Edible Columbus: Winter 2019

Complimentary

edible COLUMBUS THE STORY OF LOCAL FOOD

Member of Edible Communities No. 39 | Winter 2019

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WINTER 2019 | CONTENTS

DE PA RTMEN T S 3 EDITOR’S NOTE 5 #EDIBLECOLUMBUS 6 EDIBLE ENTREPRENEUR

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10 CULTURE 14 FOOD PHILANTHROPY 17 ARTISAN 24 RECIPES 27 FOOD MEDICINE 38 ADVERTISER DIRECTORY 40 HERO

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FE AT U RE S 20 HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DEAR EDIBLE

Ten years ago, local entrepreneur Tricia Wheeler planted a new food magazine in Columbus

By Nancy McKibben| Photography by Kris Miller

30 PORCINE PARADISE

James Anderson is raising heritage hogs to supply his popular barbecue business

By Steven Berk | Photography by Devin Trout

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PURSUING THE PERFECT BAGEL Kevin Crowley displays his passion for food at Lox Bagel Shop

By Anna Kurfees | Photography by Blake Needleman

C O V ER

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Photography by Jeremy King

EDITOR’S NOTE

edible

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have always enjoyed the changes of season, and one of the special things about living in Ohio is that we get to see all four. Each season has its own rhythm, and winter feels like the slowest time of the year.

COLUMBUS PUBLISHER

Franklin County Farm Bureau

It’s getting dark earlier after the end of daylight saving time. The winter solstice arrives on Dec. 21, giving us the shortest day of the year. We see fewer birds, because many of them have migrated south. There are few, if any, insects, because they have died off or burrowed away from the cold. Animals are moving slower and sleeping more.

Traditionally, winter had a similar effect on people. Our ancestors retreated into their shelters, kept warm around a fire and rested. Humans of today have done their best to beat back the natural world with LED lights and furnaces and alarm clocks, all to maintain our high productivity levels year round. We think that’s progress, but nature might beg to differ.

Winter is a good time to reflect, and for this issue we are reflecting on the origins of Edible Columbus, now in its 10th year.

Entrepreneur Tricia Wheeler, who founded the magazine, tells how it all began, how the Columbus food scene has changed over the years and what she’s working on now.

Also in these pages you will hear about a pair of nonprofit organizations that provide good food for a good cause.

Freedom a la Cart’s catering business is helping to give a new life to survivors of sex trafficking, while the volunteers of Souper Heroes are using their Crock-Pots to fight hunger in the community.

COPY EDITOR

Doug Adrianson

Digital Editor Devin Trout | devin@ediblecolumbus.com DESIGN Devin Trout | devin@ediblecolumbus.com at Worthington Place every Saturday morning from now through April. On the first Saturday of each month, you can find the New Albany Farmers Market at the Philip Heit Center on Main Street.

In Granville, the Granville Elementary School hosts an indoor market most Saturday mornings through February.

We also have a jewel in the North Market in downtown Columbus, home to more than 35 independent merchants, farmers and food sellers. They are open daily all year, except for holidays.

We hope you enjoy this issue and your entire winter season. Best wishes to you all for a happy and healthy new year.

Gary Kiefer

WEB DESIGNER

Edible Feast

PHOTOGRAPHY

Julian Foglietti | Jeremy King Jessica Kapusta | Kris Miller Ellie Jo Moehrman | Blake Needleman Christina Stine | Devin Trout WRITERS Steven N. Berk | Wynne Everett Gary Kiefer | Anna Kurfees Jake Lees | Nancy McKibben Melinda Meadows | Nicole Rasul ADVERTISING

Kirsten Marihugh kirsten@ediblecolumbus.com Suzanne Vela suzanne@ediblecolumbus.com

gary@ediblecolumbus.com

Although the outdoor farmers markets have closed, don’t forget that you can still support growers by visiting one of several indoor farmers markets in our area during the winter. The Worthington Farmers Market is held inside The Shops

CONTACT US

P.O. Box 368, Hilliard, Ohio 43026 info@ediblecolumbus.com ediblecolumbus.com

Edible Columbus is brought to you by Franklin County Farm Bureau Board of Trustees: President, Leland Tinklepaugh | Secretary, Roger Genter Vice President, David Black | Dwight Beougher | Veronica Boysel Charles Hines | Denise Johnson | David Lewis Ross Fleshman | Nathan Zwayer | John Hummell Lewis Jones, Cassie Williams Edible Columbus

EDITOR IN CHIEF Gary Kiefer | gary@ediblecolumbus.com

@ediblecbus

Edible Columbus is published quarterly and distributed throughout Central Ohio. Subscription rate is $25 annually. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be used without written permission from the publisher. Every effort is made to avoid errors, misspellings and omissions. If, however, an error comes to your attention, please accept our sincere apologies and notify us. Thank you.

@ediblecolumbus

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Advertise With Us

“ I advertise my business in Edible Columbus because

not only does it hit my target market that ranges from local foodies and chefs to those that may be just visiting the area for a short time and have a passion for wholesome and unique foods, but you become part of a community, the tapestry of what the local food movement is all about.

“

— Paul Freedman, Dutch Creek Winery

“ Edible Columbus allows us to reach individuals

who care about animals and farming, just as we do. Their readers believe in local agriculture, and this support is invaluable to our farm.

“

— Katherine Harrison, Harrison Farm

To learn more about growing your business, contact Kirsten Marihugh or Suzanne Vela. kirsten@ediblecolumbus.com | suzanne@ediblecolumbus.com.

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#ediblecolumbus

Share your edible endeavours with us on Instagram via #ediblecolumbus!

Here are a few of our recent favorites... —Devin Trout

Top: @ohiopies, @theheirloomcafe, @spiffycolumbus Middle: @thefoodietitian, @thesprinkledatom, @cbusfoodfanatics Bottom: @areyoukitchenme, @saraschober, @behindthemenu614 .com

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Jennings Java A quest for better coffee launched two college students into business Photography by Elli Jo Moehrman 6

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EDIBLE ENTREPRENEUR

Daniel Jennings, 22, and A.J. Kazmierczak, 24, met as students at Muskingum College and launched their own coffee-roasting business, which today is based in the German Village area. Here, they tell their story.

It’s very important for us to make sure we have a good product from a good farm, because the farmer growing the coffee is doing so much of the work. We like to use the phrase “true to the origin.”

On the origin of their business:

A.J.: That means we want to highlight the incredible flavors that are already in these coffee beans, because we want you to be able to enjoy the amazing product that these farmers created.

Daniel: My freshman year of college I really started acquiring the taste for coffee. In the winter of 2015, I tried roasting my own— and set off the smoke alarms in my parents’ kitchen. Luckily, I got a lot better at roasting. I was also studying business with the idea that I might want to start my own small business someday. In 2016, I met A.J. at the university at this program we have called Ignition, run by [Professor] Gary Golden.

A.J: The Ignition program helps students develop their entrepreneurial ideas. I sat in on a meeting where they had people talk about their skills. Daniel and I didn’t know each other, but when he spoke about his ideas … well, from that instant I knew Daniel was born to do something very high up in the coffee industry, and I knew that I wanted to work with him to help him with his endeavor. As it turned out, his passion for coffee rubbed off on me.

Daniel: I was a soccer player and A.J. was a baseball player, so we had hectic schedules. But I also got motivation from some of my professors to start the business. There’s no time like the present, and I was blessed to have people tell me that, because life’s always going to be hectic. One thing we realized quickly at the start is that there’s a lot we don’t know about coffee, but we really enjoyed the aspect of learning more about it.

A.J.: We came up with three pillars to hold up our business. One is to have the freshest coffee possible. So our coffee is usually roasted the day before or two days before you get it.

Daniel: Coffee is not like bourbon or wine where age is a good thing. To really experience the unique flavors that coffee has to offer, you need to drink it within a one-to-21-day time period after roasting. It’s important that your coffee is freshly brewed and freshly ground, but freshly roasted is important as well.

On future plans: Daniel: Wholesaling is a big part of our business now, and that’s what we want to do going forward. But even more than that, we want to create custom roasts and also create custom private labels for restaurants and coffee shops. We want to help promote other people’s brands as well as our own.

A.J: The restaurant that encompasses all that we do would be Fado Pub and Kitchen in Dublin. They serve our espresso, our cold brew, our drip coffee … and they’ve taken it a step further and they’re creating cold-brew cocktails. We’ve also worked with Nocterra Brewing and Grove City Brewing to create some phenomenal beers.

Daniel: We’re continuing to explore other collaborations and opportunities. Columbus has a really great coffee scene. Most of the roasters know each other and support each other, because we’re all doing what we love.

You can find Jennings Java coffee at the Fado Pubs in Dublin and Easton, The Farm Table on 62 in Grove City, JoyHouse Coffee Shop in Circleville and Urban Comforts in Zanesville, among other places. Learn more about the operation and order coffee online at jenningsjava.com.

A.J.: Our second pillar is high quality, and so we take extra time to make sure the beans are very well sourced. Our goal is to be able to do direct trade with everybody. And the third pillar is our enthusiasm for the educational side of things. We always tell people here’s what we know, but we will never claim to know it all because we ourselves are always learning.

On the roasting process: Daniel: Roasting is really just a fancy term for cooking the beans, which are the seeds of the coffee cherry. You just need a heat source and a way of stirring your beans. It’s like cooking a steak.

The steak can be rare, medium or well done, which are just different stages of cooking. That’s what we do with coffee as well. A light roast would be similar to rare, a medium roast would be like a medium-well or medium and a well done would be like our dark roast. .com

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community microfarms food security economic opportunity systems approach nutritious food sustainable agriculture our community at justice studentJoin co-ops social discovery.osu.edu/InFACT community microfarms food security economic opportunity systems approach nutritious food sustainable agriculture 8

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ENA’S CARIBBEAN KITCHEN Ena Hayles discusses the making of authentic Jamaican food

By Jake Lees, Photography by Jessica Kapusta

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CULTURE

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na Hayles has been serving authentic dishes from her native Jamaica since 1999 at Ena’s Caribbean Kitchen in the Linden neighborhood. Her husband, Lloyd, and their five children all help at the restaurant. Ena has appeared on the Food Network to demonstrate making her jerk chicken and her red snapper with escabeche sauce. Here, she talks about her approach to cooking.

Q: How long have you been cooking?

All my life. It’s a cultural thing. You see, the thing is, with our food, we cook with our whole bodies, we cook with love. You understand what I mean? When we’re cooking, we just block everything out and focus on what we’re doing. You’re just in the moment, and it’s what you love to do, and you just do it.

Q: What would you say makes Jamaican food authentic?

You have to be a Jamaican to cook Jamaican food. That’s the truth, because everything starts from scratch. We use, might be seasoning salt and regular salt, but most of our seasoning is regular onion, regular hot pepper, regular garlic and thyme—everything fresh.

Q: Which cooking methods do you use?

Jerk chicken, barbecue jerk, beef ribs and lamb—all those got to go on the grill. We marinate it, especially the chicken [which we] marinate at least a day or two before. We put it on the grill and then put it in the oven for a couple minutes for it to get really tender.

Q: What sets Ena’s Caribbean Kitchen apart from other Jamaican restaurants?

Harrison Farm Celebrations. Animals. Teaching.

Q: Ena’s Caribbean Kitchen has been going for 20 years.

What do you hope for its future?

I don’t want to move from right here; this is where I started. I would like the kids to move along with it in the right way, cooking with love, cooking with their whole bodies, and treating the customer right. Because of the customer—it’s why we survive.

Photo by Jo Binkley

We cook different. I’m from the old school, making the dishes the exact same way I grew up. I cannot even make pancakes (laughs).

I can’t. If I do it, it’s either too soft, or it’s going to burn, so I just don’t do it. [When] I try, it don’t come out right, so I just leave it alone. I can boil you an egg, but if you say you need an egg sandwich, O Lord! I’ll try it, but you’ve got to take it the way I give it to you. It’s the truth I’m telling you! But if you said to me now, “I need some curry chicken or some steamed snapper or some fried fish,” now you’re getting the food. Don’t ask me how to do spaghetti … I cannot do it (laughs).

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Meet the Souper Heroes This local nonprofit is working to fight hunger one bowl of soup at a time

By Nicole Rasul, Photography by Julian Foglietti

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n a cold autumn night, lively chatter can be heard in the back room of Seventh Son Brewing while a crowd of people mingle. At tables and chairs throughout the room, partygoers sit, bowls of piping hot soup in hand.

More than a dozen family-size slow cookers filled with colorful, fragrant homemade soups stretch across tables lining the room’s perimeter. Proud makers stand behind, ladles at the ready. Creamy chicken and wild rice, vegan butternut squash, and roasted tomato and pepper are just a few of the varieties offered.

An empty slow cooker resides at the end of one table, slowly filling with cash. At the end of the night, all the funds collected will be donated to Neighborhood Services, Inc., a Columbus nonprofit serving low-income residents through a food pantry and other support.

The evening’s organizer, Ann Miller-Tobin, moves through the room engaging with attendees. Miller-Tobin spends her days at Mid-Ohio Foodbank, employed in the organization’s agency and program services division.

“It’s an additional way outside of work that I can support our partners,” Miller-Tobin says about her effort to line up a slew of home cooks to make soups for this fundraiser. “Plus, I love to cook,” she adds with a smile.

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FOOD PHILANTHROPY The Power of ‘Just Showing Up’ One night nearly a decade ago, Tricia Keels, a Bexley mother and marketing professional, was putting her three children to bed when her son moaned, “I’m so hungry.” Keels calls his effort “an obvious stall tactic,” as he had eaten well over the course of the evening. However, she says, the moment stopped her in her tracks. “I had a vision of a mother in Columbus putting a child to bed who was truly hungry,” she says.

Keels walked into her living room shortly after tucking her children in for the night and told her husband, Chris, “I think I might try something.” She was inspired by an initiative in Chicago called Soup & Bread that uses food-filled seasonal gatherings to raise money for local hunger relief organizations. She soon contacted one of the Chicago organizers, who told her to run with the concept in Columbus.

In 2012, Keels launched Souper Heroes with the group’s first soup-sharing event—she affectionally calls it a “Souper Supper”— held at Woodlands Tavern. Since those first days, the organization has stayed true to its mission of having “fun with food and community while providing for those who don’t have enough of either,” Keels says.

The nonprofit focuses on the power of individual action, which when combined, results in collective impact. “My one goal was just to show up, try something and not be scared,” Keels says about herself during those early days. “‘Perfection’ has never been in our vocabulary but ‘action’ is.”

Martin Butler, the executive director of Neighborhood Services, Inc., says the financial boost from Souper Suppers held in his organization’s honor always make an impact.

“One dollar equates to four meals,” Butler says about current metrics in the food assistance arena. “Tonight, if we raise $200 that’s 800 meals,” he says from behind a Crock-Pot of soup that he made for the Seventh Son event. “Last year, our organization distributed 612,902 meals and right now we’re on pace to serve 635,000 in 2019. Every single dollar makes a huge difference in whether or not we can feed someone.”

Calling All Souper Stars Keels affectionately calls the growing community of soup-makers and citizens who attend the organization’s events “Souper Stars.”

Keels commends these participants, saying they offer so much power in just showing up. “No piece of good is too small,” she remarks.

These devotees sign up to bring homemade, heartwarming soups to a Souper Supper, held only during cold-weather months, or what is traditionally soup season. Or, they are members of a dedicated lot who commit themselves to attending the suppers regularly to pay it forward while building community.

Shilah Griffeth, a local entrepreneur, says that she has made soup for three Souper Heroes gatherings. At Seventh Son, she brought

Tricia Keels, a Bexley mother and marketing professional .com

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what she calls “a vegan take on J. Gumbo’s Bumblebee Stew.” Cajun inspired, the dish is sweet and spicy, filled with chili, tamales, vegetables, black beans and agave syrup. Griffeth serves it over rice.

“Whenever I get a chance to do something that benefits the community I like to participate,” Griffeth says. “I always meet somebody new that I want to stay in touch with” at these events.

“If you’re ever in a bad mood or feeling isolated or alone, come to a Souper Heroes event,” Keels says, because her organization focuses on not only paying it forward economically but also alleviating emotional poverty through community. “You will be greeted by smiles, warm soup that will fill your belly and people who have made the effort to get off the couch and connect with others.”

Souper Suppers 2.0 In recent months, Keels’ work has turned to bringing the Souper Supper format to corporate team-building initiatives. “We believe that our events will bring teams together in ways they haven’t come together before,” she says. “They cook for each other, serve each other, pay it forward into the donation Crock-Pot together and create an impact that will go beyond their walls.”

Also of great importance to the founder is getting the recently launched Souper Supper Starter Kit into the Central Ohio community and beyond. The downloadable guide provides step-by-step directions on how to host a supper, including logistics, how to recruit soup-makers and how to market the event. Keels is there to help, including setting up an event landing page on the organization’s website and providing social media marketing for the event.

“Souper Heroes was getting too big for me,” Keels says about what moved her to launch the starter kit. In addition to the organization, she is employed full-time and, with Chris, is at work raising their three children, ages 17, 15 and 10.

In the early days of the nonprofit, Keels says that she had a hard time saying “no” and needed to learn to better prioritize the time she spent trying to make Souper Heroes impactful. “By the end of the third season, I cried,” she says. “I took on too much. That’s when I realized I needed to change the way the organization worked.”

With the starter kit, Keels hopes to empower community members like Miller-Tobin, who hosted the Seventh Son event, to organize and successfully execute their own Souper Suppers. The nonprofit has traditionally partnered with organizations working in the hunger relief sector, but Keels says that she’s open to use of the Souper Supper format for other community-minded projects.

“We have had people who have downloaded the kit and asked, ‘Can I use this to support some other organization?’” Keels says. “My answer is always, ‘You support whatever organization you are passionate about.’ I will never stand in the way of someone who wants to help somewhere.”

Find upcoming Souper Heroes events on their Facebook page or at souperheroes.org.

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ARTISAN

AMBROSE AND EVE At this family dinner, everyone is invited

By Malinda Meadows, Photography by Christina Steiner

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’ve always liked the idea of taking care of people and making them feel at home and comfortable,” says Chef Catie Randazzo of Ambrose and Eve, “and the first thing that comes to mind when I think of that is family.”

Named after her grandparents, Ambrose and Eve is a small restaurant on South High Street that, upon crossing the threshold, instantly feels like coming home. Warmth and conviviality radiate from this cozy space, from the framed family photos to the little touches one might find in their own grandparent’s home, such as the vintage plates or the hand-painted roses on the walls.

While Ambrose and Eve is still relatively new to the Columbus food scene—it’s just approaching its one-year anniversary—the idea of creating a restaurant where family dinner is held “every night and everyone is invited” started long before their doors opened.

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Home Is Where the Heart Is Food and conviviality have always been in Catie’s blood. From a young age, she recalls making pies from scratch with her grandmother and tending to her mother’s vegetable garden, the two of them canning the season’s bounty for the winter months. Every Friday was pizza night with her father, and on Saturday mornings he made the most gigantic pancakes.

These experiences eventually led Catie to culinary school, followed by an internship at Nostrana in Portland, Oregon, where she rediscovered from-scratch cooking. She later moved to Allswell in New York, the place she credits for helping her discover her unique chef’s voice. Upon returning to Columbus in 2013, Catie launched the food truck Challah! While preparing her food at a local commissary, she met fellow food trucker and chef Matt Heaggans. He couldn’t have possibly known what he was about to get himself into at the time.

The Dynamic Duo Catie first talked Matt into being her friend. After five years of friendship, pop-ups and culinary showdowns, she then talked him into opening a restaurant with her. They eventually teamed up as co-owners and chefs of Ambrose and Eve. Her charm really knows no bounds.

While the idea of Ambrose and Eve had already been forming for quite some time, Catie and Matt thoughtfully researched (and ate) their way around various restaurants in different cities before setting intentions for their own.

“We talked about the way that we wanted service to run and how we wanted people to feel in the restaurant for seven months before we even talked about what the food was going to be,” she says.

They wanted to create an inclusive space where people felt welcome. Where everyone felt like they belonged. “The concept was about making it feel like you were at a dinner party at your grandmother’s house every night of the week,” Catie says.

From there, the menu followed. The duo wanted to take old classics and reinvent them with modern techniques and new ingredients. Think jerk chicken and plantain spaetzle for chicken and dumplings, or braised celery, burrata, Castelvetrano olives and truffle butter for “ants on a log.” Seasonality was extremely important, and cooking from scratch was the only way to go. They’re thoughtful about picking the right vegetables and meats, educating diners about where their food comes from and how it’s made as well as helping everyone better understand the value of food.

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The intentionality behind the restaurant becomes even more apparent the longer one listens to Catie. The framed photographs? They are real photographs of Catie’s and Matt’s families, as well as those of friends who have supported them from the beginning. The private dining room is named in honor of Matt’s mother, and the dishes are reminiscent of family memories.

This deep intentionality between both thoughtful food and exquisite service at Ambrose and Eve is enough to encourage guests to raise a glass—either to the family they were born into or perhaps to new ones gathered together at the table.

A Place to Call Home While Columbus has been long known as a fast-food test market, places like Ambrose and Eve are reminders of the importance of slowing down, appreciating the hard work that goes into every dish and always treating guests like family. Restaurants like this need to continue to exist, because everyone deserves somewhere special they can call home.

There are plenty of words that could be used to describe Ambrose and Eve. Thoughtful, inclusive, intentional, warm, grounding, convivial. But perhaps the way that Catie herself describes it is best: magical.

Ambrose and Eve is located at 716 S. High St. in Columbus. Dinner begins at 5pm Tuesday through Saturday, with brunch 11am–3pm Saturday and Sunday. Learn more at ambroseandevecolumbus.com.

Food Waste Compost Courier

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Cooking Classes for Everyone The Mix at Columbus State offers classes on kitchen fundamentals, regional cuisines, baking, and more!

Join us to expand your cooking skills — our classes are also great for date night, team building, and hands-on family fun.

Sign up at mix.cscc.edu .com

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20 WINTER 2019

Happy Birthday, Dear Edible Ten years ago, local entrepreneur Tricia Wheeler planted a new food magazine in Columbus

By Nancy McKibben, Photography by Kris Miller

I

first met Tricia Wheeler on a winter’s evening in 2010.

She had gathered a small group of writers and photographers at The Cambridge Tea House to talk about the new magazine she was launching. Edible Columbus would celebrate the community’s local and sustainable food and its producers.

We ate delicious food and brainstormed and couldn’t wait to start work.

Now, 10 years later, I meet Tricia for coffee at Flowers & Bread, a business that she co-owns, to find out more about how Edible began and what she’s doing now.

First in Her Class Entrepreneurial to the bone, the Akron native and Ohio State University grad launched her first business at age 24, doing background checks for corporations. Following her marriage in 2005 to real estate agent and remodeler Scott Wheeler, and the birth of daughter Kensington, now 13, Tricia sold her company to pursue her true passion: cooking.

Her family moved to New York City for a year so Tricia could obtain a culinary degree—and she finished first in her class at the French Culinary Institute. Before returning to Columbus, she picked up the inaugural copy of Edible Manhattan magazine.

“I read it that day on the subway, cover to cover,” Tricia said. “I loved everything about it.”

community from the food perspective.” Edible Columbus would become that link.

Right Time, Right Place Publishing was a new challenge for Tricia. “I had never had a deadline business before. Now I was always working a season ahead. And it was expensive to print—special ink, special paper, we wanted high quality—and we printed it for eight years, every quarter.”

Advertising helped Tricia build the magazine. “We were so fortunate to find a group of like-minded advertisers who wanted to support us in telling the stories that nobody else was telling.”

The premiere issue in Spring 2010 sported scallions on the cover. Inside, readers found an interview with local cookbook author Betty Rosbottom, seasonal recipes from Tricia and stories about Bluescreek Farm Meats, Wayward Seed Farm and Gahanna’s Ohio Herb Education Center.

Tricia also introduced the Edible Columbus Cooking series, which she would teach. “MI Homes let me use their kitchen at Easton. We held classes every other week and they got more and more popular. I brought in growers, producers and artisans. I remember Jane Barnes from Honeyrun Farm coming in to talk about honey.”

The Seasoned Farmhouse

Tricia researched the magazine “immediately” and discovered that there were 40 or 50 such publications in various cities or regions across the U.S, “all telling the stories of food in their communities.”

Cooking classes flourished there until 2012, when MI Homes moved. Undaunted, Tricia and Scott purchased a sad-looking residence at 3674 N. High St. in Clintonville.

Scott’s company did the remodel work that he designed.

Christened The Seasoned Farmhouse, it became Tricia’s new cooking school and Edible’s offices.

“Edible was its own brand, but each magazine was entrepreneurial in its own city” with its own staff and its own story. Because Tricia knew that she wanted to teach cooking eventually, she was looking for “a way to know the

The house was transformed inside with a professional kitchen and dining area, and outside with impeccably maintained flower gardens in front and food gardens in back.

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Today The Seasoned Farmhouse offers a staggering 42 new seasonal classes per quarter. “We’ve been very busy since the beginning,” Tricia says. “In October we had our 1,000th class.” Classes range in difficulty from quick dinners to prepare after work to a 30-week cooking series for hard-core enthusiasts.

The space is also perfect for corporate events, from dinners to team building. “I’ve noticed that conversations around cooking often refer back to childhood, how their parents or grandparents cooked.” Tricia says. “Then you’ve learned something that you might not have learned in everyday conversation.”

Flowers & Bread When classically trained chef and recipe developer Sarah Lagrotteria became a teacher at The Seasoned Farmhouse in the fall of 2013, Tricia found a colleague after her own entrepreneurial heart.

“We have the same background and went to the same culinary school,” Tricia says. Both loved flowers and floral arranging. They even made their own homemade butter and longed for “better bread” to spread it on.

Their shared passion for the delicious and the beautiful eventually led to a shared mission: “Buy another building and make a business that celebrates the simple pleasures: flowers, bread and a good cup of coffee.”

They found a dilapidated building within a few blocks of The Seasoned Farmhouse and Scott and his company converted it to a charming bakery/floral shop/coffee shop/event space called Flowers & Bread that opened in February 2017.

Tricia takes particular pride in her two renovations. “My father in Akron did renovations, and I married someone with the same skills. We took real eyesores and transformed them.

We live in this community, and we wanted to make these buildings beautiful and give them new life and purpose.”

Flowers & Bread has “no wi-fi—we chose conversations instead” and emphasizes “classes where we do things with our own hands.”

The selection of gifts and gift baskets at F & B, as Tricia calls it, reflects her focus on “things to make people’s everyday lives nice.” And as at The Seasoned Farmhouse, individuals and companies appreciate the flexible event space: “We can do dinners upstairs and wreath-making downstairs.”

Flowers & Bread’s latest innovation is the culinary travel division. Sarah and Tricia lead floral- and culinary-focused trips to England, and next year they will add an Italian itinerary.

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So Many Businesses, So Little Time By 2017, Tricia was head chef at The Seasoned Farmhouse with a team of other chefs and instructors, as well as part-owner and “big picture person” of Flowers & Bread, working with Sarah on growth strategies.

www.oeffa.org

After eight years with Edible Columbus, Tricia says she was stretched too thin and “thought it was time for a new perspective” for the magazine. Because she had successfully worked with the Franklin County Farm Bureau in the past— “they are a wonderful group”— they were the first people she approached when she decided to sell.

“They represent all different sizes of farms,” Tricia says, “and they were always very supportive of our goals.”

The Franklin County Farm Bureau became the magazine’s new owner, freeing Tricia to concentrate on other business opportunities, such as opening a second Flowers & Bread planned for Dublin in 2020.

“And I’ve been working on a cookbook,” she says. “A tool to help home cooks with meal planning and organization. It will help us use the food we buy and not waste it.” She promises recipes that are “flavorful, but not too hard.”

A Backward Look Reflecting on the Columbus food scene in the 10 years since she began Edible Columbus, Tricia speaks from the cook’s perspective. “Farmers markets have really grown and grown and grown. The quality of everything is so high. Services like Green Bean Delivery provide greater access for people who can’t shop at farmers markets.”

Tricia cherishes the comments that she has received from readers who have found the magazine useful and beautiful, and from farmers, chefs and producers who say that Edible was the first publication that “got it right” in telling their stories. “Edible has always done a really good job of telling stories—not ‘the latest and greatest, this opened, this is new’— but authentic stories of people doing the hard work, day in and day out.”

Find more information on Tricia Wheeler’s businesses at theseasonedfarmhouse.com and flowersandbread.com.

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Butternut Squash Soup with Hot Chili Oil

By Katie Meyers and Olivia Browning, Photography by Blake Needleman Ingredients

2 pounds butternut squash 2 tablespoons vegetable oil 2 ounces shallots, chopped 2 ounces parsnips, chopped 2 ounces carrots, chopped 1 tablespoon fresh ginger, minced 4 cups vegetable stock 1 teaspoon coriander ¼ teaspoon ground cumin Salt and pepper to taste Chili oil: 3 bird’s eye chilies 5 garlic cloves, chopped 1 cup vegetable oil Garnish: 1 tablespoon sour cream 2 teaspoons chili oil Parsley leaves (optional)

Directions:

Heat oven to 400°.

Cut butternut squash into halves and remove seeds. Place cut side down on baking sheet and add a small amount of water to cover the surface.

Place in preheated oven and bake until flesh is tender, 30 to 45 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool until squash can be handled. Scoop flesh into bowl and set aside.

Heat vegetable oil over medium-high heat. Cook shallots, parsnips, carrots and ginger until soft, 5 to 7 minutes. Add in vegetable stock, coriander and cumin. Stir in squash.

Bring mixture to a simmer and cook for 20 minutes.

Pour mixture into blender, no more than halfway. Cover with lid and hold. Purée in batches until smooth. Add in salt and pepper.

In small saucepan, heat vegetable oil over low heat.

Add in chilies and garlic and let cook for 3 to 5 minutes, until oil is a deep red color.

Garnish soup with sour cream, chili oil and parsley.

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EAT

Roasted Chicken Breast with Apple Cider Reduction

By L. Fernando Mojica, Certified Executive Chef (CEC), and Beth Stewart, Certified Culinarian (CC), Photography by Blake Needleman Ingredients

2 frenched chicken breasts 2 ounces salad oil 2 sprigs fresh thyme 2 sprigs fresh tarragon Kosher salt, to taste Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Apple Cider Reduction

1 pint roasted chicken stock 8 ounces apple cider 2 ounces brandy 1 ounce salad oil 1 ounce arrowroot Water as needed 1 ounce onions, medium diced 1 ounce carrots, medium diced 1 ounce celery, medium diced Kosher salt, to taste Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Directions for chicken:

Season the chicken breasts with salt and pepper, making sure to season both the skin and the meat under the skin.

Heat oil in a sauté pan and sear the chicken breast skin-side down until crispy. Add the fresh herbs to the pan and continue cooking until the chicken is halfway done.

Place the pan in a 400°F oven and cook the chicken until it reaches an internal temperature of 163°F. Remove the chicken breasts from the pan and allow to rest at room temperature until ready for serving.

Directions for apple cider reduction:

In a small sauté pan, heat the oil, then add the carrots, celery, and onions and sauté until browned.

Carefully add the brandy to the pan, as it may flare up. Reduce the flame to a medium heat and reduce the brandy until about ¼ of the original amount has evaporated.

Add the chicken stock and apple cider, bring to a boil, then simmer until the sauce has reduced by almost half of the original volume.

Strain the sauce through a chinoise into a different sauce pan, then return to the stove and continue reducing until the sauce has thickened enough to coat the back of a soup spoon Season with salt and pepper to taste.

If needed to thicken the sauce more, make a slurry with the water and arrowroot. Bring the sauce to a boil, then whisk in the slurry and continue to whisk until the sauce boils again and the sauce thickens enough to coat the back of a soup spoon.

Adjust seasoning, if needed, and keep hot until service

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Savory Bread Pudding

By L. Fernando Mojica, Certified Executive Chef (CEC), and Beth Stewart, Certified Culinarian (CC), Photography by Blake Needleman Ingredients 12 ounces brioche bread 16 ounces cremini mushrooms 6 whole eggs, beaten 6 ounces whole milk 2 ounces heavy cream 3 ounces shallots, minced 1 ounce garlic, minced 2 tablespoons fresh chives, minced 2 tablespoons fresh tarragon, leaves only, chopped Kosher salt, to taste Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

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Directions:

Preheat the oil in a sauté pan.

Mince the mushrooms, combine with the garlic and shallots, and sweat in the pan until soft but with no color Cut the bread into small dice and place in a mixing bowl Once the mushrooms are cooked, remove from heat and allow them to cool for a few minutes.

In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs, milk and herbs until thoroughly combined, then pour into the bowl with the bread. Use a rubber spatula to mix until thoroughly combined, then let the mixture sit at room temperature for about 15 minutes.

Add the mushroom mixture into the bread and egg mixture, add the fresh herbs, season with salt and pepper to taste and combine until well mixed.

Line the bottom of a baking dish with parchment paper and spray the sides with cooking spray, then pour the pudding mixture into the dish. Cut a sheet of foil big enough to cover the baking dish and spray it with cooking spray. Place the foil, sprayed side down, on top of pudding mixture and bake in a water bath in a 400°F oven until halfway cooked—about 15 minutes or until the pudding does not shake when you lightly jiggle the baking dish.

Uncover the pudding and finish cooking until the egg has set, about 15-20 minutes, with a golden brown color on top. You can check the doneness by inserting cake tester or a toothpick into the pudding. If it comes out dry, the egg mixture is fully cooked.

Remove the bread pudding from the water bath and keep warm until serving.

FOOD MEDICINE

Eat Your Medicine

Herbalist Dawn Combs explains why honey is for healing

By Wynne Everett, Photography by Jeremy King

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28 WINTER 2019

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ust a little sugar can make medicine easier to take, but what if the sweetener is the medicine?

Ethnobotanist, herbalist and beekeeper Dawn Combs hopes to open readers’ eyes to the healing qualities of honey with her latest book, Sweet Remedies: Healing Herbal Honeys.

At Mockingbird Meadows, the Marysville farm she shares with her husband and two children, Combs has kept bees for years and uses their honey to develop recipes to aid everything from colds and upset tummies to urinary tract infections and migraines. She has recipes aimed at improving brain health and memory function, and the book even includes an aphrodisiac recipe called “Desire Honey Spread.”

Combs wants readers to understand honey in a new way. While honey has long been known to have beneficial health properties, including anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and antimicrobial qualities, most of us see it only as a natural sugar substitute.

“We’ve oversimplified honey,” she said.

Because sweet though it may be, honey has a much bigger role to play.

Using honey in combination with herbs and other plants does more than just create a palatable vehicle for less-than-tasty medicinal herbs. The preparations that blend honey and other ingredients can actually amplify the healthful benefits of each, Combs said.

While stirring honey into hot tea or oatmeal does not warm it enough to create this detrimental effect, honey should never be heated to more than 104°F, she warned.

To warm honey that has crystallized, you should soak your honey jar in warm water until it re-liquifies, Combs said. Crystallization, by the way, is a sign that you got good, raw honey.

Food and Medicine When Combs first began developing honey blends, her young children who had balked at less tasty herbal supplements happily ate her new sweet concoctions.

For Combs, this brought to mind the famous quote attributed to the ancient Greek physician Hippocrates: “Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food.”

“While I want people to take honey seriously as medicine, I also want them to see it as food,” she said.

Sweet Remedies: Healing Herbal Honeys

By Dawn Combs (Storey Publishing, 2019)

Healthy Partners

She developed the recipes in the book by experimentation, often working up custom formulas to address the needs of family members or clients. Folklore and honey remedies from other cultures gave her some clues.

“There was no roadmap in terms of how much herbs to put in the honey,” she said. “I was feeling my way along as I went.”

Never Heat Honey Only raw honey has the useful enzymes and other beneficial health properties suitable for her medicinal preparations, Combs said. Heating honey destroys these.

More than that, she warned that heating honey can actually make honey bad for you. Heating fructose, such as honey, creates compounds that may be toxic.

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Photo Credit Native Light Photography

This led her to explore traditional medicine honey mixtures including electuaries (mixtures of raw honey with fresh or dried herbs or other plant material), infused honey (fresh herbs and spices steeped in raw honey), tinctured honey (infused honey with the addition of alcohol), oxymels (a blend of honey and vinegar mixed with herbs), pills (powdered herbs or spices combined with honey to make a dough that can be cut into pea-sized pills) and fermented honey (honey with herbs and spices that has been allowed to ferment).

Porcine Paradise James Anderson is raising heritage hogs to supply his popular barbecue business

By Steven Berk, Photography by Devin Trout

30 WINTER 2019

W

hile most people would be happy to be the founder of one of the most successful barbecue operations in Columbus, that was not enough for James Anderson, owner of Ray Ray’s Hog Pit. While he has been cooking professionally since he was 14 and, by every measure, is extremely successful, he decided to add “farmer” to his resume. Five years ago he started Anderson Farms in Granville.

Since his first love is the barbecue pit, he decided to raise pigs to market locally through restaurants, grocery stores and his own barbecue joints. “I wanted to complete the circle and give myself a competitive edge by providing the highest-quality pork with the best flavor profiles,” he said.

Producing outstanding pork has a lot of parallels to producing outstanding barbecue. It takes time, a sense of pride and a commitment to quality. Additionally, raising pigs and selecting for desired traits is similar to creating a recipe. Through the mixing and matching of genetics you can produce a recipe that will yield a hog with the desired attributes. Some combinations produce pork with exceptional belly fat while others are prized for their marbling that produces beautiful charcuterie products. For James it is about raising heritage breeds of pigs that offer different qualities and characteristics in their meat than you will find in the pork at your local grocery store.

Heritage breeds, as the name suggests, are predecessors to the modern breeds. In many instances these breeds have retained characteristics of their wild ancestors, such as hardiness and foraging abilities. At the turn of the last century, on farms across the Midwest you could find the same varieties that James currently raises, including Mule Foot, Red Wattle and Berkshire. These staples of the farm were simply turned out in a woodlot to root, forage and raise their young. The production method required little input from busy farmers. These pigs thrived and, although they had much slower rates of growth, produced excellent pork and lard.

As farming evolved, these breeds fell out of favor for a variety of reasons, including temperament, slow growth rate or lack of availability. Keeping heritage breeds means adjusting to the conditions that are best suited for their husbandry: raising them outdoors and allowing them to forage and root for food. By contrast, today’s large pig farms typically keep their pigs confined in barns.

“I had zero background in farming and spent about a year just studying the techniques,” James said. “Talking with older generations of farmers that used to raise pigs like this was the most helpful.” Many of the heritage breeds James raises are rare, so it’s a challenge to find suitable breeding stock. He has gone as far as Michigan and Illinois to secure breeding stock that is not locally available.

Anderson Farms now has more than 200 pigs that are completely free range. They are able to cruise their paddocks and exhibit natural pig behavior such as rooting and, yes, wallowing in mud.

Their diet is supplemented with corn and soybeans to ensure proper nutrition and overall healthy body conditions. Pigs are naturally social animals and that makes them susceptible to communicable diseases. Sick pigs are treated with medication, and James tries to

build up the herd’s immune system naturally instead of administering antibiotics through their feed.

Patience is key for this method of farming. Pigs raised on pasture develop more slowly than their conventionally raised counterparts.

While market standards have pigs being processed at around 250 pounds, James runs counter to that notion and strives for a market weight of 300 to 325 pounds. “Fat equals flavor and the fat from pasture-raised pork is sweet, delicate and flavorful, so a little more fat never hurts,” he said.

These breeds possess the attributes capable of producing the finest pork—both succulent and deeply marbled—that is highly sought out by discerning chefs and customers. Although it might be counterintuitive, the best way to save these heritage breeds is to eat them. Barbecue enthusiasts and charcuterie adventurers owe it to themselves to research and seek out pork sourced from these breeds, as well as the producers who are choosing quality over quantity. Promotion and increasing awareness bolsters the reputation of these breeds. Increasing the demand will continue to give farmers, like James, good reason to take the time to raise and promote them.

Just as farming has evolved, so too have consumer preferences.

Barbecue is immensely popular, with food trucks and restaurants striving to meet demand. However, animal protein is losing its position as the gold standard for healthy nutrition. Burgers are switching to black beans and chicken nuggets are going soy. At a time when both restaurant menus and meat cases are featuring more plant-based protein, barbecued ribs and smoked pork belly seem to not have noticed and the barbecue pit has remained true to form.

“There is something primal about hanging out by the grill,” says James, who like his father is carrying on the family tradition of barbecue.

Waking up to feed pigs and prepare barbecue everyday has James in no rush to grow either the farm or Ray Ray’s, which has locations in Clintonville, Franklinton and Westerville. “Quality comes before growth. I have to earn what comes next,” James said. To ensure consistent quality, James is very satisfied with the current size of his farming operation. By maintaining its current production level he is able to guarantee that he is producing top products for customers who hold his pork in such high regard.

Anderson Farms is securing a future while preserving history with every heritage piglet born. If a wild animal were threatened with extinction, we would quickly act to conserve and protect it. The same thought can be applied to domesticated farm animals that are facing obsolescence within agriculture. These unique breeds are deserving of our guardianship so that they are not lost to history. Luckily for us, we can help save these heritage breeds every time we eat barbecue.

Find Anderson Farms online at andersonfarmsohio.com.

For more information about the locations and hours of Ray Ray’s Hog Pit, visit rayrayshogpit.com. .com

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34 WINTER 2019

In pursuit of the perfect bagel Kevin Crowley displays his passion for food at Lox Bagel Shop

By Anna Kurfees, Photography by Blake Needleman

I

f you’ve never experienced the feeling of being “home” while dining out, I invite you to The Lox Bagel Shop. The distinctive smell of freshly baked bagels, the quiet murmur of intimate conversations and the subdued shuffle of the kitchen combine to provide a haven away from the daily stressors.

The path to create this Short North retreat was not a straight shot for owner Kevin Crowley. He originally pursued a law degree, but the love of food and the restaurant industry continuously pulled Kevin back. He found himself neglecting his daily collegiate studies to learn, study and work with food. This relentless passion eventually led him to attend the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York.

Kevin’s internship at North Pond, a Michelin one-star restaurant in Chicago, was the pivotal moment where he knew he would be committed to this industry for life. It was here that he learned the importance of farm-to-table cuisine and building relationships with farmers. In this moment the bigger picture became clear: This was more than just a job. This sentiment was strengthened when Kevin became a managing partner at Northstar Café in Columbus. Northstar and its owners, the Malhame brothers, helped Kevin hone in on his standards of unrelenting quality, farmer relationships and community building, Kevin’s passion remained, but his priorities shifted when he became a father. He knew when thinking about a concept for his own restaurant space that it had to be conducive to being present for his children. That’s how the bagel shop was born. He still had the creative ability, flexible working hours and farmer relationships intact.

It may come as no surprise that Kevin’s favorite Lox sandwich is its namesake, The Lox. Lightly cured and smoked-in-house salmon is accompanied by capers and onion. Other offerings include the thick-cut, house-made pastrami topped with Swiss, pickled onion and mustard, which comes highly recommended on the sea salt and herb bagel.

There’s a menu option for everyone, including the Veggie, which is an assortment of roasted, pickled and raw wholesome goodness.

The shop recently started a Kitchen Collaboration series, working with Watershed Kitchen and Bar on a sandwich whose sales benefited Ben’s Friends—a support group for those in the restaurant industry pursuing sobriety. Fried chicken, tangy pickles, red hot sauce and spicy cream cheese morphed together to create an insanely delicious bagel sandwich. More collaborations are planned.

When asked about the biggest challenge in opening The Lox, Kevin said, “The most unexpected challenge was all the raw emotion of building something from the ground up and serving people food in our way, the way we like it. Cooking for people and hoping to please them is a very vulnerable position to put yourself in day in and day out. You just want to make people happy.”

If you have yet to experience The Lox Bagel Shop, I invite you in. If you have already been, you know the sentiment I am describing.

Welcome home, Columbus.

The process of making a perfect Lox bagel is labor intensive.

Sixty pounds of dough is made fresh daily, then cut, portioned, hand rolled and shaped. Next, the bagels are cold fermented for two to three days. A kettle of malt syrup and water is used to boil the bagels in batches of two dozen. Finally, the bagels are seeded and fired in the wood-fired oven.

The specific boil water/malt mixture and the live fire cooking are what set Lox bagels apart from others on the market. Bagels are fired all day, so guests are often receiving them straight from the oven. This method is a cross between Montreal-style and New York-style bagels, providing a crusty exterior and chewy center that make it perfect for sandwiches.

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Devin Rachelle photo + design

devinrachelle.com

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Artisanal Foods

Gardening Supplies & Services

Bonhomie Acres bonhomieacresmaplesyrup.com 614.501.4681 7001 Quaker Rd., Fredericktown, Ohio Find on Facebook

Oakland Nurseries oaklandnursery.com Locations in Columbus, Dublin, Delaware and New Albany Find on Facebook and Instagram

Omega Bun omegabun.com 740. 571.2333 Find on Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest

Go Zero gozero.org 614.746.4287 Find on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest and LinkedIn

Beverages

Dutch Creek Winery dutchcreekwinery.com 740.818.4699 Find on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter Pretentious Barrel House pretentiousbarrelhouse.com 614.887.7687 Find on Facebook and Instagram

Farms, Markets and Farmers Markets Bexley Natural Market bexleynaturalmarket.org 614. 252.3951 508 Cassady Ave, Columbus, Ohio Find on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram Harrison Farm harrisonfarm13.com 614.271.0304 5278 Berger Rd., Groveport, Ohio Find on Facebook and Instagram

Housewares, Gifts & Books Peachblow Pottery peachblowpottery.com 740.548.7224 13262 Hartford Rd., Sunbury, Ohio The Smithery shopthesmithery.com 1306 Grandview Ave., Columbus, Ohio Find on Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram

Restaurants Flowers & Bread flowersandbread.com 614.262.5400 3870 N. High St., Columbus, Ohio Find on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter

Jorgensen Farms jorgensen-farms.com 614.855.2697 5851 E. Walnut St., Westerville, Ohio Find on Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest

Katalina’s Café katalinascafe.com 1105 Pennsylvania Ave., Columbus, Ohio 614.294.2233 Open seven days 8am–3pm Find on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest and Twitter

Thurn’s Speciality Meats thurnsmeats.com 614.443.1449 530 Greenlawn Ave., Columbus, Ohio Find on Facebook and Instagram

Local Roots localrootspowell.com 614.602.8060 15 E. Olentangy St., Powell, Ohio 43065 Find on Facebook and Instagram

Weiland’s Market weilandsmarket.com 614.267.9878 3600 Indianola Ave., Columbus, Ohio Find on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter-

Education Columbus State Community College cscc.edu 614.287.5353 550 East Spring St. Columbus, Ohio Find on Facebook, Instagram, Youtube, LinkedIn and Twitter Franklin County Auditor franklincountyauditor.com 614.525.4663 373 S. High St., 21st Floor, Columbus, Ohio Find on Facebook and Twitter Initiative for Food and AgriCultural Transformation (InFACT) discovery.osu.edu/focus-areas/infact/ 614.292.5881

Yet every one had had enough, and the youngest Cratchits in particular were steeped in sage and onion to the eyebrows.

-Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol

Ohio Ecological Food and Farm Association (OEFFA) oeffa.org 614.421.2022 ext. 202 Find on Facebook and Twitter

Financial Pathways Financial Credit Union pathwayscu.com 614.416.7588 121 Emmaus Rd., Marysville, Ohio Find on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter Leavitt Group-Midwest -- Smith, Molino, Sichko leavitt.com 4200 Hoover Rd Grove City, Ohio 614.871.9707 Find on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter

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Freedom a la Cart This kitchen is a gateway to a whole new life

By Gary Kiefer, Photography by Devin Trout

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tep into the kitchen of the company voted “best caterer” in Columbus and your eyes are drawn to the many hands in motion. Some are drizzling chocolate over coconut macaroons before they are placed in individual bags. Others are building sandwiches such as the popular Turkey Tango—hand-carved turkey, lettuce, roasted garlic aioli and “secret sauce”—or the Harvest Chicken Salad, made from locally sourced Ohio roasted chicken with pecans, cranberries and apple.

Box-lunch containers lined up along a table are being filled with their various components, soon to be headed for a conference room at Ohio State University, where the luncheon guests will enjoy the fresh, made-from-scratch food.

For any other catering company, delivering that food to people is the end of the process. At Freedom a la Cart, it is but one step on a much longer and challenging journey.

In this kitchen the 10 workers and the kitchen manager are all survivors of sex trafficking, and this job is part of the process of regaining control of their lives. The food they make is widely praised, but there is a larger purpose here: to build a new life of freedom and self-sufficiency.

“There are so many benefits from working in a kitchen,” says Paula Haines, executive director of Freedom a la Cart. “Traditionally, that’s where women gather and learn to cook from mothers and grandmothers. That’s where problems are talked through and support happens.

40 WINTER 2019

“There’s healing in food.”

HERO

The nonprofit organization started 10 years ago by offering support services to the women in Franklin County’s innovative program known as CATCH Court (Changing Actions To Change Habits).

The program treats women arrested on prostitution charges as victims instead of criminals. They can have their charges dropped by completing a two-year probation period that includes trauma counseling and drug treatment. They have to remain sober and stay off of the streets.

Haines says the founders of her organization saw that women could do well in the court program but still not be able to find a job. “So we bought a food cart on eBay for $1,200 and pushed that around and sold sandwiches so we could employ survivors,” she says. “That quickly turned into a catering business.”

Survivors learn kitchen skills, but they’re also learning communication skills, how to manage their time and how to get along in the workplace.

“We believe we’re not just training for work in the food industry, we’re training for a good work ethic,” Haines says. “In the past three years, 59 women have come through this program, and 24 of those have transitioned to jobs in the community. And 85% have not received another criminal charge.”

Jess is one of the kitchen workers who came to the program this year, and the pride she takes in her work is evident. “We put out an amazing amount of food with a small group of people,” she says. “It teaches you a lot about yourself.”

For Jess, an important part of this job is gaining confidence in her work and in her life. She works with Freedom’s job coach on skills beyond the kitchen, things as basic as learning to keep track of bills and get them paid on time.

“When you don’t have somebody to help you with that, when you’ve been on the street prostituting yourself for 15 years, you’re lost,” she says. “And then it’s just easier to go get high, and that’s the way people think and the way their mind-set is.”

Recognizing that, Freedom also started the Butterfly Program to offer support services to a larger group of women who are transitioning from treatment to real life, Haines said. Last year they had 77 women in the program receiving case management help, job coaching and other support.

“What these women are really doing is becoming self-sufficient.

They’re getting their driver’s license, they’re moving into their own house, they’re getting custody of their kids, getting off government assistance, they’re getting jobs and changing their lives, and that’s what’s exciting,” she says.

In the group’s northwest Columbus kitchen, restaurant veteran and interim chef B.J. Lieberman has spent the last couple of months getting to know the workers and he’s impressed. “Kitchen work is

really tough,” he says. “It’s remarkable how resilient everyone is that they can come into these high-stress situations and fit right in.”

The whole staff is celebrating the recent honor of being named “best caterer” in the November issue of Columbus CEO magazine, chosen by vote of its readers. That mirrors the “extremely positive” feedback that Freedom gets from its customers, Lieberman says.

For all the organization has accomplished, Freedom a la Cart has still bigger plans. Haines says they have signed a lease on a Downtown space at 123 E. Spring St. that will become their new kitchen and home base, complete with a café open to the public by next fall.

“We’re excited to get Downtown and open up to the public so that people can actually walk in and enjoy our food,” Haines says. “It’s another way for people to become aware of the sex trafficking issue and get educated, and we hope change will come as a result of that.”

To donate, volunteer or order catering from Freedom a la Cart, visit freedomalacart.org.