Columbus Monthly July 2020

COLUMBUS MONTHLY

Uprising on High Street: Race, OutRage and a Moment of Truth

PLUS Remembering Annie Glenn

Best of Columbus

july 2020

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Contents

On the cover: Photo by JustinPaul Villanueve

july 2020

31 photo: tim johnson

Best of columbus

inding grace, joy, inspiration and F community even during a pandemic

Features 50

Isolated But Not Alone

From staff meetings to religious services, the novel coronavirus has led to a wealth of new online and socially distanced ways to gather. Are we connecting more deeply now than we were before?

54

Uprising on An High Street A tragic death nearly 800 miles away has focused Columbus on its racial inequities. But will anger in the streets lead to real reform?

Skyview Drive-In

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Contents July 2020

16

88

Arch City

Home & Style

Dining

16 Arts

70 Q&A

80 Industry

19 History

71 Products

83 Short Order

26 Perspective

72 Home

88 Drink

A BalletMet dancer’s goodbye Remembering Annie Glenn My child-free choice

4

Mask marketing A socially distant picnic Gardening in a pandemic

Cocktails in the time of coronavirus The Joint’s groovy grub

Make a better cold brew.

in every issue

8 FROM THE EDITOR 10 Small Talk 22 Datebook 24 PEOPLE 78 TOP 25 real estate transactions 104 City quotient

photos: left and bottom right, tim johnson; top right, jodi miller; middle right; courtesy Teresa Woodard

83 72

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Columbus Monthly (ISSN 2333-4150) is published monthly by Gannett. All contents of this magazine are copyrighted © Gannett Co., Inc. 2020 all rights reserved. Reproduction or use, without written permission, of editorial or graphic content in any manner is prohibited. Publisher assumes no responsibility for return of unsolicited materials. Known office of publication is 62 E. Broad St., Columbus, Ohio 43215. Periodicals postage paid at Columbus, Ohio, and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Columbus Monthly, 62 E. Broad St., P.O. Box 1289, Columbus, OH 43216.

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Public art images left to right: Feather Point by Olga Ziemska; #ArtUnitesCbus by Mandi Caskey, photo by Lydia Miller; Long Street Cultural Wall by Kojo Kamau and Larry Winston Collins; Rain Sister at Rain Brother by Katerina Armeria and Richard Duarte Brown; The Journey by Ryan Sarfati and Eric Skotnes; Labyrinth of Imagination by Stephanie Rond and Barbara Fant. Design by Formation Studio.

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From the Editor

Lessons From the Past

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to-face meetings) similar to the post-1970 approach. “I think we’re kind of in an inflection point as to whether we head towards more disorder over the next few months and years, or we get things turned around and get into a more constructive phase,” Shkurti said. * * * A quick note about our dining coverage: Since May, we haven’t published our main restaurant reviews, and we don’t have a timeline for bringing them back.

We’re also taking a year off from our annual top 10 list of the best restaurants in the city, part of our Restaurant Guide special publication published in the fall. The change began for a practical reason (because of the dine-in ban, we couldn’t eat at the establishment we were set to review), but the decision goes deeper than that. With restaurants hurting terribly, it didn’t feel like the right time for criticism—and it still doesn’t. “We need to be sure that our dining critics feel safe dining out, and that we’re being fair to businesses as they navigate this difficult time,” says dining editor Erin Edwards.

Dave Ghose dghose@columbusmonthly.com

Michelle Kondrich

is an artist specializing in editorial and book cover illustrations.

She created the Zoom-inspired opener for Suzanne Goldsmith’s essay, “Isolated But Not Alone” (Page 50).

Richard Ades

wrote about how 1954 changed history (Page 18).

He’s a frequent contributor to Columbus Monthly.

Teresa Woodard

is a lifestyle writer for local, regional and national magazines.

She wrote about gardening during the pandemic (Page 72).

photos: clockwise from left, rob hardin; courtesy michelle kondrich; courtesy richard ades; courtesy Teresa Woodard

Extraordinary events have again disrupted our editorial plans.

Three weeks before we were to go to print with this issue, George Floyd died in the custody of Minneapolis police, inspiring protests against racism and police brutality in Columbus and around the country.

We hustled to turn around a feature that captured what was happening in the streets (“An Uprising on High Street,” Page 54). The story, written by what we me, includes dramatic images learned this of the protests from our photo month editor Tim Johnson and our colleagues at The Columbus Dispatch, After struggling with a stutter who’ve been on the scene from for the first half of her life, the beginning. Columbus City Annie Glenn’s first public speech was in front of 300 people and Council President Shannon Harlasted for 30 minutes (Page 19). din, who was pepper-sprayed by Columbus police on day three of The 169-foot tower atop the protests, calls this period “as Dublin’s new bridge makes it seminal a moment as the 1960s.” the tallest single-tower, S-shaped bridge in the world—and the only Indeed, Bill Shkurti, the one (Page 31). author of “The Ohio State University in the Sixties,” sees parAmeriFlora, the massive allels to that era. Following the horticulture exhibition at assassinations of Martin Luther Franklin Park in 1992, helped save King Jr. and Robert Kennedy in the structurally ailing Franklin Park Conservatory (Page 104).

1968, riots broke out all over the country. Columbus, however, was the only major Ohio city to avoid significant violence. That peace led city leaders to conclude they were right to crack down aggressively on smaller protests during the long, hot summer of 1967, Shkurti said. But discontent was still simmering under the surface until the spring of 1970, when the campus area exploded in the worst Columbus riots of that period, forcing Ohio State to shut down for nearly two weeks. This time, city leaders responded to the protests in a more thoughtful way, Shkurti said, with both sides exploring what led to the tumult.

Today, Columbus—and the rest of the country—faces a similar choice between cracking down or seeking compromise. Speaking in early June, Shkurti said it’s been a mixed bag so far—an initial response (pepper spray, riot gear, physical clashes) that mirrored the 1967 reaction, followed by calmer interactions (listening, face-

Contributors

Columbus Monthly JULY 2020

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Taking Sides on Protests A gallery on our website of photos taken during protests Downtown following the death of George Floyd generated spirited and sometimes angry debate on our Facebook page. “Where are the pics of the looting, arson, burglary and destruction of property?” commented Debbie Haire. “Typical left wing news.” (For the record, the gallery included photos of broken windows, graffiti and a burnt car as well as peaceful protests and pepper spray victims.) “Were you as angry when the many, many black lives were ended by the people who are supposed to protect us?” responded Todd Elder. “It’s time we come together and solve these problems instead of pointing fingers and placing the blame,” wrote Victor Flores.

A Virus Has No Nation While our City Quotient column in June correctly noted that the 1918 pandemic may not have originated in Spain, as many believed, our headline nevertheless referred to it as the “Spanish Flu,” as Richard Korn pointed out in a letter. “The World Health Organization has called on scientists, national authorities and the media to follow best practices in referencing diseases to minimize unnecessary negative effects on nations and people. The modern term for the virus is the 1918 Flu Pandemic and should have been used in the headline.”

Mourning Lost Eateries Dining editor Erin Edwards has been keeping readers informed of restaurant news in her online coverage in recent weeks as the Ohio Health Department lifted the dinein ban and issued new guidelines for bars and restaurants. She’s reported reopenings as well as, sadly, some closings. Readers mourned favorite establishments in comments on our Facebook page. “Where will I go for margs? Guacamole? Chorizo?

Fish tacos? Octopus? Esquites?” wrote Lindsay Harrison, about the closing of Cosecha Cocina. “An era of my food life is over.” “The Sycamore will forever be a precious memory for our family,” commented Gail Butler.

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ArchCity health p. 14 | tech P. 17 | History p. 18 | people P. 24

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no swan song

The pandemic halted the spring arts season, so instead of performing his long-planned last dance with BalletMet, Gabriel Gaffney Smith is spending his days making art and composing music.

Photo by tim johnson

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Arch City health

A Nurse Called to Crisis

Tom Huling stands on the dock next to the sailboat Turning Points in One15 Marina in New York City.

Rather than wait for the coronavirus surge to hit Columbus, Tom Huling moved into a sailboat in Brooklyn to help in the pandemic’s U.S. epicenter. This is the story of a traveling health care worker on the front lines.

In early April, as the coronavirus ravaged New York City, Tom Huling received a text out of the blue from his friend Rachel Hartley, asking if he wanted to help. The two met while working at OhioHealth Grant Medical Center in Columbus a few years earlier, and Hartley had since moved to Virginia, where she was a surgical nurse. She was barely working because the pandemic had caused the cancellation of elective procedures, yet she had the intensive care skills to help with the outbreak. When a medical staffing firm contacted her, she and her husband agreed to relocate.

At first, Huling laughed off her text: No thanks, he had a good job as a nurse in interventional radiology at Grant. But he couldn’t shake the idea, so he began to pray. He’d always regretted not serving in the military, and this felt like a chance to help during a time of urgent need. He too had the necessary ICU experience. He also thought about his mother. If she were living in New York City and needed care, he hoped a nurse from another state would come to her aid. That settled it.

The day Huling gave his notice, OhioHealth announced a new policy. If workers left to take positions elsewhere in the country, they wouldn’t be eligible for rehire. According to a written statement from OhioHealth, it was implemented to ensure adequate staffing after early projections suggested Covid-19 cases would easily overwhelm facilities. The policy didn’t sit well with Huling, who felt he was being forced to choose between stepping up in a crisis and keeping a job where he’d worked 14

hard for years. He didn’t want to have any more regrets. * * * The Hartleys traveled on their 50-foot sailboat, Turning Points, to New York, where they met up with Huling and Emily Chafins, a Columbus native who was in physician’s assistant school. They all lived onboard together during their stay. Huling and Rachel, both graduates of Worthington Christian High School, signed eight-week contracts with NYU Langone Hospital in Brooklyn, a medical center with about

two dozen ICU beds under normal conditions. By their mid-April arrival, six entire floors had been converted into makeshift intensive care units to treat hundreds with Covid-19. At orientation, Huling says he was told 98 percent of all hospital patients had tested positive for the coronavirus.

Wearing a Tyvek gown, an N95 mask and a face shield throughout 12-hour shifts, Huling served as a bedside nurse for two patients a day. Without treatment protocols or much data on the virus, they tried everything: drugs to improve oxygen sup-

Photo: Taylor Hartley

By Chris Gaitten

Columbus Monthly JULY 2020

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Photo: Taylor Hartley

ply, ventilators, chemical paralysis, “proning” patients on their stomachs. They discovered the virus was causing massive strokes from which patients couldn’t recover. To the best of Huling’s recollection, nearly every one of his patients died during the first two weeks.

“It’s just hard to see that many people die every day, and there’s nothing you can do about it,” he says.

He worked the first shift four days a week, and Rachel worked the second. Her husband, Taylor, a college recruiter and

photographer, served as boat captain, and Chafins volunteered at a food bank in Manhattan until her school reopened. Each evening after work, Huling got on a scooter— provided free to health care workers—for the 20-minute ride through empty streets back to One15 Marina in Brooklyn Bridge Park, which provided a complimentary slip for Turning Points with a view of Lower Manhattan across the East River. A marina restaurant also offered them free meals— Huling was finishing lunch there the first time we spoke.

Despite the harsh reality of the job, he enjoyed his first visit to New York, albeit a ghostly version of the city. He and his friends explored by scooter, visiting an abandoned Times Square and eating pizza by the slice.

In mid-May, they sailed around the Statue of Liberty with some of their medical colleagues from around the country.

They were among thousands of health care workers who flocked to New York from all over, with 122 just at NYU Langone, Rachel says. “It’s been a really cool, unifying experience for nurses across the nation to come together and work together for this purpose.” * * * Week by week, Langone started to stabilize. By early June, the six floors of Covid-19 patients requiring intensive care had been reduced to half of one unit—10 to 12 beds, Huling estimates. On June 2, he discharged a woman he’d been treating for weeks. She’s in her mid-60s, a high-risk age group, but after 22 days he accompanied her out to the car and her waiting husband. Huling hugged them both.

“It perfectly exemplifies why I’m here,” he says. It was a much-needed morale boost after all the death he’s seen. He senses that health care workers are finally able to catch their breath, and the full weight of what they’ve been through is just now sinking in.

As the end of their contracts neared, Huling and Rachel had no jobs waiting for them, a common plight among traveling medical workers who left their full-time roles to help, he says. They decided to sign new crisis contracts with Yale New Haven Hospital in Connecticut, and they planned to sail eight hours through Long Island Sound after their final New York shifts in mid-June.

Huling says he will never regret making the decision to come and provide aid where it was needed most. During our conversations, I got the sense that the experience had shifted his perspective on the world and his place in it.

On June 6, a few days before leaving, he sent me a text reflecting on his time in New York. It was the anniversary of D-Day, and the message included references to military veterans and to the deep sense of duty and faith that had compelled him to go. In part, it read: “My heart is heavy, but my confidence is strong that I could do my small part in fighting a different war in a place many have called ground zero for eight weeks.

God gave me the tools to serve in this battle, and I am proud to have done my part.” ◆ JULY 2020 Columbus Monthly

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Arch City arts

The Lost Dances For art patrons, 2020 will go down as the unfinished season. That’s a particularly unfortunate turn for one BalletMet performer.

By Peter Tonguette

16

Gabriel Gaffney Smith outside the stage door of the Ohio Theatre in May

Smith, a BalletMet member since 2008, was left to retire alone, running out the clock on his career at home rather than in front of the audience he loved to entertain.

“I’ve seen a lot of dancers transition and retire,” says BalletMet artistic director Edwaard Liang. “The one thing that I believe, long-term, isn’t going to be the best psychologically is not to have closure, is not to celebrate something that is so important and meaningful in their lives.”

Smith, however, takes a pragmatic view.

He treasures the time he spent preparing the scrapped productions and is relishing working in his own garage studio. There, he com-

poses music—he hopes to build a soundproof room for recording—and makes wood relief pieces, some of which have been shown at Brandt-Roberts Galleries in the Short North.

Yet a sense of loss—for a career that was canceled by the coronavirus rather than concluded on his terms—persists. Although plans for BalletMet’s 2020–21 season remain unclear, Liang intends to give his longtime dancer a proper farewell.

“There wasn’t even a transition,” Liang says. “It was so quick, and it was so fast. I hope that in time he can process all of this, and that, next season, we can give him some sort of sendoff.” ◆

photo: tim johnson

Like countless Central Ohioans, BalletMet dancer Gabriel Gaffney Smith has not been back to work since mid-March.

After BalletMet’s season was upended by the coronavirus pandemic, Smith stopped by the company’s headquarters on Mount Vernon Avenue to pick up his belongings but has stayed away since. It was an abrupt ending to what Smith had hoped would be a carefully choreographed close to his dancing career.

Earlier in the year, the 35-year-old dancer decided to retire to focus on making visual art, composing music and designing the occasional dance sequence for others. “It took years and years for the decision to finally say, ‘You know what? I think this is the year,’” says Smith, whose choice was eased by the knowledge that he had two standout shows left on the schedule—a chance to go out on a high note.

In April, Smith would have reprised one of his signature roles, Don Jose, in Gustavo Ramirez Sanso’s acclaimed ballet “Carmen.maquia.” In May, he was slated to choreograph new work as part of the “New Voices” project. Losing both performances—the first, a reunion with one of his favorite choreographers; the second, a chance to prove his own choreography skills—was especially jarring. “The last two programs for me were the highlight of the season,” he says. “We were just about to hit that stride.”

On March 12, just three weeks from its planned opening, “Carmen.maquia” was postponed. Then, “New Voices”—for which Smith was set to create a dance in which he would not have performed—was canceled.

“We all kind of held our breath and said, ‘You know, maybe that can still happen,’” he recalls. “But then, pretty soon … I said, ‘I think the season’s done. I think things are going to be shut down.’”

Columbus Monthly JULY 2020

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Arch City tech

Sophia Mohr, chief innovation officer with COTA, designed the project of taking a Wi-Fienabled bus and offering it free to community members.

Bridging the Digital Divide

photo: tim johnson

photo: tim johnson

The coronavirus shutdown has exposed a problem with equitable access to the internet. By Amanda Page Prior to the disruption to school and work caused by Covid-19, access to the internet was already a problem for some people.

While the assumption may be that such challenges are common only in rural areas without adequate technological infrastructure, many Central Ohio residents also lack service or devices with connectivity, which can be too costly. The pandemic has made the disparity between the haves and havenots far more visible.

“Digital access was not always looked at as something critical until now,” says Kaleem Musa of Black Tech 614, an organization that provides community and connection for black technology professionals. “As companies and schools turn to remote options, the need for access has grown. In a sense, some still look at the internet as a luxury, when in fact it’s more of a utility like electricity or gas.”

Society’s reliance on the internet has made it increasingly important for seeking employment information, researching educational opportunities, completing homework or simply communicating with

distant family members. The quick shift to remote work and online learning has sent organizations scrambling to help.

For many years, public libraries have shouldered the burden of providing a bridge between internet access and those who cannot afford it. “Libraries have a long history of filling what we call the ‘digital divide,’ particularly when we’re open. In general, we play that role as a social service catchall,” says Charlie Hansen, chief administrative officer for Columbus Metropolitan Library.

Typically, CML branches provide Wi-Fi on their premises but keep the signal confined to the building for security reasons. When the coronavirus came along, the libraries extended Wi-Fi to the parking lots to accommodate students who need the internet to participate in remote learning. Other internet hotspots are listed on the state’s InnovateOhio website.

“What’s been learned is that the notion that the internet is ubiquitous and everyone has it at high speed is not true,” Hansen says.

According to research by Microsoft, only 57 percent of Franklin County residents have

high-speed service suitable for videoconferencing and streaming at home.

In May, the Columbus library system partnered with the nonprofit PCs for People to provide computers for only $20 apiece to families in need, with curbside pickup at the Whitehall branch. The Columbus Dispatch reported that Columbus City Schools and other local districts have made Google Chromebooks available to students who don’t have computers at home, and SouthWestern City Schools sent out 150 satellitedriven portable Wi-Fi devices. In a partnership with the Columbus school district rolled out in early June, COTA began parking a Wi-Fi-enabled bus at the Forest Park YMCA three times per week to extend free internet access within a 100-foot radius to neighborhood students.

Musa believes that to address the digital divide in the long run, we must gather more data. “First, get information on who does not have it specifically and understand why. We give free and/or reduced lunch according to data,” he says. He recommends implementing a publicly available broadband program in the same vein as other essential resources.

“If a society is going to progress in any capacity,” Musa continues, “it needs all of its citizens to have access to the tools that will allow them to contribute and reach their full potential.” ◆ JULY 2020 Columbus Monthly

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Arch City history

The Lessons of 1954 What we can learn from the year an epidemic upstaged Joe DiMaggio

By Richard Ades

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Clockwise from above, Sen. Joseph McCarthy; Dr. Jonas Salk; Joe DiMaggio and Marilyn Monroe

ture notes that the trend was aided by new vicious red-baiting attacks, which “spread technologies such as television and jet travinnuendos and lies in order to advance his el—which made rivalries between far-flung ambitions,” were all too similar to tactics teams possible—and promoted by a colorful common in the current political climate. new magazine called Sports Illustrated.

Even more notable is the parallel between How did the audio series come about?

1954’s crusade against polio and 2020’s efforts Flamm explains that Audible pitched the to control Covid-19. But the comparison is not general idea of a history series, and he sugperfect, Flamm cautions, as some contempogested homing in on one of several noterary Americans lack their forebears’ faith in worthy years. Audible settled on government and science and are less 1954, he believes, “because it’s a eager to sacrifice for the sake of others, year that not only offers clearly For information even when threatened by a common about Audible historic events in the political enemy such as a health crisis.

Originals, visit world but also major develop“In the 1950s, there was a sense audible.com. ments in social and cultural of collective responsibility,” Flamm aspects of modern America.” says. “This was a generation that had Some of those events and survived the Great Depression and developments have parallels to 2020. For World War II. They understood that everyexample, Flamm believes McCarthy’s one had to face the crisis together.” ◆

photos: dispatch file

The frantic search for a vaccine to prevent a disease that has stricken the country is the biggest story of the year, according to Michael Flamm. A history professor at Ohio Wesleyan University, Flamm isn’t talking about 2020, but 1954. That’s when thousands of parents turned their children into human guinea pigs in an attempt to defeat the debilitating illness known as polio.

“It was the biggest public health experiment in history,” Flamm says from his home in Bexley.

The battle against polio is just one of the events Flamm recalls in “How 1954 Changed History,” an audio series he wrote and narrated for Amazon’s Audible Originals service.

Over the course of 10 half-hour lectures, he talks about key political developments such as Wisconsin Sen. Joseph McCarthy’s ruthless campaign to root out alleged communists in government and society. He also looks at culturally significant developments, including Elvis Presley’s recording debut and the birth of rock ’n’ roll.

But for those who were alive in 1954, no story was more important than the effort to conquer polio, a disease that mainly afflicted children and sometimes killed them or left them permanently paralyzed. Up until then, the only way to fight it was to close schools and keep youngsters at home—in other words, to practice what we now call social distancing. So when volunteers were needed to test Dr. Jonas Salk’s new and unproven vaccine, thousands of parents allowed their children to take part, resulting in the quick confirmation of its effectiveness. “It was an extraordinary act of collective responsibility,” Flamm says.

His series begins with a decidedly less momentous event: the January 1954 marriage of baseball legend Joe DiMaggio and movie star Marilyn Monroe. Though it had little effect on society as a whole, Flamm uses it to introduce the growing celebrity status of professional athletes. His first lecColumbus Monthly JULY 2020

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Annie Glenn’s Big Speech While her husband soared to space, Annie Glenn showed her grit on the ground, overcoming a lifelong speech disability in the public eye. To honor her life—which ended in May at the age of 100—Columbus Monthly asked Carly Dearborn, the archivist in charge of the John H. Glenn Archives at Ohio State University, to highlight two documents from the collection that capture her inspirational journey.

Subscribe to Subscribe or renew your annual subscription to Columbus Monthly for $18.

Go to columbusmonthly.com or call 877-688-8009.

Stuttering Journal, 1941–43 While a music student at Muskingum University, Annie Glenn started recording her stuttering experiences. “She must have been working with somebody, because there’s another handwriting in the journal that seems to give her tasks: talk to seven strangers, identify how long it took you to get your words out,” Dearborn says.

In one telling 1941 entry, Glenn wrote about being forced to answer the phone while working at the college in New Concord.

“After I had said hello, the lady asked me a question in an unkind manner,” she wrote.

“I couldn’t answer her very well, so she got mad at me and said that she didn’t see why I was working there.”

Canton Woman’s Club Speech, September 1979 In 1973, Glenn took an intensive threeweek course at Hollins College to address her stutter. The program was remarkably effective, though it took her six more years to summon the courage to give her first full public speech. After three months of practice, she delivered a 30-minute talk before 300 people about her verbal struggles. A copy of the speech includes handwritten reminders in the margins about breath control, speaking slowly and connecting “each word to word.”

photo: courtesy John h. Glenn Archives at OSU

photos: dispatch file

“It really opened up a new world for her,” Dearborn says. —Dave Ghose

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Arch City image

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During the first weekend of protests in Downtown Columbus, a drone captured this image of the smoke from a pallet fire hanging over the skyline. For more on the protests, see “An Uprising on High Street� on Page 54.

Photo by Kevin Michael SeYmour

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Arch City editors’ picks

Datebook Things to See and Do

Columbus Black Theatre Festival July 10–12

“Say the Names” is the evocative title of one of the new plays and monologues centered on a theme of inclusion that will be performed during the eighth annual Columbus Black Theatre Festival. The event will move to a livestream format this year but will continue its tradition of showcasing the work of black actors and directors from Ohio performing new monologues and one-act plays by American writers. mine4godproductions.com

6 T N

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Art Walks

The Memorial Tournament July 16–19

Oh my, it’s live sports! It was great to see Tom Brady hacking up a golf course and splitting his pants while he and Peyton Manning moonlighted with Tiger Woods (seen above at the 2019 Memorial) and Phil Mickelson during their made-for-TV charity match in May, but it’s no substitute for the real thing. Dublin’s Muirfield golf course will star in the PGA’s adjusted season schedule, hosting the Workday tournament July 9–12, without spectators. The following week, the delayed Memorial will be the first big sporting event with fans—although only 8,000, or about 20 percent of capacity. Still, sports! thememorialtournament.com

New Music Ohio July 5, 12, 19, 26 and Aug. 2

Summer Literary Picnics: Rachel Wiley July 8

With most live concerts still on hold, the Johnstone Fund for New Music is supporting musicians and offering “much-needed musical therapy” with a series of virtual performances of new, contemporary compositions Sundays at 3 p.m. throughout the month, featuring a diverse lineup of musicians, from CSO principal clarinetist David Thomas to African American music historian and drummer Mark Lomax II. facebook.com/johnstonefund

After taking the first events of the season online, Thurber House finally invites poetry fans to gather on the lawn (weather and state guidelines permitting) for a summer evening picnic with poet and feminist Rachel Wiley. BYO food, blankets and lawn chairs to hear the Columbus native, who identifies as queer, biracial and a fat liberationist, read from her 2014 poetry collection, Fat Girl Finishing School, followed by an audienceled Q&A and a book sale. thurberhouse.org

Give Back Goodale Park Work Day July 18

Help keep the city’s oldest park beautiful by joining this monthly volunteer effort from 9 a.m. to noon to help with weeding, watering and cleanup.

Meet at the caretaker’s house; weather updates will be posted by 8 a.m. facebook.com/friendsofgoodalepark 22

Can’t Stop Columbus Bring your ideas or your willing heart and hands to this hub for a wide range of volunteer-driven efforts to combat the coronavirus as well as the fallout from the lockdown. cantstopcolumbus.com

Produce Giveaways July 1, 8, 15, 22, 29

Help Mid-Ohio Food Cooperative distribute fresh food in various neighborhoods in a low-contact, drive-thru setting. Volunteers are needed from 2–7 p.m. to set up, bag food and other jobs. Write twhittington@ymcacolumbus.org to sign up.

photos: clockwise from top, Adam Cairns; jodi miller; istock.com/arsenik; Tim Johnson

Self-guided tours offered by the city make it easy to explore Columbus’ public art while remaining socially distant. Download art-walk guides for individual neighborhoods, which include a number to call for information about each piece (shown below: Joan Wobst’s Umbrella Girl Fountain in German Village), or use the Columbus app. You can also check out GCAC’s public art database, which includes pieces not featured on the maps, and look out for virtual art tours led by local artists, coming soon from Can’t Stop Columbus. cbusartshub.com/home/art-walks

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3 I $

T w s d c m r a

photos: clockwise from top, Adam Cairns; jodi miller; istock.com/arsenik; Tim Johnson

609 S. 9th St. THE TOWNHAUS NEW PRICE! $699,500

1345 Magnolia Way OLENTANGY SCHOOLS $849,500

ONLY TWO UNITS REMAINING G of these newly constructed Townhaus condos on the edge of German Village. Designed by Jonathan Barnes with 10’ ceilings on the first floor, hardwood floors, open kitchens with quartz, custom wood cabinets and SS appliances, luxury finished baths, walk-in closets, large upper level decks and ATTACHED 2-car garage!

15-YEAR 100% TAX ABATED.

Cugini built condo in 2018 with gorgeous hardwood floors, high ceilings, crown molding, white custom woodwork, soft white/gray walls throughout. Kitchen is open to the living/dining rooms and features Schlabach custom cabinetry, Cambria quartz countertops, top of the line SS appliances and a large island with bar seating. First floor master suite, mother-in law suite, and a walkout lower level with paver patio. Immaculate!

301 Auden Ave. ITALIAN VILLAGE $849,900

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This fabulous townhouse in Jeffrey Park is executed with exceptional finishes including open living spaces, rich hardwood flooring and brilliantly white decor. Easy, modern living with extensive electronic connectivity including remote controlled lighting, media and sound systems. Finished lower level rec/media room, huge rooftop terrace and a 2-car attached garage.

This custom, brick build is located in the heart of German Village with quality throughout including hardwood floors, large entertainment spaces, spacious and private master suite with two walk-in closets, two privacy walled courtyards and a RARE attached 21/2 car garage for a total of 3,200+ sq. ft. of living space!

| GIVE YOURSELF THE TEAM ADVANTAGE 177 E. Beck Street Columbus, OH 43206 614.255.0600 realtors@vutech-ruff.com Marilyn Vutech & Jeff Ruff

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Arch City People

Eat In! Columbus Freedom a la Cart reinvented its annual event, Eat Up! Columbus, to accommodate the need for social distancing while still bringing supporters together virtually to enjoy delicious food and drink and raise funds to employ and empower survivors of human trafficking. The online and at-home event drew 336 attendees and raised more than $120,000.

Photos: Courtesy Freedom a la Cart

1 Ready for the event 2 Jeni Britton Bauer 3 Paula Haines chats with partygoers and pets. 4 An online presentation 5 Dave Yost, Gwen England 6 Paula Haines 7 Bill and Geri Rozich 8 Party packages with goodies from North Country Charcuterie and Simple Times Mixers 9 A “breakout room” 10 A “Cheers to You” home delivery

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Summer Sale

Oakland’s Famous“Thank

you to our customers sale” has started!

Everything 20-66% Off • New products arriving daily are included in the sale.

Pottery • Flowers • Plants • Birdbaths • Fountains • Garden Accents Water Gardening Products • Statuary • Mulch Lawn Furniture • Shrubs • Trees

Sorry, no rainchecks. Landscape, interiorscape and irrigation sales not included. Sale ends July 31st.

------------------------------ ALL STORES OPEN DAILY -----------------------------Columbus Dublin 1156 Oakland Park Ave. 4261 W. Dublin-Granville Rd. Just east of I-71 (next to La Scala Restaurant) (614) 268-3511 (614) 874-2400 Summer sale includes Oakland HOME

Photos: Courtesy Freedom a la Cart

Voted

Best Garden Center July 2020 by

Columbus Monthly Magazine (the 16th consecutive year!)

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New Albany 5211 Johnstown Road (corner Johnstown & Thompson Rd.) (614) 917-1020 Summer sale includes Oakland INSIDE & OUT

Delaware County Routes 36/37 & 521 east side of Delaware (740) 548-6633

80 Years - Since 1940

OAKLAND NURSERIES 6/11/20 2:03 PM

Arch City perspective

My Child-Free Choice I’ve always known motherhood was not for me. But everyone else, including my doctors, thought they knew better.

By Emma Criswell

From an early age, my baby dolls were never my own children. Either I was a nurse taking care of them at a hospital, or I was babysitting them for a friend or loved one. When I played The Game of Life with friends and realized I was going to land on a dreaded child space, I would cheat, stopping either a space before or a space after and hoping no one would notice.

My feelings about motherhood didn’t change as I got older. Those moments when people say, “Oh, doesn’t that make your ovaries hurt?” have never hurt me in a good way. I will “ooh” and “ah” over a dog or a cat in a stroller, but a baby in that same stroller doesn’t excite me.

So when I found out that becoming permanently child-free through surgery was 26

possible, I started asking. What I didn’t know was that I would be asking for 14 years.

I was 18 when I first brought it up with my doctor. While I was a legal adult, I was not entirely surprised that I was told to wait. What did surprise me was how long this went on. From 18 to 22 it was, “You’re too young; you have to wait until you’re 25.” When I asked again at 25, I had to wait until I was 30.

Once I turned 30, I was ready. I prepared my case and scheduled a consultation with my OB-GYN. When I’d asked her about the surgery in the past, she had always simply said, “You’ll have to wait until you’re 30,” without emotion, so I just knew this was going to be it.

Boy, was I wrong. She screamed—actually screamed—at me never to use the word “sterilization” in front of her again.

I tried another doctor, and got another response. “I’ll be frank,” she said. “You’re young, you’re a runner, you eat healthy and would be in excellent physical condition to become a mother. No one is going to do this for you.”

I asked a total of nine doctors over the course of 14 years to perform this elective surgery for me. I was on one form or another of birth control throughout, and never, ever wavered in my decision that children weren’t for me.

The way I see it, becoming a mother is a choice, like becoming an astronaut or a soccer player. Not becoming a mother is also a choice. The same choices aren’t right for everyone, and it’s entirely possible to know it from an early age. But even the feminist movement seems to stop short of supporting my choice. The overarching message, to me at least, is that it’s OK to put your career first, it’s great to be independent and go it on your own, but

photo: tim johnson

Emma Criswell in Goodale Park

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SIBO is not well understood, but it was awful. I was constantly tired, my hair got dry, my nails stopped growing, my skin was flaky, I gained weight. Sometimes I would spike a fever or endure spasms that literally made me lie on the floor in pain. I never knew what I would be able to eat from day to day. I tried elimination diets and spent hundreds of dollars on naturopathic remedies as well as western medicine, but it would not go away.

Then I contracted another colondestroying bacterial infection, C. diff.

I was told stress was making me ill. Yet no amount of medication, meditation or yoga helped.

After nine years in Manhattan, I decided to move back to Ohio. My family is here, and I brought my cat, Henry, who I’d adopted after the ASPCA rescued him from a kill shelter. I could not be more in love with Henry. I want to be the best version of myself to be able to take good care of him— and having him around has made me better able to advocate for myself.

Before I moved to Columbus, I did some research on how best to network in my field of marketing. I found a few groups to

join, and one in particular brings together women in marketing from around the country. Within this community, we use Slack to keep in touch. There is a #not-amom channel there, and as it turns out, that channel changed my life.

People don’t realize what a lonely place it is to know how badly you do not want children and not to have a place to feel safe sharing those feelings openly. Finding this channel validated these feelings. I met women with experiences similar to mine: strangers telling them they would change their minds, or baffled by and unaccepting of their choice. The Slack channel introduced me to the larger #childfree movement, and I now follow this hashtag on Instagram. When this account’s content pops up, I truly feel less alone. It’s taken me a year to gain enough courage to be public about my choice, and being part of this online community has helped me be able to do it.

One day, a woman on Slack posted an article that included a link to a Reddit thread called r/childfree, and there I struck gold. Users keep a list of doctors around the country who have performed

photo: tim johnson

you should still want to be a mom someday. I’m still trying to put my finger on why this one choice is the one our culture can’t seem to accept.

I’ve been told, in a multitude of ways, that it should not be my choice. I’ve been told I’d make beautiful babies; I’d be a great mother; even that I owe it to the world to have children because I’m intelligent. Wonderful compliments, all. But I’m not convinced.

I also can’t tell you how many men—men I wasn’t even dating—have told me I would change my mind when I met the right man.

They ask me what will happen if I start dating a guy who wants children.

In fact, I’ve got that one covered: It’s my policy to tell a man who gets to a second date with me that I will not be having children, for him or for anyone else. I ended a relationship after nearly a year when the man I was seeing decided he wanted a baby. He deserved to find someone who wanted to do that with him, because it wasn’t me.

It will never be me.

In 2017, I developed Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth, a digestive disorder.

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Arch City perspective sterilization for voluntarily child-free women like me, and there was one right here in Columbus. I called her immediately and made an appointment.

On the day of the consultation, my heart was beating out of my chest. By the time the doctor came in, I was shaking. I laid out my case, told her of all the doctors who had told me no, the birth control methods I’d tried, and told her I have never, not even for a millisecond, wavered in my conviction that having a child was not right for me.

The doctor looked at me. “You are a grown woman who has obviously done your research and knows what you want,” she said. “Who am I to tell you no?”

I began to cry. I felt heard for the first time in my long quest to gain agency over my own reproductive system. We scheduled the surgery for three weeks later.

I wore a red Pax Philomena caftan to the surgery center, and after I woke up in recovery and put it back on to go home, the nurse told me I looked better than anyone who has just come out of major surgery had a right to. I told her it wasn’t the dress; it was a realized dream. A dear friend

“

After so many years of being told that what I wanted was wrong, I’d stopped listening to myself. Now I’m listening.

brought me home, and another girlfriend came over with Champagne and pizza. It was a celebration. I didn’t drink too much— I was on Percocet, after all—but I had to have a glass. I was blissfully happy.

I was also in ridiculous pain. The physical aftermath was more difficult than I’d ever anticipated. It took six full weeks for my body to recover. During that time, I learned to baby myself, to baby a body that until that point had been rebelling against me for years, and a beautiful thing happened: It changed my perspective.

Now, nearly a year later, I am completely healed. My scars are barely visible, but more importantly, I’ve lost all the weight I’d gained with SIBO and C. diff; my diges-

F

”

tion is 98 percent better; my hair is growing; and I am still buzzing with a low-level thrill that I actually did this.

Perhaps it was the surgery; perhaps it was being heard. After so many years of being told that what I wanted was wrong, I’d stopped listening to myself. Now I’m listening. I pay attention to my intuition, and I’m kinder to my body. I focus on the things that make me feel good, like nature runs and hikes, yoga and meditation. I don’t follow prescribed diets but create foods and meals that make me happy. My sterilization surgery, so hard to attain and so painful to recover from, healed more than my body—it healed my relationship with myself. ◆

• • •

A o f s

W y in v a f p

B y t

F y o

©

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Focused on safety for all • Patients • Providers • Associates At OhioHealth, we’re taking extraordinary measures to make our care sites safe, going above and beyond to ensure you feel confident when you need emergency care or schedule surgeries and other procedures with us.

We want you to have a choice in how you engage with your physicians, which is why we’re offering both in-person and Telehealth video visits. Through our virtual visits, you can enjoy safe and convenient access to providers in every medical specialty, from oncology and neurology to cardiology, primary care and more.

Because at OhioHealth, we believe in giving you the care you’ve always trusted with the safety you need right now.

Find out how we’ve worked to keep you safe getting care in person and online at OhioHealth.com/Safe.

© OhioHealth Inc. 2020. All rights reserved. FY20-452300-Brand. 06/20.

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s u b m u l o C f o t s Be Even during these dark days, Columbus Monthly still managed to find grace, joy, inspiration and community in Central Ohio. From pandemic pivots to stay-at-home heroes, from a 400-foot artistic affirmation to a Zoom-friendly charcuterie kit, our staffers have identified dozens of things to love about our city, plus 98 top picks from our readers.

By Erin Edwards, Chris Gaitten, Dave Ghose, Suzanne Goldsmith, Emma Frankart Henterly, Brittany Moseley, Ana Piper and Peter Tonguette

9/6/19 10:22 AM

decade

photo: tim johnson

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A takeout meal from The

y ctor Refe

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Aro un d Town Theoretical Cartographer

New Albany teenager Anna Calcaterra has redrawn a perfect map for these unreal times—an American continent in an alternate reality. In February, Anna’s father, NBC baseball writer Craig Calcaterra, posted a photo of her creation online, where it generated quite a buzz. New Hampshire and Vermont are combined into New Hampsmont; Ohio 2, a replica of the Buckeye State, replaces the four-corners junction in the southwest; Wyoming is eliminated. Florida’s panhandle stretches nearly to the Pacific, where it meets Long Chile, which now dominates the western seaboard—a land grab that sparks World War III. Anna’s imaginative, hilarious hemisphere has garnered 345,000 likes on Twitter.

Light Show

One of Cecily King’s encouraging banners

Signs of HOPE (“Hang On, Pain Ends”)

Last summer, well before Covid-19 highlighted the issue of social isolation, drivers in Columbus began to spot encouraging messages around town, painted on bedsheets and ziptied to overpasses. The sign-bomber, Cecily King, said lonely commuters were her target audience. “We are all looking for signs all the time,” wrote the poet Maggie Smith in a Columbus Alive article about King. “And thanks to Cecily King, sometimes we find one exactly when we need it.”

Canine Athlete

Westminster has been claimed by a new top dog, a superfast border collie named P!nk.

The Big Tipper at Coaches Bar & Grill Like most big news these days, the announcement came courtesy of Twitter.

On March 15, just a day before all restaurants and bars temporarily shuttered due to the coronavirus, Coaches Bar & Grill tweeted a customer’s receipt. The bill came to $29.75, but scribbled on the line reading “Tip” was a stunning figure: $2,500, accompanied by a request to split the money among workers at the Bethel Road watering hole. The big tipper has remained anonymous, but we can safely say that he or she cared enough about Coaches employees to help them stay solvent during these difficult times.

photos: top, Joshua A. Bickel; bottom, courtesy NVMM

When the National Veterans Memorial and Museum eventually reopens, consider visiting the Scioto Peninsula attraction close to sunset. That’s when the Remembrance Gallery on the mezzanine really comes to life. Natural light shines through the west-facing, floor-toceiling stained glass, creating a spectacular, multicolored display.

Stay-atHome Hero

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Suburban Span

photo: Rob hardin

photos: top, Joshua A. Bickel; bottom, courtesy NVMM

A soaring, swerving, S-shaped bridge across the Scioto—the namesake of Dublin’s new Bridge Park development—was finally completed in March. Three years and $22.6 million in the making, it links the new Riverside Crossing Park on both banks for walkers, runners and cyclists. The bridge, which is suspended from a 169-foot-high tower, is touted by the city as the world’s tallest single-tower S-shaped bridge. It’s also the only one.

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Aro un d Town Co-owned by Sharon Anderson of Gahanna and Jenn Crank of Pataskala’s IncrediPaws training center, P!nk is the only three-time champ of the dog show’s agility competition, dominating the 16-inch division since 2018. She also won the 2020 overall title, a first for any 16-incher, according to Crank. “She just has an incredible intensity and work ethic unlike any other dog I’ve seen before,” Crank says.

Horrifying Photo

It’s been an extraordinary year for protest photography, from the face-to-face confrontation between angry anti-lockdown resisters and stoic masked police officers inside the Michigan State Capitol to a lone man carrying an upside-down American flag silhouetted against a burning Minneapolis liquor store. But if pure virality is the judging criterion, perhaps nothing can top Columbus Dispatch photographer Joshua A. Bickel’s shot of a motley crew of protesters against stay-athome orders, pressed against the windows of the Ohio Statehouse like the zombies of “Dawn of the Dead.” Comedian Patton Oswalt summed up the online appeal in a one-word retweet: “BRAINS!!!”

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Pandemic Pivot: IC3D During the pandemic, businesses and manufacturers coast to coast adjusted to making things they would have never anticipated.

Who would have guessed that Brooks Brothers would turn out masks in addition to blazers? Closer to home, IC3D Printers— which, during normal times, primarily serves the automotive industry by printing lowvolume parts—shifted to making personal protective equipment when demand for its usual products plummeted. After adapting its facility and converting its desktop 3D printers, IC3D teamed with over 175 outside groups with 3D printers to produce 36,000 face shields in 60 days. The company isn’t pivoting back anytime soon, currently planning to print “retro fittings” for high-touch surfaces, like doorknobs, using antimicrobial plastics. “In these uncertain times, adaptability is key to thriving as a business,” says founder and CEO Michael Cao.

photos: clockwise from top left, tim johnson; rob hardin; joshua A. bickel

Above, agility dog P!nk with co-owner Jenn Crank; below, protesters at the Ohio Statehouse

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6/11/20 2:32 PM

art s & en terta i n me n t

The mural created by Catalyst Columbus

For its first project, Catalyst Columbus, a nonprofit founded by artist Mandi Caskey and real estate developer Brian Suiter, turned an abandoned highway overpass south of Downtown into a massive piece of life-affirming public art. Over the course of six days, Caskey and a team of other artists painted a 400-footlong mural on top of the bridge. Though it’s hard to view unless you’re a bird or a drone, the coronavirus-inspired mural consists of a giant bubble surrounding the words “We Are Stronger Together,” a message of encouragement for these difficult days. photos: top, Justin-Paul Villanueve; bottom, rob hardin

photos: clockwise from top left, tim johnson; rob hardin; joshua A. bickel

Artistic Affirmation

Endurance Test

In late March, after the pandemic cost Joe Peppercorn two jobs, the musician decided to livestream an online benefit concert from his house in the style of his annual Beatles Marathon, which features every official Fab Four song in chronological order. With a little help from his friends—three accompanied him through a window—Sgt. Peppercorn played all 214 songs in 12 hours, racking up more than 48,000 views. His highlight?

Getting to sing tunes from Abbey Road with his kids.

NFL Draft Cameo

Playing a pop song from their homes for the NFL draft was a departure for a group more often heard playing Bach at the Southern, but in the can-do spirit of the pandemic, ProMusica Chamber Orchestra was quick to accept the invitation from “Hamilton” star Leslie Odom Jr. The musicians accompanied the singer virtually from across the U.S. on “You’ll Never Walk Alone” and were featured in the national telecast April 25.

Joe Peppercorn

Stay-atHome Hero Curbside Concerts Don’t let anyone tell you that live music is on hold in Columbus. Curbside Concerts—presented by the Columbus Foundation and Can’t Stop Columbus—fields requests from area seniors for local musicians, who show up in a pickup truck to perform in their guests’ driveway or an otherwise safe social distance. The ingenious idea is a win-win for the musicians (who are compensated for their efforts) and for the audiences, who get a taste of real, live performances during these strange times.

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6/11/20 12:21 PM

art s & en terta i n me n t Skyview Drive-In

Cinematic Revival

Pandemic Pivot: Amber Falter

At its best, stand-up comedy goes something like this: Comic tells joke, audience responds appreciatively, comic ratchets up the humor, audience ratchets up its response. So what are comics to do when that relationship breaks down, when a pandemic prevents them from testing out material before live audiences? If you’re Amber Falter, you aggressively take your act to virtual platforms—and the results are not only funny but offer a decent approximation of the real experience. Falter can hear laughs if Zoom listeners turn off mute, and tips can be sent via Venmo. There are even some unexpected advantages to going online, as she told Columbus Monthly in April: “I don’t have to worry about taking a Lyft home if I get too drunk afterwards.”

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The Last Cruze by LaToya Ruby Frazier at the Wexner Center

V i rt ua l M us e um s When the pandemic forced them to close, Central Ohio museums opened their collections and resources to virtual visitors, offering a variety of online tours, exhibitions, classes and more.

Columbus Museum of Art After making the rounds in New York and Miami, Art After Stonewall, 1969–1989, a groundbreaking exhibition organized by the CMA, finally arrived in Central Ohio in March, just in time for the coronavirus to interrupt its three-month run. But don’t fret. You can still see a virtual version of the exhibition on the CMA’s website, as well as YouTube videos from curator Tyler Cann highlighting pieces from the show. columbusmuseum.org Ohio History Center Even historical reenactors are getting tech savvy during the pandemic. With Ohio Village forced to delay its opening this year, the re-created 19th-century

community and its residents went online, creating a series of YouTube videos called the Ohio Village Gossip Tour, hosted by “Mayor O’Fallon.” ohiohistory.org The Wexner Center for the Arts Covid-19 closures prevented Wexner Center senior curator Michael Goodson from delivering his scheduled gallery talk in March about The Last Cruze, LaToya Ruby Frazier’s exhibition on the closing of the GM plant in Lordstown, Ohio. As an alternative, Goodson narrated an online walk-

Ohio Village

ing tour of the exhibition, sharing insights and behind-the-scenes tidbits about Frazier’s work. wexarts.org Franklin Park Conservatory The conservatory features a host of online offerings, including virtual tours, exhibitions and classes.

You can even download Zoom backgrounds featuring images of the Rainforest Biome, the John F. Wolfe Palm House and the blooming flowers in the Grand Mallway to add some natural splendor to your next video meeting. fpconservatory.org

photos: clockwise from top left, tim johnson; Fred Squillante; Jonathan Quilter; tim johnson

After decades of decline, drive-in movie theaters became the only cinematic game in town in early May when state officials allowed them to reopen before their indoor counterparts. Even though Columbus’ South Drive-In Theatre and Lancaster’s Skyview Drive-In have social distancing built into their business models, they’ve still adapted to our pandemic times, decreasing occupancy and adding online ticket sales and protective barriers in their concession stands. They also now face a bit more competition, with places like Easton and the Ohio History Center putting together new drivein film programs this summer.

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6/11/20 12:22 PM

Airborne Art

photo: tim johnson

photos: clockwise from top left, tim johnson; Fred Squillante; Jonathan Quilter; tim johnson

Visitors to Schiller Park and several other Columbus locations this winter were treated to a unique high-wire installation: graceful sculptures of athletes and acrobats balancing overhead with spectacular poise, gently wobbling and floating in the breeze. The exhibition, Suspension:Â Balancing Art, Nature, and Culture, by Polish artist Jerzy Kedziora, was brought to Columbus by the Friends of Schiller Park.

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6/11/20 3:07 PM

fo o d & d r i n k Addition to the North Market

Rolling with the Times

Back when shelves were bare of toilet paper, savvy shoppers found another way to score the precious commodity: by ordering carryout. With no dine-in customers to use their stock, Barley’s Brewing Co. sent out a roll with each online order; Lindey’s did the same, adding a fancy sticker. Fusian began taking orders for TP rolls along with sushi rolls, while Bexley Premier Restaurant offered a more fragrant enticement: free flowers with brunch on Mother’s Day.

Pandemic Pivot: The Refectory Restaurant & Wine Shop Sole meunière prepared tableside and immaculate service aren’t easily shoehorned into a carryout model. Until this year’s pandemic, the French fine dining restaurant had never offered takeout service in its more than 20-year history. While some establishments struggled to make the pivot to carryout, owner Kamal Boulos and chef Richard Blondin (above) pulled off the unthinkable: The Refectory Home Dinners. The meals, carefully packaged with instructions for warming at home, give customers a reason to dust off the good plates for a change. Boulos has even posted DIY videos, such as how to plate the restaurant’s roast duck breast just so.

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G l oba l C ui s i n e s Yo u Ne e d t o T ry R ig ht N ow Restaurants are struggling amid the pandemic, and many immigrant-owned businesses don’t have the kind of marketing heft that big brands wield, a way of reminding homebound customers that, “Hey, we’re still here.” Now is the perfect time to support some of Central Ohio’s hidden gems, many tucked away in nondescript strip malls. Here are three less-familiar global cuisines that you should order right now.

Some of the most satisfying food in town is being served at Yemeni Restaurant, a North Side spot owned by Najmeddine Gabbar. Chicken, lamb and beef are the primary proteins here. For a traditional starter, try the shafoot, a combination of yogurt, bread, cucumbers and honey. For entrées, go with a lamb dish such as haneeth or mandi, both served with aromatic rice.

The city has a wonderful, family-run Salvadoran restaurant in Ranchero Kitchen on Morse Road, where they serve the national dish of El Salvador, the addictive cheese-filled flatbread known as pupusa.

Four miles to the north on East Dublin-Granville Road is a food truck called Pupuseria Villeda where you can also find the delicacy.

Finally, the city’s only Afghan restaurant, Kabob Shack, can be found on Cemetery Road in a Hilliard strip mall. Don’t miss the kebab entrées and especially the traditional Afghan dumplings known as mantu.

From top, lamb mandi and fahsa from Yemeni Restaurant; pupusas from Ranchero Kitchen; mantu from Kabob Shack

photos: clockwise from top right, Tessa Berg; Rob Hardin; tim johnson; Tyler Stabile; Rob Hardin

Any doubt about whether North Market customers would embrace Somali cuisine has been smashed. Hoyo’s Kitchen, a family-run eatery that joined the market last year, has won over new fans and garnered a raft of national media attention for its positively addictive comfort food and hospitality, courtesy of brothers Abdilahi and Mohamed Hassan and their mother, Hayat Dalmar. Pass the goat suqaar and ginger chai.

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photo: tim johnson

photos: clockwise from top right, Tessa Berg; Rob Hardin; tim johnson; Tyler Stabile; Rob Hardin

Left to right, Abdilahi and Mohamed Hassan of Hoyo’s Kitchen

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BE S T TA KE O UT a n d D E L I V E RY B I N G O Running out of carryout ideas? Let our bingo card—filled with some of the best to-go and delivery options around town—inspire your next order. If you complete a row, shout “BINGO!” to anyone within earshot and tag us on Instagram @columbusmonthly with the proof.

B I N G O A loaf or two of sourdough from Dan the Baker

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Cocktails from the Curio Vintage Collection at The Daily Growler

Boodle Night from Bonifacio

Jerk chicken from Ena’s Caribbean Kitchen

Beer delivery or carryout from a local craft brewery

Something fancy from The Refectory

Fresh seafood delivery from Coastal Local Seafood

The Kati Roll and Basque cheesecake from Service Bar

OG Loaded Nachos from Woodhouse Vegan

Bronuts from Cravings Café

F ree Pad thai from Bangkok Grocery & Restaurant

Fried chicken from Ambrose and Eve

Torta mixto from La Super Torta

Egg sandwich from The Lox Bagel Shop

The vegetarian combo (hummus, tabbouleh and falafel) from Lavash Café

Lamb mandi from Yemeni Restaurant

Wine delivery from Hausfrau Haven, Veritas or Coast Wine House

At least one Columbusstyle pizza

Gnocchi al forno from La Tavola

Burgers from Flavor 91 Bistro

Biang biang noodles from Jiu Thai

Ramen from Meshikou or Fukuryu

photos: istock.com/ kate_sun (grill); saemilee (Bread, donut); LokFung (wine, burger); etse1112 (ramen); ; cat_arch_angel (fish)

Patacon and tres leches from Arepazo

Barbecue from B&K Smoke House or Ray Ray’s Hog Pit

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6/11/20 4:04 PM

fo o d & dri n k Stay-atHome Hero Service!

When the pandemic hammered their restaurants in March, veteran chefs Sangeeta Lakhani and Matthew Heaggans decided to do what they do best: feed people. The pair concocted an idea to offer free meals daily to unemployed hospitality workers.

Joined by Bake Me Happy co-owner Letha Pugh, industry veteran Reed Woogerd and chef Catie Randazzo, they founded their nonprofit, Service!, in late March. By mid-May, the organization had distributed more than 8,000 meals. The pandemic has forced the chefs to make tough personal decisions as well. Heaggans has left Ambrose and Eve, the restaurant he co-founded with Randazzo, and Lakhani has decided to sell The Table, the Short North restaurant she co-founded.

Way to Enhance Your Zoom Happy Hour

photos: top, KARLI MOORE PHOTOGRAPHY; bottom, erin edwards

photos: istock.com/ kate_sun (grill); saemilee (Bread, donut); LokFung (wine, burger); etse1112 (ramen); ; cat_arch_angel (fish)

A charcuterie kit from North Country

When virtual happy hours became one of our social distancing coping mechanisms, North Country Charcuterie began offering charcuterie kits that will make you the envy of your book club. The new kits, which can be ordered online and ship nationwide, include North Country’s own handmade salami as well as Ohio-made artisanal products like fruit preserves from Black Radish Creamery and honey from Latshaw Apiaries.

Dinners for Adventurous Diners

A Trust Fall dinner from Estilo Brazil

When Columbus Food Adventures was forced to sideline its restaurant tours because of the pandemic, founders Bethia Woolf (a Columbus Monthly contributor) and her husband, Andy Dehus, launched Trust Fall, a new way

for diners to explore our diverse food scene. For $40, a “mystery” dinner for two is delivered to your home, ranging from authentic Chinese noodles to Brazilian-style ribs. The mystery meals will continue for the foreseeable future.

Beer Trend

Hoppy IPAs continue to dominate the Columbus craft beer scene, but lagers and other quaffable Germanstyle brews are gaining traction—beer that Gemüt Biergarten co-owner Kyle Hofmeister fondly calls “something yellow and cold.” Gemüt opened last summer, specializing in beer styles like helles, kolsch and hefeweizen.

Joining it this year are two other Bavarian-style breweries: 1487 Brewery in Plain City and Edison Brewing Co. in Gahanna.

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6/11/20 4:02 PM

G o o ds & serv i c es Trollish Marketing

These days, the No. 1 rule of viral marketing for brands seems to be dragging a competitor.

Columbus-based Value City Furniture jumped on that bandwagon by announcing Feb. 1 as National #DumpYourHex Day—referring to the hex keys, also known as allen wrenches, that often come with build-it-yourself furniture from stores like Ikea. Customers could exchange their hex keys to receive $150 off their purchase of $999 or more. The impetus?

A VCF survey in which more than half of Ameri-

Experimental Shopping Zone

Pandemic Tributes

We’re not sure why anyone would want to remember Covid-19, but those who want to honor Gov. Mike DeWine and former Ohio Department of Health director Dr. Amy Acton’s efforts to flatten the curve have a number of quirky options: a “Not All Heroes Wear Capes” shirt from Homage; a bobblehead of ASL interpreter Marla Berkowitz, who went viral for her expressive signing during DeWine’s daily press briefings; and even wine glasses emblazoned with the city’s new mantra for said press briefings: Wine with DeWine.

Stay-atHome Hero Anita Gastaldo Thanks to proactive planning and a devoted customer base, Anita Gastaldo, owner of Sew to Speak, has donated more than 1,000 masks to health care workers in Central Ohio.

Gastaldo began encouraging her customers to make masks not long after Gov. Mike DeWine issued the stay-athome order. Sew to Speak’s doors may have closed (temporarily), but that didn’t stop its customers from showing the Worthington business major love while supporting Gastaldo’s goal to get masks in the hands of those who need them most. March was the store’s best sales month in its 12-year history, thanks to the heavy discounts Gastaldo offered on mask-making supplies. “I’m not surprised at my customers,” she says.

“They’re such wonderful, giving people.”

photos: top, courtesy Homage; bottom, tim johnson

At Easton Town Center, new retailers are, well, nothing new. But one shopping experience is setting itself apart: Experimental storefront Shop/ Lab allows international and online brands to test a brick-and-mortar location in the shopping and lifestyle center’s main building. Easton provides analytical tools, adaptable fixtures and even staffing for tenants, which have included Orlandobased Rock ’Em Socks and Italian leather goods retailer Campo Marzio. The current occupant, handbag and accessory shop R. Riveter, arrived in February; Easton leadership hopes it will stay in the space for about a year.

cans admitted to arguing with a significant other while assembling such furniture.

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Neighborhood for Desperate Bookworms

MORSE RD

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E. COOKE RD

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9 E. NORTH BROADWAY

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photos: top, Columbus Monthly screenshot; bottom, istock.com/izhairguns; map, betsy becker

NTA

photos: top, courtesy Homage; bottom, tim johnson

OLE

When stay-home orders took effect in March, Kasey Conyers of Orchard Lane Flowers in Clintonville saw a majority of her business wither as weddings were canceled or postponed. Thinking quickly, Conyers put together a virtual floral-arranging workshop based on in-person versions that she’d been conducting in her shop and at The Athletic Club of Columbus for the last two years. The first, on April 18, was well attended by both locals and out-oftowners, some from as far away as Florida.

“I love how 30 of us can be together on Zoom, and I can see what everybody’s creating and how similar and how different they look,” she says. More of the hourlong workshops are scheduled for July and August; visit orchardlaneflowers.com for info and to sign up.

1. 641 E. Lincoln Ave. 2. 418 E. Weisheimer Road 3. 67 Indian Springs Drive 4. 46 Fallis Road 5. 310 Richards Road 6. 486 Richards Road 7. 90 Glencoe Road 8. 500 Brevoort Road 9. 216 Oakland Park Ave. 10. 510 E. North Broadway 11. 3199 Indianola Ave. 12. 598 E. Como Ave. 13. 3083 Woodbine Place 14. 141 Walhalla Road

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Pandemic Pivot: Orchard Lane Flowers

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INDIANOLA AVE

Let’s be honest: Girl Scout Cookies basically sell themselves. But Westerville’s Amory Vargo, age 9, wanted to give herself an extra edge, so she wrote and starred in a parody video of “Truth Hurts” by Grammynominated singer Lizzo. “Yeah, I got some S’mores, that’s the Girl Scout in me / Chaching, I sell ’em, now I’m going camping,” she sings in the 88-second video. Shots include Vargo lounging among packages of cookies and even appearing in a Lizzo-esque fur coat before dancing to the outro, beaming.

N. HIGH STREET

Viral Cookie Video

When the pandemic forced all the traditional libraries to close, the residents of Clintonville still had plenty of options for free books, comics and magazines. The North Side neighborhood is lousy with little libraries, boasting more of the small wooden boxes filled with free reading materials than any other neighborhood or community in Central Ohio, according to the Little Free Library website. The book exchanges have been around for years, but they’ve experienced a resurgence across the country during the coronavirus crisis, according to a recent Associated Press story. Here’s where you can find some of them in Clintonville; this isn’t a comprehensive list, so have fun exploring the neighborhood to find more on your own.

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6/11/20 3:36 PM

G o o ds & serv i c es

T.Y. Fine Furniture, Solid Wood Apollo Desk, starting at $2,799

King Business Interiors Inc., Haworth Ergotron Monitor Arm, price upon request

Fortin Ironworks, Suburb Wall Plaque, $165

We’ve scoured the city and beyond to come up with some of the products that will aid your work-fromhome situation in coming months.

(Experts say the remote workplace isn’t going anywhere soon.) Our recommendations? If you haven’t already done so, get a comfortable chair, a decent desk and establish your own corner office suite.

Botanical wallpaper is optional.

King Business Interiors Inc., Haworth UMA Audio Lantern + Table Light, price upon request

Wallsauce.com, Sir Edward Botanicals Wallpaper, $5.76/sq. ft. (starting price for any pattern) 44

Elm & Iron, Brass Desk Lamp with Wood Base, $119

King Business Interiors Inc., Phone Stand, price upon request

Elm & Iron, Teagan Desk Chair, starting at $449

photos: courtesy TY Fine Furnishings; king business interiors inc.; fortin ironworks; elm & iron; wallsauce.com

Hom e O f f i c e Upg r a d e s

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6/11/20 4:19 PM

sp o rts Parting Shots

Just before sports disappeared indefinitely, Columbus was treated to one glorious day of big wins. Just past noon on March 1, the Crew kicked off the season with a 1-0 victory on a bending shot by new acquisition Lucas Zelarayán. Later that day, the Ohio State men’s basketball team triumphed 77-63 over archrival Michigan. In the nightcap, the Blue Jackets rallied for a 5-3 win to move into a tie for the first wild card playoff spot.

Athletic Heirs

If the names Nyah Funderburke and Sakima Walker sound familiar, it’s likely because both have fathers who turned local basketball stardom into NBA careers. Now, the daughters of Lawrence Funderburke and Samaki Walker are making names for themselves. Sakima, a

photos: top, Maddie Schroeder; bottom, Kyle Robertson

photos: courtesy TY Fine Furnishings; king business interiors inc.; fortin ironworks; elm & iron; wallpapersauce.com

Stay-atHome Hero

highly recruited senior standout on Africentric’s girls basketball team, will play college ball at Rutgers, and Nyah has taken her talents to the pool, where the junior won state titles in the 100-yard butterfly and backstroke for the Columbus School for Girls.

Coaching Moment

When freshman phenom D.J. Carton cited his mental health in stepping away from the OSU men’s basketball team, head coach Chris Holtmann was his loudest advocate. At a press conference, Holtmann thanked supportive fans and kissed off the few knuckle-draggers. “You can take your antiquated thinking somewhere else,” he told them. In the time since, Holtmann has continued speaking publicly about the increase he’s seen in players struggling with mental health in recent years.

OSU basketball coach Chris Holtmann with D.J. Carton (right)

Columbus Africentric’s Sakima Walker (left) blocks an opponent

Chris Spielman The former Ohio State star raised $40,000 for Covid-19 relief during a monthlong eBay auction of memorabilia from his college and NFL days.

Though Spielman wasn’t the only ex-Buckeye to step up during the pandemic—others include Denzel Ward, who picked up the expenses of 21 unemployed service workers and small business owners, and Sam Hubbard, who led a campaign that raised nearly $90,000 for the Freestore Foodbank in Cincinnati—the ex-linebacker does get bonus points for also keeping us entertained while in quarantine. In a series of tongue-in-cheek online videos filmed inside his Upper Arlington home, Spielman teaches football fundamentals with the help of his daughters, his wife and the occasional odd prop (a roll of toilet paper in a clip about the art of stripping a football).

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6/11/20 12:23 PM

sp o rts Fac e o ff: Elv i s e s

J.K. Dobbins during the OSU/Michigan football game

Elvis has entered the building, and Blue Jackets fans couldn’t be happier. The team’s rookie goaltender, a 26-year-old Latvian named Elvis Merzlikins, has impressed with his freewheeling style, on-ice success and enthusiasm—and his rock ’n’ roll moniker doesn’t hurt. Merzlikins’ late father was a big fan of The King, and though his son doesn’t sing, he’s already got an arena chanting his name.

Wolverine Slayer

Draft Trifecta

The top three picks in this year’s NFL Draft—Joe Burrow, Chase Young and Jeff Okudah—were all former Buckeyes, a first for any school in the modern era. Ohio State’s feat comes with an asterisk as Burrow transferred to LSU in 2018, but he’s an honorary Buckeye for life.

Elvis Merzlikins Biggest inspiration: Martin Brodeur, the NHL Hall of Famer and New Jersey Devil from 1991 to 2014, who has more regular season wins than any goaltender in history Favorite Elvis songs: “A Little Less Conversation” and “Viva Las Vegas” Hobbies: Playing Playstation, hiking up mountains or driving through nature in Switzerland, where he played pro hockey before coming to Columbus Favorite dance move: The Moonwalk

Pandemic Pivot: A Virtual Marathon

Michelle Amos, who had planned to run the Rite Aid Cleveland Marathon—her first—with several friends on May 17, wasn’t deterred when the race was canceled in late March. Registered runners had the option to defer to 2021 or 2022, or to race virtually between April 15 and May 17. So, on May 2, Amos ran a carefully planned route from her Lewis Center home to Westerville and back, finishing at a park near her house in just under four hours—her goal time for the original marathon. Her husband provided car support, refilling her water supply as needed, and friends and neighbors joined Amos for portions of the run. The last 100 meters had an extra-special companion: Amos’ 5-year-old son.

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Connection to Richard Nixon: Merzlikins was born April 13, 1994, nine days before the disgraced president’s death.

Big-screen avatar: If there’s ever a movie made about his life, he’d like to be played by Leonardo DiCaprio.

Highlight of 2019–20: His first NHL shutout, a 1-0 victory over the Vegas Golden Knights in January

Elvis Presley Biggest inspiration: The blues of Beale Street in Memphis, the country of the Grand Ole Opry, the gospel of his youth Favorite Elvis songs: Internet research suggests he particularly liked “Don’t Be Cruel” and “It’s Now or Never,” but Presley never heard Junkie XL’s remix of “A Little Less Conversation.”

Hobbies: Rollercoasters, karate, football, racquetball and watching movies, according to graceland.com Favorite dance move: The one Ed Sullivan wouldn’t show, which the defunct Columbus Citizen newspaper once referred to as “bump and grind” Connection to Richard Nixon: On Dec. 21, 1970, Presley went to the White House to meet Nixon, who granted The King’s request for a badge from the Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs.

Big-screen avatar: The Baz Luhrmann biopic “Elvis,” currently slated for November 2021, stars Austin Butler, whose most notable role was playing Tex Watson in “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.”

Highlight of 2019–20: Claiming the No. 2 spot on Forbes’ list of moneymaking dead celebrities

photos: clockwise from top left, Kyle Robertson; dispatch file (2); istock.com/enjoynz; courtesy michelle amos

In November, two Michigan defenders were so desperate to stop OSU running back J.K. Dobbins that they untied and removed his shoe after a tackle. Their efforts proved futile, as Dobbins became the latest Buckeye to trample the Wolverines, totaling 260 yards and four touchdowns. It was the pinnacle of the greatest rushing season in school history, as Dobbins finished 2019 with 2,003 yards and 21 touchdowns. Hot take: He’s OSU’s best back ever. Debate amongst yourselves.

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6/11/20 12:24 PM

read er s’ p ol l Food & Drink Best African Restaurant 1 Hoyo’s Kitchen 27.90% 2 Addis Restaurant 15.50% 3 Wycliff’s Kitchen 14.20%

Best Bar Food 1 101 Beer Kitchen 14.10% 2 The Rusty Bucket 13.80% 3 Old Bag of Nails 11.60%

photos: clockwise from top left, Kyle Robertson; dispatch file (2); istock.com/enjoynz; courtesy michelle amos

Best Barbecue 1 City Barbeque 37.10% 2 Ray Ray’s Hog Pit 29.20% 3 Smoked on High Barbeque Co. 7.20%

Best Beer Selection 1 101 Beer Kitchen 18.20% 2 The Daily Growler 12.40% 3 World of Beer 12.00% Best Breakfast 1 First Watch 14.70% 2 Katalina’s 10.50% 3 Hang Over Easy 8.00% Best Brunch 1 Northstar Café 20.40% 2 Lindey’s 13.20% 3 Matt the Miller’s Tavern 11.90% Best Burger 1 Thurman Café 28.20% 2 Northstar Café 15.30% 3 Pat and Gracie’s 8.40% Best Cheap Eats 1 Condado Tacos 37.90% 2 Dirty Frank’s Hot Dog Palace 20.70% 3 Press Grill/Press Pub 10.60% Best Chinese Restaurant 1 Hunan Lion 19.50%

2 Sunflower Chinese Restaurant 15.00% 3 Hunan House 12.60% Best Classic Bakery 1 Resch’s 29.30% 2 Mozart’s 18.90% 3 The Original Goodie Shop 17.30% Best Classic Pizza 1 Tommy’s Pizza 16.90% 2 Mikey’s Late Night Slice 13.90% 3 Adriatico’s 11.30%

Best Cocktails 1 Watershed Kitchen & Bar 11.80% 2 M at Miranova 10.40% 3 High Bank Distillery 9.20% Best Coffee Shop 1 Fox in the Snow Café 27.60% 2 Stauf’s Coffee Roasters 24.30% 3 Crimson Cup Coffee 10.10% Best Comfort Food Restaurant 1 Cap City Fine Diner 31.70% 2 Hot Chicken Takeover 19.30% 3 Starliner Diner 7.80% 3 Tommy’s Diner 7.80% Best Deli 1 Katzinger’s Deli 51.80% 2 Brown Bag Deli 14.90% 3 Block’s Bagels 13.60%

Best Desserts 1 Pistacia Vera 32.10% 2 Cap City Fine Diner 24.40% 3 Mozart’s 12.60%

Best Diner 1 Tommy’s Diner 16.70% 2 Starliner Diner 15.90% 3 DK Diner 13.70%

Best Doughnut 1 Buckeye Donuts 25.80% 2 DK Diner 11.30% 3 Duck Donuts 10.80%

Best Fast-Casual 1 Brassica 21.60% 2 Bibibop 16.10% 3 P iada Italian Street Food 14.80%

Best Food Truck 1 Street Thyme 10.30% 2 Junior’s Tacos 8.00% 3 Paddy Wagon 7.60%

Best Gourmet Pizza 1 Harvest Pizzeria 28.20% 2 Dewey’s 15.80% 3 Natalie’s Coal-Fired Pizza 14.40%

Best Happy Hour 1 Lindey’s 19.00% 2 Forno 14.30% 3 Marcella’s 10.50% Best Himalayan/ Nepalese Restaurant 1 Momo Ghar 50.90% 2 Everest Cuisine 21.30% 3 Himalayan Grille 17.50%

Best Ice Cream 1 Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams 37.40% 2 Graeter’s Ice Cream 33.20% 3 Johnson’s Real Ice Cream 10.00%

Best Indian Restaurant 1 Aab India 39.20% 2 Indian Oven 13.10% 3 Amul India 9.10%

Best Italian Restaurant 1 Z Cucina 13.60% 2 Marcella’s 12.60% 3 Basi Italia 8.50%

Best Kids Menu 1 Rusty Bucket 21.10% 2 Cap City Fine Diner 15.40% 3 Northstar Café 12.00%

Best Korean Restaurant 1 Gogi Korean BBQ 35.50% 2 Min Ga Korean Restaurant 28.90% 3 Diaspora 15.10%

Best Late-Night Eats 1 Mikey’s Late Night Slice 38.30% 2 Dirty Frank’s Hot Dog Palace 17.10% 3 Press Grill/Press Pub 10.20%

Best Latin American Restaurant 1 Arepazo 51.30% 2 Si Senor Peruvian Sandwiches & More 13.10% 3 Plantain Café 10.40% (CLOSED)

Best Mediterranean/Middle Eastern Restaurant 1 Mr. Hummus Grill 24.40% 2 Lavash Café 10.60% 3 Brassica 9.80%

Best Mexican Restaurant 1 El Vaquero 31.80% 2 Los Guachos 13.80% 3 Cuco’s Taqueria 9.40% Best Modern Bakery 1 Fox in the Snow Café 28.10% 2 Pistacia Vera 25.50% 3 Pattycake Bakery 8.70%

Best Patio 1 Lindey’s 29.40% 2 Barcelona 18.80% 3 Milestone 229 17.80%

Best Romantic Restaurant 1 The Refectory 14.80% 2 Lindey’s 13.20% 3 Basi Italia 11.30%

Best Rooftop Patio 1 Lincoln Social Rooftop 21.90%

2 Vaso 20.70% 3 BrewDog Franklinton 14.00%

Best Sandwiches 1 Katzinger’s Deli 45.20% 2 Brown Bag Deli 19.00% 3 Northstar Café 12.00%

Best Seafood 1 Mitchell’s Ocean Club 33.60% 2 Columbus Fish Market 18.10% 3 The Pearl 15.50%

Best Spot for Plant-Based Dining 1 Northstar Café 44.90% 2 Comune 15.50% 3 Little Eater 8.10% Best Steakhouse 1 The Top Steak House 30.40% 2 Hyde Park Prime Steakhouse 21.80% 3 The Avenue Steak Tavern 10.80%

Best Sushi 1 Akai Hana 33.80% 2 Mr. Sushi 14.80% 3 Moshi Sushi Bar 6.90% Best Tacos 1 Condado Tacos 34.40% 2 Los Guachos 19.80% 3 Local Cantina 17.10%

Best Thai Restaurant 1 Lemongrass 25.00% 2 Basil 18.10% 3 Nida’s Thai on High 16.90%

Best Vietnamese Restaurant 1 Buckeye Pho 31.20% 2 Lan Viet Market 21.50% 3 Indochine Café 13.50%

Best Wine Bar 1 Cooper’s Hawk Winery & Restaurant 19.90%

2 The Wine Bistro 18.90% 3 Spagio Wine Lounge 13.90%

Best Wings 1 Roosters 44.10% 2 Gallo’s Tap Room 10.30% 3 Winking Lizard 8.30%

Out & About Best Bar for Music 1 Natalie’s Coal-Fired Pizza and Live Music 33.00% 2 Woodlands Tavern 18.20% 3 Skully’s Music-Diner 11.90%

Best Bowling Alley 1 P ins Mechanical Co. 31.00% 2 Ten Pin Alley 20.00% 3C olumbus Square Bowling Palace 14.80%

Best Concert Venue 1 Express Live 15.80% 2 Newport Music Hall 14.20% 3 Ohio Theatre 11.90%

Best Farmers Market 1 Worthington 41.00% 2 North Market 22.60% 3 Clintonville 19.90%

Best Festival 1 Columbus Arts Festival 22.70% 2D ublin Irish Festival 14.30% 3 ComFest 12.80%

Best Fitness Studio 1 Orangetheory Fitness 22.60% 2 Title Boxing Club 12.80% 3 System of Strength 11.50%

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read er s’ p ol l Best Gallery 1 Hawk Galleries 16.50% 2 Urban Arts Space 12.50% 3 Studios on High Gallery 10.80% Best Gym 1 YMCA 17.80% 2 Planet Fitness 17.00% 3 Life Time Fitness 14.40% Best LGBT Bar/Club 1 Union Café 41.10% 2 Axis 13.50% 3 Daddy’s 12.10%

Best Local Band 1 Twenty One Pilots 39.20% 2 MojoFlo 12.80% 3 Caamp 12.30%

Best Local Musician 1 Bobby Floyd 31.10% 2 Angela Perley 14.20% 3 Tony Monaco 10.40%

Best Movie Theater 1 Marcus Crosswoods Cinema 16.60% 2 AMC Dublin 15.10% 3 The Drexel 14.70%

Best Museum 1 Columbus Museum of Art 37.10% 2 COSI 28.70% 3 Ohio History Center 12.60% Best Parade 1 Doo Dah 34.10% 2 Stonewall Columbus Pride Parade 24.60% 3 Upper Arlington Fourth of July 19.50%

Best Park 1 Highbanks 20.40% 2 Columbus Park of Roses 14.00% 3 Schiller Park 9.20%

Best Place for a Kid’s Birthday Party 1 Tree of Life Play + Café 14.80% 48

2 Magic Mountain 12.20% 3 The Chiller 10.90%

Best Place for a Party 1P ins Mechanical Co. 31.60% 2D ueling Axes 29.90% 3 Topgolf 19.70%

Best Place to Take Out-of-Towners 1C olumbus Zoo and Aquarium 26.60% 2 Short North 18.00% 3 North Market 11.60%

Best Public Art 1 Scioto Lounge deer sculptures 22.30% 2 “ Field of Corn,” Dublin 20.00% 3 Goodale Park elephant fountain 17.20% Best Running/ Walking or Biking Event 1 Pelotonia 35.70% 2 Nationwide Children’s Hospital Marathon & Half Marathon 23.10% 3 Cap City Half Marathon 12.40%

Best Spa 1 Woodhouse Day Spa 29.10% 2 Penzone Salon + Spas 22.10% 3 The Spa at River Ridge 17.20%

Best Sports Bar 1 Roosters 23.50% 2 Urban Meyer’s Pint House 18.30% 3 Gallo’s Tap Room 12.50% Best Taproom 1 Wolf’s Ridge Brewing 16.90% 2 Seventh Son Brewing 15.80% 3 BrewDog Franklinton 15.20%

Best Yoga Studio 1 Yoga on High 29.30%

2 Modo Yoga 15.70% 3 GoYoga 12.00%

People & Places Best Blue Jackets Player 1 Nick Foligno 31.20% 2 Seth Jones 20.30% 3 Cam Atkinson 13.50% Best Buckeyes Football Player 1 Justin Fields 61.10% 2 Chris Olave 14.80% 3 Master Teague III 9.00% Best Chef 1 Richard Blondin, The Refectory Restaurant & Wine Shop 23.40% 2 Catie Randazzo and Matthew Heaggans, Ambrose and Eve 18.30% 3 Seth Lassak, Wolf’s Ridge Brewing 12.20%

Best Crew Player 1 Pedro Santos 30.80% 2 Gyasi Zardes 22.00% 3 Sebastian Berhalter 20.80% Best Female TV Anchor 1 Colleen Marshall, NBC4 27.80% 2 Yolanda Harris, 10TV 26.40% 3 Monica Day, NBC4 17.60%

Best Male TV Anchor 1 Matt Barnes, NBC4 32.50% 2 Kurt Ludlow, ABC6/FOX28 19.00% 3 Bob Kendrick, ABC6/FOX28 18.50%

Best Radio Morning Show 1 Dave and Jimmy, 97.9 WNCI 23.50% 2 Woody & The Wake-Up Call, 92.3 WCOL 20.70% 3 Brian Phillips, CD102.5 14.80% Best Radio Station 1 89.7 WOSU 16.50% 2 CD102.5 15.50% 3 WNCI 97.9 13.00% Best Talk Radio Personality 1 Ann Fisher, 89.7 WOSU 26.20% 2 Anthony Rothman, 97.1 The Fan 26.20% 3 Mike Ricordati “The Common Man,” 97.9 The Fan 18.90% Best Weatherperson 1 Ashlee Baracy, 10TV 19.60% 2 Dave Mazza, NBC4 16.90% 3 Marshall McPeek, ABC6/FOX28 14.70%

Best Beer Shop 1 Weiland’s Market 22.40% 2 Giant Eagle Market District 18.50% 3 The Daily Growler 14.40%

Shopping Best Bike Shop 1 Roll 36.40% 2 Trek Bicycle 20.20% 3 Paradise Garage 15.90% Best Clothing Resale Shop 1 One More Time 22.10% 2 Rag-O-Rama 19.20% 3 Second Chance 19.20%

Best Florist 1 DeSantis Florists 19.00% 2 5th Ave. Floral Co. 12.80% 3 Rose Bredl Flowers & Garden 10.60%

Best Furniture Resale Shop 1 ReVue/Grandview Mercantile 54.30% 2 One More Time 20.40% 3 Upscale Resale Furnishings 7.10%

Best Garden Center 1 Oakland Nursery 62.40% 2 Strader’s Garden Center 23.40% 3 A Proper Garden 5.40% Best Grocery Store 1 Giant Eagle Market District 20.90% 2 Trader Joe’s 18.80% 3 Whole Foods 12.40%

Best Hair Salon 1 Akada 18.00% 2 Penzone Salon + Spas 15.40% 3 Square One Salon and Spa 13.10%

Best Hardware Store 1 Roush Hardware 27.00% 2 Zettler Hardware 22.70% 3 Schreiner Ace Hardware 16.20%

Best Place for Children’s Clothing 1 Cub Shrub 38.80% 2 Von Maur 22.50% 3 Nicole’s for Children 17.10%

Best Place for Home Decor 1 Elm & Iron 27.20% 2 Grandview Mercantile 19.40% 3 Studio J Home 18.30%

Best Place for Last-Minute Gifts 1 Glean 22.40% 2 Museum Store at Columbus Museum of Art 11.90% 3 Vernacular 11.60%

Best Place for Men’s Fashions 1 Nordstrom 32.20% 2 Jeffrey Thomas 26.00% 3 Tigertree 9.60%

Best Place for Ohio-Made Stuff 1 Homage 50.80% 2 Celebrate Local 22.10% 3 Wild Cat Gift and Party 7.70%

Best Place for Women’s Fashions 1 Nordstrom 20.20% 2 Jeffrey Thomas 14.90% 3 Jolie Occasions 12.10% Best Place to Buy Jewelry 1 Diamond Cellar 25.50% 2 Diamonds Direct 24.50% 3 Worthington Jewelers 13.10% Best Store for Housewares 1 Crate & Barrel 28.90% 2 Sur La Table 27.00% 3 Wasserstrom 10.70%

Best Wine Shop 1 Weiland’s Market 25.20% 2 The Twisted Vine 11.30% 3 Wine on High 11.10%

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From staff meetings to religious services, the novel coronavirus has led to a wealth of new, online and socially distanced ways to gather. Are we connecting more deeply now than we were before?

I s o l at e d But Not Alone

By Suzanne Goldsmith Illustration by Michelle Kondrich

started with a Facebook notification back in April, a few weeks after my colleagues and I began working from home to combat the spread of Covid-19. I’d begun wondering if I would ever experience the in-person, collegial atmosphere of the newsroom again.

“Temple Beth Shalom is live,” the notification read. I’m no longer a member of the synagogue where my children studied for their bar and bat mitzvahs; we honor our heritage as a family, but are not religious in the organized way. But I loved our kids’ teacher, who is now the rabbi, with his gregarious energy. So, curious, I clicked.

And there he was, performing a “Quarantine Havdalah”— marking the end of the Sabbath—with a guitar and a candle at his dining room table. One of his four children was clambering precariously on a banister behind him. The other three were horsing around at the table.

It

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Congregants were commenting in the live feed, and every so often, Rabbi Benjy would stop and read them aloud or welcome a newcomer. “Hi, Marilyn!” His kids got more rambunctious. “Where is that peace we’re looking for?” the rabbi joked. “Not in this house, that’s for sure.”

“Real life. So refreshing,” a congregant responded in a Facebook comment.

The service stayed with me, so intimate and relaxed; so different from my experience attending formal services in the sanctuary.

A few days later, a group I meet with monthly to present and discuss original essays gathered on Zoom. At the time of our usual pre-meeting cocktail hour, the host placed us in “breakout rooms”—small groups of four to six—for conversation. It’s a new club, and we don’t know each other well. Conversing like that, our faces filling the screen, felt, paradoxically, more intimate. And for a person who suffers shyness in cocktail party situations,

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photos: top, Courtesy Jody Wallace; middle, columbus monthly screenshot; bottom, courtesy Hoda Amer

it was less awkward than our usual setting. I learned things about the others in my group I don’t think I would have otherwise. I liked it.

Then I got a call from Harmony Project founder David Brown. I’m a member of the choir, and he was calling to check in—indeed, the staff was calling all 500 participants, just to see how we were doing and to help keep the connection alive during a time when we could not meet to rehearse—singing, it seems, can spread the coronavirus. Harmony staff have continued this ritual every other week since March, and judging from the comments in the choir’s Facebook group, others appreciate it as much as I do. A moment on the phone, alone in a room, helps revive a sense of inclusion in this large and diverse community.

Soon I began noticing all kinds of new moments of connection. Some seemed to blur traditional boundaries, as when my husband, often somewhat formal at his law school podium, introduced his students over Zoom to our Above, a chalk message photographed by new puppy. A friend in my book club brought Jody Wallace in Clintonville; middle, Rabbi her college-age son to an online meeting. Dr. Benjy Bar-Lev of Temple Beth Shalom Amy Acton gave a wave during a press conferdoes a matzah taste test on Facebook Live ence to her teacher husband and his students. during Passover; bottom, Hoda Amer’s children painted the family car for her During a staff meeting on Google Hangouts, I mosque’s Eid parade. could see the laundry stacked on the washer in my boss’s basement office.

And I saw other, more impactful examples of a new kind of connectivity. We were in a pandemic crisis, after all. Newly created clusters of people were gathering online to help. A Mutual Aid Central Ohio group sprang up on Facebook, where individuals and families in need could connect with people offering to help with anything from a ride to grocery money. The group now has more than 12,000 members and has migrated to a website to better accommodate the volume of activity. On Slack, techies formed a group called Can’t Stop Columbus, aimed at using the online collaboration platform to brainstorm and launch initiatives addressing Covid-19 and its fallout, with groups coalescing to perform curbside concerts for shut-ins, make and distribute masks, raise money for laid-off service workers and much more.

Was a world where so many of us were trapped in our homes, unable to visit with family, colleagues, community and friends, causing us to focus more on connecting, rather than less? And on the larger community level, Columbus prides itself on its culture of collaboration—the Columbus Way. But that’s about civic leaders coming together to solve problems. Was Covid-19 democratizing that culture?

It’s true that the online connection opportunities I’m describing are not always available to those who lack internet access, and that while some of us are able to keep safe by staying home and working or learning remotely, many are not. It’s also true that the coronavirus outbreak has wreaked immeasurable damage to the community. But this story is not about that. It’s about what we might be learning about ourselves and our relationships as we adjust the ways we communicate in a stay-at-home world. There are downsides, for sure, as we try to combat loneliness by interacting with images on Columbus Monthly JULY 2020

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photos: top, courtesy LC Johnson; bottom, columbus monthly Screenshot

photos: top, Courtesy Jody Wallace; middle, columbus monthly screenshot; bottom, courtesy Hoda Amer

only streaming services from the rabbi’s home on Facebook Live but also using the platform daily to showcase congregants sharing their talents, including music, yoga, sewing and even offering home renovation and makeup tips. I contacted Rabbi Benjy Bar-Lev to find out how these interactions were affecting his congregation. He said, in an email, that the online services were attracting a “whole new set of ‘regulars,’” in part because they are accessible to some who may find it difficult to come in person.

He also said the open communication channels online helped draw people in.

“There is a back-and-forth throughout the service between the rabbis and participants, and among the participants themselves,” he writes. “This makes such a difference in helping us foster a sense of community, even from our living rooms.”

Genoa Baptist Church in Westerville began offering drive-in services in midMarch (“Come as you are, just stay in your car!” reads a message on the church’s Above, LC Johnson attends a Zora’s House virtual Facebook page), and they’ve been widely lunch along with her baby, Karah; below, Filippo Pelacchi and Russell Lepley lead a Zoom rehearsal attended, with dozens of families postwith the so-called Spatula Dancers. ing group selfies from their cars to the church’s Facebook page. “What an awesome way to reach your community!” posted Amy Lewald during the first such service.

The early weeks of the stay-at-home order coincided not only with Easter but also with Ramadan, causing Dublin resident Hoda Amer to reexamine her approach to a holiday she has always enjoyed for its social elements.

This was to be the first year her youngest children were old enough to stay up late and celebrate breaking the fast, something normally done at the mosque. Instead, she decorated the house, prepared desserts she’d never made before, and the family took iftar (the post-fast meal) and prayed together at home, joined by her adult stepchildren who had come back to Ohio to work remotely from her home. In May, the children painted the family car to participate in her mosque’s Eid parade. “We actually ended up bonding more as a family,” she says.

a screen. But are there upsides as well? How could this experience change the way we interact in the future—and in the face of subsequent crises?

Although the statewide stay-at-home order in March characterized churches as essential services, most houses of worship closed and have not yet reopened, posing a real hardship for those for whom religious affiliation is a core aspect of identity. To keep its community alive, I learned, Temple Beth Shalom was not

The strengthening of family ties during a moment of isolation and threat is a common theme among those I talked to. Many, like Amer—and like me—had young adult children, some in their first jobs and others in college, returning to the nest to shelter in place together. We celebrated birthdays, Mother’s Day and, in my case, a daughter’s college graduation— with Zoom parties. Many of us also felt moved to draw the next circle of family virtually closer, Facetiming or finding other creative ways to visit with grandparents, siblings, cousins and more, both near and far. continued on Page 98

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An Uprising on

Above: A crowd gathers at Broad and High, a focal point of demonstrations since late May. Bottom row (left to right): Milk soothes a peppersprayed protester, a fire blazes on Oak Street, a Downtown worker examines a damaged COTA bus stop, and protesters raise their fists at City Hall.

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on High Street A tragic death nearly 800 miles away has focused Columbus on its racial inequities. But will anger in the streets lead to real reform?

Photos: Clockwise from top, Adam Cairns; Joshua A. Bickel; Adam Cairns; Barbara J. Perenic (2)

By Dave Ghose

The defining moment almost didn’t occur.

On the morning of May 30, following two days of protests in Columbus over police violence involving people of color, Shannon Hardin, the president of Columbus City Council, spoke with the city’s two other leading black elected officials, U.S. Rep. Joyce Beatty and Franklin County Commissioner Kevin Boyce, about joining the Downtown demonstration that day. At first, Hardin thought it was too dangerous; the night before, vandals had broken windows, knocked over trash cans and thrown eggs, shoes, fireworks and water bottles at police officers.

But after speaking with some activists involved with Black Lives Matter and the People’s Justice Project, Hardin changed his mind. “People need to see you,” they told him.

The three political leaders met at City Hall a little before 10 a.m. and then walked to the heart of the rally at Capitol Square. Even this early in the day, thousands filled Downtown streets, and Hardin was surprised by the makeup of the crowd. He saw friends, pastors, political donors, business and nonprofit leaders—people he’d never expect to see at a demonstration. “I realized, ‘Oh, hell. These are literally people we know,’” Hardin says.

Many shared with Hardin their anger and frustration. The Columbus Division of Police, of course, wasn’t responsible for the death of George Floyd, a 46-year-old black man who was killed nearly 800 miles away in Minneapolis five days earlier. But slayings of black people by police have become a ritual of American life, and the tragic details of Floyd’s killing—a white Minneapolis police officer kneeling on Floyd’s neck for nearly nine minutes as he pleaded for his life—lit a fuse in Columbus and other cities across the nation. The Columbus crowd was peaceful but also demanding. They wanted change, and they wanted it now. “Let’s not just wait until this boils over, everybody settles down, and it goes away,” one activist told Hardin. “It has to happen. It’s got to happen.”

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Around 11 a.m., the police presence expanded as the crowds grew larger. A group of tactical officers in body armor seemed to trigger the protesters. “Just to see folks like that gave them something to yell at,” Hardin says. But even though the aggressive police heightened emotions, the crowd remained peaceful, Hardin says, with no one throwing anything at police, as had occurred during the nighttime protests.

Hardin and the two other leaders placed themselves between the officers and the crowd, urging protesters to stay on the sidewalks.

After tensions continued to escalate, police threw a man to the ground and a young woman yelled something that seemed to incite officers.

The tactical team fired pepper spray at the crowd, including the three public officials. Hardin took a direct hit to the face. He and Boyce attempted to guide the 70-year-old Beatty out of the melee, but Hardin had to stop. “I couldn’t see, so Kevin had to come back and get me,” Hardin says. On the sidewalk, a protester dumped milk in Hardin’s eyes to soothe the burning sensation.

Hardin recovered quickly. Within an hour, he was able to drive himself home. But the impact of the moment was profound, delivering a powerful, symbolic message to the black community: If police can do that to the three most important African American political leaders in Columbus, what will they do to everyday black folks? Later that day, when Hardin went to his 6-year-old nephew Christian’s kindergarten graduation celebration, people came up to him in tears, shaken to their core. “I thought it sucked that I got sprayed,” Hardin says. “I thought this might be a big deal. But I didn’t understand that it scared people.”

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Top row (left to right): U.S. Rep. Joyce Beatty tries to intervene in a confrontation with police; Ebri Yahloe, 26, chants on High Street; and Delton Boyd Jr. embraces his son, Delton III. Middle row (left to right): Franklin County Commissioner Kevin Boyce holds the arm of Columbus City Council President Shannon Hardin, who was temporarily blinded by pepper spray; and protesters chant, “No justice, no peace.” Bottom row (left to right): Danyah Jallaq, 23, leads a chant; a woman wears angel wings near the Statehouse; and Chris Cutliff takes a knee at the Ohio State James Cancer Hospital.

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Photos: Clockwise from top left, Kyle Robertson; Joshua A. Bickel (2); Adam Cairns; Courtney Hergesheimer; Joshua A. Bickel; Adam Cairns; Kyle Robertson

In this most awful of years, the first crisis might have been surprising. A pandemic that shuts down schools, brings the economy to a halt and turns Mike DeWine into a daytime TV superstar wasn’t exactly a safe bet. But 2020’s other huge turning point—a nationwide wave of police brutality protests? We all should have been ready for that one.

On June 6, day 10 of the protests, Columbus activists marked the four-year anniversary of the death of Henry Green, a 23-year-old black man shot and killed by two plainclothes Columbus police officers in South Linden. His killing and other violent police incidents—including the September 2016 death of Ty’re King, a 13-yearold African American fatally shot in Olde Towne East—led about 100 protesters to take over a Columbus City Council meeting in October 2016.

Those shootings, which didn’t result in any charges against the officers, and other controversial police incidents forced Columbus to examine its law enforcement practices. In August 2019, the Matrix Consulting Group completed a 330-page report showing that black people account for about half of the Columbus police’s use-of-force incidents even though they represent just 28 percent of the city’s population.

Then in January of this year, the Community Safety Advisory Commission, a 17-member panel formed in 2018 to look for ways to improve the department, proposed 80 changes.

Perhaps the most significant was the creation of a civilian review board that would investigate police misconduct complaints, but the idea seemed stuck for most of 2020—that is, until George Floyd died in Minneapolis and people in Columbus took to the streets.

Maybe it’s the egregiousness of the Floyd killing. Maybe it’s the accumulation of so many horrifying deaths—Tamir Rice in Cleveland, Michael Brown in Ferguson, Eric Garner in New York and on and on. Maybe it’s the diversity in the streets

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On a scorching hot early June afternoon, the atmosphere is peaceful during day nine of the Downtown demonstrations. A protester chats amiably with a State Highway Patrolman guarding the Ohio Judicial Center, where all the lower-level windows are boarded up and someone has spray-painted Black Lives Matter over the Supreme Court of Ohio engraving at the front entrance. In the middle of High Street, hundreds face off with a single calm Columbus police officer­—dressed in his normal uniform, not riot gear—for about 15 minutes before agreeing to a temporary truce. “At 6, we take back the street,” a protester yells. Artists paint

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Photos: Clockwise from top left, Barbara J. Perenic; Tim Johnson; Barbara J. Perenic; Tim Johnson; Joshua A. Bickel

(white and black, young and old) and the powerful voices of the activists. But it’s clear something new is happening—“unlike anything I’ve seen in my lifetime,” as former President Barack Obama described it.

Throughout Central Ohio, seemingly every suburban community (many lily white) has hosted its own solidarity demonstration: Upper Arlington, Bexley, Dublin, Canal Winchester, Powell, New Albany and more. With national polls showing wide backing of the protests, Columbus physicians are taking a knee in support of the black community, CEOs are endorsing a city resolution to declare racism a public health crisis, and workers at Condado Tacos and Northstar Café are staging walkouts because their employers filled an order for police working the protests (Condado) or offered a discount for law enforcement (Northstar). How upside-down has it gotten? In Clintonville, the Flag Lady store, whose founder led the Pledge of Allegiance at two Republican National Conventions and sold Confederate flags until 2015, put a Black Lives Matter sign in its window.

Hardin says this broad awakening has created an opportunity for significant change. He says this period could be as “seminal of a moment as the 1960s,” because so many people have been affected. “I’m not saying that everybody came out of this with the same interpretations,” Hardin says. “There are folks who are rightfully angry as hell that their windows were busted out or that their building burned down, and I get that. But I’m saying everybody felt the pain.

Everybody felt the pain that some people in our community have felt for 400 years.”

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Columbus Police Deputy Chief Jennifer Knight (far left, middle) embraces Earl Jones, 21. An artist works Downtown (left), while someone admires a mural that covers a barricade on High Street (above). Bottom left, KaTanya Ingram sings in front of the Ohio Theatre, which is covered by an inspirational painting.

colorful and inclusive murals over barricades and boarded windows, including a portrait of Joyce Beatty in a Rosie the Riveter pose not far from where she was pepper-sprayed. “The message is, ‘We are here for black lives in Columbus,’” says Franklinton artist Misty Temple, who is working on a mural at Gay and High. “‘We are going to stand with you.’”

Mayor Andy Ginther, Columbus Safety Director Ned Pettus Jr. and state Sen. Hearcel Craig wade into the crowd. Since the first few nights of the protests, police and city officials have changed tactics, talking with protesters rather than confronting them. As cars on High Street honk their horns in support of the protest, a young black man tells Ginther and his colleagues they need to hold police to a higher standard. Ginther mentions his support for creating a citizen review board, an idea that is finally picking up steam amid the protests.

Following the pepper spray incident, Hardin pushed for the city to negotiate with the Fraternal Order of Police, the union representing officers, to establish the board as part of the next contract. Ginther, Columbus City Attorney Zach

Klein and other city officials quickly threw their support behind the idea, with Ginther vowing to create a model for the board by July and seat the panel by January.

But the protester has more ambitious ideas.

He talks about tearing down the system and creating something new. Ginther and other leaders face intense pressure to make dramatic changes. A few months ago, a civilian review board might have seemed like a bold policy move, but the protests are pushing leaders in cities across the country in more radical directions, such as defunding police departments. Nine members of the Minneapolis City Council even have pledged to dismantle its police department and start anew, the idea advocated by the Columbus protester. If Ginther and others don’t listen to these voices, they may be held to account.

Stonewall Columbus has called for Columbus Police Chief Thomas Quinlan to resign, while an effort to recall Ginther launched in early June.

The moment seems best captured by some graffiti on Long Street. On a piece of plywood covering a broken window, someone has scrawled, “U WILL HEAR US!!!” ◆ JULY 2020 Columbus Monthly

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BUCCIA VINEYARD

FO WI

Whether it’s your first visit or you’re a regular, the entire BOSW Team works diligently to ensure you have a wonderful experience every time. All wines are handcrafted on site by Steve (aka Willy Wonka of Wine); and many food items are made from scratch using family recipes. Come on in for a relaxing, down-home visit complete with great wine, food and service!

Buccia Vineyard proudly produces estategrown, cool-climate wines. Our picturesque vineyards and grounds are influenced by the maritime climate of Lake Erie and Conneaut Creek. Come and visit the newly renovated winery, B&B and surrounding vineyard and grounds. Stroll the vineyards and enjoy wine tastings, live music and delicious snacks.

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1400 Stratford Rd. Delaware, OH 43015 740-417-4286 blendofsevenwinery.com

518 Gore Rd. Conneaut, OH 44030 440-593-5976 bucciavineyards.com

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BUCKEYE LAKE WINERY

D & D SMITH WINERY

We are committed to producing great wine by bringing the Napa Valley experience to the shore of Buckeye Lake. Whether it’s a casual dinner or a special event, Buckeye Lake Winery is a wonderful destination with beautiful views, comfortable food and great wine. Open year-round! Please check our website for hours and event schedule.

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This 1870 house-turned-winery is a great place to relax and enjoy a glass of wine selected from one of 37 varieties. Sit along the river, enjoy the pavilion or experience the cozy interior seating while sipping wine paired with an array of foods and appetizers.

Contemporary music plays throughout the day. See website for special events. Open year-round, Wed-Sun.

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13750 Rosewood Rd. NE Thornville, OH 43076 740-246-5665 buckeyelakewinery.com

401 W. Main St. Norwalk, OH 44857 419-577-0242 ddsmithwinery.com

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DALTON UNION WINERY & BREWERY

FIRELANDS WINERY

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Just 25 miles northwest of Columbus, Dalton Union is Central Ohio’s best-kept secret!

Offering a wide selection of wine, beer, cider and mead—all handcrafted on-site. There’s live music and a food truck every Saturday night, open mic nights, karaoke and other fun events throughout the month. Make the drive and come experience the Dalton Union difference!

Firelands Winery is located on the southern shore of Lake Erie, in an area renowned for its rich viticultural history. The vineyards are located on-site where wine has been produced since 1880, making Firelands Winery one of the oldest wineries in the state. Firelands Winery produces quality fine wines to multigenerational customers with the expertise of one of Ohio’s first full-time female winemakers, Margot Federkiel.

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21100 Shirk Rd. Marysville, OH 43040 937-645-5889 daltonunion.com

917 Bardshar Rd. Sandusky, OH 44870 419-625-5474 firelandswinery.com

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Visit us today • Order your free Ohio Wine Guide at (614) 728-6438

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FOX WINERY

HERRENHAUS ELFLEIN

Crawford County’s first winery! Located in Galion, Ohio, our small vineyard winery grows 13 varieties of grapes and produces over 35 varieties of Ohio-grown fruit wines, from sweet to dry. Enjoy our outside patio and wine-tasting bar, and be sure to sample our jalapeño wine—it’s a must-try! Open Wednesday through Saturday, noon to 9 p.m.

Herrenhaus Elflein is a Frankish-inspired winery offering a broad selection of Germanstyle white, red and blush wines. Situated in the middle of more than 1,400 estate vines, our tasting room and patio provide an idyllic retreat from your everyday routine, just a short, 20-minute drive from Downtown Columbus.

227 Harding Way E Galion, OH 44833 419-468-9463 foxwineryllc.com

800 Winchester Southern Rd. NW Ashville, OH 43103 740-954-3587 herrenhauswine.com

THE LAKEHOUSE INN WINERY

LAURENTIA VINEYARD AND WINERY

Locally sourced vinifera grapes, honey and apples are the ingredients that make our wines award-winning. Our Lake Erie waterfront resort boasts boutique wine production, specializing in small batches.

Wine is served across the property, and tastings are available from the Great Room of the Inn. Tasting Room open daily from noon to 5 p.m. year-round.

Located in the Grand River Valley, Laurentia Vineyard and Winery grows over 43 acres of estate vineyards. Our award-winning wines showcase our unique geology and have brought national recognition to the region. Take in the views from the expansive vineyard-side patio or enjoy a bottle with friends fireside. No matter the season, you’re invited to experience the true expression of our winery!

5653 Lake Rd. E Geneva, OH 44041 440-466-8668 thelakehouseinn.com

LEISURE TIME WINERY

THE

WINERY

4599 S. Madison Rd. Madison, OH 44057 440-296-9175 laurentiawinery.com

LINCOLN WAY VINEYARDS

Located in the peaceful countryside of Napoleon, Leisure Time Winery is the perfect place to unwind, enjoy a variety of wines on our patio and gather with the company of those you love. You’re sure to enjoy live music on the weekend and an assortment of events and classes throughout the year! We also offer a creative craft beer selection and top-shelf spirits. We invite you to experience the many joys and memories that await at Leisure Time Winery. Hours: Wed-Fri 4-9 p.m.; Sat 12-9 p.m.

Located in the countryside of Wayne County a little over an hour north of Columbus, Lincoln Way Vineyards invites you to Find Your Wine Time® with us. Check out our website or “Like” us on Facebook to receive notifications for upcoming events, as well as food trucks and entertainment on weekends.

Summer hours through Labor Day: Monday thru Wednesday, by appointment; Thursday and Friday, 12 to 9 p.m.; Saturday, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.

16982 County Rd. M2 Napoleon, OH 43545 419-758-3442 leisuretimewinery.com

9050 W. Old Lincoln Way Wooster, OH 44691 330-804-9463 lincolnwayvineyards.com

Lincoln Way Vineyards

®

Visit us today • Order your free Ohio Wine Guide at (614) 728-6438

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THE LUMBERYARD WINERY

MERRY FAMILY WINERY

The Lumberyard Winery & Supply is situated along the scenic Maumee River in a historic lumberyard in Napoleon, Ohio. Sit down and relax in the tasting room, or in the warmer months, our covered patio that was converted from a native timber lumber storage building.

Open Thursday 4-8 p.m., Friday & Saturday 12-9 p.m. and Sunday 1-5 p.m.

Gallia County’s first winery and craft brewery.

Family-owned and operated, we offer a large variety of handcrafted Ohio wines and craft beers.

From sweet apple wine made with locally grown apples to dry red and white wines, you are sure to find something to satisfy. So sit, sip, relax and enjoy as you take in the picturesque views of the rural countryside, vineyard and hop yard. We look forward to your visit!

118 W. Front St., Ste. G Napoleon, OH 43545 419-599-9463 thelumberyardwinery.com

2376 OH-850 Bidwell, OH 45614 740-245-9463 merryfamilywinery.com

RAVENHURST CHAMPAGNE CELLARS

PLUM RUN WINERY Located in Grove City’s historic Town Center, we offer many varieties of red and white wines, ciders and our own artfully crafted beers, all made on-site. We are open daily at 11 a.m. for lunch and dinner and offer private space for events.

3946 Broadway Grove City, OH 43123 614-991-0338 plumrunwinery.com

You’ve tasted the rest, now taste the best, and we can prove it: • Only Ohio winery reviewed in Opus Vino (4000 Greatest Wineries in the World) • Three-time Wine of the Year Award • Wine Spectator award winner • Second-best Champagne in the World, 1999 • And a wall full of medals Our award-winning winemakers are dedicated to Methode Champenoise Champagne and dry vinifera wines. Open every Saturday, noon until 5 p.m.

34477 Shertzer Road Mount Victory, OH 43340 937-354-5151 raven_ink@hotmail.com

VINBERIGE VINEYARDS

CHAMPAGNE CELLARS

THE WINERY AT VERSAILLES

We are located just a short drive east of Columbus in the rolling hills of Perry County. Relax with a glass of wine while experiencing our tasting room set in a historic 1800s brick farmhouse. We feature several outdoor spaces to enjoy like our lawn, lower patio and upper patio with fireplace. Host your event in the Loft, the Library or the Barn. Connect with us on Facebook or Instagram to stay up to date on upcoming events and specials. We look forward to seeing you at Vinberige Vineyards!

The Winery at Versailles boasts a wine list of over 30 varieties, all made here at our facility, and includes a range from dry reds to sweet dessert wines. Visit our countrysetting winery for themed dinner events and much more while you enjoy seating indoors or outdoors on our covered patio overlooking the vineyards.

5400 OH-204 Glenford, OH 43739 740-605-4499 vinberigevineyards.com

6572 State Route 47 Versailles, OH 45380 937-526-3232 wineryatversailles.com

Visit us today • Order your free Ohio Wine Guide at (614) 728-6438

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special advertising section

Hometown Story

10 Things to Know About Our Town JULY 2020 Columbus Monthly

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Th in gs to t Kn ow Abo u n w o u r To

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Groveport’s past, present and future intertwine with shipping, transportation, industry and agriculture. The Ohio and Erie Canal made the town a port and put it on the path to prosperity. Groveport started as a single entity in 1847, when the neighboring rival towns of Wert’s Grove and Rarey’s Port merged. Groveport was home to John Rarey, the original horse whisperer, known for his horse training techniques and taming a fiercely wild horse named Cruiser.

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Groveport has several family-oriented festivals and events. The Groveport Farmer’s Market takes place every Tuesday from May to September. The 4th of July Celebration features a parade, entertainment, food, children’s activities and fireworks. KidsFest, in August, offers children’s activities and the always-popular Touch-a-Truck. On the second Saturday in October, enjoy fresh apple butter, along with homemade food and artisan wares, at Apple Butter Day. Santa and Mrs. Claus host A Heritage Holiday on the first Friday in December. This two-day event includes a tree-lighting ceremony, horse-drawn wagon rides and live reindeer.

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With more than 25 million square feet of industrial space currently

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Explore “Central Ohio’s Hometown”—a growing suburb with a rich history. under roof throughout five industrial parks, Groveport is a distribution hub for a variety of well-known companies like Eddie Bauer, Kraft Foods, Build-A-Bear Workshops and many more.

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Recently named as having the most parkland per capita in Central Ohio, Groveport is home to nine beautiful parks. Their amenities include the historic Erie Canal’s Lock 22, numerous sports fields, lighted tennis courts, a large stocked pond and several miles of pedestrian and bicycle paths.

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Groveport’s Recreation Center is a 67,000-square-foot facility offering state-of-the-art equipment, fitness classes, an indoor climbing wall, a heated indoor pool, an indoor track, indoor basketball courts, outdoor paved leisure paths and the Groveport Senior Center. Next door is the Groveport Aquatics Center, one of the top outdoor community water parks in Central Ohio.

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Motts Military Museum was founded in 1987 by Warren E. Motts of Groveport, who established the museum as a nonprofit educational organization.

The museum showcases military vehicles,

aircrafts, a Higgins Boat from World War II and many artifacts.

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Groveport Municipal Golf Course is an 18-hole, par-72 course, owned and operated by the City of Groveport. Located in the clubhouse, the Paddock Pub & Links Event Center offers casual dining and a banquet room that accommodates groups up to 250 for weddings, corporate meetings, special events and golf outings.

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Groveport’s Main Street business district offers prime sites for commercial and retail development. Opportunities abound for restaurants, retail shops and offices.

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Groveport’s Community Affairs Department offers programs for all ages at Town Hall and Crooked Alley KidSpace. Featured at Town Hall is a variety of art and the Heritage Museum, showcasing Groveport’s history.

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Groveport operates its own transit system. With three routes serving Groveport and the Village of Obetz, Groveport Rickenbacker Employee Access Transit (GREAT) provides vital last-mile, door-to-door service to companies in several Rickenbacker-area industrial parks.

photos: courtesy groveport

Groveport

6/10/20 3:10 PM

It’s All Here: Small Town Charm.

Big City Advantages.

photos: courtesy groveport

Stately, historic homes and peaceful tree-lined streets coexist with well-planned residential subdivisions. A thriving economy complements a quaint, historic Main Street. Easy access to airports, sports venues and entertainment but plenty to do in any of the city’s seven parks, municipal golf course, recreation center and award-winning aquatic center.

We may be the best kept secret in central Ohio but we’re also the best place to live, work, play and do business!

www.groveport.org

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Th in gs to t Kn ow Abo u n w o u r To

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New Albany is a friendly place, built on the strongest traditions of small-town America, that embraces a strategic approach to land use and a high quality of life based on our founding pillars of life-long learning, culture, health and the environment. That’s why 24/7 Wall Street recently ranked us as one of the best places to live in America.

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Our New Albany-Plain Local School District, rated in the top 3 percent of all public schools in Ohio, is located on one 200-acre campus surrounded by the Swickard Woods wetlands preservation, which intertwines our environmental and educational commitments.

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Our pedestrian-friendly Village Center, the town’s centralized gathering spot, includes restaurants, coffee houses, boutique shops, a summer farmers market, the library, the New Albany-Plain Local school learning campus, Jeanne B. McCoy Community Center for the Arts, Philip Heit Center for Healthy New Albany and diverse housing that includes luxury apartments designed for millennials and empty nesters.

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Rose Run Park, our community’s central park and gathering place, which

Community connects us here in New Albany.

opened in late 2019, now connects people to nature, each other and all that our Village Center has to offer. The park includes a natural play area for children, many different trails along Rose Run Creek, a library garden and a birch tree walk, bringing nature to life in the heart of town. Thanks to the Hinson family, Raines and Cadieux families, and Marx family, as well as Facebook, for their generous donations to support our recreational and cultural offerings in and around this park.

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In their own words, residents praise New Albany as safe, beautiful, convenient and well-maintained with a small-town feel, strong sense of community, quality schools, friendly people and lots of trails for walking and running.

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We are an active community with lots of land for recreational pursuits. Counting Rocky Fork Metro Park, nearly 20 percent of New Albany’s land use is devoted to parkland and open space. There are 53 miles of leisure trails, and nearly every neighborhood is within ¼ mile of a park.

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The New Albany International Business Park is the largest master

planned commercial park in the Midwest with four highway interchanges, 5,000 acres, more than 15,000 employees, nearly 12 million square feet of space and more than $5 billion in private investment, with companies that include Abercrombie & Fitch, AEP, Facebook and Google.

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Innovate New Albany, our technology incubator for startups, has lived up to its name by continuously evolving the services and resources it provides to entrepreneurial enterprises. Innovate’s entrepreneurial TIGER Talks attract more than 1,500 people annually.

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The New Albany Community Foundation’s Jefferson Series is one of the best lecture series in the United States.

New Albany staff are committed to a high level of professionalism and customer service with an attention to detail—99 percent of residents surveyed feel safe in New Albany, 96 percent view New Albany as vibrant and attractive, 95 percent are satisfied with snow removal and 90 percent are satisfied with management of architectural standards.

photos: courtesy new albany

New Albany

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As partners in a master-planned community, New Albany collaborates with our residents and businesses to create a shared vision for the future that brings people together to do more than just live or work. It’s a friendly, inclusive community that makes you feel at home, encourages a healthy, active lifestyle, nurtures the creative spirit, invests in lifelong learning, supports business and protects the environment for future generations. It’s more

photos: courtesy new albany

than a place, it’s a way of life.

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SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION

VACATIONS AND GETAWAYS

Friends of the Museums Visit Campus Martius Museum to Celebrate the Pioneers. This exhibit, based on the book “The Pioneers” by David McCullough, explores the lives and personal objects owned by some of the individuals mentioned in the book. It offers a chance to look inside the personalities and lives of some of these important groundbreakers.

Friends of the Museums Campus Martius Museum Ohio River Museum 601 Second St. Marietta, OH 45750 740-373-3750

South Carolina’s Hammock Coast For generations, travelers have come to South Carolina’s Hammock Coast for a taste of the Lowcountry life. From award-winning beaches and golf to unmatched natural beauty and rich history, not to mention eclectic dining and shopping, there is no shortage of things to see and do. Visit for a chance to reconnect with loved ones or get a much-needed boost.

No matter what brings you to the Hammock Coast, there is plenty to keep you coming back to this home of pristine beaches, American history and Southern charm. Start planning your getaway now; request a Visitors Guide or book your stay today at HammockCoastSC.com.

843-546-8436 HammockCoastSC.com

A lake full of memories

The Timbrook Guesthouse

Give yourself something to look forward to with a summer escape at The Lodge at Geneva-on-the-Lake. Less than a three-hour drive from Columbus, our Ohio Wine Country resort delivers quality dining and the R&R you’re looking for.

Plus, neighboring Lake Erie Canopy Tours offers aerial thrills at one of the most picturesque zipline and adventure courses in Ohio. And through our comprehensive new Rest Assured™ program, we’re working hard to maintain an environment that helps keep guests safe. From wine tours to boat rentals to lakeside cottages, the summer getaway you need is here.

The Timbrook Guesthouse is situated on 4 glorious acres just outside Worthington; this getaway is the intimate and secluded destination you’ve been looking for. From the beautiful grounds with gardens galore, heated outdoor swimming pool/hot tub, parrots for your entertainment and breakfasts fit for a king, The Timbrook has something for everyone. No need for a bed? Reserve a table for Sunday brunch to experience our aloha spirit any time of year.

Traveling during COVID can be unsettling, but call us to learn how we are keeping guests and staff safe and happy!

4888 N. Broadway Geneva-on-the-Lake, OH 44041 866-554-0015 TheLodgeAtGeneva.com

5811 Olentangy River Rd. Columbus, OH 43235 419-560-3263 timbrookguesthouse.com

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Home&Style Q&A p. 70 | Products P. 71 | Home p. 72 | top 25 P. 78

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Back to Nature

Garden writer Teresa Woodard talks about finding solace this spring among her flowers.

Photo courtesy Teresa Woodard

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Home & Style Q&A

A small business owner gets busy sewing masks.

By Sherry Beck Paprocki

After moving from Japan to Central Ohio as a teenager, Worthington resident Kyoko Seki led an adventuresome life as a designer for Abercrombie & Fitch. She joined the New Albany-based brand immediately after her CCAD graduation with a degree in fashion design, and eventually she traveled throughout the United States to do “inspirational shopping,” she says. She also frequently traveled to Asia to put ideas into production.

In 2008, the retailer encouraged her to spend a year in Japan, working remotely and gathering research to discover new fashion trends. She traveled there while pregnant and came home to her husband— after months spent with family there—with her first-born daughter.

“It was a great job,” she says. “I loved working with a big team.” But, at the time, she was asking herself big questions: “Is this my ultimate goal? Is this what I want to do for my life?”

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In fact, it was not. After an initial conversation with a colleague during a trip to Hong Kong and several months of planning, in 2016 the two launched mrly, a clothing brand for kids. (Her partner spent a year in the business but went back to a corporate job at A&F.) For mrly, Seki designs simple, cotton clothing and produces them at a Virginia manufacturing facility. They are for sale at mrlybrand. com and Seki appeared at farmers’ markets most springs traveling throughout Central Ohio, meeting new customers and greeting old ones.

Can you tell us about your face masks? I’ve quickly transitioned into sewing washable face masks since late March, making them available for anyone who visits the mrlybrand.com site. I’ve made over 2,000 masks for the local restaurants Northstar Café, Brassica, and Third and Hollywood, all which have the same owner. I made my focus so much on creating the masks and not pushing to sell the kids clothes, but I believe that it’s the right thing to do at the moment. I feel really grateful, and it’s been such an honor to be able to make something that people truly need at this time.

When we talked by phone, something you said struck me as really important—from both a design and a lifestyle aspect. It was:

“You don’t need much to have a happy life.”

What are you doing these days to put joy into your life? Obviously a whole lot of mask sewing (haha). Other than that, I’m spending time with my family—all of us eating breakfast, lunch and dinner together, playing games, talking, laughing and cleaning the house. I love cleaning the house. Doing what you love, living with people you love, in a place you love—that really brings me joy and it’s as simple as that.

What did you take away from your experience at Abercrombie & Fitch? Teamwork!

Great success always comes from great teamwork, and I experienced and still live by this. Even though I’m on my own in the business, mrly will not exist without all the people around me who provide the materials, produce the clothes, and the family and friends who support the brand. I’m thankful for all these amazing people, all of whom I consider teammates.

What is the best advice you give to others who want to launch a fashion business? Always stay true to yourself and follow your passion.

I guess this is not only for the fashion business, but for anyone who wants to launch anything.

It is, for sure, not easy to start and carry on a small business, but as long as the passion is there, I believe that’s one thing that will overcome some of the biggest challenges. ◆

photo: courtesy Kyoko Seki

Finding Teammates

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Home & Style products

A Socially Distant Picnic With usual festivities canceled, you are left to your own devices to

celebrate July Fourth with an old-fashioned picnic—properly distanced, of course. Experts advise keeping your group small, finding an isolated spot and staying at least 10 feet away from others. Pack the picnic basket with stars and stripes, as well as your favorite food and drinks to celebrate a festive day of outdoor fun. —Ana Piper

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photos: 1, 6, 8, courtesy crate & barrel; 2, 3, 5, courtesy williams sonoma home; 4, 7, courtesy pottery barn

photo: courtesy Kyoko Seki

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1 Table in a bag, $59.95 at Crate & Barrel 2 Cuisinart venture portable gas grill, $199.95 at Williams Sonoma Home 3 Star spangled salad plates, $43.95 at Williams Sonoma Home 4 Picnic compact flatware set, $16.50 at Pottery Barn 5 Nipomo X picnic blanket, $109.95 at Williams Sonoma Home 6 Blue-and-white striped, wheeled cooler, $49.95 at Crate & Barrel 7 Happy hour stemless glasses, $32 (set of 4) at Pottery Barn 8 Marin Shibori melamine small oval platter, $24.95 at Crate & Barrel JULY 2020 Columbus Monthly

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photo: courtesy Teresa Woodard

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Gardening in a Pandemic Blooming spring daffodils lured a Central Ohio writer into her garden and away from the many worries that came along with the season.

By Teresa Woodard

IF

photo: courtesy Teresa Woodard

there is an upside to the pandemic that upended our lives this spring, it is gardening. And, the garden surrounding our home flourished as I finally had time to slow down, appreciate its beauty and tackle some long overdue chores.

In the garden, I could go without a mask to escape health fears and financial worries surrounding the March 16 shutdown. My husband Brian closed his dental practice. Two of our adult children announced plans to return home from college. Our third child awaited news of a pending job transfer to Covid hotspot Chicago. And, as Spain reported record Covid cases my mom and stepdad crossed the Atlantic Ocean on a cruise ship headed there. During the following days, I dove into work assignments and fretted about the nonstop Covid news—until our garden’s multitude of daffodils started blooming and lured me outdoors.

There, I lingered and returned daily to vent frustrations. I ripped overgrown English ivy, pruned hydrangeas, mended a vegetable garden fence, weeded neglected beds for hours and cut invasive honeysuckle from a wooded hillside. I also embraced the hope spring brings, planting early crops of peas and kale, filling jars of daffodils to share with neighbors, successfully growing tomato plants from seed and experimenting with a DIY organic lawn care program. With my husband and kids at home, I fell into a schedule working at my desk early in the day then heading to the garden later in afternoon.

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Thanks to the stay-home order, my garden is now looking better than ever. I’ve always wished for gardening perfection— neatly edged, weed-free borders with an abundance of flowers synchronized to bloom all season long. But, the busyness of life, rearing three children, while my husband and I kept up with our busy careers, always seemed to get in the way. When Brian and I decided to build our dream house for our family of five in 1999, we found a large lot in a conservation community along the Little Darby Creek in Madison County.

We naively filled our 2-acre property with thousands of plants with which we had little experience. We foolishly thought we knew what we were getting into. After all, we both boasted summer lawn-mowing jobs as teens. Now reflecting, we humbly recognize that we’ve learned plenty since then such as the value of a garden plan, the importance of garden mentors and the experiential garden work of trial and error.

In those early years, we called on David Voyles, a landscape designer we admired from Bexley, and worked with him to create a French Country style landscape. Looking back, we realized we were asking David for the moon—Monet-inspired gardens, a vegetable patch and fruit orchard, wildflower meadows, sweet-smelling shrubs and hardwood trees. Plus, we wanted plenty of lawn for Brian to mow with his prized John Deere tractor.

David helped us make sense of our wishes, designing more formal gardens around the house, a kitchen garden outside the back door, a mixed hedge of flowering shrubs along the wood line and swaths of meadow along each side of our corner lot.

The installation was the easy part. It was watering, weeding and fertilizing the new plants that was challenging. At first, we leaned on David and his crew to assist and teach us how to care for the property. He even brought me a pair of fancy Okatsune hedge shears—the kind used by professional gardeners in Japan. He demonstrated how to artfully hand prune the 150-foot double boxwood hedge— cloud-like in the back row and squared in the front. He taught us how to distinguish weeds like thistle among the newly emerging prairie plants in the meadow. And he taught us what plants needed trimming and when, plus how to feed yellowing trees or acid-loving azaleas.

Gardening became my passion. I continued to learn through trial and error, 74

photos: courtesy Teresa Woodard

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Clockwise from left, the writer’s backyard is filled with perennial beds and a kitchen garden with a lattice and chicken-wire-lined fence to keep browsing rabbits and deer out; Monarch butterflies and bees are drawn to the garden’s pollinator plants like this purple coneflower; Woodard has been planting her favorite zinnia seeds since she was 10 years old.

photos: courtesy Teresa Woodard

volunteering at Chadwick Arboretum, completing Ohio’s master gardener program and seeking advice from mentors and local, expert gardeners Debra Knapke and Michael Leach. The deeper I dove into horticulture topics such as nomenclature and pest management, the more I saw how naively I had initially stepped into the gardening world.

My journalism career took me further down the garden path as I began writing features for Columbus Monthly, then Ohio Magazine, Ohio Gardener and the Heartland Gardening blog which I started with Deb and Michael eight years ago. Today, much of my freelance work is as a garden writer and field editor, as well as being a garden scout and producer for many regional and national publications including Midwest Living, Country Gardens and Better Homes & Gardens. (The work is more challenging than glamorous, requiring at times that I arrive at photo shoots before dawn, wait out unexpected rainfalls, breathe on buds to coax them to bloom and style potting sheds for potential magazine covers.) I am grateful to combine deadline work with my pastime, returning home from many assignments with fresh gardening ideas.

From interviewing expert gardeners to volunteering as a judge with America in Bloom’s national beautification awards program, I continually meet talented and knowledgeable gardeners around the country who inspire me to try their techniques. This summer, as I work in the garden, I’m bolstered by memories from many of these gardeners.

Our meadow’s golden stands of prairie coneflowers take me back to the 17-acre prairie at the home of Guy Denny, the retired chief of the Ohio division of natural areas and preserves. A water lily in my patio container garden triggers memories of wading among the giant water lilies at the Naples Botanic Garden on a water gardening assignment in Florida. And racing to finish trimming my own boxwood hedge before sunset reminds me of noted South JULY 2020 Columbus Monthly

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and when a pair of rat snakes wrestled outside the kitchen window for a whole afternoon. Our now-adult children often recall these memories, while they grow their own plants, ranging from pots of succulents along their apartment windowsills to potted tomatoes on a fire escape, and summer months spent running their own landscaping business. (Insert Mom smiley face here.)

Through the years, I eventually found more gardening time by trading off gym workouts for functional chores such as mulch bag dead lifts, wheelbarrow pushes, power tool curls and weed pulling squats.

The workouts are also good mental therapy as I have discovered the meditative time necessary to sort through personal challenges, vent frustrations, grieve losses and practice gratitude.

All of this experience was helpful in midMarch as Covid-19 took over the world.

With my hands in the dirt, I could wrestle thoughts from sleepless nights, contemplate a tearful goodbye with our now Chicagobased daughter, reflect on a prayerful walk

The Woodard landscape includes formal boxwood hedges and deep perennial beds that frame the house while more natural plantings line the property's borders.

with my mom, who is safe at home, and embrace the bonus time with my husband and our boomerang kids. I welcomed the promise of spring as I heard a red-winged blackbird’s song, buried my nose in fragrant viburnum blooms, marveled at fern fronds unfurling and photographed a fleeting rainbow after a storm.

Perhaps, the most rewarding garden moments I spent this spring were at Highland Youth Garden, where I joined other volunteers, staff, neighbors and the garden’s Green Teens—all working six feet apart—to plant early food crops for the Hilltop community. Despite Covid-19, spring marched on at this garden and others around the city, emphasizing the importance of teaching new generations so that they, too, can help bring sustenance and hope for brighter days ahead. ◆

photo: courtesy Teresa Woodard

Carolina topiary artist Pearl Fryar, who shared how he would return home from his factory job to work under floodlights until midnight to trim his modest shrubs into world-renown fantastical living sculptures.

Back at home, my garden still pales when compared to the grand landscape stories I write. Until recent years, my weekends had long been filled with our kids’ horse shows and baseball games. Garden chores were frequently overlooked. To catch up, I’d wield a weed wacker and garden torch, and too frequently use chemical solutions.

Still, the gardens offer our family plenty of joy. The backyard has hosted grand events such as graduation parties and preprom picture sessions. It also includes the simple pleasures of strolling the yard and picking vases full of flowers. One memorable garden surprise was finding bean vines growing throughout the landscape after our then 3-year-old son, unbeknownst to us, planted the bean seeds throughout the flower beds. Occasionally, there was natural world drama in the garden when the dog ran off with a baby bunny, Columbus Monthly JULY 2020

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photo: courtesy Teresa Woodard

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Home & Style real estate

Top 25

real estate transactions April 1-April 30, 2020

7656 Wills Run Lane $1,795,000

7623 Fenway Road $1,175,000

7945 Straits Farm $679,000

PRICE

ADDRESS

BUYER/SELLER

$2,587,500

1707 Hyatts Rd., Delaware

Khandelwal, Yogesh & Leena from Gorman, Norbert David, trustee

$1,700,000

2384 Lane Ave., Upper Arlington

Arndt, Randall S., trustee, from Turnbull, Michael L. & Cheryl L.

$948,000

2243 Brixton Rd., Upper Arlington

Vallely, Michael P. & Robinson, Alison L. from Uffman, Joshua Christian

$947,000

250 W. Spring St., Unit 1015, Columbus

PE1015 LLC from 245 Parks Edge Place LLC

$915,000

2658 Brentwood Rd., Bexley

Crall, Mary Virginia & Colby William from Lape, Steven M. & Kristina P.

$890,000

5716 Evans Farm Dr., Lewis Center

Bishop, John Glenn Jr. & Michelle L. from 3 Pillar Homes LLC

$882,700

10824 Rock Rose Pl., Plain City

Busch, Michael D. & Kathleen S. from Bishop, John Glenn Jr. & Michelle L.

$861,000

503 S. Third St., Columbus

Sutliff, Brian T., trustee, from Dobson, Bradley A. & Rebecca L.

$849,900

104 Redstone Ct., Granville

Moore, Robert E. & Courtney from Jones, Jack G. & Alexander, Shawn

$825,000

5416 Ruth Xing, Delaware

North, Kelly M. & Kelly L. from Cliffshire Development LLC

$815,000

5966 Edgewood Cir., Dublin

Kale, Santosh from Lavalle, Margaret M., trustee

$810,000

5634 Jeffries Ct., Westerville

Sauder, Wendy L. & Russell from McCorkle, Mae L.

$805,000

7044 Calabria Pl., Dublin

Laudick, Jason T. & Amy from Zaborszki, Lisa L.

$801,500

6001 Sunbury Rd., Westerville

Burnette, Robert & Emily from Hines, Mitzi Lee

$789,000

10549 Wellington Blvd., Powell

Machulski, Michael R. & Colleen H. from Baker, Robert D.

$780,000

1790 Cambridge Blvd., Upper Arlington

Kimmet, Michael & Katie from Competty, Braden J. & Amy K.

$779,000

5 Lyonsgate Rd., Bexley

Chapman, Scott C. & Jennifer R. from Demuth, Rhonda J. & Daniel L.

$775,000

1643 Villa Way, Powell

Winans, Gail from Snyder, Christopher H. & Kathleen L.

$775,000

2404 Abington Rd., Upper Arlington

Stair, James E. & Anne B. from Vande Werken, Patti A.

$770,000

170 S. Cassady Rd., Bexley

Stevens, Gregory W. & Erin E. from Urban Artisans LLC

$765,000

7769 Pembrooke End, New Albany

Wancheck, Greg T. & Brooke E. from Friel, Jennifer Johns

$759,900

3121 S. Dorchester Rd., Upper Arlington

Stephens, Craig M. & Holmes, Tara from Sesto, Todd M. & Erin W.

$759,000

4267 Clark-Shaw Rd., Powell

Flannery, Trevor & Chelcie from Harmon, Frank D. & Kelley A.

$752,000

710 Havens Corners Rd., Gahanna

Bornino, Brian & Sellers-Bornino, Leah from Celentano, Michael J. & Alison K.

$750,000

1 Miranova Pl., Unit 2420, Columbus

Zinn, Walter & Marianne from Zisman, Sandra

As provided by The Columbus Dispatch researcher Julie Fulton. Statistics are gathered from the greater Columbus area, including Franklin and parts of other surrounding counties.

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Dining short order P. 83 | recipe p. 86 | Drink P. 88 | Let’s eat P. 89

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A New Cocktail Era

How some bars are adapting to the new normal amid the pandemic

Photo by tim johnson

JULY 2020 Columbus Monthly

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Dining industry

Annie Williams Pierce of Law Bird makes a Last Waltz cocktail.

Entering a New Cocktail Era Hello, bottled cocktails. Bye-bye, expressed lemon peel.

Here’s how some bars are adapting to the new normal.

Tiki bars reached their peak in the 1950s and ’60s as a form of escapism following World War II—a way of conjuring R&R trips to sandier, more exotic climes. But in 2020, during a pandemic, how do bars like Powell’s Huli Huli Tiki Lounge create an escapist atmosphere when their employees are wearing masks and new social distancing restrictions are in place?

After a two-month ban on dine-in service by the Ohio Department of Health, some of Central Ohio’s cocktail bars are easing back into business. But new guidelines meant to combat Covid-19 mean things aren’t the same—and won’t be for a while. Employees (including bartenders) and guests need to be a minimum of 6 feet away from one another. Employees must wear facial coverings, and groups are limited to 10 or fewer.

It’s a tricky balance between providing safety and creating the experience that bar patrons expect. Right now, Columbus-area 80

bars are throwing Maraschino cherries at the proverbial wall to see what sticks.

Regulations and adaptations With lowered capacities, bars are finding it difficult to break even. For Vaso, a rooftop hotel bar and restaurant in Dublin’s Bridge Park, that translates into phased rehiring of employees and a smaller staff. “It’s about adapting,” says general manager Rebecca Monday. “[We are] worried about the future.

Will we have enough guests? We can’t fill the venue as much, and some people [still] aren’t comfortable going out.”

And the now-ubiquitous masks? They aren’t ideal behind the bar, says Doug Winship, a bartender at Huli Huli in Downtown Powell.

“Wearing a mask to work in a restaurant or bar is brutal. It’s hard to breathe. It’s hot, especially for a six-hour shift. And it makes it hard to communicate with customers.”

These businesses built around hospitality now find themselves in the awkward situation of having to enforce the rules. Vaso, for example, doesn’t allow customers to leave their table unless they’re going to the restroom. “Bars are a social environment,” Winship says. “People want to stand up, to move around and to talk to other people. We can’t let them do that. It’s tough.”

Several establishments—including Vaso and Giuseppe’s Ritrovo in Bexley—are trying to ensure safety by doing as much prep work prior to a serving shift as possible.

“We don’t do fresh garnishes, and there’s no pouring in front of the customer,” Monday says. “We make our cocktails in a large batch in advance and pour them into coolers with drafts. And then we sanitize the tap after each use.” For garnishes essential to the drink, gloved Vaso bartenders are preskewering prior to the shift. The restaurant

photos: tim johnson

By Jill Moorhead

Columbus Monthly JULY 2020

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photos: tim johnson

has also switched from bulk to individually wrapped paper straws.

Some bars have also changed the entire ordering process in order to minimize the spread of Covid-19. At Vaso, customers now access the menu by using their phones to scan a QR code held in plexiglass that is sanitized between uses. According to Monday, the new menus have been well-received and offer bartenders flexibility. “Right now, if something is out, I can replace a cocktail on the menu daily,” Monday says. Giuseppe’s also uses QR codes, and both restaurants keep disposable paper menus on hand should a guest not have access to a smartphone.

A new lifeline for bars?

In April, during Ohio’s dine-in ban, the state’s Liquor Control Commission passed a rule allowing carryout cocktails, a change that many in the industry hope will stick around. The Ohio House took a step in that direction in early June, passing legislation that would make to-go cocktails permanent. At press time, it was headed to the Ohio Senate.

“For us, takeout [cocktails were] a lifeline,” Winship says. “It was a real gamechanger.” The Powell tiki bar premixes its carryout cocktails in mason jars, only adding the alcohol when the order is placed.

Each take-home cocktail comes with a bag of garnishes and tiki bar paraphernalia.

Luke Pierce and Annie Williams Pierce, co-owners of the small cocktail and wine bar Law Bird in the Brewery District, view a to-go cocktail program as a possible viable source of income until they’re ready to reopen. The couple, who opened Law Bird just four months before the shutdown, launched Law Bird at Home, a bottled cocktail service, in June.

“We’re not planning on opening for any dine-in service in the foreseeable future,” Pierce says. “We can’t offer the experience we want to deliver under the current circumstances.”

Law Bird (which was already named one of the best bars in America by Esquire) is bigger than the sum of its parts, Williams Pierce says. The bar is built around customer experience, which is why the state’s restrictions don’t make in-person operations feasible.

The pair designed their carryout service with elements that intend to bring the atmosphere of Law Bird to the customer, including playlists and video tips from Law Bird staff. “We want you to close your eyes and sit in the bar with us,” she says.

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Dining industry Special advertising opportunities coming in Columbus Monthly

SEPTEMBER

A Cosmopolitan for carryout from Giuseppe’s Ritrovo

Fall Fashion New fall styles with advice and tips from local area retailers.

Fall Arts Guide The guide to the hot tickets, the venues, and the arts scene in Columbus for the upcoming season.

Health Matters: Trends & Technology This special section will highlight some of the cutting-edge health care options available in Central Ohio right now.

Autumn Weekend Escapes A guide for folks wanting a quick escape from the city during the fall season.

September Issue Ad Close: July 24

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OCTOBER Health Matters: Beating Breast Cancer A focus on the innovative research of local scientists and physicians.

Elder Care/Senior Living Provides readers with an invaluable source of information on retirement living.

Exceptional Event Venues Profiles of local venue options for weddings, meetings or special occassions.

Vacations & Getaways Formatted advertising section.

October Issue closing: August 21 Restaurant Guide The ultimate annual directory to Columbus dining featuring listings for 1,500 Central Ohio eateries and articles on industry trends.

Restaurant Guide closing: August 14

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Their switch to carryout drinks has taken planning. “We had to consider what instructions need to be included, how they’d be carried, find new bottling infrastructures, new equipment and secure packaging,” Williams Pierce says. (While many restaurants offer to-go drinks in mason jars, Law Bird’s selection is prebottled and branded.) “This was never on our radar when opening the space,” she says. “We spent so long figuring out our glassware in the bar, and now it’s the same feeling with the bottles as well.”

“We miss our patrons” Winship believes that there’s going to be a push to forget these times and go back to the way things were. He predicts people may get used to making more basic cocktails at home, opting to visit bars for specialty cocktails that have ingredients like infused liquors, bitters and special tinctures.

Williams Pierce of Law Bird says everyone is searching for what works for them.

“At some point, there will be sharing of best practices, but right now, everyone is figuring out what those are.”

Meanwhile, Giuseppe’s beverage director, Sean Ward, simply asks for patience.

“We will return to the congregation of people in bars, and the sharing of stories and hospitality,” he says. “Bars are assemblies of peace and understanding.

We want to get back to the good times.

And I can speak on behalf of everyone [in this industry]: We miss our patrons.

We want them to know that we are more than happy to see their faces in the coming months and years.” ◆

Design Gets Weird Recent bar design trends like communal tables are at odds with guidelines for social distancing. Brent LaCount, a principal at the local design firm Design Collective, shares some thoughts on how hospitality design is adapting.

Learning to love open spaces “We’re making 6-foot bubbles between tables. It creates weird, open spaces.

We would normally cringe seeing that amount of floor space open. Open areas reduce energy, reduce the vibe. And the vibe prompts guests to feel good about being where they’re at.”

DIY dividers “Everyone is making short-term decisions.

Adriatico’s put plexiglass dividers between booths. The bar at the Hilton Columbus Downtown put screens between the bar and guests. Products are just now becoming available to do this, and it fell on everyone to make their own devices.”

The future of communal seating “We were creating a lot of plans with communal seating. We may start reducing that and make more individual seating. But the jury is still out. Because [communal seating] worked. People like it. So, the question is: How much of this crisis stains our image of what we should be doing? Do we gain certain habits and phobias once we’re in the all-clear zone?

And we just don’t know that yet.”

photo: tim johnson

Fall/Winter Home & Garden Magazine This beautiful magazine features Central Ohio’s most luxurious homes and gardens.

Columbus Monthly JULY 2020

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Dining short order

Roll into The Joint Village Taco’s owners revive vegan fare in the former home of Hal & Al’s on Parsons Avenue.

photo: jodi miller

photo: tim johnson

By Beth Stallings

Some folks roll out a welcome mat. Jonny and Heidi Stone roll out their dusty orange Volkswagen van to greet diners in the parking lot of The Joint, their 6-month-old bar and restaurant offshoot of Village Taco in Alexandria, which closed in late December.

This camper van has been with the Stones through long days selling homemade pizzas on Shakedown Street at Phish shows. It served as the mobile home for their first pop-up in Granville in 2016.

And, over the last few months, it’s the Parsons Avenue landmark customers look for when picking up takeout during the Covid-19 shutdown.

The old-school VW perfectly illustrates The Joint’s hippie-local aesthetic, and the tone of the menu follows suit. The vegan versions of protein are intentionally misspelled (beaf, chickun, porq). Various smoky, sweet and spicy iterations of the house sauce are referred to as “krack.” And the marijuana innuendo is as thick as the smoke flowing out of Cheech & Chong’s Chevy Impala.

Jokes aside, there’s serious cooking happening here. Tacos, burritos, enchiladas and a rotating list of specials (always worth a second look) are thoughtful, colorful, spiced well and as layered as an onion.

Take the 3 Dirty Sunsets ($11), tacos with so much polish they practically shine. They start with crisp shredded cabbage-carrot slaw, bright pico de gallo, smoky-sweet pepper sauce and crunchy little taquitos that pop like bang snaps. But the real star is Jonny’s most successful vegan meat riff—a ground “beaf” seasoned with 35 spices and made with vegetable protein that crumbles like the real thing. The more modestly topped 3 VT Style Tacos ($10), with slaw, pico and house sauce, are lighter but just as satisfying.

The Popcorn Chickun ($10) is everything that’s right in a bar snack—breaded and

Clockwise from left, Pep in Yo Step burger and fries, 3 VT Style Tacos and Chronic Enchiladas

fried extra-firm tofu with Green burrito ($15), with its a meaty bite and burntcitrus-bomb rice and every Village Taco – The Joint 1297 Parsons Ave., orange Buffalo sauce with a crisp vegetable under the South Side, 614-869-0018, smoky chipotle edge that’ll sun tucked inside—cabbage, thejointcolumbus.com make your cheeks glow in carrot, jicama, pepper—it the dark. Pair this starter lacks a little zip. Though the with the exceptional guacamole and poppy fork-lickingly delicious sides that come with salsa ($7) and fresh chips for a perfect hotthe enchiladas—spicy potatoes and earthy cool combo. black beans—more than pick up the slack.

The Chronic Enchiladas ($15) are eyeLike so many restaurateurs before them, catching, with three blue corn tortillas the Stones want to fight the stigma around smothered in a zebra print of green, red vegan restaurants. “We set out to change the and orange sauces, and stuffed with rice perception,” Jonny says. “We want anyone to and “porq” (jackfruit cooked like carnitas). come in and enjoy our food.” From what I’ve But, when compared to the giant Rollin tried so far, all I can say is—far out. ◆ JULY 2020 Columbus Monthly

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Dining Copy & Taste

Burger and fries at Baba’s

By Erin Edwards

Openings & Announcements Hilliard’s Center Street Market is now open daily at 5354 Center St. Some of its vendors include: Bakes by Lo, a new retail bakery specializing in decorated sugar cookies and other baked goods; The Cheesecake Girl, offering scratch-made cheesecakes; Coffee Connections, the Hilliard-based coffee shop; and Dumplings of Fury, an Asian eatery serving bao, dumplings, wings and rice bowls.

A new fast-casual Somali restaurant called Afra Grill opened in early June at 1635 Morse Road. Afra Grill’s menu lets customers build their own meals from bases of rice, flatbreads or salad, then add proteins, hot and cold toppings, and sauces.

Chef Moves Chef Matthew Heaggans has left Ambrose and Eve, the Brewery District restaurant he opened with chef Catie Randazzo less than two years ago. It was named one of Columbus Monthly’s 10 Best Restaurants last year.

Closings

Pierogi Mountain announced it’s taking over the former Grass Skirt Tiki Room space at 105 N. Grant Ave. This will be the first standalone restaurant for owners Matt Majesky and Charlie Greene. The owners are targeting an August opening.

The Sycamore in German Village and Cosecha Cocina in Italian Village, part of the Grow Restaurants family, both succumbed to the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic and will not reopen.

Kolache Republic, which shuttered its South High Street café in February, is making a comeback. Known for its Czech pastries, the business is moving into the kitchen at The Daily Growler at 702 S. High St., just steps away from Kolache Republic’s original location in the Brewery District. An opening date has not yet been announced.

Dan and Caroline Kraus’ small restaurant, Baba’s, has closed permanently after more than three years at 2515 Summit St., another victim of the coronavirus crisis. The Krauses announced the decision in a heartbreaking post on the Baba’s website: “Losing our business feels like a small loss when the world is on fire. We realize what a gem we had, and

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we want you and our family to remember her as she was.”

The Downtown Cuban eatery Plantain Café appears to have closed after more than 10 years in business. The small café, which had been listed for sale prior to the coronavirus pandemic, has been emptied out, and its phone number has been disconnected.

Owners Don and Anna Steere, who could not be reached for comment, helped revitalize Gay Street when Plantain Café opened in 2009, serving up classics like ropa vieja and Cuban sandwiches.

Flowers & Bread in Clintonville will not be reopening the café portion of the business. Both floral and bread-making classes will continue. The Flowers & Bread owners hinted that breads and pastries will return in some form at a future date.

The Florida-based chain Miller’s Ale House has closed both of its Central Ohio locations, at 1201 Olentangy River Road and 3884 Morse Road.

To keep up with the latest restaurant/bar openings and closings, check out The Scoop at ColumbusMonthly.com or go online to subscribe to our food newsletter, Copy & Taste.

photo: tim johnson

The Scoop

Columbus Monthly JULY 2020

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Dining people Advice for small business owners: Your dream was not built by others! People will think you are crazy. They will come and go, employees will quit, and you will be scared and often feel alone. But your dream is still there, built by you! Keep working!

Hoping to leave a career in the corporate world behind, Traci Lukemire dreamed of opening her own made-to-order doughnut shop, but she needed a nudge. Then, she got invited to run in the Ragnar Relay, a 200-mile team event over two days. “I told my husband, ‘If I can do this race, I can do anything,’” she says. After finishing the race, she was ready. Donna’s Delicious Dozen, 5322 N. Hamilton Road, celebrated its first anniversary in June. Named after Lukemire’s grandmother, Donna’s specializes in vanilla cake doughnuts fried right in front of you and finished with a variety of toppings and drizzles. We asked Lukemire about her favorite food destinations and what she thinks the city needs. —Erin Edwards

First food memory: Lying on the kitchen floor and talking with my grandmother while she was cooking Special occasion meal: Mitchell’s Ocean Club Favorite comfort food: Soul food: baked

mac ’n’ cheese, greens, sweet potatoes, fried fish and wings, barbecue ribs. Or Mexican!

Go-to doughnut topping: Cream cheese icing Food and drink travel destination: Negril, Jamaica. Can I please get some jerk chicken with red beans and rice?!

Thing that Columbus needs more of: We are so fortunate to live in such a beautifully diverse city! With that being said, we could use more support for all of those who make up this amazing city. Especially small business owners from different ethnicities. Being a black, female small business owner is pretty rare, and I am super proud of the business I have built. But I could not have done it without the support I have received from all kinds of people in our community. An image keeps coming to my mind from the doughnut shop one day, pre-Covid. There were three couples with children sitting down having doughnuts and coffee. One family was black, one family was white, and one family was Asian. As they enjoyed their doughnuts, the children started playing together, and the families started talking and laughing. ... No one cared what the other looked like or what their views were, they were just people relating over life and doughnuts. ◆

photo: tim johnson

photo: rob hardin

After Hours with Traci Lukemire

JULY 2020 Columbus Monthly

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Dining recipe Kaori Becker makes mochi in her home kitchen.

Mochi Mania Kaori Becker, a JapaneseAmerican cooking instructor, is launching a mochi bakery in Columbus.

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Daifuku Mochi Filled with Strawberries Start to Finish: 20–30 minutes Servings: 7–8 pieces Ingredients: Mochi Dough: • 1 cup mochiko flour • 1 cup water • 1/2 cup sugar • 1/2 cup cornstarch or potato starch, for dusting and shaping mochi Mochi Filling: • 1/2 cup sweet red bean paste or 1/2 cup refrigerated Nutella • 1/2 cup thickly sliced strawberries Microwave method: In a medium-size glass or ceramic bowl, whisk together all mochi dough ingredients well.

Microwave the bowl, uncovered, on high for 2 minutes. Stir the mixture thoroughly with a rice paddle or spatula.

Microwave the mixture again for another 2 minutes. Stir the mochi until even in consistency. It will become one sticky mass of mochi dough.

Stovetop method: In a small nonstick pot, combine mochi dough ingredients. Put heat on medium-high and stir continuously for 7 minutes with a wooden spoon

or heat-safe spatula while mochi starts to cook.

After 7 minutes of continuous stirring, the mochi should be ready. It will become one sticky mass of mochi.

FINAL STEPS: Dust your cutting board with 1/4 cup of cornstarch or potato starch. Scoop the mochi mixture out of the bowl or pot, onto your starchcovered board. Allow the mochi dough to cool for 5 minutes.

Cover your hands with starch and dust the top of the mochi with extra starch. Then, carefully reach under the mochi and flip the whole mass onto the other side. The mochi should be completely covered with starch.

Form the mochi into a 3-inch-wide log. Pinch off golf-ball-size pieces, using your left hand to pinch and your right hand to pull the mochi away from the log. Continue until you have 7 or 8 uniform pieces.

Working one at a time, place 1 slice of strawberry on top of the mochi disk. Top the strawberry slice with 1 teaspoon of sweet red bean paste or Nutella. Stretch the mochi over the filling and pinch multiple times to seal.

Once the mochi is well-sealed, flip the filled mochi over (seam-side down) and round it out with your hands.

Brush off the mochi with a pastry brush if desired. Place the mochi in cupcake liners or leave on the plate to serve.

photos: jodi miller

Rice, a staple in the Japanese diet, can take many delicious forms. Beloved for its sticky properties, glutinous rice (or mochigome) is used to create an array of chewy Japanese desserts known as mochi, which are traditionally eaten for good fortune on New Year’s Day or, you know, any day of the week.

While teaching Asian cooking classes in the San Francisco Bay Area with her mother, Kaori Becker discovered that mochi classes proved to be some of their most popular. The University of California, Berkeley, and Ohio State alum, who moved to Columbus with her husband last summer, has since taken the mochi trend and run with it.

In addition to teaching virtual cooking classes, Becker has a cookbook coming out in late November called “Mochi Magic.” She’s also in the process of launching a home bakery and online shop called The Mochi Shop, specializing in mochi doughnuts, with her business partner Junna Kanazawa.

“We use mochiko, which is a sticky rice flour, and we combine [it] with traditional cake batter ingredients,” Becker says.

“It’s like a cake doughnut but a little bit more on the chewier side.”

At right, Becker shares her technique for making daifuku mochi, small round confections stuffed with sweet fillings.

You can either steam the dough in the microwave or cook it on the stovetop.

Becker uses strawberries and sweet red bean paste or Nutella as fillings here, but she recommends experimenting with peanut butter chocolate cups or other fresh fruits. You can source mochiko flour and red bean paste at Tensuke Market (1167 Old Henderson Road). Find Becker on Instagram @the.mochi.shop or online at themochi.shop.com. —Erin Edwards Columbus Monthly JULY 2020

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photos: jodi miller

Daifuku mochi with sweet red bean paste and strawberries

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Dining drink

Make a Better Cold Brew

Jason Valentine, owner of Thunderkiss Coffee, makes cold brew coffee at home.

Thunderkiss Coffee’s Jason Valentine shares his secrets.

By Nicholas Dekker

1. Use light to medium roasts Darker roasts can be flat, ashy and missing the necessary sweetness. Valentine recommends using naturally processed coffees, in which the coffee bean cherries are dried on raised beds in the sun. Then, it’s a matter of choosing beans with your preferred flavor profile. Ethiopian or Kenyan roasts, for instance, produce bright, fruity acids.

Costa Rican beans often feature honey or citrusy sweetness, while Sumatran beans lean toward peaty and earthy.

2. Multiply by 0.125 to get your volume Valentine says you don’t have to commit to brewing gallon-sized batches. Simply use any vessel, from a small pitcher to a French press; figure out how many ounces it holds and multiply it by 0.125. For example, a 10-ounce pitcher needs 1.25 ounces of coffee. (If you prefer a stronger cold brew, Valentine suggests rounding up the total by a half-ounce.)

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3. Use a medium-grind coffee Set your coffee grinder to a medium or “drip” grind setting. Too coarse and the brew is weak or flavorless. Too fine and it becomes difficult to filter.

5. Filter completely Filter your brew using a paper coffee filter.

For a richer or more chocolatey cold brew, filter through a cheese cloth or the French press screen.

4. Steep in water for 24 hours Use whatever water you prefer: mineral water, filtered water from your fridge or even tap water if you like the flavor. Add the ground coffee to your container, fill with water, then stir vigorously until all the grounds are thoroughly soaked. Allow coffee to steep at room temperature or in the fridge for 24 hours.

6. Serve!

Pour your cold brew over ice. Add a splash of milk or cream if you like.

7. Refrigerate Valentine suggests drinking your cold brew within a week, but it will keep its flavor in the fridge for up to 30 days, becoming less acidic and more full-bodied as time goes by. ◆

photo: tim johnson

Cold brew coffee is the summer refresher made by immersing ground coffee in cold water overnight. Because no heat touches the beans, the drink is lightly sweet and surprisingly smooth. Jason Valentine, the roaster behind Thunderkiss Coffee, brews large batches of cold brew for local spots such as Katalina’s and Seventh Son Brewing Co. Valentine discovered a love for coffee through Jovan Karcic, the owner of Yeah, Me Too, a tiny coffee shop on Indianola Avenue in Clintonville. Working in construction at the time, Valentine began roasting on his own, eventually purchasing a Diedrich IR-12 infrared roaster. In 2010, he launched Thunderkiss, first roasting at home and then out of North High Brewing’s production facility. In October 2018, he began roasting full time and recently moved to his own space in Milo-Grogan.

Like Valentine, many of the city’s coffee roasters produce excellent cold brew, although it’s just as easy to make at home.

We asked him to share a few tips.

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let’s eat our guide to the best restaurants in columbus

Editor’s Note: At press time, some Central Ohio restaurants were beginning to reopen to dine-in customers, while others remain carryout only. Our listings include restaurants that are open for dine-in, carryout, delivery or all three. This is not a comprehensive list. Please call restaurants to check hours and availability; some businesses may require masks or face coverings.

3 Brothers Diner Mexian/American | 3090 Southwest Blvd., Grove City, 614-317-7798. This family-friendly spot combines American, Mexican and Cuban diner fare on one menu. You’ll find a variety of omelets, egg scrambles, breakfast burritos, French toast and pancakes, plus entrées like Cuban roasted chicken, jambalaya and more. BLD $

Asterisk Supper Club American | 14 N. State St., Westerville, 614-776-4633.

Owner Megan Ada offers teatime and suppertime in a bibliophile’s dream atmosphere. Craft cocktails are served at a handsome bar, while the eclectic menu leans on comfort foods like deviled eggs, meatloaf and chicken pot pie. LD $$

6-1-Pho Vietnamese | 4386 N. High St., Clintonville, 614-7064903. A fast-casual restaurant where diners can build their own noodle soups, sandwiches and noodle salads—all of which pull flavors from classic Vietnamese cuisine. LD $

The Avenue Steak Tavern Steakhouse | 94 N. High St., Dublin, 614-591-9000; 1307 Grandview Ave., Grandview, 614-485-9447. Cameron Mitchell’s homage to the steakhouses of yore. The restaurant’s retro design and clubby atmosphere are teamed with a menu boasting all the classics: oysters Rockefeller, beefsteak tomato salad, creamed spinach, potatoes in all the steakhouse ways and, of course, numerous cuts of beef. BRD $$$$

101 Beer Kitchen Gastropub | 7509 Sawmill Rd., Dublin, 614-2101010; 397 Stoneridge Ln., Gahanna, 614-934-5501; 817 Polaris Pkwy., Westerville, 614-776-4775. At this expertly executed gastropub (its owners could school others in the art of developing a restaurant), craft brews are paired with made-from-scratch, seasonal dishes. BRLD $$ 1808 American Bistro American | 29 E. Winter St., Delaware, 740-417-4373.

Josh Dalton’s bistro uses both contemporary and classic elements in décor and cooking. The menu features short ribs, filet medallions, and shrimp and grits. BRLD $$$ Aab India Indian | 1470 Grandview Ave., Grandview, 614-4862800; 2400 E. Main St., Bexley, 614-237-5500. Aab India boasts a large menu of authentic Northern Indian-style curry offerings, plus papadi chaat, chicken tandoori and shrimp bhuna. LD $$ Ampersand Asian Supper Club Asian | 940 N. High St., Short North, 614-928-3333.

Megan Ada’s Ampersand serves ramen, donburi rice bowls and more in new Short North digs. This sister restaurant to Westerville’s Asterisk Supper Club also offers craft cocktails and a variety of sakes. LD $$ Arepazo Latin American | 93 N. High St., Gahanna, 614-471-7296.

Owners Carlos and Carolina Gutierrez serve tapas and entrées in a chic and casual atmosphere with a focus on Venezuelan and Colombian fare. LD $$

Barcelona Restaurant & Bar Spanish | 263 E. Whittier St., German Village, 614-4433699. Longstanding Barcelona is a classic for approachable Spanish tapas and other palate-expanding fare with an American influence. The patio is one of the most charming in the city. BRLD $$$ Barley’s Brewing Co. Brewpub | 467 N. High St., Arena District, 614-2282537. The microbrewery offers an expansive selection of brews, which can be enjoyed at the hand-carved, century-old mahogany bar alongside American bar favorites like nachos and burgers. LD $$ The Barn at Rocky Fork Creek Steakhouse | 1370 E. Johnstown Rd., Gahanna, 614855-9840. While bourbon, barbecue and beef are king at Cameron Mitchell’s cozy steakhouse rehab of the old Hoggy’s barn, don’t miss the baked oysters, fresh salads and blackened red fish. Predictably, some prices are on steroids. BRD $$$$ Belle’s Bread Café & Bakery | 1168 Kenny Centre Mall, Upper Arlington, 614-451-7110. Tucked away in the same complex as Akai Hana, this French-inspired Japanese bakery and café is known for its outstanding pastries, cakes and treats. It also serves tea, coffee and a lunch menu with sandwiches and crêpes. BL $ Brekkie Shack American | 1060 Yard St., Grandview, 614-208-7766. Stay-

ing true to its name, this cheerful Grandview Yard spot focuses on breakfast, with scratch-baked goods, savory breakfast sandwiches, pancakes and coffee from Crimson Cup. Beer and cocktails are also available. BBRL $ Brown Bag Deli Deli | 898 Mohawk St., German Village, 614-4434214. The longtime German Village sandwich shop keeps it simple yet tasty with crave-worthy sandwiches like the turkey-and-cranberry-mayo-topped Village Addiction, plus daily soups, salads and sides on display under the counter. LD $ Ciao Café Coffee & Desserts | 2 N. Sandusky St., Delaware, 740990-4003. This authentic gelateria in the heart of downtown Delaware serves Italian-style ice creams, espresso drinks and pastries. BLD $ Club 185 American | 185 E. Livingston Ave., German Village, 614-228-3904. You’ll find cozy booths and a swinging jukebox at this dimly lit German Village hangout serving better-than-average bar fare like cheeseburgers, wings and pizza. LD $ A Common Table Soup & Sandwiches | 3496 N. High St., Clintonville, 614824-1887. Uncommonly good deli fare can be found at this small spot from owners Josh and Kristen Taylor. L $ Creole Kitchen Cajun/Creole | 1052 B Mt. Vernon Ave., East Side, 614-372-3333. This family-owned restaurant founded by chef Henry Butcher serves Louisiana classics like gumbo, po’boys and crawfish étouffée. BLD $$ Cuco’s Taqueria Mexican | 2162 Henderson Rd., Upper Arlington, 614538-8701. Once a Mexican grocery store with a tiny taco counter, Cuco’s has grown into a full-fledged, successful restaurant that still sells a few Mexican goods alongside ceviche, burritos, tamales, tortas and tacos al pastor. BLD $ DK Diner American | 1715 W. Third Ave., Grandview, 614-4885160. The DK stands for doughnut kitchen at this off-the-beaten-path diner with a cozy atmosphere and local flavor. Enjoy breakfast all day. BLD $

photo: tim johnson

Let’s Eat comprises Columbus Monthly editors’ picks and is updated monthly based on available space. If you notice an error, please email eedwards@columbusmonthly.com.

$$$$ Average entrée $26 and higher $$$ Average entrée $16–$25 $$ Average entrée $11–$15 $ Average entrée under $10

- Valet Available - Kitchen Open Late Outdoor Patio Seating

B Breakfast BR Brunch L Lunch D Dinner

Critics’ Choice Columbus Classic

NEW! Restaurant has opened within the last few months.

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Donna’s Delicious Dozen Doughnuts | 5322 N. Hamilton Rd., Gahanna/New Albany, 614-245-4859. At Traci Lukemire’s year-old doughnut shop, customers can adorn warm doughnuts with a variety of toppings, drizzles and icings. BL $ Dosa Corner Indian | 1077 Old Henderson Rd., Upper Arlington, 614-459-5515. A family-owned, Southern Indian “fast food” spot that specializes in thin, pancake-like dosas made with rice and lentil flour batter with a choice of vegetarian fillings. LD $ Ena’s Caribbean Kitchen Caribbean | 2444 Cleveland Ave., North Linden, 614-262-0988. Founded more than 20 years ago by matriarch Vinell “Ena” Hayles, a native of Jamaica, this Linden area restaurant offers authentic Caribbean fare like jerk chicken, callaloo and goat curry. BRLD $$ Fireproof Contemporary American | 1026 N. High St., Short North, 614-706-4425. Featuring a chic atmosphere, hand-crafted cocktails and globally inspired tapas by chef Michael Koenig, Fireproof takes its name from its historic building on High Street. BRD $$$ Flavor 91 Bistro Burgers | 5186 E. Main St., Whitehall, 614-845-8840.

This family-owned craft burger joint on the border of Whitehall and Reynoldsburg is dedicated to serving local, organic and fresh ingredients. Go for the flavorful salads, the berbere-rubbed chicken wings, the Flavor Burger and the friendly atmosphere. LD $ Fox in the Snow Café Coffee & Desserts | 210 Thurman Ave., German Vil-

lage; 1031 N. Fourth St., Italian Village; 160 W. Main St., New Albany. A bakery and coffee shop offering pastries made in-house daily and coffee from Tandem Coffee Roasters. BL $ Fukuryu Ramen Japanese | 4540 Bridge Park Ave., Dublin, 614-553-7392; 1600 W. Lane Ave., Upper Arlington, 614-929-5910. Jeff Tsao, whose family owned the Kahiki Supper Club, brings his Melbourne, Australia, ramen shop stateside.

It’s quick, modern, bustling and adds a little rock ’n’ roll to traditional Japanese fare. The Signature Tonkotsu and Red Dragon ramens are standouts. LD $$ G. Michael’s Bistro & Bar Low Country | 595 S. Third St., German Village, 614-464-0575. This historic German Village eatery promises fine dining with a low country influence.

Expect bold flavors in dishes layered with components and exceptional sauces. Preparations and ingredients change with the seasons. D $$$ Geordie’s Restaurant Irish & British Pubs | 1586 S. High St., Merion Village, 614-674-6004. Chef-owner Glen Hall-Jones brings the flavors of his native northeast England to Columbus. At dinner, pair a pint with Cornish pasties or the fish and chips. Weekends bring brunch, featuring a full English breakfast, and Newcastle United on the TV. BRD $$ Giuseppe’s Ritrovo Italian | 2268 E. Main St., Bexley, 614-235-4300.This unfussy Bexley restaurant is the place to go for classic Italian pasta dishes, such as Gamberi Diavola and Fettucine Calabrese. Italy plays just as big a role behind the bar with a lengthy wine list, a solid amaro selection and outstanding craft cocktails. LD $$

NEW! The Good Kitchen 614 American | 1485 Sunbury Rd., Northeast Columbus, 614-258-4663. A carryout-only spot serving affordable soul food classics like smothered pork chops, fried fish (whiting, perch or tilapia), collard greens and more. LD $ Goodale Station Contemporary American | 77 E. Nationwide Blvd., Downtown, 614-227-9400. Topping Downtown’s new Canopy by Hilton hotel is this bar and restaurant led by executive chef Tripp Mauldin. Boasting a handsome rooftop patio, the restaurant’s soaring city views are complemented by a large bar, high-end cocktails and dishes that hint at the chef’s Southern roots. D $$$ GoreMade Pizza Pizza | 936 N. Fourth St., Italian Village, 614-725-2115.

It’s all about the pizza here at Nick Gore’s modest spot.

Thin-crust pies are wood-fired in an oven imported from Italy, and seasonal toppings are locally sourced. Enjoy solid cocktails and salads while you wait. D $$$ Harvest Kitchen & Bar American | 2376 E. Main St., Bexley, 614-824-4081; 2885 N. High St., Clintonville, 614-947-7133. From the owners of Harvest Pizzeria, these locations offer the same wood-kissed pies plus salads, sandwiches, burgers and more. LD $$ Harvest Pizzeria Pizza | 45 N. High St., Dublin, 614-726-9919. Some of the best wood-fired pies in Central Ohio are served at this pizzeria owned by Grow Restaurants.

LD $$

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High Bank Distillery Co. American | 1051 Goodale Blvd., Grandview, 614-8265347. High Bank’s dining room offers plenty of games, TVs and space for large groups. The cocktail menu puts the distillery’s own offerings to good use, while the food menu offers above average pub fare such as brunch items, salads, locally sourced beef burgers and Hot Honey Chicken. BRLD Hoyo’s Kitchen Somali | 5788 Columbus Sq., North Side, 614-899-8800; 59 Spruce St., Short North, 614-745-3943. Hoyo’s Kitchen offers Somali cuisine with authentic dishes inspired by the owner’s mother. Don’t pass on a combo plate with goat and a berbere-spiked sauce or the daal soup, a hearty lentil dish. Hoyo’s added a fast-casual location inside North Market last year. LD $$ Huli Huli Tiki Lounge & Grill Small Plates | 26 W. Olentangy St., Powell, 614-3968437. This bar in historic downtown Powell celebrates tiki culture with carefully crafted rum drinks like mai tais and zombies. A small menu features items like the Big Island Sliders, which combine Spam, pineapple and Swiss cheese on mini Hawaiian rolls. D $ Huong Vietnamese Restaurant Vietnamese | 1270 Morse Rd., North Side, 614-8250303. Housed in a Northland-area strip mall, this bright and simply decorated restaurant turns out great Vietnamese fare with pho, Bun Nem Nuong and Asian-style barbecue pork. LD $ Indian Oven Indian | 427 E. Main St., Downtown, 614-220-9390.

Friendly and chic eatery serving Northern Indian and Bengali meals. The menu includes palak paneer, tandoori chicken, biryani and roasted lamb shank. LD $$ Indochine Café Vietnamese | 561 S. Hamilton Rd., Whitehall, 614-231-7357.

Classic Vietnamese and Laotian fare is presented in a colorful, photo-filled menu at this traditional momand-pop eatery. LD $$

Locally Owned and Serving Central Ohio for Over 50 Years

Jiu Thai Asian Café Chinese | 787 Bethel Rd., Northwest Side, 614-7325939. Located in the Olentangy Plaza shopping center, this restaurant specializes in flavorful, authentic cuisine from northern China. Go for the tofu skewers, lamb dumplings and handmade noodles in generous portions at low prices. LD $ Jonys Sushi Japanese | 195 Thurman Ave., German Village, 614-7064979. The owners of South Village Grille opened this takeout sushi shop right next door. The colorful shop offers appetizers, nigiri, sashimi, classic sushi rolls and a variety of interesting specialty rolls. LD $$$ Kabob Shack Afghan | 4568 Cemetery Rd., Hilliard. Owner Sakeena Bary’s casual eatery offers a cuisine rarely found in Central Ohio. Kabob Shack’s menu includes mantu (Afghan dumplings), lamb chops, kofta kebab, daal, samosas, falooda (an Afghan dessert) and more. LD $$ Katalina’s Latin American | 3481 N. High St., Clintonville, 614689-8896; 1105 Pennsylvania Ave., Harrison West, 614294-2233. Expect an eclectic menu of Latin-leaning items at this café known for its chalkboard walls, scratch-made salads and sandwiches and killer patio in the warmer months. BLD $

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Katzinger’s Delicatessen Deli | 7160 Muirfield Dr., Dublin, 614-389-8444; 475 S. Third St., German Village, 614-228-3354. A 35-year veteran in German Village, Katzinger’s is a traditional East Coast-style deli, with 60-plus sandwiches, potato latkes, pickle barrels, specialty foods and cheeses. The Dublin location opened last fall. BLD $$ La Chatelaine French Bakery & Bistro French/Bakery | 627 High St., Worthington, 614-8486711; 1550 W. Lane Ave., Upper Arlington, 614-4881911; 65 W. Bridge St., Dublin, 614-763-7151. Handcrafted woodwork and a crackling fireplace lend the feeling of a French castle to this bakery, bistro and wine bar with equally inspired dishes that range from beef bourguignon to croissants. BLD $$ La Tavola Italian | 1664 W. First Ave., Grandview, 614-914-5455.

Chef Rick Lopez owns this popular Old World Italian restaurant in Grandview. Dotted with green and yellow accents, the setting is open and welcoming. The food is simple and rustic Italian with pizzas, housemade breads and pastas. D $$$ Lalibela Ethiopian | 1111 S. Hamilton Rd., Whitehall, 614-2355355. One of the best places for Ethiopian food in the city is Lalibela, a strip-mall restaurant that’s modest on the outside and welcoming on the inside. Request to be seated at a mesob, a colorful woven communal table, and start off with some Ethiopian beer or honey wine. LD

$ Lávash Café Middle Eastern | 2985 N. High St., Clintonville, 614263-7777. This quick-service Middle Eastern eatery

serves a mix of Mediterranean food, coffee and desserts. LD $$ Lindey’s American | 169 E. Beck St., German Village, 614-228-4343. A Columbus institution, this upscale German Village restaurant with Upper East Side New York flair is a diner favorite, no doubt due to its classic and consistently good fine-dining fare and lush patio.

BRLD $$$ Los Guachos Taqueria Mexican | 7370 Sawmill Rd., Dublin, 614-726-9185; 5221 Godown Rd., Northwest Side, 614-538-0211; 1376 Cherry Bottom Rd., Gahanna, 614-471-4717. The brick-and-mortar version of the popular taco truck (461 Commerce Sq., West Side) offers all the truck favorites—authentic tacos, tortas and gringas—and, of course, the city’s best al pastor. LD $ The Lox Bagel Shop Café & Bakery | 772 N. High St., Short North, 614824-4005. Kevin Crowley’s cute Short North shop offers handmade bagels that are boiled and then baked over a live fire. The shop’s namesake sandwich and pastrami sandwich are standouts. BL $ Lupo Spanish | 2124 Arlington Ave., Upper Arlington, 614-9145455. From La Tavola’s Rick and Krista Lopez, this tapas spot offers a menu of seasonal small plates combining Spanish and Italian influences. The full bar focuses on aperitivo-inspired cocktails and a curated list featuring Spanish and Portuguese wines. LD $$ Mr. Hummus Grill Middle Eastern | 1450 Bethel Rd., Northwest Side,

614-273-4444. Warm service accompanies authentic Lebanese fare at owner Tarek Albast’s restaurant, which takes what his food truck started and kicks it up a notch with tablecloths and impressive décor. Go for appetizers such as the fattet hummus and fried kibbeh, as well as entrées such as the fried red snapper and lamb shank. LD $$ Mazah Mediterranean Eatery Mediterranean | 1453 Grandview Ave., Grandview, 614488-3633. At this modest mom-and-pop eatery you’ll find a full bar to complement the authentic Middle Eastern-style fare, including kibbe balls, lamb kebabs and mujadara. LD $$ Melt Bar & Grilled Pub Grub | 840 N. High St., Short North, 614-4531150; 4206 Worth Ave., Easton, 614-934-6020. The Cleveland-based, kitschy bar is all about one thing: grilled cheese. Here, you’ll get the expected plain cheese as well as odd variations, like two slices of Texas-style toast stuffed with pierogi, sauerkraut and cheese. LD $$ Meshikou Japanese | 1506 Bethel Rd., Northwest Side, 614457-1689. Meshikou is an open-kitchen ramen shop focusing on authentic preparations of noodle bowls, as well as a few Japanese comfort-food starters. Coowner Mike Shek learned the ramen craft under a NYC chef—recipes to which Shek has added his own touch for Central Ohio palates. LD $$ Mikey’s Late Night Slice Pizza | 457 N. High St., Short North, 614-869-0249; 1030 N. High St., Short North, 614-737-3488; 15 E. Duncan St., Old North, 614-262-0680; 268 S. Fourth

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St., Downtown, 614-737-3801. What started as a late-night pizza shack in the Short North has grown into a mini-chain offering thin crust whole and bythe-slice pizza, wacky seasonal toppings and famed hot sauce—a mix of barbecue, ranch and other hot sauces—to top it all off. LD $

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Min Ga Korean Restaurant Korean | 800 Bethel Rd., Northwest Side, 614-4577331. This friendly strip-mall spot serves Korean specialities like kimchi, bibimbap, bulgogi and gopchang. LD $$

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Mitchell’s Ocean Club Seafood | 4002 Easton Station, Easton, 614-416-2582.

With wood-paneled décor, live piano music and martinis shaken tableside, the Ocean Club evokes the Rat Pack era. On the menu, expect high-end seafood like yellowfin tuna, teriyaki salmon and jumbo lump crab cakes. D $$$$ Momo Ghar Nepalese/Tibetan | 59 Spruce St., Short North, 614495-6666; 1265 Morse Rd., North Side, 614-749-2901.

Phuntso Lama’s modest lunch counters inside North Market and Saraga International Grocery specialize in momos, the handmade dumplings that she and her crew make by the hundreds, weekly. No trip is complete without the best-seller, jhol momo. LD $

To learn more or to schedule a confidential appointment, please call

Natalie’s Coal-Fired Pizza and Live Music Pizza | 5601 N. High St., Worthington, 614-436-2625.

Pies topped with imported cheeses and high-quality meats are cooked in an ultra-high-heat coal oven for an especially charred crust. A killer nightly live music lineup provides an Americana soundtrack. BRD $$

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NE Chinese Restaurant Chinese | 2620 N. High St., Old North, 614-725-0880.

Authentic dishes from the Dongbei region of China are the specialty at this unfussy Old North spot. Go for the Cumin Potato, Spicy Twice-Cooked Fish or any of the hot pots. LD $$ Sonia Abuzakhm, M.D.

Neehee’s Indian Vegetarian Street Food Indian |6080 Sawmill Rd., Dublin, 614-389-6304.This lively, Michigan-based franchise offers a wide variety of vegetarian Indian fare. In addition to several variants on chaat, a traditional savory snack, the large menu also includes Indo-Chinese dishes, sandwiches, veggie burgers, dosas, lassis and more. LD $

Scott Blair, M.D.

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Newfangled Kitchen Soup & Sandwiches | 2258 E. Main St., Bexley, 614817-1099. Located next to the Drexel Theatre, this chef-inspired sandwich shop reimagines the classic American meatloaf sandwich. Don’t miss The Fang, a meatloaf version of a cheeseburger. LD $ Nida’s Thai on High Thai | 976 N. High St., Short North, 614-299-9199. A quirky, modern Short North eatery offering a mix of traditional and trendy Thai dishes. LD $$ Northstar Café American | 951 N. High St., Short North, 614-2989999; 4241 N. High St., Clintonville, 614-784-2233; 4015 Townsfair Way, Easton, 614-532-5444; 109 S. State St., Westerville, 614-394-8992. Northstar’s imaginative 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, salads, rice-and-veggie bowls and oversized cookies.

BBRLD $$

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Emily Saul, D.O

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Patricia Bordner, CNP

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Pat and Gracie’s Burgers | 138 Graceland Blvd., Clintonville, 614-9875147; 340 E. Gay St., Downtown, 614-914-8484. This friendly tavern serves up solid smash-cooked burgers, hand cut fries and craft beer. Also keep an eye out for specials like Yankee Pot Roast. BRLD $$

STAY AT HOME

SERIES

Paulie Gee’s Short North Pizza | 1195 N. High St., Short North, 614-808-0112.

A Brooklyn-based pizzeria with Neapolitan-style pies and craft beer. Offers traditional and eclectic pizza toppings with names like the Hog Pit Brisket, the Greenpointer and the Ricotta Be Kiddin’ Me. D $$$ The Pearl Contemporary American | 641 N. High St., Short North, 614-227-0151. Gastropub meets oyster bar at this Cameron Mitchell Restaurant with a throwback vibe, craft beer and barrel-aged cocktails. BRLD $$$ Pistacia Vera Café & Bakery | 541 S. Third St., German Village, 614220-9070; 59 Spruce St., Short North, 614-221-1001.

The crème de la crème of Columbus dessert shops, with macarons, Pistachio Mascarpone Dacquoise torte and Chocolate Bombe. BL $ Plank’s Café & Pizzeria Pizza | 743 Parsons Ave., South Side, 614-4457221. Plank’s bakes some of the finest pies in the city with a notoriously sweet sauce and thin crust. BLD $ Poong Mei Asian Bistro Asian | 4720 Reed Rd., Upper Arlington, 614-273-9998.

This popular spot boasts a sprawling menu showcasing Chinese, Korean, Japanese and Korean-Chinese dishes, plus plenty of sushi and soju to choose from. Check out the fresh noodle dishes and spicy beef hot pot. LD $$

WEDNESDAY, JULY 29 & THURSDAY, JULY 30, 2020

Portia’s Café Vegan | 4428 Indianola Ave., Clintonville, 614-928-3252.

This Clintonville café serves only vegan and glutenfree options with an emphasis on raw foods. The menu includes dips like hummus and guacamole, falafel, soups, salads, wraps, smoothies and vegan-friendly Cheezecake. BRLD $ Ranchero Kitchen Latin American | 984 Morse Rd., North Side, 614985-0083. Previously located in Saraga International Grocery, this Salvadoran eatery specializes in pupusas, thick tortillas stuffed with savory fillings. LD $ Ray Ray’s Hog Pit Barbecue | 2619 High St., Old North, 614-753-1191; 424 W. Town St., Franklinton, 614-404-9742; 41 Depot St., Powell, 614-441-1065; 5755 Maxtown Rd., Westerville, 614-329-6654. James Anderson’s barbecue truck serves up top-notch eats from the smoker. Anderson is now up to four locations. Expect barbecue fare, with ribs, pulled pork and beef brisket sandwiches, plus sides. LD $

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The Refectory Restaurant & Wine Shop French | 1092 Bethel Rd., Northwest Side, 614451-9774. Columbus’ iconic French restaurant might put more kitchen effort into a single plate than an ordinary restaurant does into an entire menu. Inside this church-turned-fine-dining spot, expect impeccable service and a world-class wine cellar to pair with your meal. D $$$$ Rockmill Tavern Gastropub | 503 S. Front St., Brewery District, 614-7324364. Housed in the historic Worly Building, the tavern’s jumping-off point is Rockmill Brewery’s impressive

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list of Belgian-style beers. The menu includes burrata, a spicy chicken sandwich, daily fish special and Angus rib-eye. BRLD $$$ Rooh Indian | 685 N. High St., Short North, 614-972-8678.

A San Francisco import serving high-end, “progressive Indian” fare. Go for the inventive cocktails, buzzy atmosphere and conversation-stoking small plates. D $$$ The Rossi Kitchen & Bar American | 895 N. High St., Short North, 614-525-0624.

A perennially packed Short North hot spot, diners flock here for inventive bar food (think gourmet pizza, lamb lollipops and grilled Caesar salad) in a new-meets-old atmosphere straight out of Manhattan. D $$

DeepCreekVacations.com 301.453.8254

Sassafras Bakery Café & Bakery | 657 High St., Worthington, 614-781-9705.

Owner A.J. Perry got her start at the Olde Worthington Summer Farmers Market and now serves homecooked desserts (grab a slice of apple pie), pastries, quiche and soup using locally sourced ingredients in her Worthington shop. BBRLD $ Satori Ramen Bar Japanese | 59 Spruce St., Short North, 614-914-8799.

Tokyo native Seigo Nishimura runs this ramen spot in the North Market, serving a variety of Japanese ramen as well as gyoza, karaage, rice bowls and more. LD $$ Scali Ristorante Italian | 1903 State Route 256, Reynoldsburg, 614-7597764. This strip mall gem opened by Frank and Judy Scali in 1993 pulls off sophisticated Italian-American fare with the genuine warmth of a neighborhood institution. The veal Parmesan and classic lasagna give red sauce a good name. D $$$ Service Bar Contemporary American | 1230 Courtland Ave., Short North, 614-947-1231. From Middle West Spirits comes this fine restaurant run by executive chef Avishar Barua. Excellent seasonal cocktails (often featuring the distillery’s OYO spirits) are served at a gorgeous antique bar. Barua’s playful menu offers a mix of shareable plates and entrées that express his command of modern techniques and sense of nostalgia. D $$$ Skillet American | 410 E. Whittier St., Schumacher Pl., 614443-2266. Chef Kevin Caskey has developed a huge following for his creative comfort food, served out of a cozy, no-reservations Schumacher Place space. The menu changes nearly daily to reflect whatever local ingredients the chef can source. BBRL $$

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Korean Restaurant Hot stone-pot meals, bibimbop, grilled fish & other authentic Korean dishes

Smoked on High Barbeque Co. Barbecue | 755 S. High St., Brewery District, 614-7549711. Max McGarity runs this quick-service barbecue spot in a Victorian-style house in the Brewery District. Head there for craft beer and four standard meat options—chicken drumsticks, pulled pork, brisket and pork spareribs, plus sauces and sides.

LD $$ Soulshine Tavern & Kitchen Gastropub | 266 E. Main St., New Albany, 614450-1298. Andrew and Shanda Arthurs’ New Albany tavern is equal parts family-friendly eatery, sports bar and gastropub. Go for the Dutch baby pancakes, Cuban sandwich, burgers and mac ’n’ cheese. BRLD $$

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Located in Olentangy Square Shopping Center 800 Bethel Rd, Columbus, OH 43214 (614) 457-7331

Sun - Thurs: 11:30am-10pm • Fri - Sat: 11:30am-11pm JULY 2020 Columbus Monthly

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South of Lane Café | 1987 Guilford Rd., Upper Arlington, 614-5862233. A quaint neighborhood café serving simple but tasty breakfast fare like Greek omelets, seasonal salads and Belgian waffles. BBRL $

ONLINE

South Village Grille American | 197 Thurman Ave., German Village, 614-826-0491. From the owners of Local Cantina and Old Skool, South Village Grille offers a classy atmosphere in a familiar neighborhood setting. You can expect lunch classics like the Croque Madame Toast, plus dinner options like roast chicken, short ribs, seafood and pasta dishes. BRLD $$$

MAY 30-AUGUST 1

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Program is online-only this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

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UNTIL WE MEET IN THE ’SHOE ONCE AGAIN, GET THE LATEST AT

Starliner Diner Diner | 4121 Main St., Hilliard, 614-529-1198. After 21 years in its Cemetery Road location, Starliner moved into a former post office in Old Hilliard.

This funky diner serves giant helpings of zesty, Latin-leaning comfort food at breakfast, lunch and dinner. BLD $ Third & Hollywood American | 1433 W. Third Ave., Grandview, 614-4880303. The Northstar family’s ambitious, upscale lounge serving contemporary American cuisine, with the Hollywood Burger, salads, sandwiches and updated classic cocktails. BRLD $$$ Thurman Café Pub Grub | 183 Thurman Ave., German Village, 614-443-1570. A Columbus landmark restaurant with the wait times to prove it. Diners flock here for overthe-top pub grub and the biggest burgers (like the towering, double 12-ounce patty burger, The Thurmanator) in town. LD $ Tommy’s Diner Diner | 914 W. Broad St., West Side, 614-2242422. A longstanding, classic 1950s-style diner serving breakfast (a popular choice among the Downtown business crowd), lunch and some Greek dishes. BL $ Tony’s Italian Ristorante Italian | 16 W. Beck St., Brewery District, 614224-8669. In business since 1982, this white-tablecloth Brewery District stalwart offers a blend of traditional and modern Italian-American food, with lasagne, shrimp scampi, veal saltimbocca and Tony’s Own Fettuccini. LD $$$ The Top Steak House Steakhouse | 2891 E. Main St., Bexley, 614231-8238. For 60 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. D $$$ Tucci’s Contemporary American | 35 N. High St., Dublin, 614792-3466. A Dublin standby has gotten a welcome shakeup in the form of dining room renovations and a menu revamp. It’s now a straightforward steak-andseafood spot with a huge patio and more than 200 wines in the cellar. BRLD $$$ Tyler’s Pizzeria & Bakery Pizza | 7516 E. Main St., Reynoldsburg, 614-322-9587.

An eclectic Olde Reynoldsburg storefront serving artisanal pizzas, breads and pastries, baked in a woodfired oven. LD $ Uptown Deli & Brew Deli & Brewpub | 41 N. State St., Westerville, 614-

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891-2337. Deli meets brewery at this white-tiled Uptown Westerville spot that’s three in one: an old-school deli, a restaurant serving fancy deli classics and the home of Temperance Row Brewing Co. LD $$ Valter’s at the Maennerchor German | 976 S. High St., Brewery District, 614-4443531. The Columbus Maennerchor singing society (founded in 1848) enlisted the help of Valter Veliu to run this kitchen out of the German Heritage House. Expect well-made German fare, such as stout bratwurst, schweinshaxe and an excellent German potato salad. BRLD $$ Vaso Small Plates | 6540 Riverside Dr., Dublin, 614698-2525. Panoramic views highlight Vaso’s buzzy rooftop bar and restaurant atop the AC Hotel in Bridge Park. Tapas accompany an excellent bar program. D $$$ The Whitney House American | 666 High St., Worthington, 614-3967846. Casual enough for the whole family yet upscale enough for date night, the sleek Whitney House takes familiar American classics up a notch.

The Daily Plates specials rise above the standard fare, and a solid cocktail and wine list make this Olde Worthington spot a good stop any night of the week. BRLD $$$ Woodhouse Vegan Café American | 851 N. Fourth St., Italian Village, 614-3902410. The Woodhouse family offers plant-based comfort food at this cute brick house in Italian Village. Highlights include the Caesar salad, loaded nachos and West African peanut stew. D $$

• • • •

Open 7 Days Full Bar and Patio Reservations Accepted Order Online with Curbside Pickup

COLUMBUS MONTHLY READERS’ CHOICE SINCE 2012

Xi Xia Western Chinese Cuisine Chinese | 1140 Kenny Centre Mall, Northwest Side, 614-670-7736. Xi Xia offers an authentic tour of flavors from the Ningxia autonomous region in northcentral China. Highlights include the chewy stirred noodles and rice pilaf with cubed lamb. LD $$ Yellow Brick Pizza Pizza | 892 Oak St., Olde Towne East, 614-725-5482; 245 King Ave., Campus, 614-429-0750. This pizzeria has the feel of a beloved neighborhood haunt while offering a fresh take on the classic ’za, with specialty pies and appetizers. LD $ Yemeni Restaurant Middle Eastern | 5426 Cleveland Ave., North Side, 614-426-4000. Offering a cuisine rarely found in the Midwest, this no-frills eatery serves authentic Yemeni specialties like fahsa and foul stews, lamb mandi and Adeni milk tea. LD $ Ying’s Teahouse & Yum-Yum Chinese | 4312 N. High St., Clintonville, 614-2627587. This humble shopping plaza spot hangs its hat on Northern-style Chinese fare. Skip the American menu and go for Xi’an-style dishes like barbecue skewers, spicy incense pot and qi-shan noodles with ground pork. LD $ Z Cucina di Spirito Italian | 6584 Riverside Dr., Dublin, 614-916-9200; 1368 Grandview Ave., Fifth by Northwest, 614486-9200. An upscale Italian restaurant offering a blend of traditional and modern Italian flavors with an emphasis on sourcing local ingredients.

LD $$ JULY 2020 Columbus Monthly

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From staff meetings to religious services, the novel coronavirus has led to a wealth of new, online and socially distanced ways to gather. Are we connecting more deeply now than we were before?

I S O L AT E D BUT NOT ALONE

By Suzanne Goldsmith Illustration by Michelle Kondrich

started with a Facebook notification back in April, a few weeks after my colleagues and I began working from home to combat the spread of Covid-19. I’d begun wondering if I would ever experience the in-person, collegial atmosphere of the newsroom again.

“Temple Beth Shalom is live,” the notification read. I’m no longer a member of the synagogue where my children studied for their bar and bat mitzvahs; we honor our heritage as a family, but are not religious in the organized way. But I loved our kids’ teacher, who is now the rabbi, with his gregarious energy. So, curious, I clicked.

And there he was, performing a “Quarantine Havdallah”—marking the end of the sabbath—with a guitar and a candle at his dining room table. One of his four children was clambering precariously on a banister behind him.

The other three were horsing around at the table.

IT

50

Congregants were commenting in the live feed, and every so often, Rabbi Benjy would stop and read them aloud or welcome a newcomer. “Hi, Marilyn!” His kids got more rambunctious. “Where is that peace we’re looking for?” the rabbi joked. “Not in this house, that’s for sure.”

“Real life. So refreshing,” a congregant responded in a Facebook comment.

The service stayed with me, so intimate and relaxed; so different from my experience attending formal services in the sanctuary.

A few days later, a group I meet with monthly to present and discuss original essays gathered on Zoom. At the time of our usual pre-meeting cocktail hour, the host placed us in “breakout rooms”—small groups of four to six—for conversation. It’s a new club, and we don’t know each other well. Conversing like this, our faces filling the screen, felt, paradoxically, more intimate. And for a person who suffers shyness in cocktail party situations,

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Sarah Saxbe of Bexley began a series of porch visits with her mother where her children would sit outside a screen door while their grandmother, inside, read to them from the memoir she is writing. “I don’t think we would have done this otherwise,” says Saxbe.

And it wasn’t just family; many I spoke with found they were getting to know their neighbors better, too, as staying home suddenly awakened them to their proximate community.

Shirley Nyhan was pleasantly surprised by a leaflet that appeared in her mailbox announcing a treasure hunt for neighborhood children. Parents in her child-centered South Bexley neighborhood had created a shared but socially distant activity for kids who often played and attended school together, pre-coronavirus. Inspired to share

her own passion with the kids, Nyhan and her granddaughter Zoe, who was quarantining with her, assembled rock-painting kits of small stones, paint and brushes and left them on neighbors’ stoops so children could paint them and leave them in unexpected places to give people a lift.

Jody Wallace, walking in a different neighborhood, was just the kind of person they were hoping to reach. Wallace lost her mother just before the stay-at-home order was enacted. She was able to have an in-person memorial service, but soon found herself isolated in her mourning. She took comfort in walking her Clintonville neighborhood and photographing many of the anonymous but supportive messages neighbors left on streets, sidewalks and in Walhalla Ravine: hidden toys, more painted rocks, “yarn bombs” and chalk messages. “I was looking for some connection, some loving-kindness toward myself,” she says. “It just made me feel like I wasn’t alone.”

The search for ways to bring our usual activities into an online space has spawned a wealth of creativity within the arts community, from the many live-streamed concerts by musicians no longer able to

perform in public to Can’t Stop Columbus’ Curbside Concerts and the Gravity Uplifts public mural project, both of which brought together nonprofit and for-profit groups to support artists and activate their work for hope and healing.

Russell Lepley and Filippo Pelacchi, whose Flux + Flow organization is both a performance group and a dance and movement teaching center, not only took their classes online but also recruited 30 students to begin work on a new piece. Twice a week, the group, which informally calls itself The Spatula Dancers because they use spatulas and pot lids as props, gathers on Zoom to rehearse, each in their home environment while Lepley and Pelacchi demonstrate from their studio. (Partners in life as well as in business, the pair can teach together without the need for social distancing.)

“We wanted to find a way to keep our community feeling like they were moving forward and to give them something to hope for,” says Lepley. They’ve received a grant for the work from the Greater Columbus Arts Council and commissioned singer/composer Sharon Udoh to create the music. Of course, they don’t yet know whether the final production will be in-person or virtual.

They’ll figure it out when the time comes.

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Perhaps most striking is the way that people motivated by community service were drawn into the online space even if they were unfamiliar with the latest technologies. Weinland Park resident Merry Ellen Austin first encountered the Can’t Stop Columbus community just as she was quitting her job as a certified therapeutic recreation specialist at a psychiatric clinic after being reprimanded for urging colleagues to adopt social distancing practices to avoid the spread of Covid-19.

The volunteer group was organized on Slack, a virtual workspace application, to share ideas for combating the coronavirus and addressing needs caused by the lockdown. Austin had never heard of Slack, but she was immediately drawn in by the collaborative spirit and fast pace of the group. People logged in to contribute ideas or expertise whenever they were able—which was often.

“I was just blown away by how efficient it was and how excited everybody was.”

To catch up with the conversation, she spent two weeks reading through all the Slack channels as well as watching YouTube videos to acquire skills. Despite her initial lack of ability, Austin was soon helping

build an app to enable better communication between health care and social workers on the front lines of the pandemic. “I had to Google everything!” she says. After that, Austin became one of the group’s “navigators,” welcoming new visitors to the site and helping them find a conversation or channel that suits their interests, availability and skill sets.

Pre-coronavirus, Daria DeNoia, an education policy and practices consultant for the Ohio Education Association, spent many of her days traveling around the state to conduct professional development sessions with groups of teachers. Stuck at home now, she has learned to use Zoom and Microsoft Teams to connect with teachers in far-flung corners of the state—and to connect them with each other, bringing together educators from suburban, urban and rural districts with zero travel time for anybody.

She’s using the technology, in part, to help teachers cope. She points out that many were suddenly tasked with teaching remotely from their homes, even as they tried to help their own children with the switch to distance learning. She and colleague Makia Burns, both trained in restorative practices, established a series of online listening circles.

“There’s a sense of grief for what we’ve lost,” she says, “and we’re trying to give people a

u o Y k Than olumbus C

chance to work through that.” DeNoia can’t wait to get back to meeting with teachers in person, yet she sees a continuing role for online sessions to help build community among teachers in disparate and distant districts. “You really learn so much about the people we serve,” she says. “About what they need, and what they believe. And that affirms my belief in the power of connection.”

The power of connection and community is no surprise to LC Johnson, the founder of Zora’s House. Johnson created the organization shortly after moving to Columbus in 2015 as a coworking space for black women and women of color, because she felt it would fill a gap. But her customers soon told her that the physical space was secondary to the community Zora’s House offered—and she adjusted her business model to recognize that the organization is a collective, not only a workspace.

As a result, says Johnson, when Covid-19 forced her to close her doors, she did not lose members but rather saw an uptick.

She hosted a series of virtual lunches. “Just people coming together to process, check in with each other, see another face, talk to another adult that’s not your child,” says Johnson. “And those were so healing in a lot of ways, and needed for many of us.”

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And then, just as Zora’s House was getting ready to roll out a series of virtual lunches and other events in June, George Floyd died with his neck beneath the knee of a police officer in Minneapolis. “And just like that, the world changed,” Johnson says.

I had completed most of my interviews and was just beginning to write this essay at the time of Floyd’s death. My search for the silver lining of the coronavirus crisis suddenly seemed less pressing and relevant as his brutal killing and the outpouring of grief and anger that followed overshadowed concerns about the global pandemic.

And yet. In early June, as people took to the streets of cities and towns across America for more than a week of protests that often led to tense or violent confrontations with police, my newsfeed and inbox filled with invitations to join virtual and livestreamed events to confront the issues at hand without the risks of gathering in person. A stay-at-home “pots and pans” protest; online panels discussing police brutality and proposals to defund the police; conversations about racism and white privilege.

Could it be that all the livestreaming and Zooming, the FaceTiming and socially

distanced attempts at connection were rehearsals for this very moment?

When I received an invitation to a Zora’s House event, “You Good, Sister? Healing Circles for Black Women, WOC and Allies,” I signed up for the “Allies” circle. There I found an earnest, open group of white women helping one another figure out how best to support the Black Lives Matter movement and to deal with their own feelings of guilt, pain, anger and helplessness without burdening the black women who had so much on their own plates. Many of the women present did not know each other; some were not even from Columbus.

The same was true in the circles for black women and women of color, says Johnson.

“Would it have been amazing to be able to bring folks together at Zora’s House and for us to be able to hug each other and cry together, and heal and burn incense and save the room? Yes, that would have been amazing,” she says. But she points out that in one of the circles she attended, participants logged in from Denmark, Australia and California as well as Central Ohio. “The reach got bigger. Although we had to sacrifice the in-person hug, we were able to connect to a broader audience of women who are grieving and hurting and healing.”

Dispatch

ATTRACTIONS

For Johnson, the honesty and thoughtfulness of the women who came together in these circles was not a function of whether the interaction was taking place in physical or virtual space. Rather, it sprang from trust. Black women trust Zora’s House because the organization makes it clear it will honor their voices. In the same vein, people feel safe bringing half-baked ideas to the Slack channels of Can’t Stop Columbus because it is immediately obvious when you enter the online domain that brainstorming is welcomed and no idea is too crazy to consider.

It’s as if the barriers to gathering in person have made us all more sensitive to the need to include everyone when we do gather— as when a rabbi stops his online service to welcome a new arrival, or when someone writes on a sidewalk, “Thanks for being our neighbor.” Or when an organization for black women and women of color generously creates an online gathering space for white women allies, even in a moment of crisis for the black community.

Perhaps, on that distant day when we can all gather in person, standing close with our faces unmasked, we’ll come equipped with new skills for making everybody feel welcome and safe. ◆

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Wouldn’t you like to be looking at your home?

Ask your Realtor to market your home in the Executive Homes section of Columbus Monthly Magazine!

East of I-71 call Telana Veil at (614) 469-6106 or e-mail at tveil@dispatch.com West of I-71 call Amy Vidrick at (614) 461-5153 or e-mail at avidrick@dispatch.com

KELLER WILLIAMS CLASSIC PROPERTIES

KELLER WILLIAMS CLASSIC PROPERTIES

Jim & Betsy Edwards (614) 325-1920 Jim_Betsy@kw.com

Jim & Betsy Edwards (614) 325-1920 Jim_Betsy@kw.com

STONE RANCH ON .48 ACRE CORNER LOT - in Desirable Canterbury, Upper Arlington! Vaulted Entry, Hardwood floors throughout. 4,726SF. Great/Game Rm 30’ x 35’ w/ lg stone fireplace, Kitchen has loads of cabinets & Granite counters! Vaulted family rm w/ beautiful fireplace! Master Retreat is 20’ x 32’. $1,295,000

RESORT LIKE HOME ON 2.4 ACRE ESTATE LOT IN UA - Over 7,300 SF of thoughtfully planned rooms! Every room in the home overlooks the park like rear acreage! Spectacular 1st flr owners ste, spacious custom kitchen, Great Rm w/ entertaining rm & bar, LL spills out onto the salt water pool & deck area overlooking the Tennis/Sports Court! $2,000,000

KELLER WILLIAMS CLASSIC PROPERTIES

RE/MAX TOWN CENTER

Jim & Betsy Edwards (614) 325-1920 Jim_Betsy@kw.com

Joe and Patty Evans (614) 975-7355 www.joeandpattyevans. realestate 3017 NW MOUNTS RD, ALEXANDRIA - Gorgeous custom home w/over 10,000 SF, SEVEN CAR GARAGES, ELEVATOR to ALL FLOORS, OBSERVATION DECK on 3.84 acres. THERMADOR appliances & GRANITE countertops in kitchen. WALKOUT LL IS OPEN and ready for your pool table, ping pong table, and any other fun game ideas.

Basement access to the HOT TUB & SALTWATER INGROUND POOL.

Fabulous UA Updated 2 Story (3,694SF) Centrally Located To Elem., Middle & HS plus Shopping, Downtown, OSU & Airport! Beautiful Owners Suite, 3 More BRs with 2 Full Baths and a unique gathering area upstairs! Spacious renovated Kitchen, Dining Rm, Dinette and 400+SF Great Room! 1st Flr Office/ Bonus area. Wonderful outdoor patio that leads to the side yard! $895,000

COLDWELL BANKER KING THOMPSON

COLDWELL BANKER KING THOMPSON

Mike Carruthers (614) 620-2640 www.mike carruthers.com

Mike Carruthers (614) 620-2640 www.mike carruthers.com

153 S DAWSON AVE, BEXLEY- Central Bexley Brick Tudor – 4 to 5 BRs – 3 Full, 2 Half Baths – 5,383 SqFt – $140k+ in Renos – 4 Finished Levels – 9’ 1st Flr Ceilings – Lrg Family Rm – 1st Flr Office & Laundry – Lrg Master w/ 2 WI Closets & Deluxe Master Bath – Renovated LL – 3 Car Garage – Fenced-in Yard – Extensive Landscaping w/ Sprinkler System – Excellent Condition & Location! $985,000

2630 FAIR AVENUE, BEXLEY- Renovated Central Bexley Stone & Stucco Tudor - 5 BRs 4 1/2 Baths - 3,857 SqFt Plus Finished LL - Kitchen Open to Family Rm - Chef’s Kitchen w/ Granite Counters, Eat-in Bar & SS Appliances - 2nd Family Rm w/ Vaulted Ceiling - Large Master & Deluxe Master Bath - Fenced Rear Yard w/ Patio - Sprinkler System - 2 Car Garage - Mint Condition! $819,000

RE/MAX PREMIER CHOICE

RE/MAX PREMIER CHOICE

Charlotte Van Steyn

Charlotte Van Steyn

614-496-4476 cvansteyn@ premier-choice.com

614-496-4476 cvansteyn@ premier-choice.com HIGHLAND PLACE - Picturesque setting for this exquisite all brick custom Steve Heinlen home on the water, 9300 sq. ft of extraordinary wd amenities with panoramic views, Open floor plan w high ceilings, hardwd floors, white wood trim, Gourmet size kitchen, 1st flr Owner Suite, plus 5 BR Suits, each with a full bath, fin LL w rec rm + huge gym for multiple uses.

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TREMONT ROAD - South of Lane gem, 1926 stone/stucco home with 5795 sqft combines Old World Charm with modern day amenities, 5 bds 3 ½ baths, with separate apartment, beautiful updated kitchen, Great Room with cathedral ceilings, spacious 1st fl office, hardwd floors, LL teen suite and theater room, 4 car-garage, treed lot, & walking distance to all UA has to offer. Video tour: text Tremont to 614-741-1817. Agent related to seller.

6/11/20 10:10 AM

Wouldn’t you like to be looking at your home?

Ask your Realtor to market your home in the Executive Homes section of Columbus Monthly Magazine!

East of I-71 call Telana Veil at (614) 469-6106 or e-mail at tveil@dispatch.com West of I-71 call Amy Vidrick at (614) 461-5153 or e-mail at avidrick@dispatch.com

RE/MAX PREMIER CHOICE

RE/MAX PREMIER CHOICE

Kevin Sullivan (614) 419-2026 kevins@ columbus.rr.com

Kevin Sullivan (614) 419-2026 kevins@ columbus.rr.com

10 EDGE OF WOODS - Stunning Bob Webb built home designed by John Reagan on exclusive Gated Community w/views of the 9th Hole. 4BR, 4 Full, 2 Half BA, 2-Story Great Rm w/Wall of Windows, 1st & 2nd Flr Master Stes, beautiful Open Flr Plan w/high Ceilings & many Built-ins, Gourmet Kit w/Marble & Granite, Formal Liv & Din Rms, huge LL w/FP. $1,495,000.

SPECTACULAR HOME IN THE GATED COMMUNITY OF RIVERBEND - 5BR, 4.5 BA, Hdwd Flrs, soaring Great Rm w/Wall of Glass filling the room with natural light. Spacious 30’x 18’ Chef’s Kit is the heart of the home to enjoy the best views of the back wooded Lot. LL w/Fam Rm, FP, 2nd Den, Golf Rm w/Driving Range, Home Theater, Bar & Exercise Rm, Stone Patio & Hot Tub out back. $825,000

CUTLER REAL ESTATE

CUTLER REAL ESTATE

Neil Mathias (614) 580-1662 neil@themathiasteam.com

Neil Mathias (614) 580-1662 neil@themathiasteam.com

8625 DUNBLANE COURT - Located on the Muirfield Tournament Course.

This ranch with walk-out LL boasts sweeping views of the nearly ¾ acre lot and no. 2 green. Updated w/ newer carpet, fresh paint, large master & professional kitchen. Newer roof, 3 car garage, 2nd kitchen in LL. Imagine living with the action of the Tournament each year right outside your back door. $975,000 www.8625dunblanect.com

DEER RUN - A limited number of building lots available in this exclusive private gated community. Deer Run is a secluded, private lush wilderness in the heart of Dublin. Bring your own builder and design your dream home in one of the last centrally located communities in the city of Dublin. Acreage from 2-3+ Acres and Pricing starting at $825,000/lot. www.deerrunoh.com

RE/MAX METRO PLUS GERMAN VILLAGE

RE/MAX METRO PLUS GERMAN VILLAGE

Al Waddell (614) 832-4079 al.waddell@ remax.net

Al Waddell (614) 832-4079 al.waddell@ remax.net

SUNBURY EQUESTRIAN RANCH – Private and gated setting just 25 mins to downtown and close to everything ‘equestrian’ in Central Ohio. Elegant 4 BR, 3 BA ranch house is completely updated w/ professional interiors. 5 stall horse barn has two offices + bath + over-sized access doors w/ room to store your RV and/or car collection.

Nearly 10 acres, gorgeous & well maintained. www.SunburyRanch.com $989,000

1320 BRYDEN RD - Award winning landscaping sets the tone for this stunning OTE property. Featuring pocket doors, hdwd floors, show-stopping staircase & stained glass. Updated kitchen w/ pro-style appls & custom cabinetry. 2nd floor has 4 BRs & full bath. Opulent 3rd flr MBR suite w/ dual walk-in closets, soaking tub, separate shower & dual sinks. www.1320Bryden.com $635,900

LUXURY GROUP AUCTIONS

LEPI & ASSOCIATES REAL ESTATE

(800) 801-8003 luxurygroupauctions. com/GatesMills

Roberta “Bobbi” Lepi (740) 891-1068 blepi@ lepirealestate.com

REAL ESTATE AUCTION 12PM JULY 17 Gates Mills 1250 Fox Hill Drive. 6BR 6.5BA 8,607+/- sf luxury estate on 11+/- ac.

Open: 1-4pm Sun 6/21 & 6/28 or by appt. only. Bid on site or online. Buyer’s Premium may apply. Daniel Nelson RE LIC BRKP.2018002343

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1250 PERINE RD, ZANESVILLE - The views are worth a million bucks! If you are looking for a beautiful retreat to get away from city life, this custom Hearthstone log home situated on 273 +/acres is just for you. A great place for the equestrian lover, or multiple families to enjoy with separate living quarters over the oversized garage. Bring in some additional income from the crop lease, and enjoy your own private place to hunt and enjoy nature! Visit all the details at www.1250Perine.com

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City Quotient

The Legacy of AmeriFlora A money-losing flower exhibition that saved the Franklin Park Conservatory

BY JEFF DARBEE

I have heard of an event in the 1990s called AmeriFlora. What was that? AmeriFlora was a world horticultural exhibition that celebrated Columbus the explorer (and his namesake city) on the 500th anniversary of his New World voyage. After a review of sites along the riverfront, Franklin Park, which in the mid-19th century was the state fairgrounds, became the event’s location.

Something this large had a lot of moving parts, so not everything went smoothly (some still feel that it was a great idea that could have had better execution and promotion). And it took a lot of serious fundraising from municipal, county, state, federal and private sources.

Creating AmeriFlora involved myriad designers, contractors and workers—including some creative types formerly with Disney—and it had to adhere to strict building codes. But it all came together on opening day—April 3, 1992. It closed on Oct. 12, the date Columbus landed in the Bahamas (which he thought was India). Attendance fell short of projections but several mil104

lion people did come to enjoy some 45 or 50 countries’ displays, six sit-down restaurants, 35 other food vendors and a major floral competition.

There was controversy over closing the park to local residents for three years, and overall it lost money, but AmeriFlora also benefited the area through improvements to nearby Wolfe Park and its bridge and permanent landscape improvements in Franklin Park. Most importantly, it saved the structurally ailing 19th-century Franklin Park Conservatory, which today is the AmeriFlora gift that keeps on giving.

Was there once a fire station that was used as a restaurant somewhere in Columbus?

This was Engine House No. 5 at 121 Thurman Ave. in the southwest corner of German Village. It was built in 1892 as one of the city’s many fire stations and was replaced by a new one in the late 1960s.

Then along came Chuck Muer, a Michigander known for putting innovative restaurants into renovated historic buildings.

Two of his best-known were the Gandy Dancer in the old Michigan Central Railroad station in Ann Arbor and the Grand Concourse in another incredibly elegant station in Pittsburgh. He was among early entrepreneurs who saw the promise in places such as these (does anyone remember the Waterworks, now long gone from 225 N. Front St.?).

Muer turned Engine House No. 5 into a quirky venue well known for its seafood and really well known for waiters who slid down a brass fire pole holding trays with cakes and candles for customers celebrating birthdays. The basement housed The Spot, a casual bar and gathering place; its logo was a Dalmatian (The Spot—get it?).

It was known for its strawberry shortcake and offered great happy hour snacks such as fried smelts and big bowls of guacamole.

The restaurant thrived for two decades and even continued after Muer, his wife and another couple disappeared in a 1993 winter storm while sailing from the Bahamas to Florida in a 40-foot boat. After the restaurant closed Engine House No. 5 was vacant for a while but was renovated in 2004 as office space.

Jeff Darbee is a preservationist, historian and author in Columbus. Send your questions to cityquotient@ columbusmonthly.com, and the answer might appear in a future column.

ILLUSTRATION: BRETT AFFRUNTI

Sources: Ohio History Central; Columbus Underground; Steve Degnen, design consultant; Carl Jennings, site development director; retrokimmer.com; South Florida Sun-Sentinel website

Columbus Monthly JULY 2020

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