Farm & Table

COURTESY OF THE POMPADOUR SPICE-RUBBED QUAIL WITH ANCHO CHILI & COFFEE RAPADURA GLAZE

Summer Beers: These Ohio breweries are known for turning out great craft brews. Try these three beers that go well with long evenings on the patio. High Bank Distillery: This capital city distiller has captured both local and national praise, while serving great lunch, dinner and brunch fare.

Creative Cool

An unassumingly hip restaurant, The Pompadour in Fairport Harbor embraces innovation in both its food and cocktails, adding up to a spot that shines brightly with both.

Depending on your preference, The Pompadour may draw you in with its small plates and hook you with its cocktails, or it may be the cocktails that get you in the door and the small plates that keep you coming back. Either way, this cozy, welcoming spot in historic downtown Fairport Harbor manages to balance its offerings in a way that consistently ups its overall game.

“Food is the priority at Pompadour, but we’ve also got a pretty amazing cocktail program, which is pretty unique since most places specialize in one or the other,” says chef and owner Rusty James Phillips.

A quick glance at the menu shows some expected offerings, like short rib or a tomato-based vegetable dish. But read the description and you’re in for something unexpected: the rib features a rum-infused banana mash, and the Humble Veg is anything but.

“It’s a vegetable dish that isn’t just a side dish,” explains Phillips. “[It’s] tomatoes we roast down almost to the point of sundried — but still juicy — topped with spiced, grilled mushrooms; garlic French green beans; pickled, spiralized chayote Mexican squash; toasted sesame seeds. The tomatoes are cold, the chayote is cold, the mushrooms and green beans are hot. When you have hot and cold sensations in your mouth, it makes your taste buds do something you’re not used to.”

Creating sensations your taste buds aren’t used to is what drives Phillips. Ingredients are tools, he explains, and he’s not limited to a certain set.

“Not everything I try works,” he says. “I try to take my first idea and throw it out. If I arrived at it too easy, it’s probably something I’ve already experienced. When I experience a dish, I want this feeling that it’s new.”

The same goes for the house cocktails, which are precise in a way that makes them consistent from glass to glass, visit to visit. Janessa Flowers, former bar lead who is now with the Diageo hospitality group, continues to create cocktails that, like the food, “have a foot in the classics,” as Phillips describes them, but with a twist. You’ll encounter salted honey instead of plain, for example in the Sunday Morning, or a Coca-Cola reduction instead of a simple syrup in the Li’l Pick Me Up.

“With both the food and the cocktails, we keep a focus on creativity and great ingredients,” Phillips says. “That’s the main goal. As long as you approach them both that way, it’s never one pushing or pulling against the other.” — Ruth Corradi Beach

320 High St., Fairport Harbor 44077, 440/639-0263, thepompadourbar.com

3 Ohio Beers to Drink This Summer

These breweries are known for turning out great craft brews. Try these three beers that go well with long evenings on the patio.

keypunch

Urban Artifact 4.5% ABV | Cincinnati

With two Key limes, a dash of vanilla and a bit of salt in each can, this fruit tart makes a statement without being overpowering and delivers the hint of a favorite summertime dessert. artifactbeer.com

hope flows

Collision Bend Brewing Co. 5.2% ABV | Cleveland

This Kolsch-style beer is inspired by the traditional ales of Cologne, Germany. The crisp and drinkable brew pairs well with a day under the sun. collisionbendbrewery.com

kinda fuzzy

Jackie O’s Brewery 5.5% ABV | Athens

Peach and apricot puree are added early in this wheat ale’s fermentation process, resulting in a sweet yet subtle beer. jackieos.com

High Bank Distillery

This capital city distiller has garnered praise for its great lunch, dinner and brunch fare and inventive lineup of cocktails.

Jordan Helman and Adam Hines opened High Bank Distillery in Columbus’ Grandview neighborhood in May 2018. The duo had worked together through Zest Juice Co.; Helman and his wife co-owned the series of juice bars while Hines crafted their branding.

“We realized we had similar work ethics and goals,” Helman says. “And so, we started down the road of opening a brewery together, and when Ohio laws changed to allow a restaurant and a distillery on the same site, we decided to go that route because of our passion for brown spirits.”

To name the business, they borrowed the designation applied to the site of the state capitol, which was built on the “high bank” of the Scioto River in 1812. Hines took on the role of head distiller — completing courses at Moonshine University in Louisville, Kentucky — and created an award-winning portfolio that includes High Bank Vodka, Statehouse Gin, Whiskey War and its specialty barreled versions named Midnight Cask.

In just four years, High Bank has found success. In spring of 2022, the distillery took home five Double Golds at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition. In 2021, it won Best Blended Whiskey in America for its barrel-proof Whiskey War.

On top of all that, High Bank opened a second location in Gahanna, on the northeast side of Columbus, in May 2022.

The Grandview location features a large, open space, with a long bar and tables. There is a wide patio in the front, and glass walls in the back reveal the distillery.

Helman and Hines credit the kitchen team and mixologists behind the bar with creating the lunch, dinner and brunch menus and putting spirits to creative use in the cocktail menu. The dishes explore classic American fare with touches of Mexican, Vietnamese and Southern cuisine. Start with the smoked cheddar pimento cheese or the queso fundido laced with chorizo, then move on to the spicy chicken sandwich or pork belly banh mi. Larger featured dishes include mushroom ricotta pizzas and steak frites featuring Ohio beef.

Of course, don’t miss the cocktail list, which includes the Rosé Cooler with High Bank’s vodka, strawberry simple syrup, rosé and lime. The British Fog blends Statehouse Gin with Cocchi, Earl Grey tea, cardamom syrup and fresh lemon.Beverages include an expert wine selection, craft beers, Thunderkiss Coffee cold brew and mocktails.

Even with the awards, the two locations and its lauded offerings, High Bank Distillery feels like it’s just getting started.

“We took more double golds than any distillery in America,” says Hines, “and we’re sixth in the world. This little distillery in Columbus, Ohio.”

1051 Goodale Blvd., Columbus 43212, 614/826-5347, highbankco.com

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