Lenny Pepperidge
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There is a giant, glaring hole in the Columbus dining scene: the lack of a good affordable French Bistro. Maybe I've been spoiled living in Chicago and Manhattan before coming to Columbus, but it seems as though those two cities have a good to great location for classic French comfort food (Steak frites, cassoulet, Frisee Salad and all the rest) with a solid wine list of regional French wines in every single neighborhood, yet I can't find one in Columbus.
What gives?
Coremodels
Really close to Explorer's Club.
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I've always had great experiences at La Chatelaine as well.
Brewmaster
Portland, OR
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roy
Downtown
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Lenny Pepperidge wrote There is a giant, glaring hole in the Columbus dining scene: the lack of a good affordable French Bistro. Maybe I've been spoiled living in Chicago and Manhattan before coming to Columbus, but it seems as though those two cities have a good to great location for classic French comfort food (Steak frites, cassoulet, Frisee Salad and all the rest) with a solid wine list of regional French wines in every single neighborhood, yet I can't find one in Columbus. What gives?
As Brew pointed out, we have all those foods here--NoMkt Poultry & Game serves a scary good cassoulet--yet we do not have to deal with the actual French.
Andrew Hall
Dennison Place (The Circles)
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Grabbing a particular food for take out is not the same as a bistro.
Columbus has never had one as best I can remember. A few places like those mentioned make stabs at it, but really only hit on a few items while missing the whole idea. (I did have a nice frisee salad w/ lardons recently and I can't remember where.)
The wine part is futile. The state's distribution system is a fracked up mess due to vested interests and laws. In addition, corkage is illegal. You will mostly find high-production, industrial wines at inflated prices.
A.
Andrew Hall
Dennison Place (The Circles)
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joev wrote I think I'd source the food and wine locally. More French inspired techniques/recipes with Ohio wine and food.
That would be ... Alana's? :?
Minus the Ohio wine except for maybe she has Kinkead Ridge on the list sometimes.
Great idea. Have a long talk w/ your accountant though. And then a second even longer one.
Some dishes like 'oeufs en meurette' made the Lazy Silo heritage breed eggs? Hook-ups with pushers like the guys at Wayward Seed for cardoons and rare varieties of beets? Hangar steak from Blues Creek (who were the first to offer back when most butchers didn't even know what it was)? One fall there was even some Mennonite kids selling local 'ratte' potatoes which are the variety by which Robuchon made his world-wide reputation on the ultimate pommes puree.
Wait ... that sounds like what I cook at home! Open it and save me from dishwashing. Local could be done about 8-9 mos of the year which is miles ahead of what it used to be.
A.
RandomVisitor
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Once upon a time, there was Le Metropolitain in the Brewery District.
Andrew Hall
Dennison Place (The Circles)
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joev wrote It would be less upscale than Alana's. More of a cafe with a nice fireplace and large communal tables. Still a dream at this point. But maybe in a few years. And maybe not in Columbus, but somewhere in the Grand River Valley in NE Ohio.
Local wines a better option there. Some good produce people in the greater area as well. Less animals though. Downside is that the tourist trade expects basic, recognizable and cheap.
I would hardly call Alana's upscale though. The issue is that local and quality (not to mention organic) ends up costing more in absolute cost and time than weekly orders with GFS. Chez Panisse has a full time staff position of forager.
If you are serious, chat with the guys at Cafe Corner some time. They have experience in higher end dining and are working on integrating things like chacuterie they make themselves into the menu. Good people who can give you some insights.
A.
joev
Merion Village
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Andrew Hall wrotejoev wrote It would be less upscale than Alana's. More of a cafe with a nice fireplace and large communal tables. Still a dream at this point. But maybe in a few years. And maybe not in Columbus, but somewhere in the Grand River Valley in NE Ohio.Local wines a better option there. Some good produce people in the greater area as well. Less animals though. Downside is that the tourist trade expects basic, recognizable and cheap.
I would hardly call Alana's upscale though. The issue is that local and quality (not to mention organic) ends up costing more in absolute cost and time than weekly orders with GFS. Chez Panisse has a full time staff position of forager.
If you are serious, chat with the guys at Cafe Corner some time. They have experience in higher end dining and are working on integrating things like chacuterie they make themselves into the menu. Good people who can give you some insights.
A.
Thanks for the tips! Much appreciated.
Lenny Pepperidge
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joev wrote I think I'd source the food and wine locally. More French inspired techniques/recipes with Ohio wine and food.
Hey, I'm all for Amish Duck Confit or using locally grown organic greens, eggs and bacon in the frisee salad....but Ohio wines....please!!!!!
Yea, I've had some acceptable Ohio (and that's a needle in the haystack situation) wines in my time, but are you really suggesting that you substitute them for the wines of Alsace, Burgundy, the Loire..the Rhone...Provence. That's taking a good idea (local production) to completely delusional and illogical ends.
Lenny Pepperidge
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Oh yeah, I have tried Bon Vie. While I thought that the drive out to a suburban mall to get French Bistro food was ridiculous enough...little did I realize how BAD the actual product would be...the menu...the execution and the wine list were essentially a parody of how NOT to do French bistro.
Seriously, open Bon Vie in Chicago or Manhattan and not only is it OUT OF BUSINESS in a month, but it flames out in such dramatic fashion that the locals are still holding it up as a model of what not to do a generation later.
WorkingMusician
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Lenny Pepperidge wrote Oh yeah, I have tried Bon Vie. While I thought that the drive out to a suburban mall to get French Bistro food was ridiculous enough...little did I realize how BAD the actual product would be...the menu...the execution and the wine list were essentially a parody of how NOT to do French bistro.Seriously, open Bon Vie in Chicago or Manhattan and not only is it OUT OF BUSINESS in a month, but it flames out in such dramatic fashion that the locals are still holding it up as a model of what not to do a generation later.
LOL.
Bon Vie has gone downhill in the last couple of years.
No more orange duck.
Frankly, it was about the only reason for me to go to the place.
Now, I still like the mushroom crepe. Most of the Bon Vie wines are Kroger fare. Sure hate to pay the price I pay for a Vouvray after seeing what I can buy an entire bottle for at the grocery store.
Now what I would like to see are crepe street vendor wagons. Very nice.
It would be a start. Get the "generic Columbus demographic" hooked on the "fast food" French stuff and then we can move on to the real deal.
It would be nice to have a Refectory type place on every corner instead of Applebee's.
joev
Merion Village
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Lenny Pepperidge wrotejoev wrote I think I'd source the food and wine locally. More French inspired techniques/recipes with Ohio wine and food.Hey, I'm all for Amish Duck Confit or using locally grown organic greens, eggs and bacon in the frisee salad....but Ohio wines....please!!!!!
Yea, I've had some acceptable Ohio (and that's a needle in the haystack situation) wines in my time, but are you really suggesting that you substitute them for the wines of Alsace, Burgundy, the Loire..the Rhone...Provence. That's taking a good idea (local production) to completely delusional and illogical ends.
If you haven't tried them in the past 3 or 4 years, you need to try again. There are a lot of stinkers out there - catawbas, concords, etc. - but probably 10-15 wineries (mostly in NE Ohio and along the Ohio River) are making some really good wines. The Ohio Grape Industries Council is starting a "Ohio Quality Wine" program to separate the wheat from the chaff. Some of these wineries have TINY outputs, but there bottles available.
WorkingMusician
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joev wroteLenny Pepperidge wrotejoev wrote I think I'd source the food and wine locally. More French inspired techniques/recipes with Ohio wine and food.Hey, I'm all for Amish Duck Confit or using locally grown organic greens, eggs and bacon in the frisee salad....but Ohio wines....please!!!!!
Yea, I've had some acceptable Ohio (and that's a needle in the haystack situation) wines in my time, but are you really suggesting that you substitute them for the wines of Alsace, Burgundy, the Loire..the Rhone...Provence. That's taking a good idea (local production) to completely delusional and illogical ends.
If you haven't tried them in the past 3 or 4 years, you need to try again. There are a lot of stinkers out there - catawbas, concords, etc. - but probably 10-15 wineries (mostly in NE Ohio and along the Ohio River) are making some really good wines. The Ohio Grape Industries Council is starting a "Ohio Quality Wine" program to separate the wheat from the chaff. Some of these wineries have TINY outputs, but there bottles available.
I had a good one at The Refectory. Had the waiter suggest a couple, didn't say what they were...let us taste it and then told us after we picked the Ohio one..LOL
I think it is one made especially for them at a vineyard around Mt. Sterling as I remember.
I think it was a Pinot Noir. Frankly I was shocked to say the least.
I've had all those other kinds of "typical" Ohio wines you mention.
I've tried a couple Kincaid Ridge ones, not bad.
Lake Erie grape juice wine cooler catawba headache crap makes me want to order Boonesfarm or Mogen David instead as a better alternative.
Lambrusco, even.
:)
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