Trattoria Roma

January 26, 2012 – 2:28 pm Posted by Katharine Moore

Filed under: Features, Restaurants, Trattoria Roma

Shawn Mason’s connection to Trattoria Roma predates his driver’s license! The once teenage busser climbed the ranks at the restaurant’s original Morse Road location to become the General Manager, and was then given the charge of opening a new location in Grandview in 2000. Who better to spot the work ethic and talent of a scrappy apprentice on break from Columbus State’s culinary program? Soon after the Grandview opening, Shawn hired Matt Prokopchak as a prep cook. Shawn became a partner in the business, and over several years and a number of transactions, a majority owner. As he was navigating the business of operating a restaurant, Matt graduated from Culinary school and sharpened his skills at each of the kitchen stations, eventually becoming the Executive Chef, and then a co-owner.

Together the guys have shaped a restaurant that embraces classic Italian cuisine with a contemporary approach. The chef works closely with the finest purveyors and local farmers to ensure that his kitchen produces a lovely progression of dishes that take each patron on a journey from antipasti to primi, then onto secondi and dolci.

The handsome dining room and Sinatra-esque bar provide perfect spaces for intimate dinners, as well as long lunches around a table packed with friends. A monthly schedule of wine dinners allow Chef Matt to pore over his library and match wines with dishes from the selected region of Italy, always with a hint of the gluttony and lust of the early Roman banquets that capture his imagination. On February 28 a winemaker from the Graffigna Winery in Argentina will describe what happened when an Italian family immigrated with their business to South America. The kitchen is jazzed to play with Argentinean fusion cuisine. Or, quite possibly, to invent it.

The energy of young talent and authentic hospitality infuses the experience of dining at Trattoria Roma. Shawn and Matt welcome you with wonderful dishes, interesting and affordable wines, and a vibe that seems more uptown than the address would indicate. Their passion for creating memorable occasions, rather than just perfectly executed dishes, is in perfect alignment with the sensibilities of the tight knit Dine Originals community. Whether collaborating on cooking classes at the North Market, launching the Dine Originals Culinary Scholarship at Columbus State, or serving on the Board of Trustees, they bring a spirit of camaraderie and diligence that explains their remarkable accomplishments over the last decade.

When I said “handsome dining room” did I forget to mention it is a painted a deep rich red? Make a reservation there for the 3 course Valentines Day Dinner value-packed at $45, and you won’t have to do another thing but sit back and let the evening play out. Trattoria Roma is, Matt tells me, not a first date sort of place, but a come-to-close-the-deal destination when you know there is a considerable connection. Artisanal food, sparkling glasses of crisp champagne, a deep red dining room…none of that should be taken lightly. Or too seriously. A balance that has only been mastered by the Italians.

Trattoria Roma
1447 Grandview Ave, Columbus, OH 43212
614-488-2104
www.trattoria-roma.com »
Lunch: Monday-Friday 11-2 Dinner: Sunday-Thursday 4-9 Friday & Saturday 4-11
**Photos by Melissa Roberts

The Clarmont Has Closed

January 26, 2012 – 2:18 pm Posted by Katharine Moore

Filed under: Features

It is with heavy hearts that we learn of this week’s closing of a Columbus institution and a Dine Originals signature member, The Clarmont. Thom Coffman is a leader in our industry, as well as the best sort of colleague and friend. It’s hard to imagine Columbus without the Clarmont; we aren’t sure where the politicos are going to swap tales and plan strategies, or where the season subscribers to the Broadway Series will have dinner before the show. The Dine Originals organization is built on a foundation of camaraderie, so the loss is felt by one and all.

We are standing by to help find positions for the staff members who are out of work, and to accommodate the patrons who may have Dine Originals gift certificates for The Clarmont. All of our members should be happy to honor the certificates, but because getting those sorts of messages out to the exact staff member who may take your payment, it is best to call ahead and check in with the management so that they can smooth the way. If we can help in any way, please do not hesitate to contact us at info@DineOriginalsColumbus.com

All my best,

Tim Lessner

Board President

The Worthington Inn

January 13, 2012 – 2:14 pm Posted by Katharine Moore

Filed under: Features, Restaurants, The Worthington Inn

Chef Thomas Smith experienced wonderful food early in life; his grandmother explored all sorts of cuisines using cookbooks as her guide, so fine food was very much a backdrop to family life. The idea of a career in cooking came much later ~ it wasn’t until Chef Tom took a job during college in the kitchen at Lindey’s that he was exposed to professional chefs and the possibility of a career in the field. With this discovery, his talents and ambition were instantly aligned. Training at Lindey’s and then Rigsby’s Kitchen shaped an approach that is grounded in the simply joy of creating fine dishes and an absolute passion for local sourcing.

Ten years ago Chef Tom was welcomed on board at the Worthington Inn and encouraged to create a chef driven menu. That foundation, coupled with a decade of building relationships with local farmers and suppliers, has resulted in repeated designations as a Top Ten establishment with a following that could easily be described as cult-like. Well… that might have a creepy vibe, so let’s just say that patrons are devoted to the restaurant, eager to explore the always innovative seasonal menus, and they bring all of their celebrations and momentous occasions to the Inn.

For long-time guests or those in search of a notable venue, the Worthington Inn’s elegant ballroom, which can accommodate 100 guests, is the perfect space for a rehearsal dinner, shower, small wedding, and/or anniversary celebration when an exquisite meal is important. This is not your mama’s hotel banquet menu!

Surrounding himself with a staff devoted to the same lofty standards has kept the Chef excited about his kitchen. The team isredefining the practice of local sourcing. A deepening relationship with one farmer has led to the creation of a Worthington Inn-dedicated mini farm. The 30 chickens provide eggs, the greens are grown to order, and the 40-year-old asparagus bed produces an amazing crop. Local chicken, pork, and cheeses are woven into the creations from the kitchen, while the recent availability of local spirits has enhanced the bar offerings.

When asked about the most meaningful compliment ever offered up by a guest, Chef Tom had an easy favorite to share. A master acupuncturist is among the community of healers and practioners who frequent the Inn. After enjoying a lovely meal of gnocchi, he asked the chef if he had made the dish himself. “Yes,” he replied. “I made the noodles, browned the mushrooms, and created the sauce…it’s funny you ask, I was remembering with gratitude the kitchens where I learned the recipes as I was cooking.” The Master explained “I thought so. I could feel the energy.” As the author Laura Esquivel wrote in Like Water for Chocolate “The recipes are more than just formulas, they hold, concealed within them, memories.”

What else does Chef Thomas prepare with that same degree of mindfulness and love? His children’s school lunches…every morning! He is all about the fresh fruit and wonderful bread, but says he is happy to be the Dad who tucks in an occasional Snickers bar too. This father of 4, with a fifth baby arriving this summer, brings the alchemy of abundance, joy, local ingredients, and discipline to the Dine Originals organization. We are very proud to have him in our ranks and to call him a friend and a colleague.

The Worthington Inn has something special to offer…seven days a week:
Sunday Brunch, Monday through Friday Happy Hour, Prime Rib Tuesdays, First Wednesday wine dinners, Thursday wine at retail prices. www.worthingtoninn.com »

649 High St.
Worthington, OH 43085
614-885-2600

**Photos by Melissa Roberts

Z Cucina di Spirito

January 5, 2012 – 11:28 am Posted by Katharine Moore

Filed under: Features, Restaurants, Z Cucina Ristorante & Bar

Rick Ziliak launched his food and beverage career when he partnered with his brother in the North Market’s signature Pastaria enterprise offering simple Italian fare in the tradition of their Mother’s heritage. He says customer feedback and a sense of evolution after a decade in the Market led him to develop plans for a full service restaurant. When this Grandview Avenue location presented itself , the concept for Z Cucina di Spirito followed. The rich legacy of the immigrant community, the nearby Columbus Italian Club, and the scale of the space were all aligned for a neighborhood restaurant with an edge. Rick’s vision was of a purposefully simple spot, where the liveliness of the conversation and the creations from the kitchen provided the art and energy in the room.

Six years later Z Cucina, with its stylishly welcoming setting and superbly prepared regional dishes, is a notable destination, not just for Grandview neighbors and Italian Club members, but diners in search of an experience where nothing is rushed and nothing is unanticipated. The options from Chef Jamie George’s kitchen range from tasting plates to flatbread pizza and house made pastas, and can be paired with wines from a mindfully crafted list of artisan gems from the various regions of Italy including Tuscany, Piedmont, Apulia, and Veneto, as well as the countries of Spain, France, Australia, and the U.S.

When we asked Rick what the nicest compliment he ever received from a guest was, he said that on several occasions patrons have told him that they had enjoyed their “best meal ever” at his place. He laughed recalling that each time he tried to clarify, “You mean your best meal ever here?” and got the out-of-the-ballpark-reply “No. Best meal ever. Period”

Rick was a full-time rock musician for a number of years, playing drums and spending time on the road, until he became weary of the lifestyle. He remarked that every evening in the hour leading up to the opening of the restaurant, the buzz feels much like the anticipation before a performance, and never more so than on the evenings when he hosts a wine dinner. The dinners are not on a regular schedule, but are events that come together when a wine maker of some note can be in town. On February 9, Z Cucina will feature a spectacular meal complimented by selections from The Lenotti Wine Cellars located in Bardolino, Italy. A seat at the table is $75 and reservations may be placed at (614) 486-9200. Whose to say? Perhaps it will be one of the best meals of your life. It has happened for others, just like that.

1368 Grandview Avenue
Columbus, OH 43212
(614) 486-9200
Hours of operation: Monday through Saturday; Bar Service begins at 5:00pm and Dinner Service at 5:30pm.

Happy Hour Monday through Friday from 5:00pm to 7:00 pm. Full-Size Well Martini’s @ $5, House Wines @ $4, Micro Brews and Imports @ $2.25, Domestics @ $1.75. $5 Appetizers, Monday through Thursday(bar only).

**Photos by Melissa Roberts

Keep it Local this Christmas

December 7, 2011 – 1:17 pm Posted by Katharine Moore

Filed under: Features

Our Dine Originals Dollars certificates, available in any increment up to $100, are honored at every one of our member restaurants.  The gift of a meal…whether it is priced to pick up lunch for a coworker, or a 4 course dinner for your parents, is all the more pleasing when it comes with the feature of choice. Deciding where to use the certificate is part of the fun.

Especially in a down-turn economy, people tighten their belts where they can. Often, this involves dining out. Giving the gift of a restaurant gift card can provide a couple or family some time on the town to enjoy the ambiance of a favorite eatery, to reconnect over a memorable meal, or simple enjoy a fancy dessert. A taste of extravagance can be a wonderful gift!

By utilizing the Dine Originals Columbus gift program, you are turning someone on to the Eat Local movement. If you are receiving this message, we know you “get” it, but your Dine Originals Dollars gift comes with an important lesson for others who may not know that:

More money stays in the local economy when we eat at a locally owned restaurant. A 2008 study showed that for every $100 spent at a local-independent business, $73 stays in the community versus $43 at a non-locally owned business. Want to boost Central Ohio’s economy? Eat local. While we wish the TGI Olive Factory a Merry Christmas, it’s sort of hard to imagine they are using a local printer for their menus, a Columbus accounting firm to file their taxes, or a Central Ohio sign maker when they update their storefront. I’m sure the economy in Calabasas Hills, California prospers from their successes…but that might as well be the land of OZ as far as we can tell.

Locally owned means character. The entire planet seems to be morphing into charmless strip malls with identical Big Box stores that have one of six chain restaurants dropped into their parking lots. Ugh. When you are seated at Alana’s Food and Wine, the artwork alone tells you there hasn’t been a corporate hand anywhere near the place!

Eating local means connecting with your community. There is a true sense of place that comes from knowing the guy who tosses your pizza, the funny woman who pours your wine, and the handsome chef who nods in recognition when you see him at the North Market (no names mentioned, but he makes an amazing tortellini with those mushrooms he is picking up!). These people live in our town, work in our town and are invested in our town. Their livelihoods depend on us.

Click Here. Purchase the certificates you need.

Print them out. Simple. Spicy. Mindful.

Dine Originals Week is a Wrap

November 14, 2011 – 9:36 am Posted by Katharine Moore

Filed under: Features

Dine Originals Week is a wrap…and we have all of you to thank for a terrific week of keeping it local. Discover, the Official Card of Dine Originals, The Columbus Dispatch and Alive, GFS, and Watershed Distillery joined in the effort and made resources available for the promotional campaign.

We go all out with this twice a year, because we believe that the surest way to turn a stranger into a customer is to get them in the door…so we turn our chef’s loose with unique menu items and persuade the business managers that the affordable price point is an investment. Then we just sort of sit back and watch it unfold. The buzz builds throughout the week…thanks in large measure to our cyber friends with blogs like CMH Gourmand, Columbus Food Adventures, and Dishing it Up. We also had friends at WCBE, Fox 28, and WOSU making the case for getting out and about. One great report on the week appeared on Crave’s website…did you try any of the same places?

We LOVE sharing the awareness and the receipts of Dine Originals Week with our colleagues at Local Matters. Their work takes place in schools, at Settlement Houses, in garden patches and community kitchens, as well as at the State House. Together, we can make wholesome, local food more accessible to all. Learn how you can take action at www.Local-Matters.org

We have holiday gift certificates on sale now, a discount certificate release coming in January (with a few still in inventory just a click away) , and our first Dine Originals Week of 2012 booked for March 5 through the 12th. Keep us in mind and on your calendar, and know how very much we appreciate the support you put behind our efforts!

A Few Testimonials

November 4, 2011 – 9:55 am Posted by Katharine Moore

Filed under: Features

We asked our most engaged supporters for their ideas about how to extend an invitation for Dine Originals Week…and their passionate responses didn’t disappoint!

On behalf of the champions of the Dine Locally movement in Central Ohio, we invite you to weave Dine Originals Week into your plans for next week.

I’ve grown up always supporting the ‘local guy.’ My dad started his own business and believed in giving back to the community. I love Dine Originals because I have the opportunity to support the community and enjoy something I love: food. When Dine Originals Week is announced, I eagerly look through every menu and rank my top 5, send it to my husband and see if we have any of the matching restaurants. We then pick a date! I love the creativity of the week, the opportunity to enjoy an exquisite meal for only $30! It’s not every week I can go to Alana’s for a 3 course meal and only spend $30. I can’t wait to enjoy Thai Curried Peanut Pumpkin.

-Ashley Chaney

I think the best part about Dine Originals week is the opportunity to experience new restaurants and menus for a reasonable price, while supporting local businesses at the same time. With over 40 restaurants participating, how could this not be your favorite week of the year? It’s certainly mine.

Thanks,
- Molly Adams

I’d say ‘Dine Originals gives us an opportunity to experience more than the chicken fingers at Applebee’s. Come on!’

- Deauna

My friends and I have a ritual. As soon as the menus come out we have a cocktail hour…each one of us picks a favorite and puts it in a bag…then we draw the winner. Last March we ended up scheduling three dinners because there were so many places we wanted to try! This will be a bigger deal than Thanksgiving for my group.

- April Stinson

Even Italian, French, Chinese, seafood, Thai, Mexican-themed restaurants use local produce, fish (Lake Erie counts as local!) and meats in their preparations. Everyone knows you don’t get scallops from Ohio, but you can prepared them with Ohio-made bacon, red peppers, pasta, spinach, mushrooms and grape seed oil. Alana does this very well, visiting local markets for fresh produce and having standing orders with green grocers. If we eat locally, we get a deal – in addition to fresh food.

Hope these are some helpful ideas!

- Marc

We look forward to Dine Originals Week when we can have a mini vacation right before the busy holiday season. It is so relaxing to wine and dine all week in exciting new venues, as if we were on vacation in another city. Dine Originals’ diverse selection of restaurants gives us many options from which to choose. Then we start planning ahead for the next Dine Originals week. Thanks for giving us a real taste of Columbus.

- Cindy Hartsook

Experience the amazing flavors of Dine Originals Columbus’s great restaurants from “A” (Alana’s Fine Foods and Spirits ) to “Z” Z Cucina. Rediscover that we have the best places in the world to have great food and great times!

- Vicky Tabor Branson

The Chef at G. Michael’s Bistro never disappoints. The Originals Week menus are always something I would never have thought of, but can’t wait to try. I always suspect this might be the way he cooks at home!

- Gloria Sweeney

I look forward to Dine Originals Week so that I can support those who are providing local foods. I know the difficulty of maintaining a strictly local diet year-round in Ohio and am not in a position yet to provide much for myself. I am so grateful for the restauranteurs who take the effort to base their menus on local products, thereby supporting the local farmers who work so hard. Thank you!

- Alissa L. Keel

Dine Originals Week, November 7-13

October 24, 2011 – 7:57 am Posted by Katharine Moore

Filed under: Features

Plans are falling into place for Dine Originals Week, November 7 – 13.  We’ve done our part in gathering menus and collaborating with the Dispatch Media Group to orchestrate a promotional campaign, but the real work comes when you roll up your sleeves to organize a week of grazing…all over the county!  You’ll want to work in a couple of lunches, take a straw poll among friends to settle on a spot for weekend reservations, and schedule at least one meal at a “we’ve never been there before” location.  Watershed Distillery, GFS, and Alive!  are joining in the celebration of our like-minded community of food enthusiasts, and Presenting Sponsor Discover Card is offering up 5% cash back on dining dollars.

Dine Originals Week was launched several years ago to focus attention twice a year on the mix of locally owned restaurants that really define the character of the local food scene.  We offer innovative menus at very attractive prices with a dual purpose: we want to salute our regulars with a thank you deal, and we want to extend an invitation too tempting to ignore to try something new…with the certainty you’ll come back again and again once you’ve check us out!

Work on your strategy now…the week is just around the corner!

Nationwide Columbus Marathon

October 11, 2011 – 5:30 am Posted by Katharine Moore

Filed under: Features

The Nationwide Columbus Marathon brings together 17,000 thousand runners from around the country in a weekend-long celebration centered on a sporting event that unites the community. Volunteers, Columbus Police officers, friends, family, and fans of marathoners are part of one of the biggest, most exciting spectacles on our city’s calendar. The race is sold out for the fifth year in a row, thanks to a brilliantly organized effort.

Experience all the excitement of the marathon build-up, race day, and post race by incorporating the signature restaurants of Dine Originals into your plans. All of our members are locally owned restaurants, and many of them are offering Marathon specials. We understand discipline. We salute commitment. We share the pride.

May the road rise to meet you,
May the wind be always at your back!

Experience Columbus Days!

October 6, 2011 – 12:36 pm Posted by Katharine Moore

Filed under: Features

Once a year Dine Originals Columbus partners with Experience Columbus to invite the explorers amongst us to try a new experience…at a discount. This Columbus Day weekend try a Dine Originals destination that has piqued your curiosity with the attached coupon and receive 25% off the food portion of your bill. But don’t just dine and dash…make a day of it by taking advantage of the 50% discounts our partners in the arts and culture are offering. Everyone from the Columbus Zoo to Shadowbox Live is joining in the spirit of discovery!

Visit the Experience Columbus for complete details