Growing by Leaps and Bounds

July 27, 2010 – 12:14 pm Posted by Katharine Moore

Filed under: Features

Dine Originals Columbus Accepts 8 New Members

Orchestrating the perfect mix of casual dining with white tablecloths, ethnic diversity with Ohio comfort food, and small cafes with larger operations isn’t anywhere as complicated an effort as someone considering the Dine Originals membership roster might guess it to be. It’s actually an alchemist’s magic potion that requires no formula…just belief. Our fifty one member restaurants operate in a broad range of business models and have distinct kitchen styles; some are open for 3 meals a day, others serve dinner only. Some of our members have wine selections that can hold their own against any establishment this side of Paris, while others don’t have liquor licenses. What is the commonality then, that drew each of them to our organization and persuaded them each to set aside their fiercely independent sensibilities just long enough to join a group?

A like mindedness of community spirit!

They are certain that this always-a-bit-risky approach to making a living is worth the punishing hours and significant physical demands because the return is not just money, but a sense of hospitality, artistry, and connectivity. Their bottom line looks different than any other; the balance sheet includes a tally of romance, style, daring, and friendship. They haven’t had a successful year unless the reservation book held a balance of

regulars and first time diners. Where they were able to make charitable contributions that made a real difference is as important as where they invested their profits.

It’s this true blue devotion to community and quality that we consider when reviewing applications for membership. And so it is with a great deal of happiness and a strong sense of camaraderie that we announce our new members: Skillet, Basil, Moshi Sushi, Black Olive,  The Oak Room at The Granville Inn, Tyfoon, Shoku, and Katalina’s Café Corner. All different. Each unique. So very welcome to the community of independent restaurants we have established and nurtured over the last few years.

What’s the best way to experience a couple of the new members? With a Dine Originals discounted certificate in hand! Let them know that you value bold, exceptional, one-of-a-kind restaurants and appreciate the resources they pour into the effort.

DOC Alfresco Dining

June 17, 2010 – 9:23 am Posted by Katharine Moore

Filed under: Features

al•fres•co ( l-fr s k )
adv.
In the fresh air; outdoors: dining alfresco.

Things I have witnessed on the patio at Barcelona: two proposals, laughing that could be heard a block away, dramatic break ups, birthday celebrations, a race car driver and his team, one wardrobe malfunction, and an impromptu sing along.

After a seemingly endless harsh winter, Columbus is poised for all of the joys of summer…Clippers games at Huntington Park, a calendar of festivals and events, and dining on patios around the city.

Dining alfresco is the perfect excuse for relaxing some of the rules, and Dine Originals members I talked with love creating an experience that blends warm fresh air with grills, gardens, and the market’s summer time offerings.  Add frosty glasses with tinkling ice and you have a party, whether it’s for two or your whole kickball team!

Lunch on Katzinger’s sidewalk in German Village is a perfect spot for getting sun (and mustard) on your face; Figlio and Vinovino offer great streetscape al fresco dining in Grandview; G. Michael’soffers an intimate space with just six tables for romantic summertime dinners and Kevin at Alana’s says they have been told that their patio is very European - by Europeans! The patio at the Elevator Brewery and Draught Haus is open throughout the week, with live music on Thursdays with Alex White & Friends from 7:00-10:00pm.

In Bexley, The Top Steak House has an outdoor space for dining, drinking and occasionally some unofficial dancing.  They have a .bar-patio menu which is available Sunday-Thursday all evening and after 9 on Friday and Saturday. The special menu has sandwiches, salads and pasta dishes.

Luce Enoteca offers Sunday Brunch on the Patio and has a July 3rd Independence Day party planned featuring drinks from X-Rated and food specials from Chef Alex Rodriguez. And you thought Powell was a sleepy little village…

Gay Street buzzes from lunch into happy hour, and on into the night with seating in front of Due Amici and The Tip Top; perfect positioning for the See and Be Seen crowd.

And in the Brewery District? Columbus Brewing Company offers pizza and a pint on their covered patio Monday through Thursday for just $12.00!

Barcelona’s patio has won every award except a Grammy, and Cotter’s at the Arena is the perfect spot for dinner before any concert you have tickets for at Nationwide Arena. Basi Italia’s outdoor space transports you to another culture, and Trattoria Roma is sidewalk dining as it was meant to be.  Katalina’s Café Corner has umbrellas out with a neighborhood vibe and amazing sandwiches.  It’s just the place for pouring over the New York Times and a late breakfast while sipping on their homemade watermelon lemonade with mint or one of their five flavored iced teas…any day of the week.

If it is true, as Jean-Anthelme Brillat-Savarin wrote, that “Tell me what you eat, and I will tell you who you are.”  show me where you dine this summer and I will tell you how magic the season has been.

Ohio Wine Tasting at Cotters - June 17th

June 8, 2010 – 1:02 pm Posted by Katharine Moore

Filed under: Cotter's Restaurant, Restaurants

June is Ohio Wine Month and Cotters is supporting our local wineries by hosting an Ohio Wine Tasting on June 17th from 6-9pm. Enjoy 7 wines for $15 plus complimentary hors d’ouevres and live music.

June Events at Cotters at the Arena

June 3, 2010 – 10:06 am Posted by Katharine Moore

Filed under: Cotter's Restaurant, Restaurants

Live music on the patio with DJ Hugon every Wednesday and Thursday from 6-9pm

June 13, 6-9pm OSU Party on the Patio! Live music with DJ Hugon, $3 Drafts from the Columbus Brewing Company keg, $5 Buckeye themed drink specials, Complimentary chocolate buckeyes for all diners. Congrats graduates!

June 20, 3-9pm We will be open for Father’s Day and will have specials that every man will love!

June 24th from 4-8pm, we are hosting a “Yappy Hour” on the patio for Columbus Dog Connection. Dogs are welcome (must be spayed/neutered) unless we have rain. Live music, complimentary hors d’ouevres & glass of Prosecco, and great drink specials & raffles. Three local dog bakeries will be passing out “Yappytizers” to our furry friends. Tickets are $15. $5 from each ticket benefits CDC.

Thank you Donors!

May 19, 2010 – 10:59 am Posted by Katharine Moore

Filed under: Restaurants

Our Dine Originals Columbus Auction Donors really stepped up to the plate at the Taste of Originals event held on May 13, 2010!  We thank you!

Atelier Salon
B Hamptons
Barcelona Restaurant & Bar
Barrio
Basi Italia
Bexley Monk
Black Creek Bistro
Brad Feinknopf
Chef Asa J Rodriguez
Chelsea Burgen
Columbus Blue Jackets
Columbus Children’s Theater
Columbus Cycle Sales
Columbus Gay Mens Chorus
Columbus Music Co-op
Columbus Underground
CORA
Dr. Jason Kahan
Due Amici
Edible Arrangements
Erin Johnson Photography
ETC Boutique
Figlio
G. Michael’s Bistro
German Village Guest House
Hocking Hills Canopy Tours
Kathy McIntire
Ken Jenkins Chiropractic
Krema
Meleka Murphy
Mezzo
Michaels Meats
MMJ Events
Moshi Sushi
North Market
Opera Columbus
Personal Training by Jen
Pistacia Vera
Progressive Dinner for 4 @ 4 Restaurants
Promo West
r design and printing
Refectory
Rigsby’s Kitchen
Rowe Boutique
Shadowbox Theatre
Shaw’s Restaurant and Inn
Simple Solutions Design
Stile Salon
The Andy Shaw Band
The Candle Lab
The Elevator Brewery and Draught Haus
The Inn at Cedar Falls
The Top Steak House
Victorian Village Guest House
Weiland’s Gourmet Market

A Taste of Justice

May 17, 2010 – 4:12 pm Posted by Katharine Moore

Filed under: Features

Being a member of the Dine Originals Columbus community means you have a standing invitation to plenty of not-so-usual happenings to be found just off the mainstream radar and, in some cases, right under your nose.

Each of our gatherings has a different alchemy, but there is a reliable warmth and upbeat vibe that happens every single time we gather our 42 member restaurants in one place. That place was the Smith Brothers Hardware Building for this year’s Taste of Dine Originals on May 13.  Without a hint of self-importance, our chefs, staff members, and owners created a night to celebrate the perceptive palates of our best customers. They have a gift for chewing the fat with old friends and new-to-town foodies, and enjoy a night dedicated to those exchanges.

Wikipedia makes the distinction between gourmets and foodies with this “Gourmets simply want to eat the best food, whereas foodies want to learn everything about food, both the best and the ordinary, and about the science, industry, and personalities surrounding food.”

Yep…we certainly attract the curious and the passionate in town. The Taste of Dine Originals event has grown into a sell out bash in three short years.

Our partners, The Buckeye Ranch, the presenting event sponsor Medical Mutual, and the guys at Capitol Equities who make that magnificent building available to us, provided all of the resources to ensure a top notch evening.  Add spectacular food, an amazing selection of wines, great music from The Real Thing, and the magic of the High Jinx stilt walkers and it was a feast to remember!

Not sure who was giddier about their good luck…the couple who won a year of Dine Originals Dining, or the guy who rode a new Schwinn Laguna 50 scooter home. In any event, the crowd was a perfect blend of discriminating eaters, accomplished sippers, and the always generous citizens of our independent community.

Ready to start thinking about the next one?  I have an incredible invitation for you!  Dine Originals Columbus and the Equal Justice Foundation are putting together an evening on May 26th filled with elements you just can’t find anywhere else.  The cocktail reception, hosted at the Ohio State Bar Association, will be…get this…catered by Columbus’s most opinionated food critics!

We’re calling this Turning the Tables.  Can they cook as well as they can write? Can they take criticism with the same wit and humor they dish it out with? This all remains to be seen…

Hors d’oeuvres will be provided by food writers and critics Jon Christensen (The Columbus Dispatch), John Marshall (Columbus Monthly), Steve Stover (Columbus CityScene Magazine and Edible Columbus), Rich Terapak (WOSU) and award-winning barbecue aficionado Jim Boudros.

Following the cocktail reception, guests will depart for the restaurant they have preselected from the list of six Dine Original signature locations.  Barcelona Restaurant and Bar, G. Michael’s Bistro, Rigsby’s Kitchen, Trattoria Roma, Alana’s Food & Wine and the Refectory have each planned a chef’s menu with great fare and fine wine pairings.  The whole package is available for just $125 per person.

As director of the ACLU and the Equal Justice Foundation, the late Benson Wolman fought for social justice throughout his life.  But, friends and colleagues say, after a day of waging war against injustice, he could always sip a carefully chosen bottle of wine and revel in the pleasures of the palate.  This evening, a first time event, is dedicated to his quick wit, his joie de vie, and his passion for civil rights.

Make a reservation here

The company, the cause, and the dining will fill a place in your soul that Dine Originals Columbus is pleased to nourish.

Miramar Estates Wine Tasting at Luce Enoteca

May 17, 2010 – 8:27 am Posted by Katharine Moore

Filed under: Luce Enoteca, Restaurants

Luce Enoteca is pleased to invite you to a wine tasting from Miramar Estate, this Thursday, May 20th. Luce enoteca had the pleasure of hosting an industry luncheon for Miramar Torres, who is currently making amazing wines out in California, this past week.  Miramar Torres is of the famous Spanish wine making Torres family.  She was born and raised in Barcelona, Spain and has always had her family’s passion for great food and wine.  She is the author of two cookbooks.  She is very unique in that she understands food and how wine should marry to it.  These are amazing wines and we are very happy to be sharing them with you!

Thursday, May 20th ~ 6pm - 9pm

presented by Amanda Blythe from Wine Trends

4 wines + light appetizers ~ $18 per person

Summer Brunch is back at Luce Enoteca

May 17, 2010 – 8:24 am Posted by Katharine Moore

Filed under: Luce Enoteca, Restaurants

The Luce Family is very excited to announce the return of Summer Sunday Brunch on the Patio at Luce enoteca!  Come on over and enjoy great food, great ambiance & fabulous cocktails, now thru Labor Day weekend on Sunday’s from 11am - 2:30pm.

Click here to view the Sunday Brunch Menu

Look out Maggie’s Back at The Refectory!

May 14, 2010 – 11:48 am Posted by Katharine Moore

Filed under: Restaurants, The Refectory

Look out Maggie’s back for an encore performance at The Refectory on Saturday, May 29th at 6pm.

JAZZ DINNER CLUB (her January debut with us was sold out)

Chef Richard’s Four-Course Dinner will be featured followed by the show!

Menu

Asparagus Salade

with prosciutto di parma, duck egg, and balsamic

~ ~ ~

Gratin of Crayfish

with a touch of brandy

~ ~ ~

Duet of Veal Tenderloin & Breast of Duck

with morel sauce

~ ~ ~

Trilogy of Ohio Strawberries

~ ~ ~

$60.00 per guest
Limited Prepaid reservations 614-451-9774

Scotch, Scotch, Scotch!

May 11, 2010 – 11:17 am Posted by Katharine Moore

Filed under: Cotter's Restaurant, Restaurants

Join us at Cotters Restaurant at the Arena  on May 21st from 6-9pm for a fabulous Four Course Scotch Dinner. Each course perfectly paired with an extraordinary Scotch!

The price is $65 per person

With live music from Frank Barbas

First Course-

Deconstructed Foie Gras arugula salad

Glenlivet 15 year French oak reserved

Second Course-

Halibut, Yellowfin Tuna, and Escolar Coconut Ceviche

Glenlivet 16 year Nadurra

Third Course-

Rabbit & Veal Sausage with Angel Hair Pasta, White Wine Butter Sauce

Glenlivet 18 year

Fourth Course-

Caramel Apple Crepes with Vanilla Custard

Glenlivet 12 year