 N. Columbia Ave., Bexley

$1,200,000 835 S. Fifth St., Columbus

$1,095,000 6385 Quarry Ln., Columbus

$1,070,000 2470 Dorset Rd., Upper Arlington

$1,055,000 6095 Borgata Way, Perry Township

$1,050,000 2314 Amity Rd., Brown Township

$1,047,940 8710 Ben Hale Ct., Jefferson Township

$1,025,000 4541 Neiswander Sq., Plain Township

$1,025,000 2536 Canterbury Rd., Upper Arlington

$1,000,000 6958 Stillwater Cv., Westerville

$993,000 4556 Langport Rd., Upper Arlington

$986,000 153 Glyn Tawel Dr., Granville

$985,000 4742 Vista Ridge Dr., Dublin

$980,000 5754 Hickory Dr., Lewis Center

$947,000 5348 Maple Dr., Lewis Center

Douglas James Schumer and Debra Merlino Ragali from Christopher J. and Heather L. Black, Trustees

Lee W. Gemma from Bob Webb Woodhaven LLC

Robert and Kathryn Anderson from Todd Daniel and Tamara Lukens

Peter and Rachel R. Unkovic from Robert E. and Laura J. Geil

Corey and Kylie Bentine from Rachel R. and Peter R. Unkovic

Robert M. and Harriette S. Hansell from Pallavy Reddy

Angela M. Leggett from Ushaben N. Patel Revocable Trust

Beth and Katharine N. Sells from Michelle Kramer

Michelle M. and Daniel J. Feeman from Thomas P. and Tami L. Pappas

Craig R. Dieckhoner and Leigh A. Householder from Upward Home Solutions

Shannon and James Anthony O’Neill from Corey A. Bentine and Kylie E. Mooney

Hung K. Truong and Van M. Le from Julie A. Jenkins

Daniel P. and Malorie B. Gatins from Kelly J. and Jennifer M. Jenkins

Dhruti and Cori Cramer from Pulte Homes Of Ohio LLC

Jason Spears and Jessica Helms from Thomas W. Butler III and Jennifer P. Butler

Michael Sullivan Popson and Emily Ann Messick from Clark L. Anderson

Melinda and Jeffrey Shellabarger from Dennis E. and Mary A. Nielsen, Trustees

Matthew Terry and Laura Marie Streng from Adam J. Burton and Julie A. Wiltberger

Nathan and Trista Mullins from Ami J. Boch

Christopher Green and Rachel Rinehardt from Vincent and Kendra Giacalone

Alfred S. and Christine M. Tobin from Ryan and Charisse Rossler

David J. Hutcheson from Bob Webb Evans Farm LLC

$940,000 2841 Doncaster Rd., Upper Arlington 2841 Doncaster LLC from William C. Shimp

Specializing in the high-end real estate market, The Willcut Group offers personalized guidance to ensure a seamless process from start to finish.

Contact us to experience top-tier service and unmatched results.

food & drink

PHOTO BY TIM JOHNSON

From Italy With Love Tiramisu is served in an Italian espresso pot at Pelino’s Pasta. Review, Page 70.

All in on Pasta

Handmade pasta is the star of the show at Vinny and Christina Pelino’s osteria.

By Amy Bodiker Baskes

Sometimes it’s nice to have a plan. There’s comfort in having boundaries to guide your path. The short and sweet prix fixe menu at Pelino’s Pasta on King Avenue, voted one of Columbus Monthly’s Best New Restaurants in 2022, offers a defined and delicious experience.

For husband-and-wife chefs and owners Vinny and Christina Pelino, who since have opened Piazza Pelino and Caffè Pelino in the Short North, a limited format showcases their talent. Through menus that change monthly, the chefs take diners on a journey through regional and seasonal Italian dishes. For a meal of either three ($49) or four ($64) courses, you can choose from two to four appetizers, pastas and desserts. A longer seven course chef’s tasting menu is also available for $99.

True to its name, this menu is all about the pasta. There are no contorni (sides) or meat courses here. At Pelino’s, the vegetables and meats mainly appear in service of the carbs. The good news is that the portions are modest, and a complete meal doesn’t overwhelm.

Ingredients matter at Pelino’s. A manifesto at the top of the menu explains that all the handcrafted pastas are made with imported semolina flour and organic, pastured eggs. The knowledgeable servers helpfully guide you through the full menu and point out vegetables that come from growers like Three Creeks Produce in Groveport. Wines and other imported specialty products are labeled as DOC (Controlled Designation of Origin), a European certification that ensures place-based products are made consistently.

To start the menu, Pelino’s antipasti are small bites meant to stimulate the appetite. Earlier this fall, I enjoyed a salad made

from the stems of locally grown puntarelle, an Italian chicory typically served in Rome in the winter. Described as Pelino’s version of a Caesar salad, the hearty greens in this dish can take the aggressive flavors of anchovy and lemon. Though showy, I found the stems a little unmanageable until I ran my knife and fork through them and tossed things up a bit.

For diners who choose the four course option, bite-sized filled pastas from the Pasta Piccola section of the menu bridge the transition from the antipasti to pasta courses. I thoroughly enjoyed the “Caplaz” alla Zucca Ferraresi on one of my visits. Pelino’s holds to the formula of this classic dish by presenting two pieces of squash-filled ravioli dressed in sage-infused brown butter. In the Caplaz, dialect in Ferrara for the ravioli’s specific shape, Pelino’s uses koginut squash, a sweet and nutty cross between a kabocha and a

SHORTHAND

Pelino’s Pasta

245 King Ave., Dennison Place

614-849-6966 pelinospasta.com

Open: Monday-Saturday for dinner.

If you go: Don’t miss the daily made focaccia ($8.50), the same pillowy bread with the salty caramelized crust used in the sandwiches at Piazza Pelino, served here with a grass-green olive oil.

butternut grown by a local farmer. Stand down pumpkin spice, this one is fall flavor perfection.

Dominic Pelino prepares cacio e pepe at Pelino’s Pasta.

For the main pasta courses, the portions are slightly larger. Unfortunately, I found the pastas uneven on different visits. Some arrived dry and cold, like the Pappardelle al Ragu Bianco ($5 additional), a tomato-free meat sauce with minced lamb that was too heavy on sage and too dry to coat the broad, flat noodles. But the good ones, like the Pistacchio e Burrata, curly tratolle pasta in a sauce of melted burrata and ground pistachios, were sublime. Its rich green color prompted memories of summer’s basil pesto, but this rich and earthy concoction was perfect for winter.

Cacio e pepe is always available on Pelino’s otherwise ever-changing menu for good reason: it’s dramatic, yet simply delicious. Made tableside in a drum-sized wheel of Pecorino Romano, the staff twirls long strands of warm gemelli pasta directly into the

cheese itself, melting it just enough into a sauce that’s finished with freshly ground black pepper.

Dolci (desserts) are the creation of Christina Pelino. She draws on traditional recipes and seasonal ingredients that surprise with flavors more common on savory menus, like the Torte de San Grato, a moist autumn apple spice cake made with polenta and rosemary. The signature and always available dessert is a classic tiramisu, served in an individual moka espresso pot. I may have had too much of this in the 1990s to get all that excited by it these days—but the flavors are classic and the presentation is festive.

The bar at Pelino’s serves only wines and some unique fortified wines as aperitifs and digestifs. While not uncommon in Italy, it’s notable for a fine dining establishment not to have a full

bar. And a hefty markup on many of those bottles, some three or four times retail rates, stings just a bit, even if the Pelinos have used their expertise to carefully select 90 producers to be on their menu. A more reasonable pairing option includes a flight of three different glasses of red or white wines for $25 on Tuesdays.

The main downside to Pelino’s Pasta’s limited menu is just that: It’s limited. This is not a something-for-everyone spot. While your intolerances and allergies will certainly be accommodated— they are cooking your dinner to order, of course—if someone you love has a narrow palate, you just don’t feel like eating a lot of carbs, or you enjoy starting a meal with a cocktail, this might not be the ideal place for you. Overall, though, Pelino’s delicious, creative, authentic formula works on many fronts. ◆

Squash ravioli, focaccia, bruschetta, tiramisu and cacio e pepe

Martini, Modern Again

What is it like to reimagine a restaurant that’s nearly 30 years old? We found out at Martini Modern Italian.

By Linda Lee Baird

When I was invited to report on the process of updating Martini Modern Italian—the fourth restaurant to open in the Cameron Mitchell empire, nearly 30 years ago—I assumed a quicker process. The email noted the restaurant would be closing for 11 days to receive a “facelift,” which would shift the business “into a new era fitting of its name.”

I pictured a reality television-style period of creative mayhem: Chefs crafting new dishes into the wee hours and corporate samplers stopping over to critique presentation and demand more salt. Designers brushing paint samples onto walls amid intense conversations about atmosphere. Servers dutifully reciting the names of new menu items they were now in charge of selling, frustrated as the plan continued to evolve mere minutes before the doors opened to guests.

What actually transpired wouldn’t necessarily make for great television. But it definitely makes a better business model than the chaos I’d imagined. And, with more than 100 restaurants now operating across the country, Cameron Mitchell Restaurants certainly knows quite a bit about how to succeed in an industry notorious for low profit margins and high turnover. When I found out the process of planning for the new Martini had taken upwards of 18 months, I realized I had a lot to learn about how restaurant operations work.

I was fortunate to learn from some of the best in the industry.

Why ‘Refresh’ a Restaurant?

Changing a classic restaurant is hard. For some eateries, the era in which they were built becomes a defining feature of their brand: Stop by The Top Steak House or Windward Passage if you have any

doubts. Even the iconic sign outside the original Cameron’s Bistro in Worthington will take visitors right back to 1993, at least for a moment.

But generally for a brand like CMR, evolution is key. It’s why I’m writing the word “brand” and talking about locations from Ohio to Michigan to Florida and California instead of a single, neighborhood spot. And Martini—situated in a Downtown that has expanded its convention center and added a hockey arena, hotels and other attractions since the restaurant opened in 1996—needs to change along

with the neighborhood, especially as the area prepares to become more dense under the redevelopment of the North Market site into a 32-story tower.

“You have to continue to evolve,” says David Miller, president and chief operating officer of CMR. “You continue to have to be better today than you were yesterday and better tomorrow than you are today, which is a core philosophy of ours.”

Getting it right, though, presents unique challenges. Stray too far from what your longtime customers expect,

Photos by Tim Johnson

Interior of the recently renovated Martini

and you risk losing them. Make adjustments too conservatively, and you could spend a lot of money without attracting a new customer base. “It’s a fine line to walk,” says Chuck Kline, CMR’s senior vice president of operations.

To find the balance, the opinions of the people who are at Martini the most—the regular diners and the service staff—were collected through surveys and informal conversations. Their ideas “mattered more so than the direction of my bosses and the leadership of the company,” Martini’s general manager, Keith Moorehead, says. “We want to be very careful about even using the word ‘change,’ I think. Because yes, we’re updating, we’re evolving. But we have no intention of abandoning what has made Martini so great for the past nearly three decades.”

There’s also a practical aspect underlying any remodel. “Restaurants take a beating,” Miller says. “They’re just high maintenance facilities.” Those that make it to 10 years are typically due for this level of TLC; Miller says CMR spends “millions and millions” of dollars annually refurbishing restaurants.

“We’re remodeling and updating probably two to five restaurants a year,” explains Randy Roberty, CMR’s director of design and architecture.

Going Modern

This is the second time Martini has gone through a refresh. The first transformed the restaurant from a more independent-feeling establishment into the modern concept, even adding “modern” to

the name (it was originally called Martini Ristorante and Bar). Martini 1.0 had personal touches like a hand-written menu, but Miller says it struggled with brand identity. “People thought it was a bar because of the name,” he says.

Today, Martini is operating not only in a changed neighborhood, but also under a much larger parent working in a different restaurant landscape. There are now multiple Italian concepts run by CMR, and in addition to standing out among competitors in a now-bustling area, Martini needed to differentiate itself from other CMR restaurants that serve pasta and high-quality meats. Therefore, the planning needed to focus on the physical aspects of the restaurant as well as on its menu.

Kline sees Martini as offering higher-end dining than the more casual Marcella’s; less family-oriented than Bridge Park’s Valentina’s (though there is a kids menu); and in many ways a precursor to CMR’s celebrated 100th restaurant, Cento. The addition of premium steaks and chops to the Martini menu would further distinguish it.

Also vital to Martini is the service provided by its professional team. Kline talks about the enhancements that transform a dinner for guests, from the tableside pouring of a pasta’s sauce, to shaking a cocktail before a customer’s eyes. “Theatrics add to that experience,” he says. “There’s more to value than just the price on the menu.”

To get a refresh right, physical changes, menu changes and staff training need to happen in tandem. The whole of these

components is greater than the sum of its parts: A meal of excellent food can be hampered by inefficient service, and physical issues—from uneven table legs to the placement of heating and cooling vents—are a nuisance that seasoned servers can mitigate but not always solve. Every aspect of the diners’ experience needs to be considered in the planning.

And the best way to understand a customer’s perspective is to become one yourself. CMR’s research for refreshes and new concepts involves travel to major cities such as Chicago, New York and Los Angeles. The itinerary is always packed with food. “Trust me, trying to eat in 10 or 12 restaurants in two days, it’s an art,” Miller says with a laugh. But these trips help to inspire the vision of what a new space or restaurant can be.

Updated Space, Menu and Experience

Longtime guests will notice the difference at Martini before they even walk through the front door. New plants added to the entrance way offer what Roberty calls a “greenery moment” to attract passers-by. A glass wine room replaced a closet behind the host stand, “taking something that was a background element, a coat closet, and turning it into a strength,” Roberty says.

Other changes were designed to create a mood: darker finishes, lights with a warm yellow hue, new fabrics that add texture to furnishings and ignite a visual conversation with the black and white artwork hung on the walls. These updates carry through to the private dining room in the back.

Martini’s beverage manager Carey Santiana

Prosciutto di Parma

The central bar in the front of the restaurant, a focal point that Roberty says is “almost sculptural,” remains, as does the open kitchen that invites transparency between the front and back of house. (However, kitchen function was improved by a new shelving system and a wood grill.)

The first major change to the menu is also the first thing guests likely will eat: the bread, which Martini is now making in-house after bringing it in from a central bakery for years. Moorehead tells me about the options: a focaccia loaded with cheese, tomato and herbs, and a garlic bread with a truffle sauce—what he calls “an elevated take on perhaps a more traditional approach.”

The trend of wood-fired cooking shows up on the menu’s new “Steaks and Chops” section. These prime cuts of meat are served à la carte; customers can add their preferred sides. Jamie Kline, CMR’s corporate chef (and Chuck’s brother), says the portions of appetizers and sides are smaller than at some other restaurants, encouraging guests to order a few. Of course, just as important as what’s

New art hangs on Martini’s walls

A wine room replaced a coat closet during Martini’s renovation.

Photographer Chris Casella and CMR corporate chef Jamie Kline during a photo shoot at Martini in preparation for the reopening.

new on the menu are its tried-and-true mainstays. This is where CMR’s customer survey data comes into play. “We know our guests intimately,” Chuck Kline says. “If we take that chicken parmesan off the menu, the Columbus Blue Jackets are going to have a protest.”

The tenderloin was another dish the team considered untouchable; Moorehead says he considers it to be “the best steak in the city of Columbus.” Unlike the wood-fired meats, it’s served as a complete meal, accompanied by rigatoni pasta and topped with a Chianti wine reduction.

All of these changes need to complement and build on one another. “That brand has to speak from the front door to the back door,” Chuck Kline says. Perhaps, then, you could call the service staff CMR’s brand ambassadors. They are the ones responsible for connecting the dots for the customers: explaining the menu, collecting the orders and executing the tableside touches that define high-end dining. At the same time, when a customer isn’t happy, they’re the first ones to hear about it. It’s why senior CMR staff look to on-site staff as partners in planning.

“They are a part of it from day one,” Jamie Kline says. “We take everything into consideration. If something is real valid that they’re really advocating for, nine out of 10 times we’re going to keep it to where they want it.” Many of the menu’s changes started as “chef features,” onetime specials that evolved into something more permanent as servers shared guests’ experiences and requests.

As the menus at Martini and other CMR restaurants mature, so do the loyal staff that run the business. The Kline brothers are not the only family members to share careers at CMR. David Miller’s brother Mitch Miller is the vice president of the Ocean Prime brand, and a number of CMR’s staff first met their spouses at work.

The company culture is one of longevity in a field known for the opposite—David Miller notes that many members of the executive team have surpassed the 20year mark. Turnover rates at all levels, from hourly employees to leadership, are well below industry averages.

“Keep your people, you’ll have a great company,” he says.

On Nov. 7, the night before Martini reopened to the public, I attended a preview dinner. I dipped garlic bread into truffle spread, marveling at the rich, yet delicate, balance. As we sipped wine and cocktails recommended by our attentive server, my husband and I sampled a new Prosciutto di Parma appetizer, a Shrimp Arrabbiata pasta with blistered tomatoes (a reimagined version of the previous menu’s Shrimp Marinara) and—because I listen to the experts—the classic tenderloin dish.

The decor was timely without being stuffy—the very definition of “modern.” The food was presented cleanly, with everything on the plate given space to speak for itself, while the service hit the right balance of friendly and efficient.

Looking at the surrounding tables as servers topped off glasses and sprinkled seasonings on approving customers’ plates, I appreciated all I’d learned about the 18 months of planning that brought us here.

This was more than a meal. It was a moment. ◆

Colorful signage and greenery welcome guests

The Big Reveal

The Lion Leads

By Linda Lee Baird

Peachy Keen—a craft cocktail combining peach whiskey from Noble Cut Distillery, amaretto and whey—won first place at Columbus Monthly’s 2024 Fall Cocktail Competition, held Nov. 20 at Vitria on the Square. The cocktail was created and served by Dustin Ross and Oscar Leyva from The Lion in Bexley, which opened at 2511 E. Main St. in September.

The drink stood out among 18 entries for its use of frozen dairy served as a precursor to the boozy shot, which balanced the creaminess with sweet peach, nutty amaretto and notes of pine. Ross, The Lion’s beverage director, says the finished drink is reminiscent of “peach pie sitting in the window of a pine forest.”

He shared a simplified version of the cocktail recipe for imbibing at home and advises, “It’s easiest to think about the recipe in terms of parts, rather than in ounces. That way you can scale the recipe up or down based on your needs.” A kitchen scale is helpful for measuring ingredient ratios. ◆

PEACHY KEEN

Courtesy Dustin Ross INGREDIENTS

• Noble Cut Peach Whiskey

• Fresh lemon juice

• Simple syrup

• Whole milk

• Champagne (Drappier recommended)

• Amaretto and pine oil, for garnish

DIRECTIONS

1. In a large container, mix two parts of Noble Cut Peach Whiskey to one part fresh lemon juice and one part simple syrup.

2. In a separate container, measure 40% of the volume of your whiskey, lemon and simple syrup mix in whole milk. Add your liquor mix into the milk (not the other way around).

3. Allow the mix to curdle for two minutes and pour into a coffee filter or cheese cloth laid over a colander or strainer. After roughly 10 minutes, the mixture will start to run clear.

4. Transfer the punch that has already drained to a fresh container and re-pour over the top of the coffee filter. Go slowly to ensure all the liquid pours through both filters. Drain until separated, at least two hours, or overnight if needed.

5. Scrape the remaining solids from the inside of the coffee filter and combine in a blender with an equal weight of champagne and simple syrup. (This can be added to a whipped cream canister to use as a foam or frozen.)

6. To serve, pour your desired amount of clear punch into a glass and top with creamy mixture or, if frozen, serve it on a spoon like a palate cleanser. For a garnish, add a drop of pine oil to 1 ounce of amaretto and use a spray bottle to spritz over the glass.

The Peachy Keen

PHOTO: TIM JOHNSON

let’s eat

WHERE TO DINE THIS MONTH

Editor’s Note: Please call restaurants to check hours and menu availability.

$$$$ Very expensive, $30 and higher

$$$ Spendy, $21–$29

$$ Moderate, $13–$20

$ Affordable, $12 and under

NEW Restaurant has opened within the last few months.

Outdoor Seating

B Breakfast

BR Brunch

L Lunch

D Dinner

2024 Best New Restaurants

Let’s Eat comprises Columbus Monthly editors’ picks and is updated monthly based on available space. Send updates to letters@columbusmonthly.com.

AMERICAN

Bun’s Restaurant

Located in historic Delaware, Bun’s has been serving classic comfort food for more than 150 years. The menu ranges from pot roast and steaks to fried shrimp and gyro platters. 14 W. Winter St., Delaware, 740363-2867. LD $$

Dempsey’s Food & Spirits

Gussied-up breakfast and pub fare for Downtown lunchers and condo-dwellers alike. Serves traditional Irish Breakfast, threeegg omelets, burgers, pot roast and crab cakes. 346 S. High St., Downtown, 614-8690001. BBRLD $$

MTM Tavern | Steakhouse

The modern décor accompanies a laid-back tavern atmosphere with a chef-driven menu of upscale, pub-style dishes including pasta, fresh seafood and the Miller Burger. Matt the Miller’s features craft and local beers, premium wines, spirits and artisan cocktails. 6725 Avery-Muirfield Dr., Dublin, 614-7999100. BRLD $$

Northstar Café

Northstar’s menu has a healthful emphasis on organic ingredients served in a casual, order-at-the-counter café setting. At peak times, it’s common to see diners lined up for the beet-laden veggie burger, pizzas,

Visit columbus monthly.com to read about the latest restaurant openings.

salads, rice-and-veggie bowls and oversized cookies. 4241 N. High St., Clintonville, 614784-2233; 4015 Townsfair Way, Easton, 614-532-5444; 951 N. High St., Short North, 614-298-9999; 109 S. State St., Westerville, 614-394-8992. BBRLD $$

Over the Counter

Boasting a hip, retro vibe and seriously solid bar food, Over the Counter has become a Worthington staple since opening in 2017. Don’t miss the Where’s Waldo bologna sandwich and Sweet & Spicy BLT. 5596 N. High St., Worthington, 614-846-1107. BRLD $$

The Rossi Kitchen & Bar

This Short North hot spot offers a menu of gourmet pizzas, lamb lollipops and pastas in a new-meets-old atmosphere straight out of Manhattan. 895 N. High St., Short North, 614-525-0624. D $$$

The Wine Bistro

Thick block tables, dark wood and autumn colors create a California-wine-country atmosphere at this local establishment. The menu includes small plates, fondue, bruschetta and antipasti. 1750 W. Lane Ave., Upper Arlington, 614-485-1750. LD $$$

CHINESE

China Bell Restaurant

A traditional Chinese eatery that’s been serving lunch and dinner for more than 30 years. Sundays feature a buffet with traditional Chinese dishes, and the patio includes a

practice putting green. 1947 Stringtown Rd., Grove City, 614-871-2420. LD $$

Chuan Jiang Hao Zi

From the owners of bygone dim sum destination Fortune Chinese comes this University City restaurant featuring both American Chinese and authentic Chinese menus. House specialties include fish fillet in Sichuan green pepper broth, mapo lobster and tofu, spicy dry pot beef and fried spicy intestine. A dim sum menu is also available. 496 Ackerman Road, Northwest Side, 614372-5520 LD $$

Ding Ho Restaurant

This West Side establishment has been serving classic Cantonese dishes since the 1950s, with wor sue gai, pepper steak, lo mein and sesame chicken. 120 Phillipi Rd., West Side, 614-276-4395. LD $$

NEW

Fiery Sky Asian Kitchen

This new addition to the Bethel Road corridor specializes in Chinese dry pot cuisine—think hot pot without the broth, but with the open flame. The extensive menu includes over 100 dishes with a full bar coming soon. 1450 Bethel Rd., Northwest Side, 614-670-5775. LD $$

Wing’s Restaurant

This longtime family-owned Chinese eatery boasts one of the best Scotch selections in the city, with spicy noodles, Mongolian beef and wor sue gai. 2801 E. Main St., Bexley, 614-236-8261. LD $$

Chaun Jiang Hao Zi

COFFEE SHOP

Brioso Coffee

“Mean coffee, nice people” is the tagline at this pioneering Downtown coffee shop and roastery which offers baked goods to pair with excellent coffee and espresso drinks. 53 N. High St., Downtown, 614-670-8490; 329 E. Long St., Downtown, 614-754-9511. BL $

Crimson Cup Coffee & Tea

Offering a good spot to study or relax, Crimson Cup is an award-winning, Columbus-based coffee roaster, which roasts sustainably sourced coffee in small batches. 4541 N. High St., Clintonville, 614-262-6212; 2468 Northwest Blvd., Upper Arlington, 614641-7020. BLD $

One Line Coffee

Although One Line’s Short North café is known as a place to get your Chemex pourover or Kyoto-style coffee fix, its coffee shop in the River & Rich development also serves beer, wine and a small food menu. 471 W. Rich St., Franklinton, 614-929-5877; 745 N. High St., Short North, 614-564-9852; 41 S. High St., Capitol Square, 614-824-2642. BLD $

Upper Cup Coffee

This coffee shop started out in historic Olde Towne East and now offers a second location in Gahanna. A small menu of sandwiches complement its single-origin coffees that are roasted in-house. 121 Mill St., Gahanna, 614-383-7496; 79 Parsons Ave., Olde Towne East, 614-220-0206. BLD $

CONTEMPORARY

Agni

At his fine-dining restaurant, chef Avishar Barua (Top Chef Season 18) entertains guests with multicourse tasting menus that showcase Barua’s Bengali roots, penchant for creative hijinks and live-fire cooking chops. Reservations are a must, or try snagging a bar seat. 716 S. High St., Brewery District, 614-674-6600. D $$$$

Fyr

Argentinian chef Sebastian La Rocca oversees this live-fire restaurant at the new Hilton Columbus Downtown tower. Dinnertime starters range from empanadas to grilled bone marrow, while the mains include

ember-cooked shrimp, grilled filet, woodfired pizzas and roasted salmon. Breakfast is served daily. 404 N. High St., Short North, 614-484-5286. BD $$$$

J. Liu Restaurant and Bar

J. Liu offers a blend of Asian, Italian and classic American cuisines in a modern, trendy setting, with Jason’s Spicy Chicken, pad thai, Chophouse Burger and scallop risotto. 50 W. Bridge St., Dublin, 614-718-1818; 6880 N. High St., Worthington, 614-888-1818. LD $$$

Service Bar

Local distiller Middle West showcases its fine spirits at this on-site restaurant and bar led by executive chef Chris Connolly. Expect New American fare ranging from a wagyu beef burger to halibut with Kashmiri curry. 1230 Courtland Ave., Short North, 614-9471231. D $$$

NEW Gene’s

This newcomer to old Dublin’s High Street is a cozy space in an old house and a sister restaurant to the Coast Wine House down the block. The menu changes regularly to incorporate seasonal ingredients, while the accessible wine and creative cocktail lists invite guests to linger into the evening. 91 S. High St., Dublin, 614-553-7050. D $$$

DINER

Jack & Benny’s

This breakfast favorite of students and locals alike serves classic diner fare such as breakfast all day, pancakes, country fried steak and sandwiches. 2563 N. High St., Old North, 614-263-0242. BL $

Nutcracker Family Restaurant

An authentic ’50s-style diner (with an impressive nutcracker collection) serving comfort food and homemade pies. The menu includes a pork tenderloin sandwich, meatloaf and the Country Breakfast. 63 E. Broad St., Pataskala, 740-964-0056. BBRLD $

The Pancake House Family Diner

A cozy American diner that lives up to its name, serving a wide variety of pancakes, egg dishes, burgers and more. Don’t miss the cinnamon roll pancakes. 1182 E. Powell Rd., Lewis Center, 614-987-6014; 129 W. Schrock Rd., Westerville, 614-898-6500. BL $$

Tommy’s Diner

A longstanding, classic 1950s-style diner serving breakfast (a popular choice among the Downtown business crowd), lunch and some Greek dishes. 914 W. Broad St., West Side, 614-224-2422. BL $

GERMAN

Gemüt Biergarten

Housed in a renovated 1890s firehouse building, this locally owned brewery, beer garden and restaurant is a great neighborhood spot to enjoy German-style

beers and food. 734 Oak St., Olde Towne East, 614-725-1725. BRLD $$$

Schmidt’s Restaurant & Sausage Haus

Hoist a stein of beer and treat your stomach to some hearty German food and culture at this longstanding restaurant popular with out-of-towners and locals alike. Bring a friend to help you enjoy huge portions of sausage, Wiener schnitzel, Bavarian cabbage rolls and cream puffs. 240 E. Kossuth St., German Village, 614-4446808 . LD $$

INDIAN/PAKISTANI

Aab India

Aab India boasts a large menu of authentic Northern Indian-style curry offerings, plus papadi chaat, chicken tandoori and shrimp bhuna. 1470 Grandview Ave., Grandview, 614-486-2800. LD $$

Apna Bazaar

This Pakistani carryout offers excellent haleem chicken, lamb seekh kebabs and more. Apna Bazaar also sells typical Indian and Southeast Asian groceries, including halal meat. 810 Bethel Rd., Northwest Side, 614-326-2762. LD $$

Dosa Corner

This affordable, family-owned South Indian spot specializes in expertly thin, pancakelike dosas, uthappam and vegetarian curries. 1077 Old Henderson Rd., Northwest Side, 614-459-5515. LD $$

Flavors of India

One of the oldest vendors in the North Market, this spot offers simple Northern Indian fare like samosas, saag paneer and chicken curry, as well as vegan and gluten-free options. 59 Spruce St., Short North, 614-228-1955. LD $$

Indian Oven

A friendly and chic eatery serving Northern Indian and Bengali meals. The menu includes palak paneer, tandoori chicken, biryani and roasted lamb shank. 427 E. Main St., Downtown, 614-220-9390. LD $$

LATIN AMERICAN

Brazilian Grill & Bakery

A Brazilian market and restaurant specializing in prato feito (often abbreviated to PF), which are blue-plate specials with beans, rice, fries and salad, topped with traditional Brazilian meats. 5818 Columbus Sq., North Side, 614394-9254. LD $

Cilantro Latin Fusion

The owners of Cilantro food truck have a new dine-in restaurant serving a mix of Colombian, Venezuelan and Ecuadorian fare such as arepas, pabellon, patacones and more. 4852 Sawmill Rd., Northwest Side, 614-754-1080, 614-966-1222; 993 King Ave., Grandview food truck; 5584 Hall Rd. Galloway food truck, 614-373-4080. LD $$

Mordisco Food Truck

At this wheeled Venezuelan eatery, whose official home is Olentangy River Brewing Co., you’ll find standout breakfast burritos, arepas, pabellón bowls and more. 303 Green Meadows Dr. S., Lewis Center, 786557-8828. BL $$

Sí Señor Peruvian Sandwiches & More

Owner Guillermo Perez crafts outstanding handhelds at this casual café. The roasted turkey club, meatloaf and fried pork shoulder sandwiches are hard to beat. Don’t skip the cilantro pasta. 155 W. Nationwide Blvd., Arena District, 614-670-4985; 1456 W. Fifth Ave., Fifth by Northwest. L $

MEDITERRANEAN

Aladdin’s

Aladdin’s strives to provide its customers with authentic Lebanese dishes. The menu is loaded with fresh and healthy dishes at this colorful eatery, with lots of vegan, vegetarian and gluten-free options. 2931 N. High St., Clintonville, 614-262-2414; 1425 Grandview Ave., Fifth by Northwest, 614-488-5565; 9711 Sawmill Pkwy., Powell, 614-389-5438; 6284 E. Dublin-Granville Rd., Westerville, 614656-7060; 7227 N. High St., Worthington, 614-430-1730. LD $$

Brassica

Founded by the owners of Northstar Café, this build-it-yourself eatery focuses on fresh vegetables and proteins spiked with bold Middle Eastern and Mediterranean spices. 2212 E. Main St., Bexley, 614-929-9990; 4012 Townsfair Way, Easton, 614-532-6865; 680 N. High St., Short North, 614-867-5885; 1442 W. Lane Ave., Upper Arlington, 614929-9997. LD $$

Del Mar

Cameron Mitchell expands into Mediterranean fare with the first Ohio location of Del Mar, which evokes the seaside theme of its Naples, Florida, predecessor with a view of Easton’s fountain plaza. Seafood and lamb are the stars here, but don’t sleep on the sharables, including an excellent baba ghanoush. 4089 The Strand East, Easton, 614-918-9298. BRLD $$$$

Firdous Express

Firdous Express is known for its authentic Greek and Mediterranean fare, with shawarma, gyros, hummus and baklava. 59 Spruce St., Short North, 614-221-4444. LD $$

Pitabilities

This popular food truck offers a variety of fresh ingredients on a pita. Examples include falafel, Philly steak, Buffalo chicken and veggie pitas, plus fries. 5354 Center St, Hilliard; Food Truck, Citywide, 614-216-6310. BBRLD $$

Ohio for more than 50 years, with pizzas, subs, wings and salads. 515 Lazelle Rd., Westerville, 614-848-7600; 4511 N. High St., Clintonville, 614-784-9000; 2980 NoeBixby Rd., East Side, 614-864-0468; 1018 N. Hamilton Rd., Gahanna, 614-855-9500; 2149 Hilliard-Rome Rd., Hilliard, 614-7779680; 5767 Karl Rd., North Side, 614-8885767; 5244 Godown Rd., Northwest Side, 614-670-8864; 8747 Smoky Row Rd., Powell, 614-659-0988; 139 S. Yearling Rd., Whitehall, 614-235-0898. LD $$

Brooklyn Pizza

Owner Anthony La Cerva serves real New Yorkstyle pies at this intimate pizza shop. 240 N. Liberty St., Powell, 614-436-8900. LD $$

Dewey’s Pizza

Friendly and efficient family pizzeria specializing in creative, stone-baked pies, including the Bronx Bomber and Ryan’s Inferno. 6540 Perimeter Dr., Dublin, 614-7992444; 1327 W. Fifth Ave., Fifth by Northwest, 614-487-8282; 640 High St., Worthington, 614-985-3333. LD $$

Harvest Pizzeria

Some of the best wood-fired pies in Central Ohio are served at this pizzeria owned by Grow Restaurants. 2376 E. Main St., Bexley, 614-824-4081; 940 S. Front St., Brewery District, 614-947-7950; 2885 N. High St., Clintonville, 614-947-7133; 45 N. High St., Dublin, 614-726-9919; 454 S. Main St., Granville, 740-920-4447. LD $$

Hounddog’s Pizza

An Ohio State staple, Hounddog’s serves its famous Smokin’ Joes and breakfast pizzas until 1 a.m. on weekends. Order Howlin’ Hot sauce if you dare. 2657 N. High St., Old North, 614-261-4686. LD $

Rotolo’s Italian Pizzeria

Rotolo’s has been serving authentic Italianrecipe pizza since 1974, with subs, pasta and salads. 1749 W. Fifth Ave., Fifth by Northwest, 614-488-7934. LD $$

Vick’s Gourmet Pizzeria

An old-school, family pizzeria located in the old Connell Hardware building. 7345 E. Main St., Reynoldsburg, 614-866-7392. LD $$

SOMALI

Afra Grill

At this fast-casual spot specializing in East African cuisine, you build your own meal by choosing a base, protein, hot topping, cold toppings and a sauce. Don’t miss the chicken suqaar, malawah (sweet crêpes) and spiced tea. 1635 Morse Rd., North Side, 614-5913816; 3922 Townsfair Way, Easton, 614-5913399. LD $$

3764 Cleveland Ave., North Side, 614-4758004. BLD $$

Hamdi Grill

Authentic food and a friendly staff, with chicken kebabs, roasted goat, lamb chops and salmon. 1784 Huy Rd., North Linden, 614-447-0199. LD $

Hoyo’s Kitchen

This family-run restaurant started serving fast-casual Somali cuisine in the historic North Market in 2019. Order a bowl of flavorful spicy rice (or salad), top with proteins such as chicken suuqar or hilibari (goat) and then choose from a variety of veggies and sauces. Don’t skip the house chai. 6750 Longshore St., Dublin, 614-683-8798; 59 Spruce St., Short North, 614-745-3943. LD $

STEAKHOUSE

Butcher & Rose

Cameron Mitchell gives the traditional steakhouse a bit of feminine balance with bright pink chairs and floral chandeliers in the Downtown restaurant located in the Preston Centre. The classic menu complements the modern décor, with steaks and chops taking center stage alongside lighter fare including seafood. 155 E. Broad St., Downtown, 614918-9819. LD $$$$

Jeff Ruby’s Steakhouse

A Cincinnati-based chain from restaurateur Jeff Ruby that offers top-flight steaks, à la carte sides, oysters and sushi in an over-thetop atmosphere. The wine list is extensive, and the service is formal, with flourishes like Bananas Foster served tableside. 89 E. Nationwide Blvd., Downtown, 614-6867800. D $$$$

The Top Steak House

For nearly 70 years, this Bexley palace of beef has offered award-winning, high-end cuisine (filet mignon, pork and lamb chops, and seafood) in a dimly lit, vintage, 1960s-looking haunt. 2891 E. Main St., Bexley, 614-2318238. D $$$$

York Steak House

PIZZA

Ange’s Pizza

Ange’s has been serving up pies in Central

Darbo Restaurant

A small eatery serving authentic and traditional Somali cuisine, with goat stew, shawarma and pasta dishes.

Head back in time at the last remaining location of this wonderfully retro (and affordable) steakhouse with a popular salad bar and homemade desserts. 4220 W. Broad St., West Side, 614-272-6485. LD $$

Harvest Pizzeria

Creative Space

Jessica Brown

The longest-serving dancer at BalletMet finds inspiration to keep moving at Gyrotonic Columbus North.

Columbus ballet lovers have thrilled to her athleticism and artistry in “The Nutcracker,” “Swan Lake” and other ballets, but the next time you swing by Gyrotonic Columbus North, you might just run into BalletMet dancer Jessica Brown.

The 38-year-old ballerina recently began her 20th season with BalletMet, and she credits her career longevity to staying injury-free.

“I’ve had bruised toenails and some corns and stuff like that, but never debilitating,” Brown says. “Of late, I’ve had a little bit of a hip injury.”

Although she spends more than 60 hours a week in the studio at BalletMet’s

By Peter Tonguette

Downtown headquarters, Brown has kept herself agile through a rigorous program of cross-training. She took pilates for years, but after then-Ballet Mistress Susan Dromisky suggested she find a program to increase her fluidity while dancing, she looked into gyrotonic training.

Conceived with dancers in mind, gyrotonic training involves equipment including a jungle gym-like “archway.”

The equipment can isolate the muscles that need work, Brown says. “I can get into the feet and straps, and I can take some of that pain out of my hip and I can really work on my abs and my hamstrings.”

She took lessons with Gyrotonic Co-

lumbus North owner Mary Siclair-Willis, whose studio opened in 2021. Brown says of the space’s cream walls and navy blue ceiling: “It just feels like you’re in a cloud. You get in there and you just breathe. … It inspires you to continue to keep moving.”

Brown intends to keep moving: She wants to dance for another five years—“as long as I don’t feel pain and I still feel the joy,” she says. She has contemplated a career in physical therapy thereafter, and to that end, she is already a certified gyrotonic trainer and teaches classes at Siclair-Willis’ studio. Her students range in age from 9 to somewhere north of 65. ◆

BalletMet dancer Jessica Brown at Gyrotonic Columbus North

PHOTO: TIM JOHNSON

TRUE JEWELER™ Ohio’s

When you choose Diamond Cellar, you’re not just getting the best – you’re joining a legacy of trust, care, and dedication ; all at the GUARANTEED LOWEST PRICE

From our family to yours, we’re honored to be part of your most cherished moments.