1) I Would Drive 6,000 Miles: I admit, I didn’t picture ourselves driving to and fro from California to visit relatives after I had moved to Ohio in the early 2010s, but that just goes to show. The decision, mainly driven to airline reliability concerns, turned out to be a blessing too – Mother Nature and modern technology would’ve certainly caused us numerous headaches for … Continue reading 21 Roadtrip Tales for ‘22 (Part 1)
Just for now I’d like to restIn the shade of a maple treeTo the blue Canadian skyI’ll say a prayer for the world out thereWhen I walk the hill so highAround the town where I was bornNew York seems so far awayThough I was there just yesterdayI would travel all my lifeIf loneliness was not the priceWhile headin’ north across that line’sThe only time I’m … Continue reading Canada/US Relations: Final Vacation Notes
“I have to come and see youmaybe once or twice a yearI think nothing would suit me betterthan some downtown atmosphereIn the dance halls and the galleriesOr betting in the OTBSynchronized like magicGood friends you and me” “GOOD FRIENDS” – Joni Mitchell When doing research for our trip, I found quite a few helpful resources, including the BlogTO YouTube channel and website itself. Their site … Continue reading Just Scratching The Surface: Toronto Pt. 2
We started off our first volume of my off-the-cuff Food Encyclopedia with the first 13 letters of the alphabet at this prior blogpost. Well, a couple things happened in the meantime, including a change in blogging platform and a random post or two in between. But indeed, this is one of the tangents in which I felt my original blog was no longer sufficient for … Continue reading The 614ortyPlatter – The Food Encyclopedia (N-Z)
I have written about Belle’s Bread before on my previous blog in 2017, when I was out exploring the excellent ice cream scene in and around the Columbus metro. Since then, I have learned they have much more than a mean soft-serve ice cream swirl, offering a number of cakes, breads, cookies and coffee drinks to tantalize the taste buds.
For those unfamiliar, this Japanese Bakery is but one of several culinary gems located in the Japanese Marketplace complex in the Northwest neighborhood of town. Their French-inspired baked goods have earned them praise on a national level from such media outlets like Food & Wine Magazine. Their existence isn’t exactly what the casual consumer might expect for Central Ohio, until one realizes that the American headquarters for one of the largest Japanese automakers, Honda, is just right up US Highway 33, a relative stone’s throw away in Marysville.
Up until just a few days ago, I hadn’t indulged in their picture-perfect confections behind glass windows. The weather actually justified something like their divine soft-serve ice cream, available in either vanilla, matcha, or a swirl of both, a perfect balance of slightly sweet and lightly bitter.
This time I went with the Strawberry Parfait, and this immaculate construct lived up to its pleasing exterior – light airy pillows of layered cream that floated on the tongue, and fruit flavors that glided in subtly.
As enjoyable as this first parfait experience was, I realized that the better selection for my state of mind at the time might have been better suited for my usual vanilla/matcha swirl.
Continue reading “If Life Was Only Parfait”
The first non-standard-condiment I remember digging lay in the Chevy’s Fresh Mex chain of restaurants, which started in Alameda, CA back in 1981. Their salsa which they included with their freshly fried batch of tortilla chips was a revelation, equal parts chunky and chewy, spicy and savory – it was tough to NOT overload on chips while waiting for your main food orders came to your table.
Since then, the flood gates have been open in regard to various hot sauces, salsas, and other condiments that were at one time not almost impossible to find in the standard grocery store. My spouse and I have had our periods where one of them has ruled the roost in regards to favorite accompaniment to the main meal, but lately, that honor has fallen into the realm of the Spicy Chili Crisp. Continue reading “The Great Chili-Crisp Off: Volume 1”
A refresh of a slightly shopworn model Howdy! If you are reading this, most likely you are familiar with my former blog as The 614ortyNiner. And even if you aren’t, the introduction applies equally in this case. I moved to Ohio from California early in the 2010s. As you may have figured out from my previous blog name, there was an underlying theme of my … Continue reading A Little Introduction
More often than not, the genuine article taco trucks, like Taqueria Las Costeñas on Columbus’s West Sidehave the more adventurous proteins like lengua available Maybe I’m betraying my nerdy youth with this admission, but I still get a thrill when I see a set of old-school encyclopedias in a thrift shop. Before the Atari 2600 and video games entered my life with a bang, perhaps my … Continue reading The 614ortyPlatter – The Food Encyclopedia (A through M)
A divine soup, such as this Sopa de Tomatillo from GermanVillage’s Barcelona Restaurant, is a tasting menu staple One thing pandemic more or less eliminated was the primo tasting menu experience. We personally don’t indulge much in the extravagant side of the dining ledger, but we must say that one of our most memorable meals was the tasting menu of Veritas Restaurant, which was then in … Continue reading The 614ortyPlatter – 14-Course Tasting Menu
Can you believe I’ve been doing these playlists/blogposts for seven-plus-months now? Or for that matter, that this blog has reached seven years of age? To be honest, I thought both these things would fade out after awhile – as pandemic stretched onward, I didn’t know exactly how to continue the blog, at least as it had been run previously. The playlist was something of a … Continue reading The 614orty Platter – Fit for (Non-)Human Consumption
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