Apologies in advance – WP and/or my browser are having a few … issues … today. So some of the pictures are blurry, some of the formatting may be off, just wanted to get it DONE and posted 🙂
Once upon a time ago, this blog began as a way to chronicle a trip that BFF and I made to NYC. In that spirit, I suppose it’s only fitting to provide you with our food guide to Columbus, which is a trip I try to make at least once a year. It’s not necessarily a “best of” Columbus, but definitely my/our favorite places to eat. So if you ever find yourself in that area of Ohio, you’ll know what’s worth stopping for. Even if it is going to torrential downpour during your entire trip. Come to think of it, it rained for the entire NYC trip too… hmmmmmmmm. [ WARNING: All of these pics are phone-cam ]
- the birthday girl –
Except that one… stole that one from my sissy.
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Let’s start at the beginning – We started off the trip in Toledo celebrating my niece’s 7th birthday. Honestly, it had been so long since I saw my nieces and nephews I kinda thought they wouldn’t even remember me. They may not have at first… but they warmed up pretty fast. I guess that’s what counts, right?
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There was a slight hitch in my plans to head to Columbus, caused by some random delinquent throwing a giant rock through the back window of my rental car. WHO DOES THAT? Seriously! Of course I didn’t have the rental insurance… I mean, honestly, who buys that anyway?
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It should be covered by the credit card I used to rent it… but still. It was a bit of an ordeal to swap cars out. I taped up the window totally ready to run my errands without a back window and worry about it later, but every little bump I hit caused more glass to shatter… if you’ve ever driven in or around Toledo, OH (or anywhere in Michigan/Ohio), then you will know that the roads are a little bit bumpy… just a bit…Â
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After driving all over town in a busted up rental car, to more than one rental car location, I finally found a location that was able to switch the car out for me.Side note – why can’t anyone at Budget ever answer their phones? Is there a reason only one person is ever working at any location at any given point in time? Can they really not afford to have a second person on staff? Really?? What happened to customer service? That’s a whole separate rant altogether… let’s move on to the more delicious side of life, shall we?
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Mmm, pancakes.
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I got into Columbus late Tuesday night, so my first official food stop was the following morning for my Cloud 9 pancakes and BFF’s favorite Prosciutto & Poached Eggs at
Northstar Cafe. We hit the one in Easton (the prosciutto/eggs isn’t available at the one near campus). The pancakes are so fluffy I could die, and come adorned with sliced fresh bananas.
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If you’re looking for something more savory, the prosciutto and poached eggs come on garlicky rosemary focaccia with arugula…. oh, and it’s amazing. Seriously. So good.If you find yourself at a Northstar that does not have the prosciutto & eggs, feel free to give the frittata a try. I don’t think you’ll be sorry.
For lunch, even if you’re not a fan of veggie burgers in general, Northstar’s veggie burger will change your life. Even the fiercest carnivore’s mind will be blown at the awesomeness that is the “Norhtstar (veggie) Burger”. Somehow, their regular burger is EVEN BETTER (also not available at the campus location – but if you’re being touristy, you’d probably rather be in the Easton area anyway).
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If we’re still in breakfast mode here,
Pattycake Bakery has sticky buns that will make your knees buckle. Unfortunately, they’re only available on Saturdays, so I missed them this trip. No worries, though, I still found $20 of baked goods to take back home – including my favorite sugar cookies in the whole world, a classic whoopie pie, and peanut butter cake ball… No big deal…pic from pattycakeveganbakery.comÂ
pic from pattycakeveganbakery.com
Lingering on baked goods for a little while longer, let’s discuss the french macaron shall we? Are you all familiar with these wonderful little pastries? The cookies are basically made out of almonds (or pistachios, or another nut), sugar, and egg white, then you put a buttercream or ganache in the middle and voila – bite-size happiness. Your place to find these, and other Parisian delights, is Pistacia Vera.so nice of it to stop raining long enough for me to take this picture…
In addition to macarons, they also have a variety of tarts, nougats, croissants, pain au chocolate, and palmiers. But you must try a macaron. Must. Let’s revel in their splendor a moment, shall we?
Are you reveling?
Despite that it was cold and rainy my whole trip, I still had to stop at Jeni’s and try all the flavors. If you’ve been around awhile, you’re already familiar with my deep-seeded love for Jeni’s.
My top 3 are, of course, salty caramel, buckeye state, and askinosie chocolate. Feel free to sample them all, they don’t mind. I am pretty sure I sample all of the flavors every time I go, otherwise how could you possibly make an educated guess about which to choose? I did learn for the first time on this trip that I can sample the ice cream sandwiches too, which I did not know. So of course I had to sample those as well.
Below are: Salty caramel, dark chocolate, and buckeye state for me (in back). Cherry lambic, vanilla bean, and lemon yogurt for BFF (in front – since she took the picture) 🙂
I know there is more to eat in life than breakfast and dessert (besides a Northstar burger), but if I cram all of that into one post it will be too big to read… Assuming it isn’t already too big to read…
 So, TO BE CONTINUED….
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